Commercial Phenom Mollee Gray Writes a Letter to Her Teenage Self

February 23, 2020

If you’ve looked at a screen at some point within the past decade, chances are you’ve seen Mollee Gray dancing across it. Television? She appeared on “Glee,” “Shake It Up,” “Victorious,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The X Factor,” and “America’s Got Talent,” and even made it to the Top 8 on Season 6 of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Movies? She danced in all three High School Musical installments, and had a featured role in both Teen Beach Movie films. Gray is also an actress—you can catch her in The Reliant, available on Amazon Prime. She isn’t slowing down anytime soon, so be sure to follow her on Instagram to see what she does next. —Cadence Neenan


Gray dancing at age 15 (Marc Reynolds Photography, courtesy Gray)

Dearest little Mollee,

Little do you know, you are fully capable of living the life you have been dreaming about and praying for. Your dreams will become a reality in your life as long as you do not give up easily. You will face trauma that will be difficult in the moment, but I promise you, your strength of overcoming those obstacles will be the reason you are able to change and impact so many lives.

Please don’t let yourself get caught up in trying to get older. Enjoy your time in Utah with your friends and family, because your life is going to get super-busy when you become an adult.

Allow yourself to explore all your options with your career. Oh, P.S…you can make a living being a dancer! You are going to have so many opportunities, but you might miss one if you are only focused on one lane. Get into more acting classes, document your life, and start becoming familiar with technology! It’s crazy, but people want to know what you are doing in your day-to-day life because of who you are.

I am proud of you for not straying away from your true essence or allowing other people’s judgments to change your energetic, quirky self. I promise you it will pay off in the end if you continue to be that way. You are cooler than you think, so don’t try to be someone you aren’t.

Last but not least, thank your mom every single day. You don’t understand it yet, but she has sacrificed so much for you to do what you do, because she believes you will be successful. Be happy to have those moments at home with her, as she will be working most of her day to support your dreams. Your relationship with her is the strongest one you will have your whole life. She is also the best person to call when you need someone to scream in joy with or break down and cry with. She’s the one who didn’t let you give up, and you have a pretty amazing life. So, go give her a hug. She deserves it.

Keep going, Molls—you will make yourself proud.