Mindy Johnson with Beyond the Spotlight Dance Studio

Intro: [00:00:07] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:18] And well, hello, Happy Friday and happy, fearless formula. I am so happy to have this on the air. Last week I had some technical difficulties. However, it still did work out in the atmosphere somewhere, but hopefully things are going just fine this week. And today in my studio I have the co founder and executive director for Beyond the Spotlight Dance Studio here in Woodstock, Georgia. She has been teaching for 20 years and grew up dancing starting at age four. She has an associate’s in early childhood and Acro Arts certified. She’s choreographer. She knows how to work sound boards because she’s my backup today. Please welcome to the studio, Mindy Johnson. Hey, thanks for coming in.

Mindy Johnson: [00:01:03] Thanks for having me.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:05] Welcome. I’m excited to talk to you because you have a brand new business. Really?

Mindy Johnson: [00:01:09] I do. Yeah. We just opened in August.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:12] How is it going? That’s such a big question.

Mindy Johnson: [00:01:15] It was busy. We it’s been really interesting. We got into the building August 1st, and I had my open house, like, big grand opening on the sixth.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:26] Wow. So you only have three days.

Mindy Johnson: [00:01:29] Yeah, And luckily, it was the location we’re in was a studio before, so the flooring was there. Majority of the stuff I needed, like it was set up for how I needed it, but it was a lot of painting, a lot of.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:46] Scuff marks on the floor from legs kicking or whatever.

Mindy Johnson: [00:01:49] You know what I mean? Oh, yeah, a lot of people helping to paint that week. It was it was exhausting, but so good. And then, you know, we went into the open house and all that, and then we went into trial week where kids could come in and just try classes. And then we went into starting our actual years. So it didn’t stop and still kind of hasn’t, I guess.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:10] Maybe the week of Christmas, you know, where it gets kind of quiet. Well, so what were you doing before? This is a brand new venture for you and you’re the co founder and who is your other co founder?

Mindy Johnson: [00:02:21] So my sister and I started this together. Christy Johnson. Hey. Hey. She she has always been there. She’s my younger sister. She’s always kind of encouraged me and, you know, always there to talk through all the things where four years apart. So it’s kind of nice. And so she’s she wanted to jump in on this and she’s got the business side. She works for the county and she does the business admin. And so she knows all of that stuff. And, you know, I’m not a math person, so she handles the the money side and all the numbers and I’m like, just tell me.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:58] It’s nice to have someone who can balance you out like that.

Mindy Johnson: [00:03:00] Yes. Yes. And I’ve got like the creative teacher side because I also teach preschool. So, you know, I’ve had that in my life forever. I’ve been doing that for ten years ish, I think, now.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:13] So did you always want to have your own studio to to dance? How did it come about?

Mindy Johnson: [00:03:18] So surprisingly, I didn’t. I’ve been teaching, like you said, 20 years now. I actually when I was dancing, when I was younger, I actually wanted to be a dance teacher. I think it was about ten or 12 ish age. And, you know, back then my teacher, who was also one of my mentors, I wanted to be like her and I wanted to learn all the things. And so I assisted all the classes and I was at the studio all the time when I wasn’t dancing. And so then. As I got into high school, they had an apprenticeship program back then and I jumped into that so then I could go teach dance classes and get paid for it and do what I wanted to do. So I did that. So I technically have been teaching since I was a junior in high school, which is kind of crazy. So that’s why when I say 20 years, it sounds like forever ago, right? Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:14] But you can consider that actual that is teaching and experience.

Mindy Johnson: [00:04:17] So, I mean, they paid me. So that’s a professional. I did it.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:22] Good for you. Yeah.

