Girl Gang Craft Podcast Episode #75 “Embodying your power through dance”

Phoebe Sherman interview with Emily Chandra

INTRO
Phoebe Sherman
Welcome to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast where we dive in deep to all things business, wellness, creativity, and activism for artists and entrepreneurs. We talk with impactful female driven companies and founders for an inside look at the entrepreneurial experience where you'll come away with tangible steps to elevate your business. Are you ready? I'm your host, Phoebe Sherman, founder of Girl Gang Craft artist and designer, and marketing obsessed. We're here to learn together how to expand our revenue, implement new organizational techniques, and cultivate best business practices as we work towards creating a life doing what we love. Let's get started.


Phoebe
Hello. Hello, creatives. Welcome back to Girl Gang Craft, the podcast. We have a special guest on the cast today. We have Emily from Seacoast Stilettos, a dance studio that is local to me and the North Shore area, and we have a really amazing conversation. But first. Going through some housekeeping and I just want to say that, yes, normally we do a solo episode every other week. I didn't have a solo episode in me this week. I started this this last week off with the flu and we have a bunch of interviews to share. So we're just scooting things around. That is the beauty of being your own boss and running your own business is you can be flexible if you have the flu. And I hope you all probably wouldn't even notice if I hadn't said anything. And I don't think you all will mind too much. So setting up some interviews, hopefully next week with a solo episode. And at the time of this going live, you have one more day to submit your apps to our Oakland Event. Our spring Oakland event. Those apps are due March 15th midnight Pacific Standard Time and our other apps close in just a couple of weeks at the end of this month. So if you haven't applied for Oakland, make sure you get that in right now, right now, right now, if you haven't applied to any other events, go ahead and make sure you get those in. And our Mother's Day guide is available to sign up for as well. All of that you can find on our website, girlgangcraft.com/apply. You can find links for our event application and links for our apply for our Mother's Day guide and make sure you RSVP to the event on Facebook. I know a lot of you all listening may not be big Facebook users, but it is important for us to know how many folks are going to be there and help the algorithm. So go just onto our website. If you can do it from Instagram to you can RSVP to our events right there on our link in bio or go to Golf.com slash events and just RSVP to the events. We love that you get our reminders and you get to know about our event staff. And even if you're a vendor again, that helps the algorithm invite your friends. If you are a vendor, you won't know if you're a vendor, but if you want to through your vendor, go ahead and invite folks to those events. It's really important. I think that's it for now. Apply for our events, get on our Mother's Day guide, and let's hop into the episode.
Hello creatives. Welcome back to Girl Gang Craft, the podcast. Today we have Emily on the podcast and she owns a dance studio that is local to me and I've been to her studio a few times and I thought she would make a great guest on the podcast. Welcome to the podcast, Emily.

Emily
Hi, thank you so much for having me. Honored to be here.

Phoebe
Thank you so much for being here. Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Emily
Yes. So hi, everybody. My name is Emily Chandra, and I'm the owner and founder of Seacoast Stilettos, which is an all inclusive dance studio for adults. And we are located north of Boston in Peabody, Mass. And have been expanding pretty rapidly since the pandemic, actually. And yeah, I am a creative, a choreographer, a business owner. I wear many hats, entrepreneur, yoga instructor. The list goes on. But lately my role has been just really in and with my baby Seacoast Stilettos.

Phoebe
Okay. I had actually found you guys before I moved over here at your old location, and I was like, looking at dance studios cause I knew I wanted to get back into it. I have danced my whole life, but not like in any sort of professional capacity. And it's really hard to find, like, casual, fun, exciting dance classes, even dance classes that aren't in a series where, like, you don't need to know the choreography from before. Whatever. I found you guys at your old location before I moved, and then I moved and I was like, okay, well, that's so far for me here in Salem. And then you moved down the street very close to me. Can you tell us a little bit about that move and what that looked like for you?

