Meet Brittney Batson | My Heels On Dance Instructor and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brittney Batson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brittney, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Right out of college, I moved to Texas and jumped into my first Zumba class. I quickly discovered my love for moving to music and working out at the same time. Little did I know this would be the beginning of my pursuit of an unforgettable dance journey as an adult. I found myself attending as many classes as I could each week for hours out of the day. After teaching students at work, I would eagerly head to Zumba, heels, hip-hop, and chair class to grow as a dancer because of the confidence and energetic feeling I would have after class. Going to the dance studio and meeting amazing women became the highlight of my week.

Along my journey, I fell in love with hip-hop and the versatility of the genre. I knew in my heart; it was now or never if I truly wanted to pursue dance. I decided to pursue a background in hip-hop and develop my foundations through various training programs in Houston. I loved attending class and learning from amazing choreographers, taking private lessons from my teachers, and pushing myself to become the best dancer possible.

Years of training left me as a better dancer, but I felt defeated that I had not reached all of my goals. I started to feel like dance was becoming a space for me to critique and push to be like other dancers instead of staying true to myself. I started to desire a dance space that could see “me.” So, I decided to step out on my own and host my first class. This became an opportunity to create a dance space I had always wanted and needed. It was the push for me to understand how to choreograph, teach, and host a class for the first time. Perseverance and dedication led me to host my first class. I realized that choreographing would become another opportunity for me to express my creativity, dance, be my complete self, and live out my dream. This would become the next phase of my dance career. I started teaching my classes on random occurrences and inviting my friends to come years before My Heels On Dance became a small dance company in Houston.

I remember walking on Post Oak before the pandemic, looking at a vacant building, and telling myself “I am going to open a dance studio one day”. I kept walking and kept that dream in my heart over these past years while I continued to train in my free time and educate myself as much as possible.

I learned how to work my full-time teaching job during the day, leave to take dance classes and make it to practice at night, and plan on starting my business until I fell asleep in bed. There have been countless hours, tears, and smiles spent preparing to do what I get to do today. I have learned that God gives us all talents and gifts. We have the opportunity to cultivate them and use them to help impact those around us. It is a blessing to be able to use the talent God has given me. There is a feeling of fulfillment in my purpose that carries me, and I find gratitude and celebrate the small wins along this journey.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have learned nothing in life is easy, but with God, all things are possible. Starting My Heels On Dance presented many obstacles along the way. I had to learn how to start a business from the ground up with limited resources. This took a lot of my time in the start-up phase. Educating myself was key to moving forward with my business plan, but it took countless hours, failures, and re-tries. However, I was determined to not give up and understand that anything worth having is going to be hard work.

I had to learn to navigate my full-time job, second job, dance, and My Heels On Dance. Working multiple jobs requires sacrifice. I had to learn to sacrifice time and sleep. Starting a business requires a lot of work and consistent dedication to see it through. I had, and still have many early mornings and late nights working on behind-the-scenes projects to keep My Heels On Dance going in a positive direction.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love the city of Houston because of the variety of events always taking place! You honestly never have to live the same day twice. There is always something new to try. This is a pretty easy one for me. If I had a friend visiting me for a week we would start our day off at the Memorial City Park or Aboretoreum for a morning walk or jog. Then, we would head to the Bayou to grab a pair of city bikes and ride the trail around downtown Houston. I am pretty sure, the food trucks there would be serving up amazing snacks for us to enjoy and walk over to the skate park to enjoy for a bit. I always love to see new exhibitions in the museums. The Museum of African Fine Arts, The Menil Collection, and the outdoor sculpture museum across from the Museum of Fine Arts never disappoint and are easy and fun places to get to afterward. Colling down is always a must and hopping over to Memorial Park to do the peddle boats and grab a popsicle from one of the local vendors will surely help out! Then, we would have to stop at one of my favorite restaurants for lunch, Moxies, The Rustic, House of Blues, Bisou, or even the Commonbond in Montrose would be a top contender. Dessert is a must throughout the summer and Jenni’s Ice Cream will definitely do the trick for us as we walk and go to a few shops in the area. If it is a sports night, going to a game is always a must or at least heading to Kirby Ice House or Pitch 25 to catch it will provide us with a lot of fun. It ends at Midtown for a little bar hopping, music, and dancing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In all honesty, I believe inspiration comes in the form of people using their gifts and sharing them with the world. So many things have inspired my journey from a Spotify playlist of Beyonce, to books like “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes, or even welcoming church environments like Lakewood. I think being open to seeing beautiful and meaning in the things around us, really helps us find motivation and encouragement when we need it the most as entrepreneurs.

My shoutout goes out to all those brave enough to share their gifts with others on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube and other social platforms. Seeing others accomplish their goals, like dancers Aaliyah Jannel, Keira Harper, and Bri Nicole has inspired me so much. Watching them share their talents gives me strength when I need it to believe that if they can do it, so can I! It removes the parameters of perfection and highlights just talent and the courage to share your gifts with the world.

Website: www.myheelson.com

Instagram: myheelsondance

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/myheelsondance/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/my-heels-on-dance-houston