Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Matthews.
Leah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Like a lot of little girls, I dreamed of being a ballerina. I essentially grew up inside a dance studio. I then went to college where I danced on my university’s dance team and for an arena football team. After graduating, I relocated to Atlanta and did what was expected of me by getting a corporate job. For a short while, I still taught dance on weekends, but it eventually got to be too much with working 60+ hour weeks.
Unluckily/luckily, my office was closed in the financial crisis that hit in 2008. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to do what I had been doing. It was a hard time. I felt like my wheels were constantly spinning, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. I ended up taking a job making about 50% less than what I had previously been making just to try and get out of the field I was in. As you can guess, this didn’t last very long.
While planning for my wedding in 2010, I up and decided to quit corporate all together and teach dance. My friends and family thought that I had lost my mind, but something was missing. Dance is a part of who I am.
I guess there’s something to be said about the quote, “When you do what you love everything else falls into place”. I don’t know if I would have predicted I’d be here today, but I knew that I had to do what I was passionate about and I knew I’d find a way to be successful doing so.
Here I am, 8 years later with 2 dance businesses. My primary business, Studio Go, is based out of Atlanta and also operates in Charleston, Athens, and Chattanooga. Its sister business (that I co-founded with Lauren Nolan), Studio To Go, has clients all around the globe. I’m living proof that you truly can follow your dreams and make a business out of your passions and talents.
Has it been a smooth road?
Was it easy? Yes and no.
In some ways, it’s been easy. Entrepreneurship feels very intuitive to me and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve had success from the start and was able to pay myself a salary immediately without my business being in debt, which is not something most business owners can say. In this regard, yes, it has been a smooth road.
BUT, and here’s the big caveat to the above statement: of course it hasn’t been a smooth road. I’ve had some tough moments along the way.
I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2011. Things were great at first and I experienced success quickly. That being said, I was a bit naive in regards to a business at the time and mistakenly put blind trust where it shouldn’t have been placed. I ended up having to take legal action to get out of a contract, which turned into an ugly 6-month legal battle that was one of the hardest things that I’ve gone through. I questioned my past judgment and I questioned who I was and if what I was doing was the right course of action for my family and business. In hindsight, it’s the best thing I could have done for my family and business. At the moment, it’s easy to doubt yourself, but when you look back you see more clearly.
Standing up for yourself and what’s right isn’t always easy, but it made me a lot stronger. I don’t shy away from confrontation anymore. I don’t welcome it, but I know that it’s often necessary for business.
In 2015, I founded Studio Go. Looking back it’s kind of funny: I remember being on top of a cliff in a graveyard overlooking the ocean in Italy. I was in the process of finalizing a deal with my attorneys to end my other contract so I could launch Studio Go. A few days later, I launched the new business from a hotel room in Paris. While it sounds really romantic to launch a business overlooking the Eiffel Tower, I can assure you it’s not. It was stressful. Notifying 100’s of customers that you’ve completely changed your company overnight (on a holiday) with a 6-hour time difference is a kind of crazy. Luckily, business soared and improved. No major missteps!
Studio To Go was dreamed up in 2016 when I had a 5-month old baby. I wish I could say that it was all unicorns and rainbows, but we had hiccups along the way. We started out with 3 business partners and ended up with 2. Not only did I lose a business partner, but I lost a friend in the process. It sucks. There’s really no other way to put it. A lot of tears were shed, sleep was lost, and worrying was done, but in the end, things work out the way they are supposed to. I have no regrets.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Studio Go & Studio To Go story. Tell us more about the business.
Studio Go is a local on-site dance studio. We partner with local schools, churches, synagogues, and other locations to bring dance to children. We specialize in recreational dance, specifically pre-school aged children. Most of our dancers are between the ages of 2-10. We’re based out of Atlanta but expanded to Charleston in late 2015, Athens in 2016, and Chattanooga in 2017. It’s been a busy few years!
I’m most proud of a few things: 1) All of our growth happened organically. People saw what we were doing and wanted to be a part of it. 2) Our people. We wouldn’t be who we are without the great group of women who make up Studio Go. 3) Our curriculum encompasses character development, which no one else is doing. So, not only are these little ones learning dance, they’re also learning how to be kind humans. 4) Our branding. It is often something that gets overlooked in our industry, but something that we have taken seriously. I think all of these things set us apart as a company.
Studio To Go is my second company. I co-own this business with Lauren Nolan, who is our Artistic Director at Studio Go. Studio To Go is a resource for other dance studios around the world. We create and curate choreography, content, retail, and more. We also offer consulting services. Our Concierge program is a monthly preschool curriculum we offer that is the same material we teach in our Studio Go classes. Our subscribers are located all over the world from Australia to the UK and even Africa! It is so rewarding to know that what we are creating is being taught to children all over the world.
For Studio To Go, a couple of things set us apart. The first being our character development aspect I keep hitting on. We’re really proud of it and none of our competitors are offering it. Secondly, we offer more of a consultancy approach to our curriculum. Most competitors have evergreen programs. We only open up our enrollment twice a year and this is very intentional. We’re not a “set it and forget it” type of company. We want to help other dance studio owners transform their business.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I don’t see any huge shifts in the preschool dance world. Little girls (and boys-we love our male dancers!) continue to have aspirations of growing up to be a dancer. I think our industry will continue to see steady growth over the next 5-10 years. The on-site market is becoming more and more saturated. I believe more people are starting to steer in this direction due to the cost savings and business model. At this age, there’s nothing we can’t teach/accomplish in a school environment that you can in a studio. As children get older, a studio is important.
Looking at dance overall (from a Studio To Go perspective), I do think there will be shifts. Our industry is generally a bit behind the times. Our websites are blah, people still do paper registrations, etc. I am starting to see a shift that many studio owners are starting to want to bring their business into the 21st century. I’m hoping this shift continues in the next 5-10 years.
I also think that dancers are starting to stand up for themselves. Many studios still pay their teachers as subcontractors (which I’m not an accountant, but doesn’t make sense). I feel like dance teachers are becoming more educated on these topics and will start to demand more from their employers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.studiogodance.com
- Phone: 404-492-8688
- Email: info@studiogodance.com
- Instagram: @studiogodance, @studiotogodance
- Facebook: @studiogodance, @studiotogodance
- Other: www.studiotogodance.com
Image Credit:
Gregory Campbell Photography, Amore Photography
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