Cheerleading can be super fulfilling — but it can also be physically and emotionally
taxing.
What happens when a pro is ready for something new?
You just might recognize some of these former cheerleaders who turned in their pom poms
for a new career.
Former Washington Commanders cheerleader Regina Bailey has had nearly as many careers as Barbie.
She is a doctor, lawyer, writer, mother, fitness coach, and has even competed in beauty pageants.
How did she transition from executing cheer routines to saving lives and winning court
cases?
It turns out Bailey's double life is common among former cheerleaders.
For that reason, the doctor is an advocate for using professional cheer as a stepping
stone for other careers.
She even wrote a piece for The New York Times on her experience changing professional paths
and why cheer was an important part of the process.
Looking back on her time behind the pom poms, she said,
"Although cheering wasn't my career, I believe it helped me professionally.
I developed a great sense of self-confidence and fearlessness ... there is not too much
that makes me nervous."
She said most professional cheerleaders have to maintain outside jobs because the industry
does not often pay a livable wage.
Dr. Bailey wrote in her closing statement,
"Professional cheerleading opens many doors, offering a bridge to other careers.
That said, I think cheerleaders should be paid for the time they spend working on and
off the field."
Once a cheerleader for the NFL's Washington Commanders, Rachel Gill now works as Chief
of Staff for D Magazine, where she has written several pieces on CMT's "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders:
Making The Team."
The show follows prospective Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders as they try to earn coveted positions
on the famous team.
Gill's expert insight helps unpack what really goes on behind the scenes of the show.
Aside from her insightful "Making The Team" summaries and position as D Magazine's Chief
of Staff, Gill isn't afraid to defend her former team.
She sat down for a "Today" show interview to address claims that the Washington cheerleaders
were pressured into posing topless for a photo shoot.
"We always have the option to say no.
We are never forced or told to do something we don't want to do."
Not wanting to discount the experiences of the women who spoke out about the photoshoot,
Gill did clarify that she "can't speak" for the women who originally made the allegations.
Although Stacy Keibler began her career as a cheerleader for the Baltimore Ravens, she
is better known for her time with WWE as a professional wrestler.
She made a lasting impression in the ring and earned a prestigious spot in the wrestling
world after gaining recognition for winning World Championship Wrestling's "Nitro Girl"
search.
After retiring from WWE, Keibler dabbled in acting, earning minor roles in shows including
"How I Met Your Mother" and "Psych."
However, it was her time on "Dancing With the Stars" that put her back into the spotlight
after leaving wrestling.
She finished out the show in third place after garnering new fans throughout her ballroom
dancing journey.
Keibler's relationship and highly-publicized breakup with actor George Clooney also brought
in quite a bit of media attention.
By the time IGN interviewed Keibler in 2007, she had moved on from wrestling to her other
pursuits in entertainment.
Keibler told the outlet,
"You say the word 'wrestler,' whether it's a male or female, and I feel that people are
thinking big, muscular, meathead.
Kind of like a mean personality."
The former wrestler explained that being on "Dancing with the Stars" "was a good opportunity
to smash those stereotypes."
Lisa Guerrero quickly became a household name upon landing her position on "Inside Edition."
The journalist and TV personality went through quite a few career changes before earning
that role.
“I remember going to the games and seeing the cheerleaders out there and thinking they
were like The Rockettes or supermodels.”
Guerrero's previous job as a professional cheerleader for the NFL's LA Rams might be
the most shocking of her past gigs.
The former cheerleader worked in modeling and acting in the early stages of her career.
While Guerrero's path to post-cheerleading success may seem glamorous, her beauty-focused
job history didn't exactly help her come across as a serious reporter in the journalism field.
She talked to the New York Post about being stereotyped and labeled as just a pretty face
while working for "Monday Night Football."
The article mentions how her first on-camera mistake brought into question her understanding
of sports.
While interviewing Washington's Patrick Ramsey, she mistakenly referred to Laveranues Coles
as his ex-teammate.
Of course, this only further fueled angry watchers' presumptions about the then-sports
commentator.
Although Guerrero received criticism at the start of her TV career, both the good and
bad led her to "Inside Edition," where she now works as an investigative journalist.
She described her current job in the New York Post interview, saying,
"Part of what I do now is to physically go out and confront people.
A lot of them are bad people, criminal and dangerous."
It looks like Guerrero's doubters couldn't have been more wrong, because she is now a
highly-respected journalist holding over 30 awards for her work.
Nicol Bush embarked on a drastic transition when she left the Dallas Cowboys' cheer team
to pursue a career as a pediatric urologist.
According to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Bush enrolled in medical school after cheering
for the team for two years during the 1990s.
She detailed the similarities between the two contrasting career paths.
The doctor said:
"When you think about any sort of performance at the level of a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader,
we practice for something over and over and over until it was perfect.
So when I go into [the] operating room, it's the exact same thing.”
So, how did Bush decide to go into the medical field after professional cheerleading?
According to the multitalented mom, the decision did not happen overnight.
Bush shared in an interview with Science Cheerleaders:
“I decided in high school that I wanted to help people by becoming a doctor.”
She also elaborated on her daily job duties.
Per her description,
"There are about 350 pediatric urologists in the United States.
We help when there are problems with the kidneys, bladder, and girl and boy private parts."
