At age six, Isabella
Barrett has launched a $1 million children’s makeup and jewelry
line, appeared on countless talk shows, and holds an impressive beauty pageant
record.
The former Toddlers and Tiaras star has been making a name for herself in the media as a mini-mogul and drama queen in the running.
“What’s not to like about being a millionaire?” Isabella told the UK’s Daily Mirror. "I’m a superstar, I have my own jewelry line and I just love being the boss. I never lose at anything and almost every pageant I enter, I win. But what I love more than anything is shoes. I have over 60 pairs.”
Isabella and her mom, Susanna, 39, co-own the company Glitzy Girl which features lip glosses, velour hoodies, and charm bracelets—a business idea they hatched in 2010 based on a tradition they started during Isabella’s pageant days. Each time the tot won a beauty contest, she and her mom would get the new title printed on a charm bracelet. “Isabella got so many compliments on it that we decided to start making the bracelets,” Susanna told Yahoo! Shine. "We're now a $1 million company. And with all our endorsement deals, we've exceeded that number." Isabella doesn’t enter pageants anymore (“She’s won most of them,” says Susanna), but will start up again when she hits her teens. In the meantime, she works on the 10 lines she and her mother produce, attends school, takes language classes (she speaks French, Italian, and a little Chinese) and books television appearances and modeling gigs. She's also launched a singing career. In late 2012, Isabella and best friend Eden Wood, also a former "Toddlers and Tiaras" star released their single“LOL” on the Ryan Seacrest show.
In her downtime, Isabella socializes with children of celebrities and the kids at school. “Bella draws a line between her media personality and who she really is,” says Susanna. “When kids ask her about photos of her in a magazine, Bella says ‘That’s not me.’
When it comes to spoiling the first grader, Susanna admits to rewarding her daughter for a job well done, which can range from booking a television gig to cleaning her room. “We keep most of her money in a savings account for her for when she’s older, but we do let her splurge a few hundred dollars at a time,” says Susanna. “She drives a mini Cadillac, orders lobster, and loves her shoes—what’s your favorite item of clothing?” she asks Isabella. “Stretch pants!” she answers. “No, you love shoes, right?” responds Susanna, telling Shine, “She loves her Michael Kors high heels.”
Susanna says there is no expense spared when it comes to her daughter’s career, telling the Daily Mirror, “That means a voice coach, make-up artist, regular spray tans, hair extensions, acrylic nails and even made-to-measure fake teeth which cost us $500...Each performance needs to be like a Broadway show and every single outfit is custom-made, costing up to $10,000. We must have spent around $50,000 entering pageants in the last two years alone, but look where she is now. It’s been more than worth it."
And like any “It” girl, Isabella’s had her share of drama. Her long-standing rivalry with now four-year-old Paisley Dickey made headlines when Isabella called her a “hooker” after Paisley, then three, dressed as Julia Robert’s character in “Pretty Woman” for an episode of “Toddlers and Tiaras.” While exiting a tanning salon in 2011, Isabella, then five, told TMZ, “I just got spray tanned and last time I was here, Paisley tried to copy me and my mother doesn’t dress me up as a hooker".
Of the rivalry, Susanna says, “That was something the media created—they asked me what I thought about Paisley’s mom dressing her as Julia Roberts and I said I wouldn’t dress my daughter like that. Isabella heard me talking about it and began saying the same thing. But she and Paisley are friends and always have been.”
Drama aside, Susanna and Isabella are enjoying the ride. “All I want for Isabella is for her to be able to travel, share experiences, sing, and be a well-rounded individual. People have always said that Bella has the It factor. But if the fame ended tomorrow, I would be 100 percent OK with that.”
