Her Story
About Desiree
My career in performing arts has spanned 20 years, and it really found me rather than the other way around. I started as a performing arts student at a performing arts high school and went on to the illustrious Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. At just 18 years old, I got a job at the Fox Theater in Atlanta teaching theater to celebrity kids at two really big performing arts summer camps, and that's when I realized teaching might be my calling. After spending time performing and touring, I knew I had to become a teacher because performing arts programs were being cut due to budget constraints. I started the first-ever Title I theater program at Boushall Middle School in Richmond, Virginia, which had never had theater before. Through that work, I was featured in magazines and became the only middle school teacher on the curriculum writing team for the state of Virginia. When COVID hit, I knew my Title I students wouldn't have resources, so I taught over 100 theater courses online to pretty much the whole school every day, which helped keep crime down and gave them a different outlet during that difficult time. My story got out, I was featured in more magazines, and Virginia Commonwealth University called me saying they needed a head of musical theater right away. I went from teaching middle school theater to teaching college, started the musical theater program at VCU, and it became a huge success. I was the first Black woman as head of musical theater at VCU, was featured on NBC12 for Black History Month, and was honored as one of Richmond's 40 under 40 state influencers. I recently moved to North Carolina to take over as head of musical theater at Greensboro College. People always ask how I went from middle school to college, and for me, there's no difference - both are transitional times in our lives, and middle school was hard just like college is hard because they're both going through life transitions. I'm also on the national board of directors for the Educational Theater Association, which is the National Theater Society.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Desiree
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my parents and my grandmothers - I have two amazing role models. My dad was a professional boxer, and my mom helped him open the business with her leadership skills. My nanny, who has passed on, was an amazing woman, and my grandmother has a huge nonprofit in Atlanta. My little sister is a cheer coach and gymnastics coach, and they are my biggest supporters. But most importantly, my parents told me that whatever I want to do in life, I could do it. Without that support and encouragement, I don't think I would have had the career that I have now.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received is that I learned quickly that being in a leadership position is difficult, and I learned that you aren't going to be a fairy godmother - you aren't going to be a fairy and make everybody happy. But the most important thing that you have to do is make sure that your students are happy. I learned that, especially being a college professor, sometimes you are the only person that your students have in that moment. So I strive to make sure that not only am I setting a great example, but I am being the example so my students can see the example.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do not let any person get in your way. If you are too loud, be louder. If you are too happy, be happier. If you are too sassy, be sassier. Do not let anybody steal your joy.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is budget. Right now in the arts, there are a lot of things happening with grants and arts budgets - lots of programs are being cut, as we've seen on the news. It's scary to watch amazing theaters or amazing programs get cut because of funding, or losing out because it was a diverse group. I'm definitely fighting for it, not only to keep the arts, but because arts is good for communication too. You don't have to take a music class or theater class in school and do that when you leave school - you can just take it to learn how to communicate. Take a theater class, it's good for interview skills. The arts funding has completely changed last year into this year, and there are some amazing programs being cut. We feel it every day, though we don't let our students see it. When you have students that are paying to be in a program, you want them to have good quality work, but sometimes you can't have good quality work without a little bit of money.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I make sure everybody around me is seen and heard. People always tell me that I have patience, which you kind of have to have in theater and in education, but also just in life. As we've seen after COVID, there are so many life skills that generation did miss, so how can we cope? What are we doing to regulate our emotions? I strive myself to stand grounded as much as I can.
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