We were lucky to catch up with Lashiska Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lashiska thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

The first way to serve an underserved community is to be a part of that community yourself. To embody what our community needs, we purposefully chose our location which is Southeast Raleigh to represent and give opportunities to others that see this community as hopeless and unworthy. Some would argue that this portion of Raleigh represents a large majority of lower or fixed income families. Whereas I see this area as the hidden gem of Raleigh. We strategically have our location in a neighborhood for walking accessibility, a short car ride or accessible through the use of public transportation. Most importantly, we are affordable and offer a wide variety of dance styles for the young and young at heart.

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

RMD began in the Raleigh Girls Club in June 2007. Lashiska also known affectionately as Mrs. Lala has always wanted to be able to offer all styles of dance to girls on the south side. She grew up in the very area in which her studio is located. She has been dancing since she was 4 years old and any dance she took was through her school or 30 minutes away from her home. Her goal was to open the window of opportunity for those that may not otherwise get the opportunity to explore fine arts at its best. From the girls club, RMD partnered with the City of Raleigh and was able to teach 100’s of children each season. Now we are rooted in one location in Southeast Raleigh. We love teaching ages 2(1/2)-adults offering a variety of dance classes, camps and performance opportunities throughout the year. Mrs. Lala holds a BA degree in Dance as well as a BA in Spanish. Her and her staff have extensive experience with dance as well as working with children with various abilities and backgrounds.

If there is anything that sets us apart is our desire to enhance the lives of others by nurturing their creative side and allowing them the opportunity to thrive in a supportive space where everyone is LOVED and are treated like family. They also can do it whether they can afford the class or not.

Something that makes me proud is the fact that we give back to the community in various ways as well as assist our senior dancers with scholarships to further their education after high school.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

My side hustle did turn into my full time business. I decided that it was a risk I was willing to take. On my full time job, I wasn’t making enough money, working long hours and childcare ate up my paycheck. So, I figured why not do it on my own and create a schedule that can work while taking care of my kids. I knew I had the potential but I needed to have faith and just DO IT! One big milestone was beginning RMD as a class. The next was branching out to a bigger audience and finding a community center that would allow me to teach class which turned into a program with multiple locations. My biggest milestone thus far has been becoming an actual business as an LLC, renting space and building my brand with contracts at local preschool and afterschool programs mainly in the Southeast Raleigh area during the day while operating the studio classes in the evenings and weekends.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Maintaining and retention of clients is vital to a business. We do it simply through love. While it may be a business, we are working with families. It’s important to them to know that we care and more importantly that we are here to assist them outside of just dancing. Fostering brand loyalty comes with getting feedback from the clients in which we serve. This is typically done a few times a year. We ask them to let us know how we are doing. Any ideas or suggestions that they may have and continuously getting their input on ways we can improve.

We also get the adults involved. They have the opportunity to come inside the class periodically to see what their child(ren) are learning. During camps or other functions, we are asking for volunteers to assist in different capacities to ensure our events run smoothly.

Even with the clients that leave the studio, we maintain a positive relationship with them and they refer others to our program because of the quality that we offer. Our integrity is important and it enables us to carry ourselves with grace and kindness.

In addition, we praise the students and hopefully inspire them to never stop trying.

One of our mottos in class is to never use the phrase “I can’t.” In our option, you CAN do anything, you just need guidance, practice and the confidence to get it done. As for us, we are here to help you achieve and exceed your goals that you set for yourself!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rightmovesdance.com
• Instagram: @rightmovesdance
• Facebook: @rightmovesdance
• Other: email- [email protected]
  Phone number:  (919)561-6632

Image Credits
@ 2022 Cammel’s photography