The Dance CEO Podcast

Are you a dancer who wants to do internal work, and you're interested in doing it in a way that aligns with your desire to move? Then this episode is for you! Join Jen Aks and myself as we learn about the unique method Jen has created, and why she still practices it daily. 

Jen Aks, Embodiment Coach, Dance Educator, and Expert in the field of communication, founded and created The Power of Gesture Method, a groundbreaking form of moving meditation. Movement saved Jen’s life and as a result, revealed her gift to teach embodied, soulful connection. Jen’s method shows us how to live authentically by accepting our lived experience, recognize that our stories matter and help us tap into the wisdom of our bodies. The Power of Gesture methodology was created in response to the 2020 pandemic as a way for people to reconnect with their minds, bodies and souls. Jen’s mission is to unlock the intuitive language of the body so that we live authentically and serve purposefully. Jen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University and has dedicated her career to shifting the mindset of humanity one story at a time. As part of The Power of Gesture program, Jen offers private coaching, workshops, and speaking experiences. Jen’s body of work also includes hundreds of mini documentaries produced by Jen, representing stories of resilience communicated through The Power of Gesture. 

Episode Highlights:

• Developing a therapeutic modality that serves others
• How to apply (or not) what we learn, in our parenting process
• Continuing to self-practice what we teach others

Links:

www.thepowerofgesture.com
www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass

Follows:

Jen Aks - @jen_aks
Audra Allen-Queen- @thedanceceocoach

Make sure to subscribe to this Podcast & like this episode!

Thank you for listening

Join me, your host Audra Allen-Queen, as I share with you some of the goals and desires I have for the new year and what I desire for each of us. I also talk about intentional goal setting instead of resolutions.

It's a new season and a new line-up of guests!

Links:

New Year- Thriving YOU! Mini Course
The Brainy Ballerina Book Club

Follows:

@thedanceceocoach

I'm a firm believer in not fully planning 2024, until it's 2024. I want to be fully present for these holidays and to finish out and enjoy the year. That being said, there are a few things I do to help me be warmed up when I do plan in 2024. Join me to learn what you can do to prepare while still enjoying the holidays. 

Episode Highlights:

• The power of finishing out the year
• What you can start thinking about for 2024
• Resources to help you start 2024 off strong

Links:

• FREE "New Year - Thriving You!" 3 day workshop  January 3-5, 2024
• 3rd Annual Dance Business Owner Summit January 12-14, 2024

Follows:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Pintrest

Make sure to subscribe to this podcast & like this episode!

Thank you for listening. 

We poured our heart and soul into the marketing plan for the Black Friday and Cyber Week deals we offered...and we failed epically. We want to always be transparent with you and trust that our sharing helps you maybe not make as many mistakes or ask big ones as we did. 

Episode Highlights:

• Why I have been quiet on the past few months
• The financial results from our Black Friday & Cyber Week promotions
• Why we failed and what we learned from it
• How to move forward after something like this happens

Links:

• FREE "New Year - Thriving You!" 3 day workshop  January 3-5, 2024
• 3rd Annual Dance Business Owner Summit January 12-14, 2024

Follows:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Pintrest

Make sure to subscribe to this podcast & like this episode!

Thank you for listening. 

Being a parent and building a dance career, let alone a business is not an easy thing. And it's not something talked about often enough in the dance world. Unintentionally this is the exact topic Nancy and I dove into first. And the conversation just flowed from there to also discuss how Nancy took advantage of the virtual platform during Covid, instead of shied away, and how that has helped her to get to where she is today. 

Nancy Paradis began her professional ballet career on the east coast performing with
the Washington Ballet with Mary Day. She then joined the Richmond Ballet as an
original member in its first year as a professional company, and was thrilled to perform
for four years. She also performed one season with The Louisville Ballet. As a principal
and soloist, she loved dancing a diversity of roles ranging from classical, neo-classical,
Balanchine and modern ballets.

In a pivotal career change, Nancy moved to Los Angeles where she performed in the
television and film industry, commercial and fitness market. After honing her craft as a
choreographer and instructor in ballet and jazz styles, she become adjunct dance faculty
at University of California Irvine, Loyola Marymount University and currently Moorpark
College.

She is artistic director of her company LA Dance Moves, a very unique dance, music, art
and media company. Combining her passion for music by collaborating with composers,
she creates a new genre of performance art by weaving the composer and dancers into
each other’s lives. She shares inspiring works of the human spirit in her most recent
work, a feature documentary titled "Back to the Heart".

Nancy resides in Los Angeles with her husband Andre, a relationship coach and their two children who are attending college. Through her works of the human spirit, she is
determined to warm your heart and move your soul!

Episode Highlights:

• The challenges & rewards of running a business and being a mother
• Taking advantage of the virtual scene during Covid
• Building a dance company and making it profitable
• The different ways we can serve the dance community

Links:

 https://www.ladancemoves.com/
www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass

Follows:

Nancy Paradis - @ladance_moves
Audra Allen-Queen- @thedanceceocoach

Make sure to subscribe to this Podcast & like this episode!

Thank you for listening

Join me in the 3rd part of this series as I share my journey with the impact undiagnosed ADHD on my dance training and early professional career.

I continue to share how ADHD has literally been the reason for so many different parts of my life going well and parts not so well.

Go back to the last few episodes to catch up with parts 1 & 2.

