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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Lydia Welsh
“You won’t meet your business goals unless you look after, and make time for, yourself..” – Lydia Welsh
Today we feature Lydia Welsh, the founder at Snow Princess Parties, which is a children’s party entertainment business. In short, I get to make. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Lydia Welsh, based in Berkshire, and I’m 29 year’s old. I currently run Snow Princess Parties, which is a children’s party entertainment business. In short, I get to make my living by dressing up as princesses and other characters and making children’s parties magical and unforgettable! It’s quite different from my previous job as an NHS nurse.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I left my job as a nurse 5 years ago and set up Snow Princess Parties. The decision to switch jobs to being a princess party entertainer was somewhat inspired by my experiences on the wards. Patients and colleagues would constantly tell me I resembled a princess made famous by a very popular film at the time!
I laughed it off for a while but then a friend asked me to dress up as a princess at a village fete as a favour. Queues of children gathered and waited to meet and greet me, I really enjoyed escaping for a day into the costume of a princess and making so many children smile.
I realised there might be a gap in the market for princess characters to provide entertainment for children! Since then, I’ve realised that not only is there massive demand for this, but that scaling the business using the franchise model is allowing others to enjoy the freedom and autonomy I now enjoy as my own boss.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
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Snow Princess Parties is a professional children’s party entertainment business providing magical, imaginative and action-packed parties to 3–8 year-olds across the South East. Initially the business was just me, but over the past 5 years it has grown – through the use of a franchise model – to having 5 further franchisees all delivering parties across the South East of the UK.
Collectively the team deliver 60 parties per month, ensuring children know that princesses aren’t just about being gorgeous but that they are fun, courageous and brave too. No high-heeled shoes here, just sparkly trainers! Superheroes, mermaids and even pirates are also available for parties via Snow Princess Parties.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Truthfully, a lot of hard work! I even took my laptop on my honeymoon. I became obsessed with building the brand and working on every aspect of running a children’s party to make it a stress-free experience for parents. I soon got to the point where I was turning away work and needed to train a team of entertainers to meet demand. That’s when I was prompted to grow the business.
Since growing the business, and having a team of other entertainers all pushing the brand forward with me, I’d say that sense of purpose and team work has been behind my success. I’m really passionate about continuing to build a team of creative, entrepreneurial (and often female) business leaders who collaborate with the central goal of making totally magical and memorable moments for children and I feel strongly that this mission will sustain me for many years to come.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
The personal burden is probably the biggest challenge you face when going it alone. Knowing that the success of failure of the business lay squarely at my feet was challenging. I think also in those first few years, it did feel a bit lonely at times. Growing the business, using the franchise model, has removed that feeling of loneliness.
My biggest learning has probably been what I’ve learnt about myself: that I’m more resilient than I’ve probably given myself credit for in the past and that I thrive when surrounded by positive like-minded individuals.
I wish I’d known that mistakes were a necessary part of progress. I now know that failure is as good as success as long as you can learn, pivot and move forward without becoming emotionally bogged down in the fact something didn’t go quite as you’d hoped.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Take the leap. You will land on your feet.
It was a seriously scary decision to leave the stability of a career like nursing and to opt instead for self-employment as a princess party entertainer.
There were moments when I thought I might be making a terrible decision, but here I am 5 years on and business is booming – and importantly, I’m so much happier and healthier thanks to that decision.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Google calendars is fundamental to the running and success of my business. With varied permissions, franchise owners can edit and manage bookings, whilst the entertainers can simply view.
It also allows entertainers to input their availability into shareable calendars, which means the franchisee owner can book parties in confidence there will be entertainers available.
Google drive is so helpful in allowing me to share documents, branding and imagery with my team of franchise owners, and as a free platform, I wouldn’t use anything else!
Google forms has also really helped me shape the business, by gaining insight via surveys from franchise owners and the entertainers that work for them. Again, as a free tool, it has provided huge value.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I wish I’d known that mistakes were a necessary part of progress. I now know that failure is as good as success as long as you can learn, pivot and move forward without becoming emotionally bogged down in the fact something didn’t go quite as you’d hoped.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
My proudest achievement is the fact that the growth of my business is providing numerous young, creative women with a career they love and feel passionate about.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
With growth of the business a key objective for the coming year, I’d like to believe that in time I might have a company that I could make public. In terms of life goals, I think for me it is about just continuing to have a business that I wake up each morning and feel motivated by and proud of.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
You won’t meet your business goals unless you look after, and make time for, yourself.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Snow Princess Parties”
To learn more about Snow Princess Parties Visit https://www.snowprincess.co.uk/
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