Meet Sophie Pierce of Sophie Dance in Hollywood, Atwater Village and Santa Monica

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophie Pierce.

Sophie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After growing up in New York and graduating from chilly Ithaca College with degrees in Drama, Dance and Sociology, I found myself, like many New York transplants, on the sunny steps of Los Angeles. When I was six years old, surrounded by four brothers, I knew running a kids’ dance studio was my destiny. I idolized my own dance teacher and wanted to be just like her when I grew up. Creating Sophie Dance was a long time childhood dream of mine and Los Angeles felt like the perfect place to do it.

Two years of cocktail waitressing and a small loan from a friend funded what would become my career. I was only 26 when I opened the first Sophie Dance is 2007.

In just 1100 square feet on the corner of La Brea and 3rd, the first Sophie Dance opened. Through the course of five years in that location, and despite the bad parking, I and two other teachers taught classes to nearly five hundred children per week. In 2011 I built a brand new Flagship space, Sophie Dance 3rd, where we host close to one thousand dancers per week.

Expanding Sophie Dance into multiple locations was never my original goal. The growth has happened organically as I have been fortunate to have had exceptional employees who share in my passion and over the years, looked for bigger opportunity in our community. I currently co-own both Sophie Dance Atwater Village and Studio B by Sophie Dance with two separate amazing women. Studio B is our spin-off studio that caters to competitive dancers. In 2019 I opened my newest location, Sophie Dance Santa Monica, as a way to stay connected to dancers who had moved to the Westside and provide more employment opportunities to my staff.

Covid-19 and the effects of the Global Pandemic have hit us hard but in many ways given more than it has taken. Within 24 hours of the city mandated lockdown we created a virtual class program. We have continued with that program over the last eight months and will do so indefinitely. We also launched a Sophie Dance Delivered program where teachers go to student’s homes to teach. November 1st, we launch our new On Demand streaming service for children ages 2-7! And we built a tent in one of our parking lots where we currently host outdoor dance classes daily. We have been forced to be as creative as possible to stay afloat during this crazy time.

The newest member of the family will be Sophie Dance Hamptons on the East Coast, scheduled to open Spring 2021.

In addition to running my dance studios, I also teach multiple classes per week for children under the age of 6 in the 3rd Street and Santa Monica locations.

I am an active member in the Los Angeles Community and focus on giving back to local families in need as much as possible. I am a member of the Alliance of Moms, a supporter of The Alliance for Children’s Rights, GLSEN and Chrysalis, an organization dedicated to transitioning low income and homeless individuals back into the workplace.

I live in Hancock Park with my family of five. My husband Neil Mahoney, is a former Navy-Seal and current owner of Unified Logistics, a 3PL shipping company. We have three daughters, Rory (age 9), Coraline (age 5) and Blaise (age 4). My journey to motherhood was the biggest challenge of them all and involves countless failed fertility treatments, failed adoptions, a successful adoption, a successful IVF and a surprise natural pregnancy when I least expected it!

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?
My journey has been filled with countless obstacles. If pivoting were an Olympic Sport, I would be Michael Phelps. Getting the first Sophie Dance opens with the smallest amount of capital felt nearly impossible most days. Everyone from experienced entrepreneurs to commercial brokers to landlords to insurance reps laughed in my face, literally. But I have always thrived on being told NO. Construction is always brutal as we build out new locations and during those processes, it feels like everyday there is something that needs to be changed or adjusted or “doesn’t work”. There are days I want to throw in the towel, absolutely. Covid has brought me to my knees. But I think I have a level of resilience and faith that seems to push me forward daily. Or maybe a little insanity? I don’t know.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sophie Dance story. Tell us more about the business.
Sophie Dance is a children’s recreational-dance studio, with the exception of Studio B which is competitive. At Sophie Dance children participate in a weekly dance class in order to develop their dancing abilities and dip into the world of mind, body and soul connection. We focus on not only dance skills but creative movement, original choreography, dance as art and encourage dancer’s self-esteem with age appropriate expectations and the joy of dance. We strive to give our city businesses a small-town feel. We treat our community like family and are proud of the relationships we have with our dancers and the friendships with have with our parents.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I work incredibly hard and I think sometimes the idea of luck can discount all that has gone into success. But the truth is, I have been lucky. For me, the good luck has come in the form of my employees over the last 14 years, four of whom are now business partners. I think fate and luck have brought us all together and I can’t really take credit for our finding one another. That is good luck!

Contact Info:

• Address: Sophie Dance 3rd and Studio B
  5867 W. 3rd Street
  LA, CA 90036
  Sophie Dance Atwater
  3407 Glendale Blvd
  LA, CA 90039
  Sophie Dance Santa Monica
  2501 Wilshire Blvd
  Santa Monica, CA 90403
• Website: sophiedance.com
• Phone: 323-395-3050
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @sophiedance3rdstreet, @dancestudiob,@sophiedanceatwater, @SophieDanceSantaMonica, @misssophiedance

Image Credit:
Peter Carrier, Christina Hultquist

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