“HEARING MY SON SING A SONG OR BELLY LAUGH FROM BEING TICKLED OR JUST WHEN OUR EYES EXCHANGE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
IT HAS GIVEN ME MORE JOY, LOVE, AND PURPOSE BEYOND ANY ROLE OUT THERE.”

Your journey from Chicago to Hollywood has been quite remarkable. What inspired you to pursue an entertainment career, and how did your upbringing shape your ambitions?

Dance was such an outlet for me in high school and was something I did for fun. I went through the loss of someone very close to me at the age of 15. It is not something I talk about often because even though it was very public, the grieving process felt very private and it really was pivotal, as if someone took a pair of glasses from me and gave me a different pair; the lens and perspective from the new pair of glasses was very different. There was a certain innocence and naiveté was gone. Dance was a way for me to escape and have fun, angry, sad, happy, and it just gave me something to focus on instead of the pain and confusion. When I decided to attend a community college, I thought I was going to get into counseling for at-risk kids. Fate would have it differently when I had taken a theater class as an elective. I did my first monologue and the teacher pulled me aside and told me I had something special. She found out I was a dancer and decided to have me teach alongside her musical theater class. I learned that I could make a living as an artist before I even completed one school semester in college. That was important to my family. We were raised to be independent in our family. Whether we were in school or sports, we had to get a job and learn the value of taking care of ourselves. That theater class also taught me to face a lot of pain and trauma, which I pushed aside. Dance saved me. Acting taught me who I was—all of me—by forcing me to be vulnerable and not judge. I went to places emotionally that often the average person tries to sugarcoat.

Could you share more about Step It Up, LLC, and its mission?

Step It Up is one of the most respected LA dance intensives that focuses on what it would be like to be a working dancer, specifically in LA. We work a lot with on-camera techniques and even came up with the Triangle Theory, focusing on close-up, mid-shot, and wide shots! We love to give  our students experiences to build confidence when they audition for TV, film, commercials, music videos, and even tours, which are often times filmed and distributed. Our biggest mission is to give the selected dancers that we work with the keys to confidence to go in any direction they decide. Confidence in any medium or arena translates. Along with that, we encourage vulnerability and telling various stories that will translate and captivate audiences, making them feel what the dancer is communicating.

Your dedication to doing what you love daily shines through in your work as co-owner of Step It Up, LLC, a mentorship workshop for dancers. What motivated you and your co-owner, Hannah Steadman, to start this venture, and how does it fulfill your sense of purpose? What do you hope participants take away from the experience?

Hannah Steadman and I were friends before becoming business partners. We saw a void in the industry 15 years ago and wanted to do something about it; thus, Step It Up was born! Many dancers were coming to LA to compete for jobs, not knowing the industry's business side or even how to adjust from stage to camera to an even more intimate close-up.

Step It Up fulfills my purpose because I have walked in these dancers’ shoes with less talent and resources and made it! I can seriously say to each dancer who comes through our program that there is a place for them! They can be working artists if they apply the right ingredients. Also, going back to confidence, Hannah and I are constantly told by parents and teachers that their dancers come back as different people after our program, exuding confidence, which just feels right.

You’ve worked with incredible artists like Jay-Z and Donald Lawrence, to name a few. How did those experiences influence your approach to your craft as a performer and now as a mentor to young dancers?

Being able to witness such high-profile artists taught me quite a bit! With fame, comes a lot of responsibility and a drive to continue working on your craft. One thing, specifically from witnessing Donald Lawrence in the studio, is that there is always room to improve and work on your craft. He had an incredible ear for sound. I even started listening to music differently, which was applied to my craft as a dancer. I share that message—“work on your craft”—all the time with our dancers and alumni who are now working in the industry. Also, stay out of drama. With high-profile artists, it is easy to get caught up. Always show up, do your job 110%, no matter the size of the project, every job counts, be kind to everyone you meet, and don’t ever compromise who you are. The rest will take care of itself.

Hannah Steadman, your business partner at Step It Up, LLC, has an impressive background working with award-winning musical artists like Gloria Estefan and the Black Eyed Peas. How does her experience enhance the mentorship and workshops offered by your company?

Hannah has an incredible wealth of knowledge when it comes to the dance industry! From training and competing at a young age to judging dance to world tours, to dancing with some of the biggest artists on stage and in front of the camera! So when she mentors, she mentors from experience—something I highly respect. Hannah and I were also able to work together early on in the business outside of Step It Up when we were hired to choreograph a high-profile commercial, and they didn't hire real dancers. They were more like models that could move, and her ability to adapt and create on the spot to give what the director wanted was perfection! I have seen her time and time again, just creating stories on the spot with movement and bringing visions to life. Her creative talent always blow me away! Any director, client, business, or creative like myself would want Hannah on their team.