Meet Paul Herman | Professional Choreographer & Motivational Speaker

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

Hi Paul, what do you attribute your success to?
I feel the biggest factors behind my success with my brand comes down to five main area in which I live by.

1. My ability to connect with my cliental.
2. I will always be a student before anything else.
3. I put communication at a high when it comes to my company. Strong communication skills is essential when it comes to a companies growth.
4. I focus on making sure I know the difference between goals and expectations.
5. I put my faith in a higher power that guides me everyday on my journey to be the best version of myself.

These 5 things have helped me a lot when it comes to me growing my brand/company and has helped me coach other entrepreneurs, companies, and winning teams.

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.
Born and raised in the South Bronx I fell in love with the belief that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. With the birth of Hip Hop, I quickly took an interest in dance and started my journey as an entertainer. While pursuing dance my parents instilled in me at a young age the value of an education, which led him to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. I graduated with a Business Management and Marketing degree from the Jack Welch School of Business and found myself working in sales and marketing for some of the most distinguished companies in Fairfield County. Although I found success in the corporate world I knew my true desire was to succeed as an entertainer, teacher, and motivator. I knew I needed to take a risk and follow my heart; a path which opened so many doors and has given him the life he always dreamed of.

The commitment and drive that I cultivated at a young age led me from performing on local community stages in the South Bronx to worldwide stages in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. I have danced and collaborated with prominent international artists such as Alicia Keys, Kat Deluna, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Sean Kingston, Rihanna, Sean Paul, Lil Wayne, Eve, and Ciara as well as other leading recording artists, producers, and choreographers. Additionally, I was a featured artist in Reebok’s “Your Move”, Staples “Back to School” global marketing campaign, “A Tribute to Motown” at Carnegie Hall, Good Morning America with Flo Rida, and Nick Cannon’s Red Nose Danceathon on NBC. Throughout all my success as a performer, I have always maintained a focus to inspire dancers by providing instruction through master classes, workshops, summer camps, and national conventions. I teach dancers of all levels while also leading motivational seminars to help dancers excel. My resume highlights not only my teaching qualifications, but the years of experience in the commercial industry.

There has been several life lessons that I have learned along the way, but I think the biggest one I can share with everyone is to have faith. I know it sounds real easy, but it’s one of the hardest things to do. When you have your back against the wall and you feel like you can’t go anymore. You need to direct your energy to a higher power that can help you move forward despite the odds. I had to overcome challenges like negative energy from family members and close friends, growing a studio during the pandemic, dealing with a serious pay cut after leaving Corporate America and the many issues that come about due to a lack of income. At one point I wanted to give up, but kept moving forward.

With a passion for entertainment and years of experience building a successful business, coaching winning teams, and studying the industry, I has ventured on to my latest endeavor, Press Play Motivation, founded in 2020. As The Prince of Motivation I can be seen motivating and MC-ing weddings, Hosting fashion shows, Mentoring individuals and artistic groups, providing instruction as a Movement Coach to movers of all levels and ages, or inspiring diverse audiences on stage with my animated Motivational speeches. Ultimately I have poured my infectious personality, mentorship ideals, motivational mindset, and my passion for dance into a company focused on inspiring while promoting diversity through music and movement.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would to give a big shout out to the following people, and organizations.

Orthense Herman(Mom), Paul Herman (Father), Andrea Herman-Johnson (Sister), Stephen Herman (Brother), Brian Herman (Brother) Mr. Griff, Dr. Steven Brown, Omega Phi Kappa Fraternity Inc. Yale University, Sacred Heart University, Coach Kenny, Greg Maurice, The entire Zaka Community, Double Up Dance studio dance community, The Y.A.R.D. Movement, The Gift of Dance Program, Team Leggoo, Torrie Hartman, Vanessa McCarthy, Lindsay Frank, Nicolle Dunn, Kat Deluna, Tanisha Scott, Ali Berke, Sam Diem, John Thomas, Pia Vasquez The entire Walker family, The entire King Family, Uncle Joseph, Phillip, Prince, & Ian, Aunt Icy, Yvette, Joan, the entire Concourse community growing up, The entire All Hallows High school community, And lastly but not lease the man upstairs because without him these connections and and my accomplishments would not be possible.

Website: www.pressplaymotivation.com

Instagram: @pressplaymotivation

Facebook: @pressplaymotivation

Yelp: pressplaymotivation@gmail.com

Youtube: @pressplaymotivation

Image Credits
Photographer: Luis Cuevas