Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Simpson.
Hi Tara, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started this company 11 years ago just as a side job to try to make money to pay for college. I put my love of theater, costume making, and birthdays together to create a business I knew children would love. It has been amazing to see how it has grown and what it has become! It has been my full-time job for the last 11 years. The smiling faces of the kids that we get to see at every birthday party along with the parents we get to make happy is priceless.
A lot of the mothers love seeing their favorite fairy tale character they grew up watching come to life as well and I absolutely love that. I performed as all characters myself for about 5 years. At that time, I started hiring other performers to join me. Now my goal in this business is to continue to give a wonderful, rewarding, flexible job to so many other young college students who are in the position I was in when I started. This is the perfect job for someone who needs time off during the week for homework and studying.
We have now completed over 2,000 appearances. We have appeared at birthday parties, parades, movie premieres, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, carnivals, at-home playdates, charity events, and much more. While most of our birthday children are between the ages of 3 and 6, we have also appeared at a baby shower and for a party of a woman who was 85 years young! You are never too old for the magic of fairy tales! What is great about our company is that our characters don’t just show up empty-handed.
Each appearance is themed to the character and the fairy tale entertainer brings all supplies needed including the music. They bring storybooks, princess tiaras, and certificates, supplies for party games, and even face painting. The parents don’t need to supply anything else, except a cake and the kids!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The first year was tough- I didn’t know if I should continue the business after about a year. I just wasn’t getting enough calls. I put a lot of time and work into my costumes and party routines, but just didn’t know how to get the word out there more. But soon after the one-year mark, I started gaining repeat clients. I started with Tinkerbell, and then Rapunzel, who was extremely popular. As I started adding more characters, I started getting more emails.
Two years into the business it was getting hard for me to keep up with all of the inquiries. I even had people ask if I could cancel someone else’s booking to fit them in for the time slot they wanted, Some people even asked if they could pay double the rate for me to do so, which I did not allow. A lot of clients agreed to have their child’s party a month late if that was the only way they could get the character they wanted. I tried to fit in as many parties as I could each weekend. After debuting the Snow Queen character, I had a very steady income. One month I did 25 Snow Queen parties.
I joked that I spent more time being someone else than I did myself. Handling all the correspondence with clients as well as doing all of the party and event appearances myself was difficult and very tiring. But I did not like telling anyone no. I did not want to raise my prices either, It was very important to me to provide realistic, high-quality character entertainment and to be as affordable as possible, and it still is. Luckily, one of our clients led a sorority group at a local University and she spread the word about the company looking for performers. We had several students apply. Several were hired.
And we were then able to provide many more characters and many more dreams come true every weekend throughout San Antonio! We were highly affected by the pandemic as you can imagine, but we are taking off again and are hiring once again. Performers must be at least 18 years old, live in the San Antonio area, be free on weekends, have a sweet and outgoing personality, and have a love for children and fairy tales!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have always loved entertaining. I actually started as a celebrity impersonator. I learned exact dance routines and made costumes to perform tribute shows for Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, and even Hannah Montana. I performed with other impersonators all over the city. These shows were so much fun.
I then went out to Los Angeles to pursue my dream of acting but didn’t stay there long. I was lucky enough to gain an agent and manager quickly, but was taken by surprise at the cost of living and was not prepared nor able to afford it. Soon after I went back home to create Fairytale Friends of San Antonio.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
So many likes! That moment you see the children’s faces light up because they see their favorite character has come to see them for their big day! The twirls and hugs. The silly questions. When the kids know all the details of the character’s story. When they don’t want to let you go at the end of a party. The hand-drawn pictures are given to us as gifts.
Parents’ tears of happiness. All of our repeat clients. When the moms keep up with me year after year sharing how they are doing and sending us photos of their kids growing up. Hearing, “We had one of your characters for a party several years ago and everyone is still talking about it.” Getting to surprise a child in the hospital and allowing them to forget about all of the hardships they are dealing with. Nothing compares to it.
Dislikes? Only one thing- the TX heat. Our costumes and wigs are very thick and high quality- not the simple Halloween type. They trap in a lot of heat. During the Summer months only, we opt out of outdoor appearances.
Pricing:
- $155. one hour one character
- $200. 1.5 hours one character
- $255. one hour two characters
- $315. 1.5 hours two characters
- *Pricing is for San Antonio locations
Contact Info:
- Email: FairytaleFriendsSA@gmail.com
- Website: www.FairytaleFriendsOfSA.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FairytaleFriendsSA
Image Credits
Heather Roberts Photography
