Story Time with Rishone – Just Do It

Let Fear Excite You To Act on The Things You Really Want In Your Life.

We have 2 main choices when it comes to experiencing fear. You can either choose to compound it until you become incapable of taking action or you can use fear to excite you take action. The fear of the unknown is what causes the most debilitation when it comes to pursuing or taking action towards accomplishing anything worthwhile.

The Dream of Learning From The Best.

I had a dream of being a top 10 finalist on So you Think You Can Dance. It absolutely scared me to my core just to think about dancing live on national television. This is how I knew it was something that I had to do for myself. I wanted to improve as a dancer and the only way to do that was to learn from the best in the business and that was through this show.

It was the end of 2011 and I was 29 years old, only 8 months away from the cut off age of 30. So I was either going to let fear tell me I’m too old and not good enough to audition for this show or I was going to let it fuel me to be a top 10 finalist and become one of the best dancers to ever be on the show.

At the time they had already completed 8 seasons of the show and I made the decision to be on the 9th season. I originally wanted to audition for season 5 but I tore my ACL playing basketball that summer right before the audition season. Obviously I was extremely devastated and unsure I would ever actually get that opportunity again. However, with determination and discipline I spent the next few years rehabbing my knee myself.

After rehabbing my ACL injury, I felt physically ready to finally do what my heart always wanted. I went back and forth in my mind with so many negative thoughts of inadequacy until I finally said ‘F@#$ it; It’s time to make my mark!” So in that moment I decided that no matter what, I was going to be on season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance.

Action 1: Find the Ideal Open Audition City.

The first order of operation was to find the right city to audition. Open auditions were held in these cities: Brooklyn, Boston, Memphis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta but I knew immediately what 2 cities I would audition in. The first city that was a strong possibility was Brooklyn, NY New York but I felt auditioning in that city didn’t give me enough time to prepare. The next option was Salt Lake City, Utah. That city’s open audition gave me enough time to prepare, plan financially, request time off from my job, and prepare my solo Routine.

Action 2: Choreography my routine and Practice!

The audition was February 4^th and I took care of all my necessary pre-requisites so it was now time to choreograph and perfect my routine. I chose the song ‘Lets Go’ by Travis Barker ft. Busta Rhymes. I chose this song because It was faster than any other routines I saw on the show and if I could display a level of control that I knew I could achieve It would impress the judges.

I spent all my time when home creating the choreography and my lunch time working on perfecting it. I would go to the far left corner of the lunch room and put my head phones in. Most of my co-workers would laugh when they saw me practicing but as I got closer to February and I received a promotion to my new position I finally told them why I was doing it. They immediately became incredibly supportive. It felt great to finally feel like I wasn’t on this journey alone.

Action 3: Landing In Salt Lake City Utah.

After the connecting flight to Salt Lake City Utah and watching the view of the Colorado Mountains from the window seat of my Flight, I landed in the late evening of February 3^rd 2012. I took a shuttle to my hotel and checked in. After checking in, I asked the receptionist to point me to a room I could practice. She sent me to the meeting room upstairs. After I was settle in, I went to that meeting room and continued to work on my routine. After an about an hour and 20 minutes I decided it was time to get some sleep to prepare for the early travel and audition.

Action 4: The First Day Of Auditions

This was by far the best part of this entire experience. First of all, the experience of pulling up to the Capitol theatre in Salt Lake City and seeing the long line of dancers willing to give everything to be on the show gave me chills. It was also very cold so that could have also been a reason I couldn’t stop getting goose bumps. However, I got out of my taxi and took my place in the line of dreams. As I stood in line I saw dancers stretching, practicing their routines, others were eating breakfast, and I was just in awe of the moment admiring my spot in the line.

The Sun started to make its appearance and about 30 minutes later I heard a roar of screams and there she was miss Cat Deeley. She was interviewing Winner of the previous season’s 4^th runner up Tad Gadduang. This overwhelming energy source came over all the dancers in the line and as the camera zoomed by you realized the level of talent that you were now in the presence of.

