We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Regina Lum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Regina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Growing up, I did dance, cheerleading and music. I loved doing all of these activities because it helped me gain confidence, build community, and gave me a sense of accomplishment. It taught me self-motivation, perseverance, resilience, and teamwork. I feel like all these skills learned was a huge factor in helping me be successful in school and in life! I didn’t understand how and why these activities helped me in those ways then, I just knew it did!
Because of that, I’ve always wanted to run a children’s program, most likely in dance because that’s what I really loved! I wanted to provide an opportunity for other kids to learn those life skills and help them lay the foundation for success in school and in life.
And after being a mom myself, I realized that there’s so much that I didn’t know! I wanted to bond and play with my daughter but I only remembered 2 nursery rhymes and the doctors and experts tell you that you’re supposed do tummy time but every time I put her in tummy time, she would cry! So I just never did it because I didn’t know how to. And that’s when I started looking for activities to do with my daughter and came across Nurturing Pathways (a program in Seattle) which connected the dots for me on how and why movement and music supports the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of a child. PLUS, it gave me tools and resources that empowered me to become a more confident parent.
When I found out that Nurturing Pathways offered a teacher certification program, I jumped right in and taught with Nurturing Pathways until my family and I moved to Grand Rapids in 2018. And that’s when I was finally able to bring my dreams of owning a business to reality when I started Little Feet here in GR in 2019.
Regina, 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?
Little Feet is a parent-child movement program for children 3 months to 5 years old. The goal of the program is to:
– Help develop healthy relationships between parent/caregiver and child
– Build capable and confident bodies
– Support the development of an integrated brain
The program is derived from scientific research on the brain-body connection and how movement and music improves cognitive, social, emotional and physical growth of our children. Besides that, this program also educates parents on how to support their children’s healthy development and empowers them to be more confident parents. Our philosophy is that the parent/caregiver is the child’s first teacher and my job as an instructor is to facilitate an environment to work towards the goals mentioned above.
The program targets this age group because the brain doubles in size during the first year and reaches 95% of it’s adult brain weight by age 4. That’s why we want to build a great foundation now! Another thing about the brain is that it is built on demand. The more sensory opportunities and experiences we provide our children, the more neural pathways are built in the brain. The more neural pathways there are in the brains, the better the communication within the brain becomes. This means the brain will be more organized and integrated.
What sets this program apart is we don’t just teach you what to do, but we go into WHY we do these activities and HOW it affects your child’s development. Each week, we explore a different dance concept and we explain how each dance concept supports your child’s development. That means each week, we do a different lesson plan with different sensory props. So it is constantly a new experience for your child. To the above point where the brain is built on demand, we are constantly challenging our brains and pushing it to build new neural pathways. The only thing we repeat each week are the nursery rhymes and the structure of the class so even though the activities are different, the children can expect the same sequence of activities and that helps them know what to expect. We need to have a balance of familiarity and excitement in the program to help kiddos feel safe and yet still have the element of surprise, and THAT is how our brain learns best!
The other thing about this program is that it really focuses on the healthy attachment between parent/caregiver and child. It gives parents an opportunity to connect and play with their children during class and lots of ideas to bring home too! Healthy attachment is key to a child’s overall development, mostly because when a child feels safe, the brain gets out of it’s fight/flight/freeze mode and will be more open to learning new things!
I am all about creating community. So that’s why the classes are offered by session and included in the class schedule is time for a little community in the beginning of each class. That way, a group of families get to know each other more throughout the 6-week or 8-week session, depending on the season. Also, when the kids come for the whole session, it gives them time to get used to the classes, to me, and to their friends and start to know what to expect and really enjoy class more. Drop-ins are welcome too, they just won’t see the same benefits of signing up for the whole session. I’m constantly trying to create a safe and non-judgemental space for parents and all are welcome at my class! I want people to know that I truly care about them and their children and my goal is really to get this program/teachings out to as many people as possible because I really believe that it does make a difference for our children!
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
First, I start by being genuine and authentic with all my interactions with my families. I focus on creating community and sense of belonging with the families that attend classes by including community time in our class schedule during which I share my own experiences as a fellow mom and invite them to do the same. I also try to schedule events for families and bring in treats to share every once in a while. Every quarter, I give all my constituents an email update that includes a little bit about my personal life and also an update on Little Feet. That way, the customers feel like they know me personally and are part of my Little Feet family. When customers feel that, they are more willing to help spread the word about the program.
So here are the strategies that I’ve used:
1. Word of mouth
2. Asking families to take pictures and post it on their social media and tagging Little Feet
3. Bring a friend promotion
4. Share my program in mom groups on Facebook
5. Engage in mom groups when parents are asking for activities to do with their children
6. Engage with my followers on social media outside of class time to continue building that relationship with them
Have you ever had to pivot?
2018 was when big changes happened both in my life and career! April 2018: I became a mom of 2
June 2018: We moved from Seattle to Grand Rapids
July 2018: I went from working full time doing marketing for different non-profit youth organizations to being a stay at home mom. After having my 2 nd child and the big move, I wasn’t ready to get back into the 9-5 grind… I didn’t want to! I wanted to be around my kids, I wanted to raise them myself! The move gave me the opportunity to re-assess my priorities and rethink what I wanted to do with my life and career. Not wanting to “just” be a stay at home mom (not that there is anything wrong with that but more because I’m the type that can’t sit still), I started to think about how I can finally bring my dreams of starting a children’s program to reality. At the end of 2018, at a community story time in a local park, I met Annica Quakenbush, a fellow mama and owner of Sprout & Blossom, who also runs a moms group. Once she heard about my program, she was immediately sold and helped me get Little Feet off the ground! And through her, I met another fellow mama, Shannon Sadoski with Live Unprocessed and she helped bring my program to her community in the North GR area. And that is how Little Feet started! Even though it seems like a huge shift from marketing to creative dance, it really isn’t! All of my education, previous experiences and skills learnt from my marketing positions have been directly transferable, setting me up for success for being a business owner. I used to keep this quote posted next to my computer “Good luck comes to those who are prepared” and I think about it often because if I didn’t have the education, experiences & skills I have, I would not have felt “ready” and “able” to take on this opportunity! Every day, I am thankful for being able to use my education and skills, coupled with my love for dance and my passion for helping youth maximize their potential, to create a career for myself that is fulfilling and yet, still be available for my children.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.littlefeetmovement.com/
- Instagram: @littlefeetmovement
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlefeetmovement