Episode Transcript
Samantha: Hello everybody. Happy Monday morning. Hopefully you all had a wonderful weekend. We're so happy to have you today on our Monday morning coffee talk podcast slash live stream! We have the wonderful Krista Treu Derrington with us. Welcome Krista. So how are you doing this morning?
Krista: Yeah. Fantastic doing good. Just about as any other day.
Samantha: Yeah, it's nice. It's sunny here in Utah, so the weather should be good. I guess we're not having the heat wave that we were having last week anymore, but still still nice and warm. It's not 50 degrees anymore, which is quite a nice change of pace.
So for those of you that are tuning in, please do remember that the chat is open for you. If you have any questions as we go through today. But a little bit about Krista, she is a ballroom dancing professional - mainly smooth, if I remember correctly -- but you teach everything, and you've danced everything. She is a dancing mom. She is a -- and I'm going to mess this up, I know -- SeneGence distributor and, if you couldn't tell by her t-shirt, she was a cast member for strictly ballroom, the musical.
So we're going to talk about growing up in ballroom dance and deciding to turn professional and teach and compete. And then we'll dive into some more of the makeup and the "Strictly Ballroom" stuff.
So, tell me a little bit about kind of growing up in ballroom dance. I know you're from a big ballroom dancing family. Was it something that you guys did as kids or was it something that you all kind of found in college.
How did you get started in Dance?
Krista: It is my mother's fault. We'll blame it on her. She was a ballroom dancer at BYU. She actually didn't go to BYU for ballroom. She went to BYU for ballet and had a scholarship for ballet, and then discovered ballroom because she would pass classes that had guys, and she'd be like, wait a second. I want to do the dancing classes with the guys. I don't want to be in an all girl class anymore. So she made the switch.
Then when I was in -- I believe third or fourth grade -- she started an elementary ballroom program at Northridge Elementary. It is still there and she's still teaching and she still is in charge of the Alpine School District ballroom program, which is massive now. So that's how I started. That's how all of my siblings started. And then all four of us ended up feeding into the BYU youth program, and then we all ended up going to be on BYU on scholarship. Well, mine was, it was a general dance scholarship. There's were ballroom scholarships and we all danced all the way through backup tour and a tour team, and we all went on tours. Our family's a little crazy for sure,
Samantha: But it's nice that you have this kind of unifying skillset and hobby and outreach thing that you do altogether. I feel like it could either be really good and give you this family pride or it could be really infuriating and cause issues between siblings on, like, who.
Krista: I think when we're younger it created a little bit of rivalry. Not too bad, but a little bit, because at one point our ages crossed over and like for example, me, so I'm the oldest of the four of us. And then Kyle comes next, and then Kayci, and then Carli. I think there was a year where there was three of us in the same age category, and so we all ended up competing against each other.
Samantha: Wow.
Krista: And then obviously when you move into the amateur level, that's college age. And so we all ended up competing with each other at some point during our elementary to college age. And we got better about it the older we got. So, when we were younger, it was, it was definitely a thing.
Samantha: Yeah. I can imagine too, being the oldest of that group, feeling like if I'm up against my younger siblings, I need to beat them. Otherwise I'm going to hear about it for like the next month or so.
Krista: Yeah. What's really cool is that we all definitely have our own personalities when it comes to dance and yeah, I think I was a little bit more laid back then, and I probably shouldn't say names cause they would probably get really mad at me if they saw this. And then they were like, why did you say that about me?
Samantha: Right.
Krista: Out of the four of us, I was like, middle ground. I was competitive deep down, but I also wouldn't hold a grudge against them if they beat me or, or vice versa. I don't know if that makes any sense, but there's definitely one of them out of the group of four that was. It is pretty dang competitive.
Samantha: A little intense.
Krista: Not going to say the name, not going to say it.
Samantha: Fair enough. So post BYU, did you go straight into teaching or did you explore other career paths before finally settling on ballroom dance?
When did you start teaching Dance?
Krista: Well, what's really interesting is -- and I'll throw this in there because I think it helped me figure out what I wanted to do besides ballroom dancing. I also grew up as a ballet jazz modern dancer and participated in as much as I could on the side of my ballroom dancing when I was younger. I was a studio dancer, meaning that I did the jazz, the ballet, hiphop thing, and then I also did ballroom and at one point it just, it became too much. And my mom's like, okay, you got to choose one or the other. You know, financially. All hobbies are expensive. I don't want to say specifically, cause if I were to compare it to golfing or anything else, it's about the same, you know?
But my mom was like, you gotta choose one or the other. And so I chose to continue my private lessons and dance on a competitive ballroom team when I got to high school. I still participated in my high school dance company, like all of high school, and then when I got to BYU, I decided to be a dance education major and graduated in dance education. And at BYU, the dance education program is modern. Is modern dance based. So I was still required to take all the ballet classes, all the modern dance classes, like I was a dance major at BYU. And so I didn't just do ballroom growing up. I just liked all of it.
Anyway, so I'm finally getting to your original question. When I graduated from BYU, I decided that I wanted to try getting a master's degree in modern dance. I did succeed. I shouldn't say try. I decided to go for a master's degree in modern dance.
I went to the University of Utah here in salt Lake city. That was a fantastic experience. It really immersed me in that side of the world, and about halfway through my first year of my grad work, I was like, Oh my gosh, I'm really missing ballroom dance. So that's when I went professional.
Samantha: Okay.
Krista: And I asked a really good friend, who was on the ballroom company with me. I was like, Hey, nudge nudge, would you like to start competing in the professional world with me? And he was like, yeah, I think that'd be great. That was my first partner. His name was Nathan Cashion, who was my first professional dance partner, and I did that all while doing grad work.
It was crazy, but I figured it out. Like I would be in school during the weeks and then I would kind of disappear on the weekend and go compete with him and then come right back and keep doing school, et cetera, et cetera. So that's, that is how I got into the professional ranks because I was missing it terribly while I was working on my modern dance masters degree.
Samantha: Gotcha. I could not even imagine trying to really go for a professional career competition-wise in ballroom dance while also studying for a master's degree. All props to you. You have much better time management skills than I do.
Krista: I don't know if that's completely true, but I definitely have that personality where if I decide I want something I go all in. I'm not a half-and-half. I mean, I shouldn't say that's completely true. I've done a couple of things in my life that I've kind of have been in half been half out, but when it comes to dance, I feel like it's like I've got to be all in or all out. I can't be halvsies, you know?
Samantha: Okay. I definitely hear you there. So you've been teaching for..?
Krista: Oh, yes. I'm really grateful and thankful I had an opportunity to start teaching while at BYU. There's the social dance program at BYU, like besides there, ballroom teams and classes. They have a whole social dance program and they have a lot of the tour team members who are on the top, top company.
