Life & Work with Noora Pohjanen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Noora Pohjanen.

Hi Noora, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born & raised in Finland. I started doing gymnastics at the age of 6 and till I was 17. My childhood was mostly spent time at the gym training or competitions. I wasn’t naturally gifted in Aesthetic group gymnastics but my mentality of working extremely hard since the first time I stepped into my first training session, led me later to winning nationals 12 times and becoming a member of the national team of Finland, winning multiple international titles including World championships twice.

After I retired from gymnastics I told everyone loud and proud I won’t do anything as much time-consuming as gymnastics ever again. After a small break from doing nothing, I started taking dance classes here and there. Started in beginner classes but after every class, my teachers came to me and told me to change to a more difficult level.

Soon I was already taking classes daily with pre-professionals and professionals. Tried to stay up with those who had trained to dance their whole lives. I’ve always loved learning new skills and I’m a little bit perfectionist too. My professional athlete mentality helped me thru harder days when I felt I was doing everything wrong.

Countless times I stayed hours after classes alone at the studio figuring out new steps and different ways to move. Didn’t let me leave before I had learned everything. After only a few years of hard training, I already started booking jobs as a dancer, and choreographer and started to teach dance classes.

I’ve been also really fortunate to represent my country as a national team member, competing overseas and also winning medals from World championships as well as winning multiple national titles in Finnish national in dance too. At the same time, I started dancing, I started to design and sew gymnastics leotards as a side hustle. Soon the dance studios I was training and working at also found out about my costume design & sewing skills so I also started to make costumes for dancers too.

Within a few months, it became more than just a side hustle, and started my own clothing brand business. Most of the time I make everything thru my brand but I’ve also created costumes for TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars Finland. My favorite jobs are always if I can combine dance and costume designing somehow!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Taking risks led me here. Both careers, dancing and costume designing, started by accident, and started to do both first as a hobby as a normal high school teenager. I’ve never had any academic degree in either one of my careers so it has been always learning while doing and learning thru mistakes.

In Finland getting a college degree is the most important thing no matter what industry you’re working in, everyone is always asking what’s my degree. It hasn’t been the easiest to prove myself without any formal degree, especially at a such young age. So I feel I always do twice as much work to prove my worth. But I’d wouldn’t change a thing! I always rather take the hard way that the easy way out.

Also, the fact that I still do two jobs at the same time is not the most usual thing, costume design & seamstress and dancing. All of my work is project-based so sometimes I dance more and sometimes I design more. Sometimes it’s a huge challenge to schedule everything to fit into my calendar but I think it’s much needed I still do both.

When I dance I push my body physically to the extreme and I travel a lot. I’m moving nonstop. But when I sew & design I have to sit down and stay down for hours straight and focus on the smallest details. In a way, both of my careers are the opposites to each other but since I make costumes & clothes for dancers all the time, everything at the end of the day includes dancing which is the most important for me!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer and I also run my own clothing business so I also work as a seamstress and costume designer. The list is long so I usually just say I create art in different forms. Everything is built around dance one way or another. Sometimes I work with dancers by making their costumes for TV shows, sometimes I choreograph for the same product or I’ll be dancing there.

I love to see different sides of the same job if I work with costuming and behind the camera is a different perspective than if I’m a dancer in front of the camera. I think it’s a huge blessing to be able to have multiple skills you can perform at such a high level. It’s not only giving me more opportunities but most of all it keeps me more inspired since my job titles are changing.

In my culture, we always play small and also put people into boxes a lot. Sometimes it has been hard to prove my value that I can do both, I’m not only a costume designer & seamstress but I can also dance. The more hard times I’ve faced more I’ve realized how unique is to have a gift to do both. The end of everything is built around dance even if I sometimes sit on different sides of the table. And still, I can do both equally as much and not keep one as a side hustle.

I think that’s a game-changer! Also since I can do both it not only set me apart from others but also it has taught me how to work hard to take care of both of my careers. Being an entrepreneur since I was still a teenager and adding my professional athletic background I’ve built a high-level work ethic that has opened doors that I never thought are possible for me to go thru. That’s also what people who are working with me always rely on that I make things happen since work so hard.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I believe the universe always has a plan! Sometimes I sit down and look back at my life and wonder how I’ve been so lucky. I do believe in good luck but more than that I believe good things happen to good people and everything happens for a reason. How you treat people and how you make them feel is everything and it will return to you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @noorapohjanen, @ateljeepohjanen

Image Credits
Tamminen Photography, Sami Ilvonen, Ofer Amir, Petri Kekkonen, Nora Mahmoud, and Divet Drag Show