Like most little girls, Isabella Barrett loves dressing up, collecting teddy bears and singing along to Justin Bieber.
But that’s about all she has in common with a typical kid. Because at the tender age of six, mini-mogul Isabella is a MILLIONAIRE who has already developed a taste for the finer things in life.
Thanks to wins in beauty pageants which led to stardom on hit US TV reality show Toddlers and Tiaras, she now has own range of jewellery and has already raked in more than most of us could dream of earning in a lifetime.
Instead of clamouring for trips to McDonald's or the sweet shop, Isabella likes to order filet mignon steak or lobster from room service in five-star hotels and her wardrobes are stuffed full of custom-made $10,000 dresses and designer shoes.
“What’s not to like about being a millionaire?” she says. “I’m a superstar, I have my own jewellery 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.”
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Two years ago, when Isabella was just four, mum Susanna, 39, discovered her youngest daughter’s potential after entering her in her first beauty pageant. Susanna says: “Before we knew it we were winning every competition and had been picked to appear on Toddlers and Tiaras. Bella fell in love with all the glitz and glamour and was a natural performer.
“Now she owns her own business and already has enough money in the bank to secure her future.”
And while Susanna is quick to hit back at those who criticise her for “sexualising” her daughter and making so much money from her, she does admit to becoming addicted to her daughter’s new-found fame.
“At a certain point at the start when Bella was winning all the time, I’ll admit I did get caught up in it all and had to stop and say to myself, ‘Am I doing this for myself or for Bella?’” says Susanna.
“The whole pageant world is so addictive, especially when your daughter wins so much. But then I looked at Bella and realised she was loving it every bit as much as I was.”
According to US law, Susanna and her husband Antonio must save a percentage of Isabella’s income, money she will not be allowed to touch until she is at least 18. But the mum admits it’s hard not to spoil her little girl and confesses she’s already developing some rather extravagant tastes.
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“Antonio and I do not want her to grow up spoilt, so really try to keep her feet on the ground,” says Susanna. “You see what happens to these child stars like Britney Spears and I certainly do not want that happening to my daughter. But she does like nice things, so we do treat her.
“That mainly means new shoes and lots of them. She has designer ones and the sparklier the better for Bella. And she has a ton of Burberry headbands.
Her bedroom is every girl’s dream and has its own throne-style chair and feather boas and Swarovski crystals adorn everything. In her pageant room she even has her own mannequins as the dresses are so expensive we can’t afford to have them crushed in a wardrobe.”
But Isabella’s biggest extravagance is room service at luxury hotels. “We travel so much to enter pageants, she really has developed a taste for five-star hotels and loves being waited on,” says Susanna.
“She can go a little crazy though and once ordered $2,200 [£1,450] worth of food. It’s never cheeseburgers and fries, always the most expensive like filet mignon and lobster. I know it seems pompous, but to us it’s just funny and part of her personality.”
At the family’s Rhode Island home, Isabella has her own office and pageant room for all her competition paraphernalia. Every inch of space is crammed with her trophies.
Susanna says: “I’ll admit when it comes to Bella’s wardrobe, there is no expense spared. 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.”
While Isabella has won huge prizes on the pageant circuit, her financial success comes mainly from the jewellery line she launched in 2012, Glitzy Girl.
It includes charm bracelets and has now expanded to make-up and clothes. The company made $1million in its first year and now employs 42 people – all from an idea Susanna says was her daughter’s.
“I had a charm bracelet made for Bella one day to celebrate her wins and all the mothers loved it,” says Susanna. “Then Bella suggested we could make them for everyone... and Glitzy Girl was born.”
Susanna, who also has daughter Victoria, 19, says: “I run the company on a day-to-day basis while Isabella is at school. But when she’s off, she is absolutely hands-on and is always at the factory.
“She picks the designs for the bracelets, helps with the shipping and she tests every colour in our lip gloss and nail polish line herself. She is definitely the brainchild behind the company. It seems everything she touches turns to gold.”
Isabella is also the face of a line of toys in Toys R Us in the US and has just recorded a pop single.
She goes to school full-time and is so talented she can even speak Italian, German and Spanish. Any spare time is spent on a dizzying round of gymnastics, dance classes and singing lessons.
Her mum says: “The next goal is to be a Disney star and knowing Isabella she will get what she wants. She would love to be the next Selena Gomez.”
Susanna insists: “I am not a pushy parent, I just help Isabella achieve her dreams. If she told me tomorrow she didn’t want to do it any of it any more, then that would be fine.”
And Isabella herself insists: “I love all of it and never want to stop. I just love being a star.”
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