Ashley Lafferty spent 14 years performing at Cirque du Soleil, living what many dancers would call the dream. From The Beatles LOVE to Michael Jackson ONE, dance was her identity, her routine, and her entire world for most of her life.

In this conversation, Ashley shares what it actually looks like to step away from a career that has defined you since childhood. She opens up about the emotional side of leaving performing, the quiet grief that comes with it, and how she knew it was time to move on even while still loving dance. Instead of waiting until the end, she started preparing early, going back to school during COVID and slowly building her next path while still performing.

Today, Ashley is an interior designer and project manager, blending creativity with structure in a completely new way. She walks us through how she made that transition, what surprised her about entering a new industry, and why real-world experience mattered more than anything else. This episode is honest, practical, and reassuring for anyone wondering what comes after performing.

_____________________________________________

📍 *In this video, you'll learn*

▸ How Ashley prepared for her career transition while still performing at night

▸ What she specifically did during COVID to explore interior design and go back to school

▸ How she translated dancer skills like discipline, timing, and teamwork into a corporate role

▸ What the interview process looked like with zero experience in a new industry

▸ Why working as an assistant and making mistakes fast-tracked her learning more than school

▸ The real difference between interior design and project management (and how she does both)

_____________________________________________

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

And don’t forget to *SUBSCRIBE* for more inspiring stories and *CAREER TOOLS* for your next career change!

👉  *EVE’s website*⁠  https://www.recastandrise.com/

👋  *CONNECT WITH Eve on Instagram*⁠  https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/

⁠⁠💥  *CONNECT WITH Ashley*  at: https://www.instagram.com/ashleynicolle_lafferty/

🎧 *LISTEN ON SPOTIFY* https://open.spotify.com/show/1yzSIrIhf5FoQNFzbU1VgU?si=0c4c6f87ec1e4eb7

🎧 *LISTEN ON APPLE PODCAST* https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recast-and-rise-career-transition-stories-for-artists/id1841231998

From 17 years performing in Cirque du Soleil to becoming a registered nurse, and a Senior claims manager later, Chantale’s story is a real look at what it takes to change careers while you’re still in it.

She didn’t have a clear plan from the start. She figured it out along the way, while performing full-time, raising two kids, and slowly working toward something completely different. This conversation gets into the reality of that process, the doubts, the timing, the unexpected turns, and what actually helped her move forward.

We also talk about what happens after the first transition, because her path didn’t stop there. From nursing to a claim manager role, Chantale shares what it’s like to start over more than once and adapt as life changes.

In this video, you'll learn

▸ What it really looks like to go back to school while still performing

▸ How she managed the schedule with work, school, and family

▸ Why feeling “not qualified” is more common than you think

▸ The skills she didn’t realize she had and how they helped her get hired

▸ What to do when your career path doesn’t go as planned

▸ Why staying open-minded can lead to better opportunities

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise's website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Chantale: https://www.instagram.com/chantalevitale/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

From a 15-year ballet career performing at the highest level to becoming a veterinarian and earning a PhD in infectious diseases, Ariel’s story is one of the most intentional and disciplined career transitions you’ll hear.

In this episode, she shares how she didn’t wait until the end of her performing career to think about what’s next. She planned it years in advance. While still dancing, she was already taking classes, preparing for vet school, and setting herself up for a completely different future.

But this transition wasn’t just about strategy, it was about identity. Ariel opens up about what it really feels like to leave something you’ve mastered and step into a world where you know nothing. She spent nearly a decade as a beginner again, navigating self-doubt, intense academic pressure, and the challenge of rebuilding confidence from scratch.

We also talk about the unexpected moments that confirmed she was on the right path (including one very memorable anatomy lab), how she balanced performing with studying, and what it took (mentally and physically) to sustain both.

This conversation is honest, grounded, and incredibly eye-opening for anyone thinking about a career change, especially performers who feel like they’re starting over. Ariel proves that reinvention isn’t about losing who you were. It’s about building on it in ways you didn’t expect. 

