We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia Cinquemani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Julia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

I got my start as an entrepreneur at age 14. I basically lived at the ballet studio and loved everything surrounding ballet; the challenge, the camaraderie and the fashion. I quickly realized there was something missing in the market. I did not love the boring ballet skirts that only came in “granny prints”. So I took matters into my own hands. I shopped for the cutest fabrics, my mom taught me how to use a sewing machine and at age 14 I made my first ballet skirt with zebra print fabric. After I wore it to class, all my friends had to have one. I linked up with my best friend and together we started a label and sewed skirt after skirt on the weekends. We did a trunk show outside of our local dancewear store and because of that success, the store owner started carrying our skirts in store. This is where my journey began in the dancewear industry and every year after I went to retail shows to add on more clients and store accounts.

Julia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in Dallas, Tx and started dancing at age 4. I was very passionate about ballet and left home at age 16 to train year round at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. I signed my first professional contract at the Los Angeles Ballet where I danced for seven seasons with a promotion to Soloist in 2014 and Principal in 2016. I then joined Miami City Ballet in 2017 where I danced for 4 seasons. Highlights at Miami City Ballet include Aria 1 in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and War Girl in Alexei Ratmansky’s Symphonic Dances.

My first leotard design was born out of necessity. When I was 16 my body started going through a lot of changes. Leotards for ballet were lacking the support and extra coverage I needed and were becoming a distraction for me in the studio. This was at a time when I was auditioning for ballet company contracts and where confidence is a big part of landing that first contract. So I took matters into my own hands and when I would visit home, I would meet with my pattern maker. We worked on creating leotard designs that incorporated both fashion and the functionality that I so desired.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Covid definitely revealed its challenges but also revealed opportunities to connect with one another. Everyone was doing ballet class in their kitchens, trying to keep moving. Instead of selling my product, I wanted to connect with my customers and offer them free master classes to support them in that tumultuous time. It was a great way to build connection, community and support when people needed it most.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I borrowed $20 from my parents initially to use at the craft store to make my first product- a ballet skirt. It organically grew from there as I turned a profit. I luckily never had to raise a penny or borrow capital to run Jule.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.juledancewear.com/
• Instagram: @juledancewear
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juledancewear/

Image Credits
Luis Alvarez, Juliette Hay, Kent Barker, Sam Akins, David Teran