Jade Chynoweth - On Her Journey as a Dancer, Performing with Halsey, Loving Yourself, and What's Next For Her Career

With 2.4 Million followers on Instagram, a stacked resume of TV/Film credits, and live dance performances with the world's top artists, Jade Chynoweth has taken the entertainment world by storm. On this episode, Jade shares her story of leaving everything to move to LA., the sacrifices she and her mom have made for her career, the importance of being true to yourself, and how Instagram changed the game for her dance career. We also talk about what it's like to work with artists like Halsey (goals) and what inspires her weekly Self Love Sunday talks.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Radio and TDC Media. You know, like I slept on floors,
shared meals, Like I didn't get to go to school
and have that normal life of being a kid. I
had to grow up really fast, recognize that it's okay
to take left turns. Sometimes you take a couple of
steps back as long as you're taking a couple of
steps forward. Afterwards, videos and dance choreography started getting popular,

(00:24):
and I was at the forefront of that. I've seen
so many people succeed, and I see so many people
that put the work in. Might not come when you
want it to, but it always does come in some
shape before me. We're here with Jade ch we just
learned how to say it. Well, I'm sure you've known
for years. Yes, I think I should have known. I

(00:45):
hope so. Actress dancer extraordinaire. We are so happy to
have you here today. Thank you for stopping, and we
have a lot to cover, obviously, there's a lot to
cover in the world of acting. Dancing is a huge
part of your life, and it actually they go together
at the moment. Who knows if that will always be
the case. I mean you're probably gonna start in movies

(01:07):
that don't have you dancing or shows that don't have
you dancing. But it's kind of cool that you get
to do two things that you love. We were actually
just before we got started, we were talking about the
Step Up series and helps us. Literally everyone in here
is with the step How could you not? How could
you not? I mean it combines dancing, some good looking people,

(01:29):
some good looking people. You you included, by the way,
in the new iteration of the Step Up franchise. They've
had a lot of movies too, haven't they Six movies
coming out and it's a China I was going to
ask where is that located? Or I booked the series.
I did the China film. It's based off of like

(01:50):
Chinese culture and everything, so I'm not one of the
main characters. But they battle in American crew. Oh are
you in the crew that comes in with an attitude
like hey, what's up? I mean, it's like they have
this two competitive crews that are based in China, and
then it's like the world series. And luckily they kind
of kept it realistic because we did beat them, because
it would have been kind of bad if we didn't

(02:11):
because the level was different, so it was it was
nice that they were still like, yeah, like, we're going
to allow our main characters not to win. But they
did beat the other crew that they had the bad
blood with, so okay, so that's fine. That's so cool
that they get to you get to cross over into
the other parts of the franchise. It was really cool.
I didn't even know I was doing the series at

(02:32):
that point. So and then, do you think that that
helps get the series? I would hope. So I don't know.
I guess I just I think they really wanted somebody
who who loved dancing, and I think that's what I
kind of brought into it because we we're really looking
for people who can act and dance, which is is
a hard combo because even though we're storytelling as dancers,

(02:53):
it's hard to use words to portray real raw emotions.
So the combination of the two was really hard to find.
But we got really lucky, Like, all my castmates are amazing,
Oh my gosh, that's that's incredible. So going back to
the very first step up, what were you like to
when that came? Yeah, somewhere around there. But I still
had who didn't have a crush on Channel I know,

(03:16):
the whole world. I mean, really, this man is just
like God's gift. But to your point, I don't even
think he knew how to dance. Wait was it? He
didn't know how to act, but he was a dancer.
It was one of the two. I think he like
a male performer before Oh oh yeah. I think he
actually had some legit, authentic experience in the stripping world.

(03:36):
So I believe that. I believe. So he brought to
the screen. He brought in to the musical world. He
later made Magic Mike, but it was really actually him. Yeah,
and then yeah exactly. And then on top of that,
he goes on to be a part of movie franchise,
TV franchise, which you're a part of your regular so
you have two seasons on your belt already. For the

(03:56):
Step Up television series Step Up, highwad It, they took
it back to the school, which I think was really
smart because the first movie was based in a performing
our school, which makes sense. While we're dancing and there's
not just random dancing happening it in the middle of
the street. Everything kind of like tied in, and it
has real stories because there are hardships and problems and

(04:18):
struggles within the dance industry that people may not know.
So it's cool that they shed light on that. But
we also integrate the Atlanta culture in there and the
street side of things and like the struggles with that side.
So it's it's very dramatic, Oh my gosh, and also
possibly a season three in the world Fingers Across, Fingers
Crossed Toast Crossed, because you are actually in the world

(04:39):
of dance and like you take classes, you're you're a
legitimate dancer. Were you able to contribute some of your
real life experiences to the show, Like do you go
of to a director or an executive producer and be like, oh,
what if we did it this way? Because this is
like very real in my world. I think our show
is really good about letting us have some freedom with
how we do scenes, and sometimes as we can change

(05:01):
different wording and stuff too, maybe tie in things that
we would normally say in real life. And definitely there's
sometimes I'm like a like, in a real dance class,
I don't think i'd actually say this during that because
he's my teacher, Like i'd have this respect or so
on and so forth. There's little things that like we
are allowed to contribute into the scene, which is really
nice to make it more realistic. And there's definitely with

(05:22):
my character specifically, she's a rich girl from Buckhead, but
the school is for lower income families in a different area,
so she kind of sneaks away why her parents think
she's going to this college. She's actually going to this
the school, and she's lying to everybody about who she is,
and once they find out, it's all this drama. And
everyone already didn't like her because she's one of the

(05:44):
only white girls. She's white, she's rich, she's this. This
is like all those stereotypes that are generally put on
too a young female dancer, and it's sometimes tied into
real life. A lot of people think that white girls
can't do hip hop, but that's not the case. Culture
is everything, and expressing yourself is what dance is really about.

(06:06):
It's not really about where you come from or who
you are. It's just about the passion and the love
and the storytelling of it. Honestly, it made me, I think,
connected to my character a little bit more to kind
of show that circumstances don't define you. Where I didn't
come from a rich background, but I did have some
struggles trying to break into the industry and prove myself

(06:26):
in that sense. So yeah, so we'll we'll take it
back because I think that's really interesting. You're not from
l A, but you've definitely made your mark on the
dance scene in l A and obviously all the things
we talked about at the beginning of this interview. You're
on a really successful franchise series. Everyone knows the Step
Up series you You're followed by millions of people who

(06:47):
watch you dance on your many platforms, from YouTube to
Instagram to Twitter. Let's take it back to before all
this stuff happened. You're not from l A. Where are
you from and how did you get involved in dance.
I'm originally from Park City, Utah, and my family actually
all still lives there, so that's kind of nice and
makes visiting easy. I started dancing when I was about

(07:10):
to My aunt had a studio it's called Martie's Rainbow Dancers.
I definitely graduated from that, but my mom had me
going there because she was teaching at the time there,
and I just kind of got into dance at a
young age and my family. We were definitely middle class,
but it was one of those things if we were
going to invest in something, we had to put our

