Meet Melinda Cassiday Jacques | Owner, En Pointe School of Dance

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melinda Cassiday Jacques and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melinda, what is the most important factor behind your success?
It sounds corny, but I think the most important factor behind the success of En Pointe is the love I have for all the dancers and my passion for teaching. While we could choose to focus solely on teaching incredible technique or having the best choreography, instead En Pointe focuses on the entire dancer, as a person. The teachers know the kids by name, most of the time we know their family, we know what’s going on in their lives at home. I feel that every child that walks into En Pointe is there for a reason and that it’s my job to love them and help guide them…all while still teaching sound dance technique and creating wonderful dancers in the process. But I think people are drawn to En Pointe because they feel a difference in the environment that I create there for families and for kids.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I own and run En Pointe School of Dance in Lilburn. En Pointe was founded in 1987 by Kathy Thomas and the opportunity to buy the business fell into my lap a little over a year ago when Kathy was in the final months of her life. It’s been the most challenging project I’ve ever taken on, as well as the most rewarding. First, the school wasn’t doing well financially when I bought it. So my biggest challenge right off the bat was finding areas to cut costs and increase our student number in order to build the business. The second challenge was updating the brand’s image. My husband and I updated the look of everything from our website to the interior of our building (the same building the school has been in since 1987!). Updating our brand’s look turned out to be the easy part, despite the many all-nighters my husband and I spent at the studio last summer doing renovation projects with our very gracious and helpful friends. Growing the school without an advertising budget was hard. I cut costs by taking on the task of teaching majority of the classes and underpaying myself. If I know one thing about myself, it’s that I am more determined than most people. I will stop at nothing to get a job done or achieve what I want to achieve. This was helpful for growing my business last year, but I also learned through it that I need to find time to rest and ask for help along the way. I can’t run a successful dance studio and be there for my students if I’m constantly burned out.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love the park area at Old Town Lilburn. There’s a fantastic taco place right next to the park and a cute new coffee shop that I love, Break Roasters.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Credit for how I model my dance studio’s environment belongs to my late mentor and founder of En Pointe, Kathy Thomas. She showed me how to care for students and families outside of the classroom.

Website: enpointeschoolofdance.com

Instagram: @en_pointe_school_of_dance

Facebook: En Pointe School of Dance

Other: info@enpointeschoolofdance.com

Image Credits
Headshot by Julian Jacques Photography