As a respected figure in her field, this former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader is challenging
stereotypes through her incredible accomplishments.
“I wonder what people like about me.
…Probably my jugs.”
Phyllis Smith is best known for her role as, well, Phyllis in "The Office," but the actor
began her career as an NFL cheerleader.
In an interview with Slate, she explained how her love for dancing led her to pursue
burlesque and cheer.
Smith shared:
"In my heart, my first desire was to be a dancer.
I always wanted to dance and I danced from the time I was 7 till I was well into my 30s.
I did ballet, tap, jazz, modern, I taught dance here in my hometown of St. Louis."
She clarified that the burlesque dancing she did was "not risqué."
Although her burlesque costumes were not revealing, the St. Louis Cardinals' flirty cheer uniforms
seemingly drew Smith to the team.
She told Slate:
"I was at the height of my glory, because I loved dancing and wearing the boots and
the hot pants, the tied-up shirts, looking really hot.”
“Are you calling me a ho?”
Smith joked that she also took the opportunity to talk to a few of the players.
The actor admitted:
"My dad used to have season tickets, so I was flirting with the guys on the sidelines
as much as I could.
The organizations make sure that the cheerleaders and the players have minimal contact, but
that's what you try to do."
Aside from cheerleading and burlesque, Smith's acting career has also taken some interesting
turns.
According to Yahoo! Entertainment, the actor started out as a casting director for "The
Office" before a role was created for her on the show.
After cheering for the Dallas Cowboys, Bonnie-Jill Laflin made history as the first female NBA
scout.
She is an accomplished industry expert with years of experience in sports working as a
broadcaster.
By the time she earned her spot on the Dallas Cowboys cheer team, she had already cheered
for both the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors.
Laflin's impressive and unexpected career path landed her a role on the reality TV show
"Basketball Wives" in 2017.
The former cheerleading star spoke on her transition into reality TV in an interview
with People.
She said:
"I decided to go on ['Basketball Wives'] because I wanted to use this ... platform to showcase
empowering women.
They wanted me to come on [the] show so that it can go on in a different direction.”
Laflin's lengthy resume seemingly has no end; she also spent time acting.
A "Baywatch" casting director scouted the brunette beauty after seeing her in a Dallas
Cowboys cheerleading calendar.
Regarding her experience being scouted for the show, she dished:
"They had me come in for an audition.
Besides just reading they had me try on the red one-piece [bathing suit] to see how I
looked in it.”
Former New Orleans Saints cheerleader DiAnne Davis is a dermatologist and surgeon.
Davis found time to try out for the team during a brief break in her impressive educational
career.
According to Paper City magazine, she took time after graduating from Alabama's Tuskegee
University to join the New Orleans Saints' cheer team.
Davis received many accolades during her studies, including graduating summa cum laude from
Tuskegee and winning the Walter F. Rosen Award for Outstanding Student in Dermatology upon
graduating from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Davis is especially interested in how laser technology in dermatology interacts with diverse
skin tones.
She told Paper City:
"My interest peaked with lasers and particularly with skin color because we have more sensitive
skin, and there are not as many lasers that we can use on our skin.”
According to the doctor's Twitter account, she is very active in the online dermatology
community.
Kiana Tom is best known for her fitness show "Kiana's Flex Appeal."
The ESPN hit was the network's top-rated fitness show, according to Tom's website.
This was not her only hit ESPN gig.
Before her hit series, she appeared as a cast member on the workout series "Body Shaping."
This stint marked the start of her career in fitness TV.
Tom was a professional cheerleader for the Raiders before both of these opportunities
came along.
During her time with the team, she was one of only a few cheerleaders on the squad who
traveled with the team for the American Football Game at Yokohama Stadium.
Tom went on to pursue entrepreneurship, hosting her own virtual workout classes and helping
clients with their fitness goals.
Leah Van Dale, better known as "Carmella" by WWE fans, was once a Laker girl and cheerleader
for the New England Patriots.
Van Dale has made a name for herself in women's wrestling over the years.
According to her WWE bio, she won a SmackDown Women's Championship and the Women's Money
in the Bank Match.
Her accomplishments don't end there; she is also a business owner.
Her Capa Cagna wine brand is meant to speak to women's confidence.
But though she knows her way around a winery, the brand's website stresses that the affordably-priced
wine's creator is no "wine snob."
"It looks fancy, it looks fabulous, but you're not going to break the bank on it.
It's like when you want to feel bougie, but you're on a budget."
Perhaps Van Dale's down-to-earth business approach contributed to her post-cheerleading
success.
Anastasia Lusnia balanced her hectic nursing schedule with her professional cheerleading
duties for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Lusnia is a major NFL fan, so earning a spot as an NFL cheerleader must have been a dream
come true.
The Massachusetts native faced unexpected challenges in both cheer and nursing when
the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Cheerleading auditions were virtual for months, which meant Lusnia had to wait quite some
time before she could get out on the Buccaneers field.
Speaking to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, she called the experience, quote, "a roller coaster
of a ride."
No roller coaster compares to winning the Super Bowl on your own turf, though.
Along with adjusting to virtual cheerleading, she also faced serious challenges working
as a nurse in the midst of a pandemic.
Still, Lusnia managed to balance both careers and maintain a positive outlook.
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