Are you choosing to live a happy, fulfilling life?
Studies show that 90% of what separates a happy life from an unhappy one is within your control. One of the most powerful ways to unlock your best life is by setting, pursuing, and achieving meaningful goals.
You have the power to choose happiness—but don’t just take my word for it! Here’s how real people, just like you, are creating happiness by chasing their biggest goals.
Ready for a dad joke?
Consider this a lighthearted amuse-bouche for your brain before we get serious. Sure, it might be groan-worthy—but hey, at least you’re getting your money’s worth, right? 😆
If you remove the S from Seven it becomes even. How odd.
What It Really Took for Marissa to Dance Professionally (Hint: It Wasn’t Just Talent)
🌟 Welcome to this month’s Interview with a Goal-Crusher! 🌟
Each month, I sit down with someone who’s achieved big things through goal-setting and determination to uncover their secrets to success. Then I share those insights with you… Think of it as free mentoring from someone who’s already making it happen. Who wouldn’t want that?!
If you read my Reflections on Leadership book, you know one of my core philosophies is: “Leadership is tough, but it’s tougher if you’re a jerk.” Just a small glimpse of my Don’t Be a Jerk strategy includes these reminders for leaders:
- Treat others as equals
- Tell your barista good morning
- Talk to people and try to learn something about them
Those three tactics are exactly what led to this interview, and I’m so glad they did.
I met Marissa at my favorite coffee shop, Winans, in Columbus’ German Village. In the course of a friendly chat, I learned that she’s a professional dancer… maybe the first one I’ve ever known personally. That immediately intrigued me because the path to becoming a professional dancer feels mysterious to me.
- I know it’s grueling work, both physically and emotionally
- I know only a small percentage of people who try actually make it. Marissa did.
- I know it demands tremendous creative energy to do it well
So I asked if I could feature her as one of my Operation Melt goal-crushers. Selfishly, I also wanted to learn more about the mysterious path to becoming a professional dancer. Thankfully, she said yes.
This interview taught me so much about the dance world… but even more about grit, growth, and self-belief. Marissa’s journey is bold, honest, and deeply inspiring. I’m excited to share it with you.
Here’s Marissa’s story.
Please introduce yourself and tell my readers about you and what you do.
My name is Marissa Waitlevertch; I am a dance artist currently based in Columbus, Ohio.
I am originally from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, and although my heart will always be black and gold, I moved to Ohio in August to follow my dreams of becoming a professional dancer. I am a dancer with Whirlwind Dance, under the direction of Joshua Manculich, and I will be starting my second season with the company this August.
If you want all the stats, I have been dancing since I was three years old and can’t imagine my life without it.
I don’t think my parents knew what they were signing up for when I went to my first few dance classes, but I practically grew up in my ballet studio. Throughout high school, I started taking it more seriously and decided this is what I was meant to do in life. After beginning pre-professional collegiate level training during a worldwide pandemic, I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Point Park University in the spring of 2024.
What motivated you to become a professional dancer? What was your vision? Can you share some/all of your story?
My mom likes to tell this story of me after my first dance recital when I was three. After my dazzling performance of “Me and My Teddy,” complete with tap shoes, a blue bedazzled dress and matching bow, and a teddy bear, I got in the car at the end of the night and said, “That was fun, when do I get to do it again?”
Obviously, I do not remember this, but I am glad to see that baby Marissa and I are still on the same page.
My vision has changed throughout my journey. I wanted to be a ballerina, then a Broadway star, then a Rockette, and now, finally, where I am now: a professional contemporary dancer.
But no matter who I wanted to become, dance was always at the center of it.
In class and performance, dance makes me feel the closest to who I am supposed to be. I wish I knew how to put that feeling into words, but no other experience I have had in life makes me feel like I feel when I am dancing.
That same gut feeling is what made me pursue this as a career. In whatever way dance shows up next in my journey, I know it is what I was put on this Earth to do.
What was the first step you took to get started with your goal?
The first step I took to tackle my dreams of becoming a professional dancer was to take a leap of faith.
I wish I could tell you the exact moment I knew this was what I wanted to do, but I feel like I always just kind of knew. I am so grateful and lucky to have a great support system in my family. I am also privileged to have had the opportunities and training I have had.
But to make the dream become a reality, you just have to do it and trust the process.
