In The Club - The Kids' Activity Business Podcast
In the Club is your go-to podcast for growing a kids activity business. Whether you run a dance school, manage a football academy, or operate a gymnastics club, we share practical strategies to help you thrive.
Hosted by the team behind ClassForKids—the award-winning class booking system trusted by 4,500+ children’s activity providers—each episode delivers expert advice, marketing tips, and real success stories from across the industry.
Discover how to boost bookings, streamline kids club management, and improve parent communication with insights on everything from dance school marketing tips to holiday camp software and gymnastics waitlist management.
Tune in monthly for actionable ideas, inspiring interviews, and answers to your burning questions. Subscribe now and join thousands of providers transforming their businesses with smarter systems and strategies.
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In The Club - The Kids' Activity Business Podcast
EP 19: Why Entrepreneurship is Crucial to Navigating Adversity
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What happens when a dancer turns entrepreneur and then navigates her way through a pandemic? Well, you get a story of resilience, innovation, and community. That's exactly what Jasmine Hanlon from Move It, Shake It Events brings to the table in this engaging episode.
In this month's episode, Steven and Rebecca sit down to hear Jasmine's journey from running a dance school to creating a thriving events business is both inspiring and informative. From personal incidents to a pandemic, Jasmine's story will show you why mindset is crucial to achieving your goals - whatever they are.
In the final segments, Jasmine opens up about her early days as a dancer and why she decided to shift from running a dance school to focusing more on events and competitions.
Be sure to tune in to an episode that's packed with insights and experiences from Jasmine's journey and is sure to captivate anyone interested in entrepreneurship. Happy listening.
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Jasmine Hanlon From Move It, Shake It Events
Speaker 1Today we're going to be talking to Jasmine Hanlon . Is that how you pronounce it ? Yeah , it's how you pronounce it yeah , Okay good From Move it , shake it , move it , shake it events . A bit of a different one for us because she's not one of our customers , but she's got a really interesting story and business model .
Speaker 2Well , we went a bit rogue , didn't we ? We were like let's just get a non-customer in because she's very much in the kids activity industry space , but does something , as you see , very , very different . She doesn't run a club or a dance school , she runs Events .
Speaker 1She runs events for different dance schools and I just think , with the length of this one , without further ado , we'll just get it started . I hope we should . Let's go straight into it . Here we are , jasmine Hanlon . Here we are today with Jasmine Hanlon from Move it , shake it events .
Speaker 3Hi , how are you ? It's events . That's time it is , it is .
Speaker 1Excellent . How are you ? I'm good . How are you ? I'm very good , very good . Thanks for coming up to see us from .
Speaker 3Not Birmingham , not Birmingham . Near Birmingham , not Birmingham , an hour outside of Birmingham , an hour outside of Birmingham .
Speaker 1I wouldn't say that's near somewhere if it's an hour away .
Speaker 2Yeah , but then if you're from a place that's kind of between two places , you'll just tend to say the biggest city , Right ? Okay , we don't live in Glasgow , but we would say to people , maybe I live in Glasgow , that type of thing .
Speaker 3Welcome to Class for Kids . Thank you , I'm super excited . I mean , this is a bit snazzy , yeah .
Speaker 2Well , we spent a bit of time decorating in here . I think we came back after Christmas and it was just Stephen and I in the studio at that point and we were like you know what ? Let's decorate it . It's great to be able to host people coming into the office customers people that we work with , so it's great to have you . How have you found your morning so far ? I mean , this is my fourth cup of coffee .
Speaker 1Is it an Americano ?
Speaker 3No , it is a . This is a Hazelnut latte , really yeah , where did you get that ?
Speaker 2from Seema . She is on it . She's not offered us a hazelnut latte . We'll be having a work with her at home . Oh my gosh .
Speaker 3I fell off from the starboard . Yeah , no , I'm good , I'm good . The flight was super easy and I felt , yeah , it was exciting to see the offices . I think I was on a high because first time in Glasgow and I didn't know what to expect from the offices . But it wasn't this .
Speaker 2So what did you know about Clash for Kids before coming ? I mean , I know you've had some conversations with Seema , but who were we in your mind and how does that transfer to who we actually are ?
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , totally different actually . So I've been aware of your company for quite a while , so I set up my business in 2014 .
Speaker 2Ah , similar thing to us yeah .
Speaker 3So I was aware of it then , but I was obviously very small and just starting out . But I was also working for another company at the time doing stem related stuff . Okay , so stem related activities and you guys well , maybe not you , but the company had contacted me to see if we could do anything and see if it worked . But the company that I was working for was a franchise , yes , and they didn't want it because they had their own CRM system .
Speaker 3They had their own onboarding system and their own website and it was it's a Canadian based company , so the website was Canadian and they just did not , didn't want to , didn't want to change their systems and it all had to go through that .
