We recently had the chance to connect with Tiffany Hudson-Specht and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tiffany, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Listening to music, from my 20’s. I go to concerts atleast once a year now (Beyonce, chris brown etc) and when I get home I feel so alive again. Then I blast the music in my car for the next few weeks and just feel like my old self again. Its crazy how music can just take you back!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Tiffany Hudson-Specht. I am the Artistic Director and Owner of Hudson Dance Academy in Fountain Valley, CA. I opened Hudson Dance Academy 12 years ago with the dream of sharing my love and passion for dance with the next generation. We have had an immensely successful run thus far and have produced and graduated many successful dancers who have gone on to careers in dance, college dance teams, dance majors and signed to major dance agents. We are now one of the most prominent studios in North Orange County and the top studio in Fountain Valley.
We offer classes and training in jazz, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, tap, ballet & pointe. We make the conscious effort to afford every dancer in our studio quality training regardless of level and experience. Our mission is to make every dancer great and our attentiveness proves that. We offer small class sizes and exemplary customer service which is rare in our industry.
We produce two mainstage shows each year; Winter Recital with a Production of The Nutcracker and June Recital with a production (each year is different). We also have a strong competition team boasting over 60 team members, which competes all over southern california and takes home countless top 10 placements at every competition.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
A moment that changed my life forever was taking a semester abroad in college at Semester at Sea. At the time it was thru the University of Pittsburgh but I believe it’s relocated to Boulder now. But basically it is a floating University. We traveled for 100 days to 10 countries all while studying and having all of our classes framed toward the country we were next to port at.
It was a remarkable experience that opened my eyes to the world. It was the experience of traveling, coupled with actively learning about the culture, norms, history and current world state. It was truly incredible. It changed how I view the world and people. It opened my mind to the diversity of the world and also the similarities throughout the world. It made me value people so much more, and taught me that each and every person has a story and value.
Our semester was particularly impactful as we didn’t go to the standard european destinations. Instead our route was the southern hemisphere. We began in the Bahamas then to Cuba, to Brazil, to South Africa, to Tanzania, to India, to Vietnam, to Hong Kong, to South Korea to Japan and back to Seattle. We were forced to think outside the box and eliminate our preconceived notions. Imagine getting to study women’s studies but for each country we were about to embark on. Then having to write papers and do field studies after leaving. It is forever with me and changed who I am as a person. My kids will be forced to go lol.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
You aren’t abnormal you are awesome, your pool is just too small, get out in the world!
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes and no. It is a part of me definitely. I am not fake. Unfortunately, I am honest and authentically me to a fault. But the public version of me is far more outgoing and social than the real me. The public version of me is confident and a leader. The public version of me leads a faculty/staff of 12 and a student body of 200. This is me, but the real me is also still a shy person who hates small talk. It pains me, I feel so incredibly awkward. I literally dread it! If possible my outgoing husband would do all public interactions for me, from birthday pick ups to convos on the sidelines of my son’s soccer games. The real me has anxiety and replays conversations over and over in my head. I am an inherent over thinker and have had to learn to cope with anxiety and overthinking because in particular in my work as a business owner, it left me sick to my stomach and unable to sleep. I over think every conversation I have with a student’s parent, with a student and even with my faculty. I am a people pleaser and so I have had to fight that in order to do what is best for the program and the business.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
Well as an over thinker, I have already run this question through my head as I anticipate handing the business over to my daughter in 20 years. I am an empathetic overthinker with a self diagnosis of ADHD. So my ability to see a problem or event from every angle is unmatched. I am always assessing what someone else may be going through or how they may feel about something given their particular scenario and I try my best to be empathic to everyone. I think that without stating it, my customers would miss my ability to meet them where they’re at. To understand their perspective from finances to the number of children and time available. I hope to teach my daughter a bit of my ways but also do not want to plague her with my anxiety.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hudson-dance.com
- Instagram: hudsondanceacademy5678
Image Credits
Jacquelyn Diaz
Tom Bertolotti
