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The official podcast of Shoemaker Films. Every week we share content related to digital marketing, video production, and brand building; and frequently meet with local creatives, entrepreneurs, and business owners for in-depth conversations. Get to know local heavy hitters and influencers in the Greater Philadelphia region while picking up some tactical advice and tips on starting and running a business, being productive, creating content, and everything in between.
Hi. This is Dane Schumacher. I'm here with Sheila Turner Hilliard of from the top Dance Studio. Thanks for having me today.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Sure. Thanks for having me on the podcast.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Absolutely. So you are a pillar of the community of Newtown Square, I have to say. You know, dance instructor, business owner, entrepreneur, writer. What else am I missing here?
Dane Shoemaker:Philanthropist, volunteer.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Sounds about right.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. So, you know, really just looking to get to know you a little bit more. I mean, we we know each other through the business association and some of the work around the community, and president of Newtown Square Business Association as well. So Yep. You know, really just, you know, we're in this space today from the top band studio.
Dane Shoemaker:You're celebrating 20 years in Newtown Square or 10 years in this location. Right?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:20 in Newtown Square total.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Okay. Cool. So, yeah, wanna hear your story. You know, how how how you came to, be running this place.
Dane Shoemaker:And, I know you had, you know, past career in real estate, and you're a writer. So a lot of really interesting things to kinda unpack today. So Okay. Yeah. So
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:You ready to unpack it all?
Dane Shoemaker:As much as you want to, I guess. So
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I don't know. Well, I was born and raised in Newtown Square.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So this community is very important to me. And my father was involved with the township as well. So growing up, I kind of had that you know, him as an example of a hard worker. He was a police officer, so he all he's had multiple jobs, but he still gave his time to the community as well. So I Sure.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Credit, you know, a lot of my work ethic to my dad. So Newtown Square is very special to me, and I opened the studio 20 years ago in Newtown Square because I grew up dancing here, and Okay. My former studio I grew up with a the owner was a former Rockette in New York City.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Radio City Music Hall Rockette, and that was really a cool experience. She had a studio, a small studio here in Newtown Square. I grew up dancing with her, then I started teaching with her. She would bring me up to New York a lot to have, like, cool experiences working with master choreographers and working with the Rockettes. So it was a really cool experience, and the studio that she ran was very, very warm and welcoming.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It wasn't super competitive or cutthroat or anything like that. I got dance with my friends even though I was a competitive dancer. It was just a really cool place to grow up. It was a safe space and a great place to kind of get your emotions out as a teenager and really, be safe and feel safe. So when
Dane Shoemaker:When did you start dancing? When was that?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I was 3.
Dane Shoemaker:3? Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So it's
Dane Shoemaker:been a lifelong.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's been a lifelong.
Dane Shoemaker:That's awesome. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. I never gave it up. I did dance through college and started teaching when I was in college as well.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then took a little break for a while to go into the real world
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then eventually found my way back. So I opened the studio because I I felt like Newtown Square was missing that homegrown type of studio
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Where kids could feel comfortable and connected and safe and be able to express their emotions through dance and also build a positive experience for them so that they could go out into the real world, stand tall, make eye contact, have poise, great posture, be comfortable in front of people, you know, to help develop that person, because I feel like that's the kind of training and that's the kind of skills I received from my dance studio.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Mhmm. Yeah. That's great. I mean, it seems like there's a really strong community around dancing.
Dane Shoemaker:Obviously, there's you know, it's very physical. It's it can be emotional. You know, there's it's artistic.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. It's such a healthy outlet and especially for teens right now.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. It is we have so
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:many girls and boys come through here and express to us that that's how they feel that they can express their emotions, or if they come in really stressed out, we dance it out. If they're happy, we dance. We we just love having them here and knowing that we are making a positive impact on their mental health and their physical health.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. That's great. Mhmm. So, and you've been in this office or this studio 10 years. Where was your your last one at?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:My original studio was in the Newtown Square Shopping Center right across the street.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, okay. Yeah. Cool. Cool.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then this space opened up, and I knew that this is exactly where I wanted to be in St. Albans Circle.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Because as I was a kid growing up, I would participate in the Saint Albans tree lighting, and our studio would dance in front of the tree. So I knew that this was the ideal spot for us to be so that I could feel connected that way, and then our dancers could also dance at the Christmas tree lighting.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. And we they're still doing it today. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker:I think the St. Alban Circle is such a it it's just, like, such a great focal for Newtown Square, and there's a lot of businesses opening up. There's a there's a ice cream shop opening up neck across the street, so that's exciting.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:What's really cool next door.
