If you’ve called our studio, or stepped inside the front door, chances are good that you’ve encountered Megan Snodgrass.
Our office manager with the beautiful smile and great sense of style, Megan found Fred Astaire via a Craig’s List ad for a part-time office assistant position. We hired her in March of 2013 and got right to work.
“I had a crash course that Friday night for one of the parties and the next Monday I was opening the studio,” Megan recalls.
Very quickly, she ramped up to office manager, creating marketing materials, managing the website, and handling overall administration of our bustling studio.
“I used to dance,” Megan says. “I was interested in being in a dance studio environment. A lot of my friends have been in theater and arts. I’ve worked other jobs in clerical positions so being in an office setting wasn’t new to me, but this is not your typical cubicle desk job.”
Growing up in Clinton Township as a student of Fraser schools, Megan now calls Rochester Hills home. She loves coming to work every day – and we love having her here. And last year, she even got to be a dance student, taking lessons with her husband in preparation for her sister’s wedding.
“I love the fact that I get to see our clients come in for the first introductory lesson or even from the first phone call, and anywhere from weeks to months later they’re full-time dance students, enjoying this little piece of life that they’ve been missing,” Megan says.
“Seeing students transform from being nervous at the introductory lesson to being comfortable in the studio, learning a new skill or improving something they knew before, it’s a wonderful transformation.”
A business coach once said that Fred Astaire is supposed to be like the adult Disney World, that it’s our mission to help people forget about their lives outside of the studio and for the 45 minutes of a dance lesson or class, focus on themselves.
In most businesses, you don’t find that opportunity, says Megan.
What’s the secret to the staff happiness at our studio?
Megan says it’s important to be happy yourself if you’re in the position of helping other people find happiness. Plus, she jokes, “lots of coffee and chocolate” in the workplace is a big help!
“It’s a unique culture and people who can’t handle being happy all the time leave,” she says. “A lot of it comes from Evan and Lada – they just want us to be the best version of ourselves and constantly improve ourselves day to day.”
She likes the team building exercises we initiate, the team goals we set, daily training and open communication that we not only encourage but model.
“We treat the business as a family; our students are part of this dance family.”
Megan says she most likes seeing how the studio “has transformed over the last two years. We are an all-inclusive studio so being involved with our new Dance Mobility program for wheelchair ballroom dancers, The Pink Fund ladies dancing with survivors, groups for autism, through Jack’s Place, we’re making sure ballroom dancing isn’t just for the elite. It’s for everyone.”
“It’s incredible that Evan and Lada have that vision to make ballroom dancing available for everyone, no matter your circumstances,” Megan says. “The quality of students that we have right now is impressive because we are working together as a team.”
“It’s a special place that can help you with whatever circumstances you’re going through, whether the loss of a loved one, or improving your relationship, or self-improvement,” Megan says. “It’s definitely a place that can handle all of those challenges through the power of dance.”