We recently connected with Christine Psalms and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

I have owned Dancing for His Glory Studio and Company for going on 15 years. Over the years we have had hundreds of dancers walk through our studio, some going on to study and the Alvin Ailey School of dance and others using the disciplines learned here to do amazing things in their life. While running the studio I am also a wife of 25 years, mom of 4, caregiver to my parents, and author. I would see moms walking into my studio looking stressed, tired, and run down trying to juggle it all (like me). The moms coming in realized I was not stressed, tired, or run down. They would ask why I am not run down like them and how can they do the same. I begin to tell them how I make it all work without burning out. They came back for more and more and wanted me to teach them to how to do it all without burning out.

As their child was taking classes in the studio I had moms in my office getting tools and techniques from me on how to get “Me Time” every day and not burn out. I even started having virtual sessions with them on Saturday mornings. From those sessions, I begin to realize I was in the business of serving not only their child but the mom as well. I started The Mompreneur Experience inside my studio. The Mompreneur Experience is a program teaching moms (single, married, widowed, etc.) how to be amazingly successful in their home AND business life without burning out. Simply put I begin helping moms go from “No Time to Me Time”.

I know it sounds crazy but the mere fact that I am able to offer a space for their child to learn many genres of dance and help the moms live their best life without stress, being tired or run down because of too many things on their plate. So for the past 4 years, I have run The Mompreneur Experience to help moms across the country all because they asked.

Christine, 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?

I am Christine M. Psalms – Wife, Mom, Dance Studio Owner, Caregiver, Podcaster, Author, and The Mompreneur Coach.

I have owned Dancing For His Glory Studio and Company (D4HG) in Clinton MD for going on 15 years now. We serve young people from ages 2 years through adult. We offer ballet. Modern, Pointe, Hip-Hop, African, Tap, Tumbling, Adult, and Homeschool classes. We are a pre-professional dance school geared toward building the dancer from the inside/out. Becoming spiritually strong and technically sound. Our dance season operates from September – June with a 100+ student dance production at the end of our dance season. We also offer a Beyond the Dance Summer Camp for the community. This is an opportunity for our dancers (and others) to continue to dance all summer long but have fun via field trips, swimming, and more. We are able to service the community all year long.

I started D4HG out of a need in the community for a safe Christian technically sound studio. Since starting the studio we found that we not only serve young people but we have an amazing opportunity to serve their parents as well. We offer Mindful Stretch classes monthly for moms, inspirational emails for our parents, and The Mompreneur Experience Coaching Program for moms trying to juggle it all but constantly burning out.

The Mompreneur Experience Program is a 5-week program to give moms tools and techniques for managing their home and business life. Through this program, moms are able to find out who they really are, forgive themselves, restructure their life, and find true Me Time so they can breathe.

As a podcaster, I give moms a 20-minute push twice a week. I have also created an affirmations journal just for moms. This is an added tool to help moms Breathe, Release, and Embrace. Breathe in what matters most, Release all the negativity, and Embrace who you really are.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am an avid reader. The book “Who not How” by Dan Sullivan has significantly changed the way I think as an entrepreneur and help me continue to succeed. Often times as entrepreneurs we try and figure out how to do everything ALL by ourselves. When we do this we either burn out or find that things get missed because we can not give 100% to everything. In reading this book I learned to find the WHO in my life/business to help me get to my next and not the HOW am I going to get there. Once I found the whos in my life/business it freed me up to focus on what matters most, growing and scaling my business.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Life can hit us so hard that when we get knocked down, we debate whether or not we should get back up. In 2020 during the pandemic, my father’s wife died suddenly of a heart attack. I ran to his side and helped him bury his wife, sell his home and move him into my home with my husband and children. At the same time, I was caregiving for my mom who was showing early signs of dementia. While caregiving for both my parents at the height of the pandemic I also had to find a way to keep my studio doors open and keep 100 students in class so I could keep paying my staff.

I was determined to keep it all going no matter what it looked like. Life hit hard during that time. I was able to move all of our classes from brick-and-mortar to virtual overnight and keep the same fee schedule for my students. While caring for my parents I begin writing a book, Raising Parents – a Journey from childhood to adulthood to raising my parents. This book was my journey of how I navigated life while caring for my parents. As I helped my father grieve the loss of his wife of 11 years I had to turn around and bury my mother a year later.

Life did knock me down, in fact, it knocked me down really hard. I had a choice to either stay there or get back up. It was a slow climb back up but I never gave up and never will. My studio never had to close down or lay off staff. We have grown since then and are looking to expand into a larger building. My father is a blessing to our home and is healthy and strong. I am currently working on my third book. I refused to let life take me out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.christinempsalms.com/ https://www.dancing4hisglory.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinempsalms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMPsalmsConsulting
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-m-psalms-91ab5729/
• Twitter: @christinepsalms

Image Credits
The Shaw Photography Group