We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kim Manning a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
Many people would be suprised to find out I actually studied Mechanical Engineering in college. Although I ended up with a degree in Music Theater, Math was one of my true loves. I recently reconnected with my friends from that era and was filled with pride for their PHD’s in physics and the like. Their lives seemed so much easier then mine. More guaranteed and more stable. I also at this time reconnected with another friend who ended up doing aerospace engineering, which is what I really wanted to do, or so I thought. He said to me, no you didn’t. Mentioning the stress of having tests pilots lives depend on your experimental engineering. There was an aha moment for me in this process. That pendulumed from, “Omg I used to be a smart person what did I do with my life” to “omg i see why I didn’t do that.” When picking a career path we often don’t consider the back side of it. I know I didn’t when I decided to become a rockstar. The forever touring, infinite long hours, sexual harassment being normalized, low pay, and on and on. We tend to only see the good side. Being a shiny Rockstar singing to the crowd or an influencer doing something fabulous. I went down that path of what I could have been had I stuck with math. I could have important credits, and a title, and as mentioned much more career and life stability. It is tru that it is lonely being an artist. As Sly Stallone said “the air is thinner”. As my friends had built homes, and families, and important scientific projects I wondered what I had built. There can be a sense of nobody cares in entertainment. You put out a reel on IG. Nobody cares, release some music…nobody cares, put out an online skate tutorial system…nobody cares. It can feel that way, but, all my scientist friends kept reminding me of all the George Clinton and P-Funk shows they came to see me in, and how when I moved to NYC all of them came to visit me at different times. Then this magic thing happened and I listened to my Spotify channel and the music I have ready to release. It was some weird cathartic experience where I realized that if I had become a scientist, none of these songs would exist. None of my skate tutorials would exist, not even my silly Rollerskate safety songs. None of it. And although it isn’t much and I don’t have millions of followers, their mere existence is evidence that I matter. That it matters that art matters. I was a female in STEM studies long before that was a thing. I was the only girl pretty much always in all my classes. I wonder tho why we don’t instead consider increasing the value of the arts and other career fields? I guess in that moment I had to ask myself. What had more value? The art that I created or the projects I would have created as a scientist. Many of the projects my scientific friends ended up working on didn’t align with their ethos. Some of them changed their career as a result. I was able to say yes and no to projects and ideas based on if they aligned with my ethos on the regular. Infact, my ethos were able to be my guiding force. Being an artist allowed me to express my story freely and create freely. Freedom is not to be undervalued. Being an artist is hard. There is no lie in that. My path would have been in some ways seemingly more simple as a mathematician, but I guess if I had to do it over I would still begrudgingly chose the path I’m on.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born in a small town in oklahoma. I began touring with Grammy lifetime achievement winner George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic as singer and eventually started wearing my skates. After years of touring, countless late night tv shows, recordings ect… I was ready to go completely solo and focus on my music when my rollerskating stunt career took over. That then lead into me teaching rollerskating online via social media and my own programs Sk8 like a pro and Rollerpole pro a companion pole with rollerskates course. I’ve been featured in countless tv shows and movies including the Barbie Movie where I also choreographed the skaters to represent Venice Beach and skating with Mariah Carey for the Billboard Music Awards.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
In figure skating right before the athlete does a big jump there’s this moment we take where we prepare. As an athlete that moment was almost like our moment. Hey I’m about to do something dangerous and big. I need to focus. As a performer I have found that this moment is an audience killer. This moment is too personal. The cameras always turn off on me right before I do my big trick!! How frustrating. Figuring out a way to transmute that moment has been the biggest habit I have been trying to undue and replace. Haha that along with my cheerleader smile and propensity to follow the rules. They are all related u know.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
The best advice I can give you is that it’s not about you it’s about them. Remember when I said nobody cares? If you want people to care I have to care about them and not u. My old pre-2020 IG was all about me, my music, my tours, what I was doing. Nobody cared. Then, one day I got inspired to help people become better skaters. Help them become safer. Teach them the technology of skating. Once my content and interactions became about others and in service to my community it soared. My highest viewed music video at nearly 2 million views on IG is a song about watching for sticks and stones when u skate outside. I made the song on garage band on my Iphone using the Iphone mic and tiny lil piano.
Contact Info:
- Other: Website https://www.sk8likeapro.com IG https://www.instagram.com/kimmanningspacequeen/?hl=n YouTube https://youtube.com/user/kimberlymanning Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kimmanningspacequeen YouTube https://youtube.com/user/kimberlymanning Tiktok TikTok https://www.tiktok.com › @kimman…Kim Manning (@kimmanningspacequeen) – TikTok Resume la casting https://www.lacasting.com/Kimmanning
Image Credits
Volcheck shot me. Nga Ly, Eleonora Barna, Frank BENVENUTO