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83. Fueled by Caffeine and Chaos with Ballet Trauma Club Founder Sharon Kung
18 Plays54 minutes ago
Professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and creative entrepreneur Sharon Kung is redefining what it means to build a sustainable and empowered life in dance. In this episode, Sharon shares her unconventional path through ballet, contemporary dance, higher education, and entrepreneurship, including the experiences that led her to found Ballet Trauma Club.
We dive into honest conversations about dancer pay, burnout, artistic freedom, and the realities of building a long-term career in dance, along with how dancers can begin reshaping the industry from the inside out.
Key Points in this Episode:
- Sharon’s early relationship with dance and her training in Hong Kong through the Royal Academy of Dance
- Transitioning to the U.S. dance world and discovering contemporary dance at Juilliard
- Double majoring in dance performance and economics at UC Irvine and what dancers should consider before taking that path
- Her first professional contract with Thodos Dance Chicago and navigating cultural shifts in the industry
- Differences between dance work in the U.S., Europe, and Asia
- The inspiration behind Ballet Trauma Club and the conversations Sharon hopes to spark around sustainability, trauma, and pay equity in ballet
- Systems Sharon uses to avoid burnout while building a creative business
Connect with Sharon:
Follow Ballet Trauma Club on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ballettraumaclub/
Shop Ballet Trauma Club’s Website: https://ballettraumaclub.com/ (Use code BBBTC15 for 15% off your purchase!)
Follow Sharon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its.sharonkung/
Sharon’s Personal Website: https://sharonkung.com/
Links and Resources:
Get 20% off your first order of ALOHA protein bars: https://aloha.com/BRAINYBALLERINA
Complimentary Career Mentoring Consultation: https://www.thebrainyballerina.com/career-mentoring
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com
This episode was brought to you by the Pivot Ball Change Network.
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Transcript
Introduction & Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Was it overwhelming? Definitely. I'm not going to lie. It was very overwhelming to finish four years with two majors and to try to pursue a dance career upon graduation.
00:00:12
Speaker
But I do feel that dancers have that resilience and they do have that curiosity. And we've always been taught, you know, if there's a will, there's a way. And I did have a will and i had to make a way.
00:00:26
Speaker
I'm Caitlin, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor. And this is the Brand New Ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. I'm peeling back the curtain of professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer.
00:00:51
Speaker
Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to succeed in a dance career on your terms.
00:01:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Ballerina podcast.
Sharon's Dance Journey
00:01:04
Speaker
I'm your host, Caitlin Sloan, and I am joined today by Sharon Cunn. Sharon is a professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and creative entrepreneur, redefining what it means to build a life in dance. After years of performing and collaborating on projects in Chicago, San Francisco, Europe, and Asia, she founded Ballet Trauma Club, a movement and lifestyle brand blending artistry and entrepreneurship to transform the unspoken realities of dancers into connection, humor, and community. And I am a Ballet Trauma Club super fan. I love everything that you're doing at this, Sharon, and I can't wait to talk about that a little bit more today. But first, I want to start from the beginning of your dance journey and hear
00:01:45
Speaker
Why you take your very first dance class? Well, I actually started taking my very first class at the age of four. And it was when my mom enrolled me into a summer intensive in our area.
00:01:57
Speaker
And I remember I really did not like that experience. I was complaining about it i I was saying how the teacher was really mean and she made us go into the splits and then I quit.
00:02:11
Speaker
And I picked it up again when I was seven because all my friends were taking up ballet. And then it's stuck with me ever since. That is pretty intense for four years old. Yes, but I understand the reason why, too. It's because ballet requires a lot of resilience. And it's almost like an icebreaker to see who is ready to take on that challenge and who is not.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah. So when you went back at seven, did you feel that that time where you like, okay, this is fun. I really like this now. Well, there was also an ultimatum that my mom gave me. She said that if you quit this time, you're never going back. So I understood that she was being very serious about this, but it was also a lesson in knowing that if you start something, you need to go with it all the way through. So when I came back to it, I really enjoyed it.
