Kicking It Real

I'm Gabby, a former Rockette who heard "no" five times before I ever heard "yes." Kicking It Real started as real conversations with dancers, and somewhere along the way it turned into something bigger: a space for anyone chasing a big, scary dream to actually get celebrated for it. Every guest leaves with something most people never get: a real moment of being seen, no follow-up question, just a chance to take a bow.This is where the highlight reel ends and the honest, in-progress stuff begins. Come for the stories, stay for the "same, me too" moments 🤍

Kicking It Real is a arts podcast hosted by GABBY ROBERTS, with 59 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

GABBY ROBERTS hosts Kicking It Real, a arts show with 59 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Kicking It Real

  49. building a successful career in LA, financial literacy for dancers and knowing your worth with Bella Bernath

  Sep 9, 202651 min

  Bella Bernath will tell you that talent gets you in the room, but knowing your worth is what actually keeps you working, and keeps you sane while you are doing it. She started dancing at four years old, was teaching by fourteen, and graduated high school early just to buy herself more time before her move to LA. Within a few years she booked a six year run touring the world as a dancer for Maluma, including his 11:11 World Tour, and somewhere in the middle of all that she landed a Vegas production that turned out to be run by an actual family with real mob ties. We get into what a real dance contract actually looks like, why she will not work a job that pays below Dancers Alliance rate, and the exact money habits that let her build a six month savings cushion before she ever moved to LA. We talk about negotiating retainer pay mid tour, the difference between wanting a job and needing one to survive, and why so many genuinely talented dancers still cannot shake the feeling that they are not doing enough. Bella also gets real about what touring actually looks like behind the highlight reel, the hurry up and wait days, the friendships that only exist inside a tour bubble, and the version of herself she had to build to stay steady through years of living out of a suitcase. This one is for anyone who has ever felt guilty asking to get paid what they are worth. Stay in the loop with me Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Bella here Instagram & TikTok: @bellabhungary

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  Kicking It Real

  48. stop being so perfect: breaking the desperation mindset & learning to trust yourself as a freelance dancer with Sam Assemany

  Sep 2, 202655 min

  Two years into taking his class, Mike Esperanza pulled Sam Assemany aside and told her to stop being so perfect, to mess it up a little. That is the fear underneath most desperation, the belief that if you are not flawless or constantly visible, someone is going to forget you exist, when usually the opposite is true. A Western Michigan University dance grad, Sam moved to New York in September of 2015 and took her first class with choreographer Mike Esperanza a month later, a class she still calls the most life changing hour she has ever spent in a studio. She has since become a member of BARE Dance Company, spent six years teaching at a studio on Long Island, and now works within NYCDA, one of the largest dance convention circuits in the industry. We get into the audition she didn't book two years into taking Mike's class, and why she walked away sad but not angry, not even a little. We talk about the desperation mindset dancers fall into, the fear of being forgotten if you are not constantly in someone's face, and the one uncomfortable conversation Sam finally had that changed that. We also get into what social media and convention camera culture are doing to young dancers' patience and their ability to just be bad at something in peace. If you have ever stayed too available out of fear that pulling back would mean being forgotten, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Sam here Instagram: @samassemany

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  Kicking It Real

  47. redefining what winning actually means as a dance adjudicator after years of chasing titles and national crowns with Clara Eaton Ribeiro

  Aug 26, 202659 min

  Clara Eaton Ribeiro used to stand on the podium wondering why she was the only one of her friends walking away with silver instead of gold. That is the trap of chasing recognition, the belief that a medal color could actually tell you how much you were worth, when it never really could. Clara spent six years performing professionally on cruise ships, training as an aerialist and dancing inside a scuba certified aqua show alongside Olympic divers and Red Bull athletes before she ever sat on the other side of the table as a dance adjudicator and coach. She is also the founder of Vertex Vibe, a boutique dance convention she built on purpose to cap attendance around thirty dancers, a direct answer to the two hundred, sometimes six hundred person conventions she grew up competing at. We get into what changed for her the first time she sat on the other side of the judging table, deciding who wins and who does not. We talk about the studio etiquette moment she sees quietly follow dancers into the professional world, why she will always argue dance is an art before it is a sport, and the very real work of letting go of other people's opinions when you have built something with your whole heart. If you have ever needed someone else to hand you permission to feel proud of yourself, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Clara here Instagram: @claraeaton Vertex Vibe: @vertexvibe

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  Kicking It Real

  46. dethroning the industry: finding your authentic voice & defining success with Antonio King

  Aug 19, 202655 min

  Antonio King spent a full month convinced one audition was going to define the rest of his career. That is the trap of wanting anything badly enough, the belief that a single yes or no from someone else could actually decide who you are, when it almost never does. A performer working professionally for over a decade, Antonio spent six years chasing his first national tour before landing Jersey Boys, then went on to play Jimmy Early in Dreamgirls at Phoenix Theatre, a performance he calls the proudest of his career despite a hamstring pull and sciatica that cost him two weeks of the run. He is also the voice behind a growing platform built out of what he used to call his shirtless sermons, unscripted Instagram stories that became a real resource for young performers navigating an industry built on comparison. We get into the eight callbacks and eleven sides that pushed him toward a show he ultimately did not book, and the moment two weeks later when he caught himself still spiraling and had to consciously choose to stop. We talk about the term he coined for that choice, dethroning it, and how he uses it to keep opportunities, likes, and other people's timelines from deciding his worth. We also get into his current prayer for freedom from comparison, offense, and distraction, and the small daily habits, gratitude first thing in the morning, skincare as self-care, a genuinely swift block button, that keep him rooted in his own voice. If you have ever put something so high on a pedestal that losing it felt like losing yourself, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Antonio here Instagram & TikTok: @a.king_32

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  Kicking It Real

  45. manifesting her dream Broadway role without losing her love for the art & work with Khori Petinaud

  Aug 12, 20261 hour

  Khori Petinaud will tell you she almost strangled her dream before she learned how to hold it, and that might be the real thesis of this conversation. Sometimes the difference between wanting something and losing yourself to the wanting is just learning how to hold on a little looser. With Broadway credits spanning Aladdin, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and Bob Fosse's Dancin' (plus a season as an NYC Rockette along the way), Khori is now originating a whole new chapter as one of the Fates in Broadway's Hadestown, a role she manifested and worked toward for seven years before it ever became hers. We get into what those seven years actually looked like, the early non-union hustle where she admits she was gripping the goal too tightly, and how that grip eventually had to loosen without her ever loving the work any less. We talk about the full Rockette season she danced on a torn hamstring without missing a single show, and why she flatly rejects the idea that balance is something achievable at all. And we get into the harder season right before Hadestown, when she felt like she was carrying more than she could bear, and what it took for the people around her to help hold her up. If you have ever loved something so much you were scared that loving it that hard would end up costing you the love itself, this one is for you. Stay in the loop with me Instagram & TikTok: @kickingitrealpod @potentiallygabby Find Khori here Instagram: @kmr8787 Substack: Khori Michelle Petinaud

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