Today we’d like to introduce you to MacLaine Funsch.
Hi MacLaine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story really started when I was two years old. My mom was a professional cheerleader, and I remember holding her poms and deciding that was exactly what I wanted to do. I started dancing at two and was quickly moved into advanced classes with dancers much older than me. I went on to train and compete for 15 years at one of the top studios in my area before dancing at Penn State University.
After college, it took some trial and error to make a professional team. At the time, the setbacks felt like failures, but they taught me so much about hard work and resilience and made me that much more grateful when I finally made the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders. I spent four seasons with the team, was a top audition scorer three of those seasons, and served as Uniform Lead, where I got to help design the uniforms, a really special legacy to leave behind.
When I made the team, I started sharing behind-the-scenes content on social media because I remembered being the girl who desperately wanted to know what professional cheerleaders’ lives were actually like. One of my first videos unexpectedly reached 5 million views in 24 hours, and I kept creating because I genuinely loved connecting with fans and aspiring dancers. That eventually led to me being discovered online and cast on FOX’s primetime reality show *The Snake*, where I did everything from having cockroaches dumped on my head to wearing a shock collar.
After my fourth season, I knew I wanted to continue pursuing dance, but in the country music world, so I made the move to Nashville. Since moving here, I’ve had the opportunity to choreograph and dance for several country artists, with some exciting projects on the horizon. It’s been a winding path, but every chapter has brought me closer to the kind of creative career I always dreamed about.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It took me three years before I made a professional team, and those three years taught me that success isn’t always about skill or talent. There are so many factors that go into making a team, and eventually I realized I had been auditioning for programs whose values didn’t align with my own.
It’s incredibly difficult to put your heart and soul into something and continually feel like your dreams are being stomped on. I had people tell me I would never make it, that I wasn’t fit enough or talented enough. I even had dance teachers tell me to my face that I was “worthless” and would never get anywhere in life. For a long time, it felt like everyone was telling me my dreams were ridiculous.
But honestly, that fueled me. I don’t like being told I can’t do something. So instead of letting those words define me, I worked harder. And eventually, I became a professional cheerleader four seasons in a row. Those experiences taught me to trust myself, keep going when things don’t happen on my timeline, and never let someone else’s opinion become the limit of what I believe is possible for myself.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work sits at the intersection of professional cheerleading, dance, social media, and storytelling. I was one of the first, if not the first, professional cheerleaders to consistently share behind-the-scenes game day content online. What started as simply wanting to give fans a glimpse into our world ended up creating an entirely new social media landscape within the Colts Cheer organization and, in many ways, influenced how other professional teams began approaching social content as well.
Today, I’m known for uplifting dance and pom videos, colorful and sparkly fashion, rhinestoning audition outfits, my English Bulldog, and most importantly, being real. I never want social media to feel like a highlight reel with no context. I openly talk about anxiety, panic attacks, heartbreak, loneliness, making friends as an adult, and figuring out who you are after retiring from a sport that has been such a huge part of your identity. I want someone to look at my life and think, “I can do that too,” rather than feeling like my life is unattainable.
I’ve also built a niche around rhinestoning and audition wear. I made all of my own professional cheer audition outfits, and my rhinestoning videos took off online, eventually leading to a collaboration with a major dancewear brand and cheerleaders across the country reaching out to have me design their audition sets.
Dance and choreography are another huge part of my work. I specialize in game-day style choreography and regularly share that process online. I’ve had teams and organizations reach out specifically for choreography, which has been incredibly rewarding.
What I’m most proud of is that I’ve been able to turn things I genuinely love into a career while creating a space where people feel inspired, entertained, and seen. I think what sets me apart is that I’m not afraid to show both sides of the story, the rhinestones and the reality behind them.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The biggest thing I wish I knew when I was starting out is that you don’t have to change yourself to make it. You have to find the parts of you that make you *you* and let them shine. The wrong team, company, or opportunity may never see your value, but the right one will see you as a superstar.
Never give up on something that is truly in your heart. If you can dream it, there is a way to make it happen. There is also no “one right way” to build a career. Make your own way. Create your own path. Be a trailblazer.
And finally, let people’s opinions motivate you rather than define you. I’ve been told “no” more times than I can count, and some of the people who doubted me ended up becoming my biggest motivation. You don’t need everyone to believe in you, you just need to believe in yourself enough to keep going.
Pricing:
- $20 Pro Style Class; 8pm Mondays at Milele Academy (Mt. Juliet)
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maclaine_17/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maclaine_17
