INTRO: Make The Most of It
Jason: There's something about listening and listening to, I call it the whisper because it shows up. It could be that little reminder that's like, you know, you should do your homework. You know, you gotta get that application completed, you know, you need to call your mother. You know, whatever that voice is. It comes out and it comes around, uh, for our benefit.
Claire: Jason Fletcher Christian Laws has followed that whisper into a successful career as a choreographer and creative producer.
Jason: if we're tapped in and aligned and listened to it, we find that it probably helps us and that it helps us even more when we actually listen to it and take action.
Claire: Jason specializes in flash mobs and has produced major viral moments all around the world. A few years ago, he accepted a last-minute project and the stress was immense. There was a lot to prepare in just a short amount of time, but as he looked around the rehearsal room at the dozens of dancers, he heard that whisper again.
Jason: This whisper that just said, pay attention. And I was like, what? You know, I thought someone had ran behind me playing around, you know, but something really said, pay attention. So that sort of sparked this idea for me to really take inventory of why are we here?
Why are we in the room?
Claire: As Jason looked into the eyes of the dancers around him, he was transported back to his childhood.
Jason: My parents did not want a dancer for a son, so I was the football player, basketball player, soccer player, and then did baseball for a long time.
Got to Notre Dame, But for some reason the bug to dance just never went away.
So I was like, I just want to be a dancer. So I'd go to the gym, I'd knock on the door. Some people might be in there working out or doing something, and I'd just say, “Hey, excuse me, you all, there's a class coming in after we're gonna need this room cleared.”
And once they were out, lock the door, turn the music on and start dancing. (Laughs)
And it just was really always about passion and just having this yearning, this sort of fire that like, I'm supposed to be doing this.
I love this and I'm gonna seek it out. So that's really where it started.
Claire: And now here he was. The rehearsal rooms looked very similar. Black floor, brick walls, those big mirrors. The situation was completely different. He wasn't dancing alone. He was here to share his passion with the world.
Jason: If we know life is too short and how unique is it that we could be doing anything in the world right now, but we're crossing paths in the room, in circle together, looking at each other, a room full of dreamers. How much of a missed opportunity would it be for us to not take stock of just how special this moment is and use that for the work that we're doing and the work that we're going to do on the performance day?
I was like, y'all, I was like, y'all have to understand the gravitas of this moment.
And I, and I was like, Ooh. my foot's tapping and I'm just like, ah, ah.
Like, you know, I'm just, I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. And for a third time with divine purpose, I'm so grateful. you know, and, and I'm there and I'm crying and I love it. You know, I'm surrendered to the moment, surrender to the experience and surrender to these beautiful beings in the room with me.
So the gratitude I found, and I've been finding with a lot of my projects recently, the gratitude is a, is a special sweet spot. And with that,
being in touch with your dreams and bringing them with you into the room so you can be aligned and focused on what you need to do
It's going to create that impact that drives up ticket sales or, you know, makes it, the project viral or creates the impact that it shifts someone's life in an impactful way the way you desire it to.
>> music
Claire: You're listening to ARTS WORK LIFE, a podcast from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. I'm Claire Caulfield, and welcome to Episode 2: Finding Your Why
Amid brutal competition, unpredictable hours and… variable pay it’s important to remember WHY you chose a career in the performing arts.
For the four professions we’ll hear from in this episode, it’s not just about the spotlight, but about realizing long-held dreams, building community, and finding ways to pay it forward.
>> music
Act One: Expiration Date
Claire: Act One: Expiration Date
Ami Otero Minars’ childhood was spent on Okinawa Island, a very sparsely populated island in Japan.
Ami:? And my house is wooden tatami floor. It smells like incense. It's really smells really for me, it smells really good.
Claire: When she was about six or seven years old she was lying on those tatami mats and reading manga -- Japanese comic books -- when she came across a story about a Japanese woman studying Flamenco dancing in Spain.