There are days, weeks, and months that are hard, and it may feel like you’re going nowhere, but that is when you have to leap and trust even more. I never thought I would be moving to Ohio, of all places, but that is where my dreams could flourish.
Your dreams or goals in life will always ebb and flow, but what helps me with every new goal is to trust and leap into it full force.
What were your biggest challenges in achieving your goals? How did you overcome them?
I think, throughout my training and career, my biggest challenge was people not believing in me. Unfortunately, that has been a consistent aspect of my dancing journey since I can remember. Everyone has always had their opinions on what I should or should not be doing on my path.
- In my middle school and high school training, I was also pursuing other interests like musical theater.
- At my ballet school, I was told I was wasting my talent in the ballet world.
But today, finding my voice and passion in musical theater has led me to so many experiences that have shaped who I am today.
In college, I was often not cast in main stage productions. It can be hard to train your ass off and not have the chance to showcase that to others. Also, throughout college, I had professors tell me I would never make it as a professional dancer.
My favorite reason I was told why I wouldn’t make it in the industry (via email!) was because I was too quiet and shy in a ballet class, not because of my talent. Although after that, I made sure to stand front and center because I am stubborn. I knew that one ballet professor I saw twice a week and their opinion would not make or break my career. After that, in a different class, I was screamed at in front of the entire class that I danced like a brick and always looked afraid.
At the end of the day, what got me through those hardships was my mentors and also myself.
It takes a lot of work to believe in yourself, but you must if you want to survive in this industry.
Especially throughout college, I would not have survived without my mentors’ constant support and also finding other outlets.
I believe in the saying, “With every door closed, another door opens.” I had a pretty rough last two years in my college training. But through that, I was able to tap into my other outlets I knew I loved, including musical theater! During my senior year, I worked at the Pittsburgh CLO Academy, under the direction of Jim Scriven and Patty Maloney, teaching dance. They gave me a space that I didn’t know I desperately needed. I grew so much as an educator, dancer, and human from the opportunities they gave me, and it was all because they believed in me.
But without trusting my gut way back in middle school, and then searching for new opportunities that I knew my current space wouldn’t provide, I wouldn’t be the version of myself that I am today.
What goal success tips and techniques have worked well for you that you would like to share with my readers?
You vs. You
This is something one of my mentors told me, probably when I was around sixteen, and I think it is one of the biggest reasons I am still able to tackle the dance industry today. Comparing yourself to others is so easy in the arts, but it will never let you grow into the most authentic version of who you are supposed to be.
Instead of comparing yourself to others, you have to compare yourself today to your past self.
In doing this, you are responsible for your own growth and success. It has allowed me to stop relying on the validation of superiors to determine my worth and to be able to show up for myself, bettering myself as a dancer and as a human.
It is a concept that is easier said than done, but you can always start small.
In a dance setting, if your goal is to do three turns in a sequence, you can slowly push yourself until you get from two to two and a half, to three. People may not notice, but you do. And you have bettered yourself for yourself! For me, starting slow has allowed me to show up for myself and helped me make this mindset into a life practice.
Be your biggest supporter
This one is SO important. No one can believe in you more than yourself, because if you don’t, how do you expect others to?
Of course, there will be times that you will have to rely on the support of others, but in this industry, you will hear so many more “nos” than “yeses,” and you will have to continue and keep pushing.
It is okay to be hurt and to get a sweet treat, but the next day, you must continue. If you feel in your soul that something is meant for you, it is, and you have to keep going.
I think I have had more people tell me I would never make it as a professional than I would, but it took the power of those who supported me for me to believe in myself as well.
Another life practice that is easier said than done, but you cannot survive in this critical industry (or any job!) without knowing how worthy, talented, and amazing you are!
Know your why
Pursuing your passions as your career is such a tricky thing: there are days that feel like pure bliss, and there are days that you are reminded this is your job.
Knowing why you do what you do is what keeps you in it for the long haul.
For me, dance makes me feel like the most authentic version of honoring myself. I believe dance helps me find who I am, who I am becoming, and who I am meant to be. Looking to the future, I hope to become an educator and mentor like the ones that have helped shape my life, and to also foster many changes in the industry and dance training atmosphere that it desperately needs.
Returning to those ideals reminds me, during the tough twelve-hour double job days, why all of this is worth it.
Ask the questions
If you never ask the questions, you will never know the answers.
