Heart and Hustle

June’s love for dance was built on a foundation of performing that can be traced back to when she was as young as three years old.

“My father’s a pastor, so a lot of the stuff that I did, whether it was singing, dancing, acting, whatever, started in church,” June explains. “I loved performing and being in front of people.”

Wanting her daughter to be well-rounded, June’s mom required her to maintain school grades above 95% and join other sports throughout the year in order to keep dancing. June stayed committed and was able to dance all throughout her K-12 journey and well into college.

Along with joining the marching band dance/flag team at Miles College and earning the position of captain by her sophomore year, June expanded her performance resume considerably. She was a background dancer and singer, joined several stage plays, and had bit parts in some TV shows.

Her time in the spotlight, however, wasn’t meant to last for the long haul.

“When I got older, I realized I wasn’t as prepared for the performance world as I thought I was, so I started tapping into preparing the next generation,” June says, a decision that took her from dancer to choreographer.

 

A Purpose, A Plan, and Some Pirouettes

After graduating from college, June focused her energy into sharing her skills and knowledge. She began hosting dance clinics for the high schools in her county and fell in love with the impact she could make on up-and-coming dancers.

It was especially important for June to provide the dancers with the guidance she wished she had growing up and to “show them different ways they could be better.” That vision led her to opening her own studio in Atlanta, where teams of young dancers honed their skills in hip hop, contemporary, and majorette technique. When she landed a job at San Diego State University (SDSU) several years later, June closed her Atlanta studio and reopened it in the new city, expanding her training ground to West Coast dancers.

Although June’s role as a coach and choreographer shifted her more behind the scenes, it still allowed her to stay connected to dance and continue to express her creativity.

“A dancer does the motion, and the choreographer creates the motion, so that’s always fun trying to find new and exciting ways to keep people interested in watching somebody move,” she says.

June also lent her choreography expertise to larger-scale projects, collaborating with the TV network VH1; rapper and singer Saweetie; and Fenty Beauty, Rihanna’s cosmetics brand, to create original content.

 

No Half Steps

June’s approach to coaching stems from the belief that greatness is born from discipline and tough love. “Coach Bri,” as her dancers call her, finds the most rewarding part of her mentor role in seeing her dancers evolve, not just in their technique, but also in their character.

That evolution often begins with tryouts where June intentionally “shakes the tree” to see who is serious about dancing. The ones who make the team—both those who are already resilient and those who quickly learn to build thick skin—must then face “cuts,” meaning they have to earn their spots for specific performances.

While the goal is to get everyone to push their dancing to the next level, the competitive spirit June likes to foster is meant to be healthy: a dancer can miss out on a spot, congratulate the teammate who got it, and come back determined to earn the spot next time.

“You’re going to compete in life all the time, whether it’s for a job, for a promotion, whether it’s unconsciously, subconsciously,” June tells her dancers, “but it doesn’t have to be ugly. You can just put it all out there, do your best, then move on.”

The results of June’s coaching philosophy speak for themselves. Both her Atlanta and San Diego teams won multiple regional and national competitions. While at SDSU, she coached the SDSU Diamonds, the university’s dance team that became popular for their high-energy performances during athletic games. Today, many of June’s former dancers are professional backup dancers, NFL cheerleaders, or have become coaches and choreographers themselves.

For June, these examples illustrate how success is more than just trophies or titles; they show that her dancers have embodied the core values of putting in the work and loving what they do.

 

Bringing the Moves to UOG

While June has only been at UOG for half a year, she is already making big moves. She is finding ways to motivate students to attend UOG and earn their degrees, but also to enjoy their college experience. Part of that plan has been establishing the Triton Spirit Squad, a student team that uses a fusion of dance and cheerleading to boost campus engagement and school spirit.

Beyond getting students involved in extracurriculars, June’s work is rooted in giving them the kind of support she remembers receiving from academic mentors during her own college days.

“That’s what drew me to both dancing and education, being that example for others,” she shares.

The opportunities to encourage young people remain plentiful for June. Whether she is guiding Tritons as they navigate their college plans or challenging her Spirit Squad members to find their rhythm, June is all about helping students and dancers alike recognize what they are capable of and giving them someone they can look to along the way.