Menina Fortunato - Dancer / Mentor / Entrepreneur

Paula Abdul, Earth Wind & Fire and Star Trek

Menina Fortunato has performed alongside some of the biggest names in music, including Beyoncé and Britney Spears, and has worked on major productions like America’s Got Talent and Star Trek: Enterprise. But her story goes beyond the spotlight. In this episode, Menina shares her journey from a small-town dreamer to an international dance icon and mentor. Learn how she turned adversity into strength, built a thriving dance business, and now helps others achieve their dreams in the industry.

5 Key Takeaways:

• How to build resilience in the face of rejection.
• The importance of strong industry relationships.
• Why focusing on your passion can lead to success.
• How to pivot your business during challenging times.
• The value of mentorship in achieving career goals.

Links:
www.meninafortunato.com

www.bizofdance.com

www.dancehst.com

Paul Povolni, the founder of Voppa Creative, has been a creative leader for over 30 years, with clients around the world. He’s led teams in creating award-winning branding and design as well as equipping his clients to lead with Clarity, Creativity and Culture.

Headsmack Website

Transcript

Paul Povolni (02:33.748)
Welcome to the Headsmmack podcast. My name is Paul Povolni. So glad to have you along. I am excited to talk to Manina Fortunato about some interesting things that she's doing, that she's done and where she's going and welcome Manina. How are you doing?

Menina Fortunato (02:48.814)
I'm fantastic, great to meet you and thank you for having me.

Paul Povolni (02:52.372)
Well, thanks for being on. Now, Menina has had quite a interesting backstory and I want to hear a little bit more about it because she has performed with Beyonce, Britney Spears, Earth, Wind & Fire, Paula Abdul, Victoria, Justice, MC Hammer, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, ZZ Top and Maluma. She's also worked on America's Got Talent, The X Factor, Latin American Music Awards, Star Trek Enterprise. I definitely want to hear about that.

and has been a judge on Dance Mums where she judged Jojo Siwa. I think everybody's doing that right now. And Maddie Ziegler. So glad to have you on. That's quite the experience thing. And you've got a lot done in your few years of being here.

Menina Fortunato (03:34.734)
Thank you. Yeah, dance has been my life. I started when I was eight years old. My father was my first dance teacher, so I grew up in a dancing family. My mother started a dance competition when I was 13, so I was helping her build that in my teen years. So at a very young age, I got my business education, if you will, real life hands -on experience, being a part of my family's dance business. But I had my own aspirations, so by the time I was...

Paul Povolni (03:56.564)
Yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (04:03.182)
I decided that I wanted to move to LA and that was back in 2001. You can do the math. And I moved to LA with my car, my clothes and a big dream. I had my little apartment for $375 a month, which doesn't even exist anymore. You can't even get a closet for that price. But I started very, very humble beginnings in Los Angeles. Within the first month, I was working with Paul Abdul, who was one of my teen idols. So that was a bucket list dream job for me.

Paul Povolni (04:09.172)
Ha ha.

Paul Povolni (04:14.868)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (04:30.676)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (04:33.134)
And then the.

Paul Povolni (04:33.268)
So how did that happen? How did like going from a car with how the anything to a small tiny apartment to working with Paula Abdul. I want to hear a little bit of that backstory. How did that connection even happen?

Menina Fortunato (04:42.99)
Sure. Well, there was a lot of preparation that led all the way up to that. So the move to LA wasn't just some sporadic, spontaneous decision. I got a scholarship to train in LA when I was 16 for a summer. And that was when I decided back then that I wanted to move to LA. I told my parents, I want to move to LA one day and pursue a dance career. They thought I was nuts. They didn't even think I was good enough. And they come from a dance background. And they were like, there's no way you can make it the best of the best around there. And I was like, no, I was.

Paul Povolni (05:06.516)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (05:11.662)
blinders on dead focused that was where I was headed so for four summers in a row I Trained in LA and I kept going back and I was building relationships making connections starting to get familiar with the city Having an understanding of kind of how getting my feet wet and dabbling so Before I moved to LA the summer before that I was in LA and I was assisting a choreographer on a project and he walked me into his agency and at the time The agent was like who are you where you from like?

Paul Povolni (05:14.9)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (05:41.39)
tell me your story and I'm like, I'm just visiting, you know, from LA and I'm from Vancouver where I'm from originally and he's like, are you a dancer? And I said, yeah. And he's like, do you live here? And I said, no, but I would like to. And he's like, here's, here's my card. I really like your look. And my, the choreographer friend of mine, he was saying, you know, she's Uber talented, you know, you need to sign her one day. And he was like, okay, cool. Well, let me know if you ever move out to LA. I'd really love to consider representing you as an agent. So I said, great.

Now I had an obstacle back then, I'm Canadian, so I wasn't legally allowed to move to the US yet. So I had to deal with the whole obstacle of getting a visa. And there's such a thing.

Paul Povolni (06:12.308)
Right, right.

I thought the obstacle was that you were Canadian. I thought, wait a second. Yeah, the visa, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (06:20.654)
The visa, I could not work in the US. So that for international dancers is a big deal. It's hard enough just to work in LA, let alone try to get the visa. You have to prove to immigration that you're the top 5 % of your field on piece of paper. And this was the time before social media, before we really had much of an online presence. I had a website back then which was unheard of, because I like to build my own websites back in the day. But anyhow, so.

Paul Povolni (06:41.972)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (06:45.524)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (06:47.054)
I made that connection a year prior. I spent a year getting all my marketing materials together and building that portfolio so that I got all the letters of references and was able to get my work visa. And I also spent that year saving my money. I was teaching dance at five different studios while going to university at the same time. But I wanted to make sure that I made the move responsibly. So I had a little bit of money in my pocket and my rent was $375 a month. So you do the math.

Paul Povolni (07:14.868)
Yeah, yeah, right, right.

Menina Fortunato (07:15.566)
$5 ,000 was a lot of money for me. I could survive without work. That was my expectation. So I moved to LA with an agent, with a work visa. I moved into an apartment that I'd never seen in person until the day I moved in, and moved in with a roommate that I had never met in person until the day I moved in. Luckily, she actually turned out to be one of the best roommates I ever had, but that might've been a fluke. Anyhow, so moving into LA right away hit the ground running.

Paul Povolni (07:31.38)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (07:38.708)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (07:45.262)
My agent was like, I told them I'm here, let's go. So they start sending me to auditions and such. Now, Paul Abdul was actually a direct booking and that was thanks to my agent. My agent, his name is Bill Bull at the time, he used to tour with Paul Abdul. He was a personal friend of Paul Abdul. Paul Abdul was looking for dancers for the Reef of Madness, what they call skeleton crew. She wanted to work with a group of dancers to help do the creation of the show. So, Paul basically just asked him, who on your roster would you recommend?

Paul Povolni (07:52.628)
well.

Menina Fortunato (08:14.99)
It was literally that. There was no audition. I think there might have been a picture submission where they just look at her headshot and resume just to make sure, yep, thumbs up. And then I was working with her a couple days after. So that was a direct booking. Now fast forward, sorry, Britney Spears. That was another kind of big highlight right out the gate. I booked the Pepsi commercials with her that premiered on Super Bowl that following year in 2002. And...

Paul Povolni (08:17.556)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (08:29.428)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (08:40.724)
wow.

Menina Fortunato (08:43.438)
If you know anything about Super Bowl commercials, like you want a Super Bowl commercial, they pay well. I made $35 ,000 in 10 days as a 20 year old, so that was like a big deal. So $5 ,000, it took me a year to save $5 ,000 back then. So $35 ,000, I was like, great, I don't have to work for the next year.

Paul Povolni (08:46.388)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (08:52.82)
Right.

Yeah.

Yeah, I can get a $600 apartment. Woohoo!

Menina Fortunato (09:02.446)
So that was also kind of a dream come true for a young dancer. At the time, Britney Spears was at the height of her career. I remember a year prior watching the MTV VMAs thinking, I want to dance with those dancers one day. I thought I was really inspired by her dancers and the choreography and thinking, I want to be there one day. So I knew who her dancers were. I knew who her choreographers were because I did my homework. They didn't know who I was on the other hand. So I attended Britney Spears' World Tour auditions. Now that was one of the most grueling auditions I've ever attended.

There were over 700 dancers. It was a two day process. We danced for our lives. Like it was pretty intense round after round, cut after cut. And I made it to the... No, Brittany was not in the room for this part. So I made it to the final cut of about 30 dancers. I did not book the tour, but that audition is what got me the Pepsi commercials. So that was...

