Cathy Dobson
Kira Nixon is confident she can make a living as a princess in Sarnia.
Sound a little odd? Not if you visit the 29-year-old Nixon at her newly constructed castle on London Line.
Her $1,000 princess costumes also make it clear she means business.
“Families go to Disney, spend a lot of money and wait for hours to meet a princess,” she explains.
“I bring a level of professionalism that is the same as Disney, and children can meet a princess and have a lot of fun right here, without waiting for hours.”
Growing up in Sarnia, Nixon always loved to perform. At age 17 she guest starred on the Family Channel in Toronto playing a country singer.
Later, she won a part in an all-girl band called “Hello Kitty & the Kittens,” and performed on stage at Universal Studios in Japan for a year.
Meanwhile, she pursued a country music career under the name Kira Jade and continues to write and record her own songs.
Nixon moved back to Sarnia in 2011, married and decided to put roots down.
But she knew a regular 9-to-5 job wasn’t for her.
“I want to use my abilities and my training,” she said.
When asked by her church to dress up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast for a tea party, an idea for a small business began to take shape.
“And I was inspired by “Once Upon an Island” in California,” said Nixon. “It’s owned by a group of ex-Disney girls who do birthday parties. I wondered if I could do the same in Sarnia.”
For four years, Nixon has been the star attraction at countless birthday parties, playing Belle, Cinderella, Elsa and Snow White.
“I haven’t slowed down,” she said. “If anything, I’ve had to turn jobs down. People just don’t get tired of princesses.”
She also appears at charity events and fundraisers.
In January, she took the business to the next level, opening up a permanent location at 2109 London Line.
From the outside it looks like a non-descript office building, but inside Nixon and her set-designer mom Diane Roebuck have filled a stage with an enchanted castle.
Nixon still attends in-home birthdays, charging $125 for a one-hour princess appearance.
And now she also hosts shows and other ticketed events at the permanent location, where she dances, sings, reads stories, meets the kids individually and invites them onstage for photos.
“I stay in character the entire time and invest a lot of money in my costumes because that makes all the difference,” she said.
Her newest character is Rapunzel whose wig alone cost $700.
She launched events at the Enchanted Castle with a sold-out party with Elsa. A maximum of 40 little customers, each paying $20, can come to each show. Parents and children under 2 are free.
Two more shows have followed with a similar number of boys and girls attending, mostly between the ages of three and eight. The majority dress up.
“You might think there wouldn’t be enough people interested, but kids love to come again and again,” Nixon said.
Her plans include princess slumber parties, tea parties, craft parties and more. Eventually, she intends to hire other princess actors.
“Then I can just run the company and be the queen,” she said with a laugh.
During March Break, Kira’s Enchanted Princess Parties is hosting two 90-minute tea parties with Belle on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17. $25 per child. For details and tickets, visit Kira’s Enchanted Princess Parties on Facebook and follow the Eventbrite link.
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