Emily
Yeah, so we were renting a space in Salisbury, which is this kind of rural town near Newburyport, close to the New Hampshire border. And we were renting a dance space that was actually out of somebody's house. So it was a really unique space to be in and try to run like the type of classes that we try to run, which is a lot of sensuality focused movement where we're in heels, we're in stilettos, we do chair work, we're talking about confidence and being embodied, and our music is played really loud and we're all about the lighting and the ambiance. It definitely had its challenges being in that space because we shared a wall with the family and there was like a new child in the mix and we had to end by 8:30 or like 9. And it was just like I learned so many lessons from being in that space. And that space was just also such a pivotal time too, because it was a time where I really started to like, have other teachers come in and we were like really doing our own thing at that point. So the move was something I wanted for a long time because I craved a space where we could have and do everything that we needed to do. Host parties, host multiple classes a day and into the night, have rehearsals, use a space to do things beyond dance and photoshoots and video shoots, and welcome in other creatives and do podcasts and all the things. I was on the lookout for a space actually for a long time, and this space in Peabody did not scream Dance studio when we first looked at it. It was like a bunch of offices. But what I learned in my search for commercial spaces and dance studio spaces is sometimes you have to like, really envision like what it could be. And that's something that really landed with me when I saw this space. It was like right on Route 1. The location is amazing. It's a ground floor. There's tons of parking, everything like really lined up, even if it didn't look like the space. I was like, We can make it the space. So we moved in September of 2022. So we have been in this space for over a year now and it's been really amazing because now we have people coming from Boston as we're closer to the city. But then the people who came or had us in Salisbury have followed us there. Sometimes we'll get people from New Hampshire or Maine. And then we're also getting now Rhode Island students as well, and even Western Mass. So it's opened us up to be more accessible to a lot of people.

Phoebe
So tell us a little bit about what makes your studio special.

Emily
Even just saying when I tell people what we do, that sentence of itself, that we're an all inclusive adult dance studio where we celebrate people regardless of their level of experience and background, that statement in and of itself, I think, really makes us special and unique because it's not something you get at every dance studio, A lot of dance studios in the area and I think in the country are catered to children, of course, and competitions and also industry dance. There's a lot of adult studios are studios where you'll see adults could be a lot of like, yeah, working towards being in the industry professionally and sometimes there isn't always a space for somebody who's never danced before to come in to an adult class and feel really welcomed and celebrated and empowered and instead they might leave feeling like frustrated or like they don't belong with our classes. We are really, really big on empowerment and celebration of the individual and of the collective of different body types and genders and expressions and levels and also incorporating in the sensuality piece, which is a big part of what we do with a focus on celebrating sexuality is also quite unique.

Phoebe
There's a few reasons why I've been attracted to your space and why I've wanted you to come on the podcast. But number one is like your yoga teacher shows a little bit. And I also taught for seven years, but I think you've really created this like, this intersection of wellness and empowerment and I don't know, okayness, where it's not so choreography based. And that in itself is a really kind of unheard of in the dance world, right? You want to — you want to hit, you know, and be the same as everyone else. And I think you really allow people to be a little bit different than the person next to them and allow space for it to feel good. Yeah. And that is really rad because that's not everywhere.

Emily
Yeah, I love that. You pointed out that the yoga teacher in me. I was a yoga instructor for just doing yoga full time for about seven years and I'm still in my yoga practice and I say I would not be teaching Seacoast Stilettos or the dance classes that I teach now had it not been for my background in yoga, whereas I came from a traditional dance background and worked the dance industry and taught classes a certain way because that's how I was taught. And then I had my experience with yoga where I had to look at the room and be able to hold space for everybody, regardless of their background and what they're dealing with that day and their experience level, to be able to hold space for people in that way for so many years, there's no way I could just drop back into teaching a dance class with the knowledge that I had had prior and like that background. So how I approach a class now and how I run things, I really credit so much of it to like my yoga and my practice.

Phoebe
Yeah, I mean, because dance is like, first of all has a history of being really rigid. Certain body types are successful dancers, quote unquote in industry, and that's probably changing a little bit. And yeah, I mean, I think it's really cool that you allow, first of all, different levels, but also like different experiences in each day to day because, right, like you might come in with some trauma from the day or like full sadness or like an injury or whatever. I think that's really cool that like it doesn't have to be anything. You can just come in and I know you do have some performance aspects too, but like most of your regular classes, right, are sort of one offs. So like people can just show up as they are, and I think that's really special.

