From Childhood Besties to Studio Owners: The Story Behind KICO Dance Studios
From Childhood Besties to Studio Owners: The Story Behind KICO Dance Studios
From Childhood Besties to Studio Owners: The Story Behind KICO Dance Studios
People often ask us how KICO Dance Studios came to be. The truth? It started long before either of us knew what running a dance studio actually involved. 🩷
It started with two ten-year-old girls, a shared love of dance, and a friendship that's somehow lasted through every chapter of our lives.
This is our story — the story behind KICO Dance Studios, and the two best friends who get to call it home.
Where It All Began
We started dancing together when we were ten years old, and honestly? We've never stopped.
From the very first class, we became those kids — the ones making up routines in each other's living rooms, dragging our families into the loungeroom to "please just watch this one more dance!" We choreographed shows. We performed. 💃
As we got older, we became duo partners. We competed together. We made up dances side by side. And eventually, when we were old enough, we started teaching open classes together at local studios across the Illawarra region.
Dance was never just something we did — it was the thing that held our friendship together.
The Dream We'd Never Quite Said Out Loud
Like a lot of little dancers, we'd talked about owning a studio together when we were kids. But it was one of those dreams you say out loud once or twice and then file away with "yeah, maybe one day." 🌟
We never imagined the opportunity would actually find us.
How KICO Came Into Our Lives
When the chance to take over an existing dance studio fell into our laps, our first reaction was honestly… to brush it off.
It felt huge. Scary. Real.
But then we walked into the studio. And something just clicked.
We looked at each other and said, let's make this work. ✨
Because we'd bought an existing studio with an established community, we knew we had to tread carefully. We didn't know any of the families. We didn't know any of the teachers. We wanted the studio to feel like ours one day — including the name — but we also knew that wasn't a day-one decision.
We respected that we needed to build rapport with families first before making big changes. And honestly? That decision shaped everything that came next.
The Biggest Early Challenge
Here's the part most people don't know — we took over KICO straight out of COVID.
That meant our first introduction to every teacher on our team was over Zoom. No coffees, no in-person meetings, no walking around the studio with them. Just little squares on a screen and a whole lot of hope. 🩷
Then we walked into the studio to start teaching — students we'd never met, alongside teachers we'd only seen through a screen.
It was overwhelming. It was unfamiliar. And it taught us very quickly that the heart of a dance studio is the people — and that real relationships take time, patience, and showing up.
We just kept showing up. And slowly, the community grew around us.
What We Bring as a Duo
People often ask how we make a business partnership and a lifelong friendship work. The honest answer? We're really different — and that's the whole point.
We each bring different strengths to KICO, which means we get to bounce ideas off each other constantly. There's so much more room for creative thinking when you've got someone who sees it from a different angle. 🧡
Running a business is hard. But we feel incredibly lucky to be living out this dream together — sharing our love of dance, and (hopefully) giving every dancer who walks through our doors the chance to meet their own best friend, just like we did.
That's a pretty special thing to be part of.
From 70 Students to 220+
Four and a half years on, KICO Dance Studios is home to 220+ dancers — across preschool, junior, teen, senior, adult, troupe, and soloist programs.
We have 15 incredible staff members, classes running Monday-Saturday, and a community of families across Bargo, Tahmoor, Picton, and the wider Macarthur region.
But the number we're most proud of isn't 220. It's the dancers who started with us shy and unsure and are now beaming with confidence on stage. The friendships born in our studio. The families who've made KICO part of their week.
That's the real growth. 🌟
Where We're Heading Next
Our 2026 word of the year is QUALITY — and that drives everything we do. Quality training. Quality communication. Quality experiences for every dancer and every family.
But underneath that, our values stay the same: kindness, connection, resilience, growth, and confidence.
We've got big plans for KICO — because we don't do anything small. 😉 We want to keep growing, keep expanding our impact, and keep being a place where kids fall in love with dance, themselves, and each other.
Come Be Part of the KICO Family 🩷
Whether your dancer is two or twenty, brand new or a comp regular — we'd love to welcome you into our community.
Follow us at @kicodance on Instagram and Facebook to see what daily life looks like inside the studio — behind the scenes, big wins, classroom moments, and all the heart that makes KICO Dance Studios what it is.
We can't wait to meet you.
Chloe & Kirralee 🩷🧡 Childhood besties. Studio owners. Forever cheering on every KICO dancer.
KICO Dance Studios — 217 Great Southern Road, Bargo NSW
