Mallory Coombs helps people make and capture memories.
Aside from being a parent, she juggles many roles in her life—she runs a musical theater program at 24/7 Dance Studio, acts in dinner theater shows and owns and operates a photography business, Captured by Coombs (a two-time Frederick’s Child Readers’ Choice winner).
While it’s a lot of work, Coombs says she loves her jobs, citing the old adage, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life,” which her father often quoted. Still, she always makes sure to put her kids first.
Coombs lives in Frederick with her husband, Timothy, a Sgt. First Class in the United States Army Band and Soldiers Chorus, when he isn’t touring. They have two children, Jameson (5) and Everly (3).
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What made you want to teach musical theater to children?
When I grew up learning musical theater, I grew up learning it 30 minutes outside of New York, so it was very competitive. It was very cold and a kind of make-it-or-break-it, high-intensity environment. But it’s an art form that’s really welcoming, loving and inclusive, so I wanted to help the next generation of artists kind of get rid of that competitiveness and have it be a much more supportive community. I wanted [kids] to have the mentality of “You’re only competing against yourself; you’re not competing against the person next to you,” and kind of just changing the narrative a little bit while also keeping the high expectations of practicing, and working hard, and learning. Every time you fail, you just keep working until you get that success.
What do you find the most rewarding about your work as a teacher?
A lot of my kids have never been on stage before, so a lot of them are learning how to be in a show while learning a show. So, I think the coolest part is watching them come in with either a minimal skill set or no skill set, and then at the end of the eight to 10 weeks be able to stand on stage in front of their mom, dad, friends and family members and either say lines by themselves or have the confidence to sing by themselves. There are a lot of times when a parent will come up to me and tell me that they’ve never heard their child sing before. Watching them kind of accomplish something that they didn’t know they were capable of doing is really cool.
Has working with children affected your parenting style in any way?
It’s funny, I think that my parenting style has more so influenced the way I teach. Prior to having my own kids, I think I very much was looking at it from a ‘Here’s the syllabus; here’s the dance steps we need to learn’ perspective. And now, having my own, I feel a lot more in touch with the kids’ emotions and trying to make sure they’re having fun as the priority, and not having the priority being the end product.
You’re also a family photographer. How did you get into photography?
I like preserving memories and moments. We did family sessions (when we didn’t have kids) with our dogs. I wanted to preserve every moment of [Jameson’s] life [in 2020], but I didn’t know if we even could have family photos, since no one was interacting. My husband, who is incredibly supportive, suggested that I buy a camera since I was good at taking pictures on my cell phone. I started practicing on my own son, and I have some friends who are photographers, so that really helped.
I’d have a family friend over, and they’d ask if I could take some pictures. Eventually, it got to a point where one of my friends sat me down and said I needed to file for a business. That was about three years ago, and [the business] has done nothing but grow since then.
It’s become a huge blessing. I love it, and my husband and kids love it because I have people to photograph aside from them.
Family Favorites
Meal: Red beans and rice or any Cajun food
Dessert: Donuts or cake
Local Spot: Isabella’s Taverna & Tapas Bar
Vacation Spot: New Orleans or Disney World
Game: Rummikub
