Count 9

Britton danced for Cincinnati Ballet and Les Ballets Trockadero before a back injury ended his performance career. His love for travel plus a little bit of relevant experience from high school led him to a sales position with Club Mediterranean. His aptitude as a leader in corporate settings quickly emerged - he became the top salesperson within 6 months! An ambitious restlessness then propelled him into systems and support roles, which took him laterally to more Fortune 500 corporations and upward into project management. In his current position at ADM, Britton is poised to make even more leaps up the management ladder leading multiple IT teams using Scrum methodology. He stays connected to dance in Cincinnati as a DANCEFIX instructor performing in drag as Brock Leah Spears (@Brockleahspears on Instagram).

Stephanie knew throughout her dance career that she wanted an ambitious 2nd career outside the dance industry. While pursuing her degree through the LEAP program, a professor asked if she was considering a career in writing, based on her talents. She got started writing marketing copy at Lincoln Center while still performing at the Met Opera - traipsing between her desk and rehearsals. After landing a dream job at Wonderbound in Colorado, a career-ending injury forced her into Count 9, so she networked her way into newsrooms by leveraging her expertise covering the arts. Now she is an arts reporter at WFPL in Louisville KY, balancing breaking news with her love for covering the arts and a side projects producing the innovative DIY Dancer magazine. Follow her @StephRWolf on twitter & instagram, and check out DIYdancer.com (@diydancermag)

When Liezel ("Liz") and Jonathan started planning their lives together, working one day at a time to get out of debt and save for a house, a close friend helped them realize their dancer discipline was accelerating their journey to financial success. They dove into educating themselves about money the same way they've gone all-in their whole lives across diverse careers. Liz pursued gig work, choreography, dance education, kinesiology, and academic ethnography all at the same time, ending up with a diverse portfolio of incomes spanning professor appointments as a hip hop educator and continued gig work through her agent. Jonathan challenged himself to go further than he ever thought possible within his dance community while he experimented with different healthcare professions then turned his interest in movement into a successful career by powering through a demanding physical therapy assistant program. Now, they are empowering the arts community as wealth coaches - leveraging their knowledge and relationship-based approach to meet clients wherever they're at in their financial journey. Connect with them @jlfinancialcoaching and https://www.jlfinancialcoaching.com/ . And if you love their energy as much as we do, make sure to follow along their other pursuits @jonathan_lorico , @laydeeliz , and https://liezelmarie.com/ 

Kim Hale is a multi-hyphenate publicist and entertainer with an inspiring story of being resourceful and open to possibilities. She loved feathers and a fierce bevel as a dancer, which propelled her to La Cage aux Folles, Vegas, and Broadway. As she gained perspective about the emotional roller coaster of auditions and casting, and as she learned from inspiring women like Ann Reinking and Debbie Allen, she allowed herself to step back as needed. She became an educator, talent agent, and now a publicist and business owner as opportunities arose. Now, her performance career is experiencing a renaissance as she's learned to celebrate her demographic (women over 50) and stitch her communications and creative passions together through social media. Follow her dance content @mskimhale and her flourishing public relations company @kimhalepr or www.kimhalepr.com

Sophia Kozak's love of dance is rooted in its healing power. While starting a dance therapy non-profit organization, she earned a Counseling degree and became a multi-hyphenate professional, earning across multiple streams of income. When Career Transitions for Dancers needed a Western region career counselor to join their team, Sophia was a perfect fit. Career Transitions for Dancers is now part of The Actors Fund, and Sophia provides an excellent overview of different services available to empower dancers. These include things Career Transitions for Dancers is known for - grants and career counseling - and also things like financial coaching and mid-career strategy sessions for dancers not looking to retire. Learn more at actorsfund.org or by emailing [email protected]