Mindy Johnson: [00:04:24] So I was content, though, just kind of teaching. And then over the years, you know, all of my bunch of my coworkers that became friends and just friends in general all kind of said, you know what you’re doing? And you know, you know, you’re so good at this. Help me with this, you know, So they would come to me for stuff. And so then during quarantine, when we all had to change our lives and figure all the stuff out, you know, I always helped out in the studio and had different jobs and positions where I was in charge of stuff. So I kind of always had that leadership role somewhere throughout the years. And that one just kind of, I don’t know, it just kind of like taught me and showed me that I know I could do this. And then there were times that I would think, Oh, this would be a really cute idea to do. I wish I wish I could do it. But, you know, it’s like not my place. So I didn’t you know, I didn’t want to do any of that in that situation. So then I thought, well, you know, I’ve kind of been here in this same spot forever. So I thought it was a change, a time for a change. And. I went for it and it was terrifying.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:35] The show is all about fearless. It’s all about the ups and downs of the business world and how you navigate your emotions around business. Because it’s not just numbers. It’s, you know, it’s highly emotional, you know, and your your heart and your soul and spirit and all of that gets involved. So but you know, what that’s like says a lot about just sort of your belief in yourself, because there are lots of people who have dreams, who’ve always thought, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that. And they don’t know, you know, because time goes by and there are million reasons why it’s not a good time. I mean, let’s just talk about the pandemic. What was that? How did that impact you?

Mindy Johnson: [00:06:08] Oh, so, you know, dancing.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:11] Yeah, I know. We got together.

Mindy Johnson: [00:06:14] Yeah. We’re we’re always so close to each other, you know, always breathing the same air. So we ended up where I was teaching before they we went straight to Zoom. I mean, we stayed open the whole time. It was it was awesome. I was happy that I could still work and get paid for it.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:33] Then that’s a big deal. A lot of. Yeah, you know, struggled so much. But were you also still doing preschool then?

Mindy Johnson: [00:06:39] So for preschool, because I teach, I’m teaching like the five year olds. So they all go off to kindergarten the next year. They we kind of stopped and then we kind of picked up like Storytime on Zoom. And I was sending a lot of stuff for preschool, like sending it to the parents. Now, you know, that age, it’s super hard to get kids to sit in your house and do work, which, you know, most parents know this now, right? So I was doing as much as I could to make sure that they felt like they were getting the education they still needed if they wanted to do it at home. And then, you know, sadly, we didn’t get to have our little graduation, but we did like a drive by car thing and it was really cute. And I delivered ice cream and balloons to my students with my assistant that year. So it was nice. We we got a little closure, but yeah, dance. We kept going on Zoom. We, I was making schedules for that and figuring out four different zooms and who’s on what zoom and what time. And and we actually ended up doing summer camps that summer in person, you know, all of the the cleaning and all of that and just making sure everyone was safe. But yeah, it was hard.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:48] You were still able to do it. So exciting to hear so many people struggled, you know, but it’s it’s probably the highlight of kids day, you know, to be able to do something that’s familiar. You know, I would have been a horrible teacher to my own kids. They know that. I know that. I’m just saying it probably would have been like a nice break for parents to have, you know, something. And plus, it gets their energy out. All the good things.

Mindy Johnson: [00:08:10] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, the kids were awesome on Zoom. Now I’m going to tell you for sure. Tapping on Zoom is very difficult. Unless you have all the fancy equipment. Zoom does not pick up taps very well. Oh, really? Yes. So I was I literally a lot of my teaching was sitting watching a screen because it was either acrobatics where, you know, I still they still did some tricks, but it was a lot of just conditioning. So I was sitting there counting how many, you know, tricks, you know, pushups they were doing or little obstacle courses they could do at home or, you know, in tap. I would I would have to do one at a time and you’d push play. And on your side it’s playing the right speed. But on the taps it was slower.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:55] Oh, fascinating.

Mindy Johnson: [00:08:56] So I would be like, Yeah, sure, sure. That looks good. Yep. Good job, guys.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:01] So when you really decided to go ahead and go for creating your own business, was it even from start to finish, like you came up with the name that you wanted, a logo LLC or DBA or, you know, when you actually start to create your own business, there’s so much behind it.

