We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenna Bradshaw. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenna below.
Hi Jenna, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I spent years trying to figure out the right career path that would fulfill me and give me a sense of purpose. No matter what other ‘practical’ route I explored, I always came back to the one thing that always been a constant in my life: dance. I started dancing at the age of 4 and danced competitively for several years before taking a break in high school because it simply didn’t feel worth the emotional and physical stress I was putting myself through anymore. I was lucky enough to find my way back to dance in college through Impulse Dance Force at the University at Buffalo, a student-run club whose laid back and welcoming approach to dance allowed me to fall back in love and rediscover all the reasons I began dancing in the first place. But my negative experience was unfortunately not unique, as the dance industry is infamous for its toxic environments, whether its in professional dance settings, the competition dance world, or recreational dance studios, and being a dancer too often comes with negative impacts to self-confidence, body image, relationships with food, and more. The perpetuation of these issues in the name of competition and achievement leads so many dancers to face consequences with their mental, emotional, and physical health, potentially lasting the rest of their lives. After years of struggling with the impacts of my dance upbringing, and then teaching at studios where I saw those negative environments being perpetuated, my business partner and I set out on a path to create the environment we wanted to see in the dance world. With Eve, I was able to convert my love for dancing and choreographing into a passion for teaching and instilling a love for the art, along with self-love and confidence to my fellow dancers.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Surge Dance Company came about from our desire to build a space that reshapes the narrative around dance and provides a space for dancers of all ages, backgrounds, and ability levels to express themselves and find comfort and joy in dance. Dance can be so many things: an emotional outlet, a form of exercise, a social connection point, an artform, and more. But dance can only effectively impart a positive impact if it exists in a safe and comfortable environment. We’ve worked tirelessly to cultivate a space of acceptance, while still providing dance instruction of the highest quality to our dancers. We’ve moved into a niche where we are able to not only provide a safe environment for young dancers just starting out on their dance journey, but also to reintroduce dance to experienced adult dancers as they heal from negative experiences that previously turned them away from the art they once loved. We’ve also been able to engage with the buffalo community, teaching at local schools and after-school programs, and holding open-mic style events for dancers and other creatives to express themselves and connect with their fellow local artists, and also inviting local vendors to come share their work at these events as well. To us, there is nothing more special than seeing our vision come to life and seeing the impact firsthand that dance instruction can have on a person or a community when its done with intention and compassion.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The biggest factor contributing to our growth as a business has been the mindset to not be the ones to say no to ourselves. It is easy to think “This opportunity seems great but I’m not qualified enough” or “I haven’t been in business long enough”. For us though, there were many opportunities that we thought were long shots but we threw our hat in the ring anyway, and a couple of them ended up working out beyond our expectations, bringing us new connections, new students, and also helping us build up reputability in the community. It is scary to put yourself and your business out there, but we just kept telling ourselves “worst case scenario: they say no”. Another big skill is prioritizing and keeping your overall goals and mission in mind. It can be tempting as a new business to say yes to every opportunity to bring in money, and while there is value in saying yes and having new experiences, there are also times when you have to consider how thinly your time is already spread and decide if adding an additional item to your plate will ultimately help or hurt your mission in the long run, even if it may bring in a little revenue at the present moment. As new business owners who still have their “day jobs”, we are already spread thin running social media, making schedules, maintaining the website, planning and teaching classes, etc. So when an opportunity outside of our normal day-to-day operations comes up, we quickly learned we need to carefully assess whether the potential benefits outweigh the resources, time, and energy we would have to divert from our base business operations in order to execute it. Lastly, the quality of our business that has helped us establish ourselves and grow quickly is our commitment to our mission and vision. We set out early on to create a dance environment free of toxic behavior, competition, and judgement where dancers of all ages could express themselves. Every time we teach a class, post online, hold an event, etc. we make sure come back to our company mission and vision and stick to it above all else. This has helped us bring our dream environment to life and has attracted dancers to our studio who were searching for the kind of acceptance we are providing.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Within our business structure we have youth dance classes, and we also have adult dance classes through our “Surge After Hours program”. We are fortunate that adult classes have taken off and become popular, attracting many new dancers through our doors and creating word of mouth for our business within the Buffalo community. One struggle we have found is still getting people through the door for youth classes when adult classes have been what people tend to hear about first. Our adult classes are centered around empowerment, as are our youth classes, but in different ways. In youth classes empowerment may look like dancing to songs with uplifting messages, practicing affirmations, and cheering on our teammates, while in an adult class that may look like dancing in heels, wearing outfits that make you feel good about yourself, and dancing to songs or using movements that wouldn’t be appropriate for a children’s class. For this reason we keep these programs separate, while still ensuring that both exist in the positive, welcoming environment Surge has become known for. As instructors of both programs, we can be multifaceted as well. We can teach an adult heels class on Wednesday night and teach toddler tap and ballet on Thursday afternoon, and we can do both effectively and appropriately. So while it feels like a challenge right now to make sure the community sees, understands, and engages with both facets of our business, we are confident that Surge is meant to be a unique space for both kids and adults to ignite their passion for dance and find safety, community, and expression, and that people of all ages who need Surge the most will find their way through our doors one way or another.
Contact Info:
- Website: surgedancecompany.com
- Instagram: @surgedancebuffalo / @surgeafterhours
- Youtube: @SurgeDanceCompany
