My Old Boss Is Trying To Bully Me Out Of Business, What Can I Do?

Location: California (Coachella Valley)

First off let me start this off by saying I am a small business owner who works in the party entertainment industry (face paintings, balloon animals, etc). I am my only employee and do not plan on expanding ever. I only do this as a side gig on Saturdays only and I have a real full time job on the week days.

Toward the end of high school I started working at this party company where they taught me how to be a face painter and balloon twister. Granted most of it was learning on my own and they provided me with the materials. I mostly used YouTube and social media tutorials to learn. Fast forward almost 6-7 years later I have a business of my own and it is thriving. I am starting to plan small character meet & greet events and I message my old boss asking if she wants to collaborate together since I did enjoy working for her. She says yes and tells me to come over to her shop (she is a big enough business that she has her own physical location). I am very excited and have a great pitch presentation ready. She messages me about an hour before I see her and asks for my current address so she can “update my file”. I go into her office and am confused as to why there’s another person sitting there with her. It’s her paralegal. They have a cease and desist letter ready for me.

Right off the bat this was rushed. My name is completely incorrect (not wrong spelling just a completely different name) the date is the current day but 2 years prior, and the only thing they got right was the address I had sent via text an hour earlier.

The cease and desist letter basically states that because I signed a non compete I am doing wrong by the law. The last time I signed a non compete contract from them was more than 3 years ago. I have asked for a dated copy of the last one I signed and I have yet to receive it. They are “looking for it”. They tried to claim that those can last 10 years but I’m not buying it. They are claiming I am “infringing on their intellectual property” because they somewhat taught me how to face paint and do balloon animals. They are claiming these are trade secrets when really I taught myself using YouTube and Instagram. They are also claiming I copied their business model despite that being farther from the truth. A quick look at both of our company website can prove that. I have all of my prices listed clearly on my website with clear descriptions and rely on an automated online booking system while their website only gives broad descriptions of their services with the main booking being done over phone and email. Another claim being made is that I am using their likeness and photos. Which is flat out false.

All of this coupled with the fact that they are a large business with over 50+ employees and subcontractors while I am just 1 person who does this only 1 day out of the week. They work with big corporations and festivals while I do backyard birthdays.

She gave me an ultimatum of either letting her control what I can and can’t do with my business, or I buy their “children party entertainment” side of the business for an obscene amount of money. I feel like I am being pressured and harassed to stop doing my small business or buy into part of their business. This is causing me so much stress that I can’t sleep at night and I’m having panic attacks at my job :( I love face painting and working with children and I can’t believe this is happening to me. Their business makes so sooo much money. She works with celebrities! We don’t have the same client base, nor am I soliciting any of her past clients. Like I mentioned, she works with high end clients and I work with middle class / low income families. I need to consult an attorney but I don’t really have the money. The reason I do this side business is to be able to afford groceries.

They are trying to monopolize the already niche market in an unfair way. I know I have some sort of fighting chance but I need to be reassured. They don’t think that I will defend myself. This is an obvious intimidation tactic but I am ready to lay everything on the line for something I love.

TLDR; my old boss thinks they are the inventor of face painting , balloon animals, and party characters so they are trying to intimidate me out of the market.