Mindy Johnson: [00:09:18] Yeah. There. I didn’t realize how much I had to think. I was just like, at first I didn’t I wasn’t going to do a studio studio. I was going to do mobile studio where I would rent like a room at a community center around town and maybe eventually do the studio just to kind of like get my feet in there. And then the location just opened up in like things just happened in the perfect amount of time in like two weeks. My plans changed majorly.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:43] Kind of opened up for you then. It feels like it was meant to be. If that’s the case sometimes.

Mindy Johnson: [00:09:48] You know, I didn’t even I really wasn’t even looking in Woodstock because there’s so many here.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:54] And I was taking a salsa class at that exact location before. Yeah.

Mindy Johnson: [00:09:59] It’s so crazy. But I mean, I’m so much I’m in this community all the time, so I guess it was meant to be that way again.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:06] Like things sometimes do just kind of fall into your lap. Yeah. Sometimes, you know, when you’re trying to fight to make something happen, it’s so frustrating compared to something just naturally opening.

Mindy Johnson: [00:10:16] So right when I was picking the name, I think that that was the hardest. And the person my one of my mentors that was my old boss a while ago, she was like, Don’t worry about the name until you get all this, this and this. And I was like, But I’m a theme kind. A person like when I teach preschool, it’s themed, so I need a name so then I can figure everything else out. So there was a lot of lists between me and my sister. And then we asked a lot of our friends to vote, and then we would explain why we like this name. Like what the meaning behind the name was for that.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:51] So, yeah, that’s so nice. You had support, such support?

Mindy Johnson: [00:10:53] Yes, it’s been a lot of support, a lot of friends, a lot of community help for sure.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:59] But I feel like. Plus, your location is so wonderful right in the heart of downtown. I mean, you can walk to your studio from anywhere in the downtown area, which is great. Yes.

Mindy Johnson: [00:11:08] I love the market on Saturday morning, so it’s kind of perfect because I make the schedule, so I made it so I could go to the market still and get my breakfast and coffee, and then I can walk down back to the studio and start teaching class.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:23] Has it been a challenge at all to get students? Because obviously you were working from another studio involved in another studio. So when you break free and have your own dream, you know, what’s it like to recruit people or to advertise?

Mindy Johnson: [00:11:37] I’d have to say in a sense that’s one of the hardest things in a way, because I was not out to poach students. That was not like the whole me doing this was just for myself, of course. And I’m sure it’s tricky.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:52] Because you’re the teacher, but but you’re not the first person to ever have wanted to break free and and do your own thing. It must be it must be a hard line to kind of navigate it.

Mindy Johnson: [00:12:03] It definitely is. So my goal was just to get the word of mouth out, you know, having my friends, my community, you know, having everyone announcing it to my, you know, networking groups and having them kind of pass the word out, getting it on social media. So then my Facebook friends and Instagram people will pass it out. So that that’s kind of been our our biggest thing, I think. Trying to figure out how to really recruit maybe is one of the harder things because, you know, not knowing where to put that money, you know, for advertising or I did a trunk or treat, which was really fun. So that was like free little thing. And I love that I had a blast because it was again, I was around kids, so I was in my element. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:53] And it’s it’s so cute. It’s such a great Halloween area. Is that right Where it All over the area in downtown Woodstock. They really they do it well yeah, I think.

Mindy Johnson: [00:13:02] Yeah. No, it was great. So I mean I’ve been doing a lot of that and getting in into the community and getting our our name out there. And just like you said, there’s so many people around here working with other businesses here. I love that connection and just making those connections because there’s something between everyone.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:24] It’s true. And you just had an event last night.

Mindy Johnson: [00:13:27] Last night?

Sharon Cline: [00:13:28] Yeah. How did it go?

Mindy Johnson: [00:13:30] It was so much fun.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:32] So let’s talk about your your official event. It was called Empower, right?

