Jasmine Badie: Professional Success Requires Mastering The Discipline Of Being Unneeded

The job Jasmine “JB” Badie thought she had prepared for never came. She had already worked with Beyoncé on a Super Bowl performance, the “Formation” video, and Lemonade. When auditions arrived for the Formation World Tour, Badie says she trained twice a day, lost weight after receiving blunt notes about the look the production wanted, and walked into the room believing she had done everything asked of her. Then she did not get the dancer job.

The rejection hurt, but what followed would change the way Badie understood her own usefulness. She was called back as a stand-in, an assignment that initially confused her. She was shorter than Beyoncé and did not resemble her. The point, Badie came to understand, was not resemblance. She was being asked to show what she would do in the artist’s position, to interpret the music and stage from the center rather than the background. “That’s when I learned that I had a lot more to offer than I had thought,” she says. Eventually she began learning artist development, choreography, movement coaching, and the mechanics of building a performer. “I’m not the one driving this car,” she remembers realizing.

For someone who had spent years trying to get onto the stage, Badie was discovering that some of her strongest work might involve shaping what happened on it.

That realization makes more sense in the context of a childhood that was never particularly specialized. Badie grew up in the Atlanta area and moved to McDonough, Georgia, during grade school. Her parents kept trying activities with Badie and her younger sister, looking for the thing that would stick. There was gymnastics, tap, karate, tennis, track, softball. She sang in chorus, learned to read music early, and gravitated toward theater. Dance increasingly consumed her attention, but she was not raised inside the competition circuit. Living far from Atlanta made consistent studio training harder to reach. Much of her education came from listening closely to music and catching performances whenever she could.

A flyer changed the scale of that ambition. Around 14 or 15, Badie auditioned for a dance company called Pop Stars, about an hour from home. There she met young dancers including JaQuel Knight and Sean Bankhead, friendships that would follow her into the professional dance world. They were teenagers imagining careers in music, choreography, production, and performance. Badie knew she wanted Los Angeles, but she did not get there immediately. She spent a year at Valdosta State studying English, imagined starting a magazine, worked ordinary jobs, and watched friends make the move first. “I was a bit of a late bloomer,” she says. Confidence took longer than ambition.

She finally relocated in 2013, taking small jobs, saving money, and sleeping on friends’ couches. Then Knight called. A spot had opened in Beyoncé’s Super Bowl production. “Pack your bags, you’re going to New Orleans,” he told her.

Badie’s first encounter with Beyoncé became its own lesson in how quickly an overlooked dancer could become essential. During rehearsal, Beyoncé was working through a Southern dance step Badie knew well and asked her to demonstrate it. Suddenly Badie, who remembers herself then as shy and overwhelmed by the scale of the room, was showing the movement to the group. Beyoncé insisted the step had to carry the quality Badie demonstrated. Badie returned to her place in formation. Years later, when they worked together again, Beyoncé remembered her: “Oh, that’s JB!”

The story captures something Badie still seems to value more than status: being ready when the room suddenly asks more of you than you expected to give. She brought the same attitude to Sabrina Carpenter. When Badie got the call for Carpenter’s 2023 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show, she did not treat the smaller stage as provisional. “I always take even the smallest things as if they were the biggest,” she says, because that is practice for the moment when they actually become big. Her work with Carpenter grew as Badie found the kind of artist-development relationship she had long wanted, one where choreography could be part of constructing a performer rather than simply supplying steps.

Yet for a person whose career has depended on constant readiness, Badie now talks just as seriously about becoming unavailable. After long projects, she may take several days away alone. She goes to movies, travels, bowls, hikes, rides her motorcycle, and sometimes does very little at all. “The real work is learning how to rest,” she says. More tellingly: “When you’re needed all the time, you forget how to not be needed.”

That tension, between relentless preparation and the discipline of stopping, runs through Badie’s story now. She is extending her storytelling beyond movement, returning to the writing she loved in college and finishing two children’s books, including This Little Light of Mine, built around affirmations and emotional guidance for young readers. The dancer who once thought the goal was simply to make it onto a tour has become more interested in what can be built around a performer, a story, or a child learning how to speak to herself. In the conversation that follows, Badie talks about rejection, reinvention, confidence, rest, faith, and what happens when the role you wanted turns out to be smaller than the work you were actually capable of doing.