00:03:03
Speaker
I found something new about it. There was a lot of storytelling, expression, creativity. And just moving with the body gave me a sense of autonomy that I felt like I never had, even when I was seven. But obviously, when we were seven, we didn't think that way. But now looking back, I did feel it gave me a lot of autonomy and control.
00:03:24
Speaker
What was your training like growing up? Well, I started at a ballet school, Jean-Anne Wong School of Ballet in Hong Kong, and we took Royal Academy of Dance exams. So every year we would go into a new level if we passed exams. And so my training was very structured and i didn't have much exposure to other genres of dance. And so i by the time i was about 12, 13, we had a summer intensive at the ballet school. And by then I was old enough to attend it. And that's when I was exposed to modern and jazz
00:04:04
Speaker
But even then, it was still very limited in terms of the selection and the variety. I moved back to the United States when I was 15, more specifically the Bay Area, California.
00:04:16
Speaker
And that's when I was introduced to ballet competitions. And that in itself was, to me, it was very intense because in my mind, i never really quite put together competing, having a rubric, you know, comparing, as my dad would say, apples to oranges, meaning that, you know, there are two completely different types of people, like different types of training, but having to be together in a scenario where You had you know you had to pick a winner. You had to be compared in some sort of way.
00:04:51
Speaker
So I was introduced to competitions, and that's when I was introduced to summer intensives. And that's when I was introduced to the different types of training, the different types of classical ballet training that everyone came from. So I did a little more research and then attended summer intensives.
00:05:09
Speaker
And more specifically, i it came to me at Juilliard that, wow, there's something that's called contemporary. And back then, the definition of contemporary is very different from what it is now. And it was more along the lines of Killian and Forsyth.
00:05:34
Speaker
So i wouldn't say it's old school, but it's more of the classical understanding of the vocabulary and the repertory of Killian Forsyth. And that's when I became very interested. i decided that this might be something that I want to do.
Dance Education and Career Path
00:05:53
Speaker
And so back then i was about 17, 18 and realized that, you know, I'm really not ready for a career. And so I decided that college would be the best place for me to go. And that took me to UC Irvine, where i double majored in dance performance and economics. Do you feel like your experience in college really prepared you for your pro career? Did you come out of there feeling ready? Yes and no.
00:06:21
Speaker
Yes and no. I don't think, I think I will never be ready. Even now speaking to you, you know, I don't think I'll ever be ready. But I did feel that attending more specifically UC Irvine, it did prepare me the best that they could. So in the program, I received...
00:06:38
Speaker
both a dance education and also a liberal arts education. And so in in dance, we were enrolled in ballet, obviously. So ballet and modern, and then we could add an elective. So it could be jazz, it could be cultural dancing, it could be tap.
00:06:55
Speaker
So that in itself, the foundation, the technique, we were covered. And we were also given many opportunities to perform. And we would go through the audition process like you would for a company, for a role. And we would work with either the faculty, students, because they were also student-led choreographic shows, or guest artists. So that in itself, I felt artistically, they did they did prepare us. They did create an environment where it did mimic a professional dance company and how it worked. And then alongside that, during my senior year, I was working with a mentor. So we would decide which companies we were auditioning for, gather all the resumes, gather the headshots. And back then, we didn't really have social media or YouTube.
00:07:43
Speaker
So we had to put together the reel. like edit it and then send it over as a hard copy or as a digital copy as a file. Alongside that, I did feel I had a leg up because I was also an econ major. So I learned a lot about the economy, how funding works, how money works, and all the realistic sides of running a business. However, I do feel that I don't have the answers to this, but I do feel that there is a bit of a gap when it comes to the recruitment process.
00:08:17
Speaker
So colleges are now a viable option for a lot of dancers in terms of the next step of their dance career. if They are not ready to pursue a professional one just yet with a company.
00:08:32
Speaker
But I'm looking at the numbers and seeing how many dancers are attending, how many dancers graduate, but at the same time, how many dancers are actually signed on with companies or do pursue a professional route.
