Impact

Global Alumni Spotlight: Fiorella Otero

Credit: Courtesy Fiorella OteroAll Rights Reserved.

Fiorella Otero graduated from the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State with a degree in print journalism in 2010. She currently runs Brava Studio, a dance and aerial arts studio, in Doha, Qatar, where she lives with her husband, Peter, a 2008 alumnus of the Smeal College of Business.

Fiorella Otero’s path hasn’t always been the most direct.

“A lot of people in university stress about not having everything figured out yet or changing majors,” Otero said. “But it’s OK to be unsure.”

Otero knows all about winding paths. She joined Penn State in 2006 without declaring a major — she had heard great things about the University and wanted a new experience after living in Indiana.

“I was born in Peru and grew up there until I was 9, when we moved to Indiana,” she said. “Indiana did not have as much diversity as Penn State. I really wanted to experience something new.”

Many students come to Penn State with a specific program in mind, such as the University’s top-notch programs in engineering or earth and mineral sciences. For Otero, this was not the driving factor.

“I liked that it was big and diverse, and I liked that it was a college town,” she said. “It's sort of got its own ecosystem.”

Otero ended up choosing to major in print journalism with minors in international studies and French. In addition to Penn State's academics, Otero found impactful experiences elsewhere on campus as well.

Almost as soon as she arrived, she auditioned for — and was accepted to — the Penn State International Dance Ensemble (PSIDE).

“I’d always loved dance, since I was a little girl,” Otero said. “My dad would play music around the house and I would always dance to it. I wasn’t classically trained, but wherever I would go, I would try to join dance clubs or classes. It’s a part of my culture.”

The club was very demanding on her time, she said, but also extremely rewarding. PSIDE’s focus is cultural exchange through dance — members teach and learn dances from all around the world to each other, and then perform these dances together in showcases.

“It was a beautiful experience,” Otero said. “I learned so many different dances. I learned the basics of choreography, costumes, programming; what it takes to pull together a show and an ensemble. And I got to share my culture by teaching traditional dances from Peru, which connected me to my own home country.”

Otero’s participation in this club would end up being life-changing for her career path. Otero also met her husband, Peter, a 2008 alumnus of the Smeal College of Business, at Penn State. After graduation, they decided to move to Doha, Qatar, where Otero began her post-Penn State life working for a magazine and then a public relations firm.

“I do really like what I studied at Penn State, but I realized it wasn’t making me excited. It wasn’t my passion,” Otero said. “So I really had to rethink things.”

In 2016, Otero moved back to the U.S. for a year before rejoining her husband in Qatar. During her year in the U.S., she got involved in dance again and began learning aerial arts (think Cirque du Soleil). When she returned to Qatar, she and Peter discussed what it might look like to open a dance studio.

“The dance scene in Doha isn’t as developed as New York City or London,” Otero said. “We really wanted to expose the community to dance and performing arts in general.”

This idea came to fruition with the founding of Brava Studio, a dance and aerial arts education center in Doha. The studio spreads the “transformative power of the performing arts and its ability to engage and inspire people of all ages,” according to its website.

The creative side is run by Otero, while her husband handles the business side.

“He was an economics major,” Otero said. “He works the business and numbers that I don’t have the mind for, and I handle the art side.”

Otero wanted to make sure that she professionalized dance in Doha. She only hires professional dance instructors — many of them internationals.

“Teaching is a big responsibility,” she explained. “I’m very passionate about doing things the right way. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it properly.”

Right now, Brava employs six instructors, an assistant manager and a receptionist — eight employees from seven different countries.

Brava teaches dance and aerial arts, combining two forms that Otero is passionate about.

Though opening a dance studio isn’t a traditional route for a journalism major to take, Otero credits her time at Penn State with much of her success.

“I learned so much in journalism and PR,” she said. “I create all of our marketing materials and written materials and I run our website. I learned all of those skills from Penn State and the jobs I got as a result of my degree.”

As an undergraduate student, Otero also studied abroad in Avignon, in the south of France. Between this and her many experiences with fellow international students in PSIDE, she learned how to work with people from many different cultural backgrounds — a key skill when communicating in Doha, which is a city “made up mostly of expats,” Otero said.

Penn State is a large university that prides itself on its academics, but Otero’s story shows that sometimes, it’s not the academics that have the most long-term impact.

“Being a college student is a beautiful time in life. You’re getting to know who you are and your place in the world and what you want to do. I’m not someone who believes in purpose, but I do believe in doing things that are happy and fulfilling,” she said.

Otero's advice for current Penn State students: “I would recommend [they] get involved in clubs and activities that make them happy, and that they make meaningful connections,” she said.

“Explore, explore, explore,” she added. “And it’s OK if you’re unsure or you change things up. I graduated with a degree in journalism and now I own a dance studio. So don’t be too worried if you don’t have everything figured out.”

Last Updated October 18, 2021