April 15, 2024 • 42 mins
From her pirouettes in New York to steering Seattle's most vibrant festivals and innovative events, Jane Zalutsky's journey is nothing short of a masterclass in fearlessness in the arts and entertainment space. This episode is a treasure trove of backstories, pioneering spirit, and the everlasting imprint of arts on community fabric.
With leadership as our compass, we navigated the twists and turns of event management, the development of organizational culture, and discussing how cultivating a fearless approach can pave the way to success. We peel back the layers of narrative, revealing the early imprint on Jane of family and mentors that led to the apex of innovative event creation in the Pacific Northwest including the genesis of Teatro Zinzanni. We ponder over the seesaw of managing eclectic and seasonal extravaganzas, the art of balancing teamwork with assertiveness, and how encountering imposter syndrome is less about overcoming and more about embracing our shared vulnerabilities.
As the curtains draw to a close on this behind-the-scenes tour, we celebrate the influential ripples that Jane's work has cast across the landscape, illustrating how the embrace of diversity and culture enriches us all. Jane and Jon laugh over the unexpected turns that event planning can take and concluded with a toast to the quirky, nostalgic personal tastes that hallmark life's adventures, with a nod to the polarizing nature of licorice ice cream. Join us as we reminisce, reflect, and revel in the quirky chapters of collective history while revealing timeless insights and advice for generations to come.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jane (00:00):
Hi, this is Jane Zalutsky and you're listening to One Hour
to Doors.
Jon (00:14):
This is One Hour to Doors, a podcast about the business and
soul of the festivals andevents industry.
I am your host, Jon Stone.
Every episode of One Hour toDoors explores the people,
issues, insights and trendsimpacting the enterprise of
bringing people and communitiestogether in common cause.
We are recording today at thebrand new Totem Star Studios at
(00:37):
historic King Street Station inSeattle.
Our guest today is JaneZalutsky.
Jane is a renowned executivestrategist and community leader
spanning both the private andpublic sectors.
She was ultimately responsiblefor a staggering array of the
most important arts and culturalevents in the Pacific Northwest
and San Francisco Bay Areathroughout the 1990s and 2000s.
(01:01):
Later, her groundbreakingcommunity development work in
the banking industry redefinedhow many of us feel and interact
with financial institutions inways that are still
reverberating to this day.
In 2008, Jane founded JZ Works,a boutique marketing,
sponsorship and businessdevelopment firm serving clients
(01:21):
nationwide.
I know Jane through our sharedtime at Seattle Arts and Culture
nonprofit, One Reel, beginningwhen I was a newly minted junior
production coordinator,arriving at my first office job
while Jane was the CEO of theentire organization.
Welcome to the show, Jane.
Jane (01:40):
Delighted to be here, Jon.
Thank you.
Jon (01:42):
It's been too long, I think it's been.
We bump into each other at afunction once every five or six
years, but it's really been Idare say 20 years since we've
really spent time together.
Jane (01:54):
Yeah, since we worked together.
But we do see each other in thecity somewhere at different
events.
So it's nice to see you, niceto be here.
Jon (02:01):
You know, last fall I was recording a podcast episode with
Beth Knox and we went off onthis tangent about what a
profound experience it was forboth of us to have had the
privilege of working at One Reel, particularly in the 1990s, and
throughout our tangent we keptcoming back to you, your
leadership and your positiveimpact you had on us.
That's why I gave you a call.
Jane (02:24):
I'm honored to hear that,J on.
It was a grand time for sure.
We did some great stufftogether.
Jon (02:31):
I confess I don't know that much about your background
prior to our meeting in 94 or 95, whenever that was.
How long had you been at OneReel at that point?
Jane (02:40):
Well, I came to Seattle in the early 80s.
I had been living in New Yorkand dancing with a couple
different small modern dancecompanies and I did a few turns
helping produce events, mostnotably probably at a place
called Dance Theater WorkshopDTW.
And when I got to Seattle, themost similar organization at the
(03:02):
time was On the Boards.
Right Seattle, the most similarorganization at the time was On
the Boards, and On the Boardsdidn't have a job for me.
So I thought, hmm, okay, whatelse am I going to do?
And I did some volunteer workfor the Mondale campaign out of
an office on Second Avenue andit was right next door to One
Reel's storefront there.
Do you remember that littlesort of group of stores,
(03:26):
storefronts there?
Jon (03:27):
I do, I went there once.
Jane (03:30):
So I responded they were looking for a promotion
assistant and so this would havebeen right after the election
in 84.
And so I went in and just sortof sat down and started talking
to Norm Langill and before youknow it they hired me as a
promotion coordinator inNovember of 1984.
(03:53):
And shortly thereafter the citycouncil awarded Bumbershoot to
a company other than One Reeland that created the Bumber Wars
.
Jon (04:06):
Right.
So this is connecting a lot ofdots right out of the gate.
Jane (04:09):
Yeah, so we're talking.
Yeah, we're talking almost 40years ago now.
And so I just kind of jumpedright in.
I didn't really know Seattle, Ididn't know the politics, I
didn't even really know thefestival, and just kind of got
into the one real thing and Iwas there until 2003.
And at that point I left as theco-president.
(04:30):
So I kind of worked my way upthrough various jobs and you
know, the organization changed alot from when I started to when
I left.
Jon (04:38):
I'm trying to get time clear in my head, something
which is getting harder andharder.
Jane (04:43):
As we get older.
Jon (04:44):
So I went to the Second Avenue.
I went to those old spaces.
Is that the same space thatafter One Reel TPN moved in
there, or am I thinking ofsomething?
Jane (04:53):
else.
I think you're thinking ofsomething else.
There was a weird electronicstore next to it, and then there
was the One Reel office, andthen there was this empty space,
and that's why the campaign wasin there.
They had rented that space.
Jon (05:06):
I might be thinking of a different space, but wow, what a
time.
Yeah, and you just kind ofwalked right into it.
Belltown wasn't Belltown yet.
Jane (05:14):
You know, I mean it was an interesting time and I really
didn't know that much aboutproducing festivals.
Really, I'd been producing, I'dhelped to produce some arts and
dance things, but I didn'treally know that much about
producing festivals.
So it was a big learningexperience for me.
Jon (05:30):
And what a time of growth too.
I mean, that's just before whatI consider to be kind of the
golden era of One Reel in termsof growth and just audacity.
Jane (05:40):
Absolutely.
I think when I got there OneReel was doing Bumbershoot and
maybe the last year of theirsummer theater tour with the old
vaudeville truck.
So as we went through the mid80s into the late 80s, early 90s
, that's where all those otherevents got added.
(06:01):
You know, we started working onthe Goodwill Arts Festival in
1987, the WOMAD Festival.
We did the first Summer Nightsat the Pier in 1991.
Jon (06:12):
So you know, that was a golden era and I was there.
I wasn't working for One Reelyet, but I was working for an
event decorator that servicedmost of One Reel's events.
Jane (06:23):
Were you working for Steve .
Jon (06:25):
No, Mike Prebezac oh.
Jane (06:26):
Mike, okay, right.
Jon (06:26):
MVP Enterprises at the time .
Sure, I mean, he's still outthere doing it too.
Bless his heart.
Amazing.
Jane (06:32):
Yeah.
Jon (06:33):
But that was my first exposure to One Reel and I was
just a kid.
But I remember that One Reelevents stood out from everything
else we were doing.
It was so busy.
I mean, we'd service 300, 400events a year cultural festivals
, fairs, commercial expositions,that kind of stuff.
But the One Reel events alwaysstruck me for two reasons.
(06:56):
Well, three reasons.
One, they were just cool.
It's like One Reel was doingstuff that nobody else was doing
at the time.
Two, they were always very wellorganized.
From our perspective, from thevendor's perspective, there
wasn't a lot of the usual, youknow figuring it out on the fly.
It's like there was always aplan.
The plan wasn't always 100%right all the time, but at least
(07:20):
there was a plan.
Jane (07:21):
And that was a tribute to our production team.
I mean, that's John Vadino,that was David Doxtater,
absolutely yeah.
Jon (07:27):
There was always a plan.
But the number one thing waseverybody on the One Reel team
always appeared to be having funand it was just infectious, you
know, and I'm just like someday, someday, I want to be on that
team.
Jane (07:40):
Yeah.
Jon (07:41):
And it took me a few years, but I finally got there.
Jane (07:43):
I think that's right.
We all, you know, we reallyloved what we were doing and I
would say, you know, as we starttalking about the leadership
part of it, everyone trustedeach other.
We trusted that what needed tobe done would be done, and
that's how those events came offas fun and seemingly seamless.
(08:04):
They weren't always, but thatwas a huge part of that.
Jon (08:09):
They were never seamless, but the team had an
extraordinary ability to figureit out, yeah, and just fix it in
the mix, so to speak.
So that trust I know exactlywhat you're talking about.
But how did that happen, thatextreme level of trust in all of
your colleagues, across all thedepartments?
And this was a big enterprise.
By that time I mean, when Icame on board there had to have
(08:30):
been at least 30 FTEs orsomething like that.
Jane (08:32):
Yeah, at least yeah.
Jon (08:33):
That was always kind of a mystery to me.
It's like, how did all thattrust form?
