006 - Dancing down the path to creativity and happiness with Clint Salter

Our guest on the podcast today is one of my mentors, Clint Salter. Join us as we're dancing down the path to creativity and happiness this episode. Download Episode By age 28 Clint had created, built and sold three businesses (two of them in dance). He started dancing jazz at age nine before moving on to tap, ballet and hip hop. Then, in a fortuitous turn of events, a former teacher of his sold her studio. Clint had parents actually approaching him to ask if he would teach their children—and open up his own Dance Studio. So, at the ripe age of 16, Clint and a friend started their own studio. It started as a small studio, with just 30 students. Fast-forward five years and it was operating six days a week, with a total enrolment of a few hundred students. Clint and his partner had built a booming business—and Clint was only 21. Around that time, Clint decided to sell his half of the studio to his partner as he prepared to start working at the top celebrity agency in Australia managing some of the biggest names in television and media. Over the five years Clint was with the talent agency he was responsible for pitching ideas and securing commercial endorsements, licensing, publishing, television, radio and speaking deals for his stable of high-profile clients. During this time Clint also created DanceLife, Australia’s largest community for dancers and performers. In four years of operation, DanceLife became Australia’s bible of all things dance: an online resource for dancers, a large dance competition and a learn-to-dance program for primary and high schools. Clint sold DanceLife after four years to take an opportunity to be the Touring Manager for the musical “Jersey Boys,” where he travelled internationally while managing a team of 56 people. After spending so much time working at the agency and running his businesses, Clint decided he wanted to share with Dance Studio Owners the knowledge he’d accumulated. He wanted to help Studio Owners learn how to design their lives and create a thriving, profitable studio that allowed them to spend more time working “on” rather than “in” the business, something that is accomplished by creating a rock-solid automated business model as well as running a yearlong student attraction and retention strategy. Clint is now the Founder of Studio Success Formula, the Business School for Dance Studio Owners, where he offers mentoring and online training programs to help Studio Owners turn their passion for dance into a profitable business that makes a big difference in the lives of their dance families. [2:46] Clint’s journey into dance [5:42] Top characteristics that distinguish top performers from others “Absolute focus and clarity = power” “Double down on what’s working. It’s about doing less, not more.” [11:45] Why and how the arts benefits kids in life [13:47] Lessons learned from dance class that have impacted Clint’s life “Live your life the way you want” “Every child needs to be doing something creative every week so that they can be themselves and not be stuck in front of the screen and to experience real joy.” [18:01] The importance of helping children discover their own values [19:12] What does smart mean? There are lots of ways to be smart – If you are confident in who you are and what you want to do then you’re smart. [20:32] How creativity leads to greater success in school “Creativity allows children to be more of themselves” [22:09] How Clint learned his times tables and how parents can use this same method [22:30] Different ways to learn enhance the learning experience Connect with Clint Facebook LinkedIn Twitter [25:46] Tip of the week: “Find out what makes your children happy and encourage them to do more of that.” Click Here To Subscribe on iTunes Download Episode Download Episode