Photo courtesy of Tippi Toes
Tippi Toes instructor Sumiyah Morris leads a ballet class.
Vallie Pate doesn’t have a deep background in dance, but she hasn’t let that stop her from building a business that teaches dance to children.
In 2017, after becoming burnt out in her art business, Pate was offered an opportunity to start the Birmingham franchise for the Tippi Toes dance company. The company began in 1999 in Oklahoma and started offering franchises in 2009, but it didn’t have a strong presence in the Deep South.
Pate, a resident of north Shelby County, launched a Birmingham area franchise and became the company’s rookie of the year for 2017, growing it faster than any franchise in the history of the company at the time. In less than six months, Pate had 10 locations with at least 10 students each, and since then, she has grown to more than 50 classes in more than 35 locations.
In the Mountain Brook area, that includes the Cohn Early Childhood Learning Center at the Levite Jewish Community Center, the Montclair Early Learning Center, Mountain Brook Community Church, St. Luke’s Day School and St. Francis Xavier Catholic School.
There are classes for children ages 18 months to about 10 years old. There is ballet, tap and jazz instruction and a full recital at the end of each semester. While Pate herself isn’t a dancer, she has hired an amazing team of dancers who lead the instruction, and she focuses on the business, she said. There were 365 students this past school year, and Pate’s goal for the coming year is 500.
“Our motto at Tippi Toes is we encourage children, and we cultivate character, and we build confidence through the love of dance.”
For more information, visit tippitoesdance.com.
