Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in dance education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Rachael Ellis, Owner and Artistic Director of En Pointe School of Ballet LLC., located in West Jordan, UT, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
En Pointe School of Ballet is a non-competitive, performance and technique-based classical ballet school that has been in business since 2010 and recently relocated to a brand new elegant studio located in Jordan Landing in West Jordan. We primarily serve the West side of the Salt Lake Valley and also have students from the East side and also Provo Valley. We have ballet-focused classes for ages 3 through adult. Our dancers perform in two full-length professional ballets annually. Nutcracker is the first weekend in December, and this season in 2023, we will perform our improved version of Cinderella, set to the exquisite music from the ballet Sylvia.
Tell us about yourself
I was trained and nurtured by Leanna Joyce Gomez, a prima ballerina from the Main State Ballet in the 1960s. She was trained in New York by Alexandra Danilova and Maria Swaboda from Ballet Russes, who were pupils of Enrico Cecchetti. Ms. Leanna moved to a small town in Florida, and in 1976 she began teaching me from age six until I was almost 18. She instilled in me a great love for the incredible art form that ballet is and the positive influence it can have on developing a person to become more than just a dancer. It is important to me to train every dancer to reach their fullest potential by nurturing them to believe in themselves and that they can do anything they set their minds to accomplish.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
In 2012, we began a boys program with ballet classes for "boys only," and that expanded to men's classes and four levels of partnering (pas de deux) classes currently. It has greatly impacted the quality of our performances to have young men performing the male roles and pas de deux choreography in our ballet performances. It provides a level of training that most studios do not have the opportunity to teach as weekly classes for teaching partnering skills and repertoire. We have boys' classes beginning at age five, and they love the masculine roles they perform in our performances and look up to the older teens and men. We are excited to be raising a new generation of male dancers. Currently, we have ten teens and men in our men's technique and partnering classes, 21 boys ages 5-12, and several men who will be performing as party parents in our Nutcracker.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest challenge is having so much to do and not having much if any, downtime. I am constantly studying ways to improve student retention, training our 20 staff members, and working creatively to get every detail created for each performance and keep parents informed. When Covid quarantines and now economy woes and gas prices have hurt our numbers, and it becomes difficult to pay the bills, the constant stress is heavy. I prefer to be in the studio teaching and directing rehearsals, but I sometimes feel pulled in so many directions.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
These top 3 tips took me over a decade to learn.
- Delegate - I had to learn to delegate, but only after it was absolutely impossible to do it all myself. I wish I had learned it sooner.
- Take care of your health - I pushed myself so hard and slept so very little that I damaged my health, and now my body is forced to rest more.
- Surround yourself with people who have skills and share the same vision for your business.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Our mission is to preserve the elegance and tradition of Classical Ballet through quality technique and full-length traditional ballet performances in an uplifting, nurturing, and inspiring environment. It is one of my greatest joys to see our students supporting each other in the studio and also backstage. We double cast all of our principal characters, and it is our tradition to have two dancers who are in the same role, and care for each other backstage by helping with costume changes, cooling off, water, and any other needs. It builds such a supportive atmosphere that adds to the overall positive environment in our studio. You love who you serve.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://enpointeballet.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enpointeballet/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enpointeballet/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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