Today we’d like to introduce you to Alice FitzGerald.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up in Australia, I danced and performed a lot as a teen and young adult. I eventually started teaching dance and discovered a love for teaching children, inspiring me to earn my degree in Education from Melbourne University. Fast forward a couple more years, I was living in San Francisco, working with lots of little ballerinas at the time. It dawned on me how princess obsessed they all were, but also how, at the time, princess culture was essentially about being rescued by a man. It struck me like lightning: Little girls (and boys) needed a much stronger role model! One that could embody sparkly things, but who could also be empowering, strong and aspire to much stronger values, like education and self-love.
I sat on this idea for a long time, until one day while visiting LA, my good friend who’d recently moved from SF encouraged me to take a big leap: move down and start my entrepreneurial journey. Only knowing him at the time, and not LA very well, it was scary and probably didn’t make logical sense, but I followed my gut and did it anyway. With a lot of hustle and determination, I built Dance with Miss Alice, a dance school, enrichment and kids entertainment company.
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?
Starting a business is never smooth. It really is the highest of highs and lowest lows. So there has been a sense of things being smooth when they fall into place, but they accompany rough times. I believe that when you’re truly aligned with your vision and what you’re wanting to achieve the stars can align. But putting the work in to make that vision come to life requires consistent focus and oftentimes, resilience. It took a lot of persistence to get my little company off the ground and there have been many bumps and setbacks along the way. And then of course, life happens. Eight months into starting my business my Mum became ill. I didn’t know the seriousness of her illness at the time and kept plugging away, dividing my time between LA and Australia. She passed away 18 months later and the journey through grief while keeping my business growing has been challenging. But when you believe in what you do and want to make a positive difference in young people’s lives, remembering that can be the foundation to everything else.
I also think accepting success when it comes, can at times be difficult. Especially when your goals are bigger than your smaller achievements. It’s important to stop, reflect and be both grateful and proud of what you have accomplished. This only propels growth.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
One of the biggest parts of our company is our dance school. We have 3 locations: Brentwood, Topanga Canyon and Venice. We specialize in kids ballet, hip hop, jazz and yoga for children 18 months to 10 years. Our specialty curriculum is divided into four programs:
1. Tots who Twirl – a unique ballet, yoga & hip hop program for 1.5-2.5 years
2. Enchanted – an enchanting introduction to the foundations of dance 2.5-4
3. Bella – designed for 4.5-7 years to learn to trust and believe in their own abilities
4. Étoile – for our 7-10 years old dancers to harness a positive growth mindset.
We also run dance and yoga enrichment classes in preschools all over LA and have two of our programs at Happy Baby LA.
In the summer, we offer super fun dance & yoga camps in Santa Monica. We go to the beach every day in addition to creating mini dance productions. There’s no better way to spend a summer’s day!
“Miss Alice,” an empowered princess ballerina is a part of Los Angeles performers who put on dance themed interactive events for little ones. This idea was the main driving force behind Dance with Miss Alice. Miss Alice is an ongoing work in process and looking forward to more exciting things to come.
There are many components, but they all work.
Tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of about your business.
As a company, I’m most proud of two things: the community of parents, students and teachers we’ve created, and our fresh approach to dance education.
Seeing parents and students become friends, sometimes the best of friends through our classes never gets old. Creating something that brings people together is a truly rewarding experience. In our four years in business we’ve partnered with other children’s businesses and I think supporting others in business only makes you all stronger. I also love that our dance community gets to interact and meet different people often from all over the world and across the country. This seems especially important in our LA car culture.
Our fresh approach to dance education means we integrate as many educational opportunities as possible during classes and include positive self-talk— whether it’s learning stories, numbers, colors or making connections between words, emotions and movement. Additionally, all our classes include positive affirmations and the focus for our older students is about having a growth mindset. I hope the positive experiences we provide all our students stay with them and carry them forward —far beyond the studio or classroom.
If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?
I would definitely concentrate my energy in one place at a time. Not knowing LA, it was all a bit of an experiment figuring out where Dance with Miss Alice should live. Simultaneously each location took off in its own way, as did our enrichment programs and “Miss Alice” events, but at times it can make marketing challenging. I would also seek help sooner. We have a great team now and we’re still building, but it took some time to learn to let go and trust that the right people who align with your vision are out there.
Contact Info:
- Website: dancewithmissalice.com
- Phone: 424-253-6826
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: dancewithmissalice
- Facebook: dancewithmissalice
Image Credit:
Micheal Hartwich, Stephanie Martin, Robbie Ryde
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