Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbey Tulgestke.
Hi Abbey, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Absolutely! My name is Abbey, and I was born and raised in Northeast Michigan in a very blue-collar family. My dad was a truck driver, my mom was a factory worker, and I grew up surrounded by brothers and male cousins. My grandfather served in the Navy, and he always believed that one person from every generation should serve their country. He was an old-timer who served in the Pacific, and his example always stuck with me.
Growing up, I was heavily involved in competitive dance and pageantry. I loved performing, competing, and being part of those communities, but by my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. So, at 17 years old, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and shipped off to boot camp.
After boot camp, Marine Combat Training, and communications school, I found myself boots on the ground in Afghanistan at just 18 years old. The Marine Corps forced me to grow up very quickly. I spent the next six years, from ages 18 to 24, serving in the military, and during that time I also earned my undergraduate degree in Clinical and Social Psychology.
I was eventually medically separated from the Marine Corps and came home to a very different life than the one I had known. I went through a laundry list of hip and spinal surgeries, along with mental health treatment for post-traumatic stress. Getting out of the military was incredibly difficult for me. I felt lost and struggled to figure out who I was and what my purpose was outside of the uniform.
Eventually, I moved to Kenya for a year, where I worked at a children’s home. That experience changed my life in ways I still have a hard time putting into words. When I eventually moved back home to Rogers City, I enrolled at Western Michigan University, earned my master’s degree in Educational Counseling, and became a Licensed Professional Counselor. I worked as a school counselor, got married, and became a mom to a son and then identical twin boys and a beautiful little girl!
Even with all of those wonderful things in my life, I remember telling my brother that I still felt like I had no purpose. I was happy, but I was struggling to find that piece of myself that had always felt missing after the military.
He asked me a really simple question: “What is something you did as a child that brought you joy?”
Without hesitation, I said, “Dance.”
Dance had always brought me an incredible amount of joy. My brother told me that maybe I should take that joy and share it with my community.
And that is where Lakeside Dance Co. was born.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh goodness, absolutely not. It has not been a smooth road.
I’ve had my own personal demons to work through along the way, including struggles with postpartum depression, and I’ve also battled a lot of imposter syndrome. There have been plenty of moments where I’ve thought, “I have no idea what I’m doing. Who am I to be running a dance studio?”
On top of the personal challenges, there are all of the normal struggles that come with starting and running a business. There have been hard conversations, uncertainty, financial challenges, and plenty of moments where I’ve questioned whether I’m doing any of this right.
But I think perseverance is one of the most important parts of the journey. You don’t have to have everything figured out—you just have to keep moving forward.
Dance is such a joyful thing, and what we want to do at Lakeside is share that joy and the freedom of movement with our community. I’ve always believed that expression is the opposite of depression. I sometimes tell myself, “Depression can’t hit a moving target,” so I keep moving—literally and figuratively.
I still struggle. I don’t think perseverance means that the hard things suddenly disappear. I think it means choosing to keep going anyway. And that is something I’m learning over and over again, both personally and as a business owner.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Lakeside Dance Co. 🌊 is a community outreach dance program built around a pretty simple belief: if a child wants to dance, we want to find a way to make that possible.
We work hard to make dance accessible to everyone in our community. We offer scholarships, work with families individually, and when necessary, we simply kick in what we need to make sure a child can participate. I never want finances to be the reason a child misses out on something that could bring them confidence, friendship, creativity, and joy.
Of course, we care deeply about providing quality dance education, but I think what sets Lakeside apart is the heart behind it. We’re a small-town studio that genuinely cares about the kids and the community we serve. We want our dancers to become strong, confident, kind humans—not just strong dancers.
What I’m most proud of is watching Lakeside become bigger than dance. Seeing a child gain confidence, watching friendships form, giving a family an opportunity they didn’t think they could afford, or seeing a kid walk into the studio one way and leave feeling a little more confident than when they came in—that’s what makes all of the hard parts worth it.
One of the biggest things I’m learning as I grow Lakeside is that you don’t have to do everything perfectly. You just have to do what you can, with a joyful heart, and keep moving forward through the ups and downs.
At the end of the day, I hope Lakeside is known for being a place where kids feel safe to be themselves, where families feel welcomed, and where every child who wants to dance feels like there is a place for them.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
If there’s one thing I’d want your readers to take away from my story, it’s this: whatever your dream is, go for it.
There will always be naysayers. There will always be someone who tells you that you can’t do something, that it’s unrealistic, or that you aren’t capable. You have to dig down deep and figure out what you really want to do with your life—and then have the courage to go after it.
I never thought in a million years that little five-foot, 120-pound Abbey would become a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and do combat deployments. But I did it. And I kicked ass.
I never thought I would own a business, either. Yet here I am, running a dance studio and doing the best I can every single day—even through the heaviness and sadness that I’ve experienced with postpartum depression.
I think we all have our own struggles, even when we can’t see them. You never really know what someone else is carrying, which is why I believe so strongly in treating people with kindness.
People may forget what you said. They may forget exactly what you did. But they will remember how you made them feel when they walked through your door.
That’s something I want to carry with me through Lakeside and through life: do what you can, with a joyful heart, be kind to people, and keep moving forward.
You never know what someone is facing. So, above all else, be kind.
Pricing:
- 10 a dance class!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lakesidedancecompany.com/
- Facebook: Lakeside Dance Company