Ami: People did not take serious with her because she was Asian and she didn't know how to dance and she became a professional dancer.
I was overwhelmed and. Why she did this. I mean, since I was six, seven years old. So I, I don't understand the full meaning of it, but it took me to my heart.
Claire: Ami was immediately hooked by the bright colors of the flamenco skirt, she longed the hear the music described in the magna. She begged her parents for lessons, but on her small island, no one else had even heard of flamenco before.
Ami: Back then, there is no such thing as flamenco classes. Plus my family was, that was poor. And even there is flamenco classes, they could not take me to the classes.
Claire: Fast forward about two decades and Ami is living in Dallas Texas, of all places. She opens her Sunday newspaper and sees an advertisement for Flamenco classes.
Ami: So I was so excited and I was. I have not thinking about the manga for over 20 years. And I, I, I just got excited and I brought back my childhood memory.
Claire: Ami signed up, and was completely unprepared when she walked into that first class.
Ami: And I was so shocked there was that litter shoes with that little tiny nails in it. And I couldn't believe it.
And I also had to get the ruffle skirt. I, I mean, everything was so new to me
It was so different than what in my imagination, because I never heard the music before. I never seen, uh, dancing. But I loved it and I loved the people. I loved everything of it.
>>music
Claire: Ami's husband's job then took the family to New York City, where she continued to take Flamenco lessons. She found a vibrant community of dancers, and developed her own unique style.
Ami: Totally different ball game when I walked into the room.
I can feel that Flamenco energy. That excitement, and the literally the building was by, I mean tremor because of all this footwork and other room, doing the footwork here, practicing all the, oh, I was so, I can feel that energy going to my soul. I say, let's dance.
It touched something deep within me. I'm thinking this have to go the world, not just myself.
I said, this have to go to world. I have to take this to the next, next level. And that's how, that was my first world tour.
Claire: Ami founded her own dance company -- called Admission Nation -- and started preparing an international tour.
Ami: It was finding a theater. And sponsors because it was my first time and I didn't know anyone and trying to connect with the other Flamenco community to help me to get set up the working visa.
And since Flamenco community, it doesn't matter your local, overseas, they are open arm and try to help you much as you can.
Claire: But she's not just a producer and founder. she also dances in these shows.
Ami: When I'm dancing on the stage, it's not about seeking, uh, perfection, it's about being honest with myself. I'm standing on the stage and receiving the energy from a musician and audience.
When I'm on the stage, it's hard to say, but I say I'm, it is totally different person.
>>music
Ami: I'm a Ryukyu Okinawa Indigenous woman and it don't have to be Hispanic or Chicano to learn Flamenco. Different cultures dance Flamenco, you don't have a height or weight, no limitation. You have to be truthful yourself and dance you who you are.
>>music
Your passion and your goal doesn't expire. Just keep going. I start my company when I was 50 years old, and I start dancing when I'm 30, and I kept going.
If you love about it, passionate about it, keep going. Go for it.
Claire: Ami Otero Minars is a dancer, producer and founder of Admission Nation. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
>>music
Act Two: A Day in the Life
Claire: In this episode’s Day In The Life, we’re following Dot McDonough in her busy days working at the Spire Center for Performing Arts.
Dot (interview): I am Director of Marketing and Operations and I do a little bit of everything.
I am not a morning person and unfortunately I thought getting a dog would make me one, but he is also not a morning person, so we struggle.
Dot (self-record): **Dog barking* Dot: Hey! There is nothing wrong with my singing.
Dot (interview): He's a little morkie poo. He just turned one years old and he's white with two black dots, and he is the cutest and he's basically the unofficial spire mascot.
We're a performing arts venue nonprofit in downtown Plymouth. Um, we actually just finished, uh, an over $3 million renovation, so the Spire has a new spire. Typically my normal day to day is constantly changing, um, because I wear so many hats and because we're a small nonprofit venue, you're basically pulled in all directions at the same time every day.
?Dot (self-record): Oh my God. I keep thinking today is Wednesday, but it's Tuesday.
