Tippi Toes World

Welcome to the heart of Tippi Toes Dance Company! Here you will find insights from our incredible franchisees, experiences from inside the Tippi Toes dance classes around the country (aka hilarious and sweet things that come straight from our little dancers), a sense of our Tippi Toes culture as well as suggestions for how parents can provide healthy lifestyles for their families.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Franchise Owner Brittany Friske - OSU alum tip-toes toward the future

By Kristen McConnaughey
Foundation and Alumni Association Reporter
Published: Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Updated: Thursday, March 24, 2011 04:03
Sometimes attending Oklahoma State University can have a larger impact on students.
OSU alumna Brittany Friske graduated with an accounting degree in December of 2007, but said she has always had a passion for dancing.
"I started dancing when I was 3 years old and danced all my life really," Friske said.
After answering a classified ad while she was a student in 2006, Friske began teaching dance classes for the Tippi Toes dance company in Stillwater. This part-time job soon became a full-time career for Friske. Since July of 2010, Friske has been the franchise owner of the Stillwater and Tulsa area dance company Tippi Toes.
She said finally realized her true calling when she started at Tippi Toes.
"I was an accounting major but probably should have been an early childhood major," Friske said. "I just realized that was not for me."
Early childhood education would have been a useful major for Friske, but she said that as a franchise owner, earning a business degree was a smart move.
"I'm having to do all of the business side for everything," Friske said. "All of the business classes at OSU definitely prepared me to own my own business. Definitely the background helps me now."
Tippi Toes travels to preschools and community centers to offer dance classes to children ranging from ages 18 months to 12 years old. Most classes in Stillwater are at the Stillwater Community Center, where they will also have their recital in May, Friske said.
"We focus on bringing dance to the kids," Friske said.
Although Friske lives in Tulsa, she still returns to Stillwater frequently.
"I get to come back and visit dance classes over there periodically," Friske said. "It's kind of cool that I still have a connection to OSU. We've been in Stillwater from almost the beginning. We can watch the company grow."
Tippi Toes also has locations in Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas.
On Sunday evening, creators of Tippi Toes Sarah Nuse and Megan Reilly appeared on ABC's reality business show Shark Tank.
"They sent an e-mail to the show to see what would happen," Friske said. "They were contacted back in August to see about being on the show."
More information about Tippi Toes can be found on their website at tippitoesdance.com, or by contacting Brittany Friske at 918-361-4134.
Although Friske is no longer a college student, she said she will always have that connection to OSU.
"My whole experience there, I loved every minute of it," Friske said. "I just love that I have an excuse to come back. Stillwater is a great little town."

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