The Journey Behind Beyond The Studio | With Hayley

In this episode of Beyond The Studio, Hayley takes a moment to pause, reflect, and share more of her own journey.

From her early experiences in dance, to building DH Dance Academy, and navigating life as a teacher, business owner, and mum, this is an honest conversation about growth, identity, and everything in between.

Hayley shares the moments that have shaped her perspective, the challenges that have tested her, and the values that continue to guide both her work and the community she’s built.

This episode explores:

• How our experiences shape the way we show up for others
• The balance between ambition, wellbeing, and real life
• Why connection and consistency matter more than perfection

At its heart, this is a conversation about evolving, not just professionally, but personally, and learning to lead, support, and grow in a way that feels aligned.

Whether you’re a parent, educator, or simply navigating your own path, this episode offers space to reflect, reconnect, and take a breath.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello and welcome back to Beyond the Studio. Today I am handing over the reins to lovely Holly, who is going to be putting me through my paces today. So Holly, I'm just going to hand straight over to you.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Hello, everyone. And yeah, we're flipping the flipping the script today. How does it feel to be in that side of it?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

I mean, I'm more comfortable being on the other side, but that's fine. I I embrace discomfort. I like discomfort. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Yeah, as we say to the students all the time, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is a good thing. And we always like to lead by example. So always, always, yeah. But I think it's really going to be a very interesting thing because I'm sure lots of people want to know a bit more about your journey. So let's dive straight in. Let's go for it. Um, how did dance and the arts enter your life? Talk us a little bit about through your journey from student to dancer to performer to teacher.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Okay, yeah. So I was I was a very theatrical kid. Um, I loved singing and dancing at home, you know, making my family watch my routines. Like, you know, me and my sister would make up little routines. I never, I never sat still. Like a lot of, you know, it was always like Haley's a bit away of the fairies, was what I got a lot. Or, you know, I never sat still. I still find it very hard to sit still, actually, to be honest. Um, but I didn't do the traditional dance journey for what it was when we were young. So when we were younger, it was you did your ballet, tap your modern, you did you got your grades, you went through your exams, and that was the traditional journey. But I I wasn't that kid. I didn't do my grades. Um, I did do modern and jazz, but I quickly went into street dance when it became more available. Um, I really loved like street and commercial. Um, ballet came a lot later, regrettably. Um, so yeah, I didn't have the traditional dance journey. I think street and commercial was really where my passion lied. That was really where my passion was, and I loved it so much. I felt really comfortable in those classes. Um yeah, and then even though I was theatrical, like I said, I was actually quite, I was like quite shy deep down. So I lacked a bit of confidence to go for it, or you know, to maybe put myself in um classes that I wasn't necessarily as comfortable in, or you know, for for me, street and commercial felt very comfortable. I felt good at it, I felt like I can pick this up, but I was quite shy and quite nervous to maybe push myself out of my comfort zone. Um so yeah, so that was my dance journey as a kid. Um and yeah, I loved performing. I was definitely a bit of a dreamer, like I said, a bit like all of the fairies. Um, I was in my head a lot, and I just, yeah, when I liked when I stepped on stage, I it was almost like I was another person. I just I put on a little armour and performing was always a real way of expressing for me. So that was, yeah, that was definitely my journey as a as a child dancing. I just loved, yeah, I loved being on stage, I love creating dances, I loved, yeah, I loved all of that, but I didn't necessarily do the the grades, which was the traditional way of doing things back then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah, very much. I mean, that was that was mainly what was available at the time. And so exciting now that everyone's got access to everything, yeah, um, and can be as versatile as they want. But your sort of experience in trialling new styles, like you said, came a lot later. Enter our college experience, which for anyone who doesn't know already, we went to the same dance college, and that's the beginning of our journey together. Yeah, um, and there you were exposed to so many genres of dance, and so many styles and theatre. And you were quite boxed in as a commercial and a hip-hop dancer at college, although you were expected to take all of the genres. Um, but people would be surprised to hear that the majority of your jobs actually came through theatre in the end. So talk to us a little bit about how that ended up happening.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, so when I got to college, I was on the back foot. You know, understandably, I was. Um ballet, like I said, came a lot later for me. It came in my teens, and that was when when I decided look, this is something I really want to do. And I was then rightly advised, you need to get yourself into a ballet class, you need to, you know, start branching out a little bit more. And then suddenly I'm in college and I'm with incredibly technical people like yourself and Sean and Lara. And I just I felt really inferior in those genres for sure. I really, really did. And I was, like you said, I was labelled as the commercial dancer. Um, but I've always had this love for theatre. Like I said, I was a theatrical kid. I loved a musical, I loved singing and dancing when I was comfortable in my home. But it wasn't necessarily necessarily something I put myself forward for when I was younger. So I'd always had this love for it deep down, maybe just not the confidence to go for it. And then obviously in college, yes, I was very much boxed in, but I had two teachers in particular, and they definitely saw something in me, and that was Keely and Stuart. Um, Stuart pushed me hard, as we know. Um, I had to go up, and you'll vouch for this, I had to go up to the studio 15 minutes before everyone else to stretch. He used to make me go up there and stretch on my own. Um, but that was at the time, I I probably thought you'll be really unfair, but I had a lot to thank him for really because he saw something in me um that maybe other people didn't, or they boxed me in, like you said, um, because it was I didn't have this, the experience that everyone else has had. Um but for me, I've always had this thing that I may not be the best skill-wise, but I will be one of your hardest workers in the room, like without a doubt. And I will, you know, I'm a massive believer in that, and you get out what you put in. You know, it's never too late to start.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Absolutely. And that you absolutely, and for for the dancers listening, she did not miss an extra session. She did not skip the stretching. And again, it just goes to prove what we always preach that the more versatile you are, the harder you work, and the more you put in, the more you will get out. Because again, Stuart saw the commitment and the energy and the effort that you put in and booked you for jobs. Definitely had energy.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