I can't believe that it justspontaneously appeared one
morning.
Jane (08:41):
That's a great question, I think one.
Everybody had a confidenceabout what they were doing
individually and we hadcollective vision.
So there was a commitment todoing what we said we were going
to do.
And so everyone who worked indifferent areas in putting this
you know giant crazy productiontogether, starting with Norm who
(09:03):
had most of the crazy ideasright, like all right, how are
we going to make this happen?
And we would go through in theplanning process.
We would go through those timeswhen nope, can't be done.
You know production dudes wouldsay nope, can't be done, we
can't do that.
And then we, norm, we wouldpush and figure out okay, well,
(09:23):
if we want to hang people offthe space needle by ropes, what
do we need to do from a riggingperspective?
How are they going to?
You know, push back.
What's it going to beunderneath?
What's the fire departmentgoing to say?
I mean, it just got to thepoint where, even though there
was some skepticism sometime inthe planning process, by the
time we got to execution,everybody really fully believed
(09:44):
we're just going to make thishappen.
Jon (09:46):
And I would go so far as to say that everybody understood
what needed to be done as wellas could possibly be understood.
I mean, there was no mysteriesleft.
That was one of the definingone real attribute.
Yeah, because we just plannedthe crap out of everything we
thought through different,sometimes to a fault.
Jane (10:05):
Yeah, I mean, you could say, we were control freaks to a
degree but in the end, whenyou're doing events that involve
and at that time we really didhave hundreds of thousands of
people over four days atBumbershoot, I mean those you
know there were close to 250people 250,000 people who came
over four days Nowhere nearthose numbers come to the
(10:26):
festival anymore.
So when you have that manypeople coming you've got to be
pretty dialed in by the time youget there.
Jon (10:33):
And you know you make me think of an important point that
I never lose sight of when I'mremembering the old days, the
same period when One Reel waspushing every envelope possible
in terms of what you can do foran event.
At that same time there was nota lot of rules and regulations,
policies, procedures orexperience, for that matter,
(10:57):
with regulating city agenciesand whatnot.
So not only were we pushing theboundaries of what's even ever
been attempted before, but therewas not a lot of safety check
or just like common sense checksurrounding us, either at the
venues or, like I say, the city,the fire marshal's office or
whatever taken.
(11:20):
But I've always felt like OneReel understood that and kind of
made it their own job to bethat double, triple, quadruple
dummy check.
Yeah, in a lot of ways kind ofwriting the standards for how
things are done today.
Jane (11:35):
Well, and things have changed.
I mean, we never did an activeshooter drill.
You know that was not somethingthat was in our vocabulary, so
it was a different time for sure.
I mean, you know, I remembersome of the calls on the radio
and one of the big deals was ohmy God, the snake guy is back.
You know the guy who came withthe cobra wrapped around his
(11:56):
neck and that was freakingpeople out.
So you know the level ofsecurity and issues.
But we did.
We had really strongrelationships and this is mostly
thanks to our production teamworked with the fire department,
worked with SPD, worked withESU, I mean, worked with all the
folks who make sure that levelof big production was taken care
(12:17):
of so that the artists could dowhat they needed to do and
deliver the kind of experiencethat Bumbershoot became known
for.
Jon (12:24):
Yeah, absolutely.
You described your backgroundprior to One Reel, but that
still doesn't answer myoverarching question how did you
develop your leadership skills?
Jane (12:35):
Well, you know, I was thinking about that because of
having this conversation withyou and remembering back in
fourth grade, going back inhistory, I ran to be president
of the student body at my publicschool, elementary, and I
remember making the posters thatgot posted up and, you know,
because of this conversation,it's like why the hell did I
(12:57):
think of doing that?
Then, you know, and I guess myparents a little cliche, you
know go back and thank yourparents, but my parents were
very encouraging about being whoI was, okay, instilling
confidence, and so I think Ifelt I had a level of confidence
(13:17):
about who I was.
I wanted to step up and helppeople in the case of
Bumbershoot, you know, goingfrom a promotion director to
running the company.
Essentially, for me it was ajourney about, a figuring out
who I was and, b figuring outhow the group of people who were
there wanted to move around inthe world and what we could do
(13:39):
collectively, because we justkept adding things to our plate
and things that people I thinkwould have said you know, from
the outside, looking in, youguys are crazy.
I mean, I remember you knowNorm coming back and describing
the Spiegel tent, you know to usand probably a fact almost no
one knows is the first idea forthat was we went to Microsoft
(14:01):
and talked to them about doingan internet cafe, which was
really a cafe in the Spiegeltent.
This was before there wereinternet cafes.
Jon (14:10):
So for the listeners, you're talking about the genesis
of Teatro Zinzanni, exactly,yeah.
Jane (14:14):
I'm talking about the venue that Teatro Zinzanni is in
and they didn't want to buythat.
It's like all right.
Well then, what else are wegoing to do?
Oh well, we're going to do thisshow.
That is the combination ofrunning a restaurant, putting on
a show, with circus performersfor a small number of people,
serving meals, and making thiscrazy activity happen.
And if anybody said you'regoing to run a restaurant and do
(14:35):
a theater with less than 300seats and it's going to serve
meals and you know, put this on,you would go, no, you are crazy
.
And we just said, all right,we've got to come up with a name
, we've got to come up with theshow, we've got to figure this
out.
And we put a stake in the sandand said go do it.
And the rest is history, and therest is history, and it's still
(14:56):
going.
Jon (14:57):
Still going strong.
Yeah, you hit the nail on thehead when you say that, and we
head when you say that.
And we kept adding more stuffto the plates.
That was another definingattribute of what it meant to
work at One Reel.
If you're in, you're all in.
Jane (15:10):
Yeah, because we had sort of underlying annual events and
then we added new things.
You know, we've had the tourthat went to Japan.
We just kept adding things toour plate, the WOMAD Festival
for a few years, figuring outhow that was going to work with
Peter Gabriel and that wholegroup.
I mean, I think at one point wejust about killed ourselves,
but we yeah, but we had fundoing it.
(15:32):
Yeah, and we kind of rightedthe ship after it was like, oh
my God, that's so much.
But it was all good.
Jon (15:37):
Well, what all that work did?
I spoke one time with Normabout this and from his
perspective, one time with Normabout this and from his
perspective.
All that just piling on to work.
It allowed the company toretain this critical mass of
highly specialized people acrossall disciplines year round.
Less work for the company wouldhave meant more seasonal work
(15:59):
and more attrition, and itwouldn't have been the same.
Jane (16:03):
The balance between you know there were a lot of
balances and I guess part ofwhat I look for is balance in
anything but Bumbershoot, highlyvolatile, you know it could
have a year where it made money,it could have a year where it
lost money because all yourchips are in on one weekend, the
pier spread out, summer nightsat the pier spread out over the
(16:23):
summer, but generally couldgenerate positive cashflow.
And then you had TeatroZinzanni and its main season was
fall into holiday, into springand until it really became a
year round thing.
So it became that baseline.
So we had all these things thatkind of balanced each other out
in a nice way that made it agoing concern and did exactly
(16:45):
what you said, which was keepreally good people who were very
specialized, employed andworking together.
Jon (16:52):
TZ really changed the dynamic in the office, slowly at
first, in that it was truly.
It became a year-round likeevery day, 365-day-a-year
operation.
Jane (17:04):
Well, especially when we added San Francisco into the mix
.
Jon (17:06):
Yeah, versus everything else that we did.
Each event had its season ofplanning around it, and so there
was this rhythm, this annualcycle, this pulse, where you'd
engage your brain and your bodyon this project for you know,
two months or six months,whatever the cycle was, and then
you can kind of let that restand recoup and shift your focus
(17:28):
to something else, to the nextevent.
But TZ that pretty rapidlywithin the first few years.
Well, ultimately it led to thesplit of the company into two
different companies, because TZgot so successful and so large
it started to create tension.
Jane (17:43):
Yeah, its rhythm was constant and the changes were
when the show changed, and so ithad a different impact in terms
of that balance, for sure.
Jon (17:53):
Yeah, I'm just going to be direct because I have to ask
this question.
Did you ever, or do you ever,suffer imposter syndrome?
Jane (18:00):
No, Um, sometimes you know a little bit not too much the
thing for me that I like themost about leadership and the
can't really be that person,because I couldn't necessarily
see that person.
You know Insecurities for sureat different times, but I would
(18:35):
say not that classic impostersyndrome.
Jon (18:39):
That's interesting.
I have to ask, just becauseyour persona has always been so
fearless, if I had to put a wordon it.
That's the impression.
You give people, the impressionthat you are truly fearless,
and I often have wondered isthat really true, or are you
putting on a face?
Jane (18:56):
No, mostly I would say that's pretty true.
Wow, for me, the leadershipthing, if I can visualize it,
and that's both, you know, likeliterally visualize it, but also
see the path to get there, Ifeel like I know I will figure
out how to get there.
And that takes fearlessnesssometimes and I look back.
(19:19):
You know people have said to meat times I can't believe you
did X.
Or when you did that, did yourealize?
And a lot of times I just didit intuitively.
I mean, when I said TeatroZinzanni is going to open on
August 28th of you know 1998 orwhatever that date was, how did
(19:39):
we really know that?