Mindy Johnson: [00:13:36] Yes. Yes. So we jumped in with in Woodstock and we hosted last night the Empower Event. And that’s your.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:45] First time hosting, right? Yeah. How was it? Were you nervous? I would have been so nervous.

Mindy Johnson: [00:13:49] You know, I wasn’t nervous because I guess I was in my building and I was in my element. We did a tour and I had some snacks and goodies and and then I taught everyone there to conservative a little combo. Oh, it was a lot of fun. And everyone had a blast. They took some of the props and danced with those. You know, we had a blast and then we we split up and did some leadership questions about confidence. And that was that was a lot of fun.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:19] Were there any surprises that happened last night? Were you surprised at how excited people were or willing to participate?

Mindy Johnson: [00:14:26] I was actually I mean, they were they were kind of defensive at first because they knew they had to dance. But I think that goes for like anything when you do it new, you know, you’re you’re terrified. And then once I started teaching and they got a couple of it, you know, steps going, they their confidence kind of picked up. Yeah, I learned that. And then at the end we were all cheering after we ran it two or three times and they’re like, Oh yeah, this is fun. And I was like, I’m glad that’s what I wanted.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:55] So what do you think is the most satisfying part about having your own business? What do you think is sort of what drives you and kind of just makes you feel like, yes, all of this is worth it?

Mindy Johnson: [00:15:05] Oh, man. I feel like there’s a lot of things I want to say. Building that community and taking all these ideas that I didn’t know I had and being able to do them and make them my own. I grew up, you know, in an amazing studio that I learned so much from, and they were part of the community. And I just remember all of that. And I think I want to get my kids out there to do that. I want them to feel like they have this community, even with with the with people in the mornings, Like that group has just changed the way I’ve thought about everything. They they’ve kind of pushed me, in a sense, to do this, too. They gave me that, that feedback that I needed to tell me I could do it. So I think taking. Taking all of that and kind of putting it into the business is kind of where. Where I love all of that and having my own business to do that.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:09] I don’t think it’s really underestimated how important support is and how much that can really affect your thought process. Oh yeah. You know.

Mindy Johnson: [00:16:18] I love asking for help. I know it’s hard for a lot of people, but I’m one of those that I will take all of it. You want to offer it? I will take it. I just because then I, I feel like it connects us even more. So I feel like that’s going to help grow any business. You know?

Sharon Cline: [00:16:36] I do. And I think one of the things that I love about just sort of this community in itself is like, this is a real family community. And so it just works so well for I can imagine people coming back 15 years from now and being like, I took my dance classes right there, you know? Yeah, that’s.

Mindy Johnson: [00:16:53] Exactly my like, that was that’s one of my, like, visions for my studio. That’s what I want because, I mean, I’ve had I mean, obviously teaching for 20 years. I’ve gone through a lot of graduations with kids. So I think and in the last I’m going to say ten years maybe, or maybe even less or more, I, I finally seen the ones that I’ve taught when they were two or three growing up to then graduate and go off to college. And just hearing them when they come back are like, you know, being friends with them on Facebook and Instagram and seeing where they’re growing and keeping in touch with their parents, like having that community. That’s what I want to bring to to my studio. And so they they’re comfortable in my building talking to the teachers and then they can take what they learn here, bring it into their lives, you know, whether it’s college or professional dancing or something else, that they feel that they can come kind of like back home, you know, and and want to come back and tell me about how their life is or, you know, want to come back and take classes as an adult or bring their kids to me. And I just that’s that’s one of my biggest things.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:04] What are the ages for your for your studio? Are they all ages?

