Prioritizing Mental Health in Cheer and Dance:

Leading Without Burning Out

Appreciating the Grind

Introducing The Prime Alliance Some of the industry's most respected leaders joined together with a shared belief—That both industry competitors and customers alike benefit from cooperation and collaboration. These individuals representing The CheerExpo, Choice Events, All Out Brands, All Day Cheerleading, and American Spirit Cheerc have dedicated their careers to creating exceptional experiences for young athletes—together they are The Prime Alliance. Creating an Extraordinary New Experience When these visionaries first gathered, the energy was electric. The possibilities seemed endless. As they shared stories from their collective decades of experience, a powerful truth emerged, their combined knowledge, relationships, and passion could allow them to give back something truly extraordinary to an industry that had given them so much. Their abilities, existing relationships and highly regarded reputations in the industry allow them to secure a new venue in a proclaimed destination. The Prime Alliance creates a foundation that allows them to reimagine what an industry event can be. Drawing on their firsthand understanding of innovation, these leaders are committed to building something genuinely new, not simply derivative of the past. This commitment requires patience as they carefully craft every detail, even as curiosity naturally builds throughout the industry. The founding members unanimously agree: strategic planning forms the cornerstone of every successful venture. While anticipation builds across an industry eager for reinvention, these leaders remain laser-focused on building something truly transformational. Their unwavering commitment? Prioritize thoughtful preparation without compromising ambition. The planning process is well underway, with every founding member dedicated to delivering an experience that exceeds expectations. Mark Your Calendars The Prime Alliance is thrilled to announce its inaugural event—a gathering that will redefine industry standards and create new opportunities for those ready to embrace something bold. May 8-10, 2026 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks, and be sure to follow @joinmotus for the official event name reveal on May 14th, 2025. The Visionaries Behind The Prime Alliance CX Brands Cole Stott, Kevin Brubaker, Casey Jones, Stacy Rowe Choice Events Robin Coe, Dennis Worley All Out Brands Emilee Fenn, James Kersey All Day Cheerleading Andrew Day, Carlos Foster American Spirit Cheer Paul and Tammy Skinner Are you going to be part of history or watch it?

Avoiding Burnout: How Cheer Gym Owners Can Balance Coaching, Leadership, and Business Management

5 Metrics That Elevate Cheer Gym Profitability When running a cheer gym, it goes beyond just coaching but also requires solid business acumen. To sustain your business, you must track the appropriate metrics. These five indicators will allow you to monitor progress, improve operations, and make sound decisions. Keeping Athletes Coming Back: Member Retention Rate – It is often less costly to retain athletes than to continually recruit new ones. Determine the number of athletes who return every season and identify the reasons leading to some of them leaving the program. Use various retention strategies like Rewarding staff with high retention rates. You can also ask parents to complete a survey and give them something in return. This is a great way to get feedback on your program. Turning Interest into Commitment: Lead-to-Member Conversion Rate – In the case where the lead to athlete inquiries ratio is above zero, how many of them actually convert? If this lately adopted method has an unsatisfactorily high conversion rate, through sales and responses, make sure that you close on new members at a higher rate. Consider streamlining the onboarding process with special trial classes, grab bag gifts, and automation of welcome messages. Maximizing Financial Stability : Revenue Per Athlete – When evaluating the pricing and value of services, this becomes especially useful. Consider whether there are any additional services that could increase revenue like merch, classes, and specialty clinics. Maximize the dollars that each member is spending. Operational Costs vs. Revenue: Maintaining a Healthy Financial Balance – Know where your money is going. If expenses are high, look for areas to streamline. Conduct regular financial audits, negotiate better vendor deals, and optimize staffing efficiency to maintain a profitable gym. Social Media Engagement Rate: Measuring Your Brand’s Impact – A strong online presence leads to more visibility and trust. Track likes, shares, and comments. A high engagement rate often correlates with strong brand loyalty and potential leads. If engagement is low, experiment with different content types and posting times. The Takeaway Numbers don’t lie. Tracking these metrics helps you make smarter, data-driven decisions for long-term success.

