Meet Lauren Gerard | Professional Dancer & Creative Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Gerard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

I started dancing at age 5 and always knew that dance would be in my life in some capacity. I essentially grew up in a dance studio, spending all my days after school training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, and hip hop, competing at local and national dance competitions, and performing with my high school dance team. I followed that passion into college at the University of Virginia where I spent most of my time outside of my academics performing at football and basketball games with the NCAA Division 1 Virginia Dance Team and choreographing/ performing for the Virginia Dance Company, a student run performance company on campus.

It didn’t click that dance would become my career until my senior year in college. I got my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Media Studies and thought I’d be getting a “normal” 9-5 job or attending graduate school like the rest of my peers after graduation. But when I really took the time to think about what made me happy and left me feeling fulfilled, dance was top of mind. I decided to trust my gut and follow my heart. I was, and still am, someone who values planning and having things “figured out,” but this was the one thing in my life that I was okay not knowing the outcome because it just felt right. I put a Jennifer Lee quote on my graduation cap that said, “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire,” and I think that perfectly encapsulates how I felt jumping headfirst into a creative life path. I needed to be fearless in the unknown, and I’m so happy I took that leap. I also knew that I had to invest more into myself before venturing into the professional dance world, so after college I auditioned for a 10-month scholarship training program at Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio under the direction of Erin Marino and Meisha Lee. We danced 35-40 hours every week and re-dedicated ourselves to the foundational styles that dominate the commercial dance world. Through that program, I secured an agency contract with Go 2 Talent Agency, cultivated a tight-knit community, and began networking with working choreographers. It was the stepping stone I needed to bridge the gap between my academic and creative life paths.

What’s one thing about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?

It’s so tough to explain to people who aren’t in the professional dance world how much work goes into every single performance, video, shoot, show, etc. Dancers are artists AND athletes. We not only have to prepare our bodies for the physically demanding rehearsals, jobs, and shoots, but we also must be willing and able to shift the creative vision/performance at a moment’s notice. I like to say that dancers are superhuman; we make the hard work look effortless and give the audience the gift of storytelling. We are tapped in on physical, emotional, and mental levels, at all times. That doesn’t come easily and requires hours of preparation so that the final product/moment is as special as it was intended to be. Within that, sometimes we are underestimated and/or unappreciated because our hard work isn’t explicitly shown to the public.

Risk taking: How do you think about risk? What role has taking risks played in your life/career?

What’s that saying? Without risk there’s no reward? My creative professional life is full of risk and yet, funnily enough at my core, I’d say I’m a risk averse person; I thrive with structure, consistency, reliability, and planning. But this industry is anything but predictable. You have to constantly show up for yourself and other people’s projects without knowing how they may be received. You must show up to an audition without knowing if your talents will be hired that day. But if you never show up to take the risk, then you’ll never grow from the experience. Not every job in the industry is going to be meant for me, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t put myself out there to try and see if an opportunity “fits.”  One could also argue that we are risking our careers every day just by continuing to dance. Injury is a very real possibility, and our body is our job, our livelihood. It takes immense dedication to cross training, active recovery, and sometimes plain rest to preserve our physical abilities while we risk it all on a daily basis. Over time, taking risks has become a habit and it feels silly not to put myself out there now in dance and in life.

Other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?

Other than making the decision to pursue my dance career, I decided that I would remain open to where my strengths carried me. I am a great communicator, connector of people, and public speaker; I’m organized, thoughtful, and perceptive. I love working in teams and contributing to bigger visions. All these traits have allowed me to discover my love of assisting and I’m now an assistant to multiple choreographers for choreography, music videos, and tours. I work in production as a production assistant on sets and every spring, I direct competition weekends for Epic Dance Competition. I even have my 200-hour and sculpt certifications in yoga. The decision to be open to leaning into my strengths has granted me more financial freedom, joy, and purpose. I really credit my mentors for opening my eyes to these other areas of the industry because they saw me being successful in ways that I couldn’t see for myself yet and steered me in the right direction.

What is the most important factor behind your success/the success of your brand?

I believe that my work ethic is the biggest factor behind my success. I pride myself on being professional, prepared, perceptive, detail oriented, lighthearted, and a good human. I lead with kindness and genuine care for the job that I’m setting out to do, and I think that shines through.

What are you most proud of?
I am incredibly proud of how I continue to put myself out there, even with rejections and set backs. I recognize that this industry is not for the faint of heart and I cherish my strong mind-body connection that allows me to regularly check in with myself to see if this career path still feels right to pursue.

