For former Fort Washington resident Kim Dolan, dancing and fitness have been a way of life since childhood. At an early age, Dolan’s mother — a former Pennsylvania ballet dancer and aerobics instructor — enrolled the younger Dolan in a variety of classes, including ballet, tap, jazz and even Irish dancing.
“Dance and fitness were at the forefront of our family growing up,” said Dolan, reminiscing about her early foundation in formal dance training.
Since those early days, the training she received quickly turned into a passion that would steer her future for decades to come. Post-college and certified personal trainer in hand, Dolan would spend nearly all of her free time working a fitness-based side hustle that would eventually become a thriving personal training business: Kim Keep it Moving LLC. [Read about Kim's credentials here.]
Dolan now looks back at those days fondly. She remembers spending time in the gig economy, choreographing weddings, marriage proposals and assisting friends and businesses alike in leading healthy lives through dance and fitness training.
She even had a hand in Lansdale’s infamous flash-mob marriage proposal, creating the choreography for Ray and Tara Liberto’s engagement outside of the former Molly Maguire’s on North Wood Street.
In the years after, Dolan continued to provide dance and fitness instruction, and with a growing list of clients, she eventually considered opening her own studio. Finding an ideal location proved troublesome, however, as did the costs associated with launching and maintaining a brick-and-mortar facility. So, Dolan continued to work out of other studios until the COVID-19 pandemic reared its head and sent Dolan — along with many other fitness professionals — scrambling to find a way to reach her clients in the new era of masking and social distancing.
“Anyone who was working in dance or fitness was suddenly backed into a corner,” Dolan said. “We’re all wondering ‘Where do we go from here?’”
As dance and fitness professionals tinkered with Zoom sessions, Dolan said she sought out something more comprehensive. Instead of being relegated to single live classes via Zoom, she wanted to also provide pre-recorded routines, nutrition tips and fun, remote activities that electronically brought her clients back together.
That’s when KeepItMovingKim.com was launched.
“Ever since then, [the website] really took off,” said Dolan. “It really did. We became this online dance and fitness studio, my clients were still getting live training, and everyone was having fun.”
With the website’s two-year anniversary on the horizon, Dolan said she’s happy with the early success, which is especially revealing considering she admittedly avoids modern technology and longs for the days of analog cassette tapes and AM/FM radios.
With a small, localized staff, Dolan operates and maintains the website daily, including providing live dance and fitness classes, maintaining a library of pre-recorded classes and content, video choreography breakdowns, nutrition advice and more. Additionally, Dolan and her clients frequently participate in music video projects for fun, which are then displayed on the website.
Beyond the classes, breakdowns and tips, Dolan also holds semi-annual masterclasses that are open to the public, which offer guests a family-friendly, first-hand look at what her training and classes are all about. Most recently, a masterclass was held on Dec. 27 that Dolan said served as an “end of the year dance party.”
“It’s all about having fun, welcoming in new faces and heading into the new year with the right mindset,” Dolan said.
As for what the future holds, Dolan said she’s always looking to improve and freshen up the services she offers, however she also likes to remain in the moment and stay focused on the tasks ahead.
For more information, please visit www.KeepItMovingKim.com. Follow Kim on Facebook here and subscribe to her YouTube channel by clicking here.
(Editor’s note: this content was sponsored by Kim Keep It Moving LLC.)
