Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Kropke.
Jennifer, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story has never followed a perfectly straight line, and I think I’ve finally learned that’s one of my favorite things about it.
A huge part of my entrepreneurial journey began with Twinkle Toes Today, where I was able to combine my love of children, dance, creativity, and education. What started as an idea became something I had to actually build. I learned how to create programming, develop a brand, market it, communicate with families, design materials, solve problems, and figure things out as I went. I didn’t necessarily realize it at the time, but I was learning how to be an entrepreneur.
Eventually, my creative life started expanding beyond one lane.
Music became a much bigger part of that. I began writing and releasing music under my own name, Jennifer Kropke, and discovered how much I loved not only creating songs, but building the entire world around them. Writing, recording, artwork, websites, social media, promotion, storytelling and connecting with an audience all became part of the process. In 2026, I began releasing original music including Still Here, My Shame, In 8 Counts, and my album Inherited Weather Pt. 1.
At the same time, my background in design, marketing and storytelling opened doors I never could have predicted. I now work with Barry Edwards Productions LLC in digital media and audience engagement, where my role has grown far beyond simply “doing social media.” I help develop campaigns, write and create content, build audiences and contribute creatively to productions.
One project I am especially excited about is the upcoming American Dance Party Kids Show. I have been involved creatively in developing the show through scriptwriting, songwriting, concepts, promotional content and helping shape what this new children’s series can become. It brings together so many pieces of my life: dance, music, writing, children, production and creativity.
I have also had the opportunity to work with nonprofits and community organizations. One of the projects closest to my heart has been working with Seeds of Service, including helping build and launch its pop up museum and developing creative programming centered around ideas like empathy, listening, community, stewardship and hopeful vision.
Then there are all the things that happen in between. I design websites. I create graphics and campaigns. I write. I help people figure out how to tell their stories. Sometimes I am behind a camera. Sometimes I am behind a computer. Sometimes I am writing a song. Sometimes I am helping turn someone else’s idea into something people can actually see, hear or experience.
And through all of it, I’m also a mom and a partner.
For a long time, I thought I needed to choose one thing so I could give people an easy answer when they asked what I did. I don’t feel that way anymore. Entrepreneurship has given me permission to recognize that all of these pieces belong together. At the center of everything I do is creativity, storytelling, connection and building something that wasn’t there before.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not, and I don’t think I would want to pretend that it has been.
One of my biggest struggles has been learning to trust a path that doesn’t look traditional. There is a certain comfort in being able to say, “This is my career, this is my title, and this is what I do.” My life has rarely fit that neatly into a box.
I have transitioned between education, entrepreneurship, dance, design, music, marketing, production and nonprofit work. There were times when I wondered whether having so many interests meant I wasn’t focused enough. Eventually, I realized that the opposite was true. The skills I learned in one space continually made me better in another.
There is also the reality of trying to build creative work while raising a family and maintaining a relationship. Entrepreneurship sounds exciting, but a lot of it happens after everyone else’s needs have been handled. It means answering an email while dinner is cooking, working on a design after bedtime, writing down a lyric before you forget it, or switching from “Mom” to “creative professional” and back again within five minutes.
I have also had projects end, plans change and moments where I had to completely rethink what came next. Moving away from Twinkle Toes Today was especially significant because it meant letting go of something that had represented a major part of my identity and allowing myself to evolve into something new.
What I’ve learned is that starting over doesn’t necessarily mean starting from zero. Every experience gives you something to carry forward.
I still don’t have everything figured out. I’m not sure anyone really does. But I have become much more comfortable building the next chapter while I’m living it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I usually laugh a little when someone asks me, “So, what do you do?” because there isn’t one job title that completely covers it.
At my core, I’m a creative entrepreneur and storyteller. I work across music, digital media, production, writing, design and community based projects, and I’ve built a career around being able to take an idea and help turn it into something real.
As an independent artist, I write and release original music under my name, Jennifer Kropke. My music is deeply rooted in storytelling and real life. I’m interested in the things we sometimes have a hard time saying out loud, and songwriting has become one of the places where I can be the most honest creatively. In 2026, I released several original songs and my album Inherited Weather Pt. 1, which has been an incredibly personal project for me.
I also work with Barry Edwards Productions LLC in digital media and audience engagement. My work there includes social media strategy, content creation, branding, promotion and helping develop new productions. One of the projects I’m most excited about is the upcoming American Dance Party Kids Show, which begins filming in 2027. I’ve been able to contribute creatively through scriptwriting, songwriting, show concepts, marketing and audience development. It is one of those rare projects where so many parts of my background come together at once: music, dance, writing, production, marketing and working with children.
Outside of entertainment, I work with businesses, artists and organizations on everything from websites and branding to digital campaigns and creative direction. I especially love working with people who have a great idea or story but aren’t quite sure how to translate it into something others can connect with.
Community work is another important part of what I do. I’ve worked with nonprofits, including Seeds of Service, where I helped develop and launch a pop up museum and create programming around listening, empathy, community, stewardship and hopeful vision. That project reminded me that creativity doesn’t always have to result in a song, a website or a show. Sometimes creativity can build a space where people feel seen and connected.
What I’m most proud of is probably not one individual project. It’s the fact that I’ve stopped believing I have to choose between the different parts of myself in order to be taken seriously.
The same person who can write a song can build a website. The person developing a social media campaign can help write a children’s television script. The person working on a nonprofit project can come home and turn something she experienced that day into lyrics. And all of those experiences make the next project stronger.
I think that is also what sets me apart. I don’t approach creativity from only one direction. I understand the artistic side, but I also understand the strategy, branding, audience and execution behind it. I’m often the person asking, “Okay, this is a great idea. How do we actually make it happen?”
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I’m still a mom and a partner. That part of my life isn’t separate from my creativity either. It influences how I work, what I write about and what I consider worth building.
I’m not trying to fit into one creative box anymore. I’m much more interested in seeing what I can build when I let all of those pieces work together.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My definition of success has changed a lot.
I used to think success was something you could point to: a title, a paycheck, a degree, a certain number of followers, or finally reaching some imaginary place where you could say, “Okay, I made it.”
Now I think success is much more about freedom, impact and alignment.
Success is being able to create something I genuinely care about and watch it connect with another person. It is hearing that someone related to a song I wrote. It is watching an idea that once existed in a notebook become a real production. It is helping an organization communicate its mission in a way that makes people want to become part of it. It is building something for children that makes them dance, laugh, learn or feel more confident.
But success is also being able to do those things without losing the people I’m doing all of this for in the first place.
I’m a mom. I’m a partner. I’m an artist. I’m a creator. I’m an entrepreneur. None of those identities has to cancel out another one.
So today, success means building a life where my children can see me pursue things that matter to me, where I can contribute something meaningful to my community, where I can continue creating and growing, and where I still get to be present for the people I love.
I don’t think success is a finish line anymore. I think it’s being able to look at the life you’re building and recognize yourself in it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jenniferkropke.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrs._dancing_queen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLynnKropke/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferkropke/
- Twitter: https://x.com/mrsdancingqueen
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JenniferKropke/
- Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/jenniferkropke
