Meet the Team – Keanah and Faye

Talking Dance, Life and Shoes!

Our wonderful Freed of London shop team members Keanah and Faye recently took part in a photoshoot for our upcoming launch of ‘The Showstopper’. After a long but fun day out in the sun, our senior manager, Sophie, sat down with our girls and did a little post-shoot interview! Read below to learn more about our fabulous team members.

Keanah – 20 years old – Freed team member since 2019

Sophie: Tell me about your background, have you always danced, is it new to you?

Keanah: When I was 4 years old, I started attending Saturday associates in Clapham.

Sophie: Is that where you’re from?

Keanah: I’m from Brixton.

Sophie: Okay, so you’re a London girl?

Keanah: Yes. And then I went to college and studied at the Brit School, which is a performing arts school.

Sophie: How old were you when you went to the Brit School?

Keanah: 16.

Sophie: When you were there were you dancing all the time? Did you have to do academics?

Keanah: So I went specifically for just dance, so it was everyday Monday to Friday

Sophie: Favourite genre of dance?

Keanah: Tap.

Sophie: Did you ever have a dance exam or a syllabus to follow?

Keanah: Yeah so I went to my associates, I always took my graded exams with ISTD

Sophie: So you’re not dancing now, so when you left the Brit school did you think that was enough? Did you want to be professional?

Keanah: Leaving the Brit school I decided I didn’t want to be a professional dancer, but I didn’t want to give up dancing, so I kept it as a hobby, but I didn’t want it to be my forever life 24/7.

Sophie: Remind me, how long have you been with us here at Freed?

Keanah: I started two years ago in 2019

Sophie: How did you find out about us?

Keanah: Actually, where I was working beforehand wasn’t for me, so I wanted to move somewhere that wasn’t similar. Because I wasn’t dancing I wanted to stay connected, so when this job popped up I went for it.

Sophie: So you’re based in our famous London shop, tell me, is it what you expected it would be?

Keanah: It is in a sense that I knew it was going to be different to an ordinary retail shop

Sophie: What goes on day to day?

Keanah: It is different, in a sense of you’re not just serving customers, you’re answering emails, you’re sending out mail. I was used to customers coming off the street, whereas in the shop you have a lot of overseas customers, and a wide range of people coming to visit here.

Sophie: What is the hardest thing and the most enjoyable thing about working here?

Keanah: The hardest thing would be fitting shoes, and meeting new people is the most enjoyable, you’re always meeting different people.

Sophie: Tap is your thing, but how did you find today? Have you done photoshoots before?

Keanah: Only small ones, but never a full dance shoot.

Sophie: The shop has a very close team, you’re all quite different, are they more than work colleagues? Because it can often be a very demanding job.

Keanah: It is definitely a bonus to work with people that have a similar dance background but also have different characteristics, backgrounds and interests – you’re always learning new things.

Sophie: Had you heard of Freed before you started working here?

Keanah: Yes – funny story, so my dad used to call this the green shop because it was green a while ago, and he used to come here to get my brother’s dancewear, so I’ve always known this shop to be the green shop. Even when I came here, I was just describing it to my dad I like oh yeah it’s the green shop.

Faye – 22 years old – Freed team member since 2019

Sophie: Tell me a bit about yourself, you didn’t grow up here did you?

Faye: I’m British born, but I grew up in Texas in the US – I know, it’s bonkers.

Sophie: What made you come back to London?

Faye: When I was 16 I came over with my dad for a couple of weeks in the summer, I was talking to family, and they began saying I should study in London and I thought – what a good idea! So I applied to university here, and moved back to London when I was 18 years old on my own.

Sophie: What University did you go to?

Faye: The university of Roehampton, I studied dance.

Sophie: Have you been dancing all your life?

Faye: I started dancing when I was 2, my mum was a dancer, my grandmother was a dancer, and my great grandparents were dancers.

Sophie: So there was no way out?

Faye: There was no way out and my poor children have their destiny written for them already.

Sophie: What sort of dance did you study?

Faye: I did everything, I started with ballet, then I moved on to tap, and then I joined what we call a company team, so I did competitions – I did ballet, contemporary, lyrical, musical theatre, tap and jazz, the only thing I didn’t do was street and hip-hop because I do not move like that, that’s not how my body moves!

Sophie: So you teach as well?

Faye: When I was 11 years old, the head dance teacher saw me sitting in the hallway and said come help me and give me a hand – it was a nursery class. I left the class thinking yep that’s it that’s what I’m gonna do I’m gonna teach kids how to dance.

Sophie: Where do you teach now? What do you do?

Faye: I teach at Wimbledon dance academy, I’m an assistant teacher so I help with the ballet classes, and I also teach contemporary classes.

Sophie: You work in our London shop when you’re not teaching – before you came to London had you heard of our company?

Faye: Yeah so funny story, my mum came to the shop to get her first pair of pointe shoes when she was 15, and she used to tell me that story. I found them once, and I didn’t realise they were soft blocks, and I used to walk around on my toes in them when I was about 8 years old.

Sophie: When did you start working with us?

Faye: I started in November 2019, so just under 2 years.

Sophie: Is it what you thought?

Faye: It’s more than what I thought, it’s not a normal retail job, it’s very specialised, customers know what they want and what they’re after. As soon as a customer comes into the shop I have something in common with them, even if they’re ballroom and Latin dancers, they’re dancers, we speak the same language.

Sophie: Our shop is for any type of dancer, did you know that before you joined?

Faye: I thought it was more of a ballet shop, it was a good surprise to know you actually do everything.

Sophie: You’ve been on a fitting with me haven’t you?

Faye: Yeah so we went to the Central School in September 2020, it was the first fitting trip I’ve been on

Sophie: What is the best and worst part about your job here?

Faye: The best part is being able to help someone with their first pair of pointe shoes, that is such a huge moment for anyone, whether you go to a vocational school or do one class a week in a village hall, your first pair of point shoes is what you’re dreaming about from the get go. The hardest part is probably when you have a customer, and you know what they need, but they think they know what they need, so you have to meet them somewhere in the middle.

We hope you enjoyed learning a little more about our team and do stay tuned for more BTS action at Freed of London. The Showstopper and Stage Shoe new tones will be launching on Monday 16th August 2021 and will be available to order online and in store. You may even get to meet one of our ‘models’ from the campaign when you visit the shop!

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