Dane Shoemaker:Next door.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Like the one little section where it's still all locally owned businesses. There are no chains back here.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And that's a really cool feeling.
Dane Shoemaker:What kind of so dance programs do you have here? Like, what are some of the classes, you know, different age groups, things like that?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:We start at age 2 with a program called Movers and Shakers. Okay. So that's like a little intro to dance where they're going to have, like, fun 45 minutes of learning dancing and learning musicality, learning about rhythm, but in a really fun environment where you can use props and fun songs, things that they're familiar with. So they're learning without really realizing that they're learning at the same time. And then we go into combination classes, which are ballet and tap and jazz.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then after that, we graduate into being able to choose your own class, like a hip hop, lyrical. We have points, ballet, contemporary, modern. So it's really untapped all across the board.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then so we have a pretty healthy adult program as well. So 2 students. Yep. Mhmm.
Dane Shoemaker:Wow. What are the adult classes like?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:We they're fun. I teach on Wednesday nights, I teach an adult, we're gonna call it a hip hop class. It's like a fitness type geared class. And then we have adult tap, and that program's really, really growing. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And those ages go all the way from we have a couple in their twenties, and then we have some ladies in their sixties.
Dane Shoemaker:Awesome.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. It's a lot of fun, and the adult tap does participate in the recital. Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker:Nice. Where where do the recitals happen then?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:We have them at Marple Newtown High School.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. Right after Memorial Day.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Cool. Now do you teach outside of the studio? You know, what are some of those
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:things that you're looking at? Do personally. Like, most of my teaching that I do is with the special needs community
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:In Delaware County. So, I have a few groups that come in here that are either bussed in here, like the Marple Newton Life Skills. Okay. Students take a bus over here. It's part of their life skills program, and they'll dance with me here.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then I have another group out of Edgemont that comes here. Then I will travel to the Haverford Rec Center and work with a group called the Father Bill Atkinson Group, and that's a missionary group. They do awesome things. But then they bring me in every every like twice a month to do some dance parties with them, but it's all special needs community. And then I just started working with Villanova University too because they have a special needs program.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, that's great.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. So I'm gonna start working with them. I went over there last week, and we had a blast.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So it's fine. I work with special needs, all different needs.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Down syndrome, autism, traumatic brain injuries, and, you know, host of other syndromes or, you know Yeah. Issues or challenges. So it's it's a wonderful program.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. I I can see how that really benefit, you know, just getting out and moving and yeah. Is that a new program, or are you kind of stepping into a a new role there? Or yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Actually, I started doing this probably about 18 years ago. I was approached by the director of the special needs program at the Marple Newtown Lace Fest. And she was looking around for programs, for things for her kids to do because and she knew that they really connected with music and movement. So she called me just out of the blue, and I was like, you know what? Let's let's give it a try.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I brought my CD player back at the time, you know, with my
Dane Shoemaker:Sure. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:CDs, my little radio and plugged it in. I went over to the high school, and we just started kind of experimenting with what is what inspires these kids to dance and what music do they like and how, you know, how far can I go with them and, you know, as far as choreography and everything? And this program just exploded. I mean, to make I made some connections right out of the gate with some of the songs that I had chosen.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And I could just see it in their eyes. And I just felt it, and the teacher felt it. And we were all like, you know what? We gotta keep going with this program. So it really just started with that phone call, and here we are, you know, 20 years later, 18 years later, and now I'm with 5 different groups in Delaware County.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And the woman who initially called me is now bringing her granddaughter here for dance classes. Oh, wow. So it's very, very rewarding work. It's the best part of my day. And, you know, I often say I need I need my crew more than they need me because it's just so fulfilling.
Dane Shoemaker:You you know, I guess if people are interested in signing up for classes, what does that look like? Is it just kind of a a sign up, they can come in? You know?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Our regular semester, regular year runs from September through May. So
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Right now, we're not accepting any enrollments because it's Okay. March. Right. But we are gearing up for our summer sessions. So we have a session that runs September through May, and they are in the recital at the end of May or beginning of June.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then we have summer sessions with 6 week summer session, where it's weekly classes for 6 weeks. That's a really nice opportunity to just try something new
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Or get your feet wet. Like, if you wanna try a different genre or you wanna just try dance in general. Yeah. And then we also have 6 weeks of summer camp as well. Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Those, you could just sign up online, or you can come into the studio. And then for the, September through May season, we open up that enrollment in May Okay. For the following year. And it can be online registration or coming in to the studio.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay. And the day camps, what is that like, what age groups and Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:They're fun. It's Monday through Friday, ages 4 through 12. Boys and girls, each week is a different theme.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So for instance, this this summer, we're running some really popular camps like Barbie camp
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Okay. A Taylor Swift camp. Those 2 sold out immediately. And then we have the Olympics are coming this summer. So we have an Olympics camp, and we have, a Disney camp.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So lots of fun themes where it's dancing and crafts and games. And we have half day mornings, so 9 to 12 or 9 to 3.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay. Mhmm. Oh, very cool. Okay. Is it typically are people signing up for, like, 1 week at a time?
