Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mackenzie Rawls. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mackenzie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I am a professional freelance dance artist, yoga instructor and SUP instructor. One of the biggest risks I have taken was moving to NYC with no job, no connections and on a mission to find a work that challenged me, my art, my technique followed by the choice to stay in NYC throughout COVID.
After graduating college from the Boston Conservatory, I moved home with an ankle injury. My favorite company had closed its doors mere weeks before their scheduled audition so I decided to apply for a high school PE job. I ended up building a full middle states approved dance curriculum at a high school in MD. It wasn’t until one of my dearest students said, “You are always telling us to follow our dream… are you?” That I realized, I wasn’t, not fully anyway. Yes I had completed my yoga certification, but teaching wasn’t completely filling my cup. It was that spring that I resigned from the high school and joined a small dance company, Bowen McCauley Dance. I was thrilled. I was doing what I loved, I was performing. I was a guest artist in residence teaching and choreographing on inner city schools, and even set a work through BMD on Howard University dance majors. Looking back, I got greedy and wanted more. Seeing it now, I truly did have such a full, well rounded life. I was teaching, performing regularly, taking class, choreographing while also pursuing my paddle and yoga passions in my off hours. I was making a living off of things I loved. After three years, I wanted more… new styles, new genres of dance, I wanted to step away from the comfort of being where I grew up and decided after talking to my mentor, it was time to take the risk to move to NYC. I had it all going for myself in MD, but I still wanted more. I wanted to be pushed and challenged. And let me tell you… I got EXACTLY what I asked for.
September 2019, I took the plunge, I packed up my life and moved to NYC, into a room as wide as my brothers wingspan with no job or connection to one. The first few weeks were amazing. I found a yoga studio, a couple dance classes, a beach and a place to paddle all within the first month of being in NYC. Until I quickly realized, with time anyone could. I was nannying for these two incredible girls who I still see for playdates, but that gig was short term. Between Sept and November, I believe I sent over 300 applications to every kind of job you could think of IKEA furniture builder, host, server, instructor, barista, with no success. By mid October, I was humbled beyond belief. I was depressed because despite ten years teaching experience, three years serving and hostess experience – I was not qualified. 3 months was the longest period of time in life since summers in high school, that I didn’t have consistent income. Then Trader Joe’s finally gave me an interview November 2019. Needless to say, I’ve been there ever since, it will be 5 years this November! With income, I could begin to pay off debt, buy groceries that were more than mere eggs, rice and beans. I think that night I bought myself steak from TJ’s and flowers to celebrate. With income meant, I could get to classes, to train, to begin refocusing on my pursuit of dance. They worked (and continue to) around my desire to audition. Things were going so well, I had a national tour call back for An American In Paris… then COVID hit.
The day of my call back, I worked a 5am shift at Trader Joes, I went planned to leave early and return after the call. (Again, Trader Joe’s understood how important this was and always did their best to accommodate). I did my make up in the bathroom of the warehouse and left looking like no one my coworkers had ever seen. As I transferred onto the A train, I got an email that said, BROADWAY IS CLOSED, This National Tour Callback is cancelled until further notice. This was still in an era we thought, two weeks and the world will come back. And we all remember how quickly everything escalated.
Before I knew it, I was one of few people still going to work. How we went from mere cashiers and service people to essential workers was a wild flip. But that experience, is a whole story of its own. The next decision was to decide, am I going to stay in NYC? I decided, as someone who was employed but not just one but TWO in person opportunities, I had no reason to leave. I was finally building connections, meeting like-minded people, and honestly, I wasn’t stuck in my apartment or house. I left every day for at least 10 hours of the day between two jobs and a minimum hour like bike commute each way.
I would argue my stubborn streak gave me the life I have today. Are there things I could’ve done differently, sure of course, but these two risks in particular – never really were questions… just a matter of timing. I knew what I came here for, I knew/still know what I want and that is to live out all my passions. While I may not be headlining Broadway, dancing nearly as much as I thought, training as often – I am successfully still performing at least once or twice a year, dancing when I have time. I have beautiful yoga communities in three different neighborhoods, I have steady income from all my jobs. I still get onto the water and have fallen in love with dare I say even more realms I never could have imagined back in the comfort of my Maryland life 5 years ago.
Definitely has been more speed bumps than not, but I think it has only further prepared me fore all the epic offerings this city and life have. I consider myself lucky and filled with gratitude I was raised by a supportive family who knew I needed to see this through.
Mackenzie, 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?
