Forging a New Path

Episode 923: Forging a New Path, with Alana Tillim

Forging a new path for your passion is the key to your success. Do your best and start forging a new path today.

Alana Tillim is the founder, president and driving force behind Santa Barbara Dance Arts (SBDA) and the non-profit Arts Mentorship Program in Santa Barbara California. They have been featured in Dance Studio Life Magazine as a national model of for-profit and nonprofit programs working together. Founded in 1998, SBDA has received awards for excellence in business, leadership, and community stewardship. She has reached over 100,000 artists through her work and continues to extend her reach by inviting visiting artists and world-renowned choreographers to her space.

She was forging a new path and co-founded the Arts Mentorship Program in 2004 with Steven Lovelace, and they have awarded over $500,000 in scholarships for underserved at-risk youth. In addition, she founded the No Limits dance program that provides free dance lessons for children with special needs, and “I am Her. She is Me,” a mother-daughter empowerment workshop.

She is also a Certified Coach for More Than Just Great Dancing and a sought-after speaker, she has been recognized by Pacific Coast Business Times’ Top 40 under 40, received the ‘Inspiration Award’ for her leadership through the Thomas Fire and Debris Flow (More Than Just Great Dancing), and is an Apogee Award for her legacy in dance education in Santa Barbara County (Nebula Dance Lab).

Alana is a devoted mentor and entrepreneur and in addition to her studio and non-profit, she owns a dancewear store, and is currently working on writing her first book. She is a dedicated mother and wife, and her family is the driving motivation behind her passion into forging a new path and making a change through the arts.

What you will learn from this episode about forging a new path:

• How a chance meeting led to Alana owning her own dance studio, and why she considers herself an “accidental” business owner
• How Alana’s side job as a dance instructor turned into a successful business, and why she followed her heart and chose to leave her corporate career path
• How Alana’s business partner served as her mentor, and why their shared values were the key to their strong professional relationship
• Why Alana feels passionate about her work and her role as a powerful role model to the young people she teaches
• Why Alana’s personal growth involved learning from those around her and tempering her passion with wisdom
• Why Alana’s role as a mother served as motivation and pushed her to take a chance on herself and started forging a new path
• How Alana balances her time as a mother, wife, entrepreneur and business owner, and why the relationships she has with the people around her are key

Resources:

• Websites: 
  • https://sbdancearts.com/
  • https://ampsb.org/
• Email: [email protected]
• Help the youth in forging a new path by learning about our scholarship & mentorship programs

Additional Resources:

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/
• Listen to this related podcast about forging a new path from our guest, Joe Battista

 

 

Forging a New Path: Full Episode Transcript

 

Get ready to find your recipe for success from America’s top business owners here at Onward Nation with your host, Stephen Woessner.

 

Good morning. I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host for Onward Nation, where I interviewed top business owners so we can learn their recipe for success, how they built in, and how they scaled their business. In fact, my team at Predictive ROI, well, you’ve heard me talking about it for a while now. Probably. But we’ve been going through this metamorphosis, if you will, all part of our goal for 2019 of doubling down.

 

And part of that is rebuilding and continuing to add to our free resources section on predictive roi.com. So you can now download free, practical and tactical guides for everything from search engine optimization, how to use links to generate leads, and other success strategies. We’ve compiled from the brilliant insights shared by our very generous guests. Just go to PredictiveROI.com/Resources and whatever you request, we will send it right to your inbox.

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Alana Tillim’s Introduction

 

And before we welcome today’s special guest, Alana Tillim, I want to share some additional context around why I was delighted. In fact, let me restate that while I was over the moon, excited that Alana said yes. So she’s an entrepreneur. Of course. She’s also a proud wife and a dedicated mom. Awesome. She’s owned her business, Santa Barbara Dance Arts, for 21 years Onward Nation, and she built it up from the ground.

 

I mean, literally with her two hands from the ground up. While she was managing a full time career in the corporate marketing nonprofit and political space. So she’s got a lot of experience in the corporate world. And then she decided to make a change. So Alana is without a doubt, the definition of being able to balance her most vital priorities as a business owner.

 

While she is solely committed to her community and staying focused on the priorities at home. And that is a lesson that we as business owners Onward Nation, quite frankly, we can all learn from. She was also named part of the Pacific Coast Business Times Top 40 under 40 in 2009, and she’s gone on to receive additional awards from several dignitaries and local organizations because of this dedication to her community and her values.

