Balloon artist leaves past behind to reach new heights
RICHFIELD, Minn. - Some people go to work. Amber Corbett goes to play.
Make no mistake, Amber’s job at Hub Hobby in Richfield is still her means to earning a living, but it’s hard to imagine anyone finding more joy in their workplace.
“You get all the fun stuff,” she giggles, bounding between toy trains and tiny flying drones.
“Isn't this pretty cool,” she exudes, her neon wig and rainbow costume bustling as she darts about.
A co-worker assures a customer, yes, “she does work here.”
But let a child enter the store, and Amber’s true passion emerges. “Should we do some balloons?” she asks, excitedly.
In a quick series of twists and squeaks, Amber delivers puppies, aliens and scary ghosts, all made from balloons as entertains children and their parents with laughter inducing banter.
“She's great,” says a mom, taking in the show. “She makes a lot of smiles I think.”
As much as Amber loves making balloons for children, her passion is about to take her to new heights.
More on that in a second, but first you know a little more about Amber’s sometimes difficult journey to this point – including the imprisonment of her father.
“I was in ninth grade when he got arrested,” she says. “And I just cried.”
Amber was on the school bus when she saw the squad cars line up behind her father’s van.
He was convicted of a series of fast food robberies, prompted, Amber says, by his substance abuse.
“For the longest time I was mad at him, like so angry, like why did you choose your drugs over me?”
Amber, her mother, and two sisters, were left to fend for themselves.
“We lost everything,” she says. “We lost the house we were living in, all because of his decisions.”
Now 28-years-old, Amber’s challenges have not eased. A troubled marriage recently ended in divorce, leaving Amber as a single mom raising a second grader with speech and language issues.
But any opportunity Amber might have for bitterness, dissolves when she puts on her costume, starts blowing up balloons and assumes her alter ego, “Silly Miss Tilly.”
“You guys,” she yells out at an event in Woodbury while evoking the heroine in Disney’s blockbuster Frozen. “Why couldn't Elsa have a balloon?”
“She would let it go,” screams a child. Both Amber and the children gathered around erupt in giggles.
“I could be bitter about a lot of things, but bitter in the heart is not good,” Amber says.
“When I'm in a crowd of kids, I have control.”
But now Amber has extra reason to be excited. After answering a call on Facebook, she was selected to be member of the Team USA balloon sculpting team at the World Balloon Convention in April in New Orleans.
“It’s going to be huge!” she blurts, unable to contain her excitement. She’ll be part of the large sculpture team headed by Twin Cities balloon artist Scott Nichols, who has recruited balloon artists from across the county.
“Amazing, magnificent, beautiful art - that’s what it is,” Amber says of the sculptures, which can reach heights of 15 feet.
Life handed Amber Corbett more than her share of deflating moments. But what better than balloons to keep her bouncing back.
“I don’t have to dwell on those things,” Amber says. “I have to work on making people smile and laugh.”
For more heartwarming stories like this, LIKE Humankind on Facebook.