Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katie & Nathan Febuary. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Katie & Nathan, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

We have been working together in some form or fashion for the better part of 25 years. Our co-working journey began at a Kinko’s on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, where we not only worked together but also lived together in a small studio apartment. During that first year, we spent almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week together. Our collaboration continued at a Kinko’s in Lafayette, LA, and later, we transitioned to working from home to build a graphic design and web design business.

For the past 12 to 13 years, we have worked together part-time as dance educators. Initially, we taught at a local dance studio, but in January 2023, we became co-owners of our own business, The Movement Lab.

The advantages and challenges of being business owners and the sole employees of our business are intertwined: everything falls to us. We love the autonomy of making our own decisions about how, when, and what to teach. We reap all the rewards of our business, but we also bear all the responsibilities. We handle everything—teaching, accounting, scheduling, bill payments, phone calls, emails, and more. Essentially, we are the entire business.

Our daughter, a 23-year-old professional dancer living in California, is an exceptional dance teacher, skilled with both adults and children. Recently, she has been home on an off-season break, and it has been a joy to have her teach some of our classes. While we would love for her to teach with us year-round, she has her own life and dreams to pursue.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are a husband and wife team, both born and raised in central Louisiana. Nathan is the more artistically creative of us, being both a visual artist and a tap dancer. Katie, on the other hand, is more creative in the business realm, approaching tasks with deliberation and thoughtfulness.

Katie started dancing at the age of three, and is now focused primarily on children’s programming and the technical aspects of dance education. She has a special interest in conditioning and injury prevention for dancers, sparked initially by the needs of her own daughter as a young dancer.

Nathan began dancing later in life, at the age of 30. Although he wanted to take tap dance classes as a boy, few young men in small Louisiana towns pursued dance lessons in the ’80s and ’90s. Over the past 16 years, Nathan has dedicated himself to becoming as knowledgeable as possible about tap dance. His training has been pieced together from a variety of amazing tap mentors, various classes and workshops, tap history books and videos, online courses and tap festivals, and more.

Both of us feel very strongly about teaching the person first and the dancer second. We emphasize the holistic development of each student as an individual, rather than focusing solely on their technical skills. Our goal is to foster a positive environment that helps build confidence and supports the personal growth of each student.

We are passionate about adaptive dance education and share our love for dance with children, teens, and adults with disabilities in a variety of settings. We firmly believe that anyone who wants to dance should have the chance to dance.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Authenticity. We are honest about what we do, how we do it, and who we seek as students. Our focus is on children’s creative dance classes, tap dance classes, and adaptive dance classes. Additionally, we teach a bit of children’s ballet. Katie is certified to teach and is passionate about Progressing Ballet Technique classes, and Nathan teaches all of our adult tap classes. Both of us teach adaptive dance. When our daughter is in town, she teaches children’s and adult ballet classes and offers private lessons.

We’ve been asked numerous times to teach jazz, hip-hop, ballroom or adult ballet classes, but those are not our areas of expertise. We focus on what we do best.

We do not participate in dance competitions due to the high costs, both financially and in terms of the dancers’ physical and mental well-being. We’ve seen firsthand the detrimental effects of excessive competition pressure, including comparisons and rivalries both between and within studios. We are upfront with our clients about our stance.

Similarly, we do not hold traditional dance recitals. Instead, our performances take place at small venues and local events, emphasizing community engagement throughout the year. This approach fosters a sense of connection and belonging, encourages inclusivity, and promotes creative expression and experimentation over drilling dances for competition and recital preparation. By prioritizing community engagement, we promote equity and accessibility, creating an enriching environment for both participants and the broader community.

We are transparent about our practices and our philosophy. For students interested in competitions or traditional dance recitals, there are many local dance studios available. However, we don’t consider ourselves a typical dance studio. We are The Movement Lab.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We own and operate a very small business and have no intention of growing it much bigger. The Movement Lab is really more of a side gig for us and a labor of love. To expand, we would need to hire staff and create more of a “business atmosphere,” which neither of us feels compelled to do.

We maintain personal connections with each of our clients, which greatly contributes to brand loyalty. We know their names, their kids’ names, and details about their families and jobs. We are genuinely invested in their lives and our local community. Our goal was never to build a “big business”; our intention has always been to serve those who appreciate our unique approach to teaching dance and movement.

We cater to individuals who thrive in a different learning environment than what traditional dance studios offer. Our focus is on providing personalized, supportive instruction that meets the needs of each student. By creating a welcoming and inclusive space, we ensure that everyone feels valued and supported, fostering a strong sense of community and loyalty among our clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.themovementlab.fun
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/move.ment.lab
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheMovementLabLouisiana

Image Credits

All photos were taken by us.