JB, it’s a delight to meet you. Before we dive in and talk about your amazing work, our readers would love to learn about JBaddie’s personal origin story. Can you share with us the story of your childhood, how you grew up, and particularly the seeds of all the amazing work and creativity that has come since then?

JBaddie: Oh my goodness. Well, I’m from Atlanta, Georgia. I moved to McDonough, Georgia during grade school and lived there. I have a younger sister. We grew up, and I was really big in sports and just the arts in high school and middle school. I was very chorus-heavy; I learned how to read music at an early age. I took that even to college where I would compete in All-State, just singing and doing anything in the theatrics world. I was very interested in that.

I learned in about 10th grade that I really wanted to pursue dancing. I knew in my mind, Okay, this is what I want to do. But my parents were really into the concept of trying to find the niche for me and my sister. We tried out different things: I did gymnastics, I did tap for a while, I did karate, we did tennis, softball, and track. Softball was a big thing for me in high school.

I wasn’t your typical competition kid. I was never with a company because we lived so far away from the city, so it was a little bit more difficult to find those classes and get that training. My passion for dance and movement really came from just listening to music and watching my idols perform on stage and in videos. Because our technology was not the same as it is now, it was very much word-of-mouth — catch it if you can — and just becoming true fans of that artwork.

I grew up watching some of my favorite people that I actually work with and am really close with today. By 10th grade, I knew: Okay, I think this is what I want to do.

There was a flyer that came out — so random — for this company called Pop Stars, which was similar to Monsters of Hip Hop or Culture Shock, but it was an hour away from where I lived. I was with a friend at the time in school, and I was like, “Oh, we have to do this,” because there was only one other person that I knew who loved dance as much as I did in school.

We went to the audition, and that’s when I met some of my closest and dearest friends who are at the top of the industry today — JaQuel Knight, Sean Bankhead, and a few others. I was 14 or 15. We all grew up together; that’s when I met them. From there, that skyrocketed my passion and drive to really make it in LA and make it in general. We all had the dream of becoming something in the industry, whether in music, as directors, or producers. Dance was what brought us together, and that’s been almost 20-plus years of friendship since then.

In 10th grade, I got my niche, and since then I was like, “Okay, I want to move to LA.” But that took some time. Life happens, and the concept of going to college after high school was a thing. I had a lot of passions in all the different kinds of arts. I went to Valdosta State for about a year, majored in English, and I had a passion for writing — I wanted to start my own magazine, back when we actually read magazines that you flip.

Dance just really kept calling me. The older I got and through all the little nine-to-five jobs that I had, I knew I had to get to LA. My friends had already moved to LA, and I was a bit of a late bloomer. It took me a second to really tap into the confidence and know that this was something that I could do, but I knew that I always wanted to. I just had to figure out how and grow up a bit.

I finally made the move in 2013. I was going back and forth at first, but I finally moved, doing little small jobs here and there. I had this idea that I had to work, save money, and just hustle — sleeping on couches with friends and figuring it out.

In 2013, the first major job I got was with Beyoncé when we did her first Super Bowl. It’s so funny how it happened because they had already cast everyone for the job. I was maybe the last on the list to go in, and somebody called out or said they couldn’t do it. My friend JaQuel, who was choreographing at the time, called me and said, “Pack your bags, you’re going to New Orleans.”

After that, it skyrocketed. I grew up loving music and really just seeing a different language with how I hear things. It was so nice to watch people express themselves in that way, and really seeing the wave of music. For people to perform and actually feel — I can see someone’s ear, see how they interpret certain sounds, and then they make their own cadence to it. That’s always been a love of mine, that language. Ever since then, I was like, “I have to do this. I want to dance, I want to perform.” That stage was really calling me.

I definitely was not the competition girl or in a strict school. Even to this day, I feel like I’m still a student. I still train if I have time. Part of me wishes I had that experience with the whole ballet and techniques, that strict training, but no regrets. I’m here, and I love how it turned out.

JB, you’re an amazing storyteller. You really had me riveted. Speaking of stories, I’m sure you have some incredible stories from your career, all the amazing places you’ve been, the different people you’ve performed with, and I’m sure this is hard to single out. Can you share with our readers two stories that stand out in your mind from your amazing career? Take it anywhere you like.

