Class of 2025: From art to business, Kaity Myers let dance take the lead

By Leila Ugincius

Public speaking is a strength and a joy for Kaity Myers, which she acknowledges may come as a surprise. In childhood, she dealt with selective mutism.

Another surprise: It was dance that helped Myers find her voice – and helped her find her way back to Virginia Commonwealth University for a second degree, as she graduates this month with her MBA from the School of Business.

“I always loved to perform and perfect my technique,” Myers said of dance, which at age 5 began giving her a means of expression before speaking comfortably in public. “Eventually that gave me the courage to have a voice.”

Myers grew up in Conifer, Colorado, a small mountain town west of Denver where she danced in a small studio. In middle school, she joined the pre-professional program of the Colorado Ballet in Denver. 

“Dance became the bridge that helped me find my voice,” she said, noting that she spoke comfortably with family and friends but less so in unfamiliar environments. “It gave me a place to express myself fully without speaking, which allowed me to build confidence gradually and without pressure. Pressure tends to make selective mutism stronger, not weaker. … Eventually, speaking became a natural extension of expression rather than something I was afraid of.”

Dance also brought Myers to VCU for her first degree. After graduating with honors from high school, she auditioned for and was accepted to several universities, and VCU’s top ranking as a public art school – and the chance to experience city living – lured her to Richmond.

Her undergraduate experience became formative. She graduated from the School of the Arts in 2018 with a degree in dance and choreography, but her minor in general business had special resonance as her MBA path came into focus. She also met her fiancé, who is now a fourth-year student at the VCU School of Medicine.

After graduation, Myers moved to New York City, where she found work as a freelance contemporary ballet and modern dancer for small projects for several choreographers.

“It is a common joke in NYC that every actor is a bartender or waiter – and every dancer is a yoga, Pilates or barre instructor – to have a second stable income that is still flexible to rehearsal schedules,” she said. “I, naturally, was all three, and I worked in studios and gyms in NYC. Yoga was a personal focus of mine, as I always appreciated the mind-body connection.”

Yoga also shaped her path back to VCU. Myers joined Lil Yogis, a company that develops programs to bring yoga into schools, predominantly pre-school, elementary after-school programs and summer camps. She eventually became the general manager.

“While working for Lil Yogis, I was writing curriculum, negotiating contracts with schools and creating teaching programs for new teachers,” Myers said. “On top of that, for several dance projects I did, I was helping coordinate with vendors for the choreographers, and writing marketing promotions for the project. I did all of this with very little understanding of these practices and had to rely on my experience-based knowledge.”

That inspired her to learn more. And with finite years as a performer — most dancers retire by their late 30s or early 40s — Myers felt the next step approaching.

“So, I decided to move back to RVA and return to VCU for my MBA so that I could pursue clearer knowledge about the work I was already doing,” she said. “I knew this choice would mean a big career shift, but what I learned was that I could take my past experience and apply it to the business world.”

Entrepreneurship and innovation caught her eye and became the field of concentration for her MBA. “I love to see someone’s creative vision and use my well-rounded creative and logistic mindset to champion their idea and add my personal creativity to it,” Myers said.

She also can bring lessons from her experience with selective mutism.

“I think those quiet years sharpened my listening skills and helped me develop a strong sense of how words land with others,” Myers said. “I’ve often been told I have a calm, warm energy when speaking publicly” – a talent she put on display, with a gratifying sense of fulfillment, during presentations and pitches in her MBA program.

Myers would now like to join a company to support its creative innovation, but she won’t restrict herself to familiar industries – even as she speaks the language of a dancer.

“I have learned that my creativity and logistical understanding of business can be combined to choreograph a solution to any problem I approach,” she said.