Exploring Life & Business with Shaberta Rhone-williams of Bea-A-Mayzed Cheer and Dance, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaberta Rhone-williams

Hi Shaberta , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Bea-A-Mayzed Cheer and Dance, LLC is a program where every and any child that has a desire to dance or cheer can do so regardless of expierence, size, gender, race or disability. It is named after my biological and adopted moms Beatrice and Mayzella. I was adopted and in the foster care system at the age of 8. My mom did an open adoption and adopted myself, two of my siblings and my nephew to keep us all together. She wanted to make sure that we would always know our biological family and never lose that connection.

My adopted mom passed in 2019 and she was always so supportive. She fostered over 150 children in her 15 years of fostering. My relationship with my biological mom has flourished and she is one of my biggest supporters.

Bea-A-Mayzed came to be because of my love and passion for children as a special educator, being a positive product of the foster care system and our middle daughter’s fight with medical issues that impeded her ability to dance.

Our daughter has done competitive dance/cheer since she was 4. In 2021, age of 12, she was hit with some major health challenges that impeded her mobility, affected her memory and caused her to have to stop all her activities. She was devastated because dance had always been her passion.

We decided to create an avenue, a program that gave children like her, kids like me the opportunity to do something great, something positive within their own abilities.

We have dancers/athletes with various levels of technique, experience and exposure to the art of dance. They are from all different socioeconomic statuses, some have been faced with various challenges whether bullying at school, academic or behavioral challenges, physical impairments etc… In fact, many of our girls had never even been out of the state of North Carolina until they became apart of BAM and expierences this through our frequent travels as a competitive team.

Our heart and passion is to build every child from the inside out. Teaching confidence, self love, sisterhood, family ship. Then comes the discipline of dance, technique and competitive training.

We are committed and passionate about helping our dancers be the best version of themselves. To grow them and develop them into the beautiful, talented and positive youth they are destined to be!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In building a business there are always challenges. One of the challenges that we have faced is the financial output it takes for our athletes to compete, buy costumes/ uniforms and continue the upkeep of our program.

Our tution prices are very low as it is about providing opportunities and experiences for our dancers. We have had fundraisers, covered expenses ourselves, been creative in our costumes, and given many tuition scholarships for our dancers to be able to do what they love.

We have been blessed with an amazing village of supporters and sponsors that have aided us in providing this service to our dancers and their ability to travel and experience this level of competitive dance.

Another obstacle has been the practice space. We were renting building space on the second floor. However, due to another owner on the bottom of us that complained to the HOA daily about the noise level, we graceful decided to move our studio to our home to avoid further fees that our rental agent was receiving as a resort of enforced HOA fines. Our rental agent was phenomenal and even tried to help us find other properties because he believed in what we were doing…he let us out of the lease with no problems or penalties and has continued to support us.

Our parents have been committed and supportive! We have grown and flourished even the more! It was a move of faith that has been the best decision we could have made! Our coaches, dancers, and families have been that!

We’ve been impressed with Bea-A-Mayzed Cheer and Dance, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We specialize in recreational and competitive dance. We are set apart because we are truly about teaching confidence, building from the inside out and are accepting of all youth despite expierence, race, gender, disability, sexuality. My wife Ashley and I are long standing established educators professionally so our desire for youth comes naturally. Us along with our staff are committed to bringing out the best in each and everyone of our dancers.

It’s more than dance we are building the leadership of tomorrow, we are equipping our dancers with life skills, affording them opportunities to connect with their community, positively engage through our community service projects, and advance our dancers through our Jr. Coach program.

We sponsor a local elementary and middle school for a yearly Back to School Drive. Other community engagement and service learning opportunities include our Christmas Angel Tree, Thanksgiving Drive, Homeless Toiletry Drive, and hospital care packages.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is attending Easter Dinner and our family Egg Hunt with my mom and biological mom together. My mom told my biological mom that they both were our moms and that she wanted us to always remember and see her in a good light.

My biological mom bought us a Easter dress for church and cute basket. She was so excited to do so! I remember the smile on her face when she gave it to us. My mom had already purchased us a dress to wear but allowed us to wear the dress my biological mom had purchased so that she could see us in it. She was such a selfless woman.

But the best part for me on that day, my favorite memory is that on that one day, they both were together with us laughing, eating, and just celebrating the love of family…. A true blended family!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Bea-a-mayzed.com
• Instagram: Beaamayzed
• Facebook: Beaamayzed Cheer and Dance, LLC