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Feature
Winning A Talent Show At Age 7 Fueled Passion Of Music YouTube, Fitness Star
Tampa native is singing, dancing and pushing fitness
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
She chuckles when she talks about the talent show she won at age 7 at Zonta Boys and Girls Club. Keaira LaShae, a 4-year resident of Los Angeles, California, says that first win was part of what fueled her passion for music, dance and fitness.
“After learning that I was going to be participating in the talent show, I told my family about the pretty pink outfit I had seen at K-Mart. I had to have it for the talent show,” she said. She got it and she won.
That was just a part of her beginning.
Previously, Keaira LaShae had earned her early training by singing in the choir at Evening Star Taber- nacle Missionary Baptist Church, where she accompa- nied her grandmother, Ms. Maeonia Taylor.
From those beginnings, Keaira LaShae participated in many talent shows to sing and dance. Desiring to take her talents to another level,
she moved to San Antonio, Texas (a predominantly Mex- ican community), she learned to sing in Spanish. While there, she earned the nick- name, “Black Selena.”
After a while, she opened a hip-hop dance studio, Street Beatz, the largest in San An- tonio.
Still trying to fulfill a dream, she made several trips to California, meeting with a lot of record labels. Back in 2011, she moved to LA after signing with Sony Record. That venture was short-lived.
“That didn’t work for me. Now, I’m an independent artist. It’s a little tougher
when you do it on your own, but that way I’m not under a lot of pressure. I get to put my music out when and where I want,” she explained.
Since she knew that she could sing and dance at the same time, she decided to do fitness, too. “To stay in shape Ihadtodoalotoffitness.So I decided to do dance fitness. Idoabout8hoursadayof dance fitness.”
She created the Super- Hero Fitness workout videos found on YouTube after an interest in kick boxing. The videos have garnered more than 40 million views and 555,000 subscribers. And, she says they’re “guaranteed to get results!” Her new sub- scriber service is called Su- perHero Fit Club. The new mommy, (she has an 8- month-old daughter) has also been in conversation with Universal Pictures about a transformation DVD.
“No, I did not expect the millions of hits that I got on YouTube. Singing and danc- ing are my passion and I use them to get in shape. I just want to help people,” she said.
Right now she wants her Tampa community to check out her music and download from iTunes. Her latest single is “Special.”
The Wharton High School grad said she has to credit so many members of her family who have been her source of support: husband, Kevin Price, who is her high school sweetheart; mother, Peaches, who now calls Houston home; siblings,
Ceaira Porter, Vince Lar- rimore and Adrian Sims; uncles, William, Fred and Marshall Porter.
Keaira LaShae is plan- ning a trip to Tampa next month and has plans of trying to connect with some young people at the former Boys and Girls Club she attended.
“When you walk in your purpose, everything is aligned, God aligns every- thing for you. I keep God in the center of all that I do,” she concluded.
Find out more about Keaira LaShae on her web- site, KeaiaLaShae.com, or visit htt://keairalashae .com/epk/.
FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A