It all began when I was just old enough to be put in a swing while my mom made dinner. Literally! As my mom was cooking she had the radio on and noticed (mid pot stir) that I was bouncing on-time to the song. A little shocked, she changed the station, only to find I changed my bouncing to match the tempo of the new song. At that point she knew she had a “mover and groover” on her hands and at 2.5 years old I asked to be put into dance class. Since then…I’ve never stopped.
Throughout my childhood, I lived at my studio. I spent more time there than I did at home: training in Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Tap and many other styles. My mom met her 2nd husband when I was 11 years old via Country 2-Step and West Coast Swing. I went to their classes, but at 11, boys were not “cool”, so I quietly watched while I did my homework.
I danced all throughout my school years, and after high school I moved to California to attend the California Pacific Performing Arts College and was then selected to perform with The Young Americans. During my 2 ½ years with the company, I discovered my joy and passion for teaching and traveling. I trained, toured and performed throughout Europe in schools, youth prisons, rehab centers, and youth homeless shelters. In the summer of 2009 I left the Young Americans and moved back to Colorado and started training in Country Ballroom.
In May of 2011 I attended my first West Coast Swing only event: SwingDiego. I started at the bottom, Novice Prelims. Even though I didn’t even make Semi-finals that year, everything in my gut told me I had to move to San Diego and pursue West Coast Swing…so I did.
I dove head first into everything WCS. I trained with Brandi Guild, Michael Kiehm and attended & competed at every event possible. I held fast to my dreams of being a top WCS Professional one day, letting nothing stand in my way.
During this time (in 2012), I also trained in and became a PSYCH-K Facilitator. PSYCH-K is a safe, simple, and effective way to change outdated or limiting beliefs (at the subconscious level) to life-enhancing beliefs. It’s easy to create the behaviors and reality you want when your beliefs are aligned with your goals.
It was through my use of PSYCH-K, I updated some of my own limiting beliefs that were making it hard to “break through the glass ceiling” of my dance career. After some reflection and PSYCH-K, my reality started to change quickly. (The biggest testimony to working with my beliefs was competing in my first Champions division at Swing Diego in 2014, only 3 years after not making Novice Semi’s. It was that year I made Champions finals and placed 4th. Talk about full circle!)
In May 2013 I partnered with my amazing first partner, PJ Turner, from Tennessee. We debuted our 1st ever Classic Routine in July 2013 at Swingtime in the Rockies. Within the first year of our partnership we were placing Top 5 at major US NASDE and other WSDC events in the Classic Division.
We had an incredibly successful partnership for 5.5 years. From 2014- 2019 we have been requested to teach at domestic and international events & workshop weekends. As with all chapters, each with a beginning and an end, my partner chapter with PJ came to an end.
Which brings me to the present. My love and passion for WCS has only grown and will continue to grow. I currently still train and compete in the Champions division; teaching and coaching this amazing dance, both domestically and internationally.
My life passion is assisting individuals discover and actualize their true potential, both as a dancer and as an individual. By utilizing my PSYCH-K training and 26 years of dance education, I am able to support the individual to empower their life & dance experience from a holistic perspective, pairing quality dance instruction with transformative mindset coaching.
Each day is a dance. I hope our paths cross someday, it would be an honor to meet and dance with you!