I'll be energetic, but yeah, my my jobs were theatre. I got theatre jobs because again, I think you know that passion was always there. Um, but yeah, I was boxed in, like I said, definitely for sure.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

And I think this also comes into what we say so much, and we discussed on my episode, cheeky little plug for that one. If you haven't listened to it, go back and listen as well. Listen to them all, they're great. Um but saying that we're always boxed into these things. And I know that when we set up DH, one of the things we were both very passionate about was offering as much as we could in terms of performance opportunities, genres, and making sure that no one ever felt boxed in. And do you think that that's easier to do nowadays, or do you still feel that there are some labels and boxes that people are put into?

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Yeah, I think there are. I do. I think that unfortunately it's almost like a it's like part of culture, isn't it? It's like we are we are, I don't know, it's drilled into us, you know, that you fit into these categories. And it, I think it takes the people around you. I think you have to be in the right environments and you have to have the right people around you. You know, I had I had great people around me. Um, but my parents were certainly not pushy. They wouldn't have pushed me into doing something I didn't want to do. Um, or you know, if I was if I was, you know, really kind of adamant I wasn't going to do something. They they let me make my own way, I guess. Um, but yeah, people, you definitely can get put in a box still, but I think there is more opportunity now than there was. Maybe, like I said, when we were younger, it was very much you do your grades, and if you haven't done your grades, you therefore don't have the experience. Whereas now I believe you can go to college maybe having had a different experience or a different training, and it's not maybe looked at as such a bad thing, or you're not underestimated as much.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Absolutely, I I completely agree. And uh, we've talked a little bit about your performing career. Miss Haley is incredibly modest, and she won't tell you all the amazing things she's done, but there's a lot, the CV is stacked. Um, but alongside all of this, you also maintained a passion for teaching. So, talk to us a little bit about where your passion for teaching came in and your journey into becoming a dance teacher, an educator.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Yeah, so I loved look, I loved my performing career. I really did. I had some great opportunities, you know. I did like touring and did like big venues and and all of that. And I loved it. I even met my husband, like I met Pete on a panto. So, like, you know, I loved, I loved it. But I spent a lot of my postgraduate time auditioning around London, going to classes. Like it was really, really tough. But you know, you learn a lot from that. And but I would be lying if I didn't say, if I either I did, I did struggle with the audition process at times. You know, you get a lot more no's than you get yeses. It's very, very unstable. Um, you know, and we were trained and we were, we were built for that over college. But it was, I always felt uncomfortable that my career was essentially in other people's hands when it came to performing. Um, you know, and no job was long-lived enough that I've that I felt like I was sometimes progressing or, you know, where's the next step? Where's the growth? Um, not in the same way that I saw maybe friends outside of the industry progressing through their careers. So I really wanted to bridge that gap and doing what I love and what I've trained to do, but kind of having ownership over its journey. And really with teaching, I kind of fell into it because I don't get wrong, I loved the idea of sharing my love for the arts with other people and you know, anything creative