ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — When Kirbie Humber checked her Facebook account last week, she had a message telling her she won a free breakfast for four at Coffee Matters.
The prize marked the twelfth straight month the Paradise resident has won at least one contest — she sometimes wins several contests per month.
Last month, she won twice.
“I have a running joke that I have a quota to meet,” she laughed.
Humber, 31, said her luck really began about four years ago when social media ‘like and share’ contests became popular.
The first contest she won on social media was a selfie contest through O’Neill Nissan in St. John’s. The winning selfie photo was displayed on the side of a vehicle for a few weeks, plus the winner got a $250 prepaid Visa.
Humber won.
“That was the start of it, I think,” she recalled when thinking back on her luck.
Since then, she’s won countless small — but frequent — prizes.
She’s won concert tickets from K-Rock, Hits FM, and North Atlantic.
She’s won artwork from local artists, several meals each from Coffee Matters, Jungle Jim’s and Smoke’s Poutinerie.
Countless articles of clothing. Skincare products from The Landells Clinic. Jewellery from Brassy Lassy. A paint class at Funky Island.
And that’s not all.
Rocky Mountain chocolate.
A rug.
A one-of-a-kind succulent holder made out of a Troll doll.
A barbecue.
A Sharpie portrait of her face by local artist Sailor Danny.
A cellphone case.
“I always joke around that I have a horseshoe, you know, lodged up there." — Kirbie Humber
“It got really ridiculous,” Humber laughed, after she started listing everything she’s won.
In 2017, KIXX Country held a song request contest. Callers requested songs to have their name entered to win tickets to a three-day country music festival on Daytona Beach.
Humber was the last person to qualify and, of course, she won. She said that’s the biggest prize she’s won to date.
While people tell her that she should be buying lottery tickets, Humber prefers contests that cost nothing to enter — an important consideration for someone who is accustomed to getting things for free.
“With like and share contests, it’s just like, ‘Oh, well’, you don’t lose anything,” she explained.
However, when Humber won the trip to Daytona Beach, the only thing that wasn’t included was spending money.
So, the day after she found out that she won the trip, Humber figured she may as well try her luck with a Nevada ticket.
It was the first time she ever bought a lottery ticket. She won $100.
“I always joke around that I have a horseshoe, you know, lodged up there,” she guffawed.
In fact, Humber, who has plenty of tattoos, said her next tattoo is going to be a horseshoe on her butt. She’s hoping a tattoo artist will have a contest she can enter so that she can win that, too.
Some of Humber’s friends say they should be jealous, but friend Allison Anderson said she simply can’t.
“She’s the sweetest person ever, and she would do anything for anybody, so she deserves it.”
Humber’s winning ways have encouraged many of her friends start entering contests, too.
“I always tag you hoping that I’ll win by tagging you,” Anderson said to Humber. “But then you share it and you win,” she laughed.
Humber’s tips to win
Humber said most of her winnings come from simple like and share contests on social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
One might think she must spend a great deal of time entering contests, but Humber said she typically enters about two contests per day on average.
She said she simply sees contests scrolling through her Facebook, so it takes a minimal amount of time to comment, like, or share.
The key is consistency.
Another tip for people hoping to emulate her luck is to never be the first person to comment on a contest.
Humber said she’s seen some live videos in which companies choose a winner by quickly scrolling through the comments and randomly stopping on a name.
“So, if you’re the first one to comment, you’re not going to win,” she said.
Other contests, however, use random name generators to choose winners. In that case, Humber wonders if the letters in her name somehow match up with an algorithm used in the random generators.
Whatever the cause of her luck, she says she’s enjoying it while it lasts. She wins so often that now she’s worried the luck will run out.
“I think people are just going to catch on and be like, ‘No, we’re just not going to give the prize to her,’” Humber laughed.
“I think I’ll win, they just won’t tell me.”
