Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Willis.
Hi Emily, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been a dancer, ever since I was a little girl. It was a dream of mine to become a professional dancer. When I was about 13 I took a class from a professional cruise ship dancer. He was talented, precise, confident, and had amazing stories of performing on a ship around the world. That’s what did it for me, I worked really hard because I wanted the professional title and all the cool experiences that came with it. Fast forward, I’m graduating college, auditioning like crazy for numerous cruise lines, dance companies, and shows. I was working multiple jobs, still training every week and just trying to make it in the industry. That year I experienced so much exhaustion but it finally paid off. In that eight months post-grad, I achieved my goals of dancing for a professional theater company (Atlanta Lyric Theater), a contemporary dance company (Komanse’ Dance Theater) and booked my first ever cruise contract (Princess Cruises) along various other small gigs. I was on top of the world, doing what I loved every single day in 2019 traveling around SE Asia and Australia on my dance contract, performing frequently. Shortly after my cruise contract ended, COVID-19 came about and the world shut down and my performance life was quickly over.
Moving forward as things started to open up and go back to normal, cruise life did not. So after working multiple odd jobs, I finally stumbled upon Formal Faces, an on-location hair and make-up company servicing mostly Atlanta and North Georgia. I thought, “Hey, I have excellent hair and make-up skills thanks to years of dancing. So why not! Sounds like a great job for me.” I got an interview with Jennifer Adams, the owner, thanks to a referral from a colleague and was quickly thrown into the bridal world of hair and make-up! I cannot express enough how much this job meant to me after feeling so lost for over a year because of the pandemic and how it impacted the entertainment industry. So fast forward to now, I work for Formal Faces, freelance my own hair and make up services, AND I started choreographing wedding dances. I kept having friends ask me to choreograph dances for them and this has been a really new way for me to work as a dancer/teacher that I am really enjoying. My goal is to always show people love and joy through dance. Somehow I have a found a home in the bridal industry due to my skills I developed all my life as a dancer. I couldn’t be happier or more proud of the work I am doing now. I constantly am trying to improve my skills so that I can be better and better for each client I have the blessing of working with. My goal to keep serving people in the bridal industry, but I would LOVE to start doing more editorial and styled shoots as a MUA and continue working on wedding dance choreography with couples. And I am happy to say that I have in fact stepped foot back on stage again since 2020 pandemic and that is something I wasn’t quite sure I’d get to do again.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road…I always felt I had to work extra hard at developing my dance skills. I would see friends walk into an audition room and book a contract on their first or second attempt at times when it took me about 10 tries! That made the pandemic extra scary for me because I felt like I had finally gotten somewhere as a professional dancer and then it was all gone so suddenly. I wasn’t sure what it would look like for dancers when things started opening up again and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have to start all over again with the grueling auditions. So then there was this weird time period where I was deciding how I wanted to show up in the dance world again that was barely being pieced back together, a lot slower than other industries. Dancers do this weird thing where they put really their whole identity into being a dancer. Instead of just being humans. The pandemic taught me that first and foremost I’m a human being and child of God before I’m a dancer or anything else. And it also taught me that I can love something else just as much as I love dance. Working in the bridal industry has been magical to say the least. It’s challenging, rewarding, and I get help people feel their best for their big day either through dance or hair/make-up. Doing hair and make-up has turned into a dream job for me! And I’m just getting started! So now, I’m just working hard to be better and better and hopefully book more and more clients which comes with it’s own challenges, but I’m just thankful to have found new work that I love!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I do wedding dance choreography (1st dances, mother/son, father/daughter, etc.) and I’m an MUA doing hair and make-up for brides and bridesmaids, photoshoots, make-up consultations, etc. I am a contractor/freelancer for both. Definitely a multi-passionate creative here.
I am most proud of my ability to help people feel like their best selves when they work with me. Whether that be confidence to dance at their wedding or a wedding day look that slays. I want people to feel excited about the experience provided to them!
What sets me apart is how I work in the bridal industry in multiple ways. The bridal industry is very saturated, but it takes a special kind of person to be able work in bridal because you are dealing with extremely special moments and celebrations. You are seeing people in emotional and intimate settings and that is such a privilege. I always want people to feel comfortable, loved, and celebrated when they work with me because it is such a special day!
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is treating people with kindness and openness because if there is anything I have learned in this life, it’s that this walk is not easy. I think the sooner we can acknowledge that the sooner we can start really caring for the people put directly in our pathway, whether they are there for a moment or a season or a long while. I’m also a Christian and so I aim to show people the light in my own heart because faith connects so many of us and God shows us how to love one another well. So that’s what I want to do, love other people well.
Contact Info:
- Email: emilywilliscreative@gmail.com
- Instagram: emily_hmua
- Other: https://linktr.ee/emilywilliscreative
Image Credits:
Kevin Harry Photography
Bretagne Isler of Tags Photography
