20 Years After the NFL Disbanded Majorette Teams, One Woman Came Along and Changed Everything (Exclusive)

"It was like I was doing three full-time things at once, but it was so much fun," she says. "Alabama is like no other." While there, Holladay "fell in love" with the university's traditions and the high expectations she was held to.

Following her graduation from the school, Holladay was faced with the choice between pursuing nursing full-time or going all-in on social media. Following her graduation, Holladay moved to Nashville with her soon-to-be husband, Kulyn Hubbard. She began pursuing social media more intently, and entertained the idea of starting a business (she has since started a clothing line called Exxtra by Chloe).

However, another idea had been dancing on the outskirts of her mind during her last year at Alabama.

Chloe Holladay.
Credit: Chloe Holladay

"I had this crazy dream of — I'm going to shoot my shot to twirl in the NFL," Holladay tells PEOPLE. "There had not been a majorette in the NFL in decades. And so I was like, 'Why not?'"

It wasn't like Holladay could search for "NFL majorette" job postings on LinkedIn, so the influencer had to get crafty.

"I started sending emails to all kinds of people," she explains. "I was just looking up a million different emails that I could find from the administration."

Holladay also attended a few football games for the Tennessee Titans, observing how their Blue Crew Drumline operated. "I watch every performance that they did, their entire game day lineup. And I basically made a game day schedule of what it would look like for me to perform alongside them on a game day," she shares. "Because obviously the NFL is an organization, it's a business, so I had to make it make sense to them."

Holladay secured a meeting with the Titans' head of entertainment, where she pitched herself, using a PowerPoint presentation to show what it would look like for her to perform alongside their drum line.

Holladay describes what it was like to pitch herself to the Titans on her own. "There's no blueprint for something like this," she says. She remembers telling herself that the worst thing the Titans could do was tell her no.

"So the entire time I was just like, 'You know what? I'm going to go for it. I know this is a crazy dream.'"

"A few months later, I got the call," Holladay says. Joining the ranks of the Titans meant that Holladay had become the first NFL majorette in over two decades.

"For me, I feel like I'm very ambitious. I always have a plan and I never really have a plan B," she says. "And so I've never really had a plan B. I'm just like, well, we're going to go with it and we're just going to see if it works."

Chloe Holladay.
Credit: Kaitlyn Hungerford Photography

Getting her foot in the door at the NFL was only half the battle. Now, Holladay's days are filled with all kinds of practices and rehearsals. And, since she's the only majorette on the Titans, let alone in the NFL, there are a few more responsibilities on her plate.

"I do all the choreography myself, which honestly is great because I'm getting to pull things that I know I'm best at," she tells PEOPLE.

Holladay also has to make sure that her performances fit in with what the Blue Crew already does. Instead of being a feature twirler, standing up and performing on her own, Holladay says that the Titans have worked to incorporate her directly into their musical performance — even going as far as to lift her up on their cymbals.

"People love to see the things that have honestly never been done before," she adds.

Holladay practices with the drum line on Wednesdays for four and a half hours, as most of the members have their own jobs outside of the NFL.

"We're expected to show up on game day because we are professionals at this point," she says, adding that she works out outside of practice every single day at the gym,

"Being the only one, I want to be in the best shape possible," she says. "I'm obviously in a uniform and I'm performing for a big crowd, so I want to look and feel my very best. So yeah, definitely pouring into my health and practicing every single day, that's tip top priority, especially during the season."

"That's how my life is," she says. "It's chaos, but I love chaos."

Chloe and her soon-to-be husband.
Credit: Chloe Holladay

While becoming the NFL's first majorette in two decades has been a personal feat, it's also something bigger.

"Women in sports is obviously a huge thing, and even if someone's not a majorette or doesn't know anything about a majorette, it's still a women in sport position that was previously not there," she says. "I'm just breaking barriers within the NFL for a position that was never there."

"Everyone's reaction was so positive," Holladay recalls. "There was so many uplifting messages, encouraging messages, especially from all little girls. I remember being a little girl and looking up to the big twirlers or any of the performers. Getting to see someone break through the barriers and knowing that, hey, maybe there is an option past college for someone that twirls. I really hope that that's my message to people younger than me or people in college."

"There are other options and don't ever think just because there isn't a position, you can't make it for yourself," she adds.

Read the original article on People