Nikki Geiger-Holloway works in sales by day, but by night – she hangs up the pencil skirt for a bright blue dress perfect for a princess.
The Kennedy Township resident is the woman behind Princess Party Mom, the business she founded in August 2014. Since then, she’s entertained hundreds of children and families at birthday parties and events by dressing up as Elsa, the ‘Snow Queen’ from the wildly popular Disney movie, “Frozen.”
Holloway, 32, also donates her time entertaining at community events. Most recently, she visited with children at the McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation’s Jingle Bell Rocks holiday event on November 18. In the past, she has donated her time to 96.1 KISS’ Stuff-A-Bus toy drive, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and to Eat’n Park to help fundraise for Children’s Hospital.
Helping others has always been a passion of Holloways. She is so dedicated to the cause that she spent last year’s Christmas at Children’s Hospital visiting a child with Cancer – a child that was at the first birthday party she ever performed at.
“It’s amazing getting to meet these families and getting to know their stories,” said Holloway. “The more I learn about these families, the more I want to do.”
In just a little over a year, Holloway has entertained at over 200 events, including ice-skating with children at the Allegheny Parks and Recreation’s “Princess Skates” at North and South Park. She has built up a large client base that has published all raving reviews on her business Facebook page.
“We had such an amazing party with Elsa! She came in and surprised all the girls, and the look on their faces was worth it all!” said customer Jessica Pociask on Facebook.
Princess Party Mom began when someone saw Holloway wearing braids while she was a bartender and mentioned to her that she resembled Elsa. Then, another person asked her to dress up as Elsa for her child’s birthday party. So, Holloway bought a cheap dress and showed up at her first event.
She shared a few photos of the party on Facebook and more people started asking her to dress up for their kid’s birthday parties. Holloway decided it was time to upgrade to a custom-made costume.
She then started a Facebook business page and built her business by networking a lot with local Facebook groups. And, in January 2015, Holloway added another character to her team – Elsa’s sister “Anna.”
Holloway, who hails from Bloomfield, said she’s worked two jobs as long as she can remember. Her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: “Nothing is stupid or silly. I dress up in a glittery gown and put my hair in a braid and as silly as that sounds to somebody, it sounds pretty cool to me. I’ve been told that I’m too old to do this. The people who are there to support you for the right reasons will come and give you business.”
When asked why Holloway dresses up as a princess and braids her hair event after event, she says, “9 out of 10 parties I do, I’m a surprise. Seeing the face of a child who really thinks it’s Elsa is unbelievable.”
Holloway also enjoys watching the parents sit back and relax while she runs their child’s party for an hour. As the mother of two children – Tyler, 9, and Carson, 5 – Holloway knows how precious those moments are for parents.
If you’re interested in having Princess Party Mom at your next event, message Holloway through her Facebook business page, Princess Party Mom.
