Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Becca Ulibarri. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Becca thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
I would be more direct and confident when dealing with clients, customers, etc… It’s can be challenging when you are just starting out to “know your value” — but the sooner you do, and bring that confidence with you to the table, the more people respect you and take you seriously. Finding that healthy balance of humility + confidence is hard, but always worth it and respected in the end!
Becca, 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?
– ZUMBA with Ms. Becca sessions are a unique, fitness-focused experience for kiddos of all ages! Ms. Becca is a licensed Kids + Kids Jr. ZUMBA instructor with 20+ years of experience captivating kids of all ages through educational events, “Club Med KIDS!” resort activities, athletic training + coaching, and working for Radio Disney! Impacting kids through positivity, fitness, and FUN is her passion.
– Sessions are loud, rockin’ high-energy dance parties packed with kid-friendly routines. We break down steps, add games, activities + themed elements into the class structure. Here, kiddos move to age-appropriate music and play fitness-focused games with their peers! // Ages: Lil’ Jammers: 2-3yrs (20-30mins) , ZUMBA Kids Jr: 4-6yrs (30-40mins) , ZUMBA Kids: 7+yrs (45mins-1hr)
– Benefits of a ZwMB session are: helping children develop a healthy lifestyle + incorporate fitness as a natural part of their lives. Classes incorporate key childhood development elements such as respect, teamwork, confidence, self-esteem, memory, creativity, coordination, and balance.
– Making sure each experience is jam-packed full of fun & silliness is important! However, often times the sessions are less about ZUMBA, games, or dancing and more about making each child feel loved and special. Though ZwMB is all about “fitness-focused fun”, it is a privilege to spend valuable face-time with children — it’s an honor to get to impact their days, minds and little souls. This time spent is important and should be treated so!
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
ZUMBA with Ms. Becca started out as a classic “side-hustle”, with the goal of making it full-time. In my younger years, I had coached, nannied, taught and entertained children and always loved connecting with them… But, thought a more “corporate” work-life was my future — After almost 2 years I realized this was not so! I missed those sweet little-one’s too much (and I quickly learned I wanted to “be the boss” of me, my time and work-life balance).
After moving to CO, it was time to start this new chapter of side-hustle into an actual small business. When starting out I thankfully had a somewhat flexible schedule with my “real job” where I could slowly start to fill-in my schedule with more and more ZUMBA sessions, until before I knew it — it was full-time. It was a real milestone to be able to call my employer and let them know I was just too full-up with ZwMB sessions and had to officially make that my full-time “gig”.
Even 7 years later, it’s still weird for me to even call it a job, because I love what I do so much and am so blessed and honored to be doing it!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
WORD OF MOUTH! And literally cold calling. Like, physically going to a new venue/school/center and knocking on the door to make a new connection. It’s super fun and easy — not! This is still an out-of-my-comfort-zone activity for me, but so totally worth it and has really helped build confidence and learn how to interact with new, possible clients. It’s pretty old-school, but about 80% of my business has come from it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zumbawithmsbecca.square.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msbeccazumba/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msbeccazumba
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZUMBAwithMsBecca