We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mallory Rosche. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mallory below.
Mallory , appreciate you joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
One of the most special parts of the ballet program is that the dancers are able to participate in a sprin
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
recital every year. They learn a dance, practice each week, get to wear a pretty costume, and perform on a big stage in front of their families and friends. The audience claps and cheers for them and they get to shine onstage and be celebrated for the beautiful, talented dancers they are.
Mallory , 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 am a licensed and registered occupational therapist and currently work full time as an associate professor at Augusta University in the Department of Occupational Therapy. I grew up dancing, and knew I wanted to combine my love for dance and my skills as an OT and offer adaptive dance classes to children with special needs. A few years after graduating from OT school, I reached out to a local dance studio and asked if they would be willing to rent studio space to me to offer these classes. They were on board, and Steps of Grace was born. I started teaching one adaptive ballet class and had five little ballerinas join. By the end of that year, our class size had more than doubled to 12 dancers. That was 13 years ago. In the years since then, we have grown to offering four different class options and have students ages three all the way up to young adults participate. We have classes once a week throughout the school year, culminating with a spring recital where the dancers get to show off their skills onstage. Steps of Grace would not be possible without the community support we receive, most importantly with volunteers. We have volunteers take part in each class- typically they are occupational therapy students or college students who are planning to go into a field where they work closely with the special needs population. They are able to provide one-on-one assistance to dancers who need it, and help keep the dancers focused and engaged throughout the class. We also receive support through generous donors who donate money to provide scholarships to students and to purchase recital costumes for all of the dancers.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Not at all, I would have chosen occupational therapy again! Occupational therapy is such a unique profession in that we can work in so many different fields. Professionally, I have worked with the pediatric, adult, and older adult populations, and in academia. I have been able to work with children who have autism, Down syndrome, sensory processing disorder, and other developmental disorders. I have worked with adults recovering from strokes, accidents, and surgeries, and those living in skilled nursing facilities. I have been able to provide services to adults with irreversible vision loss from diseases like age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma, and have the privilege of educating the next generation of OTs. I also use my skills and knowledge as an OT in directing and teaching my adaptive ballet class.
Also, when I sent my questions in there was a question at the end that asked for other people to nominate to be interviewed. I put “n/a at the time” because I was trying to go ahead and submit before the deadline but now that I’ve had a little bit of time to think about it I do have a couple other people that would be great for this and am happy to send those over if you’d like them! Just let me know!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I believe the most effective strategy for enrollment has been word of mouth. My first class had five dancers and through the years has grown to multiple class offerings with around 35 students total. This has all been with very little marketing on our part. Dancers and their parents would talk about the class to their friends who would then enroll, and they would tell their classmates about it, and they would tell their support group about it, and before you know it we were adding classes to accommodate for everyone who wanted to participate. Local pediatric therapists in the area would also refer their clients to us. We have a Facebook and Instagram account as well and dancers have found us through posts they see on social media.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stepsofgraceballet.com
- Instagram: @stepsofgraceballet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081601397059