Dance teacher gives encouraging speech to young girl who was told she'd never be a professional dancer

Encouraging kids to pursue their dreams and goals is a powerful catalyst to see them go for it. With the right people in your corner, anything can seem possible. Without them or the encouragement, though, it can be dream crushing. And if kids are explicitly told they will never accomplish those dreams, it can be a nail in the coffin.

For Kim McSwain, owner of KM Agency Dance School, she turned one of her own mistakes from the past into a moment to help one of her students, Zoe, go for her dance dream. McSwain shared an emotional video of her encouraging one of her dancers to pursue her dream of becoming a professional after she was told she would never be one. In the caption, she wrote, "We want all of our kids to grow up and be what they want to be 💕."

In the video, McSwain asks her student Zoe what she wants to be when she grows up. When Zoe responds that she wants to be a dancer, she starts to get emotional. "Are you crying cuz someone told you you couldn't be one? Pshhhhh!" McSwain stands up and goes over to Zoe, telling her, "I have a perfect example for you. I'm gonna tell you a story right now I've never told anybody."

Zoe is supported by one of her fellow dancers who holds her hand to comfort her as McSwain then shares about when she was a young teacher: "I was 19 years old. My assistant that works for me now, my executive assistant, she danced for me and I only taught her for a year. She said she wanted to go be a professional dancer," she explains. "I said to her, 'I don't think you should do that. I don't think that you're the right type for it. I don't think that you're going to make it.' I said that to her. I would never say that to a child now."

She goes on to share that her student proved her wrong. "You know what she did? She went and danced for Justin Timberlake the following year and did his tour with him. 'Watch me.' You see that girl?" McSwain tells Zoe. "Who was I to tell her she couldn't do that? Who was I to say that to somebody? I had no right to say that to somebody who had that much drive and that much talent and that much heart and that much passion. You go be a professional dancer, you hear me baby girl? You go be that professional dancer!"

McSwain then hugs Zoe tightly, and the two share a special moment together. The vulnerable video got lots of positive comments.

"I really needed to hear this today thank you 🥹," one viewer wrote.

Another added, "The girl holding her hand 😭."

"Talk your talk💚💚💚💚💚💚," said another.

McSwain has made it her mission to encourage her dance students, especially those struggling to believe in themselves and their abilities–including her student Zoe.