Sophomore Courtney Mangram is living every girl’s dream by running a successful business as a princess.
Mangram is a business management major with minors in human relations and entrepreneurship. But for the last year, she has also been running an independent company that involves dressing up as Disney Princess characters.
The name of this magical company is Not Just Make Believe Parties.
Mangram is originally from Kansas City, Missouri and moved to Columbus following her step-father’s job. She said she has always been a fan of Disney princess movies.
“It was something I always wanted to do since I was a kid, and I asked my parents when I was 13 if could I do it and they said ‘No, we are not sending our 13 year old to random people’s houses,’ ” Mangram said.
However, the older she got the harder it became to shake this passion. While still in Kansas City, she began to research the markets and found that this line of work was not very successful there.
Shortly after, she moved to Columbus and did some more market research and found that that many princess or character impersonation companies flourished here. Mangram began to think of how she could personalize the children’s experiences to make them more memorable.
At the time, she was working at Pier 1 in Easton Town Center. Even though she was working there, she always had her mind set on her business.
“I would work full time and come home and start working on princess business stuff,” Mangram said. She would use her earnings from Pier 1 to fund her newly started business.
When asked about what motivates her, Mangram said, with a wide grin, “the kids.”
“People in this business, we all know it’s not about making money at all. It’s purely kid enjoyment,” Mangram said.
She attributes a lot of her success to focusing on the kids and the character. That means making sure the costumes match the characters in the movies and that the girls she hires look like the characters they are going to play. She is constantly challenging herself on what she can do better or how she can make this experience more real for the children.
“It’s a lot of looking at what you’ve done and what you can do better and listening to what people like,” Mangram said.
One of her princesses for hire and best friend, Maddie Gardner, who also attends Capital, spoke of how important it is to know the backstory of the character.
A typical princess party can run from 20 minutes to two hours depending on pricing and packages. Most parties consist of the character of choice premiering at the party with a photo-op, some singing with games. But no princess party is complete without a coronation ceremony. Mangram values the importance of one-on-one time with the children.
To become one of Mangram’s princesses you must go through a training process. Before being hired, the girls must go through an interview where they are tested on singing, as being a performer is an integral part of entertaining at these parties. After being hired they are fitted in the gowns and wigs to make sure that they can fulfill that particular princess’s role.
Mangram trains the princesses in makeup and learning the characteristics of their princess. They learn the song accompanied with the certain character’s story. She makes sure that the have seen the movie before they act it out.
Running a business and being a full-time college student can take a toll on most people, but it doesn’t stop Mangram. She finds ways to balance work and school.
“You have to know what your priorities are and plan and organize,” Mangram said.
Mangram has, however, ran into some trouble with people not respecting what she does.
“Once I tell people what I do, they say it’s not a real job,” she said.
One of the most requested characters is the famous Snow Queen and her sister, the Snow Princess (otherwise known as Elsa and Anna, respectively).
Mangram is mostly recognized as her character the Snow Queen. She really loves what Disney did with the Frozen characters by giving them so much depth and background.
With all this hard work ethic it can easily be forgotten that Mangram is only a sophomore. After graduation she plans on attending law school and continuing to perform while still being CFO for her company.
Mangram is one of the lucky students who is able to follow her dreams and do something she loves. She has made her own and others’ dreams come true.