You know, I just believed thatour team was going to figure out
how to get there and we put adate on it and we started
selling tickets.
So we didn't have a choice.
Jon (19:49):
I can understand your confidence in that area, because
that team absolutely could doanything Could deliver, yes.
And that's also a way that I'velong explained the difference
between the special events world, the festivals world, versus
most other industries.
If you're building a newbuilding, you're building a new
restaurant or something likethat, and you've got your grand
(20:10):
opening date set for July 1st,but here it is April and things
have fallen behind, or whatever,what do you do?
No problem, you push the grandopening back two weeks or a
month or whatever, but whenyou're in the business of
selling tickets to a one-offevent, you can't do that.
Jane (20:27):
Nope, you gotta go.
Jon (20:28):
You have to, otherwise you fail, you fall hard.
Jane (20:31):
Yeah.
Jon (20:32):
And that's one of the things that's attracted and kept
me in the industry.
I like that kind of pressure.
Jane (20:37):
Well, I think you know the world divides up pretty neatly
You're either an event head oryou're not, and you can be on
any side of what an event headis.
But you either thrive in thatsituation where that pressure
and that adrenaline to get thereand make it happen and like, oh
yeah, we are going to do this,we're really going to do this,
or you're not.
You can't do that, and that'speople you know, I, people who
(21:00):
don't even want to have dinnerparties, right, it's too
stressful.
So you're, I think you'reeither on one side of the line
or the other in terms of beinginto the event mode or not in
the event mode.
Jon (21:10):
Yeah, that's fascinating.
How do you describe yourleadership style?
Jane (21:14):
You know, I like to think of myself as a team player and
every once in a while, as aleader.
I have to dash ahead and dosomething, put a stake in the
ground or make a decision thatmay or may not be popular or may
make people go.
No, why did you do that?
It's a little bit like that.
I think it's the Africanproverb.
(21:36):
You know, if you want to gofast, go alone.
If you want to go far, gotogether.
I've never heard that.
Oh yeah, I think it's anAfrican proverb.
But if you want to go fast, goalone.
If you want to go far, gotogether.
And for me that would describemy leadership style.
Sometimes you just have to goout ahead and make things happen
(21:57):
, and the rest of the time it'sabout working with the team and
figuring out how you're going toget there together.
Jon (22:06):
In your opinion, can anyone become a great?
Jane (22:07):
leader, yes, but not everyone's going to enjoy doing
it.
I think if you want to be aleader, there's a way to figure
out.
You know to work on it to getthere.
I have confidence that peoplewho want to be leaders can be
leaders.
But I will also say that somepeople will get there and go.
You know, this isn't so muchfor me.
I have confidence in people'sinnate ability to be leaders.
Jon (22:34):
So, that said, what kind of advice would you offer for
younger folks, maybe juststarting out in their career and
they think that maybeleadership is something they'd
like to explore, just develop inthemselves over time?
Jane (22:41):
You know, depending on in what area right I mean.
Some of it is about education.
I mean, what can you get from aformal education?
And then most of it is aboutdoing, and then it's about
people skills, being able toreally listen and to have, I
think, a high level of EIQ, andyou know, know when people need
to be helped, be propped up, orwhere they want to have freedom
(23:05):
to make independent choices orjust do their job.
So it's a lot aboutunderstanding what people need
to be successful, because goodleaders let their team really
shine and do their best work.
That's what makes anythingsuccessful, whether it's an arts
program, a big festival, acompany.
(23:25):
It's really making sure thatthe people who are doing the
work on a daily basis know, awhere you're going and, b want
to keep doing it and give theirbest.
Jon (23:34):
Did you have the benefit of any great mentors or role
models from a leadershipperspective as you were coming
up?
Jane (23:42):
There were lots of people who I admired, who were
producers.
David White at Dance TheaterWorkshop was one of those who I
worked with.
He was the executive directorthere.
I had some visual artprofessors when I went to
college who I thought werereally good about sort of
drawing out what I was workingon that I didn't even know I was
(24:04):
working on.
You know what I was working onthat I didn't even know I was
working on, you know, in thework that I was doing.
So I would say, not one personin particular, but multiple
people who I respected andadmired, tell me about JZ Works.
So I left One Reel and went toWashington Mutual in 2003.
And then Washington Mutual wasthe largest bank failure in the
(24:25):
history of the United States.
I recall I was part of that andthat was in 2008.
I started JZ Works in 2009.
So we are talking 15 years ago.
So I've been doing it for awhile.
You know it was interesting forme because that was during the
Bush recession, you know, atthat time, and there were not a
(24:48):
lot of jobs, at least at what Iwas interested in or at the
level I was looking, I thought,well, you know what can I offer?
And I had done so manydifferent kinds of things.
You know marketing, sponsorship, public affairs, government
relations, you know that wholeside, everything but the
creative side.
I was, but the creative side Iwas not the creative side of
Unreal for sure.
And so like, hmm, what's JZWorks going to be?
(25:11):
And I said three things.
It's a three-legged stool.
I want to work with good people, I want to work on good
projects and I want to be ableto clearly see how I can add
value and if those three thingsare in place then it will be a
good project, a good team for meto work with.
I've done a lot of differentkinds of consulting projects.
(25:33):
I would say there was oneproject which I won't go into,
but it was the one project whereI thought I'm not sure all
three of these are really hereand in hindsight it was the one
project where I was leastengaged and probably shouldn't
have had said yes to that.
Jon (25:49):
So what are the different areas of practice in your
consultancy?
Jane (25:53):
It's mostly strategic planning.
I will work with differentteams on different things.
In some cases it's been aroundsponsorship, in some cases it's
been around board development,but generally business
development and strategicplanning.
Jon (26:06):
And after some 15 years, are you still having fun with
that?
I am, but it's a smaller team.
When I think of youhistorically, I think of you as
driving large teams.
Jane (26:18):
Yeah, I guess I thought of it as I've got all these
different teams with the clients.
I've got all these differentteams with the clients and so I
felt every time I did aconsulting project that that was
my new team, right, thatworking with them.
So a little different in termsof we're not delivering a
product in the same way.
That's the big buildup tomaking an event happen.
(26:39):
And then you're done and thenyou start over, especially the
annual event cycle that we'reall very familiar with.
But in the consulting worldit's like OK, this is my
University of Washington team,this is my Seattle Center team,
this is my Washington State autodealers team, you know.
So it was just a different wayof creating teams.
Jon (26:57):
When you reflect on, say, the past 30 years, how do you
measure the impact of the workthat you've done?
Jane (27:09):
I measure it when people tell me about their personal
experience of attending one ofthe events or the consulting
work that I've done and somebodysays you know, unlike a lot of
plans that get done and sit on ashelf that's sitting on my desk
and I refer to it all the time.
So I'm looking for thatpersonal commentary on how
(27:33):
meaningful it was and I, youknow, I guess I could go back
and say all right, you know, Idid 20 Bumbershoot festivals and
we had 250,000 people and youknow how many people.
But what I love is listening topeople tell a story about their
experience there, or the firsttime they went to Teatro
Zinzanni, or the 20th time theywent to Teatro Zinzanni.
(27:53):
So for me it's measurement interms of my own satisfaction and
how people have responded tothe work that I've done.
Jon (28:02):
I've never been very interested in headcount alone as
a measure.
In fact, that's one thing Ithink that I learned.
I started to learn at One Reelthe only real difference in
events between the biggestinternational festival
spectacular and the smallestrural community hometown event,
(28:26):
the only difference is thenumber of zeros on the end of
all the numbers on your budgetor your balance sheet or
whatever.
And zeros don't matter.
All the elements are the sameand the potential for impact on
a community or on the individualis exactly the same.
Jane (28:44):
Yeah, I, you know.
So the main thing I'm doingright now is working as the
executive director of theSeattle Center Foundation and in
an interview, interviewingsomebody for a position, and at
the end the question I asked wasyou know, why would this
position be meaningful to you?
And the person who was beinginterviewed told this story
(29:04):
about being a young person.
Her parents were refugees andthey would come.
They had no money and theywould come to Seattle Center to
some of the different events,and it's where she got to see
people who were different thanshe was, meet new people.
It inspired her to travel, totravel around the world, and I
(29:26):
mean it almost made me cry justlistening to her describe her
personal experience of coming tothe center.
That's why we do what we doright To change lives.
That's, create community.
Jon (29:39):
I can totally understand that.
About Seattle Center, all thosedifferent events, I can say the
same thing.
Funny enough about my initialwork as an event decorator which
is setting up tables and tentsand chairs and whatever for
festivals and events is thatevery single week, as I say, I
was a very young person, I'd betraveling, mostly in the Puget
(30:02):
Sound region, but sometimes alittle further out, but it would
be all these different culturalfestivals and events, and
everywhere I went I wouldencounter people who are very
different than me and people whothought about things very
different than what I wasthinking of, and I liked that.
(30:23):
I mean, that was absolutelyfascinating to me as a kid that
you know, grew up on the farm,literally.
Jane (30:29):
Yeah.
Jon (30:30):
I just I had no idea.
It was almost like travelingthe world, but just within the
context of, you know, a hundredmile radius of my hometown,
meeting people outside yournormal sphere, and how that can
get you engaged and thinkingabout different things, and
inspire you, absolutely shapedwho I have become.
