Our first guest made history as the first black woman
to be promoted to principal dancer at American Ballet Theater.
She's known as a Trailblazer and ballets, biggest superstar
and now she is the force behind her
own women's fitness clothing line called Greatness Wins.
We are honored to have Misty Copeland join us today.
Thank you so much for giving us your time right now.
Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's a very exciting day.
So before we get to the clothing brand, which I need to know all about,
I have to talk about you being on the big screen.
You're going from the stage to the big screen right now with this new short film.
Yes, it's very exciting to, you know, step into this position of,
of producer and um actress
um with my short film Flower. It's an art activism piece.
It focuses on the community of Oakland, California
and what that community is going through with
gentrification and homelessness and using my art,
using dance with no dialogue to tell this story and highlight those issues
and how did your own experiences really connect you to this story?
Yeah.
You know, I mean, I feel like more so than my story though I did grow up with, you know,
housing insecurity and food insecurity.
For most of my childhood, when I started ballet, my family was living in a motel.
So of course, I have, you know, this, this empathy and understanding in that way.
But I would say what's even more connected to
me is using this idea of a contemporary ballet
because the power of movement and the power of giving a voice to the
voiceless and highlighting these issues is where I think ballet should be headed.
And,
and I feel like it's a fusion of so many
different dances though it wasn't just ballet and the way,
I mean, your main character moves is incredible.
Thank you. Yeah, it was really important.
You know, that we um highlighted the community again.
You know,
this is an idea with the structure of a ballet and
the way that ballet tells stories again through um no,
no dialogue.
But we wanted to showcase the talent there in Oakland.
And so they have a, a street dance style called turfing.
So we highlighted a lot of those dancers.
We have an incredible dancer from minds ballet in San Francisco, Babatunde
Johnson. Rafael Si
composed the music
from Oakland, Rich and tone choreographers from Richmond, California.
So it's really like a collective of voices from the community. All right.
Now I saw on your Instagram, your,
your video where you're walking and the different outfits are changing.
So whether people are uh you know, a dancer or they just want a great workout,
talk to me about this greatness wins, clothing done with some of the, I mean,
the most incredible sports figures of our time, Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky.
Yeah.
Uh you know, it was really incredible, Derek Jeter.
Um initially was the one who approached me and said, you know, we are looking for,
you know, a female athlete to head the women's line.
Um And, you know,
it's this incredible group of athletes coming together and
not just as the face um you know,
of this brand, but as founders and to me,
I think that is such an incredible uh message
to show like the power that we have as athletes
and that what we've experienced and our careers like they have power and impact
because of our experiences and that we do have a voice within this space.
Um
And so it was amazing to be able to step in and
work with an incredible creative team of designers and use again,
uh my aesthetic, you know,
the things that I feel like women want to see themselves in,
to feel beautiful and strong.
You know, this is for people that want to work hard,
want to be in the gym and want to be focused or in the
gym or whatever space it is in a dance studio on the tennis court,
golf, you know,
but that are really focused on their fitness journey,
um wherever that may be, but trying to be, you know,
their greatest self and their healthiest self.
And I know you have this new PBS arts talk where you actually interview the legends.
What's that like being on the other side and getting to,
to ask the questions and lead the conversation,
not something I ever thought I would be doing.
Um,
you know, but, but for me to be able to be a part of PBS and, you know,
uh where I've grown up watching and learning so much about the arts,
it just made sense for me to,
to be a part of this and kind of take a
leap and challenge myself and just quickly your beautiful son.
What is it like? You know, being a mom and trying to do all these amazing things,
you know, somehow he makes it easier.
He's 1.5 now, Jackson and I think having this, this person, this being to focus on,
makes everything much more organized and um
much more intentional.
You're spending your time on the things that you want and forget everything else. Mr
Copeland. Thank you so much for chatting with us today all the best to you.