Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Biggers.
Dana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am the owner and CEO of Houston Elite Cheer. I have been involved in gymnastics and cheerleading my entire life. In my early childhood, I was a competitive gymnast under the direction of Gary Daw at Universal Gymnastics and competed as a level 8 optional gymnast. I then switched over to cheerleading in sixth grade and fell in love with sport. I cheered at Trinity Episcopal School and Ball High School in Galveston, where I was born and raised. I was an NCA All-American and UCA All-Star cheerleader throughout these years. For college, I attended Sam Houston State University where I cheered, competed and then transferred to the University of Houston and was awarded NCA All-American at the collegiate level. I cheered on the very first NATIONAL CHAMPION winning team at the University of Houston in 2001 under the direction of Sean Garland.
As a captain my senior year, I led my team to victory and earned my first NCA National Champion collegiate title. After college, I got a “real” job at Harris County Court Services translating in court but continued working at Discover Gymnastics. I attended law school after college and continued coaching and no matter what my heart was in coaching. I then moved to “Westside Cheer Academy” which later was bought by “The Pride of Texas,” and started doing private lessons with girls who wanted to try out for cheerleader at their school. My clientele grew quickly and I had a name for myself. A large numbers of clients tried out for Memorial High School, Stratford High School, Second Baptist School, The Kincaid School, Houston Christian High School, Westside High School, Strake Jesuit, St. Thomas, St Pius, St Cecilia, Seven Lakes and more. They made their team and before you know it, I had a year-round waiting list.
I decided to open my own gym in June 2013 and my only plan was only to do private lessons but just wanted to try to have a tumbling class or two. As of today, HEC is a full-fledged gym but is different than any other gym in Houston which is why I believe we are so successful. We are different because we do not compete. We are strictly a training facility. We have tumbling, stunting and cheer classes. We have private classes and private lessons. We train high schools and do choreography for pep rallies. Right now, we train Memorial, Stratford, St Thomas and Awty International but have also worked with various other schools in Houston. We train at them at HEC and at their school. I also have girls who make their college teams like the University of Texas, U of H, TCU, Notre Dame, UTSA, Baylor, Georgia Tech and more. I graduated with a degree in Political Science and Spanish and am fluent in Spanish. I have been coaching gymnastics and cheerleading almost 20 years. I am all about “game day” cheerleading! I love to help prepare athletes for their school/college cheer tryouts.
For the last six years, an average of 97% of the “Dana Girls” that trained with me on a weekly basis made the squad at their school/college. I have a 2-year old son named Parker and a 1-year old daughter named RyLee. I love every aspect of my career and truly love what I do because I not only teach girls how to cheer and tumble, I build a rapport with them and teach them life lessons and make their dreams come true. Houston Elite Cheer’s motto is “Stay Down” which basically means stay dedicated and work hard through it all including the ups and downs and even through tough times; You will be rewarded with success and happiness while helping others reach their goals and conquer their fears. The joy of knowing I showed a child that hard work and dedication pays off and they see their goals and dreams come to past is priceless and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I TRULY, TRULY LOVE WHAT I DO. I AM BLESSED AND GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I was forced to open my own gym because the gym I was at previously had an absent owner and their business and facility became ran down. I kept the doors open there with my clients’ gym fees. The facility itself had raccoons, fleas, birds, wasps and the AC broke. Some days, it would be 94 degrees inside the facility. This became miserable and my clients and I deserved better so the day I quit there and opened my gym, they closed.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Houston Elite Cheer story. Tell us more about the business.
HEC is a full-fledged gym but is different than any other gym in Houston which is why I believe we are so successful. We are different because we do not compete. We are strictly a training facility. We always say, “We are in our own lane with no traffic.” We have tumbling, stunting and cheer classes. We have private classes and private lessons. We host summer camps, birthday parties and Parent’s Night Out. We train schools and do choreography for pep rallies and competitions.
We are most known for being a training facility with amazing staff. I have senior coaches who do private lessons in addition to coaching classes at HEC. We are known for getting girls ready for their school cheer tryouts. We start them as young as three and they stay with us until it’s time for them to try out. I made a name for myself through doing private lessons and all my girls always making it on their cheer team. I’m so proud of my staff. They stayed down and have been rewarded financially with their private lesson and emotionally with giving these kids joy. We are genuine about cheer. It’s in our heart and we come together as a team to get the job done. Also, our actual logo of a girl doing the toe touch is actually me.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I like the diversity. We have a little bit of everything going on in Houston. I like that we have major things going on here and don’t have to travel to see the things people travel to us to see from restaurants to the Galleria. I like that nearly everything is only 15-20 away. I dislike the hot, hot summers and the traffic and raggedy roads. Lol!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1800 Sherwood Forest St Suite B2 Houston, TX 77043
- Website: www.houstonelitecheer.com
- Phone: 713-464-1445
- Email: Houstonelitecheer@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/houstonelitecheer?igshid=z9cjx7czeu6c
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/HoustonEliteCheer/
Image Credit:
Kyiera Williams Photography
Suggest a story: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