Highlights:

• Why I started dancing
• What happened when I couldn't stop talking during ballet class, one to many times
• The mixed challenges I faced in dance because of ADHD and, well dance

So many studio owners and dance business leaders self identify as their work, and sacrifice personal everything because they think they have to to experience professional success, or they will look like they don't care.

Ashe Caldwell of Bloom Studio Coaching and I are here to share our conversation about how you don't have to do all that anymore. Ashe shares her journey of how she has successfully built her dance studio business without needing to be in it everyday. We dive into a lot of beliefs that we fully embody but may seem contradictory with what the dance world tells us we need to do to be successful. Are you looking for permission to do things differently than you've been taught? This is the episode for you!

Ashe Caldwell  has been involved with the arts all of her life. She danced numerous hours a week, took singing and acting lessons, and was on the stage every chance that she got. Eventually, she was granted acceptance into the Musical Theatre program at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and had the privilege to audition and work in dance and theatre productions in the US as well as Canada. She moved her love of the arts on stage to behind the curtain creating dance and music studios and even a fine arts preschool. She has had the privilege to be a studio owner for the past 20 years owning multiple locations and bringing in 6 and 7 figures consistently. She has purchased commercial space and acquired a $2.2 million dollar commercial mortgage all through her studios and has been Awarded the Canadain Business Review Board’s Best Dance Studio in Canada. She now loves coaching studio owners(just like you) on how to stop surviving and start thriving in their studios.

Episode Highlights:

• A different, more successful way to run a dance studio & business
• How a coach made Ashe's success happen
• The power of tapping into your intuition
• Different ways you can run your business & live the personal life you desire

Links:

www.bloomstudiocoaching.com
www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass

Follows:

Ashe Caldwell - @ashe.caldwell
Audra Allen-Queen- @thedanceceocoach

Make sure to subscribe to this Podcast & like this episode!

Thank you for listening

This is Pt 2 of 4, where I get very vulnerable with you about my adult-diagnosed ADHD journey.

Today's episode dives into how I not only manage my business but thrive while doing so with ADHD. I share A LOT of hacks, tips, and resources that I use daily to make my business work for my brain, not the other way around.

When I played back the episode to edit and prepare it for production, I laughed because I talk faster and faster through the episode because I am so passionate about sharing this. And feeling that vulnerability just a tad.

Make sure to stick around for Pt 3 and 4. More details about my childhood and undiagnosed ADHD and more are coming in the near future.

Highlights:

• What my basic process is with running my biz with ADHD
• How I set up my workspace in both places to optimize my creative focus
• Allowing myself grace when things need to shift because my brain is wired like that
• Tools and hacks to help support, not contradict what my brain wants to do while running a business

Follow:

• Audra Allen-Queen
• @thedanceceocoach

Mentioned In The Episode:

• Dance CEO Masterclass Series
• Asana Software
• Rocketbook

So many K-12 dance educators have required professional development, but it rarely if never relates to them. This is exactly what Tamara Irving is setting out to rectify.

Join Tamara and myself as we discuss her journey professionally and how she has gotten here today, developing arts curriculum and facilitating teacher training that is actually beneficial for dance educators. 

Tamara Irving is a distinguished arts educator and performer with more than 20 years of professional experience and 12 years in the classroom. As a curriculum writer and consultant Tamara has experience in IB (International Baccalaureate) Middle Years Program, Diploma Program, and Career Program and was recently selected as an examiner for dance in the Diploma/Career-related program. Her success may be found in building arts programs, including fundraising, outreach, and engagement. Tamara’s background in marketing, along with her experience as a professional dance artist has allowed her to bring a wealth of training, arts curricula design, artistic direction, and utilization of technology in teaching. Her educational journey started when she left the Us National Tour of The Lion King and needed to find stability while still utilizing her gift of dance. Due to limited support in many school districts for arts educators, Tamara was led to create a consulting firm that supported arts education programs. TMI Design and Consulting is committed to supporting Arts educators by developing arts curricula and facilitating teacher training and professional development programs infused with career and leadership skills practices with the goal of enhancing learning experiences. In addition to being a professional dancer, entrepreneur and educator, Tamara is also a proud wife and mom of 2 beautiful daughters and a son! Tamara believes that her gift is to inspire others through dance and that movement can come from anything!

Highlights:

• Tamara's professional journey performing with the Broadway show, The Lion King
• Her experience starting out as an educator
• How we can positively impact our students 

Links:

• https://tmidesignconsult.mykajabi.com
• www.thedanceceocoach.com/masterclass 

Follows:

• Tamara Irving @tmi.design.consulting
• Audra Allen-Queen @thedanceceocoach

Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Dance CEO Masterclass Series

Make sure to leave a review and "like" the podcast if you're finding value in this episode!

It's time to share all the juicy bits of how I not only survive, but thrive with ADHD. I wasn't diagnosed until the age of 36, in 2022, and my life will never be the same again because of it. Full disclosure - I wouldn't have it any other way.

Join me in this 4 part series as I share the details of my journey of discovering and confirming my ADHD as an adult woman in her 30's in this episode. And in future episodes, what it's like and how I run my business with ADHD, the impact it had on my childhood and my general employment and entrepreneurial journey with it.

Highlights:

• How I confirmed I had it without getting diagnosed
• What I did immediately following the confirmation
• What is different about my life now because of it

Follow:

• Audra Allen-Queen
• @thedanceceocoach

Mentioned In The Episode:

• Dance CEO Masterclass Series