Mindy Johnson: [00:18:08] So right now in our first year, we are doing ages two through ten ish. Then we have some adult classes going on as well. I have a tap in a jazz class for adults. There’s so much fun. It’s such a different vibe from kids to adults. I love it. And then so yeah, and you know, eventually I would love to have a company and grow that so I can have them go around and perform, you know, out in the community more at festivals and, and do that. Yeah, that’s so we have right now we have 2 to 10 but eventually we’ll have all ages is my goal.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:47] What do you think Is you talking about sort of having your own business? Do you think that you’ve had something where it’s been sort of like, Man, I wish I had known that before I got started in this. Is there anything that you kind of wish that you had known from the beginning? Anything that surprised you? Oh.

Mindy Johnson: [00:19:05] Let’s see. Maybe, I guess, more of the business stuff. I mean, I, I learned a lot before, and I knew going into the studio, I felt like even now when people ask me, oh, is it like, isn’t it hard? Or is it, you know, are you surprised about how hard this is or something? And on the dance side, it’s so easy. It’s exactly where I was before. I’m doing.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:32] Your wheelhouse.

Mindy Johnson: [00:19:33] Yeah. Like, I know what I’m doing. I got that. But the business side, like the marketing, the. That was my next question. Finding the accountants, finding. I don’t know, whatever else. Again, that’s why I have my sister, thank goodness. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:47] But how challenging is it? I mean, if you’ve never run your own business before, there’s a whole side that has absolutely nothing to do with your exact product. It’s more about making sure you’ve got all of your ducks in a row and you’ve got everything paid correctly. Yeah, exactly. So where did you go to get information on that? Because I really went to the basics. Like when I started doing voiceovers, I was just doing like, Google.

Mindy Johnson: [00:20:09] Yeah, exactly. No, that’s where we went. I Googled how to open a dance studio for sure. That’s so great. Or what? I what? I need to open a dance studio and, you know, and just talking to other people, you know, in, in my little network and asking those entrepreneurs, Hey, we’re doing this. Do you know someone who you do? Who’s your accountant? Who’s how did you do this when you opened, you know, stuff like that. Again, that’s using that community that you have. I think that’s I think that’s the biggest thing when you open a business and not feeling like you have to do it alone.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:47] We talked about this with other guests on the show about how important it is to have some good people around you that you feel like you can ask. You can be vulnerable enough to say, I really don’t know what I’m doing. Right, right, right, exactly. Work. Yeah. But, you know, we luckily have like some really great people that are willing to spend some time and explain things and not mind the helping.

Mindy Johnson: [00:21:08] Oh, exactly. Exactly.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:09] So what do you do for your marketing Now? I know we kind of briefly talked about it, but so you’ve got your social media, which is huge. That’s what everyone’s doing on exactly marketing with social media. So you have have you ever advertised on Facebook or do you just have your page?

Mindy Johnson: [00:21:28] We have not advertised on Facebook. From what I hear, it’s very tricky. If you don’t know how to do Facebook ads, I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:38] Well, if you learn you can let me, I will. Like, we’ll help each other.

Mindy Johnson: [00:21:41] My sister talk to you about that because it’s not going to be me.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:44] No. You know, it is a whole world that I’m not as savvy.

Mindy Johnson: [00:21:47] No, I know we we were in some of the magazines when we did our ribbon cutting, so that that’s kind of nice doing that.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:57] So like the local Woodstock ones and.

Mindy Johnson: [00:21:59] Yeah, gotcha. We are doing we have a little ad in at St Michael’s Catholic Church down the road. So a few ads here and there. A lot of it, again is word of mouth. You know, the parents making sure your parents are out there talking about your studio and mom groups. I’m part of a few mom groups on Facebook, so that’s been helpful to kind of advertise that way in a sense. Let’s see, I don’t think we haven’t really paid for any advertising yet.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:31] Well, it’s just so fascinating to me. Yeah, because not everybody does. Yeah. You know, I think one gentleman I had has his own jujitsu studio and he said, I think I put like 100 bucks and advertising, but like, he’s enormously successful. But I think that’s actually even more important to have word of mouth because people are going to tell you the truth. It’s true. You know that’s true. This has gone well. This is not gone well. Yeah.

