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The Align Ballet Method will hold it’s first instructor certification/licensing event September 8, 9, 10 of 2017 in Los Angeles. This will prepare qualified applicants to have their own ALIGN program ready for January of 2018.

Have you considered that adult ballet instruction could be a highly satisfying and lucrative
career choice?

Our desire is to help you succeed. Since 2012 we’ve been creating the most powerful system of authentic adult ballet training and single handedly developing the category as a rapidly growing recreational fitness activity.

WHY ALIGN ?

In only five years, we have grown from one small workshop in Los Angeles to hundreds of students per week attending our classes. All the while, ALIGN has garnered an increasing amount of national media attention and critical praise. Our program has successfully fulfilled the dreams of many adult students who previously thought ballet training was a fantasy — we have made it a reality.

We have relentlessly worked to develop and strengthen our method and brand identity. 25% of our students come from referral which is a testament to the quality of our team and process. We have a refined system for developing our students, running the business, and marketing our program. From all angles, we are effective.

ALIGN founder Michael Cornell’s initial goal was to develop a few  Los Angeles classes per week for extra income. Immediately ALIGNS growth was rapid and slightly overwhelming. In February of 2017 ALIGN has grown to 147 classes per month enlisting the help of 5 instructors who have personally trained with Michael. We have taken many adult students from total beginner to pointe shoes in less than 1 year.

WHY NOW? – Founder Michael Cornell has always wanted to create a program that went beyond his own identity and community. Michael wishes to create a consortium of high level instructors who would synergistically build the ALIGN brand world wide. Our goal is that The Align Ballet Method will someday be recognized as the leading authority in adult ballet and that authentic adult ballet will have the same mainstream popularity as spinning, yoga, or pilates. We are watching this happen in Los Angeles on a daily basis.

WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU
We are currently seeking qualified candidates to certify with our program and license our concept. A qualified candidate would be an individual with former professional level ballet training and competence.

Our certification will enable the individual to run an ALIGN program in their area. We will educate you how to instruct students in a manner that will build your customer base and quickly provide results. We have in depth recommendations in all aspects of running a successful ALIGN program.

We want to help you become successful; your success as a licensee and our success as an overall brand will be mutually beneficial.

BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATION

PRESS – When you become an ALIGN certified instructor, you’re joining a professional team that has been recognized by Vogue, Daily Candy, Pop Sugar, Broadway News, and BackStage. You will immediately benefit from our brand recognition.

PROCESS
Our simplified system will provide confidence and success. Learn the simplifying secrets of our workshop program that rapidly develops our students and can convert them into repeat long time customers. The ALIGN BALLET METHOD has a step-by-step systematic approach for developing students. Michael Cornell has personally coached each Los Angeles instructor to tremendous success. No matter your past teaching experience, we believe we can develop you into a strong instructor who will build a following. Our outlined step-by-step choreography will eliminate any guess work, as we’ve already tested it’s effectiveness. Our program is highly structured and you may wish to stick to our outline but we also teach basic principles which will enable you to create your own ALIGN type combinations. We do not require you teach our choreography but simply adhere to our design principles. HOW we structure the choreography is incredibly important to the success of our program and we will teach you these elements in detail.

Not convinced? Please click here for 45 pages of positive student reviews.

PROFESSIONAL – ALIGN founder Michael Cornell’s goal is to build a consortium of intelligent instructors who view ballet training as an art and science. We work collaboratively and view our process as a laboratory where everyone contributes and is encouraged to express new ideas. Our method is not stuck in time but continually evolving like open source software. We take our work, our collaboration and our organization seriously. We listen to each instructors experiences from the class room to continually evaluate and improve our efforts.

“I envision a world wide network of quality instructors who are respected for the abilities in the same way and elite graphic design or architectural firm commands respect as an organization for their attention to detail and intelligence.” -Michael Cornell

PROFITABLE 
ALIGN has had great financial success combined with explosive growth and critical acclaim. As a bootstrap startup with no investors or debt, we have grossed over 1 million in sales and generated enough income to organically grow into 9 Los Angeles studio partners and 6 instructors. We accomplished this entirely without loans or investors. We do not have our own studio. We sublease space from existing local studios to reduce our monthly over head and create a fluid low commitment path to growth. We will teach you how to identify potential studio partners, negotiate lease terms, and build long term strategically beneficial relationships.

