“Don’t compare yourself to other people’s successes or journeys. Comparison can be a tool, but it can also really throw you off of a healthy track forward. All of us compare ourselves to other people we see, but what I am learning is that everyone’s path in this business—path to Broadway, Rockettes, record deals, TV—is so different. You have to be confident, creative, and focus on what makes you happy. I know that’s so cliche and cheesy but it’s so true. The comparison game can just eat you alive.
My path of how I got here is different—I didn’t go to school for musical theatre. I grew up dancing and playing music. After my brother and I cut off our record deal, he moved to Nashville to pursue more music opportunities, and I went to school for nursing. I was teaching dance at that time and still playing music here and there, but that lack of training and performing really ate at my soul and that's when I knew this was my path—I had to be performing. Music or dance, I had to do it. That's when I discovered musical theatre, the combination of the two things I loved the most. I moved to New York City 3 months later and haven't looked back since. That realization of how much I loved performing and working in the arts is what keeps my head above water when this industry is so brutally hard and full of rejection—it’s the fire under my seat. If all I did was compare my journey to the people who have studied musical theatre their entire lives, I don't think I'd have the confidence to audition and book work. I love my story and the story of the girl standing next to me in the audition room. Everyone’s story is different, and it's what makes our performances all unique.”