Dane Shoemaker:Were they doing the entire summer?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Usually based on their vacation schedules, we have, like, a few that are doing all 6 weeks, and then we have more of them are just doing 1 or 2 weeks at a time.
Dane Shoemaker:Got it. Okay. Yeah. My son is going into Culbertson next year for kindergarten. Yes.
Dane Shoemaker:We're trying to figure out, you know, schedules and thing things like that right now. So yeah. Let them maybe see if he's
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Definitely.
Dane Shoemaker:Anything for the boys? Like Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:We have a lot we have a lot of boys
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:In our, like, scattered through our classes. We don't have any, like, we have one boys hip hop class specific boys hip hop class, and that's for ages 7 to 10.
Dane Shoemaker:Nice.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Okay. Other than that, we have boys little ones in the movers and shakers. We have some in our combo classes. So and our tap classes, and then we have the boys hip hop.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Cool. Yep. Alright.
Dane Shoemaker:So I know you're a writer also. Mhmm. Tell me a little bit about that. You've done you've wrote some publications. You have a a book out there.
Dane Shoemaker:Like, you know, what's what's that been like?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So I started writing right out of college.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I was a speech communications and public relations major, so that kind of lent itself to me writing. And when I started working, I started using my writing skills to write training manuals and, you know, publications like that. And I have written a couple chapters in some women's anthologies books based on my personal life and experiences, and then I wrote my own book during COVID.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then I write for the Newtown Square Friends and Neighbors Magazine and the Newtown Edgemont Friends and Neighbors Magazine. So those I started writing for 3 years ago, and that really came out of I was writing articles for the dance studio for the magazine. Yeah. And then the publisher approached me and said, would you wanna write a little bit more? So now I write a lot more for them.
Dane Shoemaker:That's great.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:But it's awesome because I get to meet even more people in our community and highlight good things that that are happening around town, and like some really special things that people are doing around here, and it helps me. I feel like dance is very natural to me. So this the writing challenges my brain a little more because I'm learning about I just did an article on trout fishing, and I did one on the Sewer Authority. I mean
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Kind of forces you into these topics that maybe you're not. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:That I might not know. Then I've interviewed, like, this world renowned sculptor that lives right in Newtown Square. I had no idea. And then I had to learn all about the lost wax process of making a bronze statue. Really?
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Okay. Those are really cool perks to writing for the magazines. I feel like I'm challenging my brain. I'm meeting new people. I'm learning a lot of interesting things.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So it's very rewarding that way.
Dane Shoemaker:I feel like that's similar to why we started this podcast. It's just it's a it's an opportunity to get to know people in your neighborhood that you don't even, you know, know, like, everything about them. Mhmm. Such inspiring stories about, like, building a place like this, and, so I guess for the magazine so, like, the the the article like, the the was it Newtown Square Friends and Neighbors?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Friends and Neighbors. Yep.
Dane Shoemaker:So the couples that are and then families that are on the cover, you write those articles.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I write those articles.
Dane Shoemaker:Cool.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So I get to learn about their stories, and then everybody says, oh, I'm so boring. We're so boring. We don't have a story. I'm like, oh, I'll get a story out of you. Don't worry.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I will get a story. Because I tried to just find some quirky, funny things that they say that they don't realize
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Are points that make their stories interesting. So I like digging a little deeper and getting, you know, a cool story, and then they go to read it and they're like, oh, you made us sound fun. Like, wow. This is really cool. So that's cool and it's also a really neat keepsake for them.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:A lot of families that I interview and write about have younger children, so they get extra copies and they keep them for their kids for, like, the future. It's just a cool thing. And then some couples say it's a really neat walk down memory lane
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:To recount, you know, how they met and their whole story. And it's neat for them to go back and think about how special their family is.
