Perfecting the Turn (From "On The Job" with Avery Thompson)

For the 8th season of "On The Job," host Avery Thompson shares stories of folks making pivots in their professional - and personal - lives. Whether it's a successful athlete transitioning into a new career off the field, a fly fishing tour guide trying to introduce a new segment of folks to the joys of the outdoors, or a stadium beer and hot dog hawker who doubles as the CEO of a red-hot start-up, we'll find out what drives them, how they've managed their pivots and what lies ahead. Strap in for eight more entertaining and heartfelt stories of people finding their life's work. "On The Job" is brought to you by Express Employment Professions.

On today's episode, Vanessa Vaught finds serenity, and a brand new livelihood, on a Texas dance floor. https://www.doubleornothingtwostep.com/

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back to on the job. Hope you all are
loose and limber, because this week we're going to put
on our dance and shoes and head down to Austin,
Texas to talk with Vanessa Vaugh, who, as we'll hear,
keeps the live music capital of the world stepping to
the beat. On pretty much any night of the week
in Austin, Texas, you can find a dance floor full

(00:28):
of people in cowboy boots twirling each other around to
live music. The country dance scene, or two stepping as
it's referred to in these parts is going strong, and
a big reason for that is Vanessa Vaugh.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
My name is Vanessa Vaught. I'm the founder and lead
dance instructor at doublin Nothing two Step and I currently
live in South Austin, Texas.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, Vanessa isn't the only person teaching Austin knites how
to boot scoot these days. In just two years, she's
become one of the busiest and it really.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Just took off quickly in a way that even immediately
I was impressed with and was happy with what it
has become now literally having thirty events on the books
in the next few months, is blowing my mind.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Four nights a week, she's teaching social classes at some
of the city's oldest surviving Honckey talks.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Dance is a language, so there are regional dialects throughout
the South, specifically of this style of dance, and we
dance a small space style that fits on our little
dance floors here and that's what we call honky Tonk
two step.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Other nights, she's teaching corporate events.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, so we work with a lot of the major corporations.
I mean again, I never thought i'd have like Facebook,
Meta Apple, Bevo Schlektsilet recently hired us to come teach
their cast and crew. That was incredible. HBO, like my
inbox is always interesting, I have to say.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
And then there are the bachelorette parties.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Which we do line dancing and it's silly, adorable fun.
It's funny because we don't socially line dance in Austin.
The two stupples will just run you over.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Whether we want to give credit to a post COVID
desire to get back out amongst the people again, or
the TV show Yellowstone or Beyonce's new album. The country
scene is thriving these days, and Austin, Texas and Vanessa
Vaught are right at its center.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, specifically, what's happening here is a massive live music scene,
and just the opportunity to go out and see so
much live music every week really has created a strong
dance scene. There's tons of them, and it's very intimidating
for a lot of people to come in and see that.
But that's kind of where I step in and encourage

(02:44):
them that everybody starts at the beginning and it's just
consistency over time, like anything else. Repetition, muscle memory.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Are you still excited about dancing.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I'm always excited about dancing. It's always the thing I
want to do the most. It really does change the
way you feel, just feels so good.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Do you think you'll stick with this business for a while.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think about that a lot. I will definitely probably
ride it into the ground.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
We'll see.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
But I also realize there's so much potential that I've
yet to tap, and so I guess I'm at a
bit of a point. I'm just trying to figure out
what path to take, and also to remind myself that
it doesn't have to be perfect and just allowing myself
to kind of play a little more with ideas that
I have, versus feeling like I constantly need to be

(03:35):
booking events and going and working them.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
No matter how good of a dancer you are, there's
always room for improvement, and the same holds true in business.
So this year, despite all her success, Vanessa's really trying
to create more of an online presence to reach all
those people out there who might be interested in dancing,
whether they be near or far. Could you have ever

(03:59):
foreseen being where you're at now?

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Not even remotely.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
No.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
I was in freefall during the pandemic, absolute freefall. I
was borrowing money from my sister to pay rent. I
was looking in my couch cushions for enough money to
get a five dollars bill to get into the bar
to go dance. I was in absolute freefall. So could
I have foreseen this?

Speaker 1 (04:20):
No? So if you want to learn how to two step,
come join us down here for on the job. I'm
Afrey Thompson. Looking for a job is lonely, endless, searching
phone calls that go nowhere, applications that vanish into thin air.
What if you could link with dozens of local companies
who are hiring right now with just one connection. That's

(04:44):
Express Employment Professionals. Find us at expresspros dot com. One connection,
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