We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jill Gibson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jill below.
Jill, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Opening a business mid-pandemic was definitely one of the larger risks I’ve taken in life. I had been directing a ballet program within an existing studio that decided to close its doors suddenly. Within 24 hours of receiving that news, I knew what I had to do and began the work to make it happen. It was definitely the scariest and most challenging thing I’ve done, but the decision to do it was strangely one of the easiest. The idea of all the work I had put into the program being lost, the community we had built & all of the students being misplaced, just felt non-optional. So, I took the risk and jumped in fully. It was a wild ride, and I honestly don’t know if I slept for the first year. But, my Grandpa always told me “You can sleep when you’re dead.” Every day now when I open the front door and walk into the studio, I feel sure it was the right thing and grateful to have been able to do 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.
My name is Jill Gibson. I grew up training in ballet in Tucson, AZ, went on to complete my undergraduate studies in Dance at UC San Diego, then continued my education with American Ballet Theatre. I always knew I wanted to be a ballet teacher and feel very grateful to have found my calling. I have been teaching in the greater San Diego area for 14 years, and have been directing ballet programs for 10 of those years.
My training philosophy lies in educating dancers through developmentally and age-appropriate methods that are based in proper technique. I believe that community and creating a nurturing learning environment are highly important, and constantly strive to create a positive and supportive atmosphere for our students.
In addition to owning and operating The Ballet Company, I also established a non-profit last year called The Performing Company. This organization helps support young dancers who are career-focused in being exposed to additional opportunities in performance and performing arts training, as well as help open doors in higher education and professional careers in the arts. www.theperformingcompanysd.org
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Completing my undergrad in Dance from UCSD was one of my biggest accomplishments in life. I was the first person in my extended family to complete a college degree, and it was not an easy journey for me. I paid my way through school (still paying those student loans off!) and worked full-time in restaurants to support myself. I began having some health issues during my time at school, and struggled with a few injuries that made my studies challenging at times. Following my graduation, my health continued to decline and I was unable to work or really do much other than lay in bed for about 6 months. At a time in my life when I should have been physically at my prime and heading out to begin my career, I was unable to really do much of anything. Following a surgery and continued string of health issues, it took me almost 10 years after graduation to find a diagnosis for my health conditions.
During this time, I was trying my best to establish myself as a dance educator in the San Diego community. It was very difficult to consistently have health flare ups and feel I was letting my students, and employers down when I couldn’t make it into the studio to teach. I am very grateful to the employers that were patient with me and worked with me during those difficult days. Now, having a clearer picture of what’s going on with my health has not necessarily made things easier, but has helped me to be more patient with myself and others, as well as to understand that I can’t always do everything 100% alone. Asking for help is not something that comes naturally to me, but as a business owner and a person with chronic health issues – it is something that is 100% necessary.
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have some wonderful people in my life who did not give up on me no matter how many times I had to call out sick, cancel plans or go home early. Being ill consistently can be very isolating. It’s my goal to always hear people out now as an employer, and as a teacher. We are all humans, and we all have our personal challenges. You never know what someone is going through, and sometimes just listening to them and offering a helping hand can go a long way. Building a team and community that has similar values and that can work together to support each other has been a really cool experience. At TBC, we are a big dance family, and that is something that I think is really special about our studio.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Letting go of expectations. This is something that doesn’t necessarily come easy to me, as my tendency is to always want to see the good in people (sometimes to my own detriment). Being let down by people that I’ve worked with over the years has been a tough thing at times to get through. I have had many lessons in deciphering who and what to place my trust in, and no matter what, it stings when you realize you placed your trust in someone that did not honor it. I try to always remember that if your instinct says something is off, it probably is. Sometimes we choose to ignore that feeling. Unfortunately, every time I’ve been really hurt, or let down by someone in a business relationship, I reflect and realize I ignored at least one red flag, usually more. So, I keep working at this and it’s a work in progress. We can’t always be right about people, and business relationships can be tricky to navigate. In my line of work, learning to find a healthy balance of being open and passionate about what we do while maintaining professional boundaries can be challenging. But, what I learn more each time I form or lose a connection with someone is that we can always choose to listen to our gut and try to let it help guide us…or we can ignore it and hope for the best. As it would turn out – it seems instincts are often (almost always) correct. So, really listening from the start and setting up clear boundaries and intentions has become a big part of what I strive to do as an employer, teacher, and human in general. Either way, you can never control someone else’s actions and those actions are not always personal. Eliminating expectations of people and not taking it personally if they don’t react or behave as hoped, while challenging, has been a helpful practice for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theballetcompanysd.com
- Instagram: @theballetcompanysdofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087792010388&sk=about
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillgibsondance/
- Youtube: @theballetcompanysd
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/VDmEKknskqVn7H8TdgLKIw
- Other: www.theperformingcompanysd.org
Image Credits
Holly Ireland, Chrystal Cienfuegos