We were lucky to catch up with Declan Magennis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Declan , thanks for joining us today. What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?

The most important lesson I learnt growing up was how to manage my time well. I was attending dance class 5 times a week for up to four hours per day while trying to study for my end of school exams which I needed to get good scores to be accepted into Law School. I vividly remember speaking with my school career teacher and them lecturing me on time management and offering great examples of how to get my work done to a great standard but also still have time to focus and dedicate my time to train for competitions such as the All-Irelands and Worlds. I always used my free periods to get an homework or essays completed. Then when it came closer to exam time I would always use those free classes to study. This helped me alleviate any stress around end of the school year. Similarly, with dance I would wake up at 5am and do a quick practise before I went to school to address any corrections that I had from the night before in class. These lessons still stick with me today. I like to wake up early and get any emails answered, get social media work done for the day so that I can concentrate on teaching for the rest of the day.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Declan Magennis – Director and Founder of Magennis Academy of Irish Dance

I began dancing at age 5/6 and instantly became hooked. I loved it. The music, the atmosphere in the class, learning new material it just drew me in. Both my cousins had already taken Irish Dance and I saw them perform at a local event and told my mum that I wanted to start. I did and never looked back. I competed up until the age of 21 and then turned professional for six years before residing in Orlando, Florida and starting my own school. My school focuses predominantly on competitive Irish Dance, but also offers classes for those who wish to dance just for fun. When setting up my school I sought to provide an environment where I can help dancers get to the next level. I have been so incredibly lucky thus far helping kids improve and move up levels fairly quickly although for me the greatest self accomplishment is having those little 4/5/6 year olds come into class and getting to watch them progress and fall in love with dance, that’s what it is all about.

Something I am most proud of is how far the school has come in just over 2 years. We recently just came back from North American Nationals with amazing results having two of our dancers qualify for the World Championships 2023 which will be held in Montreal, Canada and 5 of our dancers placing overall in the championship, a truly incredible feat for a newer school.

In terms of setting ourselves apart I believe it’s the work ethic of both the teaching team and the dedication from the kids that helps put our school name out there. I believe in tailoring steps to suit the style of the dancer as no two dancers perform the same. This has proved greatly beneficial for the students and is reflected in their results. Secondly, I dedicated every second of the day to Irish Dance trying to become a better teacher, always striving to learn and progress. This is key to getting ahead and something which i pride myself on.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Social media greatly helped me build my school and reputation when starting out. I created an Instagram and Facebook page for the school and would upload videos of myself dancing and this attracted and generated interest in Irish Dance. From there kids would start into class and word finally got around and now I am very fortunate to have kids interested in joining every month. Social media has truly helped a lot of businesses and i am grateful to use these platforms to help my school grow and succeed in the future. i also use social media as a way to engage with communities around me which enables us to perform at local events and also helps spread the word about who we are and what we do.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I had always known from a very young age that I was going to move to the US and teach Irish Dance. It wasn’t until about 2015 that I really started to research into US Residency and after what felt like years worth of work I was granted my green card in 2018. From 2018-2020 I saved up my money from when I was professionally dancing to help fund my start-up costs. This covered registering the business, paying all dance organization fees, website construction, logo design and promotional material. I continued to work a full time job whilst starting up my business and this helped keep the business floating during its first two years. While the initial stages of starting up can be daunting and overwhelming I had a great support system in my family and friends who cheered me on all the way from home.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://magennisdanceacademy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magennisacademy/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magennisdanceacademy