We sit down with world renowned dancer, Cierra Lauren. Cierra has had an extensive & amazing career as a dancer, but recently gained more notoriety for her courage to come forward with reports of abuse & assault against a prominent leader in the dance community.  We experience some technical difficulties, but power through this candid, interesting and intimate conversation with Cierra.  She openly shares some life changing milestones, talks about her first exposure to hip hop & building a studio from the ground up at the young age of 17.  Cierra openly shares a near death experience while pursuing a major career opportunity & teaches us a lesson in the value of failing. She discusses the origins of her non-profit organization Speak Your Truth Worldwide & bravely shares her experience with the notorious AOV founder and owner. In addition to SYT Worldwide, Cierra shares the details for her podcast “Unscripted”.  We wrap the episode with a fun round of rapid fire, Cierra shares her opinion on what’s good in the dance community & we’re reminded of the strong unstoppable warrior that Cierra Lauren is.

In this episode, we explore:
00:32 Introduction
02:52A warrior mentality
05:26 Cierra’s first hip hop class
11:45Building a studio from the ground up
14:22No room for self doubt
16:55Cierra’s advice to a younger self
19:05 Making a name for herself
21:38A major career opportunity 
24:00A near death experience
30:15When a door closes, another one opens
35:02There are no bumps in the road, that is the road
37:22Speak Your Truth World Wide
43:06A fight for her life and her commitment to the dance community
56:20We as a dance community can no longer accept this behavior
58:20Moving toward a safer community
1:02:19Rapid fire questions
1:09:34What’s good in the dance community?
1:11:27Closing remarks
1:14:22Thank you for a wonderful Season 2!

This episode’s guest(s):

Follow Cierra Lauren on Instagram
Follow Speak Your Truth Worldwide on Instagram
Learn more about Speak Your Truth Worldwide
Learn about how you can support Speak Your Truth Worldwide
“Backin’ It Up”, Cierra Lauren
“Can’t Say”, Cierra Lauren
“The Morning”, Cierra Lauren
“Work”, Cierra Lauren
"Who Do You Love", Cierra Lauren
“It Matters”, Cierra Lauren

Special thanks to:
-Jane Banares for creating our Co-Lab Podcast artwork 

Music by Sam Stan - Das Boo - https://thmatc.co/?l=997FC418
Music by SkeetOnTheBeat - Late Night - https://thmatc.co/?l=E76B5749 

The conversation continues over on Instagram and TikTok

Have a guest suggestion or just want to say hello? Drop us a line at [email protected] 

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