She was mermaid for this job.
Yasmin Awan, 28, from Liverpool, England, is living a double life, but not in the way you may think — by day, she’s a junior doctor, but in her spare time, she transforms into a beautiful mermaid.
When she’s not working in the Aintree Hospital’s trauma unit, Awan is a qualified mermaid performing for kids’ birthday parties and even weddings.
Awan, whose mermaid name is Athena Storm, explained that she struck an interest in the profession six years ago.
“Six years ago when I was doing my [Master’s program], I was working late in the library and procrastinating online,” Awan told South West News Service.
“I found an advert which said ‘learn to be a mermaid’ and went and did a weekend.”
After that one weekend, Awan claimed that the side gig — in an industry worth $500 million, one professional mermaid claimed — became a “huge part” of her life.
In order to become a qualified mermaid, she had to learn how to hold her breath underwater and was taught how to swim with a monofin, a flipper that looks like a mermaid’s tail.
“People don’t think being a mermaid is very complicated but it’s not just dressing up,” Awan explained. “I had to learn to hold my breath for an extended amount of time. It’s all very technical but people don’t realize it.”
Now, she and her best friend run a business together called Aquatic Mermaids, which has a fleet of professional mermaids available for hire at children’s parties, corporate events and even aquarium performances.
And, in addition to playing the part, Awan also dresses the part, making all the tops herself and hand-sewing each sequin, a method that ensures her costume will be safe for marine animals in the water she swims in.
Awan also has two tails made from different materials — rubber and fabric.
“I used to separate my life into being a doctor and being a mermaid, but it’s all one,” Awan said. “Junior doctors have tricky rotas. If I’m on call or on [late nights], I can’t do as much as I would like.”
However, what Awan seems to love the most about the job is making a difference in people’s lives, especially kids.
“It’s really special, what I do makes a really positive difference,” Awan said. “Children think I am real so to give them that magic in their life, it fills me with life and with joy.”
She also organizes beach cleanups and tries to get youngsters involved to go green.
“We do beach cleans where I bring a blow-up clam, and kids get a ‘wish crystal’ if they bring me some rubbish,” she explained.
In addition to performing at events, she has competed in the Miss Mermaid competition and has hopes to put on charity events at Adler Hey and Sheffield Children’s’ Hospitals in the UK.
“I know I’m one person so I can’t change the world, but if I can change one person’s world, and give a child a bit of magic, I am making the world a bit of a happier place,” Awan said.
But Awan’s unique side hustle may not be that unusual after all.
Last month, Netflix premiered a new docuseries called “MerPeople,” about professional mermaids auditioning to work at the successor of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida.
The state park is well-known for its mermaid shows, a full-on production that has been going on since 1947.
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie even tried their hand at Weeki Wachee’s mermaid show during Season 2 of their 2004 reality show, “The Simple Life,” where they tried out different jobs around the United States.