We cannot guarantee your specific financial results but our track record illustrates we provide strong potential.

DEMAND – Since our inception we have received emails from across the globe inquiring when we will offer ALIGN classes in other locations.

We sense there is a rather large pent up demand for basic authentic compassionate adult ballet instruction. Our experience has shown the category of adult ballet to be extremely fertile and uncharted territory.

Below is common feedback we receive,

“It’s the only ballet company in LA that teaches adults within no prior experience. All of the other options in this city are way too advanced, even though they list their classes as ‘basic”- they’re way too hard to follow.

Also, the teachers are amazing, and they care about your progress. That’s HUGE. You’d be surprised, but the other ballet classes I’ve taken in LA are taught by instructors who bark out commands, and it’s all about them, their skill level, and what they know. There is no connection to the students.

Lastly, the overall vibe of the class is wonderful. Yes, it’s a challenging activity that’s prone to breeding frustration, but the interactive and non threatening nature make the classes things I look forward to each week. These attributes are unique to Align, and I honestly wouldn’t recommend any other company to coworkers, friends, or acquaintances.”

EDUCATION – We will teach every new instructor how to run their business as easily and profitably as possible. We cover everything from program design, presentation skills, social media promotion, bookkeeping, marketing, customer service, hiring assistance, booking software, and building your following. We will share with you exactly what we have found that works and eliminate you from pursuing what does not.

PLUG AND PLAY – We’ve already built your website for you (all schedules will live on alignballetmethod.com) and created the promotional media. You will list your classes on our site ALIGNBALLETMETHOD.COM. From there, students in your area will be able to register online, and those funds will go directly into your bank account. Our efforts will save you hundreds of hours of site development and thousands of dollars of media production. No need to worry about technology, branding, or visual identity, we have completed this work for you.

QUICK CERTIFICATION We want this to be easy for all involved. For less than you would pay for some college credits, qualified applicants may now certify with ALIGN over a 3-day weekend in Los Angeles for only $499*. After training, you will receive 3 months of Mindbody software at a 50% discount, your own website page for your territory, and NO licensing commission fee for the first 3 months to help you get started. (*Hotel and travel expenses not included.) Compared to thousands of dollars and months of training for a pilates or yoga certification this deal is EASY! PLUS, at the end you will not be working for someone else’s studio who pays you $25 per class, you will be running your own location and keeping 89% of the profit. 

LOW COMMITMENT
This is a small investment in yourself without a long-term commitment. If you find teaching does not suit your needs you may easily cancel your license with ALIGN and your booking software subscription with a simple written 30 day notice.

FLEXIBLE
Your certification allows you to begin developing the size of program that fits your needs. Teach a few classes a week or everyday, it is your decision. We expect normally most instructors will wish to teach 3 times per week but daily classes are a very possible goal as are multiple classes per day. We cannot guarantee the demand you will have in your area but we will do our best to give you the guidance to be successful.

SUPPORT

We intend to be with you every step of the way.
Your success is our success and we will make every effort to guide you properly. We intend to be present as you develop. All instructors from time to time will submit video of their classes for review. We will guide you on what is not working and incorporate your great ideas into our process. Our online booking software partner mindbody provides 24/7 live customer support. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I know ALIGN is right for me?

We search for highly qualified motivated artists who desire to engage with their community and build a strong following of committed adult ballet students. ALIGN partners with intelligent highly trained ballet dancers who have the necessary technical and interpersonal skills to be successful with our program. ALIGN celebrates diversity in all aspects of our operations.

How does licensing work?

ALIGN Ballet Method will earn a monthly 8% of gross sales from licensees, which will be billed monthly to a credit or debit card kept on file. We will email you an invoice after reviewing your monthly mindbody sales report. We will process your commission transaction 48 hours after your invoice is delivered.

