We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nadia Gewarges a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nadia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
A Google search for “dance studios” in my area yields dozens of results, even just in a 10-mile radius. Since we’re all competing for the same pool of customers, the recreational dance industry is highly commoditized. It’s become a “race to the bottom,” with almost every studio trying to compete on lower and lower prices. As a result, it’s challenging to communicate the value of my studio over another. Rather than reducing my costs and contributing to this growing challenge, I decided to approach the question
from a ”profit first” perspective. Simply: my prices are not based on my competition, but set based on my operating expenses, including a fair salary for my employees. This has enabled me to secure and retain the best possible teaching talent – which I believe gives Dance Dayz a competitive advantage over other studios.
Secondly,
Our location at Grossmont Center has also been a great advantage. Being at Grossmont Center has helped to position the studio as a convenient option for parents! They purchase gifts at numerous shops like Macy’s or Bath and Body Works, sit next door at Panera to get some work done, use Sees Candies as bribery after class, take home dinner from the many food options available, or the always necessary “Target run”. Some parents even brave a quick Costco trip which is just down the road! Or.. some just sit in peace by the fountainAll while their child is having an enriching dance experience with one of our amazing instructors.
Nadia, 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 currently am a wife and mother of two boys. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, and CEO of Dance Dayz. I battle that work-life mom-life balance every single day. I of course love my studio, but there’s nothing like making memories with my family.
From a young age it was crystal clear that teaching was my destiny! (Just ask my younger brothers🤣.)
I trained in teaching dance while completing my BS at San Diego State. After graduation, I chose to use my passion for performing arts as well as my certification in child development to create a recreational youth studio. A few years later, Dance Dayz was born!
Some of my students have been with Dance Dayz since opening, when at the time, they were only two to five years old. I have watched them become siblings and watched them grow up! I have been pregnant twice since opening as well! My customers have watched my family grow and it has been a really sweet experience.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I think the most important thing to remember is that your team isn’t just employees of your business, they ARE your business. Without my team, Dance Dayz wouldn’t exist – since I’m no longer involved in teaching, they are integral to the success of the company. As such, I include them in decisions and ask for their input on anything that impacts them. It’s important that business owners stay humble enough to acknowledge that other people bring different backgrounds and strengths to the table, and their opinion on the process is uniquely valuable. Not only does this type of collaboration yield better outcomes, it also creates a sense of ownership and commitment among the team that makes them want to contribute and stay with the company longer.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
This probably won’t come as any surprise, but the biggest “near death moment” for Dance Dayz, like many businesses, was the onset of COVID back in March 2020. In those early days, we were under the impression that it would just be a two-week shutdown, and when that was announced my inbox was flooded with emails from parents indicating that they would be taking a break from classes. We transitioned to online classes, for which about 20 students committed and required ten times the energy and time investment for our team to administer – from filming, to uploading, to linking the songs, and more. At the end of the season, we held a recital in the courtyard. Rather than our usual costumes, I made tye-dye t-shirts and played the music on an old boom box. Suffice it to say, they were dark days for the business. We’re pleased to have now surpassed to pre-pandemic studio levels, and consider ourselves lucky to have survived.
We are now enrolling in our Summer Dayz dance classes and camps! Check them out at dancedayzstudio.com/summerdayz
Contact Info:
- Website: dancedayzstudio.com
- Instagram: dancedayz
- Facebook: dance dayz studio grossmont center
- Linkedin: nadia gewarges