Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erin Rich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Erin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Here at VIBE, we value building self confidence and the ability to believe in yourself while growing and progressing in the dance industry. In doing so, we believe this truly helps us to support others and every other aspect in our lives. In an industry that gets critiqued and performance is sometimes just based on others’ opinions, we believe that self confidence is such a valuable trait to focus on. So many life lessons are taught alongside of technique and skills and having an emphasis on the core values is one we really strive to work on here.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a wife, mother of 3, and even though I am a “business owner”… it feels much more than that. I am part of an amazing dance/studio family. I started out with this studio several years before it was officially “VIBE.” After stepping into a director role, I then had the amazing opportunity to take over as owner. I have seen so many dancers progress and become amazing dancers and even better humans. It is beyond humbling and gratifying to know that what I do daily impacts so many of our incredible students.

I started out dancing as a young girl. I was blessed with the amazing opportunity to dance throughout my whole life on multiple teams with amazing coaches who are still part of my life today. I danced in Jr High, High School, and College. While attending and dancing at Weber State, I was able to help direct after school programs and then began teaching at what now is my home away from home, VIBE.

I am most proud of being a mom and a “dance mom” to so many, who inspire me on the daily. I am so proud of my dancers who continue to show up for themselves and for each other. I am proud of their hard work, dedication, and the name we are making for our studio. We have made amazing strides and I have no doubt even after our studio time is done, we are creating amazing humans who will be the best examples out in the real world.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started out before having my own kiddos here at the studio. I taught one hour per week and was working 2 other jobs at the same time. Working 1 hour per week was just enough for me to fall in love with teaching again. After having my second baby, I made the decision to leave a secure job and pursue the studio life further as a director, which then led me to the opportunity to take over. Some of the key milestones were leaving my full time job, growing with the studio and willingness to take on more responsibility, and falling in love with each and every student.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think our love for our students really show in what we do. Everyone that steps in the door can feel our love for them and that helps in every aspect. Our staff members are so incredibly talented but the love we give is next level. My own love for this studio was such a driving factor in my decision to become owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: vibeutah.com
• Instagram: @vibe.dancestudio