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Music.
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Hello friends. I'm Amanda Barr and I'm Rebecca Lew Brennan, and welcome to Dance principles united the podcast together. We are passionate about helping studio owners with the business of running their studio Join us as we talk everything from marketing, systems, studio culture, motherhood, life and everything in between. This is the dance principles United podcast.
Unknown Speaker 0:27
Well, hello friends, and welcome to the dance principles United podcast. We are in Las Vegas, still filming, recording. What are we doing? We're recording. Are we filming? Bit of both? We're recording and filming our podcast. But we're in Las Vegas, having a great time, and you know, it's been an awesome week together, and we've learned lots of things at the dance teacher web, which has been awesome. Absolutely. Make sure you check out last week's podcast for a few more of our takeaways. But today, we're talking about proactive verse reactive tasks as a CEO, as a business owner, as a studio owner, what kind of things that we should be doing and when to focus on proactive tasks and when to focus on reactive tasks. And then we're going to talk about not reacting too quickly as well. So we've been talking with a lot of our members about and really encouraging them to start the day with proactive tasks instead of a reactive Do you want to give us a bit of a like explanation? What kind of tasks inside the studio are reactive? First reactive tasks would be answering emails,
Unknown Speaker 1:39
answering parents, I guess, if they've inboxed you or something like that, can't
Unknown Speaker 1:45
even think of anything else right now. Amanda, yeah, checking it like, you know,
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doing anything that is on someone else's time frame is back, basically reactive tasks. It's like, Hey, I have to do this because someone else has told me I have to do this. Or, you know, the opposite, like being reactive around,
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you know, like, oh my gosh, one parent complained about the ballet exam so quickly, let's all there wasn't a note out about it. So let's quickly send a note out, because one parent said to me yesterday, we don't know anything about ballet exam, so Oh my god, I better send it out right now. That's being reactive to things, yeah, or like that parents quick has messaged me, and they need their music. I need to cut their music right now, and I need to send it to it's like there's so much of that in the studio. It's crazy, absolutely. Whereas proactive tasks are things that are actually going to move the needle forward in your business, and doing it early, doing things that you know are setting you up for success, right? Yeah. I mean, this can be something so simple. And, I mean, I don't know if you remember this, but we've listened to people who are like, I get up at 5am and have a lemon water and then do a walk, and then I, you know, and like, not just what I do well and like, but we have kids and things and moving parts. And I just, I know a lot of business coaches teach all of that. It's just not, it's not realistic in our world. Most of us are moms. Most of us are getting kids up and ready. But I have to say that, you know, when you do get rid of the kids and do all of that, or if you've got toddlers around, just sitting down and making yourself a list is a great thing to start the day of. Well, we always talk to our members about what are your needle movers, rather than just making a list of answer emails, answer phone, Do this, do that, like, what are some needle movers that you can do that are going to actually pivot your business absolutely? And what happens is the day goes on in the life of a studio is the reactive tasks start building up. So starting the day with proactive tasks starting whenever that is, if you're starting working at nine or midday or whatever that is for you, right,
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starting the day with a proactive task is so much more beneficial. So what that looks like is not opening Facebook, not opening your email, not going I've just got to write back to that parent first. I have just got to do that from last night that parent asked me to send that music through whatever that was, but actually starting the day with something that's going to move the needle forward in your business. And that's, you know, because I feel like, if you don't start the day with it, all of a sudden, you know, the rest of the team come in to teach the preschool class, they have something they want to say. The parent comes in, you have to answer the phone, and all these other things all happen. But if you can start in the quiet by yourself with proactive tasks, that's how you move the needle forward in your business. Absolutely, it's hard to do, though it's so easy. It's so easy to the first thing that generally, I think people do is open their social media up when they get up in the morning, yeah, and then the second thing they do is look at the social media inbox and this reactive start stuff's just going to start happening right then and there. So if you do have to really discipline yourself in this, and I think, I think the thing that I find really important is I have my.
