HONOLULU (KHON2) -- From cha-cha to cha-ching! A local woman turned her childhood fun into a championship on the Ninth Island, proving it's never too late to learn and do what you love. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Claire Groom's love of dance started when she was in fourth grade. She learned dances like the cha-cha and the bop while watching sixth graders dance. Even though she's now 75, she's still learning about it. This 60-year Honolulu employee isn’t looking to retire anytime soon "It uplifts my mood. It challenges me! You have to think about patterns and sequences and how you step your poise your balance your flexibility it's all of that," Claire said. Claire began ballroom dancing 15 years ago after she retired from the Air Force and the Navy. She joined the Aloha Ballroom Company in Honolulu. "She was shuffling around and we were like oh no honey you gotta knock it out, and she was like I don't know if I can move like that. So it what is so great for us is we watched the transformation of Claire, her little steps and all of a sudden, she started to open up and bloom like a beautiful flower," said Aloha Ballroom Company founder Tony Meredith. Claire improved so much that Tony recommended that she compete. Eventually, Claire went to the Holiday Dance Classic in Las Vegas to compete against hundreds of dancers -- and she won! "It has given me a lot of self-confidence and it's taken the fear away of my reservations about opening up and showing what I can do," Claire added. She said others can chase their dreams like she has, especially our kupuna. Check out more news from around Hawaii "I think anybody who can move even if it's their upper body or lower body. If they hear the music I think they can dance, people with two left feet, they can dance."