For my new series, Thank You Notes, I teamed up with Olay to challenge a group of women to surprise their role models — the women who inspired them to face anything — with a thank you note.

In this episode: Judith Jamison is one of the most accomplished modern dancers and choreographers of all time. After joining the @Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965, she achieved international fame and went on to earn the Kennedy Center Honor and a National Medal of Arts.

Although she is now the Artistic Director Emerita at Alvin Ailey, to up and coming Ailey dancers like Khalia Campbell, she is simply Ms. Jamison. In this episode of Thank You Notes, Khalia reads a thank you note to Ms. Jamison.

In the video, Khalia says that when she first started dancing at Ailey, she felt intimidated, and would gravitate towards the back of class. Khalia describes a moment when Ms. Jamison pulled her into her office to explain why she needed to put herself up front: “You said ‘Ailey created this space for us so we could be celebrated and feel safe.’ You have no idea what you did for me that day. You inspired me to face my fear, to conquer my insecurities and get over it.”