 

So Onward Nation, I was excited when Alana said yes because I know that she’s going to be helpful as you look for new and creative ways that you two can double down on your business, serve your clients, and balance your life at home. So with that said, welcome to Onward Nation, Alana. 

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Alana’s Path and Journey

 

Hello. Thank you for having me.

 

Oh my gosh. Thank you for saying yes. I’m super, super excited. For our conversation. And so before we dive into the questions, this litany of questions that I want to fire your way, I actually take us behind the curtain first. I mean, so obviously I shared some highlights as to why I was excited and over the moon excited that you said yes.

 

But that’s just a portion of your story, actually a small portion of your story. So take us behind the curtain, tell us more about you, your path, your journey, Alana, and then we’ll dive in. Well, I always say I’m an accidental dance studio owner. It was not my initial path. I actually thought I was going to be a lawyer or a politician.

 

And, I think, as you said, there are moments in your life that transform everything. And I had a chance meeting with an individual that gave me the opportunity to change my path. And it really has given me the opportunity to change so many lives and be so much more fulfilling than I think anything else I could have ever imagined.

 

And I think the fact that I get to work with women primarily led primarily by girls, has kind of given me a new calling and a new purpose, and I feel like it’s just the most inspiring and rewarding work. 

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Pursuing Other Career Options

 

Okay. So there’s a lot in there too, to start to slice apart. So I find it interesting when you say, you know, accidental, you know, dance studio owner, accidental business owner.

 

I think a large percentage of business owners would say that we’re accidental business owners. Right? We are really, really good at something. And then somebody maybe stepped into our path and said, hey, why don’t you do that for a living? Like, why don’t you own your own business? So why did you choose to use the word accidental? Because I think that probably resonates with a lot of our business owners.

 

Yeah. I think, you know, I had pursued a more academic degree, while taking dance on the side. That was my hobby and my passion growing up. And I think for anybody that’s been involved in the performing arts, you know, it’s so much more. It’s your therapist, it’s your church, it’s your safe space. So I always had that in a lane that felt extra.

 

So while I was pursuing other career options, I met someone who allowed me to come take class with him. He had just started a business and he was my partner for 16 years. When we met, he basically saw something in me and said, instead of you paying for classes to kind of supplement this joy in this heart space you have, why don’t we trade?

 

Why don’t we barter? Why don’t we work this out? And he gave me an opportunity to teach a dance class so I could have this heart space built. But what ended up happening is my class was popular, and I went from having 50 students to like, 150 students. Right. And so this little thing that I did after work grew, and suddenly I was doing it for three and four hours after my day job, and it just grew and grew.

 

And what was really cool is in my corporate job, I was sort of on the precipice of going into opportunity and management, and it was really amazing. I actually sat with my marketing director at the time and I was really struggling. Do I take this path? Do I take this corporate route and climb the ladder, or do I take a chance and do something on my own?

 

And I love that. He looked me in the eye and he told me, take the chance. Wow. And what’s interesting is my father is a neurosurgeon and my mother was an MBA, and I was so terrified to tell them that I was making this crazy choice, to give up my corporate career, to open a dance studio.

 

And I had never felt more pride when I got to tell them. And they were so supportive of that decision, and it actually surprised me how much they were encouraging me to go on my own and take this wild and crazy chance. 

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Being Aligned with Values

 

Wow. Okay, so there’s some really, really great lessons there too, and what you just shared.

 

So let’s go back to this. The person who, when you said, you know, he saw something in you, like would it be fair to say and it sounds like you were together for about 16 years, so would it be fair to say that that person was, a mentor at that right time when you needed a mentor around this thing that you were feeling absolutely.

 

But my business partner is Steven Lovelace, and, you know, he is not just a hero to me, but to so many individuals. And he’s 20 years my senior and he never treated me like that. He really saw me as a peer and an equal. And like in many relationships, whether it’s a marriage or a business partnership, we had so many opposite traits that really served us.

 

But I think the one thing that brought us together, which I think is in alignment with the values of my current business to this day, is that this isn’t just about the arts, that we are building the future and hopefully a future generation that’s going to make this world a better place. And we can’t do that without the empathy and the skills that I think especially dance can bring.