Time Management How many times a day or week do you say…I don’t have enough time for that? We all have the same 24 hours, 1440 minutes, and 86400 seconds in a day. So why is it that some people are able to accomplish so much more than others? YOU GUESSED IT – TIME MANAGEMENT! Okay so now we know what the difference maker is, let’s discuss some time management. This is a good time to get out some pen and paper or click on the note’s app on your phone. Let several things that you need to get done over the next few days or weeks. I’ll give you a minute. Okay, you’ve made your list. Now you are going to make everything on the list with an I for IMPORTANT or an NI for NOT IMPORTANT. What does this mean because everything is important and it all has to get done, right? Keep reading. IMPORTANT to-dos or responsibilities are ones that contribute to the achievement of your goals. NON-IMPORTANT to-dos or responsibilities are ones that DO NOT contribute to the achievement of your goals. Alright, now you want to consider your list and decide if the items on it are URGENT or NOT URGENT. You can have very important items are your list, but perhaps they are not urgent or non-important items on your list, but they are very urgent.  Urgent responsibilities require immediate attention. These are often linked to the accomplishment of someone else’s goal. Ignoring urgent issues will have negative consequences. For example, you have a parent that is unhappy with their instructor and is in your office demanding a meeting right now. You must take the meeting because it is good customer service and you don’t want an unhappy customer, but this meeting is time spent not working to achieve your goals of starting a new program at your facility. It is an urgent meeting, it is necessary, but it isn’t moving the needle so to speak. After you have assessed your list you want to consider the following things – Items with important deadlines and high urgency need immediate attention; this cannot be helped. Unfortunately, these tend to be crises, pressing problems, projects that are deadline-driven, emergencies, or things that require last-minute preparations. Items with high importance but do not have urgent deadlines. These are items are usually planning, preparing, and training. The more you can add items like this to your agenda and plan far in advance, the more you are working toward your goals. The items from #1 will slow you down from #2, so you want to do everything you can to get out in front of those items and see the smoke before there’s fire, you know the old saying. Items that are both not important with high urgency are distractions. Assign these to someone else if you can. These tasks do not contribute to your goals and they take energy away from tasks that will have a positive impact on your business. Items that are not important and are not urgent basically yield no value to your objectives. They are time wasters for you and should be eliminated when possible. Here are some additional things that you can do to help you along the way in your time management journey. Question if an activity brings your closer to your goals. Consider the four statements above and categorize you to-dos. Prioritize tasks that bring you closer to your goals versus tasks that do not. Plan ahead as much and as far as possible. The more you can live in this space the less distractions you will have. Always sort your to-do list. This will help you identify what needs your attention, what can wait and what you can delegate to someone else. Good luck and happy planning!

The Pioneers of All Star My journey in cheerleading began in my early years. As a high school student, I witnessed the emergence of All Star cheerleading in our area and joined a local team before continuing to cheer in college. Through my college cheerleading coach, Abel Rosa, I connected with Premier Athletics and established my gym in 2000 in Clayton, North Carolina. Since then, I've owned and operated cheer and dance facilities with Premier Athletics. Like many veteran gym owners, I've experienced the full spectrum of the sport, I’ve pretty much seen it all. Passion runs deep in our sport, most of us OG’s do it because we love it. Admittedly, I’ve had a love, hate relationship with cheer over the years which led me to focus more on learning more about dance and helping Premier and the industry grow dance. During COVID, I stepped away from it all, needing space to breathe. I often say, "Nothing like a pandemic and a mid-life crisis to catapult you into a new direction in life." That direction, surprisingly, was writing. With my background in mathematics, including a degree and experience teaching high school math before opening my cheer and dance gym, writing seemed an unlikely path. I hadn't even developed a love for reading until my mid-twenties. Yet somehow, I decided to publish a story I'd written for my husband years earlier. During the pandemic, with extra time on my hands, I released "The Secrets We Conceal," my debut novel, on March 15, 2022. After it won several book awards, I was hooked on writing and eager to continue. I write under the name S.R. Fabrico to honor my mother who passed away when I was twenty-one years old. Her initials were S.R. Fabrico. My full name is Stacy Fabrico Rowe so when I published my first book I published as S.R. Fabrico. Challenging myself to write purely fictional work, I published "Call Her Janie" in 2023. The novel garnered numerous awards and was featured on the NASDAQ board in Times Square. What began as a single story evolved into a trilogy, with the final installment, "Janie's Hope," set to release on February 11, 2025. In recent years, serious health challenges forced me to reevaluate everything, ultimately leading me back to my roots. Through deep reflection, I realized I was meant to bridge my writing life with my All Star cheer and dance background. My business partners helped connect me with many influential figures who helped inspire and create All Star. I've spent months interviewing one hundred remarkable individuals—inspiring, complex, brilliant people who helped forge All Star's path to what it is today. Through these conversations with genuine, thoughtful, and motivational pioneers, I rediscovered my deep love for cheerleading. It's been a privilege to collect these historical accounts and weave them into a book chronicling All Star Cheer's origins. Beyond the history, the book will spotlight several pioneers who laid the foundation for our sport. Stay updated on announcements and view interview clips by following @joinmotus on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. Be on the lookout for the COVER REVEAL coming March 11th!

