91- Kayla Moran: From Dancer to Attorney for Creators

Interview Date: March 30th, 2025

Episode Summary:

Florida-based trademark and contract attorney Kayla Moran joins the Business of Dance to bridge two worlds: the discipline of competitive dance and the realities of creator-economy law. Raised in Miami in a Cuban-Ecuadorian family and trained for 15+ years across ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and hip-hop, Kayla shares how a teacher’s challenge—“Don’t be a space filler”—became a life mantra through law school and into entrepreneurship.

Kayla unpacks the gap art schools and law schools share: they rarely teach the business side. She now runs a firm for creators, dancers and influencers, translating intimidating agreements into clear decisions and helping artists protect their brands with smart contracts and trademarks. We dig into networking that actually works (contacts → contracts), negotiating terms without getting steamrolled, building authentic personal brands, and running yourself like a business (LLCs, taxes, separate accounts).

In the live Q&A, Kayla advises teens balancing medicine vs. dance, acting dreams vs. financial stability, and when to hire managers, agents or lawyers. She’s blunt (in the best way) about deadlines that “aren’t real,” why every contract is negotiable, and how to document your journey without oversharing.Listen if you’re: a dancer, parent, studio owner, or creator who wants to turn passion into sustainable income—without giving away your rights.

Shownotes:

• (0:00) – Intro: Meet Kayla Moran, dancer-turned-attorney.
• (4:35) – Dance beginnings, magnet school, discipline from pointe.
• (11:22) – Injuries, teacher’s advice: “Don’t be a space filler.”
• (18:40) – Law school, burnout, turning to blogging.
• (32:41) – Contacts = contracts: power of relationships.
• (38:51) – Negotiation lessons & humanizing business deals.
• (39:19) – Creator law: brand deals, contracts, red flags.
• (46:13) – Treating yourself as a business (LLCs, taxes).
• (55:26)– When to hire an agent, manager, or lawyer.
• (1:19:39 ) – Every contract is negotiable—never sign first draft

Biography:

Kayla Moran is a Florida-based trademark and contract attorney for creators and entrepreneurs in the creator economy. Born and raised in Miami to a Cuban-Ecuadorian family, Spanish is her first language, and growing up she was a competitive dancer for 15+ years, now you can probably catch her reading a romance novel or salsa dancing on the weekends if she’s not at the beach.

She loves to watch action thrillers, military movies or historical fiction shows on Netflix or sports (usually no in between). Kayla hosts her own podcast, The Let’s Get Candid Podcast where she strives to connect with and inspire young women to be the best version of themselves and find what drives them, and has been a featured guest on numerous other podcasts. She attended the University of Central Florida where she was a Kappa Delta, participated in Knight-Thon for four years, and interned for Senator Rubio before she set off for law school. In 2022, she earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she was a member of the now Transactional Clinic after passing the Florida Bar, she returned to Miami where she was a personal injury attorney for a year before opening her own firm.

When she set out to become a lawyer, her goal was to be in-house counsel for a lifestyle company but during law school she discovered could combine her interests and create a career on her terms. She blogged about her law school experience and it was through blogging that she discovered being an influencer combining her passion for social media and legal training. Now she gets to help influencers promote brands they believe in as a lawyer and entrepreneurs legally protect the brands they have built.She is always open to connecting, please find her on Instagram and on LinkedIn.

Connect on Social Media:

Instagram - Instagram.com/kaylaaamorann

Website- Kaylamoranlaw.com