 

And I think that really helped us build a foundation and a legacy for him that still exists today. I think it’s amazing because like when you talk about strategy, you talk about sort of the business case of that and then and then the skills that go along with that. But even at a deeper and more personal level, like he saw something in you as a person that could then go on to with growth and development and challenges and like all of that path and all the training.

 

But he saw something in you at an early stage where you could do this. You could be a business owner, you could teach, you could be that beacon for many students. But like but at the core, he saw that in you first. Right? Absolutely. And I love that he always saw my strength as a woman. And he recognized that that was so important in the work that we were doing that these girls needed a powerful role model.

 

And actually, one of the reasons I think we really connected is he was actually subbing for a professor on maternity leave at UCSB, where I went to college and at the top of class. I was always the eager beaver saying, why make an announcement? So everyone can I announce this rally that’s happening right now. And so I think he knew my values through that.

 

And he also knew I wasn’t afraid to ask a complete stranger to have the floor. And I was clearly putting myself through school and, you know, doing all these activities. So I think I laid the groundwork probably with it in the first 15 minutes that he met me. But then again, he took a chance. I was, you know, 21 years old.

 

So he I mean, I work with 21 year old’s a lot. And at that moment it always reminds me to have faith in someone regardless of their age, because I wouldn’t be where I am today, had somebody not believed in me. 

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: The Role of a Mentor

 

So that’s a powerful mentorship lesson right there. For Onward Nation business owners, that oftentimes there was somebody in our path.

 

There was somebody like Steve, like somebody that was kind enough to put his or her arm around us and say, you know, I understand that right now. You don’t see this for you, but this is what I see in you. This is the 30 or 40 year old version of Alana that I see today.

 

Even if you can’t see it, she’s in there. What’s ironic is that, you know, I’m basically that age when he met me now. Right? And, you know, I look back, I was a very classic 21 year old and that I thought I knew so much, you know, especially as I was graduating, I had been filled with this motivation and this inspiration to realize that you’re going to make like $30,000 a year at a corporate job.

 

And it was so like, you know, I thought I was above that and I could do more. And I had all of these ideas, and I think he always loved me and helped humble me and take me down a peg while also giving me the support to, like, chase the dream. Yeah. And realize that. But oh my gosh, I used to be so hotheaded and reactionary and I would fire up an email to anyone that didn’t agree with me, and I would use language that was very.

 

I couldn’t understand how anybody would be late or not read a policy. And I think between age and wisdom, being a mother, you build empathy. You build language to be more understanding. Yeah. And so I think the fact that he loved and supported me through that and helped me grow through that, to be the person I am today.

 

Again, I have great empathy for my younger leaders and friends that are really passionate and fiery, because if I hadn’t had somebody help mentor me through that phase of my life, I wouldn’t be there where I am today because it’s so important to know that we didn’t just come out like the way I am today. I’m a product of a very normal, you know, young phase of being maybe a little bit ignorant, a little bit dismissive, a little bit like just not having empathy.

 

And I think that’s a skill that I really not only try to build in my students, but in my team. And constantly growing at myself. I think that’s a daily journey for us to find that empathy in situations as a leader, especially. 

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: The Importance of a Mentorship Lesson

 

Wow, okay. You’re giving onward business owners some great mentorship, which I’m going to come back to in a second.

 

But a lot of you reminded me of a coach or a bit of a quote from coach Vince Lombardi when he said the person at the top of the mountain didn’t just fall there. And, and it’s, you know, it’s really easy for Onward Nation business owners to lose sight of. We see this person, you know, 20 years ahead of us and think that that person has always been at that level of success forever, and they haven’t been at one point, they were probably a 21 year old newly minted graduate who thought that she had everything that she was going to need.

 

And the reality is, that’s when the growth just starts. That’s the beginning of the process. Even though we don’t want to think that, you know, early on, we want to feel like we’re infinitely more capable than we are. But that’s why we need mentors. So, Alana, this I think is a great mentorship lesson.

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Struggles During the Decision Process

 

So let’s be back to the moment where you were struggling in that decision to take a chance. Walk us through that, because I think that you can, through telling us that story, even some more depth. I think you’re going to be a mentor to some unfinished business owners who maybe are thinking about starting a business if they haven’t already, because I’m sure we have, you know, some some listeners who fit in that category, as well as some business owners who might be making a big decision in their existing business.