Paul Povolni (09:37.556)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (09:41.684)
Was this in front of Brittany or was this totally separate from that? Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (10:00.334)
My first commercial was Pepsi with Britney and Super Bowl. And I didn't even understand how residuals worked back then. I was like, great, I made $3 ,000 for my session check. That's for the actual work days. And my agent's like, no, wait till we get the residuals. I'm like, what's that? And they're like, it's basically like a royalty fee. Every time that commercial airs, you get paid. I was like, sweet. So that commercial ran for a year and a half. So in total, it was about $35 ,000.

Paul Povolni (10:02.608)
That's awesome.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (10:22.004)
Nice.

Wow.

Menina Fortunato (10:28.174)
that I made from that commercial. Now they don't make commercials like that anymore, I will say that. But it was, yeah, that was definitely a bucket list job to be a part of. And I've had so many incredible jobs. Now you tell me, you mentioned you want to hear about Star Trek, do you want me to fast forward?

Paul Povolni (10:31.188)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (10:42.74)
Well, before I, before I, yeah, I do want to hear about that a hundred percent, but also, you know, something that you said a little earlier, you mentioned that, your parents didn't think you were good enough and you know, this was something you, you know, where, and, but you were still determined to do it. Where did that determination come from?

Menina Fortunato (10:53.07)
Mm -hmm.

Menina Fortunato (11:00.654)
Ironically, my parents, that's the funny part, is even though they didn't have the belief that I could make it, because here's a reality check, I was not the best competitive dancer. I was a competitive dancer. I was not the best. I was happy if I placed top three. That was a big deal for me. And I was not the dancer that you saw on stage that you were like, yeah, she's going to make it big. I was never, I guess you can say the underdog. But one thing I did learn from competition was because I was used to losing, I was used to dealing with rejection.

Paul Povolni (11:03.284)
Hahaha.

Menina Fortunato (11:30.83)
So I was used to fighting and working harder. And that later prepared me when I look back for the challenges that I faced later in life. So I was prepared. Like I had the mindset of like, okay, I'm gonna move to LA and I'm not gonna work for the next six months, but I'm gonna do the groundwork and finally, you know, but luckily I had better luck than I anticipated. But my parents are also pretty stubborn. And I know my mother, you know, she, my father, I come from a black sheep type family. My parents are not,

They don't live to the status quo. They do their own thing. They want to beat their own drums. Like my mother quit her successful federal government job to start dance competitions. Everybody thought she was nuts. What are you leaving? You have pension. You have all the benefits. You have salary. What are you gonna do? A dance competition? You can't make money off of that, blah, blah, blah. Well, fast forward, my parents became multimillionaires running dance competitions. And now they're semi -retired and traveling the world and they just take off for three months at a time and go to the random.

Paul Povolni (12:13.012)
Right, right.

Paul Povolni (12:21.332)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (12:28.398)
They were in Ecuador and they've been to Antarctica and all these random locations, just doing what they love, which is travel. So they're kind of one of those people, they're people that when they set their mind to something, they're going to do it. So that stubbornness, if you will, carried on to me, but I had a different type of stubbornness. I had my own goals and aspirations. And I think, even coming from my father, he's Portuguese from Portugal, like peasant lifestyle, his...

Paul Povolni (12:44.18)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (12:57.262)
His parents came from nothing. They didn't have running water, they didn't have toilets. It was a very scarcity mindset. So the thought of living your dreams was never a part of their reality. It was a matter of survival. So the...

Paul Povolni (13:08.788)
Wow. Wow. So where did the dan - dan - dancing experience come from for them?

Menina Fortunato (13:14.734)
So there's a backstory to that. So my mother, my mother was a choreographer in Club Med in Italy. My father worked in Club Med. He was like a sailing instructor and worked with kids or something. She needed a dance partner for the shows and she thought he was cute. So she asked him to be the dance partner. He had some natural rhythm. He had some natural rhythm. She taught him how to dance. So fast forward, they fell in love, got married. They moved to Canada. They had me. I was their first of three kids.

Paul Povolni (13:16.564)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (13:31.828)
That's awesome, wow!

Menina Fortunato (13:44.174)
And my mother ended up, that's when she got her quote unquote real job where she went and worked for the federal government and got the salary job. Whereas my father, he was dabbling into like random jobs, like worked in the railroad track and the sawmill. And then he found his love for dance. He started teaching in the rec centers. You know, he was self -taught, never really taken a formal dance class. He watched instructional videos and read books and did whatever he could do. And...

Paul Povolni (14:12.18)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (14:14.094)
He then started teaching for other dance studios, eventually opened his own studio. He then had two studios. So everything just kind of evolved from there. So he also had a lot of opposition from his parents because back then they were like teaching dance. What does a man do doing teaching dance? You can't support a family doing that. Are you crazy? He had so much opposition. And here's crazy story. My grandfather is, I don't know, 96 or something, older man now.

Paul Povolni (14:20.948)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (14:29.844)
Ha ha ha ha!

Yeah.

Wow.

Menina Fortunato (14:43.438)
never once until this year finally said to my father, I'm proud of you because he had opposition. They didn't even understand. They're like, how are you traveling the world? How do you have, you know, live mortgage free? They're like, they just could not wrap their head around that he was successful because of dance, you know, and now because of social media, they get to actually kind of see their life and family get to see their life. Cause there was a period where my relatives were like,

He must be drug dealing or something. There's no way that he can make money from teaching dance. Like they can't even like, it comes from a very machismo, patriarchal, like Roman Catholic upbringing. So yeah, and the whole, everyone has this perception of like, that's a starving artist. You're never gonna make money. yeah, follow your passion, whatever that is. So my father was a bit rebellious with his own family. And then I guess you could say I was a bit rebellious with my family.

Paul Povolni (15:13.012)
my goodness.

Right.

Paul Povolni (15:23.22)
Well, and starving artists, you know.

Paul Povolni (15:35.252)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (15:38.638)
Now they see my vision. Now they support what I do, but at the time they were like, man, you're crazy. And they also thought too, when I got my three year work visa, they're like, see you in three years. They didn't think I would last. And I was like, watch me. And I stayed in LA for 16 years. I did come back to the nest. I live in Vancouver now, but for different reasons, not because of career, but mainly because I started a family. And I realized very quickly that the LA,

Paul Povolni (15:40.628)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (15:44.756)
You

Paul Povolni (15:48.916)
wow. Wow.

Paul Povolni (15:56.948)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (16:01.652)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (16:07.95)
school district system was a totally different beast than what I was raised with. So I was like, I'm gonna raise my kids somewhere else. But I still, my business is still in LA. Yeah, and I still go there from time to time to produce events and productions. And I was just there two weeks ago doing some TV interviews with NBC. And so I still am able to work occasionally out there. I just wanted a more normal upbringing for my kids, safe neighborhood. I don't have to worry about like...

Paul Povolni (16:14.342)
Yeah, a little different.

Paul Povolni (16:30.74)
Yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (16:36.654)
shootings and bomb threats at schools and traffic and all of those things that matter.

Paul Povolni (16:37.588)
Right, right. Right. Well, and I love what you shared about, you know, you had no fear of failure and therefore you were a lot bolder because you had experienced, you know, failure, you had experienced struggle. And so it made you a lot bolder in saying, well, I'm not going to be three years. I'm going to make it. I'm going to do this. I'm going to pursue these things. I'm going to step out of my comfort zone. I'm going to reach out for.

you know, working with the people that I idolize. And so I love that you took what could have been a negative of rejection and even people saying, well, you're not going to make it. And you turn, turn that into a superpower and a super driver that then made you say, well, watch me, you know, just, just sit back and watch this. And that's it. That's amazing. And so, you know, when you finally got to work with Paul Abdul and then Britney Spears, who was, who was somebody that you.

like, desired to work with that you got to work with, like, who was your like, if I could get to work with them, it would be like my bucket list kicked.

Menina Fortunato (17:40.462)
I think I, well, Beyonce, she was one. I performed with her at the NBA All -Star Halftime Show in 2003 or four, I can't remember. She was definitely a bucket list. But I did get a lot of jobs that I never even thought about. Star Trek being one of them, touring with Earth, Wood and Fire. I mean, they were my parents' generation. I'm like, when I booked that tour, I was like, Mom, Dad, I'm going on tour with Earth, Wood and Fire. They're like, Earth, Wood and Fire?

Paul Povolni (17:57.908)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (18:04.724)
Hahaha!

