We recently connected with Sarah Makins and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

My amazing mother showed us all walks of life as we were growing up and supported an attitude of being non-judgemental and kind towards all. This has significantly impacted my teaching style and dance company decisions.

Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was trained from an early age in highland dance, classical ballet, jazz, tap, modern, national dance, modelling and classical piano, both in Canada and the US. Our very wise mother had us try a diverse array of styles and disciplines until we found our niche.

I noticed throughout my training that some teachers taught through kindness and others through fear. I was determined to start my own dance company and chain of studios that only infused each lesson and project with kindness.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

During tight financial years, my incredible staff came up with a number of creative solutions to help all families be able to afford dance class. An example of such an idea was to create 3-week and 6-week courses and offer them throughout the year. They are still a staple of our programming and continue to be very popular for a variety of reasons. When times get to be challenging, we always inspire each other as a team to stay positive and think of solutions that many times we keep long term.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the first segment of the Covid outbreak, we changed all of our dance lessons to virtual classes. We had private FaceTime or video chat lessons with each dancer, each week to make sure to keep them training throughout the process. We actually put 267 students through dance exams by zoom that season. Dancers are determined!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://famedancestudios.com/