We were lucky to catch up with Paige Peterson Galvan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Paige, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
When we opened way back in 2015, our business model was completely different. I hadn’t had any babies yet, and I had lots of time on my hands and the world had not been struck by a global pandemic yet. So the main focus was my kids program. I taught kids classes several hours a day and then Also offered studio rentals when we didn’t have our program going. After 2019 and Covid hit and shut us down, that was a doozy, we completely restructured the whole business. Because my focus was children and the Covid restrictions upon re-opening were so strict, I felt it would just be impossible to get five and six-year-olds to wear masks and stay 6 feet apart at all times in a dance class. I just couldn’t see that happening so we decided to make it primarily a rehearsal hall for industry professionals and ongoing dance programs run by other dance instructors. I was shocked, but it worked out almost immediately. Truly, it’s been so much less stress and a more enjoyable experience for me because it took so much of the pressure off and also now I have two babies so I get to focus on being with them. Another big thing that happened was we did a huge remodel last spring. a good friend of mine and frequent client at 101 Dance Center, Brooklyn Jai, who is a very well-known choreographer really had a great vision for what the studio could be. I trusted him and let him go for it. So the studio got a completely new look this year. And boy or boy has that helped! We brought in a new Clientele completely. Lots of shoots and music video rehearsals. I’m happy to also say that dancing with the stars is now back rehearsing with us which makes me very happy. Another new type of client is we’ve gotten two different music labels frequenting our space. They rent blocks of time and their artists rehearse for tours and videos for chunks of time. It’s really been great and the studio has taken on its own personality. I feel like , she is her own being! It’s been really fun to watch this business grow and evolve so organically. I’m very grateful for all the blessings that have come from it.
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.
I started dancing when I was nine years old. And it quickly became my first love. From my first dance class at nine I knew it was for me! And I excelled at it right away, I really feel Dance was my calling. Through childhood, I competed and traveled, performing all over The world. In my late teens, I moved to Hollywood and had the great blessing of working in TV and film from age 16. I spent my high school years playing a cheerleader on an NBC kids show called hang time. After high school I got a dancing scholarship to the university of Nebraska where I studied dance and sociology. After college, I came back to LA and pursued more TV and film work. I danced in many music videos , and on many stages and TV shows. I danced for Brooks and Dunn, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, P. Diddy, on young and the restless, on dancing with the stars and movies Like the hot chick, the come backs, and meet the Spartans. I was acting as well at that time so I got to play a popstar on a sitcom called half and half and I played nurse Shelly for four seasons on scrubs. Throughout all this I also taught kids dance classes at millennium and at Abby Lee’s studio in Santa Monica. In 2015 I realized it was time to start my own studio and that’s when 101 dance Center was created.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
We tried all kinds of marketing through the years to grow our clientele. Especially at the beginning. We put signs and stickers all over town, I ran Groupon specials, we put a huge TV in the studio window and ran a commercial 24 seven, we really did a lot. And I have to tell you none of it did much to grow Our number of clients. The best thing was word of mouth. I’d say 80% of our clients have come from word of mouth. So truly making sure that every time someone comes in to dance at 1 01 Dance Center, we try to make it as comfortable and welcoming as possible. Trying to keep the studio tidy and up-to-date and also just making sure that every interaction is positive and friendly. Of course, word-of-mouth takes time so that was a bit of a shock! It took much longer to grow our clientele than I was hoping, but it did happen, and , I’m glad we hung in there. If anyone is thinking of starting a new business, my best advice is just to make sure your relationship with your clients is as positive as possible. That’s where the future of your business lies, Word of mouth.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
The Covid period was a rough one for small businesses and 101 dance center was no exception. What a shock that whole situation was. We were completely shut down for a long period of time. When we finally were allowed to reopen, there were lots of Unrealistic restrictions. There were many days where I just didn’t know what we were going to do or if we needed to just close our doors. It was definitely a time of very real uncertainty and fear. Thank goodness for small business loans! Luckily, we qualified for some Covid relief loans and that kept us afloat. And I am very glad we didn’t decide to just close up shop! It’s at that time that we changed our business model to focusing on being a rehearsal hall, which has really ended up being a huge blessing so it really did work out in the long run.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @101_dance_center
Image Credits
Tom Beardshaw