Emily
Thank you. Yeah, it's been a goal to really bring something that everybody can enjoy in our classes whereas if we're doing like a softer movement, like something like contemporary, it can be just because you need like a cathartic release and like we need to release and shake off some trauma that's been stored in the body. And dance is such a beautiful and powerful way to do that. Or to come to one of the more sensual classes and really explore and get to express yourself safely and sensually in your body in that way. Or if you're like, choreo is not my bag. We have like non choreo classes or dance fitness classes. Or if you do want to refine your technique in a heel, Now we do of like heels fundamentals and heels 101 and things that can advance you in your journey. Because it's worth recognizing that everybody shows up for very different reasons and all of them are valid.

Phoebe
Can you tell us what a heels class is?

Emily
There's so many different kinds of heels classes, but a taste of like what my heels class would be like. A beginner heels, like I'm teaching tonight, It's just such a party. So you walk in to the studio. We're super about like the vibe and the lighting, the ambiance. Already you walk in the door and it has kind of like a little nightclub feel. You're going to be greeted by either the teacher or one of our work studies at the front. You could rent a pair of heels if you wanted. We have like loaners. You don't even have to come in heels. If you want to. Just, like, try out a class in sneakers or bare feet. That's totally okay too.

Phoebe
I've done that several times.

Emily
And we'll usually start out with a warm up before we even get into movement. I like to just practice because it's important to speak our mission a little bit and speak to everybody about what we are and what we stand for and what we kind of expect in a class, which is like celebration of each other. Because sometimes when we walk into a heel space or dance space or any space, we can feel like we have to compete or be better than, or kind of size up to the people around us, or not bump in or not take up too much space. But here we want to set the tone right away, like this is your space. Everybody is equal on this dance floor. If you bump into someone, maybe give them a hug after or just acknowledge like, I'm glad you're here. We want to celebrate everybody in the room. So just setting the tone some teachers might speak about like the theme of the class. If there's a theme of the class, and then we'll go into a warm up where the teacher stands in front of the room and everybody just follows along to the best of their ability to just warm up and be in your body and just like get your body moving. And the warm up from class to class can look very different. Sometimes I like to start with like isolations and moving every part of the body. I like to do some like sensual movement sometimes, some like twerk 101 breakdowns of like literal ass shaking or like grinding on the floor and just like to loosen everybody up. Then we'll do across the floor oftentimes, which is something that I think people get a little tight and nervous about. Like when I first introduced it, they're like, I remember that this is where we get judged and have to like walk across the floor and everybody's looking at me. I like to rewrite the narrative of what we think across the floor has to mean, which if you are new to dance and you have no idea what I'm talking about, we're basically going to be moving from one side of the room to the other in pairs or a trio or whatever. With a given exercise, it can feel intimidating because everybody's lined up behind you and everybody is watching. But I like to really reframe this in– your job, if you're waiting in line, is to be cheering and celebrating the fuck out of the people who are walking across the floor. This is like a party. What I give you is like a suggestion and an outline for you to bring your expression to and really add in your sauce. And we're just like having fun. And the exercises are oftentimes in my beginner heels class quite simple or something that you would see and like the combo that we do and it's just like a big icebreaker, truly. And everyone just fills the room with their screams in celebration. It's really fun. And then after that we go into a combo or choreography. If it's a choreo class, like my beginner heels class, I do like to teach a combo and we break it down step by step. We review it a ton of times. I give modifications and then we'll just like run it until we start to feel really good about it. And something that I also like to speak to is the choreo is not the end all be all of like your expression or the class or anything. So if you retain it, great. If not, tap into the reason why you showed up in the first place and just enjoy your time because the more years I do this and the more opportunities I get to see people embodied in their dancing, I'm realizing and we're all realizing it really isn't about the choreo. It's about the expression that that person is giving to it and the energy. So we speak to that a lot. And it's a blast.

Phoebe
It is a blast.
Emily
That's a taste of the beginner heels.

Phoebe
Choreo is hard. I feel like after taking a break from dance for a little bit and coming back to like the brain part of it, the brain body part, it needs to be oiled skill. Yeah.

Emily
Yeah. It's an entirely different way of using your brain and it is a skill and it's something that it's not a one off thing. It's something that you want to develop. And practice. It’s a practice like anything else, and it's a lifelong practice. Truly

Phoebe
Truly. I feel like there's probably some study somewhere about like how it helps prevent aging like choreo, sudoku, memorization.

