What It’s Like Being a DWC Ambassador
By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor
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At Dancewear Center, the fundamental mission that underpins all of our work is “to support and empower our dance community through quality, integrity, and education.” A large part of how Dancewear Center strives to support local dancers is by finding unique ways to connect dance artists and forge community. The DWC Ambassador program is one of the ways we’re creating those connections and conceiving that community. As ambassadors, individuals get the chance to create original content for the DWC Blog, take over the DWC Instagram, receive free products, get professional photos taken, and much more.
The program offers dancers opportunities to share their messages with the local dance community through a variety of modes. “I think my favorite part has been the blogs we do. Not only reading everyone else’s blogs and seeing how dance is affecting them… but also bringing your own voice and awareness to the project,” says former DWC Ambassador Heather Smith.
DWC Ambassador Emma Spencer appreciates getting to share information about topics that are important to her in the dance world, like mental health and epilepsy awareness in the studio. “Writing for the blog has been really awesome because I always wanted to do something like that,” she says. “It’s been a good experience to have something I care about be posted very publicly.”
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Former DWC Ambassador Niyah Pratt points out that there is value in getting to share your ideas through Dancewear Center’s platform. “You get to speak on things that you love and what you’re passionate about...It’s such a huge platform that you can use your voice and get anything across that you want.”
Along with the chance to speak your mind on the DWC Blog and social media, being an ambassador comes with numerous perks, like complimentary photoshoots and free products. “There are some really fun things you get to do as an ambassador, like photoshoots. You’re hung up on the wall!” Emma says of the ambassador photos being displayed in the store.
“You get a gift every single month with amazing things inside,” gushes Heather. The ambassadors get a chance to own some of the highest quality products the store has to offer. DWC Ambassador Kelsey Wickman shares that many of the gifts she’s received are products she wouldn’t have purchased for herself but have thoroughly changed her dancing experience, such as the Apolla Shocks.
“I now own more leotards than I do pants!” adds former DWC Ambassador Isabel Reck.
A particularly fun part about being an ambassador is getting to do an “Instagram takeover,” in which the ambassador runs the DWC Instagram account for a day. “I’m not a very social person, I’m actually really introverted. But I think that was a really fun way to interact with Dancewear Center’s audience and their customers,” Emma says of the Instagram takeovers. She also says that it’s been enjoyable to post sponsored Instagram posts and feel like she’s playing a role in spreading the word about Dancewear Center’s products.
“You get to speak on things that you love and what you’re passionate about...It’s such a huge platform that you can use your voice and get anything across that you want”
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The DWC Ambassador role offers dancers opportunities to overcome challenges and learn new things about themselves, whether that be nudging them to be more social, improving upon their writing skills, and more. For example, Emma says that being a DWC Ambassador has encouraged her to “get out of [her] shell socially.” She describes feeling nervous when she learned she had to do an Instagram takeover, but that it ultimately helped her gain confidence and connect with others in the DWC community.
Kelsey shares that it’s been empowering to realize she has a “unique perspective” to bring to Dancewear Center. Being able to reflect on her dance experiences, particularly through writing blog posts, has enabled her to explore new areas of her life. She also appreciates how her experiences are respected within the DWC community. “Being able to have a more personal connection with everyone at Dancewear Center has been really awesome,” Kelsey says. “Because they just know their stuff and it’s so cool to see how much emphasis Sam puts on continuing education.”
Emma says that part of the reason she signed up to be an ambassador was that Dancewear Center often discusses serious subjects in the dance world, like body image, race, sexual orientation, gender, and more. Emma appreciates how solution-oriented the staff at Dancewear Center is, especially in the way it discusses issues relating to these topics.
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In a similar vein, Kelsey shares how helpful it is to collaborate with a small business that cares about creating positive change on micro and macro levels. “[Dancewear Center] is so aware of those pockets of room for improvement,” she says.
And the DWC Ambassadors get a chance to be a part of filling those pockets for improvement with the changes they want to see made. Whether it’s through providing representation for underrepresented groups of dancers, sharing unique perspectives through writing, and more, the DWC Ambassadors are true change-makers that are invaluable to the DWC team. “You have the chance to make some real change in your community,” Isabel Reck says proudly.
To become a DWC Ambassador for 2022-2023 click here!
