10/22/2026
I’m genuinely curious of your opinion because someone recently told me that I don’t work hard😂 This was after I had just worked a 13 HOUR day face painting at an outdoor gig. It was 90 degrees during the day and I'm a standing face painter. I set up my 10x10 "office" by myself. Tent, tables, chairs, supplies. I basically stood for 13 hours straight, while barely having time to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. And as a side note, as someone who has chronic illness, I can promise you this isn't a level playing field. My 13 hours unfortunately feels at least a little harder than it should. My back, feet, and whole body hurt by hour 6. I also want to say that there's a big part of this job I think people overlook. Face painting isn't just physically demanding at times. It can also be mentally draining too. I'm doing detailed artwork as quickly and accurately as possible while managing a line of people, handling payments, answering questions, having conversations and making sure every single person has a positive experience. The ENTIRE time we have to be ON. Smiling, bubbly, patient, outgoing and entertaining. Even when we're exhausted, hungry, overheated or hurting. Because at the end of the day, people deserve the same happy experience whether they're my first customer or my last. ❤️ And let's not forget that we're self-employed. There's no guaranteed lunch break, no paid time off, no coworker coming to relieve me (personally), marketing, scheduling, bookkeeping or the million other things that go into running a business. I absolutely LOVE my job and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I think that's exactly why some people assume it must be easy. Because it looks FUN! And it IS fun! But fun and hard work are not always mutually exclusive😂 I take my job very seriously and I've spent years developing the skills to be able to do it. I admit that my work day doesnt look like others. And I definitely don't clock in for a 5 day a week 9-5 shift doing heavy lifting or whatever....but I still feel like I put in some hard work. Hard work can look different for different people. So I'm curious... Do you consider that face painting can be hard work? Or do you think because someone gets to do something fun and creative for a living, it doesn't really count as working hard? I genuinely want to hear everyone's opinions, especially from other people who work in entertainment, the arts or are self-employed! ❤️
