I consider being a (former) dancer at Miss Colleen’s Elite Dancentre among some of the greatest blessings in my life. It has undoubtedly impacted the person as well as professional I am today.

The staff at EDC provides a professional level dance education but more importantly serve as role models that lead with character, compassion, accountability and love that is unrivaled. I began dancing at 3 years old with Miss Colleen herself as my teacher. With much thanks to her, dance became the sport I ultimately devoted my childhood/teenage years to. Like most kids, I tried them all; soccer, lacrosse, basketball and softball. Nothing made me feel as passionate as dance.

Ultimately, my dance career ended as a senior company member at EDC. Fast forward to today where I work as a corporate event planner at a top global Law Firm located in NYC. I am always amazed how often I see parallels of the values and lessons I learned from EDC on a regular basis at work. Being fifteen minutes early to class so you can warmup and be ready to work as soon as it starts has now translated to being 10 minutes early to important meetings with all materials fully prepared. Similarly, since a young age we were exposed to an environment preparing us for the professional world of dance, more specifically the high stress pressure of an audition. The skills of how to prepare and present myself in a professional and polished manner has lead to many successful job interviews.

Forbes ranks event planning among the most stressful industries in the world. As someone with a mild learning disability you would think a career path with high stakes problem solving, strategic planning, large budgets and long hours may not be a suitable fit. On account of my time exercising the creative and analytical parts of my brain at EDC, I have found ways to work with my disability and actually became an ideal person for the industry.