Q: What is your name and your job title? 

My name is Stephanie Davis and I’m the Artistic Director and Founder of the Creator’s Studio: a nonprofit Arts Collective in Moberly, Missouri. We offer after school and summer programs in theatre, art, and science in an at risk area. However, this is mainly my passion project. My “real” job is in social media marketing and blogging.

Q: What event or experience inspired you interest in the arts?

When I was 2, I started dancing, when I turned 8, I danced in my first musical, and from there I really started to prefer theatre. 

Q: When did you become active in the arts and how did you take opportunities to grow your interests and crafts?

I switched from just doing the occasional play to really consistently being involved when I was about 12- going into 6th grade. My stepmom signed me up for a scenic painting class and a film class at a local children’s theatre (this ended up being the model for my current theatre). I felt like I finally fit in and from there I just kept sticking with it. 

Q: Who were your mentors in the field and beyond?

Pamela Putnam-Whitaker, the artistic director from the children’s theatre. She was like my summer mother. 

Robin Hackett, she was my voice teacher and later hired me at the theatre- she saw potential in me that I never saw. 

Thomas LeGalley, he was my High School Theatre Teacher who clicked with me from day one. He taught me the value in transparency and also had a passion for theatre that is unmatched.

Q: When did you decide to major in the performing arts in college?

I knew by the time I entered in High School that I wanted to teach theatre. I didn’t want to be on Broadway. I wanted to be a part of the entire production process. 

Q: Did you have other major interests to study along with Theater?

I ended up studying elementary education after teaching some theatre classes, I learned that I really loved teaching young children. I also really got into carpentry and set design- both of these have helped me so much in life. 

Q: Did you dabble in other industries before you found your fit that engages everyday?

I worked in the restaurant industry and in sales. I started off waiting tables in the evenings in college and that later grew into restaurant management. I loved the fast paced environment but the hours were brutal. I went back and forth between sales jobs and restaurant management- and at one point in time I even opened my own restaurant. But in all of those I never felt fulfilled. 

Q: Did you grow up surrounded by creative energy?

Yes, my mom is a decorator and my dad designs furniture. My grandfather used to be a signing agent for Columbia Records back in the day and was a performer himself. My dad always said I got his performer gene.

Q: What did you study in college? Which college?

I went to school for a BA in Theatre and Elementary Education at Texas Woman’s University.

Q: What was your career goal after college?

I wanted to teach. I was planning on getting certified in Elementary Education and Theatre. I didn’t have a clear goal as to what I wanted. 

Q: Did you work and or perform in college? What did you do?

I was a waitress (insert cliche here) and I worked in retail. I spent one summer as an intern/technical director/director at a community theatre for my summer stock hours- and honestly that’s where I learned so much of what I do know.  I did perform in college but honestly, my program was mainly grad students so undergrad students rarely got good parts in shows. That was a humbling experience.

Q: How did your degree influence your job now?

Learning about theatre helped for sure in the theatre aspect of it- all the set design and scenic painting helped me feel like I had enough knowledge to teach basic art to kids. And of course, studying elementary education helped in running a youth based program. 

Q: What is something you wish you would’ve learned more about in school that would help you today?

I wish I would have taken more courses in business and finance- more practical math like that. Starting a business involves so much trial and error unless you are actually knowledgeable in business itself.

I somehow had this idea that because I had worked in a children’s theatre and operated a similar program- and studied this in school it would be easy to start a business in it. I was wrong.

Q: Would working with an educational consultant during HS have helped you understand your needs for success?

I do think working with an education consultant would have change the course of how a lot of my life would have turned out. I think I could have used someone to not only set the goals I needed to get in to somewhere great but also they would have helped me find a program and resources that would’ve helped me succeed. 

Q: Are you happy with your career?

Every single day. Even on the most difficult days, I love everything about my job. 

Q: What would you tell other students that are studying in that field?

Have fun and diversify your class load. I wanted to be a theatre teacher, I knew that from day 1 and all the electives I took were in acting and directing. I didn’t think of publicity, costuming, set design, construction, lighting- any of that. I thought I wouldn’t have to know any of that. I thought I was going to graduate and walk into a big 5A school and just be able to direct and teach acting to kids. 

Though I do both of those things, I also spend the majority of my time creating sets, costumes, hanging lights and teaching teens to do lights- and painting, I do so much painting. 

Q: Any final thoughts?

If you get a chance to work with kids- take it- even if you aren’t a kid person. There is something magical about children’s theatre that more professional theatre loses. You get all the nostalgic feelings and hype that you did the first time you were on stage. Everyone should experience it. It makes you fall in love with theatre again and again.