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Schools

Hopkins Whiz Kid: Party on a Shoe

Hopkins junior and entrepreneur turns her love of dancing into a viable business.

Hopkins junior Kendall Meuwissen loves dance so much that she claims her career began by doing a “battement out of the womb.” A battement is a ballet move which involves the kicking of a leg.

What does a girl like this do on the side? Start a business decorating pointe shoes, of course.

Meuwissen said she first began decorating pointe shoes as boredom prevention during the summer. Once her pointe shoes grew too old for use, she would paint them or draw on them with a sharpie. The business began when a friend asked Meuwissen to decorate a pair of pointe shoes for her birthday.

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 “My friend said, 'Oh, you should do this for other people,' and that's what started it,” said Meuwissen. “It evolved from doing arts and crafts to making it a business, and they always say do something you love, and I love doing crafts.”

 According to Meuwissen, one of her teachers helped inspire the name of her business, Party on a Shoe, when she wore a pair to class one day.

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 “My teacher was like, 'Oh my goodness, Kendall, what are you wearing?' and I said, 'Linda, it's a party on my foot.' She just laughed and thought it was hilarious, and that's how I ended up getting my name,” explained Meuwissen.

Decorating pointe shoes, like dance, is a creative outlet, but one that doesn't involve physical activity said Meuwissen.

“I'm not good at painting, I can't sculpt, but I can glue—I can put rhinestones on a shoe for you,” said Meuwissen. “I can do it whenever I want, and I can de-stress. If it's 10 o'clock at night, and I can't sleep, I'll go make a shoe.”

 Meuwissen started her business about a year and a half ago. Since then she's experienced real-life marketing by developing her own website and blog, displaying her shoes on Facebook, creating business cards and advertising in dance studios, including some in Chicago. She even had Crystal Couture in Wayzata, a store which sells crystal rhinestones and dance costumes, pick up her shoes soon after her business began.

 Meuwissen said she gets her inspirations for her designs from all over.

"I walk into Crystal Couture and ideas pop into my head—there's a cute costume, I could put that on a shoe. Or I'll be going down the clearance aisle at Michael's—oh, that's a cute little stone, let's put that on a shoe,” she said. “Whatever just pops into my mind works for me.”

Each shoe is custom made and Meuwissen said she has learned to work closely with customers to make sure they get what they want.

Leslie Keto is one such customer. Looking for a dance recital gift for her then 5-year-old-daugher, Julia, Keto found out about Party on a Shoe from her daughter's dance teacher who happened to also be Meuwissen's mom.

 “She told me to go check out her daughter's website, so I went there and looked at all the different types of shoes she had available, and they were all beautiful,” Keto said. “I was really impressed with her attention to detail, creativity and all the colors and sparkle. I e-mailed her, she was great at getting back to me quickly, and we love the shoe.”

Julia, who said she would like to be a dancer like Meuwissen one day, really likes the sparkles.

 “I thought it was pretty. The flower right here and all of the jewels and the sparkly inside and outside,” she said while carefully holding her shoe. “The flower in the middle—looks like a disco ball.”

 

Meuwissen and her sister are also accomplished dancers. to watch a video about why they dance.

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