Jojo Giltsoff

When people find out that I worked in Theater before moving into Tech they tend to raise their eyebrows. Sometimes people want to know more, but sometimes it’s an easy way to brush me off and start scouting the room for a better networking opportunity.

The theater has so much to offer — just watch Sarah Mei’s awesome talk How We Make Software comparing the theatrical process to building software.

What makes it even more confusing is that I was a Producer. I made the plans, got the right people in the room, resolved the problems, raised the funds, and did everything I could to make sure that there was a show ready for opening night. Doesn’t sound too far off PM-ing, right?

I swapped conversations about funding, scripts, actors’ availability, and artistic vision for meetings about scoping features, roadmaps, and leadership vision. But crucially, the process of making is the same. Whether facilitating a National tour of Dracula done in the medium of dance (yes, that happened) or completely overhauling a mobile app, the most important product we’re continually creating, refining, and honing is our team.

Trying to convince tech companies that I was a safe pair of hands wasn’t easy - and I want to make sure more wonderful humans can cross that gap too. Here are my top reasons that you should hire those with a theatrical background:

Presentations

How could this not be my first point? Performers can obviously perform, and a lot of those that work in the theater industry have gone through similar training too. We thrive in performing, whether it’s an off-the-cuff fireside chat to a full audience or a rehearsed presentation to the board. Send us to pitch to clients, present to executives, or represent our team at a big meeting and watch us shine.

Collaboration

Theater gets made through collaboration. You gotta roll with the wild rehearsal schedule including the 12-hour tech days and still want to work with the same people tomorrow. The whole team has to work together to make it happen, and without one person it’s impossible.

One thing that you become very adept at, is being able to take the temperature of the room just by being in it. A team that’s well working in a creative flow is something awesome to behold, and identifying how to get a blocked team to that point is a muscle you only develop by doing it over and over again. Stage Managers, in particular, are fantastic at this.

Building teams

Understanding who you need in the room (and when) has a huge impact on a project. Blending the right roles, personalities, and perspectives is a tall order. When the team is jamming, they can tackle almost anything, creating the perfect team is vital to a show’s success — and Tech is no different.

I do a fair amount of cheerleading in my role, making people feel supported and motivated to get things done is the best working environment for me, and I always want to foster that for others.

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and being a person who people get on with and want to work with is essential to my success. I truly don’t understand why being abrasive or obstinate are character traits that people are proud of.

Difficult conversations

Something that often comes up in teams with strong personalities no matter what industry: egos. Working in theater, you get used to handling all different personalities, and how to smooth those feathers when ruffled.

Learning how to say no. I do this a lot as a Product Manager, and I got comfortable doing that through theater. Especially as a woman (and recovering people pleaser), learning how to say no can be hard to learn in a professional setting. Saying no with grace has a huge impact on others’ perception of you, and being someone who can hold space for others is a huge benefit to your team.

Execution

The back-of-house team and Producers are the most organized people in the theater, and potentially the world. Stage managers hold the whole show in their heads, from script to blocking, props to 500+ lighting cues. Producers memorize budgets down to the individual rows and have to anticipate every problem before they happen with several different contingency plans. Risk management has to be one of the easiest transferable skills whether you’re working out how to manage understudies or a mitigating a risk through deployment.

Conclusion

My favorite part of producing are the parts that I’ve been able to transfer to working in Tech: creating processes, generating feedback loops, scheduling, and getting shit done.

I want theater people to know, there is a place for you in Tech should you decide to come and join us. And for any recruiters out there, you’ll be amazed what anyone in theater can make happen with a tiny budget, a wild idea, and gaffer tape — they’re the sort of people you want in your corner.

Posted March 2022

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