Karen Gladis grew up dancing and easily added teaching to her repertoire while she was studying and working professionally as a dancer. After spending years as a teaching artist in studios, preschools, Montessori schools, and more, Karen was encouraged by fellow parents to start her own studio.
In 2011, Twinkle Toes Dance Company was born. Karen has always been passionate about teaching children and inspiring them to think creatively and move their bodies. Twinkle Toes started in a rented karate studio, but it quickly gained so much popularity that Karen needed to find her own space.
Twinkle Toes Dance Company began by taking bookings by phone and email, adding lots of administrative work to Karen’s already busy schedule. After meeting with the Sawyer team, Karen knew that Sawyer was the perfect fit for her business. “I couldn’t find what I was looking for and then it found me,” Karen says. Now, after over 10 years in business, Twinkle Toes has over 70 classes, 10 instructors, 2 studios, and no plans to slow down!
Twinkle Toes Dance Company’s studio owner needed to spend less time on administrative tasks and find an online registration system with features that appealed to modern families, a back-end that was easy for staff to use, and software that streamlined operations.
When Twinkle Toes Dance Company first started out, Karen knew she could only take bookings via phone and email for so long. When she found Sawyer, Karen loved that the software was user friendly and included many of the features she was looking for to run her dance studio more efficiently.
Karen explains, “I find myself feeling grateful for how easy the Sawyer registration process is on a daily basis. The process of registering someone before Sawyer was a lot of back and forth. This is so much easier for me and my customers.”
Twinkle Toes uses the free trial feature on Sawyer frequently. It helps the studio get new customers in the door and keep track of them after they’ve tried the classes out. Similarly, offering drop-in classes, opening up waitlists, and utilizing Sawyer’s reporting dashboards helps Karen and her team attract new families, keep track of class demand, and plan for growth. And Karen loves how user-friendly all of these features are, which makes it easy for her to implement them when setting up her classes.
Sawyer also helps the Twinkle Toes’ instructors spend less time on administrative tasks and more time planning and teaching their dancers. Karen says, “The teachers love the rosters and all of the things that we’re able to do. They are so helpful! The teachers can plan the class at home and in real time.”
As more and more parents feel comfortable returning to in-person activities, Twinkle Toes is experiencing great growth. Karen loves that “Sawyer helps us keep things running efficiently” so she can manage the increase in demand and continue to provide wonderful experiences to the next generation of dancers.