Menina Fortunato (18:10.286)
They're old people like us. What are you doing? Like, how did they hire you? Like they didn't comprehend. And then I toured with Luis Miguel.

Paul Povolni (18:11.732)
What are you dancing with them about?

Was that your little bit of rubbing them in the, rubbing their nose in a moment? Did you feel that? Sure. Come on.

Menina Fortunato (18:22.062)
No, no, I didn't rub their nose, but it was more just they were like, I don't understand how you're sharing the stage with them. Like they're our generation. Like you're a kid compared to them. And I was the youngest on the stage, but you know, Luis Miguel, if you have any Spanish speaking listeners, they know who he is. He's like the Frank Sinatra of Mexico. I didn't even know who he was when I auditioned for him. A huge K -pop star that I never heard of until I booked the tour was with Rain, who's a...

Paul Povolni (18:31.124)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (18:43.732)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (18:51.95)
like the Michael Jackson of Asia and didn't understand the magnitude of what that experience was going to be like and fans and all of the following us and the media attention that came from that that I didn't anticipate. So I almost feel like some of the cool jobs came for the ones I didn't even expect. I think Britney Spears was definitely Britney Spears, Paul Abdul right out of the gate. That was like bucket list for me. But I also had a lot of other cool jobs that I

Paul Povolni (18:54.292)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (19:05.972)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (19:11.316)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (19:18.164)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (19:21.87)
never even thought of.

Paul Povolni (19:22.132)
So what made them cool? What made those jobs cool?

Menina Fortunato (19:25.454)
Well, Earth, Wind & Fire, I mean, they are legends in the music industry and, you know, being a part of a live band like that and the history that they have and the music is, I mean, it's timeless. They still, you know, are still touring, I think, to this day. And we had like Lenny Kravitz come to our shows and Chris Tucker came to our shows and Michael Jackson's father came to it, like all kinds of cool guests that came to our shows that we got a chance to meet.

Luis Miguel was, like I said, the Frank Sinatra of Mexico and we performed in stadiums at like soccer stadiums in South America and women throwing panties on the stage at him. And I was like, my gosh. And, and I got to, fly once, on his private jet. And I mean, that was kind of cool. I never experienced that before. rain was another cool experience because, we had our own plane that was wrapped. We were sponsored by Korean airlines.

Paul Povolni (20:07.06)
hahahahah

Menina Fortunato (20:24.686)
So everywhere we went, we had Reign's World Tour wrapped around our plane and we would come off. Nobody warned me. I come off, we're in Hong Kong. I'm jet lagged, I'm tired, I have no makeup on, I'm just like sleepwalking and then we get off and there's hundreds of fans with signs and screaming and I'm like, what is this? And I was the only Caucasian and I was blonde at the time and so I stood out like a sore thumb. So they knew who I was right away and I'm like, how do these people know who I am?

Paul Povolni (20:32.244)
Ha ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (20:39.764)
goodness.

Paul Povolni (20:43.316)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Menina Fortunato (20:53.294)
And they were following us. We take photos and then there's media chasing us and then we get in our van and then they would follow us to the hotel. Then there was another group of fans at the hotel. And then after the shows, they're following us to the nightclub or whatever after party there was. So like, I got, it was just, it was wild. And also too, like every bus stop, every airport, every billboard was rain. Like it was everywhere. And I was like, whoa, I guess I'm working with a mega star. I had no idea.

Paul Povolni (20:56.692)
wow.

Paul Povolni (21:03.316)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (21:21.454)
because the North American market didn't know unless you were Asian, you probably have no clue who he is, but I got to experience the, like the crazy, like the mega stardom and Asian. I was like, well, it's like touring with Michael Jackson. We had pyro and, and actually speaking of Michael Jackson, the creative director used to dance with Michael Jackson. and, and the choreographers as well used to dance with Michael. So.

Paul Povolni (21:26.068)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (21:31.028)
The megastardom in Asia, yeah. Yeah.

Hahaha!

Paul Povolni (21:42.004)
how cool.

Menina Fortunato (21:45.422)
and they also work with Madonna and all these other people. So the people from those big productions were also the creative team for this production. So that was working with people that I admired and seen on stage when I was a little girl, you know, it was also really cool. And Star Trek was another cool one. I was, so, yes.

Paul Povolni (21:59.604)
Wow. All right. Tell me about Star Trek. What was that? Star Trek dancing. Come on. Earth, wind and fire dancing maybe, but Star Trek, come on. What was that about?

Menina Fortunato (22:09.326)
Okay, so Star Trek, I auditioned for that. There was three Orion slaves, if you know anything about Trek, Orion slaves are green, half -naked aliens. And I auditioned for one of the roles and I booked, my character was Miraz, and it was just one episode, one guest starring role, and I didn't think much of it. I didn't even know what Orion was until I actually booked the job and they said, you're gonna be painted green. I was like, okay.

Paul Povolni (22:18.16)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (22:31.572)
Ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (22:35.636)
yeah. Yeah, they handed you in a little, little tiny case. Here you go.

Menina Fortunato (22:36.366)
They're like, this is your costume. I'm like, where is it? So I didn't exactly know what I was getting myself into. Yeah, they're like, here's your and I'm like, okay. And then you got to dance in this thing. I'm like, okay, this is interesting. I'm like, well.

Paul Povolni (22:50.32)
Yeah, is that the headband? Come on, where's the rest of it?

Menina Fortunato (22:55.278)
Right? So, but anyways, it was a cool job nonetheless, but I didn't anticipate what would happen after. That was the part that was really kind of a cool experience. I remember the producers saying, you know, make sure that your address is not online. I was like, why? Because you're going to start getting fan mail or make sure you have a public address. And I'm like, fan mail? I'm just guest starring on a show for one episode. Nobody's going to care about me. Like, no, you don't understand. The Orion, if you, the Trekkies know.

The original pilot episode with Ryan with William Shatner was with an Orion. They hadn't seen an Orion in 30 years on the show. So they brought back an iconic character and I was one of the part of the species that was brought back. So the fans were anticipating this episode and when it aired.

Paramount ended up Viacom produced 500 trading cards that I signed that are circulating that are collectors items. I'm in a comic strip. I'm in a board game. I'm in a video game. I've been to Germany, to the UK, different parts of Asia going to sci -fi and Star Trek conventions and doing autograph signings and photo ops and the Q &A sessions and performances and all these things. So I was like, whoa, I can make create a whole career just off of being a Trekkie.

Paul Povolni (24:02.836)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (24:10.1)
Now do you get residual from that? All right, good, good. Yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (24:14.35)
I do, I do. The residuals are like, whatever at this point. I'm like, if $10, ooh, if $50, 10 cents, like I get random residuals still, but I still get fan mail.

Paul Povolni (24:22.068)
Yeah.

Do you have any Trekkies in your family that are like in awe, like any relatives or friends that are like so impressed that you were on Star Trek?

Menina Fortunato (24:33.518)
Yes and no. My grandfather, who unfortunately was not alive to see it, my mother's dad, he was an original Trekkie, like he loved Star Trek. So he probably would have been very proud if he were still alive. But my mother remembers as a child watching him watching Star Trek, like he was a Trekkie. He would probably be the only relative that I could say that was a real like diehard Trek fan.

Paul Povolni (24:38.132)
Paul Povolni (24:44.564)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (24:53.204)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (25:00.302)
And I remember as a kid, I used to watch The Next Generation, but I never really followed all the series and the fans knew more about my character than I did. That was the funny part. They were like, you're a decent cousin and relative and this. I'm like, okay.

Paul Povolni (25:03.508)
Right, right.

Paul Povolni (25:08.436)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (25:12.436)
yeah. the fandom around it is unbelievable. And yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (25:18.894)
Insane. Like if you want a group of fans, you want Star Trek fans. They are the most loyal. They go to these sci -fi conventions year after year. Like I started seeing the same faces. I still get fan mail. I still get messages. And that was back in 2005 when I did the episode. So we're talking almost 20 years later. And I was meeting actors that were a part of the original series that haven't appeared on the show in like whatever 20, 30 plus years.

Paul Povolni (25:25.716)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (25:43.572)
my goodness.

Menina Fortunato (25:48.142)
that are still making appearances, that are still doing autographs on. And so I was like, whoa, I could like retire doing this stuff. And I had other aspirations. I didn't want to go to Star Trek conventions my whole life, but they were fun, you know? And I've been asked back many times and it's usually been a conflict with scheduling has always been my issue. But yeah, no, that was wild.