 

And that takes guts and courage to make. And you were brave early stepping into that decision. I’m sure there were moments of trepidation. So walk us through that. Like, how did you get through that struggle? I’m sure it didn’t happen overnight, but how did you do it? I think as many mentors as you have, I do think that space of telling my family and having a family that supported me gave me that courage to do it, because I think at the end of the day, we’re all seeking approval.

 

And I think knowing I was going, I was blessed to have that. I know not everyone has that, but I think in my gut I thought of my future of being a mom, and I knew that I wanted to have flexibility and freedom to be in my child’s life. Now, I chuckle a little bit because, you know, I thought entrepreneurship would give me flexibility in some ways.

 

You actually work 24 seven. I know there’s a great quote about that that I’m not, accessing right now about what being an entrepreneur means and working all the time. But I really looked forward to that. And then I thought that this would give me that choice, and that was really that unborn child that I would not meet until 2014.

 

But I thought of him in the future. And that’s kind of what really helped me solidify that decision to take this chance. And I think another ironic postscript for all of our entrepreneurial friends is the entire division at the corporation I worked for was liquidated. They actually called it like Black Friday. 50 people were laid off.

 

Wow. And, you know, so had I taken this mighty course on the corporate ladder, you know, I would have had to make a choice to reinvent myself regardless. So that kind of solidified my, my path and, and where I am today. So the Lord works in mysterious ways, my friend. Yes. He does. That great conversation. I know that we’re quickly running out of time.

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Making Time and Commitment Despite the Busy Schedule

 

I want to be respectful of your compressed schedule. So let’s think about the balance between because you’re talking about working all the time. I wonder if this was the quote of an entrepreneur, only an entrepreneur would be willing to work 80 hours a week, in order to give up the opportunity to work 40 hours a week for somebody else.

 

You know, something to that effect, right? We’re working all the time. Right? So how do you manage all of that, then? How do you manage the commitment to community, the commitment to your business, the commitment to home? How do you manage all of that? What’s ironic today, actually, at this very minute, my son is with my husband doing his kindergarten assessment.

 

And so I think it’s a partnership on every level. I have a husband that supports me, being across the country and chasing my dreams. And I love that he supports our message that mommy is a strong role model and she helps other kids have a better life, and other people have a better life. I also think that community collaboration is important.

 

It does take a village, and I think without those relationships in support, I would not be able to do what I do. And my community has been through a lot and I think it’s, it’s a really special and unique place if you ever get to Santa Barbara. I mean, if we have more nonprofits per capita than any other city in the entire country.

 

So it’s really built on giving back, and it’s the DNA of my organization and who I am. I have never been to Santa Barbara, but in fact, I will be there February 22nd of 2020, in fact. Well, we shall have coffee. I think. Okay. Deal. I’m looking forward to that. 

 

So before we go, before we close out and say goodbye. I want to make sure that Onward Nation business owners know the best way to connect with you, where they can find your business, and how they can connect with you. So what are the best ways for them to be able to do that? 

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs

 

Forging a New Path: Final Advice and How to Connect with Alana

 

Well, there’s well, thank you for that amazing platform. My business is Santa Barbara Dance Arts, sbdancearts.com.

 

Anybody can email me, [email protected]. But I think the greatest legacy that Steven Lovelace and I left behind is we founded a nonprofit called the Arts Mentorship Program, and we really believe in giving back, we provide scholarships, affordable space for artists to create free classes for children with developmental and special needs, and a powerful mother daughter empowerment workshop called I Am her. She is Me. 

 

And, you can learn more about that, whether your heart is called to support and give back to the arts because of the difference it makes to so many kids and individuals, and that’s ampsb.org. Because that’s really living proof that art changes lives through that organization, Onward Nation. We will include all of those links, and ways to connect with Alana.

 

We will include all of those in the show notes for this episode. And no matter how many notes you took, Onward Nation or how often you go back and relisten to Alana’s words of wisdom, which I sure hope that you do. The key is to take the lessons around mentorship and balance that she shared with you so generously, to take those and apply them into your business right away and accelerate your results.

 

And a lot of us all have the same 86,400 seconds in a day. I know how compressed your schedule is. Thank you for saying yes. Coming onto the show, being our mentor and guide, you help us move our businesses onward to that next level. Thank you so much, my friend. Thank you so much. 

 

This episode is complete, so head over to OnwardNation.com for show notes and more food to fuel your ambition. Continue to find your recipe for success here at Onward Nation.

 

Support the youth in forging a new path by learning about the scholarship & mentorship programs