Since turning into the youngest professional to win “DWTS” throughout her debut season alongside Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno, Hough’s profession has spanned dance, music, movie, and entrepreneurship. She’s celebrated main wins, like starring in Hollywood movies and launching her personal wellness model, whereas additionally navigating deeply private challenges, together with her endometriosis analysis in 2008 and her 2020 divorce from former NHL participant Brooks Laich.

Almost 20 years after getting her begin, Julianne Hough is trying again on the journey that launched her into stardom, and he or she wouldn’t change a factor.

“Truthfully, I wouldn’t inform her something,” Hough advised PEOPLE when requested what she’d say to her teenage self. “She acquired me right here right this moment.”

“It’s so humorous as a result of I believe we all the time wish to give our youthful selves recommendation,” she continues. “However you don’t know what you don’t know till you understand it.”

After departing “DWTS” in 2009, she returned to the ballroom in 2014 as a decide till 2017. Within the years between, she constructed a notable performing résumé, with roles in “Burlesque,” “Footloose,” “Rock of Ages,” and “Secure Haven.” She additionally introduced Sandy to life in Fox’s reside manufacturing of “Grease” in 2016.

“Each second that I’ve gone by means of, whether or not or not it’s painful errors, self-sabotaging, or being courageous and taking a threat and placing your self on the market, is simply a part of the journey,” Hough stated. “They construct character.”

And, in 2018, she based her Los Angeles-based dance and health firm, KINRGY.

“Being a founder is without doubt one of the hardest belongings you’ll ever do,” she says. “It’s like you’ve an concept, after which you must let it go and let it breathe and do its personal factor.”

However her proudest moments come from the impression she’s made. “The most effective praise I get is when individuals come as much as me and are like, ‘What you’ve created right here has allowed me to hook up with my physique and my confidence,’” she shared.

Since 2023, Hough has returned to “DWTS” as a co-host alongside Alfonso Ribeiro, and the pair is gearing up for Season 34, premiering in September.

“Julianne is all the time so awkward interviewing the celebrities,” one fan stated final 12 months. “I can not bear in mind who she was interviewing particularly this week, the place she misplaced her query card, and so she was simply stumbling over her phrases for a couple of seconds, making an attempt to provide you with a query.”

Nevertheless, Hough shouldn’t be going wherever anytime quickly.

She’s additionally stepping again into the world of movie with a job in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming “Bride!” which is a Frankenstein-inspired film set to debut in 2026.

“I haven’t finished a film in a really very long time,” Hough stated. “To be a part of this solid, and to work with Maggie, in a job the place I felt like, ‘I do know I can do effectively on this,’ was a lovely expertise and foray again into performing.”

With a packed fall schedule forward, and a brand new title because the movie star ambassador for Icelandic Glacial water, Hough is considering a uncommon pause.

“This 12 months has been a little bit of a transition for me,” she defined. “Even in the course of the pandemic, I used to be constructing KINRGY, so I didn’t actually take a correct break. I’m about to start out one thing new, and it’s going to take a whole lot of vitality and focus, so I’d simply take July and August off.”

As for what’s subsequent? Hough’s focus is evident. Empowerment.