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Stepping out with Simone Muller

Stepping out with Simone Muller

Learning to be brave and follow your interest. It all comes together in the end.

Mia Coomber
July 02, 2024 • Reading Time: 9 minutes

Hi Friend,

We have just started rehearsals again after a long weekend off. It came at the perfect time when my body (and mind) needed a break.

As the 4-day weekend was approaching I wanted to be intentional.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the weekend flies by. Then Monday arrives and you realize you didn’t do half the things you wanted to do…

So I wanted to plan how I was going to spend my time. To make the most of the precious time off.

Isn’t it funny how we choose to spend our free time when we know it’s for a period? Like a weekend or a season break.

But when we have time off due to injury, or between contracts, or retiring, we aren’t as proactive as we can be.

That’s one of the points Simone brought up in our call.

Simone Muller is a wife, a mom of two, a business owner, a teacher, and a former dancer. These are some of the titles used to describe her, but there are many more I can add to the list!

She is a mover and a shaker (no pun intended).

Her story and mindset inspired me to be proactive and bold in my own season of figuring things out! 💪

Her journey and work with Dancers Career Development charity added so much wisdom to our conversation.

I'm sure you'll find her insights super valuable. Whether you're navigating a career pivot or trying to stay resilient amid the highs and lows.

Simone’s Early Dance Journey

Simone left home at the young age of 14 to train at Elmhurst Ballet School. She continued her training at The Royal Ballet Upper School and Central School of Ballet.

With no contracts and graduation coming up, she was unsure what the future held. Until Northern Ballet offered her a contract during her last week of term!

Unfortunately, after a year, an ankle injury forced her to end the contract at Northern.

Encouraged by her dad to come home, she flew back to Cape Town, South Africa to later have surgery and heal.

During her recovery, Simone did her Pilates teacher training and even a BA in Psychology.

“My dad was very much like: ‘This isn't the whole world. You've got a brain. You can use it in different ways. Don't narrow yourself into thinking this is all you can do.’

But I think I still was so caught up in it, that I couldn't think of anything else. I couldn’t think of any other options that I wanted to do. I was still too caught up in “making it” - whatever that was.”

Even with the goal of returning to Europe, she auditioned for Cape Town City Ballet on a whim. She spent 5 years with the company while continuing her BA.

Simone later joined the Cape Dance Company and ventured into more contemporary work.

Little did she know that a door to move back to the UK would open. Her family immigrated when her husband accepted a job opportunity.

Simone performing in 2013 with Mbulelo Ndabeni

Be faithful now to reap the reward later

Simone shared how she questioned why she was doing her Pilates Teacher Course. At school, it sometimes bored her, and she didn’t really have a passion for teaching.

NOW she is beyond grateful that she committed and persevered.

Her business, re-centre, is all about teaching postnatal rehab classes for busy mums.

“Now I’ve got my own business. And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't done my Pilates Teachers all those years ago. Because teaching, although it was not my first love at all, now I actually love it.”

Simone’s business website: re-centre

I realized even if we aren’t super passionate about something now, doesn’t mean it won’t be worthwhile to upskill for later.

Sometimes we become passionate about something in a different season.

We change, we mature, we grow. And with that, our passions and interests evolve as well.

“I think sometimes when you are too judgy on the thing, it makes it hard to just go for it. But actually, sometimes we just don't know how things will work out. Things change at different phases of your life. So don’t be too stuck on what ‘the thing’ is. Because that can adapt in time.”

Find what lights you up 💫

@dcd_dancers

Simone’s first introduction to Dancers Career Development charity was 1:1 coaching. Throughout our call, she spoke about the lessons she learned from her coach.

They helped her realize she wasn’t quite ready to retire and encouraged her to keep going. She freelanced in London with choreographers Shobana Jeyasingh, Hubert Essakow, and Mark Baldwin, and performed various other projects.

Interested in their mission, she ended up interning for a year for DCD. Later joining as Dance Support and Programmes Manager.

“The other big DCD thing is giving things a go. Not being scared to just try. Even if it doesn't work out.

And kind of focusing really on what lights you up.

We were talking about the next job feeling really important because it's fulfilling all these things. It feels like you need to be really good at it, it needs to pay well, it needs to do all these things.

But actually, when what it comes down to is what's going to fulfill you. Is this the thing that you want to get out of bed for?

It’s finding that thing. That's the work. That's the hard bit.

And not getting clouded by what other people think or what somebody else says you should do. But what lights you up is the next thing.

That's the work. It’s finding that, and giving yourself the time to do that. Which is not easy when you're used to being busy.”

Dance teaches transferable skills

It’s easy to undermine the transferable skills we learn as professional dancers.

Yes, dance consists of technique, artistry, and more. But there’s also discipline, determination, attention to detail, focus, motivation, coping with pressure, and more.

These skills are invaluable in any other job!

“We kind of can disregard our careers quite easily. Like oh, well. That's done! But meanwhile, it took a huge amount of time and effort to achieve. Not everybody can do that.“

A friend of mine shared with me that she realized dance created a platform for her to reach the next chapter in her life.

It might feel like starting from the beginning, but truthfully we have a huge amount of skills that we take with us.

“I don't think everyone needs to do a degree at all. I think there are so many things that you can take from what you've done and mold into other things.

I guess the important thing to hold on to is you've done hard things before you can do hard things again.”

Start the process early 🕰️

“DCD encourages the earlier you start the better.

Obviously, a lot of young dancers are focused on what they're doing. They're not ready to even consider something else.

But it's more about developing yourself as a person. So what else lights me up? What are other interests that I have?

Because then that decision becomes a lot smoother when you've already embedded stuff. Rather than starting from the very beginning at an age when most people around you are excelling in their careers.”

I used to get frustrated when people asked what my plan was after ballet. 🙄 It felt like they didn’t value or respect what I was doing. (Granted not everyone will.)

Now I see that it’s important to think about it. 😌To explore other possibilities sooner rather than later.

What really inspires me is Simone’s boldness and willingness to try different things.

If there was something she found interesting, like project management, she followed that. It wasn’t necessarily with the expectation that it was her next big career move.

But it was following an interest, making something happen, and seeing where it led her.

If you aren’t sure or have too many interests (like me), then it’s a process of elimination.

If there is an organization you’re interested in, start the conversation. Let them know you are there.

If there is a skill you want to learn, sign up for a course.

Finding what you’re interested in, or what lights you up, can feel daunting. But don’t let that stop you!

Be proactive. Be brave.

PS. If you’ve danced professionally in the UK, Dancers Career Development offers coaching and grants. You can find more out here.

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