THE BUSINESS OF CLOWNING AROUND
By Alexis T. Aldeguer
MEGA Magazine, November 2000

They call themselves the "party experts"- they've got every little thing your celebration needs, from cakes to invitations to goodie bags, and they deliver the fun with style and flair. They are Jelly Bellies, a company dedicated to making birthday parties joyous and memorable. But, while birthday parties are their forte, launch parties and corporate events are also on their "to do" list.

Jelly bellies is the brainchild of Angelette Calero and Elly Dee, two friends who decided to pool their resources together in 1994 after both of them had hosted some birthday parties of their friend's children. Both of them, also like to party- Angelette, the more gregarious of the two, has a deep love for children that stems from previously being a preschool teacher. Elly is the more business-minded, presenting me with albums of some of the events they've hosted or participated in.

"We're perfect for each other," says Elly. "When Angelette is tense, I'm relaxed, and when I'm tense, she's relaxed so we balance each other out." She flashes a quick smile at her partner, who nods over her Frappucino. "I relax at those times since I think,'Oh, she's worrying about this, but it'll be okay.' And it really isn't productive if both of us were tense."

How do they find their clients? "Actually, it's more like them finding us," Angelette states. "we started out with our own set of friends - they liked what we did and how we did it, and started referring us to their friends. Even now, when we get a new client, its usually by 'oh, you were recommended by so and so."
In terms or their business, Elly handles the finance side of it, as well as the administrative duties, Angelette is more on PR and marketing. While they do have managers, they have no middleman when it comes to negotiations or talking things over with a client. " I ask clients to fax me any special considerations they may like that isn't included in anu of our packages." Elly stresses, making their business distinct in its customization measures.

Part of their "bag of tricks" are the staple clowns, magicians, jugglers, acrobats and fire performers. Depending on the event-- and it isn't limited to birthday bashes -- they may either have control over the whole entertainment end ir simply lend talents to a program. And some of their clients are no kids -- Ayala Land, Citibank, Pilia Foods, Xavier School, to name a few.

That's still not all -- they also have mascots, face painters, food carts and prizes. The only thing they don't do, it seems, is cater the food. If you want your party or event to have a specific theme (think the Power Puff Girls or Marvin the Martian), they'll even fix any licensing hurdles.

However, while they may be the one of the pioneers of this type of business, they think of the future: "Businesses like ours are mushrooming everywhere. But what's important is satisfying your your target market. Even with all the competition, we like to think we stand out." That doesn't even count loyal clients. "I was once host to this child's birthday party from the time she was 1 until 7 years old" says Angelette in awe.

And what's the best part of business? "Definitely, seeing a client very happy with our results," Angelette shares. "One time I even got flowers from a client who was so grateful for our service. Can you believe it? She paid us, yet still found time to give flowers."