I'm always game for. But I kind of fell into it because I was really lucky enough to begin assisting with my dance school at a young age, and I will always be so, so grateful for that because I was very quickly then given my own classes. Um, and I I I loved that so so much. So I already had I found that love for teaching quite young, um, but I was doing both. I was performing and teaching at the same time. And then I after graduating, I was also I also landed a job, don't ask me how, as a dance specialist at a primary school called Oak Thorpe. And I started there as a maternity cover, so it was a very kind of, it was meant to be a short-lived thing, and I genuinely had no idea what I was getting myself into, like really had no idea. Teaching at a primary school is very different to teaching kids that want to come and want to be there. Um, but I ended up staying there for 10 years. And I that was never, that was never in the plan. You know, I was meant to leave college and go and perform. That that was my plan and do a bit of teaching on the side. And I stayed there for 10 years um because I just loved it so, so much. And I learned so much, you know, collectively of how to how to work with different ages, different abilities, kids that do not want to dance. Like I said, that is a very, very different thing to deal with. Um, different environments, you know, they they'd really resist against the dance class as well. Um, learning styles, behavior management, working in a team, all of it. And it it really, it really strengthened my skills as a teacher. And it was rewarding to see by the end of the term, say like how their minds had changed and how they'd improved in their self-belief. And there's nothing more rewarding than that. And I quickly found that I was getting, I would, I felt I loved my time performing. I did, I can't say I didn't. That buzz of being on stage is like nothing else. And I loved it, but I actually got the same buzz from teaching when I saw the pride in their face and that moment where they've gone, oh, I couldn't get that last week. Or, like I said, working in the primary school in particular, you know, I'm gonna be stereotypical here, but I'd have a lot of boys come in, you know. Let's paint a picture. I had year six boys that had never danced in their life, come in, and I was like, hey, I'm gonna teach you how to dance. And they would look at me like, you're absolutely not gonna do that. But by the end of the term, how they'd actually gone, oh, actually, that was quite fun. Like, no, they're not gonna go and audition to be the next Billy Elliott, but they had a good time and they actually went, they they saw the value in it, and they they believed that they could do something that maybe they thought they couldn't. And then that for me was just as rewarding as being on stage myself. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

I completely agree. Yeah, I wasn't completely agreeable, but no, no, it's it it makes perfect sense. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, yeah. And you built up your teaching career for a while, freelancing as most of us do. Yes, and then I remember it clear as day receiving the message of like, should we should we take the leap? Should we do it? Yeah, and we were both ready for the next point in our career, I think. Yeah, we were um and there's lots of reasons why this comes about. Um obviously it's wanting more for your your career and having a vision of what you want to do, um, and also kind of knowing what you can bring and your value, which is a very difficult subject to discuss without sort of feeling. I think it's the English trait in us sometimes, isn't it? Feeling like you're yeah, feeling like you're almost overselling yourself. But something that we're very, very keen on for the children that we teach is knowing your value and knowing what you can bring, even if other people maybe don't see that straight away. So have you got any advice or any experiences you'd like to share within that?