Paul Povolni (25:50.036)
Yeah. Yeah.

hahahaha

Right. Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (26:06.484)
That is amazing. Has that been the most odd thing that you've ever been a part of? What's the most odd thing that you've been a part of?

Menina Fortunato (26:14.862)
Well, odd is subjective. I don't know what you necessarily mean by odd. The most unusual, yes, that was definitely not a part of my career plan. Let's just say that. I was not like, I'm gonna be a Trekkie and I'm gonna be green. Those were definitely not a part of my career aspirations. But nonetheless, I am so grateful for it. And I thought it was super cool how one thing just led to another. And I became friends with somebody at the Star Trek Actors. And we even did a spoof movie.

Paul Povolni (26:16.532)
Well for you odd.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (26:26.996)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (26:35.412)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (26:44.558)
called Unbelievable years later where I don't remember how many Trek actors, but some like 100 Trek actors, something crazy, were brought back for this like spoof comedy. And I got to play a plant, a green plant. So, cause I was green, my name was Rose. And basically I get to do a spoof on my old character was essentially what it was. But yeah, I know being a part of the Star Trek family is like, if I really wanted to do that on a regular basis, I could still like, it's still.

Paul Povolni (26:44.884)
wow.

Paul Povolni (26:51.988)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (26:57.68)
Ha ha ha ha ha

Paul Povolni (27:03.604)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (27:13.876)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (27:14.734)
recognizable people still know the Trekkies know my character they know more about my character than I do and Yeah, that was a wild wild experience that I never never imagined

Paul Povolni (27:21.332)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (27:28.052)
So what was the highlight? You know, you mentioned you worked with Paul Abdul, you know, Earth, Wind and Fire, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, I mean, Britney Spears, ZZ Tarp. That's another one you don't imagine dancers are part of. Like out of all of those that you got to be a part of and even the music awards and America's Got Talent and X Factor, for you, what was the highlight of that and why was that a highlight to you?

Menina Fortunato (27:53.71)
know if there was one particular. I feel like the Beyonce was really cool because we had every NBA star, every pop star, actor, rapper, whatever you could think of in the front row section. So performing in front of that kind of A -list crowd was definitely cool at the Staples Center, now called the Crypto Arena. But.

That was a really cool experience. Luke Bryan, funny story, when I booked that job, I didn't even know who he was.

Paul Povolni (28:26.196)
no. That's awesome. Yay, I got a booking with Luke Bryan and then Google him, right?

Menina Fortunato (28:32.174)
I didn't even know who he was. It was the Shake It For Me music video. I think he was still at the kind of emerging artist phase. I don't think he was big yet, even though that song was a hit. And I booked that job attending another audition. Another dancer was like, hey, I'm choreographing for this country singer, Brian, are you available next week? I'm like, yeah, sure. So I did the job. It was only a few hour job. It was even a full days of work. I came in, did the choreography. I spoke on camera. If you watch the music video, I'm also speaking.

Paul Povolni (28:53.716)
Ha ha ha.

Menina Fortunato (29:02.318)
And that was it. And then it wasn't until years later that I realized, whoa, actually he's kind of a big deal. Carrie Underwood was kind of cool only because I got to be her. I was actually her double. I was her stand -in for the American Music Awards and the Country Music Awards. So she wasn't available for all the rehearsals. So I learned her choreography. I learned her staging and all her tracking. So I was her in rehearsals. So that was fun, like playing with the microphone and, you know, pretending to be her.

Paul Povolni (29:08.02)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (29:15.444)
wow.

Paul Povolni (29:29.012)
Nice. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (29:32.046)
And she, at the end of every rehearsal, we would put it on tape and she would study me. And she would have to mimic my movement and everything. So that was cool. And then I got to meet her at the very end briefly before they actually went to the performance. So just pretending like I was some big country pop star with a microphone. I was like, I'm living my best life right now.

Paul Povolni (29:50.356)
Pop star into the microphone. Yeah. Yeah Somebody getting this is somebody capturing this that's amazing. Yeah. No That would be awesome

Menina Fortunato (29:59.342)
Well, that's the thing too. I don't even have that footage. I want that footage so badly. I only have some photos, but I would love that footage. I was living my best life. I was like, man, if only I could sing. I would love to do this. This was fun.

Paul Povolni (30:08.212)
Ha ha ha ha.

Yeah, that is amazing. So with, with all the people that you've got to perform with, you know, I would imagine that some of them you met, some of them you didn't, who was the biggest, surprise in when you met them and, you know, maybe a perception you had of them that they were very different.

Menina Fortunato (30:30.35)
I don't know if it was different, but I was pleasantly surprised. Well, I can't even say surprised. Jennifer Garner was a joy to work with. I was her dance double on Ilias, and she was injured. She actually has a dance background, but she was injured to her foot or something. She couldn't dance for the scene. So I got to be her again, being somebody. And she was just so sweet. It was Valentine's Day. I remember she was dating Ben Affleck at the time, back in 2000.

right after I did Star Trek, I booked this job and she was just so sweet, so personable. She invited me into her trailer. She was thanking me for making her look good. You know, we took selfies and we were talking about our Valentine's plans for the evening, you know, because my now husband, but was boyfriend then and she was, you know, it was just, I felt like I had known her forever and I'd only worked with her the one day. I did rehearsals for a week, but I didn't actually meet her until we got to set.

Paul Povolni (31:08.34)
nice.

Paul Povolni (31:21.588)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (31:27.822)
So I always had an idea and inclination that she was a sweet human being, but just how personable and like just real she was. There was no like superstar. There was somebody's birthday on set and she stopped everything and made sure that we all sang happy birthday with the cast and the crew. She really felt, made you feel seen. And I really appreciated that because sometimes dancers are not valued and respected. We sometimes get,

Paul Povolni (31:48.052)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (31:54.26)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (31:56.43)
become glorified extras to all these mega stars when in fact we play a huge role in their productions, in their shows. Like if you go to a concert, my eye goes to the dancers. They're the ones that actually visually do something cool. The singers, I could just close my eyes and just listen to them. They don't have to do anything interesting. The dancers are really, at least for me, I'm always drawn to the dancers at any kind of concert. So it was just nice to feel appreciated. Another artist too that...

Paul Povolni (32:04.98)
Right, right.

Yeah. Right.

Paul Povolni (32:14.484)
Hahaha.

Menina Fortunato (32:25.966)
Again, I don't think I was surprised because I didn't know him was Rain because he was such a down -to -earth guy when I met him and he did not act like a celebrity. Like we all had meals together. We would always go. He always loved his Korean food. So we always went to Korean restaurants and he got stopped a few times when we were rehearsing in LA, but not many people knew who he was at the time. But he didn't treat us any different when we were overseas and we were in Asia. And...

Paul Povolni (32:29.716)
Mm -hmm.

Menina Fortunato (32:55.182)
I didn't realize how much of a megastar he was and he was just a real simple down earth guy. Like I didn't feel that pretentious separation that I had felt with some people that I worked with where it was like, hi, we take a photo and then we're done. Carmen Electra shocked me. Actually, speaking of shock, as hot as she is, I thought there would come an ego with that.

Paul Povolni (33:11.7)
Right.

Right.

Paul Povolni (33:18.964)
Really?

Menina Fortunato (33:24.462)
but she was actually intimidated by the other dancers. We all performed with ZZ Top. Let's talk about ZZ Top. That was the guy's choice awards. And she was like, you guys are so beautiful and you're so talented and I'm just trying to keep up with you. And I was like, you're Carmen Electra. Yeah, so we all, Carmen Electra and a bunch of other dancers, myself included, performed with ZZ Top on the guy's choice awards. I don't remember what year that was. I don't know, 2000s.

Paul Povolni (33:38.356)
And so that was the ZZ Top connection. Wow.

Menina Fortunato (33:53.102)
I think I was I was blonde I remember that but yeah, it was I was just shocked because I thought that there would be an ego that would come with her because you know She's she's still hot. I don't know how old she is 50s or something now She's been hot her whole life. So I was like you're feeling less than around us dancers. I'm like, I'm just excited I get to dance next to you. I'm like, this is cool So I didn't I didn't expect To see a little bit of insecurity from her

Paul Povolni (34:14.036)
Ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (34:20.628)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (34:21.582)
That was shocking to me because I thought there would be this ego of like I'm hotter than all of you you guys are nothing like that was what I was expecting more of but she wasn't she was like you guys are so good and you're so beautiful and you're nothing to them I was like you're karma life draw hello

Paul Povolni (34:28.276)
Right. Right.