Good Habits are Your Best Friend A habit is a regular tendency that is often hard to give up. We tend to think of habits as bad like eating late at night. Habits are also good and most successful people have good habits that they do every day. Consistent small steps to create potential and greatness down the road. Start 2025 off on the right foot by creating positive habits that help you achieve your goals. This could be walking every morning before you start your day, or it could be researching the latest business trends. Maybe it’s reading one book for pleasure every week. It takes eighteen to two hundred and fifty four days for a new behavior to become a habit with the average being sixty six days. Consistency and repetition is key to forming good habits. Remind yourself when on your journey that you need to stay on track. You need to stay consistent. Create habits that you can and will stick to. For example, cutting out caffeine for a coffee drinker would be more like a lifestyle change not a new habit to form. Habits are smaller little tasks that collectively make a big difference. Choose your habits wisely. Happy habit forming😊

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS AND SELF CARE The day-to-day grind of being a facility owner can be overwhelming. If you’re like me, I know that you have so many ideas and different actions you want to implement, but you can’t help but feel you’re falling behind. It’s a daunting task to juggle personal life, business, and everyone else’s needs. It is so important to take the necessary time for yourself too, so that you can be the best YOU, you can be! You need to speak it and write it into existence! Below are several ideas to help you with your New Year’s Resolutions. We have also included a template for you to easily print and get started with your planning today. Personal Resolutions 1 – Attitude of Gratitude – Wake up each morning with a grateful heart. While you’re sipping your morning coffee or tea, think about three things each day that you are grateful for. This sounds simple, but often we forget to take time to smell the roses. 2 – Hobby – Choose a hobby. Select something that you enjoy doing and schedule it. That’s right, SCHEDULE that activity at least once a month. Write it in your calendar like a doctor’s appointment. It could be painting, joining a book club, or getting your nails done. Whatever floats your boat. 3 – Meditating – Meditation has tremendous benefit to your mind, body, and soul. You can easily find videos on YouTube that will walk you through the steps. If you aren’t into meditation than perhaps try prayer or just sitting silently to clear your mind. 4 – Random Acts of Kindness – You get what you give, so pay kindness forward. Take time to do something nice for someone else, just because! 5 – Aspect of Life – Choose one aspect of your life and focus on improvement. This could be eating healthier, exercising, paying off debt, or saving more money. Whatever it is, make a plan and stick to it. Business Resolutions 1 – Speak Your Vision – Spend some time with your key personnel and determine what your vision is. Where are you headed? What do you hope to accomplish years down the road? Create this vision then share it with your staff. Figure out how to implement it into your every day at work. 2 – Training – Decide what kind of training you need or want to offer to your staff. Set dates, today. Then set benchmarks for yourself to plan and prepare for the trainings. It’s easy for iClassPro customers to stay in the know about software updates and offerings with FREE live interactive webinars held throughout the year.​ ​Stay informed about upcoming webinars by signing up for our eNewsletter and/or following us on Facebook. 3 – Evaluate Your Business – Look back at your previous year’s financials. Where did you do well? Where can you do better? Choose one area of improvement, create a plan, and implement it. 4 – Class Management – Dive into your content management system (CMS) and set a goal to learn something new. If you are an iClassPro costumer, you may not be using all of our great features. Set a goal to maximize your CMS potential. 5 – Plan A Party – Do something fun with your staff. A simple gathering where everyone brings a dish would be great. It’s important to take a moment to celebrate your accomplishments and just enjoy each other’s company.