(07:31):
full heart and our full energy and passion into it.
So I was training and dance just for fun up
until I was about ten eleven twelve. My brothers were
doing football, so I had my thing, they had their thing.
My dad was with them, my mom was with me,
and I started competing and as I was dancing, it
went from like just running around in two twos to
kind of really loving and understanding dance and for what

(07:55):
it is, like a lot of people think it's just movement,
it's just having fun, but there's really something so liberating
about being able to express yourself through movement without actually
having to say anything. You can really leave all your
emotions out on the dance floor, cheessily putting it, but
it is. I kind of just fell in love, and
I kind of had a realization that I could make

(08:16):
something more of it when I was around ten eleven,
because I started going to conventions that were out of
state every weekend to kind of train myself and see
what else I could do with dancing. Because I think
l A is one of those places that every person
that thinks they're the best from their state comes. So
it's definitely a route awakening. You think you're doing really

(08:38):
good when you're in Utah. And I trained my butt
off and I was always at every convention and I
would go straight from school to dance until ten pm.
Then I do have to do homework, so it's always
been a grind, and my mom had to work at
the studio to pay for my dance classes, so it's
never been easy, and I don't think the best things
are easy, So that's why I think it drove my

(09:00):
passion for even more because it wasn't something that I
just got handed to me. It was something I had
to work for and that that excited me. I've always
been really competitive with myself too, so I wanted to
be the best that I could be, and I've always
been super dramatic. I always was like playing pretend when
I was younger, so being able to tell stories as
I was dancing too was perfect for me. And from

(09:21):
there I kind of got recognized by some choreographers. At
a specific convention, it was called the Pulse On Tour
and it had many choreographers that were working in the
industry like Brian Freedman who choreographs for Britney Spears, and
many other people, Dave Scott who has done most of
the Step Up franchises, and Chris Judd, Lorianne gibbson Me

(09:42):
and Michael's all these people that you see featured on
so you think you can dance, or maybe if you
see films, they're the choreographers of those or tours or
anything like that. And I got the scholarship where I
was able to assist them every weekend for a year,
so I was up on stage with them, helping and
teaching the rest of the students. So that how old
were you at this point? I was twelve and at

(10:04):
the time I was actually the youngest one that what
were you doing at twelve? Right? It was? It was
I mean I like lived and breathed dance like things
that I looked back on now like that used to
be my life. And I was so dramatic, like I
messed up in that class, like my life is over,
like it's just changes, you know. But I was really
focused on it and it was a great time for

(10:25):
me to have that opportunity too, because although I was
still one of the youngest. They had different levels as intermediate, advanced,
advanced pro, so I was intermediate because of my age group.
But it really put me on the spot and kind
of made me really decide if this is what I
wanted to do, and it kind of opened my eyes
to the possibilities of working as a professional and not

(10:45):
just doing dance competition and competing. And they kind of
really pushed me and tuned in on me, and honed
in on my talent and was really trying to make
me more than what I was. I think they saw
my potential, which was really great because it's important to
see that at a young age. Especially. It helped me

(11:05):
further my career. I came out to l A when
I was twelve, which is crazy. I've been doing this
since I was twelve. So people saying like, oh, you're
only twenty and you have all these experience and it's
under your belt, Like I'm eighteen, I just moved out here,
I have not like I'm like, yes, but I already
went through those stages I was just twelve. I had
to sacrifice a lot too, with schooling and friendships and
everything because I had to start traveling every weekend for

(11:28):
these conventions, and then from there, one of the choreographers
made a little group and we auditioned for America's Best
Dance Crew, and although we didn't make it to the
Lives the live showings, it got me out to l
A and I started taking classes out here, and I
was like, Oh, I think I'm good, but I'm not
that good, and I want to be that good. And
it was cool because at the time, there wasn't that

(11:49):
many kids taking class and social media wasn't that big,
so I was really able to train with these adults
and and the level of respect that I had for
them was crazy. I mean, that's one problem that I
think we do have now is the younger generation is
so exposed to the dance world that the adults don't
really have their separation in class, and kids think they

(12:09):
can stand in front of people. But at the time,
like I was so even honored to be in the class,
and you had to get permission to take class when
you were that age. Now you can just go in
unless they say it's a certain age sixteen and up
or eighteen and up. But I used to have to
ask the teacher like, Hey, can I take your class
because I want to train with you, or I'd have
to get permission and they have to sign it. I
wouldn't even be able to go in. And my mom

(12:31):
would travel with me on the weekends, and I started
coming to l A like a couple of days and
then I'll drive back and we drive from Utah. Yes,
so shout out to my mom. Mom is a rock group. Yea.
But she obviously saw something in you, Otherwise I don't
think she and and that's something that I've always been
very blessed with. It is I've had a supportive family,

(12:53):
and I know not not a lot of people have that.
So it's nothing. It's something that I would never take
for granted because I know all that many other people's
circumstances are different. And I was lucky that they believed
in me and they were going to see it through.
Even though you know, we were sharing meals and sleeping
on floors every time we came out. I would It
wasn't something that I even saw is a bad thing,

(13:14):
because I didn't even realize that it was because of
money or anything. I was just like a road trip,
you know, like, oh, you want to share a meal
with me because you want to share a meal with
me has nothing to do with how much it got.
I didn't even realize it. So my family really made
the experience good for me, and it's so very fortunately.
I think that makes all the difference. It does. I've

(13:34):
always owe everything to my family, but every every time
I come out here too, you it's it's different. L
A is different. People are different, and it's very competitive
as well. So there's that little bit of you know,
competitive air between everybody. Even when you step in a
class and I was. I wasn't used to it. I
was like, oh, we don't all love each other? Like

(13:55):
what is this? Oh you don't like me because I'm good?
Like what does that mean? Like? I like you because
you're good of it. It's just this big competitive thing,
and you know, eventually those couple of days turned to weeks,
turned two months, and then I started being in l
A more than I was in Utah, and I think
around sixteen, I don't even have an official move date
to California, but I think around sixteen was when I

(14:16):
was here more than I was Utah. And um I
roomed with three other people. My mom and I shared
a room, a smaller room, you know, how like when
you get in an apartment, there's the bigger room in
the small room. We shared the smaller room with another
mom and daughter. And were they also in the dance world?
They were, yes, and I had met them through convention
and she ended up being one of my best friends

(14:37):
and we were roommates for seven years. So I just
actually recently got my own apartment by myself. So like
I saw that, I saw your little tour and very
cute design. Congratulations, thank you so much, But yeah, it was.
It was. It's been a journey, for sure, and it's

(14:58):
been a long time. I've had a long time to
really get into the industry and figure out what I
like and other dancers and what I don't like and
kind of take all of those things that I think
that I could do really well and mash them up
into the one well rounded dancer. And I always say
that I have so much to work on still, like
I will never stop growing. And I think that's what

(15:20):
people commonly have misconceptions about is people are like, oh, Jade,
like give me the secrets, Like how do I get
into the industry, Like I want to book a tour
like da da da da, And I'm like, well, you know,
there are really no secrets, like you have to do
it from the ground up. You have to take classes.
If you want to be booked by somebody, you have
to get in front of their face, take their class regularly,

