Iona has over 20 years of teaching experience and has operated the school for over 10 years. Her training began when she was 6 years old at the Sammy Dyer School of Dance where she learned ballet, tap, jazz, tumbling and theater under the direction of Ms. Shirley Hall Bass, Russell Talbert, Elaine Blair, and Ted Levy. Iona went on to train at The Ruth Paige School of Ballet and Chicago City Ballet under the direction of Maria Tallchief. Later, Iona received dance training scholarships to The Dance Theater of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. At the same time, Iona received professional training under the tutelage of Homer Hans Bryant and later became a founding member of The Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center (CMDC), formally known as " The Bryant Ballet Company" from 1990- 1994.

Iona currently holds a Masters in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University in New York City and a bachelors degree from Howard University. Iona has been able to fuse her love for children's psychology with dance and ballet in specific. She has extensive experience with children, and has worked as a child psychotherapist/ grant manager/ program director for the last 10 years.