They will teach some of those beginner level classes. So that's really where my teaching ballroom started was, um, in the college atmosphere, and I did that for I think, three or four years. And then it just, it continued from there. I think I started really teaching privates for the first time when I had finally graduated from college and started teaching. That's about when I started adding on privates, mostly because back kind of back in my day, you weren't allowed to teach privates until you were professional.
Samantha: Same here.
Krista: That's not the case nowadays, so you see a lot of college students who are teaching privates. You don't have to get into that specific, but yeah.
Samantha: Yeah.
Krista: That's kind of where my teaching really began was at BYU in the social dance program.
Samantha: Yeah. I think on the topic of amateurs teaching and not going pro, that could be a whole hour episode all on itself. That's,
Krista: We can talk about that another day.
Samantha: Yeah. That's another episode with a big disclaimer that that's just our candid opinions on, uh, how that whole system works. So you grew up in Utah, started dancing in Utah, taught in Utah, and then five years ago you moved to Kansas.
Krista: Yes. Well now it's almost going to be six years because we moved. So we lived in Kansas for five years and we just moved back to Utah in July. Well, my husband kind of popped back here in June cause he had to get started on his job. And then I kind of like followed. Um, so we'll be celebrating a year of living here Mmm. In a couple of months. So it, and it feels really weird.
It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but it has that. So, yeah. A little over six years ago.
Samantha: And was it Kansas? Was the initial move for your husband's work or were you hired on to a studio there?
Krista: No, it was, it was for his job. And I'll never forget when people were like, wait a second, you want to go to Kansas? Do you know anything about the dance scene? And I was like, no. But I was like, it's okay, I'll figure it out when I get there. So, which I did. It was a fantastic experience. I miss. Dearly miss all my students. Um, I actually, before this whole coronavirus thing hit, I was still going back once a month to teach.
Samantha: Wow.
Krista: Which was so wonderful. It was great.
Samantha: Yeah. Same situation. We both grew up on the East coast and my husband was offered a job out in salt Lake city and folks were like, you're moving to Utah. Yeah,
Krista: Yeah.
Samantha: Yeah, that's, that's where the job is. That's what we're going to go. And I hear it's a dance Mecca, so either I'll be really, really lucky and be okay or I'll be in a whole lot of trouble, but so far it's worked out, which has been kind of nice. Um, but yeah, that, I feel like that first six months in a new city, especially as a dance instructor, it can be a little bit, um. Overwhelming and scary and unsure, especially if you're used to teaching independently. Um, here in Utah, we don't, I mean, we now have a franchise studio, but we haven't in the last five or six years at least had franchise studios.
I'm assuming when you were teaching here, you were teaching, uh, independently.
Krista: Yes. Teaching independently, teaching, um, classes at different studios. Um, I also, while I was in grad school, I got roped in and it actually, I make that sound like a bad thing. It was a fantastic thing. Um, too. Being in charge of the of the ballroom club at the university of Utah. I was like their director. I did all of their choreography at one point, like right before I graduated. I had built the program up to like 75 students, something like that.
Samantha: That's amazing.
Krista: Yeah, so leaving, leaving like leaving all of that behind was definitely really, really hard. Like going to Kansas. But the other thing too. Is my son, my oldest. I have two, two little boys. My oldest, who's behind this wall right here. Um, he was just barely seven or eight months old when we were moving to Kansas. And so when, and I was also still writing my thesis for my grad work. And so when we got to Kansas, I literally was like, I'm not even going to worry about trying to find a place to teach at until he was a little bit older and I was still writing my thesis. And so I was like, I can't even think about trying to get involved into a dance scene untill those two big things were complete. So I definitely had a good, probably six months of downtime where I wasn't really teaching. I wasn't really dancing myself.
Getting a Master's Degree in dance
Krista: I mean, I would dance in my living room, but I was so focused on being a new mom and writing my thesis. So. Um, that was really good to have that break. And then I remember, I remember right. Uh, let's see. I probably don't even have to get into this story, but I'll just tell it really quick.
Samantha: Go for it.
Krista: I had like two days and I was about to fly out. This was in December of 2014. Um, I was like, Oh my gosh. Okay. So I'm about to fly out on a couple of days to go defend my thesis. Cause I was able to defer my thesis a whole semester, uh, because I had had a baby my last semester of school, which is also crazy. I would never recommend it, but it happened. So, I called a couple of studios like a couple of days before I flew out to defend my thesis and I was like, Hey, so moved here. I'm defending my thesis, but when I come back into town, I'd like to come and check out your studio. So as soon as I defended my thesis, I flew home and two days later I was already in studios looking at potential job opportunities and all of that.
So like, I definitely make a move. As soon as I'm done with one thing, I'm like, okay, onto the next thing. So. That's when I, I finally started teaching when, when Kal turned one years old in Kansas.
Being a mother while being a dance teacher
Samantha: Yeah. Oh, wow. So I feel like that transitions really well to, the other thing that I really wanted to get into before we got into the strictly and, and, SeneGence, is being a mom in the dance industry. So I feel like I've had two very different experiences. Um, kind of with just general perceptions about being a woman instructor or women professional, whether it's in ballroom or ballet or modern, it doesn't really matter. It's kind of just the general dance. I've heard from a lot of folks that like, Oh, you're going to decide to have kids and then you won't teach anymore.
And you want to like work as hard as you possibly can and then wait as long as possible to have kids. Because once you have kids, you're pretty much done. And then I've heard the other camp and that's been my personal experience with it. All of the women in my life that have had children, which is no, you take six months off to let your body recover and then you're back at it.
And it's actually a great opportunity to be in the dance industry and have kids because you can set your own hours and you can work and teach classes when your spouse is at, uh, you know. Is home so you don't have to deal with a babysitter. And like there's a, there's a certain amount of flexibility that this industry lends that not all industries lend.
So I wanted to get kind of your opinion having two kids and still being part of part of this dance community.
Krista: Yes. I'm excited to talk about this topic because you said it right. Well, there's one side that. You know, they're, they're all about, there's no way. There's no way. And then the other side where it's like, totally, you can make it work. I feel like the stigma is still there. Um, it has slowly. Even in the last 10 years of what I have seen has slowly started to disappear. And it's only because you see those top professionals. And, and I'm speaking strictly about ballroom right now in the industry who have actually done it. And then it kind of sets the path and helps other professionals and other people just in general see it and go. Oh, okay. So they can, they can still make it work.
