Jocelyn Richard - Praisedance

Although native New Yorker Jocelyn Richard has danced seriously since she was 11 years old, for much of her married life, she was a homeschool mom and homemaker. 

Now, with her third child about to graduate, “I’m retiring from being a housewife,” she says with a laugh—and with the help of theClubhou.se’s Make Startups entrepreneurial training program, she’s turning her love of dance and teaching into a real business.

In 2008, Richard was teaching studio dance, but with a brand-new baby, she wanted to stay at home. So, she decided to go virtual, launching a website and creating dance videos, e-books, and other digital downloads. A few years in, she found a new niche: Other dancers were asking her for advice on how to offer their own online classes. “So, I started offering a marketing for dancers class to help other dancers create courses like I was doing,” she says.

But it wasn’t what she would call a business—not yet. “It was feast or famine,” she says. “I was just doing my little independent thing so I could have extra money for the kids to have piano lessons.” 

“Having everyone in my corner encouraging me to stay on task…is just what I need”

- Jocelyn Richard, Entrepreneur

Then March 2020 happened, and Richard realized that what she had been offering for a decade could become a real, viable business. “It was the perfect time to get serious,” she says. 

Yet—“Our society is not very friendly to moms returning to the workplace,” says theClubhou.se cofounder Eric Parker. But Richards had an ace in her pocket: She already knew about theClubhou.se and Make Startups, so she decided to pull the trigger, signing up to became part of its October 2021 class. 

The experience, she says, has been invaluable. “I’m a creative and an artist, so I’m distracted easily,” she admits. “But the camaraderie and accountability from my colleagues in the cohort is what I need—just having everyone in my corner encouraging me to stay on task.”

“I Didn’t Know How to Create a Real, Sustainable Business Out of My Passion”

— JOCELYN RICHARD, ENTREPRENEUR