Girls that Glow feature: Shawn Labadie 

Glow Question: In your process of discovering your gifts and using your gifts to serve others, how does using your gift of dance help others?
I believe I have the gift of teaching and choreographing dance and the gift of lifting others. (encouraging, exhorting, inspiring)

I am Founder and Artistic Director of Inspire Arts Collective. A dance based arts company whose mission is to ignite hope, equip artists, and challenge the status quo. This company is an avenue I have been privileged to use my gifts of teaching and exhorting. It isn’t enough for me to teach dance. I want to impact lives, build confidence, give you hope, inspire people and let them know they can achieve what they want and are capable and stronger than they realize! Dance and Art truly builds confidence and has the potential to saves lives! Spreading love, hope, and inspiration as well as quality dance has definitely been my passion now for over 10 years!

Glow Question- I am all about the process or the journey as we grow as women , so what helps you to LIVE your best life NOW on the way to where you are going? Describe what it means to be the light of the world as a young adult woman?
I just believe in enjoying MY journey. As a young girl I used to look at others and wish I had their gifts and their journey. Now I am grateful for the masterpiece that is my life, gifts, and journey! It’s rewarding to start at one place and know that because you didn’t quit and continued to work at “it”, you’ve gotten closer to your goal. My motto is “You only fail if you give up! If you keep going, growth is inevitable!”
Being the “Light of the World” means to “make everything I touch Better”. My goal, when I step into a dance class or any room, is to make someone smile brighter and feel at ease or even challenged…It’s allowing the love of Jesus to flow out of me onto others!

Glow Question- In your process of Becoming all that God desires, what are some obstacles that you have had to overcome, and what are somethings that you are still over coming?
My biggest obstacle I’ve had to overcome is self doubt.  Most of my life, I have struggled with not knowing who I was or where I belonged…Now, at 29 years old, I am generally secure in who I am and I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses. (I say “generally” because there are moments when I second guess whether I will excel at something) Instead of wondering if I belong in a situation now I am quick to assess whether or not something or someone will fit with me and what I have going on. This is a constant obstacle though…Whenever you are challenged to think bigger, reaching a new level…it’s an uncomfortable time! With prayer and the right company around you (me)…the obstacle of self doubt turns into …”Lord you’ve got me! I will humble myself to learn what I need to in this season…let’s do this! I know you’re going to get me through this uncertain time!”

The process of being a God Dreamer comes with many ups and downs, can you describe one of those moments and how you got through it?

Having an organization comes with constant challenges, ups, and downs. Especially because it’s a business that involves lots of people and personalities. Also, I try to grow each season in some aspect of the company and that takes stepping out of what is comfortable, thinking and doing more than we did the season before.

An example of this occurred in our last season. I just found out I was pregnant and really didn’t have much of a vision for the season or our showcase. Most of my attention shifted to preparing for my child. I prayed and God gave me a vision for a show called Collide. Collide was all about uniting people regardless of their ethnic background, spreading love, and unity. It included different artists from different dance backgrounds as well. Needless to say this was a challenge because this was different from anything we’d done before and I had to effectively communicate with all these people…all while pregnant!

The Lord was gracious to us! The show received recognition from our local newspaper, we sold out of our show, and people were greatly impacted by our message!

Glow Question– what’s one of your favorite words and why? And speaking of favorite word, what WORD or verse in the bible are speaking loudest to you in this season.

Humility. It’s a word that I believe every woman needs to know and exemplify if they want to truly GLOW. Whether it’s humbling yourself to know you don’t need to be the smartest person in the room or realizing that all that you are and all that you have comes from the Lord. In order to GLOW you have to stay humble!

I love these two verses! They seem to fit and be applicable in any season!

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
“but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”

 

GLOW GLEAN: WOW!!!! I am totally inspired by her process thus far, and I realize that it’s more than dancing  for her, it’s about building the confidence and helping people realize they are stronger than they realize. In her journey of becoming all God desires it’s about not quitting , not giving up,  and overcoming self doubt. Humility is an important attribute of being a leader and in sharing your glow with the world.