“I’m Type A,” Leah Snyder says, before launching into a rapid-fire account of her life. Ten minutes later, she’s still going. The 22-year-old owns APAStudio, a dance studio in Alma. If her biography is any indication, she wasn’t kidding about being Type A.
“I started dancing here when I was 4,” she says. “I basically grew up here.”
Back then, the studio was owned by the legendary Kathy Francis. Leah’s father worked as the studio’s custodian, making the studio part of the family’s life long before Leah ever imagined owning it herself.
When Kathy Francis died during Leah’s freshman year of high school, the studio’s future was uncertain. A community of dedicated “dance moms (and dads)” stepped in to keep it going. Leah is still in awe of them.
While Leah was earning a bachelor’s degree in education from Alma College, she started working towards purchasing the studio. By the time she graduated in April 2026, she had gone from student to teacher to studio owner, all by 22.
But turning a lifelong passion into a business required more than determination. When Leah tried to finance the purchase of APAStudio, her credit union couldn’t help a current college student with no business ownership experience. She needed a lender willing to see beyond her résumé to the experience, commitment and community support she had already built.
A “stroke of luck” led her to Northern Initiatives. Through funding available from the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP), Northern Initiatives helped provide the startup financing and technical assistance Leah needed to take ownership of the studio.
She wasn’t starting from scratch. She was building on years of relationships.
Those relationships remain central to APAStudio’s success. The “dance moms” who helped sustain the studio through a difficult transition are now helping Leah grow it. One, a brand manager, helped with rebranding as APAStudio, and manages the studio’s website and social media. Another, an accountant, keeps the books. A lawyer is also part of the extended team.
It’s a support system built on more than professional expertise. These are people who know the studio, believe in its mission and have a personal stake in its future.
Leah is listening to them — and to her dancers — as she plans APAStudio’s next chapter. The studio now serves more than 100 dancers across 56 weekly classes, taught by 10 contracted instructors.
For Leah, the future of APA is about more than expanding a business. It’s about investing in the community that helped shape her, preserving a place where generations of dancers can grow, and ensuring the studio has a home for years to come.
She started dancing at APA when she was 4. At 22, she’s the one making sure the music keeps playing
