We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shannon Clayborn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Overall, being a business owner makes me genuinely happy and thankful. But it would be a lie to say that I felt that every single day, which I think any business owner would agree. Being the go to person for every problem, complaint, issue, etc can be taxing and exhausting. Finances in the early years made it extremely difficult to find daily joy in what I was doing since I was constantly worried about money, paying bills, etc. In year 4 I remember sitting down with my parents and talking about whether or not I was cut out to continue running the business, and that stemmed from being strapped for cash and barely paying myself anything at all. In that year I did think that maybe working for someone else was a better option for me, but after a lot of consideration and discussion with my family, I knew it stress leading me to think these things and that it would not make me happy to give up my business to work for someone else’s business. At that point I knew I had to put pen to paper and develop a new marketing plan that would help boost business. Thankfully, I’ve done that successfully. That’s not to say that sometimes I still get stressed and frustrated and think about what a “normal” work life would be like, but I know this is my calling and what I was meant to do.

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?

I’ve been dancing since I was 2 and dance had been one of the most important parts of my life since as long as I can remember. When it came time to think about college, I initially wanted to study nursing. But it took 2 weeks at the University of Iowa to know that I needed dance in my life and needed to make a future with it. I had originally planned to move to New York after graduation and pursue a career in performing, but I battled severe ankle problems throughout my 4 years of undergrad and by the end of my time there I knew performing wasn’t going to be in the cards for me. I had been teaching and coaching gymnastics throughout college and loved working with kids, so for my final project in my entrepreneurship class I decided to develop a business plan for a dance studio. Upon graduation, I sat down with my parents and started rolling out plans to open this business in real life. I graduated in May 2010 and opened the doors of A Step Above Dance Academy in August 2010.

For me, dance had been my safe place growing up. It gave me courage and discipline, it gave me a voice when I sometimes felt speechless. And it brought me joy. So when I opened ASA I knew that the most important aspect for me was to bring those aspects to my own students, no matter their ability, past experience, or anything else. I knew I needed to bring on a team of teachers who shared those views and would be the best kind of role models for the dancers, and I truly believe that can be seen inside the walls of ASA today. I believe that’s what sets us apart most from other studios in our area – that we are not only teaching the best dance technique but we are doing it in a safe, encouraging and loving space.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I opened ASA in August 2010 and in February 2011 the building we shared with a gymnastics facility burned to the ground in the middle of a record shattering blizzard. I had just begun the journey of owning a business and so early on had been faced with a huge, huge challenge.

I decided that was the best time to separate from the gymnastics facility and move to an independent building, but that also meant starting from scratch with a student list. I knew it was the best option for me, so by April 2011 I was open and operating in a new city with a new building and student base. From there it took years to build to where we are at today, but we’ve done it!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social media is undoubtedly a huge asset when it comes to marketing our studio, especially because kids and parents are both constantly scrolling. But without a doubt, our biggest source of new students is word of mouth from current customers. It’s such a huge honor to have our current families talk about their positive experience with us and pass along our information to other families that they know. We try to capitalize on that by doing things like referral discounts and weeks that dancers are invited to bring a friend to class for free.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.astepaboveacademy.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astepabovedance?igsh=MTdpOHp5d3Q2Z3JuYg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AStepAboveDanceAcademy?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@astepabovedanceacademy2745?si=JZSK-cVB-rKqWuky