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As 2018 comes to a close I am finishing up the never ending pile of paperwork & all the fun "behind the scenes" things that a CEO gets to do for 2018 and decided to try to sum up another year at Princess My Party "by the numbers."
Princess My Party hosts public events for which we sell tickets. The proceeds from the ticket sales are banked so that we are able to donate appearances throughout the year for various charity organizations.
This year we hosted a total of 46 fundraising events
We sold a total of 4301 tickets.
These events made a total of $20K that we donated throughout the year
In the sum of 412 hours of appearances
to a total of 68 charity organizations in Wisconsin.
PC: Sara Mathers
Here's a list of the Top 10 Moments of 2018.
10. Margaret as The Grinch at Marcia's Second Time Around in Milwaukee on Small Business Saturday. This gives me life. I wish we could do a Grinch appearance every weekend.
PC Margaret's Facebook
9. The rise of the Unicorn Fairy Princess Party
Staying on top of the current trends is kinda my job. 2018 was the Year of the Unicorn and for once we were ready for it! My hubby and I created 3 original unicorn characters to accommodate the themed entertainment needs of Wisconsin's kids. Pictured above are L to R: Aria the Unicorn Fairy Princess, Sprinkles the Unicorn, an Una the Unicorn Fairy Princess.
PC: Sara Redeker
8. Easter Party with the Packers at Titletown
Some children (an adults) really don't like mascots no matter how cute we try to make them. On March 31st we were booked to attend the Titletown Easter Party in Green Bay with our Easter Bunny. After the event we got a slew of messages, emails, and comments thanking us for non-creepy Easter Bunny pictures. I am so happy to have a cute bunny.
7. I decided to kill my performers with 13 Princess Balls in 4 months.
I used to only produce 2 Princess Balls per year. There was one in the wintertime in Oshkosh and one in the summertime in Fond du Lac. Well, I decided to get really ambitious this fall and produce 13 balls in 4 months! Why? We needed the funds for our charity & princess balls are my absolute favorite events to produce. The families absolutely love them. The princesses absolutely love them. The cities love the added tourism. So much more.
Recently I met a group of dads at one of our balls that said that in their "dads group" it was a thing that you should attend a Princess My Party princess ball at least once with their littles. I was flattered that there was a saying for something I produced. Then, I started to listen to table talk at the balls only to find out that its sort of a "thing" in this area! Moms groups, bloggers, dads clubs, school groups, etc are promoting attending a Princess My Party Ball as a "must do" with their kids! I know it sounds cheesy but, this is really cool for me.
This fall we visited Appleton, Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay, Oshkosh, Madison, Portage, New Berlin, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, West Bend, Milwaukee, Stevens Point, and Watertown.
6. Celebrity Impersonator Appearances!
From throwing out the first pitch at the Kokomo Indiana Jackrabbits game to Golden Eagle proposing to Elsa we had a great summer making celebrity appearances at sporting events, fairs, festivals, schools, and libraries! We even got to arrive in a limo and walk the red carpet to escort some special guests at the Camp Creatibility Movie Premier in Madison! Appearances like this are so much fun because we are a small part of a much larger event! I recognize the great task that it is to host an event and there are some really talented & dedicated event hosts here in Wisconsin. Kudos!
5. I Speak for the Wigs- Lorax
Princess Ella has an affinity for Dr Seuss' The Lorax. She has created an original parody version of the famous cartoon that speaks on behalf of the Princess My Party Wigs. As one can imagine, wig care & maintenance is difficult in Wisconsin. Its either really hot or really cold. Its either windy or rainy or humid or ... sooo we give our wigs a run for their money for sure. Ella created and edited a really funny little video about how our performers should take care of our precious wigs since they cannot speak for themselves. I think I watched the video a dozen times and it was funnier every time. I love that she was able to tackle a serious problem in a funny way.