(30:51):
That's great.
Jane (30:53):
Yeah.
Jon (30:54):
I know that over time you have given generously of your
time in supporting many othernonprofits through volunteer
board work and commission work.
What's your motivation there?
Jane (31:07):
Giving back.
I think that came from myparents.
My parents were involved in thecommunity in Portland where I
grew up.
But it's also I get newexperiences out of it too A
little bit.
To those who have advantageswhether it's a warm house and a
loving family or, you know,resources it's important to do
(31:30):
things to help other people.
But I've learned so much I'vebeen I think I've been on boards
since I was in my early 20s.
I was on the New City TheaterBoard when I first came to
Seattle.
So we're going way back, JohnKazanjan, and I always feel like
I get more than I give when I'min that situation.
So I've done a lot of differentboards and commissions, most
(31:53):
recently my experience withPlymouth Housing, which was a
really important thing to do.
I learned as much way more thanI ever gave, but yes, it's an
important part of my experiencein this region.
Jon (32:08):
I recall from my earliest days of sitting in meetings
giant staff meetings at One Reelall of these incredible minds
sitting around a table havinghard discussions, hard
conversations, and more oftenthan not I can still visualize
this.
There's you sitting at thetable, listening, but you're
doodling.
You're putting pen to paper andyou're doodling like mad, Just
(32:31):
like doodle, doodle, doodle,doodle, doodle.
What were you doing?
Jane (32:37):
It's so funny that you noticed that, that you remember
that, because it took me.
You know, I'm like I did that.
Oh, yeah, I do that.
Yeah, I do do that.
I doodle not probably as muchas I did, but I think it was a
way.
I feel like my brain is going alot fast and I'm listening.
(32:58):
So it was maybe it's a littlebit of a component of OCD or
ADHD or something, because itgave me something to do while I
was listening and I'm just kindof amazed that you remember that
.
Jon (33:10):
So I'm the first person to call you out on your doodling.
Totally Wow, I'm honored, I'msurprised though.
Yeah, no, I, I'll be completelyhonest, I was always like
looking, it's like, well, whatis she doing?
I don't even know what I wasdoing, but yes, I'll tell you
right now about half the time itwas abstract, and the other
time it was usually a face, likefrom shoulders up, sometimes it
(33:30):
was straight on, sometimes it'dbe profile, okay, yeah.
Jane (33:35):
Yeah, no, I definitely was a doodler.
I don't think I do it as much.
I don't do doodling as much asI used to, maybe.
But yeah, some weird way oflistening intently, I guess.
Maybe I was sending secretmessages too, could be, could
know, who knows.
Jon (33:54):
So, speaking of memory, elaine, I was thinking about
some of my favorite Jane Zmemories.
I remember do you remember WoPop at the pier?
So it was after or at the tailend of our working with the
WOMAD festival proper and we hadan evening at Summer Nights at
the pier, that was.
It was David Byrne was theheadliner, and then we had all
(34:16):
sorts of all sorts of folks.
It was a true festival kind offormat and we had installed this
fancy artwork, these figures,these figures on poles that
moved in the wind along thefence line at the venue and at
one point during the day one ofthose pieces blew off and into
(34:37):
the road and hit a car and therewas some commotion and I can't
remember if that was the causeor if there was something else
that was happening at the sametime.
But all of a sudden, what Iremember from my point of view,
I was sitting in my productiontrailer, minding my own business
, unaware of that, there wassome commotion going on and I
remember you coming into myoffice all casual, like, hey,
(34:57):
john, how's it going?
Pretty good.
She's like hey, you don'thappen to have any of your
business cards down here, do you?
I'm like, yeah, and I had themin a box and I just kind of
pushed them across the desk andyou're like thanks, and I
remember you grabbed the giantstack of them and I thought I
wonder what she's doing.
But anyway, I was going back towhat I was doing and what you
(35:20):
did was you went out to thisangry mob of people and you
handed them all my business card.
Jane (35:29):
I really don't remember that, but I was really smart to
give them yours, not mine.
Oh, it was brilliant.
Jon (35:36):
It was brilliant.
I'm just like wow, yeah, so Ihad to field all those calls
over the next couple of days.
Jane (35:42):
How many calls did you actually get?
Jon (35:43):
I don't remember it seemed like thousands, but it might
have been eight or nine or ten.
Jane (35:48):
Okay, oh, that's funny no.
I don't remember that one.
Jon (35:52):
That was smooth.
Jane (35:52):
That's called passing the buck, yeah.
Jon (35:54):
No, I salute you on that one.
Jane (35:56):
Yeah, okay, that's funny.
Jon (36:00):
On a more serious note, you and I we didn't work together
directly much, if at all,because there was always a layer
or two of management betweenyour role and my role.
But on occasion somebody wouldsend me to have a chat with you
about something, and on thoseoccasions I remember very well
that it was a littleintimidating to me because,
(36:21):
again, I was just the new kid onthe block.
Jane (36:24):
I try not to be intimidating, and here you were,
you can be very intimidating,okay.
Jon (36:29):
In a pleasant way, pleasantly intimidating.
You always have this aura of incharge about you, about you.
But every single time that Iwould come to chat with you, you
looked me in the eye and youwould never break that
connection and I always knew Icould just feel it, that you
were actually listening to everysingle word that I said and
(36:55):
that I realize now, later on inlife, I just realized how
powerful an experience that wasfor me.
That built enormous confidencein me.
So I want to thank you for thatand just acknowledge that's an
extraordinary ability to be ableto focus.
You had a thousand and onethings on your plate every
minute of every day, but yourability to just tune all that
(37:17):
out and be with someone is anextraordinary skill.
Jane (37:23):
Thank you for that.
I mean, to me it's just a basicrespect, right?
If you're having a conversationand it annoys the crap out of
me when you know, especially nowwith cell phones, if you're
really trying to have a seriousconversation with somebody and
they're doing, you know, textingand looking at their phone and
looking back at you and thenthey're looking over your
shoulder it's like, hey, I'mhere with you, we have 10
(37:45):
minutes together.
Let's respect each other's time.
So that's nice that youacknowledge that, and I didn't
want to be intimidating, but I'mglad that you recognized that I
was listening, because I dolisten.
Jon (37:59):
Yeah, thank you.
Who do you think you are?
Jane (38:19):
Who do I think I am, you know, do that in pretty much
everything I do, and that wouldbe everything from what I do
professionally to baking tosports.
You know, I guess that's whatmakes me happy and I think
that's how I like to relate topeople.
(38:41):
I guess that's what I would say.
Who I am.
What is your favorite sound?
Hitting a really good golf ballI'm kind of into golf these
days.
Okay, that crack of the ballgoing, you know, down the
fairway.
I love that sound.
Jon (39:01):
I can imagine that right now, but it's not easy to get
that perfect hit.
Jane (39:13):
No, no.
That sound comes when you're inbalance and when you're
executing and following through.
So to me, that's one of myfavorite sounds right now.
Jon (39:19):
You walk into an ice cream shop with the intention of
getting an ice cream cone withtwo scoops.
What are the flavors?
Jane (39:27):
Oh, chocolate and coffee.
Jon (39:29):
That was fast.
Jane (39:31):
Yeah, because that's you know.
It could be some variation onthat, like it could be a coffee
with chocolate fudge in it orsomething.
That was my mom's favorite Igrew up.
I remember we used to go downto the Meijer and Frank in
downtown Portland with chocolatefudge in it or something, or
that was my mom's favorite.
I grew up.
I remember we used to go downto the Meijer and Frank in
downtown Portland and go to thecounter and she would get coffee
, ice cream with hot fudge, andI think I adopted her love for
(39:52):
the combination of chocolate andcoffee.
So you'll find that in.
You know whether it's a mochaor you know pudding.
I make a biscotti.
That's a chocolate biscotti,but I put espresso powder in, so
it's not just an ice cream.
Jon (40:05):
So chocolate and coffee, which flavor goes on top?
Jane (40:09):
Chocolate on top and coffee on the bottom.
Coffee goes into the cone.
Jon (40:13):
Ah, I see where you're going with that.
Jane (40:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You get the chocolate hit.
First you know kind of lingersa little bit, but then when you
get down to it, that coffee iswhat's sinking into the point of
the cone.
Jon (40:24):
I've long realized that it really does matter which flavor
goes on top.
Oh, absolutely, I asked thisquestion of just about everybody
, and the which one goes on toptends to throw people.
Jane (40:35):
They're like oh, no, no, no, no, I got that it matters
yeah people.
They're like oh no, no, no, no,I got that.
It matters yeah.
Jon (40:43):
And what have you discovered in people's choices?
The first thing that pops tomind is our friends from Canada
have a thing for licorice icecream.
Ew Okay no not going there,it's not ew.
It should be celebrated.
We should celebrate Okay.
Jane (40:58):
But, I like licorice, I'm just not sure an ice cream.
Jon (41:01):
Yeah, I noticed that, and there's often now that I say
this.
It's kind of a statement of theobvious, but there's often a
strong childhood.
There's a nostalgic angle totheir preferences.
Jane (41:13):
Yeah, I get that.
