We recently connected with Anita Goshchin and have shared our conversation below.

Anita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Earning a full-time living from our creative jobs… That’s where most of us, creatives, have to make a decision, isn’t it? See, that’s the thing.
As somebody who has a degree in Pharmacy and is a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences with years of relevant experience, I am used to hearing ‘Oh, if I were you, I’d be cashing in!’, ‘Oh. if I were you, I wouldn’t even think about switching to anything else’, ‘Oh, if I were you, I would…….’.
The way I look at it, financial stability is not only about how much we earn. It is also (and much more that, in my opinion) about how much we spend.
Staying in the pharmaceutical world (kinda) secured me a stable income, but also required lots of expenses to fill the gap between my personal values and their manifestation through my actions in real life.
The path I am on right now does not bring me the same # of $, but does fulfill my purpose to the point where I end up spending less money simply because I am happy.

As cliche as it sounds… We have to follow our purpose. This is the only way of healthy living on this planet that I know.
Balance it out. Balance your talent with financial education (Internet is free, and resources are out there); every time you add to your spiritual/moral virtues, remember that you are still a human being, whose purpose is to fulfill life on Earth, so healthy egoism is required for survival; and create support systems for yourself. One – within yourself, one – in the surrounding you world.

Anita, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Nowadays I like to present myself as a developer of competitive ballroom dancing in Texas and, in a few years, in the USA. That means that I 1) have a dance school of my own; 2) judge at dance competitions; 3) perform myself; 4) give coaching sessions at other studios; 5) give consultations to colleagues on their dance business development, and do some other things that are still within the ballroom dance world. And all of that is always being done with the following idea on my mind:

What can I do right now, in this minute that I am working, to push the ballroom industry forward?

2 passions of mine have blended into one in my current job. I have been enjoying dancing for all my life, starting ballroom at 14ish years old. I also love everything that is about innovations, challenges, and ambitions.
I do have a very strong sense of personal values though, such as honesty, justice, softness, and care for each other. They counterbalance the ambitious side of me. As a result, that allows me to provide services to people making sure that these services benefit them just as much (often – more) as they benefit the industry and me.

You’re asking, what sets me apart from others? I believe that this is it. The ability to bring personal values in their truest form into business. I know that a lot of times we are being taught to separate personal values and business values. I can agree that it works to some extent, but I have found another way around it. So far my clients ( be it competition organizers, board members of dance organizations, students, studio owners I work with) are constantly giving me positive feedback. I guess it works!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I feel that we all need to connect to ourselves. We can talk for hours about morals, laws, and social boundaries, but none of it will work effectively until we accept the current trend of our realm, which is Individualism.

Let me tell you a little bit about what I do in the very-very first lessons with my beginner students.
First of all, we talk. Let me hear all you’re comfortable sharing with me. Let me see who you are, what brings you into the studio, and what is it that you want to achieve. ‘Me, I, myself’ – those are the words I need to hear to be able to help.
Then, we learn the basics. The base of basics, if you will. We learn how to stand. How to use the spine to connect all parts of our body. We learn how to walk. We learn to listen to music. Sometimes we even learn how to breathe. Do you see the trend? We are doing all the things kids do, but just on another scale, and with a bit more advanced application.
Ballroom dance is partner style though, isn’t it? There is supposed to be a leader and a follower (if we are talking about traditional ballroom competition entries. Solo options are also always available, we don’t discriminate). But the style itself was born as a partnership dance.
Well, only after we have managed to do all of the above on our own, only then will we try to do the same things in partnership. And as ridiculous as it sounds, no partnership will work if each of the partners hasn’t taken care of themselves first.

Now, applying all this to the outside world (which we should, as Arts serve as a mirror of Reality from my philosophical point of view), we have a trend. A direction, a plan for action. To take care of ourselves first.

Are you happy where you are?
If not, what would you change?
What would you like more for yourself?
What is the smallest step to yourself that you can take?
Do you think you can take this step right now?
No? That’s okay, let’s see when it will feel good to take this step.
Yes? Wonderful, shall we give it a try?

You will be surprised how many *insert the name of popular brand* subscriptions are getting canceled after one has become aware of their truest needs and wants.

The magic starts happening after it. We become more grateful. More aware of the world around us. Sometimes (or often?) – more aware of the deepest issues we might have, but now we have more tools to solve those. So we do, we solve them. Because once you’ve learnt to be true to yourself, you cannot unlearn it, just as you cannot unlearn the technique of waltz rise and fall once you’ve practiced it for 2 weeks. And this is when we connect to the world… and to our communities. A healthy ecosystem is interconnected with happy (deeply, fundamentally happy) Human.

It is not a quick fix by no means. But the only way of building something meaningful I know, is taking a slow route.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Oh, I have a good one. There are a lot of wonderful sources, and I believe that every second on planet Earth can be a learning experience for us, but let me introduce you to one of the most mind-changing books I know. ‘The black swan’ by Nassim Taleb. This book has ruffled quite a number of feathers, and it might even ruffle yours. But hey. If you want to learn, you need to get uncomfortable.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @pantheradancelab
• Facebook: @pantheradancelab
• Linkedin: @anitagoshchindancepro
• Other: I LOVE connecting with new people, so if you have a comment/concern/question, and you’d like to have a conversation about it – please email me! [email protected]

Image Credits
1 – photo by Stephen Marino 2 – ‘Hardworking students of the school with trophies won at AODC 2023′, 3 – Talented students of the school with trophies won at Texas Challenge 2023’ 4 – photo by Stephen Marino