Katie Martin, Spotlight Acting Academy owner, said she always liked being in the spotlight.

Martin said she remembers going home and repeatedly jumping off her bed in an attempt to fly after attending a theatrical production of “Peter Pan” as a 4 or 5 year-old at which actors sprinkled fairy dust on her.

“I remember watching that show, and that was the show where I was just like, ‘This is what I want to do,’” Martin said. “I was one of those kids that, before I could read, was performing on my parents’ fireplace. So, they were like, ‘This child needs to do theatre,’ and of course that was correct.”

Martin, whose professional credits include being on stage and on screen, said theater contains several unique elements.

“The difference between theater and film is theater’s so much larger because your audience could be very far away, and film is so small,” Martin said. “I like the large performing [venues} better, and I also like that it’s live because I think it’s just more challenging.”

After identifying a need for a children’s theater school in the Katy area, Martin said opening Spotlight Acting Academy in 2013 was a natural progression. She put the majority of her acting endeavors on hold to instead impart her knowledge of the industry to young, aspiring actors.

The business had humble beginnings: it started out in Martin’s garage for two years before moving to the Villagio Town Center in summer 2015. The company has had significant growth over the last year, and Martin said the experience has been very rewarding.

“I like that now I have my own [theater],” she said. “I really do like to see the kids grow. They have a lot of opportunity here, and we’ve had some of the kids that we’ve had since our very first show [who] are still with us.” [totalpoll id="165216"]