00:08:47
Speaker
Because a lot of times, dancers who don't end up pursuing a professional career is not because they actively decided to act upon graduation, but it's because they have been rejected so many times Not because they're not talented, not because they're not capable, but because of how the funding is working at the moment. I don't feel that there are enough jobs for the number of dancers that are coming out of colleges. And I do feel that a college education is a good investment. In fact, I do feel it is a wonderful investment because not only are you going to school to learn about the world, but you're also developing skills before going out into society as an adult, as a contributing asset to society. But at the same time,
00:09:45
Speaker
the investment needs to make sense. So there needs to be a return on investment, especially if you are going in as a dance major. And so, I mean, I don't have, like I said, I don't have the answers. I don't have the answers, but I do see that in Europe, what they are doing in programs, in college dance programs or pre-professional programs, is that they spend the last year or a dancer spends their last year apprenticing or interning with a company. So even then, i do feel that there is exposure when it comes to the audition process, that you can write that down, that you were interning at a company prior to, you know, graduating.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah, you're really bridging the gap. Did you feel like double majoring in econ and dance was something that worked for you, was overwhelming? I feel like a lot of dancers worry about doing a double major if they go to college for dance, but they also...
00:10:42
Speaker
want to learn something else or want to come out of college with another option if they don't pursue their dance career. So how did you make that choice and how did it work for you? I'm going to be very honest with you, Caitlin.
00:10:54
Speaker
i did not have a choice. did not have a choice. I grew up in a fairly traditional Asian family and dance was seen and I feel is still seen as a recreational activity. And again, the ultimatum was if I go to college and decide to pursue dance, I would have to double major in something else. So for me, it was more about process of elimination. i knew for a fact that, you know, I'm not, I'm not a science major. I'm not an Anthra major. And I knew that econ would be the most cost effective investment for my parents. if I were to double. And was it overwhelming? Definitely. I'm not going to lie. It was very overwhelming to finish four years with two majors and to try to pursue a dance career upon graduation. But I do feel that dancers have that resilience and they do have that curiosity. And we've always been taught, you know, if there's a will, there's a way. And i did have a will and i had to make a way.
00:12:09
Speaker
When you were doing econ, did that start to make your wheels turn about potentially having a business or being an entrepreneur someday? Were you already thinking about that? Or was that, like you said, simply to fill that requirement?
00:12:24
Speaker
I had no intentions of pursuing business, no intentions of being entrepreneur. All I wanted to do was dance and to just make my family happy.
00:12:38
Speaker
Make my family happy and come out with, you know, come out with two degrees. What was your transition like into a professional
Freelancing and Ballet Trauma Club
00:12:44
Speaker
career? What was your first job out of college? My first job was apprenticing with Thotis Dance Chicago.
00:12:51
Speaker
And it was a contemporary dance company. So I went backwards. Yeah. So i i pursued the contemporary first before going back to ballet.
00:13:03
Speaker
And the transition was a learning curve. So firstly, I'm from the Bay Area, and I also grew up in Hong Kong. So transitioning and moving to Chicago was a shock to me. I know i know for most of your viewers...
00:13:20
Speaker
They're going to think, wow, you know, this Cali girl. well i've I've never experienced snow for a long period of time. So having my body adjust to a different climate, to a different temperature, that in itself was a shock. Because as you know, our bodies are our instruments. so relearning how to warm up, relearning how to cool down and take care of it. But then also that sense of excitement. Yeah. right, ah of moving and all I did was dance and all I did was eat, sleep, dance and then going on tour and thinking, wow, I'm actually getting paid to do this, like getting paid to dance and having a stipend and making new friends and, you know, dancing and inspiring people and making new memories. Like, wow, that is amazing. So that was what my transition story was. From there, how did you make your way back to ballet? That is a very, very good reflection. So i was missing a lot of ballet because i felt very strongly compelled that it still resonated with me. Everything, you know, I did... We did a lot of contemporary work. We did a little bit of musical theater, and I felt like I was being pulled away from what my calling was. And so then I decided to take point classes again the Joffrey Ballet School at their open program. And I wanted to see if this was really the route that I wanted to take.
