EPS 11: Young Entrepreneur Show with Shirena Hamzah and Clara lim

Dance does something to my body that nothing else can. When a good song comes on the radio, my feet
instantly start tapping and my head begins to bob. I just can’t help but want to dance to the infectious music. The entrepreneurial mums of Dancesteps studio and Baby Dancesteps, Shirena Dato Hamzah and Clara Lim have turned this pastime of mine into a lucrative business where anybody from someone with two left feet or a child whose inner Michael Jackson is yet to be discovered can hone their craft.

If you can describe Shirena in one word, it would be passionate. She lived and breathed dance all her life. So it was only natural for her to open a dance studio at a tender age of 21. And now she has three flourishing dance studios under her belt!

I love how these women carried themselves. They were so graceful. I was so entranced by their beauty and poise when they invited me to watch them teach. They reminded me of mother swans tending to their babies. Speaking of babies, Baby Dancesteps was born after they became mothers to girls. And if you know girls, most of them dream of being a ballerina. Shirena and Clara saw this as a business opportunity and now kids as young as two can become the next ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop or Tap protégé. But what I have learnt from these super elegant ladies was not just to strike while the iron is hot.

​To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be driven. You need to be hungry. Shirena and Clara constantly feed themselves with knowledge on the latest dance and music trends. How else are you going to attract the interest of a 12 year old? So you must put in time and effort in your business, but you must also always be hungry for a new skill. Only then can you sustain your business.

Be inspired to hone your craft by checking the video of my interview with them here.

Watch the video here. Happy watching!

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