Paul Povolni (34:37.14)
So, you know, I mean, it's been amazing, just that, that path that you've taken so far, what are some of the lessons for you and for other dancers or maybe just anybody else, those head smack moments, those aha moments for you that helped build the person that you are now? What are some of those that happened during that season of your life? Cause I know you had, it wasn't always roses. Like there's a point in your life and we'll talk about that with things radically changed for you.

Menina Fortunato (35:00.782)
Absolutely.

Paul Povolni (35:04.66)
But up to that point, what were some of the greatest lessons that you learned?

Menina Fortunato (35:04.718)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (35:08.398)
I learned how to deal with rejection. I learned how to deal with loss. The hard part of the entertainment industry is you hear more nos than yeses. So you, only the strong survive. And you're constantly, there's a constant hustle when you're a professional dancer. It's like audition after audition, rejection after rejection. You get 10 nos before you get that one yes. So you do have to develop a mental toughness.

You do have to develop some thick skin. You're constantly hungry in the sense of, not literally, but you're always chasing that next gig, the next job, the next paycheck. So there is a drive that you have to have in order to survive. And I've seen a lot of dancers that come to LA and six months later they turn back home. They're like, they just can't take the heat. So, and I don't mean the sun. I mean like they can't take the pressure. They can't take the pressure that.

Paul Povolni (35:58.388)
Right, right.

Menina Fortunato (36:01.902)
like you're constantly scrutinized, you're too tall, you're too short, you're too skinny, you're too fat, you're too light, you're too dark, you're too this, you're too that. Like it's constant being critiqued, criticized, rejected, but I think that developed resilience and developed, and I think what kept me going was my passion. And I'm really, really passionate about monetizing your passion, whatever that is for you. Because when you love what you do,

Paul Povolni (36:26.068)
Yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (36:30.382)
It keeps you pushing forward because if you don't love your job, if you don't love your business, then it's very easy to quit. It's very easy to get discouraged. You know, you're just like, that's not even worth it. I'm going to go do something else. But when you love what you do and my love started as a young little girl, like this wasn't something I studied for four years and decided to do. I studied my whole life for this, you know, and that passion and that love for dance kept me going. And when you do get the yes,

Paul Povolni (36:33.268)
right.

Paul Povolni (36:58.964)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (37:00.494)
It's like a drug. It's the best feeling in the world. And it's a high like no other performing like Reign's World Tour, Seoul Korea, Olympic Stadium, 60 ,000 people, pyro, scream. Like the rush that you get from that when you have an experience like that, you're like, okay, this is why I do it. And that keeps you going when you know that you're in alignment with what you do for a living.

Paul Povolni (37:02.9)
You

Paul Povolni (37:12.756)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (37:19.892)
That's amazing.

Ryan.

Menina Fortunato (37:28.686)
and you enjoy the work that you do. And I look back and I think that every rejection, every no, what just made me stronger, it made me more resilient. And it kept me fighting for what I wanted in life. And later in my next career and my next business, I think that I was able to carry that over and constant pivoting and reinventing myself. And I guess we'll go into that phase in a moment.

Paul Povolni (37:31.284)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (37:54.484)
Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, and I think for people, especially within your industry and even within acting and modeling and things like that is, you know, people do judge everything about you. I mean, they'll judge your hair, your eyes, your nose, your ears, your lips, your body, your like your feet, your hands, you know, all of that. And you've got to have that resilience to realize that it's not you.

as a person or a bad person is just you're not the right fit for what they're looking for.

Menina Fortunato (38:28.334)
Right, that's a lot of times is the case. It has nothing to do with your talent some of the times. It's literally like you fit in the costume or maybe the person next to you happens to be best friends with the choreographer, who you know, the relationships and the connections. There's politics involved. At the end of the day, everybody wants to work with people they know and like. And those relationships later worked for me because I may not have been most talented in the room and I still to this day, I don't think I was the most talented in any room.

Paul Povolni (38:35.444)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (38:40.468)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (38:54.99)
but I may have been one of the more hardworking ones, the more grateful ones, the ones that were just energetically, you know, bring light to the room and people want to work with that. Talent aside, you know, there's a dime a dozen talented people in the world, but what sets, what set me apart at least was just the congeniality aspect of just being a good human being, easy to work with, drama free, and they know that they could trust me to deliver.

Paul Povolni (39:04.532)
Right. Right.

Paul Povolni (39:23.284)
Yeah. Yeah. And so you mentioned, and before we talk about the next phase, you mentioned you danced in front of 60 ,000 people. Are you kidding me? I couldn't walk across a stage in front of 60 ,000 people without being, without feeling so self -conscious. I'd be walking like the president, just like, you know, step, step, step. I don't want to fall. I don't want to stumble. That's amazing. Is that the biggest crowd you've ever danced in front of 60 ,000 live? Wow.

Menina Fortunato (39:35.726)
I love it. I love it. It's...

Menina Fortunato (39:48.654)
Yeah, yeah, that was, I think. Now I know Luis Miguel, we performed in some massive soccer arenas, soccer stadiums in South America. I don't remember the exact number, but it was probably comparable. But there was something really special about the Seoul Korea performance. It was also a televised performance. And I don't know, it was just a, like, I don't do drugs, but if this is what drugs feel like, I'm like, this is a high that I want to like hold on to. And it was just...

Paul Povolni (40:09.556)
Wow.

Yeah. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (40:17.742)
I actually thrive in that environment. I actually, I am more intimidated to audition in a small room with just a table of people than I am if you put me in front of 60 ,000. I feel the energy, the energy fuels me. Like what the audience gives me, I wanna give back and I danced like harder and it was just like, I wanted to give them just as much as they were giving us on stage and the lights and the pyro and the moving stages and all these like.

Paul Povolni (40:19.604)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (40:28.468)
Wow. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (40:36.404)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (40:43.796)
Yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (40:45.454)
Even just being an attendee at a concert, you feel that rush. When you're on that stage receiving that energy, it's, yeah, it's definitely, it's undescribable. And I am so grateful for those experiences, because I now think it's starting to pay off, not starting to, it is paying off in my next life, in my next career.

Paul Povolni (40:48.628)
Right, right.

Paul Povolni (40:58.42)
Ryan.

Paul Povolni (41:06.803)
Yeah. Now, were you totally in that moment, aware of what was going on or had you practiced so much, you're pretty much on autopilot. Like, were you able to be like fully absorb like, my goodness, I am on a stage in front of 60 ,000 people. And this is the most amazing thing. Or was you just totally autopilot?

Menina Fortunato (41:16.942)
autopilot, we.

Menina Fortunato (41:27.118)
A bit of a little autopilot because we rehearsed for like a month prior to that. So we knew we knew our tracks. We knew where to go, what to do. And it happens really fast. So it's not until you get off the stage that you're like, Whoa, did that just happen? Like your heart is like before, especially the lead up to when we start hearing the music and then we start hearing the crowd, we're not we're backstage.

Paul Povolni (41:30.388)
Right.

Paul Povolni (41:41.14)
That was amazing!

Menina Fortunato (41:51.278)
like the butterflies and the rush and everything, it's just like this buildup, but it's weird. The moment you step out on that stage, it just like, whoom, disappears. And then you just go into your zone and your element. You just do what you've been training to do and you just do it. And then afterwards, that's when you feel the gratitude of like, did I just do that? Wow. Pinch me. Like, that was fun. Can we do it again?

Paul Povolni (41:51.604)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (41:59.444)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (42:14.068)
Yeah. Now do you have an alter ego when you hit the stage? I know Beyonce does.

Menina Fortunato (42:19.054)
I don't have a name. I don't have like a name I know some some performers have like an alter ego and they call it something but I do embody it definitely a Different there's a different side of me. I don't think it's an alter ego as much. It's a different side of me that comes out there's this confidence that comes out that I Don't know it's it's hard to describe but the lights the music it just turns a light switch on for me and

Paul Povolni (42:26.676)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (42:34.708)
Right.

Paul Povolni (42:43.86)
Yeah. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (42:47.726)
and then I'm not the same person off stage necessarily. So it only comes on when I'm in front of a camera or I'm on a stage, when I feel the rush of an audience, there's certain moments. And otherwise after off stage it's like, okay, back to earth.

Paul Povolni (42:50.58)
Right, right.

Paul Povolni (42:58.292)
Yeah.

and I've, and I've spoken on stage as well, not in front of 60 ,000 people, but there is a certain energy that you feel and then, and the feedback you get from the audience as well as, you know, you do kind of take on a, a alternate version of you. It's not a fake version. It's not a pretend. It's just an alternate version that you say, I am now stepping into this role that I need to do what I'm here to do. And for you, it was dance for me would be speak, but.