00:14:58
Speaker
So in the evenings after dancing for six hours, i would go take point classes there and just to answer the question of whether or not. and so I got injured while I was dancing for Thodos.
00:15:12
Speaker
And it really, that was the first time i really questioned, you know, if I had only five years left dancing, what do I want to do? Do I still want to be dancing here? Or do I want to dance for a, or or try my shot, right? To to try my chances dancing for a ballet company. And so I decided to take that risk and to give up my contract and to make my way back to classical ballet.
00:15:41
Speaker
And what was your next contract in ballet? What did you end up doing? I did not end up getting a ballet contract afterwards. It took a few years, actually. So I freelanced in Europe.
00:15:52
Speaker
So I decided also I really wanted to dance in Europe. I wanted to experience Europe. So I took a bit of time off and I temporarily moved to Europe and decided to freelance and to audition for companies. And I was not successful. I'm going to be very transparent with you, Caitlin. I've dealt with so many audition rejections, even for ballet companies, but I still wanted to pursue the ballet route.
00:16:21
Speaker
So that was definitely my will to do that. And so I did a little bit of freelance work, did my auditions in Europe, and then decided to move back to the Bay Area. And then that's when I started to really root myself and work.
00:16:36
Speaker
reach out and really make the classical ballet contracts happen. When you say make it happen, what do you mean? How did you do that? Well, I have a network here in the Bay Area, so I knew enough people to, well, I still had to audition.
00:16:52
Speaker
I'm not saying, you know, I talked my way through. I still showed up and auditioned. So I auditioned and i started dancing with Menlo Ballet, which is a smaller ballet company in the Bay Area. And that's how all started. i started dancing with Menlo Ballet and then moved on to Dance Theater or san Francisco and then eventually with Oakland Ballet Company.
00:17:18
Speaker
Let's quickly pause this episode so I can share with you one of my favorite snacks that I have been loving lately. as a busy dancer, educator, and mom, I am always looking for a snack that I can throw into my dance bag that will be quick, convenient, and provide lasting energy.
00:17:37
Speaker
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00:17:52
Speaker
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00:18:05
Speaker
And the best news is you can get 20% off your first order with code BRAINYBALLERINA. Head to the show notes and click the link to try Aloha Protein Bars for yourself today. Having danced all over the world, what are some of the major differences that you found between dancing in the U.S. or Europe or Asia?
00:18:25
Speaker
So in the United States, well, from my experience, because I can't i can't speak for everyone else, I'm sure people will have their own story. But for me, I felt like, I feel like in the United States, everything is very production-based. So there's a deadline. We had to finish everything on a deadline. We had to produce work.
00:18:45
Speaker
And it was very, it was very time restraint. So there wasn't much time spent on cleaning the work or researching a little more about the work and really spending time with it.
00:19:00
Speaker
So we would have about, you know, maybe three months to put a work up or, you know, even less than that if you're freelancing. Sometimes freelancing, you only have two weeks to put up a piece of work. And so there, I felt like it was very production based.
00:19:14
Speaker
In Europe, there's a lot of time and resources spent on just research and exploration and development. So it wasn't about creating the work. It wasn't about the work being produced in the end. It might just be presenting something that's research-based or something that's still in progress.
00:19:33
Speaker
And in Asia, i love it's Something's interesting happening in Asia right now, and I can't really pinpoint it But there is a very interesting blend right now of cultural dance with the genres that we know of. So classical ballet, modern and contemporary.
00:19:55
Speaker
and what I'm seeing is that there's a fusion, well, in China, in Hong Kong and in China, of Chinese dance fusion crossover with ballet or contemporary.
00:20:08
Speaker
And there right now still, you know, I do feel it is a blend of production and also research and exploration. So it's a little bit of how the United States is working and also the way that Europe is working.
