Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in dance education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Tanesha Colquitt, Founder of Fecund Maiden, located in Atlanta, GA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Fecund Maiden is a belly dance and yoga teacher who works with Black women to help them build their confidence through intuitive movement. She specializes in teaching belly dance to hip hop and has over 70,000 followers on Tik Tok. Alongside belly dance, she teaches tantra yoga and works with her students to free themselves in order to embody their autonomy.

Tell us about yourself

Fecund Maiden started learning belly dance and yoga at the age of twelve years old and has over fourteen years of training in the field. During 2020, the rise of depression and anxiety due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shook her to her core. She poured more attention into her work as a belly dance and yoga teacher to alchemize the pain felt from being isolated and separated from the things we all love and cherish as human beings. Fecund Maiden absolutely adores connecting with the world on Tik Tok in order to make belly dance and yoga more accessible for everyone.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Fecund Maiden has been able to become self-employed through her work on TikTok. She enjoys being able to travel and live comfortably as a belly dance and yoga teacher without the worry of becoming the outdated “starving artist” archetype. She has full artistic control of her art, performances, and work opportunities.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

She thinks the most challenging part of being a self-employed artist is dealing with the societal expectations of ”laboring” and “producing.” For Fecund Maiden, labor is being able to sit and imagine. A productive work day for her is being able to play and dance improvisationally to new music. Imagination is a crucial part of her ability to produce art. She recommends that artists find the courage to reject the pressure to perform and create like an employee. “You are free; act like it!”

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. JUST DO IT: post those TikToks, upload that YouTube video, reach out to that mentor… NOW!
  2. Let Your Shadow Work Guide You: as a business owner, you will come up to your own shadows, mean voices, and self-limitations. Don’t be embarrassed by them. Love and accept them! Listen to those limiting thoughts and let them guide you into a major breakthrough.
  3. You Are NOT an Employee Anymore: as a business owner, you are no longer an employee. You are the CEO, the Head Honcho, El Jefe! You will have to let these old behavior loops go in order to be the executive decision-maker that you need to be. Take this as your opportunity to heal your relationship to work, labor, and production. You have every right to be the leader of this business and the dream that you’re creating. OWN IT!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.fecundmaiden.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fecund.maiden.7/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fecund_maiden/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fecundmaiden
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fecundmaiden

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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