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah, so like I said, I was really lucky to work in lots of places, lots and lots of places, you know, teach for lots of different people, different organizations, and the good and the bad, you know. And there were places where the culture wasn't maybe healthy or people weren't treated particularly kindly. And all of that, I'm I'm grateful for all of that, all of those lessons because I think um, you know, when DH was born, like you said, I was at a real crossroads personally. Spoke to my best friends about it, and you know, we we were all like you said, we're all at those points where we'd been freelancing for a long time. You know, where do we go next? And for me, it was either retrain and do something else or take a bet on myself and just do it. Just do it, just open your own thing and just see what happens. Um, but I know I knew I never wanted to do it alone, you know. And we'd all had conversations in the past about next steps for all of us and what we wanted life to look like. And it just kind of organically happened. But I would say that the good and the bad, what I learned was it just drove me to create community and places where people feel valued. And like I said, I'll be grateful for every every single experience that I had because they are all part of why I enjoy what I do today. And every experience, in my opinion, is a lesson. So it taught me what I did and what I didn't want to take with me, you know, what I would and what I wouldn't stand for. And then when it came to creating our own business, I couldn't have had a clearer vision, to be honest, you know. Um, and I think, you know, we, you know, when you create something yourself, you've always got that, you know, that fear, don't you, of like, oh, what if it doesn't work out and this expectation? But I don't really believe in failure. Like, and hear me out when I say this, because I don't mean in like a there's no winners, there's no losers, you know, like what we hear nowadays in like sports days, you know, forgive me if anyone's got a different opinion. But at the end of the day, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. That's life, right? But you don't lose. Like, in my opinion, you don't lose. You only learn something. You're either going to become more resilient, or you're gonna become more determined, or you're gonna become more resourceful, or you're gonna become more skillful from that lesson. So I don't believe you ever really lose. Like you just you just learn. So I learn a lot from all of the places that I taught, you know, like I said, the good and the bad. And I definitely have places where I didn't maybe feel as valued or treated as kindly. But then all it did, it's basically become the driving force behind our community for me. You know, we all need spaces where we belong, we all need friendship, we all need to feel accepted, we all need to feel seen and heard, and to create that now for families is such a privilege. And like you said, there is nothing quite like the arts that brings people together, you know. So I'm grateful. I'm grateful for it for the experience that maybe weren't so kind to me, but I believe that is the foundation for where I am today.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Definitely, and it's um it's a really inspiring story because it's it's reaching those crossroads, isn't it, where you can continue down the path that's maybe not as healthy for you or learn the lessons and grow into the next step, which yeah really builds it.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Also to touch on that, because sometimes you do what you think is expected of you as well. And it was very much expected of me to not go and do anything on my own. And I think sometimes, you know, you can listen to that or you've got a lot of negative self-talk or whatever it may be. Um but yeah, when if you lean into what you're expected to do all the time, that I I think that's really limiting, and I, you know, could have very, very easily done that. Um, but with you know, talking on like the foundations of where, you know, for me, it is from those experiences, you know, with um working in other places, but also the biggest influence I had personally of like what our community now and you know how DH was born and running the business we do today was from my dad, if I'm completely honest, because he um like entrepreneurship and everything, it like did fascinate me growing up because my earliest memories were watching my dad, you know, he built businesses from the ground up, and I just yeah, I found him like incredibly inspiring. But it was what I watched with him was the way he treated people, and again, I think it's it goes back to that knowing how you want people to feel. And with my dad, um, like you said, you get to a point in life where you're at a crossroads where you go, okay, I can either do this or I build something for myself, and and there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders. And you know, I watched my dad, and with him, yeah, of course, you are building something because you want to provide for your family, of course, or you want to, you know, everyone's got mortgages to pay and bills to pay, and you, you know, you need to live. But it was the way he treated people. So my understanding of business was the way you, it was people. It wasn't I didn't go to university, I didn't go and study business anywhere, neither did you. But for me, it was one, it was about yeah, those experiences I had at maybe not so brilliant places, but also it was watching the other version of that. And in his business, he really cared about the customer. He listened honestly, he wanted to help, he wanted to give people the best possible outcomes, and he would he would be thinking about them long after that interaction and their and their best interests. Um, and your reputation stays with you. So I think it was a combination of both of those things, actually. It was being in places where you feel undervalued and actually seeing what it looks like when you really, really care about people. So for me, that's what my understanding of like business was always about. It was about caring about people, and when I didn't experience that, it was the driving force. So yeah, I have a lot for my dad to thank for as well because he showed me the I, in my opinion, the right way to do things. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Absolutely. Big shout out to Terry.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Yeah, no, it's a combination of seeing the right and the wrong way, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

But yeah, absolutely, and um I I couldn't be prouder of the community we have created, and a lot of that does come from the driving force of of you wanting to build a community where everyone is seen and everyone is valued, both team and students alike, so for sure. And uh I can say, you know, it's it's been a great journey so far, and I'm I'm excited for the next steps. Yeah. Um so we've we've touched on your performing experience, your teaching experience, your building a business. As if you weren't busy enough. One day I get a message from you saying, Hey, I've been really enjoying yoga, and I'm gonna train as a yoga teacher because I have, I don't know, a few spare hours in my calendar. I'm gonna just add something into it. So, how did yoga enter your life and what has it added to you personally and professionally?

