Doylestown Teen Finds Success As Balloon Artist

DOYLESTOWN, PA — At 12 years old, Ben Richlin was too young to drive or work a normal part-time job, but the Doylestown teen found a successful side hustle in the art of making balloon creations.

He learned the basics from his mom, Mindy Berger, who learned how to make balloon animals from a college boyfriend who dressed up as a clown for a side job.

"She taught me what she knew," Richlin says. "Then I went on to national conventions for formal instruction."

Three years later, Richlin's calendar is full of events and parties for local residents and business owners. While the rising sophomore at Central Bucks East has aspirations of one day becoming a doctor, he says he'll always have a passion for making balloon animals.

"Ben has very much an engineering mind, so he really took to twisting," Berger says. "He was a natural at it."

Since April 2018, Ben's Balloon Animals has been providing entertainment for birthday parties, festivals, and restaurants in the Bucks County region. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, he shifted to offering large yard art and outdoor decorations, but the drive-by parties proved to be the most popular.

There's rarely a project or idea that he won't take on, though he once had to turn down a request for a life-size Statue of Liberty, but he made them a hat and torch "so they became the Statue of Liberty."

Richlin has always been a people person, and public speaking and entertaining others came naturally to him. His business, which is managed by his mother (she also provides transportation), is booking several hundred events year-round.

"I love what I do," he says.

Ben's Balloon Animals recently won first place in the category of Best Children's Parties by Bucks Happening Magazine, as well as second place for entertainer. They are currently booking events through their Facebook page.

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