What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?

I don’t know if I can pinpoint 1 decision as the most difficult, but I can say in general that it’s difficult for me to say no to opportunities when I’ve already committed myself to something else. I would love to be able to “do it all,” but it doesn’t work that way sometimes. I have to trust that opportunities will come back to me when it’s the right timing in the universe for me to experience it.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

Finding a work-life balance is one of the most difficult things for me, and it’s something that I actively have to work towards, even now.  Earlier in my career, it was really hard for me to say no to opportunities that arose even if I knew it would be hard for me to manage them with everything else I had in my schedule. Like I mentioned before, I champion my work ethic and take my projects seriously, which can sometimes lead me to sacrifice my own self-care, sleep, or social life. I recognize how important it is to have a balance because I always feel more grounded when I achieve it, showing up better for myself and others once I’ve given myself the rest or rejuvenation that I know I need. Whenever the balance falls out of place, I just remind myself that I need to take extra time the next week to recalibrate. There will always be busy/overwhelming seasons, and I’ve definitely gotten better over the years at knowing what I need to do to feel connected, present, and grounded through those times.

Do you have a favorite quote or affirmation? What does it mean to you/ what do you like about it?

“Be completely committed, yet unattached” – Liana Blackburn

Liana is one of my mentors in dance and in life and she put together an intensive that I attended in 2019 where we spent 5 days deep-diving into our intentions behind our movement. We received affirmations each day, and one of them was this quote about being committed yet unattached. It has stuck with me and honestly changed my perspective on all aspects of my life. We were experimenting with committing to choices within choreographic phrases and within our improv that week. It was a beautiful practice, and now serves as a reminder, of being intentional, dedicated, and confident without attaching yourself or your emotions to an outcome, story, or opportunity. Put your whole soul into something just for the sake of being present and passionate about what you’re doing, and if it doesn’t work out how you wanted it to, then you’re able to manage your expectations, emotions, and response around the outcome. I also love that it’s a reminder that it’s okay if you fail – if you’re unattached from the outcome, then all that matters is the effort you put in at the start.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?

Point blank – I wanted to be happy. I wanted and still want to spend my days doing something I love. My head and my heart battled when making the decision to pursue dance professionally because a 9-5 life path was all I’d known. My dad and older sister are doctors and my mom was a lawyer and owned a business for 15 years; my examples within my immediate family were linear life/career paths, A + B = C. And yet, my gut and my heart told me I needed to explore the alternatives, the unknown. I am grateful that both my head and my heart are strong contributors to my life because I feel in tune with what my true/deepest desires are.

What do you want your legacy to be? What do you want people to remember about you?

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”- Maya Angelou. I firmly believe that my purpose in this life is to be of service. I want to inspire and help others in any way that I can, whether that’s through my career/art form of dance or simply by being a listener, supporter, collaborator, or friendly face in someone’s life. I operate from my heart space and genuinely want people to feel seen when I cross their paths. Of course, I’d love for my hard work and reliability to be part of my legacy as well, but I don’t view that as being as important as my potential to make an impact on someone’s heart.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Whenever someone comes to visit, I ALWAYS plan activities around where we’re going to eat 🙂 Needless to say, I love food. Some of my favorite places are: Gracias Madre, Sweet Butter Kitchen, Guisados, the Kogi Truck, Eataly, Casa Bianca Pizza Pie, El Cocinero Restaurant, and Bavel. I’d definitely take my bestie on a hike to show off views of the city, and go for a sunset happy hour at a rooftop bar like Mama Shelter, Perch, or even Elephante by the beach. I love seeing the Griffith Observatory at night, so that would have to be an activity as well. Being born and raised in LA, I love highlighting the moments throughout the city that really feel unique and magical to us…the food, the views of mountains and ocean, sprawling city lights, and iconic landmarks.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate this to my parents. Without their love and support, I truly wouldn’t be where I am now. They didn’t question my decision for one second when I told them I wanted to veer off the beaten path to pursue a creative career. I am forever grateful for their belief in me even when I have a hard time believing in myself.

Instagram: @laurenjgerard – https://www.instagram.com/laurenjgerard/

Primary headshot – Lindsay Rosenberg Photography, Photo 1 (University of Virginia) – Matt Riley, Photo 7 (Karol G & Nicki Minaj “Tusa”) – Youtube, and Photo 8 (in studio workshop at Steps N Motion) – Billow Media House.