We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chelsea Mae Shump. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chelsea Mae below.
Chelsea Mae, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
So, I teach primarily children. Their parents are technically my clients. I acquired my first clients by hosting drop-in classes at a discount this past summer. Clients were interested as they were looking for a change. Many of them are former clients who wanted to see what I was offering.
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.
My name is Chelsea and I own The Jive Hive Green LLC. We operate out of another local dance studio which holds similar values to ours. I started dance and theatre training around age 5 and never felt like doing anything else. I started choreographing at 12 and by 14 I was fully invested.
I had a miserable adolescence and dance was a constant in my life. I suffered physical and mental abuse at home from 11-18. Dance was (and is) my escape, as it is for most of us. I studied ballet heavily as I was striving for control over my own being. That’s the career I wanted, but I never got it. Every audition I was told I was a modern dancer. It felt like an insult at the time, but it was a blessing. I landed a professional modern dance gig at 15 and then another at 19. I retired at 26 when the company disbanded due to lack of grant funding.
I can not change the past but I can be a listening ear, a solid shoulder, an advocate, and an excellent and knowledgeable instructor. Adolescence is hard no matter how you slice it, and I’d like to be a trusted adult to help them through it while celebrating our human existence with dance. Celebrating life and the human form every day?! Sign me up.
My program is non-committal (although you see a discount if you commit). Come as you are when you can. We welcome all walks of life and abilities and champion your successes as you progress. We communicate openly with our clients and students.
I am most proud of my drive for change within the entertainment industry. There are some gut-wrenching realities coming to light and I believe it’s time we have the hard conversations. Fame and fortune aren’t the goal. The goal is to survive and love the skin we are in. I allow parents to watch and listen to class at any time if they choose. The facility is equipped with cameras regardless.
We meet our students where they are and push them to where they want to be. Nothing is mandatory.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I manage my team with open communication. There is never a bad time to call me. I’ve known my entire staff for 12+ years. Two of them I trained myself. I keep morale high by paying them what they deserve even if that means I take a zero. I work a restaurant job to support my business and I have no shame about it! My staff members are incredible from their talent to their character. When we started back in May ‘24, I asked everyone to get a background check and they already had them available.
Because my program is non-committal, sometimes I make more at one job or another. I don’t care at all. My staff deserves to be paid regardless. They are worth every penny (and dinner on me if I’m coming straight from the restaurant).
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Ohhhhh yes, many lessons unlearned (and still unlearning). 1. Perfection does not exist.
2. Gray area exists.
3. Not everyone is your friend.
4. Water seeks its own level.
I am commonly too trusting with my truth and sharing it with others. I’m doing it here. Colleagues will talk with you to get the “inside scoop” and then later use it against you for their own benefit. They will also steal your intellectual property with no regard for you or the dancers it affects. Get everything in writing or just say less.
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Image Credits
Scott Miller and Brian Thornberry