Today we’d like to introduce you to DeMarco and Tara Howard.
DeMarco, raised in Missouri City, Texas, started dancing at the age of 9. Throughout his childhood, he participated in activities that included dance, sign language, drum lessons, twirling, art and more. He later became president of the art club in high school.
After graduating from Lawrence E. Elkins High School in 2006, he was accepted and attended Abilene Christian University where he studied Fine Art with a concentration in 3D art.
While at ACU, he joined the band as part of the color guard. At the same time, he was dared to join schools step team and accepted the challenge. The very next year he became co-captain of the color guard and head captain of the step team. He was later asked to join other organizations. He joined Dance Discovery Studios where he worked his way up from instructor to president of two dance companies.
He assisted the owner in a full renovation of the studio, helped manage studio records and more. While working at the local studio he became an instructor at Young Audiences of Abilene and held a position at Aramark’s Higher Education Division as a graphic designer.
He led the color guard for 2 seasons, led the step team for 4 seasons, worked at Dance Discovery for 4 years, taught at Young Audiences for 1 year and worked at Aramark for 2 years before graduating with his BFA in 2011.
After moving back to Houston a year later, he worked odd jobs at companies like United Airlines, Athletic Decals Inc, and National Diversity Council. No enjoying the atmosphere at any of them he found The Fort Bend Academy of Arts and Dance. Once again starting at the bottom, he joined the staff as the tap and hip-hop teacher. He quickly learned how the studio ran and worked on ways to improve the system. The first step was marketing. He took over all the design work and promotional material. He took is knowledge on making backdrops from Abilene and created every backdrop for each performance. He later gained more responsibility and more classes.
He then became After School Assistant Director of the studio. Things were going great. After 3 years of service, while entering his 4th, he was notified that his hours had been cut from 5 classes down to 1. Not able to support his vision or Family with the changes, he tendered his letter of resignation. He was then contacted to attend a meeting where his classes were restored and he gained the title of Creative Director. The changes were accepted but things were never the same. Wages were cut, advancement for Director positions passed to others and the atmosphere changed.
In February, DeMarco made the decision to host a meeting with about 4 of his close friends to discuss vision. It was at this meeting that The Artz(TM) was born. He finished out the year and for the second time, one month before the last show, he sent his letter of resignation. Not letting anyone at the current studio know, he renovated his new studio just in time for its grand opening. June 4 was his last day at the previous studio and on June 6, 2016, The Artz opened its doors to 23 children from the community. Since that day he has developed two dance teams, a full Afterschool program, a new nonprofit organization, and now opening his second location.
He followed his dreams and focused on his passion of caring for children and youth. He is now more focused than ever to give every child possible the chance to be cre8tive.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road at all. We knew that coming into this. The first issue was confidence. I had to be sure of who I was in order to make this work. As with most businesses the next issue was money. Where is the money going to come from? Convincing people to give you money with no proof that it will work is the hardest thing in the world. Banks were out of the question so we had to go another route.
After doing some persuading and fine-tuning our business plan, our parents agreed to give us a loan.
Our name. That was another issue. Before we were even open we had individuals saying that we wouldn’t make it. Spreading gossip about our staff and myself. We had to let that go and focus on what we were trying to build.
To this day we still have challenges but we take them one day at a time.
Please tell us about The Artistic Realm of Talentz.
Here at The Artz, we are your one-stop shop for cre8tive learning. We have various programs that keep children and adults alike thinking creatively and staying active.
We have a full afterschool program where children are picked up from school and brought to our location. Once they arrive they change into their activity attire. Soon after they get homework assistance and a snack. By the time they are done with their snack it’s time to participate in the activity for the day. This could be hip hop, tap, ballet, tumbling, art, karate and others.
The great thing about our program is that everything is included in one low price.
We also have regular dance classes, art classes, Company dance teams, baton twirling classes, computer classes, design classes, and we are introducing aerial classes in our second location opening soon.
We are a company that knows our clients. Myself, as an owner, knows every child’s name. I make a conscious effort to speak to every parent that walks through the door. We are a family business and we believe in family values.
The things that set us apart are the fact that nowhere else can you take an art class, dance class, graphic design class, baton twirling class, join a dance team, have karate available, and transportation services all in one place. We pride ourselves in being a one-stop shop for our community.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Buy both vans at once. With our afterschool program, we have to have a mode of transportation for them to get from school to us. When we started we only had one van, we grew so fast that we had to rent a second van when needed. The concept was still not proven to our investors so we had to make due. However, now looking back, we should have gotten two vans to lower the cost of each van and avoid rental fees.
I would also have started with less. In preparation to open, we bought a lot of things we thought we needed but didn’t do the extra research needed to see what we actually needed.
Pricing:
- After School Artz Program starting at $70 a week
- Regular Dance Classes starting at $70 a month
- Art Classes starting at $50 a month
- Transportation Services starting at $25 a week
- All Day Summer Program starting at $99 a week
Contact Info:
- Address: 15060 Highway 6 Rosharon, Texas 77583
1824 Spring St. Houston, Texas 77007 - Website: www.theartz8.com
- Phone: 281-972-9147
- Email: theartzinfo@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartz8/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartzcyi/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/cyimagination
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-artz-rosharon
Image Credit:
Stones Media
DeMarco Howard
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