Katie is the Owner of Elevate Dancers, LLC founded. She started dance at the age of 2 at Judy Bernard Dancers where she attended for 18 years. Later in life Katie was personally invited by Judy Bernard to come teach dance for her. This ignited a passion for teaching dance within Katie. When Judy retired in 2016, Katie decided to open Elevate Dancers, LLC to continue her legacy of a love and passion for dance.
Katie was born and raised in Tampa, FL. She graduated from Wharton High School and went on to the University of Tampa (UT). While enrolled in UT, Katie also worked at the family business, MarkMaster Inc., where she currently works alongside her family as the 4th generation of the business. Later, Katie graduated from UT with honors with a degree in International Business Management. During her tenure at the University of Tampa she was a part of many organizations including: Student Productions, Dance, the NCAA Women's Crew Team, Inter-varsity, Gateway Mentorship Program, Diversity Fellowship, Welcome Team, the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority, and the President of the Business Leadership Organization. Katie was also in charge of the Special Event Chair for Students and helped organize the Student Activities for the 75th Anniversary Homecoming Week while also acting as the Keynote Speaker for the MarkMaster 75th Anniversary Gala. Katie also attended the Dance Teacher Summit in NYC to work with some of the best teachers and Choreographers in the nation to gain additional dance experience, ideas, and inspiration for another great year of Elevate.
Katie is no stranger to the stage. Besides participating in Dance Recitals for over 20 years, Katie also participated in Nation American Miss (NAM) Pageants. During her 4 year tenure with NAM, some of the highlights included being honored as the Miss Personality Winner for both the State of Florida and Nationals, winning the State title of Spokesmodel and Actress as well as winning the National Actress Title and landing the title of "Miss Florida". Additionally, Katie has spent years on the acting and singing stage at Church and abroad as well as danced while attending the University of Tampa.