Mindy Johnson: [00:22:54] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:55] So. What do you do as far as planning out, I guess, where you want to be? Do you have a long term or a five year goal or are you just taking it year by year as far as being a business owner?

Mindy Johnson: [00:23:08] So I want to say, I don’t know. I feel like I haven’t talked to my sister about this in a minute. We have kind of a five year plan. Like, we have an idea of where we want to be. We’ve also taken it into yearly. We do. Me and my sister, well, will meet even though we live together. We will meet and talk every every week about what we need for, like the next month or the next week. So I feel like us communicating like that has helped. And then kind of talking quarterly as well.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:44] When you’re new, I’m sure it’s hard to know exactly what to expect.

Mindy Johnson: [00:23:48] No. And you know, going into it, not knowing how many kids I’d have jump in here, you know, just having to play in that way. It’s it’s been. It’s a little bit harder to plan, but at least we have some ideas going into it. So yeah, we have a few a few ideas that we want for the future and where we want to go.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:08] I love that because like I said, a lot of people have their sort of dreams and goals and they never take that step of, Well, let me just Google how to do this, whatever it is, whatever their dream is. And so I like that you kind of it’s not like you have this huge. Set plan that you’re really sure is going to go this way. You’re kind of taking it as it comes because that’s how life is. But that’s also so less daunting for someone who’s wanting to open their own business. You know, they don’t have to have everything spelled out exactly right or know everything. Has there been anything that’s kind of been super challenging for you?

Mindy Johnson: [00:24:42] Um, I think making that, that work life balance for sure, which I think is kind of for everyone, honestly, unless you’re really focusing on it. I mean, I, but I also want to make sure I do it all. I have a hard time kind of giving stuff away. I will admit that. So me trying to plan out around my schedule when I should work studio stuff because I teach preschool in the morning, I’ll usually just go straight to the studio after and sit there until it’s time to start teaching, which is different every day. So I try to use those hours as my my working hours. And then usually during the weekend, at least one day during the weekend, Sundays, usually my me and my sister will go to a coffee shop and just like work on stuff. And it’s kind of our meeting. Right. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:35] Like crazy how that is. Well, if you’re just joining us, we are speaking with Mindy Johnson of Beyond the Spotlight Dance Studio. I think that’s a big issue for everybody that I’ve interviewed on the show is trying to manage the work and life balance, because with social media being the way it is, if anyone posts anything, anytime, anywhere, there is a feeling of I need to respond to this or I need to be able to always be reachable through through texting or or through social media so that my business will grow. You can’t ever.

Mindy Johnson: [00:26:05] You can’t turn it off. Yeah, it’s horrible. I hate it, but I love it.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:10] I know it’s a good problem. But at the same time, no, it’s interesting. I’ve talked to a couple of people who are like, you know, having to put some some strict boundaries around themselves is. Is really difficult. I’m the same. You know, if anyone wanted me to do voice, I don’t care where I am. I drive home, I do it, I make it happen. But at the same time, I don’t know if you try to have a, you know, a life outside of work or, you know, even like kids and family. I was speaking with someone who’s a plumber on here. What the challenge is to kind of strictly this is my date night. This is my time out, you know, having to put. But then there’s the struggle of wanting to make money and be successful. So I don’t know. I haven’t really managed it.

Mindy Johnson: [00:26:52] I haven’t either. Yeah. I’m trying to build myself up to do the whole time blocking thing. The idea sounds amazing. I just really struggle to do that because then my brain is just like, Well, but I have this to do and I have this to, Oh, I could work on this. I feel like it’s a little A.D.D.. I’m not really sure if I am or not, but I feel like it’s a little bit.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:14] So you had done also some choreography for different shows. What kind of shows have you done?

