Julianne Hough

Julianne Hough:

Just creating things. I've always had a knack for that, and I would always tell other people, "Oh, this would be so good for you. You should create that business." And then I realized, "Oh, I'm actually pretty good at coming up with these high concepts. Maybe I should do it myself."

Sam Saperstein:

Welcome to the Women on the Move Podcast from JPMorgan Chase. I'm Sam Saperstein. Women on the Move is a global initiative designed to empower female employees, clients and consumers to build their careers, grow their businesses, and improve their financial health. Each episode will feature successful and inspiring women who are breaking the mold. They're sharing their career journeys and leadership lessons, talking about their professional and personal goals, and making a difference in the lives of others.

Sam Saperstein:

This season, I'm taking you to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where I caught up with many of the women who inspire me every day. Today's guest is someone you know well from the world of dance. Julianne Hough is a dancer, Emmy winning choreographer, actress and singer. She's also the founder of Kinrgy, an exercise program designed to revitalize the body and mind through movement, breathwork and visualization. Julianne calls it the SoulCycle of dance.

Sam Saperstein:

So thank you so much, Julianne, for being with us-

Julianne Hough:

Thank you.

Sam Saperstein:

... on our Women on the Move Podcast, and welcome to Davos.

Julianne Hough:

Yes, this is my first year, and we were just talking before how it's been a bit of a whirlwind, but I'm kind of into it. You can feel the energy and the change that people want to not just create and make, but that they all feel collectively a part of, which is really cool.

Sam Saperstein:

So you've been an entertainer for a long time.

Julianne Hough:

I have.

Sam Saperstein:

Obviously dancer, singer, actor, this triple threat that we know of. Tell us about how you've got to this stage in your career, the hard work you put in, and kind of what even drives you today.

Julianne Hough:

Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think I'm the baby of five kids, so I was very lucky to observe a lot and be very driven at a very young age to know what I wanted and to see how I could get there. I don't know how I was gifted with that ability, but I knew that I was fearless. And so at 10 years old, I moved away from my family and moved to London and lived with my dance coaches.

Sam Saperstein:

So young.

Julianne Hough:

Yeah. I mean, as a 31 year old with no children, I don't know if I could do that. So it was always in my blood to grow, and evolve, and perform. And as I evolved and continued to do championships and win all these different competitions, because it was very athletic as well as expressive and creative, I realized that, "If I don't change my path at 15, I'm going to continue doing this, and I want so much more. I want to act, I want to sing." And so I moved to Los Angeles when I was 18 and I just had these goals, and the goals were big dreams, but somehow I achieved them. At 12 years old, I used to create these timeframes. So, "At 19 I'm going to be a singer."

Sam Saperstein:

Wow.

Julianne Hough:

It was very shallow at the time, but, "At 18, I'm going to be famous. At 19 I'm going to be a professional singer. At 21 I'm going to be my first movie." And all of those things happened.

Sam Saperstein:

That's amazing.

Julianne Hough:

And so cut to when I was 24, I stopped making those goals and those dreams, and what I realized too is that I've been an achiever my whole life, and I achieved everything, but I had a lack of fulfillment. And so at 24, my whole life turned around, and it went from achieving and gaining these goals to, "Why am I doing this again?" I forgot why I started dancing and singing and acting.

Sam Saperstein:

Wow.

Julianne Hough:

I'm kind of doing it just for what's next, what's next, what's next, and success, but what does that even mean? And so at 25, I decided to reevaluate what my purpose was. "Why am I doing this? What is the intention behind it?" And I realized I didn't have a lot of depth to my intention. It was just to be those things and do those things.

Julianne Hough:

So cut to now, the last few years, I've really tapped into why I'm here, why I do what I do, that, "Oh, that's what you're supposed to do for your first 30 years of your life. You're supposed to figure out who you are." And it's pretty egocentric, but then something happens, and there's a shift that happens, and it just happened for me a couple of years ago where it's like, "Oh, my life is now about service and contribution of everything that I've learned and gained, and how do I pay it forward?"