Speaker 3So I was aware of that and then I just kind of kept in contact with with you guys for a little bit , like to see if there's anything else and any of the promos and a couple of social media bits , just to see . And then , yeah , so that was then so a little while ago . And then Seymour contacted me completely out of the blue , but I did know about you guys . So I say out of the blue , I knew who you were . It wasn't like trying to introduce me to the brand , but it's grown such such exponentially from from then to now and and in my head it was still like small and there's just a couple of things . And then , once she'd contacted me , I , you know , I was like right , let me have a look at the website , let me see what's going on now , and it was just totally different .
Speaker 2And it's like you know now .
Speaker 3You know lots of providers and lots going on .
Speaker 2And I think , yeah , definitely there's been more providers coming up in that space and I think for us , after COVID was a big time for us where we really grew , because during COVID we were more of a support mechanism for clubs out there . So , whether that was dance schools , whether it was football academies , what we would do is provide a lot of supportive content that you can't run your classes right now , but here's other ways you can generate revenue here , so you can do online classes . And then , after COVID kind of ended , we'd seen more and more clubs opening back up and I think since then , over the past well , we've both been here around about three years . It's just it has grown .
Speaker 1I think it's totally down to us , to be honest . I mean , that's when they started .
Speaker 2I didn't want to say it .
Speaker 3So I heard , like the podcast guys that like that's what made the difference . Yeah , that's what I've heard .
Speaker 2I mean , I saw Jasmine said it's not us , you didn't feed you that Like you heard it . You get your money later though , thanks .
Speaker 3Here's another thing . Yeah , do you know what that makes such a big difference ? Because and you can see that quite a lot is when , when the companies were supported by somebody like yourselves , not only because us as as children's providers , covid was hard .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 3COVID was hard and for some , for some people it was a really , really dark period because a lot of old school I mean I'm talking from a dance point of view- now right . But from a lot of old school dance teachers . They didn't even have an online presence within their school .
Speaker 1We know they took cash payment yeah .
Speaker 3You know . So they're like what we've now got to try and for them , they just could not see how this would possibly work doing online . And then you had some of the newer school you know , the newer teachers or I don't want to say younger , because that's not always the case , but a lot of the ones that were just fully on board of like , right , we have to do something , what are we going to do ? And they , they really grew during that time and they kind of saw a gap in the market . So for you guys to have been a support network for activity providers , and not just for dance but for activity providers as a whole , I think it felt like they had their hand held , like we're not alone . Because I do know quite a lot of people , you know dance teachers at UJU . After I spoke to them you know a lot of them usually and they did feel like supported , but also not not alone , like okay , cool , we're not the only one struggling here .
Speaker 3And even just as a to share ideas to go right . This is what we can do . When it's working for other people in other areas , I feel like I can pay the bills . Because , that was . That was a big deal for a lot of schools is that , especially the ones that had their own studios ?
Speaker 2Exactly , you still got those overheads running no matter what and mortgages to pay and then those kind of things , and you know , there wasn't always a lot of support out there , unfortunately , so we kind of did what we could and yeah , no , and for me personally , as my business , I actually grew during COVID , so , which is weird , because I do events based on how did that happen ?
Speaker 3Yeah , really strange . So for the first . So COVID hit . I was actually in LA in the February . Yes , so I was in LA in the February and that's when , in America , covid like the word COVID , you know was like being bounded around and it was on the news and me , my partner , had gone out there . We were there for nearly four weeks and we were doing road trips and everywhere we went people were like you don't get too close because of COVID . And we were like what is COVID , what is this ?
Speaker 3And so , you know , I rang one woman and I said have you seen the news ? Like what's going on there ? And she was like my mom was like don't be so dramatic , darling , there was nothing going on here . And I was like I don't know if we can , I don't know if we're going to have to fly home , because they were talking about airports . And she was like you obviously are a dancer right Performing that . She's like you're so dramatic . This is ridiculous . She put the phone down and then we ended up getting the last flight home from LA , not realizing into on the plane and the pilot's like just letting you guys know this is happening .
Speaker 3You've now got to do this and this and this and this was before , masks was everything . So they're coming around with this hand gel and we're like on the plane . On the plane , so kind of like you know when you would go and visit , like that's weird , right , especially and we're talking pre like , pre masks . So we were like what you know , when you would go to like I don't know , maternity units , and then you would have .
Speaker 3That's the only place that I'd seen like hand sanitizer like that before you know . So it was really weird . They were coming with this industry and we were like what is going on ? They were like don't touch this , don't touch that , don't touch the board in front from a flight from LA . Like it was a little bit weird and but still quite chilled yeah , but still chilled . And then we got home and within a week it had locked down . Now I had an event , I had a comp , the , so I think I don't know . Let's say , I flew home on the Monday , the event was on the Sunday . It was like within that week and people were like , is the event still going on ? And I'm like , yeah , because it wasn't really spoken about within the UK and it was massive in America . We hadn't really spoke . It wasn't really spoke about in England . And then my , my event still happened , and then the week after is when we went into full lockdown so I had to cancel . So this was in the March now , wasn't it ?
