March 27, 2017

Meet Whitney Teyf of Expressions In Motion Dance in Atlanta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Teyf.

Whitney, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
After graduating from East Carolina University with a BFA in Dance Education I moved to Atlanta in 2006 to be with my boyfriend, now husband, and very supportive business partner. When I moved to Atlanta 11 years ago, I saw there was a need for a convenient and affordable option for after school dance classes. Our first classes started at Vanderlyn Elementary in 2007 and quickly spread throughout many Dekalb County Schools. Principals and preschool directors have quickly seen the benefit for their school, parents, and students, we have now expanded to over 21+ locations which include public schools, private schools, preschools, churches and recreation centers. We also are a part of the Dekalb County school vendor program which services students in them after school programs. Our program became popular because we provide a very convenient and affordable option for working and non-working parents. Students are able to take dance right there at their school. We have highly qualified instructors that help us promote health, education, and fun in a non-competitive environment. Students enjoy being able to learn dance with their school friends. We also offer most of our students the opportunity to perform in a professional recital at the end of the school year with costumes and all the glam that comes with it! Expanding to where we are today has not been easy but definitely worth it. I am thankful to my supportive family who continues to cheer me on! EIM dance has given so many dance opportunities to students that might not normally be able to try dance. We offer many scholarships and pride ourselves on the ability to not turn away students based on financial hardships. We believe every student should have the opportunity to explore dance and it’s benefits.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a bumpy road! One of our largest struggles is getting in contact with Principals and preschool instructors as they are very busy and receive many emails and advertisements daily. However, we have found that once they see how wonderful and beneficial our program is, they stay with us for many years.

Another struggle which is also a blessing is keeping up with the demand for the program. Many times we get contacted by schools without even advertising to them because they hear about how wonderful our program is. This means we are continuously growing, hiring instructor, etc. which keeps us constantly on our toes. 😉

My personal struggle has been running this successful business while going through my childbearing and child rearing years. Being a mom and a full time business owner and dance teacher is quite the juggling act. Finding the right balance of work and spending time with my two beautiful children has been difficult. I am thankful though to be able to work my schedule around their schedule. I have a 4-year-old son and soon to be 2-year-old daughter.

Expressions In Motion Dance – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am currently the owner, artistic director, office manager, marketing director and dance instructor for two of our classes. Phew, that is a lot! 🙂

EIM Dance specializes in providing high quality dance education! Students have the opportunity to learn multiple styles of dance including hip hop, boys only hip hop, creative movement, jazz, tap, and ballet. We promote health, education, and fun in a non-competitive learning environment.

We are most proud of two things, the first is being able to provide dance to students in a convenient way. We have so many parents who are thankful that their child can extend their school day with a fun and healthy activity. The parents are thankful that when they pick their children up from school, they have already had their extracurricular activity so they do not have to take them to class elsewhere after a long day of work. We are also proud of our very high rated customer satisfaction. We believe that communication is the key and customer satisfaction which means parent, student, principal and director satisfaction is what helps make our program so great. Our instructors and office staff have the wonderful ability to tune into their students’ needs during class. We are always collecting feedback from students and parents to better our program.

What sets us apart is that we have the ability to give all of our students’ high quality dance education in a more convenient and fun learning environment. We only hire instructors with years of experience in teaching and performing.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I believe that every year at the recital is my proudest moment! I remember being a child and looking at the studio director on stage and wishing I was him/her. I wanted to be up on the stage announcing the show. Every year at the recital when I give my opening speech I look out into the crowd and think to myself, “WOW” look how many people’s lives we touch every day through dance! Here I am on stage announcing the show, I did, this is my dream of a career coming true! I think of the thousands of students that have come through our program. I think of all the students who have stayed with our program for many years as we have a very high retention rate. I see all of the parents, grandparents, friends, and family excited to see their children perform and show off everything they have learned. I see all of our teachers who have worked very hard all year. I see it all come together and it is amazing! I am extra proud this year as we will be having out ten-year anniversary!!

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