(15:43):
have to study what they what they like and what
they book and you kind of have to Dancing is
one of those hard things that you have to be
a full package. So you have to you know, you
have to keep working out, you have to you have
to look. You have to keep yourself together. Your like
body is your image and it's your it's your selling point,
which is it causes a lot of hardships for I
think everybody in the industry, females and males included. You

(16:07):
are constantly being like judged and torn apart because they're
they want the full look. And I think that comes
with this entertainment industry in general. You have to always
be on basically, and it's been it's you know, it's
been hard because it makes people competitive, it makes people
a little salty towards each other, and and you just

(16:30):
have to really like seek out the people that are
gonna want to grow with you rather than I want
you to say where they're at. Because it is. It
does get hard, and I think l A is like
this big filter system. I always use it. A's like
one of those those noodle drainers. You know. Everybody comes
in and they think they can do it, and they
really hope they can. But l A is so cut
throat and it's it's so brutal and honest, and really

(16:54):
only the people that are gonna really be willing to
take those nose and keep going and hopefully turn them
into yeses are the ones that end up here. A
lot of people go home, which is it's really sad.
I see a lot of people move out here. They
did really well well where they're from, and then they
come out here and they're like, oh, I'm not the
best out here, Like okay, given up. You know. It's

(17:16):
it's really hard, and especially with social media, and now
there's not as many auditions as there used to be.
There used to be like five auditions a week and
sometimes you have too a day, but now they're rarely,
like maybe every couple of months because people are just
getting direct booked via social media. And there's also these

(17:36):
like two sides in the industry of in the dance industry,
specifically of people who love social media and people who
hate it, and it's usually the older generation that doesn't
really love it. But for me, in my eyes, I've
always seen social media as a business tool, as a
way to express myself and connect to people that I

(17:57):
would never be able to without it. And I you know,
obviously it gets hard because sometimes I'm in class and
I'm like, oh, I really don't think I did good,
but I'm still getting called out because they want me
to be in this video. Like I don't know, I'd
rather not go because I don't want to be on
tape today. I just want to train. I want to
feel always wondered about that. So I'm gonna cut, I'm

(18:17):
gonna rudely interrupt you. So I always see these videos
of like the playground is a playground or wherever, and
and there's one person dancing in the front and then
there's two in the back. Like this is a really
uneducated question. I'm not in this world. Are you going
to class that day not knowing that they're going to
put you on tape? And then they put you on tape?

(18:37):
How does that work? So basically, you go to class
and you have about an hour or forty five minutes
to an hour to learn the combo, and then you
kind of do it in groups and focus on that,
and then they'll end up calling people out. So you
have no idea if you're gonna get called out, But
is your goal to get called out? When I go
to class when I was younger, it definitely was because
at the time, it wasn't really about videos. It was

(18:59):
about like getting seen by people. And well, I guess
back in the day the social media, it wasn't There
wasn't a pressure to be like I'm gonna go to
class to day. It was just purely class, whereas now
you go to class and you're like, my outfit needs
to be on point, my makeup needs to be done,
because if they call me out, there's gonna be now
a video floating around exactly. And I think that's what
it's really hard with social media is some people don't

(19:21):
like that pressure. Some people don't want the camera and them.
They just want to train, They just want to be
there to learn. They want to be able to mess
up and not feel bad about it. They don't want
to put on this show, which I completely understand. And
I think there's definitely a balance and a lot of
people are like, oh, Jade only goes to the classes
that get filmed, but I'm like, no, if you think
about it, you don't know the classes that I go
to that aren't filmed because they're not filmed. There's so

(19:43):
many different classes, and I think a lot of people
have like a bad taste in their mouth about people
filming in class nowadays, but they don't realize there's always
options for other things. And for me, I really wanted
to utilize social media, and I think it's smart for
any person in entertainment industry that's trying to make it
is to not view social media as something to be

(20:05):
showy and to get followers, but more to connect to
people and to really get yourself out there because you
never know who's going to be watching at that point,
and as long as you remain like a good person.
And that's something that I've always really tried to stay,
is like to stay the same person that I came
into this industry as because a lot of people change

(20:26):
and it's really sad, and it's because a lot of
people want to follow the mainstream of what everyone else
is doing. They want to act, they want to be
friends with certain people and and make those relationships, or
they don't like this person because they got the job
over them, or they have social media followers therefore they're
not actually great dancers because they're just social media people.
And I think lately a lot of the dancers that

(20:48):
have been getting recognition are actually some of the best dancers.
And obviously sometimes there's like people you're like, oh, that
person is not, like, you know, really that good, but yeah,
sure go follow them and think they're amazing. But it's
always been my goal to not really prove myself, but
just to stay who I am and to kind of
maybe connect to somebody. And I love storytelling, which is

(21:09):
why I love acting as well. And I think that
the reason why people have connected with me is because
I didn't shy away from the camera. It's hard because
you just learned, you just learned choreography, you're like, I
might forget it, and it's hard to kind of strip
that away and focus on a camera and focus on storytelling.
And for me, I just know that there's always a
deeper message within dance, and whether it's an emotional dance,

(21:32):
a happy dance, whatever, it can really connect to somebody
and someone can feel relief from watching it, or maybe
I have a realization of what they're feeling. And and
that's always something that I've wanted to do with my
social media per se is to really keep it raw
and honest. I don't want to put this facade up
that's not really me. I don't want to put images
up of me on my Instagram that aren't what I

(21:55):
really look like. I always want to keep it real.
I'm not trying to be something I'm not, because the
worst thing that could happen is somebody who needs me
in person. They're like, oh wait, what that's you? Your
pot isn't ten ft? Why? Like what happened? You definitely
love those fakes tunes when you like think they look
like something and you're like, you don't look like black China. No,

(22:18):
it's crazy, it really is. And that that like, but
you're doing yourself a disservice, like you said, it's almost like,
why do you even put yourself in that position? And
people do. Social media is hard, it's I mean, that's
why people put these facades up is because I've actually
been recently trying to stay away from my phone in general,
because not that I thought I had a problem, but

(22:40):
I was just like, Oh, this might be nice. I'm
going to try it out, like a little social media
cleansed thing where I'm only gonna go on for this
amount of time per day and post what I need
to post and kind of exit off. Because we're constantly
looking and trying to be involved in everything and everyone
else rather than focusing on ourselves. And it's called the

(23:00):
lot of people to have insecurities. And that's why I
started the Self Love Sundays was because I recognized it
in myself. I was constantly searching other people and comparing
myself to other people and seeing these Instagram models wondering
why I didn't look like them, or seeing someone else
dance and being like, oh I don't think I can
do that or all of these other things, or these
people have these opportunities that I wish I could have.

