“I knew I wanted to be a dance by the time I was 8,” Morgan reflected. “Most dancers, you have to commit to it by 15 or 16, and it is incredibly physical, that’s why most dancers retire before they’re even 40. It’s both, a sport, and an art all at the same time.”

When she was 15, Kathryn moved to New York City to join the American Ballet Theater. By 17, she was dancing full time with the New York City Ballet. 

“Doing senior year of high school with being a full-time dancer with NYC ballet was rather interesting," she said. "And I was fast-tracked on a lot of big parts, on a lot of exciting things, I danced Juliet at 17, I danced the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker at 19, and Aurora in the Sleeping beauty at 20.”

But when she was 21, things took a turn…

“All of a sudden I started putting on weight, my hair started falling out, I could not get through a rehearsal day,” Morgan said. “My muscles started to disintegrate, it was like my body didn’t want me to do it anymore.”

Doctors diagnosed her with hypothyroidism, but after a few more years of health issues, Kathryn knew something else was wrong.

“I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune condition where your body attacks itself,” Morgan said.

It led to her discover another platform.

“Through this process of being at multiple doctor’s visits and sitting there getting IVs taken out of me every 30 minutes, I started watching YouTube videos to pass the time and it occurred to me, there were no professional ballet dancers on YouTube, so it was like, let’s see what happens.”

She started filming YouTube tutorials.

“It just kind of snowballed, I started teaching and it became this whole second career path that nobody had ever done because most ballet dancers, you’re either successful in a ballet company or you’re not.”

She’s amassed a huge following, with nearly 300,000 subscribers. She’s also created her own dance-wear line. 

“I found this other way to not only develop my love for ballet, but to hopefully help other people. I thought about my 13, 14-year-old self and was catering to that child.”

Her focus isn’t just on aspiring professional dancers, she’s also discovered a new group to mentor.

“I also found that I have this huge adult following, of people who simply love ballet who were either re-finding ballet or found it for the first time as an adult,” Morgan explained.

Her goal: to bring back the joy in ballet. 

“Everyone starts dancing because they love it, but somewhere along the way, most people lose their joy of it, most people lose why they started dancing in the first place.”

Once class at a time, she’s inspiring multiple generations. 

“So my goal and where I’m going with my brand is hopefully bringing back the joy you had in the first place and keep it.”