Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Dupuy.
Hi Kathy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I love business! I started my first business, Mom’s Best Friend, a household staffing agency placing nannies and sitters, 28 years ago in Austin. Shortly thereafter, I franchised the business and opened offices in other cities as well. I also opened and ran an assisted living home for seniors for ten years. Then, ten years ago, I opened a dance studio in south Austin. 5 years ago, I added a Round Rock location after purchasing an existing studio. I have always loved to dance and have enjoyed dancing recreationally, from musicals in high school to performances as an adult (and now as a competitive ballroom dancer!). I have four kids, ages 25, 20 and 16 years old twins. At one time or another, each of them have danced in some capacity. About a decade ago, I decided that I wanted to open a studio with the idea of having simultaneous youth and adult classes. I always wished classes were available for me when my kids were dancing (two birds with one stone!)! My south studio, Balance Dance Studios, offers over 30 adult dance and fitness classes, many concurrent with youth classes. We have an onsite black box theater, a large outdoor dance deck, a playground, and nine studios within our two building campus. In Round Rock, at The Dance Spot, we currently have six studio spaces but are in the process of building a brand new, state of the art 10,000 square foot facility just around the corner from our current location that includes a theater, a rooftop dance deck, and more! My husband, Stuart, left Dell about nine years ago, after working there for 17 years, and we now run our various business ventures together.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Running multiple businesses at the same time has not been an easy venture (especially when we had four young kids), but I would not trade it for anything! I love the teams I get to work with (two of my employees are celebrating their 20 year anniversary with us this year). If my husband had not left Dell to come work with me on our businesses, there is no way I could have run 3-4 businesses alone. He stepped in to run our staffing company and does a tremendous job managing and growing the company so that I can focus on managing the dance studios. It’s been such a gift to turn a hobby into a passion project and to get to go in every day, take class myself, and work with an amazing group of talented people! I’m grateful that we had the means to stick through the start up phase when our bills were higher than our revenue, believing that we could build something that would eventually draw the masses. Now, I smile when I drive up and can’t find a parking space among the 67 designated parking spaces that we have allocated to our two buildings. Many say that staffing is one of the toughest challenges to running a business but, for me, that’s the fun part! I love to find great talent with the right attitude work ethic and fit with our studio culture, and bring them together and turn them loose to do what they do best and get out of the way!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Balance Dance Studios, The Dance Spot?
Balance Dance Studios and The Dance Spot cater to dancers ages two and up looking for recreational or competitive programs. We offer classes in all genres, including ballet, acro, tap, hip hop, musical theater, contemporary, lyrical, modern, drill prep, jazz, jumps and turns, injury prevention, stretch and strength, and more. In addition to our youth program, we offer many adult dance and fitness classes for adults of all ages and abilities, including ballet, barre, belly dance, bungee fit, jam, jazz, heels, hip hop, tap and yoga. Our facilities are beautiful with spacious waiting areas for our parents and, most importantly, the best staff qualified to teach each of these genres. So, whatever your goals, we are equipped to create a customized plan for you to help make it happen! With 14 studio spaces between the 2 locations, we are able to offer the most diversified schedule of offerings and instructors available in the city. We also have a non-profit, Bestow Balance, that we created to help dancers with a passion and talent for dancing but without the financial means to pursue it. We are able to help many needy and deserving dancers each year through this non-profit.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Those who are not already enrolled at the studio can come take their first (trial) class on us at no cost! We want to enable those who have not seen our beautiful facilities or met/taken class from our fabulous staff to be able to do so. We are so sure that, after experiencing our studio “magic”, they will be hooked and want to come back again! We also offer periodic free events like Dance and Play (creative movement and story time) events for ages 2-5, Adult Free Day of Dance. We would love for you to come check us out! We also appreciate support of our non-profit, Bestow Balance, so we can continue to help all children who want to experience dance to have access!
Pricing:
- $50 registration fee
- $86/month for one weekly youth class
- $20 drop in rate for one class
- $165 adult unlimited monthly rate
Contact Info:
- Email: info@balancedancestudios.com, info@dancespotx.con
- Website: www.balancedancestudios.com, www.dancespotx.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/balancedancestudios?utm_medium=copy_link, https://instagram.com/thedancespotx?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalanceDanceStudios, https://www.facebook.com/thedancespotx
