We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jeanna Hine. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jeanna below.

Jeanna, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents are both entrepreneurs. They’ve dabbled in so many different businesses throughout the years and have always done well for themselves. Over the years they’ve taught me a lot on how to be successful in anything I do. And here are some of the things they’ve taught me… My parents taught me how to be resilient, hardworking, and dedicated, they also taught me to stand up for myself and my work. In the corporate world, losing sight of your self-worth and purpose is easy. You get lost in the monotony of it all and often are under-appreciated. If you don’t learn to fight for yourself and never get too comfortable, you will not move up. My parents always taught me not to be afraid to speak my mind and stand up for what’s right, even if it’s against a superior. Of course, this needs to be done in a way of respect, but they taught me that I absolutely have the right to voice my opinion when I feel wronged; and I should never be afraid to walk away from a situation that I don’t feel comfortable in.
The most important lesson of all though, I would say, is to always have a backup plan. I have my own consulting firm because while I have 10 years of experience in my field, I am aware that life happens. I want to make sure that in the event I can no longer work under someone else that I am fully prepared to continue my career on my own terms.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a proud half-Taiwanese half-American woman who was born and raised in Taiwan. I moved to the United States at the age of 14 with zero knowledge of the English language. For as long as I remember I’ve always been adopting, learning, and constantly growing myself. My professional career is two-fold. I have my creative side and my analytical side. Both are what I enjoy, and I’ve managed to be able to tap into both passions in my adulthood.

My creative side is dance. I have been training in various different dance styles including Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Chinese, HipHop, Salsa, Bachata, Ballroom, etc. since I was 6 years old. Dance has always been my passion, something that truly fills my cup in every way. When I was young I traveled and performed with one of the top dance academies in Taiwan. After moving to the United States, I set my sights on professional sports team dancing and was selected as an NBA Dancer for the Denver Nuggets for two seasons. I taught dance on and off as I was always performing/dancing with a team and had little time to teach with my full-time career in Revenue Management. However, now I teach Salsa and Bachata lessons at South Walton Dance Company in Freeport and Salsa Savvy Destin and I love it, it’s been a nice break from the intensive training I was always used to, but allows me to continue to shine in my passion and hopefully pass on that love for dance to many others!

My professional career is in Hospitality with a concentration in Revenue Management. I actually studied Hospitality Management in college and have stuck to my guns ever since. I went from a Manager In Training program right out of college, to a full-time Revenue Manager role, then Area Revenue Manager, Director of Revenue Management to now the Vice President of Revenue Management for By The Sea Resorts in Panama City Beach, FL. It was a long wrong with a lot of lesions navigating the corporate world, but I learned a lot and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. This career has allowed me to simultaneously pursue my dance passion and I am forever grateful.

I really want people to know that it is not impossible to work a full-time job and still pursue what sets your soul on fire. You really CAN have it all. I’m not saying it doesn’t take a lot of work, and you’re not going to sacrifice some “fun” along the way. But it is worth it, and at the end you will look yourself in the mirror and be SO PROUD.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My reputation as a dance teacher is mainly built from staying connected in the salsa/bachata dance community here in Destin. I am heavily involved in marketing and digital promotions for my dance school South Walton Salsa & Bachata Dance Academy and Salsa Savvy Destin. I continue to educate myself in the art of dance daily, never stopping being a student myself has helped me grow as a teacher. I also utilize Instagram and Facebook heavily for personal and business branding overall. Ensuring all facets of digital marketing are met and optimized helps build my reputation as well.

My professional career reputation is built through work experience and resume-building. Never turn down an opportunity to lead a project or meeting, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and ask for more. Reputation in the corporate world is built on trust between coworkers, superiors, and subordinates. It is also heavily built on relationship-building.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

The most important aspects of managing a team are communication and trust. Communication is not only essential to growth in a team environment, but it leads to building healthy trust, and trust then demands respect. Always be mindful that your team, while they are employees of your company, they are still human beings. Ensuring your team feels that their work-life balance is respected can raise morale overall. Having a constant goal to strive toward for your team is also a good way to keep morale high. Be fair and be inspirational to your team, and lead by example.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jeanna.nichole is my personal; @sowalsalsa and @salsasavvydestin are where I teach dance.
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanna.hine and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550050955283&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanna-hine-5a25b763/