It's Decided

I have decided that I am going to be a Ballroom instructor for the youth (pre-teen - 18).

I will raise up a killer Ballroom program where I'll have my own formation teams and we'll travel the country -- and maybe internationally, if the stars align financially -- to compete.

That is my chosen profession.

I'll probably moonlight as a computer programmer as well. Okay, not probably, it's certain.

I've already started. I have about 7 or 8 couples whom I will start preparing for BYU's upcoming Dance Sport. I'm excited. They're excited.

And I feel at home.

This is very important to me. Feeling like I belong.

Money has no value to me. Now that I'm a happy, optimistic person, material things have no value to me -- I once used them as distractions when I thought life was a tar pit of despair and suffering.

A sense of belonging is everything to me.

Ballroom and I, we belong together.

Teaching and I, we belong together.

Learning and I, we belong together.

So, I'm looking to get my own studio. My ballroom partner teaches ballet, so the studio would provide the facilities for ballet, ballroom, and tap lessons.

In fact, my ballroom partner has enough classes of ballet to secure the ability to fulfill the cost of leasing a studio -- she's renting from another studio right now (too small, floor is NOT appropriate for dancing -- which is the case with all dance studios in Tooele).

All that is needed is the initial cost of putting together a dance studio. I am hoping for a dance floorspace of about 30'x50'. I am estimating a start-up cost of $30,000 - $40,000. As I said in my last post, proper dance flooring and mirrors are costly. The great thing about it, though, is that the expensive things come with me if I ever need to move to a bigger studio (which I'll definitely be shooting for).

Where I'm going to come up with $30,000 - $40,000 eludes me at the moment, but I'm actually feeling quite confident about it.

This is definitely the most solid business idea I've ever had -- especially since the ability to pay the cost of leasing the real estate is secure even without my Ballroom & Tap classes.

I have 13 initial courses planned, and the number of courses will increase to 21 (not to mention the two or three formation teams) when the talent base in Tooele increases. And the number of classes of each course will, of course, depend on the interest here in Tooele -- which is growing quickly, especially in competition, and I will be the only studio to teach Ballroom (let alone competition-quality Ballroom).


It is officially my dream.

To be honest, I've never really had a dream. I've always had dreams, ideas that I would love to accomplish but about which I didn't have complete confidence or dedication. I would always have other dreams, other possibilities floating around my head at the same time.

This dream, however, is different. Compared to my other dreams, it is MarieBelle New York chocolates* to a Hershey's bar. Including my dream to perform on Broadway.

All the other dreams, it felt like I had to somehow weasel my way into them. I had to figure out how to fit.

This dream... it already feels like it fits.

In fact, it found me.

And now it's my move, raising $30,000 - $40,000.

*Okay, so I haven't actually had any MarieBelle chocolates, but damn they look absolutely delicious (and the packaging is very much my style).