00:20:23
Speaker
So talking about Ballet Trauma Club, what sparked the idea? it happened... after or during COVID, during and after COVID.
00:20:34
Speaker
And I was fairly lost during that time and also experienced a period of burnout. Burnout not only mentally and emotionally, but I was very injured. So being off of dancing and just not being able to move to my capacity I felt very stagnant and a little crazy.
00:20:59
Speaker
So I decided to channel the energy into another form of creativity. And my students would always...
00:21:10
Speaker
laugh at me or laugh with me with my words of wisdom. And so I would always say, full out with feelings, right? You know, that was like my thing. I'd be like, let's do it again, full out with feelings. And so, you know, they would always remind me while I was off dancing you of all these sayings. And so I was thinking, you know, why don't we make this into a design? You know, why we sit and create this as a design? First of all, to to take my mind off of my injury, but also second of all, just to develop a different skill in channeling my creativity. And so I was just thinking with a friend at a competition, I was like, what if we put this on a shirt? What if we what if we make this into merch? You know, what if we and so the ideas just kept bouncing. And so I did my research and wanted to see what there was in the market at the moment. And what I found was that a lot of things were very pink, polished and pristine. And there wall also wasn't much of a backstory to it. And everything that I create has a story.
00:22:15
Speaker
story element to it. And so I was like, what if we created something with a little bit of backstory, you know, that, that got people talking because with how isolated, at least I, feel I felt very isolated with, with how things are very isolated nowadays with, you know, on social media and technology and the progression towards AI, I, I wanted something that brings a community together because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person that's feeling very lost right now and not having a channel to talk about it. You know, not not in a way that polarizes because, you know, we always, the only time we start talking about things is when we get very angry.
00:22:58
Speaker
And I don't want that. I wanted to create something that was a safe space for people to kind of laugh about it, you know, while talking and not masking our trauma, but, you know, to just talk about it. You know, things don't have to blow up in order for us to talk about it. So that's how Ballet Trauma Club came about. Yeah.
00:23:20
Speaker
Did you have any specific experiences in your career that really informed the voice behind Ballet Trauma Club? Yes. There's here's a lot to unpack here.
00:23:33
Speaker
Well, first of all, we need to go back to the training. Ballet is very perfect. So at a very young age, a lot of us were groomed to be very submissive. We're getting very deep here, Caitlin. Yeah. Where we were, you know, everything had to be perfect. We had to come out of a mold. We had to mold and bend over and be liked, essentially, in order to be hired.
00:24:04
Speaker
And on top of that... Coming from an Asian family, there were a lot of cultural practices and family practices and cultural expectations to be perfect, to be aligned, you know, just to be obedient and to suppress our feelings.
00:24:22
Speaker
to to get through. so So that in itself, alongside with ballet, it was very hard for me to talk about things.
00:24:33
Speaker
And it came a breaking point when I experienced my burnout and my body literally burnt out but that I really took the time to unpack a lot of things.
00:24:46
Speaker
to unpack a lot of things. And looking back, it was important for me to acknowledge that I was grooming myself technically and emotionally, improving myself also to be cast and to to hopefully be considered for a contract. And so that in itself reminded me also that this is a voice that I did not have the permission to have growing up.
00:25:13
Speaker
And I do feel it is important in 2025 moving forward that we are more authentic in the way that we present the industry, the process, but also in the process, but also in the future when we do have to offer advice for the process. What are some of the conversations that you hope to start about the realities of being a dancer with your company?
Art, Compensation, and Challenges
00:25:41
Speaker
Well, first of all, we have to remind everyone that dancers are always dancers. Dancers will always be dancers, regardless of how your career shifts or how your body changes.
00:25:58
Speaker
We will always show up as dancers in this world. And it will show up in ways where we delegate, where we lead, and where we inspire. And also, dancers need to be compensated properly.
00:26:13
Speaker
i do feel that this is this has always been the topic, but I am going to double down on it, especially with an econ major, that dancers operate like elite athletes without the economic system that protects and compensates like one. So dancers train like athletes. We get injured like athletes.