Speaker 1Yeah , March .
Speaker 3So I had to cancel . Oh my God , tons of events , you know , maybe , maybe , at least 20 , 25 events .
Speaker 2Because your business is a very space it's all about . Is that immersive experience ?
Speaker 3It's all events . Yeah , that's what I do , it's all events . I don't want to dance school anymore . That's all I do is is dance , events , comps , intensives . That's all I do . So I was like , oh my God , like if I can't do , if I can't get people in a room there's a bit of a problem .
Speaker 2There's an issue .
Speaker 3We've got an issue . We've got an issue . What do I do and I'm not going to lie for that first kind of week , you know , of watching the news and you're like what , what is the solution here ? Because you just couldn't . Everyone was going a bit crazy . We couldn't see what was going on and we thought it was going to be two weeks , right ? Do you remember when Boris was like you know , we're going to lock down on village for like 14 days .
Speaker 2Yeah , we were like well back in the office in a couple of weeks . It was fine .
Speaker 3It was fine oh my God , a two week break Great , but for me it wasn't great , had you not just joined this company , a week before I had .
Speaker 2I joined on the 9th of March and I think we locked down so I was in the office like a full working week plus a day .
Speaker 1And I remember our boss at the time going I was a bit mad , isn't it ? This is all a bit crazy . And she's like if the kids club shut down , we're going to be shutting down . Yeah , like shutting down down . And I was like , oh , and I joined two months before . So we were both like we're new here and we were immediately home for the best part , two years , I mean we did come back and dip
Online and in-Person Dance Competitions
Speaker 1out . So how did them ?
Speaker 3Yeah , so sorry . I was like sorry , he grew .
Speaker 1But how did you , how did you manage ?
Speaker 3Yeah . So so watch the news two week cancel , cancel all the stuff . I had to give everybody back , obviously , their deposit . So which for me ? It's just me . It's just me that runs the company . I don't have a team .
Speaker 1And any fund doesn't look like that .
Speaker 3No no , it's just me , and everybody that works for me is all self employed , so they're like contractors , because I run events all over the country and , although I have a small team that travel with me , they don't just work for me because they're doing you know they're doing whatever else , which I suppose was a good problem for me .
Speaker 3So I was like at least I haven't got staff kind of relying on me , but equally I do have a lot of people that work for me a lot and I know that I pay their bills . You know like .
Speaker 1I know that I'm the biggest . They may not be fully employed , but you are their main source and company .
Speaker 3Exactly that . So I kind of felt a responsibility . But it's not about although I still need to pay my bills right Like . It's not just about me . I need to think of a bigger picture , because what , what people weren't realizing when events were closing down is that it affects them , the catarists it affects them , the tech team , it affects the cleaners .
Speaker 2It's a domino effect .
Speaker 3Yeah , huge , because you know , as an event provider , I'm providing a lot of jobs .
Speaker 3So then I've got to turn around to the cleaners that self-contract and say , guys , you've not got a job either . It was so big . So for the first kind of two to three weeks I was in like a bit of a panic mode of like , right , okay , let's just ride it out and see what happens , I'll cancel it and I'll give their refunds back and we'll see how it goes . And I did in that time quite a lot of online competitions , so dance schools were able to sorry , that's a lot dancers did it individually and was able to submit their video to me . I then had a panel of judges and we did it live and I very quickly learned how to do this whole Zoom thing which you know .
Speaker 1That was like it's all . I was like what's Zoom ? Two weeks later , I'm a master at Zoom .
Speaker 3Yeah , I'm a master at Zoom and I had like different backgrounds , yeah . And then I had my name coming up on the screen , thinking I was on like BBC News . So so did that . I was like this is going really well . And for my first online comp that I did , I think about I had about a hundred entries and I was like okay , okay . And then the second one that I did , I had like 400 entries , and then the third and it just kind of went a bit crazy and then I was having them from all over the world .
Speaker 2Then so do you think people were looking for something to do ? In a way in lockdown and we're thinking wait , actually I want to enter this competition , I want to do something like that . Like because a lot of people did run online classes and I know like a couple of our clubs one of them , simon , says Dance and Edinburgh .
Speaker 2He had like attendees for online classes from places like Malaysia , from the States and all that different things I think people were looking for this collective community wherever you were in the world , because everybody was kind of experiencing the same thing , yeah .
Speaker 3So so I , yeah , I think so . But also I was like this is a very British comp , so I was having a lot of dances from like China or Japan or America , because all my judges obviously speak like well , we sound a bit like Mary Poppins .
