Presenting at Master Ballet Academy
I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with young dancers of Master Ballet Academy, the school of Phoenix Ballet, on Wednesday, July 1 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The dancers are engaged in MBA’s summer intensive program, where they are improving their dance technique and learning new concepts. I was invited to speak to them about my career as the founder of Russian Pointe, which was inspired by my passion for dance and exists to support the performance of dancers worldwide.
We talked about how Russian Pointe began in my college dorm room and grew into a multimillion-dollar brand, and about aligning your actions to your vision and goals. The dancers were engaged and asked many great questions!
Dance is a difficult field, with very high expectations and extreme competition. In my discussion with these dancers, I presented an example of how hard work and creativity can make your dreams come true, and also that it’s possible to have an exciting dance-related career off stage as well as on.
I received this comment about the response of one young dancer who attended:
Jadyn loved hearing the story about how you started your business with an idea, an idea that family and friends didn’t quite seem to understand (that didn’t stop you!), and what was going through your head when you were first developing the company. She loved hearing about how you wrote your favorite things down on paper – that you loved your Russian heritage (the shoes), shopping, travel, working with children – and then tried to think of ways to tie those things together. She loved how you thought about your signature color being purple and your thought process about thinking about older girls and purple, and about how you like customer feedback and listen to what your customers like and need.
Speaking to young people is one of my favorite things to do, because I believe that if we teach valuable skills to the next generation they will have more fulfilling, accomplished and meaningful lives.
And the best part of my job has always been seeing the big smiles of happy dancers!