From Performer to CEO: What I Learned the Hard Way

Things I Wish I Knew Before Taking Over The Party Palace

When I purchased The Party Palace in January 2020, I thought I knew what I was getting into.

After all, I had managed the company for years.

Then just weeks later, the world shut down.

In this episode, I’m sharing the biggest lessons I’ve learned from taking over one of the longest-running character entertainment companies in the country. From leadership and hiring to contracts, copycats, company culture, and surviving some of the most challenging moments in business ownership.

I also share some of The Party Palace’s history, including its connection to Pixie Dust Boutique and the legacy that came with purchasing a nearly 19-year-old company.

Whether you’re a business owner, performer, entrepreneur, or someone chasing a dream of your own, this episode is full of honest lessons learned the hard way.

✨ Sometimes success isn’t explosive growth. Sometimes success is simply refusing to quit.

Listen now and join the conversation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey everyone and welcome back to the Party Princess Podcast. I'm your host, Alila Clifford, owner of the Party Palace. Today's episode is a little different because we're going to get personal. A lot of times on this podcast, I'll talk about training, performers, costumes, events, and all the fun magical parts of this industry, but today I want to talk about the business side. Specifically, I want to talk about all the things I wish that I knew before taking over the party palace. Now, for those of you who may be newer here, a lot of people assume I started the party palace. I didn't. The Party Palace is actually approaching 19 years old. 19, which is kind of crazy when you really think about it. I spent about eight years managing the company before eventually purchasing it from the previous owner in January of 2020. And here's the funny thing. People assume that because I managed the company for so long, I knew exactly what I was getting into. I did not, not even close. I knew how to perform, I knew how to host parties, I knew how to work well with children, I knew how to create magical moments, but running a business, that's a completely different skill set. What's even crazier is that the Party Palace wasn't just an established company, it was one of the early character entertainment companies in the United States. Back then, there wasn't a blueprint for what we do. There weren't Facebook groups full of resources, there weren't YouTube tutorials, there weren't entire industries built around princess performers and character companies. Many of the concepts and standards that are common today were still being figured out. One of my favorite examples is Pixie Dust Boutique. If you've been in this industry for any amount of time, you've probably heard of them. Today she's considered one of the top costume commissioners in our entire industry. People save up for years to order from her. Her work is everywhere. But what many people don't know is that Pixie Dust Boutique originally started by making costumes for the party palace. How cool is that? It's one of those pieces of industry history that newer owners may not even realize. So when I purchased the party palace, I wasn't just buying a business. I was inheriting a legacy. And honestly, that was both exciting and terrifying. Then just a few weeks later, the entire world shut down. COVID happened. So birthday parties disappeared, festivals disappeared, corporate events disappeared. Nobody knew what was going to happen next. I remember sitting there thinking, did I just make the biggest mistake of my life? I just invested in this company. I just taken on this responsibility, and suddenly the entire event industry was collapsing around us. But somehow we survived. And looking back now, I can honestly say there are so many things I wish I had known back then. So today I'm sharing them with you. Lesson number one, loving the industry is not the same as knowing how to run a business. This was probably the biggest lesson. I genuinely thought that because I understood the industry, understood the business. I was wrong. Being Cinderella doesn't teach you payroll. Being Elsa doesn't teach you taxes. Being a great performer doesn't teach you how to handle contractor disputes or client complaints, or insurance policies, or bookkeeping, or profit margins, or marketing, or hiring, or firing, or contracts, or payroll taxes or business licenses. There's an entire side of this industry that nobody sees. The audience, they see the beautiful dress, the smiling princess, the perfect photo. They don't see the spreadsheets. And let me tell you, the spreadsheets are not magical. I spent years learning things the hard way simply because I didn't know they existed. If I could go back and tell myself one thing, it would be this. You are not buying a princess company. You are buying a business. Learn how businesses work. Lesson number two. Just because a company is established doesn't mean it runs itself. I think a lot of people assume that because the party palace already existed, the hard work had already been done. Not true. A business is like a garden. You can inherit the most beautiful garden in the world, but if you stop watering it, it dies. If you stop maintaining it, it dies. If you stop pulling weeds, it dies. Businesses are the same way. People see a company that's been around for nearly two decades and think it must run itself. It doesn't. Every year you have to earn your reputation again. Every year you have to continue growing. Every year you have to prove why clients should choose you. There is no autopilot button. Lesson number three, your friends are not always your best employees. This one hurts because when you're starting out, you naturally hire your