(23:22):
And I found myself like which is ironic because I
think a lot of people probably look at you and
think the exact same thing. So it's really beautiful that
you're pointing that out. Because even someone like you, who's
a series regular, you're getting booked on things. Halsey wants
you to dance with her. I mean you have things
going on that are incredible, for sure, And I think
that that's why it's important for me to try to

(23:44):
keep the message of like, I am so grateful and
there's never, like any any situation that I'm not grateful for.
And but it's also important for me to showcase that
it isn't always easy, because a lot of people think
that these people have these lives that are so grand
and then like, once you have this, once you achieve this,
you're going to be happy. But then once you have it,

(24:05):
you're not happy, and it's because you haven't really experienced
the whole journey of it, and there's always ups and downs.
This industry is really hard. It's not like a steady income.
It's always job to job to job. You never know
when you're going to book it, so it's it's very
high stress. And obviously I'm so thankful that I'm not
I'm not working a job that I I don't love,

(24:26):
I don't love to do. I'm fortunate that what I
do and what I make money from is something that
I do love. But it definitely is really hard, and
it it's built for certain personalities that can can withstand
it because it's as much as there's it's a small
world in a small industry. It's a very lonely industry.
If you come out here, especially from out of state,

(24:47):
there's you people come and go in your life because
things are always changing and people are always trying to
be something else or interests contrast or conflict with them.
And I've had so many people come in and out
of my life because not that I think I'm so successful,
but I think my my confidence in the fact that

(25:08):
I believe that whatever efforts I put in, I can
always make any outcome that I want, and I know
that one day I'm going to make it in how
I want to make it, and it's always up to me.
It has nothing to do with anybody else. And it's
it's very intimidating to see somebody who's confident in their
journey and confident in them and trying to love themselves,
because if you don't feel that way, you you you

(25:30):
feel a little insecure about it, and it's hard to
watch your friends get your dream job. I get that totally,
but it's always been something that I've had to really
seek out those people that are really going to support
me and love me in every circumstance, and it's been
hard because that sometimes I'm like, I don't want to
tell anybody that I got this because I don't I
don't want them to feel bad, like even though this

(25:51):
is something I did work for, so it should be
something that I should celebrate and people should also celebrate
and instead of turn away from be inspired by. And
I find myself constantly inspired by my friends and all
wakes of life, whether it be like my friends on
tour with jave Alvin right now, and she's traveling the world,
getting paid to travel the world and perform and do

(26:11):
what she loves and and to me, that's that's amazing.
That's living the life. That's one stepping stone closer to
what she wants to do. And it's just I want
everyone to really like feel the love in the support
in the community, because if we create a community, people
can grow so much easier and there's not just one
spot at the top. There's room for everybody. And I

(26:31):
think that's something that people might think otherwise on but
I've seen so many people succeed and I see so
many people that put the work in. Might not come
when you want it to, but it always does come.
In some shape or form, that satisfaction the success that
you always want as long as you work hard, and
you say a good person, that's really I think my

(26:52):
key too. Yeah, what what is making it to you?
Because I know that it's going to change probably every year. Right,
you know, you may have never been a series regular,
then all of a sudden you are, and that's like
a moment. But then you're going to evolve and you're
going to have another mountain that you want to climb.
What is making it or successful look like to you?

(27:13):
When I was younger, it was different. It was booking
a certain job or doing something else. But for me now,
like especially because I'm in my twenties, I'm a young adult,
I am not just I'm paying my own bills. Like
their stress of life. For me, it's always just to
be happy in the process because a lot of times
people place happiness on a certain accomplishment and then once

(27:37):
you get it, then it's like okay, what now, Like
I'm not I'm not happy, So I think, like exactly
what you said. But my my my goals are constantly changing.
I have life goals, I have I have relationship goals,
I have job goals. But I think the most important
thing for me to do and the process is to
really experience and be present in every moment in the

(28:00):
the stepping stones, because even though like the success in
the accomplishment is so great, like I learned so much
more getting there than I did once I got it.
So for me, it's just to really be open to
everything and too kind of have to You have to
think on your feet, you have to be ready for anything.
Life changes, the industry out here is constantly changing, and

(28:20):
the rug will get pulled from underneath your feet. I
wish I could put on my my resume like almost
booked this, like was really close, but like no one
even knows what I almost booked or how long I
spent preparing for that job and then I didn't get it,
because you only really promote your successes on social media,
and that's all people can really see you as is
what you what you put out there. And for me,

(28:43):
my goal is to be happy, but obviously there's career
goals that I would like to accomplish as well, And yeah,
I think it always changes. I think, what's your current
career goal? To be a lead in a movie theater movie,
so in a cinema that I mean, I think if
we were to look at the trajectory, it seems like

(29:04):
you're on that path. You really trying acting as a
whole another monsters. Well, obviously you know what you're doing.
You wouldn't be booking series regulars. You would just be
you know, dancing is incredible, but you would just be
in that one lane. But you've kind of crossed over
into bringing two talents together, which and it's working for you, right.
And I think something that I've learned from being in

(29:25):
this industry, and and because I started so young, I
think I'm starting other things young as well. I've really
seen that I can't just be a one trick pony.
I need to be an entrepreneur. I need to have
all of I want to be a business. I want
to I want to do all of these things before
everyone else thinks to do them. And I think that's
kind of what I've always tried to do, is to
step outside what the norm is and to do things

(29:47):
before other people do it too, maybe inspire people to
do the same thing. And for me, I am trying
to use my social media to actually promote positivity and
maybe address certain things that people my age might be
going through where people need to hear, or just little
tips and things that I've learned from my life. And

(30:08):
and when I do these self love Sundays, I don't
actually think I know everything, and it doesn't mean I'm
always great at the things I'm talking about, but I
always try to relate it to what's going on in
my life currently, just to make it something that other
people can relate to. So I want to start using
my success per se for inspiring other people. But then
I'm also working on being a choreographing my own things

(30:31):
and being a dancer in training, and then I also
want to be an actress and I want to do that.
And then I'm also integrating the fitness into me into
my lifestyle, and I have a fitness program that I've
been selling to people and helping transformations with that and
really learning about health. And I'm trying to manage my
money properly before you know, you never know what's going

(30:52):
to happen, and so that's why I really want to
utilize all the time that I have and and utilize
the materials that I have right now, because we we
don't know if social media could die out it could
be a MySpace thing and now it's not a big
thing anymore. And it's you're so evolved and already grasp
that concept because I think so many people and I

(31:13):
hate saying influencer, but if you're an influencer and you
are one, you have influence. It's just a fact. They
think this is forever and and they'll be and there's
nothing's forever. So you always have to think five steps ahead,
and it seems like you're doing that. I'm really lucky too,
because my family works with me on my business side.
So my older brother he kind of is like my

(31:35):
personal manager, and he's he's always been so intelligent and
he's really into business and marketing and stuff. So he's
been really guiding me and helping me with all these things.
And he always tells me that Jade, like, you can't
just be on on Instagram. You have to really project
yourself all over because once something's gone, like what's left,
will you still be remembered without that? And that's something

(31:55):
that I always want somebody to look up to me
without social media. I don't want it to be just
because I have a certain amount of followers and I
think the word influencer is often missed used, and I
think so many people are categorized as influencers, but what
are they influencing to be anorexic and not eat, or
to go party and do all this thing, or just

