You have had a long career with the Houston Ballet, including being its executive director since 2012. You have just announced that you will step down in 2026 at the age of 61 or 62. What are some of your proudest achievements in that role?
I turned 60 this spring, so I anticipate I’ll be 61 or 62 by the time I retire from Houston Ballet.
When I started in the role of Executive Director in 2012, I challenged myself with three BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).
- Double the endowment size- it was just under $53 million when I was hired and is now around $115 million.
- Strengthen the company’s visibility through top-tier international engagements-we’ve had our first-ever appearances in Paris, Dubai, Melbourne and Tokyo during my tenure.
- Secure gift to name the Center for Dance ($10 million)—my wonderful friend and legendary philanthropist, Margaret Alkek Williams, honored us with the most significant single gift to Houston Ballet in its history and the Houston Ballet Center for Dance is named for her.
Although not pipe dreams, they were significant stretch goals that, in my first several years, I really felt I had set the barre (ballet joke) too high.
Having been able to achieve all three of these goals is truly what I take the most pride in during my tenure as Executive Director, especially in light of having the challenges of Hurricane Harvey, which closed our theater for over a year, and the pandemic which represented the company’s greatest financial challenge in its history.
One of your longtime passions has been craft pottery and you will now devote more of your time to that artistic expression. How long have you had this passion? What is the plan now that you will have more free time to pursue it? How can people learn about your work?
My pottery journey started in 2016, and it was love at first sight. Having been a classical ballet dancer for 11 years professionally, I’m hard-wired with the pursuit of continued learning from great artists. I’ve loved traveling to gain greater knowledge and inspiration in both pottery and woodturning. I’m drawn to the British craft pottery aesthetic, and I intend to spend a few years in the UK with my husband, Richard, potting, turning and gardening. For folks who are interested in learning more about my work, my Instagram page @heightspottery is the best representation of my work. They can also contact me directly at jim@heightspottery.com.
What advice would you give to our readers who are contemplating leaving their first main career? What process did you go through? What were your biggest concerns or issues in making the Re-Imagineer leap? Share some wisdom that others can benefit from.
Fortunately, I am entirely at peace in leaving the ballet business. It’s been my life for over 40 years, and I’m ready to close that chapter. The two things that influenced my decision most were getting to the place where I felt comfortable with what I had achieved during my tenure. I’m a hard grader, but I feel proud of the legacy I’ll leave behind. Secondly, because Houston Ballet has been so wonderful to me, I wanted to leave at a time when it made sense based on the team and their career timelines. It’s my time to exit stage left, so I’m not destabilizing the organization. I’m blessed with such an exceptional team, and they are poised to take the organization from strength to strength.