Emily
Yeah, it is such a skill.

Phoebe
Okay, I do want to talk about a little bit of the business side because you've done such a great job of keeping your classes full, at least what I've seen, and I know that's not an easy thing by any means, coming from a yoga world to where you show up over and over again and you hope your students do, and then it can be really stressful. And I can imagine as a studio owner it can be really stressful, too. I want to hear a little bit about what has been your strategy to keep your classes full.

Emily
This is such a great question and I think it's something that as a business owner, I'll never,or I don't know. I'll never truly feel like I have the magic formula because I don't really think there is a magic formula. I think there's a lot of things that you can implement and kind of have scheduled out and have strategy around, but there's always going to be that chance that like you might have no one in your classes that week or you might have to cancel class or whatever. I speak to my teachers a lot about this, especially when they're starting out and like if their classes isn't like sold out right away, the kind of insecurities that can come up around that and the self-doubt and how it can turn into such a personal thing right away. And I think it's necessary in this industry to continue to show up because you love to do it and not because of the numbers, first off. And if you are rooted in your passion and like your integrity and your why, that energy is going to connect you to your people, like your people will find you. But it's sometimes when we get in our heads about our offering or people not coming, and then we try to cater to like what we think everybody will like and get them in is where we can start to, over time, like kind of lose the way and that loses the authenticity and it will lose probably your following. So I think like my number one advice would be like, stay true to like what lights you up and the people who are also lit up by that will align with that. And that's not to say that that's how I do things all the time, because 1,000% I'll notice if people are vibing with a certain song and I'm like, well, I like this song, but not many people do. And then like, the signups might drop or whatever, I'll definitely catch myself in that area where I have to be like, okay, I'm doing this for me and I'm going to like, stay consistent with that. Not to digress too much, but I think too, if we are constantly putting out classes and material or things like that, where we are trying to please everybody and get people to come to our class or our offering because we want them to like us and we want it to be like approved and validated. Who are we doing that for then truly, it's like a little more of an ego thing whereas continue to put things out that light you up and that you're really inspired by and move by. And if people fall away being okay with that. So I digress a little bit, but there are certain things with Seacoast that have been really, really fun as far as marketing and like the video being a big part of that. We work with some amazing creatives and have been able to capture videos of classes and like the choreography. And in this day and age of TikTok and Instagram, it's been really exciting to like put what we do out there and have that be seen and recognized. And some people would be like, I saw you on Instagram or I saw you on TikTok and I'm here because of that video that I saw, and it just looked like everyone is having such a good time. We try our best to like, really capture what we're about, so it's not all the same size body doing this dance or it's not all the same style where hopefully people really see bits of themselves represented on our social media. So it reaches a wide range of people and it captures the party essence and like the celebration essence. And even before we had like professional videographers, you could see that and like the behind the scenes of like a class. So I think just really documenting and not being afraid to show what we're about has been super instrumental to marketing. That's a whole other conversation in itself, because in order to capture and put out what we do, there's so many insecurities that come up just with that alone. Like I'm taking this like sexy video of myself or of my friends or of the class and what will my coworkers think or my family think or whoever. Now I'm like, putting it out there online. That's a whole other conversation in itself too, because we all have been there. We all have felt that and I have gotten a lot of hateful messages in my DMS over the years, and I have lost some friends and maybe family members along the way that have chosen to like not be a part of that part of my life. And that's fine. But it's also a bit of the activism piece which I like to speak on, is using your voice and not being afraid to show if there's something in you that is like, I have the platform and I have the voice and the opportunity to showcase what I'm doing and the privilege really to be able to showcase this. Why not put it out there? Because we're in your face. We're allowed out, we’re sexual and confident in our sexuality, and that can rub a lot of people the wrong way. So it is a scary thing. And it's also an important thing because being able to use our voice in that way and speak up for things that I think have been like suppressed and oppressed for so long, where maybe other people would not have that voice or be able to is a really worthy thing to do if you're able.

