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RANDOLPH — Ten years ago, Chelsea Kuchta clutched her business degree in one hand and set off to find a job in banking.
“I literally put out my resume everywhere and they were just ‘We’re not hiring,’” she said.
Her daughter, Lilly, was attending dance classes in Norfolk and it was possibly on one of those drives the idea of opening her own dance studio started to form.
“There were really no opportunities for girls here (Randolph) and I wanted to be able to provide that opportunity instead of their parents having to drive 30-plus miles,” Kuchta said.
The more she thought it through, the more it seemed like a good fit.
Kuchta’s been involved in dancing or cheerleading from the time she was a little girl doing pirouettes at Paulyn’s Dance Studio in Norfolk into college cheering for the Wayne State Wildcats.
“The way you get to express yourself when the music comes on, it’s a way to relieve different emotions,” Kuchta said of her love for dance.
She crunched the numbers with her husband, Josh, who told her she needed at least 20 dancers to sign up to make owning a dance studio feasible.
Kuchta was nervous during her very first registration but hit her 20-dancer goal within the first half hour and Studio 103 was born.
“It just took off and it went better than I expected,” Kuchta said.
By the second year, the studio had outgrown its original space west of Jim’s Food Center and it moved across the street to its current location, still in downtown Randolph.
Studio 103 celebrated 10 years in business last week with registration for fall classes, food trucks, a sidewalk chalk contest and scavenger hunt.
Under the direction of five instructors and multiple teacher’s aides, about 90 regular dancers from ages 3 to 18 can take a variety of classes at the studio including hip hop, clogging, jazz, contemporary, ballet and pom.
“We offer everything and usually every class fills,” Kuchta said.
A select group of dancers are chosen as the studio’s company team, competing in Council Bluffs, Sioux City and Omaha each spring. Expert choreographers help Kuchta design routines for competition.
Summer camps are also a studio staple, helping dancers hone skills in the off season.
It’s exciting for Kuchta to see how much the studio has grown but even more rewarding is seeing dance’s powerful ability to transform.
“The confidence it instills in these girls is absolutely incredible, seeing them on the stage and the confidence,” she said. “Dance is so much more than people realize - the values it gives them, being able to work with others and working under pressure, hard work, confidence, builds your self esteem and a good way to express yourself.”
Ten years has flown by, Kuchta said, and she’s grateful to the community for supporting her and the business for the last decade.
“Without them trusting me with their kids, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