Mindy Johnson: [00:27:20] Yeah, I got into choreographing musicals lately in the last, I guess, year. I guess I could say not this summer, but the summer before. It kind of fell into my lap and was amazing. And I was terrified to do it because I’d never done it before.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:38] Where do you find like, where do you if I were to I’m sure I’m picturing myself. Who knows nothing. Imagine going, you know, and knowing I have this whole show to do. Where do you find the inspiration for the different ways that you can choreograph? Is it already sort of spelled out for you or is it strictly up to your creativity?

Mindy Johnson: [00:27:55] So I did a lot of YouTube watching. That was where because so my first show was Cinderella, which is my favorite, like Disney Princess, and I love all those movies that are out. I’ve watched them all. So it kind of was like one of those, You need to choreograph this.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:17] Oh, that’s so great. It was in your heart.

Mindy Johnson: [00:28:19] It was. Yeah, it was meant to be again. So I went a lot of YouTube. I did Chicago in the spring, and then this summer I did Elf the Musical. So much fun. They did a Christmas in July. I was going to.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:32] Say, It’s summer.

Mindy Johnson: [00:28:33] It was well, it was really cute. But yeah, a lot of YouTube just watching. I know. Watching a lot of those. Every time I had to choreograph a piece, I would pull it up on YouTube, watch what a bunch of other places had, or even the real Broadway’s have. You know, like with Chicago, some of it you kind of use that. The Bob Fosse. Yes. Yes. So I used a few steps from that, but most of it I just had to come up with my own.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:03] So are you working with high schoolers? Is that what it is or what age group?

Mindy Johnson: [00:29:06] Yeah. So I go down to Newnan. Oh, okay. And choreographed down there. They have a star program during the summer. And then East Coweta High School is where I go during the spring. They’re doing Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat this spring, so I’m excited for that.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:23] How fun. And you know, what’s cool is you’ve got a couple of different communities that you feel like you’re involved in. You know, I do Woodstock, you know, you’ve expanded.

Mindy Johnson: [00:29:32] Know and I’m I’m hopefully I’m going to be bringing in January we’re going to be doing some musical theater classes, dance classes for like. Little sessions at the studio, so I’m going to do it. Elementary school, middle and high school. So yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:47] How cool do you feel like? So where were you living before? I’m still.

Mindy Johnson: [00:29:51] Here. I’ve lived. Yeah, I’ve lived in. I mean, technically, I live in Canton. I grew up there. When to.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:59] So how does it feel to kind of be putting down serious roots in a town that you grew up in? You know, it’s like an official part of the directory. You know what I mean?

Mindy Johnson: [00:30:10] No, it is. Yeah, it’s great. I mean, I’ve always you know, I grew up in the Canton side, went to Cherokee High School and lived my life in Canton all of those years. And then since I worked in Woodstock and, you know, teach down the road at a preschool church, Woodstock was always where I came. I mean, it was always had good restaurants and all that and then.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:35] Grown so much.

Mindy Johnson: [00:30:36] Yeah. And then I came started going to the networking group, and then I’m just here all the time because I made those friends. So then we were going to events here and now I’ve got the studio here. So it’s been kind of crazy how it kind of just laid out in Woodstock.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:50] Yeah, but, you know, I love that you I mean, you know, you grew up here, so you have family roots and friends roots here and now you’re making such an impact on their family and friends. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, it’s really kind of cool to think about.

Mindy Johnson: [00:31:04] Yeah, it is. It’s kind of fun.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:06] So if someone were wanting to start their own business, what would you recommend? Do you have any sort of things where you’re like, Man, I wish I had known that before. I always like to give people maybe like a heads up of things to think about if they’re interested in doing something.

Mindy Johnson: [00:31:27] I don’t know if I had anything where at least he had. I mean, we’re only since August. I don’t know. Maybe. Planning ahead a little bit more and not being so scared to do the things.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:46] But that’s huge because people are. So how did you manage to not allow your feelings, I guess, or being concerned or. I mean, money is so important to everybody. No one wants to lose, you know, an investment. So how did you push on?