At that moment I did what has always made me comfortable, I joined the freestyle cypher and gave some of my best moves for the camera. After Cat and the camera crew was done with interviewing each dancer, I asked Tadd to take a photo with me. No I didn’t get to ask Cat because it all happened so quickly. It was an incredible experience waiting with all those amazingly talented dancers but it got even better when I finally entered theatre.

As the line got closer to the SYTYCD staff I saw the sign in table. We were assigned numbers and groups like: Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, cultural etc. Obviously I was placed in the Hip hop category. I did my background video interview, completed my slow motion dance move, and headed to my hip hop section in the theatre.

Action 5: My first time on Stage.

After we were separated into our specific genre of dance, we were then seated in the theatre in groups of 10. I sat in the audience and watched anxiously as each group of 10 got called on to the stage. Each dancer was given 10 seconds to freestyle and leave a lasting first impression on the judges. If they didn’t make an immediate impression they were cut and that was the end of their journey.

On average, 3 out of every 10 dancers received a yellow ticket to the next round of auditions. That made me even more nervous but I kept reminding myself that I was born to do this. After about 2 and half hours of group auditions, it was now time for our group to go up to the stage. I literally danced up the steps like I belonged there. As I got to the top of the stairs i gave a fist pump to the audience as they directed me to my designated spot. I was number 6 in my group. The song that was chosen for us to freestyle to was song ‘yeah 3X’ by Chris Brown. It was a song I was very familiar with so I was excited to show my stuff.

Dancers 1-through 5 went and then one judge leaned into to his mic and yelled “number 6.” I slid out of my spot like James Brown to the center of the stage smiled at the judges (2 producers 1 female 1 male, and Tadd) and danced like the song was made for me. To my surprise, they gave me an extra 10 seconds to dance. I saw them smiling and grooving with me and then they called #7. I felt like I was on top of the world because the only did that to about 20 dancers out of hundreds that came before me.

After all 10 dancers gave their best improve to the selection, they quickly called 4 number and one of those numbers was number 6. I think I exploded with joy when I heard it. The names that were called were directed to step forward to received a ticket to come back the next day and audition a second time for Mary Murphy, Nigel Lythgoe, and a former top 10 finalist.

Action 6: The 2 Day of Auditions:

I left the theatre shortly after seeing some more of the SYTYCD staff to register my ticket. After completing that critical step for day 2 of auditions, I grabbed my belongings and exited the theatre completely overwhelmed by this accomplishment. However, I knew I had to get some food, get back to the hotel, practice my routine and get some sleep.

The second day of auditions made me realize what the magic of TV was like in person. Like the first day, all remaining dancers were placed in groups of 10 and seated in the theatre according to their time on stage. This time I was 6^th group to get on stage. All of a sudden we heard a roar of cheers, movement, and whistling. Nigel and Mary walked into the theatre and took their seat beside a former contestant from previous seasons. At that moment I realized this was it. This was the real day of auditions. Even though made it through the first day of auditions, this was the day that the world would see. The cameras were live, the audience was live, the dancers energy hand a new level of focus, and the judges were ready to watch us dance.

They went through the groups quickly as they got on stage to dance. Again, like the first day of auditions, every dancer had 10 seconds to impress the judges. As my group was called, the camera swung around to watch us get up on stage. The lights were almost blinding over the judges as we made our way to our designated spots. They played ‘Lets Go’ by Neyo and called the first number. This time I was number 7 in my group.

I watched as each number was called and I got lost in the gravity of the moment. So when my number was called I had some nerves so I started with the Carlton just to loosen up. I danced super hard after being silly. This time I only got the 10 seconds and the next number was called.

After they called all the numbers the music stopped. They asked each of us couple questions. Then they called out the numbers that made it to the solo portion of the audition. I was disappointed in the moment that my number wasn’t called but Nigel and Mary explained why clearly. I was not chosen to move on to the next day because I was looking down during my freestyle and they could not see my face under my fitted hat. Then surprisingly they asked me to smile so I did. Then Mary said “There is no way we could have said no to that smile if you gave us some of that during your dance.” At that moment the disappointment dissipated and I felt encouraged about what I did.

