2018 WAS WILD, Y’ALL.

We...

• Raised money,
• Hired new people,
• Expanded our office. Like, by a lot.

If you’re not sure what exactly STEEZY is, we’re a startup tech company based in Downtown Los Angeles.

Our mission is to provide the best, most comprehensive and authentic dance education to the world through STEEZY Studio.

Since 2014, we’ve taken all the baby steps and a few giant leaps to becoming a “real company.”

But we’re not fooled by the rocks that we got, because “No matter where [we] go, [we] know where we came from”...

Where It All Started…

STEEZY was conceived in Evan’s brain.

Then it was built... in our parents’ kitchens.

We unofficially dubbed those first 3 years “The Curry Days” because Clay’s mom would cook delicious Thai curry for Evan, Connor, Clay, and I as the four of us chipped away at our respective building blocks that would mold STEEZY’s foundation.

(Our “startup story” is as stereotypically scrappy as any other company’s – except we always, always ate good food.)

When we weren’t clocking in to the Boon Kitchen, we rented a table at coworking spaces or overstayed our welcome at coffee shops with free wifi.

We filmed STEEZY Studio classes and concept videos at Snowglobe Perspective and The Lab Creative Arts Studio.In July 2017, we finally moved into our own office and production space in DTLA. (I wrote about it here.)

STEEZY HQ (V1) was a milestone for our company; we received an outpour of congratulations from our friends, family, and what seemed like the entire dance community.

While it was an accomplishment worthy of celebration, we never saw the office as a trophy.

To us, it was a resource.

Now that we had a place to work, hold meetings, shoot and edit videos, choreograph, write copy, code lines, hold freestyle sessions, collaborate, and play Quiplash…

We had even higher expectations for STEEZY.But we met them.Then we surpassed them.

We Got the Bread!

We started fundraising in the middle of 2018, and closed our seed round in November (more on that later).

This allowed us to expand STEEZY HQ to more than double its original size... and potential.

Extreme Makeover: Office Edition

BEFORE

Our equipment + "kitchen" area

1 couch and desks

Conference room to the left, work areas to the right

The conference room. Hi Taylor Swift!

The "lounge" where our instructors + dancers could hang out

THE PROCESS

Construction begins!

Earney and Connor painting

Wire you up there?

AFTER

The control room + equipment

Green room for instructors + dancers. The production space / dance studio is just beyond those doors!

Desks for days

Hangout lounge #1973619. Taylor seems happier here.

Main conference room. What should we name it?

Another lounge and a vintage Razor scooter

Entrance lounge + cafeteria table

Holiday Party & Office Debut

On December 21, 2018 we hosted a party in our new office to celebrate the holidays and the end of an eventful year with our advisors, investors, instructors, friends & family, and people who’ve supported us since The Curry Days.

Party Planner Grace setting up the photobooth

Earney being Earney

Dining area decked out in Chipotle

Evan and Grace getting lit

Evan A/B testing the best way to hang decorations

Bigger, Better, & Ready

This holiday party is one example of what our new space enables us to do.

The control room cuts down our editing time by a whopping 70%.

This efficient production flow allows us to experiment with live video, and to create way more content and classes.

We're planning on expanding STEEZY Studio's curriculum to new styles, levels, instructors, and ways of learning.

We also have way more space to work – for more people. We're currently in the process of interviewing new hires to join our team.

Soon, we'll have more hands on deck helping to improve our product, classes, and content.

And of course, we want to host more in-person events for our community and give a home to our instructors, assistants, and friends.

Top L to R: Ceejay (Engineer), Clay (Director of Video/Education), Me (Director of Content), Evan (CEO), Connor (President) Bottom L to R: Kevin (Producer), Jenny (Video Editor), Earney (Video Editing Intern), Grace (Community Manager)

With all this space for activities, we feel more of a responsibility to deliver than ever.

But with that responsibility comes even more motivation, confidence, and excitement.

2019 is gonna be even bigger, better, and more full of growth. Happy New Year ♡

P.S. We’re hiring!

Are you someone who loves dance, works hard, thinks big, and lives in LA?

Click here to see the open positions at STEEZY!