We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Megan Bowen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Megan below.

Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

My business, Dance From Home LLC, and my social media brand were born during the first 2 weeks of the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic alongside performing I would teach fitness classes & dance classes in NYC. As an entertainer when the world shut down, so did all of my work and live performing opportunities. Although the world became remote, I noticed there was still a demand and need for my clients to dance, exercise, move their bodies, and take their minds off of the uncertainty of the Pandemic. What we once did in large dance studios in NYC had to be adapted to the small confines of an NYC apartment, and I did just that. I created what my clients needed, an online community that allowed them to Dance – From Home. Not only did I make dance and fitness accessible during a time of zero community gatherings, but I have also made it accessible to a worldwide community of people who never had access to dance studios in general. What started as a pivot for NYC has now turned into a global shift in the way dance can be done in the online space. I’ve pivoted my business several times since 2020 but what has worked best for me is pivoting with my client’s needs in mind. The classes from my online dance fitness business, Dance From Home, can be completed in any space, without any equipment, making it easy to integrate not only into my remote work life but my clients as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Megan Bowen and I am a professional dancer, actor, entrepreneur, and content creator. I am the founder of Dance From Home LLC, an online dance fitness platform and community that helps ex-dancers feel like dancers again through dance-based fitness and choreography classes that can be done – From Home. I help my clients reconnect to their passion of movement and fall in love with their routines and bodies to live healthier and more fulfilled life.

As an online content creator and influencer, I like to provide my audience with a balance of comedic, relatable, and entertaining content while also sharing stories about my day-to-day life. As an entertainer, I create captivating content through creative storytelling all while including my personality, style, humor, and artistry. I have a close relationship with my followers and have created an online community within the dance world that has never been done before that connects dancers and lovers of the arts through all phases of life.

I am most proud of putting my community first and being able to impact the world through art and storytelling. I am proud of being a woman in business and inspiring other women in the arts and entertainment to go after what they want and teach them how to show up authentically, never apologize for being a woman, and guide them to take up as much space as they deserve. I want my followers to feel more valuable within themselves every time they interact with me either in person or online.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have built a total combined following of 367,000 across all of my social media within 2 years of starting my brand and business.

The secret to growing online is to know the community you want to speak to and serve and directly speak to them. Do not be afraid of voicing your opinions and stand firm in your values. If you are in it for the numbers and clout find a different career. If you are in it for the long run and the opportunity to build a better community then stay in the game. Numbers come and go, but community and connection last a lifetime and can be the foundation of an incredible career. I look at social media as a long-term investment.

My advice would be to show up consistently and know that your first 100-200 pieces of content are probably not going to be great. BUT, like any skill or craft, it takes time. For example, I have spent 25 years of my life dedicated to dancing to get to the top level that I am at in NYC. That takes time, consistency, and dedication. It is not an overnight success. The same applies to social media. Just as I put in the time to learn the foundations of dance, you have to put in the time to learn the foundations of what makes great content and how you add your own personality to it.

Every artist is unique and every digital creator is unique. Just like art, avoid copying or comparing yourself to anyone else. Stay in your lane and work on what makes you special.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started my business 2 weeks after the pandemic hit NYC and everything shut down. At the time I had $70 in my bank account and was $7,000 in debt (plus student loans) and had no income coming in. I didn’t have the money but I did have the time. I offered my first online dance fitness class to my, at the time, small Instagram following and had 46 people sign up at $15 per head to take my class on Zoom. I was able to teach 2 classes of that size to have enough money to form my LLC in the state of New York and just kept grinding. Fortunately, my business is all virtual and there is not a lot of overhead, but the beginning was definitely a risk and I’m happy I took it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dancefromhome.vhx.tv/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganbowen__/
• Youtube: Megan Bowen
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meganbowen__?lang=en Dance From Home: https://www.instagram.com/dancefromhome_/

Image Credits
James Jin, Cesar Razza, Jay Sullivan, David Ovitsky, Jordan Eagle