Her Story
About Rachel
I've been teaching line dancing for one year, and I've been teaching other dance genres for five years. What I mainly do is gather the dances I want to teach for each event, learn them, and make sure I have everything down perfectly. Then I get all my things ready and arrive about 30 minutes early for setup. I go to other people's locations and venues to host my events. When I don't have an event scheduled, I'm reaching out to venues trying to get them to bring line dancing to their business, and I work on social media content and my website. I also work at a nonprofit dance studio where I've been for 5 years, teaching kids from young ages all the way up until they age out. Additionally, I'm a fitness instructor teaching bar Pilates. I just graduated from Arizona State University in December 2025 with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and Media Studies. I now get sold-out events with over 100 people, and I'm so grateful for that. I like to call my business a family business because I truly couldn't do it without my parents and my brother - they come to every single one of my events to help me with setup, and my mom sometimes helps me with social media things as well.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rachel
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my family. I like to call my business a family business because I truly couldn't do it without my parents and my brother. They come to every single one of my events because they help me with setup. With my other jobs, my mom will sometimes help me with some social media things as well, so it truly is a family business, even though I'm the only one that instructs.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is don't be scared to just follow what you want to do. When I started teaching line dancing, we didn't have any line dancing in Napa, and my parents brought up the idea of me trying an event just to see if it would get attention. I remember I was so nervous about what people would think of me and trying to start that, and what if it didn't do well and didn't succeed and it was a flop. But I'm so glad I didn't listen to what my mind was saying and I just followed what I wanted to do. Now I get sold-out events with over 100 people, and I'm so grateful for that.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say just to have fun with it. It's a very fun outlet and a very fun job. I don't see it as working. I see it as I get to host line dancing with people that have the same hobbies and interests, and we all get to hang out and dance together and make real friendships.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say trying to keep up with what's most popular right now. It's always changing. There's always new line dances, always new songs you have to learn, so making sure that you're staying on top of it and keeping up with the newest trends.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being authentic is most important to me. When you be authentic, people like you for who you are, and no one's like you. I like to bring a lot of fun to my events, and people say that I'm naturally a good instructor, which really means a lot to me. So just trying to be authentic and be your true self is most important.
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