The Pursuit of Happiness
Deneen Carmichael: Moving forward
By Meagan Parrish
Photographed by David Watkins
What makes us happy? The answers can be elusive. For some, happiness might involve taking one small step or making a simple change, such as adding a good conversation or a quiet moment alone to the day. For others, happiness waits over the edge of the cliff and requires a leap of faith.
Whether it’s rearranging your life for a dream job or finding fulfillment in a personal passion—reading, cooking or running, or simply being with our favorite people at our favorite places—the pursuit of happiness shapes our lives.
The stories we have chosen to feature are of women pursuing happiness along different avenues. Deneen Carmichael and Chris Hansen each sought happiness in new careers, making bold moves in uncertain circumstances to achieve their dreams. While for Jenny Wimmer, the journey to a happier life involved a personal transformation from the inside out.
These stories are a reminder that the journey is yours, and yours alone. It’s never too far fetched, too late or too difficult to try. We’re never too far away.
Attend a dance class.
It seemed like such a simple goal, but for Deneen Carmichael, it was monumental.
Shortly after giving birth to a baby girl, Carmichael found herself suffering from postpartum depression. “I thought I was going crazy. I was lost. It [was] pretty terrifying,” Carmichael explains. “[My family] saw what was going on and said I needed help—and I did. It was [then] that I walked into a local dance studio.”
Although she had no prior dance training, Carmichael trusted an instinct she felt to move. Stepping on the dance floor, she immediately embraced the positive connection she discovered with her body while doing the rumba. “[Dancing] touched me so deeply. I thought, this is somehow going to be a part of my life forever,” Carmichael says. “And then it turned into a lot more.”
Just three years after her first encounter with ballroom dance, the 35-year-old is now co-owner of Tempo Dance Studio, a local studio devoted solely to ballroom and Latin dance. With a background in public relations, it may not be the career Carmichael envisioned. Yet, her magnetic smile and graceful movements seem right at home amidst the elegance and joy of dance.
Early in her training, Carmichael’s story was so moving, it even landed her on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” performing with “Dancing with the Stars” pro Derek Hough. In retrospect, Carmichael says she was disappointed with how the show portrayed her as a stay-at-home mom “transformed” into a dancing star. But Carmichael does not deny that dancing had a profound impact on her confidence and mood.
“I never felt feminine and graceful. On the dance floor, I felt sexy in a safe way,” she explains. “When I started dancing after [having] my daughter, I was able to feel like a woman again.”
After the Oprah experience, Carmichael ramped up her training schedule, spending 15 to 20 hours a week in the dance studio and participating in amateur competitions. Then new hurdles emerged: divorce and
relocation. According to Carmichael, she and her husband cordially separated and both decided to move to a city where they could settle into new career paths and raise their daughter. Madison was not Carmichael’s first choice, but it became the perfect place to realize a dream.
Unwilling to compromise her training schedule, Carmichael began studying under John Abrams, a nationally recognized ballroom instructor based in Milwaukee. As the pair lamented over the lack of a studio in Madison where Carmichael could train, they began to toss around the idea of opening one. Coupling Abrams’ name with Carmichael’s years of experience in marketing, fundraising and public relations, the far-fetched idea became a business plan. Tempo Dance Studio was born.
Now located on Madison’s west side, Carmichael’s spacious studio is a stylish ode to the classy vibe of ballroom, complete with chandeliers, disco balls and over-sized photos of dancer legs in fishnet stockings. The idea was to create a “safe zone” for the students, Carmichael notes—particularly a space where they could leave their daily lives outside.
Although Carmichael focuses mostly on Tempo’s business development rather than teaching dance, she still takes time to connect with her clientele. For many incoming students, part of the experience at Tempo includes finding inspiration in Carmichael’s story.
“For so many students, this is their first time dancing and it’s so far outside their comfort zone. I get to relive my own journey every single day,” Carmichael says.
Co-owning Tempo may be a dream job, but it is not without its costs. Carmichael sometimes works 10 to 14 hours a day and like many, struggles to balance her personal life and work. “The reality of it is sometimes hard,” she admits. “You have to make tough choices as far as your personal life. I really don’t have a social life.”
But when asked if it’s worth it, Carmichael confirms without hesitation that it is, adding, “I get to bring my daughter here, which is a huge benefit. She’s completely at home here, which means there’s also less of a guilt factor.”
For everyone, happiness may not wait on the dance floor, but the lessons we can learn from Carmichael’s life remain. “If there’s something that you’ve always wanted to try, do it now, because you never
know what it’s going to turn into,” she says. Once plagued by the doubt and uncertainty of depression, she’s found a way to connect with her body and her life.
“I rediscovered myself on the dance floor. As I got more and more into it, I started coming back from postpartum depression. When I danced, that was gone. It was pretty magical,” Carmichael says, smiling.
“This is where my happy is.”