Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Ames.
Hi Brian, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Together, we spent 33 years in one of the U.S.’s largest global corporations – a husband-and-wife team, executive and spouse, dad and mom, living in the suburbs of four U.S. cities in as many states. On a whim, just before we retired, we took a ballroom dancing class. Instantly, we were hooked. We were fortunate to find Just Dancing Studio in Manchester as the home base for our new hobby.
When Just Dancing’s previous owners decided to exit the business, we decided to enter it and purchased the studio in August 2019. Five years ago, we could not have imagined a more unlikely outcome for the initial years of our retirement from corporate America. We aren’t sure what we thought we’d be doing, but it wasn’t this. We could not be more delightfully surprised.
In addition to its many health and social benefits, we love dancing because it is joyful and beautiful. And our world needs more joy, more beauty, even if it is just “one step at a time.” Dancing unites us; it lifts our spirits together. Bringing this elegant and classy artform and sport to more people is our studio’s primary goal.
Ballroom dancing is characterized by so much that makes life exciting: a connection with people from all walks of life, a competitive spirit, a sense of community, an awed respect for heritage and the talented dancers that came before us, a distinctly global flavor, an attitude of positivity that says, “Yes, I can.”
We believe that we have a unique outlook on running a dance school because we are dance students first. We haven’t spent decades in the ballroom dance industry. We are new to this. Which makes us fearless in trying new things as long as we think they have sound business principles as a foundation. Some of our crazy ideas have worked out very well. Not too many of them have bombed. It’s because we’ve approached the challenge respectfully, sought the counsel of people wiser than us, and embraced the excitement inherent in experimentation.
In more than three decades, Just Dancing has trained hundreds and hundreds of social and competitive dancers, earning a top-shelf reputation regionally and nationally as St. Louis’s preeminent studio teaching ballroom, rhythm, swing, and other dances. But our school is much more than that: it provides us not only the opportunity to spread ballroom dancing’s beauty and benefits to more people, but to apply our business and life experiences in running a different kind of business: one where all of our stakeholders are enriched because of their relationship with us. Of course, we want Just Dancing to be the top dance school in the region and among the premier dance schools in the world. And we believe that by several objective measures, we could make those claims today. But it’s equally important to us that we serve others by focusing on five operating principles:
• For our teachers, we will have policies and practices that are teacher-friendly and allow us to field the best teaching faculty.
• For our students, we will have effective, efficient curriculum and opportunities that meet students’ personal goals.
• For our community, we will have solidarity with other dance studios as practitioners of the art and friendly competition with them as practitioners of the sport.
• Our facility will be a superb, clean, and safe studio equipped with high-end dance floor, sound, and tools to facilitate learning.
• As a business, we will be an ethically-run, well-governed, growing business that is a good neighbor to everyone.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Maintaining services during the pandemic; as a result, we were among the earliest adopters of online learning for our students.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are a Ballroom dance studio providing professional services.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
– Surround yourself with people who believe you can do it and who will help you do it.
– Learn everything you can from people who think differently than you do.
– Always be students first and foremost.
– Don’t spend five minutes worrying about what your competition is doing. It isn’t a zero-sum contest if you grow the market for your services.
Contact Info:
- Email: natalie@justdancingstudio.com; brian@justdancingstudio.com
- Website: www.justdancingstudio.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/justdancingstl/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/justdancingstudiostlouis
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/just-dancing-studio-manchester
Image Credits
Personal Photo: Ryan Kenner Photography – Just Dancing owners Brian and Natalie Ames dance as an amateur couple in the 2019 Fred Astaire World Championships in Las Vegas. LaHari Photography: Just Dancing co-owner Natalie Ames trains with her teacher and pro/am partner Steve Brockman. LaHari Photography: Just Dancing co-owner Brian Ames trains with his teacher and pro/am partner Agnieszka Strojek. Ryan Kenner Photography: Just Dancing professional couple Senzo Makhaye and Agnieszka Strojek compete in American Rhythm style at Ohio Star Ball, November 2019. Higher Focus Photography: Just Dancing co-owners Brian and Natalie Ames at the studio’s first Broadway dance showcase event, April 2021. No image credit: Just Dancing professional couple Jonathan Wolfgram and Danyelle Morley hone their choreography for an American Tango, April 2021. Ryan Kenner Photography: Just Dancing professional couple David Nyemchek Jr. and Maysen Wilder compete in American Rhythm style at Ohio Star Ball, November 2019. Stephen Marino Photography: Just Dancing co-owner Brian Ames dances a tango with his teacher and pro/am partner Agnieszka Strojek at Grand National Dancesport Championships in Miami, October 2020. Brian Ames Photo: Just Dancing co-owner Natalie Ames dances a Slow Foxtrot with her teacher and pro/am partner Steve Brockman at Emerald Ball in Dallas, April 2021. High Focus Photography: The Just Dancing Studio team and guests re-open the studio under new management with the West St. Louis County Chamber of Commerce’s ribbon cutting in the fall of 2019.