Dane Shoemaker:Sure. Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So I write that, and then I write the feature articles about like, I just wrote about, a girl from Willistown who just wrote her own book. So I feature her book. It's like a self help type of wellness book.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And then, like I said, I write feature stories about trout fishing starting up April 6th. And and now the sewers all got installed with the 537 plan.
Dane Shoemaker:That's been a big, big hot topic around town. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. How do how do you find these stories?
Dane Shoemaker:Like, are people coming to you and, publisher feeding you ideas or are you kind of coming up with some of the stuff?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's a good mix.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:We get a lot of nominations for stories just based on the magazine. Like, they'll email us or the publisher and say, hey. This is happening or this is happening. And then through the dance studio, I get some good ideas. I know a lot of families that come through here that are doing some neat things.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I have some good friends around here that I was like, oh, let me feature you. I wanna feature that. Or there's hot topics like the Sewer Authority
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:That we wanna cover and make sure that we educate the public about things that are important to them. Sure. The building and the construction and, like, the restoration of Greer Park. Those things are important, but people may not be able to attend the meetings. So we serve as, like, a source of information to kind of, you know, get all the facts out.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:But the ideas come from various people. Maybe just I'm walking around town, I'm in Rite Aid, and someone approaches me and says, you know, hey. Can you do a feature on this? And then
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Mhmm. Any other future writing projects you have lined up, like, outside the magazine or or anything else?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I don't know if I can fit it anymore into my schedule. I would like to write another book, of course. I would. I I did enjoy that. My book, I felt, was a good guide book.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's a short book, concise. I would like to write a little bit more about my story in length someday.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Yeah. And the book the book you wrote, what what was it about?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Okay.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. With Dean. We don't have to
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:worry about it. Okay. So the book that I wrote that is on Amazon, I self published it, is called suit up, show up, show up, a girlfriend's guide to grief. And it's based on my personal experiences when I was younger. I was married, and I had my 2 kids.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:My husband at the time had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Well, he had a brain tumor, and the doctors managed the brain tumor for a few years. I had my son, I had my daughter, and we kind of lived with it and in and out of surgeries and treatments, and my life has kinda not taken a clear straight path as far as anything. Raising kids or choice of careers or businesses and that, you know, honestly was a big reason why I started this business and why I was in real estate previously because I needed to have a career path that was flexible in case I needed to take him to treatments or I needed to take my kids with me. So my kids grew up my 2 older kids grew up going to show houses, going to settlements with me. They were here at the studio with me all the time.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So it it served me well, my choices. It wasn't where I thought I was gonna go with my career.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I thought I was gonna go into the corporate world, and I was for a little while, and I loved it, and I traveled, and I did wonderful things, but life sometimes hands you some challenges where you really have to make hard decisions and take your talents and put them in a place where you're where you can survive. Like, where that that can help you and your family survive. So that's sort of the beginning of my story.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So I had the dance studio in 2004. I opened it when my daughter was 15 months old.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Because I knew I didn't wanna do real estate for the rest of my life. I was I was good at it. I did very well, but I felt the call, like, to do something more creative. I wanted to have the studio, and I knew it was another source of income and another source of safety where my kids could be with me
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:If something happened to him. So we built the studio, and it's crazy because I never even thought, you know, as a business owner, you're supposed to have a business plan, and you're supposed to have Sure. Things all lined up, and I didn't. I was throwing whatever I could against the wall to see if it's stuck.
Dane Shoemaker:Sure.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yep. And I knew it's the best way. And I knew I knew my heart was in the right place. I knew that things were I knew why I was gonna open it. It was for my kids and it was also to give other kids the opportunity to feel safe and protected and, you know, and have a good experience like I did growing up.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So had the studio, did real estate both for a while, and then in 2010 he passed away when my son was 10 and my daughter was 6. And my experiences during that time were were tough. I was young. I was in my thirties. 2 young kids.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I was the only one I knew around here who had lost a spouse to cancer that young. Yeah. And my kids, they were really only 2 in their school who had lost their dad. My son was in 5th grade at the time, and my daughter was in 1st. So we were really kind of doing this on our own, and it was really before social media.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It was before all those you know, you have so many resources around these days.
