We recently had the chance to connect with Morgan Mizell and have shared our conversation below.
Morgan, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is a normal day like for you right now?
Thank you so much for letting me share my world with you! A normal day is relative in my business. I usually start off the morning with administrative tasks like replying to emails, engaging on social media, and responding to leads I receive! The afternoon and evenings are dedicated to in-person dance lessons with my couples. No day is the same and that’s what makes it the best job!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi there! I’m Morgan Mizell, founder and lead instructor at Curtsy Ballroom, a boutique wedding dance studio in Nashville that helps couples fall in love with their first dance (and each other) all over again. In addition to teaching first dances, I compete in ballroom myself.
What started as a small creative venture turned into a space where a couple’s love story is turned to motion through choreography. I specialize in luxury wedding dance experiences, from first dances and parent dances to curated “Date Night” events that blend movement, music, and connection. Every detail, from the song choice to the choreography, is designed to reflect who our couples are. Every dance is tailored to my couples because every couple’s love story is different!
I like to say I’m not just teaching dance; I help people show love through nonverbal communication and movement. Right now, I’m focused on expanding our Nashville studio experiences and collaborating with local chefs and musicians to create more immersive, romantic date nights and group classes at my studio.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was a molecular biologist and was working toward my PhD in immunology because that’s what I thought success had to look like! I was a competitive ballroom dancer who thought passion and practicality couldn’t coexist. Dance was not a career, but an escape from my job as a staff scientist working in big pharma.
Somewhere between working in the lab and competitive ballroom, I realized that the thing I did for joy could actually become the thing I did for a living. Most people don’t think there’s a “real” career in dance teaching, just a “side hustle” or part time job. Building Curtsy Ballroom proved otherwise. Now I get to combine biology, physics, art, and storytelling every day; it is much more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There were definitely moments I almost gave up! Especially when my Date Night idea seemed financially impossible. Every private chef or catering company I reached out to said no, and I started to wonder if I was dreaming too big or getting ahead of myself. Funds were running low, and it felt like I was running straight into a brick wall.
What helped me push through was learning to adapt and pray about things that were weighing on my heart. I stopped seeing “no” as rejection and started seeing it as redirection towards something better. I realized I didn’t have to limit Date Nights to couples. They could be fun group events, girls’ nights, or even experiences for out-of-town guests. That shift changed everything! I’m now adding them to Airbnb Experiences and turning them into something much bigger than I first imagined.
Even during the wedding off-season, when things slow down, impostor syndrome, and doubt creeps in, I remind myself that resilience means being flexible about things I normally would not budge on. Broadening my focus beyond wedding dances to include social dance and other creative ventures has kept me growing, and that’s what keeps me from giving up.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would probably say, that faith and purpose really matter to me. My relationship with God is at the center of everything I do. God keeps me grounded when things get hard and inspires me to create moments with meaning. My wonderful friend Lily Saito, a dancer with Nashville Ballet, told me I dance with my whole heart and inspire others to do it too.
I hope they’d also say that I see beauty in all things. I romanticize everything and love helping people feel confident, seen, and celebrated, whether they’re learning their first dance or just learning to dance in a public setting. There’s beauty in everything and I love to create it. This is something I’m working on in my own life, but I encourage everyone to embrace it!
For me, dance is a way to share joy and remind people that the joy, elegance, and refinement gained from dance isn’t reserved just for special occasions. It can and should be a part of everyday life. That’s something I try to live out in both my faith and my work. There’s abundant joy in the little things in life. I love helping people celebrate that!
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
I hope my customers would miss the joy and laughter that fill each lesson. We all have so much fun and become family! Curtsy Ballroom quickly turns something intimidating and daunting into a lighthearted and fun experience. I think they’d miss that sense of ease. My clients sometimes come in extremely nervous and leave with laughter and stories that they’ll remember forever.
I think we would all miss the relationships that are built along the way. There’s a special kind of connection that happens at Curtsy, not just between me and the couple, but between the two of them as they learn to move together. It’s not just dancing the steps; it’s about creating memories and falling a little bit more in love in the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.curtsyballroom.com
- Instagram: @curtsyballroom
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090545139256
Image Credits
Rebecca Musayev Photography
Laura Kallen Photo
Nikki Hildebrand Photo
Lara Howell Photography
Allie Elizabeth Photo
