Jennifer Gill and her husband work in an industry shrouded with an unfair reputation.
The couple owns and operates carnival rides and games, travelling around Australia to help bring joy to other Aussie families.
But at almost every event, they’re met with the same unfair and outdated accusations.
“Every year at [the] Ekka it’s ‘oh you brought the pig flu’ or whatever it is, ‘you’re always bringing the bad weather’, it’s just all crap,” Gill tells nine.com.au.
Both Gill and her husband come from families who have worked in the industry for decades, hers in America and his here in Australia for the past five generations.
She explains that she thinks the carnival worker stereotype originated decades ago, adding that she and others she knows see the term “carnie” as a derogatory nickname.
“I think they got a bad name years and years ago, and I couldn’t tell you too much about that because I wasn’t around then, but I can assure you that it’s nothing like that from what I’ve experienced,” she says.
Gill and her husband met when he travelled to the United States to visit a friend who was working with her family.
Jennifer Gill and her husband travel Australia operating games and rides at some of our most popular fairs and carnivals. (Supplied)
They were just friends for a couple of years before falling in love, when Gill decided to make the move to Australia and join his family business, despite some reservations.
“He and I started working a couple of sideshow alley games, and to be honest, I was probably standing in a 30-foot balloon game, just going, ‘what the hell did I sign up for?’ This isn’t what I wanted to do for a living; I didn’t see my future being a showman,” she recalls.
So, Gill came up with an idea. Rather than pursuing a different career away from her husband, she decided instead to build up their business.
“I didn’t want to just be working a couple of games, I wanted to own more, I wanted to do more,” she says.
She got involved with the Amusement Industry Association and started saving to buy some more games and, eventually, their first ride.
The couple built their business up to own multiple rides and games. (Supplied)
Today, Gill and her husband own several sideshow alley games, ”anywhere from the pick-a-duck, basketball game, laughing clowns, balloon pop,” she says.
They also have three major rides that travel with them “nonstop,” one of which she explains has its very own fanbase.
“I’m sure you remember what a Gravitron is,” she laughs.
“It’s one of our ultimate favourites; we have a following with that one. People follow us all over to go on that ride.”
When they first started building the business, Gill and her husband would work all the rides and games, but today they employ people to help. Not just because they simply can’t manage every ride and game themselves, but because Gill also no longer travels to every show.
Their Gravitron, called the Alien Abduction, has it’s very own fanbase travelling from show to show. (Supplied)
“One thing I said to my husband is if we ever have kids, I want to be able to send the kids to school,” she says.
Gill explains that there is a school that travels with the shows; however, it’s only available up to grade six, at which point a lot of workers will send their kids to boarding school.
“I didn’t want to send my kids to boarding school, so we built the business up to a place where I could afford to get away,” she says.
“I lived in a caravan and sent my first, my eldest, to school, and I picked her up and dropped her off.
“My husband was on the road traveling to all the shows, and I would only come out and work the bigger shows like Sydney Royal Easter, Adelaide Show, Melbourne Show, or any shows that were close that I could get to on the weekends I was there.”
The couple built their business up so they could afford their kids a sense of ‘normalcy’. (Supplied)
While it might sound like a lot of effort to go to, Gill explains that there’s one main reason that she and her husband stay in the industry, despite the difficult logistics and outdated stereotypes.
“Ultimately, I think for my husband and me, what we love about it, and especially now that we have kids, is you get to put these families together on these rides and see them come off the rides with the biggest smile on their faces,” she says.
“And to me, if I can see that and offer them a good time, if it lasts for two or three minutes of the day, that is the best return to us to get back from seeing families that are able to have this excitement together.”
Produced in partnership with CareerOne.