Believing in your startup can be a bit like believing in magic. At times, the dream may seem impossible until hard work, luck and the stars collide, and voilà you’re in business! Combining years of experience at being a mother, a passion for healthy living and food activism with elbow grease and a unique service, founder Hahna Luna was able to find the perfect product-market fit with her entertainment business Fairy Magic.
Fairy Magic first launched into the birthday party circuit in 2017. Geared towards children ages three to eight, Hahna does face painting and performs magic along her “dragon” sidekick. “She did an amazing job for my son’s 4th birthday party. The kids loved her and she managed to keep 16 kids entertained for 1 1/2 hours,” reads one review on her website. Given her innate ability to captivate a gaggle of toddlers, it’s no wonder Hahna has built a business on a team of characters ranging from the unicorn queen, fairy, wizard and owl super hero! But she’s not simply keeping kids entertained. After consulting with educators and therapists in the field of child development, Hahna has embedded mindfulness, self-acceptance, social emotional learning, gratitude, positive affirmation, mood regulation, curiosity and creativity into the fabric of her performances.
“The magic is the matrix in which I get to embrace and interact with imagination,” she said.
Hahna’s heroes are Mr. Rogers, Mary Poppins and Lucille Ball and the story of her growing business is rooted in resilience. A displaced homemaker turned primary breadwinner in a one parent household, she arrived to South Whidbey Island in an RV with $60 in her pocket. Fairy Magic was born out of Hahna embracing her passion “so boldly as a result of being cracked wide open from massive adversity and trauma,” she said. But “the fire rises within us to take action,” she added, and she uses that power to move forward.
Since opening her doors less than two years ago, Hahna’s birthday party work has led to contracts with the Seattle Children’s Museum and local libraries. Within the last month she launched a new YouTube channel and introduced a Time Traveler character geared toward pre-teens and teens. Highlighted by a steam punk inspired costume with top hat, peacock, rainbow goggles and hour glass imagery, the Time Traveler inspires middle school and high school students to find their identity, “reach for and seek their life’s passions and purpose.”
Just last month, Hahna was invited to talk at a local entrepreneur group on Whidbey Island where she presented “When Your Art is Your Product,” which discussed how to know whether your idea is a business or a hobby and how to nurture and protect your budding startup. “If you want rapid self-growth, be an entrepreneur” advised Hahna. “You want really rapid self-growth be an entrepreneur with your performing art.”
While it is clear that Hahna’s whit, charisma and work ethic have been crucial to launching her small business, she also recognizes the nonprofit community in South Whidbey Island, as well as Business Impact NW as being instrumental to her success. “Out of all the organizations I have accessed, Business Impact NW is what has really allowed me to truly create a strong foundation and a real business infrastructure,” she reflected. “Having to do the quarterly check-in with the profit and loss, and the ledger is keeping me accountable and making me keep very clean, clear books…I don’t know if I would be as on top of it if it wasn’t as requirement.”
Working with Senior Lending Officer, Roland Chaiton, has been a highlight of Hahna’s experience at Business Impact NW. “I would describe my relationship with Roland as if he were my entrepreneurial therapist or counselor…I really feel like he is truly in my corner…He has more faith in me than I think I have in myself.”
To discover more about Fairy Magic’s story, read last week’s front page article, Magic is Hahna Luna’s business, in the South Whidbey Record. And be sure to follow her journey on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. To learn more about Business Impact NW’s lending services, visit: businessimpactnw.org/services/loans.
About the author
Megan V. Torgerson
Megan is the founder of the storytelling initiative, Reframing Rural. She is an MFA candidate at Seattle University and holds a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing from the University of Montana. Megan grew up on a farm and ranch in Montana and is inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of rural communities.