My mentors have seen me cry way too many times because I always want to know answers, even when it is tough to say or hear them.
Life is too short to wonder what if?
I am someone who always needs to verbalize what I am feeling. Whether writing in a journal, texting/calling my best friend or mom, speaking/writing/asking is a huge part of who I am. I would not be where I am today without asking questions and seeking advice.
Fill your cup
At the end of the day, you are a human being with many different likes, hobbies, and passions; it can be hard to make time for them all, along with just trying to work and survive day-to-day.
The biggest thing that helps me is knowing when my cup is starting to get empty, I do something, not dance or work-related, to rejuvenate myself.
- In college, I would see as many touring Broadway productions as humanly possible, and I worked with a non-profit women’s and girls organization to fill my cup.
- When I need little things, I will watch trashy reality dating TV (I am a HUGE Bachelor franchise fan), read a silly rom-com book, bake some cookies, listen to a Ben Platt vinyl, or have a pizza party.
- I have recently been practicing more yoga. I feel like it is perfect for our off-season because it is still movement-based, but more based on how you feel versus how it looks.
Doing even the smallest things for myself makes a big difference in how easily I can feel tired or burned out.
Never stop learning
The one thing no one can ever take away from you is curiosity.
Yes, I am always learning as a dancer and always trying to better myself. However, as a human in society, I also strive to learn something new every day. I am always googling things and always reading new books about topics I find interesting (currently racism in American history and also how trauma is stored in the body).
I believe in life, you will always be a student, especially when we have the world’s encyclopedia in our back pocket.
Also, as a creative, curiosity is so important; it is what sparks new ideas and art.
You, as a human, have so much power to use your curiosity and learning and let it lead you through life; that is one thing that AI can’t take away from you.
What is one goal you are excited about right now?
A goal I am working towards right now is answering the question of what will come next (days, months, or even years) with more positivity, rather than dreading the unknown of the future.
With pursuing a career in the performing arts, there are an endless number of factors you cannot plan for. Starting this career, you know you only have so long until your body can no longer handle the stress. To secure a contract or gig, you are constantly relying on others to recognize your greatness or potential while navigating the industry’s politics and stressors.
To me, the arts never have a clear path of what it is or is not supposed to look like, and that is what makes them so great (and sometimes not). I know that for me to grow, I need to stop worrying about what comes next and allow my path to go in the direction my heart and head want.
What else would you like my Operation Melt readers to know about you, your dancing career, your journey or about goal success in general?
Two things I want to share about life that I think are SUPER important to me:
See and support local art!
Now, more than ever, it is so important to support artists.
I am not saying you need to dish out $300 for an orchestra seat at the ballet (although if that speaks to you, do it!). Go see your local high school’s musical and get dinner before the show, take the adult tap class you have always wanted to, find an art gallery of local artists, or see a Whirlwind show 😉
Experiencing art for the first time, I believe, is one of the best feelings in the world. You will never realize the talent in your own community until you witness it! And speaking from experience, it will make the artists’ day. We cannot do what we do without support from amazing people like you!
Always be KIND!
Every person you interact with has their story. You are reading mine because of kindness when I was pouring someone’s cup of coffee.
There is always more to what meets the eye, and it is so much easier to lead your life with kindness than anything else.
Simple acts of kindness can change people’s lives, and I am a firm believer in that, because I know it to be true. Be kind to everyone, especially those who are waiting your tables or making your coffee (and tip them well when you can ;)), because they have just as many aspirations and dreams as you.
How can people learn more about you?
You can follow my Instagram @marissawaitlevertch.
Also, to keep up with all that is happening at Whirlwind this season, you can follow @whirlwinddance (company), @thewellcenterformovement (classes) and visit our website https://www.whirlwinddance.com/
What an inspirational story!
There are a ton of great gems in Marissa’s words, but before digging into those, I just want to call out the biggest thing I learned from this interview. Marissa is tough! Her commitment to her goal, despite the naysayers, should serve as an inspiration and a model for us all. Staying the course wasn’t easy for her, but she did it!
Honestly, Marissa beautifully encapsulated many amazing goal success strategies, so I don’t have much to contribute. I do want to highlight a few of the most poignant points she made:
- “To make the dream become a reality, you just have to do it and trust the process.” This is so important! For any goal you want to achieve, you have to take action (you can’t hope it into existence) and stay the course, even when it doesn’t seem like anything is happening.
