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- [00:00]
A
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B
Ballet or modern dance?
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C
Oh my goodness, these are going to be hard. You know, as a child it was, I think, very much ballet. I think again, like I said, storytelling is something I've always loved. Then I was very curious and moved into the modern dance. And I think that sort of fed my curiosity for sort of the unknown and discovering and being allowed to be creative in a new way. And I think now I've gone back to the ballet with all my life experience. I feel like with ballet we can be storytellers in the very best way and reach the most people and be creative and fun and exciting and all of that.
- [01:15]
B
All right, I'm hearing ballet. Hello and welcome to the Leadership Dance Podcast where we explore the art of leadership with trailblazers in business and the arts. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, share and leave a five star rating. I'm your host, Alisa sue lynch and today I'm joined by Sonja Kostich. My guest today began her career at 17, recruited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to join American Ballet Theatre. She went on to perform with San Francisco Ballet, Zurich Ballet and the White Oak Dance Project, and co founded her own contemporary dance company, Othershore. After retiring from the stage, she earned a business degree from Baruch Business School, graduating salutatorian at 42, and built a remarkable second career at Goldman Sachs, Mark Morris Dance Group, New York City Center, Katzbahn Cultural park, and Baryshnikov Art Center. She joined Houston Ballet as executive director in August 2025. I'm so delighted to have you on the podcast, Sonia.
- [02:27]
C
Thank you so much, Elisa, for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
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B
So you have had a fascinating career, from professional dancer to Goldman Sachs to leadership roles in the nonprofit world. But before we get into all of that, I want to go back to the beginning. What was your childhood like and when did you discover dance?
- [02:47]
C
So I was actually born in Korea and I was adopted at 2 years old and my mother tells me that when I stepped off the airplane I actually had a Sign around my neck that said, seems to like music. And fortunately, my parents were really giant appreciators of dance. They really appreciate all art. And so I was very fortunate as a child, they put me in dance. I played the violin, piano, theater. So from a very young age, I had the great privilege of being able to be around the arts. And that community really embraced me and made me feel very much at home. And so I think I felt very welcome in the arts from a very young age and found sort of a home for myself.
- [03:34]
B
At what age did you start dancing?
- [03:37]
C
Three years old. My parents put me in. It was sort of the ballet, the music, all of that together. But I was very much drawn to ballet. I think that there was an aspect of storytelling that I really loved. And ballet encompasses music and visual art. So so much of it, I think, built a whole world very much for a child. And it was a very warm and welcoming world. And I feel very fortunate to have sort of entered that at a very young age.
- [04:08]
B
And where did you study when you were growing up? Where were you living?
- [04:12]
C
I grew up in Minnesota, and so I started first at the Children's Theater, which is a fabulous theater in Minneapolis. And so I actually started in theater and I started working in plays first. I actually met Dr. Seuss when I was a young child. I was in the 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss, story and Play. And then I moved on to dance and ballet. And so I started my dance training at Minnesota Dance Theater with Loyce Holton, who was really such a genius in the dance world. She was also a choreographer, protege of Martha Graham. So I did grow up very much in the modern dance world alongside the ballet. Loyce Holton's daughter, Lisa Holton, was a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. So I had sort of both the modern dance and the classical ballet, which I think really set me up in a very unique way as I went onward in my trajectory as a dancer.
- [05:09]
B
Yeah, that's wonderful. And you ended up at American Ballet Theatre. Tell us about that story. You were recruited there by Baryshnikov and discovered. Tell us how that all went down.
- [05:21]
C
So from Minnesota, I moved to New York when I was 15 years old to study at SAB, the school for New York City Ballet. I was there for one year, and then in my second year in New York, Misha actually started a ballet school connected to abt. It was a brand new school for him, and it was only seven girls and five boys. And so I was in that school for the first year and it was a school that was only around for two years. I was in it for the first year. And after my first year, he invited me to join American Ballet Theatre. So that is how I started my professional career at 17. So, obviously an incredible experience, getting to meet him and work with him at such a young age, and then to be invited into the company.