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Goals next to me when I wake up in the morning. I don't have some big vision board or anything like that. They're literally written on a piece of paper or on the back of a photo in my case, but they're there when I wake up in the morning. And I think that is, that is the thing that says to me, you need to make every day count. And I think that's why I have it there, because otherwise I would, I would, I literally would just go straight to my inbox and start, whereas that reminder is like, Okay, is it really going to matter if I don't answer that parent for another hour? Yeah? Like, is it really going to be that big? It's not life or death. You know, I can spend an hour putting together my social media and scheduling it, or, you know, looking at my numbers for the day and seeing where we're at, or there's so many great things you can do that's a much better start to your day. I think absolutely. And like you said, like, it's not not getting back to the parent, like, we're all about customer service, but it's also important that we start the day doing something for us in our business. And we've been talking to, you know, one of our studio growth club members. I was chatting to her, and she was saying that she, like, she really struggles with this, and she struggles to,
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you know, carve out the time to do things. She wants to grow her studio. She actually wants to double her size. So she has really big goals, but she said that she just struggles to, you know, know what tasks to do first? I'm like, Cool. Let's just say, for the first hour, I'm like, what? So we had a big conversation about it. And, you know, as she started work, usually about nine, she said, I'm like, Cool. So let's go nine till 10 every day you're going to do, you know, one thing to move the needle forward in your business, that's it. And then from 10, then you can be reactive and open the emails and do all the other things that you gotta get done in the life of a studio owner. So we just started with that one hour, and I think that's making a huge difference to her. So, you know, some days she's, you know, planning out her social media and scheduling it, because we know that actually matters, and that's what is marketing to get people other things. She's planning marketing plans, you know, like you said, looking at her numbers and really having a good deep dive into her numbers, so that she knows what her goals are, knows where the issues are, you know, so doing things like that, you know, thinking big about her concert and how she wants to change up, that was one thing we were talking about with this member, like, you know, making some big changes so that she can get the financial rewards from her concert, you know. And being really proactive, rather than just, like answering emails, we're going to keep coming back to that. But God, those emails, right? Yep, I love it. So if you think about it, if you don't do this, you could just do it right now, and you can put, I love, a good Google calendar on your phone, and you could put from nine till 10 every day what you're going to do. So I personally, I think Monday should be look at your numbers. You know, how many kids do you have? How many class placements Do you have? Which means how many total classes is a child doing? So, if a child does jazz, tap and ballet, they're doing three classes, but they count as one in your number. Count looking at how much money you've got coming in. You know, there's so many studio owners that we talk to who don't have any concept or idea about how much money is actually coming into their business, and that's so, so important. So that could be your Monday, Tuesday, could be your social media. Wednesday, could be marketing, which probably includes looking at your Facebook ads, and maybe you're going to bring a new item of clothing or uniform in, or something like that, yeah? What other two could we have Thursday? Could be concert? I mean, you've always got work to do on your concert, yeah? And, you know, stuff that moves the needle. I think that's the big thing with the concert, right? Yeah, picking a costume doesn't move no needle, no. But you know, other big things, like, you know, planning how you really going to maximize your profits through your concert fee, for example, that moves the needle, yep, makes a huge, huge difference. Or putting together countdowns on the tickets so that people get excited about those tickets, putting posters up and around about those ticket sales. Like, that's a needle mover. Absolutely. So just really thinking about, what can I do every single day in my business to move the needle forward, to make it, make it a difference to my business. And, you know, put that focus mode. God, that focus mode is so good. I have my focus mode on all the time, as you know, because you call me and I just don't answer because it doesn't ring. Um, yeah, but that's good. But because I'm in the zone working and not being distracted by the Instagram flash up, the message that came through that was, you know, a gift from a, you know, a mum, friend from school, or whatever, that I just don't need to see at that time, because that distracts us, and it's something I obviously do want to see, but not right then, because it just pulls us out of our focus zone. So even just putting that on for an hour every day, the other thing that I really think is important,
Unknown Speaker 9:51
and this is my tip, is making sure, like, you know what we're like on our laptops. Do you have like, 4000 browser windows? Never i.
