We were lucky to catch up with Paolina Goodson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Paolina, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I was a part time massage therapist. In 2015 I heard about a princess ball coming to my home town and I wanted to take my 2 year old. Weeks before the event, by some crazy luck, I met one of the girls that was going to be in the show and they said they were looking for some performers and asked if I wanted to be one of the princesses in the show. I agreed because I could get a free ticket for my daughter! I got casted as Cinderella and I fell in love with performing and the idea that I wanted to do this more. Out of nowhere I found myself going through a divorce and I needed a way to make some extra income. I realized there wasn’t a market for characters doing birthday parties and events based out of my area and I thought maybe this is something I could start! So I bought a couple costumes and started advertising and dressed up at a my friends children’s consignment sale and handed out business cards. I got my first birthday party booking!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

With affordable rates, Princess Parties by Paolina, is able to provide for your child a memory that will last a lifetime. For many families, Princess Parties by Paolina, may be the only opportunity for their child to meet a fairy-tale character up close and personal.  One of the most treasured memories you will ever have is that of seeing the look of magic and awe on your child’s face when they see their favorite character enter the room.

Princess Parties By Paolina is a children’s entertainment company specializing in meet and greets, events, and birthday parties.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Because of Covid we had to get creative. We did virtual meets with people. But by far my favorite was when we would do something called “curbside characters”. We worked for numerous restaurants and would dress up in character and take customers food to go orders to their car and would be able to wave to the kids and talk to them outside while they stayed in their cars! It was such a joy to be able to see the kids light up. You have to remember some of these kids haven’t seen their friends or family in months so the fact that they got to see their favorite character was the best feeling ever.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

There isn’t much for competition in the area. I think the closest character company is over an hour away. But I always made sure to have the quality of the character over quantity. I wanted to make sure my characters stood out with amazing attention to detail. And if that means we offer fewer characters then it’s worth it! I also make sure my POC characters are represented accurately because that is very important to me. If I don’t have someone able to portray that character available then I don’t send out the character at all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://princesspartiesbypaolina.mypixieset.com/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/PrincessPaolina