- [06:04]
B
And then you went on to dance with some other ballet companies. Tell us about those experiences.
- [06:10]
C
Sure. After abt, I went to San Francisco Ballet for seven years, which was a wonderful experience. San Francisco Ballet, that was back in the 90s, was such a fantastic company. From there I went, I moved to Switzerland, and I danced with Zurich Ballet. So I would say all in. I danced in classical ballets for about 10 years. And then the second decade of my career, I did a lot of freelance work, which was very unusual at that time. This is at a time when there was no Internet, no cell phones, no social media. So I was really looking to discover what was out into the. Out in the world. I was very curious. And so it was really just putting a backpack with all my giant travel books and sort of going around into the world, exploring and looking for freelance work. And so during that time is when I worked very extensively with Mark Morris and the opera director Peter Sellars. And so I was in Nixon, in China, in London. And that really led to a lot of collaborations with Peter Sellers and with Mark Morris. Mark, I had worked with quite a bit at San Francisco Ballet, so I knew him from before, but it was an incredible period for me, both artistically and just as a person, to really discover the world beyond just the classical ballet world, which is what I had really lived as a child and into my early 20s. And it gave me an opportunity to work with a lot of artists outside of ballet as well, which really opened my eyes up to a lot and I think really contributes to now how I am as a. As a director. And then from there, I also danced in Misha's White Oak Dance Project, which gave me an opportunity to really immerse myself in modern dance. And a lot of it was postmodern dance. And so again, just a whole other area of dance that I was able to experience, which is wonderful, and led me to starting my own dance company.
- [08:05]
B
Yeah, I want to hear about that in a minute, but I want to go back, because dance is just a wonderful way to see the world. So I remember I had a modern dance career, and that's when I just fell in love with traveling. You know, you go on tour, you see different cities. You're really welcomed by the local community and the theater. And I just wanted to mention that my husband and I lived in Switzerland right before the pandemic. For three years I was working there with Johnson and Johnson, and we lived in Zurich. And I loved Zurich Ballet. They're a fantastic local ballet company or regional ballet company, but such high quality.
- [08:39]
C
It was wonderful. It was my first time living full time in Europe, and Zurich is such a beautiful little town. I always thought, oh, maybe I'll come back here and retire. But it was wonderful. I also met so many dancers from all over the world. There were a lot of amazing Cuban dancers at that time. The artistic director was Heinz Spurle. That was when I got to work with Yuri Killian. Just really a whole nother way of working as a classical ballet dancer, which was really exciting for me.
- [09:07]
B
So then tell me about your contemporary company that you founded, Othershore. What drew you to do that and how did it go?
- [09:16]
C
Sure. So, you know, it was sort of towards the end of my dance career, I started it. I co founded it with a friend of mine, and she had spent her professional career at Tricia Brown Dance Company. And so I was bringing really my very heavy classical background. She was bringing her postmodern background. And really the impetus for starting this company was to have a company of mature dancers. So, you know, when you are in your 30s, you're already considered a mature dancer and also having the perspective of A, a company that was sort of led by dancers to sort of give that different perspective. And then B, we really focused on all new choreography. So. So during the six years of having that company, we only performed brand new choreography that we commissioned. Much of it was female choreographers.
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B
Who are some of those choreographers?
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C
Sure. We commissioned from Annie B. Parson, Big Dance Theater twice, actually, to create two new pieces. Jodi Melnick created a piece for us. We also had Edward Liang create a piece for us and Stacy Spence, who had been with Tricia Brown as well.
- [10:24]
B
Then how did you know when it was time to retire from dance and what you wanted to do next? Can you talk about how you transitioned from dance to the next stage?
- [10:35]
C
I did not know. I think, you know, there was no point in time when I thought, okay, now is the time for me to retire. I think it's something that dancers think about for quite some time. It's the inevitable. And I spent many years trying to figure out when was that right time going to be. And part of knowing when that right time, for me at least, was what am I going to do next. And I think because I did not know what I was going to do next, I, in many ways kind of just kept going with what I knew. Had I known definitively, like, I know this is what I want to do when I retire from dancing, I probably would have done it sooner. But it took quite some time. It was not an easy decision, or overnight, you know, sort of eureka moment of, oh, I know what I'm going to do. It took a lot of trial and error, and it took many years. And it was just sort of a gradual discovery, a lot of curiosity, a lot of discovery, and then it was just one step in front of the other, leading forward.
