Pattie Wells opened Pattie Wells' Dancetime Center on January 5, 1998, after 25 years in the dance business. She has taught dancing as her full-time profession since 1976; very few instructors in San Diego share this distinction. She rose from teacher to supervisor and finally to manager of the Sunshine Ballroom and Dance Studio in the late 1970s.

Pattie went into business for herself in May of 1980. She has trained many teachers as well as students and was the first to create many concepts widely used today in the dance business. She was instrumental in the creation of the Professional Dance Instructors Association (PDIA) in 1980. In 1982 she brought back the term Jitterbug locally as a name for single time East Coast Swing; she is founder of the San Diego Jitterbug Club which has been a huge success (120-220 dancers attending weekly) since it started in March 1984.

She instituted progressive dance classes; widely expanded the class system in dancing; was the first instructor to promote and publicize Night in Vienna and offer classes and workshop for this fancy-dress/costume ball as well as sell tickets. Many of Pattie's past students currently teach dancing and are very influential in the dance scene in San Diego. She is the only one to start and then continue to let students repeat classes for free. Pattie was first to feature dance classes in Learning Annex.

She teaches virtually all forms of Social Dancing including: Country Western, Cajun, Tango, Mambo, Jitterbug, Hustle, West Coast Swing, Viennese Waltz, Salsa, Latin, Ballroom, Freestyle, Lindy Hop and others. She gives full time students half price for all classes. She has been featured in dozens of magazines, newspapers, and on TV including Inside San Diego, Channel 10 News (twice), Public Access shows, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Business Journal, San Diego Union, Dance Teacher, TV commercials, and many more.

She brings to teaching her background in psychology – having graduated from SDSU with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology; as well as her appreciation for music – having played the violin for many years. She was accepted as a teenager into the San Diego Youth Symphony. Her extensive background in movement comes partly from having earned a brown belt in Tang So Do (karate), adding to her knowledge of body mechanics, flexibility, and body conditioning. She spent two years while in college as a teacher assistant in the San Diego Public Schools, contributing to her teaching skills prior to entering the dance business, as well as taking additional college/university coursework in Business, Organizational/Industrial Psychology, and Computer Science which have been essential in running her business.

She supplements her social dance knowledge with years of jazz dance training and some ballet at the university level. Returning to her alma mater Pattie has been on the faculty of SDSU, teaching Ballroom dance classes. Pattie Wells’ Dancetime Center is one of the largest dance studios in San Diego. There are now 14 instructors as well as 3 aerobic instructors at the Dancetime Center. Pattie has taught over 16,000 students, and maintains an active (must have taken a class in the last 6 months) mailing list of over 2000 names. Her dance center runs 17-20 classes weekly (many of which are repeatable for free). Dance parties are given every Saturday and Sunday. Friday dances are planned, as well as week-end workshops. Hundreds of students show up weekly to take class lessons and attend dance parties. Other dance groups also host functions at the center. Pattie's business has been so successful it was featured in the Enterprise Section of the San Diego Business Journal on Nov. 17, 1997.

The dance center keeps Pattie so busy that she has no time to dedicate to her own competitive dancing. In the true spirit of a teacher she prefers spending her energies and enthusiasm on teaching others to dance. Pattie is grateful to see her work as a mission to increase the amount of happiness in the world; the key to her success is her philosophy: to spread the joy of dancing, lest the purpose of dance is lost and we forget "it isn’t the steps you do it’s the joy you share."

Pattie’s avocation is writing poetry. She has had a poem published in 1997, hosts two Open Poetry Readings a month, and facilitates a poetry workshop once a month. Other favorite hobbies are her three dogs, vegetarian cooking, reading, computers, walking, science fiction / fantasy movies, and plans to take the Yoga classes starting at Dancetime.