Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarina Harris.
Hi Sarina , it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I run two businesses in San Diego, San Diego Face Paint and Wild Child San Diego Nature School.
San Diego Face Paint started in 2021 with myself and a friend. I had learned face painting from working at Seaworld when I was 18 and 19 years old. I worked there over the summers when I came home from college. I also worked for an event company out in Phoenix while attending GCU, to obtain a B.S. in Biology which I finished in 2018. Since SDFP’s birth, it has grown into a multi-artist company with over 10 artists. We offer artists for small birthday parties, but our specialty is large corporate events. We have worked with SDGE, the San Diego Museum of Art, Spotify, San Diego City events, and countless local schools and businesses for their large festivals. We offer face painting, airbrush, glitter tattoos, balloon twisting, henna tattoos, princess makeover parties, and giant bubble artists dressed in character.
After finishing my B.S. in Biology, I came home to San Diego and couldn’t find any entry level jobs in my field. I got a temporary job as a nature school teacher for Eco Child Outdoor with Nature. Working for Melissa with the children, I realized I had found my passion. I went back to school for a Masters in Teaching at Point Loma Nazarene. After receiving my degree, I taught in various classrooms from Kindergarten to third grade. Eventually. I decided to go back to what lead me to teaching, and start my own nature school. Wild Child started out as a summer camp with three teachers. Families wanted to continue the program into the fall so we stayed open with 5 kids. Three years later, Wild Child has 50 kids enrolled on select days, seven teachers, and three groups. It is still a young program and I am overworked as an in person teacher, creating curriculum, acting as the director, and doing all the scheduling, planning, and office work. However, I get to take my 18month old baby with me to work and I absolutely love my program. I love being outside, creating something worthwhile, and teaching kids how to love the earth as well as love themselves.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
For San Diego face paint, learning who is reliable and who isn’t was rough. There was also a learning curve with requiring clients to pay upfront. There was a company that was hired out with Coronado Hotel to host an event for the Historic Society. They tried to stiff us $1500. I had to threaten to sue them. They ended up giving us a partial payment.
For Wild Child, there were countless times where I wanted to quit. After working all day with the kids, coming home and working till 10 or 11pm on the office work was extremely exhausting. In the first two years there were times where we only had 5 kids enrolled at a time and I was using my pay from San Diego Face Paint to pay for payroll. It put Wild Child in a lot of debt. I wasn’t able to get a loan approval for a small business because I was a young and unmarried woman. The banks wouldn’t listen to me. So I put everything on credit cards. We are finally on track to be getting out of debt and things are looking positive. Another hurdle was figuring out all the permitting with the city of San Diego. Mission Bay in particular is extremely difficult to get questions answered and there is often miscommunication between the park rangers that work there and the permitting office. It’s an extremely convoluted process to get anything done with permitting. The prices for summer camp permits has doubled since we first started. The city charges per child per week so it’s no wonder that summer camp prices are so high.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Wild Child San Diego Nature School is a nonprofit outdoor enrichment program that fosters children’s curiosity and love for the natural world through play-based, experiential learning. Founded by Ms. Sarina in 2022, the program emphasizes emotional safety, individualized learning, and nature immersion, drawing inspiration from Montessori and Waldorf philosophies. Children engage in activities like hiking, native plant and animal life exploration, art, music, yoga, and social-emotional development, all conducted outdoors year-round in various San Diego parks. The school’s mission is to create a nurturing environment where children feel safe and cared for while learning through play and age-appropriate lessons, utilizing the natural surroundings to stimulate curiosity and holistic development. What sets us apart from other nature schools, is our option for more traditional hours of 8:30-3pm with late pickup options. We also accept charter school funding and welcome children ages 18months-10 years. For our Tadpoles group, (18months-2.5years), we have a mobile nap room inside a converted bus that has cots, for grid AC, and a bathroom inside.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
For people just starting a business, stick with it and don’t give up! When it seems tough, keep pushing through and keep asking questions. If someone tells you something isn’t possible, you don’t have to believe them.
Pricing:
- 1hr of Face Painting is $150, 2hrs $210, 2hr Face Paint and Balloon Twisting package (1hr FP & 30min BT) is $220
- 1hr Giant Bubble Party with a Pirate or a Fairy is $250
- Year round pricing for ages 3-10: 1 day is $100, 2 days is $190, 3 days is $270, 4 days is $360, 5 days is $425
- Summer camp pricing : 1 day is $120, 2 days is $200, 3 days is $390, 4 days is $370,5 days is $440
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wildchildsandiegonatureschool.com & www.sandiegofacepaint.com
- Instagram: @wildchildsandiegonatureschool & @sandiegofacepaint