My audition ended there; we exited the stage and the next group was called up. Though I didn’t make it to the solo auditions, I felt incredible about what I did on that stage, in front of the cameras, the lights, and the judges who I got to know well from watching the show. It was surreal to see them in person and to actually have them ask me questions and give me feedback. It was certainly not the result I was looking for but it made me even more determined to improve as a dancer and a performer.

This experience allowed me share the stage with so many courageously, talented dancers. Upon leaving the theatre I got to know a few of them a little more and we hung out for the rest of the day together. One of the dancers from Salt lake City, Utah, Ms. Ruby Chase, gave us a generous tour of her city and invited about 7 of us back to her house for a celebration dinner with her parents. That made the trip to Salt Lake City an experience that is still fresh in my mind today. I still keep in touch with most of the dancers I met from this experience and it is always great to hear how this experienced has inspired them to do great things.

The wrap up

Accomplishing anything worthwhile takes a choice of using the emotion from fear to direct you towards taking the actions you need to make your dreams reality. I may not have accomplished my goal of becoming a top 10 finalist but I gained so much.

To put things in perspective, about 99% percent of your first time at doing something that evokes some level of fear will be a learning experience. A learning experience that will help you grow and learn what you need to get to the desired results you dream about. The only thing that takes you closer to that dream is taking actionable steps that excite you on your journey to making it a reality. You will learn that not only do you do yourself a humongous favor but you also meet some incredible individuals in the process.

Taking the steps to audition for Season 8 of SYTYCD provided an unforgettable experience that taught me so much about myself. For those 30 seconds I was on stage I felt more alive than ever before. So if something scares you enough, it probably means you should get excited, make some plans(or take action) and go after it like you were meant to have it. Fear is not a bad thing, it can be an incredible tool when it is used to help you grow. So whether it is something small or something big, think about how much you want it and make up your mind to take the actions necessary to make it a valued accomplishment.

Story Time with Susie – A mistake I couldn’t seem to shake

Do you ever look at something you’ve done or created and thought, “holy crap, I seriously messed up” which is then followed by a series of thoughts about how you’re not good enough or how could you have let this happen… I experienced this a couple weeks ago when editing photos I took from a recent shoot…

I’m on my laptop in the process of editing the photos. The photo shoot had gone great, and my client had a blast in the process of letting her genuine self come out to be captured by the camera. She was fabulous. By the end of the shoot, I felt confident that I had captured her true vibe in her photos and that she would love the finished product.

So I’m looking at her photos (literally hundreds of them) about to begin the editing process, and I’m in shock. I start feeling anxious and a little sick to my stomach. So many photos were blurry.

Now I’ve been taking photos long enough to know that you will get many photos that are not “good” due to the person blinking or their mouth is in a weird position. And yes, it is also normal to have some that are simply out of focus. I’m fine with all of that. BUT THERE WERE SO MANY THAT WERE BLURRY. TOO MANY.

I didn’t properly adjust my shutter speed (which basically controls how fast the photo is taken). It wasn’t fast enough, and at this point, there’s not much you can do about it. I immediately went from feeling so positive about this shoot to suddenly feeling nauseous. I didn’t even want to look at the photos any more. I felt myself cave in emotionally and not want to talk to anyone.

I closed my laptop and decided I would revisit the editing process another day. Thank God I did. A few days later, I opened my laptop again with fresh eyes. As I started to go through the photos again, from the top, I began to realize, I took so many photos. Over 500, easily. The reality was that they didn’t all need to be great. 50%, heck even 25%, didn’t necessary need to be “usable”. If I was able to produce at least 50 quality photos for my client, that was more than enough, and I did my job.

But I was being so freaking hard on myself. Why? Well for one, I didn’t want to let my client down. But it was more than that. I realized that the real reason I felt so horrible about many of the photos not turning out the way I had expected was because in that moment, I felt like a fraud. Here I was, boasting about the “amazing photographer” that I felt I was, but I felt like such a failure.

