I’m Jessica — a dance mom to four daughters, a ballet teacher, and someone who spent years wishing this brand already existed.
Jessica — founder, ballet teacher, and dance mom of four
As a busy mom, there is nothing better than finding great quality activewear on Amazon. Let’s be real though, we know which brands kill it and which ones miss the mark. Amazon has been a great resource and budget friendly way to build out my activewear wardrobe through the years — but when it came to my girls and Amazon dancewear? There was nothing that felt fun, that actually fit how dancewear should fit, and held up wash after wash without an eye-watering price tag. I couldn’t believe what “real” quality dance sets cost — and the affordable stuff just wasn’t made well, and was clearly not made by anyone who understood actual dancewear.
Growing up a dancer myself, I never had access to dancewear that felt exciting. I love this generation’s dance culture — the bright colors, the fun prints, the confidence a girl gets walking into the studio wearing something that feels like her. With four girls of our own, we’ve built up overflowing bins of bright, fun dancewear over the years. The truth is though, spending hundreds of dollars on sets that she grows out of in less than a year… just didn’t sit right with us. I set out to create what I wanted to exist for my own daughters, and I wanted it to not cost a fortune (and I wanted it to, above all, be convenient for busy dance families!).
Jessica, mid-leap in her own dancing days
Because here’s the truth: dance is expensive. Between tuition, competition fees, shoes, and costumes, families make real sacrifices to keep their kids dancing. We feel it too — I teach ballet myself just to help cover our own girls’ tuition. So GRL Active started with a simple, personal push: if we’re going to spend money on dance, let’s spend it on what actually matters MOST — the training — and let the dancewear be something beautiful and fun that we can surprise our girls with, things they will love and wear and wear, but that doesn’t break the bank.
The Heart of the Brand
Our girls, on stage and doing what they love
Our house is a dance house. Four dancing daughters, about 15 hours a week in the car driving to and from the studio, and a built-in focus group of picky, stylish girls who let me know exactly what they love (and don’t) before anything makes it into the shop. Nobody is better at giving you the cold hard truth than a gaggle of daughters.
We know firsthand what dance families sacrifice. Parents picking up second jobs. Moms cleaning studios and teaching classes just to make tuition work. And we know why it’s worth it. For four or ten or twenty hours a week, our kids are working hard as a team, off their devices, building real friendships, learning to handle disappointment, and finding the courage to get up and perform in front of a crowd. Grit. Determination. Joy. Those are lessons that follow them for life — and they’re worth every sacrifice.
GRL Active exists to make the dancewear part of that equation a little easier: pieces that help girls walk in feeling confident and get to stand out, at a price that leaves more room in the budget for what matters most — training, opportunities, and time on the floor.
Looking Ahead
Dancewear matters, but training matters more. Our dream is to grow GRL Active into something that can help fund real opportunities for dancers — scholarships and support so more kids can access the training and experiences that shape them, not just the ones whose families can already afford it.
We started this brand to help our own family make dance work. Now we want to help yours too — and share the joy of dance with as many girls as we can.
Looking for our original Stand Out Shorts? You can find the 1.0 version in our Amazon store. See what other dance families are saying in the reviews on Amazon.
— Jessica, Founder of GRL Active