We were lucky to catch up with Linda & Chester Freeman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Linda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
After decades in the corporate world, heading global internal and marketing communications and training, organizing massive employee conferences and writing rah-rah speeches for CEOs who all said the same thing, I was burnt out. I wanted to do something I felt passionate about, something I could do with my husband, and something that brought us and others joy. We had been swing dancing as a hobby for years, and many people had told us if we ever decided to teach, they would sign up. So, I decided to turn our passion into a full-time business. We started Got2Lindy Dance Studios in 2004. And all those people who said they would be first in line? Well, they weren’t. But others were. And our classes grew rapidly. We didn’t have a lot to invest financially, but we had time and talent, and I had my decades of internal communications and marketing experience to devote to a service I truly believed in. I have always been a visionary, and by envisioning what I wanted, I could usually make it happen. We were hired to teach in elementary schools, on cruise ships, at dance camps and festivals and more. We have taught from Singapore to Syndey. We had a radio show and a cable special. In 2022, we were named the Best Dance Studio on the Knot wedding website. The secret to our success is that we don’t just teach classes, we build community. I like to say we turn non-dancers into dancers, and strangers into friends.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My husband, Chester, and I have been teaching swing dance–also known as Lindy Hop, professionally since 20040. We are an ideal team. My husband is a talented choreographer and learns dance steps easily. It was always harder for me, so I have huge patience and empathy for students who don’t learn quickly. Together, we are a perfect teaching team. We also enjoy being with each other and genuinely love what we do, and that permeates throughout the classroom. We are skilled in all types of partner dance, including traditional ballroom styles such as waltz, rumba, foxtrot and cha cha, but we decided to focus our business and classes on Lindy Hop, the traditional American jazz dance also known as swing or jitterbug. We also teach Balboa, Blues, and Charleston, which are all dances from the same tradition. Although we have taught children in school programs, mainly our demographic is adults, many start with us to have fun or because their kids are older or are getting married and they want to know how to dance, or they just were widowed or divorced, or they are new to the area. For whatever reason, they now have time to focus on themselves and on meeting people and making new friends. Our dance classes and dances are very social, no partner is needed to attend, and everyone dances with everyone, even if you come with a partner. This is how we build community, and it is also how people learn better because they truly need to be able to lead and follow everyone. Our classes and dances are built on having fun and learning how to social dance, not on competition like many dance schools. And all are welcome. You can check all this out on our website, www.got2lindy.com. In addition, we are highly sought-after by wedding couples learning their first dance because we make the whole experience so fun that most report their dance was the highlight of their wedding! You can read what couples have to say about us on our wedding dance website, www.bestweddingdancelessons.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Pretty much the entire world had to pivot in March 2020. But for a business dependent on partner dancing, and a demographic largely made up of students who did not have a dance partner in their household, it was a very difficult time. When faced with the question: how to continue to create and sustain a dance community when we are locked away from each other, we knew we had to embrace radical change and rapidly learn the tools to help us. We moved our format to online Zoom swing dance classes for students who had a partner at home and solo dance routines and instruction for those who didn’t. We held Living Room DJ Dance Parties and I tapped into the interests and skills of two of our students to produce, create and hold monthly Zoom Presentations on various dance-related historical subjects from “Slumming Uptown: Tour Through the Harlem Hotspots of Music & Dance”, “Harlem’s Contribution to Black History in Music and Dance” and more (all of which are now available on our YouTube channel). Many of our students really showed their love for us by doing things such as purchasing gift certificates for dance lessons, even though they had no idea when they would be able to use them, or even mailing us a gift card to our local supermarket to make sure we were eating! We felt enriched in so many ways by our dance community during the pandemic. And now that we are back in the classroom, we continue to use Zoom to provide hybrid classes for those who still don’t feel comfortable or are unable to attend in person. This allows students to join our classes from virtually anywhere for the Got2Lindy experience!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Quite simply, I love my life. I get to do what I love to do, in partnership with the person I love, and surrounded by people who laugh at our jokes and share our joy. Our students invariably become our friends. There isn’t a party I attend that isn’t made up of people who met in our classes. We have even had a smattering of marriages! We are definitely in the “do what you love, and the money will follow” camp. We want to be and are financially sustained by our business, but we are more interested in being enriched by what we do and the people whose lives we impact, than by becoming financially rich. That is an important distinction and what leads to our personal satisfaction.
And the most rewarding aspect of being a swing dance teacher are all the students who start class convinced they can’t dance and leave class dancing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.got2lindy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/got2lindy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/got2lindy/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Got2Lindy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/got2lindydancestudios
- Other: https://bestweddingdancelessons.com/