Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Kruske.
Hi Kim, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
15 years ago I decided I needed to change careers and was ready to go back to my passions….dance and coaching children. I was a getting ready to go through a divorce and be a single mom, move out of our family home with my boys and this risk of starting the studio was scary. I was going to give myself one year….if after one year this couldn’t provide for my family, I would go back out to corporate America…but I needed to bet on myself.
15 years later, those two little boys are both now in college (and both grew up dancing and one now still choreographs national award winning hip hop pieces) and hundreds, actually probably thousands, of children have passed through these classrooms, became competitive dancers, high school dance team or college dancers and some have moved on to Disney, LA and New York. Some took a year or two and made a childhood best friend. Some became junior assistants and then on to showcase their own choreography, teach their own classes and develop incredible leadership skills. I have celebrated many graduations, a few weddings and have even started having my dancers from the early years bringing their babies to me. We have one of the largest boys programs in the country, we have over 60 adults that dance between our dancing dads, senior (over age 50) tap class and our adult class, and we have been offering an incredible adaptive needs program for 13 years now.
Super proud of that risk and all the lives we have impacted over the last 15 years…not just creating fantastic and talented dancers but developing leaders and just good humans!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Owning a business always has day to day challenges and some seasons harder than others but nothing could have prepared us for COVID. It was literally the hardest 2 years of my professional life. Once we got to go back to the studio, having children in masks and six feet apart was necessary but heartbreaking. I’ll never forget the day that we got to ditch the masks and the little 4-5 year olds walked into class with the biggest smiles and thought they had all these new friends because they didn’t recognize anyone not in masks.
Watching kids graduate is always hard too. We have 14 graduating seniors this year and some I’ve had all 15 years….I’ve literally watched them grow up. There are not many areas of life that you maintain relationships for that long with teachers or coaches….you usually change every year in school and most sports you change coaches as you change teams and get older….dance is a unique situation in that they may have some different teachers but many of my staff have been with me over 10 years so it truly becomes a second family. I joke that it sort of feels like a break up every year at the end of the year. You want to celebrate al the “lasts” but they are all hard…
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Studio LDG?
We are celebrating our 15th year in business in the Northland. Told my story of the start in the first prompt! We are known for our boys program, adaptive, adult and having a lot of options for classes. We have a strong student choreography and leadership program.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
That we focus on having a very family centered and family feel environment and we focus on developing the person/leader/human…not just a dancer
Pricing:
- tuition for 1 hour a week is $50/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thestudioldg.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheStudioLDG
