Miami Heat cheerleader Chelsea Varsaci is gearing up for another NBA season by looking and feeling her absolute best. The dancer and attorney is seen wearing a brown swimsuit top and blue jeans, getting her hair ready for dance auditions (along with her fellow cheerleaders) at Brooke Vibrant studios. “Day in the life of getting my Miami heat dancers ready for auditions,” the stylist captioned the video. Varsaci seems to have it all—so how does she do it? Here’s how she has the energy and focus for both her day job and her dance career.
1. Forging Her Own Path
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Varsaci is an attorney as well as a dancer, and sees no reason to choose between the two. “I am currently dancing with the Miami HEAT and an attorney,” she says. “That was a journey of its own. Every step I’ve taken has gotten me to where I am today. One thing I say that has gotten me there was that I didn’t let people tell me the path I was supposed to take. I wanted to take my own path and decide how I wanted to do it. Being in law school and practicing as a HEAT Dancer, people will always say you can't do both and you have to give up one for the other. But I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to follow my dreams and do things my way.
2. She’s a Beach Baby
Varsaci is a Miami girl, so the beach is her second home. Being outside in the sunshine is good for both mental and physical health. “I often ask patients to take their mood temperature — a measurement from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best mood — before and after taking a walk outside,” says Susan Evans, PhD. “People are often surprised at how much their mood improves.”
3. Discipline and Focus
Varsaci says it’s possible to be in school and also dance—but it takes hard work and sacrifice. “So, you wake up in the morning and you go to school, if you want to dance you do your homework and dance, you do it all,” she says. “I was raised to have that dedication and determination in everything I’ve done. So, whatever it takes to reach that final outcome, it’s what you do. If you stay up late, if you have to make it work, if you have to talk to your coaches, talk to your employee's things like that when you have the understanding and passion behind it; other people will understand and are more willing to help you get to your goal.”
4. Snow Bunny
Varsaci refers to herself as a “snow bunny” due to her love for winter sports. “Skiing and snowboarding are thrilling activities and great workouts,” according to experts at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “Both sports are excellent cardiovascular exercises that strengthen the heart. Because they are also weight-bearing exercises, they strengthen your bones as they tone your muscles. Cardiovascular or aerobic exercises also work to reduce your risk for chronic diseases, and lower blood pressure. They also help you maintain a healthy body weight.”
5. Trailblazing Women
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Varsaci is proud to be thriving in a traditionally male-dominated space. “Being an attorney in a male-dominated career has been hard and it has presented struggles,” she says. “But one thing that women have gone leaps and bounds with and walking in and knowing their worth. Walking and knowing they did the same amount of work; they did the same steps as it took for men to get to the same positions. Now, the confidence they have brought behind that transformed the whole legal industry and women are now Supreme Court Justices and are at the top thanks to the women before us have laid that path, and now, it’s on us to follow that path and make it greater.”