Americans often tell their children tales of mythical creatures who come bearing gifts, such as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. However, parents have left one altruist off the list: the Booth Fairy or, as others know her, Elle Erickson.
As the Booth Fairy, Erickson travels around to various locations and sets up shop behind her lively turquoise and yellow wooden booth, which disassembles into four pieces to fit into her Toyota Matrix. She energetically gives advice and encourages passersby to order something off of the “menu,” whose items include advice, hugs, high fives, a standing ovation and more.
Although she may seem like a protagonist straight out of a fable, the Booth Fairy, perhaps unlike the mythical entities mentioned above, is undeniably real — in fact, she’s quite hard to miss. Erickson’s personal style is just as eclectic as her work, and a quick scroll through the Booth Fairy’s Instagram account shows her sporting patterned jumpsuits, hats of all shapes and sizes and colorful, dangly earrings.
Sometimes, Erickson’s talks with patrons at the booth end with a stranger crying on her shoulder. Other times, they simply involve a quick chat. Either way, Erickson embraces the chance to positively influence everyone she meets.
“If it doesn’t end up being something really deep, even if they engage with me and they witness me being my mindfully expressed self,” Erickson said, “I feel like that gives them permission to be more creative, out of their comfort zone.”
Erickson, who lives in Asheville, North Carolina, has flown around as the Booth Fairy for nearly a decade now. Erickson was inspired by the art at Burning Man, a music, art and culture festival in Nevada self-described as “a global quantum kaleidoscope of possibility.” After she visited the festival in 2011, a friend of Erickson’s built her a booth.
The Booth Fairy materializes everywhere from festivals and events to businesses, such as Trader Joe’s and Lowe’s, and the Booth Fairy Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
“It’s almost like you’re just creating this opportunity for connection,” Erickson said. “It’s like improv. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Erickson has always had a penchant for service; as a child, she wrote letters to her local paper recommending that her town hold a week for random acts of kindness and to the owner of a zoo after witnessing animal mistreatment.
Erickson also organizes regular visits to nursing homes, where she dresses in costumes and gathers a group of people to meet with residents, hold parades down the hallways, sing and dance and, most recently, chat with residents outside, from a distance.
The tradition started when Erickson began regularly visiting a family member at a nursing home.
“I felt so comfortable with the residents, and they all seemed to feel so much joy when I would visit, and we really connected. … Ultimately, I felt so good doing it,” Erickson said. “It’s just my calling. It felt so effortless.”
Erickson also regularly holds “Bliss Mobs,” where she gathers five to 10 of her “love ambassadors” to take to the streets and spread kindness for 90 minutes at a time. Traditionally, Erickson holds the events across the southeastern U.S. but last summer she took her Bliss Mobs on a tour across the country.
The group assembles with signs bearing phrases such as “Gluten free hugs,” “You’re beautiful” and “This is a positive sign.” The ambassadors sport “Hello, my name is” name tags with phrases similar to the signs, while encouraging passerby, via megaphone, to join the group and receive compliments and hugs.
“People are so — especially now — just so excited to witness joy. … People will say like, you’ve restored my faith in humanity,” Erickson said. “It sounds like a lot, but it’s just like, for them to be able to see this group of people smiling and encouraging and uplifting humanity is just such a powerful thing.”
Elle Erickson with various signs created for Bliss Mobs.
The Bliss Mobs also offer an opportunity for participants to get out of their comfort zones. Erickson, who describes herself as “the most outgoing extrovert I know,” said that even she gets nervous at the beginning of Bliss Mobs.
Molly Fincher, who met Erickson as the Booth Fairy at a festival in Asheville and has been collaborating on the Bliss Mobs since, agrees.
“Not everybody wants a high five. Not everybody wants a hug, and so learning to deal with that rejection from people and not to take it personally, it sounds odd but those were great memories for me because I was coming out of my shell while also learning some really valuable lessons,” Fincher said.
Elle Erickson and fellow “love ambassadors” at a Bliss Mob.
Whether or not passersby choose to engage with the crowd, Erickson knows that even witnessing the Bliss Mobs makes a difference.
“Sometimes people don’t necessarily accept the hug or engage with us directly,” Erickson said, “but I know that even if they just pass by, to be able to see a group of people expressing themselves like that and reaching out and being kind, it makes a difference.”
People sometimes underestimate Erickson’s work, Fincher said.
“She has this beautiful way of connecting with you and making you feel like you can say anything, so I think people underestimate what she’s doing until they interact with her … ,” Fincher said. “If she can make one person smile, make one person happy in that day, even if she’s by herself, that means everything to her.”
In light of the pandemic, Erickson has adjusted her M.O., setting up her booth in front of grocery stores to greet entering shoppers from a distance rather than at a festival. She has also nailed her encouraging signs onto street posts in the absence of Bliss Mobs, hoping to inspire people on the way to work.
Erickson funds her projects through her Traveling Trunk Shows; she collects vintage recycled clothing and holds pop-up sales in venues she colorfully decorates across the southeastern U.S. — with her booth as the check-out area, of course.
She has visited Knoxville several times with her shows, and last year, Erickson transformed a room above Earthbound Trading Company in Market Square into a full retail affair, with racks of clothes lining every wall and a makeshift changing room created out of a vibrant tapestry.
She uses the shows to promote sustainable shopping, as well as share advice with shoppers, such as how she quit smoking or recommendations about plant-based eating. Erickson also offers discounts to patrons who watch particular documentaries that have influenced her, and each trunk show includes a free bin where customers are asked to take just one item.
Throughout Erickson’s endless endeavors, spreading kindness is at the center of her cause.
“It’s so great, because I get to do so many different things, and I love that,” Erickson said. “I’m just so stimulated, and I feel so on purpose in my life. I really do. I feel so blessed.”
Erickson is on Instagram @theboothfairyproject and @travelingtrunkshow. Erickson also funds her projects through her Patreon page, which can be found here.
