Meet Francis Veyette | Ballet Teacher

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

Hi Francis, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
The level of commitment it takes. Some people think you take class a few times a week and if you are really talented, you’ll make it. That isn’t true. The most talented people in the world have to train at least 3-4 hours a day, 5-7 days a week. And that is just the classes. It doesn’t include time stretching and taking care of your body. It doesn’t include the time and effort put into your nutritional needs, cross training, extra rehearsals, competitions, master classes with guest teachers, auditions, etc. Most of our students at VVBS attend many classes a week at their home studios, and then make the additional commitment to train with us and get the extra help they need.

What should our readers know about your business?
Veyette Virtual Ballet School was started in 2018. My wife Lauren and I were approached by a family that needed extra lessons for their daughter that wanted to be a professional ballerina. Emery Newton became our first client and VVBS was born. We started teaching her over Skype and we realized there was a business here. Other industries were already doing similar things. Ballet can be a little slow to make progress sometimes. We started doing some social media posts for the business and slowly but surely we grew our clientele. Then COVID-19 happened and we were very lucky to be in a position to meet the needs of many kids with no studio to dance in anymore. This had its challenges. We needed more teachers, and we were picky about who to bring in as we had built a reputation for honest, caring, intense instruction and mentorship. We had to expand our scheduling and payment options. What had been a side business became a full time job for us both almost ever night. And Lauren was pregnant with our first child. We scrambled. We hustled. And we asked our clients patience as a couple dancer/teachers tried to figure out how to scale an internet business. As we were a small company, we were able to correct any mistakes pretty quickly. If a client needed something, they got me or Lauren in response. We learned a lot along the way. What sets us apart is our experience and commitment to our students. Our students are mostly full time training dancers that are taking time out of their very busy schedules to seek extra help. We feel an obligation to match their dedication.

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 would probably take them to Key Biscayne for a bike ride and to see the lighthouse before we sat on the beach for the day. Or maybe Overhaul beach if that’s too busy. Either way we would have dinner at Sherwoods Bistro, Blue Collar, or Pinch Kitchen, Lauren and my favorites.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Rebecca King Ferraro. She helped us a lot with our social marketing as we launched a group class series. This was something new for us that we did in response to requests during the pandemic. We had just ad our first baby and our business was exploding as we tried to meet the growing needs of our dance community during a difficult time. We couldn’t have launched that program without her.

Also my wife Lauren Fadeley Veyette. She managed a growing business, newborn baby girl, and getting back to dancing in a professional ballet company during a pandemic, all at once. She is a rockstar!

Website: https://www.veyettevirtualballetschool.com/

Instagram: @veyettevirtualballetschool

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VeyetteS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/veyettevirtual/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTbmm5-3CZvWaIC2InWiWRQ?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Ariel Rose Photography