We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tina Lindle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tina below.

Tina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I began teaching dance lessons at the young age of 14. I truly had no idea what I was doing, just knew I loved to dance & perform and parents of my Mother’s daycare started offering me money to teach their children. What started out as a fun hobby, quickly turned into an actual business. Throughout high school, several dance programs that I was training in, hired me to teach for them as well. I wasn’t a big fan of children at the time, but my mentors saw something in me and recognized my natural ability to provide good instruction. When I was a senior in high school, I had 50 dance students & my own business. I had to make the difficult decision of either going away to college, or attend local community college so that I could continue to focus and grow my business. I chose to make a detailed plan of building my program up to be unique from others in the area. Meanwhile, I traveled to Ohio and New York every summer to become certified through Dance Masters of America. At age 21 I bought the property I was renting. I built on to the existing facility and after 12 years we outgrew it. So then I bought a much bigger property in a growing community and have been at this location for over 17 years. This facility is 10,000 square feet and includes 3 dance studios, a large tumbling center and huge gymnastics center. We enroll close to 400 students each year and I typically have 16 employees. There were many obstacles along the way, challenges and setbacks that couldn’t be foreseen. But with each one, I learned and then conquered. Every time I felt like giving up, I would remind myself of the rewards. I continued moving forward by setting high standards and putting in the work it would take to have each idea & project be a successful one. Yes, there would be failure, but not often because I put my heart into everything I did. My love for children developed in a huge way after realizing the difference I could make in their lives. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Melanoma at age 27, just after giving birth to my daughter, Josie. 8 years later, cancer-free, we had a son, Jevin. Throughout it all and still today, I continue to take risks and the more I have invested in something, the more effort I put into it. Having a positive impact on children, through leadership and training in the arts, is top priority for me and my business. Although winning top awards in competition & choreography is great, my biggest accomplishments are without a doubt, raising.over $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Dancers Against Cancer over the years. These events are a lot of work, but making a difference in young lives and teaching children to give back, are top priority. Additionally, our program developed a curriculum for children with Autism. We call them the “Austars!” and these kids bring us so much joy! Seeing children smile, squeal with excitement and shine on stage, living their dream, makes every challenge & setback totally worthwhile! My motto is: LIFE IS SHORT. DANCE HARD.

Tina, 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 am the owner and director of Tina’s Dance Studio, Inc. We are in our 35th Anniversary Season and enrolled close to 400 students this past year. Our program offers a huge variety of classes & styles, including ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, contemporary, Poms, cheer, tumbling, gymnastics, hip hop & musical theater. Our students range in age from 18 months old to 18 years old. We are a leader in the dance community and we strive to provide the highest quality instruction at the most reasonable rates. Each year we produce a Summer Showcase for Dancers Against Cancer, a Holiday Show for the Iowa Make-A-Wish Foundation, a spring dance recital as well as the Nutcracker Ballet and Alice In Wonderland. We have a big competitive team who travel throughout the Midwest and beyond.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During the pandemic, dance studio owners faced many challenges and most of us were just fighting to keep our business open. While the majority of studios jumped on Zoom for instruction, I chose to take a different route that would accommodate all families and students in the most convenient way possible. My staff and I built a “google page” with ongoing video instructor our students. This allowed parents to login and have their child participate when it worked for their household. It was such a difficult time for everyone and using this format really helped kids to take class from their homes without the distraction of others on zoom. Additionally, once we were able to return to classes at the studio, I immediately had a livestream camera system installed throughout my entire facility. Although this was costly, it had proved very worthwhile for parents to be able to view their child’s classes on their own device.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’ve always enjoyed using social media to not only promote my business, but also to highlight staff & students with ongoing posts, announcements and some fun stuff! IVe also incorporated Tik Tok and although it can be time consuming, it’s a great way to involve the kids and even some humor. I’ve found that my most successful videos & content are the ones that involve real life situations and how it applies to dancers. It’s good to include some humor, even if it means pointing the finger at ourselves and poking a little fun here and there! We keep it lighthearted and family friendly, always.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tinasdancestudioinc.biz
• Instagram: tinas.dance.studio
• Facebook: Tina’s Dance Studio, Inc.
• Twitter: Tinasdancestd
• Youtube: Tina’s Dance Studio & Tumbling Center