Realizing that I was in an emotional state and stepping away from it all gave me the space to not only see the reality of the situation (that I had more than enough “good photos” to give to my client), but also allowed me to dig deep to figure out what was really going on with me emotionally (aka me feeling like a failure).

I’ve taken some more time, have had many conversations with myself and am finally at peace with what happened. What I’ve learned from this is that I’m not a fraud. I’ve never claimed to be a “perfect” photographer. And I have always delivered on what I’ve promised. I am simply being hard on myself, which I think is actually a good thing. But instead of wallowing in sadness about my own perceived failure, I can use this emotion to drive me to practice more, learn more, and be better.

Anyone who is considered “great” at what they do is guaranteed to have a string of failures that has followed them and built them to who they are today. And I can also guarantee you this; they did not wallow in their mistakes. Instead, they chose to learn and grow.

So as we enter a new year, what can you choose to grow from? Not feel sad for yourself or even sweep under the rug so you don’t have to deal with the emotional pain of something that may not have gone as planned. But instead, what can you learn from it

For me, I learned that I need to perfect my craft and that a mistake doesn’t make my a bad photographer, simple as that. My hope for you is that you can see your mistakes for what they are and not let them stop you from stepping into the greatness you were meant for this new year.

Story Time with Rishone – A Grateful Man Lives a Full Life

This past October makes it 5 years and almost 2 months since I left my career as a Validation Engineer to pursue my passions of the culinary arts and dance. As I reflect now, December made it more of a reality that I no longer had a job with a decent pay check coming in 2 weeks. The thought of this at that time almost drove me insane. I was scared and scrambling to find other option to fill the financial gap. Did I mention I was scared and scrambling to figure out what was next? Well, if I did, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it, because I couldn’t fall asleep at night and when I did, I wanted to wake up with the job that I once had so I didn’t have to worry about how to generate income. That’s right, I was depressed and partially lost. I had no idea what to do next or how to fill that void financially.

I had spent 4 years in a career that no matter how hard I worked, they never recognized my efforts. I spent 4 years in a job that frowned upon my passions, and it started to push me further away from them. So I made that decision partially due to minor infraction but majorly because it was time to move on. The only thing that kept me from completely losing it was that I knew I had the grit and skill to recover through my passions.

It was the Winter of 2014, and I had no job, but it made me more focused than I had ever been in my life. I knew what I needed to do, but I also knew that I needed to find a temporary job that would allow me to make ends meet while I figured it out. So I applied to NOCO as a part time Administrative Assistant to fill the position of one of their valued workers who went on leave to give birth to her first daughter. That kept me sane for a short while, but it reminded me why I never wanted be in a position where an organization controlled my future or my time. Therefore, I used my 401k from my previous job at Home Depot along with my final pay check from my previous career, that included all of my personal/vacation time, to buy all the necessary tools to start my pursuit as an entrepreneur. I worked at NOCO for about 6 months until it was time for the new mother to return to work. Unfortunately she did not return, but I still decided to move on to pursue what was in front of me.

It was a huge decision, because unlike everything else in life, most if not everyone told me that it was not the right thing to do. However, I listened to my quivering gut and put everything into my decision, because I believed in my abilities. I transformed the fear I was feeling from taking actions towards the dream I wanted. With each decision I made, I lost the build up of reservations and doubt I held on to for my entire life.

From that point in my life, I have been making decisions against the grain not to be a rebel but to prove to myself that my happiness is worth it. I have made so many mistakes, and I have failed miserably so many times. However those moments I’ve succeeded knowing I listened to myself has made the difference in where I am today. Then I figured out how to repeat those small victories from continuous self evaluations of my inner thought patterns and motives.

I am thankful that I listened to myself, because it has enabled me to influence so many others in the process. So many of my friends and family have expressed how much they are inspired by what I have done. Though they are not aware of my mistakes and failures they have shared that they have been watching as well as cheering me from a far. Some have even decided to start their own small businesses because of how far I have come over the years.

