Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica “Moxie” Mills.
Hi Jessica “Moxie”, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Known as Mermaid Moxie Marina in the mermaid community — & I’m the owner & creator of Hollywood Mermaid Gear. Hollywood Mermaid Gear creates “mermazing” one-of-a-kind silicone circlets, crowns, & more. For over seven years, I’ve been a professional performer & creative director, making costumes & such as needed, which eventually led me to create crowns & circlets for fellow professional mermaids like me.
At Hollywood Mermaid Gear all of our crowns, circlets, & accessories are waterproof, lightweight, & durable so they are “merfect” for swimming in whether you have a tail or not! “What do you mean have a tail,” you ask…
Well, a mermaid tail of course. Don’t feel bad, even though we humans have been obsessed with mermaids way before The Little Mermaid & Splash, not until recently did “mermaiding” — the profession& hobby of tailing up & swimming like a mermaid — become a “thing.” This is mostly due to an explosion of new gear & new accessibility to tails, tops, & more for kids & adults alike. But after years of being a professional mermaid myself, I felt something was missing from my mermaid persona or mersona. I needed something to complete my look. I once said on my Mermaid Moxie Marina Youtube channel that accessories or rather “merccessories are the cornerstone to a mermaid look” (or merman look) yet I was struggling to find any I enjoyed swimming in. It was time to create my own contribution to the mermaid community in the form of crowns & circlets.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve been a professional mermaid & “finstrutor” — mermaid school instructor — since 2016 with Sheroes Entertainment. I have been a hobbyist mermaid for longer, but Sheroes is where I trained & learned how to be a professional mermaid & Lifeguard — that’s when I first “tailed up” in a full silicone tail & discovered the magic of silicone & the art it can create. From that moment on, I’d always wanted to try my hand at silicone arts but just didn’t know what I wanted to make, nor had the time when the inspiration first sparked.
When Covid-19 hit, I was badly affected much like all live entertainment performers. Every aspect of my gig work at the time was deeply impacted by the Pandemic. I went from doing professional gigs every weekend between being a professional mermaid with Sheroes Entertainment as well as running my own musical theatre troupe — The Merry Unbirthday Entertainment which performs stage shows at large festivals like The California Watermelon Festival — to no work at all.
Yet Hollywood Mermaid Gear was born out of this blackout of live performance. With all my sources of income & creativity gone, I began to brainstorm. I needed a way to stay creative make some cash flow while also staying connected to the mermaid community since our normal gig life & interactions had altogether vanished as the world went on hold.
I spent a lot of time swimming with my best mermaid friend as we couldn’t see anyone else during that time. During all our casual swims, I began to realize I hated swimming in every crown I owned. Were all the crowns from other makers gorgeous, of course, but all I could notice was the awful drag in the water from the weight of them. Every time I’d try to swim or dive down the crown would vanish or slow me down. That’s when I asked myself, ‘why aren’t mermaid crowns made out of mermaid material…? Silicone!”
From there, it was just the process of any product: brainstorm, design, create, test & do it over & over again until the product is fantastic or how we mermaids say it “finstastic.”
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Hollywood Mermaid Gear is the first-ever company to offer silicone crowns, a new option we are so excited to bring to the mermaid community & mermaids at heart. I noticed that many a mermaid, bride-to-be, & royal at heart loves to wear a crown or tiara, yet there were no durable waterproof options on the market that are lightweight & easy to wear in the pool or at the beach. I also could find very few circlet & tiara options. So, I created Hollywood Mermaid Gear to fill the void & bring these new ideas I had to fruition. I thought to myself, “…if I can’t find water-friendly crowns & circlets, I should make them because I’m not the only one searching!”
Right now, we have six different styles that can be poured in ANY color combo. Circlets are basically tiaras that can also be worn as choker necklaces. Our three circlets are the Wonder Circlet inspired by Wonder Woman but with nautical elements, the Classic Circlet inspired by art deco vintage Hollywood glam, & the Serenity Circlet which is a nod to Princess Serenity of Sailor Moon. For our three crown designs, we currently have the Coastal Crown which is a twist on the classic seashell crown, the Treasure Crown inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean & Poseidon’s Trident, & the Dream Crown which is inspired by princesses’ tiara crowns like those of Ariel, Aurora, & Rapunzel. Not only do we offer ready-to-buy on the website hollywoodmermaidgear.com, but we also offer custom order pours in any variation of color & style the customer chooses as well.
Another thing that sets us at Hollywood Mermaid Gear apart is our methods; we always pigment our silicone to be sure the color is long-lasting as well embed high-impact durable attachments in the silicone for ease of use. In addition, we are currently developing more designs & working on silicone mermaid top prototypes such as Clam Shells & more.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Fun side note about my mersona — Mermaid Moxie Marina. My special talent is to “speak dolphin”!
Pricing:
- Custom Classic Circlet start at $30
- Custom Serenity Circlet start at $40
- Custom Wonder Circlet start at $55
- Custom Coastal Crown start at $55
- Custom Dream Crown start at $60
- Custom Treasure Crown start at $60
There are also ready to buy options available on the website starting at $25.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.hollywoodmermaidgear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollywoodmermaidgear/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moxiemarina
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MermaidMoxieMarina
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/mermaidmoxiemarina/
Photographer: Mike Filanc Photography