Speaker 1Like the ones that are from London .
Speaker 3So I think all of the Americans were like , oh my God , because the judges were like that's , yeah , yeah yeah , oh , my gosh absolutely loved it , you know , and so they Mary Poppins .
Speaker 3Yeah , so I think that was a bit of a novelty as well , but then the biggest , the biggest change for me wasn't the online space , it was . I was I mean , this was hard , but this is what changed my business is as soon as I realized that what I was doing was probably wrong , because I was advertising it out for children to come and do an online comp , because I was like , that's my business , that's what I do , and then I was like , oh my God , this is not what I do . What I do is I help the dance teachers put on extra classes , and it just didn't register with me , if I'm honest with you , because I'm like what I actually do as a dance business is not providing . I don't provide trophies and medals and accolades for children , even though that's what they see , you know , best personality when regional dancer of the year and they get all that . But what I'm actually doing is providing a space where dance teachers are able to put on extra classes and workshops for their dancers to generate more income for them , in order for them , you know , to create better student morale within the school , higher technique dancers and create solos and like they generate more income .
Speaker 3Is that I was cutting them people out ? And I thought , oh my , and it didn't register with me for the first month , if I'm honest , when I was doing the online comps , until until one of my best friends she owns a dance school and I was like , hey , how are you going on ? And we were speaking every day and she was like , mate , it's hard because there's just no reason why they're coming . And then I was like , oh my God , I'm cutting them out and I just hadn't realized that I was cutting out those people that are vital to what I do . So then this was when we had the 30 rule , you know , like the 30 people in a space rule , if you remember that , regardless of how big the space was .
Speaker 3So what I did then is I spoke to all my venues that I used that I had really great relationships with , and I said , look , I can't pay you your normal higher rate . It was there's no physical way . But could I ? Could I get a discounted rate if I bring my own team to clean ? And you know , and I kind of negotiated with them a bit . They were like , do you know what ? Give us anything , they were really happy for anything , and they just kind of come and unlocked it and they were like you know how to work the sound desk , you know how to work their lives . If you do it , it's going to provide anything as income .
Speaker 1So I did Were these private venues . They weren't councils that led venues , anything like that . No , they were all private venues Because we heard the trouble a lot of the time was from the kind of the ones that were . The more kind of council led , the more kind of , and that they were not for opening and a lot of the dance schools where . That's where they had to go .
Speaker 2I guess it's maybe more regulation and more policy with councils . Where there's private , lets maybe have their own .
Speaker 3They had to make up their own rules , I guess , and I thought about that , so a lot of the theatres that were owned privately , or I use a lot of private schools , so it was just the decision of the head teacher to say or the groundskeepers are we doing this or not ?
Speaker 3And some of the groundskeepers , especially in the private schools that I use , live on site and they were like , yeah , great , we'll open up and we can go . So what I was doing was going in . I would have 30 dancers at a time . So if you were a dance school and you had , let's say , a hundred children , you could only bring 30 at a time . They would go on the stage and you could bring less if you wanted to bring adults with you .
Speaker 2Okay , yeah .
Speaker 3If they wanted to have like adults watching . So they would come , they would bring them , I would give them a specific time slot . They would perform all of their solos , which is totally different to what I usually do , because it's all dance schools together and you would do section by section to all of the lyrical , then all of the jazz and all of the acro , whereas I couldn't run it like that . So each dance school had like a two hour slot . They would perform all of their thing , all of their solos , all of their duets , all of their troops . The Jujus would score them on scorecards . They would leave . I'd have to fumigate the whole space , clean the space and then the next dance school would come in . So I'd have to leave a half an hour gap in between every dance school .
Speaker 3And then I was , so the comp would start at seven o'clock in the morning . I would leave the venues at like one o'clock in the morning because we had to like it was so spaced out .
Speaker 3But I was saying to dance teachers look , you've got a two hour space . I can give you eight until 10 at night , do you want it ? And they were like , yeah , because what are we going to do the next day ? The kids have not got a school , we'll take it . So they were so happy that they could do it and there was lots of rules , right , you know , you've got a hand gel , you've got to wear a mask . You had to sit two meters apart . You weren't allowed to scream and cheer for the kid Like you could clap .
Speaker 1Remember that you were not even allowed to sing .
Speaker 3Remember I was saying to go to school to film .
Speaker 1Remember I helped that year in my kid's school film the Panto . And they all had to mime , they all had to go . I'm not actually singing at all and it was just like this is really weird and I had to like sync up the audio .
