Exploring Life & Business with Denise Krumm of KIO (Kick It Out) Dance Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Krumm

Hi Denise, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Early 2012 after coaching high school dance for over 10 years at the regional and national level, we decided to start a small dance studio. We were blessed to have support from friends and family who helped us stand up our studio. We started in a 1000 square foot space with one studio room, a very small office, and a bathroom. The first year we grew to 40 dance students and 30 fitness students. We grew at a fast rate the first 4 or 5 years. We focused on recreational dance and Zumba fitness at the beginning. After a couple of years, we grew to needing more space for a lobby and have more than one studio room so we could run multiple classes at once. We moved a few miles away to a very busy area. Over the years we started a competitive dance program, built a fitness program with multiple different classes, and have started a music program. We also ended up taking over the full building of our new location and have settled into our location. We are now trying to utilize our space with many different styles of dance and getting involved in the community and building our programs to capacity.

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?
I think all small businesses no matter what type has their own struggles. During our time with our business we have dealt with Covid struggles, the common struggles of advancing our business and utilize new office tools, dealing with customers and learning how to develop our programs, and building and maintaining an amazing staff. Our struggles have been more related to “how the economy goes, is how our business goes,” as sending kids to a dance studio for after school activities and attending fitness classes are additional things that are more popular when there is extra money to utilize for activities.

As you know, we’re big fans of KIO (Kick It Out) Dance Studio. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Our dance studio offers a diverse range of classes, we provide a variety of services and products to cater to different interests and needs. Here are some primary offerings: Ballet, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Tap, Latin Dance (Salsa), Lyrical, Creative Movement, Acro/Tumbling, Musical Theatre, and Drama/Acting classes. With our musical classes we offer lessons in the following: Piano, Guitar, Voice, Musical Theory, Brass instruments, and Woodwind instruments. With our Fitness classes we offer Zumba and Pound Fitness at this time. With the dance classes we include opportunities for performance with recitals, showcases, and special event performances that allows our students to demonstrate their skills they have gained with us. We collaborate with our local communities for their special events. With our Competitive Dance program, the team attends both Regional and National dance competitions to compete against other dance studios/dancers. We also offer master classes and dance conventions both at our studio and we go to external dance conventions for additional training.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
As a business owner you are a risk-taker, it’s one of the most thankless jobs we have ever had, most people just take you for granted. Putting your reputation and name behind a business is definitely risk-taking as you become tied to the business as you are relying upon your staff and supporters to help you keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kickitoutdance.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kio2dance/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KIO2dance/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUm9TRLyUNcgBJ_2AeLLuNg
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kio2dance.studio