Unplanned:
from meeting prince to
the prince of peace
By Robia scott
As a church planter and itinerant
speaker, I have quite a unique and
unusual background. After being
inspired by the film Flashdance
as a young girl, I began to
passionately pursue my love of
dance. I immediately began taking
dance classes after school, wearing
legwarmers with every outfit, and
even went so far as to perm my
hair in order to emulate actress
Jennifer Beal’s. Ah, the 80’s! At the
age of sixteen, I launched into a
professional career as a dancer in
Hollywood. It wasn’t long before
Prince, yes the Prince, spotted me,
and I became his muse and “Pearl” for
his hit album, Diamonds and Pearls. I
appeared on the album’s cover and
danced along side him onstage for
audiences of 60,000 people each
night. After the world tour ended, I
transitioned into acting and began
22 • Solutions
landing roles on popular television
shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210,
C.S.I. and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I was living the dream, or so it
seemed. I was in my early twenties
and a rising star. I was successful
and appeared confident and on
top of the world, but the image I
was portraying on screen was far
from the reality I was experiencing
internally. I was struggling with fear,
a chain smoker, and I obsessed
with my weight and body image.
Thoughts of food and what I would
and would not eat consumed me.
I had always believed in God but was
not a Christian. I sought relief through
reading self-help books. Nothing
changed. I was still chain-smoking
and tormented. Only later did I
realize that self-help is somewhat