As long as I can remember, I’ve been a dancer and loved to perform and entertain others.
Recently I took a personality test which confirmed my Sparketype. I’m a Maker and Performer.
I also happen to be a qualified Software Engineer and computer geek at heart. A strategist and gamer. I’ve been that way ever since my wonderful mother taught me to play Chess, Canasta and Stratego at the age of 6.
I’m a mathematically minded, a deep thinker and highly analytical. I naturally think on multiple levels and people have often said I make very complex problems simple.
“At the age of 7 I wanted to be a cartoon character. At the age of 8 I said I would win Wimbledon. My ambition has been growing ever since.”
Steve Fitz (with acknowledgement to Salvador Dali for the prose)
Dancing
I’m an OG rap/break/hip-hop dancer. Remember when Michael Jackson did the moonwalk at the Grammy’s in 1983? Or Remember when MC Hammer said we ‘Can’t Touch This’ in 1990?
Some of you don’t… that’s OK. Some of you weren’t even born then 😅
I think ultimately I got hooked when I saw the movie Breakdance in 1984.
I was an impressionable 13 year old when I saw that and the rest is history. Fun facts: My sister taught me how to moon walk and Michael Chambers (Turbo or Boogaloo Shrimp) in the clip above taught Michael Jackson how to moon walk.
After leaving school, I got a second job at a nightclub as a dancer and worked three nights a week dancing in front of 500 patrons. I was making a grand total of $120 a week from dancing. Woohoo!
Through that job I met other dancers and was asked to guest train and choreograph the Perth Wildcats Cheerleaders – a dream job when you’re 19 years old. That lead to dancing at one of their games in front of 4000 people with my dance partner.
Surrounded by 4000 people on all sides, we stepped centre court wearing Wildcats tracksuits and caps. No one had any idea what we were doing as normally the cheerleaders would be entertaining the crowd.
Spotlights turned on and the arena lights turned off… All eyes were on us…
The music started and we broke into our routine…
The entire stadium started to scream and cheer and everyone got to their feet… You just didn’t see that kind of dancing except on MTV. It was wild and the roar of the crowd circled around us made us feel like we were in the colosseum.
Ahh those were the days!
But getting married and starting a young family requires money. So in my 20’s I stopped dancing and got a real job.
Until, in 2021 I fell in love with West Coast Swing.
West Coast Swing can be danced to all kinds of music and can be danced at any age.
I’m hooked.
Personal Challenges
I often feel like I’m too old for this shit.
Like seriously… who am I kidding? Learning a new dance at my age, weight and fitness level? Injuries take a lot longer to recover from than they used to… Umm…
I battle with this all the time.
My wife Jayne has wondered if I’m going through a mid-life crisis 🤣 Heck I’ve wondered that too.
Then the next battle is finding someone to dance with who;
- You get along with
- Wants to dance with you
- Is of a similar level
- Has similar goals
- Has available time
Beyond those essentials, there’s other key characteristics worth mentioning;
- You trust each other
- You accept each others limitations
- You respect each others opinions
- You’re both honest with each other
- You have a similar moral compass
These are all challenges anyone will face with a partner dance. Add to the complication when your life partner doesn’t dance and well… I often feel like I’m too old for this shit 😁
But I know I’m not alone. In fact, I’ve met so many dancers in very similar circumstances as me.
Like me, they love the dance. Like me, they want to improve and enjoy competing and like me, they struggle with all the above.
So here I am… creating a website, writing blog posts, and shooting videos to perform and inspire others to do the same…
Create | Perform | Inspire
Fulfilling my Sparketype.
Dipping my toes into the competitive scene cemented my resolution.
Professional Life
I left my corporate job in 2010 and started my own company a few years after my dad died. I decided it was time to find a new normal (and even wrote a book about it).
I launched my first digital marketing agency and then my second agency to help others navigate the world of online marketing and grow their businesses.
That’s about it. My professional life (when compared to being on the dance floor) is probably similar to yours… dull, lifeless and a means to an end to allow me to do more dancing.
My work actually isn’t dull and lifeless. It interests me and is quite dynamic as the online world continuously changes. This brings challenges and opportunities which always keeps things interesting.
But the truth is, I don’t care about titles. I don’t care much about money or status. I’ve walked away from financially significant career opportunties that have been offered to me because they don’t fulfil me. I wouldn’t like to be defined as a human being by my career or the ‘work’ I did. I would however, love to be remembered by the lives I positively impacted. Especially if I inspired or entertained people.
I think overall it’s difficult for people to ‘fit in’. Find something they’re really passionate about and do that for a living.
For me, dancing, entertaining and performing is my passion. My professional career is what gives me the time and money to enjoy those things.
