--- title: "Kendall Nielson of SHiNE Dance Fitness: Self-Doubt is the Biggest Career Obstacle Entrepreneurs Must Overcome" url: "https://authoritymag.co/articles/kendall-nielson-of-shine-dance-fitness-self-doubt-is-the-biggest-career-obstacle-entrepreneurs-m" publisher: "Authority Magazine" author: "Candice Georgiadis" authorUrl: "https://authoritymag.co/authors/candice-georgiadis" interviewee: "Kendall Nielson" company: "SHiNE Dance Fitness" category: "Wellness" datePublished: "2022-01-31T07:06:19.383Z" dateModified: "2026-11-12T17:08:01.971Z" tags: "Wellness" --- # Kendall Nielson of SHiNE Dance Fitness: Self-Doubt is the Biggest Career Obstacle Entrepreneurs Must Overcome *The founder of SHiNE Dance Fitness shares how rediscovering her passion for dance transformed a local hobby into a global movement supporting women's physical and mental wellbeing.* > My passion for dance was awakened and stronger than ever before. I felt the young girl from years past surfacing, and with that came confidence, joy, and freedom. --- As*a part of my series about*[women in wellness](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/search?q=Women%20In%20Wellness%3A)*, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kendall Nielson.* *Kendall Nielson is the founder of SHiNE Dance Fitness™, a welcoming and supportive dance fitness community that offers online and in-person classes for all abilities. The classes are rooted in jazz, ballet, and hip hop and provide the perfect balance of high cardio and toning to ensure a full body workout that’s fun, energizing, lifts your mood, and boosts your self-esteem!* --- **Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?** I grew up taking dance classes like jazz, ballet, and tap, but when I graduated high school and went off to college, I stopped dancing (except for the occasional girls night out). I got married the week after college graduation and ‘real’ life happened. Jobs, kids, running a household, staying spiritually connected, trying to stay fit, being a good friend, sister, daughter, wife and mother — and the list goes on. While I took pride in these responsibilities and they gave me joy, I was losing the carefree spirit I had prior to adulting. In 2008, a getaway with my mother and sister changed my life. After experiencing a loss in our family, we took time for each other and left for a fitness spa retreat. To be completely honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it. My idea of a relaxing getaway did NOT include working out daily! During our stay, I gravitated to the dance classes and felt overwhelmed with emotion that had been buried for years. My passion for dance was awakened and stronger than ever before. I felt the young girl from years past surfacing, and with that came confidence, joy, and freedom. This is when I told myself I needed to make dance a part of my life, and more importantly, share it with other women. I started crafting my own class by incorporating traditional dance from my youth and the best dance music out there, creating routines for students to feel strong, confident, inspired and challenged. I spent the first six years perfecting and growing my class. Then, in 2015 I made the choice to turn my local hobby into a business. We officially became SHiNE Dance Fitness™, launching our first online classes, and the next year we hosted our first live instructor training. Today, classes are offered virtually and around the world by passionate instructors who have started their own SHiNE™ community. My greatest reward on this journey is hearing students and instructors share the positive impact SHiNE has made on them. It’s when I hear these stories I am reassured I’m living out my purpose, and I thank every member of SHiNE Nation for allowing me to do so! **Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?** One of the most unexpected blessings I’ve received since starting this business was meeting Mel. Ten years ago, Mel was just finishing chemo from her first battle with breast cancer. SHiNE was just what she needed at the time, and I thank the Lord above that she saw my cheap plastic sign on the side of the road and followed her nudge to check it out! Since that day, Mel has become a significant contributor and invaluable asset to SHiNE and our community. She’s responsible for helping us get into the first gym. She helped me launch our first instructor training! She is a talented choreographer and ROCKSTAR Instructor. **She is my rock**. She gets me, she gets it, she gets SHiNE. She is an incredible listener and gives great advice. We laugh so much together and she makes everything fun! Mel has truly played an integral role in making SHiNE what it is today, but her biggest contribution of all has been her friendship: not just with me, but with everyone in this community. In January 2020, Mel learned that a different form of breast cancer had returned. In true Mel form, she took on the battle and almost made it look easy! (We know it wasn’t, but to protect those around her, she always kept it together.) She endured chemo, a double mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and BOOM! She was right back on the dance floor doing what she loves. Fast forward about a year. Mel began to cough often and just…didn’t feel well. Her energy was dragging, but she thought (hoped!) she had contracted a virus and was just dealing with some “lingering” symptoms. She showed up to our SHiNE Instructor Summit like a BOSS, but since that big event, she hasn’t had the energy to do the things she loves most. After several tests, doctors confirmed the breast **cancer has metastasized to Mel’s liver and lungs**. Mel has an incredible medical team and is in good hands. They are exploring treatment options, and she is surrounded by proactive, optimistic doctors who have given us a lot of hope. Mel’s strength is making me LEVEL UP. **Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?