This one's a big exhale.

If you've ever looked around your studio, full classes, busy recital nights, smiling families… and then gone home to stare at a credit card statement wondering why it still feels tight… this episode is for you.

This week we're joined by our dear friend Kim Fields, owner of Valley Dance Theater in Virginia, who shares the real story behind her studio turnaround. Not the highlight reel. The real one.

Kim talks about the ego check of closing a second location. The painful realization that cutting prices to "compete" was actually costing her everything. The years of working harder, not smarter. And how she went from financially stretched and exhausted to profitable, debt free, and finally able to breathe again.

We talk about:

• Why pricing based on competitors is a dangerous game

• The emotional cost of running a studio in survival mode

• What it really looks like to audit your business

• The trap of "artists shouldn't make money"

• Why profit doesn't mean you've sold out

• How debt free equals freedom, not restriction

• The confidence shift that happens when your numbers align

Kim's honesty is refreshing. Her growth is inspiring. And her reminder that artists deserve to make money too might be the mindset shift you didn't know you needed.

If this episode hit home, share it with a studio friend. You might just save someone's business.

And if you're ready for a new approach instead of another exhausting season, this is your sign 💛