Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Stein.
Hi Ariel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Water has always been an important part of my life.
As a child, I used to daydream about swimming with the dolphins, learning to surf, and being one with the water. But alas, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, in an impoverished community, far from pools or beaches. I was sometimes able to join a swim team in middle- and high school, but often got kicked out for not paying team dues, not being able to make practices, and not having transportation. Life is hard when your family is poor, they have one car, but two medically disabled children and a teenager that just wants a normal life. I spent the majority of my teen years helping my parents make money and raise my sisters instead of being a kid myself.
Within my second year of college at the University of Akron, my dad finally got a stable job offer in Florida, and the timing was perfect for everyone in my family. We all moved down to Wesley Chapel, but a day after settling in, my mom suddenly lost all of her eyesight. I had to put my career plans on hold while I stayed home to take care of her. I was stressed beyond belief, and my only respite was my video games- specifically Final Fantasy X. The gorgeous colors of the worlds, the enchanting music, and the underwater atmosphere were just some of the aspects of that game that made me realize that I had always been drawn to swimming and water- and I was going to make it happen again.
I picked my life back up and got a job as a lifeguard at Disney, when I met my friend who introduced me to the cosplay community, and picked up mermaiding as a hobby shortly after in 2009, originally as a joke. My best friend had dared me to wear any costume she made for me, so she handmade us swimmable mermaid tails for a cosplay contest- which we won. The costumes were so popular, we traveled the country with them, and I continued to use it for fun for my own amusement. In 2012, after appearing in my second stage show for the Florida anime convention scene, one of my friends from the shows told me about becoming a professional mermaid through party princess work. I invested over $1k in my first silicone tail by an individual tail-maker, and instantly got started.
I shadowed my friend to various birthday party and event appearances before I began working on my own-learning both the technical and artistic sides of working as a “party princess”. The company that had hired both of us, however, wanted to lean more towards other types of party entertainment, and ended our services. After falling in love with the profession, especially with the swimming side of it, I had to continue through any other means possible. So I decided to work for myself; I built my own company of performers who specialized in original fantasy characters- Celestial Fantasy Entertainment LLC.
Since then, my team and I have done mermaid performances at festivals, parades, aquariums, corporate events, “meet and greets” with children’s parties, and do modeling for local photographers in Florida’s beautiful freshwater springs. My current performing tail is a custom silicone tail by MerNation LLC (another local Florida company), featuring a beautiful, realistic, smooth-skin glittery tail that resembles the Common Dolphin, a rigid dorsal fin, a professional quality fiberglass monofin, and even flippers! . I also have several fabric tails, my original blue/yellow silicone tail, and a hybrid tail that has individual golden iridescent scales along the body and color-shifting silicone fins.
My merfolk friends and I advocate for the cleanup and maintenance of Florida’s springs and estuaries. Merpeople from all over Florida and surrounding areas often support the local parks and make appearances at the various springs and fundraiser events while educating the public about the importance of respecting the environment.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being one of the later “pioneers” of mermaiding has always been a struggle. When I first started, the only way to get a swimmable mermaid tail was to make one yourself with some fabric from the store, and I luckily had a friend who knew their way around a sewing machine. My original fabric tails were actually really well built, but I learned the hard way to do a lot of research before purchasing a professional-grade silicone tail. My first silicone tail was made in a less-than-optimal way, leaving me to cut the unfinished silicone myself, with horrible fitting problems and an eventual tear from normal use. I learned what I wanted in a professional tail, found the perfect company, and haven’t had quality issues since.
Then there’s the matter of finding places to swim. When I first started, me and my friend would take pics of each other in my dorm’s community pool, no problem. But once I graduated college and moved out, mermaiding started to become a lot more popular- and was wrongfully marketed as a children’s toy. The overwhelming stigma surround mermaiding- even today- is that it was only meant for little girls. That being said, it was only a matter of time before someone put a video online of a little girl who panicked in the water while wearing a mermaid tail and under direct supervision of her mother. Since then, pools around the world have banned tails, calling them “dangerous children’s toys”, and effectively banning professionals like myself from practicing regularly. There are still places today that actually make mermaiding more dangerous by banning them from guarded pools. Luckily for us Floridians, we have our beautiful Florida Springs to swim in year-round- and thanks to the sudden popularity of mermaiding as a hobby, it’s not unusual to see someone wearing a tail at any given time at the springs.
I consider myself very fortunate to have a day job amongst other caring adults, but it wasn’t always this way. When I first went professional, I had to hide my mermaiding from all social media for a couple of years, in fear of harassment from co-workers and management. When they discovered my cosplay account, I was publicly humiliated and shamed in the workplace, and I didn’t want my co-workers to destroy something I was proud of. So once I got fired from Disney, I made everything public, took pride in my content creation, and I haven’t gone back into hiding since.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a professional mermaid that got so popular, I needed to open a business!
As a solo artist, I specialize in underwater modeling and live performances, I’ve done everything from aquarium appearances, to back-to-school appearances at Publix, to the Gasparilla parade, and even did some film and commercial work!
After a handful of years, I knew I needed some more performers to bring with me to events- so I have grown my entertainment business to send a very simple message: Imagination is for everyone.
Celestial Fantasy Entertainment has employed a variety of original characters in the fantasy genre: male fairies and mermen, mermaids and female satyrs and elves, and even little sillies that don’t know what they are- that bring enchantment to any and all events. We are here to break gender stereotypes and let kids and adults play, imagine, and be whatever their imagination desires, with no judgment or criticism- just fun!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
The very first tail I ever wore and performed in was made by my friend, Colt Ellsworth. They seemingly taught themselves an entirely new sewing process overnight- and handmade our first tails. I might have taught them to swim in the tail, but I never would have gotten started without that initial push.
Jessie Jordan was the first person to show me the ropes in the world of professional princess work. They helped me trim the silicone on my first professional tail, taught me proper party performer etiquette and nuances, and ultimately gave me the most in-depth and hands-on experience before setting me off on my own as a performer.
Mernation LLC made my current and recent silicone tails. They are a local husband and wife Florida business that specialize in making professional-quality mermaid tails, and their customer service has been so good that they have kept me as a client for almost a decade! They made one of my employees a mermaid tail in a very short period of time right before a big event-and exactly to her specifications, their communication is very fast and efficient, and they have even appeared on the show, “Extreme Love Vol 2” with my fiancee and I! Hands down, best tail maker ever. There is no design they can’t do!
Mermaid Shannon of North Carolina gave me my first crash course on marketing and PR work after college. She taught me how to speak with the media, make a demo reel and press release, and will also soon be officiating my wedding with my fiancee. I also give her the credit for creating the mermaid convention where I met my fiancee.
My fiancee, Joseph Reddy, who originally met me at the Mermania mermaid convention in North Carolina, continued a long distance relationship with me for two years while he finished nursing school in Missouri, and eventually moved in with me in 2018. Every girl dreams of marrying a merman, but I actually get to fulfill that dream! Joseph now works for my company as a merman and handler while maintaining his full time job as an ICU nurse. He is also working on fulfilling his dream of owning a mermaid-themed video arcade, “Arcade Atlantis”, which we plan to open in the near future.
Of course, my amazing team of professionals who help keep the business afloat, bring joy and happiness to everyone in the 1-4 corridor area, and prove to the world that anybody can be magical.
Contact Info:
- Email: celestialmermaident@gmail.com
- Website: https://celestialfantasyentertainment.com/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mermaidcelestefl and www.instagram.com/celestialfantasyent
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mermaidcelestefl and https://www.facebook.com/CelestialFantasyEnt
Image Credits
Colin Moon
Rachel Sullivan Photography
