Heyyyy yoouuuuuu guyyysss!!!!!! I wish you could see my face right now. I'm incredibly stoked to be your Cheerleader of the Week! I'm quite easily excitable…so I guess being a cheerleader is quite fitting then, right?

I was born and raised in northern Indiana and fell in love with dancing at age 3 starting with the "Panda Dance". I still remember coming to a Colts game several years back, looking down at these incredibly talented women, and thinking, "How amazing would it be to be a part of this?" Then, I got the crazy idea to go for it. Now, with only a couple of weeks left in my rookie year, I'm having one of those moments when you sit back and say, "Holy cow, what did I do to deserve all of this?"

When I'm not dancing, I work as a digital marketing consultant for a cloud computing company. Most times I try to play it cool, but really I'm a big nerd. I received my BS in Entrepreneurship/Corporate Innovation from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business (go Hoosiers!), a minor in Dance Performance and Choreography for fun, and an MBA from the University of Tampa for good measure. I absolutely loved school and learning and still do! The tech business world is so much different than the dance world, but it's cool to have two such opposite, yet equally awesome, areas of life to explore. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you have to choose between a glamorous/fun part of yourself and a nerdy side. You are allowed to embrace it all! 

I want to make sure if I say just one thing in this post, it's THANK YOU.  There are so many amazing things about this job, and I am truly honored to have been chosen for this team. Like any other job, this job does have its challenges.  Every person has his or her "why".  That thing that gets you out of bed at every 5AM wake up call, keeps you going through a long rehearsal, helps you focus when you think your brain can't possibly store one more routine, or motivates you when you're not sure you have the gusto to make the Dream Team this time. When these moments happen in my life, all of your faces come to mind.

To the fans who are at every Colts event and every game, to the Junior Cheerleaders who dream of being on the field someday, to my amazing family and boyfriend watching every game from across the country, to my incredible uplifting teammates and coach, to the selfless Indianapolis citizens I am lucky to meet at every appearance, to the little girl who lost her dad (a huge Colts fan) and wanted more than anything to dress up like a Colts Cheerleader for Halloween to honor him- YOU ARE MY "WHY".

So, even if I never have the opportunity to meet you or give you a hug or look you in the eyes and say thank you, please know that I am truly filled with gratitude and awe for each and every one of you.

Tell us something that most people don't know about you
I cannot sit still. They say the minute you stop playing and learning, you stop living. I will do everything in my power to stop that from happening. From belly dancing class to competing in Miss America, from leading flash mobs to lobbying in DC, from riding in donkey races (that one might need explaining) to running fundraisers, I absolutely love exploring. Most of my crazy antics are more goal oriented now which makes it better. For example, last year I made it a goal to read 26 books and run 26(.2) miles in my 26th year of life. I thought I would be a jacked genius at the end, and that surely didn't happen, but at least I learned and experienced a lot along the way. That's what life's about, right?

You've been skydiving, hiking in the Himalayas, zip lining in Thailand, needless to say, you love adventure. What's your favorite trip that you've ever been on?
It is really tough to choose because every place I visit holds special experiences and memories, but there are two that come to mind in particular. Bora Bora in Tahiti for my parents' 20th wedding anniversary was absolutely amazing. It's the most beautiful place I've seen yet, and I got to experience it with my favorite people- my family! I still remember the surreal feeling of eating pineapple and snorkeling with sharks on Christmas day.

The second was my most recent trip to India on a yoga and volunteer trip.  It was during a very tough time in my life where I struggled with who I wanted to be. Traveling across the world by myself, meeting new inspirational people, and going on such a spiritual journey really brought me back to life and made me feel powerful again. It was sort of a coming of age that I will never forget. I want to continue this tradition of going on a trip alone every year. It's such a good opportunity for reflection.  I'm leaving for a third solo trip to Guatemala in March!

The highlight of your rookie year has been...
I also absolutely loved doing the photo shoot in Mexico with my teammates. It was so great to form such a strong with these women before the season even started. There is always someone to laugh at my dumb 90's movie quotes or at least acknowledge them so I feel like less of a loser! In all seriousness, these women are something special. They are each so uplifting and encouraging towards one another. It's a really beautiful connection we all have, and I absolutely love being a part of it.

You started your own business, tell us about this!
About a year ago, my now business partner and I started talking about how there seemed to be a gap in the dance market. We had both danced together in college and also for the NBA. We both struggled with making the sizable leap from a high school to college dance team and college to professional dance team. We wanted a way to expose teams and individual dancers to better, faster, more current choreography. We also wanted to bring to light other areas of development that nobody talks about that are necessary to move forward in a dance career like interviews, dance resumes, fitness, performance, appearance, professionalism etc. There was no business that offered this kind of training to lessen the gap.

Thus, ProMotion Dance was born. Our vision is to propel dancers into the next level of performance. We do this through weekend intensives, mock auditions, private and team audition consulting, team choreography, coaches conventions, etc. I am so lucky to be able to start a business for something that I am so passionate about.

Your favorite part of the holidays is...
Santa!!! I know him!!! Just kidding, but he's great too. Now that I have a niece and nephew (1 and a half and 3 years old), it is the coolest feeling to watch the magic of the holidays through their brand new eyes. It's so fun to watch them experience all of our traditions for the first time. I also love that feeling of deep content in the pit of your stomach when all of the gifting, cooking, and bustle is done, and you're sitting around the table with family and a full belly just talking and laughing. That to me is one of the most satisfying feelings in the whole world. Hope all the Colts fans get to feel that this holiday season!

Have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Superb Kwanza, or maybe even cheerful Christmahanakwanza?! Whatever you celebrate this holiday season, do it well. Sending love to you all!