- [11:40]
B
Is that when you went to business school?
- [11:42]
C
Yes. So I did have my company for six years, and my partner said, you really seem to enjoy running your own company, maybe take a business class. You know, I had never been to college. You know, I got into ABT when I was 17 years old. Like I said, there was no Internet at that time, so no online classes, no cell phones. So I did not go to college when one normally goes. So 20 years after I graduated from high school, I decided to go to undergraduate business school. And it was a major step for me. I went to Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business. I had applied to other college programs. St. Mary's College has a dance dedicated degree. I applied to nyu, their Gallatin program. Both programs I did get in and sort of at that 11th hour thought, I'm not quite sure that's the right step for me. You know, NYU Gallatin program, I think is a fascinating program. But I didn't at that time know what I really wanted to do. And it's a very expensive program. And I thought, you know, knowing me, I'll take ancient Greek and, you know, pottery or something. That's not going to lead to necessarily a real second career that I can build. So I sort of put off college for a very long time in many ways. And so it was after having my company for six years, realizing, oh, you know what? This is something I really enj, something I'd like to discover more about. And so that is what led me to finally go to college and to get a business degree. And I majored in accounting of all things.
- [13:17]
B
Wow. Wow. Now, you've previously described the transition from dancer to corporate world as not without challenges. Can you take us back to that time? What challenges did you have to overcome?
- [13:31]
C
Well, first of all, you know, when I went to work at Goldman, it was my first desk job, really. It was my first job where I was using a computer. I went from being in the studio, you know, 24 7, and then suddenly, you know, moving into a very different type of role. When I went to interview for Goldman, I had to buy a suit. I didn't own one. I'd never really worn a suit before. So it was just a completely different world. At the same time, a lot of transferable skills that at. At that time, and having been a dancer my whole life, I did not realize. But when I did get to Goldman and sort of witnessing my colleagues, I thought, you know, being a ballet dancer, the type of personality and what it requires is so very similar to someone who is, for example, working at Goldman. So a lot of similarities that I discovered. The challenges really being. It was just such a completely new world for me. Learning the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of skills and the information, but at the same time, unbelievably exciting. I think many ballet dancers are so hungry for learning and developing themselves. And so first, taking that step and going to college was just so wonderful. It was something I had been so really very fearful of in many ways, but as it turned out, was just the most amazing experience. And I was thrilled to be discovering and learning so many new things and then taking that next step into the corporate world. Same thing, you know, fearful, for sure. And again, you know, I started working at Goldman when I was 42 years old. Many people who build a career working at Goldman start, you know, in their 20s, after they've graduated from college. So, you know, being two decades behind in my mind, both for school and for joining the workforce is daunting. But at the same time, I'm so grateful that I had my partner and whatever community to support me, to encourage me to take those steps, because they were the most important steps to take. And yes, they were difficult. They were extremely humbling. You had to leave your ego at the door, for sure. But I learned so much, and I'm so grateful I had those opportunities because I have now the dream job, and I would not have this job had I not pushed myself to take sort of those unknown steps.
- [16:03]
B
Yeah, that's wonderful, and I totally agree with you. There are so many skills that we learn from dance that do apply in other worlds, particularly in the business world. I found that. So I'm sure you were impressive, even though you were a newbie at Goldman
- [16:18]
C
Sachs, as you know, certainly as a dancer, you learn perseverance. You know, you don't give up. You certainly understand that drive for perfection or at Least trying to be the best that you can. And you know, as a dancer as well, you. You are thrown choreography every single day, and you have to learn it immediately. And you hear often people who come to the performance, how do they remember all those steps? So, you know, it's that sort of thing where it's like, you've got to learn really quick. You have to remember it, you have to perfect it, you have to keep moving forward. And so very much all of those type of qualities, being able to focus, the determination, those are very similar qualities that you're going to find really among anybody who is working to strive and move forward and just build something with other people. Dance is a very communal career. You're working constantly with a community of fellow dancers. And so you also learn very much about teamwork and the importance of teamwork.
