Episodes

Summary:  It can be difficult to help someone who is not motivated to work hard. Sometimes we feel pressure, as a teacher, to be the complete source of motivation. Motivation is a mental process that initiates or sometimes it sustains an...

As a coach or a dancer, have you revisited the goals you set over the summer or at the beginning of your season? Have those big goals been on the forefront of your mind as you go to practice every week? There is no time like the present to get...

Do you set New Year's resolutions or new goals this time of year, or are you like me and go through a reflection process to choose one word for the year that serves as a compass or a guide? While I do think goals can be very powerful when done...

Summary: Do you ever pause and reflect on your day or your week as a dance educator or a dancer? The truth is, sitting down with your favorite journal and truly reflecting on the current state of things is a bit of a luxury, but it’s one that’s...

Summary: Have you heard the saying “get out of your head” when talking about athletes who are anxious for a competition or a performance? Oftentimes, dance teachers will say, “You’re overthinking! Just get out of your head,” to encourage...

Summary: Have you ever had to grieve the loss of your dream even if it was your choice to choose a different path in life? I know I’ve gone through that, and there were a lot of tears involved. My guest today, Natalie Orr, has been there too, but...

Summary: Gratitude has become a bit of a buzzword lately with people everywhere telling you to start a gratitude journal, have a gratitude practice every evening, write down the top three things you're grateful for today. Expressing gratitude, either...

Summary: Do you have big goals and dreams for the year, but when it comes to actually put in the work and practice, you find yourself feeling stuck, too tired, and unmotivated to push through? In this episode, we’ll be talking about what to do when...

Summary: If you’ve ever used affirmations with your dancers, this episode introduces a tool for a different way to use them. My guest today is Dr. Noah, a former professional dancer and a peak performance executive mental coach to the stars, who...

Summary: Just imagine you get up on competition day and you are pumped and excited but actually not nervous. You know your dancers are ready to crush it today! Just imagine how good it would feel to know you did everything possible to support your...

Summary: We’re going back in the archives today with an interview from 2020 with the amazing Dawn Walters of The University of Kentucky Dance Team. Dawn’s approach to coaching is so relatable and refreshing. She has such genuine advice and a...

Summary: You may or may not yet know that I do a lot of coaching the coaches in my business. This is where I work with dance teachers and coaches to help them discover how they can best support their dancers’ mental skills while improving their own...

Summary: If I know our dance world, then I know that one thing you can count on every season is you’re going to have to clean your routines. Whether your dance team is game-day focused, you're preparing for a championship, or you're performing the...

We naturally bond over shared complaints rather than shared wins. Why do we find a better connection with people when we share our frustrations? Why do we simultaneously feel like we aren’t allowed to share a win or it’s boastful? Research even...

Imagine this, you’re lying in bed, exhausted from a long day. You start thinking about the email you need to send to that one parent. Then you start to fix the opening sequence to your jazz routine in your head because it isn’t reading the way you...

Do you have more slow twitch or fast twitch muscle fibers? Does your body process B vitamins quickly making you more sluggish sometimes? Maybe you’re like me and you have no idea. So what if a genetic test could tell you specific information like...

Have you ever had your dancers do really well in practice, everything looks fine in the studio, but then when you go to competition and change venues, all of a sudden, the routine is a mess? Some of that can come from getting too stuck in a repetitive...

Dealing with an injury can be devastating to a dancer. And it’s not just the physical pain, but the mental load that we deal with during recovery is substantial. As dance educators, many of us have been through this ourselves, or we’ve had our...

If you’re a dance teacher who feels like you can’t dance like you used to but just chalk it up to being old, you have to listen in to today’s episode. My guest today is a functional dietitian who was also a studio dancer, college dancer, and...

Have you heard of the term toxic positivity? It’s becoming a bit of a buzzphrase, so I want to dive into this complicated topic.  I’m seeing it more and more on social media and hearing it in conversations with the dancers I work with....

As you may know, one of the main themes of this show is resilience. I love talking with successful and talented dancers about their own resilience journey and to hear what they can teach us about perseverance and following your dreams. As for...

There are so many times I’ve heard dances say things like “I can’t do left” or “I’m not a turner.” And of course, there are many times I’ve thought those things too. As a coach, it honestly wasn’t a lot better. I would think, “I...

If you are a dance educator long enough, you will go through some big life changes that will impact your career and your dancers. When you have something big happening in your life like a wedding, a medical issue, the birth of a child, or moving, it...

Are you an assistant coach? Do you have an assistant in your program? Maybe you’re in the school setting and lucky enough to be an assistant coach.  Or maybe you’re a head coach doing everything alone and wishing for some help! While this...