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

Hi Kasey, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Owning this dance studio is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. At the same time, during my time owning the studio thus far, I have had to work harder and longer hours than I ever have before… even in comparison to when I was working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Owning my dance studio is so much fun because I get to do something that I love and continue to grow in something I am passionate about every day. I continue to push my own limits as a dancer and choreographer. Plus, I love going from my own home to my own dance studio each day! It kind feels like I am always at home in some sort of way!
Most days for me are longer than many people realize, but seeing a young dancer hit a milestone in their progress, or a beginner dancer’s face light up when she gets to begin learning dance steps for the first time, or seeing everyone’s hard work pay off in our productions… all of these things make it so worth it every time! It’s not just me and my hard work either; it’s all of our studio families. Everything that we accomplish is a group effort and even just taking a part in that is so rewarding for me.

Kasey, 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?

My name is Kasey and I am the owner of Believe Ballet and Barre! We are a faith-based dance studio in Altamonte Springs, Florida. We specialize in ballet and pointe while also offering great training in lyrical dance, musical theater, acro, preschool and adult classes, and our very own, youth performing company! One of the things that I love most about our productions specifically is that we have performers from age two all the way to age seventy-plus! We love to include everyone! Our youth performing company performs in many events in our area such as the Dance Revolution convention, the Gaylord Palms, the Risen Experience, and more, gaining such valuable experience as perfomers!
Prior to owning the studio, I trained for over two decades as a dancer, taught classes for countless studios in both Texas and Florida, and danced professionally in Dallas, Texas. In many ways, God really used many of my experiences to prepare me for when the time came to have a studio of my own! I take pride in every detail of the studio because I know that He entrusted it to me and His hand is on it. I know that if I care about it, He cares about it even more!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

While I would love to believe that many of our new customers come in from something that I have done, I think the truth is that our best marketing oftentimes really is word of mouth. So many of our dancers just absolutely love it here and they tell their friends. Then, they bring them to studio events such as “Bring a Friend Week” or one of our productions. We do however, run Facebook ads and such and receive interest from other marketing ventures.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think the key to building a real audience on social media is to show who you really are and provide content that people actually enjoy seeing! I feel that so many businesses focus so much on getting the word out about their business that they forget to provide content that people actually enjoy. If people enjoy what you offer as a business and they like who you are, they will come. Focus more on what the customer wants to see, not what you think they should see. At the end of the day, your business isn’t really about you anyways, it’s about them!

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits

Professional portraits by Redemption Dance Showcase Photography.