00:26:35
Speaker
The time and the effort we put in are like athletes, but because we are not seen as profitable, that we are not being compensated properly. And what I mean by seen as athletes is that athletes have corporate sponsorships. They have publicly valued franchises.
00:26:55
Speaker
And they are also billion-dollar valuations. So because dance is considered an art form and we do not have those resources or we are not seen as that light, that we are then categorized as not being as valuable when in fact we are just as valuable or even more valuable because of what we bring to culture and to society. So as an econ major, say you're a consultant for the ballet world, what would be the first steps you would do? Like, what do you see that we're not doing in the ballet world that is holding us back from being able to be seen as valuable as sports teams or other kind of athletes?
00:27:40
Speaker
Well, we're going to talk about the mental and then we're going to talk about the technical because I do feel that those two things are very different. So first of all, we need to start spreading awareness that the arts is a valuable subject in education. So understanding art is understanding the history, understanding the lineage, and understanding the community that brings us together. So not having these conversations and only seeing the future, seeing the progression, seeing how technology brings us forward, isn't a recognition of how far we've come.
00:28:16
Speaker
And we do need to spread that awareness that without arts, without history, without all these beautiful things that people have made to inspire us to create new things, we can't move forward as a society.
00:28:29
Speaker
So the awareness and also the recognition, first of all, is the first step. And then second of all, understanding that art is not just a recreational activity. So having that awareness and having that recognition, it's not just a recreational activity. i do feel as the next step that it is a viable career, but also having the technicality, right? Having the technicality of being paid properly. So that opens up the second step, right? The second step of how we can build the infrastructure, I do feel it is a very hard conversation, particularly in the United States, when the preference of capitalism, the preference the preference for capitalism is whatever makes money. I don't have the answers to this. I only have ideas at this point.
00:29:22
Speaker
So throwing around the idea of creating a platform of not just donations, of not just Non-profits.
00:29:34
Speaker
So creating something that is for-profit and specifically saying it is for-profit, I do think is an idea to start thinking about. To see what the professional sports world is doing and mimicking what they're doing. and then finding ways to make that happen. So if they are privately owned, we can explore the ideas of having it be privately owned. If they are receiving corporate sponsorships, then we need to see how they're receiving corporate sponsorships. So it's
00:30:08
Speaker
I do believe that the corporate world is already doing this. And I think that the dance world should start pivoting and considering, not necessarily implementing or adopting, but but I think consideration is an idea for for the next thing.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's interesting to think about ballet companies having like an owner, like a sports team, and how that might affect what they want to put on stage and what they want to do and like how much ownership you're giving away to your arts. And I get how that's really complicated.
00:30:42
Speaker
But I do think as even as nonprofits, we can still operate for a business. It's still a business model, right? so Yes. We still need to make money. we still like need to generate income in order. if we If we made more money as a nonprofit, we could pay our dancers more and still be within that tax classification. So, yeah, I'm with you. It's it's always, I mean, it's always a struggle because even at Ballet Trauma Club, it's balancing the art and the commerce. How do you do that? Right. And we're reflecting back on it. We are creating a new niche of entrepreneurs that are balancing, you know, how do we, how do we, because I respect dance and i I know a lot of entrepreneurs that come out, you know, within the dance world, we all do it because we love the industry so much that we want to do something to change the way that it's operating. Right. So I do feel that we are creating a niche, but the hard part, and I feel like the part that a lot of us tend to tend to question is how we balance it.
00:31:46
Speaker
How do we make it for profit, but still keep the voice, still keep it authentic and not let someone hijack it? Because a lot of times... in order for the work to be put on stage, there will either it will either be a nonprofit that's being funded or it's for profit. And when it's for profit, you have you know an investor or a donor or a patron. And a lot of times it is swayed to what their preferences are. So you know it opens up and um another conversation of who do we bring in
00:32:19
Speaker
to the executive team, to the artistic team. the That in itself is also, you know, a hurdle that we have to get over and a conversation that we can have. And we should continue having in order for the dance world to become profitable in the best ways possible.
