How Marissa Molina Built Imagination Reality
- Imagination Reality LLC
- Apr 12
- 9 min read
For a long time, the idea of creativity felt like something that had to be chosen.
Art, music, performing, storytelling, each one often seen as a separate path, requiring focus on just one. The belief that it wasn’t possible to pursue everything at once is something many creatives are told early on. But for some, creativity for Marissa was never just one thing. It’s everything.
Marissa Molina, originally from Mazomanie, Wisconsin, grew up in a blended family environment that came with both love and complexity, where creativity was always present and nurtured. Her childhood consisted of a close-knit community that, at times, was also complex.
Over time, stepping fully into that creativity would be something she learned and grew into the further she stepped out of her comfort zone and into who she believed who she was meant to become.
She was also often known for her personality and sense of humor. While not a comedian, that lighthearted, expressive side of her naturally found its way into how she connected with others and, over time, into the characters and stories she would go on to create.
While she never fully stepped into spaces like conventions herself, she was always drawn to the world of cosplay and admired the people who had the confidence to fully embody a character and bring something to life.
That interest stayed with her over time, even leading her to create and manage a platform called Hawaii Cosplayer Spotlight, where she highlighted and supported local talent within the cosplay community.
The Beginning
Caring for and connecting with children was not new to her. When she was 16, her youngest sibling was born, and during that season she was homeschooled and played a large role in helping raise her through the early years. That experience, along with years of working with kids in different settings, gave her a natural ability to connect with children in a way that felt genuine and effortless.
Before moving to Maui, there was a defining moment during her time in Bible college. Marissa had originally enrolled as an education major, planning to become an art teacher, with minors in biblical studies and psychology. But on her first day, after meeting a student majoring in Life of Missions, something shifted. By the end of that day, she changed her major, because at the core of it all, she simply wanted to serve.
In 2012, she moved to Maui as a worship intern at Hope Chapel, where she became deeply involved in youth ministries over the following years, volunteering and mentoring middle and high school students. That season further shaped her heart for working with kids and strengthened her ability to lead, connect, and create meaningful experiences for them.
![Marissa Molina serving at the Hope Chapel Youth Ministries. "I think that [photo] pretty much sums it up."](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3bdf1e_a81b4581255c4cf98bb6af8942ae8525~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_640,h_640,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/3bdf1e_a81b4581255c4cf98bb6af8942ae8525~mv2.jpeg)
Even before building her character company, Marissa had already begun experimenting with creative work in her own way. In her early years, she created her first small business, The Enchanted Mermaid Marissa, offering mermaid themed experiences for children’s parties in 2014.
Not long after, while working at the YMCA, a simple moment helped shape what would change the direction of her life for good. A parent, Beatte, owner of Droplets Maui, had asked if Marissa would dress as an “Elsa” for her twin daughter’s birthday party, and what started as a single request quickly turned into something more. Beatte planted the seed of starting a Princess Character Company.
That moment became the beginning of her character entertainment journey.
At the time, stepping into character work wasn’t something she had a background in. Most of her creativity had lived in music and art, so this felt new, but it was something she learned and grew into along the way.
At her core, Marissa has always been driven by a desire to serve. Growing up in the church, that foundation was instilled early on, shaping her desire to give back and make a meaningful impact. More than anything, she wanted to be someone who could help others, and everything she pursued grew from that place.
In 2015, that desire took a more tangible form when she joined her best friend Diane on a mission trip to her hometown in the Philippines, alongside their friend Ginger. During that trip, she began building relationships and gaining a deeper understanding of the community.
In 2016, she returned for a month to continue that work, building on the connections she had already made and trying to understand how she could one day create something that would support families and the local economy. At the time, her focus was on starting a nonprofit, and she felt strongly called in that direction.
In 2017, after the loss of her mother, she put that desire on hold. Just a week prior, Marissa was told something that many creatives hear early on, that she would need to choose one path. Singing, writing, acting, or building a nonprofit - each one seen as a separate direction that required its full focus.
But instead of choosing, she leaned into all of it.
Character entertainment came naturally. It became a space where performance, creativity, storytelling, serving, and connection could exist together, allowing her to bring joy to children and families while expressing multiple parts of who she was. It also became a way to support other creatives in her community, working alongside local performers and helping create opportunities for talent on Maui.
Around that time, she struggled with wanting to contintue to pursue philathrapy in the Philippines. A conversation with her now husband shifted her perspective. He explained that while there’s nothing wrong with fundraising and starting a nonprofit, it can be difficult to fully help others if you’re not first in a stable place yourself. His mindset was simple: take care of yourself first, then your family and their future, then your community, and from there you’re able to go out and help others in a bigger way.
