Meet Izabella & Thomas Lewandowski

As a young girl growing up in Poland, Palos Verdes resident and world-renowned dancer Izabella Lewandowski never dreamed such a glorious life existed. Daily existence was arduous and unyielding growing up as an only child in the former communist nation, and her parents sacrificed everything so Izabella could follow her dreams and dance. It was a struggle for many years.
Then opportunity knocked, and Izabella and her high school sweetheart turned husband, dance partner, and lifelong collaborator Thomas Lewandowski jumped. They knew the chance to dance in the United States would likely only come once in a lifetime, and so with the support of their families, they seized the moment.

“It was challenging to get the paperwork, but we finally did, and we came here in 2000. We were teenagers invited to try out to represent the US in ballroom dancing. He spoke no English and we had three months to try it out. We came to Hacienda Heights, where we lived. The three-month trial period passed quickly, and Izabella says somehow she knew it was right to stay in the US, and so did Thomas. They were always on the same page. Although he could not speak the language and they couldn’t see family or friends from Poland for years, they knew they had made the right call.

“We just somehow felt like this is the place to live, so we stayed and worked seven days a week from nine in the morning until midnight Honestly, it was a lot and with him learning English and us getting familiar, remember we did not have anyone, nobody. We were two kids alone, all on our own, and we had no help.”

Izabella believes her life is the true American dream come true. She defines their early years in the US as the hustle and grind. They worked nonstop for dance studios all over the Los Angeles area and the entire country. They traveled and coached and judged competitions and danced competitively worldwide.

“We are goal-oriented dreamers, and that drives us. Our motto was always to say never stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done. So we built a life from scratch. Twenty-two years later, we are proud to be accomplished and titled.”
Izabella and Thomas didn’t take a break or vacation for ten years. After earning dozens of US and worldwide Latin Showdance championship titles, they decided to retire from competitive dancing about eleven years ago to focus their passionate love for dance, their studios, teaching, performing with students, and judging competitions.

“We have a passion for it. We wanted to open a business without taking out any loans, and we have always loved helping people. We are the kind of couple that does everything together, and this is what dance is all about. It’s about making opportunities for others both in dance and in business. If you work for me, you have a lot of good opportunities, which is important.” Izabella says.

Today, they own several Fred Astaire Dance Studio (FADS) franchises and the Los Angeles region representatives for FADS. That means they have the right to develop business in the LA area, and they are working hard at it.

Their corporate office is at the Redondo Beach studio where they work, and business is booming.

“We bought the area seven years ago. We opened Redondo, then two years later during the pandemic we opened two more, and then another for a total of four now,” she says with a smile. Their current locations include Redondo, Laguna Hills, Diamond Bar and Arcadia, with Long Beach coming soon.

After decades of travel Thomas, Izabella, and their toy poodle George are relishing the Palos Verdes lifestyle they have worked so hard to shape. Several years ago, a dance student had a house for rent on the Peninsula. The Lewandowskis moved in and eventually bought and renovated the place. They have called Palos Verdes home for fourteen years now, and they couldn’t be happier.

“This is the most beautiful place in the world. Because of what I do, I travel insanely, all over the world, and other than the south of France, I believe there is no place like Palos Verdes. I love the water, and I love the quiet, and I love the ocean and the birds and the spectacular views. It is so quiet on the hill, peaceful. I love that you can get the action of the beach cities and then come home to the calm. It feels like a resort. I love Palos Verdes,” Izabella gushes.

With so much gratitude in their hearts, the Lewandowski’s are all about helping others to achieve success and enjoy life. “We love to see other people thrive and do everything with good intentions. The more you give, the more you receive. We believe that people grow through dance. It honestly changes perspective and is just such a beautiful form of discipline and art, and we want to share that. We love what we do. We love our jobs. We get to travel and dance, and we won’t ever stop. We can’t imagine anything more rewarding than seeing students thrive and perform and be joyful,” Izabella says.

“I had a situation once where I was in Denver, and a student, a beautiful older woman, said, you probably don’t remember me, but I was in a wheelchair, and you inspired me to be dancing today. I was so surprised. I used to go to BYU to train and teach handicapped and I met this woman. She thought she would never walk again and now she’s not only walking, but dancing and competing; it’s just incredible.”

After a lifetime of hard work and struggle, Izabella and Thomas Lewandowski are finally finding time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. “My husband just surprised me with a trip to Bora Bora. We never had a honeymoon, so we never took time to enjoy things before now. It’s always been work, work, work, and travel, travel, travel, and so now it is a good time to live a little,” she says and rightfully so.

“We can spoil ourselves, we have earned it and so we try to take a vacation at least once a year. Even though business is good and there is a lot more stress and pressure, we have learned you need to take a break and take care of yourselves,” a lesson the Lewandowski’s value and share with their community every chance they get.