00:32:39
Speaker
If you're a dancer who's feeling lost, overwhelmed, or even just unsure about your next career step, I am here for you. As a former professional ballet dancer turned dance career mentor, I help dancers get clear on what they really want out of their careers and build a real, actionable strategy to get them there.
00:32:58
Speaker
Whether you need help setting goals, planning for auditions, navigating mindset blocks, or or just having someone in your corner who gets what you're going through and can hold you accountable, mentorship can make all the difference.
00:33:12
Speaker
If you're curious about whether working with a dance career mentor is the right fit for you, I offer a complimentary career consultation so we can talk through your unique goals and challenges.
00:33:23
Speaker
Just head to the show notes to schedule your consultation and let's fill the dance career you've been dreaming about. What are some of the biggest learning curves that you have encountered in becoming a business owner within the dance world beyond? we just talked about the struggle of trying to balance the business and the arts and the mission.
00:33:42
Speaker
yeah what else have you run into? i wear a lot of hats and sometimes i wear them all at once. So the learning curve is having to first of all, the technical parts of running a business. So ensuring that we make a profit. And a lot of entrepreneurs or solopreneurs know that the first few years when you start something, you will be unprofitable. Yeah.
00:34:13
Speaker
So that's the first thing. So balancing the numbers, but also the technicalities of it on the back end. So for Valley Trauma Club, I am the only person that's running it. So everything that you see on the website, everything that you see on social media, the graphics, the products,
00:34:30
Speaker
The pricing, even the logistics of shipping and getting everything out, even the SEOs, the coding, that's me. So that in itself was a learning curve because building a system is contrary to what we do today.
00:34:46
Speaker
as dancers. As dancers, we we're creative. And even though we are building a system, it's still within the means of creativity. So when you're choreographing, there's a system, there's a start and finish, but everything in between, you know, it flows. you You go with the flow and you decide what you want to do depending on who you're working with, right? So that's the first learning curve. The second learning curve, I think, is juggling things And finding that balance of staying grounded. So a lot of times I will want to go 200% on something because that's what dancers do. That's what we do. we don't We don't know when to stop. You know, when you are in a studio, when you have a work schedule in a studio, physically in a space, you know when to stop because the time tells you to stop, the schedule tells you to stop, or your body tells you to stop, right?
00:35:43
Speaker
But when I'm working alone remotely, sometimes I will work 10 hours straight and not know when to stop. So finding that balance, scheduling in breaks, scheduling in time for myself, and also finding time to do things that bring me joy,
00:35:58
Speaker
That was the learning curve. And lastly, this is not really talked about. Losing friendships along the way, this was very, very hard for me to accept because during this shift into entrepreneurship, my priorities changed, obviously. and There was also a lot of growth involved.
00:36:21
Speaker
And I say this with a lot a lot of love and respect that, you know, sometimes people don't want that. they They might not see eye to eye They might not see that this growth is a positive growth. And things shift.
00:36:38
Speaker
Might be your schedule, might be your values, might be what you want in life. But at the same time, i do feel that by losing friends, I've also gained a lot of new ones through Ballet Trauma Club social media.
00:36:53
Speaker
And I do feel that this makes me very happy because now I'm in a community that is aligned with my values and my vision. Mm-hmm. can really relate to the idea of not knowing when to stop working. As a business owner, it's like there's always something you could be doing, right? And like you said, when you're choreographing a piece, there's a deadline.
00:37:17
Speaker
There's a certain point where it's going to go on stage and then that's done. But as a business owner, there's deadlines within the work, but there's always something else that you're like, I could stay up an extra hour and do that thing. Would it move the needle? Would it not? I don't know. What if it's the thing that changes everything? Should I do it or should I go to bed?
00:37:35
Speaker
So what are some like habits or maybe some shifts that you have made to help you find that balance within, find sustainability and keep the joy and what you're doing and not get to another place of burnout with it?
