A High-Margin Business Abroad: Salsa Dancing in Medellín, Colombia | David Schafran

Sep 4, 2025

David Schafran, founder of Somoloco, shares his journey from a medtech startup to creating a salsa dance immersion experience in Medellín, Colombia. He emphasizes the transformative power of dance for mental health and personal growth. David discusses how Somoloco blends cultural immersion with emotional healing, operating like a yoga retreat infused with Latin flair. He reveals insights on building a high-margin business, effective pricing strategies, and nurturing a passionate team while celebrating the joy of dance and community.

43:07

forum

Ask episode

web_stories

AI Snips

view_agenda

Chapters

menu_book

Books

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

question_answer

ANECDOTE

From Medtech To Salsa Transformation

David left a VC-backed medtech startup after finding salsa in Colombia and spent months dancing full-time.
That personal healing and joy inspired him to build Somoloco to share the same transformation with others.

insights

INSIGHT

Immersion As Identity Reset

Somoloco frames salsa immersions like yoga retreats: immersive, identity-shifting, and practice-focused.
The goal is technical skill plus emotional embodiment so participants leave confident and changed.

insights

INSIGHT

Dance Outperforms Typical Depression Treatments

Dance delivers powerful mental-health benefits and can outperform medication and talk therapy for depression per research David cites.
He emphasizes dance as a feeling-first art that reconnects people to joy and social connection.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Dance of Transformation

01:54 • 15min

chevron_right

Prioritizing Quality and Strategic Financial Management

17:09 • 3min

chevron_right

Crafting Dance Immersion Experiences

19:50 • 14min

chevron_right

Navigating Business Growth Through Delegation and Collaboration

33:34 • 3min

chevron_right

Strategic Pricing for Dance Excursions

36:21 • 6min

chevron_right

#183

• Mentioned in 95 episodes

Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert

In 'Eat, Pray, Love', Elizabeth Gilbert chronicles her journey as she leaves behind her outwardly successful but inwardly unfulfilling life in the United States. The book is divided into three parts, each set in a different country: Italy, where she seeks pleasure and indulges in the local culture; India, where she delves into spiritual practices and meditation; and Bali, Indonesia, where she aims to find a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. The memoir is a personal and introspective account of Gilbert's struggles, growth, and self-discovery during her travels.

#572 Ready for a reset that goes deeper than your average vacation? In this episode, host Brien Gearin sits down with serial entrepreneur David Schafran, founder of Somoloco — a one-of-a-kind salsa dance immersion company operating in Medellín, Colombia. David shares how he went from launching a venture-backed medtech startup to following his joy and building a high-margin, spiritually fulfilling business that helps people reconnect with themselves through movement, music, and community. From organic beginnings to winning TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award, David walks us through how Somoloco operates like a yoga retreat with a Latin twist — blending private instruction, cultural immersion, and transformational experiences. Tune in to learn how he built the brand, structured pricing, scaled with a lean team, and designed an unforgettable product that’s as much about emotional healing as it is about dancing!

What we discuss with David:

+ From medtech startup to dance retreats

+ Origins of Somoloco in Colombia

+ Dance as emotional and mental reset

+ Structure of the salsa immersion experience

+ Building a lean, high-margin business

+ Organic team-building through relationships

+ Pricing strategy and value-based offerings

+ Operating remotely with a local team

+ Winning TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award

+ Creating transformative, embodied experiences

Thank you, David!