For those of you who don’t know me, I am Mackenzie Rawls, dancer, yogi, paddler, jewelry maker, wedding choreographer – “Mack of All Trades”. I have danced my whole life, knowing as early as sixth grade that I wanted to pursue dance professionally. As in most art industries, we do not have just one job or skillset to offer. Starting in high school, I began teaching dance camps and subbing for teachers. My teaching experience began as young as 14 helping my studio when a teacher left their commitment and this passion has continued since.
Upon graduating college, I helped build a performing arts and dance program in a high school in Prince Georges County, MD where I learned so much about curriculum building and the nuance of working in administration, with parents and high school aged students/creatives. During that time, I found I wanted to offer more and with my devoted yoga practice, decided I wanted to dive deeper. As a varsity coach and aided in cross training of some of the athletic teams, so many of my high school students and athletes were reaping the benefits of some of the mindfulness, body work. and yogic practices we did, I decided it was time to take that practice deeper and get certified.
I then booked a dance contract that kept me dancing regularly, choreographing and working as a teaching artist in residence in the DMV. I was doing everything I loved. After moving to NYC, I made a side hustle making jewelry during COVID as a place to put creative energy when stuck at home. This jewelry making side gig started because for years my mom and I had always done “girl bonding” by taking jewelry classes together. It was a way to stay connected to my creative while also connecting to my mom throughout quarantine, at least mentally.
In the past year, with the help of my roommate, I have begun the branding steps of building “Mack of All Trades”. It is all the parts of me in one place. With a passion for rave culture and life, dance, yoga, choreography, paddling, and creation – it is a singular place to access me and what services I offer. While still in its inception, I am so excited to finally house all of these under one umbrella.
I think right now something that sets me and my work apart from those around me is my genuine LOVE of what I do. I mean I work 3 – 4 jobs and only one of those feels like a “job” in the traditional sense and even Trader Joes is a job I am proud to tell people I have. I think I would like people to know that I want their most authentic selves present, raw, messy, and real. That where the real connection happens. I am really honored to be part of communities that really see each other or aim to.
I think my diverse range of passions makes my offerings accessible, fun, and that our inner child really deserves to be seen and honored. I’d argue, many of my clients, come back because they leave my classes or space – feeling lighter or more in-tune with themselves and hopefully with some levity to take on the rest of their days.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I will be honest, the artists sphere can be totally unaccessible at times. But not for a lack of trying, because we are all so nuanced. One resource in the last year that I would say really changed my life was “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. Fair warning, it is a reckoning. It will make you face pieces of your life you buried. It will call you out. It will make you accountable.
But honestly, I spent SO much of my creative life being told, show up to auditions, get seen. That’s how you make it. Be good enough. Be authentic. But you aren’t the most important in the room. Don’t make bad impressions. These all still feel so… unhelpful, unattainable and frankly like a massive mind game.
Reading through and doing the work (admittedly still unfinished), changed my approach to everything. It was like therapy. ( I often took these ideas and concepts and discoveries to therapy as well). The biggest lesson I learned was, I could ASK FOR WHAT I WANT. I don’t have to pray my social media gets seen for the gig or hope one day to meet a DJ who would see me dancing to want to collaborate. I COULD ASK. And so in the last year, I’ve started asking people for what I want. I got in touch with one of the biggest DJ duo’s manager with a proposal, I found local DJs to begin collaborating with, I started sunrise yoga classes with Domino Park after sharing with the right people something I had tried for years! I started asking teachers and choreographers if they had class openings or needed help with pre-pro or still looking for dancers.
It gave me the power to step in the role of “control”. The worst that could happen, they say no or nothing at all. That was worth it for me. So if you are an artist, a creative and have an idea, write it down, write down the why and make proposal and trust your gut. Go for it. Don’t play small. I did for too long.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Right now, I am really trying to root into community through my greatests loves (movement, music, and art). Whether that being performing regularly, getting into dance class, creating safe spaces for people to explore themselves, movement etc collaborating events with small businesses, live DJs, or musical/visual artists, hosting retreats, getting involved in the festival scene or building a community space for healing, movement and growth. Between all my loves, I just want to build a space where our inner child, our most authentic self and our health meet at the heart. I think that all intersect more than the world wants to admit. So if I can find ways of doing it, that’s what I am after!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mack-rawls.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mack_of_all_trades__/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackrawls/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MackenzieRawlsDesign
Image Credits
James Jin Photography
Andrew Bisdale Photography
Kristopher Grubbs