Meet Charlie Kingston

We recently connected with Charlie Kingston and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Charlie, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

I’ve always appeared a rather confident person from a young age, never really cared about what people thought about me and always loved being in the spot light; simply being myself. I guess that self-esteem started to dim a little when i started getting into the dance industry. The constant comparison and feedback, that you never even asked for, is given to you on a daily. As a woman we are always judged and compared to others and so you can imagine how much that is heightened in auditions and on dance jobs.
In order to develop my self-love, and in return my self-esteem and confidence, i turned to spirituality and therapy. Through words of affirmation, lots of journaling and reading, healing past traumas and accepting myself as i am is a forever journey and a very important one that continues to grow my confidence.

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 have recently made the big move from London to Los Angeles to focus on my artistic journey in my dance career. It was a huge move but i never felt scared to take the leap. I really do believe in divine timing and everything has been aligning perfectly for me since making the decision to move. I am out here on an o1 visa which is pretty hard to get and so i’m feeling blessed to be here for sure.

My main goals out here involve dancing closely with artists, getting up on the biggest stages and touring all round. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me..

I’m signed to McDonald Selznick Associates and will be starting working with them very soon which is so exciting. I get to train every day taking dance classes and attending auditions, hitting the gym and yoga, keeping my body strong and ready for the opportunities that are arising. Someone once told me to ‘stay ready so that you never have to get ready.’ That saying has stuck with me every since and that is my driving force every single morning.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Self love! i touched upon this in the previous question but its honestly so important for so many aspects in our lives. Whether that is us reaching for our goals, knowing our worth in our careers, relationships (both platonic and romantic), creating boundaries, looking after our body, nourishing ourselves with good quality foods, getting enough sleep at night, taking rest when we need it, meditation for our mind. There are so many elements to self-love and they will all help you to know your worth and be the best version of you. If i had learnt this earlier on in life i do believe i could’ve been where i am today a lot earlier…but timing is everything and i trust that too.

Learning skills that set you aside to others. Whatever career path you decide to take you can always learn new skills and be developing them daily. If you really dive into the work most people avoid, especially when it feels hard, then whatever it is you are going after you will stand out from others and deserve to be in those rooms everyone else is knocking to get into.

Networking- I myself am naturally a very outgoing and sociable person, so i’ve naturally connected with a lot of different people over the years. I’ve put myself out there and got to know people i look up to and now things are aligning where these people can actually put me in the rooms that i want to be in, on the stages i am on and next to the artists i’m next to. You never know who someone will be one day so my biggest advice is to network, put yourself out there, be yourself and number one- always be kind!

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When i feel overwhelmed i allow myself to stop and pause, to observe without judgement in order to feel what i need to feel. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t always my natural response but i try to breathe and allow myself to get to this place.

Often putting my phone on Do Not Disturb helps me to relax, going for a walk or a hike in nature, sitting by the ocean, listening to music or a meditation tape. Journaling always helps me as sometimes i don’t even know what is going on inside my head and so i just let my pen flow, try it! You’ll probably be surprised how much you learn and release in these moments when journaling.

If i have a lot to do some days i’ll often clean my room, reset my space with palo santo or my favourite incense and make a to do list (hand written) and slowly cross things off as i get them done. Everything feels a lot more manageable here.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charliekingston_/#