Sadie

Why are you so confident?

I met Sadie about a year ago when my friend Beth asked me to go to her Zumba class and to brunch after. Truthfully, I was mostly in it for the chatty brunch with Beth, so I was taken completely by surprise when I was dazzled by Sadie … and Zumba.

Sadie is a whirlwind of sexy, confident, hip-swiveling, ribcage-popping, joyful energy. Until the day I met her (and Zumba), I thought I was a pretty good dancer. After all, I’d spent my school-age years honing my (very traditional) jazz, tap, and ballet skills at a well-known studio in the northern suburbs (winkie face). Apparently, my dance training didn’t include fluid, salsa-inspired moves.

During class one day, I thought, WHO IS THIS woman? I need to get to know her! So here she is … Sadie.

W: You’re damn good at what you do. Why?

S: When I started taking Zumba classes, I was 70 pounds heavier than I am now and was looking for something new because I hated working out. Going to the gym and running on a treadmill was horrid. One day I walked by a Zumba class and thought, “Wow, looks like a party!”

My mom invited me to a Zumba class taught by an instructor named Jimmy Jimmy … one of my first Zumba inspirations. I took his class, got my license, and asked him to be my mentor. Off I went. I lost 70 pounds!

W: You are so inspiring to me. Who is your inspiration?

S: My mom. She used to come to my Zumba classes all the time. She was my biggest supporter.

When I first started doing Zumba, I’d work so hard to make up routines and like five people would show up and it wouldn’t even cover the cost of the studio. I remember my mom saying, “Keep doing it. You’ve got to keep going. There’s something about your spirit and your energy. People need to see this!” And I’d say, “This isn’t worth it!” I was losing money. But I loved it. I kept going.

My mom supported me in every way. When I couldn’t get pregnant, she told me, “It’ll happen when the time is right.” When I finally found out I was pregnant, we also discovered that my mom had stage 4 lung cancer. She died a month after that. She never got to meet my daughter Nadia (now five years old), but she got to see an ultrasound and said, “Look! She’s dancing just like you!”

I’ll never forget one of my largest Zumba classes. I did this huge class called “Feel the Beat” with a local drummer and we had 80 people show up! My mom was too sick to dance at this point, but she came and watched. During the class she told me, “See Sadie, I told you. Never stop believing in yourself.” So she got to see one of my largest classes. Right after that she went into the hospital and never came out.

W: {Sniffles}

S: {Sniffles, tears} When I’m dancing, it’s my spiritual place. It’s where I feel like I’m connecting with my mom and connecting with everyone’s energy. It’s very healing for me and it got me through the grief of my mom passing. I even danced through my pregnancy … right up until my water broke. Dancing is my passion. It’s my joy. It’s what heals me.

W: That explains a lot! I can tell when you’re dancing that it’s more than just dancing to you. That’s why I’m interviewing you. During your class, I’m always asking myself … “Why is she so good? Why do I love this class so much?”

How do you describe your dancing style? I used to think I was a good dancer … then I came to your class and realized … no. I’m pretty stiff!

S: I dance from my heart. I’ve never taken one dance class!

W: What? What? WHAT??!!!! (Laughing in disbelief)

S: I went to a lot of live music with my parents growing up and I watched them dance together. I went out dancing … a lot of Latin dancing. I’ve never paid to take a dance class. But I’ve watched YouTube videos. I just feel the music.

W: Oh, I can tell you have some sort of background in Latin dancing. You are a natural. What’s your favorite music to dance to?

S: Savannah Grass by Kes. (Here’s the link. Wait out the intro.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXXq4RBKhtc

W: Oh, yeah. I’ve danced to that in your class! I love that song.

S: It’s a mix between a party song and a spiritual song from Trinidad. I feel like it’s also really spiritual.

W: How did Covid change your business? It was critical for many of us small business owners to pivot.

S: A LOT … OMG! (Laughing) Before Covid, no one had to sign up. People would come to my class and go to the money table, and make their own change. It was super casual. Honestly, I’d just show up and dance. And with Covid, it was like, nope you can’t do that anymore. So I had to figure out a way to keep connecting with people. Doing Zoom classes was hard, but people were dedicated and very supportive. They made monthly payments no matter how many classes they’d attend.

For my business to survive during Covid, I had to learn about technology. I had a lot of technical issues and did a lot of troubleshooting. But then it morphed into an actual business. I started sending emails and came up with a way for people to make payments. It was pretty hard at first to dance alone in my living room with a camera and have everyone on the other side of the screen, but we all made it work. I also taught outdoors when it wasn’t too cold.

W: Did you gain more clients?

S: I gained a new group of local clients from my outdoor classes and new clients from Wisconsin, Florida and Seattle through Zoom. It’s been nice. I also created videos that people can buy.

It’s helped my business grow in a new way. I’ve had to be flexible. But I couldn’t do it without the support of my people.

W: When you’re dancing you are SO CONFIDENT! Are you that way in real life?

S: Well, that’s a funny thing. People always come up to me and say, “You’re such a great example of body positivity!” and I love it. I call the confident dancer in me “Zumba Sadie”. I’m trying to incorporate more of Zumba Sadie into my Everyday Sadie life. But like many people, I struggle with body positivity.

W: That really surprises me! You are so much more confident than I am. Most of the time I’m laughing at myself while trying (badly) to move like you.

S: I want people in my class to feel comfortable … no matter where they are in their fitness or body journey. My class is a no judgement zone. You don’t have to have a certain body or certain clothes. We’re here to share love.

W: I feel that! Do you think it starts with you?

S: Yeah. Yeah, I do.

W: Me too. If you feel confident, we all want to be like you.

S: I think if I’m confident when I’m dancing, that attracts people. I feel comfortable when I go to classes and the instructor looks more like me.

W: I love the music you use in your classes. Do you have a favorite lyric?

S: Yes … and I want to make a t-shirt saying “Came here for Love” https://youtu.be/Uq8fE3kKIBk

W: I’d wear that shirt! The dance you choregraphed for that song is magic! Do you have motto?

S: Movement is medicine.

W: Love it. So true. What is one way you want to change the world?

S:

I want to help people create joy in their lives.

I’ve had people come up to me and break down in tears saying. “I couldn’t have gotten through my divorce without this class” or “I was in such a deep depression and I couldn’t do anything but I came to your class and you showed me there was a way.”

W: Oh, I can totally see that. I have a friend who did one of your Zoom classes and said she was crying during the last dance. (Shout out to you Stephanie!)

Well, Sadie thank you so much for being the first interview on my blog! Girl, your Saturday morning classes have brought so much joy and inspiration to my life! You have no idea. THANK YOU!