This story is part of CNBC’s “Make It’s Six-Figure Side Hustle” series, in which people with lucrative side hustles break out of the routines and habits they used to make money on top of their full-time jobs. Want to talk? Let us know! Email us at AskMakeIt@cnbc.com.
When Tayo Lanlehin was planning her son’s first birthday party in April 2022, she bought a cake with yellow and blue signs, balloons and 3D planets. Every detail, except for the chair, fits into the theme of “The First Journey Around the Sun.”
She says she only found one rental seating option near her home in Oakland, California. It’s a white plastic chair for adults. She instead rented a picnic table with benches and spent weeks thinking about the gap in the market. According to Tayo, in May 2022, she purchased 48 high chairs from an overseas manufacturer for about $2,000 and stored them in her basement.
Those chairs became Bay Area Kids Rentals, a side business she runs with her husband, Dru Lanlehin. The company, which is now a full-fledged party rental business, had revenue of more than $295,000 in 2025 as of Nov. 25, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Although Bay Area Kids Rentals has been profitable since its inception, Dollar said the couple has not earned any money from the side business, instead reinvesting the money back into the business to expand the rental business. We currently offer ball pits, mini bumper cars, and furniture in multiple colors and styles.
Tayo and Dru’s first party was an event planner who discovered the company on Instagram and requested pink chairs for a Barbie-themed party for their daughter in August 2022. She then posted a photo on Instagram, and Tayo said the reviews drove mothers from the nearby wealthy town of Hillsboro to the company’s social media accounts.
Word of mouth “spread like wildfire,” she added, and by October, Bay Area Kids Rentals was providing decorations for parties celebrating the children and grandchildren of professional athletes and Silicon Valley executives.
The side hustle’s rapid success was initially “a little uncomfortable because of the level of celebrity,” Tayo says. “After my day’s work, I go to a party for the kids of Silicon Valley CEOs.”
The couple operates a Bay Area kids rental business and work a combined eight hours a week. Mr. Tayo is a strategic partnership principal at the healthcare company Blue Shield of California, where he oversees sideline marketing and customer communications as well as some of the company’s work with manufacturers. Mr. Dolu is head of product for Chegg Skills, part of the educational technology company Chegg, and manages the company’s accounting and finances.
They say they rely on six contract workers to handle tasks such as shipping, operating painting and jewelry-making stations, and maintaining equipment.
Here’s how Tayo and Dolu started their luxury party rental business, how they acquired high-profile clients, and how their individual skills made them powerful partners.
CNBC Make It: Do you think your side hustle success is repeatable?
Dolu: 100%, but there are some prerequisites. If someone is creative and detail-oriented, and there’s a market somewhere in the world to support that, I don’t think there’s anything to stop them. But Tayo does a great job of looking just a little bit around the corner, staying connected to market trends and identifying where the gaps are.
What skill set does it take to run a luxury rental business?
Tayo:[My inspiration]comes from a place of empathy. As a parent myself, I am constantly thinking about things like what kind of services we can provide (for children’s experiences), how to create a website that makes it easy to make reservations, what makes us different from other companies, and what we can do more seamlessly.
Bay Area Kids Rental Tables and Chairs for a Peppa Pig Themed Party
Provided by Bay Area Kids Rentals
Children are also very visual. I always think, “Wouldn’t it be weird to have a cute pink chair and a cute pink bounce house for a princess’s birthday?”
Dolu: Tayo has an entrepreneurial spirit and I come from a consulting background so I tend to be analytical. I wanted to do some market research, so I sent out a survey to get some signals. Other than the mortgage, children are the biggest expense item for parents. People are willing to go out of their way and spend money they may not have for their children…because children tend to embody your dreams, visions you didn’t have when you were younger.
How did Bay Area Kid Rentals attract ultra-wealthy and high-profile clients?
Tayo: We had to do some marketing (and search engine optimization), but I don’t really feel pressured because very early on in starting this business, we quickly found our ideal clients: high-net-worth families and their event planners.
I followed (NBA player) Andrew Wiggins’ partner, Mychal Johnson, and she posted about one of her daughter’s parties on Instagram. After doing some research, I realized that my second daughter’s birthday is coming up in October (2022). I sent her a direct message with a link to our website and said, “We do luxury children’s party rentals. If you’re having a party, we’d love to be a part of your child’s birthday.” She responded within 25 minutes and got in touch with her event planner.
We hosted 4 events for our family until they moved to Miami (2024).
What is different about ultra-high-net-worth clients? What do they like about your service?
Tayo: Flexibility and limiting touchpoints are very important in luxury spaces. We do not offer rentals for just 4 hours. We schedule our services around the times our clients want us to set up and tear down, and the times we want them to come and leave.
Bay Area Kids Rental Tables and Chairs for Barbie Themed Party
Provided by Bay Area Kids Rentals
They’re not going to come and go either. Many of our competitors take deposits to prevent people from damaging rental items. I don’t do that. We simply incorporate these costs into our pricing. That way you don’t have to have another conversation to process payments and refunds.
What is it like running this business together on top of your full-time job?
Tayo: Running this business has given me the confidence that I am building something myself. I am building something that is sustainable and has the potential to create wealth for generations.
I’m also really happy to be able to work with Dolu. This is like our third baby. Business partnerships often don’t work out, but the fact that we’re in business, married and raising children, and know how to solve all kinds of problems gives me confidence that[our relationship]will work out.
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