Speaker 3I think the dance teachers were so glad that there was something on that the kids could work towards , and then it just changed my whole business . Because then , as soon as I was saying to the dance teachers that this is not about the children getting an award Although it's great and if they do , like winner , winner . But this is about you being able to offer comp classes , to give a purpose and a reason as to why your children need to come to class online . They need to click on Zoom , they need to be a part of it and they still need to work on their technique and work on their solos . But then also the parents were seeing why they're going to dance again , because we've got no shows this year . So again some of the parents were like , well , we won't add in this class . So then the knock on effect for parents and as soon as they saw right , we're going to comp . Oh , you'll need an extra couple of solos , mate , you'll need some more private . You need to do this . So then that was building it back up and I was opening advertising it to dance teachers , as this isn't about what it usually is as coming to comp to win best dance scones from this . It's about your business and the dance teachers .
Speaker 3I probably double the amount of dance teachers that came on board with me within that COVID time of doing it like that , and I was just really honest with them and I was like , look , it's going to be weird and we're not going to be able to do this and I'm going to . It's going to be late , some of the slots , but are you up for it ? And they were . And then after that , once things started easing up , we could then have six days and then I was like , right , I can have two dance schools . How do we feel about this ? And just kind of , you know , did it like that . And then when we got back to normal , all of those dance schools have now stayed with me .
Speaker 1Yeah , the loyalty .
Speaker 3Yeah , which I'm so unbelievably grateful that they that dance schools wanna come back to me every time and some I've got one particular dance school and she's been with me since my very first comp and I don't know if she's missed one yet . Like she travels with me everywhere maybe other than Scotland , but she sometimes comes to judge that one actually , but she comes to every single one and it is important , isn't it ? Loyalty is important , but I think , because some of them had seen what I was doing and then it wasn't about me although obviously I still need to pivot and work my business they kind of realized that what I was doing for the dance community . I think they feel or some of them feel like a little bit of loyalty , of like she's gonna look after us , it's all right .
Speaker 1You know like this is gonna be fine , that's what we got . Yeah To say , it's the same thing we got . Well , interesting , so right , dance events , dance comps . Where did your kind of journey in dance ? Put your business aside , saying where did your journey , and just dance start ? You must have been a dancer .
Speaker 3I mean , if we're going back to when it started .
Speaker 1Let's go .
Speaker 3Like 18 months old and a gorgeous little T2 , like on the stage winning the poo , which I think my nan still got the video off somewhere . But yeah , I've danced my whole life .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 3And I've always been the everything dance kid , so did ballet tap acro .
Speaker 1Did you do like theater and things like that ?
Speaker 3Yeah yeah , yeah . So did all of that and then did amdram , you know , did all of that stuff and did all like the grade work that you would usually do . And then went to dance from arts college and my own was like , it was like fame , it was just , it was just the
Dance to Business and Events Transition
Speaker 3best . But then within that we had this really , really small section of dance business and it was like a small module .
Speaker 2That's so good that they do include those modules . Because , so many like . We have the Royal Conservatoire , like in Glasgow , and a lot of their courses don't include the business elements . So you've got these like dancers , you've got musicians going out and they're kind of like okay , how do ?
Speaker 3I do my tax . How do I ?
Speaker 2start my business ? How do I promote my business ? So that is so good to hear that there are courses out there that do that , because so many don't .
Speaker 1And people really don't know how to talk about it , but it was just a small module in those , so it was okay . But then you latched on to that side of it .
Speaker 3Yeah . So I think I think the reason they did it , if I'm honest , is that one of the lecturers really enjoyed it . So I think that's why she did it , because , you know , that's not always the way , but I think because she and she was just great and she would just speak to you , dead normal , and it didn't feel like , oh my God , this is business and you know , like I need this , like it was just really normal . I was like , okay , this is good and I'm getting distinctions in this class , and I was like I realized that I was where my skills at Lide was like in the organization .
Speaker 1I was like oh my God , Are you a very organized person .
Speaker 3Yes , although my partner would , I'm sure would say no . I love a highlighter and a spreadsheet . This is for me . And then obviously , like still dancing . And you know , I think , as dancers , as kids especially , there's this like misconception of you go to dance school , then you go to dance college , then you get a dance job and then you're a teacher and that's the only pathway and it's something that I really feel like needs changing . But it's like that's the only thing . And you hear so many parents go , but what's your backup plan ? What about if you get injured and you get the dance job ? And I'm like there's so many things that they could do that are still within the arts . So , loved it , loved , obviously , still loved dancing and was loving the modules and was really enjoying it . And then it was the year that snowed really bad , Like the beast from the east .
Speaker 3Before , then no idea .
Speaker 2I don't know if we're like well , we know this the beast from the east .
Speaker 3No , before then this was like I'm talking what ? Like 16 years ago really .
Speaker 3And it's node . When I was at dance college and it snows really bad , like ridiculous , and At this point I had like a real rubbishy , like tinky car , because you know you're at dance college and you've got no money and I've got this tiny little car and Big where , where I went to dance college , it was a real snazzy area and like there was big houses and there was a Porsche in front of me . It was a real snazzy one and there was a Porsche on one side and there was a Lamborghini part the other side and On my car swerving and I'm not gonna feel like I don't even know what it was . It was like just like a box car and I'm swerving and I'm like , right , there's a ditch here , there's a Lamborghini , there's a Porsche . I can either go into two of them cars I'm probably gonna have like really mad people come out and see me , or like I can try and go into the ditch and my car is just going all over the place .
Speaker 3I went into the ditch . It was the smallest when I say accident . It was like you know nothing , but I'd hurt my neck a little bit and I was the acro kid , so I was the bendy one and that little like twink was enough for me not to be able to do walkovers anymore . And then I was like , oh my god , and it really like shocked me , like , if I anything is to , happen ?
Speaker 1Yes , and .
Speaker 3I'm talking like when I say actually it really was like Like oh , I'm just down a bit bit because I like impact I was like , oh my god , and I recovered and it was fine , but it gave you the , it gave me the shot , like .
Speaker 1That's what I always think when it comes to like even anybody in the sporting profession as well , and if you say , yeah , musicians , yeah , you hurt your hand , that's it , yeah , that's done type thing , yeah .
Speaker 3And you know , like you hear your dance teacher go , your body's a temple and you need to look after anything , okay , sean . Then I was like oh my god , she's right . Yeah , now what ? So ? So that kind of scared me a little bit . And that's when I was dabbling with events . So as soon as I've kind of graduated and I was working for that stem company at the time but I was dabbling in events , but you know , I'm talking one a year and just kind of seeing like can I do this ? Is it something that I enjoy ? I'm a good at it ? Or people are gonna be like what is she doing , you know ? So I was just kind of dabbling and then it kind of and at this point I started at my dance school as well , because what else do you do if you're a dancer , if you're not gonna ?
Speaker 1go . That was the question , further than the line like presumably did have a dance school . Yeah , I was your own one , it was my own .
Speaker 3JDC . Jdc yeah , really inventive dance company and I loved it . And you know you fall in love with the kids , don't you ? And like you see them grow and you put on little shows and it was great and I did that for years and I was still dabbling in the event space .
Speaker 1What's a dance events then as well . Yeah , okay , yeah , not just for your school .
Speaker 3No , so I was . So I was running my school , you know , all year and then I'd put on like one comp a year , okay , and just invite like local schools and say , look , do you , do you want to come ? And when I look back now it's almost laughable that like you know how we run and what I dig , so just think I can't believe that anybody came and some of them still come now like , but it's crazy . So it was kind of dabbling , that loved , it was great Love , the school was growing and that's all you think that you do . Right , like that's . This is my life now Is that I run the school and I'm gonna keep growing the school and because again you just there's no other kind of options and although I was loving the other side of stuff , like the events , I didn't think it could be a full-time job sustainable for a long term , yeah .
Speaker 3I just didn't realize it could be a full-time job and that . And I was like you know nobody does this . Is that it's for fun ? No , you know , almost like when people go to . But what's your real job ?
Speaker 3Yeah you know . So I didn't realize . And then , and I was living over in Henley and Arden near Stratford upon Avon , so I was living over there but my partner was living completely somewhere else , which Was I can hour in a little bit drive . So I ended up moving nearer to him because for his work he couldn't , he couldn't move , so moved nearer to him and then and I'm still kind of growing the school , I was still loving life , and and then had a miscarriage quite late on in my pregnancy and then again that was the second shock of like . So I was like , I was like over three minutes , so it's quite , you know , and I thought , oh my god , and then I couldn't teach . So I was like , not only can I not dance , I can teach like . And then , you know , a bit of like an identity crisis , you know , like this is all I've done my entire life . You know , my entire life I've been Built up to . That's all . Like .
Speaker 2That's the only thing that I do I dance and that's all I know like the voice in the back your head , if like someone's seeing what's your backup plan ?
Speaker 3Yeah , and like that's the like , I have no backup plan . You know that was the voice of like , oh
STEM to Dance Competitions
Speaker 3my god . But at this point I was still working For the STEM business , but but again , it was a franchise . The guy that owned it just wasn't interested . He was kind of changing the rule book and he was very out of the business and , yeah , it was just getting a little bit crazy and he'd sat loads of well , all the staff except from me and one other , and I was just like what am I like ? Yeah , what is , what am I gonna do ?
Speaker 3So this was , this was then and Again , kind of like , you know you two like both moments for me , right ? So one was the crash , one an essay crash in the loose is term and then one was the miscarriage and I was like it's almost and I do believe in kind of like , if it's meant to be , yeah , and I believe in like fake , while I know I do believe that we have like a path and if you're not on the right path , things will happen to put you on that .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's what I believe , which may sound a bit we will , and I was like I'm being pushed towards events Like that .
