Meet Charlie Russell of Animaru Maid Cafe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Russell.

Charlie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Ever since I was young, I was enamored with Japanese culture. Everything from traditions to history, and of course, modern pop culture. When I was 17, I discovered maid cafes and knew that I had to be a part of one. I joined my first maid cafe in 2013 and worked events with them up until early 2018 when I started working with a company called Monkey Paw Entertainment who runs several large anime conventions in the Southwest United States. I was hired on by them as a volunteer, helping organize and run all of their maid cafe events.

At an event in March of 2019, I was discussing events with one of the other organizers, and I asked if they had ever had a maid cafe at one of their two fur cons (Itty Bitty Fur Con and Arizona Fur Con). When they told me that they hadn’t, I asked if they would like to, and that I would be more than happy to take care of it. From there, I started brainstorming themes that would fit both a fur con and a maid cafe. I settled on an endangered animal theme, and thus Animaru was born. Since our online debut on April 19th, 2019, we have run two sold-out cafes, raised over $100 for various charities, and we are currently working on getting our LLC.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I am extremely fortunate to have a dedicated team working with me. We have managed to create an environment where everyone feels free to give ideas and speak their mind. Though there are two of us that function as the “heads” of the group, there is no hierarchy in Animaru. We are a big family, and everyone serves an important role in our team. I am also very lucky to have tons of previous experience with running events, specifically maid cafes. I believe that it is thanks to those experiences that Animaru’s events have always gone so smoothly.

The biggest struggle we have had to overcome has been the misconceptions that come with both maid cafes and the furry lifestyle. Both of these fandoms tend to be oversexualized, and we are doing our best with every single one of our events, posts, and advertisements to show that there is nothing inherently sexual or perverse about these groups. They are simply there to give people an outlet to express themselves.

Animaru Maid Cafe – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Animaru is a maid cafe that is heavily inspired by the maid cafes of Japan. We attend events such as anime conventions, furry conventions, and charity events to help spread awareness for endangered animals, as well as share the joy of maid cafes. Both of our 2019 events were structured maid cafes at fur cons. At these events, we serve a large group of people and entertain them for an hour. Entertainment varies from playing board games to dancing choreographed numbers, and much more. One of our maids does hula hoop tricks, and I am hoping to get her to perform her stunts at an event this year!

Each of our maids and butlers has an assigned endangered animal that they represent. They will wear what can often be referred to as gijinka (anthropomorphized costume) or kemonimimi (characters with animal ears) along with their Animaru uniform. Our goal is to spread awareness about the endangerment of these animals and many more animals like them, as well as to share the knowledge of the variety of ways in which we can help.

One of our proudest moments with Animaru Maid Cafe so far has been the success of our Chekis for Australia Initiative. When Australia was hit with the horribly devastating bush fires in early 2020, we set up a fundraiser in which anyone that donated directly to the funds that were set up to help those affected and sent us proof of their donation would receive a Cheki (polaroid photo) from us as a reward! We ended up raising about $50 during this initiative. We have managed to combine maid cafe culture, furry culture, and animal rights activism into one with Animaru. This amazing group of people has such a passion for all three of those things, and it’s really exciting to think about what the future has in store for us.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I feel like success can be measured in several ways. As someone that has suffered mental illness in my personal life, I know that sometimes success can be as small as getting out of bed in the morning. It’s not always just the people with huge houses and lots of money that are the most successful. Anyone can become successful, and success is linked directly to personal growth. In order to truly allow yourself to feel like you have succeeded, you need to be able to see your flaws, take in constructive criticism, reflect on your actions and find ways to improve, all while recognizing and honing in on your own strength.

In the grand scheme of things, I believe that if you look back on your life and see that the actions you have taken made someone smile, or if you had a hand in creating something that made a mark on even one person’s life, you are successful.

Contact Info:

• Email: animarumaidcafe@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animarumaidcafe
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/animarumaidcafe

Image Credit:
Alex Leiva

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