Sam Saperstein:

What do you think it was? When you were 25, at that age, what do you think it was that made you come to that realization? Had you just achieved your goals and it was sort of the next thing to think about, or did something click in you?

Julianne Hough:

It was that I was never satisfied, and hey, that did me a great service-

Sam Saperstein:

Because you kept going.

Julianne Hough:

... because I kept going, and everything that I've done, I don't regret any of it, because that was what worked for me at that time. But I was definitely doing it out of a survival tactic of fight or flight. I was fighting, and I was doing it to prove myself. And at 25, I remember my brother actually asked me to go to a Tony Robbins seminar, and at first I was like, "Wait, that guy from Shallow Hal? That movie from 1996? What?" And I kind of resisted it a little bit, but it was important to him, so I was like, "Okay, I'll go for like a day." When I went, I was blown away by how much I was doing what I was doing in order to prove myself and be validated by everyone else. And then when that started coming into my awareness, I lost a lot of my drive, because my drive was built off of everyone else's approval.

Sam Saperstein:

Pleasing other people. Wow.

Julianne Hough:

And like I said, it was not my choice to go to Tony Robbins. I was kind of like, I fell into it, and when that happened, I realized, "Wow, my whole life purpose is going to shift now." So from that point, I just started learning and growing and asking more questions of why we do what we do, and what is the impact behind it. Versus what I can get out of it, what can I give?

Sam Saperstein:

Right. I'm curious, how did that change your relationships with your family? I mean, your family as a whole, you individually obviously, and your siblings, so successful, in all each different ways. And so you look at that and think, "Wow, your parents were doing something right." But as you're saying this to me, so much of it was coming from your own drive, so I'm wondering when you had that realization and this big change for you, how did that change your family relationships?

Julianne Hough:

Oh, absolutely. It's still changing. It's still evolving, because you know, at some point, whether we like it or not, we are building and learning conditions and belief systems that aren't necessarily our own. So as a child, you grow up totally free, because you can throw a tantrum, you can do whatever you want, because you're not thinking of, "Oh, is this person going to get mad at me?" Until somebody does get mad at you or something happens or you go time out. And so all of a sudden now our belief systems and our conditioning is built off of someone else's. So right now I believe we're in a time where people are starting to unplug from that old paradigm of what other people's conditions and belief systems are, and in the workplace, of what has been expected, and now we're shifting that. And so unplugging from those belief systems and conditions from my family, it can be pretty lonely, because it's like, "Who do you think you are?"

Sam Saperstein:

Right. Right.

Julianne Hough:

But with that being said, removing and de-layering all of those survival tactics that were really amazing to get me to where I'm at, getting back to the truth of who I am and what I want to believe in, and actually planting a flag of what I stand for, not necessarily what my culture or social environment or my religious background, or whatever it is has conditioned me to experience, but actually figure out what it is that I believe. And by the way, I can believe in all of those same things that my family taught me, but it's coming from my truth, not just because I was taught that.

Sam Saperstein:

And does that whole feeling, it seems very liberating, enable you to enjoy things in a different way, or pursue new things that you weren't before?

Julianne Hough:

I have so much more presence and connection to little moments. I would have these big achievements, and I would just go on to the next thing the next day. And now I get really excited if I go into a public restroom, and there's the one that has the sink in the private one, you know?

Sam Saperstein:

Those little moments.

Julianne Hough:

Yeah. And I'm like, "Yeah, I love that." And so I just have space now for celebrating the little moments.

Sam Saperstein:

That's great.

Julianne Hough:

Yeah. And when that happens, I believe, and this is part of what my company is all about, is raising the vibration that you put out into the world, and it's coming from a pure intent and encoded energy that is all about, "Anything is possible." And I want to make all of my decisions and my choices when I'm in that state.

Sam Saperstein:

I love that. Okay. So tell us about KINRGY. How did this company come to be? How'd you name it, by the way? And what is its goal?

