{"id":2752,"date":"2016-10-17T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/?p=2752"},"modified":"2020-04-07T11:24:32","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T15:24:32","slug":"interview-with-doug-daffron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/blog\/dance-info-news-trends\/interview-with-doug-daffron\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Doug Daffron"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Doug<\/a>\n

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Doug Daffron, recently, Fred Astaire Business Trainer\/Consultant, based in Durham, N.C..<\/p>\n

Doug is a FADS business coach who has been devoted to dance for some time now. Here’s a conversation we had with him about his career with Fred Astaire and his perspective on dance.<\/p>\n

I always liked dancing. In school, I was working toward a degree in physical education and I learned there weren’t many male teachers in high schools with dance experience. It was suggested that I get a dance endorsement at the University of Missouri Columbia to have that additional expertise when I looked for a teaching job. <\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

When I graduated, I realized I didn’t really want to be in the school system teaching. I was subbing for a guy that had varicose veins and went from outdoor P.E. to indoor. The only choices were basketball or weightlifting. I had 12 kids choose weightlifting, giving me 52 ninth-graders to teach basketball. <\/i><\/p>\n

I knew then that I did not want to spend my life that way. I came across a Fred Astaire Dance Studio ad and decided to become a dance instructor, participating in a training class in St. Louis.<\/i><\/p>\n

Within a year, I was managing a studio, but I eventually returned to teaching, and then became a partner in the FADS studio in Durham.<\/i><\/p>\n

That’s where I met my life partner, Missy, who is now my wife. We opened four schools and became area franchisers, partners in the southeast region with 22 studios.<\/i><\/p>\n

We were instrumental in bringing international dancers to teach in our region – in my tenure as a studio owner from 1988 to 2006, we brought 17, and put 30 individuals into their own studios as owners. <\/i><\/p>\n

What I love about dance is the overall connection that you get. I worked my way through college working data entry. I am a tall guy, and sitting all day at a computer caused back pain, which sent me for chiropractic help.<\/i><\/p>\n

When I got into dancing, my posture improved and my back problems disappeared. Those benefits anyone can experience dancing. It keeps you young, fit, agile and healthy.<\/i><\/p>\n

Even though I became more on of the business side of it, whenever I get to teach, I grab the chance. Teachers experience the benefits that students experience: freedom from cares.<\/i><\/p>\n

Plus, as a teacher, you see students light up when they learn new steps and master them. You see their joy, their confidence, their happiness, and it rubs off on you.<\/i><\/p>\n

Over the years, I’ve learned what it takes to build a successful studio. First, you must understand your numbers and how to manage the financials<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Then, you must help your staff understand why students come into the studio and what helps them to stay here. They must truly understand how to evolve a short-term student into a long-term student. <\/em><\/p>\n

The longer you dance, the more beneficial it becomes for you. That’s true for every part of the business.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Doug Daffron, recently, Fred Astaire Business Trainer\/Consultant, based in Durham, N.C.. Doug is a FADS business coach who has been devoted to dance for some time now. Here’s a conversation we had with him about his career with Fred Astaire and his perspective on dance. I always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance-info-news-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bloomfield-hills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}