Jon (41:14):
Yeah, thank you for making the time today to have this
conversation.
Jane (41:19):
I'm honored that you invited me.
I'm honored how you reflectback on that time we spent
together.
There were a whole bunch ofpeople who were part of that.
It was a great, great time andI think you know, as I said, I
love hearing people's memoriesof whether it was the you know,
they were body surfing at one ofthe concerts and came over the
barrier and got kicked out of ashow to you know, their kid was
(41:43):
smoking pot by the whales or youknow, whatever, whatever those
kinds of stories are, or theydiscovered a certain artist.
So it was fun to reflect withyou back on on that time because
we did some really amazingthings together.
So thank you for thisconversation and thank you for
that time together.
All call one hour to doors.
Hi, this is Jane Zalutsky and you're listening to One Hour
to Doors.
Jon (00:14):
This is One Hour to Doors, a podcast about the business and
soul of the festivals andevents industry.
I am your host, Jon Stone.
Every episode of One Hour toDoors explores the people,
issues, insights and trendsimpacting the enterprise of
bringing people and communitiestogether in common cause.
We are recording today at thebrand new Totem Star Studios at
(00:37):
historic King Street Station inSeattle.
Our guest today is JaneZalutsky.
Jane is a renowned executivestrategist and community leader
spanning both the private andpublic sectors.
She was ultimately responsiblefor a staggering array of the
most important arts and culturalevents in the Pacific Northwest
and San Francisco Bay Areathroughout the 1990s and 2000s.
(01:01):
Later, her groundbreakingcommunity development work in
the banking industry redefinedhow many of us feel and interact
with financial institutions inways that are still
reverberating to this day.
In 2008, Jane founded JZ Works,a boutique marketing,
sponsorship and businessdevelopment firm serving clients
(01:21):
nationwide.
I know Jane through our sharedtime at Seattle Arts and Culture
nonprofit, One Reel, beginningwhen I was a newly minted junior
production coordinator,arriving at my first office job
while Jane was the CEO of theentire organization.
Welcome to the show, Jane.
Jane (01:40):
Delighted to be here, Jon.
Thank you.
Jon (01:42):
It's been too long, I think it's been.
We bump into each other at afunction once every five or six
years, but it's really been Idare say 20 years since we've
really spent time together.
Jane (01:54):
Yeah, since we worked together.
But we do see each other in thecity somewhere at different
events.
So it's nice to see you, niceto be here.
Jon (02:01):
You know, last fall I was recording a podcast episode with
Beth Knox and we went off onthis tangent about what a
profound experience it was forboth of us to have had the
privilege of working at One Reel, particularly in the 1990s, and
throughout our tangent we keptcoming back to you, your
leadership and your positiveimpact you had on us.
That's why I gave you a call.
Jane (02:24):
I'm honored to hear that,J on.
It was a grand time for sure.
We did some great stufftogether.
Jon (02:31):
I confess I don't know that much about your background
prior to our meeting in 94 or 95, whenever that was.
How long had you been at OneReel at that point?
Jane (02:40):
Well, I came to Seattle in the early 80s.
I had been living in New Yorkand dancing with a couple
different small modern dancecompanies and I did a few turns
helping produce events, mostnotably probably at a place
called Dance Theater WorkshopDTW.
And when I got to Seattle, themost similar organization at the
(03:02):
time was On the Boards.
Right Seattle, the most similarorganization at the time was On
the Boards, and On the Boardsdidn't have a job for me.
So I thought, hmm, okay, whatelse am I going to do?
And I did some volunteer workfor the Mondale campaign out of
an office on Second Avenue andit was right next door to One
Reel's storefront there.
Do you remember that littlesort of group of stores,
(03:26):
storefronts there?
Jon (03:27):
I do, I went there once.
Jane (03:30):
So I responded they were looking for a promotion
assistant and so this would havebeen right after the election
in 84.
And so I went in and just sortof sat down and started talking
to Norm Langill and before youknow it they hired me as a
promotion coordinator inNovember of 1984.
(03:53):
And shortly thereafter the citycouncil awarded Bumbershoot to
a company other than One Reeland that created the Bumber Wars
.
Jon (04:06):
Right.
So this is connecting a lot ofdots right out of the gate.
Jane (04:09):
Yeah, so we're talking.
Yeah, we're talking almost 40years ago now.
And so I just kind of jumpedright in.
I didn't really know Seattle, Ididn't know the politics, I
didn't even really know thefestival, and just kind of got
into the one real thing and Iwas there until 2003.
And at that point I left as theco-president.
(04:30):
So I kind of worked my way upthrough various jobs and you
know, the organization changed alot from when I started to when
I left.
Jon (04:38):
I'm trying to get time clear in my head, something
which is getting harder andharder.
Jane (04:43):
As we get older.
Jon (04:44):
So I went to the Second Avenue.
I went to those old spaces.
Is that the same space thatafter One Reel TPN moved in
there, or am I thinking ofsomething?
Jane (04:53):
else.
I think you're thinking ofsomething else.
There was a weird electronicstore next to it, and then there
was the One Reel office, andthen there was this empty space,
and that's why the campaign wasin there.
They had rented that space.
Jon (05:06):
I might be thinking of a different space, but wow, what a
time.
Yeah, and you just kind ofwalked right into it.
Belltown wasn't Belltown yet.
Jane (05:14):
You know, I mean it was an interesting time and I really
didn't know that much aboutproducing festivals.
Really, I'd been producing, I'dhelped to produce some arts and
dance things, but I didn'treally know that much about
producing festivals.
So it was a big learningexperience for me.
Jon (05:30):
And what a time of growth too.
I mean, that's just before whatI consider to be kind of the
golden era of One Reel in termsof growth and just audacity.
Jane (05:40):
Absolutely.
I think when I got there OneReel was doing Bumbershoot and
maybe the last year of theirsummer theater tour with the old
vaudeville truck.
So as we went through the mid80s into the late 80s, early 90s
, that's where all those otherevents got added.
(06:01):
You know, we started working onthe Goodwill Arts Festival in
1987, the WOMAD Festival.
We did the first Summer Nightsat the Pier in 1991.
Jon (06:12):
So you know, that was a golden era and I was there.
I wasn't working for One Reelyet, but I was working for an
event decorator that servicedmost of One Reel's events.
Jane (06:23):
Were you working for Steve .
Jon (06:25):
No, Mike Prebezac oh.
Jane (06:26):
Mike, okay, right.
Jon (06:26):
MVP Enterprises at the time .
Sure, I mean, he's still outthere doing it too.
Bless his heart.
Amazing.
Jane (06:32):
Yeah.
Jon (06:33):
But that was my first exposure to One Reel and I was
just a kid.
But I remember that One Reelevents stood out from everything
else we were doing.
It was so busy.
I mean, we'd service 300, 400events a year cultural festivals
, fairs, commercial expositions,that kind of stuff.
But the One Reel events alwaysstruck me for two reasons.
(06:56):
Well, three reasons.
One, they were just cool.
It's like One Reel was doingstuff that nobody else was doing
at the time.
Two, they were always very wellorganized.
From our perspective, from thevendor's perspective, there
wasn't a lot of the usual, youknow figuring it out on the fly.
It's like there was always aplan.
The plan wasn't always 100%right all the time, but at least
(07:20):
there was a plan.
Jane (07:21):
And that was a tribute to our production team.
I mean, that's John Vadino,that was David Doxtater,
absolutely yeah.
Jon (07:27):
There was always a plan.
But the number one thing waseverybody on the One Reel team
always appeared to be having funand it was just infectious, you
know, and I'm just like someday, someday, I want to be on that
team.
Jane (07:40):
Yeah.
Jon (07:41):
And it took me a few years, but I finally got there.
Jane (07:43):
I think that's right.
We all, you know, we reallyloved what we were doing and I
would say, you know, as we starttalking about the leadership
part of it, everyone trustedeach other.
We trusted that what needed tobe done would be done, and
that's how those events came offas fun and seemingly seamless.
(08:04):
They weren't always, but thatwas a huge part of that.
Jon (08:09):
They were never seamless, but the team had an
extraordinary ability to figureit out, yeah, and just fix it in
the mix, so to speak.
So that trust I know exactlywhat you're talking about.
But how did that happen, thatextreme level of trust in all of
your colleagues, across all thedepartments?
And this was a big enterprise.
By that time I mean, when Icame on board there had to have
(08:30):
been at least 30 FTEs orsomething like that.
Jane (08:32):
Yeah, at least yeah.
Jon (08:33):
That was always kind of a mystery to me.
It's like, how did all thattrust form?
I can't believe that it justspontaneously appeared one
morning.
Jane (08:41):
That's a great question, I think one.
Everybody had a confidenceabout what they were doing
individually and we hadcollective vision.
So there was a commitment todoing what we said we were going
to do.
And so everyone who worked indifferent areas in putting this
you know giant crazy productiontogether, starting with Norm who
(09:03):
had most of the crazy ideasright, like all right, how are
we going to make this happen?
And we would go through in theplanning process.
We would go through those timeswhen nope, can't be done.
You know production dudes wouldsay nope, can't be done, we
can't do that.
And then we, norm, we wouldpush and figure out okay, well,
(09:23):
if we want to hang people offthe space needle by ropes, what
do we need to do from a riggingperspective?