How we certify in only 3 days? Unlike pilates, barre, or yoga, we only partner with highly trained ballet professionals. Each applicant will need to pass an interview, basic background check, and submit a licensee application. Accepted applicants will only need one weekend to teach you the Align Ballet Method structure as we do not need to teach you ballet, all you need to learn is the ALIGN approach. Our ballet classes are incredibly similar to any other adult beginning class, but it is what you don’t see in our classes that is our strength. We will teach you how to design ALIGN-type exercises that deliver maximum training for your students. Once you understand our simple formula you will engage students and create loyalty.

TERRITORY

Will I have an exclusive territory? Yes and no. Locations will be handed out on a first come first serve process but we will reserve the right to add more instructors in your region if we sense demand is not being met. For example if you grow your business to a place where you are generating $20,000 a month in sales with 6 classes per week we will probably not certify another instructor in your region. But if you are grossing $5,000 per month on only 2 classes per week we feel we should have the ability to add capacity. We have found it is beneficial to grow and entire region where students have multiple options. Our goal is to hit the sweat spot where each instructor has the size of following they desire and the local community has enough instructors to meet demand.

The synergy we can create as we all grow together we believe will be incredibly powerful. As a united group of professionals operating under one URL we will have the ability to dominate the search rank for adult ballet world wide. Our quality and reputation will always precede us. We will eventually be acknowledge in your local community as a respected organization the represents the highest level of customer care and expertise. Your success will launch the success of others and we will eventually all benefit from the unique network we create.

ALIGN AND THE SHARING ECONOMY

We live in a new era where we are now able to share and manage our resources for a more profitable and productive way of working. ALIGN is a product of the sharing economy through our model of utilizing unused studio hours. We provide needed income to help local children’s studios stay open and we are allowed to create a strong base of loyal paying customers.

COMPASSION and EMPATHY are frequently thrown around buzz words in todays business development culture but at ALIGN it has been a corner stone of our process. We are successful because we are not judgmental. We create an open environment where all are welcomed and safe mistakes are encouraged. We do not break down our students self esteem, we build it.

QUALIFICATIONS – ALIGN is open to all qualified applicants. We do not discriminate in regards to age, gender identity, race, religion, marital/parental status, disability, or sexual orientation.

STUDIO SPACE?
We suggest prior to applying for our certification that you do some research and determine if you will have suitable rental space in your community. We prefer studios with sprung marley floors but sprung wood floors also work as long as they are not slippery. We suggest calling or email local studio candidates to see if they offer rental space to outside instructors. Feel free to email them our website and tell them you are considering launching and ALIGN program in their space and that you will eventually be the instructor for said program.

We will not approve your application without suitable studio space as without space you do not have a path for success.

EXPERIENCE – ALIGN collaborates with highly trained balletic professionals. You do not have to have danced formerly in a professional ballet company but you should have an advanced knowledge of classical ballet technique and have the ability to communicate it to others.

CREDENTIALS – educational credentials or previous fitness certifications are a plus. College degrees always strengthen one’s ability to attract our type of customers. We consider prior experience in the fitness business a plus as often that prior knowledge and experience can be utilized in our work.

LETTERS OF REFERENCE – each candidate must submit 3 letters of recommendation.

BACKGROUND CHECKS – Yes, we will run a background check. You will also need a strong credit record to be approved for your merchant account (Visa/Mastercard)

INTER PERSONAL SKILLS – Each candidate will go through a series of interviews to determine your fit with our culture.

NECESSARY INVESTMENT CAPITAL – beyond your certification cost we recommend each new team member have at least $1000 in cash reserves to begin. You will need to pay for studio rental in advance and then quickly lease more space as your program grows. If you do not currently have funds available we suggest you work at saving the necessary capital prior to applying for certification. You may also wish to clean your credit record as that will also determine if you can be approved for a merchant account. We prefer working with individuals who have good money management skills as the successful programs will need to take some of their earned income and reinvest that profit to fuel growth.

If you are interested please submit the following application below. If we sense you meet the necessary criteria we move toward step 2 which would include background / credit checks and interview process.

Thank you.