Heart & Soul Kids Northwest

Jessika Prescott
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We love Heart & Soul!!! First of all, there are so many different options- from various dance to gymnastics at all age levels (including adult!) I love how many choices my kids have!

The facilites are beautiful and well maintained! I´m always comfortable when we are there.

Last, but certainly not least, the staff is incredible! Each wonderful teacher we encounter is great with each of my kids, regardless of whether or not it´s their class day. We love them so much!

Dom Redmon
1 ⭐
The only good thing about Heart and Soul was my daughter´s gymnastics and dance teachers. The issue with Heart and Soul is the management and business practices. For example, if you go on a two to three-week holiday vacation, your child can only make up one session in the same month if there is availability in a class. Additionally, on their website, it states, “Make-ups are not guaranteed, make-up options are contingent upon availability.” In essence, you lose out on the other sessions for the month, and making up the one session for the month is not guaranteed. An excellent business practice example is my daughter´s swim school, where a six-month token is provided for a makeup session. The parent can schedule a makeup session online by checking schedules and adding their child to a swim class.

Another business practice is the monthly tuition, which is more like a non-prorated billing. The business states on its website that they do not adjust the billing for months when there are holidays, pre-planned closures, or more classes. Additionally, they note that classes even out, but if you pay attention to pre-planned closures and holidays, it does not even out in the end. The business concept is similar to a membership or subscription framework in that the same amount is billed monthly, regardless of utilization. However, there is no value proposition for this type of billing from Heart and Soul Kids. An excellent business example is my daughter´s monthly membership to a local kids´ playground, where the monthly billing is adjusted for holidays and pre-planned business closures. The monthly bill is adjusted if there are fewer or more days in a month. The transactional interaction between the consumer and business allows the value proposition to favor both parties.

A business practice that I disagree with is the management purposely hiring more part-time employees so they do not need to provide federal and state benefits. From a non-empathetic or compassionate business management view, similar to Amazon, this is a way to keep costs low but at the risk of mistreating low-level employees. As a fellow business owner, I prefer having full-time employees and building a work culture of excellence, compassion, and professionalism. The overall work environment morale is high, and employees work efficiently to ensure high productivity, often going above and beyond without needing to ask. That starts with doing the right thing for the business and the employees who help build the business.

As I said earlier, the teachers are why we stayed so long, but the value proposition is no longer there. We found an excellent dance studio that provides a phenomenal experience for our daughter while ensuring an exceptional business experience similar to my daughter´s swim school and kids´ playground membership. Yes! We pay more money, but the cost is worth it.

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