Lexa Wroniak moved to the Midwest from Orange County, California for a “cool experience” and a theatre program that fit her needs better than any she had found elsewhere. “It was a little bit random, but it worked out well!” she likes to tell people. Pursuing a bachelor of science in theatre studies, Lexa learns about all aspects of the theatre industry, including both performance and technical skills. The senior, who graduates in May, chose a minor in marketing with an emphasis advertising and promotions to complement her theatre skills—and promote a business she started as soon as she transferred to Missouri State last year.

The Traveling Princess Company is an entertainment business that provides actors in princess costumes for events. Lexa got the idea from working for a similar business in California. While she was job searching in the Springfield area, she looked for a business like the one she loved back home and saw there wasn’t one. “I was trying to see if there were opportunities in Springfield like it, and there weren’t, so I figured, why not bring one?” In the six months between accepting an offer to go to MSU and settling in Springfield, Lexa built a website and social media accounts and had a basic business plan ready to launch as soon as she arrived.

Lexa is excited about and proud of the growth her company has experienced in the past year. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” she says. “I knew it was kind of hit or miss.” The best part of running the company, Lexa declares, is the reactions of the children when they see their favorite character. “They light up, they get excited, and they almost always run up and hug me!” The children also sometimes ask Lexa very serious questions as if she were the character, including “Why do you have feet under your mermaid tail?”

In addition to growing her primary customer base to a point where new customers are seeking her out, Lexa has also used The Traveling Princess Company as an opportunity to get involved in the community by participating in city events. Two of these events were The Trading Hands Kids Sale and the The Kids Fair. In the next year while she looks towards graduation, she hopes to strengthen the company structure with more employees and actors. Even if she eventually leaves Missouri, Lexa wants to be able to operate The Traveling Princess Company from anywhere while opening new branches in the places where she ends up.

Lexa’s classes in the marketing department have a very present and practical value for her because of her business. “[Class] helps establish what I need to do next and how to grow better,” she says. The company helps put marketing concepts into practice. Lexa thinks specifically that the Bright Futures project in Sherry Cook’s Intro to Advertising class really helped her learn about what she wanted to do with her own company. She also works at the Writing Center in the library, which helps keep her writing skills strong for all the promotional copy she has to produce.

Lexa is not sure where she wants to be once she graduates next May. She’s sure she wants to keep acting and running her princess company, though. “Part of being a performer means having to improvise, and the kids really keep me on my toes! But that’s the fun of it…[you get to] be a part of a magical moment.” Thanks to the unique combination in her degree, Lexa feels prepared to take on both more acting and business responsibilities.

You can find The Traveling Princess Company on Facebook too!