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B
Yeah, 100%. So, Sonia, I want to transition to some rapid fire questions that I didn't prepare you for. But as a dancer, I'm sure you're going to be quick on your feet, so just say whatever comes.
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C
At the very least, I'll try and be creative.
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B
The first one is ballet or modern dance.
- [17:36]
C
Oh, my goodness, these are going to be hard. You know, as a child, it was, I think, very much ballet. I think again, like I said, storytelling is something I've always loved. Then I was very curious and moved into the modern dance. And I think that sort of fed my curiosity for sort of the unknown and discovering and being allowed to be creative in a new way. And I think now I've. I've gone back to the ballet with all my life experience, I feel like with ballet, we can be storytellers in the very best way and reach the most people and be creative and fun and exciting and all of that.
- [18:17]
B
All right, I'm hearing ballet. Okay. This may be tough. Favorite city to live in.
- [18:23]
C
Well, Houston, of course. I've been here now eight months and it's such a fantastic city. I'm really, really loving it. It's the most diverse city. It has fabulous food and the arts and culture is amazing. And the people, the community here has been just so warm and encouraging and supportive. And yes, Houston is an amazing city. I did not know. And I'm so excited to be here.
- [18:51]
B
Oh, that's wonderful that you love it. Okay. So related to Houston. Cowboy boots or sneakers?
- [18:58]
C
I wear sneakers because of my age and I need that sort of comfort. But cowboy boots for the look. I think cowboy boots are very fashionable, so I'll pull those out on special occasions.
- [19:10]
B
What's the best advice that Misha gave you.
- [19:16]
C
I think what I learned most from Misha, because I met him when I was 15, knew him as a ballet dancer, knew him as a modern dancer, then was his executive director. And I think what he has emulated through his whole life and what he passes on to all of us is a real curiosity. And that's something I've really admired in him and admire in people in general and in artists. The ones that are really keep their mind open, are constantly looking for ways not just to improve themselves, but to see the world differently. So it never gets. They never get comfortable, they never get complacent. It's never just, okay, everything is there for him, and yet he's still striving and curious and asking questions and trying to move forward. And for me, that's extremely inspiring.
- [20:09]
B
Yeah. What a gift that you've been able to work with him and know him in that way. Okay, back to our questions. Why did you decide to pivot again to return to the dance world in a new capacity?
- [20:21]
C
I think ballet has had my heart since I am a child. It was certainly my first love, and that never goes away. And so I think in many ways throughout my life, I had to leave it to just develop myself, discover myself, discover the world, get to understand things on a wide spectrum. But I don't think that ever left me. I don't know how to explain, explain to people who didn't experience this, but maybe they've experienced in other ways. But as a child, I think in its purest form, you discover something that just you love so much, it gives you so much joy, and just there's something about it that resonates with within oneself that that is meant for you. And so I think that captured me as a child. I did leave it in many instances, whether it was modern dance world, whether it was corporate world, But I think it's full circle in many ways for me now at my age, coming back to it and again being able to combine my newfound love of business and finance and bring that together with my first love of ballet is a real dream come true. And I'm just so grateful that I was able to find my way back here, because it wasn't planned. I didn't know that's where I was going to end up. But it is very much something that just brings a lot of joy to me.
- [21:47]
B
So ballet institutions. I serve on the board of American Ballet Theatre now. We're facing a lot of challenges. And you've had experiences at Katzbahn, the Brzenkopf Art center and now Houston Ballet, where you've had to come in at inflection points, at crucial moments for the organization. How do you approach entering an institution that has a deep legacy and making it your own without erasing what came before?
