These 2 companies represent almost all the things I'm very passionate about - empathy & story-telling, and taking action...the idea that every small step toward good, is a huge leap away from bad. Luckily, I'm able to play a big role in both, and can combine their powers together to uplift each of my passions!
I love theatre for its ability to place the participants (creators & spectators alike) into someone else's shoes. As an actor, I am afforded the opportunity to occupy someone else's skin for a production - to understand their motivations, their fears, their hopes, their struggles, everything that led them to this moment in existence. It's an amazing experience! And the reason we do that, is to allow the audience to have a similar experience vicariously. It's been said that "You can't hate someone who's story you know." I beleive in the power of theatre to share more stories with more people, and eliminate the ability for people to hate. With BWBTC specifically, the goal is to increase the number of stories featuring complex female characters - attempting to balance the scales of exactly whose stories are being shared on a regular basis. A tall order? Yes. But what else would I want to spend my time on?
Philanthropic Passion:
Rob Grosshandler is the founder of iGive (& my boss!) and he describes his business model as a three-legged stool: Have fun, Make money, Do good. For the stool to stay upright, you have to have all three in place. I just love that! And that's part of why I love my job, but I also love using iGive as a member. I (obviously) use my online shopping to support Babes With Blades (passions unite!), but the fact that anyone can choose a cause they are passionate about and support them with their everyday activity is a wonderful thing to me. Some folks criticize it as 'passive charity', making it 'too easy'; "if there's no sacrifice involved, did you really give of yourself?" I couldn't disagree more! Making the act of giving & being charitable easy and a part of everyday life should be celebrated. It certainly doesn't take the place of showing up at the food pantry, or lending your skills to building a house, or volunteering at a shelter, or fostering a puppy...but not everyone has those abilities or that time all the time. Making 'giving' a part of what you do everyday...that helps create a foundational change in the way you look at those everyday activities. Thinking that everything I do could be something positive for the world around me...what could be better than that?