How are they going to?
You know, push back.
What's it going to beunderneath?
What's the fire departmentgoing to say?
I mean, it just got to thepoint where, even though there
was some skepticism sometime inthe planning process, by the
time we got to execution,everybody really fully believed
(09:44):
we're just going to make thishappen.
Jon (09:46):
And I would go so far as to say that everybody understood
what needed to be done as wellas could possibly be understood.
I mean, there was no mysteriesleft.
That was one of the definingone real attribute.
Yeah, because we just plannedthe crap out of everything we
thought through different,sometimes to a fault.
Jane (10:05):
Yeah, I mean, you could say, we were control freaks to a
degree but in the end, whenyou're doing events that involve
and at that time we really didhave hundreds of thousands of
people over four days atBumbershoot, I mean those you
know there were close to 250people 250,000 people who came
over four days Nowhere nearthose numbers come to the
(10:26):
festival anymore.
So when you have that manypeople coming you've got to be
pretty dialed in by the time youget there.
Jon (10:33):
And you know you make me think of an important point that
I never lose sight of when I'mremembering the old days, the
same period when One Reel waspushing every envelope possible
in terms of what you can do foran event.
At that same time there was nota lot of rules and regulations,
policies, procedures orexperience, for that matter,
(10:57):
with regulating city agenciesand whatnot.
So not only were we pushing theboundaries of what's even ever
been attempted before, but therewas not a lot of safety check
or just like common sense checksurrounding us, either at the
venues or, like I say, the city,the fire marshal's office or
whatever taken.
(11:20):
But I've always felt like OneReel understood that and kind of
made it their own job to bethat double, triple, quadruple
dummy check.
Yeah, in a lot of ways kind ofwriting the standards for how
things are done today.
Jane (11:35):
Well, and things have changed.
I mean, we never did an activeshooter drill.
You know that was not somethingthat was in our vocabulary, so
it was a different time for sure.
I mean, you know, I remembersome of the calls on the radio
and one of the big deals was ohmy God, the snake guy is back.
You know the guy who came withthe cobra wrapped around his
(11:56):
neck and that was freakingpeople out.
So you know the level ofsecurity and issues.
But we did.
We had really strongrelationships and this is mostly
thanks to our production teamworked with the fire department,
worked with SPD, worked withESU, I mean, worked with all the
folks who make sure that levelof big production was taken care
(12:17):
of so that the artists could dowhat they needed to do and
deliver the kind of experiencethat Bumbershoot became known
for.
Jon (12:24):
Yeah, absolutely.
You described your backgroundprior to One Reel, but that
still doesn't answer myoverarching question how did you
develop your leadership skills?
Jane (12:35):
Well, you know, I was thinking about that because of
having this conversation withyou and remembering back in
fourth grade, going back inhistory, I ran to be president
of the student body at my publicschool, elementary, and I
remember making the posters thatgot posted up and, you know,
because of this conversation,it's like why the hell did I
(12:57):
think of doing that?
Then, you know, and I guess myparents a little cliche, you
know go back and thank yourparents, but my parents were
very encouraging about being whoI was, okay, instilling
confidence, and so I think Ifelt I had a level of confidence
(13:17):
about who I was.
I wanted to step up and helppeople in the case of
Bumbershoot, you know, goingfrom a promotion director to
running the company.
Essentially, for me it was ajourney about, a figuring out
who I was and, b figuring outhow the group of people who were
there wanted to move around inthe world and what we could do
(13:39):
collectively, because we justkept adding things to our plate
and things that people I thinkwould have said you know, from
the outside, looking in, youguys are crazy.
I mean, I remember you knowNorm coming back and describing
the Spiegel tent, you know to usand probably a fact almost no
one knows is the first idea forthat was we went to Microsoft
(14:01):
and talked to them about doingan internet cafe, which was
really a cafe in the Spiegeltent.
This was before there wereinternet cafes.
Jon (14:10):
So for the listeners, you're talking about the genesis
of Teatro Zinzanni, exactly,yeah.
Jane (14:14):
I'm talking about the venue that Teatro Zinzanni is in
and they didn't want to buythat.
It's like all right.
Well then, what else are wegoing to do?
Oh well, we're going to do thisshow.
That is the combination ofrunning a restaurant, putting on
a show, with circus performersfor a small number of people,
serving meals, and making thiscrazy activity happen.
And if anybody said you'regoing to run a restaurant and do
(14:35):
a theater with less than 300seats and it's going to serve
meals and you know, put this on,you would go, no, you are crazy
.
And we just said, all right,we've got to come up with a name
, we've got to come up with theshow, we've got to figure this
out.
And we put a stake in the sandand said go do it.
And the rest is history, and therest is history, and it's still
(14:56):
going.
Jon (14:57):
Still going strong.
Yeah, you hit the nail on thehead when you say that, and we
head when you say that.
And we kept adding more stuffto the plates.
That was another definingattribute of what it meant to
work at One Reel.
If you're in, you're all in.
Jane (15:10):
Yeah, because we had sort of underlying annual events and
then we added new things.
You know, we've had the tourthat went to Japan.
We just kept adding things toour plate, the WOMAD Festival
for a few years, figuring outhow that was going to work with
Peter Gabriel and that wholegroup.
I mean, I think at one point wejust about killed ourselves,
but we yeah, but we had fundoing it.
(15:32):
Yeah, and we kind of rightedthe ship after it was like, oh
my God, that's so much.
But it was all good.
Jon (15:37):
Well, what all that work did?
I spoke one time with Normabout this and from his
perspective, one time with Normabout this and from his
perspective.
All that just piling on to work.
It allowed the company toretain this critical mass of
highly specialized people acrossall disciplines year round.
Less work for the company wouldhave meant more seasonal work
(15:59):
and more attrition, and itwouldn't have been the same.
Jane (16:03):
The balance between you know there were a lot of
balances and I guess part ofwhat I look for is balance in
anything but Bumbershoot, highlyvolatile, you know it could
have a year where it made money,it could have a year where it
lost money because all yourchips are in on one weekend, the
pier spread out, summer nightsat the pier spread out over the
(16:23):
summer, but generally couldgenerate positive cashflow.
And then you had TeatroZinzanni and its main season was
fall into holiday, into springand until it really became a
year round thing.
So it became that baseline.
So we had all these things thatkind of balanced each other out
in a nice way that made it agoing concern and did exactly
(16:45):
what you said, which was keepreally good people who were very
specialized, employed andworking together.
Jon (16:52):
TZ really changed the dynamic in the office, slowly at
first, in that it was truly.
It became a year-round likeevery day, 365-day-a-year
operation.
Jane (17:04):
Well, especially when we added San Francisco into the mix
.
Jon (17:06):
Yeah, versus everything else that we did.
Each event had its season ofplanning around it, and so there
was this rhythm, this annualcycle, this pulse, where you'd
engage your brain and your bodyon this project for you know,
two months or six months,whatever the cycle was, and then
you can kind of let that restand recoup and shift your focus
(17:28):
to something else, to the nextevent.
But TZ that pretty rapidlywithin the first few years.
Well, ultimately it led to thesplit of the company into two
different companies, because TZgot so successful and so large
it started to create tension.
Jane (17:43):
Yeah, its rhythm was constant and the changes were
when the show changed, and so ithad a different impact in terms
of that balance, for sure.
Jon (17:53):
Yeah, I'm just going to be direct because I have to ask
this question.
Did you ever, or do you ever,suffer imposter syndrome?
Jane (18:00):
No, Um, sometimes you know a little bit not too much the
thing for me that I like themost about leadership and the
can't really be that person,because I couldn't necessarily
see that person.
You know Insecurities for sureat different times, but I would
(18:35):
say not that classic impostersyndrome.
Jon (18:39):
That's interesting.
I have to ask, just becauseyour persona has always been so
fearless, if I had to put a wordon it.
That's the impression.
You give people, the impressionthat you are truly fearless,
and I often have wondered isthat really true, or are you
putting on a face?
Jane (18:56):
No, mostly I would say that's pretty true.
Wow, for me, the leadershipthing, if I can visualize it,
and that's both, you know, likeliterally visualize it, but also
see the path to get there, Ifeel like I know I will figure
out how to get there.
And that takes fearlessnesssometimes and I look back.
(19:19):
You know people have said to meat times I can't believe you
did X.
Or when you did that, did yourealize?
And a lot of times I just didit intuitively.
I mean, when I said TeatroZinzanni is going to open on
August 28th of you know 1998 orwhatever that date was, how did
(19:39):
we really know that?
You know, I just believed thatour team was going to figure out
how to get there and we put adate on it and we started
selling tickets.
So we didn't have a choice.
Jon (19:49):
I can understand your confidence in that area, because
that team absolutely could doanything Could deliver, yes.
And that's also a way that I'velong explained the difference
between the special events world, the festivals world, versus
most other industries.
If you're building a newbuilding, you're building a new
restaurant or something likethat, and you've got your grand
(20:10):
opening date set for July 1st,but here it is April and things
have fallen behind, or whatever,what do you do?
No problem, you push the grandopening back two weeks or a
month or whatever, but whenyou're in the business of
selling tickets to a one-offevent, you can't do that.
