We recently had the chance to connect with Katia Diamond and have shared our conversation below.
Katia, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is a normal day like for you right now?
My schedule is very non-traditional and interesting to say the least. I start teaching at noon everyday and typically teach a variety of private lessons and group classes until as late as 10pm. This is followed by dinner somewhere around midnight. Then I take my dog, Jake, for a walk and I start to settle down for the night. I typically watch television with my husband while I update my students folders and make sure my schedule for the next day is all confirmed. Then I spend some time editing my class videos and performances so they can be posted on social media and used for promotion. Bedtime is seldom before 3am!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Katia Diamond. I am an Argentine Tango Instructor and Performer based in San Diego and I teach and perform worldwide. I have danced many different styles of dance throughout my life in addition to Tango including ballroom and latin dances and have numerous world titles in many of them. But Argentine Tango is very special to me and the only dance I have specialized in for more than 10 years. I dance Tango as both a leader and follower and I am the first female leader to become a finalist in the US National Tango Championships, ATUSA.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My husband has been my biggest fan since we met almost 20 years ago. He encouraged me, motivated me and believed in me even when I doubted myself. He has wanted what’s best for me even before we were married and before we even started dating. We had been friends for over a year before we started dating and spent a lot of time just talking and getting to know each other. I had been coming from a difficult living environment and my self esteem and confidence was very low. He made me feel like I was the most important and capable person in the world and that I could do anything I set my mind to. I have since become a strong independent, confident and successful woman and I believe his faith in me had a so much to do with that.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Wow, actually yes. I had been competing in Ballroom and had already done exceptionally well winning many national and world titles. I ended up moving across the country and started working with several new partners. Unfortunately we just didn’t do as well as my previous partnerships did and I became very discouraged. I started to lose motivation and felt like maybe my career had peaked and I should hang up my dance shoes. My husband literally dragged me to a Tango studio and had set up an appointment with the studio owner to try and redirect my energy from Ballroom to Tango. I wasn’t very open to this, probably because I was so disappointed with my recent results. However this was the best thing I have ever done and I owe much of my success in Tango to my husband for motivating me and helping me find my way when I was at a very low point. My success in Tango has become more than I ever imagined and I can’t imagine what my life would be without it.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
I am the same me whether it’s online, in public or in my private life. I am a very spiritual person and don’t believe in showing off or being fake for the sake of ego. I want to inspire everyone to be the best they can be and live a very happy fulfilled life and you can’t do this if you are presenting an image that isn’t real. I am a real person like everyone else and have the same desires, challenges and disappointments as everyone else does. I do everything with love and positive intentions and my students know this and love me for it. I also tend to attract the same types of people in my life because what you see with me is what you get.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
Absolutely. I once believed that winning a world title in dance was the most important thing in the world and my life would be perfect if I did. Well, I did win a bunch of world titles and now I realize that although I am proud of the hard work I put in and that I was recognized for it, it was actually a disappointing experience. I was so focused on winning that I can’t even remember the day of the competition, the music I danced to, or the feeling when I won. My only purpose was to win and I sacrificed any fun from the experience for the sake of winning. This was my biggest lesson with regards to taking time to stop and smell the flowers. I am now present every second in my career and enjoy every dance, every performance, every competition and every success and achievement that my students have. I also learn from every failure and come back stronger afterwards. I find joy every day in what I do regardless of whether everything is perfect or not. This is a life lesson I try so hard to pass on to my students so they never miss an opportunity to live in the moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://katiadiamond.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/katiadiamond
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/katia.diamond.77
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/katiadiamond