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Yeah. So with yoga, that um, so a bit of backstory, and it does link in when I was working in places that maybe weren't as healthy for me, or I wasn't, and I can't blame it. I, you know, I wasn't surrounding myself in the best environments. I was working myself into the bone. I am a very driven person. I like I said at the beginning, I find it hard to sit still. I still find it hard to sit still. I find it hard to switch off mentally. So it was a combination of I'm working in places that don't necessarily feel aligned with me. I'm feeling a little bit torn. I'm working myself into the ground, I'm performing, I'm teaching, I'm here, there, and everywhere. And essentially what happened was, and I I'm laughing about it, and it's not funny, but I worked myself so hard. And I've I was in yeah, I was in a very strange place that I I've just got burnt out. I got really, really burnt out that eventually led to when I look back on it now, I was like having like a panic attack. I was like having panic attacks, and it led to I just became really unwell and I got pneumonia. So I'm laughing now because it was like I we laugh now, but at the time it was not, it was, it was, it was scary times. So I'm laughing because my nearest and dearest were like, Hayley, slow down, Hailey, slow down. And I was there just like hell, just go, go, go.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah, we were on your sofa going, maybe this is the world's way of telling you that you need a break.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

But what it did was I was signed off for a month of work, which is my worst nightmare. Like I like being busy, I like, you know, I I love my work, and it was my worst nightmare. But what it did do, it allowed me to step back and have a really, really clear view on everything. And then obviously I had to kind of like get myself back into things. And as you know, for exercise, when you are a dancer, you are very much told, you know, push yourself really hard and always, you know, you're always in a bit of a competitive environment. So someone suggested, why don't you go to a yoga class? Because obviously the breath works amazing. I was having, you know, breathing problems in my chest and go to a yoga class. And also the movement, it's like it's it's quite a natural transit transition for dancers to go to yoga, deep stretch. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll try it. So I went and I absolutely like loved it. Loved it. I really, really enjoyed it. I liked it, it was challenging my mind because it was almost it was learning something new. And all of a sudden, it was like not just the physical, I really enjoyed the physical part of it, but it was the whole philosophy behind it, the breath work. And then all of a sudden, I realized that my nervous system was completely out of whack. It was not something I'd ever learnt about before. I I if you told me what a nervous system was, I wouldn't have had a clue what you meant. But I was in there and I was like, wow, I have been so dysregulated for so long. And like I said, it goes back to a little bit of that. I was very much running on expectation of what other people wanted from me all the time and where I what I thought I should be doing or on what looked right. And I got into yoga and it just allowed me to like take a breath and take a beat and step back. Um so yeah, so then I started just really delving into the philosophy of it. I started studying breath work and meditation, and I started regulating my nervous system. And then I started to realize that a lot of decisions I had been making were coming from a very emotionally led place, maybe not from a place of clarity. Um, and then because I loved it so much and I really wanted to share that with people, and I to be honest, I wanted to learn more. I really like learning. Like I love to learn. Go back to my old school motto, I love to learn. Um and I, yeah, and I just thought I really, really want to share this more and know more about it. And, you know, if anyone has will ever get to themselves into the state that I got into, which was I was, I was really um, you know, I was panicking, I had a lot of anxiety, I had, you know, a lot of my my um my self-esteem was pretty low, maybe around that time, I would say. And yoga just was quite transformative for me. And then I just found that that training and the philosophy of it, I was able to transfer it into teaching kids as well. All of a sudden I was noticing patterns of, you know, maybe if a child's come into the class and they're feeling anxious or their self-belief and being able to add bits of that into my teaching of children and then obviously of of adults as well. So yoga for me just became um it's like my, yeah, it's like my little comfort, to be honest. And I just really love sharing it with people because of the benefits, I guess. Like I just can really feel the benefits, and I just became really fascinated with like like neuroscience, basically, and I I still have I like to learn about it, but yeah, that's where it came from. So again, I know I've kind of repeating myself a little bit here, but what was meant to, what was a very, very difficult time was probably the greatest gift because it allowed me to make decisions from a place of clarity, and then DH was born from it. I was able to take a step back, I was able to then go, actually, what do I really want from life? Um, and that was all down from maybe just finding a different avenue of something that I love to do and kind of yeah, allowed me to step back for a minute, get off the treadmill.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yeah, for sure, and and give you that that time to to pursue something that is related to your field, but also is something for you personally, whenever you whenever you want it.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

