Our Story

Thomas Minieri's Planet Ballroom®—the extraordinary art and entertainment empire—reigned supreme from 2006 to 2017. It grew from a $30 backroom closet startup to a sixteen location luxury dance hall franchise system that spanned six states, employed over 50 professionals, and surpassed $12M revenue.

He accomplished all of this in just ten years, and in true bootstrapper fashion, without startup capital, without funding or investors, and without taking on any debt.

In 2011, Thomas hired a team of developers and created a software application that was years ahead of its time. Along with our concierge call center, it systemized nearly every aspect of his company's operations—from training to scheduling to sales—and provided numerous innovative features to encourage high levels of customer engagement.

During the economic crisis of 2009, Thomas' company acquired $1.3M in distressed commercial real estate assets, which included two historic properties that required extensive renovations. After holding these rental assets for about seven years—collecting over $20,000 in monthly rental income—they were sold in 2017 for over $2.5M combined.

After a decade of massive success as an innovator and entrepreneur, he sold his company and took a healthy seven-figure exit-stage-left. Today, Thomas shares his unique and creative approach to business, innovation, sales, and marketing with his clients through my Lemonade Maker® education brand.