Laurie Williams

I will not be outworked. I know Will Smith has this great video on YouTube where he talks about, you may be smarter than me, you may be more attractive than me, 9 out of 10 things you may have greater than me, but you will not outwork me. I just won't be outworked. I'm going to put my heart and soul into whatever it is that I'm going to do until I get there. For me, it's always about, okay, this is great, you know, I'm so proud of my students and our incredible collegiate chapter of the National Association for Music Education. They have won the Outstanding Chapter Award for our state every other year, pretty much, and then they've won two national awards the last 2 years. Two years ago, we won the National Award for Service, last year was Professional Development, and I'm hoping to win another award this year. So for me, it's always about what is next. It's not about never being satisfied, because I don't think that's true. I'm satisfied, but it's about there's always another mountain that's lying ahead.

This came from a fine arts director that I worked with in Lubbock, Texas. He told me one time, because I was very fiery when I very first started, I was very set in mind what I wanted for my students and for the program, and I was willing to really fight for everything that I got. He told me, never set fire to a bridge behind you, because you never know when you're gonna need to cross back over it. That was so valuable. Just working with people, understanding that we all have different personalities, and that we have to be careful not to offend people. To be a kind, gracious human being, that you can fight for what you want without being ugly about it, that you can do it in a way that's gonna maintain relationships and friendships for a lifetime.

Get hold of a mentor, and don't let go. I still, even after 35 years in the field, have mentors that I call on regularly to ask for advice and support, just to have a listening ear when I'm struggling with something and I need their support. I think it's incredibly important to find somebody else who's already in the field doing the thing you want to do. And then, really, just don't be afraid to call on them and ask for their advice and their support.

It is still very, very difficult for women, particularly, to break into conducting, especially if you're wanting to be a professional orchestral conductor. That's a real challenge. We still have so few women that are being looked at as capable, and not just at the highest levels, even at middle and high school levels. We have very few female band directors here in the state of Indiana in our secondary school programs. So it can be a real challenge for women. I feel very strongly, as women, we have to support one another as much as possible. And we have to be the ones to make the difference, to say, we need to stop looking at conducting, whether it's a band, choir, or an orchestra, as only a man's job.

Compassion and passion. And to me, those are two different things.