“But you’re so… left-brained.”  An executive’s response after I told her I was stepping off the corporate ladder as a financial analyst and becoming a dance teacher and fitness instructor.  Perplexity was rippling through the hospital where I had worked for four years.  During those weeks before my departure, I encountered a lot of puzzled faces on tilted heads, as they tried to reconcile the accountant with the dancer.

And who could blame them?  The Jess Jones that they knew toted a calculator everywhere, happily challenged the analysis of highly regarded professionals, and lit up like a Christmas tree when asked to explain a financial concept, like how inventory accounting impacts annual financial statements.  (Yes, I’ve come to accept it – I’m a super nerd.)  I had been promoted multiple times in a few years, and I received awards for my work.  By most definitions, my career was successful.

But I was restless.  As much as I loved my hospital and coworkers, I had a nagging feeling that I just wasn’t on the right track.  For years I had been wracking my brain, exploring interests and trying to dislodge my previous concept of a grown-up – stability, responsibility, and achievement, all wrapped up in a really cute business suit.

Remember how when we were little, we simply filled up our spare time with what we loved.  Me?  It started when I was around 6 or 7, or maybe even earlier – I used to push aside the living room furniture and dance.  Then there was a time when I was torn about which would be more awesome – being a dancer in Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation video or being Paula Abdul (I even took tap lessons after the Opposites Attract video when she and that cartoon rocked the tap routine!).  In junior high, I’d pull on some socks and practice my pirouettes on the kitchen floor for hours.  In high school, I competed on the dance team and savored every. single. second.

But that executive was completely right – I am super left-brained.  I love the security of logic… and pursuing a career in dance just didn’t seem logical.  All the rejection, the inability to rely on a paycheck… yikes.  It still seems daunting, but I do admit I may have overcorrected a bit with the whole accounting thing. 

That really hit home a few years after I finished college when I celebrated my birthday with tickets to see Fosse on Broadway.  (Fosse is a collection of performances choreographed by the phenomenal Bob Fosse.)  I expected a pleasant, entertaining evening, but received a pretty big jolt instead.  My reaction to the performance was almost overwhelming.  My eyes were glued to the stage, trying to take in every single movement, and I swear the theater could have fallen down around me and my gaze would still be fixed on those dancers.  And to my surprise, I got a little emotional, imagining how thrilled those dancers must be to get on that stage each night.

So I started redefining my concept of adulthood.  So what if I’m a nerdy accountant by day?  I can take a dance class and feed my creative side in the evenings.  Who says I can’t get jazzed by both multivariate regression analysis and belly dancing?

I maintained that balance for a while.  After all, we all know the practical, left-brained girl isn’t going to quit the stable desk job to leap off a cliff with a dancing dream.  But then… it all came together.  I took a dance workout class at my gym, and I thought, I can do this.  I can definitely dance, I love to teach, and helping people achieve a healthy lifestyle?  Fantastic!  Excitement seeped in, but then trepidation… how do I take such a drastic turn in my career?  I started looking all around me, at the woman who ran the belly dancing school I attended, at friends who created side businesses in fitness, at all the women around me who made a plan, put one foot in front of the other, and then took a leap.  And I thought, I can do this.

Now clearly, there were many steps between that thought and the launch of my baby, The Dance Jones, LLC.  I am a practical accountant after all!    Education and certification, lots of teaching and planning, gaining so much experience along the way.

And now my journey really begins – to invite as many people as possible to dance with me.  I know it may not mean to most what it means to me, but I see the smiles during the dance workouts.  I know my students aren’t thinking about work, or to-do lists, or how they look in these lycra pants.  They’re into the music, and having fun.  What a great way to “get in a workout.”  Sometimes I’m not sure which has made a bigger leap toward healthiness during that hour – their cardiovascular system or… well… their heart. 

So please join me here at my blog to chat about all things dance, fitness, and something I’ve been attempting to achieve since practicing those pirouettes in my kitchen – balance.