And um, it definitely does filter in to us as I think one of our philosophies that we we have within our school is we we treat the student as a whole. It's not just learning steps and learning dance moves, it's mindset, it's how we're gonna help support you as a whole person, not just as a dancing robot. So for sure, the yoga definitely has fed into that.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

It all like links back in like with that yoga philosophy. Like I was saying, the way I'd watched my dad treat people, and it was about the feeling and the mindset, and like you know, it just it just really helped me go, what do I actually want to achieve and how can I do it myself? And yeah, it was just like that breathing space to step back and say, what what do I really really want? And even now, nervous system regulation is like I focus on it all the time, and yeah, with the team as well.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Absolutely, and and it blends into as well finding although yoga is something that you took into a profession and and also into interspersing it into your teaching, it's um finding the time for the things that make you happy, and yoga is a part of that for you. And also just to give you some more backstory on Haley, she's a bookworm, she loves to read. That's something something that just finds those moments of joy. And a final little one for this multi-talented superhuman. The artwork that Haley creates, I have some of it in my room, is incredible. The most incredible artist uh sketchwork. Oh, bless you, you're so and I wonder, does that kind of feed into your creativity with choreography as well? Because you create some very, very creative, um, very unique routines. And I wonder if you see it from like an artwork perspective at all. Bless you, you're so sweet.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Um it's true. When I was a kid, I was I was creative. I struggled in school with the like traditional academics, like you know, traditionally what is what is deemed as maybe not so much now, but it definitely was then. It was like, you know, you have to be good at these subjects. And for me, I wasn't. So it was it was dance, it was art, you know. And art, if I didn't dance, I probably would have done something to do with pen to paper, or writing, love writing, love like anything like creative outlets. And with art for me, it was just another way of expressing, I think. Um still now I would, you know, when I get the time, I love to like have a sketch. Um, I don't know, I've never thought about it like that, actually, of like the artwork to the dance, but I'm sure there must, there must be like a link there for sure. It's just I think it's getting all of your ideas out, isn't it? Whether it's on paper, whether it's through movement, you know, whether I can't sing, um, but whether it's through singing, you know, it's I think it's when you're that creative person. It's it's also actually dancing and art and all of these things are actually a form of meditation. So when I really look back in hindsight at so much, I'm like, oh, it all links together. It just paints a picture of like, I guess, of what you are and what aligns with you and the type of person you are. But yeah, for me, it's I'm a massive reader, still love reading now. Like, could read if you gave me time, I could read like a book, you know, three books in a day. I just love reading. But then art, yeah, love putting pen to paper, dance, they all link together, I guess. But um, you're very sweet to say that because um I'm probably a bit critical about my own artwork. But um it's definitely something I love to do, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

I will be forever your hype woman and telling you that you're incredible, and also as someone who can't draw, I'm always fascinated by people who can draw. Um stepping into our final part of this chat, which has been quite quite a deep delve into your life, really, hasn't it? Yeah. Um I never but also I never give short answers. I'm so sorry. I'm like no, we love it. Love, love having a chat, it's always good. Um, we're probably gonna come into what I think is fair to say the biggest change to your life. And it is your journey to becoming a mum and mum life. Um so now, two years ago, where has the time gone? Um we have we have celebrated Harvey's second birthday. Yes, and uh yeah, talk to us a little bit about how becoming a mum has shifted your priorities and yeah, just your journey into that really.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Yeah, I mean, uh yeah, bless him, he's the best. Um I think becoming a mum is yeah, it's definitely been the biggest transition for sure. Um, I believe that anyone that says work-life balance is uh is an absolute myth. Doesn't exist. You know, we're all just winging it. And you know, I don't know any parent who will say this is easy and like it's a breeze. It's not. Um I think again, I guess going back to growing up, I always knew that I wouldn't have the traditional, you know, maternity life, mum life. I knew that. I knew that from a very, very, very young age because it was drawed into me from a young age. If you want to be a dancer, if you want to go down this route, you're gonna be self-employed, you're not gonna be able to have maternity, or you know, certainly you're not gonna get paid for that maternity, or you know, whatever, whatever that looked like. So I was very, very aware of that from a very young age. So I feel like I've been working towards that for a long time of knowing, okay, right, this isn't gonna look the same as everyone else around me, and I have to be okay with that. Um, so you know, Harvey came along, as we as we know, or for anyone that doesn't know, he came uh six weeks early on the week of a show. So that was not in the plan.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

