{"id":2085,"date":"2021-04-06T13:33:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T13:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2023-09-11T13:38:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:38:00","slug":"the-long-slow-dance-recovery-how-studio-founder-nikki-webster-is-getting-back-on-her-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/the-long-slow-dance-recovery-how-studio-founder-nikki-webster-is-getting-back-on-her-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"The long, slow dance recovery: how studio founder Nikki Webster is getting back on her feet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Performer Nikki Webster is among Australia\u2019s dance studio founders struggling to recover from coronavirus bans. While business is picking up as restrictions ease, the financial battle is far from over.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Sandra Fulloon<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe that all round performer Nikki Webster is just 33-years-old. The mother of two seems to have packed so much into her young life.<\/p>\n

After rising to fame as a 13-year-old, starring at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics opening ceremony, Nikki went on to release pop singles, and perform in musicals around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m a really proud Aussie. So to represent my country on a global scale was an amazing experience,\u201d she says with a wide smile.<\/p>\n

The young entrepreneur also runs several dance studios with her brother Scott Webster, in Sydney and on the NSW Central Coast. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a small business and it\u2019s a family run business,\u201d Nikki explains taking a break from an afternoon workshop with teenagers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe run classes throughout the week with some incredible teachers, as well as myself and Scott.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we are all here to support the creativity of these young students as they train to become performers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her students agree: \u201cIt’s really exciting to have Nikki [Webster] teaching us and being a role model because we get inspired by her,\u201d student Bonnie Zheng told Small Business Secrets.<\/p>\n

Nikki opened her first studio aged 21, and admits it was a bold move.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpening initially in 2008, we only had one branch and it was very daunting, but also very exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwning a small business, it\u2019s seven days a week and you never switch off. But it\u2019s also a passion. But it takes a lot of hard work and determination and drive to keep building and progressing and being able to open up different branches.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Nikki\u2019s studios are among many impacted by coronavirus restrictions over the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarch 2020 is probably a month nobody wants to remember, especially if you are running a small business,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

I Lost My Gig Australia, a data capture initiative that quantifies the impact of the pandemic, estimates that cancelled events and concerts delivered a $345 million hit to the nation’s arts sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be told to close our doors, obviously for the right reasons, was just incredibly overwhelming,\u201d Nikki says.<\/p>\n

Like many other owner-operators, Nikki adapted to survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially we lost around 80 per cent of our clients, and then we opened up online.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pre-recorded our dances, and then gave students live feedback, so that we were able to actually see how they were progressing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the students connected with others online and have now become really close friends, which is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, some students chose not to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlowly we’re getting more and more students back, but it’s still a journey,\u201d she says. \u201cWhile some studios have grown, others have not. It\u2019s still just the unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she welcomes the return of major productions like Hamilton in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to see live theatre coming back, it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

At her Leichardt studio, a group of teenagers is rehearsing a contemporary dance with live didgeridoo artists for an upcoming performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve invested back into our community as a small business because I’m a performer and I want to provide a safe space for these performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re just grateful that we’re in such a wonderful country and we’re able to [manage coronavirus] as well as we are, so that we can continue to open our doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: SBS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Performer Nikki Webster is among Australia\u2019s dance studio founders struggling to recover from coronavirus bans. While business is picking up as restrictions ease, the financial battle is far from over. By Sandra Fulloon It\u2019s hard to believe that all round performer Nikki Webster is just 33-years-old. The mother of two seems to have packed so … Continue reading<\/a>The long, slow dance recovery: how studio founder Nikki Webster is getting back on her feet<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-69","category-dance-nikki-webster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2086,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions\/2086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}