You know, you, you, you transition, you have kind of a moment. Did you have a ritual for any kind of transitions or was it just like butterflies go, you know, that's the queue you're on.

Menina Fortunato (43:40.654)
Yeah, I don't think that I had like a set ritual, but I mean, as a dancer, we always warm up. So I'm always stretching. I mean, we, I take my time getting ready, doing the hair and the makeup, getting dressed, making sure that my costume changes, everything's lined up, you know, making sure I have a nice meal before and have time to digest. So there's like, there is certain things that have to happen.

And then, and then we usually like, we're holding hands in a circle. Usually the artists and the dancers, we usually hold our hands and somebody will say something inspirational and we like feel each other's energy and then, you know, take a deep breath, whoo -sah kind of thing. And then everybody goes to their positions and we're backstage and it's just like, and sometimes I'll like, I'll start running on the spot. Like I'm like, okay, okay. Like just, just to like release and shake off the nerves that are starting to build up. And then it all goes away when I step on stage.

Paul Povolni (44:09.62)
Ha ha ha.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (44:24.34)
Yeah, yeah.

Wow. That's amazing. So it sounds like everything is on a, was on an upward incline, but it didn't stay like that. Right. I mean, you, at what point did things change for you and what was that like?

Menina Fortunato (44:41.166)
So 2020 was definitely a pivotal time in my life. And I think for many people, especially in business, I was successful multi six figure dance business, producing dance events, dance productions, doing well. At this point I had two children and was pregnant with baby number three. I had baby number three in April of 2020 during the lockdown. What I thought was two weeks turned into two months, then turned into two years. And not only dealing with...

the chaos of the outside world, dealing with postpartum recovering from having baby number three. And at first I thought it was great. I was like, cool, well, I was gonna give myself like three months off anyways. So, you know, I'm like, I'll stay at home. Yeah, and I'm like, I'm home. My family, normally my husband and I are always traveling. One of us is always gone. Everybody was home. So I was like, okay, this is kind of nice. But then the reality started to set in that savings account started to deplete. The credit cards started to max out.

Paul Povolni (45:19.38)
Right. How bad could it be? Yeah.

Paul Povolni (45:34.804)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (45:36.91)
And I'm like, okay, so when are we gonna get back to life? Like, cause I really need to get back to work. And I had an event, my in -person event that summer that I thought I was gonna be able to produce and very soon realized, I'm like, I need to pivot. I need to do this online. I'm like, how am I gonna pull this off? So from my bedroom, I bought a little backdrop and I bought some gear and I was live streaming dance classes, not.

Paul Povolni (45:39.92)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (46:04.27)
Sorry, I wasn't teaching. I taught one of the classes in Vancouver, but I had people teaching classes in LA, in Vegas, London, and in Vancouver. We were live streaming. I had different teams, a three month old baby in my arms. Behind the scenes, it was a shit show. But on the outside, it looked great. But dealing with all the tech, I didn't even know how to use Zoom at the time. So I was like, I got to figure out this Zoom thing. And it was very stressful, but I knew I needed to pivot online. Everybody was pivoting online.

Paul Povolni (46:17.108)
Hahaha.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (46:23.7)
Nobody did. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (46:33.71)
But so I did that event, my clients were happy, that part was great, but then I was running out of money. And that's when things started to get real. And then I was like, okay, I need to figure something out. Like, what can I do from home? And I was started teaching dance online to moms because I was like, well, I got a baby, I need to get back in shape. All I love is dance. So I'm gonna dance with my baby. I literally created a whole postnatal dance fitness workout program for moms with babies.

Paul Povolni (47:00.404)
That's awesome.

Menina Fortunato (47:02.062)
So I solved my own problem of getting back into shape from home. Now while that was great and I had great client success, I was undercharging, overworking. I remember staying up till two, three o 'clock in the morning recording these workouts and I'm like, my gosh, like what am I doing? And I remember doing these freebie classes just to try to reel in new people and I'm like, I'm teaching with it. Like imagine this, you're dealing with Zoom, you can barely see anybody, you're dealing with tech issues because Zoom always has something. You've got a baby who starts crying in the middle of your dance class.

And I was like, this is so stressful. And that's when I was like, okay, I need to switch to like an on -demand type version, because I can't teach live dance classes with a baby. This is too hard. So I did the on -demand part and I dabbled with different offers and it was, I made a little bit of money, but I mean, there was months where I was like barely making $500 a month. And I'm like, this is so much work for so little income. I leaned on my husband financially for the first time in my life. I've always been a provider.

Paul Povolni (47:30.004)
man.

Menina Fortunato (47:57.998)
And I just suddenly was not and I I was mentally not in a good headspace because I was not happy with the ability I wasn't able to do what I wanted to do what I love to do and I was just throwing spaghetti at the wall trying to figure things out I I didn't know what I didn't know, you know, and then I I finally hired a coach and 2022 two years later, I was like dead broke as a joke and I was like, I don't have any money. I'm like, but I need help.

Paul Povolni (48:14.836)
Right. Right?

Paul Povolni (48:25.428)
hahahaha

Menina Fortunato (48:28.334)
You know, and the sales rep actually helped me with this promotion idea. Anyways, I made $30 ,000 that week and I was like, okay, great, I guess I have money now. I can start working with you guys. So, but then I remember telling them, I was like, but here's the trick. So this 10 ,000 I'm about to invest right now, I need to not only make my money back, but I need to double it because I'm short for my dance event that's coming up. So I need to get to work. So I was like tunnel vision, like.

Paul Povolni (48:36.18)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (48:55.438)
I was one track mind. I was like, I have to make this work. I was like, failing is not an option. So back to that like resilience thing again, it was like back against the wall. I have to figure this out. And even though I had success with my mom dance fitness program, like I started to have success, I should say. Then I did something completely like off the wall where I finally was able to do my first in -person dance event again in 2022 that summer. And I had just enough money for the run the event.

Paul Povolni (49:01.876)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (49:23.918)
but then there was nothing left for me afterwards. I was like, how am I gonna like live again? Like this is, I need to figure something out. So I pitched from stage for the very first time. My coach gave me an hour and a half training. He's like, this is how you pitch from stage. I modeled my presentation. I created a Canva presentation. At the end of my dance event, I created this offer called the Business of Dance, which is an online mentorship program. It was just an outline, had not created any modules or anything yet. I had no social proof yet, other than my past dance life and the people that I've helped along the way.

but not with this particular offer. Anyways, long story short, I made a $17 ,000 day, which was the most amount of money I'd made in a long time. So that was like, whew, I can like pay some bills. And I remember telling my coach, I was like, so I kind of did a thing. I started a new offer and I just made 17K. I'm like, how do I market both of these new offers? Like these, I got my mom thing. He's like, you need to drop one and focus. And I was like, but I can't.

Paul Povolni (49:59.892)
Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (50:24.046)
I just made 17K, I gotta create something. And then he was like, well then drop the mom fitness program. I'm like, but I can't, I got women in the program. And then I was bawling, it was this whole episode. And he's like, well let them phase out, finish it out with those people, but stop selling it. And that was one thing that being able to focus on something because it's a blessing and a curse. I have a lot of skills, a lot of interests, and sometimes I'm like scatterbrained.

Paul Povolni (50:30.676)
Heheheheh

Paul Povolni (50:35.124)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (50:51.95)
So the first time in my life, I actually was like, I'm just going to do this. I'm just going to focus on this. I dropped my mom's fitness program. It's still technically there, but I'm not selling it. I'm not promoting it. And I focused on this.

Paul Povolni (50:52.116)
Right.

Paul Povolni (51:04.884)
That's just a video course type thing that people can take.

Menina Fortunato (51:08.014)
It's an on -demand program. It was a hybrid where I was doing live coaching now. It's just a non -demand thing. I don't I don't yeah, it's Yeah, it's it's just plug -and -play and subscription. It's nothing It's not taking any of my focus or energy at all, and I'm not trying to sell it. It's just there But my business of dance is really what started to take off. That was so something my husband I'll give him credit was encouraging me to do this whole time. He's like manina your gift is not

Paul Povolni (51:14.612)
which is, yeah, evergreen type.

Menina Fortunato (51:35.246)
teaching moms how to dance. He's like, your gift is mentoring dancers. You've been doing it forever through my in -person dance events, the Hollywood Summer Tour. I'd been mentoring dancers through that event in person, but I didn't know how to do this thing online. I was like, how do we do this online? Like, I don't want to teach dance classes online. I quickly learned that from the Zoom experience. I'm not teaching live dance classes. And there's a million programs out there that teach dance class. I don't even teach dance. I actually just want to teach the business of dance.

