We were lucky to catch up with Summer Williams recently and have shared our conversation below.

Summer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I have always loved to dance since I was a young child. I grew up dancing on the fireplace and putting on shows for my family and after begging my parents, they finally put me in dance classes and I have not stopped since. I danced through school, received my Bachelor’s in Dance from SDSU, and worked professionally and along side some great dance educators until I decided I wanted to open my own dance studio.

When the time came I had no idea what to name my studio, but I have always had a passion for Tap dance. When I finished student teaching for my credential, the students and staff at CPMA Middle School gave me the book Rap A Tap Tap, which is about the famous Tap dancer Bojangles, and they all signed it for me. That special memory stuck with me and inspired me to name my dance studio Rap A Tap. A celebration of Tap dance and a reminder of my love and commitment to arts education.

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?

Anyone who meets me for the first time can immediately see my passion for what I do and my kindheartedness. I really love teaching dance and igniting that passion in my students of all ages. They soon find out that I also have high expectations lol! I’m nice, but firm, and I love to have fun, but also get down to business. I think that unique balance creates that positive relationship that I have with all the people I work with. When teaching my students at Clairemont High School or running a rehearsal at my dance studio I strive to give my students the tools to feel confident, progress in their training, learn new skills on and off the dance floor, and create lasting relationships.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

There are so many golden nuggets that have helped me as a business owner, but one of the phrases that I live by is “your staff is your biggest asset”. As much as we like to be in all parts of our business at all times, we just can’t! And your staff are a direct reflection of you. Therefore, great leadership is so important to maintaining the culture of your business and to keeping your clients happy. A great leader is willing to serve, and supports their staff so that they can feel equipped to do what you are asking of them and appreciated for what they do.

There are some days when I am the janitor, the dance teacher, and the marketing director. It’s important to know all the jobs as the owner so that you can facilitate the training your staff needs, and you can know when it is being done correctly. But you can’t stay there forever. That is a recipe for burnout. You build your effective systems and guide your staff so that you can step back more and work on your business instead of working in it every day. I know that is easier said than done, but when you invest in a good team and give them the resources they need to be successful in their position you can do it. Simply saying thank you, asking them something about their day before diving into the to-do list or giving them opportunities to grow their knowledge and demonstrate their skill are steps you can take as a good business owner. Remember, when you are not present, they are the face of your business!

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

I think every small business created prior to 2020 can relate to the scary reality that was COVID! This is a time when I truly thought the business was done. I had started to make peace with it, and my husband was the one who really pushed me to take the risk. We were incomeless, had lost our business location, and had no clients. It was the perfect time to bow out and no one would have blamed us for it, but we made a list of pros and cons, and decided to see what we could do. It was a Craigslist post… yes Craigslist is still a thing! I saw a dance studio for lease as I was surfing through Craiglist while watching tv, and I called the number on the listing, expecting no one to ever answer and they did. 2 days later we were looking at a location, and a week after that we were taking all of our savings and putting down a deposit on a building that we couldn’t even move into because of COVID restrictions. We held dance classes in the park and parking lot for 3 months until finally moving into our new building with 70 students! It was a miracle, and we have been growing ever since. 2 years and 130 students later we are still doing it. And as we prepare for a possible expansion, you had better believe I am checking Craigslist!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rapataparts.com
• Instagram: @rapataparts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rapataparts
• Youtube: @rapatapcenterforthearts6620

Image Credits

123 Event Photography