The Cheer Biz Podcast

Work Smarter While Traveling

Travel season can make it feel impossible to stay on top of your work, your team, your inbox, and your business.
In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton shares his best productivity hacks for cheer gym owners, all star coaches, choreographers, and business owners who are constantly on the road for competitions, camps, choreography, Worlds, Summit, and summer travel.
Dan breaks down how he stays productive while traveling, including how to schedule work blocks, protect your calendar, build in buffer time, communicate availability, use travel-friendly tech tools, and set realistic priorities so you can keep your business moving without burning yourself out.
If you are heading into a busy travel season and need a better way to manage work, emails, meetings, staff communication, and business responsibilities while away from home, this episode will help you create a practical plan that actually works.

D1 Summit: My Honest Thoughts

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton shares his honest thoughts after attending D1 Summit for the first time as a coach after 10 years of competing at D2 Summit.
Coming off a 2025 D2 Summit win in Senior Medium 4, Dan breaks down what it was like to move into the D1 world, what surprised him most, and how the experience compared to D2 Summit. He talks about the difference in team depth, the huge range in competitive ability, how brand-name gyms and franchise locations performed, and why the location within a brand often mattered just as much as the name on the uniform.
Dan also shares lessons from his own teams’ performances, including missing finals because of a stunt fall, watching one team jump from wildcard to sixth place, and seeing firsthand how small execution details can separate first from fifth at D1 Summit.
This episode is packed with insight for cheer gym owners, all star coaches, and program directors who want to understand the difference between D1 and D2 Summit, prepare their teams for higher-level competition, and think differently about execution, culture, cost, and end-of-season strategy.

How Cheer Gyms Avoid Summer Slumps

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton breaks down a problem that hits cheer gyms every year: the post-tryout and summer dip in class enrollment.

Right before tryouts, classes, privates, and skill work are booming. Athletes are trying to get ready, parents are motivated, and gyms feel busy. But once tryouts are over, many families pause, drop classes, or disappear for the summer — creating a revenue dip that can catch gym owners off guard.

Dan shares practical strategies to help cheer gym owners protect enrollment, retain class athletes, and build revenue through the summer months. He explains why you should keep building interest lists even when classes are full, how to use summer camps and skill clinics strategically, why athletes need post-tryout goals, and how flexible summer attendance policies can keep families enrolled longer.

If you are a cheer gym owner, program director, or coach, this episode will help you plan ahead, reduce cancellations, keep classes full, and avoid getting blindsided by the summer slowdown.

Lessons From 25 Years in Cheer

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton reflects on the biggest lessons he learned during the 2025–2026 cheer season after nearly 25 years of coaching and 15 years of gym ownership.

From launching a new branch of the business that did not go as planned, to giving staff faster and more direct feedback, to navigating the growing impact of AI, Dan shares honest lessons that every cheer gym owner and coach can learn from.

He also dives into one of the biggest issues facing the cheer industry right now: the scoring crisis. With major score swings, inconsistent judging, and unclear feedback frustrating coaches and families, Dan explains why this matters and how it could impact the future of all star cheer.

This episode is a must-listen for cheer gym owners, coaches, and program directors who want to grow as leaders, learn from mistakes, improve staff systems, and stay committed to building a stronger business and stronger teams.

The Biggest Red Flags in All Star Cheer

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton shares the biggest red flags he has seen after 25 years of coaching cheerleading. From coaches blaming choreography or saying no athletes are ready to level up, to athletes cutting corners, parents talking negatively about other kids, and gym owners refusing to learn business, Dan breaks down the behaviors that quietly hurt teams, culture, and long-term success.

This episode is part tough love, part leadership lesson, and part reality check for the entire cheer community. Dan explains why these warning signs matter, what they usually reveal underneath the surface, and how coaches, parents, athletes, and owners can use them as a chance to grow instead of getting defensive.

If you are a cheer gym owner, coach, athlete, or parent, this episode will help you identify the patterns that create drama, limit progress, damage culture, and keep programs from reaching their potential.

Strong Culture Always Wins

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton sits down with Stephenie Staley, owner of Dynasty Athletics in Draper, Utah, to talk about building a cheer gym rooted in family, culture, honesty, and long-term athlete development.

Stephenie shares her journey from helping run one of Utah’s early all star programs to opening Dynasty Athletics in 2016. She explains how her homegrown coaching staff, many of whom grew up in her program, has helped create a strong culture where athletes are supported, challenged, and taught lessons that go far beyond cheer.

