Mimi Omiecinski – that’s me – I own Princeton Tour Company.
As my LinkedIn describes, “For more than two decades, Princeton Tour Company set the standard for immersive, high-quality visitor experiences—ranging from award-winning walking tours and ghost hunts to fully customized team-building programs rooted in the spirit of Princeton. Through unique partnerships with a cappella groups, historical interpreters, private dining experiences, and curated speakers, each program was designed to be unforgettable.
Today, the founder brings that same expertise to consulting—guiding tour operators in creating distinctive, profitable, and experience-driven businesses.”
If you’re curious how I got there, here’s the uncut version:
My husband, son and I moved here in 2006. It took me about two seconds to realize I had raise our son in this adorable town.
It took me another two seconds to figure out I didn’t need a car. I started biking and noticing all the landmarks, the architecture and the people on the sidewalks …
One day, I saw Dr. John Nash walking on the sidewalk so I mentioned my “celebrity sighting” to a merchant. He was quick to let me know Princeton has more Prize Winners than any two square miles on earth. I started google-ing Nobel Prize Winners, Pulitzer Prize Winners, National Medal Award recipients, etc. I started recognizing them in my grocery store, coffee house and library!
It wasn’t until I audited three courses at Princeton University that my infatuation turned to something else. It was a done deal… transplant or not, Wannabe or not, I had fallen in love with this town.
I wanted to create a business that would honor all of Princeton – her history, culture, residents, university and merchants so I knew a touring company made sense.
There were only a few problems: I wasn’t a historian, I didn’t grow up in Princeton, I didn’t go to Princeton University and, of course, never led a tour group!
- History – I collaborated with Princeton Public Library and various historical groups to verify my content. I don’t present anything as fact unless they told me I could. (Early in the tours there were even spots in the tour where I read verbatim the facts because I was terrified to get it wrong!)
- Touring – I LOVE touring people around Princeton! Now, I’ve been at this for 16 years but I started with ZIPPO experience. Check out our TripAdvisor, Google and Yelp reviews and you’ll see we’ve designed these so that customers love the content, route and price!
- Being a Princeton Wannabe – Here’s the deal. I’ll always be an outsider in Princeton. It’s OK with me and I hope it’s OK with you. I just want to do my best to sustain Princeton’s gorgeous landscape as well as her academic, economic and cultural diversity.
- Becoming a Full Service Tour Company – We started as a bike tour business and gradually moved to walking tours, pub crawls, ghost tours and corporate events. Guides like Jacqui, Jen, Pat, Tim, Shelly and Gerry added so much to the develop the long term reputation of PTC. I’ll forever be grateful to them!
If you think you want to get in the tour business, I’d love to help you find your way!
Email me at [email protected] or text 609-865-0234.