Meet Emylee Ratzlaff | Shuffle Instructor and YouTuber

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emylee Ratzlaff and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emylee, what role has risk played in your life or career?
In order to get somewhere you’ve never been, you have to do things you’ve never done. I think about this quote all the time when it comes to my personal brand. Whenever I feel stagnant or that I’ve plateaued, I ask myself “what’s something I may be scared of doing or that I’ve been putting off?” Then I follow up and ask myself “how could that potentially put my closer to where I want to be?” Often times I think we have the answer for what we need to do to accomplish our goals, it’s just that we are scared to do it. But the best things in my life have always come from my biggest risks. For instance, when I decided I wanted to leave corporate life, I didn’t really have anything lined up afterwards. I left my job (with some savings) and was sort of put under pressure to figure my shit out. But it was that risk and that pressure that really made me work hard to create something for myself; because there was no other option. I remember listening to a podcast that talked about how every successful business has a “jumping off point”, a point where there was no going back. It does make sense sometimes to work on your side hustle while maintaining income. and stability. But eventually you have to take the risk and decide that your side hustle is now your main hustle. All of my greatest achievements have come from when I’ve taken a big risk. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re under a little pressure.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a dancer, specifically a shuffler. I taught myself to shuffle from YouTube tutorials and watching other people dance and now I teach people how to shuffle through my membership website The Shuffle Vault as well as on YouTube and social media platforms. I actually started growing my social media/IG account in the hopes of becoming a nutrition coach. But my niche ended up shifting after I discovered shuffling and fell in love with the art form. I spent countless hours practicing and creating content while also maintaining a side job as a social media manager. It took me a long time and a lot of consistency to build the platform I have now, and it was all with the intent of being able to work for myself. Now how I would actually convert my following to a sustainable income I hadn’t fully thought through. At least until I lost my side job once COVID hit and I no longer had my security blanket. I had minimal income from my YouTube channel at that time and needed to find a way to support myself. So that’s when I started doing virtual shuffle lessons. I always knew I was a good teacher and had made a few YouTube shuffle tutorials already so it felt like the natural next step. In fact it was something I knew I wanted to do well before COVID hit, but I was just scared to take that next step. But COVID forced me to take that next step. And I realized, that I never want to be forced to take a step forward in my business again. I want to continue to take risks and step outside of my comfort zone so my personal brand and business can grow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So during the day I’d definitely go to any of the local farmers market. It’s so nice that there’s so many so you can go any day you choose really. My favorite is definitely the one in Ocean Beach. Which bonus: has a Silent Disco once the sunsets that’s definitely a vibe. Of course you have to go to the beach while you’re here and sunset cliffs to watch the sunset. The sunsets here are unreal.
I’m also a big foodie and some of my favorite places to eat here are Menya Ultra for some amazing ramen, Oscar’s Mexican Seafood for some amazingly fresh fish tacos, and for a nice meal you can’t go wrong with a restaurant in Little Italy like Herb & Wood.

At night though is where I really thrive and the music scene in San Diego is amazing. So many artists and venues to choose from including Spin nightclub, Quartyard, Beach House and so many more. FNGRS CRSSD puts on a lot of shows (outside of the big festival here CRSSD) and there’s basically a show to go to every week if you want to. There’s also Church of Music which is an event thrown every Sunday at a different location where local DJs will play. It’s a great vibe, you just venmo the group and get the location for the event!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shout out to my parents for supporting my dreams even when they maybe didn’t fully understand them.

Website: theshufflevault.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/emyleeratzlaff

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/emyleeratzlaff