Paul Povolni (51:40.596)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (51:53.78)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha

Menina Fortunato (52:04.622)
helping dancers create their careers. Now, I've built my own career. I'm married, I've got three kids. The life of touring and all of that is my past life. So I'm not trying to pursue a career. And I also, for the first time, I let go of my agents over a year ago because I remember coaching my clients on how to do self -tape auditions. And then meanwhile, my agents are like, Manina, you have a commercial audition that's due at five o 'clock. I'm like, And I'm like, and that's when I realized I was like,

Paul Povolni (52:20.02)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (52:33.582)
I can't be trying to pursue this career myself while helping others because I was actually doing a lousy job for my own self -tape auditions because I wasn't fully present and nor financially was I even motivated because I was making much better money doing the mentorship program and I was like, you know what, I think I just need to let it go and also letting that go which was hard because I've always loved being the performer. I realized, you know, it's like I can still perform if there's direct booking.

Paul Povolni (52:42.164)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (52:52.596)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (52:59.22)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (53:03.406)
I just don't want to be auditioning and the hustle and the grind of all that anymore. And I find so, I miss performing, but I feel like I'm performing in a different way now through speaking and through coaching and all of that. It's a different stage. I mean, even this is a stage, it's a virtual stage. It's a different type of stage. And...

Paul Povolni (53:07.924)
You don't miss it at all?

Paul Povolni (53:14.26)
Yeah.

Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, then you've kind of signed that off your bucket list kind of thing. Like you've been there, got the, got the t -shirt, you know, did the big thing. And it's not like you've got a longing or a sense of regret. Like I never did this. Like you've kind of checked that off, you know? And so it's easy to move on when you feel you can look at in that perspective is I've kind of checked it off. I've kind of.

Menina Fortunato (53:26.286)
Bucket list, yeah, check mark.

Menina Fortunato (53:36.59)
No.

Paul Povolni (53:46.196)
Been there, done that, and I'm good to move to the next season.

Menina Fortunato (53:49.902)
Absolutely, and I think I'm in my maternal stage of now that I have three kids too. I like I mean I'm nurturing my own children So nurturing other young dancers is a very natural progression for me and I can use and leverage my own experiences my wins my struggles with these next generation and leverage my Connections so with this all online mentorship program. It's really become my dream business model and also creating such an incredible impact on my clients, you know, I've

Paul Povolni (53:57.748)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (54:15.598)
I work from home or remotely. I was just in Hawaii two days ago, working remotely while in Hawaii when my daughter's at a volleyball tournament and I'm doing podcast interviews and zoom calls on the side when they were vacationing. I'm like, this is the life. This is what I always wanted. I wanted to be able to do something that I love while being able to prioritize family and my love for travel. I wanted to have the flexibility of not a brick and mortar business, but I had to be stuck in that I could actually take my work with me.

Paul Povolni (54:29.108)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (54:44.334)
I got my little mobile office that I drag around everywhere that I take to hotel rooms or wherever the heck I am in the world or my home office. And I only show up twice a week for my clients on a group live call, but I have an on -demand portion. So it's a hybrid model. So they get me live twice a week and they get my on -demand lessons at their own leisure. So while I'm vacationing on a plane, whatever, I've got clients doing their homework assignments.

Paul Povolni (54:44.596)
Right.

Paul Povolni (55:01.908)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (55:12.046)
And the beautiful part of what I do, yes, the money is fantastic and we're multi six figure, almost seven figure now in the last year and a half of doing this offer. The impact that I'm creating on these dancers has just been so fulfilling. I had 12 dancers that just did the Superbowl with Usher, which is a bucket list job for dancers. I had 18 that did New York Fashion Week. Many of them have done different magazine.

Paul Povolni (55:27.476)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:32.816)
Wow.

Menina Fortunato (55:41.038)
appearances. I had the kid that just did a Gap campaign, another that did a Delta commercial. One of them was a part of the Guinness World Records of the most ballerinas of something last month. They're booking, you know, they're getting signed by agents. So they're starting to live out their dance career, you know, their best dance lives and being able to create that impact on them and also globally. Like I predominantly serve mostly Canadians and Americans.

Paul Povolni (55:51.924)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (56:00.436)
Yeah, yeah.

Menina Fortunato (56:10.638)
but I also have some UK and some European and some South Americans and also one Asian. So I'm starting to dabble into other markets. So to be able to like create an impact, do what I love, make a great living, incorporate family has really been a dream come true. But, you know, I like to say that sometimes the shit needs to happen for the shift to happen. And sometimes you have to have a breakdown to have a breakthrough.

Paul Povolni (56:33.364)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (56:37.518)
and it took me to experience such a loss, where I was at my lowest point mentally, to reinvent myself. Because had that not happened, I probably would have continued what I was doing before, because life was good. Why would you change it if life was good? But I'll remember, I'll never forget, and I sometimes regret these words.

Paul Povolni (56:37.844)
Right.

Paul Povolni (56:53.492)
Right, right.

Menina Fortunato (56:59.374)
Remember when I was pregnant with my third, my son, and I was thinking, man, I really hope I don't, I really don't want to be traveling every weekend because the only way that I used to make money was leaving town. I would judge dance competitions or teach at dance conventions. I wasn't working locally, so I'd have to leave my family and leave my kids. I'm like, man, I got to leave three kids. Like, this is exhausting. I wish I didn't have to travel so much for work. Be careful what you wish for.

Paul Povolni (57:09.524)
Right.

Paul Povolni (57:23.7)
Yeah. Wow. Wow. Yeah, really, really. Well, you got it. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (57:27.726)
And then I was like, well, I'm like, I didn't mean this. I didn't mean to be home for this long. I'm like, I want to be able to move. So.

Paul Povolni (57:35.216)
I think everybody was like that. It was the spring break that never ended. It was, it was crazy. Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (57:39.918)
Yeah. Yeah. I was producing a dance event in London when the whole world shut down and everybody was like, hurry home. They're closed. They're going to close the borders. And I'm like, there's like this toilet paper apocalypse. I'm like, what? And I'm like living my best life. I was in Ireland. Then I was in London. I was living my best life. Life was normal. And suddenly everything just stopped when we were in London, like literally overnight. We were at Buckingham palace one day before, and then everything just stopped. And I was like,

Paul Povolni (57:50.118)
Wow.

Hahaha!

Paul Povolni (58:03.508)
Right?

Menina Fortunato (58:10.318)
This is weird, I've never experienced this before. I'm like, what's wrong with everybody? The virus was okay yesterday and today it's not? I was like, what's going on? And then the first time I ever saw a mask, first time I ever saw a hazmat suit on an airplane, I was like, whoa, the world has gone mad and this is like the apocalypse, everybody's turning into zombies, what is going on? And...

Paul Povolni (58:11.572)
Ha ha ha.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (58:25.78)
Yeah. So it's your fault that it happened because you wished for less travel, right? So we can blame you. We'll just blame Menina.

Menina Fortunato (58:37.038)
I'll take the blame. I'll take the blame. But yeah, I had to I think I in hindsight as hard as it was I had to experience that hardship and I had to experience that loss to force myself to reinvent the way I live my life and the way I was in alignment with the phase of life that I'm in as a wife as a mom with growing children, you know, that is first my first priority, but my first love was also dance. So I'm like, I need to find a way to marry the two.

Paul Povolni (58:52.5)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (59:06.67)
and make a good living doing it. And that's what I did.

Paul Povolni (59:08.5)
Right.

And so now you're making quite an impact and you mentioned just some of the dancers and the opportunities that they're finding. What's the first thing that you want them to understand? Like, you know, they come to you with doe eyes of all the glory and all the wonder and, you know, they hear your story and all of that. And they, they had this, this, maybe sometimes false beliefs. what are some of the first things that you try and make sure to align in them so they can work towards success as opposed to.

you know, creating roadblocks in themselves and in their mind.

Menina Fortunato (59:43.15)
Well, one of the big narratives I'm trying to change is the starving artist mindset. There's this false perception that dance is somehow the short -lived career, that it's not fruitful, that it's not sustainable. So having to re -educate the dancers and their parents, which is a big thing, because I hear a lot of conversation about, well, I really want to dance, but my plan B is I'm going to go to school and I'm going to study to be a nurse and blah, blah, blah. And I was like,

So do you want to do Plan B? They're like, no. I'm like, well, why are you putting your energy in Plan B? Because I firmly believe if you put your energy in Plan B, you're going to get Plan B. And if you really, truly want Plan A, you need to be laser focused. An Olympian doesn't show up to the Olympics and say, I'm going to go study to be a mathematician for 40 hours a week and then just kind of train on the side and then show up at the Olympics. No.

