We were lucky to catch up with Travis Swartzlander recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Travis thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Travis Swartzlander
Co Owner White Rabbit Society WCS
CEO Ninja Dance

Pre-pandemic, the West Coast Swing community in Phoenix had long standing lessons, and social dancing that had existed for well over a decade. In the late 2018-19 The Phoenix area West Coast Swing competitors had seen a shift to a younger demographic. This new resurgence of West Coast Swing dancers were consistently requesting a more modern and current convention music and vibe, but to no avail.
Then the world shut down for the Pandemic and all partner dancing in Phoenix went away. Fortunately, Arizona was one of the first states to lift Covid restrictions and open the state. This was our (White Rabbit Society WCS) chance to have a shift and make a change in the West Coast Swing community in Phoenix.
White Rabbit Society WCS started as “speakeasy“ social dances held at people’s homes in their living rooms. Even though Covid restrictions were lifted, there were no studios that were willing to rent to have larger dances. That was until Z Room Tempe opened up rental for a maximum of 24 people. At one of our last “speakeasy“ social dances, myself, and my business partners (Sarah Hightower & Joe Herringtone) were discussing how we were going to get the word out without being crucified on social media. I replied jokingly with.:
“We will just do it 90’s rave style’ and I will go get a bunch of bunny stencils and spray paint them all over Phoenix. Then on Facebook all we will write is: FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT…”
Joe replied enthusiastically with “THAT’S IT! That is the name of our dance and company….”
So from “speakeasy“ socials in living room, to our first White Rabbit Society dance of 24 people, to the Arizona’s largest, and premier West Coast Swing monthly social. We average anywhere from 130 to 200 people. This is how my business partners and I came up with this idea, and it was just born out of change and opportunity!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Travis Swartzlander
Co Owner White Rabbit Society
CEO Ninja Dance
DJ Bul
Event Director: Dream Team Country
Owner Kiazen Koching

I wear quite a few hats, as you can see from my titles above, but most of them are centered or sprung from dance. I’ve been a lifelong dancer andwas self taught through watching my inspirations of: Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, Chris Brown, and Tight Eyez X. Another huge inspiration on my hip-hop, solo dance, and partner dance was Stephen “Twitch “ Boss (RIP).

Services that I offer are: private and group instruction for, hip-hop, solo movement, West Coast Swing, and Modern Country Swing. (White Rabbit Society WCS & Ninja Dance) DJ services for dance competitions / events, social dancing / gatherings, weddings, and any environment that might need a DJ and music. (DJ Bul) Event direction and coordination services for Modern Country Swing events and competitions. (Event Director Dream Team Country) and lastly, Coaching and Mentoring in the areas of: Dance, Business, Life, and Motivational speaking. (Kaizen Koching)

I think the biggest thing that sets me apart from others and what I’m most proud of is: my “side” businesses above are done out of passion for the overall betterment of the communities involved and humans in general. Though they are businesses that make money, that is not my sole focus and intention with them because I am also a career Firefighter and Paramedic with the City of Phoenix. This financial privilege allows me to see people as people and not dollars signs. I think that sincerity and genuineness comes through in my approach to these business and how I mentor / coach.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Because White Rabbit Society initially started as a very small local Arizona social dance we didn’t have a budget of any kind to start paying higher level instructors for workshops. We were consistently listening to what the community wanted, and that was higher level World Swing Dance Council (WSDC) All-Star, and Champion instructors.
My first strategy was to start to get White Rabbit nationally recognized. We did this through custom merch that consisted of T-shirts and jumbo fans for dancers when they got hot. Next part of the strategy was to give this merch to high-level All Stars and Champions to wear in competitions, at social, and to post on their social media.
The next step was to create some kind of social media personality, and I did this with a stuffed white rabbit named Nivens. Nivens and I would travel the WSDC circuit where I would ask WSDC All Stars & Champions to take pictures with Nivens. We would post these pictures on our social media (FB & IG). I also made reels and stories having dancers guess where Nivens was at and encouraged the dancers to once again “Follow the white rabbit…” Soon thereafter, everybody wanted to take a picture with Nivens, and then it wasn’t long after that until Champions and All-Stars were asking to work with us.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’m a believer in Stoic philosophy in all aspects of business and life, White Rabbit Society is no exception. I think something that helped build our reputation in our community was that we put the community first, rather than our needs, and our finances. We have done fundraisers in which we donate 100% of the earnings to charitable causes. We have always tried to listen to the community, using Survey Monkey every year, polling the community of things they liked, disliked, and things they would like to see In future. Thus giving the community as voice and some stock in our company. We strongly believe in doing things and celebrating community members/dancers that have good community values. I.E. We have a White Rabbit Social Dance Champion leader, and a follower in which the community votes on, and the winners are presented with a championship belt that they get to keep the whole year until voting declares the new Champion the following year.
“If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together…”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninja.dance.az?igsh=MXg3bTl5azJhZHNkcg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/groups/183446960374256/
• Other: White Rabbit IG
  https://www.instagram.com/whiterabbit.wcs/profilecard/?igsh=MWh2dHBwM2diMjNo

Image Credits

1. Gabriel Sebastian (Dance with Gabe)
2. Ariel Villarreal (New Boot Media)
3. The Edge Dance Event (Kickstart Country Events)
3. White Rabbit Siciety WCS