Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Caleigh Balbinot. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Caleigh, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I started Face Character Performing in 2016 with Disney. After a 2 month training period I was on the 33rd Cast of the Disney Wonder Cruise Ship. This built my strong base for the knowledge that I have now for Character Performing. While briefly working for another Princess Company in Pittsburgh, in the following year, I learned a lot about the party industry and also how to turn this art form into a business. With these two areas of expertise that I built overtime I was able to combine them and share them with my first set of Cast Members.

I don’t really think that there is any way to rush gaining knowledge of any kind. It takes time, on the performing front as well as the business ownership side. Im grateful for the time that I had with Disney, and with the other Company that I worked for, and know that my Company is strong because I dedicated myself to honing these crafts at my own pace.

One of the most essential things that I learned about Character Performing is that you’re never done learning; I love rewatching the movies, going through our power point trainings, and talking to other performers about the Character. Because most of these Characters are finite in their stories, meaning we wont really ever have a continuation film, we need to work really hard on improvisation so that we can continue to think of new story lines to give to guests. This can be one of the most difficult aspects of masting a Character, but I think it’s a challenge that is fun and worth while.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up training classically in the Vaganova technique as a ballet dancer. This lead me to Point Park University, in Pittsburgh, to persue a Bachelor of the Arts in Dance. While in college I auditioned and worked for Disney as Elsa. So, I have been involved in the arts since the age of two, and a business owner since the age of 20.
 
Enchanted Experiences combines my passion for performing with my love of Disney! Enchanted Experiences is devoted to providing the highest quality, live character entertainment for almost any occasion in the greater Pittsburgh area. Our most booked experience is our Birthday party packages, but we are also frequently at community events like festivals, libraries, and meet & greets at local businesses.

Our state is filled with character companies that are ready to dress up and attend a birthday. At Enchanted Experiences, it’s more than just dress up for us. We have done extensive research on each character and purchased handmade costumes and wigs. Each performer is hand selected and given specialized training to accurately portray each character they are approved for! This includes how each character walks, how to properly emulate the voice, how to pose, how to apply makeup, and more. It is our attention to detail, high quality costuming and wigs, and professional performers that sets us apart from the rest.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

We strive to provide an authentic character experience from the moment we arrive. We are deeply committed to encouraging not only children’s imaginations, but adult’s as well. We care about entertaining guests, bringing children’s imagination to life, and creating a shared experience that everyone will remember forever. Performing is our passion. There are few things more heartwarming in this world than to witness a child seeing their favorite princess walk through the door. We live for the warm hugs, the magical memories, and the enchanted experiences we share with each and every child (and adult!) that we interact with. 

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social Media is really important, for any business honestly, and I knew that Enchanted Experiences needed to have a strong presence. In the beginning days of the Company I had photoshoots of our Characters so that I had content to actually put on Instagram and Facebook. Overtime, after getting a few bookings, I was able to showcase what we looked like at parties and events, which Im sure is reassuring to clients! I made it a point to be clear with our audience about the products we offer, and am honest about the quality we invest in. This means that people who are interested in our services feel confident booking us because we only post content taken at events that we have been to, or planned photoshoots of our upgraded costumes. I worked to make sure that our posting schedule was, and still is, very consistent; and that we were hitting our target audiences which is typically mothers or grandmothers in the Pittsburgh area. Now that Enchanted Experiences has expanded and I need all the help I can get with running the various aspects of the business, I have been fortune enough to employ Cast Members to run our various platforms and keep our followers up to date on our upcoming events, recent experiences we attended, and engage them with fun and relevant content. I think if I were to give advice about running social media accounts for a business, it would be to show your authentic self, products, and services. In that way you are going to attract the followers and clients who you really want, who believe in your product, and would benefit from your services. Working from an area of honesty and transparency has always been really important to me, and on social media it is no different.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.enchantedexperiencespgh.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enchantedexperiencespgh/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnchantedExperiences