The Dance CEO Podcast: Recent Episodes
Audra Queen
Ready to learn how to stop surviving and start thriving in your life and business? The Dance CEO Podcast is a hybrid of solo and guest episodes sharing the good, bad and in between of what it takes to build oneself and business, while shedding hurtful mindsets from years in the dance industry. Guest episodes highlight how diverse the dance business world really is and that there is no one way to live and run your dance business.
So many studio owners and dance business leaders self identify as their work, and sacrifice personal everything because they think they have to to experience professional success, or they will look like they don't care.
Ashe Caldwell of Bloom Studio Coaching and I are here to share our conversation about how you don't have to do all that anymore. Ashe shares her journey of how she has successfully built her dance studio business without needing to be in it everyday. We dive into a lot of beliefs that we fully embody but may seem contradictory with what the dance world tells us we need to do to be successful. Are you looking for permission to do things differently than you've been taught? This is the episode for you!
Ashe Caldwell has been involved with the arts all of her life. She danced numerous hours a week, took singing and acting lessons, and was on the stage every chance that she got. Eventually, she was granted acceptance into the Musical Theatre program at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and had the privilege to audition and work in dance and theatre productions in the US as well as Canada. She moved her love of the arts on stage to behind the curtain creating dance and music studios and even a fine arts preschool. She has had the privilege to be a studio owner for the past 20 years owning multiple locations and bringing in 6 and 7 figures consistently. She has purchased commercial space and acquired a $2.2 million dollar commercial mortgage all through her studios and has been Awarded the Canadain Business Review Board’s Best Dance Studio in Canada. She now loves coaching studio owners(just like you) on how to stop surviving and start thriving in their studios.
Episode Highlights:
- A different, more successful way to run a dance studio & business
- How a coach made Ashe's success happen
- The power of tapping into your intuition
- Different ways you can run your business & live the personal life you desire
Links:
www.bloomstudiocoaching.com
www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass
Follows:
Ashe Caldwell - @ashe.caldwell
Audra Allen-Queen- @thedanceceocoach
Make sure to subscribe to this Podcast & like this episode!
Thank you for listening
This is Pt 2 of 4, where I get very vulnerable with you about my adult-diagnosed ADHD journey.
Today's episode dives into how I not only manage my business but thrive while doing so with ADHD. I share A LOT of hacks, tips, and resources that I use daily to make my business work for my brain, not the other way around.
When I played back the episode to edit and prepare it for production, I laughed because I talk faster and faster through the episode because I am so passionate about sharing this. And feeling that vulnerability just a tad.
Make sure to stick around for Pt 3 and 4. More details about my childhood and undiagnosed ADHD and more are coming in the near future.
Highlights:
- What my basic process is with running my biz with ADHD
- How I set up my workspace in both places to optimize my creative focus
- Allowing myself grace when things need to shift because my brain is wired like that
- Tools and hacks to help support, not contradict what my brain wants to do while running a business
Follow:
- Audra Allen-Queen
- @thedanceceocoach
Mentioned In The Episode:
- Dance CEO Masterclass Series
- Asana Software
- Rocketbook
So many K-12 dance educators have required professional development, but it rarely if never relates to them. This is exactly what Tamara Irving is setting out to rectify.
Join Tamara and myself as we discuss her journey professionally and how she has gotten here today, developing arts curriculum and facilitating teacher training that is actually beneficial for dance educators.
Tamara Irving is a distinguished arts educator and performer with more than 20 years of professional experience and 12 years in the classroom. As a curriculum writer and consultant Tamara has experience in IB (International Baccalaureate) Middle Years Program, Diploma Program, and Career Program and was recently selected as an examiner for dance in the Diploma/Career-related program. Her success may be found in building arts programs, including fundraising, outreach, and engagement. Tamara’s background in marketing, along with her experience as a professional dance artist has allowed her to bring a wealth of training, arts curricula design, artistic direction, and utilization of technology in teaching. Her educational journey started when she left the Us National Tour of The Lion King and needed to find stability while still utilizing her gift of dance. Due to limited support in many school districts for arts educators, Tamara was led to create a consulting firm that supported arts education programs. TMI Design and Consulting is committed to supporting Arts educators by developing arts curricula and facilitating teacher training and professional development programs infused with career and leadership skills practices with the goal of enhancing learning experiences. In addition to being a professional dancer, entrepreneur and educator, Tamara is also a proud wife and mom of 2 beautiful daughters and a son! Tamara believes that her gift is to inspire others through dance and that movement can come from anything!
Highlights:
- Tamara's professional journey performing with the Broadway show, The Lion King
- Her experience starting out as an educator
- How we can positively impact our students
Links:
- https://tmidesignconsult.mykajabi.com
- www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass
Follows:
- Tamara Irving @tmi.design.consulting
- Audra Allen-Queen @thedanceceocoach
Mentioned In This Episode:
- The Dance CEO Masterclass Series
Make sure to leave a review and "like" the podcast if you're finding value in this episode!
It's time to share all the juicy bits of how I not only survive, but thrive with ADHD. I wasn't diagnosed until the age of 36, in 2022, and my life will never be the same again because of it. Full disclosure - I wouldn't have it any other way.
Join me in this 4 part series as I share the details of my journey of discovering and confirming my ADHD as an adult woman in her 30's in this episode. And in future episodes, what it's like and how I run my business with ADHD, the impact it had on my childhood and my general employment and entrepreneurial journey with it.
Highlights:
- How I confirmed I had it without getting diagnosed
- What I did immediately following the confirmation
- What is different about my life now because of it
Follow:
- Audra Allen-Queen
- @thedanceceocoach
Mentioned In The Episode:
- Dance CEO Masterclass Series
It's not often that success for a dancer is celebrated unless they make it into a top tier dance company. But there are so many who do have successful dance careers while not "in the spotlight".
Join Kara Tatelbaum, author, teacher, coach and myself as we dive into the importance of knowing you can still be successful even if it's not in the "traditional" sense. We also take a few left turns (as I often do) and dive a bit into our backgrounds, our creative journeys and share our visions for the dance world.
Described by the New Yorker as “having brown curls, bright eyes, kiddish exuberance and
looking like the heroine of a children’s book, Really Rosie meets Olivia the Pig,” Kara
Tatelbaum brings full-out dancer energy to all of her endeavors. She tries like hell not to pigeon-hole herself—striving for a life of authenticity, grace, and humor. As a sought-after teacher and coach, Kara empowers others to hold on, let go, realize, and expand their own dreams. You can find her spotlight center-stage or cheering from the audience. Turns out she’s comfortable both places.
Kara lives in NYC with her husband and two children. (Half of that sentence is still a total
shock!)
Kara’s memoir Putting My Heels Down: a memoir of having a dream…and a day job—a
brutally honest look at her life as a dancer and very reluctant Pilates instructor trying to make it in NYC—was released by Motina Books on International Dance Day (April 29, 2022).
Highlights:
- Kara's dance journey
- Ways to take ownership in your training and experience
- How there's room for all of us
Links:
- www.karatatelbaum.com
- www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass
Follows:
- Kara Tatelbaum @karatatelbaum
- Audra Allen-Queen @thedanceceocoach
Mentioned In This Episode:
- Book - Putting My Heels Down
- The Dance CEO Masterclass Series
I share the audio from the impromptu Instagram Live I did this week. Real talk, I share some real talk. I'm vulnerable, emotionally raw and feeling resistance on my heart because a massive action step I committed to.
Join me in learning where I currently am, where I desire to go and how I plan to get there.
Highlights:
- Your financial success is not tied to your business success
- The cause of one not being successful while the other is
- Action steps I'm taking to make the big changes I desire
Links:
- www.thedanceceocoach.com
Follow:
- Audra Allen-Queen
@thedanceceocoach
Mentioned In The Episode:
- Dance CEO University™
Mental wellness is fast becoming a common and necessary focus in the dance world, due in part to Danscend co-founders Michelle Loucadoux and Kristin Deiss.
Join Michelle and I as we talk about good vs bad stresses and how to work through them, ways dance educators and leaders can create a healthier environment for dancers and their mindsets and what Danscend is doing to expand the reach of their conversations regarding all things healthy mindset.
Danscend’s mission is to bring mental wellness to the forefront of dance training by providing a space for education, application, and community to dancers, educators, and professionals. Michelle Loucadoux has been a professional dancer and educator for over thirty years. She danced in 5 Broadway shows, in 4 ballet companies, and on film and television and has traveled the world empowering young dancers. Michelle is a published author (Rowman & LIttlefield), has an MBA and a BA in English, and resigned her position as the associate dean of undergraduate studies at Hussian College in 2020 to create a space for a more compassionate and inclusive dance community. In the past three years, she has worked full-time with mental health professionals to research and create dance-specific resources to support the mental wellness of the dance community and its educators.
Highlights:
- Why and how Danscend came to be
- The first step a dancer can take to improve their mental wellness
- How dance educators need to show up differently
- What it's like to start a dance business with a co-founder
Links:
- www.danscend.com
- www.thedanceceocoach.com
Follow:
- Danscend @danscendoffical
- Michelle Loucadoux @michelleloucadoux
- Kristin Deiss @kristin.deiss
- Audra Allen-Queen @thedanceceocoach
Mentioned In This Episode:
- Danscend's Council
- Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
- The Dance CEO University™
