The dance of success
Charity Carter, owner and artistic director of the Fort Bend Academy of Arts and Dance, won the 2016 Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce’s Pinnacle Award for her studio’s financial success and community impact.
An arts academy owner knows the right steps in being an entrepreneur.
While Carter’s journey has been rough, having opened her studio during a recession, she succeeded with creative strategies including opening her space to karate, vocal and piano classes.
In 2013, she started the Edison Arts Foundation nonprofit to offer financial aid for her programs and, after 10 years of running her business, has plans to soon expand with the construction of the Edison Performing Arts Center in Fort Bend. There she will build upon the dance programs she offers children ages 3 and up including after-school programs and opportunities to meet with professionals such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Misty Copeland. Q: What inspired you to start the Fort Bend Academy of Arts and Dance?
A: I love dancing. I’m a product of HISD. I started dancing in elementary school and my first dance teacher was Ms. Body. She was a beautiful brown lady with a voluptuous body. She was not your stereotypical dance teacher and I feel in love with that.
My senior year (of high school) I got pregnant and became a young mother. I wanted to go to Columbia University in New York, but my plans got halted. I knew I always wanted to dance, so I chose to go to Sam Houston State University under the wonderful direction of Dana Nicolay. I took my daughter with me, so I was a single mother trying to pursue dance. NowI also knew that I loved education, so I minored in education and business. Q: What interested you in business?
A: My father was an entrepreneur. He was in the business world for over 35 years. My grandparents owned stores across the country, so entrepreneurship ran in my blood, in my family. My interests shifted. I was no longer as interested in performing as much as I was interested in raising my daughter, being a mother and providing a roof over her head.
I was able to work in dance and teach. And doors kept opening. I put in the time to learn, and the importance of education grew with me and I knew that whatever I did, it had to involve education. I long-term subbed, using free time to write out business plans and research on smallbusiness startups. Long story short, I’m here today because I knew I loved dance, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and I knew I wanted to be a dance studio owner.
Q: What’s the importance of offering artistic opportunities to younger generations? ents want them to dance. Some of them are here for the short term just because they want to dance. And some are here long term because they want careers in dance. Our job is to help them find themselves. We want them to be viable. We want them to be productive citizens. We want them to be dancing lawyers. We want them to be dancing accountants. We want them to do whatever they want to do and know that we don’t have to worry about them not being successful. Q: How do business and the arts intersect, and how do you teach this to your students?
A: You have to look at the arts as a business. You can’t just be a starving artist out there. You have to have a plan. And many businesses support the arts. They give to the philanthropic projects of the arts and arts organizations. The arts is one of the most viable industries. We have the Theater District. We have Jones Hall, we have the Hobby Center, and we have the Alley Theatre, just to name a few. Culture and community and the arts go together. That’s business. There is money to be made. Q: What are challenges in running a business like the academy, and how do you overcome them? A: Fluctuating income. Because we operate on disposable dollars, the first thing parents get rid of when the economy is tough is extracurricular activities. If they have to choose between dance and bread, it’ll be bread. But that’s where partnerships and sourcing of outside activities add revenues. My personal challenges, and many studio owners can attest to this, is juggling being a teacher to operator to business manager to all the different job titles you have to operate as a smallbusiness owner. But parents are your number one source of volunteers. Q: How does it feel to have received the Pinnacle Award?
A: To be a Pinnacle Award winner is an extraordinary opportunity. There are many applicants, and they could have chosen any. To be recognized as an arts small business with a big heart is a great opportunity. The experience has been wonderful. To know that our peers value the arts and value what we’re doing, the impact that we’re having in the community, is wonderful.