This conversation dives into what it means to build good humans through cheer, why wins and losses both matter, how to stay true to your values in a saturated market, and why confidence, resilience, and honesty are such important parts of athlete development.

If you are a cheer gym owner, coach, or program director, this episode is full of insight on culture, staff development, athlete growth, high school cheer relationships, and building a program that lasts.

Why Your Cheer Gym Isn’t Profitable

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton breaks down one of the biggest reasons cheer gym owners stay stuck financially: they do not actually understand their numbers. More specifically, they do not understand the difference between gross margin, pricing, and real profit.

Dan explains why so many gym owners think they are making money when they are really just covering the cost of delivery, and why the word “profit” gets used incorrectly all the time in the cheer industry. He walks through the difference between gross margin and true profit, why pricing must be set intentionally, and why hoping profit will “just happen” is one of the fastest ways to stay broke as a gym owner.

This episode also covers why bad accounting systems and poor money management make profitability even harder, including the danger of using “bank balance accounting” instead of a smarter system like Profit First. Dan also gives a warning about predatory loans and why desperate money decisions can bury a gym for years.

If you are a cheer gym owner, program director, or entrepreneur, this episode is a must-listen if you want to build a more profitable gym, price your services correctly, and finally understand what your numbers are really telling you.

How to Actually Train Cheer Athletes the Right Way

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton sits down with Rocky Rumel to talk about one of the biggest gaps in the cheer industry: how we train athletes beyond just reps, routines, and skill progressions.

With an interdisciplinary background in exercise physiology, sports psychology, nutrition, business, and performance coaching, Rocky brings a unique perspective to all star cheer. He explains why strength and conditioning is one of the most overlooked opportunities in cheer gyms today, how even small investments in athlete performance can reduce injury and improve results, and why so many gyms are still behind when it comes to training athletes like real athletes.

Dan and Rocky also dive into mental blocks and performance anxiety, including a simple and powerful way to help athletes understand what is happening in their minds when they freeze, hesitate, or suddenly lose a skill. This conversation is packed with practical insight for coaches who want to better support athletes physically and mentally.

If you are a cheer gym owner, coach, or program director, this episode will challenge you to think bigger about athlete development, safer progression, and what it really takes to help athletes become stronger, healthier, and more confident on and off the mat.

Be Careful Who You Listen To

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton breaks down a problem that quietly hurts a lot of cheer gym owners: listening to the wrong people.

From anonymous moms in Facebook groups, to random opinions online, to well-meaning friends and family, to AI tools like ChatGPT, Dan explains why too many owners are letting outside voices shape major business decisions — even when those voices have no real understanding of what it takes to run a successful cheer gym.

This episode is a powerful reminder that not every opinion deserves your attention. Dan shares why gym owners need to focus on the people who actually matter: their athletes, their paying clients, their local market, and trusted advisors who understand the cheer industry and have real experience.

Inside this episode, Dan talks about:
Why anonymous people online should not have power over your decisions
The danger of making business choices based on uninformed opinions
Why AI is not a cheer gym business coach
How negativity online plants doubt, even when it shouldn’t
Why strong gym owners need to protect their mindset just as much as their systems

If you’re a cheer gym owner, coach, or director, this episode will help you filter noise, trust the right voices, and lead your business with more clarity and confidence.

What Cheer Coaches Are Getting Wrong About Flexibility

In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton sits down with Cat Haley of the Cat Haley Method to talk about one of the most misunderstood parts of athlete development in all star cheer: flexibility, strength, and safe body training.

Cat shares her story from a small-town athlete in Maine to a World Champion with Stingrays Orange, and how multiple ACL injuries, years of coaching, and the unexpected shift during COVID led her to build a virtual training business that now helps thousands of athletes around the world.

This conversation goes far beyond “how to get a better heel stretch.” Dan and Cat break down what most cheer coaches are still getting wrong about flexibility training, why holding stretches too long can actually backfire, why strength is a critical part of improving mobility, and how poor flexibility training methods can contribute to back pain, hip issues, and long-term wear on the body.

They also talk about jump technique, body awareness, injury prevention, and why flexibility work is often overlooked in gyms even though it plays such a major role in athlete performance.
If you’re a cheer gym owner, coach, or program director, this episode will challenge the way you think about athlete development and give you a smarter, safer framework for building stronger, healthier, more confident cheer athletes.