Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cole Alexander Mills. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cole Alexander, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I have been taking risks my whole life, and so I guess I have taken for granted how daunting taking a risk can be throughout the different stages in one’s life. You can plan, coordinate, and calculate the outcome of a risky situation, or you can trust yourself to handle whatever it is and just go for it. You can guess which type I am by the end of this. There is nothing wrong with either approach, but it is crucial to know the situation at hand before making any decisions.

Let’s start the story after High School, because the journey from 1st to 12th grade is a whole other interview. After graduating in 2011, It was important for me to continue dancing and working towards my goal of transforming my artistry from the stage to the tv screen. But the industry is HIGHLY technical, and not traditionally a place where a Competitive Ballroom dancer goes to seek a career outside of ‘Dancing With The Stars’. After my freshman year as a business marketing undergrad, I made my first adult decision to switch my degree from business marketing to dance performance. I didn’t calculate the negatives, like starting a new 4 year undergrad after just finishing my first year, I just went for it and walked into my first advanced ballet class for placement wearing white tube socks, red basketball shorts, and a tank top. That risk walked me to a college degree, 3 years with a professional dance company in NYC, and signing with Bloc Talent agency. It boosted my confidence that the risk I took paid off, but a full time salary didn’t just fall into my lap.

My first year out of college after signing with Bloc, I was booking background work on tv, teaching dance, and working weekends at a bagel shop. Exactly 1 year later I wanted to take an even bigger chance on myself, and I auditioned for ‘SYTYCD’ Season 14, and made to the Academy rounds in Los Angeles where I really had my eyes opened to how many amazing dancers are out there competing for work in this industry. The 2 weeks in LA ended with me getting eliminated in the top 50, heading home with two weeks to make a full month’s rent. And right there It was the next big choice for me, to weigh the risk of pursuing this dream or finding a more stable income. I trained harder, taught more, and kept working at a bagel shop until the end of the year, and moved out to LA January 1st, 2018. I continued my training and found work teaching at a studio, getting ready to take another chance on myself. The risk this time was the rent was higher, the time off from working was harder, and stepping in front of the same judges a year later with a lot to prove was intimidating to say the least.

Making it through the Academy and being one of the top 10 dancers competing on live tv is something that over two decades of young dancers have dreamt about. I remember it was only a month after making the show I booked a national commercial campaign, and my life would proceed to change drastically from there. In the end it would appear that the risk I took on myself, and my dreams paid off.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

When I was introduced to ballet at 19, the technique changed my life. For 4 years I trained nothing but Ballet and Modern Dance, and when I returned to Latin dancing for the show in 2017 I had felt a much more clear understanding of my technical foundation as a whole. By the time the show was over, I had received a lot more exposure and for the first time in my life I was flying around the country working with different studios, teaching and choreographing. As I taught more, I felt more comfortable teaching the Latin-Ballroom technique to classically trained students because we use lot of the same vocabulary and directions. Very quickly I gained traction as one of very few international Latin dancers with a classical background as well, and it wasn’t long that I began working with commercial dance conventions and competitions. This was a new world for me, and I absolutely fell in love with teaching such incredibly hard working and disciplined students. My goal from a very young age was be able to blaze a trail, and then teach the next generation how to do it in an ever changing industry.
I have extended my choreography to competitions, conventions, stage shows, tv shows, and anywhere else you might imagine, and it has really taken me to a new place of exploration as an artist. Up until this point I have been so focused on shaping and molding myself into the best dancer I can be, but now I find my creative side producing work on others and sharing the gift of movement and athleticism through dance. I continue to work and create with studios and train young athletes looking to take their careers to the next level. My work has and always will be centered around pushing beyond old limitations of what the athletic body can do and setting new boundaries to challenge the younger generations.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I think NFT’s are the beginning of a longer conversation about the necessity of art and supporting the educational system that works with the next generation of upcoming artists. Now that we have the ability to actually monetize art more freely and securely, people have a means to interact and engage with it even in this increasingly fast paced – low attention span world we live in. I think the possibilities with blockchain technology and creating niche marketplaces for certain types of art will only expand, and I think naturally artists will gravitate towards all of this new attention in the space. Speaking as an artist, and an entertainer, I like the idea that a spectator could appreciate my work so much that they would purchase it for their own collection. To create a series of works and have a catalog on display for the world to admire, trade, and connect with others in that same space is really a dream for any artist. Right now, the technology is new and therefor very expensive to just access, but the more we explore this space, I believe we will find more compensation for well deserving creatives.

How did you build your audience on social media?

This is such an interesting topic because there are two ways to really grow any platform on social media. You can follow market trends, develop a strategy, a target market, and ‘influence’ a social community on a platform; Or you can simply show your journey to success via a skillset or talent you may have. I always tell people; professional athletes are not influencers and influencers are not professional athletes. The same can be said about any profession, because it takes more than ‘content’ to prove you are a part of a certain industry. There are many that ‘used’ to compete a high level and now influence a social community online, but there is a clear difference when developing a social media presence. Clarifying the type of account you have will help you develop the strategy you want for managing a profile. I did not create my following on social media by following a strategy and posting content for my followers, I worked hard to achieve things in my career and showcased it along the way. After a certain amount of success, the accounts grew, but because of the work I had done, and not because any of my videos went viral. Now with an extremely saturated presence on social media, the dial turns back to being very good at what you do, and making sure you showcase it in HD for the world to see. I continue to work and grow as an artist, and I focus very little on creating content for social media, and I am more drawn to the physical, the real, and the life beyond the screens. But that does not take away the importance social media plays in the lives of artists today, and the utility it presents. Find your balance with it, and see it as a resource for your creativity and not a burden or an expectation.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: mrcolemills
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/colealexandermills
• Twitter: mr_colemills
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfyS1y14QRUgyNONDI7fSvg
• Other: www.famousbirthdays.com/people/cole-mills.html

Image Credits
Hannahlei Cabanilla, Slavik Pustovoytov, Jay Jay dixonbey, Jensen Arnold, Magda Fialek, Darius Hickman, Chelsea Hough, Genessy Castillo, Evan Debenedetto. Rochelle Kharlamov