My personality ever since I was really young and my mom always, always tells me this, she's like, you just have always had that go to can personality. Like nothing's going to stop you. Mmm. Which, which is true. But I've also had some really amazing dance coaches who have really set the stage for me personally and for many others.
I'll just give you like a little example, because this this example, I love giving to people because it makes them go, you know, and obviously. We have to have help, but I feel like that's the case. And any sort of industry or any sort of job, right. Any working mother, Mmm. They're going to have, they're going to have to get help, whether it's from their spouse or, or it's, they have a babysitter or they have a nanny or whatever. So here's my one example, cause I didn't ever experience it to this extreme, but. I definitely was like, wow, that's, that is amazing. So one of my dance professional dance coaches, her name is Marzena, um, and I always slaughter her last name. It's like Sochacki or something. People know who they are.
It's Marzena and Slawek. And they live in San Diego. You've probably heard of them, right?
Samantha: I actually got coaching with a Slawek earlier this year, so yes.
Krista: Yeah. Phenomenal. Teachers know their craft. They were the five time us and world Smooth champions in a row and she had two kids. Uh, not two while doing that, she had one child before they really got into smooth, and I hope I'm saying this all correctly, and then she had a baby like right in the middle of those five years, or it was towards the end of the five years. And she was definitely somebody who did not really take like a massive break.
Like I definitely took at least a six month break for both of my children. Um, but like, she competed until she was, you know, 20 something weeks pregnant and then took a break. Had the baby, and then like three months later was back on the floor competing, which I applaud, like,
Samantha: Oh, definitely.
Krista: Amazing for her. And so this is the, this is the most amazing part of the story. So her, her mother would travel with them to competitions and watch the children at the competitions. Um. You know, as they would go on the floor and compete. Well, Marzena also being like a supermom would nurse her children, how they were. At least she would try at least until they were one. So the day that she told me the, if I. If I put my mind to it and if I really want it, that you can have it. And she told me this story about, you know, she's like, I was four months postpartum and I would, um, in between rounds, go up and nurse the baby and then come right back down and compete. I don't know if you've heard that story before.
Samantha: I haven't. I have not. That's amazing. That's incredible.
Krista: I just, I love that story. I never got to that point because I, like I said, I did take a little bit of a longer break, Mmm. With my kids and I actually never, I haven't gone back to competing professionally after my second child. My life kind of went down a little bit different path, but I did compete in between both of them. And yes, I had the help that I, that I needed, um, to be able to do it. And I just, I compare our profession like any other profession, it's, it's still going to be more difficult because our, our body is our, is our tool. Right? It's, and so, yeah, you've got to be careful. You've gotta be in good shape. You've got to make sure you're taking care of yourself to be able to do it.
And still, while having children, it is difficult, but it's very doable. Yeah, I'm sorry. I kind of like went all over the place with that question.
Samantha: That's awesome. I think that having those touchstones of someone that I know in my life and this is how they did it and they were successful doing it is so important. I think that having conversations with other women in the industry has really, at least for me personally, given me a more well-rounded idea of what it's possible to do, whether it's if you want a family, these are, these are how you can be successful in it. Or if you don't want a family, this is how you can branch off and potentially, you know, build your brand and build your business.
And these are the networking opportunities that we need to really make the extra step in the industry to make a connection in order to be successful. So I think, I think women helping women and telling those stories about like, this is. This is the story that I heard that got me to the point where I was comfortable with doing X, Y or Z is so important, so important.
Krista: Right? And I know I told a story about somebody else and I realized I should probably add a little story about myself because, um, I did experience, um, being pregnant and competing with students, um, with my second child. Mmm. And see, that's extremely doable. And. And I wasn't nervous about what people would think of me. I was like, you know what? I'd rather be a force for good and show people that you can still work and you can still do these things even while pregnant, because that's also a stigma in the dance community, not just in the dance community in general is. This idea that, Oh, you're pregnant now, you can't dance anymore, or you can't work out, or you can't do this,
Samantha: Which is such a 1950s way of thinking of it. Like as soon as the bumps out, you need to be on bedrest at home with your feet up. It's like, no, that's not how life works.
Krista: I should add, there are some women who need that. Their bodies need that.
Samantha: Yep.
Krista: Totally cool. No judgment against that. And I just want to be clear about that because I don't judge women who choose to do that or their bodies. They just struggle really bad with the pregnancy, but what I do get upset about is when people, when people are like, all pregnant women should be like that.
Samantha: Yeah.
Krista: All pregnant women should not be allowed to do these things. And I'm like, well, okay, hold on, hold the phone. Number one, pregnancy barely even affected me. I'm really, really blessed and really lucky. I think I threw up one time with both boys. I did not really experience pregnancy the way that some other people do, so I'm extremely grateful for that. I can't discount that, but it drives me bonkers when people are like, Oh, wait a second, you're going to go compete 25 weeks pregnant. Like, what are you going to, what are people gonna think wrong of you? Like you're going to be dancing on the floor with another man. So, Pro-Am, I'm speaking about Pro-Am. I kind of jumped the gun a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I was competing with my students on this floor. The furthest I got was about 27 weeks, and I get really, really big.
And so that was one thing that did kind of hold me back from going beyond 27 weeks because sooner or later I was holding dance frame and my belly was touching me other person. So that's when I was like, okay, now I should probably stop. But, but I did the teach all the way up until about three weeks before I had my second child. Um, and I totally taught with the big pregnant belly and everything, and it didn't bug anybody. And it's just, it was so refreshing. And people would compliment me and they'd be like. I'm really impressed that you've been able to continue to teach and you know, sustain what you've been able to do. Yes. I had to pull back on my hours a little bit because yeah, when you start to get in those 30 weeks, you know your body's tired and stuff like that,
Samantha: But you're probably not pulling out the three inch heels to teach it at 27 weeks.
Krista: I wore flat shoes. Totally. 100% did it anyway. I, yeah, I felt like I had to bring that up too, just because that is also something that I hear, Oh, you're pregnant now I'm going to stop dancing. No, I'm not going to stop dancing because if you stop doing whatever activity you're, you have been doing and you just become dormant for nine months, how in the world are you going to get back into dancing afterwards? It's like impossible. Right? You hear about these women who, um, lift weights all the way through their pregnancy. Well, the only way they're able to do it is because they. Did it consistently. Right. And if, if I would have tried to lift 50 pounds, uh, towards the end of my pregnancy, there's no way I could've done it.
I probably would have injured myself because I didn't lift weights during my pregnancy. I danced, you know. Anyway. Okay. Sorry.
Samantha: No, I love it. I love it. And yeah, I feel like more doctors are coming out now. Obviously it's individual by individual, you know, everyone's health history and everyone's. The experience is different, but I feel like more and more doctors now are saying whatever physical activity you did prior, keep doing it because that's going to help you.
