Exploring Life & Business with Lauren Martin of Inspiration Performing Arts Center

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Martin.

Hi Lauren, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My dance journey began at age 2 when my mom and dad registered me for lessons. From there I fell completely in love with everything dance. I continued taking lessons throughout my childhood and joined the competition lines for more performance opportunities. After high school, I attended University of Minnesota Mankato unsure of a major at the time. I found my way back to the dance floor in my second semester and never looked back. I graduated in 2011 with my Bachelor’s of Science in Dance and minor in Child Psychology. I interviewed with Inspiration Performing Arts Center graduation week and ended up starting my teaching career at the studio in the summer of 2011.

As the years went on, I was given more and responsibilities at the dance studio and eventually was promoted to the Studio Director of the company. We had a non-profit tied to the studio that offered art oriented mission trips to Haiti and Uganda and in 2017 the previous owner decided to split the entities and offered to sell me the business. I accepted the offer and officially became the current owner of Inspiration Performing Arts Center in 2017. It was that one small yes at the time that compounded into a beautiful life of sharing my passion of dancing and performing and inspiring our youth in a wonderful community. I am so thankful for these amazing families that walk in our doors each and every week!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This past season has definitely been a challenge navigating our way through the pandemic while trying to be an anchor for our community and our students. On top of that, we were faced with an unexpected move, as the building we were renting was sold to a new owner so we were on a tight timeline to find a new home. The move was definitely a blessing in disguise, but timing seemed less than ideal with being right in the middle of the pandemic. It has been a challenging season, to say the least, but without challenges there is no growth. There will be challenges there’s no doubt about it, but with every challenge entrepreneurship has to offer, is an opportunity to learn and grow and improve.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a performing arts center that offers both dance and music lessons for all ages and abilities. Our dance classes include, tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, pointe and occasional ballroom workshops. We offer voice, piano, guitar and ukulele music lessons as well. We strive to provide an uplifting atmosphere where students are able to cultivate a passion for the arts.

We strive to ensure all of our classes are age-appropriate with music, choreography and costuming. Our competitive dancers are learning community outreach by being mentors at the studio. They volunteer their time and talent in assisting in the classroom with creating meaningful relationships with younger dancers. They also perform in community outreach performances throughout the season. We love to give back to our community through food drives throughout the year and Toys for Tots collections around the holidays.

This past school year kick off, we did a “clear the list” campaign for local school teachers to donate needs off of their Amazon Wishlist’s. We live by the quote by our mentor Misty Lown, “We don’t teach kids to make great dancers and musicians, we teach dance and music to make great kids.”, in every class, lesson, performance and interaction with all our families and students.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We learned the show must go on. As a team we wanted to be the consistency in our students’ lives so without missing a beat we transferred 30+ dance classes and 60 music lessons to online via Zoom at the same time they would have been with us in the center. We kicked off a “Finish Strong” campaign online where we got to meet our students’ pets, bring our favorite stuffed animals to show our classmates, and learn even more about our students than we did before. We even had some surprise guest parents stretch online with their dancers! It was a shift in the daily operations, but held its own special moments as well. We navigated Zoom and how to teach online for the first time. We are creative people by nature, but we tapped into even more creativity for our families to finish out our promise of a year-end celebration and recitals. We held a virtual music and dance recital and 43 individual Red Carpet Dance Recitals. Numerous life lessons were taught and learned throughout this time, but staying focused on the good for our students was important to us.

Pricing:

• $30 per 1/2 music lesson
• 45 Minute Dance $57/monthly investment
• 1 Hour Dance $70/monthly investment
• 1.5 HourDance $80/monthly investment

Contact Info:

• Email: info.inspiration.dance@gmail.com
• Website: inspiration-dance.com
• Instagram: inspirationperformingarts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Inspiration-Performing-Arts-Center/100063532451128/

Image Credits
Lauren Martin
Miranda Jensen