** I feel funny about the word mistake! Every mistake I’ve made has led me down a path I had to go try. It’s always a learning journey. Mistakes are just a part of the process, and I find that they often confirm for me what the RIGHT thing is to do. All that being said, the biggest mistake I’ve made has been doubting myself. I told myself so many times that I couldn’t own a dance fitness company. Even though my passion was to help women find joy in fitness, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to deliver a program they’d love, and I told myself the market was already saturated for that audience. So, instead of working with adult women, I thought I’d try creating a program for kids. Something they could do after school…I thought kids wouldn’t be as picky or critical, but boy was I wrong! Kids are way more difficult to work with and I didn’t enjoy it. That whole experience made it very clear to me that although it was intimidating at first, this is exactly where I need to be, working with women (and now some men too!). **Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?** Physical and mental health and wellness are so important. SHiNE reaches people who feel like fitness is daunting and shows them that it can be a mood-lifting experience. We’re making an impact by reaching the masses in such a positive way. Our format really connects with our students not just in class, but with other opportunities too. As our world becomes more and more isolated with everyone glued to their cell phones (oh, and the pandemic), we’re constantly finding new ways to support one another. We now have certified SHiNE Instructors all over the world who are helping people in their communities by sharing SHiNE. We also have SHiNE Online available so anyone with internet access can dance with us. **Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.** - I realized a while back that alcohol wasn’t serving me, and so I decided to cut it out of my lifestyle. Being an entrepreneur and a woman of faith, I started asking myself, “What is keeping you from living out your purpose? What’s keeping you from being your best self and building the business you want?” Although I wasn’t battling any personal addiction, I was very aware of myself, my origins, and the struggles I’ve seen loved ones go through in the past. Cutting out alcohol was the answer for me. - Treat yourself daily! After attending the fitness retreat that spurred me to start SHiNE, I found myself thinking, “I need to bring the retreat to my house!” I do what I can to find joy in every single day, even if it’s something small. It could be ice cream or a bubble bath. Cuddling with my dog and watching a silly tv show. Journaling. Sipping my coffee. Sometimes it’s SHiNE, getting my nails done, or just being with a friend. I get grumpy if I don’t make time for these things. - Focus on quality time with loved ones. My job has forced me into this. Being intentional about my time. Putting away the phone. Locking eyes with the person I’m with, etc. I do my best to have this focused time with my family and think ahead to the next time I get to spend time with my husband, kids, and friends. - Believe that everyone is doing the best they can. There are a lot of toxic people in this world, and it’s easy to get hung up and stressed out. I find that I give this advice a lot to people — if we operate knowing that everyone is doing the best they can, we won’t take it personally or get super worked up about how others treat us. This mentality keeps me from playing the victim and instead thinking about the why. What might that person be dealing with that would make them act that way? Understanding where they’re coming from helps to eliminate hurt feelings. - Find a workout you love. Fitness should be the adult version of recess. It’s NOT just another thing on your to-do list. If you haven’t found the workout you love, just keep looking. The need to move our bodies doesn’t go away as we get older. We need recess even MORE as adults! **If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?** It would be really powerful if more of us could see our own potential and see it enough to move on it. I wish everyone could break away from negative voices, lies, and low self-esteem. So many of us carry it, but maybe by banding together and helping lift each other out of it we can each act on what’s on our hearts. That’s been my journey. If something is not working out in my life, I want to get to the bottom of it until there’s joy there. If there’s something in your life giving you shame or grief, ask for help and get it figured out. There’s something better for you on the other side. **What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?** Yikes, this is a hard one! There’s a lot I know I could’ve or should’ve done, but I wanted my journey to be at a pace that was comfortable for me. I needed to take it easy and figure it out as I went. I was so burnt out after my prior career in real estate, that this journey needed to be slow and steady. Looking back, it would’ve been helpful if someone had told me to: - Get a coach/mentor to talk through and prioritize my ideas and goals. There’s so much I want to implement but only so many hours in a day! - Make an effort to collaborate with other people in the industry. Look for opportunities to learn from seasoned professionals and also stay on top of what’s trending. - Find the people who “get it” and want to see me succeed and keep them close! Everyone needs a cheerleader! - Always be on the lookout for people I trust who could become valuable members of the team, and delegate to those trusted people when possible so I can continue to pursue my big picture goals for the business. - Know it’s okay to go at my own pace, but keep putting one foot in front of the other, even if it’s slow-going. **Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?** 100% mental health. Exercise is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to living a healthy, happy life. That’s why it’s important to me that SHiNE focuses on total wellness and creating a community full of support and opportunities for connection. **What is the best way our readers can follow you online?** Follow me on Instagram @shinewithKendall to get a look-see into my personal life, and definitely follow SHiNE on Facebook, Insta, and YouTube to see what Team SHiNE has in the works. We’ve got lots of goodies coming your way soon! **Thank you for these fantastic insights!** --- Source: https://authoritymag.co/articles/kendall-nielson-of-shine-dance-fitness-self-doubt-is-the-biggest-career-obstacle-entrepreneurs-m (Authority Magazine, Wellness). Interviewee answers are first-person statements of the guest. Index of all pages: https://authoritymag.co/llms.txt