Yahoo Finance $70k to $1m: Firefighter quits job to become hens party entertainer
Sam Priestly started a side business dressing up as a firefighter for hen parties. It became so popular, he quit his actual job … as a firefighter.
A former firefighter has revealed why he decided to quit his job to become a full-time hen party entertainer and is now earning a much more lucrative salary.
Sam Priestly was earning $70,000 per year working 40-hour weeks as a firefighter with Fire and Rescue NSW. He loved his job and the camaraderie of working with his crew but said the level of pay and the rising cost of living meant he was unable to afford to buy a home.
“[I liked] the nice feeling of being a firefighter and helping people and being rewarded. Unfortunately, the pay did not cut it,” Sam told Yahoo Finance.
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To supplement his income, the 33-year-old started a side business where he would dress up as a firefighter for hen parties.
“It was just me and I’d get my friends I went to the gym with. It was all a bit of a joke. I went to Sydney University and almost topped mechanical engineering - I wasn’t really expecting to do hens’ parties for a living,” Sam said.
The Sydney resident previously worked as a bartender at hen parties and said he’d noticed a gap in the market where brides-to-be wanted a “fun hen-party experience” without necessarily getting a stripper.
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“We were like, ‘Why don’t we knock on the door as a firefighter and not be a stripper?’. We started doing that and would come to serve drinks and play games,” Sam said.
“The reception we got blew our minds. We went from two parties a week, to five, to 30. We got to the point where we couldn’t get enough staff to keep up.”
Sam ran the business, Men On Fire, for eight years alongside his day jobs as an engineer and more recently as a firefighter. The business eventually grew so popular that Sam found he was missing out on opportunities by maintaining his firefighting job and made the decision to quit the brigade.
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“It’s an amazing job. When I quit, my boss said it was the first time in 32 years he’s had someone leave from his crew. People try for 10 to 15 years to get in, so the fact that I left was pretty crazy,” Sam told Yahoo Finance.
While he misses his firefighting job, he says he also loves working in the hen party business for different reasons.
“I get to choose who works with us, we’re making good money and it’s just fun. That outweighs getting paid $70,000 a year to work nights and see people on the worst days of their life. It became more than money at the end,” he said.
By the time Sam quit in February last year, Men On Fire had grown to employ 150 people nationwide. Sam projects the business will make a $1 million turnover this financial year.
The business now offers a range of services including, life drawing classes, cocktail classes and bartending, with prices starting from $59 to $169 per person.
Job not as ‘crazy’ as you think
Sam said he’d had some unforgettable experiences with the job, including being paid to attend parties on islands and travelling around Australia.
But he said the job wasn’t as “crazy” as people expected, particularly because his business advertised to clients who specifically didn’t want strippers.
“To be honest, I’m married with two kids. I’ve been with my wife for 16 years now and most of our guys have partners,” Sam said.
“A lot of the time, it’s actually so tame and sometimes the bride doesn’t even want you to take your shirt off.”
Sam said the job could be a lucrative one for workers too, with staff earning $70 to $150 an hour plus travel bonuses.
He said digital marketing had been the key to growing his business but he was surprised by the people who sometimes came across his services.
“I did a 70th birthday on Friday night down in Bowral and did nude life drawing. The grandma had been told they were doing an arts and crafts session,” he said. “I knocked on the door as a firefighter and they all had a massive heart attack.”
The party had found his business by searching for art classes and life drawing, and ended up enjoying the class.
While Sam is still working towards buying a home for his family, he expects he will be able to do so within the next 12 months.