Dane Shoemaker:Right. Right.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And none of that existed. So I was really navigating life on my own, and I wrote the book because I wanted to kinda normalize grief, and it's scary for people who haven't been through it because they don't know what to say to somebody. They don't know what to do. Yeah. And for the person who's lost somebody, it's really hard to watch your friends, like, kind of be uncomfortable around you.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And that's normal. Most people are uncomfortable about grief. They're uncomfortable about talking about death. They don't know what to say to you. They don't know what to say to your kids.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:They don't know how to act. And a lot of times, they just go away. Yeah. Or, you know, their lives keep going forward. And you're like, now it's crickets, and you're like, where is everybody?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:But nobody really knows. But when you're in the middle of it, they're like, I'll do anything. Just let me know how that I can help and blah. So the book is a guidebook for someone who doesn't know what to say and doesn't know what to do, and it's basically telling them, suit up, meaning just get ready.
Dane Shoemaker:Yep.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Show up. Just show up and shut up. Because a lot of people will say things that they don't mean to say or they get nervous and say things like someone said to my son, like, oh, you're the man of the house now. And I'm like, are you kidding me?
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Like, please don't tell a 10 year old boy that he's the man of the house. And it was innocent, but it wasn't necessary. In that moment. Yeah. Or oh, at least he's in a better place now.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Okay. Well, sure. But let's not say that. You know, like, you say you're sorry. You say it sucks, and that's all you say, basically, and you just show up.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And it goes through certain things like, roles that you can play.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And I kind of it's a very blunt book, and it has some humor in there. So I equate it to, like, the Golden Girls.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Like, are you who are you? Are you the Sofia of the you know, are you the Blanche who's gonna stand there like your like, the bouncer and be, like, escorting people out of the house that say stupid things, you know, and also things that you can do. Like, observe if you go over there to somebody's house, like, don't show up with another tray of a casserole or carbs or something.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Go in with paper towels and and toilet paper and paper products, things that they need, like practical things. So it gives you ideas onto how to help your friend or your Right. You know, loved one in practical, helpful ways that will go a lot farther than, you know, a casserole. And no offense to casseroles, but there's only so much you can eat. But go and look in their fridge.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Go see what their kids eat. Go and go get those things. Or go in and you go to use the restroom, you notice it's a little dirty, clean it. You know? Just very practical things and also just guides on how to help them through the whole year as far as, like, don't judge, don't let them do things on their own time.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So I found it you know, my friends, family have read it. I've have it on Amazon, and it's gotten a lot of positive feedback.
Dane Shoemaker:It's great. I mean, it's a incredibly, you know, difficult time, that that you went through. And and, you know, there's probably a lot of knowledge and happening
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:to more happening to more of my friends Yeah. And family. And I still get calls from people in the community, like, so and so lost somebody. So and so's husband's sick. And I will meet with with, spouses who've lost their spouse suddenly or over time and just kinda give them some hope that things, you know, do get better and just try to help them and be an ear lend an ear for them.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Sure. So I think the book really helps with that. And I've since, you know, remarried. I have another daughter now too, and we're really still involved in the grief, community. And we do a lot of work for a foundation that supports children who are grieving.
Dane Shoemaker:That's alright. Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. It's called ALUNA. It's formerly the Moyer Foundation. So Jamie Moyer was a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:In the World Series. He and his, wife Karen at the time started these camps, grief camps for kids and, called Camp Aaron.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So when my kids were freshly you know, he had just passed, and we were seeing a child grief counselor. She had suggested to me. She said, you really need to send these kids to Camp Aaron. It's transformative. It's amazing.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's a grief camp. I'm like, I don't wanna send my kids grief camp. Yeah. And they were like, mom, we don't wanna go to grief camp. I'm like, but it's not really grief camp.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's it is. But it's 2 days of being surrounded by kids who have all lost either a parent or sibling or, like, a grandparent, somebody very, very close to them. Yeah. And they get the opportunity to bond when they feel like they're the only kid in their school and they were the only kids in their school. They're now surrounded by, you know, 100 other kids
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Who have gone through similar situations. It didn't matter how they passed, who passed. It was just they just knew that they've all been through that storm together. They do fun activities. They do grief activities, and it's 2 days.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's free. It's funded by donors, and it was the best thing I could have ever done for my kids.
Dane Shoemaker:Sure.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Because I dropped them off. I was heartbroken. They're looking at me like, mom, I can't believe you're doing this. And I felt terrible all weekend, and then I went to pick them up and they were literally, like, hiding from me. Like, don't come find me.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I have my friends, and this is awesome. And
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, that's great.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:They've since gone back a couple times, and my daughter just volunteered this past year in Tampa to be a cabin buddy for Camp Aaron.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. So they they're in every Major League Baseball city. Okay. It's a
Dane Shoemaker:national thing.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yeah. And then they've also gone to, like, other areas where like, in Connecticut with, the Sandy Hook. So they've opened in other, like, key areas.
