Top Rated Local® is pleased to announce that The Dance Art Media (DAM) Studios is an award winner for dance studios in Colorado for the second year in a row!
When it comes to professional dance instruction in Littleton, you won’t find a better option than The DAM Studios.
The DAM Studios has received dozens of reviews with an average rating of 4.82 stars, earning them a tremendous Rating Score™ of 97.17 and a 2019 Top Rated Local award for ranking among the top five dance studios in all of Colorado!
Here’s just one of the many five-star reviews that helped them win for the second year in a row:
“JP helped choreograph our first dance, and it was a hit! We had never even danced publicly before, but after a few sessions with JP, you’d never know. I knew after the first session that we picked the right place. She was very involved, patient, experienced and, most of all, fun to work with — just an all-around great teacher. You can tell she really loves her job. I would recommend this place to anyone!” – Ethan M.
Maintaining a Strong Online Reputation by Putting Clients First
Jessica Page, the owner of The DAM Studios, sat down with us for a few minutes so that we could catch up about what her team has been up to over the last year.
Winning a Top Rated Local award once is a sign that a company knows how to build a solid online reputation, but as a second-time award winner, The DAM Studios clearly has a lot of insight into also maintaining their online reputation. Jessica told us that it all comes down to putting their clients first:
“We absolutely always put our clients’ needs and interests first — this is how our studio stands out from others. We don’t try to fit our clients into a predetermined program; we fit our syllabus to our clients. The client is always the first and foremost priority in how we conduct business. We always accommodate the individual learning process for each student in the room, accounting for the many different ways that individuals absorb education and training. We are the studio where every body can dance!”
Jessica went on to say:
“We just relocated our studios as well. We have now branched out to become bigger and better with an upgraded facility in a higher-end location. This milestone has been very well-received and has elicited an extremely positive response from our students.”
When asked what makes The DAM Studios stand out, Jessica told us:
“We take great pride in the high level of education and experience of our teaching staff. All of our instructors carry either a college degree in their field, a bachelor’s or master’s degree, or have an extensive amount of teaching experience and dance instruction. I myself have a master’s degree in dance, as well as a secondary emphasis in entrepreneurial business. Each and every staff member who works for our studio is very highly qualified both in education and dance experience. The kids and adults love our teachers. In the classroom, they’re all extraordinarily different and diverse. Each has a specialized area of expertise, as well as their own individual style and flair, if you will, that they share exuberantly with our clients. The diversity of the staff is really what provides a well-rounded educational environment for our dancers.”
Every new year comes with new lessons and challenges, and when we asked what those were for The DAM Studios, Jessica said:
“Everything takes more time and money than you think it will or that you plan for. How have I overcome that? By looking for out-of-the-box fundraising and financing options. I work with an organization, The Colorado Enterprise Fund, a state-based financial group that provides support for startups and small businesses. I’ve been able to have a very, very successful relationship with them in order to keep all my ducks in a row.”
She added:
“Time and money — overcoming them is just a matter of never giving up and being creative in finding ways to conquer challenges, as well as finding folks who are willing to help. I’ve had so many volunteers during the move. It would be lovely if we could recognize the people that have helped us. It’s not just me, and it’s not just my staff — I have families, friends, students, dancers and parents who come to the studio to help us paint walls or lay down Marley floor at 10 o’clock at night because that’s the only time it could be done. I ask for help and try to say thank you as often and as genuinely as I can. We recently held a little dance party to celebrate our recent accomplishments. Overcoming challenges is really just a matter of never giving up, never being afraid to ask for help and not allowing failure to even be an option.”
Jessica also shared The DAM Studios’ biggest accomplishment over the last year with us, which she says has been relocating to a new studio:
“Picking up a whole dance studio and moving it to a new space is a lot of physically hard work. We were able to get classes up and running again in less than 30 days! We decided to relocate and close down, and fewer than 30 days later, we were back to the happy place of teaching dance. It was quite an accomplishment. Literally, there was blood, sweat and tears involved in that feat, and the gratification of conquering that impossible task in such a short period of time was something that I myself take a great deal of pride in.”
Looking Forward with The DAM Studios
Being a part of a small business is not always easy, and that’s why we wanted to know why they do what they do at The DAM Studios. Jessica shared with us that the most rewarding part of being a part of The DAM Studios has been seeing it become successful, as well as seeing the smiling faces of their students and their positive reviews:
“The hard work, often consisting of 14-hour days and eight-day weeks, is well worth it when we see it have the ability to grow and expand. I truly think the most rewarding part is when you have those smiling faces and those positive reviews. A little bit goes a long way when it comes to just a smile, a thank you and a ‘you’re doing a good job…’”
As an award-winning company, we expect big things out of The DAM Studios, and we were excited to find out what comes next. Jessica told us that their goal is to identify themselves as a different kind of dance studio:
“Our motto is, ‘We are the studio where every body can dance.’ We separate ‘every’ and ‘body’ — and there’s a fun pun in there. Currently, we’re offering a variety of classes that are both classical as well as eclectic, and soon we’ll be adding some more unique and unusual classes, like hula hoop classes. We have so many different options as far as the variety of styles of dance that we offer for dancers of every age. We look to create programming that has something for every body.”
It’s clear to us that, as the owner of a second-time award winner, Jessica has learned a lot about growing a successful business and building an online reputation. When we asked what advice she has for business owners who are just starting out, she said:
“Plan for the best and expect the worst. Operate with perseverance. If you’re not cut out for trudging on and never giving up, then small business is probably not the way for you to go. There is always unexpected and unforeseen challenges that can easily ‘take you out at the knees,’ but you’ve got to get back up and keep going. Every day, you wake up and go to work. When you own a small business, you never get a day off. It just doesn’t happen. Make sure that you’re someone cut out for that type of lifestyle. I myself am not married and don’t have children of my own, so my business, my studio and the people in it are my entire life. They are my DAM family. My advice would be to ensure that the required devotion and commitment of being a small business owner is something that suits your specific lifestyle. Without relentless perseverance, you’re going to probably fall behind. You have to be willing to give 110 percent to it.”
Jessica ended our conversation by giving a shoutout to each and every dancer, family and staff member at their studio:
“The one person I want to thank is everybody!”
Congratulations to Jessica and the team at The DAM Studios for a Top Rated Local award winner for the second year in a row.
When you need a dance studio on your side in Littleton, we highly recommend The DAM Studios! Visit their website today.