(32:15):
to take selfies all the time. Like I really want
to use what I have and actually influence people for
the better. And it took me a while to realize
how I wanted to do that, and so I just
started incorporating things that happened my day in my daily life.
And I know that I have so much to learn,
and I think even social media and this industry is

(32:37):
constantly teaching me different lessons, whether they're good or bad.
And I think it's really ultimately about how you bounce
back from these hardships, because this industry, like everybody says
thirty knows to one yes, and it's created the amount
of Like if you guys knew how many self tapes
or auditions in acting that I've done, and I've I've

(32:58):
booked this one series, Like I would really hope so
I booked something because otherwise I might need to change
my career. Bath But it is hard, and it's really
hard to keep going and to keep inspiring yourself and
pushing yourself and trying to see new areas that you
can grow in, because a lot of people plateau, especially
in dancing, there's you know, you go on tour or
you become a choreographer, Like what else is there? I

(33:20):
just always like tried to be inspired by everyone and
tried to learn something new and not really allow myself
to settle, because once you settle, that's that's when you
start opening yourself up to the same opportunities into the
same outcomes as you're you're not really trying to even
see anything else, and a lot of people see failure
is something so bad. But I've really like, if I

(33:42):
look back, you know, I'm twenty, I haven't had that
many things that are super crazy happened in my life,
but there have been some things that really threw me
off my game, like whether it be personal or job related.
Looking back, those are actually like my favorite memories because
I learned so much about myself in that process. And
also when you when you get these nose or or

(34:02):
you feel a certain way, whether you let's say you're
depressed right now. I used to never be able to
relate to people that were like that I was like,
why don't they just bounce out of it, like they
still have so much There's so much great going on,
and and I actually went through a period where I
was stuck with who I was as a person and
I was never letting it integrate into my business, which

(34:23):
and my dancing in my career, which was Yeah, I'm
pat myself on the back for that because it could
have really messed things up. But I felt lost and
and I had to really push through and find that
self love. And that's actually why I started self Love Sundays,
was because I realized that I wasn't giving myself the
same love that I was giving everyone else. I was
filling everybody else's cups, but I wasn't allowing people in

(34:46):
my life that were filling mine back. So I was
just drained and I was empty, and I lost a
bunch of friendships all at once, and I just felt
lost out here. I don't have my family out here,
so it's it's really tough industry. You feel isolated. And
I now feel like I have this compassion for people
that are going through that, and I feel like I
can relate in maybe approach different aspects of my life

(35:08):
because of those lessons I learned in failure or whatever,
however you look at it. So it's just you know this,
this is it's been a journey only twenty but you
know it's nothing's easy, and I think it's good that
nothing's easy because it breeds you for to be able
to take on so much more. Do you attribute your

(35:29):
success to this attitude? Because it seems like, first of all,
you're very young, and it's not knocking. I'm not an agist,
but for you to be so evolved and to understand
these concepts, some people don't understand this till they're in
their forties fifties. They haven't be life crisis. They're like, oh,
this is why this didn't work out for me. What
do you attribute to this, this mentality, in this attitude.

(35:52):
One thing that I've always believed was that I have
the power to create or manifest any opportunity or any
job or any goal in my life. And I've always
really tried to hold onto that. Most importantly, I didn't
want to change who I was, and I think I
was raised in an amazing way. And shout out to

(36:12):
my family because they always taught me that it doesn't
matter how much you have or where you're at in life,
like down to the tea, Like it matters if you're
a good person. And I think when you have good karma,
good karma comes out into the world and you get
you get gifts and and success is back because what
you put out is what you always get back. And yeah,
you always see those people you're like, they don't deserve that,
Like they didn't even work hard, they're not even a

(36:34):
good person. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter what everybody
else is doing. And that's something that I've definitely had
to learn and I think that's helped me gain the
success that I have, is to not be too involved
in everyone else's successes or opinions. And it's it's a
very fine line of being selfish and selfless and really

(36:55):
focusing on yourself. Like it there's you know, it's hard.
Some people would cain, girls, oh, that's selfish if you
don't care about anybody else. But it's not that I
don't care about anybody else. But you just always have
to put yourself first in the matter of what's going
to benefit you as a person and your happiness and
your overall drive. And you need to surround yourself with
certain people, and if there's people that you feel like

(37:16):
are draining you or or you don't really deal with you,
you should exit that situation and you need to leave.
And I think that me just I've always been competitive
with myself and not really with other people. And I
think that's a a good characteristic that I've carried out
throughout my career. And I think that's something that's really
pushed me to gain the success that I have is

(37:37):
because it's never been about if someone else got something
or if they have something over me. It's always been
about what can I do to be better? And to
be really honest with yourself. That's it's really hard. It's
so hard to be like, oh, yeah, I really didn't
do good. They're like, I need to assess how I
handled that situation and I need to be better from that.
And to be brutally honest with yourself and your career

(38:00):
path is really hard to because you have do you
take a lot of pride in what you do and
you don't want to fail and stuff. But unless you
you recognize you your areas of weakness, there's no way
to make those strengths. And I think I've just really
just tried to stay constantly evolving and evolving with this
industry because the world is evolving, like everything is always
changing around you, and it's it's really important to adapt

(38:22):
to those changes and to embrace them and to really
just like have your eyes set on where you want
to go in life and recognize that it's okay to
take left turns. Sometimes you take a couple of steps
back as long as you're taking a couple of steps
forward afterwards. But yeah, I just have to I've always
stayed motivated and I don't let things get me down,
which obviously there's those days where I'm just like this sucks,

(38:45):
like dang it, like man, life sucks. But I really
have to like pull myself out of that, and I've
been really focusing on that. Anytime I get any negativity
or any thoughts in my head, I really have to
pull myself out of that and start thinking about everything
that I do have, because, like you said, like many people,
I would love to have the life that I have,
and I always have to realize that that, like everything

(39:06):
that I do have is although I've earned it, I'm
also very fortunate and very lucky to be where I'm
at And it's all about timing too. I think I
came into the industry at a really great time. I
came in and I started dancing. I was able to
train under these amazing people, and then by the time
social media came around, I was already adjusted to this
lifestyle in this industry, and I got hit by social

(39:29):
media at a great time where there was no other
dancer that was getting popularity. So videos and dance choreography
started getting popular and I was at the forefront of that.
So if I didn't come out to l a maybe
at a certain time, I wouldn't have been in the
same position. So everything's about timing. And I know that
everything happens on its own time, and we all have

(39:49):
our own path, and you really just gotta know that
like everything happens for a reason. It's like one of
my favorite quotes of life, Like everything happens for a reason,
whether it be something you don't really want, and that's
something that I have conversations with all my friends or
like my family all the time. It's like you usually
are in a bad situation when it's not necessarily something

(40:12):
you want and it's something that you need a lot
of times things happen happen to you and you're like,
but I don't want that, so you fight it and
you end up being in this bad relationship with whatever
it is, this this opportunity or this situation, and you've
got to really see that, like, it's not always going
to be about what you want. Sometimes you're going to