Dane Shoemaker:Right. Right.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So we do a lot of work for them. We continue to raise money for them. And, you know, it was the best thing I could have ever done for my kids. And I told them on the way home, I said, we're gonna do everything we can to help. And it's been 14 years.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So we still continue because it's it's needed. These kids need to be able to feel connected to other kids. My kids still keep in touch with the kids they met at Camp Aran, so it's amazing.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah. That's great. That's good to hear. Yeah. Really inspiring story.
Dane Shoemaker:You know, obviously, there's a lot of advice that you shared with around grief management and, you know, what about for, you know, maybe business owners or, you know, any tips or wisdom that you might have for business owners in the area, people that are looking to start a business or anything like that?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:You know, I like I said, I didn't have the typical path to starting a business.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I didn't have it all planned out. I never looked a year or 2 ahead, and I feel like that kind of served me well Yeah. In a way. We're coming up on the 20th year. We're coming up on our 20th recital.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And to me, it's very, very overwhelming because I think I never thought that far ahead.
Dane Shoemaker:Right. Right.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So for me, you know, my advice would be make sure your heart's in the right place. Make sure the business that you are opening is led with integrity, and you're not just focused on your on your dollars.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Because, yes, that's important, but building in this community is so much more important. I never looked too far ahead. I just led with my heart.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And I knew that it was the right thing for me to do for my family and for other kids in the area. It has come back to I mean, the rewarding parts of this business is unbelievable. Even when my husband died in 2010, I had no idea that I had built such a community of people around me through the studio that when things got real bad in the late 2009, the community came together and held a fundraiser for my family.
Dane Shoemaker:Oh, wow.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:And there's this before GoFund or anything like that. It was a fundraiser on the Ellis Preserve, and they raised $40,000, which was huge at that time, but it literally it literally kept a roof over our heads. And I never when I started the studio, never would have thought that that would have happened. And ever since that, it's just been blessing after blessing after blessing. So I would say for business owners, just make sure that you keep focused on what's really important and that's building a community around you and treating your staff just as equal as as you are.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:You know, like, with Yeah. With respect and appreciation because the team around you is everything. It's not just about you.
Dane Shoemaker:Yep. Mhmm. That's great advice. Anything else that you like to share? Or
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I don't know.
Dane Shoemaker:What are you doing for the 20th anniversary? You have a rehearsal special rehearsal coming up?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So we do a show. We'll do our show, our 20th show. It's called greatest hits.
Dane Shoemaker:Okay.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So we are taking, like, our favorites favorite songs from the last 19 recitals and picking into you know, plugging them in as as songs. We're bringing them all back into a greatest hits edition.
Dane Shoemaker:Nice.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I'm hoping to put together a nice little montage of through the years. We'll see if I have if that actually happens or not. I'm just really excited about celebrating 20 years. I like I said, I'm really overwhelmed with that thought because I never thought that far ahead.
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:So it's gonna be a very emotional one for me because these big milestones are emotional for me because know you know, going through what I've gone through to get somewhere to a milestone is, like, how how did that all happen?
Dane Shoemaker:Yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:I don't know how it happened because I never planned for any of this to happen. Right. So it's gonna hit me like a ton of bricks. So I'm not really sure. I'm probably being a a mess that day, but in a good way.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Yep. You know, proud of myself and my kids and this community and how wonderful it is to live here and be surrounded by such wonderful people. So I'm just looking forward to celebrating.
Dane Shoemaker:Absolutely. Yeah. When is the date for that? Does that set yet?
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:June 2nd.
Dane Shoemaker:June 2nd. Mhmm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker:Well, congratulations on 20 years and
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Thank you.
Dane Shoemaker:You know, just, you know, riding riding so many challenges and overcoming them, and it's really inspiring. So, you know
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Thank you.
Dane Shoemaker:You know you know, thank you for giving back so much to the community as well, just being a big part of Newtown Square. So, yeah.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:It's important to me. It's a wonderful place.
Dane Shoemaker:Yep. So, Sheila Turner Hilliard, from the Topdance Studio. Thanks for being on here.
Sheila Turner-Hilliard:Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Dane Shoemaker:Thanks for listening today. Shoemaker Lab is an original production by Shoemaker Films LLC. If you enjoyed today's content, please consider subscribing on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your content. Follow us on Instagram at shoemaker.films. And if you're a business that's either interested in our video production services or would like to be a guest on the show, get in touch by using the contact form on our website, shoemaker films.com.