Email: neill@outloudculture.com
Originally rising to prominence as a cast member on the 8th season of the hit reality television series, “Dance Moms” (Jojo Siwa, Maddie Zielger) Pressley has since gone on to become one of the biggest gen-z social media creators, earning over ten million social media followers, starring in Brat TV scripted original series like “Stage Fright” and “Attaway General” and becoming a Nickelodeon fan favorite being tapped as one of Nickelodeon’s Kindness Crew Ambassadors as well as being picked to host their Lego Friends Podcast. In 2022, Pressley also expanded her beauty, lifestyle and fashion empire with her debut fashion collection in collaboration with teen clothier Teenz Shop, with numerous entrepreneurial ventures in the works. At just 16 years of age, Pressley has been tasked with a full workload which includes numerous hours of dance and music lessons, business meetings, public appearances and more.
Hi Pressley, welcome to OLC! You rose to fame on the hit show ‘Dance Moms’, can you tell us about that experience and how you landed that role?
Hi!! Thank you so much for having me!
Just like pretty much every dancer, I grew up watching Dance Moms and was a huge fan since the first season. I used to go to ALDC dance classes and boot camps all the time and always dreamt of being on the show! But it wasn’t until 2018 when Gianna Martello, our choreographer on the show, came and taught at my moms dance studio and asked my mom if we would be interested! She then submitted us to the producers, and we went through a very long audition process. It consisted of skype calls, video submissions, and in person auditions. All of the auditions finished in the summer of 2018 but we didn’t find out we booked it until January 2019 via an Instagram post! We then packed up our stuff 2 weeks later and the rest is history. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the show. It was an amazing experience and wouldn’t be where I am or who I am without it. I’m very grateful to have experienced it.
You were quite young being on the show, how did your friends react to you being on TV, and was that hard being on that show and navigating life as a young kid?
I was 11 years old when I first started the show but honestly it wasn’t a hard thing for me to adjust to since I had been working since I was 3 months old. Growing up I would always be doing print and dance jobs but obviously this was bigger than any of those. But I definitely think having a little bit of experience before going into the show was helpful and made it a little easier to navigate.
Who was your biggest influence in wanting to be a dancer and what about them inspired you?
My first ever influence in dance, and well everything in life, was my mom. She was a dancer and owned a dance studio so I was really just born into it and it stuck. But as I got older I always looked up to Maddie Ziegler. She was and still is one of my biggest inspirations in every aspect of my career.
You’ve now become a huge social media creator, and you’ve continued to spread positivity to all, why has mental health become such an important aspect of your life and career?
Since I do have a pretty big platform, it gives me the opportunity to use my voice to talk about things that are important and spread positivity. I feel like given the platform I have, I have to use it for good, so I like to keep everything positive and happy. The world can be such a negative place sometimes so if I can be just a small part in making it a happier and better place I will do all I can to do so.
You are a massive fan of country music I read, and you were also included in a TikTok from the great Dolly Parton? How did that come about and how exciting was that for you?
Oh my gosh, that was one of the coolest things ever!! Being such a huge country music lover and having someone as iconic as Dolly post me was surreal!
You have a great working relationship with Nickelodeon, and you’re going to be hosting the orange carpet for The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, I believe? How did that come about and how excited are you for it?
Yes!! I will be hosting the carpet of the KCAs this Saturday and I could not be more excited! I have been working with Nickelodeon for a little over 2 years now and I am extremely thankful to have been given this opportunity! It will actually be my first ever KCA so even just getting to go to the show is so exciting but getting to host the carpet?!! Wow, I can’t believe it.
Talk to me about your latest venture, partnering with Windsor to curate a collection of prom dresses?
Yes!! Working with Windsor on this collection has been a dream! I mean who wouldn’t want to dress up in a ton of gorgeous dresses and create the ultimate prom wardrobe?! We are actually having a fashion show on March 11th at the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, CA to show off the collection! The tickets are free and anyone can come! If you are not able to make it in person they will also be live streaming the show! I’m so excited to meet so many people and show off the collection to the world! I’m also so excited about this project because we’re partnering with Becca’s Closet which is such an amazing organization that distributes beautiful dresses to high school girls in need.
What’s been the most memorable part of your career so far?
Honestly I don’t know if I could choose. Everything in my career has been memorable for me. It has all led me to where I am now so I don’t think I could pick just one.
What’s next for you in 2023?
I see myself doing so many things in this next year and years to come but this year I am looking forward to sharing more about my very exciting music project that I have been working extremely hard on! There are so many other exciting things I am working on that I can’t wait to share as well!
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