Inside Julianne Hough and ‘Barbie’ Powerhouses Greta Gerwig and America Ferrera’s High-Stakes Event for Women

Winner, winner! Julianne Hough has proven that she has big moves, and not just on the dance floor.

The actress, singer and dancer was one of several powerful women who recently attended the Power Poker event on September 21 at the home of NYU professor Suzy Welch.

Actress America Ferrera, director Greta Gerwig, powerhouse publicist Desiree Gruber and designer Rebecca Minkoff also tried their hand at winning support (fake money).

Julianne Hough winner of the women’s poker match in New York.

Julie Just

Julianne Hough joins Alfonso Ribeiro as ‘DWTS’ co-host following Tyra Banks’ departure

The event was hosted by Jenny Just, the self-made fintech billionaire who founded Power Poker, an organization whose mission is to teach a million women to play poker — and then use those skills to “go all in and take their place” at the table.”

“By creating a safe space for women-identifying and non-binary individuals to learn essential skills inherent in poker and business—skills like negotiation, risk-taking, and capital allocation—Poker Power has a unique and scalable approach to closing gender wealth and equity gaps.” , Just says of the mission and the app.

Julie Just

Julianne Hough recalls initially giving up ‘Dancing with the Stars’ to become ‘regarded actress’

Just also believes without a doubt that the fundamentals of poker, like taking risks, calculating outcomes and reading people, are the same in business and life — and poker can be a gateway for all women to finally gain confidence when it comes to money and finances.

“We want to teach a million how to negotiate, assess risk and make decisions with confidence – from the classroom to the boardroom and every place in between,” says Just.

Julianne Hough wins the poker match.

Julie Just

Alfonso Ribeiro sparks ‘fantastic’ chemistry with new ‘Dancing with the Stars’ co-host Julianne Hough

Winning poker games and empowering women aren’t the only things Hough has focused on lately. The professional dancer was also preparing for her new role as co-host Dancing with the starswhich begins its 32nd season on Tuesday night.

In the previous episode The Kelly Clarkson ShowHough recalled how he first turned down an appearance on a dance competition series at age 18 “because I thought, ‘You know, I want to be a respected actress and singer. I don’t want to be on a competition show, you know, dance.'”

“I was like, you know, this is what I want to do. This is my path,” she told host Kelly Clarkson. “And then I thought, well, I guess it’s a good thing that it’s my day job.”

Hough’s decision proved to be life-changing as the show “exploded” after she was cast in 2007. She added, “It was so wild. I mean, like overnight, I just graduated high school, basically and then I got on the show .”

Julianne Hough attends The Paley Center For Media Presents: An Evening with Derek Hough and Julianne Hough at the Paley Center for Media on December 5, 2019. Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Although she left the series in 2009, Hough later returned as a judge for six seasons from 2014 to 2021. Her casting as co-host was announced in March 2023.

“I was on the show and you know, I was a dancer first,” she said of the show, which moved from ABC to Disney+ in 2022. “I won the first two seasons back to back and then I came back as a judge and that was one of the most fulfilling moments, and then of course to come back now as a host it feels like it’s full circle.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Dancing with the stars airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET on ABC and will stream on Disney+ and Hulu.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education