So this winter, I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for those that watched in support as I grew my business. I am thankful for those that reached out and told me to keep my head high. I am thankful for my best friend/business partner Susie K who believed in me, joined me, and supported all of my crazy ideas. I am thankful for my stepmother who lifted me up countless times when I was down in the dumps. I am thankful for the friends that allowed me to vent my frustrations, who understood where I was coming from because they are also entrepreneurs. Most of all, I am thankful for all the clients who gave me the opportunity to wow them as a chef and share my joy with them as a dance instructor. I am grateful for the support and love you have all shown. This season reminds me to be thankful for everything and everyone that has really been apart of my life. So with my heart and soul, Thank you!

Story Time with Susie – Don’t sweat the small stuff

My stomach immediately dropped… I knew I was about to be in trouble.

This happened right after I realized that I made a pretty big mistake in my day job. Let me explain…

When I’m not dancing, taking photos, or working out, I work my day job at KeyBank. Part of my duties include being on call for a week, every 8 weeks. Long story short, one day when I was on call last week, I received an alert literally in the middle of the night which I responded to when I woke up 5 hours later. The alerts are for technical incidents at the bank which we need to respond to immediately. Let’s just say, I definitely heard about this from my manager the next day. She was not happy that I responded 5 hours after the alert came through, and this was the first time in my job that I ever felt like I was getting in trouble. (For some context, I was always that “goody two-shoes” in school who never did anything wrong, if you could imagine.) At this point, there have been no repercussions to my mistake, but half of me is still expecting to hear from upper management about this.

After I got off the phone with my manager who informed me of my error, I felt my stomach drop. I felt horrible, frustrated, and disappointed in myself. As my day went on, I realized that I was carrying those same feelings with me throughout the rest of the day. By mid day, I had to check myself. There was no point in bringing that negative energy with me. There was literally nothing I could do to change the error I made. I did ensure that I called my manager again later in the day to apologize for any tone I realized I may have had when speaking to her earlier. But other than that, the damage was done.

But SKKRTT!! Hold up? What damage? I made a mistake that management was not happy about? Whats the big deal? Was it life changing? No. Would it be something I think about next year, next month, or even next week? No. I have too many good things in my life to let something so minuscule hold me down. When I came to this realization, I decided that I was not going to sweat it. Even though if felt like a big deal at the time, it really was no big thing. And I felt a weight lift off me after I made the decision to let it go.

So what can you let go of that might be holding you back today? Do you get easily frustrated by relentless traffic? Did you also have an incident happen at work with your boss or maybe a coworker that you’re not happy about? Did you drop your phone and shatter your screen? Whatever it is, take a second to think, is this worth the anxiety or anger? I saw this 5 by 5 rule online: If it’s not gonna matter in 5 years, don’t spend more than 5 minutes being upset by it. Next time you find yourself responding to a situation with frustration, anger, anxiety, or disappointment, I encourage you to pause and ask yourself why you feel that way and is it worth it. I guarantee you that 9 out of 10 times, you’ll find it’s best if you simply let it go and shift your focus to something positive!

Story Time with Rishone – Life is about the results of many rides not a few pedals.

“Why be a spin instructor with everything else that you do?”

I started out 2019 with absolutely no intention of becoming a spin instructor. The 4 things that consumed my thoughts everyday were my family, growing my businesses, visiting LA to take dance classes for the first time, and completing a marathon for the first time in my life. I enjoy taking spin classes as apart of my cross training for the marathon, and I would often imagine how I would lead a class with my own music. After brushing the idea off of being on the lead bike on multiple occasions, I finally started to mentally give in to the idea, because something about it synced with my energy.

When the owner of Be Moved Fitness presented me with an opportunity to complete a power spin training class for new instructors at the end of August, I officially decided to become a Spin/Ride instructor. I figured it would keep me accountable, and it worked perfectly into my fitness goals for 2019.
I knew this would be an absolute challenge, but I also know how I am with learning the ins and outs of new endeavors and how to stay connected to the journey rather than the momentary results. So I knew what I needed to do and how I needed to go about it.

