Daniel Butcher of Angeles Mannies sat down with Ali Williams, owner and founder of Princess and me Parties with a few questions –

Danny: How long have you been transforming birthday parties into magical wonderlands and what prompted you to begin?

Ali: As a child I walked about the house in “sparkle shoes” shouting lines from my favorite movie “The Princess Bride”, so you could say I had a thing for princesses. Throughout school I studied theater and always enjoyed spending time with children. The true journey began back in Orlando when I began my 3 year adventure in a new pair of sparkle shoes; I portrayed Cinderella in the theme park, then I continued my portrayal in Anaheim before deciding on a new path. After working for several other companies for a year, I decided I wanted to start my own business. We’re coming up on 2 years and what an amazing 2 years it’s been. We’re now one of the top five princess party companies in the Los Angeles area. I started with a dream and a sewing machine and here I am! If my friend Cinderella taught me anything, it’s to always keep on believing, and some day your dreams will come true.

 Danny: What was your biggest issue at the beginning of this adventure?

Ali: There have been so many wonderful learning experiences along the way that I am so grateful for. I’ve never run my own business before, so getting the paperwork for insurance and licensing was quite daunting. I decided to just jump in and figure it out as I went! Out of all the things I have learned so far, I have to say that website development has been my favorite. It’s very much like a game; every time you think you have things figured out, you level up and discover more. Every day I learn a better way to execute a task and it’s fantastic.

Danny: You are called Princess and Me Parties, should I assume you have no Captain Jack Sparrows or Prince Charming’s for boys parties??

Ali: While we are called Princess and Me Parties we do offer male characters such as several of the coordinating princes to our princess characters and a few superheroes and pirates too! We have 33 characters and growing. Believe it or not, we find that most boys love our princess parties too. They usually sit in the back during story time and shout out all the answers, then they open up and it’s adorable. Even our face painting has masculine and feminine design options. Our parties are fun for all guests.

Danny: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about you and your Princesses?

Ali: Oh goodness there’s so much I’d love to share! Hmmm let’s see, I know! We have spent a lot of time coming up with what we believe to be the perfect princess party. Our activities have been tested, our costumes have been sewn in house with special attention to detail, and our characterizations have been practiced, but when it comes down to the party, we’re there to make it the most magical day ever for that birthday child. Our most magical moments have been when a birthday child and a character take a moment and just connect with some giggles, hugs, and discussions of happily ever afters. Everything else stops. We’re there for that child on a day they’ll never forget.

For more on Ali, Princess & Me Parties or to book your very own dream come true visit:

Angeles Mannies is open!

It seems these days that everyone is starting a blog.  At the risk of sounding redundant, I’d like to tell you my reason for jumping on board.

I recently turned 31.  Year 30 was filled with turbulence both personally and professionally. Now that the dust has settled (sort of) I want to share my reflections, experiences, and goals as a male nanny in Los Angeles. The aim is to spread the word about a career that I’m passionate about, and to connect with like-minded people that share the same beliefs.

To achieve these goals,  I’ve started a recruiting agency specializing in a niche market: Male Nannies. If you’re wondering what makes me an authority on the subject, I can impart to you that I’ve spent the better part of my years looking after children and studying childcare. The path has been so natural to me that I now look after the children of some of Hollywood’s elite. Intrigued?  Visit the company’s site at www.angelesmannies.com.  And if I’m being blunt about the reason for the blog? My website designer also suggested starting a blog as a way to improve my SEO ranking in Google and drive more traffic to my site, so there’s also that… Everyone wants their website to gain more visitors, so why wouldn’t I? I figure it could help me come out of my “social media shell”, and also a way for me to relieve some stress and provide some sort of catharsis; I’d take 30 minutes, write stuff down, and post it online.

The Agency, or Angeles Mannies, is a male focused domestic staffing agency, with an emphasis on childcare.

Here’s a few reasons I went this route:

– always wanted to be a self-starter and use my entrepreneurial mind set
– found other childcare staffing agencies to be somewhat lacking in their emphasis on male childcare (I’ve used many)
– I want to demonstrate to the world the importance of a male role-model in a child’s life and to facilitate the placement of a male care-giver into a domestic setting (did I mention that already?)
– I have had a number of people tell me that I should start something like this, and I gave into the peer pressure (which is not something I advise children to do for the record!)

There’s a short bio on AM’s website, but I thought the blog deserved its own “About Me”.  My name is Danny and childcare is my passion. I have essentially been in childcare since the age of 8 when my brother was born (I am the eldest of 4). From babysitting to teaching to summer camps to my work as a manny, children have always been present in my personal and professional life. I moved from Ipswich, England to Los Angeles, CA in 2012, and I’ve kept the accent.

As I write this, I think I will enjoy the transparency that this will give me. With Angeles Mannies, it is my intention to be open and honest with everyone I come across, as this has worked out very well for me so far, I think I will continue to do it with this blog.

Well, this was less than 30 minutes but it took a lot of ’emotional time’ to get to this point so it most likely took much longer than the ones that will follow.

I think I will end each one with a call to action, being my 1st ever blog, and 1st Angeles Mannies blog I’d like to know what you’d like to hear about, from starting a business to promoting yourself as an entrepreneur or as a male nanny, and the stigma that comes with it. From communicating with billionaires to discovering which celebrities kick ass at Charades, I’m sure I will be continuing this so please like, share and promote male nannies in a city near you; if you find it hard to vouch for mannies – stick around, these blogs will make it much easier.

Daniel Butcher