We were lucky to catch up with Lue Finisher Thao recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lue Finisher, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I was working a 9-5 job after high school and I knew I always wanted to dance, but I didn’t know what to do with dance. I struggled with being unhappy with where I was in life. An opportunity arose when Mary Anne Quiroz contacted me in 2017 about the idea of starting my own dance studio inside the Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center. I worked for Mary Anne Quiroz at Battle Creek Middle School for an after school program back in 2011/2012 and we had prior discussions about opening a cultural center. The idea would now become reality. I decided to slowly transition from my 9-5 job and into managing my own dance program. Within a couple months, I had opened my own dance school called Cypher Side Dance School. In 2021, I transitioned into having my own dance studio. The journey was difficult, but I was fortunate to have a good support system.

Lue Finisher, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started dancing because my elementary gym teacher, Mr. Muller, showed our class a break dancing move called the back spin. I was amazed by what I saw and decided to try it out.

My dance studio, Cypher Side Dance School, provides dance classes such as Break Dance, Hip Hop Dance, and KPop Dance. One of the main goals of Cypher Side is to provide opportunities to students to excel and the accessibility for students to express themself. We also provide performance entertainment, dance workshops, and commercial work promotion.

Some of my accomplishments are:
-Super Bowl 52 Halftime Show
-Current NBA MN Timberwolves & WNBA Lynx Performer
-Vanilla Ice – I Love 90’s Tour in MN
and much more!

With my dance studio, I was able to provide these opportunities for our students to perform at:
-Governor Tim Walz Inauguration Performance
-Olympic Medalist Sunisa Lee MN Celebration
-MN State Fair Performances
and much more!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Growing up, I did not have the support from my parents. My family immigrated from Thailand in 1993 and my parents had different expectations than what I wanted. I continued with my passion even though I had the expectation to be a doctor or lawyer. My resilience taught me to stay strong and true to what I believe in.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe helping and supporting people helped to get me to where I am today. I strongly believe in making sure my business is helping people first before anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cypherside.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cypherside/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CypherSide

Image Credits
Nenick Vu