Kicking It Real

This week I'm sitting down with Laura June Ness: Canadian dancer, aerialist, actress, and content creator who packed up her life and moved to London with no job lined up, no guarantee, and a whole lot of belief that it was possible. She's now in the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at London's Palace Theatre on the West End. We get into her full journey from competition dance...

In today's episode, I sit down with Kathryn Morgan, former soloist at New York City Ballet, YouTube powerhouse, and CEO of Kathryn Morgan Inc., to talk about what it actually looks like when your body becomes the thing working against you in a career that is entirely dependent on it. Kathryn shares her journey from booking NYCB at 17 and being promoted to soloist at 21, to gaining 40 pounds wh...

This week I'm sitting down with Jason Pickett, dance educator, mentor, speaker, and the founder of No Starving Artists, to talk about the business side of dance that most people are too scared to touch. Jason breaks down why the "starving artist" identity is quietly keeping dancers broke, what private equity is actually doing to the competitive dance world, and why transparency and c...

What if the thing holding you back isn't your technique, but something else entirely? This week I'm sitting down with Kirsten Kemp, high-performance mindset coach and founder of The Confident Dancer, to talk about the mental side of performance that almost no one in the dance world is actually teaching. Kirsten breaks down the difference between a high-standards environment and a toxic one, why "j...

This week, I am joined by Goldie Walberg, a former professional ballet dancer with BalletMet and Kansas City Ballet who is now a teacher, content creator, and the founder of the Lazy Ballerina Club, a platform redefining what it means to be a dancer beyond the stage. We talk about the reality of pursuing a professional ballet career, from the outside expectations to what it actually feels like ins...

What does it actually take to build a career in this industry, the parts that never make it onto a resume? In today's episode, I sit down with Benji Rivera, Broadway performer and NYC-based photographer, to talk about what it actually takes. Benji is an original cast member of Moulin Rouge!, a show that won 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and he's on the Grammy-winning cast recordin...

In today's episode, I’m sitting down with Kelsey Lewinski, a former professional dancer turned Pilates studio owner, teacher, and choreographer. We talk about her journey from growing up in dance to performing professionally, and ultimately making the decision to step away from performing to pursue something that felt more aligned. This conversation dives into identity, burnout, and what it lo...

This week’s episode is for the dancer preparing for a high-pressure audition, especially if you are heading into the Radio City Rockettes audition and feeling like everything is on the line. I share the four things I would focus on in the week leading up to a big audition, based on my experience auditioning for and becoming a Rockette. I talk about why this is not the time to push harder, but inst...

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Gena Brady; a fellow WMU alum, freelance dancer, and aerialist who has truly built a career on her own terms. From dancing in Chicago to performing on cruise ships and now navigating freelance work, Gena shares what it actually looks like to create a sustainable life in dance without following just one path. We talk about the transition out of college, the re...

This episode was inspired by one of my most talked-about posts, and probably one of my most controversial takes as a dancer. I’m diving deeper into what I actually mean when I say “put your eggs in one basket,” because it’s not about limiting yourself… it’s about being intentional. There’s a difference between being versatile and being unclear, and I think a lot of dancers get stuck right in the m...

In this episode of Kicking It Real, I’m sitting down with performer, choreographer, and educator Morgan DiFonzo. Morgan has performed in productions like Frozen, The Music Man, and Matilda, and now works as a freelance performer while also teaching and choreographing in Chicago. We start by going all the way back to Morgan’s training and what it was like growing up in a very ballet-focused studio...

Audition season can bring up a lot of pressure, anxiety, and overthinking... but what if the key to standing out actually has less to do with what you do in the room and more to do with the energy you bring into it? In this Monday Morning Motivation episode, I’m sharing a mindset shift that completely changed the way I approached auditions, especially the year I booked Rockettes. We talk about the...

In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Winkler, currently on the First National Tour of & Juliet as a swing and the tour’s social media captain, to talk about what it really takes to build a sustainable career in the performing arts. From growing up in a small town in Texas to navigating the competitive audition scene in New York City, Ryan shares what resilience actually looks like. We talk ab...

