Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie Matheson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jessie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started at Peachtree Dance nine years ago as an instructor. I was fresh out of college with a degree in English, Minor in Dance. I taught Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Tap part-time for four years, while also working full time as Education Director at The Wren’s Nest House Museum, where I directed creative writing and publishing programs for middle and high school students. When the director position at Peachtree Dance opened up, I knew it was meant to be, for my first love has always been dance. Since I was a young girl, I had dreamt of owning my own studio, so in many ways, the position was a childhood dream come true. I transitioned from instructor to director at Peachtree Dance in 2014.
This is my fifth season as director. Over the past five years, the program has grown from around 180 students to nearly 400. Our staff of six is now a staff of 14 instructors with collegiate-level training and professional performance experience. We have also expanded from two to four studios. Through all of this growth, we still maintain a small student-teacher ratio. Peachtree Dance Company, our pre-professional program for dancers ages 7-18, is currently in its fourth season. PDC performs throughout Metro Atlanta and prepares students for dance opportunities in high school and beyond.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Challenges were a natural part of learning how to direct a dance program for the first time. My learning curve was a vertical line for my first season as director! It started to gradually level out after that first year. I keep a “Lessons Learned” notebook. It is both helpful and humorous to look back and reflect on how I and the program have adapted and changed over the past five years.
The biggest struggles along the way boil down to two main areas: 1) establishing a positive and inspiring work culture and 2) implementing program change at a sustainable rate that church leadership, dance instructors, and our families could handle.
To establish a positive and inspiring work culture, I did three things. First, I knew I had to earn the trust of my peers as I transitioned to their boss. Trust only comes with time and consistency. I sowed seeds of kindness and respect right from the beginning, in order to effect true change. Second, I saw the need for more communication and socialization, so I implemented monthly staff meetings. We still begin every month with a staff meeting. The dance industry can be lonely; you teach large classes of kids, but rarely socialize with fellow instructors. Staff meetings give us a chance to catch up not only about program news but also our personal lives. Many instructors hang out together when they are not teaching, which I love! Third, I vetted and assembled a world-class team of instructors. From a hiring standpoint, this required lots of marketing, recruiting, and interviews. After hiring, this required on-boarding, curriculum training, and guiding conversations with instructors as needed. The caliber and diversity of our instructors is a constant source of inspiration within the team. It has been a very slow process, but our work culture is everything I hoped it would be one day. It requires constant diligence to maintain, so my work is never done in this area, to be honest.
The second challenge is ongoing. In order to implement program change at a sustainable rate that church leadership, dance instructors, and our families can handle, I must keep a constant finger on the pulse of the program. When I first started as director, I had plenty of dreams but I did not implement any significant visible change in the first year. I felt strongly that I needed a full year to understand the program and what our dancers and families needed. That first year was very hard because I had to intentionally hold back from visible change and only focus on building systems (registration, curriculum, recital organization, internal communication, email newsletter, etc.). In retrospect, I am so thankful I held back and took the time to build systems that are now the foundation of the program.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Peachtree Dance – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We believe that instilling a love for dance is just as important as teaching excellent technique. We are known for this approach. It is common for dancers to add more classes to their schedules as the season progresses because they enjoy being at the studios so much. Nearly half our current students attend more than one class per week. We have students as young as three who take more than one class!
While the program has experienced significant growth in terms of enrollment, staff, and facilities, the growth I am most proud of cannot be measured, only felt. Our environment is inclusive, wholesome, and inspiring. Our staff and company members set a beautiful example, and it trickles down to our recreation-level dancers and parents. A parent with a six-year-old in the program recently summed it up when she said to me, “It just feels good to be here. The older dancers seem so happy and kind. My daughter wants to be part of this more and more.”
Peachtree Dance is different from other dance schools, in that we are a program based out of The Gym at Peachtree Church. Since we are not a free-standing business, but an offshoot of a much larger nonprofit, many people do not know about us. We do not market separate from The Gym at Peachtree but instead, rely on word of mouth and The Gym at Peachtree’s general marketing.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I sense that the program is heading towards a tipping point in terms of growth, so my plan for the near future is to dig deeper into our roots of Curriculum and Professional Development, as well as finish some facility updates, like installing new ballet barres in two of our studios.
I would also like to increase Peachtree Dance Company’s presence in Metro Atlanta. This initiative will include a Master Class Series, which would also be open to the public, as well as performance partnerships with local companies and destinations in Atlanta. I am also interested in interdisciplinary collaborations with artists of other mediums. The arts scene is thriving in our city, and I want our company dancers to be in the middle of it.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3434 Roswell Rd NW
Atlanta, GA 30305 - Website: https://thegymatpeachtree.org/dance/
- Phone: 404-842-3156
- Email: jmatheson@peachtreechurch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peachtree.dance/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegymatppc/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-gym-at-peachtree-atlanta
Image Credit:
Shanon Bell Photography
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