Carmen Garson is not your average CPA. After making one of the most courageous leaps any business professional can make, Garson now focuses on belly dance (not balance sheets) and on tango (not taxes). She followed her dream and traded in the corporate world for something more creative, more sensual and more spiritual, opening up the Goddess Store and Studio located on Harrison Street in historic Downtown Hollywood.
“It was one of the biggest decisions I ever made, but I had a calling to finally make my dream become real,” Garson said.
Born in Ecuador, Garson came to the U.S. in 1959. She lived in New York, graduated Cum Laude from Pace University and became a Certified Public Accountant. She worked with some of Wall Street’s most prestigious names, like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, and moved to South Florida in 1989, holding senior positions at Telemundo and other firms.
“I’ve had a great career, but there came a time when I knew that wasn’t me anymore,” she said.
Garson opened the Goddess Store in 2002 as a way to not only explore her own passion for the arts but to also help others do the same.
“I wanted to create an environment where people could share ideas and experiences with other like-minded people,” she said. “It was also important to me to build a place where women could feel empowered to try new things and build self-esteem.”
Garson brought together talented and respected dance instructors to offer a wide variety of classes. Garson first focused on belly dance, attracting teachers well-versed in many forms of the art who had performed all over the world. She then added a wide range of other exotic genres, including Tango, Salsa, Flamenco, Brazilian Samba, Argentine Folklore, Polynesian, Exotic Zumba and the Tantric Dance of Feminine Power. One teacher even hosted a successful weekly pole dancing class.
But Garson’s inner child was still hungry.
“She wanted to offer people more than just dance,” said Efrosini “Effy” Polizogopulos, a teacher at the Goddess Store. “Carmen built a community where people could also grow spiritually and artistically, too.”
Adding things like yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, African and Middle Eastern drumming to its palette, the Goddess Store soon became a Hollywood safe haven for personal growth in body, mind and spirit. The studio also offers monthly art exhibits, open houses and poetry readings, along with workshops on everything from healing techniques to reading tarot.
“Balancing chakras is certainly more fun that balancing a corporate budget,” she said. “Living my dream and helping others live theirs – it’s actually hard to call this work.”
For more information, visit www.goddessstore.com.
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