Since becoming the youngest pro to win “DWTS” during her debut season alongside Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno, Hough’s career has spanned dance, music, film, and entrepreneurship. She’s celebrated major wins, like starring in Hollywood films and launching her own wellness brand, while also navigating deeply personal challenges, including her endometriosis diagnosis in 2008 and her 2020 divorce from former NHL player Brooks Laich.

Nearly two decades after getting her start, Julianne Hough is looking back on the journey that launched her into stardom, and she wouldn’t change a thing.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t tell her anything,” Hough told PEOPLE when asked what she’d say to her teenage self. “She got me here today.”

“It’s so funny because I think we always want to give our younger selves advice,” she continues. “But you don’t know what you don’t know until you know it.”

After departing “DWTS” in 2009, she returned to the ballroom in 2014 as a judge until 2017. In the years between, she built a notable acting résumé, with roles in “Burlesque,” “Footloose,” “Rock of Ages,” and “Safe Haven.” She also brought Sandy to life in Fox’s live production of “Grease” in 2016.

“Every moment that I’ve gone through, whether it be painful mistakes, self-sabotaging, or being brave and taking a risk and putting yourself out there, is just part of the journey,” Hough said. “They build character.”

And, in 2018, she founded her Los Angeles-based dance and fitness company, KINRGY.

“Being a founder is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do,” she says. “It’s like you have an idea, and then you have to let it go and let it breathe and do its own thing.”

But her proudest moments come from the impact she’s made. “The best compliment I get is when people come up to me and are like, ‘What you’ve created here has allowed me to connect to my body 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 always so awkward interviewing the celebrities,” one fan said last year. “I can’t remember who she was interviewing specifically this week, where she misplaced her question card, and so she was just stumbling over her words for a few seconds, trying to come up with a question.”

However, Hough is not going anywhere anytime soon.

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

“I haven’t done a movie in a very long time,” Hough said. “To be part of this cast, and to work with Maggie, in a role where I felt like, ‘I know I can do well in this,’ was a beautiful experience and foray back into acting.”

With a packed fall schedule ahead, and a new title as the celebrity ambassador for Icelandic Glacial water, Hough is contemplating a rare pause.

“This year has been a bit of a transition for me,” she explained. “Even during the pandemic, I was building KINRGY, so I didn’t really take a proper break. I’m about to start something new, and it’s going to take a lot of energy and focus, so I might just take July and August off.”

As for what’s next? Hough’s focus is clear. Empowerment.

“I just want to be a space or a person or a product that allows people to connect to their most authentic version of themselves,” she told the magazine. “This next season of my life is about taking all the things I’ve learned and passing them along in a way that activates other people to step into their power.”

Hough’s latest chapter comes after years of personal transformation, including her divorce from former NHL player Brooks Laich. The two married in 2017 and finalized their split in 2022, but their relationship made headlines long before that, especially after Hough opened up about her sexuality in a revealing Women’s Health interview.

“I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’ And he was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ I was like, ‘I’m not. But I choose to be with you,’” she said at the time, reflecting on an intimate conversation with her then-husband.

Hough explained that their relationship created a safe space to unpack parts of her identity she had previously kept hidden. “There’s no fear of voicing things that I’ve been afraid to admit or that I’ve had shame or guilt about because of what I’ve been told or how I was raised,” she shared.

The experience, while deeply personal, has clearly shaped the woman Hough is today, one who’s stepping boldly into new roles, both on- and off-screen, with a renewed sense of purpose and authenticity.