Five years forward or Five years back?

 

Photo by Eric Olson

Where will I be in five years? It seems a popular question to ask.  But for me, the opposite question gives me more opportunity to assess my current state.  Five years ago, where did I think I would be today?

Allow me to start at the beginning. After graduating with a BFA in Dance, Performance & Choreography, I moved to Chicago to pursue dancing with The Dance COLEctive.  Four years later, I am now the Manager of a small children's dance studio here in Chicago, the owner of which lives out of state. Like most people, whatever I thought I would be doing five years ago is not what has happened or even will eventually happen. I had never dreamed of owning a dance studio, and I certainly never thought I would find myself running one for someone else. So here I am, making a career out of my passion (and the degree that I will be working to pay off for the next 15 years) and taking every opportunity I can to squeeze the juice out of this life in order to make a living. 

Ups and downs come with any job and just because I am working in a career field that also happens to be my passion does not eliminate those struggles. It DOES force me  to evaluate my life and my "passion" on a daily basis. I often ask myself " Do I really know what I am doing?" or " Is this going to work?" When it comes to studio business decisions, I go with my gut; to be honest, most of what I have done is completely trial and error. Luckily, it has worked out so far and I have helped to grow the business through what I would call 'Personal Force'. Being the only Manager, teaching most of the classes, and being responsible for all the administration and housekeeping, I am literally doing it  ALL. However, at the same time I am responsible for it ALL. Do we want to increase enrollment numbers by adding classes in the morning? Sure! Olivia will teach those. Do we want to encourage community togetherness with Friday night dance parties? Yes! Olivia will teach those. More dancers equals more phone calls, of which Olivia will answer. Should we make a shift to being paperless in our communication? Of course! That means more emails for Olivia to answer. I have found that with growth comes more "opportunity", but when you are the all-in-one manager/teacher/maid/administrator that means more work for YOU. 

Quite literally, I have opened the door for this growth and then accepted the consequences by taking on more responsibilities. Of course it is rewarding to see that what I am doing is working, but I often wonder if this work I am doing (for someone else's business) is the best path for me.  Should I reevaluate what part of the dance world my passion lies?  Where do I think I will be in 5 years? I really don't know, so be sure to check back in with me in 2019, and I will let you know how these next five years pan out.

Submitted by TDC dancer Olivia May, on Tuesday, March 13, 2014.