Julianne Hough:

The elevator pitch that I give to people about what KINRGY is, in the short version is that it's SoulCycle for dance. It's a 45-minute class. You go in, you know what you're going to get, and you leave feeling great. So KINRGY stands for kin, which is family, tribe, community, kinder, which is about being a child again, kinetic, or kinesthetic, which is movement, and energy. So when we connect all of those things, we really connect the mind-body, energetic expression.

Julianne Hough:

In the '50s, we were really focused on the physicality of our physical body. That was like the Weider brothers, and that was the wave. That was the movement of getting physical. We're now in this wave of mental health, and really connecting what that means, and connecting the two, and where I believe we're heading is energetic health, because when you raise an energetic vibration, it's in physics, so it's not this woo-woo hippity dippity thing, it is scientifically proven, when you actually raise the vibration in a room and in your body, whatever it is, you can have the ability to change your reality. When you have a low vibrational state and you feel stuck and heavy, change cannot be made.

Sam Saperstein:

That's fascinating. I feel like I must feel that intuitively all the time, but never sort of the way you described it.

Julianne Hough:

Well, now we're creating language for it, which has never really been the case. So with KINRGY, because I've been a dancer my whole life, I realized that by me moving my body gave me that energetic vibration, that high state of energy, but I didn't know I had it. So now we're combining the mindset, the body, and the energy at the same time. So it's movement, breath, and visualization to help us create that energetic flow. And when that happens, it really is a self-discovery platform for people to connect to their truth, and when they can do that, they can relate and see the people around them without separation or division. And then when that happens, we can actually experience the world how it's meant to be experienced, which is love. And when that can happen, anything is possible.

Sam Saperstein:

That is amazing. How would you take this out as a business? What does this look like? Is it a studio in LA or somewhere else? How will people actually do this?

Julianne Hough:

Absolutely. Well, we have different phases. So our phase one right now is to activate people's imaginations. So we're on tour right now with Oprah-

Sam Saperstein:

That's great.

Julianne Hough:

... and we're going to arenas with 15,000 people-

Sam Saperstein:

Amazing.

Julianne Hough:

... and getting them to experience. It's one thing to see and hear about something, but to experience it. That's what creates a raving fan. So we're going around this year and activating people's imaginations, and their curiosity, and then we plan to do popups around the US and Europe. During that time, we are building a digital platform so that people can also not just receive the classes but really the philosophy behind it. So we also have this blueprint, an elemental blueprint that is specific to KINRGY that you take, that really gives you your order in which you show up in the world, and so we can supplement and give you access and tools that are specific to you. "If you're going into an interview, these are the two elements that you need to connect to. Here's a breath pattern that you can do." Or, "Hey, I'm going to go and see my mother-in-law."

Sam Saperstein:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). "I need some help."

Julianne Hough:

"I need to get super grounded." You know, "I need to get super grounded so that I don't get triggered." "Here is the scent that you need to wear. Here is the movement that you should do to just build that boundary for yourself."

Sam Saperstein:

Wow. That's very practical.

Julianne Hough:

It's educational.

Sam Saperstein:

I've never heard of bringing those elements together for these real life situations.

Julianne Hough:

It is. So this is a lot of modalities that I've been working on my whole life and bringing together to create the KINRGY philosophy, and so yeah, so there's different things to supplement the actual service and the products that we'll be giving and offering people. We also, this is what really excites me too, is obviously we'll be doing brick and mortar studios, because it's an experiential thing.

Sam Saperstein:

Right.

Julianne Hough:

But we also are wanting to work with corporations, to offer them and their employees a way to express themselves, so that when they come into work, they have clarity, they have purpose, they have creativity and innovation, and that way their efficiency is so strong, because they can become energy rich instead of feeling energy poor and then wasting energy trying to just get to ground zero.

Sam Saperstein:

Right. And think about all the conflict that you generally have in the workplace. How can you diffuse that and make people work better with each other?