00:37:49
Speaker
Yeah. So building systems, that's the first thing. So building a system, like I build a business where I have a very set schedule in what I'm doing. And i you know, this is so cliche, but I have a notebook with me all the time.
00:38:05
Speaker
i have a pen and paper with me all the time. So if I have an idea that's not, that I'm not supposed to be, you know, that I have an idea for a product or anything that it's not scheduled in, then I'll just quickly write it down and then I'll come back to it.
00:38:20
Speaker
Also having batch work days. So I might have a creativity day. I might have an admin day. And then also I am a big nap queen. Even while I was dancing professionally, i napped so much in between shows. I love caffeine. I always say that Ballet Trauma Club is run on caffeine and chaos. It's really run by these power naps that I have. Scheduling in a nap, a 30-minute nap. You know, even if I'm not napping, I'm just lying on the floor and being grounded. And then alongside being grounded, I practice Feldenkrais, which is a somatic practice, and I highly recommend it. My friend, Paul lee who's a certified practitioner, he introduced me to it.
00:39:01
Speaker
And so staying grounded, practicing, you know, whether it's meditation or somatic practice, that helps me stay grounded. And then also diversifying my relationship with dance.
Career Evolution and Resources
00:39:15
Speaker
So dance comes to me in many different ways. It can come to me in physically being in the studio, rehearsing, choreographing, teaching, or even remotely through Ballet Trauma Club. And I love, I am actually even more in love with dance now because i am diversifying it and not burning myself out just doing one thing. And lastly, accepting that my career is evolving and being okay with it.
00:39:48
Speaker
I do feel this is also a learning curve, that this is the next chapter of my life and not being sad or disappointed about it because it has evolved. And evolution in everyone's career is a beautiful thing. Just like aging, we need to start talking about it, that it's not the death sentence of anything.
00:40:10
Speaker
That dance will continue to live through you and it will evolve. And it's never too late to start over again. Okay, if you had to give aspiring professional dancers one piece of advice, what would you tell them? Oh, this is a hard one. I'm sure i'm sure everyone's talked about this, but I will double down and say it again.
00:40:32
Speaker
you Please do not seek external validation in your dancing, especially with social media these days. it becomes a fine line of praising, idolizing someone for, you know, someone you don't know personally for what they do. Put in the work, show up, be coachable, be a pleasant person to work with, and know that not everything thing you see on social media is real.
00:41:01
Speaker
Because the way that they learn might not be the way that you learn. What works for them might not work for you. And at the end of the day, it's just numbers. Numbers will go away. Social media will move on.
00:41:14
Speaker
What people say, you know, they're just people. They might have had a bad day and they might just say something to you or project it onto you. At the end of the day, it comes down to you. When you look back at your career, you want to remember it as something you really went for. Not not because someone told you to, not because someone shaped it to be what it is, but because you trusted your gut.
00:41:36
Speaker
You put in the work. You were coachable. You were a pleasant person to work with. And that's what you want to remember your career as. Okay, if anyone listening wants to learn more about you or about Ballet Trauma Club, where can we find you? We are very active on Instagram at Ballet Trauma Club.
00:41:57
Speaker
We also have our shop, BalletTraumaClub.com. For me personally, i am on social media. I am on Instagram. The handler is at its.sharonkung.
00:42:10
Speaker
I also have my personal website, sharonkung.com. Amazing. Thank you so much for all of this. Everyone, please check out Valley Trauma Club. I love everything you're doing. i love all the humor and the wit you bring to what you do. And I just really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today.
00:42:30
Speaker
Thank you so much, Caitlin. Thank you. Thank you for tuning into the Brainy Ballerina podcast. If you found this episode insightful, entertaining, or maybe a bit of both, I would so appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating and hit subscribe.
00:42:47
Speaker
By subscribing, you'll never miss an episode. And you'll join our community of dancers passionate about building a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. Plus your reigns help others discover the show too.
00:43:00
Speaker
I'll be back with a new episode next week. In the meantime, be sure to follow along on Instagram at The Brainy Ballerina for your daily dose of dance career guidance.