Today we’d like to introduce you to Susie Vazquez.
Hi Susie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and from the time I was little, I knew I wanted to live a creative life. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a radiologist, so the path in front of me looked very “medical.” But I craved something more expressive. I loved music and theater, but dance was the thing that lit me up. There was something magical about how the body, mind, and spirit synced when I moved.
In junior high, I joined a competitive dance team, but it wasn’t exactly top-tier—lots of honorable mentions and bronze medals. I knew I needed more serious training, so I started taking ballet at Dayton Ballet and modern and jazz at Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Looking back, I didn’t realize how lucky I was to grow up in a city with multiple professional companies and world-class training just minutes away.
I still laugh thinking about my first ballet class at Dayton Ballet—flare leggings, jazz shoes, and a ponytail. I had no idea what I was doing. But I learned quickly. Not long after, I was asked to audition for DCDC2, the second company of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and that moment completely shifted the trajectory of my life.
I trained with DCDC2 during my senior year of high school and through my freshman, sophomore, and junior years at Wright State University as a dance major. Back then, I was dancing 8–9 hours a day. It was intense—lots of stress fractures and a lot of grit. In my senior year, I auditioned for DCDC’s first company, their professional touring company, and was accepted as an apprentice, allowing me to finish my BFA while performing professionally.
I spent several years dancing as a lead with DCDC, touring and really stepping into myself as an artist. Later, I danced professionally in New York City with Nai-Ni Chen and in Chicago with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. During those years, I also choreographed constantly—about 60 pieces a year—for both regional academies and professional companies, including Dayton Ballet, the same studio where I once showed up in jazz shoes with no clue what I was doing. It was a beautiful career, and I feel incredibly grateful for it.
Then came the injuries. Major ones. I needed multiple surgeries, spent time in a wheelchair, and literally had to learn to walk again. I crawled up stairs for over a year. It was devastating—physically, emotionally, financially, and to my sense of identity. I tried to get back to dancing professionally, but at some point, the physical toll was too much.
So I pivoted—hard—and went back to school. Full circle, right? After originally planning on physical therapy, I found myself fascinated by disease processes in my pre-med classes at Northwestern University in Chicago and ultimately decided to become a physician assistant.
One of my “reach schools” was Emory University in Atlanta. With acceptance rates around 3%, I was pretty sure it was a long shot… but I got in. I packed up, moved to Atlanta, and not long after settling in, I found this little gem across from the Emory School of Medicine—Dance 101. It was a studio for adults of all levels, a space free from judgment and pressure. I used to sneak away from study sessions to take a quick ballet class. It kept me grounded.
By 2023, I felt the pull to teach again. I applied for a teaching position at Dance 101 and have now been teaching contemporary and modern there for two years. The community, the joy, the freedom—teaching again has been such a gift.
Today, I’m balancing life as an Endocrinology PA in Decatur, GA, a mom to a five-year-old boy named Yakobi (with another little one on the way!), and I’m actively transitioning into dermatology—a field I’ve fallen in love with. And on top of that, I’m returning to my artistic roots in a bigger way.
I recently started a new dance company, Paradigm Dance Company, and we had our very first performance this month. It felt like the beginning of something really special. I can’t wait to share more with the Atlanta community. Stay tuned—there’s a lot more to come.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all – the road has been anything but smooth. There have been incredible highs, but also some very real challenges along the way.
One of the hardest chapters was when my professional dance career came to an abrupt end. I went through three major orthopedic surgeries, spent time in a wheelchair, and literally had to relearn how to walk. For a dancer, injuries don’t just affect your body – they shake your identity, your community, your sense of purpose, and your livelihood. Losing dance at that level felt like losing a piece of who I was.
While I was still navigating that loss, life kept moving. I became a single mom during PA school, which is demanding even under the best circumstances. My program required 70–80 hours a week between classes, studying, and clinical rotations. Balancing that with motherhood was brutally hard. There were nights I was studying flashcards while rocking my baby and mornings I was running on almost no sleep.