(40:32):
veer off the path of what you thought was what
you were going to do for life, and your life
takes a different turn, and you just really have to
embrace those turns and those you know, all these things
that you don't necessarily want but you need. I don't
want everything that happens to me, but I definitely think
I needed it, and I feel like I've grown from it,
and it kind of helps me tune and hone in

(40:54):
on what I really want to do in my life
and ultimately for me, like I just want to. I
want to. Everybody says it, but I really do want
to make a difference in the world, and I want
to once I have the means to be able to
travel and give back to people and help. I'm a
big naturehead, so I I'm a total hippie at heart.
I want to be able to like plant trees and
go to these different places and be able to help

(41:15):
people and give back because ultimately, like this world when
we when we all die, like, is it really going
to be measured about like what accomplishments we have. It's
it's more about how we change the world and how
we changed other's lives. And and that's what I do
love about social media. It's one of my favorite things
about it is that we have the opportunity to connect
with people from everywhere dancing. It allows me to have

(41:37):
different countries and different convention people reach out to me
and be like, hey, would you like to come teach
in this place? Hey, I get to go meet new
people and inspire new people and embrace this new energy
and see this new culture, and I get to travel
and I get to do what I love. Like there's
so many positives to social media. Obviously with everything, there's
positives and negatives. But that's one of my favorite things

(41:57):
about it is I can connect to some any different
people and it's really cool. And you know, it's also
kind of cool for for especially my mom loves it.
You know, she gets to always know what I'm doing,
and and it connects with family and I'm grateful for that,
but you know, it also is kind of like I
get a look back on it sometimes sometimes I scroll

(42:18):
all the way down and I'm like, oh, wow, I
have gotten better. Like, you know, I think it's super important.
And with videoing and dancing, a lot of people see
it as oh, you're just showing off, you know, like
you're showing but like, I actually learned so much from
every video that I post, and people don't know that
I don't just post them a lot of times. I
will watch them in slow motion and go through them
super slowly and critique every little second of my dancing

(42:41):
because I do. I want to be the best, Like
why not be the best if you're capable of it?
And I've always thought that, like what are you waiting for? Like,
and I have to inspire myself and motivate myself sometimes too,
Like it's like when you haven't gone to the gym
for a while, it's really hard to get back into it.
But you just really have to motivate yourself to want
to be better. You're not always going to be at

(43:01):
your best, and that's okay. You should always have that
motivation and inspiration to try to maintain that we're never
going to be perfect, but it's always a goal. So
there's so many dancers on Instagram are posting videos all
the time. It feels like in the last two years
it kind of became like a trendy thing to do, right.

(43:21):
What do you think sets your content apart from there's
so much content out there and you have so many followers,
what do you think sets your content apart from some
of the others? And if you if you have some
feedback or a tip to give somebody who wants to
be a dancer. And obviously being on social media has
helped you book jobs and people find you there, So

(43:44):
what advice would you give someone who wants to be
the next Jade? For me, I think what has actually
really like set me apart is I really embrace the
story of it because people don't want to just watch
for entertainment, They want to feel something. That's ultimately what
we do. We do everything to feel something, We eat

(44:04):
to feel full, we watch certain things to get a
certain emotion out. And for me, I really embraced the
storyline of it. And I think what has set me
apart from maybe other dancers and I can't really speak
for everybody else because I don't know what they're thinking
when they're dancing. But I'm really trying to be like
honest when I'm dancing, and whether that's like a fun dance,

(44:26):
I'm trying to tap into that a great memory or
something like that. And for me, I never just put
out content because I need it. I really want it
to be because I'm inspired by it or I feel
like it could help somebody. And I don't just take
classes that are because they're filmed, like I'll take certain
classes that I really enjoy and I connect with and
I can learn something from. So I think that the

(44:48):
difference between I don't know, it's hard because there's so
many amazing dancers that deserve all the light and but
you're definitely different. You're definitely I mean, there's a difference
between you and a lot of the dancers. There's a
reason why you're getting booked on things that others aren't.
And I'm not knocking anyone, but there's something. I honestly

(45:09):
think it's that I'm not trying to be anybody else. Yeah,
you're super authentic. I mean it it comes across in
all of your content. You're never trying to be the
cool girl, which I really know what you are, but
you are. I think that's what's so cool about you.
I saw so cool Amelia, Like no, but like seriously,
I think that's what people really love, authenticity and you

(45:30):
can't fake that. And I think with social media there's
like a certain stigma that you have to be something,
You have to be a certain person to be a
social media influencer or what do you think that person
is that people think they have to be. You have
to be perfect. They don't want to see that you're silly.
They want to see that you have You're pretty, and

(45:50):
you're always put together and you you only do this.
And there's certain lanes like I'm the funny person, or
I'm that pretty person, or I'm this person, or I'm
the you know, there's so many different categories. But like
I think I'm all of those things combined, and I
can be all of those things combined. And and I
did realize for a while that after my videos were posted,
like I have this alter ego when I dance, I

(46:12):
call her Jo It's not actually Jade because I get
really serious when the music comes on because I'm so
inspired by music. I love music. And that's why I
think I love dancing so much, is because I love
the feeling that I get when listening to it, and
I want to portray that with movement. And I think
like a lot of people are like, oh, like, you're
actually nice, because I can come across intimidating if I'm

(46:35):
doing like a serious dance or like something like maybe
it's a heels class, like people might think I think
I'm something I'm not. So I always make sure that
I use my social media to show all aspects of
my life and all aspects of my personality because I'm
not just one thing, and I don't have to be
just one thing, and I want people to know that,
like you can you can put like on a little show,

(46:56):
but you can still be a good and humble person afterwards.
You can go and do a solo and get called
out in this awesome class which is so cool, but
then come back down to earth right back after it.
And also I like to post things like even when
I mess up, because it's important for people to know
that I'm not perfect, because nobody is, and everybody messes up.

(47:17):
And and I think that in regards to a little
message for aspiring dancers and aspiring artists. I think it's
super important for you to really utilize the means that
we have now social media, or if you're not in
l A and you don't have the opportunity to come
to this place where it's the land of opportunity, to

(47:40):
really make the best of your situation at home. To
train in every style because you never know which style
you need. I trained in ballet, tap, lyrical, contemporary, jazz,
I have a little bit of salsa, even acrobatics and
all of these things and hip hop. You need to
know you're you need to know your career. You need
to know what you're trying to pursue. Otherwise, how are

(48:01):
you going to be able to tell a true story
if you're not even speaking the truth because you don't
know this movement or you have to know your history.
Just like when you're doing a job, you need to
go to school for it. This is your school, taking
classes your school. So I would just really suggest to
train in every style and to stay consistent and stay
honest with yourself. And if you don't have somebody filming you,
ask somebody to film you on your phone and to

(48:23):
study it and to to try to become better after
each video. And if you don't have the opportunity to
stay in l A and you come learn a class.
If you think I didn't get all the moves, dang it,
like how did they learn that so fast? Like I'm
not there yet. Take that combo and take it back
home and keep rehearsing it every day until you feel
like you have perfected it in how you want to.