JBaddie: Oh my goodness, wow. The first time that Beyoncé met me stands out. We were doing the Super Bowl — mind you, there were hundreds of girls — and we were going over this one step. Back then it was called the “onion booty”; it’s an old Southern dance. There was a moment where she was trying to figure out how to do it. JaQuel Knight was helping her, and then she saw me do it. She was like, “Wait, can she come up here?”

Mind you, I’m this little girl feeling like a small fish in this big pond, and I’m just like, Wow, okay. JaQuel is like my brother, so he goes, “Yeah, JB, come here real quick.” I’m like, Oh my God, this is happening. She was like, “Yeah, can we do it like this?” And I had to show all these girls how to do this step.

JaQuel turned on some of the music we used to listen to back in the day — I’ll never forget it, it was a song called “Going to the Moon” by Future. Such a ratchet song, but the move was very much in that pocket. I had to do it in front of everybody, standing right next to her. It was the first time that we had a moment.

It was crazy because I felt so comfortable, but I was also really shy at the time. My confidence hadn’t really grown until recently, not for nothing. But it was just cool to feel that validation. She said, “Okay, if we don’t do it like this, then we can’t do the step. It has to be like this.” And I was like, Okay, great. I went back into my little corner and got in my spot.

That was 2013 for her first Super Bowl. Cut to the next job we got on, which was Lemonade and starting to work on “Formation” for her second Super Bowl. I hadn’t seen her in a while, and I came in and she was like, “Oh, that’s JB!” She remembered me right off the rip. That started our ongoing conversation and understanding of who I was. That moment will definitely stick with me forever.

I was never just a Beyoncé fan in the traditional sense. I thought she was amazing because I saw a Black woman on camera who had hips and curves. It was like, It’s okay — I can be a thick girl from the South and still be amazing and beautiful in my own skin. That to me is what she represented. My taste in music at the time wasn’t R&B or ballads — I was a different girl — but I loved her because of how she related to a little girl at home who looks like her, has the same curves, and it being accepted. There was a fearlessness about her that I was truly a fan of. It was never in my plan that I had to dance for this woman; she was just someone I looked up to in Hollywood. That story will stick out for me forever as the beginning.

Another one: when I got the call to do the VMAs for Sabrina, but it was the pre-show, not the main stage. That was 2023. By this point, I’m further along in my career and used to things, but I met this artist who just felt like my artist. She has been doing this for so long, but when she came to me and we started working together and building, we really started manifesting a lot of the dreams that we both had. I’ve always wanted to have my own artist to develop and pour into as much as I can.

On my bucket list was to do an award show. When I got the call that we were doing the pre-show, I treated it like, Girl, we’re getting there. This is it. I always take even the smallest things as if they were the biggest, because treating it as the biggest thing is practice for when you actually get there.

I felt so excited: We are at MTV, we’re on the stage, and we’re going to get that main stage. The next year, she had Moonmen. The manifestation is real. When I got that pre-show and Coachella for her, it was the start of knowing we were getting there. It’s the mustard seed thing: if you have faith in this one little thing, you watch it grow. I speak things that be not as though they were, and I’m a true believer in that. That moment sticks out because I was just so happy.

There’s a saying that “no” is not rejection, but redirection. Do you have a story like that where you got a “no” to an opportunity, but that led to an even better opportunity?

JBaddie: Absolutely, 100%. When Beyoncé was having auditions for the Formation Tour, I had already gotten notes about having to lose weight. Back in those days, there was a very clear-cut, transparent honesty: “This is the look that I want.” That’s just what the industry was.

The tour was coming up, and I had just worked with her on the second Super Bowl, the “Formation” music video, and the whole Lemonade project. I had been working my ass off on two-a-days. Mind you, I’m 5'4", and at the time, Bey was around 5'7". The look was 5'5" and up; she hadn’t had a short dancer in years. I had been working my tail off trying to get in shape. I went to those auditions, lost a lot of weight, nailed it, did everything great — and I did not get the dancer job.

I was devastated. I felt like, Damn, okay. I didn’t know what was next or what I was supposed to do. I had worked so hard and done everything I was told to do for that role, and didn’t get it.

After that, they called me to come in and be her stand-in. When you hear “stand-in,” you think of someone who looks like her and is her same height. I’m thinking, Wait, I’m not her height. We look nothing alike. What I learned was she wanted to see what I would do if I were her in her position.

There was something there that she saw. There was a starness there, not to toot my own horn. For her to want to study me, see me, and understand what I would do in her position being her, I was like, Oh.

At the time, I didn’t know what that meant; I thought it was another chance to audition! I wanted to show that I could learn everything, just in case she wanted to bring me on, because she has been known to do that. But that was not the purpose at all.

That’s when I learned that I had a lot more to offer than I had thought. I had to break down what I felt a goal was, take myself out of it, and realize, I’m not the one driving this car. There was something more to my purpose that I had no idea about.

I’m so grateful for that time because it’s necessary to wear every hat that is given to you, whether it fits or not. Through that process, I learned how to do artist development. I learned how to train an artist in singing, how to be an artist on stage, how to choreograph, and how to teach movement. If I had my eyes so caught up on the goal of just wanting to be a background dancer, I would have never been able to receive that.

A few years after that, after our homecoming Coachella, I ended up going on tour with her anyway! The dreams still come; you just have to realize it’s on a higher purpose, not your own time.

No “no” is going to make me feel like I can’t. It’s all a redirection. If more kids in our industry received it that way and didn’t take it as personal rejection, they’d have a lot more fun, be less stressed, and learn they love something even more than they thought. It wasn’t until six or seven years ago when I realized, Oh, I can choreograph. I can do this.

A “no” is a moment to take a beat. The real work is in the rest — resting in what you know to be true, resting in what you’ve manifested, and trusting that the seed you planted is out there growing. You don’t have to keep checking on it; the words you water it with make it grow. The moments where it gets quiet are necessary. I’m grateful for the nos because clearly it was a “no” for a reason — I needed to hear something else.

Please share any exciting new projects you’re working on now — any new collaborations, new initiatives, or new albums. We’d love to hear about it. Please feel free to speak as elaborately as you’d like.

JBaddie: Well, I can’t say too much about what’s happening depending on when this comes out, but we’re gearing up for the VMAs soon. I can’t say who I’m working with, but you’ll see for sure.

This year, I finished two of my children’s books, which I’m so excited about! I’ve been wanting to get these out for so long. I finally had some downtime to lock in on it, put a period to the page, and everything is finished. We’re in drafts right now as far as illustrations, looking to have my first release for Christmas, if not New Year’s — fingers crossed.

I’m a big believer in giving back to our kids and spreading the right message. A lot of things these days can be misunderstood or miscommunicated, and it’s really not as complex as it needs to be. It’s very simple. I’m really excited to talk to the babies, give some affirmations, and release this book. It’s such a gift for me.

There are not so many stars who write children’s books. Where did that come from? What’s the story behind that?

JBaddie: Since college, I’ve been writing forever. I’m big on writing scripts and different kinds of character breakdowns. It’s a lot of what I use in my creation when it comes to certain dance numbers: What story are we trying to tell, and how can it be relayed to the audience or through the camera lens?

Writing is a way to escape for me. I can write something very positive for children, but then I can also write edgy fanfiction and make nice coffee table books if I want to spice it up a bit! I love to read and dive into people’s minds. It’s an art form that I’ve fallen in love with.

Children are our future. It sounds like “We Are the World,” but it’s just real. The book is called This Little Light of Mine. It’s full of little reminders for when you feel down or feel anxiety, with ways of releasing that explained as if you’re an eight-year-old.

I feel like it’s a reminder for parents, too — reminding myself that I’m great so my kid can know this too, instead of leaving them to figure it out on their own. We all need guidance.

My generation is very much the bridge that can close the gap between the communication of what needs to happen, what can happen, and how to listen to make things happen. If we embrace this younger generation with sensitivity, discipline, and understanding, we can close that gap. I’m all for communication, transparency, and just being happy. It’s not that deep!

I’ve been working with an illustrator named Brie Ritz. She’s awesome, and she’s been doing some really great drafts for me. We’re looking to have that out this Christmas for a little stocking stuffer.

Can you share some of the self-care routines that you do to help your body, mind, and heart to thrive?

JBaddie: My favorite one, especially after a job, is sitting still. Resting — that’s real work. I swear, I live by that mantra: the real work is learning how to rest. Turning my brain off, watching a nice rerun, going to the movies, and really doing R&R.

