February’s Assets Lady will be featured on Caitlin Ritchie, a friend of
mine who is a true inspiration to all. While thinking about February’s feature
it was obvious who I should due to her recent life events. For being only 26
years old, Cait has done so much already in her life! I’m really not even sure
if this woman has time to sleep! You will soon find out if you read on, but she
is by far one of the most successful young women I know and I couldn’t be happy
to have her advice posted on the blog. Enjoy the read and I hope you learn a
lot, I know I sure did!
Cait is Ramapo College of New Jersey graduate who studied education. She
is a certified Elementary Education teacher (K-5) and plans on getting her
special education certification but has put that on hold due to starting up her
own business. While at Ramapo, she was on the college dance team from 2006-2010
and captain her senior year. As I mentioned, I know Cait and I know her from
the Ramapo College Dance Team. When I was a first year student, Cait was an upperclassman.
From my personal experience, I learned from early on that not only was Cait an
amazing dancer with great insight, she was had a memory of a machine! I think
the woman remembers every dance she ever did or saw! It was a true inspiration
to be led by her. Going to practice was not only fun, it was a learning
experience and helped me down the road when I came into the position of
captain. She is a true leader and inspiration to all she comes in contact with.
Apart from the dance team, she was a coach for a recreational cheer team
for four years from 2005-2008 and about to start voluntarily teaching Zumba at
nursing homes and retirement centers. Cait said “This I am extremely excited
for and should be an incredibly rewarding experience.” As you can see, Cait is
always on the go and fitness is a huge part of her life, as well as teaching
and leading others.
Cait, the huge Beatles fan that she is, lives by the quote “Let is Be.”
As you will soon see, Cait’s life really is about rolling with the punches and
taking everything in that she can. As I’ve mentioned Cait at a “recent life
event” and she owns her own business. Well! That’s what makes Cait so amazing!
At such a young age, she has recently opened a dance studio and can do
something she loves everyday! However, I also mentioned I’m pretty sure she
doesn’t sleep! Of course this is just an assumption! BUT! While she just opened
a studio, wants to voluntarily teach Zumba she also still works at an all star
gymnastic and cheerleading gym coaching three teams, 2 dance and one cheer. How
crazy is that! If that’s not busy and always being on the go, I don’t know what
is! But that is the type of person Cait is! She is always on the go and helping
others, such a wonderful person to look up and aspire to be like and learn
from!
So what’s Cait’s story? What makes her the person she is? What gives her
the drive she has today? Lucky for all of us out there, Cait was awesome enough
to share this information! Please read on to learn more about Cait, this was
honestly even amazing for me to learn!
“Since I was young, I dreamed of being a
teacher. I used to force my friends and
family to play school with me. I also
dreamed of being a dance teacher. I used
to sit home and watch old dance tapes and teach myself the older girls routines
and difficult skills. I just couldn’t
get enough of the dance world and knew I wanted to be in it for a long time. I used to watch the older dance students and
my dance teachers in awe. I have been to
many dance conventions and danced with some of the biggest names in the
industry who have inspired me to do what I am doing today. As I grew up I moved a couple times
ultimately landing me at Paramus Catholic High School, where I joined the dance
and cheer teams. I met a coach there
named Heather Messer, who I would like to say changed my life. She helped shape me into the coach and person
I am today. Once I graduated from
Paramus Catholic, I went to Ramapo College and joined the brand new dance
team. We fought to get that program off
the ground to where it is today. For the
next four years I stayed with that team becoming captain my senior year. The team is now nationally ranked and has won
numerous choreography awards. In
college, I began coaching cheerleading for a recreational program. I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy
it. I coached the girls competitively
for 4 years winning numerous national and local titles. I then began coaching at a brand new all star
cheer gym called The Cheer House in Garfield, New Jersey. The all star world is vastly different from
recreational cheer but I got to be apart of this program as we pushed our way
to the top. Training the girls in cheer,
dance, and gymnastics for 5 years and winning a whole lot of national, state,
and local titles as well as choreography awards and more. I began a hip hop dance program at this gym
last year and in our first year both of the hip hop teams became national
champions. On the side I began doing
choreography for many different cheer and dance programs around the state and
recently have gone as far as southern California. My choreography has won many awards across
the country. With all of this
cheerleading, I began to really miss the dance world and thus the idea to open
my own dance studio formed. My family, being supportive of everything I do, was
right by my side. In fact, my mother is
my business partner. Opening a mother
daughter business was not easy, we came across some difficulty but it only made
us fight harder and it bonded us even more.
The dance studio is located in Emerson, New Jersey and is called
Creative Edge Dance Academy. Here, I’m making all my dreams come true as well
as the dreams of many little girls that are just like I was. Already in one month of being opened, the
students at the studio are doing some extraordinary things and inspiring me to
be a better teacher. I can only say how
extremely blessed I am to have the experiences I have had to get the point I am
at today. Working with children has
always been a love of mine. Teaching
them is a passion. It’s so rewarding
having people tell you that you have changed their child’s life. It is what makes everything worth it. It’s why I keep doing what I am doing.”
How amazing is that?!?! I was so happy
to read this story about Cait and know how far she has come. It’s so amazing to
see people who are doing something they love all while helping to shape better
women! So, the story can’t just stop here right? I asked Cait where she sees
herself in a year and in the future. Cait said, “In one year, I am hoping that
the studio will grow further and we will begin a competitive program that will
help my dancers learn more about performing and showcasing their skills.
In 5-10 years, with hopes that the business is successful, I
hope to make a sister studio further into western New Jersey where I grew up in
Warren County. Along with this dance
studio in Warren County, I hope to be able to open a cheer gym alongside it.”
It was so great to see Cait setting goals for herself and thinking of
ways to grow her business. As I’ve mentioned before, setting goals is a very
important task all should do. When you have goals, it is something to aspire
to! Cait has set some amazing goals and I can’t wait to check in with her in
the future to see where she is at with everything!
So one of the most important things you ladies can take away from Cait is
her advice. Here is Cait’s advice to young women like you going into the real
world “My advice is take all of the experiences in. Some are positive and some are negative but
they are all learning tools. Observe
what people are doing and learn from it.
You may find some techniques that you may want to use yourself and you
also may find some techniques that do not work and learn from other peoples
mistakes. I lucked out in being in two
predicaments where I helped build programs so I learned the good and the bad
before I got to owning my own place. I
found that positivity is great but work ethic and discipline can go a long way
and is deeply respected by parents (especially if you are working with their
children). I have my teaching degree to
fall back on. It’s not going to always
be easy, especially finding a job in this economy so why not just do what you
love. It makes you much richer in the
long run”.
There you have it! I personally can say,
I learned a lot more about Cait from reading over her responses. Therefore, for
all you ladies out there, anyone in your life who you look up to as
inspirational, take a few minutes out of there day and find out what makes them
the person they are, what quotes and experiences they live by, their goals and
what advice they have for you. You never know what you can learn about someone
and you never know you may just find enough inspiration to make you be a better
you!
Thanks again to Cait Ritchie and thank
you all for taking the time to read this! Hope you all learned some great
things! Feel free to reach out and contact Cait on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
or cell. Cait is very responsive and always available for questions for anyone.
HEY! You never know, maybe you want to learn to dance or know a child who is
learning or you want to try a Zumba class and need choreographer! This woman is
amazing at what she does!!!
LinkedIn: Caitlin Ritchie
Facebook: Creative Edge
Dance Academy
Twitter: CreativeEdgeDA
Cell: (Business) 201-388-8394
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