— ALO ÍSLAND

Professional princess

Jessica Chambers lives in a fairytale. Literally. Her company, Prinsessur, provides children's entertainment by bringing popular fairytale princesses to life.

Jessica launched Prinsessur in November 2021, after her friends asked her to attend children's birthdays as the characters she made costumes for. “I realised that there was a gap in the market here in Iceland, so I started Prinsessur. This kind of entertainment service is very popular in Anglo-Saxon countries, but less so elsewhere, including here. As far as I can tell, I am Iceland's first professional princess.”

Jessica’s first cosplay inspiration came from crocheting. Jessica first learned how to crochet at the age of sixteen, but it wasn’t until her University years that she took it on seriously as a tool for stress management. “Crocheting is like meditating,” said Jessica in an interview for Erlendur magazine.

`“All princesses speak English, French and have an A2 level of Icelandic - but they are all keen to improve!” Photograph: Sorina Ratkiene`

Today she advertises her crochet patterns on her website Transatlantic Crochet and via her profile on Etsy, the e-commerce platform selling handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. Her designs are receiving great reviews and recognition. At the Toulouse Game Show in 2019, she received the "Judge's favourite" prize for The Little Mermaid with a wearable mermaid tail blanket.

As for her online business presence, Jessica could be a role model for many craft entrepreneurs. Her two websites, Prinsessur.is and Transatlantic Crochet, as well as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook profiles are user-friendly, interesting, and inviting.

`Prinsessur offers children entertainment at public and private events. Photograph: Sorina Ratkiene`

“It probably helps that I've been an internet user for over half my life at this point, as well as a programmer. Technology doesn't scare me like it can others, and I'm willing to poke at it until it does what I want,” says Jessica, who works as a software engineer. “The importance of social media promotion came to me while I was in university. I was trying to sell items I had crocheted and just generally expand my audience. I followed social media marketing experts like Jackie Muscat.” Jessica also recommends the book "Show your work" by New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon.

“I think it is vitally important for any business to have a consistent online presence. Over the last two years of the Covid pandemic, for myself anyway, the only exposure I had to anyone was through the internet, and almost exclusively social media, making an online shopfront even more important than a real-life shopfront. I also do my best to keep up with trends and go where my audience is. When I first started out, my audience was on Facebook, but as times changed, I have turned more to TikTok - and had to learn how to properly maintain that!”

At the moment, Jessica is operating under her personal kennitala number, but as the project develops further she plans to register the company more formally.

You can follow Jessica on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
Check Jessica’s projects at Prinsessur.is, Transatlantic Crochet, and Etsy.