Conversations with the Inspiring Chelsea Pierotti

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Pierotti.

Chelsea, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Boulder, so while I’ve traveled extensively, nothing quite compares to Colorado in my eyes, and I’ve lived here my whole life. I went to the University of Colorado as an undergrad in psychology without a clear sense of direction of what would come next. I always knew I wanted to continue on past my bachelors, but it took a while to decide what field I was meant to work it. I pursued a masters in forensic psychology, but after some internships, I quickly realized that wasn’t the specialty for me. So, before moving on to a doctoral program, I took some time to consider what really made me happy.

Simultaneously, I was a dancer with a passion for coaching. I grew up in the world of highly competitive studio dance but I truly loved ballet. I apprenticed with a few national ballet companies during my high school summers and went on to earn a contract as a professional ballet dancer in my early 20s. Around that time, I discovered the world of high school and college dance teams, where my passion coaching was born. I coached a high school team to state and national success for over 10 years and that led me to finally discover my academic interests.

After I realized how much I loved coaching, I discovered the specialty of Sport Psychology that I previously didn’t know existed. I quickly pivoted my academic focus, and eventually completed a Ph.D. in Social Psychology of Sport. I had finally found my sweet spot, where I could combine a love of positive psychology and dance, researching things like leadership, motivation, and coaching styles in dancers.

During my Ph.D. I had the privilege of teaching my own courses and learned that I love teaching! I had a mentor years before who told me I would be a good educator and honestly, I brushed her off. I thought I would never be in a classroom. But then I learned that what made me a successful coach, also made me a successful teacher and they both bring me great joy.

That’s when I started teaching full time in the psychology department at the University of Colorado, a true dream of mine to return to my favorite school. But I couldn’t let my love of dance disappear, and since I wasn’t coaching anymore I felt the pull for a something bigger.

In 2017, I started my own company, Passionate Coach LLC, dedicated to bringing mental toughness and positive psychology skills training to dance coaches and teams all over the country. I travel to do private workshops with teams, offer online trainings, and have an exclusive membership for dance coaches looking to belong to a supportive community dedicated to their growth. It has truly been a passion project to be able to take what I’ve learned and researched academically and bring it to the coaches doing the work every day. I hope to create a ripple effect, where I can touch more and more coaches so that they can go back to their teams and have a growing positive impact on their dancers. I believe so much can be learned from high school and college athletics, if it starts with a positive coaching experience. So, it’s my mission to help more coaches provide that positive experience. Then, they are teaching more dancers about self-discipline, positive self-talk, motivation, how to be coachable and motivated, and maybe most importantly, how to contribute selflessly to a team.

Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think anyone has a truly smooth road. In fact, one area of psychology research that I teach in the classroom and wish more people understood, is the concept of emerging adulthood. This phase of life, roughly 18-28, is one characterized by self-discovery. Learning about your own values, discovering your place in work and establishing a strong sense of self. You are supposed to focus on yourself, have a high sense of possibilities, and go through a lot of transitions. I think it’s a time that is really scary for many people, me included. I am someone who always wants a plan, and when I finished undergrad, and again after my masters, I felt lost and had no sense of direction. What I didn’t know then, is how normal that is and part of the joy of that time is exploring what makes you happy, what you want to do in the world, and learning a lot about yourself along the way. Doing the work to really understand yourself is hard, and easy to shy away from or ignore. But if you’re willing to work on yourself, be honest with who you are and what you want, you will find what makes you happy and can live a life centered around that.

If you are a young woman just starting on your journey, my advice is that you are not supposed to have it all figured out yet. You may feel pressure from your parents, your teachers, society in general, to determine what’s next. We ask our college students all the time, “what are you doing after school?” Now I believe that’s a terrible question, one that insights panic and fear for many people. Instead, this time is about trying different things, reading, listen to podcasts, getting involved in relevant associations, volunteering, anything to get exposure to different areas of interest. Only then will you discover your true passions.

Then, once you find your spark of joy and you know what you want to pursue. Take action before you’re ready. When it comes to starting a business, I was terrified and felt like I needed so much more education before I could even tell people what I was doing. What I finally realized is that imperfect action is the best way to move forward. Just dive in and try. Everything is “figureoutable”. You won’t have everything figured out, or do everything perfectly. But if you wait for the right time, you will never get started. Even in two years, my business has grown and changed so much, and that only happened because I put myself out there and started working directly with other teams and coaches. Every time I take on a new client or a new project, I learn how to be more effective with the next one, or I come up with a new idea to help more coaches. That only happens when I’m willing to do it scared. To take the leap and try even if I know it won’t be perfect. So, if you have a big goal, go for it before you’re ready, just keep learning and growing every step of the way.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a sport psychology consultant for dancers, and I specialize in competitive high school and college dance teams. I am proud to offer coaches the resources I wish I had as a coach so that they are supported and can continue to do the most difficult work. Coaching is an incredible profession, very fulfilling and very challenging. Unfortunately, too many good coaches quit because of the pressures and lack of support. I am that support line for dance coaches. I hope to help inspire them to teach more mental toughness skills and general positive life skills so that we can all have a bigger impact on the next generation of leaders.

It would be great to hear about any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve used and would recommend to others.
Marie Forlio: Book, “Everything is Figureoutable”
Entrepreneur Podcast: Amy Porterfield, “Online marketing made easy”
Life Podcast: Rachel Hollis “The Rise Podcast”
Dance Coaches: National Dance Coaches Association (nationaldancecoaches.org)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://passionatecoach.com
• Email: chelsea@passionatecoach.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/passionatecoach
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/passionatecoach
• Other: www.pinterest.com/passionatecoach

Image Credit:
Plum Pretty Photography (headshot), Fattuna Photography (dance shot)

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