At Elite Dance Academy, one of our culture words is Loyalty.
And after 23 years of owning Elite, I think I understand that word a little differently than I did when we first opened our doors.
When I was younger, I probably thought loyalty meant sticking with something. Staying committed. Showing up year after year, even when things weren’t perfect.
And while I still believe those things matter, I’ve come to realize something much more important.
Loyalty isn’t something we should expect from people. It’s something we have to continually earn.
Think about that for a minute.
As a business owner, it would be easy to assume that families who have been with us for five, ten, or even fifteen years will simply continue to stay. They’ve built friendships, they know our teachers, and Elite has become part of their family’s routine.
But I don’t ever want us to take that for granted.
Every year, families make a choice to trust us with something incredibly important: their children.
And that trust deserves our very best.
Loyalty Goes Both Ways
One thing I’ve learned is that loyalty is not a one-way street.
We certainly appreciate families who choose Elite year after year. But I believe our responsibility is to be just as loyal to them.
That means continuing to improve our programs, investing in our teachers, listening when something isn’t working, and making decisions based on what is best for the children we serve.
Sometimes that means having a conversation that isn’t particularly easy. Sometimes it means helping a dancer find a different class or pathway. And sometimes it means acknowledging that we cou ld have done something better.
To me, that’s loyalty.
Not telling people what they want to hear, but caring enough about the relationship to be honest, thoughtful, and willing to grow.
Our Teachers Are Part of That Promise
I also think about loyalty when it comes to our team.
We ask a lot of our teachers. We expect them to be prepared, engaged, compassionate, creative, and committed to helping children grow.
But shouldn’t we be equally committed to helping them grow?
When we invest in professional development, provide meaningful feedback, create leadership opportunities, and support our teachers through challenges, we’re demonstrating loyalty to the people who make Elite what it is.
And here’s what I love about that.
When teachers feel supported and valued, they are better equipped to create those same feelings for their students.
It’s a beautiful cycle.
What Loyalty Teaches Our Dancers
There is another side of loyalty that I think is especially important for children.
Learning to be loyal to themselves.
That might sound a little different, but hear me out.
A dancer who struggles with a new skill and chooses to keep trying is learning commitment. A student who encourages a classmate instead of competing for attention is learning what it means to support someone else. And a dancer who stays true to who they are, even when it would be easier to follow the crowd, is developing character.
These are lessons that extend far beyond the dance floor.
We want children to understand that relationships take effort, commitments matter, and being part of a community means caring about more than just yourself.
But we also want them to know that loyalty doesn’t mean staying silent, ignoring their needs, or being afraid to ask for help.
Healthy loyalty includes trust, respect, and honesty.
The Elite Perspective
After all these years, I don’t measure loyalty simply by how long someone has been part of Elite.
I think about the relationships we’ve built, the trust we’ve earned, and the responsibility we have to keep showing up for one another.
Our families don’t owe us their loyalty because we’ve been here for 23 years.
We owe them an experience that makes them want to continue being part of Elite.
And when we get that right, something pretty special happens.
Children feel like they belong. Teachers feel valued. Families feel confident in their choice.
And together, we create something much bigger than dance classes.
We create a community that helps children become confident, happy, and strong.
That’s the kind of loyalty I believe in.
Lisa Pevateaux
Owner & Visionary, Elite Dance Academy