friends, and sometimes that works wonderfully, but sometimes it doesn't. Friendship and employment are two completely different relationships. The moment accountability enters the picture, everything changes. Deadlines matter, policies matter, expectations matter, communication matters, and unfortunately, not everybody handles that transition well. One of the hardest lessons I've learned is that some people love you as a friend, but struggle to respect you as a leader. And that's okay. It doesn't make them bad people, it just means not everyone belongs on your team. Lesson number four, you cannot build a business on people pleasing. For years I wanted everyone to like me, clients, performers, friends, parents, vendors, everybody. I wanted everybody to be happy all the time. The problem is that's impossible. Someone will always be unhappy, someone will disagree, someone will always want an exception. Someone will always think your policies shouldn't apply to them. Eventually I learned that leadership requires disappointing people sometimes. Not because you're mean, not because you're power hungry, but because consistency matters. Good leaders aren't the ones who make everybody happy. Good leaders are the ones who make the fair decisions. Lesson number five. Contracts aren't for the good clients. The best clients rarely cause problems. The amazing clients don't argue over policies. The amazing clients don't demand refunds six months later. Your contract isn't for those people. Your contract is for the moments when things go wrong, and trust me, eventually something will go wrong. Not because you're bad at your job, because you're human. Things happen, weather happens, traffic happens, emergencies happen, miscommunications happen, and when emotions are high, your contract becomes your safety net. I wish I'd understood that sooner. Lesson number six, some of your biggest challenges will come from inside your company. When I bought the party palace, I thought competitors will be my biggest challenge. Nope. People management every time. Communication, conflict resolution, expectations, leadership, culture. Those things matter more than any costume you'll ever buy. A beautiful costume won't save a toxic company culture. A beautiful costume won't fix poor communication. A beautiful costume won't create leadership. People build companies, not costumes. Lesson number seven, you have to know your value. This took me years. Years. For a long time I looked at what we did and thought, it's just a birthday party, but it's not. We're creating memories, we're creating experiences. We're creating moments families will remember forever. When a parent tells you their child talked about that party every day for six months, that's valuable. When a child genuinely believes they met their hero, that's valuable. The moment I stopped viewing our services as just parties and started viewing them as experiences, everything changed. Lesson number eight. There will always be copycats. This lesson gets easier with age. People will copy you, your events, your costumes, your marketing, your ideas, your concepts, your social media, everything. At first it drove me crazy. Now not so much. Because I've realized something. People can copy what you do, but they cannot copy your experience. They cannot copy your reputation. They cannot copy your relationships. They cannot copy nearly 20 years of history. The party palace has survived this long not because nobody copied us. It's because we kept evolving, we kept improving, we kept showing up. Longevity is earned. Lesson number nine. Surviving is sometimes the win. I think entrepreneurs put way too much pressure on themselves. Everyone talks about growth, revenue, expansion, scaling. Sometimes survival alone is the victory. Buying a business weeks before a worldwide pandemic wasn't exactly ideal timing, but we survived. And that taught me resilience. Sometimes success isn't explosive growth. Sometimes success is refusing to quit. Lesson number ten. The magic is still worth it after everything. The stress, the emails, the schedules, payroll, the difficult conversations, the training, the policies, the setbacks, the tears. The moments where you wonder if you're doing any of this right. A little girl still runs into a princess's arms. A family still thanks us. And suddenly every difficult thing becomes worth it because at the end of the day, we're in the memory making business. And that's a pretty incredible thing to be a part of. If I could go back to January of twenty twenty and talk to the version of myself that had just purchased the party palace, I'd probably tell her this. You're going to make mistakes, a lot of them. You're going to cry. You're going to learn lessons the hard way. You're going to question yourself. You're going to wonder if you're capable, but keep going. Because one day you'll look around and realize you've served thousands of families. You've built an incredible team. You've survived challenges you never thought you'd survive. And you'll realize every lesson was worth it. Sometimes people look at the party palace today and assume it's always looked this way. They see the costumes, they see the events, they see the success. What they don't see are the years of mistakes that built it. They don't see the COVID panic. They don't see the sleepless nights, they don't see the setbacks that every business owner listening knows exactly what I'm talking about. Because entrepreneurship is hard, and somehow we keep showing up anyway. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of the Party Princess Podcast. If you're a business owner, I'd love to know what's something you wish you'd known before starting your business. Send me a message, share this episode, tag me on social media, and let's keep the conversation going. Until next time, keep making magic.