Phoebe
Thank you for all those layers. Looks so great. I think there's so much there and I think really all of it comes back to this alignment. This integrity. Speaking your truth this like if you have the privilege to share your truth, to do that, we can also tie that into marketing on a lower frequency and then on a higher frequency like activism. And it's so hard. I mean, even just thinking back to– all of this applies to so many things this can apply to like in-person classes. This can apply to your social media presence. This can apply to your craftfair. To like people showing up for you, but it's so visceral. Like coming back to my yoga days where I didn't know if anyone was going to show up and I would sort of pray for no one to show up better than like one or two, because then I could go home. Having to, like, do those private classes were like, so painful. They were such an ego death, even though those private classes probably always turned out to be excellent. And they were raving about you because you got that one on one attention. The ego death thing is so I can feel in my body, no onw showing up for class or one person showing up and being so disappointed because that's tied in to your self-worth, I mean, it's tied in to your paycheck. That kind of thing still happens to me all the time with my launches, and I'll have low number launches and I'll feel really shitty about myself because I want to put this work out there and it is aligned with what I want and it is aligned with my truth and it is also valuable and all of these things. And you have to like keep doing that. You have to keep showing up, even though if it's rough, even though if like that first time no one shows up or no one like signs up or you get that pushback from those people and it's a long journey to keep showing up and it's not for everyone. But if you want to build something, you have to keep showing up. And that is empowering. And that's tied into the activism piece too, because being who you are, especially like as fem people too taking up space has been, we're not supposed to take up space. We're not supposed to be loud, we're not supposed to shake our booty on the Internet. We're not supposed to make money. We're not supposed to cause a fuss like all of these things. And it's so imperative that we keep doing it.

Emily
Yeah, I think that there is a lot to be said with just staying really present for yourself and like in your practices, whatever they are. Because sometimes if something is continuously not working or not in flow right, continuously low numbers, continuously flop launches or whatever, that's a really great time to like get back to focusing on yourself and realigning because there might be something new that like you haven't tapped into yet. That's like out waiting to launch and people are waiting to buy. To stay really present with your community and their needs also, right? Not ignoring their needs, but really staying in communication with your community and being there and present for them, saying really in tune and present with yourself and new ideas that might come along. So like those steps to kind of come back and realign are so integral to when it comes to launching and marketing I’ve found.

Phoebe
Do you have any other marketing strategies besides social media? I know you do newsletter. Are you doing any sort of paid ads at all?

Emily
We don't do paid ads. We do a weekly newsletter and a welcome series. So when new people sign up for our newsletter, they're going to get another email that follows up with like tips for beginners and our new student class pack, which is like a special discounted for newbies and other tips and stuff like that. And then social media. Honestly, it's really like word of mouth and spreading the word, because if I teach a class like I'm going to teach tonight for 30 people, we're doing videos at the end, so maybe 20 people will do a video and then their videos are going to go out on to their page and then it just spreads from there. We're going to have like merch coming out so people can be like repping us. But yeah, I haven't done any paid ads. There are other things like tonight I'm doing an Instagram live for a program that I just launched. Sometimes we'll do giveaways to help boost just like eyes on something. I've learned to get really creative with marketing because it's not something I have a background in whatsoever and it's something I just learned along the way. I started out just like really hustling before I even started this business, and I was just working as a yoga instructor. I was just like printing out fliers and telling people I was like the best yoga teacher in town and you have to come to my class. Even though I had no idea what I was doing and just needed to get some classes under my belt so I could teach at a studio. Yeah, I think I've always had that in me of this drive to really get the word out and really promote shamelessly. That's something I think I'll always be learning.

Phoebe
I think the video thing is so brilliant because what you said to all those people, first of all, they're kind of like leaving class with a souvenir and people love souvenirs and they get to be public about their souvenir and be like, Look at how hot I am. Like how amazing I am, and also advertise for you at the same time.

Emily
It's really great.

Phoebe
I want to back up a little bit. Between your yoga days and the studio in Salisbury. I can never say any Massachusetts town names, you guys, so I'm still working on it. What was that sort of path for you?

