Dream it

Justin and I knew each other from community theater work in our hometown and worked together at another dance studio, where we were constantly the colleagues on the same page.

When Justin 1st approached me to tell me he could no longer tolerate working in the organization where we were and he was leaving one way or another, I was devastated! It felt like my career was over and I couldn’t imagine staying without him or what on earth we would do instead.

I felt like my back was against the wall, and trying this wild idea with him, shooting our shot at making a culture that we were proud of, felt like the only option.

The potential pain of inaction outweighed the terror of taking the leap!

To not go into business with a partner.

Many people warned us that if we went into business with someone else, we would have to agree on every little detail, and we’d regret it. I can speak for both myself and Justin when I say, on the one hand “they” were correct. Building a business from scratch with a partner is INCREDIBLY HARD. On the other hand, we do not regret doing this venture together for a second. Working with each other has grown both of us, personally and professionally, beyond our wildest dreams. Our studio would NEVER be what it has become without the magic of us collaborating and tag-teaming.

Naming our business/studio. We all love the name Joy in Motion now and can’t imagine any other outcome, but agreeing on a name took over a month and it was the biggest early test of our partnership.

We called ours the Day 1 Project!

We knew something big was happening that first day my co-founder and I met for coffee to discuss going into business together on our studio. Over lattes we claimed on paper and to ourselves that this was Day 1 of the next chapter of our lives.

Of course we want to make money, and we do!

The non-profit model is (1) in line with our values; (2) common in the performing arts; (3) a safe-guard with 2 co-founders balanced by a board of directors.

Most classical ballet schools, large urban dance centers, and community theaters of all sizes are non-profit, signaling in their very formation that they provide a service to the community. JiM takes this urban dance center model and brings it to a sophisticated suburb where many households move from big cities around the country to raise their new families. Among local residents, there is an ever-increasing importance placed on putting their time and resources into companies that are doing good and giving back to local communities.

Short answer is - I didn’t until I learned!

I filled my shelf with Nolo Press books (How to Start a Non-Profit in CA was the standout!) and talked to people I knew who owned small businesses or ran non-profit arts organizations. I made it up as I went along and googled everything. I ate lunch with a generous human who had already successfully applied for some non-profits and agreed to look over my application for obvious errors before I submitted it to the IRS.

I did 10,000 things I had never done before including building our first website, writing 4-year budgets, comparison shopping industry specific and general CRM software, learning building code, drawing architectural plans over existing plans, and BEYOND.

The top personality characteristics that helped me as a business creator are definitely my curiosity (willingness to be a beginner and act before I fully know what I’m doing) and my tenacity (a.k.a. pure stubbornness over a long period of time).

I repeat the advice my co-founder Justin received before we started our studio: Work for someone else for as long as you can.

Starting a business is not for everyone. It’s a ton of work. It’s an ocean of uncertainty. BUT, if your dream has you by the gullet, and you just can’t let it go, then you better go for it with everything you’ve got.

PRE-SEED STAGE - Spark to go into business up until filing incorporation papers took 8 MONTHS

SEED STAGE - Incorporating as a business with an entity name until taking in our first dollar for dance classes took 5 MONTHS

501(c)3 NONPROFIT STATUS - From starting the application to receiving approval from the IRS took 1.5 YEARS

EARLY STAGE - Renting studio space in another business up through signing a lease on our 5k+ sq ft space took 1 YEAR, 8.5 MONTHS

PERMANENT HOME - Lease negotiations took approx. 4 MONTHS; Lease execution to construction start took approx. 7 MONTHS; Construction start to ribbon cutting was approx. 5 MONTHS