Today we’d like to introduce you to Chel Rogerson.
Chel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Like many people, I moved to San Diego from the east coast (Outer Banks, NC) wide-eyed and full of optimism to explore a new life in the year-round sunshine. What I didn’t realize is that I would become a performer. I had a lot of experience hula hooping and pole dancing when I arrived in San Diego, and that connected me to meet new friends quickly. I met many hula hoopers, fire and pole dance performers and began to polish my choreography and performance skills. The flow arts community is tremendously welcoming in San Diego, and I was given many opportunities to perform and gogo dance in the San Diego nightlife, which is how I became “Gypsea BombChel.” Now, I am traveling the world, teaching yoga and performing, but I’m still in San Diego to reunite and perform with my friends who have taught and inspired me so much.
Has it been a smooth road?
I’ve struggled through a number of challenges including career changes and health and family issues, but overall, I’ve navigated my journey smoothly as a single, independent woman. It’s not easy being far from my family and not having a partner to rely on day to day. But I have always managed to make it through the challenges.
It really comes down to believing in yourself and finding inspiration from friends you look up to. I didn’t realize until I was in my 30s how much I simply didn’t believe in myself. Now, I do so many things that I never thought I could do when I was younger, things like handstands, surfing and traveling to adventurous places solo. The flipside of that is to never think you are “too old” to do anything. I perform and surf alongside young 20-somethings often and have no problem matching their energy and endurance.
When I dream big, I don’t take “no” for an answer. Set your goals and go for it, no matter how complicated it seems. My goal was to travel. In the past ten years, I managed to live healthier, eliminate my student loan debt, release responsibilities that “tied me down,” retire from my corporate job in my 30s, and find flexibility while creating a stable income doing what I love. I’ve been traveling nonstop for a few years now! Life is not simple. There are many obstacles that keep us from pursuing our dreams. Don’t let big complications get you down, think of them as speed bumps and not roadblocks on your route. Deal with complications patiently and then continue full speed ahead.
You can accomplish anything, and don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Gypsea BombChel story. Tell us more about it.
Gypsea BombChel is no longer my stage name or my alter ego, it’s every bit of who I am. It’s my a catch-all for the work I am passionate about. I am a yoga teacher, circus showgirl, reiki healer, Airbnb host, writer, and speaker. I just fuse everything I do with an intention to help people live their happiest.
I want people to be healthy, dance and enjoy their life. I’m living my dream of traveling the world, and I want to inspire people to live their dreams too. I know that yoga, meditation, and creative expression are an important part of living a happy life and I enjoy teaching others what I have learned.
There are so many incredible yoga teachers and performers out there. What makes my offerings unique is that I’ve trained all over the world– meditating Nepal and Burma and visiting temples in Southeast Asia and hoop dancing on magical islands of Bali, Malaysia, and Thailand! I’ve also learned a great deal about compassion by volunteering with orphans and underprivileged kids in Sri Lanka, Peru, and Mexico. These experiences greatly influence my style. While I am a free spirit, I also have my corporate background and used to live a more stressful life. This helps me connect with my clients who have an 8 to 5 grind or major stresses in their lives.
I’m interested in extending my reach now beyond offering workshops and classes. I used to be a corporate speechwriter and PR manager, so I’m going to use those skills to spread my teachings further through writing articles and speaking.
Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
The most important piece of advice I can give anyone is to learn something new every day! Take classes, workshops, online courses, read books, watch videos, trade skills with friends. There are so many ways to learn new skills. Many of these skills might not add up to anything more than an enriching one-time experience. For example, I learned how to make homemade pasta in Italy, and that hasn’t developed into anything more. But some things will stick, and it may even change the course of your life. When I picked up a hula hoop, I was just intending to try something new and get some exercise. I didn’t even know hula hoop performers were a thing. Now, I’m traveling the world and offering entertainment with my LED and fire hoops. Just learn every day and see where the experience takes you!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gypseabombchel.com
- Phone: 757-589-6404
- Email: michellerogerson@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram: @gypseabombchel
- Facebook: facebook.com/gypseabombchel
Image Credit:
CBR Photography (the photo of me in a red one-piece and the photo doing acro yoga with a surfboard), Robert Stone Nadel Photography (the photo of me laying back with fire), Xavier Bailey (the showgirl photo with blue bottoms and a red top), Mindfruit SD (in a white one piece at a rave with my LED hoop), Nadine Young Photography (Pole dancing in leggings on the Urban Leaf bus and the photo pole dancing at a pole dance studio and the photo doing acro yoga in OB), Acro Yoga partners: Victor Lai (surfboard pic), Nick Capobianco (Ocean Beach pic)
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
