Ellie is the first fan to write her own feature on The Swan Princess website. She has done an amazing job answering all of our questions with such interesting facts!
Swan Princess:
Tell a little about the history of where you are from. Where you were born, grew-up, went to school, or live now.
Ellie:
I was born and raised in Utah, United States.
I have an incredible mom
a younger brother and sister-in-law
an amazing husband
and a medical alert service dog named Daisy.
and a medical alert service dog named Daisy.
I am blessed to also have a great step-dad and 5 step siblings.
I grew up with a great love of storytelling and performance and my talented mother would sew costume after costume for dance competitions, Shakespearean plays, and vocal recitals.
She slowly taught me everything I know about crafting and costume making though I'm sure I will never be quite as gifted as she is.
In theater, I had many roles I loved like Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's Macbeth, Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, and the Afghan Project Social Document at Utah State.
I also participated in pageants winning Miss Davis County and competing in the Miss Utah Pageant in 2013. I currently hold the Elite Beauty Mrs Utah 2020 title.
I currently hold the Elite Beauty Mrs Utah 2020 title
I graduated from Utah State University with a bachelors degree in Communications and Linguistics with a Marketing minor.
I started "princessing" in 2009, at the then only birthday party company in the state playing over 30 different beloved fairytale characters like the Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen Characters.
I worked birthday parties for almost 10 years. I loved this time doing dozens of parties a month because it was instrumental in honing my singing and acting skills.
I learned to adapt to different kinds of audiences and tailor a performance to a small group of 12 or a few thousand in a sports stadium.
During this time I met Millie Flamm. I don’t think I can pinpoint a more influential person in my life than sweet little Millie. There was more courage and compassion and sheer determination in this one little girl than most of us can hope to have in a whole lifetime.
She was a driving force to make life better for anyone she knew, the whole while painting and coloring the world with her beautiful art.
Millie had cancer and ultimately passed away from the leukemia she was fighting. With her as the driving force, Millie's Princess Foundation Royal Ball was created. I have been the chairman since its second year and we will be celebrating its 10th anniversary as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted.
I also found a home as the "princess mascot" with the Mascot Miracles Foundation. The Mascot Miracles Foundation has professional, college and corporate mascots to help children who have severe or terminal illnesses. The mascots give them a best friend and plan events for the kids to look forward t. This helps them through the difficult times when they need it most.
The partnership between the Swan Princess Company and the Mascot Miracles Foundation was truly a dream come true! The Swan Princess and The Swan Princess Secret of the Castle were my FAVORITE movies when I was little. I watched them so much I wore out a vhs!
So when the announcement was made and I put the Odette dress on for the first time it was a surreal and joyful moment. My inner 5 year old was dying with happiness and excitement!
The Mascot Miracles Foundation loves it too! As they've said "It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that we get to announce the partnership between the Mascot Miracles Foundation and the Swan Princess Company. Princess Odette will be joining the MMF ZOO as our newest Princess and will be part of the experiences and memories we create. Princess Odette will become a household name very quickly and we hope you are as excited about it as the person becoming the character."
Being as excited as me may be hard to do though haha.
This year I married my sweetheart in a beautiful wedding.
He truly is my everlasting love and life with him couldn't be more perfect!
SP:
Tell about your work. You can talk about your work now or your favorite job you ever had or even just your dream job.
Ellie:
I currently do contract acting/performance/modeling work- mostly children's theater and singing performances. I also volunteer as a mascot with the Mascot Miracles Foundation, as a Wish Granter with the Make A Wish Foundation, and an event planner with Millie's Princess Foundation. In the past I have worked as a magicians assistant. I trained with incredible stunt women in LA and have performed water stunt shows in shark and stingray tanks at aquariums and given presentations on ocean conservation. I also spent almost a decade as a birthday party princess.
SP:
What are some of the things you like to do when you are not working? What are your talents and/or personality traits?
Ellie:
I'm not sure I know the definition of free time. I'm really lucky that I was able to create a career out of my favorite hobbies. I spend my time painting, creating costumes, endlessly styling and restyling wigs, and planning events for and hanging out with the coolest kids around at MMF and MPF!
I am a trained makeup artist. I love to play with all the new colors and makeup products that come out to create works of art on a face. I am a certified swimming mermaid performer.
I love to spend time with my amazing husband, sing, dance, paddleboard on the lake, hike, play the harp, ride horses, and play with Daisy and her favorite squeaky toys. My husband is slowly introducing me to video games so we can play together but its slow going since I'm not very good yet.
SP:
Did you grow up watching the original Swan Princess film or did you become a fan recently?
Ellie:
I grew up with The Swan Princess and the Swan Princess Secret of the Castle movies and they were my very favorite! Both my mom and brother will tell you I watched them on repeat daily. I'm enjoying now getting to watch the other 7 (soon to be 8!) movies in the collection. I love this series in that, like few other princess stories, they have taken the time to tell Odette’s story through marriage, motherhood, and beyond. Her life doesn’t mysteriously get non adventurous and story-worthy after she’s over the age of 25. In a world obsessed with youth it’s beautiful to see her story continue and show how gorgeous and regal maturity and wisdom can be. I love how her and Derek’s relationship matures too. These are characters you can grow with and that is a wonderful thing.
SP:
What Swan Princess character do you identify with the most and why?
Ellie:
I identify most with Princess Odette. She embodies everything I hope to become in life- kind, independent, smart, a wonderful leader in her own right as well as a great wife and mother. I especially identify with her love of children and animals. I would have a whole castle full of animal friends just like Odette's if I could!
SP:
What other movies, books, music, entertainment are you a fan of?
Ellie:
My very favorite book is Peter Pan by JM Barrie. I discovered it in the school library when I was nine years old. I re-read it every year on my birthday. I also love Disney, cheesy procedural crime drama tv shows, and historical art and architecture history so I watch a lot of documentaries. I love to learn about other cultures past and present.
SP:
SP:Your favorite story or joke to tell
Ellie:
My very favorite story is of a little boy walking along the beach. The tide had just gone out so the sand was covered in starfish. The boy knew if the starfish didn't get to water they would soon dry out and die so he walked along the shore picking up one small starfish at a time and placing it gently in the water. Soon an old man came along and laughed at the boy. "What you are doing is pointless," he said, "Look at all those starfish! There's too many! You can't possibly save them all so why are you even trying? It won't make any difference." The little boy picked up another starfish and said "It made a difference to this one" and put it in the ocean. There can be so much negative in the world that sometimes our brain tells us that there's nothing at all we can do to make a difference, things will never change. But just like the little boy, if we focus on one small act of kindness at a time, in the end it will make a bigger difference than we can possibly imagine. I keep starfish art and seashells around my house to remind myself that's how I want to live my life, one small act of kindness at a time.