_____________________________________________

In this video, you'll learn:

▸ How planning your transition early can make the shift out of performing smoother

▸ What it actually feels like to start over as a beginner (for years) and how to handle it

▸ How skills from performing (like discipline and storytelling) translate into completely different careers

▸ Why exploring new interests (even ones you ruled out before) can lead to unexpected career paths

▸ How support systems and community play a critical role during major life transitions

_____________________________________________

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Ariel at: https://www.instagram.com/relshepley/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

Vanessa, a former Cirque du Soleil artist, shares how she built a career beyond performing by staying curious and thinking about what’s next early on. From performing in multiple shows, to becoming a dance coach, to opening dance studios in Puerto Rico and Canada, she didn’t wait for her performing career to end to start exploring.

Instead, she tested different paths, created opportunities from within the company, and focused on gaining experience, even when it wasn’t paid right away.

This episode is a practical and honest look at career change, career transition, and life after performing, and how to approach it in a way that feels intentional, strategic, and aligned with your skills.

 In this video, you'll learn

▸ Why waiting until the end makes a career change way harder

▸ How to figure out what’s next while you’re still performing

▸ How to use where you are right now to create new opportunities

▸ Why trying things beats overthinking every time

▸ The real difference between quick money and long-term direction

▸ How small moves now turn into bigger opportunities later

▸ How to stay ahead instead of scrambling when it’s over

▸ A more realistic way to approach career change as an artist

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Vanessa at: https://www.instagram.com/vgolding/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

What happens when your dream career evolves twice?

In this powerful and honest conversation, I sit down with my longtime friend and former Cirque colleague, Marjon, to talk about artistic identity, bold transitions, and what it really takes to reinvent yourself without losing who you are.

We first met over 20 years ago on Delirium with Cirque du Soleil. Since then, Marjon has navigated an extraordinary path: from contemporary jazz dancer in New York, to award-winning choreographer and founder of Memento Dance Company, to building a holistic performance hub inspired by the legendary Dance Space in NYC, before stepping into the world of arena touring as an Artistic Director on OVO, Quidam, and Delirium.

_____________________________________________

📍 In this episode, we talk about:

▸ Training through injury and discovering the transformative power of the Simonson Jazz Technique

▸ Building a performance and wellness studio from scratch

▸ The leap from entrepreneur to international tour life

▸ Leading artists at the highest level, and the grief that can come when you step away

▸ How the pandemic became an unexpected catalyst for healing and reinvention

▸ Reopening Memento bodyworks in a new way

Marjon shares openly about ambition, loss, courage, and the quiet bravery required to start again. We explore why not knowing the full roadmap can be a gift, how creativity doesn’t disappear, it transforms, and why artists are uniquely equipped to build second (and third) careers.

If you're navigating change, questioning what's next, or feeling the pull toward something new, this episode is a reminder: your story isn’t over. It’s evolving.

Keep dreaming. Keep creating. And trust that every chapter prepares you for the next.

_____________________________________________

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

✅ FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Marjon at: https://www.instagram.com/marjonmemento/

⁠⁠📌  Memento Bodyworks’ website: https://www.mementobodyworks.com/en

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

Are you actually stuck… or are you believing one of these? In this solo episode of Recast and Rise, I break down 7 common myths that keep artists and performers from moving forward in their careers.

📍Things like:

• “If I change careers, I’m starting from zero.”

• “My résumé won’t make sense outside the arts.”

• “I need to make one big leap.”

• “I’ll lose my creativity.”

• “I should wait until life is calmer.”

• “I’m just an artist.”

• “I should figure this out alone.”

The truth is, you are not starting from zero. You are bringing discipline, adaptability, communication skills, resilience, and work ethic into whatever comes next. You’ve already built more than you think.

I share real examples from former guests on the podcast who transitioned into completely different fields, not because they abandoned who they were, but because they were willing to build on top of it.

If you’ve been thinking about your next chapter, even just a little, this episode will help you separate fear from fact and take one small, clear step forward.

I’ve had dancers become software engineers. Acrobats become physical therapists. Performers move into corporate roles, and get hired because they were performers.

If you’re in that in-between phase, this episode will help you think more clearly about your next step.

And tell me, which myth have you believed at some point?