4. Abby graduated!
OG Cast Member & Board President Abby got married & moved to Savannah, GA about 18 months ago. She works from a distance with her Board duties, is waiting for her Prince Charming to return from serving our country oversees in the military, and was studying at Texas A&M to become a Certified Personal Trainer. Not only is she in better shape than ever, she now has a certificate to prove that she knows her stuff! Follow her on Insta @FitnessFox. I have known Abby since she was in my Glee Club in middle school. She was my very first hire, and has been with me on this crazy roller coaster for more than 4 years. It makes me so proud to see her doing such amazing things in her career (plus PMP Cast has a Health & Fitness Coach on staff to help them meet their own health & fitness goals). Dream Big, Princess.
3. We Moved!
CHAPTER ONE: Alexa: Play Work from Home: I like to set little goals for myself. When I started PMP I ran the entire shabango out of my home. After a year Board Member Angie set us up with a little office on Military Ave in Fond du Lac with First Weber Jason Zellner. This move was instrumental in moving my company from a #sidehustle to a #girlbosshustle. The office was 100 sq ft and had a closet. Haha. But it was mine.
CHAPTER TWO: Alexa: Play Movin' Out: After our lease expired (and Jason did some interesting remodeling in the small office that caused us to have to go outside and all the way around the outside of the building to the back to unlock a door to get to the bathroom...in heels...and ballgowns...in the winter) we decided to upgrade to a 650 sq ft office in the Professional Arts Building thru Scott Behnke, Behnke Insurance. This office was adorable. It looked huge when we moved in. It was great for cast bonding time, small events, meeting with clients, and storing all our stuff.
CHAPTER THREE Alexa: Play Umbrella, Ella, Ella: Two springs in a row the office flooded making all of our costumes wet and stinky resulting in some lost costumes. Granted Scott was more than willing to cover the damage. It just made things very stressful for us especially when it happened 2 years in a row so, we started looking for another space. Something even bigger.
CHAPTER FOUR: Alexa: Play Don't Stop Believin': We have now moved to a cute little 1650 sq ft playhouse on Main St in Oshkosh called the "Princess My Party Playhouse: A magical destination where all children can play, create, and eat with their favorite fairytale characters" (If you haven't checked it out yet, you should!) So, now its finding the secret sauce to make this space magical for the next Chapter in the PMP story!
2. Aimee G is Cancer Free!
If I'm being honest I can't wait for 2018 to be over. It was the hardest year of my life. Last fall I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and told I needed 28 rounds of radiation, 8 rounds of chemotherapy, and 5 brachy therapy surgeries to get it. I had an amazing team of doctors & nurses at the Agnesian Cancer Center in Fond du Lac and the top of the profession doctors & nurses at Froedert Medical College on my side. One of my doctors legit wrote the book on the treatment she performed. Since the cancer had been undiagnosed for upwards of 4-5 years it had become too big for the traditional hysterectomy approach to getting it out. So, I put my head down and barreled thru with the support of my remarkable husband Jeremy and my family. (My parents even came home from Florida to help me.) #blessed I am now happy to report I am 6 months CANCER FREE so, to celebrate my hubby and I decided to go "check on my castle" as I call it and visit the happiest place on earth, Disney World. We stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort and went to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Downtown Disney. I forgot my troubles & just got happy. When I returned I hit the pavement and jumped right back into my Princess My Party #girlboss mode.
I want to individually thank Tammi Thurow for taking the reigns and coasting PMP thru this difficult time when I was unable to fulfill my duties as "Fairy Godmother." There are friends and then there are friends.
1. The TOP MOMENT of Princess My Party 2018 is the birth of our very first "Baby Prince!"
Princess Hannah is coincidentally my daughter and an OG Princess My Party Cast Member. She had a baby in November, the first baby that any of our staff has had (so far) and we are sooo excited! Elijah is already full of lipstick from princess kisses every weekend. How cool will this little man be, being "raised" collectively by a bunch of Disney Princesses! Eli made his acting debut on Christmas Eve as Jesus in our Church Nativity. We were all very proud. Welcome to the Princess My Party Family, Elijah James!
ITS A WRAP! Its been real, its been fun, can't say its been all real fun. I am so excited to explore our new venue and make thousands more children's dreams come true in 2019. Onwards & Upwards!
Wands & Wishes 2018.
Aimee