Emily
It was just a process of really evolving and leaning into opportunities. Things I said yes to, things that felt in flow. I was teaching full time at a few studios and doing retreats, all yoga, and then there was one yoga studio that I was at that and this is right after the MeToo movement, and the owner was like, We need more sensual, fem focused offerings that are tapping into sensuality that feel safe to be sexual. If we want to be sexual, there's a calling for it. And would you be open to doing like a dance class? And I was like, I haven't done dance in a while. But yeah, before I was doing yoga, I was dancing professionally and there's all these like heels classes coming out now, and I bet I could fuse a sort of sensual yoga movement with like a heel and do maybe like something choreography focused. So that was like kind of the birthing of this of my style heels class. Then I started and my first heels class was to like three people, and we were in this yoga studio that was below a gas station in Newmarket, New Hampshire, and it was just not what it is now. But it was the early days of just like finding the blueprint for what I wanted my classes to be and look like and coming together with friends. And also it was very at a personal level, something I needed so deeply because I was fresh out of the most abusive relationship I had had. And I was also craving a space to feel safe and a space where I could express myself sexually without shame. And so was the collective. I kept on with these classes. The studio moves to Salisbury and the classes began to grow and 3 people turned into 30 people and it kind of took off and then the pandemic happened. And that was a really pivotal time because I had lost all of my yoga jobs, all the studios had shut down. So I was doing a lot of my own thing online and I was like, Maybe this is the push. I needed to also do the dance thing on my own. And I started doing events with my make up artists. Like we do strut and sips on Friday nights. I did like a little retreat weekend, virtual retreat where we had multiple classes. I even did some like concept videos where we did rehearsals on Zoom and then like filmed outside. Then we started doing classes outside in my friends driveway rehearsing and parking lots. So like the pandemic was such a pivotal moment to show how adaptable can I be with this? Because this is something that is really picking up and really in flow and something that I'm not willing to just stop. And I didn't know what it would look like or what it would grow into. But we kept the momentum through the pandemic. And then I found a studio in Ipswich through a yoga friend and she had opened this big, amazing COVID friendly dance space and we rented out space there and that was right before we moved back to Salisbury again, where I found you. So we were at high studios in Ipswich for about a year and then I wanted to expand my classes and do multiple classes a day. She wanted to expand her classes. So the time came for us to part ways and then we started out up in Salisbury again. So it was actually the same space coincidentally, that I was in before, but this time it was just like an open space to rent because the yoga studio that was there before, it was no longer. So that's how it started. It's a journey in like how to adapt really.

Phoebe
Yeah. Going back to pandemic times, what gave you the motivation to keep trying things? How did you stay inspired during that time?

Emily
Well, my dance and yoga and movement, I feel like my work is separating the two. Sometimes from my work and my life because they've always just been kind of like one thing, because it's my passion and I live it and breathe it so often to have the pandemic hit, and it just wasn't even a question. It wasn't an option for me. One survival wise, because I did not have any other income and two, survival wise for like my body, my mental, my everything. It's just always been infused and like who I am. I'm a very passionate person. And I just think that that wasn't even a question of like, damn, I can't do this anymore because like, this happened. It was like, how am I going to keep doing it and how do I need to get creative with making this continue. And of course it was pretty brutal losing all of your jobs all at once, as so many of us experienced. But I feel privileged that so many wellness spaces and dance spaces, I think, turn to like zoom and things. And people responded.

Phoebe
Yeah, I think the pandemic was like a crash course for all of us as business people to figure out how to do it still. To like figure out how to make it work, like bring it online or get creative. And I think that's going to stick with us for forever because that's the kind of exercise you need as a business owner. Like what's working? How can we do this thing? How can we think outside the box a little bit? What can we offer community what feels good for us? Like what feels safe for folks? Yeah, I think it's starting to be the time where we're talking to everyone and like, looking back somehow it's almost 2024. Like, I don't know how that happened. And this section of time was so important for so many of our businesses, also devastating for so many businesses too.

Emily
I think when I was about to get the space in it, so many people were like, Well, what about the recession? What happens if like this can happen and like the business can go under and it's just like those questions will never go away. That's like always going to be the what if. But I had that little lesson in adapting and I'd rather try than not and just stay still because of fear.