Julianne Hough:

With each other, with their self. And also just when we think of health care, how can we provide people with real change? Let's go from the inside out. Let me try a holistic approach first, of what are my emotions manifesting in my physicality, in my sickness? Because I know there is research, and people will tell you that if you're tired, or if you are dispersing energy in a different way, it can manifest in illness.

Sam Saperstein:

In poor health. Yeah.

Julianne Hough:

In poor health. And so if we can really take care of ourselves from the inside out, we can minimize.

Sam Saperstein:

And without medication. I mean, that's such a beautiful, organic way doing it.

Julianne Hough:

Yes.

Sam Saperstein:

And so through the company, are you thinking about dance classes, but dance classes and more? The way you talk about the visualization and the mind and the breath work seems like so much more than a dance class that you're just going to sweat at.

Julianne Hough:

Yes.

Sam Saperstein:

So how do these things come together in an experience?

Julianne Hough:

It's taken a long time because it's the philosophy behind it.

Sam Saperstein:

Right.

Julianne Hough:

It's change the way you move, change the way you think, change the way you feel, and change your life. And when we have these trainers and these guides that we've really accumulated and adopted all these different modalities, and connect to something of creativity and abundance like they've never experienced before, and it's a form of expression. So we've been working with a neuroscientist as well, Wendy Suzuki. We want to put science behind this, and we want to be able to measure this, that this isn't something that's just, "Oh cool, we feel cool. We feel great."

Sam Saperstein:

Right. Right.

Julianne Hough:

No, we're actually building new connectors in our brain and building new brain cells, because exercise, but specifically dance is the number one thing that you can do to build new brain cells.

Sam Saperstein:

I did not know that.

Julianne Hough:

Yes.

Sam Saperstein:

So that's a very important form of exercise [crosstalk 00:16:33].

Julianne Hough:

Very important form, because it evokes emotion, and motion and emotion connected, that's actually what creates those new connectors.

Sam Saperstein:

Now, when you were dancing growing up, did you feel that same mental connection to it? How important was that for you, whether you knew this or not, to your mental state?

Julianne Hough:

So I did not make that connection, but I will tell you now that I'm looking back, and I do have the science and knowledge behind it, dance completely saved my mental health.

Sam Saperstein:

Wow.

Julianne Hough:

Because I had a lot of trauma growing up with abuse, and I didn't have a form of expression verbally to communicate what I felt because of the repercussions that would happen if I did. And so that gave me a lot of fear, it gave me a lot of doubt and a lot of depression.

Sam Saperstein:

Oh my goodness. I'm sorry.

Julianne Hough:

And anxiety, and all sorts of things. And I'm telling you this story because a lot of people go through lots of things and don't have an outlet of expression. But moving my body and moving that energy that could have therefore been stuck in my body and manifested as injury, as pain, as sickness, I was able to move and transform, and still have a high vibration, even though I didn't verbally articulate what I felt.

Sam Saperstein:

So thank goodness it was there for you the whole time, right?

Julianne Hough:

It was my superpower.

Sam Saperstein:

Right? Mentally and in your body. Do you have to do this now in a specific form of dance? What kind of dance gives you that benefit?

Julianne Hough:

So obviously because I'm a dancer, we're saying that this is dance, but this is really just movement. It's follow along movement, but it's very tribal, Aboriginal movement, which is the way our human bodies were designed to move. So it's not choreography. You don't have to do an eight count or anything like that.

Sam Saperstein:

So if you're not good at following the steps-

Julianne Hough:

And that's the whole thing. It's not about being good or bad. It's not about perfection, it's about expression. So we use sound, we breathe, we're moving, we're connecting with the people in the room, because that unifies us, and there's no mirrors, because it's not about-

Sam Saperstein:

That's different.

Julianne Hough:

... again, doing it right or wrong.

Sam Saperstein:

Right.

Julianne Hough:

It's just about how your body wants to be moved.

