We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Janeice McCree. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Janeice below.

Hi Janeice, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Top of 2018, I was working at a school on the west side of Chicago where I was the dance coach. We had previously won 6 competitions between the years 2015 to 2018. One of my colleagues suggested I open my own dance company like the 3 women who own Chicago Contemporary Dance Theater (Chi CDT). Little did she know they were my dance instructors in my early years. I thought it was a great idea, however, I didn’t feel I was capable of running my own dance company. A friend needed extra dancers for a piece coming up which connected me with a long-time dancing friend. A few months later, the idea of running my own company came back on the table when my reconnected dance sister gave me inspiration for a piece. I prayed about it and asked God for direction. He instructed me to reach out to Ms. Sloopy, Chrissy, and Kaiana. I presented the idea of creating this dance company to them. We talked, prayed, sought counsel, and started Forever Evolving Empowerment Dance Company in 2018. Out of my own fear, I left it on the table again for another 4 weeks.

2 months later, Refresh Global NFP and Forever Evolving Empowerment Dance Company partnered together for a Summer Dance camp, which lasted 2 years. This began to help develop the programming and operations of the dance company. With provision from God and legal guidance from close professionals, Forever Evolving Dance Company LLC came to fruition.

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 Janeice McCree. I am a native of Harvey, IL. I started dancing around 1998. Thanks to my wonderful mother, I was forced into dance at my church First Lutheran Evangelical Church in Harvey, Illinois. In 2002, Gordette “Sloopy” Brent (our Dance Leader) opened up her dance company (Dance Expressions) and asked a few of the other dancers and me to join. I didn’t know that I was “Dance Company Material.” I danced in DE for 7 years. In addition to DE, I took extra classes at the Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Program, Gallery 37, and Bal/Chi for a short period of time. I took a break from dance for a while as I had my first 2 children in 2007 & 2009. Later, I was asked to take over the Dance Ministry at First Lutheran in 2010. That was short-lived as joined Life In Christ Family Worship Center, in 2012. Six months later, I was asked to start the Dance Ministry there. I started coaching Dance at my job in 2015, while still leading the dancers at my church. Over the duration of leading the Dance Ministry at my church and coaching at my job, I believe God was setting me up for this moment. He connected me with some great and knowledgeable people who poured into me and helped equip me for my entrepreneurial endeavors. Forever Evolving Dance Company is set apart from others because we are a progressive creative dance empowerment program geared towards training and empowering youth. We offer Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Worship/Liturgical dance classes for youth ages 3-18. We also provide weekly Empowerment classes. We teach healthy growth in self-confidence, teamwork, hygiene, discipline, respect (for self & others), and more. Our goal is to reach the whole child, not just their talents and gifts.
I am most proud of the journey and walking into my purpose. I am also proud that I stepped out of my comfort zone and allowed God’s purpose for my life and my passion to align to begin destiny. I never imagined myself being a leader or an entrepreneur. I was the quiet kid in my family and I was more comfortable in the background.

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

During my first year launching the company I was overjoyed yet, very nervous. We had a lot of families register for classes and I knew we were going to have a successful first year. Well, by December of that year, we lost over half of those families for various reasons out of my control. I did not prepare the company financially for that huge loss. After prayer and wise counsel from other business owners and my staff, we had to come up with a plan quickly. So we strategized and restructured a few things and kept on pressing through. We ended the season with a great first show and a huge lesson, “don’t quit because your plan didn’t work, God has bigger and better plans for you. Stay focused and stay open to possibilities”.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the major lessons I had to unlearn was separating personal and business. I am a giving person naturally and If I could give free classes to everyone who wanted it I would. I have a given passion for teaching and pouring into the youth and I know the calling on my life so it puts me in a uncomfortable place to have to charge for classes. Unfornately, that is not realistic when running a business so, I had to not only separate the two but also put boundaries for myself. I had to step away from the financial part of the business and allow those that work beside me take the lead in those areas.

Contact Info:

• Website: foreverevolvingdance.com
• Instagram: @foreverevolvingdance
• Facebook: Forever Evolving Dance
• Youtube: forever evolving dance

Image Credits
Image Credits: David Dickerson Photography