We recently connected with Clayton A Ashcraft and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Clayton thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Starting Step x Step Dance came at a time when I was in one of my most difficult stages of life. Having been laid off and losing my grandma in the same week near Thanksgiving 2010, it took me a few months to wade through the strife of mental, physical, and emotional difficulties. Most importantly, I held onto my faith in these moments and sought prayerful guidance to find direction in my life which led me to using my experience and talents in dance, promotions, and marketing to give street dancers the opportunity to be highlighted. I remember a couple times (Phoenix & Las Vegas, 2011) the idea of starting Step x Step Dance as a means to build a media organization giving Hip Hop, street, and choreography dancers the opportunity to tell their stories through events, interviews, and more. It felt as though my grandma, on the other side, was empowering me to use these talents to help others in need of joy, hope, and recognition. From the start of the first blog post to filming our first event, here we are 13 years later having covered thousands of dancers worldwide, over 75 million views & 160+ thousands subscribers on YouTube, and years of storytelling which will bless future generations.

Clayton, 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?

My name is Clayton Ashcraft aka “C-Bass” born and raised in Escondido, CA and discovered dance through my family and friends, growing up in the 80s & 90s inspired by the golden age of music, dance, sports and entertainment. In middle and high school, I had a lack of confidence while working through a lot of emotional issues, and I remember seeing a B-boy (breakdancer) getting down at one of the assemblies and it ignited energy in my soul. I had loved dancing throughout the years but never put forth any effort to practice or learn more, but I had a church friend invite me to be part of his lip-sync performance group and that helped give me greater confidence. From there it was learning dances off of VHS tapes, practicing/performing at church dances with friends, attending school in Idaho (2003) and learning about Hip Hop culture, organizing Hip Hop dance events at college, and traveling to other dance events around the West Coast. All of this helped build my confidence to take risks, learn about who I was, and help others to discover/utilize their own talents, eventually to create Step x Step Dance in 2011. Through this I have been able to travel the world, meet inspirations in the dance, music, sports, and entertainment industries, and bless kids & youth in many communities who needed empowering examples.

It does not matter where you come from, where you been, what matters is how you react to your situation and turn something into good for this world. Whether it’s a small town or a big city, you have the ability to learn, grow, and create opportunities for yourself and others. I am witness to many who have supported me in my success and its been even greater to witness seeing others have their own success. We live in a time where we have unlimited resources and opportunities to go after a dream, while also so much over-saturation of content & opinions that can be noisy to our focus, remember to keep it simple, build a solid foundation, find gratitude in any success (small or large), and serving others in the process.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During early 2017, I had been working full-time as a Promotions Specialist for Allegiant Air, working events related to customer marketing, and still running Step x Step, full-time as well. I was preparing to travel to Canada for an event with Allegiant, then following I would be traveling to the Middle East to teach dance, judge dance events, and enjoy a vacation. As I returned to work, I started to feel very dizzy with bad head pain and then numbness down the left side of my body, as well could not stand on my feet. What happened that day and the next day were determined to be strokes and I was in a wheelchair not able to walk or talk. The next year (s) became the most difficult trial of my life: physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally as I was now fighting to live and understand exactly what was happening. I had to voluntarily give up my job, was not able to dance, and could not attend events like I had so many years previously. I learned a lot about faith, increased prayers, staying in gratitude, and never taking simple things in life for granted. One of the moments during my recovery, I had a doctor state that “dance saved your life,” it wasn’t a cliche you see in a movie or TV show, all the years of dancing had kept me healthy enough to save my life through those strokes. I am a witness that faith and pursuing righteous, positive dreams can bless your life and others! I truly have seen how some of the stories we told from dancers who had been through similar health trials inspired me to prepare for these difficult moments and I have been able to help others, since my strokes. Even though I still cannot dance as I did, and I use a walker/wheelchair still, I have turned my direction to DJ’ing for many different events, still filming dancers & events where I can, and using this trial to empower others to continue pursuing their dreams. Most importantly, I would not have met my fiance’, soon to be wife, Luisa, had it not been for these trials, which is why we can always turn our difficult life lessons into positive blessings.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building a social media following is not easy, especially in 2024 ,with so much over-saturation and different voices trying to generate the most views, revenue. While many people want to be entertained, it’s important to find your niche, your audience, and truly reach to heart of yours/their purpose. Part of what helped us build such a following was to shake hands, learn names, and support events, dancers, and brands of all backgrounds. Spending time learning more about people allows you to build a true following and the wave of referrals, recommendations by word of mouth, sharing, or connecting these audiences builds from there. We’ve been able to not only be a media organization who attends events to film and post content, but we also have other social media components where we share events, videos and help keep the community connected. I always say do everything from picking up trash to being the first or last at an event, you will see more support come.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stepxstepdance.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/stepxstepdance
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/stepxstepdance
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stepxstepdance
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/stepxstepdance