Jane (20:27):
Nope, you gotta go.
Jon (20:28):
You have to, otherwise you fail, you fall hard.
Jane (20:31):
Yeah.
Jon (20:32):
And that's one of the things that's attracted and kept
me in the industry.
I like that kind of pressure.
Jane (20:37):
Well, I think you know the world divides up pretty neatly
You're either an event head oryou're not, and you can be on
any side of what an event headis.
But you either thrive in thatsituation where that pressure
and that adrenaline to get thereand make it happen and like, oh
yeah, we are going to do this,we're really going to do this,
or you're not.
You can't do that, and that'speople you know, I, people who
(21:00):
don't even want to have dinnerparties, right, it's too
stressful.
So you're, I think you'reeither on one side of the line
or the other in terms of beinginto the event mode or not in
the event mode.
Jon (21:10):
Yeah, that's fascinating.
How do you describe yourleadership style?
Jane (21:14):
You know, I like to think of myself as a team player and
every once in a while, as aleader.
I have to dash ahead and dosomething, put a stake in the
ground or make a decision thatmay or may not be popular or may
make people go.
No, why did you do that?
It's a little bit like that.
I think it's the Africanproverb.
(21:36):
You know, if you want to gofast, go alone.
If you want to go far, gotogether.
I've never heard that.
Oh yeah, I think it's anAfrican proverb.
But if you want to go fast, goalone.
If you want to go far, gotogether.
And for me that would describemy leadership style.
Sometimes you just have to goout ahead and make things happen
(21:57):
, and the rest of the time it'sabout working with the team and
figuring out how you're going toget there together.
Jon (22:06):
In your opinion, can anyone become a great?
Jane (22:07):
leader, yes, but not everyone's going to enjoy doing
it.
I think if you want to be aleader, there's a way to figure
out.
You know to work on it to getthere.
I have confidence that peoplewho want to be leaders can be
leaders.
But I will also say that somepeople will get there and go.
You know, this isn't so muchfor me.
I have confidence in people'sinnate ability to be leaders.
Jon (22:34):
So, that said, what kind of advice would you offer for
younger folks, maybe juststarting out in their career and
they think that maybeleadership is something they'd
like to explore, just develop inthemselves over time?
Jane (22:41):
You know, depending on in what area right I mean.
Some of it is about education.
I mean, what can you get from aformal education?
And then most of it is aboutdoing, and then it's about
people skills, being able toreally listen and to have, I
think, a high level of EIQ, andyou know, know when people need
to be helped, be propped up, orwhere they want to have freedom
(23:05):
to make independent choices orjust do their job.
So it's a lot aboutunderstanding what people need
to be successful, because goodleaders let their team really
shine and do their best work.
That's what makes anythingsuccessful, whether it's an arts
program, a big festival, acompany.
(23:25):
It's really making sure thatthe people who are doing the
work on a daily basis know, awhere you're going and, b want
to keep doing it and give theirbest.
Jon (23:34):
Did you have the benefit of any great mentors or role
models from a leadershipperspective as you were coming
up?
Jane (23:42):
There were lots of people who I admired, who were
producers.
David White at Dance TheaterWorkshop was one of those who I
worked with.
He was the executive directorthere.
I had some visual artprofessors when I went to
college who I thought werereally good about sort of
drawing out what I was workingon that I didn't even know I was
(24:04):
working on.
You know what I was working onthat I didn't even know I was
working on, you know, in thework that I was doing.
So I would say, not one personin particular, but multiple
people who I respected andadmired, tell me about JZ Works.
So I left One Reel and went toWashington Mutual in 2003.
And then Washington Mutual wasthe largest bank failure in the
(24:25):
history of the United States.
I recall I was part of that andthat was in 2008.
I started JZ Works in 2009.
So we are talking 15 years ago.
So I've been doing it for awhile.
You know it was interesting forme because that was during the
Bush recession, you know, atthat time, and there were not a
(24:48):
lot of jobs, at least at what Iwas interested in or at the
level I was looking, I thought,well, you know what can I offer?
And I had done so manydifferent kinds of things.
You know marketing, sponsorship, public affairs, government
relations, you know that wholeside, everything but the
creative side.
I was, but the creative side Iwas not the creative side of
Unreal for sure.
And so like, hmm, what's JZWorks going to be?
(25:11):
And I said three things.
It's a three-legged stool.
I want to work with good people, I want to work on good
projects and I want to be ableto clearly see how I can add
value and if those three thingsare in place then it will be a
good project, a good team for meto work with.
I've done a lot of differentkinds of consulting projects.
(25:33):
I would say there was oneproject which I won't go into,
but it was the one project whereI thought I'm not sure all
three of these are really hereand in hindsight it was the one
project where I was leastengaged and probably shouldn't
have had said yes to that.
Jon (25:49):
So what are the different areas of practice in your
consultancy?
Jane (25:53):
It's mostly strategic planning.
I will work with differentteams on different things.
In some cases it's been aroundsponsorship, in some cases it's
been around board development,but generally business
development and strategicplanning.
Jon (26:06):
And after some 15 years, are you still having fun with
that?
I am, but it's a smaller team.
When I think of youhistorically, I think of you as
driving large teams.
Jane (26:18):
Yeah, I guess I thought of it as I've got all these
different teams with the clients.
I've got all these differentteams with the clients and so I
felt every time I did aconsulting project that that was
my new team, right, thatworking with them.
So a little different in termsof we're not delivering a
product in the same way.
That's the big buildup tomaking an event happen.
(26:39):
And then you're done and thenyou start over, especially the
annual event cycle that we'reall very familiar with.
But in the consulting worldit's like OK, this is my
University of Washington team,this is my Seattle Center team,
this is my Washington State autodealers team, you know.
So it was just a different wayof creating teams.
Jon (26:57):
When you reflect on, say, the past 30 years, how do you
measure the impact of the workthat you've done?
Jane (27:09):
I measure it when people tell me about their personal
experience of attending one ofthe events or the consulting
work that I've done and somebodysays you know, unlike a lot of
plans that get done and sit on ashelf that's sitting on my desk
and I refer to it all the time.
So I'm looking for thatpersonal commentary on how
(27:33):
meaningful it was and I, youknow, I guess I could go back
and say all right, you know, Idid 20 Bumbershoot festivals and
we had 250,000 people and youknow how many people.
But what I love is listening topeople tell a story about their
experience there, or the firsttime they went to Teatro
Zinzanni, or the 20th time theywent to Teatro Zinzanni.
(27:53):
So for me it's measurement interms of my own satisfaction and
how people have responded tothe work that I've done.
Jon (28:02):
I've never been very interested in headcount alone as
a measure.
In fact, that's one thing Ithink that I learned.
I started to learn at One Reelthe only real difference in
events between the biggestinternational festival
spectacular and the smallestrural community hometown event,
(28:26):
the only difference is thenumber of zeros on the end of
all the numbers on your budgetor your balance sheet or
whatever.
And zeros don't matter.
All the elements are the sameand the potential for impact on
a community or on the individualis exactly the same.
Jane (28:44):
Yeah, I, you know.
So the main thing I'm doingright now is working as the
executive director of theSeattle Center Foundation and in
an interview, interviewingsomebody for a position, and at
the end the question I asked wasyou know, why would this
position be meaningful to you?
And the person who was beinginterviewed told this story
(29:04):
about being a young person.
Her parents were refugees andthey would come.
They had no money and theywould come to Seattle Center to
some of the different events,and it's where she got to see
people who were different thanshe was, meet new people.
It inspired her to travel, totravel around the world, and I
(29:26):
mean it almost made me cry justlistening to her describe her
personal experience of coming tothe center.
That's why we do what we doright To change lives.
That's, create community.
Jon (29:39):
I can totally understand that.
About Seattle Center, all thosedifferent events, I can say the
same thing.
Funny enough about my initialwork as an event decorator which
is setting up tables and tentsand chairs and whatever for
festivals and events is thatevery single week, as I say, I
was a very young person, I'd betraveling, mostly in the Puget
(30:02):
Sound region, but sometimes alittle further out, but it would
be all these different culturalfestivals and events, and
everywhere I went I wouldencounter people who are very
different than me and people whothought about things very
different than what I wasthinking of, and I liked that.
(30:23):
I mean, that was absolutelyfascinating to me as a kid that
you know, grew up on the farm,literally.
Jane (30:29):
Yeah.
Jon (30:30):
I just I had no idea.
It was almost like travelingthe world, but just within the
context of, you know, a hundredmile radius of my hometown,
meeting people outside yournormal sphere, and how that can
get you engaged and thinkingabout different things, and
inspire you, absolutely shapedwho I have become.
(30:51):
That's great.
Jane (30:53):
Yeah.
Jon (30:54):
I know that over time you have given generously of your
time in supporting many othernonprofits through volunteer
board work and commission work.
What's your motivation there?
Jane (31:07):
Giving back.
I think that came from myparents.
My parents were involved in thecommunity in Portland where I
grew up.
But it's also I get newexperiences out of it too A
little bit.
To those who have advantageswhether it's a warm house and a
loving family or, you know,resources it's important to do
(31:30):
things to help other people.
But I've learned so much I'vebeen I think I've been on boards
since I was in my early 20s.