That perspective stayed with her. It drove her focus to work hard and to serve their local community first. She poured her time into supporting local efforts on Maui, volunteering with Make-A-Wish, local nonprofits, and community events. At the same time, she continued building her character company, not as the final vision, but as a starting point, something that could grow into more.
Building and Realizing
As the company began to take shape, so did the name. While brainstorming with her first performer, Kealani, they kept coming back to the same idea, bringing imagination into reality. That concept became the foundation, and eventually, it was simplified into Imagination Reality. Despite everyones disapproval for SEO or location based service, Marissa kept it
As the work expanded, so did her awareness of the limitations within the industry. Many character entertainment companies relied on well known characters or persons, often adapting or renaming them to navigate copyright restrictions. Even though the work was bringing joy to children, it eventually began to not feel right for her.
That realization brought clarity.
It wasn’t about what could work, what others were doing, or even what was profitable. It was about what felt right. Marissa knew that if she was going to keep building, it needed to be through original characters with meaningful messages, ones she could fully own, grow, and confidently share with others.
At the same time, that shift didn’t happen overnight.
From 2017 through 2024, she continued building her character company, creating experiences for families and staying deeply connected to the work she loved. But behind the scenes, something else was taking shape. While she wasn’t yet offering her original characters in those spaces, she was slowly building them - writing, developing, and creating stories that would eventually become something more.
The First Step into Storytelling
Before anything could be created, it had to be written.
Writing became her entry point into building worlds and developing characters. It was the first place her ideas could exist, before they had a visual form or a voice. Before character design, before original songs, before anything could be brought to life externally, it had to start on the page.
Ideas, concepts, plots all came naturally, but writing it didn’t. Of all the creative paths she explored, writing was the most intimidating. She had written and recorded a few songs, but songwriting and storytelling are different in many ways. Early drafts were often choppy, didn’t always flow, and required a lot of trial and error. She spent time researching, studying, rewriting, and leaning on friends and family to read through her work and offer feedback.
Some of those early stories are still unpublished for this reason.
In 2021, she published her first children’s book, Poi n Kai and the Seashell Snatcher, marking the beginning of her transition into original storytelling.
It was the first step toward building something fully her own. A story rooted not just in imagination, but in intention. It was her first time creating characters, worlds, and messages that could grow beyond a single moment or event.
A Season of Pause and Growth
But stepping fully into that vision took time. In 2023, everything seemed to happen at once.
At 36 weeks pregnant, her stepmom was diagnosed with cancer. Marissa flew out to say goodbye, and within a week or so of returning home to Maui, she passed. Because she was so close to giving birth, Marissa wasn’t able to attend the funeral, navigating that loss without immediate family nearby.
About a month later, she gave birth to her daughter. Just four days after that, the August 8 Maui wildfires devastated the community.
In the middle of all of this, she still showed up. She finished out the remainder of her events, closed out the year with the most profitable season she had ever had, and donated over $5,000 worth of character entertainment to families directly affected by the fires.
But when January 2024 came, everything caught up.
With two toddlers under two, grieving alongside her own loss and the loss felt across the island, she reached a complete stop. She felt guilt and shame for how the decision affected not just the children, but her business partners as well.
For the next two years, she didn’t push forward in the way she had before. She chose to simply be.
There was no pressure to build or perform or grow something new. Instead, she allowed herself space to process, to heal, and to return to creativity in a different way.
Writing became that outlet.
During that time, she returned to the original stories she had started years earlier and began creating again from a place that felt more honest and grounded.
Rebuilding with Purpose
In 2025, she published Poi 'n Kai and the Power of Kindness Over Bullying illustrated by Sarah K Turner through Halo Publishing and The Dream I Planted, illustrated by her sister Shaylah Nikole, in honor of their mom.
Then in 2026, she published Eggwish™, her first iconic character-driven story, and began bringing Everhop, the main character, to life through small, meaningful experiences for families on Maui.
Imagination Reality was reintroduced as the umbrella brand for these original stories, with a soft reopening of Imagination Characters Maui focused entirely on original characters.
The stories that had been quietly developing since 2018 were no longer waiting.
They were finally beginning to come to life.
✨ More Than a Business
Imagination Reality isn’t just a business. It’s a space where children, and even adults, can feel safe imagining, creating, and becoming who they are.
Built on one core belief:
You are allowed to hope, imagine, and become - to dream, believe, and create.
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Imagination Reality is a children’s brand creating meaningful stories, characters, and experiences that help kids grow, imagine, and become. Founded by Marissa Molina.
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