Last Updated on January 7, 2021
Kristyn Burtt is an award-winning host, reporter and producer. She has covered the red carpet and behind the scenes at the Oscars, Emmys and Tony Awards and her work has been seen on AOL, MSN, Yahoo Lifestyle and Insider, to name a few. Currently, she is the West Coast Correspondent for Dance Network and an entertainment writer/correspondent for SheKnows Entertainment and Soaps.com. Her one-hour dance interview show, To The Pointe With Kristyn Burtt, has become must-watch series for commercial dance fans. Additionally, Kristyn appears weekly on The Tom Barnard Podcast in Minneapolis and MetroNews Hotline in West Virginia, dishing the latest in Hollywood news and entertainment. Check out dancedishwithkb.com to learn more or follow Kristyn on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to name a few.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into dance, and how that turned into a career as a reporter?
It’s kind of a funny story. I mean, I think like a lot of young boys and girls I was in dance class growing up. I did work professionally as a kid and went to NYU and got my degree in dance. After I graduated I found myself a little burnt out and thinking, what am I going to do next?
Because I didn’t want to choreograph, or teach, or open a studio and I kind of found a way to take my love of writing and research, I was someone who really loves school, and still take my love of dance and put the two of them together and become a dance journalist. With the explosion of dance in TV and film, it’s been the best gift to me because it’s my passion, but at the same time I still get to stay in the whole genre without completely leaving it.
At what point did you branch out into influencer marketing?
I think what’s been really interesting, I think for sure social media kind of made me think of different ways to try and communicate with people, ways to spread my message. I think that with each new platform that sort of comes our way you have to think outside the box, and be really creative with things like that, and because I cover all of the TV dance shows, a lot of times I get a little spoiler, or a little inside scoop, and I’ve done even small things of like here’s your 62nd dance scoop, here’s what’s happening. That gets people excited about my message. You can do the same exact thing when it comes to brands and sort of integrating that. I always try and look for things that kind of fit into dance, fitness, movement, healthy lifestyle. For me and my audience, it works really well.
As an influencer, can you think of one or two brand collaborations to date that have been memorable, that you’ve really liked?
Well one of my favorites was Danskin because they are obviously a dance wear company, and they kind of gave me license to do what I want. I would wear one of their athleisure outfits, and then I’d have my husband go out, and of course he had to help me out, but I’d go and shoot all of these fun leaping and jumping photos, because action really creates emotion at the same time. I’m excited about the brand, I want other people to be excited about the brand, and to me Danskin isn’t like sitting home on the couch all the time, it can, if you’re hanging out and being comfortable. But to me it really means just excitement, passion, movement, and I was so thrilled to be able to do something like that.
You have a blog, and you’re pretty much on all the major social networks out there. Do you have a favorite type, whether it be a visual-centric network, or whether it’s more like a long-form content platform, what’s your favorite type of content to post?
That’s a hard one. That’s a little bit like which one do you choose? I think what works best, honestly, for especially the dance industry, and there are so many dancers, choreographers, dance influencers is Instagram, although it’s moving to Tik Tok too I will say that. But the one nice thing about Instagram is that it allows you short form stories in terms of Instagram stories, in terms of your feed, but if you want to do something more rich in content, you have the platform where it’s right there IGTV, and you can sit there and you can go over 60 seconds, I can put an interview up, we can put a dance up, and I like having that flexibility. That’s what really makes it worthwhile for me as a journalist.
With everything that you do, how do you structure your average day so you can get everything done that you need to do while remaining sane and enjoying life a little?
I am an early riser, so I’m someone that gets up at five every single day and I sort of look at everything that I need to do, and then I go and work out, because I need to get the stress out right away, and because for me, every day is different, there are some days it’s a set visit, doing interviews out in the field, other days it’s a red carpet, and that happens in the evening. Some days I’m at my desk just typing away, doing articles.
I do have to really, not only make time for the work that I need to do either in my office or out in the field, I also need to make sure that I’m getting up, and I’m moving and doing everything else. If I know that I have a day that’s heavy on the back end, like afternoon and evening events, I will take that time for myself in the morning. If I know that I have a free night, then I just structure my work day like everyone else. Although I try and wrap up by 4:00 PM, because I feel like I can start to get a little tired because I’m getting up so early, and I just want to wrap it all up and be sharp for the next day.
As an influencer, someone who’s influenced it all, what are some of your goals for the next year as it pertains to influencer marketing or just your career in general?
Well, I think one of my big things when it comes to dance, is I always think dance is for everybody and every body, and I think that that’s the same type of message I want to take and present to brands when I’m working as an influencer, is that it’s not just this beautiful artsy photo, or crazy video, I want to make things approachable. I want things to feel authentic and I want to work with brands that feel authentic to me, but also feel authentic to my audience. That is really something that I’m looking forward to in 2020 when it comes to working with people.
Andrew is the Head of Client Services for Intellifluence and has a background in communications. He is committed to helping brands get the most out of their campaigns and is the co-host of the Influencer Spotlight series.