Dot (interview): So Tuesday's my only day where it's like, okay, I know I'm coming in, I'm gonna be doing payroll, I'm gonna be checking my orders and doing all that stuff.
I design all the Spire posters. Um, I do a lot of video ads for artists. Um, the Spire Magazine, which unfortunately we had to put on hold due to lack of sponsorships this year, but we're hoping to bring it back next year. Um. Just, you know, I'm, I'm constantly working on something and then when I have five minutes to think for myself, I'm like, “Oh, why don't we try this for the Spire?” You know, so it's, it's never ending, but it, I love what I do so it doesn't feel like work, you know.
Dot (self-record): I need another list! I don’t have enough lists.
Dot (interview): Technically my day is 10 to 5, but I hardly ever leave at five unless I have an appointment.
There's always something to do, and I usually get caught up in what I'm doing. And then like even on days like when we have a show and surprisingly I'm not working, it's like, well, I don't want to leave yet.
And I kind of like this band that's coming in, and I love the people I, I work with. So it feels more like a hangout than it does a job, you know?
Dot (self-record): You guys, behave yourselves. You too, Joe and Isaac! No dogging around.
Dot’s co-workers: *laughing*
Dot (interview): So my office that I'm in right now used to be, um, a drum booth for the recording studio. And that's actually how I got involved with the Spire. Um, my boss started, he produced, um, a Beatlefest show that we did one year, and I got to talk to the president and the guys on the sound crew and within a week I was interning. Within three weeks I was–I had a paid job.
Dot (self-record): This is just our regular pulse promo. So it’s like “get to know the artists that coming in for the Sunday serenades. You know?
Dot’s co-worker: Okay
Dot (interview): So like, you know, usually on Fridays, I know once 1 p.m. comes around, I'm not gonna get anything done because that's when the whole crew comes into setting up for the show and we'll be sitting downstairs teasing each other and it's like, “Oh, you know, we should have somebody sign this guitar. Maybe we can auction it off.”
Next thing you know, a year later we have all these great guitars with this one sign guitar, and we're selling it off for almost two grand. So it's like we raised a lot of money for it. So, you know, there's a lot of good things that comes out of our Shenanigans too.
Dot’s co-worker: Sounds good!
?Dot (self-record): Okay!
Dot’s co-worker: I never know what you’re going to come up with next!
?
Dot (self-record): *laughing* I know!
Dot’s co-worker: Neither do you!
Dot (self-record): *laughing* Neither do I!
Dot (interview): I'm pretty thankful and grateful that I'm surrounded by great people and who share the same passions because then we kind of just ignite our creativity. You know what I mean? And it just, it makes everything so much better.
Claire: Dot McDonough is the director of marketing and operations for the Spire Center for the Performing Arts in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
>>music
Act Three: Officially Obsessed
Claire: Act three, Officially Obsessed.
Kieran Bailey is a certified Fan Girl. As a millennial, she spent countless hours on message boards and social media sites, talking with other fans about their favorite boy bands and childhood actors. She was so prolific, in fact, that she not only met her teen idols, but was actually hired by some of them in an Official Fan Capacity.
Kieran’s story is about learning how to embrace her passion, and finding opportunities to pay it forward. Here’s Kieran:
Kieran: I am a product of my era. I was the nineties. I loved Hanson, I loved Backstreet Boys, I loved NSync, I loved The Spice Girls too. I loved Nickelodeon and Disney. Um, and I was around the same age as a lot of the child actors at the time. And back then it was really easy to like find the contact information for these kids online, which is. So not safe. Thank God we, uh, changed that part.
But I would email them and be like, Hey, I'm interested in the business end. Like, you know, can you talk, can you put me in touch with your manager? I wanna talk to them. And through that I got to talk to a lot of their moms who were also their managers and ended up, um, being tapped to run some fan sites and official message boards.