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It's so bad when I'm on Zoom like, because we do all our coaching stuff on Zoom guys and and when I'm like, Oh, I'll quickly share my screen, and then I have to say to everyone on the coaching call, don't, don't judge me, because I have so many browsers open. But yep, okay, so one thing that I've been really trying to do is because, yes, I'm the same. I have 4000 browser windows open, as we all do, but I really make sure I close the Facebook tab and my email tab at night, because otherwise I open them and they're open and I see it right. So I think that it's important, because that's like setting me up for success the next morning. I love closing that because otherwise it's the first thing, and you're like, Oh, I wasn't going to look at that email, but you can see that email sitting there and yeah, like, Oh, yeah. So I think, you know, just simple things like that, closing those, you know, for me personally, and look, I don't think this is right for every studio owner, because I think it's super important that you get back to new leads quickly, always. But for me, it was not having
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access on my phone to those leads coming through for the studio that was for me personally, because I had a team to do that for me. But I didn't need to see it, and I didn't need to see the studio inbox coming through on my phone. Yeah, I didn't need to see the band messages on my phone. I looked at them on my laptop, for sure, but then I open them deliberately, rather than them just popping up on my phone all the time. Yeah, I love it. I love it. So inspiration, guys, we really want you to block that nine till 10am out every morning. I love that, Amanda, and just put in a different thing each day of what you're going to do. And then that's a great start. And you know, that's a it's a great place to start, and as you do, then start to get bigger and see the growth from doing that stuff, you can make it a little bit longer, because you can give someone else some of your tasks to do, and then you can make that time a little bit longer, and that's how we grow and become, you know, great studio owners and business owners. So I think that's so inspiring. Now, the other thing we wanted to touch on today was studio and as being reactive and reacting to things straight away, there's two sides to this. Yeah, I'm a big believer in not dwelling on things as well as you know. And so why don't we just use an example of a cranky parent? Because I think that's the easiest one to do. Okay? So I think you do have to address that cranky parent straight away, I think that's important, because if you don't, then things can go pear shaped, because they don't want to be left in the lurk either. However, correct, however, the way that I would deal with it Amanda is I would call the parent and say, I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. I do need to investigate things a little bit further. I want to hear your side of it, so I definitely will listen to what they have to say, and I try and say fair call in my head, because I think most of the time they it is warranted, and then take some time to investigate it, rather than just calling them and being like, getting cranky with them straight away, absolutely. Yeah, what other like reactive things that we've seen some of our clients do that we're sort of like, yeah, you could have just waited with that, like staff members. We've seen stuff with staff members, right? Sometimes,
Unknown Speaker 13:11
when we're reacting too quickly, it's due to the emotions. I feel like that's a big thing, and if you know that, you're quite an emotive person, which a lot of us are, as studio owners, we're creatives, where all the things we feel, all the feels that what that's what makes us an amazing creative but if you know that you are quite emotional, whether it's angry or sad or whatever that is, you know sometimes giving yourself a bit of time to sit on something. It's important, because if you're reacting out of emotions rather than reacting out of good business choices, it's going to be a problem. So we've seen that happen a few times with
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staff getting sorry, studio owners getting really angry with their staff over something, and, you know, telling them off that night, firing off a text message at 11 o'clock at night, going, I can't believe you did this. Blah, blah, blah, then the next morning going, hmm, was that really the best choice I could have waited until the next morning? Calm down a bit. You know, we've seen that with parents as well. The same thing,
Unknown Speaker 14:19
I'm a big believer that nothing good happens after in business should be happening after, you know, eight o'clock at night. No, you should not be doing any business kind of like discussions with clients or staff at that kind of time of night. It's not a good idea because you're too emotional, and it needs to wait until the next day. But, yeah, I think that it's very important not to let our emotions make us reactive to things that happen. Yeah, and just like sitting on it, thinking about it, talking to, you know, people that you trust about it, I think that's really important. And getting some if you've got business mentors or something like that, definitely reaching out to them or other studio owners and.
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Saying, Hey, this is the situation. What are your thoughts? I mean, I love that about our community, because we, we see it all the time, and I think it is important for you to feel like there are people that you can chat to about that stuff and then help you with the decision, but also not letting it go for too long as well. That's the other Yeah, like, you don't want it to go on for weeks and weeks and you, you know, still overthinking it, overthinking it all the time. You do need to deal with it, but you need to deal with it with a cool head, and you need to deal with it with clarity. I think that's the two main things, right? Yeah, I love those things, both of those things, I think it's important, you know, if it's a dance based thing, the other thing that I really value is getting input from people outside the dance industry,
Unknown Speaker 15:45
you know,
Unknown Speaker 15:48
I think that that's important. And because if you start explaining it to somebody else, look, it depends what it is, right, like, obviously, you know, if it's because a kid can't land their triple pirouette, there's no point explaining it to somebody else, yeah. But I have found myself, you know, with one of my closest girlfriend, it's who has nothing to dance explaining something to her that I thought was a big drama. And as I'm saying it out loud, you know, even just that, sometimes it's just even saying it out loud, yes, I'm like, This sounds so stupid. She's like, What are you talking about? I'm like, she's like, that. Why? Why is that a problem? Why shouldn't that parent have said that, why should have like and I think sometimes it's like that clarity that we need. I think that could be really important as well, hearing other people's opinions on things, because she's like, look, I don't know what the dance thing you're talking about is, but of course, the mum felt like that, or, of course, this, you know, staff member like, whatever that is, right? And I think that can be a really great thing for us as well. Yes, I think that's the other thing. I think there needs to be more understanding for parents and how they're feeling. And, you know, every parent's feelings need to be validated. And I was thinking about like at school, okay, if someone goes to school and has a complaint, well, I don't know. We've never had this at our school, people, they get listened to. They certainly don't get told that they're stupid or that that's a stupid way to feel, or anything like that. And you know, and their feelings are valid. Their child's probably come home upset, and you've got to just recognize that. And when I've changed from being really cranky at parents all the time, as I used to be, to having complete understanding and also teaching my staff to say, I'm really sorry that happened to you today, because we all say that then straight away now, and I think that is such a big game changer to just self reflect and realize that someone else is allowed to have a different opinion to you and can have a different opinion. Absolutely, absolutely. Hey, can I tell it's a little bit off, off topic? Sure, let's go for it anyway.