Phoebe
Okay, You do like a couple group programs, sort of other offerings. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Emily
Yes, the programs are a great way to be more involved rather than just like come to a class and go. I started out doing video programs, which is a great way to work with a crew of people and get creative and learn choreography and basically produce a visual with a videographer. And our programs have really expanded and now we're offering different ranges, different levels. We have like an absolute beginner two week program where you get like a little taste of Seacoast, whether it be some cardio sessions with me heels one on one than fundamentals. We do embodied confidence coaching on Zoom so you get the work on and off the dance floor and like that confidence piece and you shoot a video at the end. So a little taste of like what we do. And right now we're about to go into the five week collective, which is like an extended version of that. Maybe if you had already done a program before or want something that's over a longer course of time. The five weeks also a taste of Seacoast you get choreo sessions with me heels fundamentals heels one on one and then we add in another heels choreography class because we're going to be working on that choreo retention piece that we talked about. And then we are going to be working together for an in-studio visual that we shoot at the end. There's also a photoshoot and the five week program where we do a glam session with my makeup artist, and it's a really great community piece for us to be together and have some mocktails or mimosas. And then we have a photoshoot after and then we have more in depth coaching throughout the process on Zoom. And then another program that I'm going to be doing next probably will be a little more like intermediate advanced, a little more performance, a little more training focused that way. When people come in and we have different tiers so we can kind of watch everybody's dance journey and dance process flow. And then I also do performance programs. So if I have an opportunity like we did a big showcase last September and we're going to do it every year in Boston, we had almost 400 people there. It was such an amazing night where we had showcased all different levels and all different groups where we rehearsed for a certain amount of weeks and then put on a show for everybody. So there's also performance opportunities.

Phoebe
So fun. Can you tell us a little bit about the confidence embodied coaching?

Emily
Yes. Samantha, who is my best friend and one of our instructors, is an embodied confidence coach, a sex educator, and has been such an instrumental piece to the programs with the confidence coaching. So it happens on Zoom, although we also lead a workshop together called Stripped, which is in person. So we work together in that sense. And then Body to confidence coaching really brings us into really looking at what confidence is, what it means to us, what it doesn't mean we get to really examine the inner critic and some of those insecurities that come up. We get to connect with ourselves and be really real about the choices that we want to make from what we choose to wear or what we don't choose to wear. The conversations we have with people, the examining what happens in our minds when we get into a dance class. The pedestals we put people on sometimes. It really takes us through from start to finish in the dance class, like all the things that can come up and the tools you need to like, feel really secure and grounded and confident. And then of course, the discussions can flow way outside of the studio. And we learned that the lessons we learn together, we take off the dance floor, of course, and how it applies to literally everything in our lives. It's been such an amazing tool because you can go into any class and have a great experience, but it's about the inner work that goes along with it and that's what transforms lives big time.

Phoebe
So I think that's a really cool thing to pair with the dance scene. I mean, it's all so integrated, but I think it a really cool offering. Yeah. How do you stay organized? How do you keep track of all of this?

Emily
It's been a learning process. Google calendar is my everything and I didn't have. I used to be one of those people that just like, wrote things down, just like a normal planner. I want to say like til like last year, Google Calendar has been a game changer for me. A very new thing. But we have a software called Punch Pass that we use kind of mindbody, you will, schedule. Another thing that helps my organization big time is hiring a studio manager, Stephanie, who is incredible and helps keep me on track and organized. And learning how to delegate has been a big thing this year for me and has definitely saved me. But yeah, Google calendar I'd say is my top.

Phoebe
What's next for you?

Emily
Well, I'd love to expand. That's like the big goal. I would love to open another location and and I'm leaning towards Rhode Island. We have a lot of students who commute from down there. I'm just feeling the pull that we could potentially do really well there. I would love to open multiple studios in multiple states. I would love to keep growing this. I would hope if things continue to flow in the way that they have been, that we could open a Rhode Island location within five years.

Phoebe
Exciting. That's awesome. Okay, Emily, this has been amazing. Can you tell the listeners where they can find you?

Emily
Yes, you can find me at my personal Instagram. Emily Chandra with a c, h, and then our Instagram SeacoastStilettos, just all one word. You can find all the details about the programs we offer and online tutorials and our class schedule and everything on SeacoastStilettos.com. And you can also find us on TikTok, our social media platforms, YouTube.

Phoebe
Yay! And we will drop all those links in the show notes. Thank you so much, Emily.

Emily
Thank you. Thanks for having me.

OUTRO
Phoebe Sherman
Thank you so much for listening to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast. Head to Girlgangcraft.com/podcast for shownotes and more. See you next time.