Have you ever ended the day feeling like you got nothing done… even though you technically did a lot? In this Monday Morning Motivation episode, I’m talking about something I’ve had to really learn over the past few years: how to redefine productivity. Coming from the dance world, I was so used to feeling physically exhausted at the end of the day that if I didn’t feel that same level of depletion...

In this episode of Kicking It Real, I sit down with Broadway performer and former Hamilton Dance Captain, Tyler McKenzie. Tyler has spent over eight years inside the Hamilton universe, from original company member to Universal Swing to Dance Captain, and shares what it actually takes to sustain a career at that level. We talk about starting “late” in dance, building triple threat skills intentiona...

In this Monday Morning Motivation, I’m breaking down what embodiment actually means and how it helped me manifest becoming a Rockette — without it being overly “woo woo.” If you want a dream job, a dance contract, a new level of confidence, or a completely different life than the one you’re currently living, you cannot keep operating as the version of you who doesn’t have it yet. If you’ve ever fe...

Come hang with us as I sit down with my college roommate and best friend Grace to talk about what it was really like building a dance career in New York City. We dive into moving to NYC fresh out of college with no savings, working multiple jobs to survive, navigating the contemporary dance world, and what it actually takes to make it in a small, interconnected industry. Grace shares how traveling...

This week’s Monday Morning Motivation is inspired by Alysa Liu’s Olympic comeback and the conversation it sparked around burnout and mental health in athletes. Watching her step away from the sport at the height of her career and return on her own terms raises an important question: how much pressure are we putting on ourselves before we even realize it? In this episode, I talk about recognizing b...

In today's episode, I sit down with Brittany Paige Snyder, former Radio City Rockette turned entrepreneur, to talk about what really happens after your dream job ends. We dive into her journey from booking Rockettes at 27 and performing for 14 seasons to stepping away and building her own business from the ground up. Brittany shares how she created JoyStream, a mobile event experience built in...

If you’ve ever felt like your habits aren’t working fast enough, this episode is for you. In this week’s monday morning motivation, I’m talking about the habits I built long before I saw any results; from becoming a morning person (even though I’m not naturally one) to kicking five minutes a day in the dead of Chicago winter while teaching 5 a.m. classes. When I was trying to become a Rockette, I...

In this episode of Kicking It Real, I’m sitting down with my friend and fellow Rockette, Emily Tanner, for a conversation about rejection, resilience, and choosing the long game even when it feels uncomfortable. Emily shares her journey from high school drill team to fine arts training, navigating college programs that pushed her confidence, and learning how to separate feedback from self-worth. W...

Feeling like you didn’t get anything done, even after a full day of working? In this week’s monday morning motivation, I’m sharing the real reason that happens and the simple system that helped me stop feeling behind all the time. I open up about how my relationship with productivity was shaped by years of dance, performance, and always pushing my body and mind to the limit. When I stopped perform...

Let's catch up in this solo episode of Kicking It Real, I share what a real-life reset looks like, not just the “new year, new me” energy, but the deeper work of realigning your life with who you’re becoming. I open up about a major personal update and the decision to step away from a role that no longer aligned with my long-term goals, even though I still loved it. I talk honestly about how h...

Feeling like you’re working out but not actually getting better at dancing? In this week’s Monday morning motivation, I’m diving deeper into how to make your fitness classes actually support your dance goals. I share how shifting my mindset in barre, Pilates, and weight training helped me bridge gaps in my technique faster and more efficiently, especially when I was training for precision and perf...

In this episode, I sit down with Alyssa Brutlag to dive into the real story behind UDA Nationals, elite college dance culture, and what it takes to keep going when you feel overlooked, doubted, or “not enough.” Alyssa shares her journey from being underestimated to choreographing and performing on one of the biggest stages in college dance, and how confidence, resilience, and mindset completely ch...