Unknown Speaker 17:43
And I think it comes into that having understanding for parents and the fact that dance is a small part of their lives, not their whole lives, and that we don't know what else is going on. Like,
Unknown Speaker 17:55
even when I became a mum as a dance studio owner, I'd always be like, you know, my eldest daughter was so well behaved. She walked into dancing really happily all the time. She wanted to be there. So when other parents, you know, walked in frazzled, were late, whatever I was like, you know, can't believe that mum, she's always late. You know, we all have those kind of thoughts, right? Yep. But, you know,
Unknown Speaker 18:19
our listeners may or may not know that I'm going through quite a bit of stuff with my youngest daughter's health, and it's affecting our whole family. It's not just her that's being affected. It's everybody in the family. And
Unknown Speaker 18:32
you know, with that means that there's a lot of stress in our house, you know, we're quite, you know, bit frazzled. And I'm a bit frazzled a lot of the times. If you know, we've had bad days with her and all this kind of stuff. And I am now that mum that's, you know, sometimes dragging my kids up into dancing classes, that's late, that didn't read the email properly, that didn't do whatever. And that's now me where it never used to be me, because I was always like, Oh, I've got my shit together. This mum stuff. I've got this together. But the fact that there's all these things going on behind the scenes in my family at the moment, you know, means that I don't, and I think that compassion to parents is so, so important, because I've self reflected on it, going, Look, I probably was a bit like, Oh, look at me. I'm a mum that's got all my shit together, on my high horse, yeah, and now that I don't, I can so say it from other people's perspective, when I can't even get my kids to class on time, sometimes when we have bad days with SAS, having seizures, etc, yeah? Like, I don't know, it's just a this is not about reactive, but I just do think it's about compassion. Oh, it is about reactive, though, because again, like, we will react to that parent when they're running late. I've done it before as a teacher, multiple times, and we will react and get cranky with the child, or get cranky with the parent, or whatever. And as you're saying, we don't know what's going on in their life, no, to make them be late, yeah. And so you know it's it is that reaction that you're just like, Okay, I shouldn't have done that. I've.
Unknown Speaker 20:00
Had to self reflect on that multiple times. The last time I can remember I was, believe it or not, teaching a tap class. Amanda, I never teach tap, but
Unknown Speaker 20:09
the teacher was sick, and I had to take the class. It was the week before comp, and I just cleaned all of their arms. And this 12 year old walked in late to class, and I got really cranky with her. This was only a couple of years ago, and I got really cranky with her. And the mum called me and said, that was really unfair. And I was said, Yep, fair. Call. It was unfair. I just reacted in the moment, because I just changed her mom's and she then came in, and I didn't even realize that she had wasn't there until she walked in and she was wasn't going to know them. And the mum said, Well, you know, where I was, I was at your school organizing your little boys 100 days of kindy, and I felt so bad because she's like the principal of that school, and, you know, and that's the thing, like, we just don't know what people are doing. They've got busy lives, works crazy. They might have difficult children like you're saying, or difficult things that are happening, and you do have to try to not react for that reasons, because you've got to be understanding of that absolutely, absolutely. Anyway, that was my TED talk for the day,
Unknown Speaker 21:14
reactions. But I do think, closing up this podcast, I think it's really important for us not to be too reactive with our emotions, with things that sometimes we just need to. You know, I always think, sleep on it. I'm a big believer. I know sometimes you do need to get things done in the moment, but I am a big believer on sleeping on some things. If I'm feeling quite hot headed about it, I need to sleep on it and deal with it the next day
Unknown Speaker 21:38
without leaving it too long, because one's less enough 10 weeks of this still going on is ridiculous, or Absolutely, or three, even three days Absolutely. So there's that. So really making sure that you're not reacting with emotions, super important. But don't forget, what else we were chatting about is starting your day with proactive tasks rather than reactive tasks. So, so valuable. So really make sure you know, carving some time out to do that absolutely guys, we hope you enjoyed today and got some inspo from it. Let us know, we love to hear from you all, and we will talk to you soon. Bye, friends. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the dance principles United podcast. If you'd love to learn more from us, we have a special offer just for our podcast listeners, go to the link in the show notes right now to get two weeks free in dance. Principles, United tribe, we would love to see you there. You.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