- [22:15]
C
Something that I think was just sort of intrinsic for me is that the unknown or change or reinvention or any of those things were always very exciting to me, and it was just sort of not an official understanding. And I think it kind of clicked when I went to work at Goldman Sachs, and they sort of pointed out volatility is opportunity. And so I really understand what that means now. And so change, whether it's from leadership or organization, it really does open up an opportunity to look at things with fresh eyes. Of course, you have the utmost respect for everything that came before, because you would not be standing where you are had that not happened. So obviously extremely important to be respectful of everything that came before you, that laid the groundwork, that built what you are now have been entrusted to participate in. And so, for example, here at Houston Ballet, it's 50 plus years old. It's an incredible company. I feel so grateful to have inherited a company that it's operating so well and is in such great shape that I now have this great gift handed to me to look for new opportunities to make sure that the company keeps growing and developing. And we want to, of course, be a leader in this industry. Ballet is such a unique art form. It's certainly not something everybody can do, but I think everybody can enjoy it. Everybody can witness the joy and the community that comes from being part of this world. And so it's a huge honor to be able to be part of all of that. So I don't think there is as much challenge, you know, when you think about shepherding in sort of a new generation or a new era or even just, you know, time frame. It's really about taking everything that has been in, learning from it, and then being open and curious and figuring out what are our opportunities to keep things moving forward.
- [24:23]
B
So now I want to hear a little bit more about your vision for Houston Ballet. It's been called the best kept secret, and you've said that the world deserves to know what's being generated at Houston and in the Ballet Company. So tell us more. What's your vision?
- [24:37]
C
First of all, to be. To be clear, my vision is the company's vision. And so that means I work with both of our artistic directors, I work with our board. It's a collective vision. I think that they did bring me here to acknowledge that we are ready, that the company is ready to take that step forward. We have such a wonderful, strong community here, and ballet in general has sort of its built in strong community, and that's amazing. It is what has carried ballet forward over these decades. But as Timothee Chalamet pointed out, something that we want to keep in mind, and I know every performing arts organization very much does keep this in mind, is how do we bring in new audiences? How do we bring in younger audiences? And so, of course, that's something that everyone thinks about and is striving towards. So as part of the vision for Houston Valley, we keep that top of mind. I also think that we really think about our dancers and what can we do to support our dancers. So that is also part of our thinking. I'm very excited. I think Houston Ballet is in a position right now to really take those steps forward and dream big. We have big dreams here, and I very much feel that being in Houston, with the community that we have, those dreams are going to be very real, and I think sooner than later. So we are already deep in discussion about all of those things, and I'm very excited. But I would like the greater Houston to know about Houston Valley as well as nationally and globally. So very much part of that mission is to bring Houston Valley forward and let everybody see the amazing things that are going on.
- [26:25]
B
Yeah, that sounds wonderful. And I know that you've recently hired a chief marketing officer, which was a new role. Is that part of this strategy to broaden the appeal of Houston Ballet?
- [26:36]
C
It is. And you mentioned this before, but I did create the role. It didn't exist before. So chief marketing officer. And then I also brought in someone who does not come from the ballet world or the performing arts world at large. They do come more from the commercial world. So she came directly from Meta, and before that, she had worked at Netflix and with a lot of different top ad agencies. And so my thinking behind that was I want ballet to be important for everybody, not just for the ones who currently know about it. And so, again, sort of that fresh thinking, new thinking, thinking outside of what we currently understand. One of the things, you know, when I first arrived here was try to figure out, what is our brand? What is the Houston Ballet brand? And I think for many ballet companies, you know, what is our brand? You know what Nike's brand is, you know what Apple's brand is. So it's something that I would like to strengthen. And so bringing in this person to really focus in on not just ticket sales, but who are we and why do we matter? And why does ballet matter?
- [27:51]
B
Yeah, I love that because I'm a marketer at heart. So when I transitioned from dance into the corporate world, I started in marketing and spent many years there. So I think creating that brand, being clear on that, and then communicating that and getting consumers to love the brand and then evangelize your brand can go a really long way. So I think you've made a very smart move.
- [28:14]
C
Yes, because our dancers, the product, our artistic product, is so strong that in and of itself we are successful without even working on that marketing aspect. And so imagine strengthening that marketing aspect, strengthening the brand. And combine that then with this stellar artistic product, I think that can reach then that larger world that we are aiming for.