That's going to help a baby that's gonna help your recovery. That's gonna help everything. So. Obviously everybody's different, but I love the fact that, um, you're willing to share the fact that, yeah, you did it and you, you enjoyed it, and, uh, that it, it is doable. It is feasible for people to do that in the industry, which is great.
SeneGence
Samantha: Um, let's pivot just a little bit. So, SeneGence. When and how did that come into your life and then what is it for folks that aren't familiar with it?
Krista: Sure. So SeneGence is a, um, makeup skincare company, um, that, and it's, it is an MLM, so I'm just going to say it flat out. It's, it's it as an MLM where, you know, I am a distributor of the company and I have the choice to either buy the products at discount for myself, or I actually turn it into a business and I sell the makeup and the skincare, um, for, for a small profits that comes back to me. Um. I joined three years ago and I'm still doing it and I, I absolutely love it. Um, I feel like I'm still pretty full force. I never really stopped. I mean I had a period where I had to slow down a little bit, but I'm like, I'm so grateful I've had it during this whole coronavirus thing cause I've been able to still sell products and, um. I do think that's what's all behind me. This is, this is the office, my office, that I'm in,
Samantha: The wall of product,
Krista: The wall of product. I had a bunch of pictures like sitting up there, but my husband took them down and he had to like move this big chest of something, whatever behind me. Anyways, so I've been doing that and I got involved, um. Honestly, because of my dancing, I was like, I knew that they would tie in so perfectly. Um, number one, because I'm wearing a a lip sense color, and if anyone's heard of lip sense, that's what it is.
People don't realize that SeneGence is like the, the company that sells lip sense anyway, so lip sense for anyone that has no idea what it is, it doesn't come off. At all. That doesn't come off. And I remember, um, I was dancing one day and actually I was dancing in college and I heard about lip sense way back in college, but I didn't even give it the time of day. And I can't believe I, I can't believe I didn't give the time of day. And people would be like, you should wear this because then it won't actually come off onto your dance costumes and you know, then you're not going to have to like reapply your lipstick in between rounds and you can drink, you can drink water in between rounds and not have to like fidget with your lips.
Anyway, so I started getting involved with it those three years ago in the middle of dancing professionally, and I was like, I don't know why I waited. So, and their entire, their entire a makeup line is, it's budge proof. Uh, this is, this is waterproof. The makeup is a. What's the word? Now I'm losing it. It's not waterproof. Water resistant. And so then I was like, Ooh, maybe I should start trying like eye shadows for my dancing and, um, the foundation, I really want to test this out. I really want to see if the makeup really does what it says when I'm, you know, dancing rounds on the floor and coming off the floor. And it totally does. It does what it says. My makeup will stay for an entire concert and entire show and entire. Whatever. So really I ended up getting involved in, in SeneGence because of my dancing, because I was like so impressed with. The, the way that the makeup stayed on my face wouldn't move. I could still, like I said, drink water in between rounds and not have to fix my lip sense or my lips.
So anyway, that's how I got involved. And they, and they really coincide. They go together really nicely.
Samantha: Definitely.
I do not have any makeup skill at all. I was not a girly girl growing up, so I did not wear a lot of makeup. My mom never wore makeup. I don't even think she wore lipstick to our wedding, to be honest, so I didn't really have a good guidepost on like how to do makeup or how to wear it. My experience was always show makeup for ballet recitals or tap recitals. But the times that I've gone to competition and had my makeup done, almost everyone now is exclusively using lip sense for that very reason because they can put it on at 4:00 AM when they've got a hundred clients set up for the day and that, and your hair is not going to move or change. At all for, for the rest of the rest of the competition, and I think it's really cool that that's the case. And there's a gloss that you can put over so it doesn't feel like dried out or crackly or,
Krista: Right. So the, the gloss is what sets the color in place for the day, and you just kind of gloss throughout the day when you need to, um, or gloss right before you eat so that you don't lose any of the pigment. Because what it essentially is, is. Pigment that's floating in a bottle, um, in denatured alcohol. And as soon as you put the color on your lips that, that denatured alcohol, it's called cosmetic grade alcohol, basically floats away and leaves behind the pigment. So that's how the pigment adheres to your skin, and it's, it's not a bad thing at all. I mean, we have something called Oops Remover where you can take off the lip sense at the end of the day. Um, but anyway, yeah, you're right. I, I got involved. Because of that and anyone has ever tried to remove like traditional lipstick from a shirt or even a dance costume.
We all know how difficult that is. And getting lipstick like on a, you know, sometimes two thousand three thousand five thousand dollar costume. That's it's difficult to get it out. And it's also like, dang, I just got my $7 lipstick from Walmart on this really expensive costume.
Samantha: Yeah.
Krista: I can't believe I just did that.
Samantha: So, you give your partner or student a hug at the end of your round and suddenly your red bright red lipstick is on top of their white collar and they have to figure out how to get it off for the rest of the day. It's like, yeah. Yeah. You, you want to find ways that you can minimize that and spray tan, uh, transfer as much as possible.
Krista: Right. But, so I, I want to also just mention this last thing about SeneGence. Um, I guess another reason I got involved is because I wanted to see if I could have another form of income. Mmm. And I was like, I know I can easily share this magic amazing lipstick and other skincare and other. Products with my students.
Basically anyone that I would come in contact with the studio, I would always do something called wearing my stripes where I put some stripes. I don't have them on today. Actually, this one is old starting to fade and starting to come off. Um, and I'd wear those into the studio and that's how I would get get customers and people to buy for me, and it's been a fantastic extra little income on the side to have. And. Um, I definitely consider myself an entrepreneur, not just from the SeneGence side of things, but also from the dance side of things. And so I, I was not afraid to jump into something like this. Mmm. It's kind of funny. We've talked about the stigma of being pregnant and dancing, and then there's also the stigma of selling products for an MLM company, right? That's also a huge stigma.
Samantha: Just selling products.
Krista: Right. Everybody does this. Everybody does this. You know, you're walking around in the dance studio. Oh my gosh, I love your hair today. Oh my gosh. It smells so good. What kind of hairspray are using?
We all do it. We all share something we love with our friends and family, right? So I fell in love with a product that actually has a really good purpose. It's not just, Oh, it looks so pretty on your face. It serves an amazing purpose of. I'm teaching all day long. I don't have to touch it up in between students.