It never occurred to me that just being really enthusiastic on the Internet for things I got excited about was a viable career path. I always thought it was just something fun I did until I got a real job.
>>music
So right around the time I graduated from college in 2015, I was having some weird, like, health symptoms at the time. I kind of brushed it off as stress, you know, losing a lot of weight, having some weird rashes, um, things like that. Uh, turns out I was in kidney failure,
So I had graduated college in May of 2015, and in October of 2015, I was in the hospital, like with massive organ failure. Um, it was really scary. Emergency dialysis.
You know, you had the plan, you graduate from college, you're going to get a job, you're going to, you know, start moving on with your life. And suddenly it's like, no.
>>music
No you're not. You are going to be reprioritizing everything.
>>music
Just laying in the hospital bed thinking like, well that's it. You know, I'm never, never gonna get back in this industry. Um, because it's very much.
You know, you have to be there. You have to be seen and be active. And if you're not, it's very easy to fade from people's minds. Um, and that, that threw me for a loop. Uh, so as I recovered, I got my kidney transplant. Um, but that feeling stayed with me long after, you know, I was kind of cleared to go back into the world.
>>music
After my transplant, I took about a year. And then as I started looking for jobs again, I still wanted to be somewhat within entertainment and media, I got rejected a lot because I had a huge gap in my resume. Um, but I did eventually. Get a callback in an interview, and then, you know, later a job back in a marketing company that specialized in entertainment marketing. Um, which was extremely exciting. And it was like, all right, I'm back.
When's this other shoe gonna drop? And, uh, then I had to shake that off. But yeah. And then I've, I've been kind of back in it ever since.
>>music
Oh man, I. Love what I do right now. So I currently am at Bauer Entertainment Marketing. I'm the content marketing specialist, so I get to look at all the organic social media content that we produce for our clients.
Part of my week is just being on the Internet and consuming content and seeing what works and what doesn't and what's trending.
There have been a couple pinch-me moments over the years. There was a up and coming boy band I was working for. so this was like the teeny bopper age demographic. So, you know, from a probably about 13 to 23, and it was around Valentine's Day, they had a new single coming out and, um, we coordinated a bunch of fans to get Valentine's flowers from the boys.
So they got a bouquet of flowers. We sent them to schools, we sent them to works, we sent them to, you now, home. and just the reaction online, 'cause again, this is the fantasy come true, right, of like your favorite boy band is sending you Valentine flowers. What could be more romantic?
Um, and that just that. Was such a moment, not just within that community, but online in general, um, at that time. So that was really, really cool to be a part of.
>>music
People identify themselves within communities, and music is such a strong identifier of human experience that it, the lines blur so much that you identify with this artist. You meet the other people who identify with this artist and you. Make that a big part of who you are.
So I know that I am still, I've met some very good friends through various online fandoms over the years. I got my career through online fandoms over the years. It's a huge part of who I am, and I think that especially in today's world and with the technology that we have, it's never been more important to make those connections, and it's never been easier to make those connections.
>>music
Claire: Kieran Bailey is a content marketing specialist in Nashville, Tennessee.
>>music
OUTRO & CREDITS
>>music
Claire: Thank you so much for listening. ARTS. WORK. LIFE. is a production from APAP, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals.
The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the storytellers and not necessarily those of APAP.
APAP is the national service organization for the performing arts, presenting, booking, and touring industry.
You can join APAP at APAP365.org. The podcast team includes Grace Asuncion and Sam Meyers, all led by Jenny Thomas, our fearless executive producer, and I'm Claire Caulfield, your host and producer.
Our music today is from Blue Dot Sessions.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the generous support of the Wallace Foundation. So thank you.
Other thank yous to the APAP staff and Board of Directors, and, of course, our storytellers today and the hundreds of thousands of arts workers all across the world.
Your stories matter, and arts workers are essential.
If you enjoyed this episode, which I really hope you did, please leave us a review as it helps other people find the show.
Carolyn: Arts, Work, Life. That’s real *laugh*
