Hey! How are you?

What does an average day look like for you?

I take my son to nursery at 9:00 a.m. and pick him up at 5:00 p.m. While my son is at nursery, I do dance lessons and coaching sessions. I give salsa lessons and coaching, mainly to mums. From time to time, I also consult them about parenting. I also run a salsa dance class for couples once a week in the evenings.

What turning point in your career do you consider your "big break"?

Having a baby and a divorce... these events are the reason I am in this business today.

What advice do you have for striking a work/life balance?

Creating a schedule that doesn't cause stress both at work and in your personal life.

What anxieties, if any, do you hold about your life/career? And how do you deal with them?

Since I starting my current job as a sole proprietor after my divorce, I'm worried about being able to earn enough money to sustain my son's decent living. This coronavirus situation was particularly critical. But this job is the most important thing I can do and the one I want to do right now, so I have to do it! I try to remember my original intentions and my strong conviction.

How has the current COVID-19 situation affected your industry, and your work personally? How have you dealt with it?

The coronavirus situation has had a huge impact on the dance industry and the schooling industry, forcing independent studio owners to go bankrupt because they couldn't pay their rent. I was forced to refrain from operating my business because of news reports of clusters in the dance clubs. I was also forced to close my salsa dance classes for a long period of time because I was renting a public facility for my business and the community decided that the facility was closed for public. However, I also run a coaching school, so I was able to earn a small amount of money from that. I overcame the crisis by switching to online

lectures and lectures at clients' homes.

How do you deal with procrastination?

My motto is, ‘do the most troublesome things first'. The reason for procrastination and laziness is that the [tasks] are cumbersome and time-consuming. However, I've found time and time again that procrastination leads to inefficiency and poor performance even on things you have prioritised, because it keeps problems around you and keeps you on your

toes. So I chose to 'prioritise the hassle'.

What do you consider your biggest failure? And how did you persevere and grow from the experience?

My biggest failure was choosing the wrong people to talk to when starting a business. I spent a lot of time and money and didn't move forward at all. 

When working on a new project, how do you overcome self-doubt and fear?

Imagine yourself achieving as clearly as possible, and think about the worst case scenario and what to do about it.

Do you have any rituals that help with your work or mental health?

Putting make-up on and drinking coffee!

L+A xx

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