Exploring Life & Business with Tabitha Miner of Tabitha in Motion

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tabitha Miner

Hi Tabitha, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Tabitha in Motion is a company born out of love, passion, and ultimately necessity. I founded this company to make dance more accessible to young people and foster meaningful connections for everyone. Starting this company wasn’t the plan but it was something that needed to happen and something I am proud to have created.

I initially began my career at a ballroom studio in Beachwood, Ohio, where the work environment was marked by extremely inappropriate behavior towards me and was reinforced by disputes among the studio owners that I was put in the middle of. I was miserable and I genuinely dreaded going to work. The studio’s pricing strategy was beyond discriminatory; wedding dance lessons were priced 30% higher than regular lessons, despite being identical in duration and instruction which I found to be ridiculous. When I raised concerns about this practice, I was dismissed as “young, naive, and stupid.” The situation worsened when I took a sick day to manage pressing personal responsibilities. At that time, I was commuting to northeastern Pennsylvania every weekend to support my father, who was undergoing chemotherapy, and to assist my sister, who was recovering from a bone marrow transplant she had undergone to donate to him. I was reprimanded harshly for taking this day off, which resulted in a demeaning confrontation with ownership the following day. During this confrontation the owner sitting inches away, yelled at me insisting, I need to “ask permission” to be sick. In that moment it all clicked and I decided I would never allow that to happen to me again.

I continued working at the studio for three additional months, during which I meticulously documented and recorded my interactions with the studio owners and laid the groundwork for my own venture. I created my website, optimized my booking system, optimized my SEO, negotiated with studios for teaching space, established my social media presence, and picked up 6 side jobs because I was determined to not be miserable anymore and I was determined to get myself out of that situation. Gradually I transitioned away from those side jobs one by one and started working for myself full time
Today, I am proud to say that Tabitha in Motion is thriving. Daddy and my sister have both fully recovered, and everyone is healthy and cancer-free. I have expanded my business to include four teachers and four locations and I am still growing! I am beyond lucky and thankful for everyone I have hired on to my team. The women I have working for me are all incredible, the couples I have the honor of working with are delightful and I absolutely LOVE my job! I love going to work, I love that I get to be a part of something so special, and I love the fact that I get to show couples how to connect in such a unique and creative way.

Tabitha in Motion was founded out of love. I love working with couples and I love that I can provide fulfilling opportunities for dance teachers and support them in their passion for the arts. I am committed to continuing the growth of my team and refining our services. Although I am still learning and evolving, I am confident in my abilities and passionate about what I do, so I know it will all work out.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course not! In the beginning I was working 6 jobs just to get my company off the ground I was doing anything and everything to get out of the work environment I was in. I was also dodging potential litigation from the studio I was working at because they had been know to sue over non compete agreements from previous instructors. On top of that my dad was undergoing chemotherapy and I was preparing for the worst because I knew I had to find a way to support my younger siblings if things went south.

I was working weird hours, I was sleeping 4 hours a night with a 2 hour nap in the afternoon so I could squeeze everything I needed to do in the day while still trying to grow a business which is something I knew nothing about, but I knew it needed to be done. I had started teaching for myself but everything I did had to be very covert because I was terrified of being sued over a non compete agreement from the previous studio. The pressure of potentially having to take care of my younger sibling was like no other pressure I had endured before, I HAD to make this work, there was no plan B, failure was not an option. There was a lot of sleepless nights and there was a lot of fear for the worst that led me to where I am today.

It’s almost weird to think back to the starting phases because I made it out and I am so grateful that I did but for a long time it was not easy. I was under an insane amount of pressure and stress from so many different angles but I knew somehow, I was going to make it. I had this idea of embracing the suck and finding the good, and little by little it started to pay off and I found the light at the end of the tunnel. Now I am proud to say everyone is happy and healthy and I am so proud of what I’ve built.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Tabitha in Motion we are dedicated to helping people connect through dance, every teacher that I hire is a professional working dancer which means they are very passionate about their work and they love what they do. I specifically hire teachers who are well versed in ALL styles of dance because I think that’s what really sets us apart from regular ballroom studios. Being a working dancer or artist of any kind is HARD, dancers who choose to continue to dance and work as an artist do it out of love and passion which means they teach out of love and passion. We are much less concerned with specific steps and much more concerned about making you feel your best during your first dance. As a team we focus heavily on lifts, dips and tricks, and how to make them easy and doable for the general public. In short, we teach the COOL STUFF! We still teach basic ballroom and we have the freedom to teach what you want and we make your dance 100% yours. Additionally we believe that dance should be accessible which is why we do not crank up the price just because it’s for a wedding. Dancing is something that should be shared, accessible, personal, and above all fun, and at Tabitha in Motion it is.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Finding the Joy. There’s a lot of reasons to negative or sad, but there are even more to be grateful and thankful for. Dancing brings joy into your life and I think if you put energy into things that bring you joy it pays off.

Pricing:

• $35 intro lesson
• $75 an hour lessons
• 10% discount for first responders
• 10% discount for students and teachers
• 10% discount for military

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Tabithainmotion.com
• Instagram: @tabithainmotion
• Facebook: Tabitha in Motion