BACKGROUND It actually
starts as the "Francisco and Stacey Story," but it gets
better, we promise!
This business, The Dance Family Studio started with
charity work. In 1996 Francisco and Stacey met as co-choreographers on a
charity event they both happened to volunteer for in their "off time," after
their actual "real
jobs." They then teamed up and went on to perform, choreograph and instruct for
numerous large-scale charity events, celebrity events and
international stuff... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
From Stacey: Since that day, Francisco and I have performed on
stages and with people we never, ever imagined we would stand next
to. As great as that is, and as cool as it makes our resumes
look, we know that is not our calling. Our calling and our
deepest desire is to show someone who never thought of themselves as
a dancer that they can dance.
We've traveled internationally and our videos and
DVDs are seen throughout the world. As talented of an
instructor, and gifted as my precious husband is, we frankly
sometimes look at each other and wonder how this has become an
entire business just because we love to dance and teach others to dance. We wonder how I am able to stay home with
our two amazing kids to home-school them so they can travel with us
on our crazy schedule? REALLY!
The truth is Francisco is good at a lot of things,
he's a great husband, a phenomenal dad, a wise leader, and has held
every job imaginable from fire fighter to AMPM mini-market cashier
before we met. I (Stacey) am the chick who fell in love with
this amazing guy, and with my marketing background said, if I can
get this guy to do what God created him to do, that's the only way
we'll make enough money for me to stay home with the kids we're
going to have together! That's what gave us the courage to
finally start our own business and eventually quit our 'real jobs'
and realize our real calling.
Right after we got married, Francisco had extensive
career counseling. After over SIX MONTHS of testing and counseling
(this all going on while we both held 'normal jobs' and were
teaching or performing practically nightly.) Here were the
results: Francisco was to be...
(1) An entrepreneur Dance Studio Owner (obviously,
our final choice, but just read the rest for laughs!)
(2) A cosmetics salesman
(3) A paramedic, EMT
So you know in our family, his hair is always
perfect, and we've never had to call 911, but we still decided to go
with #1. Thank GOD!
After performances and events, we started getting calls from former cast members, audience
members and friends with requests for dance performances and classes.
That's
how it all started.
A local church opened up their basement to
start a social dance program, and in 1998 we team quit our "real jobs" and have been teaching, performing, and
teaching others how to teach ever
since.
Now the majority of our instructors were one time
students of ours. Not only do they understand and embody the
"Dance Family" philosophy, they benefited from
understanding what it is to be a beginner... the intimidation, the
fears, the unknown to step into the world of dancing.
Our instructors are our treasures. And most
every one has come from within the Dance Family. We are so
grateful, we are so honored, and we are so excited to see the future
continue in teaching others this gift of dancing.
We started with charity work, and never want to
stop giving to charities!
Click
here
if you think The Dance Family can help your favorite charity!
