Success and Freedom

Chris Lynam - good enough

Pain Point: Stuck in mediocrity

Tactic: Focused on helping others, which led to mastery of his efforts

Today: He runs seven successful dance studios that inspire others through ballroom dance.

All my life I was just-good-enough. In high school, my peers were earning internships at the White House while I was touring community colleges. I had a lot of potential as a trumpet player, but I never worked very hard at it. When a basketball scholarship ended with an injury, I found myself at a dead-end logistics job I absolutely hated. In college my friends and I would go to dance clubs all the time. I wasn’t a great dancer, but became more interested when a friend—an even worse dancer—told me he got a date to go swing dancing with this gorgeous girl who modeled professionally and was well-known locally as a professional dancer.

So I started going to swing-dancing clubs and learned to dance. My initial goal was to get a beautiful girl to be my dance partner, and I did, even though I still had much to learn as a dancer. Then I saw an ad for an Arthur Murray dance instructor, and my goal became to land a summer job teaching ballroom dance. But I kept practicing and started entering contests—and winning. Surrounded by passionate dancers, I pushed through that threshold of complacency and just-getting-by mindset that held me back.

I eventually met my wife through dancing, and together we own seven Northern California dance studios. The financial success and awards are nice, but changing others’ lives is what really drives me. A few years ago, a middle-aged stay-at-home mom came in. She felt neglected by her executive husband, who loved ballroom dance and would typically dance with other women at every company holiday party. She wanted to surprise him by learning to dance. I got so excited! I wanted this to be her Rocky comeback story!

While her husband was away on business in Asia for six months, we worked hard. She lost two dress sizes and performed at a dance studio “showcase” event when her husband returned. Afterward he approached me with an outstretched hand. “Chris, thank you for making my wife so sexy,” he said. Both her husband and daughter then started taking lessons, and dance helped the family reconnect and healed the couple’s marriage.

In the past, when I was working for my own selfish ambition, I never excelled. But stories like that inspire me to strive for excellence on behalf of my students, and it trickles over to my own relationships, business and dancing.