(48:46):
And I think it's just to stay motivated, and you
have to keep pushing yourself and keep realizing new areas
and watch people that inspire you and don't try to
copy them, because I think a lot of people are
Even in the dance industry, it's always like trends of
movement that happened, Like now it's like the super hardful
out trend. Now everybody's doing slinky like wavy movement, and

(49:09):
I'm like, why can't we just do it all all
at once? And That's what I've always tried to do,
is I see these people that inspire me, and instead
of like, oh, I want to be like them, I'm like, Wow,
that was really cool. What what about them could I
add to me that would that would work well with
what I already have going and just to really try
to be a like a jack of all trades and
to you know, be well rounded and and to really

(49:33):
keep growing because there's always different ways that you can
keep getting better. And I think that that's super important
to remember, even if you don't have the opportunity to
come out to l A, to utilize the social media.
Watch these answers that you love and figure out why
they why you love them, and see what you can
apply to yourself. So on the outside looking, and I
think it'd be easy for somebody to have the common misconception,

(49:55):
like you said, like, oh, Jade's got it easy. All
these things happen. They don't know that you've been here
since twelve, the age of twelve, dancing since too. You've
had a lot of big wins, but there have been
days that you didn't win, and there have been days
that you probably wanted to quit. How did you get
out of that mind frame and show up to class
the next day? Honestly for me, because yeah, it is.

(50:18):
That is one thing that I would like always tell people,
like no, like it isn't. It isn't easy. Just because
it looks easy. You only get to see a glimpse
of my life through social media. You don't really know
who I am, you don't know what I'm going through,
and no one wants to hear the bad days, so
people only showcase their great days, you know, like I
slept on floors, shared meals, Like I didn't get to

(50:39):
go to school and have that normal life of being
a kid. I had to grow up really fast, and
those are certain things that I had to sacrifice, but
I would do it all over again. And I think
when I have these these like let downs, are these
these failures or whatever it is in my eyes that
didn't go well, I I just really have to tell myself.

(51:00):
First of all, I let myself feel the feeling, because
I've always been bad at that. I've always kind of
internalized my emotions and I'm like, nope, can't be sad.
I'm good, I'm good, I'm fine, I'm fine. But then
eventually the things pile up and I have this big,
you know, big panic attack or something like that where
I'm like, oh, like everything's wrong, but like really it's

(51:20):
just built up emotion. So I really let myself feel
the emotion of of not having what I want, and
I allow that to be okay. I give myself that
day to really sit in it, to to you know,
like allow myself to be sad, but to realize that
that means that it just wasn't meant for me. And
I think that's always what I have to keep in

(51:41):
my mind, is that if I didn't get something, it
wasn't meant to be mine. And it's a hard pill
to swallow. It's it's a kind of an ego bruiser,
but it's it keeps me going that I know that
something else is on the horizon. And it's always when
people have these really hard times that these great things
happen for me. When I had my my little moment

(52:03):
at the end of this last year beginning of this year,
I ended up getting Halsey right after, and during the process,
I was like, why did this happen to? Like why
am I in this place? Like why am I so negative?
I don't see a way out. I at the time,
I didn't have an apartment because I just got back
from filming in Atlanta and I gave up my apartment,
so I didn't have my own space. I didn't feel

(52:25):
I wasn't sleeping enough, Like it was just all these
pile of things, and I didn't know why this was
happening to me, and I didn't know why I wasn't
happy because I still had so much to be grateful for.
And then, although like I was in this depressed state,
I was still fighting to be better. I wanted to
be happy and I wanted to figure out what it

(52:47):
was that wasn't making me happy. And once I started
allowing myself to embrace that side of me, but to
see the positive and the positive, the silver linings of everything,
that's when I got this great job and I was
able to actually you is those emotions that I was
going through in the story that I told with Halsey.
That was a beautiful performance, by the way, and you've
got a lot of a lot of press for that

(53:08):
because it was just I think it really resonated with
a lot of people, and for me, with that job
like it was, it was such an honor to tell
such an important story. And that's why I respect Halsey
so much, is because she utilizes her platform to actually
address things that need to be addressed. You should be
able to love whoever you want and there should be

(53:28):
no judgment on that. And I love that her music
video had a mail, but then she used the female
for this story. And I also love that she's so
confident and loving of herself that she's able to share
her light with somebody else. It's also not like even
on beyond the story that we were telling, in the
message that we're portraying as a dancer, that's huge. No

(53:52):
dancer has ever been put on an equal level as
the artist. Were always behind them. You were performing with you,
guys were rumming together, and that's what I love about it.
And she was so willing to do that. She didn't
She doesn't always dance, so she was like, oh, this
is nervous, nerve wracking for me too. And I'm like,
were you teaching her how to dance? We we had,
we had a choreographer for the job, but she already

(54:14):
could move, really killed it. She's amazing. So I was like, Okay,
I mean, you were clearly the dancer, but she killed it. No,
she's she's amazing, And I think she's like really tapping.
I have such a crush on her, I haven't I
were going down that like maybe I'd consider it. I
would too. I don't really follow a lot of celebrities,
but She's somebody that I love following because she just

(54:36):
doesn't give a ship. She's so authentically all the time,
unapologetically herself, and I love that about her, and I
hope that artists start doing that more because I think
it's really empowering, especially for this new generation that to me,
feels kind of lost, like everyone's like who am I?
What am I? A Jake Pauler, like everyone who's just
you know, like whatever into ay, whatever trend is. And

(54:58):
then you see someone like Halsey, who one minute she's
doing a pop song, the next minute she's doing like
alternative rock, which is so incredible. And also like from
a dancer perspective, you don't get treated very well on
tours or things like that. Dancers are kind of like
at the bottom of the food chain in that sense,
we don't make nearly as much money as artists or

(55:22):
actors or singers were probably at the bottom of that.
But I also think it's one of the most physically demanding,
So it's it's always been unfair like, oh, like, why
are we all in one trailer when I like, one
time I was on a show and we're dancing and they,
let's say, upgraded me and I had a line. I

(55:43):
got my own trailer, people asking me what I needed.
But before I was in this hot room with fifteen
other dancers that was the same size as my my
room that I had now by myself. It's it's like
and you you're like always like okay, you gotta keep going,
like hey we're going again. You're like I need a breath,
like my body is gonna die, like and people don't

(56:03):
realize that. And and a lot of people just think
that because dancing is so entertaining, it's kind of like
a dance monkey dance, Like they don't realize like, no,
this is this is hard, Like even with Step Up,
because we incorporate so much dancing into it. I think
like even the producers and and everybody on the set
had to learn that, Like our time is very valuable.
Our bodies are valuable because you can you can't do

(56:24):
this forever. You can't just do take after take after take.
And what I love about Halsey as she made sure
all my needs were met. She's like, oh, do you
need your nails done? Like I'll have my my nail
artists come get your nails done. And no one would
ever do that She's like, oh, come chilling my trailer
and I'm like, wait, wait what you don't want me outside?
Like no, like co hang out or like make sure