First obstacles to over come were Expectations!

I completed the the power training class on August 25th at 12:00PM and immediately while exiting the Rise Fitness Studio in Hamburg, NY I knew the expectations were high to be an amazing instructor. Every interaction with the instructors at Be Moved Fitness were encouraging but also had a level of expectation that I wasn’t sure I could meet immediately. Maybe they were expectations I put on myself, or maybe because I danced on the bike while taking a ride/spin class I was expected to do the same for all my clients. I knew the owner wanted something different like a rhythm based spin class and I wasn’t sure that I was able to produce that without actual experiences leading a class. I also needed time getting familiar with using the music to not only get a great work out but to also make it a fun overall experience.

My 1st Class: The Tell All.

September 4th was my first class and it was definitely a treat, because it was completely SOLD OUT. I mean a few of the attendees were instructors at Be Moved Fitness but there were 18 people staring back at me as I settled into my new role as a TemPo Ride instructor. I had planned everything from start to finish, rehearsed it a few times on the bike while no one was in the studio, and now it was time to show what I could do.

The first 20 minutes were flat and to be honest, I literally felt the energy of the class more focused on the workout rather than the awesome playlist I orchestrated to help them through it. Then I reminded myself why I became a spin instructor. I wanted to help people have fun on the bike and experience a ride class through music and movement that transports them to a place of enjoyment. Immediately after I made that adjustment I threw out the workout plan and started having fun on the bike with the music. Everyone’s entire mood changed because my mood changed. I started to see some smiles and the energy in the room wanted something different. My goal that day was to complete 14 miles but we only got to 12.5 miles. I mean that was still not bad but it was 2 miles below my goal.

Post Class Evaluation: The Things that could have made me quit.

First of all, I felt how off my Queues were. For 35% of the class I wasn’t even riding to the music. Even my transitions were rough from the saddle (seat position) to the second position (standing straight up on the bike). Most of the people in the back could not hear me and some people in the front struggled to understand what I was communicating as well. Hearing and experiencing this the first class gave my ego quite the hit. I also received some constructive, educational feedback from the spin/ride instructors that took my class that day on how to improve. Those actually gave me some internally excitement to prepare for the next class.

With all the feedback and unplanned first time experiences that took place in my first class, I could have decided to quit while I’m at it but I knew to become better I had to be married to the process not the emotions of not being everything I wanted to be on the first day. Therefore I took all the feedback and paired it with my personal experience and made a plan for the next class which happened to be the next day.

My 2nd Class: The Compliment and Improvements Moving Forward.

Now, I could have marinated in all the things that didn’t go as planned the first class, but I took everything thing I learned from the first class and applied it to my 2nd class. There was an immediate improvement, and I felt it from the beginning. I was more relaxed, I had a work out plan but I didn’t let it close me off from the music, and I was able to direct the class through every song confidently.

At the end of the class we completed 14.3 miles. To my surprise one of the clients complimented me on how awesome the class was and how much she enjoyed the playlist I created. That compliment made my day. It also made me realize that I still had a lot to learn, but for the 2nd class I experienced a small victory that I will always remember.

The take away: Every Bad Experience eventually leads to a better one if you stay Married to the end Goal.

Like everything else that I do well, I treat everything new as a learning experience.. So far I have taught 10 classes. Some went perfectly as planned and others had some/ many details I could have improved on. Just recently the music stopped working in class and I had to switch to story mode to help the clients through the last 15 minutes of class. In my last class my right leg slipped off the pedal during a moment when tried to dance. However in all those moments I checked my ego and taught from a place where failure or mishaps is a necessity to learn. The beautiful thing is that I get to make people happy through music while riding an indoor cycling bike. So if you are ever hesitant about trying something because you are worried about failing miserably, remember to always check yourself immediately, evaluate what you did well or didn’t do well, get some professional feed back, and get back to it. You may not experience positive feedback on the 2nd opportunity like I did, but always stay connected to the journey and use the momentary results as learning tools to get better.