- [28:42]
B
So I'd like to ask you about something Houston Ballet is known for, which is the Nutcracker Market. Can you tell us what that is and why it's so popular?
- [28:53]
C
Absolutely. Oh, my goodness, yes. I had heard about the Nutcracker Market myself before I arrived here. Everybody was telling me, oh, wait till you go to the Nutcracker Market. I was like, oh, yes, Nutcracker Market. You know, I was like, I'll go there. I'm not going to buy anything, you know. And then I went the first time I was last fall, and I was absolutely blown away. It's really indescribable. It is an absolute phenomenon. And it is so fun and exciting and you really do get very much swept up in the energy of it. There's a definite energy when you're there. Just because it's so enormous and it's so very Houston, I think that it could not be successful anywhere else. It requires sort of that Houston community. But people come out, they dress up, it's a giant party in many ways, shopping party. I really didn't know what to expect, but it was absolutely amazing. I encourage everybody to come visit. It's so fun. We're actually implementing a spring version of that this year. So we're going to have it this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So a spring Nutcracker Market. But yes, it was really quite out of this world and I have never experienced anything like it, but it was. It was a lot of fun.
- [30:02]
B
So tell us, those of the listeners who don't know the Nutcracker Market, what is it? So you know, how many days, who shows up? Who are the vendors?
- [30:11]
C
It's really only a three day event. It historically has happened in the fall, in November. It's been around for 45 years. So I'll just give you a little history on it. It actually started in the basement of a church as sort of like a bake sale started and run by our volunteers, our guild members. And then over the course of 45 years, it has grown into this just absolute phenomenon and tradition here in Houston. And so we hold it at the Energy center, which is, you know, where Beyonce and Taylor Swift perform. It's an enormous venue. We see over a hundred thousand visitors in within three days. We have over 300 merchants, vendors. They come in from all over the world, actually. And we do have shoppers from all over the world coming to this as well. But it's a giant shopping party.
- [31:05]
B
Is it all Nutcracker related or Christmas themed?
- [31:09]
C
Well, the one in November is holiday related, so it's. It is sort of that holiday spirit. I think the timing of it is very important. The one we're doing this weekend in the spring, we're sort of framing around the spring spirit. So sort of out with the old, in with the new. It's Mother's Day, it's graduation. It's sort of that renewal time. It's a perfect time to refresh. But, yes, there are sort of those seasonal themes around it.
- [31:37]
B
Okay, Sounds like a destination.
- [31:40]
C
It is. It's very much a destination.
- [31:44]
B
Sonia, you're now leading alongside two co artistic directors, Julie Kent and Stanton Welch, both of whom you knew from before. How do you think about your leadership partnership with them?
- [31:57]
C
It's been so incredible to step into this role and have the opportunity to work with both Julie and Stanton. As you said, Julie and I danced together at ABT back in the 80s, and I was actually in Stanton's very first ballet that he choreographed in the US For San Francisco Ballet Meninas, which is actually now in the Houston Ballet repertoire. And I remember back then at San Francisco Ballet when I got to work with Stanton and was cast in his ballet, how excited I was. And it was such a wonderful experience as a young dancer. And, you know, I was like, oh, he's my favorite choreographer. And so now getting to work with both of them is, you know, it's really very much a dream. I have so much respect for both of them. They both have so much wisdom and experience within the ballet world, and it's very exciting and a great privilege for me.
- [32:47]
B
Do you have an upcoming season?
- [32:49]
C
We do. So we sort of have. We have around 80 performances throughout the year. We have the spring, the fall, the winter, and the summer season. So we have a mix program coming up at the end of May through June, and then we are doing Giselle and through June. So summertime is usually when we do a tour, if we're going to do a tour. Right before I arrived last year, they went to Japan. So that's always really wonderful for the company.
- [33:17]
B
How has dance influenced your leadership style?
