For Brandon Axelrod, a 27-year-old physician at one of Manhattan’s most acclaimed medical facilities, it’d be easy to have an inflated ego.
But the $405,000 albatross that is his student loan debt keeps the Long Island native grounded.
It’s a humongous, humbling bill that the oral and maximal facial surgery resident is remitting with the help of helium.
“I’m paying back my student loans by making balloon art and posting it on social media,” Axelrod, whimsically known as “Doctor Brandini” to his over 54,000 online followers, told The Post with a laugh.
“I’m always ruminating on the debt. I’m just always nervous about it,” confessed the specialist, a graduate of both Cornell University and Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine.
“So I figured why not get back into a hobby I used to love as a kid, making balloons,” he added, “I decided to make them, post them online and try to make some money.”
It was a dream born from a childhood injury-turned-inspirational encounter.
“When I was 5, I tripped and fell in the shower and my two front teeth got pushed up into my gums,” he recalled of the bloody scene. “My parents rushed me to the dentist, he performed a procedure, and when he was done, he snapped his fingers like a magician and made a red spongeball appear.”
“At that moment, I thought, ‘This is the coolest job ever. I want to be a dentist who makes people happy.’”
And, just like that, the magnificent “Brandini” — a nickname given to Axelrod by his grandfather — was born.
The tot spent years perfecting his magician and balloon-making skills, working birthday parties and corporate events across Long Island for pay, every weekend, throughout middle and high school.
This profitable side hustle has earned the 27-year-old a handsome $2,303 since the top of 2026 — all from social media, as Axelrod doesn’t make individual balloon creations as one-off purchases.
It’s cash he’s pocketed — then immediately handed over to his lenders — by monetizing viral videos of his rubber masterworks. A life-size rendering of “NUEVAYoL” rapper Bad Bunny and a mini replica of the Statue of Liberty are just a few of his inflatable feats to attain viral acclaim on TikTok and Instagram.
“On TikTok, you need at least 10,000 followers to start monetizing your posts,” Axelrod explained of the platform’s exclusive Creator Rewards Program, a system designed to help influencers generate higher revenue potential by posting high-quality, original content.
Wannabe breadwinners must be at least age 18, post videos that are at least one minute long and — among a few other requirements — must have amassed over 100,000 video views within the last 30 days of applying to the program.
Axelrod surpassed the latter threshold in February.
He twisted together an eye-popping, peg-legged pirate, who came complete with a sword, a hook in place of its hand and a shoulder-perched parrot.
The crafty doc gifted the lifelike formation to a fellow healthcare worker at the hospital.
Footage of the balloon buccaneer earned Axelrod some bountiful booty — a combined 3 million video views across the internet.
“The pirate video shot my social media accounts into another dimension,” he bragged. “I knew it was gold because it attracted huge audiences on both platforms.”
“As a smaller creator, I have to expect that most people watching my videos are unaware of my [student loans repayment] mission,” the creative continued. “So, making these really fun, complex balloons and getting support from people all over the world means a lot.”
The entrepreneur told The Post that he routinely spends nearly $400 on professional-grade balloons from various wholesale companies to create his colorfully ornate objets d’art. Each magna opus takes between 1 and 2 hours to complete, depending on its size and intricate design.
For him — with approximately $402k to go — it’s a slow, yet steady means to an end.
Axelrod is just one in the 43 million borrowers on the hook for thousands — or, in his case, hundreds of thousands — in the name of higher education. Of that number, roughly 9 million folks are in default, making up $425 billion of the $1.7 trillion nationwide student debt.
While some recent grads are jumping US borders, absconding to avoid those “psychologically burdensome” repayment fees, others are sacrificially making huge monthly payments to avoid federal wage garnishments.
Axelrod wanted to get ahead of the chaos as quickly as possible.
“A lot of my co-residents are waiting until after residency to start paying their loans, but I think it makes more sense to start paying them down now,” he told The Post, admitting that “money is tight as a resident.”
“But making little sacrifices now will pay off in the long run,” added Axelrod, whose lifelong goal has been a career in dentistry.
Now, as residency makes it virtually impossible for the merrymaker to take weekend gigs, Axelrod has come to rely on his colleagues for balloon art requests.
“They’re an integral part of my content,” he said. “I ask [my coworkers] what kind of balloon animal they’d like, and I film myself making it for them for free.”
The no-charge handiwork is Axelrod’s way of giving back to his peers — those superheroes in scrubs who give their all to the sick of the city.
“It’s a cool feeling to see my fellow healthcare workers smile when I hand them a balloon,” said Axelrod. “It kinda brings out the little kid in them.”
“It’s fun to make someone’s day — while making a little extra money on the side.”
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