Sam Saperstein:

Contrast going on tour as a dancer with going on tour now with the business. What is the difference in the psychic energy you're deriving from this?

Julianne Hough:

It's a completely different psychology. And I've been on stages with 15,000 people, and there's usually a transaction of, "Let me perform and entertain you so that I get the validation back, or I am getting validation so I'm going to push more," and it's a beautiful transaction, but it is something that I give and they receive, and then they give and I receive. With the experience that I've had on tour with Oprah, I don't feel like it's transactional. It's co-created.

Sam Saperstein:

That is so different.

Julianne Hough:

It's so different. I feel like I know every single person in that arena personally, intimately, because we are connecting and creating this energy together-

Sam Saperstein:

Right. Right.

Julianne Hough:

... and shifting the energy, the vibration, whatever you want to call it, in that room, and our energetic aura, whatever you want to call it as well, is expanding, and people are feeling it, so we're being able to see and understand people and love each other without even knowing them.

Sam Saperstein:

So is that a totally different physical feeling than you've ever had when you were dancing?

Julianne Hough:

Yes. Yes.

Sam Saperstein:

It's remarkable to think that that's possible.

Julianne Hough:

It's purpose. It's purpose, and it's fulfillment, and it's the world I want to live in.

Sam Saperstein:

That's wonderful. So at some state, before you actually started this company, did you ever think you would start a company and be an entrepreneur?

Julianne Hough:

I have always been a creator, and I attest that to my mother who played with us constantly. She always kept our imaginations flowing. And so just creating things, I've always had a knack for that, and I would always tell other people, "Oh, this would be so good for you. You should create that business." Or, "You should do that." Then I realized, "Oh, I'm actually pretty good at coming up with these high concepts. Maybe I should-"

Sam Saperstein:

Do it yourself.

Julianne Hough:

"... do it myself." But that was a different transition. I own my business of Julianne Hough, the celebrity and the actor and the artist, but having employees is a very different kind of leadership, and I have so loved being a student to learn how to be a leader.

Sam Saperstein:

I love that.

Julianne Hough:

And it has transformed my life, because it has made me super conscious to make sure my intent of how I lead is in the way that I would want to be led, and that that is the new paradigm of how business should be done as well.

Sam Saperstein:

And who are you learning from? Who's out there that you're talking to? Who's mentoring you? Are you learning how to run a business?

Julianne Hough:

Well, first and foremost, being here in Davos, and especially in the Equality Lounge and hearing these incredible women speaking, I told them all, I was like, "You know, you are all my mentors without you even realizing," because I feel so lucky that I'm 31 years old, I'm transitioning into this new chapter of my life, and I am a student first and foremost. I will be a student the rest of my life. And I'm sitting here taking notes, and people are paving the way for me to not make the ... And I don't even want to call them mistakes, but just-

Sam Saperstein:

But just learning from them.

Julianne Hough:

... pathways. Yeah, just pathways that maybe didn't work. And so now I get to start from where they're at right now, which is my ground zero. And so a lot of these women here are my mentors and they don't even know. But Shelley Zalis for sure.

Sam Saperstein:

She's number one.

Julianne Hough:

She's everybody.

Sam Saperstein:

Yes. And has brought us together.

Julianne Hough:

Yes. Absolutely.

Sam Saperstein:

In the Equality Lounge.

Julianne Hough:

Yeah.

Sam Saperstein:

Well, thank you, Julianne.

Julianne Hough:

Thank you, Sam. You're amazing.

Sam Saperstein:

Really nice to be here.

Sam Saperstein:

Thanks to Julianne Hough for sharing her journey, her inspirations, and her plans for the future of KINRGY. Thank you for joining us today. The mission of Women on the Move is to help women in their professional and personal lives. Our goal is to introduce you to people with great ideas, inspiring stories, and a passion to make a difference. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and subscribe so you won't miss any others. Thank you to our partners at The Female Quotient at Magnet Media for helping us tell these stories. For JPMorgan Chase's Women on the Move, I'm Sam Saperstein.