WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Deacon Gagliano is just 10 years old, and like most of us, he wanted some extra spending money—so he asked his parents to help him start his own business as a balloon animal artist.
Deacon is a 4th grader at Maple West Elementary School in Williamsville.
He learned how to make a few balloon animals while he was in 3rd grade but was eager to learn how to make even more during his free time.
“I wanted to find a way to earn money,” Deacon said. “I started with just leaf raking but didn’t get much out of that. I thought I could entertain by doing balloon animals, and it took off from there.”
“We printed off some business cards, got him a shirt, and we try to get him in events throughout the year,” said Deacon’s mom Katie Gagliano.
Professionally Deacon goes by Deke the Balloon Boy.
Over the past few months he’s worked roughly ten events, making balloon animals for no price, just asking for tips.
He even makes sure to donate a portion of his profits to charities at the events he works.
“Not many people are used to seeing a 10-year-old do this, so everybody likes to watch him,” Katie said. “We’re very very proud.”
But his most impressive skill may not even be his ambition to start this endeavor in the first place.
“What’s most impressive is he remembers [how to make] them all, he watches [balloon animal tutorials] on YouTube, learns it and then he knows it,” Katie said.
He has a list of over 30 balloon creations memorized for events, and that list is growing every week in preparation of his next booking.
“He would like to do some birthday parties at some point or work in the restaurants,” Katie said.
This young business owner has even more creative goals for his future.
“I hope to be able to pay off my college funds,” Deacon said.
You can meet Deacon when he’s working at the Lavocat's Family Greenhouse and Nursery in Amherst Saturday, February 10th for their Valentine’s Day event.
