Glitz & Grit: Beyond The Spotlight - Falling, Rising and Reinventing

Step into the world behind the sequins, where the bright lights of professional figure skating mask a quieter journey of grit, reinvention, and sacrifice. In Glitz and Grit: Beyond the Spotlight, a world-class pair skater embarks on a twenty-five-year journey — from her first, heart-pounding flight to European stages, through the highs of breathtaking lifts and the lows of body dysmorphia, relentless weigh-ins, and motherhood. With her partner, she thrilled audiences worldwide, but when the applause fades in 2002, an empty performance at Radio City Music Hall marks the end of her skating career and the start of life’s hardest question: “What now?”

Determined to find new purpose, she builds a home, new life for herself and her son, only to surrender it for his future at an elite school. Through vivid, heartfelt storytelling, she pivots again and again—braving fitness competitions, daring TV stunts, and guiding young athletes as a high performance mental coach. Each transition is marked by courage, imperfect choices, and her son’s resilience as her anchor. In the end, she discovers that true victories are found not in spotlights, but in love, perseverance, and the willingness to start over. This memoir invites you to witness one woman’s relentless spirit—and inspires you to face your own transitions, embracing endings and new beginnings with courage. 

After the final curtain falls, what stage will you dare to step onto?