Edge Forum

Fire Stead comes from Stratford, East London. He left school at 16 unable to read or write. When he told a career advisor that he’d like to become an electrician he was told ‘you couldn’t even be a dustbin man’. He persevered, did an electrical engineering apprenticeship and learned to read from the subtitles on television in order to pass his theory exam. Since then he worked in businesses with friends until attending a salsa class changed his life. Fire now runs a successful Salsa school which has recently been awarded college status. As Fire says, “The first thing I ever passed was my driving license. To get from there to this is amazing.”

What was your experience in education like?

When I left school at 16 I couldn’t read or write. I went through school not knowing what was wrong with me, but I knew I wasn’t stupid. I left at 16 without any education and managed to bluff my way into a job. When I told my careers officer that I wanted to be an electrician he said I couldn’t even be a dustbin man. When they sent me for the electrical apprenticeship interview and the interviewer asked whether I knew anything about electrical engineering I said yes. I had experience at home, fixing things for my mum. So that’s how I got the job.

I was working there for two years with five other apprentices - I was probably one of the fastest learning the trade. I was always ahead on the practical stuff but the trouble came when they had to send me to college to learn the theory. I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t read or write. The first year at City and Guilds I failed because I couldn’t do the theory. So then I bought myself a television and read the teletext, that’s how I learnt to read – I didn’t want to tell anybody that I couldn’t read. My parents never knew I couldn’t. I always just bluffed it. So I watched the words on the TV. Now I can’t spell but I can read.

How have you got to where you are now?

I spent 4 years doing the apprenticeship and after that I went and worked in various companies – buying and selling clothes in shops with friends and I did that for about 9 years or so. But when I tried salsa I knew right away that I liked it even though I really struggled because I never knew anything about music. I found a club in Enfield and did their six week course over and over again for 18 months. People used to think I was mad but I did it because I had a plan – to teach it, so I had to understand how to do it. So I started searching and finding more places on the internet. I started going seven nights a week to any and every class I could find – even up to Scotland! I went anywhere to go to a salsa class and after a while of that, in about 1998 I found a lady who could teach and she’d set up a club for learning to teach in Colchester. I spent about four years up there learning my trade. It was good doing my training up there because I could learn and make my mistakes up there where nobody knew me. Then I’d come back down to London to teach. For the first class I taught, I expected 10-15 people to turn up - I found myself teaching 70 people! I tried to stand on a rocking table to teach – it didn’t work.

By the time I decided to come back to London, there were teachers as good as me. I’d already been learning martial arts for 20 years. For that you have to know balance and timing and I used what I’d learned in martial arts and applied it to Salsa.

What drives you?

What we provide at I Love Salsa – you can’t really put a price on it. We take students of every colour and background. Although we’re teaching dance, we’re also teaching them how to respect each other. It’s all about respecting each other. It’s not just about dancing; in dance you lead another dancer. You have to have respect to do that. It teaches the boys about girls - they learn a mature, respectful relationship with girls. If they did salsas across this country for 10 years, starting with 6 year olds, there’d be a major attitude change in children. It teaches them how to understand people. I’ve got children who don’t like each other, but in my class they have to dance with each other and work together setting up the room. We take lots of different music and mix it in a compilation and it shows how it’s one melting pot, we all can mix together using our music.

Why did you choose this career?

From the first time I went to a salsa class I felt at home – there were old and young people, black and white, fat and skinny and there was no discrimination. It’s not like that at, say, night clubs but when I went to the salsa it was different. Everyone was talking nicely to each other and dancing together. So I started taking the lessons and from then on I had a plan – to teach salsa.

How do you measure success?

For me, success is getting up in the morning and doing whatever it is you want to do without having to worry about it. And happiness, I’ve seen people lose their lives too quickly. I used to think money would do it, but money isn’t the key. Happiness is. I’ve been in different businesses, I see I can make money but that doesn’t motivate me. Success is when you see you’ve got two children talking with each other and dancing with each other.

What challenges have you faced?

I wrote a syllabus for teaching Salsa and took it to some different societies I was involved in and asked them if they were interested in it and they said no – they wanted to do it their own way. Fair enough. I spoke to different people – lots of big organizations.  I experienced what I felt was some narrow minded discrimination when I attended a meeting with one of the ladies that I worked with (who happened to be Caucasian) and the people who we were meeting with directed all of the questions at her even though I was the author of the syllabus – they were surprised that I had written it – that experience speaks for itself.

I also had a burglary here and they wiped me out. At the time I thought, I’d have to start again and I had to find money to re-jig what we were doing. It’s not been easy. Even now, with recession coming, it’s not easy. So yeah I’d say I’ve had a few challenges.

What three characteristics make a successful entrepreneur?

Firstly, you don’t ever have to step on anybody to make a success of yourself. Secondly, your word is your bond - make your reputation go before you. Thirdly, be consistent in what you do. Keep on doing it. When the door is shut, knock on the next one. Just keep knocking. Sometimes you will get down, but when you are down, knock on another one. Just keep knocking until something opens.