I was on the New City TheaterBoard when I first came to
Seattle.
So we're going way back, JohnKazanjan, and I always feel like
I get more than I give when I'min that situation.
So I've done a lot of differentboards and commissions, most
(31:53):
recently my experience withPlymouth Housing, which was a
really important thing to do.
I learned as much way more thanI ever gave, but yes, it's an
important part of my experiencein this region.
Jon (32:08):
I recall from my earliest days of sitting in meetings
giant staff meetings at One Reelall of these incredible minds
sitting around a table havinghard discussions, hard
conversations, and more oftenthan not I can still visualize
this.
There's you sitting at thetable, listening, but you're
doodling.
You're putting pen to paper andyou're doodling like mad, Just
(32:31):
like doodle, doodle, doodle,doodle, doodle.
What were you doing?
Jane (32:37):
It's so funny that you noticed that, that you remember
that, because it took me.
You know, I'm like I did that.
Oh, yeah, I do that.
Yeah, I do do that.
I doodle not probably as muchas I did, but I think it was a
way.
I feel like my brain is going alot fast and I'm listening.
(32:58):
So it was maybe it's a littlebit of a component of OCD or
ADHD or something, because itgave me something to do while I
was listening and I'm just kindof amazed that you remember that
.
Jon (33:10):
So I'm the first person to call you out on your doodling.
Totally Wow, I'm honored, I'msurprised though.
Yeah, no, I, I'll be completelyhonest, I was always like
looking, it's like, well, whatis she doing?
I don't even know what I wasdoing, but yes, I'll tell you
right now about half the time itwas abstract, and the other
time it was usually a face, likefrom shoulders up, sometimes it
(33:30):
was straight on, sometimes it'dbe profile, okay, yeah.
Jane (33:35):
Yeah, no, I definitely was a doodler.
I don't think I do it as much.
I don't do doodling as much asI used to, maybe.
But yeah, some weird way oflistening intently, I guess.
Maybe I was sending secretmessages too, could be, could
know, who knows.
Jon (33:54):
So, speaking of memory, elaine, I was thinking about
some of my favorite Jane Zmemories.
I remember do you remember WoPop at the pier?
So it was after or at the tailend of our working with the
WOMAD festival proper and we hadan evening at Summer Nights at
the pier, that was.
It was David Byrne was theheadliner, and then we had all
(34:16):
sorts of all sorts of folks.
It was a true festival kind offormat and we had installed this
fancy artwork, these figures,these figures on poles that
moved in the wind along thefence line at the venue and at
one point during the day one ofthose pieces blew off and into
(34:37):
the road and hit a car and therewas some commotion and I can't
remember if that was the causeor if there was something else
that was happening at the sametime.
But all of a sudden, what Iremember from my point of view,
I was sitting in my productiontrailer, minding my own business
, unaware of that, there wassome commotion going on and I
remember you coming into myoffice all casual, like, hey,
(34:57):
john, how's it going?
Pretty good.
She's like hey, you don'thappen to have any of your
business cards down here, do you?
I'm like, yeah, and I had themin a box and I just kind of
pushed them across the desk andyou're like thanks, and I
remember you grabbed the giantstack of them and I thought I
wonder what she's doing.
But anyway, I was going back towhat I was doing and what you
(35:20):
did was you went out to thisangry mob of people and you
handed them all my business card.
Jane (35:29):
I really don't remember that, but I was really smart to
give them yours, not mine.
Oh, it was brilliant.
Jon (35:36):
It was brilliant.
I'm just like wow, yeah, so Ihad to field all those calls
over the next couple of days.
Jane (35:42):
How many calls did you actually get?
Jon (35:43):
I don't remember it seemed like thousands, but it might
have been eight or nine or ten.
Jane (35:48):
Okay, oh, that's funny no.
I don't remember that one.
Jon (35:52):
That was smooth.
Jane (35:52):
That's called passing the buck, yeah.
Jon (35:54):
No, I salute you on that one.
Jane (35:56):
Yeah, okay, that's funny.
Jon (36:00):
On a more serious note, you and I we didn't work together
directly much, if at all,because there was always a layer
or two of management betweenyour role and my role.
But on occasion somebody wouldsend me to have a chat with you
about something, and on thoseoccasions I remember very well
that it was a littleintimidating to me because,
(36:21):
again, I was just the new kid onthe block.
Jane (36:24):
I try not to be intimidating, and here you were,
you can be very intimidating,okay.
Jon (36:29):
In a pleasant way, pleasantly intimidating.
You always have this aura of incharge about you, about you.
But every single time that Iwould come to chat with you, you
looked me in the eye and youwould never break that
connection and I always knew Icould just feel it, that you
were actually listening to everysingle word that I said and
(36:55):
that I realize now, later on inlife, I just realized how
powerful an experience that wasfor me.
That built enormous confidencein me.
So I want to thank you for thatand just acknowledge that's an
extraordinary ability to be ableto focus.
You had a thousand and onethings on your plate every
minute of every day, but yourability to just tune all that
(37:17):
out and be with someone is anextraordinary skill.
Jane (37:23):
Thank you for that.
I mean, to me it's just a basicrespect, right?
If you're having a conversationand it annoys the crap out of
me when you know, especially nowwith cell phones, if you're
really trying to have a seriousconversation with somebody and
they're doing, you know, textingand looking at their phone and
looking back at you and thenthey're looking over your
shoulder it's like, hey, I'mhere with you, we have 10
(37:45):
minutes together.
Let's respect each other's time.
So that's nice that youacknowledge that, and I didn't
want to be intimidating, but I'mglad that you recognized that I
was listening, because I dolisten.
Jon (37:59):
Yeah, thank you.
Who do you think you are?
Jane (38:19):
Who do I think I am, you know, do that in pretty much
everything I do, and that wouldbe everything from what I do
professionally to baking tosports.
You know, I guess that's whatmakes me happy and I think
that's how I like to relate topeople.
(38:41):
I guess that's what I would say.
Who I am.
What is your favorite sound?
Hitting a really good golf ballI'm kind of into golf these
days.
Okay, that crack of the ballgoing, you know, down the
fairway.
I love that sound.
Jon (39:01):
I can imagine that right now, but it's not easy to get
that perfect hit.
Jane (39:13):
No, no.
That sound comes when you're inbalance and when you're
executing and following through.
So to me, that's one of myfavorite sounds right now.
Jon (39:19):
You walk into an ice cream shop with the intention of
getting an ice cream cone withtwo scoops.
What are the flavors?
Jane (39:27):
Oh, chocolate and coffee.
Jon (39:29):
That was fast.
Jane (39:31):
Yeah, because that's you know.
It could be some variation onthat, like it could be a coffee
with chocolate fudge in it orsomething.
That was my mom's favorite Igrew up.
I remember we used to go downto the Meijer and Frank in
downtown Portland with chocolatefudge in it or something, or
that was my mom's favorite.
I grew up.
I remember we used to go downto the Meijer and Frank in
downtown Portland and go to thecounter and she would get coffee
, ice cream with hot fudge, andI think I adopted her love for
(39:52):
the combination of chocolate andcoffee.
So you'll find that in.
You know whether it's a mochaor you know pudding.
I make a biscotti.
That's a chocolate biscotti,but I put espresso powder in, so
it's not just an ice cream.
Jon (40:05):
So chocolate and coffee, which flavor goes on top?
Jane (40:09):
Chocolate on top and coffee on the bottom.
Coffee goes into the cone.
Jon (40:13):
Ah, I see where you're going with that.
Jane (40:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You get the chocolate hit.
First you know kind of lingersa little bit, but then when you
get down to it, that coffee iswhat's sinking into the point of
the cone.
Jon (40:24):
I've long realized that it really does matter which flavor
goes on top.
Oh, absolutely, I asked thisquestion of just about everybody
, and the which one goes on toptends to throw people.
Jane (40:35):
They're like oh, no, no, no, no, I got that it matters
yeah people.
They're like oh no, no, no, no,I got that.
It matters yeah.
Jon (40:43):
And what have you discovered in people's choices?
The first thing that pops tomind is our friends from Canada
have a thing for licorice icecream.
Ew Okay no not going there,it's not ew.
It should be celebrated.
We should celebrate Okay.
Jane (40:58):
But, I like licorice, I'm just not sure an ice cream.
Jon (41:01):
Yeah, I noticed that, and there's often now that I say
this.
It's kind of a statement of theobvious, but there's often a
strong childhood.
There's a nostalgic angle totheir preferences.
Jane (41:13):
Yeah, I get that.
Jon (41:14):
Yeah, thank you for making the time today to have this
conversation.
Jane (41:19):
I'm honored that you invited me.
I'm honored how you reflectback on that time we spent
together.
There were a whole bunch ofpeople who were part of that.
It was a great, great time andI think you know, as I said, I
love hearing people's memoriesof whether it was the you know,
they were body surfing at one ofthe concerts and came over the
barrier and got kicked out of ashow to you know, their kid was
(41:43):
smoking pot by the whales or youknow, whatever, whatever those
kinds of stories are, or theydiscovered a certain artist.
So it was fun to reflect withyou back on on that time because
we did some really amazingthings together.
So thank you for thisconversation and thank you for
that time together.
All call one hour to doors.
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