We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Midwest Movement Collective. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hannah below.
Hannah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
The Co-owners of Midwest Movement Collective (MMC) (Hannah Mico – me, and my business partner Paige Gabert) met through pole dancing a number of years ago. We, amongst dozens of others at their previous studio, were discontent with the cultural norms and expectations in their studio and the dance and movement landscape in general. We realized there weren’t many alternatives that offered both the variety of offerings we were interested in and the safe, inclusive environment that we needed. After months of ideating during the pandemic on my front porch in the Garfield Park neighborhood, we set out in the beginning of 2021 with a business coach to start a business plan and incorporate as an LLC. We announced our name and branding a few months into the year, and were met with outstanding support and excitement: Midwest Movement Collective was going to be Grand Rapids’ first all-in-one dance and movement studio for adults, offering pole dance, aerial arts, and traditional grounded dance under one roof. Not only is the focus on curating an adult-friendly space, but to do so in a way that is intentionally inclusive for all bodies and identities.
In May 2021, and we launched a public crowdfunding effort to raise our first round of capital for their new business. With $10,000 in the bank, Midwest Movement Collective was able to secure a lease on the Northwest side of town and started exploring funding options to transform it into the dance studio of their dreams. After a lengthy lending and construction process from August 2021-June 2022, Midwest Movement Collective opened its doors on June 12, 2022, offering a full schedule of movement classes for folks of all experience levels. Throughout our first summer in business, we have learned a lot of hard lessons and are constantly shifting their strategies to incorporate feedback from clients, instructors, and community members with expertise in inclusivity to shape MMC into the best space it can be.
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?
In my day job, I am an environmental nonprofit professional who specializes in assisting local water-focused organizations throughout the Great Lakes Basin and beyond. I work for an organization called River Network, which is the only national nonprofit whose sole purpose is to connect and support local water protectors nationwide. Prior to working for River Network, I simultaneously worked part-time for a number of environmentally-focused nonprofit organizations in Grand Rapids. My career is informed by her B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Grand Valley State University, as well as being very active in my neighborhood in Grand Rapids.
In her day job, Paige owns and operates her own photography businesses: Boudoir by Paige Gabert and Paige Gabert Photography are her brands, focused on portraits, weddings, events, lifestyle, and boudoir. For over ten years, she has excelled at creating comfortable environments for her clients and capturing real, vulnerable images. Paige is also a specialist in marketing and social media management, having done this work for other dance studios in the past. Paige studied business and photography at Grand Rapids Community College before launching her business.
As co-owners of Midwest Movement Collective, Paige and I balance each other out incredibly well: Paige’s creative perspectives and previous experience make her the marketing and social media expert, always churning out new engagement ideas and managing the studio’s brand and communications. I, however, pull from my experiences working for nonprofits to manage the administrative side of things: grant applications, finances, contracts, and operations fall more squarely into my comfort zone, after wearing many hats while working at small startup organizations. Together, we see ourselves as a highly adaptable team, and we aren’t too shy about owning their expertise.
When creating the structures that would shape the studio, Paige and I pulled on our own personal and professional experiences, as well as those of others: we hosted focus groups, did targeted market research, and had dozens of individual meetings to learn about the experiences folks have had as clients and employees of dance and movement studios. Through this process, MMC was able to hone in on what clients were really searching for in a studio: flexible memberships, a variety in offerings, and a safe & welcoming environment. This guided the development of every business component.
At current, MMC offers five membership levels and two drop-in options for clients. These options help meet the diverse financial and time-based needs of clients. There are limited monthly memberships offering 4, 8, or 12 classes per month, which bill monthly and can be cancelled without penalty; unlimited memberships that bill for six or twelve months and give clients access to as many classes as they want; and drop-in options including a punch-card (good for twelve months) and single class passes. All of these options give clients access to any of the classes on the studio’s weekly schedule: everything from pole dance to ballet, aerial silks to tap, and yoga to hip hop. The variety offered at MMC is unmatched anywhere else in Grand Rapids, giving folks the ability to try new things and meet new people in every single class they take.
Staff at MMC understand that coming in for a dance or movement class as a first-timer can be intimidating: more accessible entry-points like one-time workshops, beginner dances series, and private lessons are also available for someone wanting to dip their toes in without too much pressure or commitment. MMC is a space that invites movers of all experience levels, abilities, and identities. At the core of MMC is the belief that everyone deserves to access safe and comfortable movement in an environment that celebrates their identity and lived experiences.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
As a brand new business (opened June 2022), MMC has been under constant financial pressure. It’s commonly accepted in the small business community that break-even doesn’t happen for six months to a year, maybe more: even folks who have never owned a business or participated in founding a business will cite this as normal and acceptable. What no one talks about though, is what small businesses go through and actually do to keep bills paid before they break-even and start marking any sort of money.
In full transparency, the operational costs of MMC are in the ballpark of $16,000 per month: this includes payroll, rent, utilities, insurance, maintenance, supplies, and loan repayment of the $160,000 construction loan needed to open. Since opening in June 2022, the most income MMC has seen has been about $6,000 for one month, covering payroll and not much else. The pressure on small business owners to take on additional debt is huge, but this only pushes back a business’s break-even point by adding additional monthly expenses to the list.
Getting creative in leveraging debt to the advantage of the business or the owners, individually, is a slippery slope: cash advances off a personal credit card to cover part of payroll has definitely happened, as well as consolidating personal debt under larger loans to leverage lines of credit for the business to use. All of this comes with the privilege of having good enough credit for lenders to allow this to happen, all the while taking sizable hits on personal credit scores.
We have been able to scrap solutions together in this interim period before bringing in significant income, and haven’t been able to pay ourselves at all in the last two years while creating, opening, and operating Midwest Movement Collective. This isn’t heroic or sacrificial, though: it’s extremely common for small business owners. When I personally posted in a female entrepreneurial group asking for some ideas to help make ends meet recently, most of the advice was to work a second job (check), not pay yourself (check), and take on additional debt to break even (check). MMC is confident in it’s ability to be successful and financially feasible, but pinching pennies and taking on personal debt alongside business debt is the reality for now.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
It’s often said, but not enough attention and weight is given to how important word of mouth and direct referrals are. As much as businesses invest in social media, digital marketing, print media, or other forms of advertising, nothing beats a direct referral or a good review! Most of the return clients at MMC have been introduced to us by an existing member. At the end of August, MMC hosted “Bring a Friend Week” where existing members could bring a friend to class with them for free, introducing 20+ new folks to the studio.
Second to direct referrals are converting walk-ins to memberships: a lot of clients come for a single class and upgrade to a membership immediately after; this is a testament to the instructors creating great experiences in class and being experts in their movement fields, whether it’s pole dance, aerial silks, yoga, lyrical dance, or hip hop.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.midmovecollective.com
- Instagram: @midmovecollective
- Facebook: Midwest Movement Collective