- “Instead of comparing yourself to others, you have to compare yourself today to yourself of the past.” I have frequently discussed the comparison trap and how it’s the quickest way to feel like you’re on the ‘hot mess express.’ Life isn’t a competition with other people, but it is a competition with yourself. Staying focused on how far you’ve come is a motivator to keep going… anything else is a demotivator that makes it harder to reach your goal.
- “No one can believe in you more than yourself, because if you don’t, how do you expect others to?” We teach other people how to treat us. If we model believing in ourselves, we make it easy for them to believe in us too. Plus, if we believe in ourselves, it is easier to say IDGAF about what other people think. Let the haters hate while you’re making your dreams come true.
It wasn’t easy, but I limited myself to just three of the biggest gems in this interview… but there are tons more in there.
Marissa: Expert Project Manager
Beyond the gems I highlighted above, I want to share how Marissa’s story demonstrates several Project Manage Your Life (PMYL) principles:
✅ Build a Plan That Works for You
Marissa trusted her gut and followed her own, evolving, non-traditional path to achieve her goal. The naysayers tried to interfere, but she stayed true to her plan. Guess what: she had the last laugh because it was her plan, and it worked for her.
✅ Expect and Plan Ahead for Problems
No path to anything big is ever easy; it’s even harder in a creative field because “the arts never have a clear path of what it is or is not supposed to look like.” Marissa knew that, and she built strategies to manage the most likely issues, especially her mindset:
- She was her own biggest cheerleader
- She ruthlessly focused on her why
- She used her curiosity as a tailwind to push her forward
- She learned to proactively refill her cup when needed
Any of the challenges Marissa faced could easily have sent her running to a different profession. But her expert-level risk management turned her pirouettes into a ninja-like spin move, allowing her to avoid her goal-attackers.
✅ Don’t Go It Alone
Marissa said it best: “I would not have survived without my mentors’ constant support.” She didn’t go it alone, and it made an unmistakable impact on her ultimate success.
✅ Enjoy the Journey
Marissa is living a dream she’s had since childhood, but she isn’t all dance. She also leans into her other interests and keeps learning and growing every day. As she fills her cup, she puts a smile on her face and proactively fuels her enjoyment.
🔥 Now It’s Your Turn
I will wrap up by resharing my favorite quote from Marissa: no one can believe in you more than yourself.
If there is a goal inside you, believe you can do it and run forward, guns blazing. If the goal is truly important to you (i.e., a strong why), no person or challenge can hold you back. Run at your goal with the confidence of an eight-year-old in a Spiderman t-shirt… You ARE a superhero!
So let me ask you:
💭 What dream have you been ignoring, and why is it important to you?
💡 What will it take for you to believe in yourself and to KNOW you CAN make it happen?
Once you say yes to yourself, the rest is just a project … and I can help you manage it.
Want a System That Helps You Build Confidence One Step at a Time?
That’s why I created Project Manage Your Life… to give you a clear, proven system for turning ideas into goals and goals into reality.
I’ve taken everything I use with my coaching clients and packaged it into a 3-part system:
📘 Project Manage Your Life – the book that teaches you my 6-step goal-crushing framework.
📝 PMYL Workbook – the companion guide packed with templates, trackers, and coaching-style prompts to help you put the process into action.
🎯 PMYL Coaching – personalized 1-on-1 support to help you build momentum, overcome challenges, and keep going … even when it gets hard.
These tools are your structure, your support, and your reminder that you can do this, even if your inner critic disagrees.
💥 So… what’s that first, courageous step?
✨ I believe in you, let me help YOU believe in you! ✨
Calling All Goal-Crushers…
Know a goal-crusher with a story worth sharing? Or maybe it’s you? Let’s connect … I’m always looking for inspiring new interviews! I am always looking for new Interview with a Goal-Crusher candidates. Hit me up and let me know who I should be talking to.
Meet Coach Tony
Tony Weaver is a master life coach, technologist, consultant, writer, and founder of Operation Melt.
He helps project managers and other left-brained high-achievers pursue their biggest goals.
Through free resources, personalized coaching, and his proven Project Manage Your Life system, Tony empowers clients to move their dreams from “someday” to success — one step at a time.
Learn more about Project Manage Your Life, the system my clients and I use to crush our goals, at OperationMelt.com/PMYL/
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Meet Coach Tony