Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katrina Winston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Katrina, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
Every since I could remember, I never seen my mom or dad take days off from work. I remember my dad working two jobs and my mom worked full-time and went to school. In this generation you have people that call in so much they lose their jobs. I can’t even recall a day my parents missed work, and that’s where I get my work ethic from .
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I started a dance school “K Elite Dance Academy” in Grand rapids back in 2019. My dance school is to help kids over come there fears of being in front of audience, trying out for sports teams, and having a safe place to go, to show their talents and being around others like them. I worked with kids since I was 14, some children may have experienced bullying, low self esteem, may be a only child, never been on a sports team, or just have a hard time interacting with others. My school don’t just dance I created a space where we have bookclub, tutoring and group sessions that focus on trauma, bullying, and low self esteem. I incorporated different dance styles like hip hop, majorette, praise dance, ballet, tap , and gymnastics as a outlet for them . 2024 we have 25 events to perform at, one of our big performance was ” the city is mines talent show by Micheal Buxton where one of my dancers/ my daughter took home first place solo award. and this is the first year K Elite will be traveling for ANightwithFitz Vol2 Fashion show performance in ATL July 27th. I’m am truly blessed that I have partnered with several organizations like GRHC, Meaning in colors, Grand Rapids Gymnastics, Belknap, City of kentwood and now Urban League to make my dance school better, with that I have been interviewed on 104.9 with lisha b and I also won April Pay it forward Month with Fox17. I looked forward to seeing how K Elite continue to progress.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities that were impactful in my journey was first working with children with disabilities in my earlier days help me be understanding and patient, second having a background with working as a coach on other sports teams help me with work out plans, last but not least going through my own personal trauma help me speak about something I been through, to show the kids I was just like them.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I would love to collaborate with other organizations to put together events through out the year that give the kids more to do and keep busy. I also would like to collaborate with other dance school/teams to put together local competitions.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Kelitedanceacademy
- Facebook: K Elite Dance Academy
- Youtube: KEliteDanceAcademyLLC
- Other: Tic Tok: kelitedanceacademyllc19
