Meet Candyce Will

We had the good fortune of connecting with Candyce Will and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Candyce, what’s the most important thing you’ve done for your children?
Teaching my children that they are leaders and can do whatever they put their minds to.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a child I always loved to draw and paint. As I grew up I intended to take classes at college for commercial art, which is now known as graphic art. I started having children and college went to the wayside. After a bitter divorce, although I hadn’t worked outside of the home for 14 years I had to find work again and while I was looking for office work (what I was trained in high school for and had several jobs in the office before children) I decided to take some of the clown training I had learned from a 4H leader at a 4H conference I attended. 4H is an organization similar to Boy and Girl Scout organizations and Future Farmers of America. I had my oldest daughter Roseanne work with me as I had been teaching my children and other 4Hers about clowning, and she and I would work together as a team. She was 13 at the time. Later, as time went on, Roseanne stopped working with me and my youngest daughter, Christina would work with me for several years.
While I worked as a clown for about a year, I also started working full time in an office and this took time away from the clown work. I had been noticed by another local clown and she had asked me to do face painting with her at one of her jobs. She also told me about a clown convention that went on in Laughlin Nevada every year in November. I attended my first convention and was awestruck with all the things I was learning to improve being a clown. I was determined to try again and make it work.
I started doing clown work in 1993 and it took several years to promote myself. There have been ups and downs including the clown scare several years ago that had people not wanting to use clowns for a while. This was hard on the clown community and so I had to think outside the box. I decided to create Candy Entertains Kids, where instead of clown make up I would come cutely dressed for the occasion just not as a clown. This seemed to do the trick! Even so, I still do Butterscotch the Clown when asked for her.
I created a website when websites were not as well known how to do back in 1993 and I believe having one is one of the ways I have gotten myself out there.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Being a Cali girl, I would take them to Disneyland, and or Knott’s Berry Farm first! In town I would take them to visit the Mission San Juan Capistrano as I am a parishoner there. Two of my favorite restaurants in town are El Adobe and Sundried Tomato. Then we would take a ride down to Dana Point Harbor as I am about 3 miles away.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My children, Michael, Roseanne, Jaime and Christina, for without them in my life I would never have become the person I am today.

Website: https://www.candyentertainskids.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candyentertainskids