I can go all day long confidently knowing that my mouth isn't going to look funky at the end of the day of teaching, right. Or a dance competition, whatever. And so when MLMs get like a really bad rap, I'm like, I don't think you understand what it is. You know, I'm sharing, I'm sharing the love of a product that actually works. That is, that is a good product. It's not just me trying to get you to buy something that doesn't work or is, you know what I mean? And anyway, I'm probably getting a little off topic. I guess I wanted to share that because. Um, that is also a funny stigma that is still floating around, you know, and it's like, why is it such a bad thing?
I'm making extra money for my family and my husband very much appreciates it. He loves knowing that he can write off this, this office on our taxes. He loves knowing that he can write off my computer sitting over there.
Samantha: Well, and I think you made a really good point. None of us could have predicted that this would happen, but in a world where we legally are not allowed to go teach in a lot of cities and countries, we may be able to convince students that they want to take virtual lessons over zoom or Skype, but a lot are resistant. A lot are resistant to that, or you have to dramatically change your prices, um, in order to encourage students that they're still getting value for their money. It's great that you have this side hustle that you can still do from home, that you can still have that extra income and that you aren't going to be as stressed.
I'm sure you are still stressed, but, but as stressed about, you know, are you going to be able to cover bills at the end of the day? Um. I'm very lucky that my husband has been employed through this whole process. Um, and that I've been able to kind of branch out and do things like this podcast or the Twitch streams that I do during the week. I kind of wish now that I had, I had jumped into something where I could sell a product from home.
Krista: Yes, you are a hundred percent right. I jumped in not knowing what it could potentially do for me and my family. It has done. More and just like dance. Like I get to choose how many hours I teach and how much I really want to put into my dance business and I do consider my dancing a business because I am making money for my family. I am. W when I dance, and I know we haven't talked about this yet, but dancing for Hale Center Theater in Strictly Ballroom, I was being paid to do that. And um, I mean, that's a whole nother conversation with people don't think you can make money in the arts.
You can, you just, you have to be smart about it, right?
Samantha: Yeah. You have to know what you're getting into and you have to know at the end of the day, how many hours are you putting in versus what the paycheck is going to be. And does it make sense to do that? Yeah.
Krista: Right? And so to continue my, my kind of my thought I was having, um, I get to choose how much time I put into my SeneGence business and I have a lot of time into it during this coronavirus, um, situation because I'm not putting as much in my dance. And it's really nice to be able to kind of, Mmm. You know, and I don't feel like I was starting over in my SeneGence business, but because I hadn't put as much time into it leading up to that, I had to really wrap it back up. And it took me about a week to ramp it back up.
But that's okay because I've ramped it back up to the point where. I have made enough money and plus some extra money to pay for all of the groceries in the last two months, um, to pay for some extra little things. Like I decided I really need to go to Walmart and get like bubbles for the boys and maybe I should go ahead and invest in that little bike for my son because he has nothing else to do. So yes, it's been fabulous to have another business. And I, I don't, I personally don't call it like a side business or like a hobby. I call it a business. It is a business and I choose how much time and effort I want to put into it.
So yes, it's been, it's been so wonderful to have. So I'm so grateful for it, especially because I haven't been able to teach dance. And my husband's pay did get cut in half during this time, which has been difficult, but they're guaranteeing that it will go back up and about a couple of weeks, so we'll see what happens with that.
Samantha: Hopefully. Hopefully that is the case. Um, I know that Utah has now moved to the moderate phase as of last Friday for whatever that means, for however long that lasts. But hopefully that means that people's hours will start increasing and the, the, uh, financial wise people will start breathing out a little bit easier, but I'm sure it's going to take a while to, to kind of ease some of those stressors.
Strictly ballroom
Samantha: You did mention Strictly so, so let's go ahead. We've put it off long enough, so let's talk Strictly. If you were here for our little tester stream with Hannah Smith, we talked a little bit about the fact that Strictly Ballroom had its us premiere at the Hale Center. It's the musical based off of the movie, which is still one of my favorite ballroom-based movies of all time. Fun eighties pop songs; terrible wigs and costumes; questionable Australian accents.
What was your experience? What was the audition process like? And then, the training process leading up to premiere day.
Krista: Okay. So. Let's see. We, our family had just moved back to Utah when, um, when the, when the auditions were about to happen for Strictly Ballroom. And when you're, I guess, I don't want to make this sound like. Okay. I'm just going to say it. Just go for it sounds a little like, look at me. It's not meant to come off that way.
So when you're involved, when you're someone like me involved in a dance community where it's very tight knit and you kinda know everybody, um, you know, sometimes these type of opportunities come up and your approach, um, I was somebody that was approached about auditioning. Um, which I was very like, Oh my gosh, you think a 30 year old? Which, aye? 32. Yeah. I was like, you think a 32 year olds could pull off, you know, being a dancer in the show. And I have two child, like I was very, very. Honored, uh, that I would be approached, number one. Um, I wasn't approached and said, Hey, you're in the show. It was like, Hey, we really need, we really need someone like you to come audition for the show. Will you please come audition? And so I was very honored to be asked. To come audition. Um, and kind of little side story. The reason I got asked this too, I was working on a, another project I had choreographed, um, uh, dance thing for a film piece and one of the dancers in the film was the choreographer for Strictly Ballroom.
That's how I kind of got it told about this because I was driving her back to her car. Um, is Afton Afton Wilson. Afton DelGrosso Wilson, and that's when she told me, she was like, Krista, you really need to come audition. I'm the choreographer. It'd be so great. And I was like, okay. Uh, what's the audition? It was the first time in years I had auditioned for anything because being a professional ballroom dancer, like. I mean, okay. The last time I had auditioned for anything was auditioning for grad school, which was back in 2010 so that gives you a little perspective. So it was intimidating. I'm not afraid to admit it.
It was a little intimidated to walk into a room. No one really knew who I was because I, I hadn't been around for about five years. And so there were a lot of new faces and people that I didn't recognize from, from the dance community here, well, dance community here in Utah. And, um, and I did feel a little intimidated because I could sense, I was like, okay, she's 19.
I can just tell by the way she moves and she looks really young. Uh, I was like, I'm probably the oldest female dancer in this room. I probably am, which ended up to be true. I was the oldest female auditioner and I was also the oldest female dance, a ensemble cast member in the, in the show. So that was a little intimidating Being in rehearsals, it was, uh, it was an awesome kick in the pants. It was like, this feels like college again, cause we'd be in rehearsals from about. A six, six 30 or seven it depended on all our call time until um, 10 sometimes 11 o'clock at night. And so I'd go to, well, first off, I would teach from usually two until I'm about five or five 30 and then have to jump into my car and go straight to rehearsal.