Speaker 2The I'm like are you dabbled with it and you know there's something in it , like people are coming along to this , even though you thought you look back , maybe why did they do , but people were , they were infested in that , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3So I was like right , and then that's when I started to take it far more seriously . So that was Seven years ago , right , yeah , yeah , seven years ago , I think . And that's when I started to take it far more seriously and was like this is what , this is me says that is that the time then ?
Speaker 1how long did the school continue ? I kept the school going for a year with other teachers as well , involved , just you , okay , okay .
Speaker 3And then and then that's when you know like right , you could just come to everything , yeah . And I also strongly believe and I know that I'm sure some people are going to listen to this and very much disagrees me but I don't believe that you should run competitions and have your own school . Okay , and I realized that I was like it's a huge conflict of interest .
Speaker 1Well , you can't have your school compete in the competitions you run .
Speaker 3No and then no , not at all . You can't have that .
Speaker 2So do you mean they're running competitions in an area and their school's attending plus six ?
Speaker 3others . Yeah , yeah , yeah , okay , yeah , that happens .
Speaker 1Or does it happen that they would run a competition just internally within their own school ? No , no , no .
Speaker 3Two classes , not just across they would run a comp , invite other schools , their school will compete . Okay , they will employ a judge , but you know like it's their comp , it's their kids . The judge knows that it's their kids . I think that it's wrong . Plus , even if they don't invite their children and they still run a school this is what I was finding .
Speaker 3I'm like what does it mean when another school wins or a child wins , but I'm a dance teacher that owns a school ? What does it mean ? What's the accolade there ? Because I'm just like yeah , like we're just dance teachers , right , that's running a fun comp . So I was like , right , I need to . And this there's like festivals and there's comps and they're very different things . So we have some dance teachers that will run like a festival . It's a little bit more relaxed and I say relaxed in terms of like having your own school there and that kind of thing . And then comps are usually a bit kind of loud and a bit crazier and a bit there's a lot of this stuff going on there's lights , there's confetti , there's other stuff and I was like I need to , I need to take my comp up a notch to be that one that when kids will win at my comps or they get a title . They're like oh my God . And they don't see me as a dance school owner . They see me as that's the comp that I want to go to .
Speaker 1You see , is that an authority ? Yeah , an authority within the space .
Speaker 3So that's when I was like I need to make my mind up . Am I a dance school owner ? Am I going to do comps ? Am I going to run comps and am I going to try and get myself into that space and be the one that people want to go to ? And it really means something when they win ? So that was the decision . I mean , it's a hard one , isn't it ?
Speaker 3Because you get to know the kids and it's awful , but that's the decision that I had to make and I believe that was being pushed that way .
Speaker 2So fast forward a few years .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 2Here is move at Shake it Now . I mean , you've got something like what is it ? Over 20,000 followers on your Instagram , multiple events throughout the UK , england , scotland , wales yeah , where is it now ?
Speaker 3Oh my God , I just love it . Yeah , I love it . I still feel like a bit giddy when I go to an event and people come up to me and they go , oh , we've had a great time . And I'm like , yeah , I'm so glad you have . Or like when kids ask for photos with me .
Speaker 1Oh the end mate yeah .
Speaker 3And you're like oh , I just feel so grateful that people come to the events and they enjoy them . So I now run an event almost every Sunday of the year , Wow , Except like Christmas , you know . But I run , yeah , I run a lot . So I run a lot of comps .
Speaker 1How about your team ?
Speaker 3So there's just me that does all like that , you know , like the admin , the marketing , the customer service , kind of like the backside of the things , and then team that comes with me on the day .
Speaker 1Yep , so do you do like the venue booking or sourcing venues and whatnot , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3And then team that comes with me on the day . I have like a team of judges . I have about 12 different judges that I have and they'll just rotate different because I can't I can't expect to know what to be as crazy as me and say you know , you're going to work every Sunday .
Speaker 3So I have a team and they're higher professional dancers or professionals within the industry , you know , choreographers or people that are still on doing TV or or theatre work , which is great , because I again strongly believe that it's better to hire people within the industry than to hire adjudicators , because they're seeing the things that are coming up now you know like what's fresh now . So when they're giving feedback , it's feedback for industry now , not 20 years ago when they were performing .
Speaker 2Absolutely . It's keeping it really current , isn't it ? Yeah , and like exactly what you say what's trending now , like what's in the West End , like what are people doing , what changes are happening and I think you know these kids will recognise the people that you're hiring as well .
Speaker 3Yeah , exactly , and that's super exciting for them because you know when they see them and they follow them on Instagram and they know , you know they're like oh my God , and that must be good in like a marketing sense , for you to have these people on board .
