Ida Azefor (@idaazefor) sits for a chat with Aleks Saiyan. Aleks (@torontodancesalsa) runs Toronto Dance Salsa, the largest salsa school in Canada. His journey to becoming an entrepreneur was very uncommon. From the time he was a little boy, Aleks never felt like he belonged. His success with running his salsa school can be largely attributed to him identify his core value, #Belong, and spreading that message of belonging among his students. Growing up, Aleks always felt like an outsider. He never felt accepted by his friends and family and was constantly fighting the feelings of not being good enough and trying to fit in. He also battled a medical condition called Hyperhydrosis (excessively sweaty palms) which gave him body issues and a lack of confidence.
And... he was a terrible dancer. He avoided dance clubs when his friends tried to drag him along and he was afraid to ask women to dance because of his sweaty palms and lack of skills.
In 2009, everything changed when he made an important choice. Overweight, unhappy, and tired of having no confidence, he chose to tackle his biggest fear: Dancing. He joined Toronto Dance Salsa as a beginner and was one of the most uncoordinated students in the class.
But he fell in love with the people, he fell in love with the music, and in that process, he fell in love with himself. Now he's on a mission to help others fall in love with themselves as well and find a place where they can #Belong. Aleks went from being the worst student in his class to an Instructor and the Director of Operations at Toronto Dance Salsa. And he's also your lead instructor for Transformation Month!
Deep down what he has always wanted was to create a place where you can come in as you are, be accepted for that, and get lifted up to where you want to be. Welcome to Transformation Month!
Work with Aleks:
https://torontodancesalsa.ca/
Contact our team
email: contact@idaazefor.com
https://linktr.ee/IdaAzefor
Thank you for watching. I really appreciate it.
Ida.