I think my husband almost killed me over this particular show. I leave my house at like 1:30 in afternoon and wouldn't get home until midnight during the majority of the rehearsal process. Um, and we rehearsed for a good two and a half months, I want to say. And then the show began. That was a little bit easier because the show was double cast. Right. And so I was the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cast. And so my husband really liked that better because,
Samantha: You were at least home a couple nights a week.
Krista: Right? I was at least from a couple of nights a week, um, gave my body a little bit of a rest. I don't have a lot of singing experience, but apparently I sang well enough to be in the show. And so it also gave my voice a little bit of rest in between days. Mmm. Anyway, I don't know what else you want me to say about that, but that's kind of kind of the, the experience I had.
Samantha: No, that's great. And I think, um, you kind of hit on an interesting point in the beginning that, um. We were talking about, you know, how, how do you succeed in business being an artist? And I think a lot of it comes down to building out your, your social network to a point where when an opportunity becomes available. You at least know the person that maybe knows the person that knows the person that's in the room. Right? So you kind of get, you, you get people reaching out to you saying, Oh, did you know that this was an opportunity? Um. We'd really love to have you audition or try out or put in your resume or what have you.
Krista: When you get to that point in your career, you honestly feel like you've made it. That's how I feel. I understand that, you know, sometimes they just say, will you just come do this role or whatever? Um. But most of the time, if you're being invited to come to an audition, that's a really good sign. Right. Um, but yes, to go back and talk about the, the importance of building your social network, like putting in the hours of, okay.
Well, let's see. And in my case, in my specific case, uh, I was a very competitive. Ballroom dancer and in that world, the importance of getting up, getting titles so that you can actually have a career in teaching and in performing that, that is really important in the ballroom world in the theater world. It's more of like how, how much have you performed in your life? Um, you know, that kind of a thing. So that was definitely a different shift, but it was really nice to be trusted. With being in such a and important us premiere at the Hale Center theater in their largest, um, theater to be trusted with that.
Even though I had done zero theater, zero zero theater. But because I'd had enough a background in, uh, competing as a pro, I gained those titles. You know, there were, I'm just grateful that they trusted me enough to be like, okay, she hasn't done any theater. But she's at least done all of this other stuff in the ballroom world, let's, let's give her a go. You know? So that was humbling. It was exciting. It was like, Oh my gosh, thank you so much for the opportunity. Yeah. Talking about that.
Samantha: Hannah had a similar story in that, because of the nature of Strictly Ballroom. And because Afton and the director kind of wanted to really, I mean, you're in Utah, you're, you are in an area that has two universities that have ballroom dance. Because they wanted to really push the ballroom end of things. I think. For this specific cast. They were looking specifically for what is the top tier quality, ballroom, dancer quality that we can achieve, and then hopefully these people can also sing and act. And, but I think the dance was kind of the primary. We need to get quality dancers and the rest we can teach hopefully. Um, you want to find like that triple threat that can already, that can come in and already has all, all three. But I think because of the nature of this specific program, it was like we need to get the good ballroom dancers that are still in Utah.
Krista: Right. And they definitely needed that because. The show was put together in a very short period of time. And it's like, there are some amazing musical theater, uh, people who are thriple threats. They have the dance background, they have the singing, they have the acting. Their dance background may not be ballroom, but they can still dance. And it's like we have, we could easily teach our musical theater had people had a dance ballroom. But because they, I had a shorter amount of time to prepare the show. It's like, let's get the ballroom dancers in the show so that we can speed through the process a little bit quicker.
Which was smart. I think it was smart of them.
Samantha: Absolutely. I wanted to get your take on trying to dance ballroom for a theater in the round because I feel like that has its own, uh, challenges, shall we say.
Krista: Different experience. When I finally got a hang of it, I was like, this is cool. This is so cool to claim that I've danced in the round. For those who haven't thought about this. When you dance in a show, the majority of us dancers dance on a stage or presidium stage where you've got three walls, three closed off walls, and only one wall, which is the audience, right?
We all talk about where's front. Where's front? Where's the front? Um, well, in a, in a round round theater, there's, there's no front at every single direction you face is a front. And so I really applaud Afton DelGrosso Wilson. I always forgot to say her last, her official last name. Um, for being able to create choreography that could be seen from all four directions, uh, cause that, that's hard.
You have to make sure that the choreography is going to look good on all four directions and you're not going to accidentally. Uh, play to only one side, uh, of the, of the, around you say around the round with a round. Yeah, sorry. See, I'm still like learning this, this terminology kind of feel a little dorky that I don't know it all perfectly yet, and I wasn't, I was into like a really big musical. So I applaud her for it, but even like, as a dancer who's never experienced it, I really had to think and had to, Mmm. Put some effort into, okay, so if they can see me over here, like what are they seeing? You know, what are they seeing? Um, dancing in the round was not only a really cool new experience, but getting on and off the stage was really difficult for the first two weeks because you go backstage and, and I know not everyone has ever been backstage at, at Hale Center Theater, but, I'll just give you a little breakdown. The theater or the, this not the stage. The stage was a square stage, square, rectangular switch. Did you see, did you see the musical?
Samantha: I did. I was actually there for premiere night. I didn't get a chance to say hi cause I don't think we've ever been formally introduced, but I did see your hubby and Kal and the excitement on his face every time he caught sight of you was just absolutely adorable.
Krista: It was so magical. I was like, now this is why I still love to perform and have my child here, because he literally was popping up and down in his seat going, hi mom. Hi mom. I'd be like, Oh my gosh, if he keeps doing that, I'm going to forget my choreography. But, um. Anyway, back to the stage. And I'm really grateful that you got to see it. So you saw that there were what we call four different voms, places that we can come on and off the stage. And um, behind those voms is a big circle. And so. You can walk any direction to, get onto the stage. But if they had them labeled backstage, luckily vom one, two, three and four, but there was so many times I would come off the stage and be like, wait a second, do I run right or do I run, run left to go to get ready for the next scene? Because there was so many quick changes. I don't know if you remember that.
Samantha: There was a quick change on set, if I remember correctly, like the first, the first opening scene, you guys have to get into full standard attire
Krista: That did get changed.
Samantha: Okay. Okay.
Krista: It used to be the women that would change into a dress on stage, and then we were having so many issues and like, yep. We had so many issues that we changed it to the men putting on their standard coats, which made so much more sense. But yeah, we literally would run off the stage, get in our standard dress, and come right back in. And it was maybe a 30 second quick change. It was so fast, and we were putting the dress over the top of another dress, so it wasn't even getting out of a dress and putting on a new one. We didn't have time to do that. It was just put it over. That one, you're going to go off the stage in two seconds and take it off anyway. Um, but yeah, like I, uh, it took some time to get used to trying to figure out and memorize which direction do you run. Cause I had so many times where I've, I was partnered with Spencer Muir and he just really graduated from BYU, from UVU.