Normally, if a project takes five months back-to-back, once I’m done, I take at least a five-day trip somewhere by myself. I love to travel. I really love to sit still, turn everything off, binge-watch, binge-eat, and chill. That’s important for me.

I also love to be active when I’m not tired. I love to bowl, I love to skydive, and I love to go hiking when it’s not too hot outside. I have a new dog, and I’ve taught her how to use talking buttons, so she talks back to me now!

I’ve been enjoying doing normal things and not being so caught up in work. I’ve had to relearn that. When you’re needed all the time, you forget how to not be needed. Taking a summer off and being okay with not being necessary was an adjustment, but you have to relearn that when you’re always on the go.

Therapy is always great. I love going to the sauna and working out with my trainer in the mornings. Sometimes I will get a room at the Four Seasons for two days just because I don’t want to be in my house — treat yourself! Spoil yourself, because it’s already done.

Anything self-serving is crucial for repair and replenishment. My mom always said you can’t give 100% if you’re only at 50%. Refilling your cup is important because running on fumes isn’t fair to the people you’re giving to. Recognizing when it’s time to refill and actually doing it is so important to me.

Did I hear correctly that you said you like skydiving?

JBaddie: I do! I’ve been twice already. You have to go 10 times to learn how to go by yourself. I’ll probably do tandem jumping for a while because jumping alone takes a lot of trust, but I’ll jump with somebody else doing all the heavy lifting all day! It’s such a rush.

I also have a motorcycle. I’m obsessed with anime cartoons, and I have a cat-ear helmet that I wear on my motorcycle to be obnoxious on the street for no reason! It’s nice to take long rides in the hills and by the beach. Anything peaceful and chill, I’m all for.

JB, this is our final aspirational question. Because of your amazing work and the platform that you’ve built, you’re honestly a person of enormous influence. If you could spread an idea or inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? Because you never know what your idea can inspire. You could say in this video, in this article, “I believe in ABC,” and it can spread very far.

JBaddie: Wow, that’s heavy. I just keep thinking about communication. If everyone had a lot more grace in general with everything — grace meaning consideration, understanding, and taking a beat to pause before responding.

I’ve been in places where I had to learn not to take things personally and consider what someone else could be going through. If everyone had a little bit more grace and understanding, even for your worst enemy, it could change so much — not just with the world, but with self. You wouldn’t be so stressed out.

There are a lot of angry people out there, and if I didn’t practice grace, I could be a whole different person. But it’s a choice. It’s a choice to decide, I’m going to set the temperature today to be this, and nothing else is going to turn that thermostat down.

Give yourself a little space and a little grace to say, “It’s all right, I’m trying each day.” We’re blessed to have each day as another opportunity. Just grace. If there was a little bit more of that, we’d have a lot more smiles and hugs, and it would be okay.

That’s why I love music so much — it can change your aura, your spirit, and your whole vibration. Music connects us all in love. More love, more grace, and trusting each other as humans having a human experience.

I really love listening to that song “Happy” by Pharrell. I’m sure that song gets on everyone’s nerves because they played it everywhere, and I’ve worked with Pharrell too. But it’s such a great song! It pumps me up.

100%. It’s sad that the world’s so cynical. Who could be against a song about happiness?

JBaddie: Right? Meanwhile, you’re complaining that you aren’t happy! Turn the song on! There’s power in your tongue and power in manifesting. That’s why I pay attention to what I listen to. It can set your spirit. Listening to good lyrics sets your mindset.

So JB, how can our readers purchase your book? How can our readers watch any of your performances? How can they continue to follow you online, and how can they support you and your amazing work in any possible way?

JBaddie: My Instagram, @msjbaddie, has all the updates. My website, jasminebatie.com, should be done around October 15th with all my stories and the official book announcement. There will probably be a pre-order sale around December 1st. That’s where you can find all my updates!

JB, it’s been so amazing meeting you. I wish you continued success, good health, and only blessings. It was truly a pleasure, and I’m happy we didn’t have to wait until the end of October for this.

JBaddie: Me too! I’m so happy it worked out and our schedules permitted it. I’m looking forward to seeing it. It’s going to be great.

It’s going to be an amazing article. I’m so excited to share it with the world. I hope we can do this again in the future!

JBaddie: Absolutely! Let’s do it. I can come to Maryland — we have to grab some coffee. It was so lovely meeting you.