We recently connected with Yolanda Thomas and have shared our conversation below.

Yolanda , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

I had been running 8wk hip hop dance Courses for absolute beginner adults. It was just a side business while i worked as a singer and original artist. I relocated to LA from Sydney Australia in 2013. Anna Que, one of the Sydney instructors and a friend, offered to keep It going. I was lucky she was passionate and a great communicator.

I started classes here in LA but It was very slow for years. There is a lot of competition.

I now work full time on the business even though I have systems in place as now i’m focusing on expanding and adding value to current students.

It’s the multiple tight systems in place (Apps and websites) that I set up over the pandemic, that allow me to run Courses simultaneously in 2 countries. I love discovering new technology. Most things are automated, except I answer every email personally.

Working remotely with different time zones I’m grateful for the feature of MUTE on WHATSAPP so that Sydney messages don’t come through while im sleeping in Los Angeles.

I do not put my personal phone number online as a contact or I would never be able to shut off and would be bombarded with spam. As a creative as well as a business owner, I’m sometimes in a creative headspace and sometimes in a business headspace. It’s hard to switch quickly, especially with unknown phone calls. All information is either on the website or the booking platform to eliminate the need for phone calls.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

ABOUT THE BUSINESS: My company Groove Zone runs Hip Hop Dance Classes for Adults in Sydney and LA. It offers a unique level called ‘Absolute Beginner’, I believe dance can be taught at any age and my motto is “So you think you CAN’T Dance? Bet I can teach you!”

Groove Zone provides a friendly, supportive community with no judgement for the Adult Absolute Beginner who has always wanted to learn to dance but had nowhere to start. The focus has always been about teaching Groove! After all, most of us just want to look cool on the dance floor at the next Social Event!
I narrowed it down to 4 Fundamental Grooves that run through Hip Hop dance that could easily be taught.

Groove Zone has expanded with long term students improving and now offers level 2 and level 3 with complex routines that are exciting to watch at our 8wk Graduation Performances. We are now booked for performances around LA.

I’m really in the business of inspiring and empowering people to find their true potential. My business provides a platform for students to face their fears and their limiting beliefs and come out the other side beaming and full of confidence that spreads into other areas of their life. When you do something you are scared to do, It gives you a major high! I love supporting students to get out of their “Comfort Zone” and into the ‘Groove Zone’!

Besides being a choreographer, I have extensive experience in all fields of being a professional vocalist, so as a Performance Coach, I teach Dance, Choreography, Vocals, Stage Presence, and every aspect of performing live.

A highlight for me vocally was singing backing vocals for Johnny Depp in LA and for dance, being asked by Wikihow to be a co-author as an expert in my field for their articles on Beginner Hip Hop Dance.

When you are in the business of helping clients abandon their self-limiting beliefs and see the potential in themselves, you want to reach as many people as possible. I’m very thankful for my students and clients helping to spread the word through their 5-star gushing reviews on YELP and GOOGLE.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I wake up and watch youtube entrepreneurial videos over my morning coffee. The Futur, Gary V, Leila and Alex Hormozi, Diary of a CEO and in the early days I was heavily influenced by Derek Sivers and Tim Ferris.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I had a major turn around when I changed my business approach in LA. I had been running the business model differently to how i ran it in Sydney, thinking i was tailoring it to the LA student who can’t commit to a course. But once I ran LA classes exactly the same as Sydney, things took off.

I was running drop in casual classes like most LA studios but each week I had anxiety wondering if i had enough numbers to run the class, as students often booked in last minute. After I had a few students say “I can’t come for a while because I’m starting a course”. I realized they COULD commit, I just wasn’t offering that option.

It was a big risk because once the course date starts you have to run It even if numbers are low. Lucky for me It was the beginning of the year and everyone had new year resolutions, so not only did the 2 courses sell out, I had to create another to cover the demand.

I’ve now stuck to this business model and our graduating 8wk performances are getting bigger and more impressive! The courses and performances also create a community, which is amazing to watch.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.HipHopCourses.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groove_zone
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/hiphopdancecourses
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/groove-zone-north-hollywood

Image Credits
Elizabeth Morris Photography