And I remember we both got off the stage and we would split and we'd be like, wait a second, I was supposed to go the other direction. And you can't just jump across and go the other direction because the vom itself, what could be seen by the audience. There was no curtains covering. Um, so if you ran off and ran the wrong direction, too bad, you had to keep running that direction.
Like you couldn't, you couldn't change it. And so we learned pretty quickly. The right and the wrong directions to run because if, if you made a mistake, you might be late getting on for your next scene. So that was it. Experience for sure.
Samantha: Yeah. And I think too, um, in the traditional theater setup where you have a stage, you've got the curtains, and then you've got, you know, stage left stage, right to come off.
I think it's a little bit easier to slow down the scene transitions because you, if, if you needed to give your cast a long the amount of time, you could pull the curtains and then open the curtains back up. Um, or you could play with set lighting or, or create, um, create some sort of distraction to cover up the fact that.
It's taking a little bit longer for someone to get changed, but with theater in the round, because your audience is looking down on the stage and there are no curtains, I think the cast is just constantly having to move and run and go. Those timings have to be so perfect and so seamless so that you don't have any lag time where the audience is waiting for the next thing to happen. So I can only imagine the chaos that's going on behind every single time.
Krista: So much chaos going on backstage, but that was almost my favorite part of being in the show, like seeing, seeing, uh, the major chaos for the first two weeks, and then it finally settling. It was just like, wow, that's, that's cool.
I love, I love paying attention to the process. Mmm. Things, you know, uh, the process of the audition, the process of creating something. What, what is the process like when you're in the middle of the show? Because there's a process going on, right? Um. Yeah. It was chaos backstage for a couple of weeks until we all kind of settled into figuring it out. And you're still right. You said something that like people don't always realize when you're in the round with with zero Mmm curtains and no way to like. Save yourself. You are. The whole show is being run based off of the main characters. So you know, you're just waiting to hear their line and then that's your cue to go.
So the entire show was run off of the characters and the cast members. There was no specific lighting cues. There was no specific, uh, well, actually I shouldn't say no. There was, there were some. But I mean like the, the vibe of how to run the show was based on us. It was completely a hundred percent based on us, which it's different, but it was really thrilling and exciting and like, okay, she said, what word did she say the word yet?
Did we go, do we go, okay, we go now. Yeah.
Samantha: And I think too, um, so, so I went and saw the, uh, I guess last dress rehearsal before it officially opened. So I set the Tuesday night before the Wednesday open, um, or maybe a Thursday night before the Friday open, whichever, whichever the last dress rehearsal of the Tuesday, Thursday cast was, um.
So two things. The first was, it took me until the second act to find Hannah because I thought she was one of your sisters.
Krista: Oh, really?
Samantha: It was killing me because she was the entire reason why I was there. She had given me tickets for my husband and I had to come see it, and the entire time I was like, okay, I see Krista. But I can't find Hannah. I was like, so whatever was going on with the wigs on that cast made the two of you. Look, identical
Krista: So many people told us that, so he'll like, where you over there? And I'd be like, no, that's Hannah. Wait, wait, you were over here?
Yes. That was me. Yeah, we got that. And like Hannah would come into the dressing room and be like. Do you know how many people think that I'm you and you're me, or whatever. They keep confusing us. And I'm like, that's so funny. So
Samantha: Something about both of you being in dark, brunette wigs and the way that you were guys were doing your makeup made you look identical and you don't in real life.
Krista: Yeah. We kind of did compare ourselves. We're like, okay, let's put ourselves, we put our hair in a ponytail one night after, after the show as to next to each other. And we're like, okay, we have like the same looking neck and we have a very similar jawline, like feature-wise. Um. So that, and even our, even some of our structure of our body is got some similarities, so I can totally see how people were confusing us, which I totally took as a compliment because I was like, Ooh, Hannah hasn't had children and she is like this fit queen over there. I'm like, you can think of Hannah all day long. I'm okay with that.
Samantha: I'll take the comparison.
Krista: I will take it. I gladly took it. So what I did before people came and saw the show, I would send them pictures of me and my wigs so they could find me, because I just, I discovered. Uh, before the show was even put in front of an audience, I was like, people are not going to know where I am unless I tell them what wig I'm wearing. And I really grateful and glad that the theater put us all in very different wigs. So nobody was in the same wig. I mean, yes, I was in the same wig as my double. Mmm. So we matched in that sense, but I never had a similar way compared to anybody else in the whole cast. And it was, it was nice. I really, I really think that's smart, that health center theater does that.
Samantha: Yeah. Yeah. The wigs, the wigs were definitely, um, memorable, shall we say? Um, Oh,
Krista: I'm sorry.
Samantha: You're fine. You're fine. The other thing that I was going to say, um, I think going back to the idea that the show was really run by the cast. Or at least it was timed and paced by the cast. Um, the night that I went there was. Again, it was, it was the last dress rehearsal before it went premiere. So there were a couple of mishaps
Krista: You saw like the worst run of the whole show is that I'm like, so sad you did.
Samantha: If that was the worst, if that was the worst one, you guys killed it because? Because I still enjoyed it. Like I could tell that there were a couple of things that that went incorrectly. There was a lift that I was very nervous about, but what I was going to say is, I feel like. You guys had to learn improv in addition to acting and singing and dancing, because the night that I went, the a banner dropped and hit the stage, which obviously it was not supposed to do. Um,
Krista: It wasn't supposed to fall,
Samantha: But whoever the actor of the lead's father, I'm forgetting the character...
Krista: Scott's father.
Samantha: He acted so quickly and was like, uh, ha, I'm going to react to this. I'm going to react in character, and I'm just going to pull it off stage. And he got an applause and a laugh and it was fantastic. So did you ever find yourself, um, needing to make those improv judgments because either someone was in the wrong space or the music was off or the timing was off?
Krista: Yeah. I can't think of like one particular moment. I feel like everyone was so professional, and that was probably one of maybe two, maybe three moments like that that happened the entire run. And so. My, my run, uh, as being an ensemble member and being just a support to the, to the main cast or, uh, the lead roles. Really nothing drastic for me, really ever happened. Um, so no, I can't, I can't think of anything. I did add to my character a little bit as time went on. Um. Like, I did not do this, uh, in the show that you saw because it took me some time to discover like what I wanted to do. So I was one of the audition, these who danced with Scott, and I was the first person that came out.