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉 A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉 A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

In this episode of Recast and Rise, I sit down with Tanner Huseman, a former professional dancer who performed with the Limón Dance Company, the Metropolitan Opera, and even made his Broadway debut in Phantom of the Opera.

When COVID hit and the industry paused, Tanner didn’t rush into a “perfect next move.” Instead, he tried many things, including medical coding, car sales, retail, UPS, and real estate, before landing in software engineering.

We talk about:

▸ Why trying different jobs is not failing, it’s data

▸ What it really feels like to start over as a beginner after mastering a craft

▸ Imposter syndrome (and how to move through it)

▸ How he explored tech without a traditional degree

▸ Why conversation, support, and taking action matter more than clarity

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Tanner at: https://www.instagram.com/tanner_huseman/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanner-huseman/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

In this episode of Recast and Rise, I sit down with Erika, a former showgirl who chose to step away from the stage and build a new career behind the scenes.

We talk about what happens when performing is no longer the only plan, and those quiet questions start showing up: What’s next? Who am I without the stage? And what else am I good at?

Erika shares how a love for calendars, schedules, and staying organized opened the door to work in admin, operations, and nonprofit arts. From touring with children’s theater to working with Cirque du Soleil, opera companies, and large events, her path shows that careers don’t have to follow one straight line.

Erika  takes us inside her very real career pivot:

▸ Finding your place in a new field

▸ Asking for help and finding mentors

▸ Why performers have a strong work ethic

▸ Balancing creativity, work, and family life

▸ And staying connected to the arts in a new way

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Erika at: https://www.instagram.com/trialanderika/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

While she was still in school, Emily McTernan Buchko went to a Cirque audition almost by accident, No pressure, no master plan, and got the job. That single “why not?” moment launched her into a performing career with Cirque du Soleil.

And here’s the part that matters: Emily could have kept dancing. She was skilled, employed, and still very much in demand. But instead of pushing for “more,” she trusted the feeling that it was time for something different, and chose to step away at the peak of her career.

In this episode of Recast and Rise, Emily shares how following what felt aligned, not forced, led her from the stage into the corporate world, where she now works as a Management Supervisor at Team One, the agency behind Lexus’ global advertising campaigns.

Emily takes us inside her very real career pivot:

▸ Going from a top-level performer to an entry-level corporate role

▸ Letting go of ego and learning to be the beginner again

▸ Taking a non-linear path through sales, automotive, and advertising

▸ Trusting timing instead of forcing outcomes

▸ Proving that creativity doesn’t disappear when you leave the stage, it just changes form

Her story is a powerful reminder that you don’t have to let go of what you love to build what’s next, and that following your instincts, even when the path isn’t clear, can lead to something better than you planned.

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect!

FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A Job search and Interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  ⁠https://www.recastandrise.com/⁠

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Emily at: https://www.instagram.com/emilymctbuchko/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

In this episode of Recast and Rise, I sit down with Caroline Lauzon, a veteran performer who has spent 22 years with Cirque du Soleil, while quietly building a full career in real estate alongside the stage.

Caroline shares her honest journey of trying different paths, collecting skills, and following her curiosity without rushing herself out of performing. From journalism and event management to marketing, real estate, and motherhood, she reflects on how everything she learned continues to serve her today.

This conversation is for performers and creatives who love what they do, and are also curious about what else might be possible.

You’ll hear:

▸ Exploring what’s next before you’re ready to exit

▸ Why performers don’t have to choose just one identity

▸ The emotional side of imagining life after the stage

▸ How the Cirque du Soleil experience stays with you, in your confidence, discipline, and résumé

▸ Why starting early gives you more freedom later

If you're a performer wondering "What’s next for me? ", let's connect! 👇

✅ FREE resources

👉A self-discovery workbook with 10 prompts to help you find what’s next

👉A job search and interview kit

👉  Recast and Rise website  

👋  Connect with Eve on Instagram⁠ ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/recastandrise.eve/⁠

⁠⁠💥  Connect with Caroline at: https://www.instagram.com/lauzoncaro/

And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring stories and CAREER TOOLS for your next career change!

👉 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full conversation on YouTube.