Speaker 2I mean , I know you'll have professional relationships , but you would see such and such as coming and they've been in this production in the West End or they're on this TV show . You know there's interest from kids .
Speaker 1We're doing similar things as we're on the Space League with Misha .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , yeah , yeah so we're hosting a masterclass with her next ?
Speaker 1Yeah , and then the kids looked at us and the authority and the kind of oh do you know we couldn't put she absolutely didn't . Yeah , we couldn't put anybody in that position that would replace that kind of the guy I looked at . The kids give to her .
Speaker 3And I actually think fair play to her , because there are loads of children within that film , but she's really used her platform in a positive way . Yeah , I think you know what . Well done her , because you know she , she's not only teaching children a fab workshop , which I'm sure that she will , but she's , she's just like them .
Speaker 1She's giving them that spark of like . I'm just you guys , you know you could be me we were at the movie down in London and she done a big talk down there and yeah , I mean she's a really positive kid , yeah , and , like you say , she's talking to her peers .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1And yeah , it was just all real positive to come from her and yeah , it's the way to go , I think . So you know , it's something there .
Speaker 3And again within our industry , I think , because there's so much negativity about , you know , that kind of dance moms , yeah , era , that kind of . You know a lot of parents almost expect dance teachers to be crazy , yeah , and for them all to be quite negative and rivals and it's just not the case . You know , you will find that there is some dance school rivals but as a whole , again , at my events I really try and promote being calling to each other and I have an award where it's a secret award . I mean , maybe I shouldn't say this .
Speaker 3Actually I don't know , if there's any kids that come to my company listening to and I don't know , but I do an award where it's the kindest dancer and I'll look backstage of the dancers that are saying to each other love that costume . Oh , that's all lovely .
Speaker 3Because it's really important to be not only kind to your own dance school and your own team , but I make a point of the kids that are from another dance school , even though you think they are rivals at the minute . If you want to be professional dancers , they're going to be your cast mates , you're going to be on stage with that person and there's no rivalry . Then You're all the same and they'll remember if you're not nice to them . So , being nice , it goes both ways and you're just as nervous as they are . So I do a little secret award and if it's happening I'll give it out at the end and I'll say it , and if not , then they don't get that award .
Speaker 1No , they are going to listen to this . They are going to listen to the award . Are you OK ? Is everybody ?
Speaker 2OK , yeah , well , if it's promoting more kindness , that's not bad yeah that's it . It's a good thing .
Speaker 3But sorry , going back to that kind of dance , mom's culture . They expect it to be a little bit crazy and it's just it's kind of like a fun comp that they're going to .
Speaker 2I mean , there's a little bit of competitiveness there , but you're promoting different values .
Speaker 3Maybe there aren't other events out there that exist in the dance piece , I mean it's a competition , there's always going to be a competitive nature in that the kids always want to win . Of course they do . That's why they're there . But it's more about being inspired by other dancers and if they win a trophy , that is just the cherry right . That's the cherry on top of the cake . If they've come and they've enjoyed the day and they've enjoyed the experience and they've had , they've kind of built it up on stage and they've built their performance skills and they've had chance to show their parents and grandparents all the stuff that they've been learning and they've made maybe new dance friends , that's far more important than winning that trophy , although I do hold originals .
Speaker 3I've got a grand national event coming up which is a huge , huge event where dancers from all over the country that have placed first , second and third come to the event and they get to compete against the best of the best . So there's definitely kind of accolade there and it's definitely prestigious from that aspect . But yeah , it should be fun . You shouldn't go to a comp if it's not fun and you're too scared to get on that stage , because what's the point in doing it otherwise ?
Speaker 2Very true . I think there needs to be that element of I'm going to go and have a great time , I'm going to enjoy myself and there'll be that competition there . That's , you know . It's never going to be there , yeah it's been brilliant to catch up .
Speaker 1Thank you so much for inviting me . I mean the great , great business it was .
Speaker 2It is a great business . And , yeah , thank you very much for coming and chatting to
Podcast Guest From Kids Activity Industry
Speaker 2us on the podcast . Another fantastic podcast guest .
Speaker 1Another fantastic podcast guest , and one that this time round wasn't one of our customers .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think to have somebody who's not a customer on is very interesting , but also because she is in the kids activity industry space and doing something very different in the form of events , it was just interesting to hear more about her background as a dancer , but also her business model .
Speaker 1Yeah , business model is great and actually we hopefully may be doing some event based stuff with Jasmine in the near future .
Speaker 2Lurking the features .
Speaker 1But yeah , great podcast than it was a long one , so let's just wrap this up quick .
Speaker 2I think , so let's do it . Thank you , jasmine , for coming on to the podcast and also for being a great participant at Friday . Stand Up Indeed One , two , three , bye .
