Chelsea Lea is no ordinary student. She’s not an athlete, or in choir, or cheer, or band, or judging. Chelsea is a nineteen-year-old Allen Community College sophomore who can claim something few her age can: she owns a dance studio.

Chelsea has been dancing all her life. She started when she was three, dancing locally for ten years, then traveled twice a week all the way to Ottawa when she was thirteen. At fourteen, she was asked to help teach at then-Cooper Studios Dance Center here in Iola. However, when Chelsea was in her senior year of high school, her boss decided to leave the world of dance and pursue a medical degree. Rather than abandoning his studio, he offered it to Chelsea.

“It took a total of two days to decide,” she says. She made a downpayment of $1,500, using her car fund money, and purchased the studio, props, and costumes, renaming it Miss Chelsea’s Dance Academy.

She chose to continue to live at home while she could, until she pays off the studio. Most of the students stayed on with her, and Chelsea’s family became her support group. “My whole family is so supportive,” she stressed. Her mother helps out with the books for the studio, and even has a desk that she sits at and watches the classes. Her father, an ex-Marine, always attends the dance recitals.

Chelsea is the sole teacher of her dance academy and teaches ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, Bollywood, African, and musical theater. Her youngest student is two and a half, and her oldest is eighteen.

She lights up when she talks about her students. “I’m a mama bear, and these are all my cubs,” she says enthusiastically.

Chelsea stresses the importance of having a safe place for her kids to come and dance, wanting them to feel at home and to have a break from the pressures of school, bullying, and life in general. “My rule is, when you come in the door, school stays outside,” she said. Her dance academy is extremely family oriented and she makes a point to purposefully include all of the students in activities.

While her studio is flourishing, Chelsea has bigger dreams in mind. She has a five-year plan, at the end of which she plans to completely own a brand new dance academy. For the first four years, she plans to pay off the dance studio and continue to live at home. On year five, she wants to begin construction of a brand new, two-story studio with plenty of space and classrooms.

Chelsea is also working on her associates degree in business. “I always believe in the Backup Plan,” she says. After completing her associate’s degree at Allen, she wants to continue an online program through Fort Hays State University and study more business and advertising.

Chelsea is a driven, ambitious young woman. She is bright, charismatic, confident, and has a distinct sense of leadership that is well suited for a young entrepreneur. Her active involvement in her young students’ lives is all worth it to her.

“I love being a role model,” she said.