(56:46):
she's there. And I did the Billboard Awards with her
recently and I was in dancer holding before and and
all the people that were working with Billboard were like, no,
you can't. You can't go backstage with her. You can't
go there. And she's like, I was like no, but
like my outfit is in her trailer and they're like, yeah,
we'll bring it out. And then she sent one of
her people to come get me so that I could
come into this zone with all the artists and everything,

(57:07):
and and honestly, like it's kind of crazy, Like no
one does that for for dancers. And that's why I
respect her so much as she she knows her worth,
but she doesn't think she's better than anybody in that
sense where I think that's this industry has a lot
of people who have entitlement issues, and I you, right,

(57:27):
and you know I've never interviewed one of those, right,
you know, ultimately, like we're all on the same level
if you strip all the like fluff in the sparkle
away from everyone. We're all just human beings, so like
we should all be treated fairly. And I think that's
like something that she's great about. And she really just
sees like passion and genuine energy and people. And that's
what I love about her too, is I see the

(57:49):
same and I'm attracted to people that are genuine. I'm
attracted to people that are going to add to my
life rather than try to keep me down because they
want to succeed and it's hard, but we can all
grow together. And I think that's what she's doing for us.
And she's opening up this whole world for dancers and
for artists to utilize dancers in a whole another way

(58:10):
because we really are artists in our own sense too,
and we we can really portray a story and really
help with the performance rather than just cater to them.
You know. So, so you you're booking these incredible opportunities
like the Halsey opportunity, and you have these series regulars,
There's going to come a point in your career, I'm
assuming where there's going to have to be I don't

(58:32):
want to say you have to choose between one or
the other, but dancing, like you mentioned, requires so much maintenance,
Like you can't just say I'm gonna go do a
movie for a year and then not dance, and you know,
you kind of have to focus on one thing. Is dance?
Do you envision it always being a part of your
package or is it something that do you have a

(58:53):
game plan in that sense? Honestly, for me, my career
is definitely going in more of the acting side, so
that's definitely what I want to be my thing. But
dancing is just kind of like at this point a
part of me. I dance all the time. When I
hear music, I can't help but to move. So for me,
I don't think I've gotten to a certain point where
I don't need a train anymore. But I have trained

(59:15):
enough where I think that if I were to step
away from it and it wasn't my goal to be
the best, greatest dancer ever, I would still have it
in my life. There's always ways to take class, and
even when I'm in Atlanta filming or if I'm in
New York, there's there's classes that I can go take
just to dance, and I can also turn on music
and dance for myself and film myself freestyling or I

(59:36):
can choreograph while I'm not on set, so I definitely
want to pursue more the acting, But there is like
I've always been a little a little like scared that
I'm gonna have to give it up. But for me,
it's it's just a part of who I am, Like
I'm always going to be a mover and I'm always
going to be genuine with that, and it's always going
to be something that's special to me. But that doesn't

(59:56):
mean that it can't branch off into different ways. And
for me, it's actually helped me with my acting career
because ultimately I want to be like a heroin action,
badass female superstar, movie star, like I want to do
like Avengers roles, like I want to do all my
own and Avengers have to do some choreographing, so like
you already have that down. The fighting is all choreographed.

(01:00:17):
But actually my first job as an actress was for
three hundred the second three hundred, and I got to
sword fight and they were actually very impressed with how
I was able to learn the sword choreography because for me,
it's like movement, like I'm learning the choreography. It was
easy for me to retain and to kind of mimic
how they were doing it, and they're like, yeah, like
and and that's what they kind of realized. They're like, oh, like,

(01:00:39):
you can't just tell her to do it, like show
her and she'll be able to really mimic how it is,
because that's what we do as dancers. We are learning
choreographer choreography from what's one person, and we're mimicking how
they're doing it, and then we're adding us into it
after and so I think it really helps me with
where I want to go. And I've always been super
sporty and kind of I have two older brother there,

(01:01:00):
so I'm definitely more of a tomboy than I am
a girly girl in that sense. I want I don't
care to get dirty. I want to be like I
want to get beat up in a film. I want
to you know, I want to beat somebody else up
in a film like. I want to utilize my strength,
and I think that's also what I have in dancing
that kind of sets me apart, is I have this
strength behind it, and I utilized my athleticism into the
dancing as well. Because it's for me. I want to

(01:01:23):
be like a real life superhero if that was possible.
So I'm gonna do everything my power to do it.
And that's why I love fitness as well. There's just
so many aspects in my life that I think are
all kind of helping me to really go down the
path of acting. And I think dance will always be
there no matter what. Well, I'm just going to speak
for myself, but I feel like there's nothing that's stopping

(01:01:44):
you from anything that you put your mind too. And
you know, this last hour of talking to you, I
think we've all learned some things. And right really though,
like I people think that I don't get like even
like a couple of weeks ago, I got told like
I was going back and forth to New York. I
was getting flown out for this like acting to be
a lead on a series that would have changed my life.

(01:02:06):
Literally it would have changed my life. And I got
told no, and I was like what why? And like
instead of like sitting there and soaking, like I actually
started filming myself. I was like, guys, I'm really going
through it right now. But I want you to know
I'm gonna push through this, like I want people to
realize like I do get told no, Like you know
what I mean, But it really there's just always like
a bigger plan or a bigger opportunity waiting around that.

(01:02:28):
I mean literally every every super A list person that
I've I look up to where I've interviewed, has always
said that they've been told no more than they've been
told yes. But it's those few yes is that are
game changers. So the nose don't really matter in the
big picture of the knows don't matter, and they're all
learning lessons to Like, I learned so much auditioning for

(01:02:48):
that part, Like I actually think I got the best
acting lessons of my life I've ever had, So like,
I'm like, now I can utilize this for the project
that I am going to book. So well, I feel
like if we called you back a year from today,
we have a lot of new content and new stories. No,
I really, I really feel that from you, and I
think it takes a very unique type of person with

(01:03:10):
a type of attitude, and that's why we want to
do on this show, because not only are you successful
in the lanes that you are choosing to focus on,
but you're also influencing in a positive way the people
that are following you. So I think that's really inspiring
and it makes me happy for our future. Doesn't make
me as scared as certain I will not name names,
but some people scare me. I'm scared for our future,

(01:03:34):
but you give me a little bit of hope. But yeah,
so congrats on everything you have going on. Make sure
you come back in a year when you've booked that
like next Avengers when they decide to redo it even
though they said they wouldn't, and they will, and you'll
be the lead. But yeah, thank you so much for
stopping by. I mean, I feel like we just so much. Yeah,

(01:03:54):
I talked a lot, but it was good, like no, no,
it was a gift from God, like so many good nuggets,
lots of good content. We hope you guys enjoyed. Jade
say your last night for us? One more? Did you
get that? Guys, that's chanoff. Don't mess it up on
my watch? All right. We'll see you guys next time

(01:04:14):
or listener here. I don't even know. I'm so not
used to not being on camera. I'm like, I'll see you,
but but I won't see you anyway. Bye. Behind the Influences,
a production of I Heart Radio and TDC Media