- [33:21]
C
You know, studying dance from a very young age, which is where a professional dancer, they start very young, without even realizing it, without even knowing, you're just having fun. When you're young, you are learning so many things that are going to support you throughout your life, both personally and professionally. And I know you know this, but when you're young, you are learning discipline, you're learning how to focus, you're learning how to work with others, you're learning musicality, spatial awareness. Just the attention to everything sort of within you and externally, your surroundings. Those are all attributes that you continue cultivating them throughout your life. And so without even realizing, you are building skills and strengthening sort of qualitative abilities that give you a voice, allow you to understand how you want things to move. You know, as a dancer, you are constantly deciding for yourself, how do I want to approach this step, how do I want to approach this character or this role, how do I want to develop it so that it is unique to me, but is something that people understand? And I think that is very much a quality one needs looking at. Leadership role is how do I take everything that I have learned in my life to inform me of how I address whatever the situation is or plan? Give it your voice, your vision, but at the same time doing it with everybody, in community, with others, past, present, future, and then how do you message it in a way that perhaps an unknown will understand? So it's about communicating. All of it is about communicating and training and being a ballet dancer is all about communicating. So it may be communicating with your body and leadership, may be communicating more with your voice and action, but I think they are all very connected. And so it's sort of one of those things where I sit right now. I would never would have guessed younger. All of these things leading together and connecting and being tied together, allowing you to be able to now do what you're doing.
- [35:44]
B
Very well said. Last question. What advice would you give to your younger self about navigating your career while staying true to yourself?
- [35:54]
C
I think my biggest piece of advice to myself when I was younger is not to worry so much. So much of my personal and professional career was very zigzaggy and up and down, and it wasn't just a straight line. It wasn't that smooth straight line where you just knew and you just went ahead. There was a lot of wandering. There was a lot of falling backwards to move forward again. And the whole time worrying, you know, sort of like, oh, my goodness, what am I doing? Am I doing the right thing? Am I behind? You know, a lot of doubt, a lot of questioning. One goes through life getting a lot of criticism from all sorts, you know, and to not let the noise sort of hold you back and to understand that not everybody's just going to have that straight line forward. Some do, but not everybody. And that's absolutely okay. And sometimes for some people, you just need to search. You need to take as much time. But the biggest thing is you have to keep trying. I also know what that feeling of being paralyzed is and just not even knowing how to take that step forward. But even without knowing, is that the right step forward? Is that a good step forward? Is that a smart step forward? You know, none of those things is just keep taking that step forward because you never know what is around that corner. You never know what those four steps forward, what that fifth step is going to be. And I do think when you're young, it's hard to really understand that, and you feel like you should just know and you may not. I think that is absolutely okay. And maybe it's a great thing because it allows you to be curious and it allows you to discover so many things that you may never have known you were interested in or good at that had any sort of potential to it. So that is life. Life is for discovery, and I think that's really exciting.
- [37:54]
B
That is wonderful advice. And I particularly like the dance analogy of just take that next step forward. It's so true. Sonia, what a pleasure to speak with you today. And I want to thank you for sharing your leadership dance on the podcast. Thank you for joining.
- [38:11]
C
Thank you so much, Elisa.
- [38:13]
B
Like follow and Share the Leadership Dance, where we explore how to choreograph the career of your dreams and chat with visionary leaders who are breaking barriers in the arts and business worlds. Until next time, keep dancing.
- [38:32]
A
Okay, so for the final trivia question, what it is the largest mammal in the world. Reminder, no phones allowed. Sir, in the orange phone away, please.
- [38:44]
C
My kid, a smart smoke alarm sent
- [38:46]
A
an alert through the Ring app. Okay, sure. No, there's smoke in my house. Yeah, right. A smoke alarm texting you. That's a new one.
- [38:56]
C
See, the train monitoring agent is calling now. Hello, the kid a smart smoke alarm sends right real time mobile alerts in the Ring app. And with a subscription, emergency help can be requested even when you're not home.
- [39:10]
A
Well, okay, back to trivia. Oh, seriously, you in the green, why are you on your phone blender texting you about a smoothie recipe?
- [39:21]
C
Visit Kidda@Kidde.com to learn more. A compatible Ring subscription is required for 24. 7 smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring sold separately.