Noa is one of our favourite Inspirations customers.

They are appreciative of our service, show lots of love for our product lines, and are kind, respectful, and personable with the staff. After every visit to the store, they email or call to let us know about their shopping experience and express how much it means that we treat them … like a customer.

We LOVE hearing Noa’s compliments and reviews! But it is heartbreaking that we seem to offer a unique shopping experience for them. Why are they not accustomed to being treated in this manner everywhere they choose to spend their hard earned dollars? Noa is one of our many customers that does not always choose to wear clothing traditionally consistent with their sex assigned at birth.

Dance is for Every Body

As Pride is celebrated this month, we thought it the perfect time to be proudly clear that Inspirations is a place where everyone is welcomed and provided with excellent customer service served regardless of gender identity.

We are a dancewear store. Dance has a long history of labelling and segregating men and women. Traditional dance has roles, steps and attire for men/boys and different roles, steps and attire for women/girls. At this time, our store is organized around those traditional segmentations.

And, we are actively working on how to most comfortably serve all of our customers, including those that may not fit into those traditional constructs. Our accessibility training includes training our staff to listen carefully for how customers self-identify their gender and for us to follow accordingly.

Shine In Your Own Way

One of Inspirations' Core Values is that we are Star Makers - to us that means putting the focus on the experience and needs of the customer, so they get to shine in their own unique way. Our Star Maker commitment naturally lends itself to celebrating our customers for who they are – for the relationships they are part of, the families they are born into and the families they choose, their bodies and abilities, their identities, their beliefs and values, and what to wear that makes them feel beautiful, powerful and creative.

We want all transgender, non-binary and gender questioning folks to know that you are welcome at Inspirations. There is room for you here, you are celebrated here, you are accepted here. Please shop from whatever rack feels right for you and buy the clothing that inspires you most to dance in it.

Happy Pride!