And for anyone who has seen that, who went to strictly ballroom at Hale Center Theater and saw it. I came storming out with like awful dance technique and uh, I was dancing to that. I'm so excited, uh, just like, and so I was doing some ridiculous dance moves and I was supposed to be this really excited dancer to audition with Scott and basically make a fool of myself. That's what, you know, was my part. And so. That slow, that part slowly changed a little bit, um, all the way through until the last run. Like towards the end, I would always add this like little head bird moment because I discovered it got this like major laugh. Um, and I, and I learned I shouldn't add something for the sake of laughing, but I was like, Hey, it keeps working, so I'll just keep adding it into the show.
So. To answer your actual question, the answer answer's no,
Samantha: I would say what you just said would actually be a yes, that they, you were reacting, you had your character outline, you knew what beats you were supposed to hit, but depending on the crowd reaction and depending on kind of your mood that day, you would tweak it just a little bit here and there. To make it a unique experience every single time. I feel like that's the definition of improv is like making it up as you go along. Um, so, so yeah, creating those little character quirks, um, for different shows. I think 100% would be the case there. Yeah.
Krista: Cool.
Departing thoughts on sticking with things
Samantha: So anything else that you want to talk about, plug chat about before we wrap things up for the day?
Krista: Oh, goodness.
I guess since I kind of got a little bit on the "if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want," train. I think you'd like to finish with that. Kind of that thought. So often hear people say they can't do something. So, so this little bit of advice I want to leave with everybody is not necessarily dance advice. It's not, you know, business. Businessy in particular to SeneGence. It's just a life, a life tip. I feel like, um, because I do feel like in my life, I've had to battle quite a bit to really get to where I've wanted to be. Um, you know, my husband has multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed on our one year anniversary. There was. A lot of questioning of how am I going to ever get to really be passionate about what I love, because maybe I'm going to have to take care of him, uh, or I'm going to have to really find a job, um, right now, right this second that we'll make sure that provides for our family life. I feel like I've had a lot of little things like that to battle, you know?
And I wouldn't say having children is a battle, but it is definitely difficult, um, to balance finding, finding ways to still do the thing that you love, to turn it into a business, you know? Okay. So I hope hopefully you catch my drift of where I'm going with this. All of this leads me to say that. If you really want something in life, go for it. Ask for help. Mmm. Don't be afraid of the bumps that are going to come along in the road because those only make you stronger. Um, put on your blinders and don't let people sway you one way or one way or the other. Um, cause that's also a really big factor that we never talked about, you know, judgment of others. You start to question yourself and go, wait a second. They made a really good point. You know, like, I'll never, I'm not going to say who, but I have had people that are like, you really think you're going to be wait, you were in grad school and you're dancing. Perfect. Wait, wait a second. You're in grad school and you got pregnant. You're gonna have a baby. Maybe you shouldn't finish. Like those voices, whether they're a real voice or a voice that you make up in your head, you have to learn how to adjust. Keep going forward. Um, cause I still get those voices. You know, when people, when people come in and they're like, how do you do it all, Krista? Or I can't believe you're doing that. Like good for you. Well, here's the thing. They might've never said that after the fact. They probably were the people that were judging and being like, I can't calculate if she's doing that. Like she's got children at home. Well. Know, I have done everything I possibly could to make sure that my children are, are cared for.
They are, you know, I have an amazing husband who supports me and is willing to let me run with it. Not just because it's, it's a passion, but because I can support our family and the business aspects. And so anyway, overall, I just say. You, you have to put your blinders on and you have to go for it and you, you have to be willing to ask for help sometimes, and you also have to be willing to be like, I don't care what you're thinking right now because I have this end goal and I'm going to get there. So that is how I want it to. And. That's not how I want to end this conversation. I just wanted to put that out into the space. Yeah.
Samantha: I love that. There will always be naysayers, there will always be doubters, but if you in your core are passionate about something. If you know, if you know that you want to pursue something, if you are set on your path, listen for the supportive voices in your life and cling to those and make sure that you are surrounding yourself with people that will call you. If you're doing something stupid like they're, they, they will give you constructive feedback, but that are going to help you along your path, not put hurdles up for you. And especially if you are in the arts industry or if you have someone in your family that's in the arts industry, it is a business. It is a career choice. It is a real job. Um, and you need to support them. Like it's a real job because it is, um, if that means. Following them on Instagram or making sure that you like every post that they put out or tuning into their silly, you know, podcast stream once a week.
Krista: You have to take that out of your vocabulary right now. It is not silly, but it's fantastic. I love that you're doing it. It's, it's great. And, and sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but, but what you just said about like following them on Facebook or following on Instagram or liking this and liking that.
Yeah. For example, my husband is not on Facebook. He's not on Instagram. Would I enjoy, if you liked my stuff, probably, but what I really appreciate more is that he's like, sure, I need to watch the children tonight so you can jump on and do a makeup tutorial for people, because when they see you do it, they typically buy from you.
Like, yes. How do you think that can be supportive in any way possible?
Samantha: Yeah, absolutely. The, the biggest thing that I am grateful for and that I'm thankful for, and I think he's actually watching right now, so sorry, um, is, is the fact that my husband, who is not a dancer, who is not an artsy person who thinks a lot of it is just like hippy Wu nonsense, shows up to every competition that I asked him to. If I need him to drive me somewhere because I've got 50 million things in my head, and the idea of driving somewhere is just not going to happen. Whether it's a competition or a show, he hops in the car and just comes with me. Uh, he helps me do my tech setup because I'm not a tech person and he, he is 100% game with.
The fact that this is something that I'm driven to do and this is something that I'm passionate about. He doesn't get it always, but he's there. Um, and that, yeah, absolutely. That, that is important. Yes. Yeah. I think, I think I'll keep him for a little while longer. Yeah.
Krista: Yeah. Well, we could be like besties cause we both have like a similar setup. My husband's the same way and I'm so utterly grateful for it. So he's amazing. Yes. Anyway,
Samantha: Now that you're back in salt Lake, once we can actually go out and like have a cup of coffee with folks, we should definitely do that. Yeah. Um, well thank you, KRISTA, so much for being a guest. Um, if you are, uh, interested in either purchasing makeup or just learning more about, or giving her a lot of support. Uh, you can find her Facebook, uh, group Derrington dance all about her lovely dance career. And you can follow, uh, makeup tips and tricks on her Instagram at kiss couture by KD, those links are going to be in the description box below when this goes over to YouTube and is in podcast form, but they're also right below her picture right now on screen.
If you just want to copy those down somewhere and give her a thumbs up. Um, again, thank you so much for being on. Um. Thank you guys for tuning in and we will see you next week. For my lovely guest, Martin Skupinski owner of BallroomUtah. I got Martin. Yeah. Uh, yeah. So enjoy the rest of your week.
Have a lovely rest of your day and we'll see you later.