From Theatre to Transportation: Lessons Learned

Recently, I was invited by the Emerging Professionals group at my company to make a presentation on my career path. Apparently it was no secret that this Theatre Major had managed to make a 90-degree turn to transportation and public transit instead of pursuing the bright lights and the big city. That’s likely because I’m known to make fun of this, delivering a joke about my theatre degree before someone else in the room gets the chance to do it first.?

My choice to study theatre and dance has indeed haunted me over the years, most entertainingly at those networking events most of us are required to attend. You know these events: networking that begins with the mandatory statement of your allegiance to either the Gators or the Seminoles, proudly stating what you studied, perhaps peppering in a joke about how long you have until you pay off those student loans. I have a whole schtick prepared to answer the question when it comes to me, which I make sure to really drive home with a show of very sincere jazz hands.?

But it has not just been social settings where my undergraduate pursuits have served as a speed bump. My B.A. in Theatre Arts with a minor in Dance (you didn’t think it could get worse, did you?) provided plenty of job interviewers the chance to question my competence. One interview experience remains fresh in my memory: I sat across from a panel of eight white men whose collection of law degrees, real estate ventures, and elected positions would be enough to make any person hesitate, regardless of their academic background.

Knowing that my choice to study theatre would be questioned and anticipating that they would want to know how I dared think I could do the job, I revisited one of my favorite articles about the value of a Theatre degree. Tom Vander Well’s “10 Ways Being a Theatre Major Prepared Me For Success” is one of the best summaries of how theatre equips you for the real world. In case you click on that link and put the article in the TL;DR category, here’s the short form of Tom’s insights:

• Improvisation - Being able to think quickly and stay focused will serve you in any industry.
• Project Management - Producing a play takes all the skills of successfully managing a project.
• Working with a Limited Budget - Doing “more with less” is practically the only option nowadays.
• Dealing with Very Different Human Beings - Communicating with C-level professionals (directors, playwrights) is just as important as communicating with frontline workers (stagehands, ushers).
• Understanding the Human Condition - Emotional intelligence is a skill!
• Doing Whatever Needs to be Done - No task is above you or below you.?
• Hard Work - You do what you have to do to meet a deadline, then jump right into the next project.
• Making Difficult Choices - You want to work with people who can weigh the pros and cons of their decisions, and make the most of the results.?
• Presentation Skills - We’ve all seen our share of poor public speakers … make the world a better place, hire a theatre major!?
• Doing the Best You Can With What You’ve Got - Don’t make excuses for not doing a good job because you don’t have the best _____.

In My Own Words

For my presentation to the Emerging Professionals group, I wanted to add a few lessons I learned in my years producing, directing, stage managing, designing, and acting.?

Be present. Spend your life thinking about the next thing and you’ll miss most things.?

In theatre, you have to listen for your cue, whether it is to enter from upstage left or to lower a set piece.

In the real world, I have seen too many instances of people “missing their cue” because their attention was elsewhere. Maybe it was their smartphone, the buzzing of their new smartwatch, or the allure of scrolling their Twitter feed - whatever the distraction, it kept them from making authentic connections and understanding the value of the moment.

Allowing yourself to be distracted will prevent you from articulating your clients’ needs and ultimately lead to lost opportunities.

Listen as hard as you want to be heard. You get what you give.?

Maybe you have sat in the audience of a poorly performed play where the actors are taking turns announcing their lines to the darkness. Or maybe you have found yourself in a relationship where your significant other seems to only be waiting for their turn to talk as you share how your day went (or are you the guilty party?).

Yes, communicating is hard - but it’s even harder when one party is only interested in their own point of view. If this is a problem with your scene partner during rehearsals, the stakes are low; if this is happening within your company or in the boardroom, the fate of the entire enterprise may be doomed unless action is taken.

Reframe rejection to define success. Others do not define your worth.

Survival as a theatre artist means raising your hand, showing up, and taking a chance every single day. Will you get a call-back? Will you get the part?

Seeing as the average unemployment rate of actors is 90%, rejection is the name of the game in the world of theatre. Often it has nothing to do with you. A director’s vision may be for the star of the show to be 5’8” and you’re only 5’3” in heels. Nothing to be done! This is not a statement of your worth and it never will be.

In the world of RFPs and procurement policies, you won’t win every contract. To be successful in the long run, you have to define what success looks like along the way. It is how you make the journey that shows you - and others - who you are.?

This is LIFE. You’re supposed to participate.

If an artist waited for the perfect role for them to play or a director waited for someone to invite them to direct their play, there would be less art in the world.

The secret sauce of theatre majors is that we know we have to make our own opportunities. Can’t find a play that tells a story that speaks to you? Write it. Direct it. Star in it.

The same goes for the business world. You can get the experience you need by volunteering with a non-profit organization. You can meet new connections by showing up for that public meeting about a new project in your neighborhood.

Do not wait for someone to give you an opportunity: make your own.?

No one knows what they’re doing. So why can’t you do it?

This lesson is actually one I learned in the early years of my career in transportation. When you first enter any profession, it is likely that you will attend training seminars, read Standard Operating Procedures, and endure any number of “this is how we’ve always done it” lectures.

I urge you to ask questions and pick at the cracks where things do not add up. Just because someone has “more experience” and a fancier title than you do, it does not grant them omniscience or ultimate authority.

Do be respectful and learn everything you can from others. But do not discount your own ideas and the unique value of a viewpoint that’s closer to the customer than the system that created the product.?

No matter what road you took to get where you are now, or additional turns you need to take to get where you want to go, do not be ashamed of your journey. Live it, share it, and celebrate it.

I would like to thank Tom Wiggins, Cecily Mevorach, and Catherine Felter for the excuse to share my own journey. Thank you!