They eat, breathe and sleep and everything, that skill, that sport, that activity, whatever it is that they're training for. So I said, if you really truly want this as your career, you need to treat it like it's your life and you need to be able to be laser focused and put your tunnel, you know, your blinders on, take away all the other distractions because yes, I understand you may go to school and you may have dance competitions, you may have training, you may have everybody's putting the pressure, you know, do this and do that and go get a real job and you're just gonna dance for a few years and then you're gonna.

go get a real job and I'm hoping that through my own story and my own journey and even my parents that I can show them that dance, yes the performer might be a younger career path but it can be the launch pad to a whole other career path beyond that you've ever imagined whether you want to be a teacher, a dance studio owner, a dance competition owner, a dance agent, a producer, a singer, an actor, a casting director, a keynote speaker, an author.

There's so many career paths that can feed off of that dance experience, because I know now for myself that even when I do, let's just say, a simple TV interview, I'm comfortable on camera, because that's what I've been doing my whole life. I know that some business people are like, I'm good at what I do, but this whole speaking thing is just not my jam. And then I got to be comfortable with these lights. I'm like, that's what I've done my whole life. I've trained my whole life for this.

Paul Povolni (01:01:51.892)
right.

Paul Povolni (01:01:57.684)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:02:02.804)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (01:02:04.206)
So even as I go into this next chapter of my career, all the learning from the dance performer life has carried over. The resilience has carried over. The hard work and dedication has carried over. So that's really something that I want to be able to show them that it's possible and you can do it. If I can do it, you can too. I wasn't the best dancer. A lot of these kids are better than I ever was. And I'm like, if I can do it, you can too.

Paul Povolni (01:02:31.7)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (01:02:33.678)
But I also teach them that your talent is only a small portion of the equation. There's a lot of talented people in the world, not just in dance, but what will set you apart is everything else. And I teach everything else. It's mindset, it's nutrition, it's mental health, wellness, it's finances, it's taxes, it's marketing, it's building a personal brand, it's creating relationships and lasting connections. All of those other things that we don't talk about in the dance studio.

or even in the universities, these life skills, that's what I focus on. I don't actually teach them dance. They already train 20, 40 hours a week at their home studios. I'm not trying to interfere with that. I'm trying to take already talented dancers, kids, teens, or adults, be able to teach them how to market and brand themselves, treat their career as a business, while leveraging my connections, and I put them in front of influential agents and casting directors and choreographers that they get to interact with, they get to meet.

Paul Povolni (01:03:11.188)
Right, right.

Menina Fortunato (01:03:32.814)
And then some of them have eventually gotten to work with. So I'm putting them in front of influential people within the industry because this business is all about who you know and who knows you. Your talent, yes, but if nobody knows who you are, you're just gonna be that talented person that dances in their living room. You have to put yourself out there making those valuable connections. So that's what I help them with.

Paul Povolni (01:03:42.9)
Right. Right.

Paul Povolni (01:03:51.444)
Right.

Paul Povolni (01:03:55.636)
Right. That's amazing. And so is that what you would also tell to your younger self, or is there something, if you had an opportunity to talk to your younger self right now, what would you say?

Menina Fortunato (01:04:06.542)
It was funny I asked this question when I interview others and I never have answered it. I've never actually answered it myself. I would tell my younger self, and I think I already knew this, is follow your intuition, follow your heart. Yes, you know, think with your mind, but lead with your heart because I feel like our intuition has a lot of value. Even...

Paul Povolni (01:04:09.812)
hahahahah

Menina Fortunato (01:04:33.23)
Even when there's a lot of outside noise around you, even when you have naysayers in your own home that will tell you that you can't do something, that you have to have belief in yourself and you can do it. There's so many stories of people out there that have achieved high levels of success in any industry and it's not always just about the talent or even just about luck.

You know, there's always a lot of failure. That's another thing I would tell myself. Be prepared for a lot of failure because everyone that's successful in life has experienced a lot of failure. And without risk, there's no reward. And you are your best investment. You have to be willing to invest in yourself, to bet on yourself, because if you're not, no one else will. And so many valuable lessons I feel like I've learned.

over the years, but those are just the ones that pop on top of my head.

Paul Povolni (01:05:32.916)
That's amazing. Well, this has been awesome. I've loved this. This is so cool. Thank you so much for coming on.

Menina Fortunato (01:05:39.278)
Thank you so much for having me.

Paul Povolni (01:05:41.46)
Now, before we go, I know that you judged Jojo Siwa. So what's your thoughts on her latest dance moves?

Menina Fortunato (01:05:45.358)
Mm -hmm.

Menina Fortunato (01:05:49.774)
You know, I haven't been studying her latest dance moves, to be honest. I saw a little snippet on So You Think You Can Dance only because I interviewed Olivia Alboer and Avery Gay, who were contestants on the show just two weeks ago. And she's definitely evolved. You know, when I judged her, she was only maybe 12. Like, she was a kid. This was, she was a known name to the dance world, but she wasn't the megastar that she is now.

Paul Povolni (01:05:51.796)
Hahaha!

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:06:10.036)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (01:06:17.71)
But I mean, she's still a strong dancer. I'm not gonna take that away from her. She's come into her own. She's got her own vibe now and she seems to be very successful and happy for her. Yeah, absolutely. She's rocking the boat. She's making some noise. Maybe she follows her mentor, Abby Lee Miller, who's also making noise, always disrupting the...

Paul Povolni (01:06:20.116)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:06:26.356)
She's getting a lot of attention. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:06:41.556)
Right.

Menina Fortunato (01:06:42.382)
the status quo but I'm happy for these, I mean all those kids have done exceptionally well. I think they have got some kind of reunion show that's either happening or they've just shot it or it's about to release. A lot of those kids that, well, were kids, now they're young adults and they did some kind of reunion show but they all seem to be doing very well and that show really launched their careers.

Paul Povolni (01:06:57.588)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:07:06.132)
Yeah. So if you could do one reunion thing, what would be the thing that you would go back to and do again? Like without a second of hesitation.

Menina Fortunato (01:07:16.462)
That's a tough one If Britney Spears was not in the state of mind that she was in right now, I would have loved to work with her as she was 20 years ago I Beyonce Beyonce was it was like the I don't know if you know her music but crazy in love was one of her big singles and I that's what I performed with her and This was when she was just slowly emerging as her first solo album

Paul Povolni (01:07:31.508)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (01:07:45.71)
and she's just become a mega pop star. And I just saw her concert a few months ago and her show was just like out of this world. The production value was like insane. So if I could relive dancing on the stage with her with the production that she has now, that would be super, super cool. Earth, Wind & Fire, definitely nostalgic. They were my first tour. They treated me like.

Paul Povolni (01:07:57.364)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:08:01.94)
Ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (01:08:11.284)
Yeah.

Menina Fortunato (01:08:12.334)
their daughter, a little baby sister. I was the baby of the tour and I learned a lot from them, like their season pros, you know, and I still occasionally, every time they come to Vancouver, I've seen them in concert and they've gotten me tickets and I got to meet them, you know, after the show backstage. So they're very personable and they've always been very welcoming. So to share the stage again with them would be kind of fun.

Paul Povolni (01:08:20.148)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:08:28.308)
how awesome.

Paul Povolni (01:08:36.884)
Yeah. Well, thank you so much. This has been a wonderful conversation and appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and sharing also the tough spots and then the comeback. And so it's been amazing to hear that. And I know you're helping a lot of dancers. If people want to get a hold of you, what's the best way to get a hold of you?

Menina Fortunato (01:08:57.102)
Anyways, I would say Instagram is kind of the platform where I'm most active. ManinaFortunato .com is my personal website. If dancers are interested in knowing what I do, BizOfDance .com. My in -person dance event is DanceHST .com. But honestly, I'm the only Manina Fortunato out there. Google my name and I'm sure you can find me.

Paul Povolni (01:09:19.964)
Yeah, Google me is a good flex. And so yeah, definitely Google Manina and check out what she's doing. And I'm sure you're going to be watching some concerts and events and maybe even TV shows and watching out for us. So thank you, Manina. This has been wonderful and have an amazing day.

Menina Fortunato (01:09:39.086)
Thank you so much.