“Now it’s not so much remotely managed as it was before. When I went to New York to continue to train and study, I just had teachers in place and I didn’t need to be at the sites and office on a daily basis,” Buckley added. “I had the revenue to take care of myself while I was in-between auditions and jobs. It was a very rewarding feeling to have a job without “going to work.” I would fly back frequently and there was a system in place so it just flowed.”

Getting Into the Groove

When she was just three years old, Buckley’s mother signed her up for tap dance and ballet. Buckley continued for a few years, but by junior high she decided that music was the direction that she’d rather take. Playing the flute and clarinet in both high school bands and orchestra she found gratification in another area of the arts. Though after seeing a dance performance she said, “it just clicked” and back on the dance route she went.

Officially beginning her dance career as a student at the Los Angeles County High School for Performing Arts, early on Buckley got into the swing of things. Rehearsing sometimes seven days a week and taking dance jobs as a teen she was prepared for the rigorous college classes that were to come. Majoring in dance and tackling double minors in business and religion, Buckley always intended to pursue her art form in more ways than one.

“At the start of Sway Enterprises I didn’t know that it was actually a business, I thought it was me teaching classes. I wasn’t sure how everything worked at that moment, it was learning as I went,” Buckley said.

“I think one of the main obstacles that I had was a lack of leadership and mentorship. I didn’t have anyone to walk me through it. It wasn’t until years later that began to research, put things into place and have different business mentors. In the beginning I had to work backwards. I didn’t know it was an obstacle at the time, it could have been a lot easier.”