And I just want to say on record, I will hold that over his head until he's 18, just just so we are aware. I love him, but I will bring that up at every chance I get.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

We'll have to tell the story about how we move the show date to accommodate his due date.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Oh, yeah, we just a little bit of backstory on this. We we moved the show date to the April date so that it wasn't too close to Haley's due date and we had enough buffer time. And Harvey thought, no, no. Do you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna give Auntie Holly the most amount of stress she can possibly have, and I'm going to cause my mum some very, very, very fun times six weeks early. You didn't even have a roof on your house.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Oh, I didn't have a roof when we were going for a house renovation. No, I didn't. Um, yeah, we and then you sent me a screenshot of the messages like this age, like old milk. I was like, sorry about that. Um, but yeah, so you know, he came early, so nothing was expected. I didn't even have um a hospital bag. I didn't have a hospital bag, I didn't have, I didn't even have a pram. I didn't have anything. So thank God for yoga and regulation is all I can say. I think maybe, you know, divine. So everything was as it was meant to be. Um, but he came early, he was in special care, there was a lot of uncertainty. And, you know, you know, fast forward two years, he is happy, healthy, running around, walking, talking. He's he's amazing. Um, but yeah, certainly around that time, that there was already a lot of, you know, a lot of questioning I had from people. Well, how are you gonna make this work? And how are you gonna go back to teach? And you won't want to go back to work. I heard that all the time. Like, I cannot even tell you the amount of times I heard that. Even like while I'm carrying the baby, I'm hearing, you might want to go back to work. I'm like, do you not think I've thought about this? Like, do you not think that I've had to think about this? It's not a surprise. Um, and obviously then he came early, so there's a lot of uncertainty there. So there was a lot to unpack and deal with. But I just, like I said, I just think that any one circumstances is there's just a lot of adapt adapting, there's a lot of compromise, there's a lot of letting go what you think things are gonna be like. Um, and I I also have to like re-add, I ha I really dislike the term working mum. I really dislike it because I've never heard anyone describe a working dad. You know, I've never heard anyone ask Pete, how are you going to how are you gonna go to work? You know, and and look, I understand naturally a lot it does fall on the mum, of course. You know, I get that. I understand that. Um, but the other side, if a woman is staying at home with her kids, it's she's working, you know. I just think women are amazing and women are exceptional. And once I had Harvey, I my respect for every single parent out there went up like 10 notches. You know, I have mum guilt every single day. And I think as women, we can speak so negatively towards ourselves. So I would say during this transition, I have tried to be really, really aware of that. And I've tried to not measure myself to what others are doing, and I'm really, I'm really protective of my time. Um, and I try to make decisions aligned with my family values, to be honest. So I'm very, very intentional with my time and with my energy. So, and I just think parents are amazing, and we maybe have very high expectations around us. Um, and actually, you know, if you're waking up each day and trying to do the best for your kids, you're doing, you're doing a great job. That's what I try and tell myself. But it doesn't, it doesn't come without his mum girl, I have to say that. It really, really doesn't. But I'm I'm very grateful that I get to bring him along for the ride. Because I always say this, but he gets to see the community, he gets to see that passion. He loves nothing more than coming to class and seeing the kids. They make, I mean, one, because they make a massive deal out of him. So he's gonna have to learn that not everyone collapses when he walks in a room. Like, we're gonna have to teach that at some point because I think he walks in, he's like, wow. Um, but I just love the fact that he gets to come along for the ride. It's not without his challenges, of course it's not, you know, some days, some days absolute chaos trying to juggle it all. But he gets to come along for the ride and he gets to see passion and purpose and community and care. And I again, I'm just really, really grateful for that. And I'm grateful that I get to do both in his own wild little way. I guess it's the only way I can sum that up. He's yeah, slow down and embrace things and embrace change.