And my introduction to motherhood wasn’t easy either – I had an emergency C-section with my first pregnancy, and the recovery made returning to movement and dance incredibly challenging. My body didn’t bounce back in the way I had hoped, and I had to face the reality that it simply wouldn’t perform the way it once did. That was humbling in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
But these challenges ended up reshaping my relationship with dance in the best way. I’ve let go of the perfectionism that defined my early career. Dance no longer has to be about extreme physicality or technical “perfection” for it to be meaningful. Instead of something I need to cling to tightly, it’s become something I want to share.
Teaching, choreographing, and now building Paradigm Dance Company has given me a renewed sense of purpose. Dance has shifted from being something I “perform” to something I offer – an outlet, a gift, a way to build community and tell stories. My body may not be the same, but my artistry is deeper, more honest, and more connected than ever.
So no, it hasn’t been a smooth road. But those struggles helped me grow into a stronger artist, a more grounded mom, and a more resilient human being.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My life has always been a blend of seemingly opposite worlds, and I think that’s what makes my story unique. I like to joke that I have three identities: the physician assistant, the artist, and the mom/wife – and all three feel equally true.
Professionally, I’m a physician assistant currently practicing in Endocrinology, though I’m transitioning into Dermatology. I’ve always been fascinated by how the body works – not just in terms of disease, but in terms of healing, root causes, and quality of life. In medicine, I’m known for compassionate, patient-centered care. I genuinely love connecting with people, validating their experiences, and helping them heal.
At the same time, I have this whole other side of my life rooted deeply in the arts. I’m a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and the founder of Paradigm Dance Theatre. In the dance world, I’m known for raw, emotionally charged, deeply human movement. My choreography is driven by storytelling – the messy parts, the beautiful parts, the honest parts. I love creating work that touches people and makes them tap into something deeper.
Then there’s the side of me that’s the mom and wife – arguably the most grounding role of them all. Raising my son, Yakobi, and building a family has been the heartbeat behind everything I do. I also manage rental properties on the side, because apparently I don’t know how to sit still! But truthfully, real estate became another outlet for growth, creativity, and long-term stability for my family.
What sets me apart is that I’ve never allowed myself to be boxed into one path. I refuse to subscribe to the idea that you can only be “one thing.” I believe deeply in abundance – in the idea that we can reinvent ourselves again and again, pursue multiple passions, and build a life that is layered, rich, and self-defined. My persistence, my willingness to evolve, and my refusal to shrink myself into someone else’s idea of “reasonable” is what keeps pushing me forward.
I’m proud that I’ve created a life that holds space for science, art, motherhood, entrepreneurship – all of it. I’m proud that I didn’t abandon any part of myself. And I’m proud that in doing so, I’ve shown my son – and hopefully others – that you don’t have to choose between passion and practicality, creativity and stability, or ambition and family. You can be all of it. You can build the life you imagine.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think the quality that has been most important to my success is my relentless belief in possibility – a refusal to accept limits, ceilings, or the idea that I have to fit neatly into one identity.
Whether in medicine, dance, or motherhood, I’ve always trusted that growth is available if I’m willing to work for it. That mindset has carried me through the intensity of PA school, major pivots in my dance career, recovering from significant injuries, and the continuous balancing act of being a mom, partner, clinician, artist, and property manager all at once.
This growth-oriented mindset is paired with persistence. I don’t give up easily, and I don’t let discomfort or uncertainty stop me from pursuing what feels aligned – whether that’s changing medical specialties, choreographing emotionally-driven work that pushes boundaries, or building a life that blends stability and creativity.
Another trait that contributes to my success is empathy. In medicine, it shows up as compassionate patient care. In dance, it becomes emotional intuition – the ability to translate human experience into movement that resonates deeply with others. In motherhood, it helps me be present, intentional, and connected.
Ultimately, my success comes from refusing to live small. I trust my instincts, chase the things that inspire me, and believe that we are all capable of reinventing ourselves as many times as we need. That mindset – expansive, persistent, and grounded in purpose – is what has carried me forward in every chapter.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @susieqz85
Image Credits
Shelby Chan, Spencer Lee, Misty Winter.
