We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vicki Perkowski a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Vicki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
That’s a very good question. I was actually sitting at dinner with my daughter, Tiffany, one evening. At that point in my life, I had retired from being a high school teacher/administrator for over 30 years, and being a realtor for the last 10. I was questioning myself on what I would do because I’m not a person that can just retire and sit at home. My daughter suggested I open a dancewear shop because there was a great need in this area. I thought about the idea for a while. It did make sense. I taught theater for a very long time, I was an actor in New York, both my daughters were dancers, my granddaughter is in a competition team as a dancer, and as an administrator, I was always in charge of the groups in fine arts, such as dance, drill, team, cheerleader, colorguard, and band and the theater. So, I decided to take a chance. I ended up getting a small 500 square-foot shop in Rockwall to start my Mimi’s Dance Shop. Mimi, after all, is my grandma name. Mimi’s Dance Shop officially opened in August 2021.. I was very excited for this endeavor as one of my passions in life is to help students. This way I could help them, but in a different way than I could as an administrator. It’s taken the last two years for my shop to kind of takeoff. I started out just carrying the essentials for dancers, drill team, and gymnastics, but was blessed enough to move into a much bigger space last October. My husband says that this is my boat. When people grow up and they work 40 years and then they retire, we usually find some sort of hobby or interest to keep us busy. Some people buy a motorcycle, some people travel in an RV all over the country, and some people buy a boat to spend time on the lake. So, Mimi’s Dance Shop is my boat, and I love it tremendously.
Vicki , 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?
Mimi’s Dance Shop offers essentials for dancers, gymnasts, drill, team, etc. The very cool thing about Mimi’s, I think, is that this is my shop. I am the only one who works here, so I am here every day to assist and help all the customers that come in . This has allowed me to develop incredible relationships with my customers and their dancers. I know many by name and it’s very cool when I’m out in public children and teens will yell across the parking lot “hey Mimi”!! That makes me feel amazing and makes me feel like I’m making a difference. Another thing that I think makes Mimi unique is the fact that if a customer comes into my shop and they cannot find what they want, I will order it for them. I am here to help the dancer and their family in anyway I can. It is also very important to me that I pay it forward. I was very blessed a long time ago by a teacher that changed my life. I pay it back by accepting donated, gently worn costumes and giving them away for free to families who are struggling to buy costumes for their dancers. If someone were to take a costume, they have the opportunity, if they wish, to donate to the Mimi’s fund. They can donate a nickel, a quarter, or $20, anything they can possibly give. I take that money each month and go to a different studio in my area and pay tuition for a month for a dancer whose family is struggling to keep their child in dance. Doing this each month makes my heart very happy.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Let me just state the obvious here, when I started Mimi’s Dance Shop, I knew nothing about retail. My husband, who is an absolute genius, and I sat down and did tons, and tons of research about how to open a retail shop. I actually went out to shops in the area and interviewed their owners about getting started, what I would need to get started, what system do you use to check people out, and anything else I could pick their brains about. I think an important piece of advice I would give someone going into retail for the first time would be to research, research, interview, and then research some more. My daughter, Tiffany, who is a very talented hairstylist, and she also creates from scratch custom costumes for dancers, and makes sews them herself, was a fantastic leader in this endeavor. She used her fashion design degree to help me pick out things to sell in the shop. As I grow into my third year of business, I am still learning. But that’s me anyway. I love to learn.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission is very simple. I just want to help people. I have read in my research that it takes 3 to 5 years for a small business to take off. I am finding that to be very true. In fact, in the 2 1/2 years that I have been in business, I have not paid myself one dime. Seems like everything I make I want to use to expand more and more in order to help people in a better way. I do have several families that come in that are struggling, as many people are these days . I always try to help them out in terms of discounts or letting them make payments on what they need to purchase for their dancers. Mimi’s Dance Shop is my chapter 4 in life. Chapter 1 was being an actor, because I love to make people laugh, chapter 2 was being a teacher, because I love to see students learn, chapter 3, was being an administrator in order to help students more completely, and this is my chapter 4. All of my chapters revolve around helping people and making their lives just a little bit better perhaps in a very small way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mimisdanceshop.com
- Instagram: @mimisdanceshop
- Facebook: Mimis Dance Shop
Image Credits
Vicki Perkowski