SPEAKER_00 38:59

So absolutely, absolutely, and it's you know, the the thing that everyone always says, it's finding balance, and it's like, well, that's gonna look very that's gonna be very, very different depending on the day, isn't it? And uh everyone's balance looks different, and I think that's so important.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

Like we have this, there's this like standard, isn't there, of oh I won't go on off a rant, but um, you know, oh if you're working, you're not doing enough, or if you're staying at home with the kids, you're not doing enough. It's like actually, do you know what? No, everyone's circumstances are different.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Absolutely, no, and the and the proof is that he is happy and thriving, and yeah, uh, you know, everyone is getting what they need from from all angles, so it's gonna be a constant journey and but yeah, my acceptance your parents went up.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Wow, yeah. I was like, wow, you are all incredible, and I'm taking lessons from all of you.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

Well, we include you in that as well. You're incredible too. Well, that was a very deep conversation. But love, love a deep conversation. I think it's great. I don't give short answers, I'm so sorry. No, it's great, it's great, we love it. And um, to finish off, we're gonna do the same little quickfire round that you put me under. Oh mine was not quickfire, so your job is to try and be quicker than I was. I'm gonna be quick because I have not been quick this whole episode. I'm gonna be quick. Okay, are you ready? Should we start a timer? No, we won't do that. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

Favourite style to teach street or commercial, but I also love contemporary favourite song. Um there is a song by Jack Ross that I love. Um I've actually forgotten the name of it. Um, because I'm on the spot. Uh it's I I don't want to sing it. I don't want to sing it to you. No, I don't want to sing it to you. Um Drift Away is what it's called. Drift Away. Um Drift Away. Yeah, it's his it's it's his version of Drift Away, and it's just my car song. I just put it on, it's like a summer's day car song. I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:22

Um most rewarding teaching moment.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

Oh my goodness, there's so many. Um, there were so many. I'm gonna go with uh last show. I feel like it was a real moment of again stepping back and seeing everything that we have worked for through the years, like we've talked about in this podcast as well, the highs, the lows, the you know, before we even started the business, before we started DH. And it was that moment of going, wow, look what we've created, look how happy these children are, look how much they're thriving, look at all these happy families. It was it was just this moment of like togetherness looking at the team, and yeah, I would say that was a really it's it's still a highlight in my head.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Yes, it was a it was a great show, it really was.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Favourite food? Oh, Greek, I love Greek food. I'm like a very Mediterranean diet person. Give me a Greek barbecue, love it. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

If the arts and dance didn't exist, what would you be doing?

SPEAKER_01 42:33

I would say something to do with um oh no, you said not arts. No, I can't do drawing. Um we can we can we can bend it a little bit. Something designy, uh like design work, or um maybe like English. I love writing, but then also like I am really fascinated by neuroscience, maybe like psychology, I was really into psychology, but yeah, now yeah, that's probably what I do.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

And finally, the big one, if you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 43:05

Yeah, that's a tricky one, um, because there's a lot. Um, but I would say I've got two favourite sayings, two favorite sayings, and the first one it's not my saying, none of them are, um, but the first one is you're not better than anyone, nor is anyone better than you. And the second one, and they they tie into each other. The second one is self-belief is is a decision before it's a feeling. So it's knowing that you're never just one thing. You know, you can when you walk into a room and you go, wow, all of these people are better than me, or they are you're more qualified than me. It's like that self that self belief is a decision when you walk in that room. And one thing I have to say is I have anything I've ever done, I have always been underqualified for. Like when I look when I look when I look back on it. And I don't mean that in a way of like just wing your way through life. I don't mean that, but It's putting yourself in spaces that you maybe do feel uncomfortable in. You know, like I go back to the dance college thing. I was technically underqualified compared to the rest of you. You know, even you know, when we thought about starting starting a business, it's like we didn't go to uni, we didn't study business. You're tech you you feel underqualified. When you feel underqualified, it doesn't mean you don't belong there. That's probably my biggest piece of advice. Yeah, self-belief is the decision before it's a feeling. You're never gonna feel ready. Just do it.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

Love that.

unknown 44:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

Well, thank you very much. Thank you. How did it feel? You've done it now. It's done.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

I hope that was okay. I know I'm a bit of a waffler, but I hope that was alright.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

No, it's lovely, and um, it's it's so lovely to hear about your journey and looking back on everything that you've accomplished. It's um it's very inspiring, and I'm sure lots of people will love to hear it too. So thank you for chatting with me. Hi, thank you so much for putting me through my paces.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

Right. Well, we'll see you next time. Next week for another episode of Beyond the Studio.