Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Stroming.
Hi Alison, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Recife, Brazil and was adopted when I was eight months old and grew up in New Jersey. My brothers were professional tap dancers so dance was a huge part of the family! My mom took me to Lincoln Center when I was eight years old to see New York City Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” in which I was in awe of the prima ballerina and so I asked my mom if I could audition. She took me to audition for the School of American Ballet the following year when I was nine years old in which I was accepted and then began my formal ballet training. I continued my training at SAB for three years and then accepted a full scholarship at the prestigious American Ballet Theater where I then finished my ballet training.
After graduating high school (I graduated a year early to focus on my ballet training), I went on to dance with professional companies including Alberta Ballet, Ballet San Jose, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. As a professional ballerina, I have performed across the country and overseas in Spain, Lithuania, Guatemala, Tel Aviv, Poland, Budapest, and Italy. I also had the opportunity to perform with legend Aretha Franklin at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. I am also proud to have been featured in many media publications and campaigns for Tumi Luggage, Adidas, Under Armor, and American Eagle, which was featured on Time Squares billboards!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not a smooth road and full of tons of ups and downs…but I wouldn’t have changed any part of my journey! The dance world can be very competitive and so I had a lot of personal struggles with my confidence as a young dancer. I think a lot of times, I was holding myself back and wasted time and energy comparing myself to my peers instead of just owning my craft and talent as a dancer.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a professional dancer and entrepreneur now living in Miami. I am known for my work as a professional ballerina and am proud to have been featured in several national campaigns and publications.
In 2018, I launched my very first dancewear company, AS Dancewear, with focus on female empowerment. I was always the dancer in class with the fun, bright colorful leotards and never thought I would want to be a designer one day. I had the opportunity to design a leotard for a dance event and that sparked my idea to start a dancewear line of my line. In addition to AS Dancewear, I also started AS Mentorship which is our brand ambassador program and I currently mentor 26 young dancers across the US and Canada. It is truly like a sisterhood and is my favorite part of what I do and why I started AS! Through my line and mentoring, I aspire to empower girls to embrace their true selves and never hold back from achieving their goals. It is important for all girls of all backgrounds to feel supported and confident. As a professional dancer myself and have been in these young dancers’ shoes, my mentees know they can come to me regarding anything and will always have my support.
My business has been featured in multiple publications including ESPN Women, was included in wardrobe for HBO’s “Insecure”, and even featured in a commercial for Verizon!
AS Dancewear is currently sold online at https://www.asdancewear.com
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The quality I feel is more important to my success is my resilience and discipline which definitely stems from my ballet training. Resilience is a critical quality for success in both ballet and entrepreneurship and is the force that helps me push forward in the face of challenges.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alisonstroming.com and https://www.asdancewear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonstroming
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonStroming
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/AlisonStroming
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/AlisonStroming
