Misty Copeland walks the runway at the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection 2016, presented by Macy’s at The Arc, Skylight at Moynihan Station in New York City on Feb. 11, 2016.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Misty Copeland walks the runway at the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection 2016, presented by Macy’s at The Arc, Skylight at Moynihan Station in New York City on Feb. 11, 2016.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Misty Copeland has gone from living in a motel to dancing on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House. Literally.

In June 2015, Copeland became the first African-American woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. Still, she strives for more.

At 33, the prima ballerina has amassed innumerable accolades, and the world has noticed. Copeland is the face of Under Armour, will be the subject of a forthcoming biopic and recently announced that she will be immortalized as the Firebird Barbie doll. But life for Copeland hasn’t been a crystal stair. With radical focus and an unshakable will, she has achieved her goals while bedazzling the world.

Watch along as Misty shares her “food for thought.”