Mindy Johnson: [00:32:02] Again, with my support, I mean, my sister has been awesome with all of that. Having the people around me just keep saying, you’re doing awesome. Your city is great, you know, giving me that reassurance. You know, I think everyone needs that, too.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:18] I do too.

Mindy Johnson: [00:32:19] Especially if you don’t. If you’re someone that doesn’t even want to ask for help, but then hears all of this coming from people that they’re close to, I think I think that’s big. If you don’t have that kind of system around you, then I feel like you’re you’re going to get lost.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:34] Well, there’s lost in the details and then lost for me in my own thoughts of insecurity, I guess.

Mindy Johnson: [00:32:42] Yeah, it kind of keeps you grounded. You know, it makes you realize this is where I still want like, this is where I want this to go and not make it so much about yourself. It helps you think about, you know, like for me to think about the kids and where I want them.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:57] Because it’s not about me so much as what I’m trying to do. And your product or who I’m trying to help. Yeah, that is very motivating.

Mindy Johnson: [00:33:04] Thanks.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:06] Well, if anyone wanted to reach you or find your studio, what would you recommend? The best way.

Mindy Johnson: [00:33:12] I would say go to our website, Bts’s Dance studio, not the K-Pop group.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:21] Yes. Oh my gosh.

Mindy Johnson: [00:33:22] Another reason why I really liked this name.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:25] Yeah, that’s hilarious.

Mindy Johnson: [00:33:27] So yeah Beats dance studio dot com. And we have a little thing where you could fill out questions. We also have a Facebook page and an Instagram so you can find us there, send us in a message there. Our schedule and everything is on the website though, so you can always look and see what we have.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:44] Are you on are you on TikTok?

Mindy Johnson: [00:33:46] I mean we have an account.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:49] You’re just like me. I have an account and all I do is follow people. I do nothing on there, but I barely.

Mindy Johnson: [00:33:54] Even get on my regular Tik tok to just scroll. But no, we I’ve been trying. I think I’m going to have to start doing Tik Tok just because, I mean, they’re fun, they’re cute. I just have to get over wanting to be on the screen.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:08] Listen, there are people who that is like their big way of advertising and like always surprised to hear about it. But I had a gentleman in here who he’s a real estate agent and was talking about how he kind of did like a Tik Tok kind of in service, you know, where he learned everything about it and a challenge so that it made it more comfortable for him to just make little videos and kind of made him do it. Because I think that’s what I need. I know, right? But, you know, I can imagine how cute it would be to have, like, little kids. Yeah, I could see it being something.

Mindy Johnson: [00:34:38] That’s where I need to go. I take enough video during class and like pictures to help for the page. I just need to actually put them for some like music for Tik Tok or something.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:46] Yeah, absolutely. No, and I need to as well. Maybe we could make a promise to each other. Like, yes, in like, I don’t know, a month, two months, two months. We’ll do one.

Mindy Johnson: [00:34:56] Let’s go. Yeah, let’s go out End of the year. We. I’ve got Thanksgiving break off and Christmas break so we only have like six more weeks of classes.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:03] I’m so busy. Well, Mindy, I can’t thank you enough for coming in and kind of giving some insight and what it’s like to open your own business and and kind of throw yourself in there and really have enough belief in yourself that no matter what, you’re still doing it for the right reasons and it’ll land where it lands.

Mindy Johnson: [00:35:21] Thank you so much. This was great. I had so much fun.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:24] Okay, good. Well, if everyone else is interested, please feel free to check out Beats studio. Is that.

Mindy Johnson: [00:35:32] Right? Beats dance studio. So close.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:34] So I got the beats.

Mindy Johnson: [00:35:37] See, now you’re going to remember it.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:39] Wasn’t that funny. Oh, that’s hilarious. Yes. So thank you so much for coming. And everyone out there, thank you for listening to Fearless Formula. I’m Business RadioX. And this is Sharon Klein again, reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have a fearless formula. Have a great day.