We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jericka Belman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jericka below.
Jericka , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
No matter what obstacles I face in life my resilience come from my faith in God. I literally stand on walking by faith and not by sight. Everyday isn’t sunshine but I try my best to not let nothing get me down. “Weeping may endure for one night, but joy comes in the morning.”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I always knew I wanted to dance ever since I was a little girl. I’ve tried just about every style of dance but it wasn’t until I was 12 years old when I started taking dance serious. I’ve always wanted to be a majorette so I went out for the team and made it. My 8th grade year I became one of the Captains. That’s when I knew I had a gift. I fell in love with my craft and kept going. In high school I had the privilege of being a part of the #1 majorette team in Memphis, The Glamourous Untouchable F-ETTES of Fairley High School and my junior year I became captain. After high school, I decided to attend college at the illustrious Tennessee State University and my major was Theatre, I develop the acting bug while I was in high school. So once I got to college I didn’t join any collegiate dance teams but instead I street dance and participated in talent shows at TSU. Along this journey I always felt like I didn’t have the body type to be a dancer. It wasn’t until I had a breast reduction back in 2018 when I decided to take my journey as a dancer to a professional level, and I’ve been at it ever since. I’ve had the privilege of being in music videos, television shows, festivals, and live showcases. In 2019 I came up with my brand Dance Therapy which is a brand that promotes healing through dance movements. My brand showcases my acting and dancing skills. I call it Dance Therapy because working on my craft is therapeutic to me. It helps me forget about all my problems that I face, it’s my escape from the world. Therefore, I come up with creative video ideas that shows my artistic side as an independent artist. As an actress, I’m in a movie called Blemish that’s streaming on Tubi. I’m also in an upcoming film coming out 2024 called Malachi. In conclusion, I’ve been on my journey for a while now and I’m just blessed to be able to chase my dreams and to share my story.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Believe in yourself, don’t be afraid to bet on yourself. If you don’t believe in your craft nobody else will. 2. Never stop training, there is always room to grow. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. There is always room for improvement.
3. Mentally have your mind together because it’s not all about talent, you will need to know the business side of the industry. Because if you don’t have your mental together, this industry can break you down.
My best advice is to get in alignment with whatever high power you believe in. Ask God what’s your purpose behind your gifts. Once you do that make sure you surround yourself with genuine people that shares the same passion as you and can help you advance your skills. And most of all KEEP GOING! Your time will come but don’t give up, but in the meantime continue to clap for others because one day they’ll be clapping for you.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think it’s better to invest in improving areas where we aren’t strong in, here’s why. So I’ve pretty much been a majorette my whole life and once I started dancing professionally I started lacking confidence. I’m thinking to myself like, “oh my gosh I’m not as good as I used to be.” Well let me tell you, if you keep at it you’ll start seeing growth. It really all starts with your mind. That’s why I say if you don’t mentally have yourself together it can break you down. I started my professional journey in 2018 and I’m still at in 2023. It just takes some time to see growth but don’t compare your journey to no one else. I sometimes still feel like I’m not where I want to be but I’ve came a long way from when I first started. It’s important to get out our head and block out all the outside noise because you definitely have what it takes. Nothing in life worth having comes easy. If you continued doing all the things you’re strong at how do you expect to grow and improve. Because majorette is my strongest dance skill it seems like everyone would rather see me do that instead. But I had to prove it to myself that I’m more than just a majorette dancer, I can do hip hop, contemporary, heels, and jazz. It’s possible but don’t try to compete with anybody, stay in your own lane, and encourage yourself because the best is yet to come.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @its_jericka
- Facebook: Jericka Denise
- Youtube: DanceTherapy7005
Image Credits
Pictures @motelewa and @dpledgerphotography Makeup @glimmeredbeauty
