{photo by Britt Olsen-Ecker}

Genevieve de Mahy graduated from the University of Colorado- Boulder with a B.A. in Theatre, Creative Writing, and French. After graduation, rather than follow a traditional theatre career route, she collaborated with a group of friends to found Single Carrot Theatre, a nonprofit ensemble theatre company in Baltimore, Maryland. This unique path she carved for herself has made her an interdisciplinary theatre artist in the realms of directing, performance, and writing. She has been awarded Best Actress in City Paper’s Best of Baltimore awards, and she is now the Artistic Director for Single Carrot Theatre. Enjoy her exclusive Business Heroine interview…

BH: What is the story of the founding of Single Carrot Theatre?

Genevieve: Single Carrot Theatre was founded by a group of University of Colorado students in theatre who were nearing graduation. When thinking of entering the professional world of theatre, we did not want to be subject to only hitting the audition circuit or to having to do artistic work that was not inspiring to us. We also felt that the theatre industry needed a recharge. Doing work that was provocative, engaging, and vibrant to people our age was a priority. While in the conceptual stages, we polled people our age and asked them why they didn’t see theatre.

They said that it was boring, too expensive, and irrelevant. We wanted to change that. After moving to Baltimore, we realized that there was also a great community need for arts education and engagement. We have also created robust programming to address arts education needs and to expose communities to theatre.

{photo by Chris Hartlove}

BH: Solopreneur companies and even many grassroots nonprofits have one person at the helm. What specific challenges and rewards come with the community-style leadership that takes place at Single Carrot?

There are several challenges and benefits that come from being part of a group. The ensemble is a group of artist/administrators who are highly involved in company decision-making. Decisions are made democratically. The benefit is that we have an entire team that is contributing ideas and sharing their thoughts and perspectives.

This can also be the great challenge. One of the discussions we have been having as an ensemble is clarifying the role that we play as a governing body. What decisions do we make together? Which ones can leaders or department heads move forward with? As we grow, we are working now to clarify decision-making roles of the group. Another benefit is that when you fall, there is an entire group there to support you and lend a hand.

BH: You have also done international development work with locally based organizations around the world – Egypt, India, Indonesia, and North Africa. How did this background influence your artistic work?

Genevieve: I find it so interesting when you come to the table with people who have completely different backgrounds than your own. You have to work out a problem when you are all coming from completely different perspectives. Our culture plays such a large role in our thinking patterns and problem solving strategies. When you’re working with people where there are language barriers and differences in cultural perspectives, it can provide fascinating insight to how we each deal with problems and conflict. It also makes you very aware of workplace culture.

You start to notice which workplace cultures are inherently American, which are the result of the industry we work in, and what is unique to our organization’s work culture. This allows you to be more adaptable and creative in how you approach a problem. Plus, theatre is all about seeing something through the eyes of someone else. Having cross-cultural exchange where you have to work together to reach a solution or compromise allows you to observe the logical path that someone else takes and hopefully come to an understanding and respect of that perspective.

{photo by Britt Olsen-Ecker}

BH: Are there specific challenges that women face in Arts Leadership?

Genevieve: The arts, and especially theatre as an industry, has a very large number of women involved as artists and administrators, but very few arts leaders. In theatre, there is always a plethora of actresses, but very few female directors. Why does this take place? How can female directors and arts leaders advocate bringing more women into leadership? At Single Carrot Theatre, I have never felt like my gender had anything to do with my ability for my voice to be heard. But something does happen in the industry. This has been a hot topic in the theatre industry and this problem is starting to get not only noticed, but talked about. Theatres have started asking the question of how to showcase more female directors and female playwrights. When you’re only telling the most common story, then you have a problem.

We are working proactively to leverage and showcase those other stories and perspectives. There was even an article recently about a professor who teaches graduate level Directing. She was teaching her female graduate students to avoid using passive language and be more clear and directive- to avoid using words, like “Do you think you could do this?”, “Maybe you could try this?.” As women, we have to be aware of what our strengths are by nature of being women, but also ways that we may be compromising our authority through the language we use.

BH: Were there moments when you got scared or felt like you just wanted to give it all up?

Genevieve: Every day is terrifying. That fear never goes away for entrepreneurs and artists.  At any given moment everything could fall apart. The important thing is how you channel that fear and what you do with it. Let it fuel the fire. When it feels like the fear is weighing you down, what tactics can you use to pull yourself out of it? Art and entrepreneurship are always about risk-taking. If you don’t take risks, you won’t grow. If you don’t address your fear, you will never achieve. The day-to-day heart palpitations of fear never go away.

BH: What advice do you have for the artistically-inclined heroines out there who are inspired to invent their own career?

Genevieve: Find people who believe in you and who will advocate for you. They will be your best marketing tool. Those people will tell others about you and will allow you to build your client base. Show your appreciation for them as well. Engage them and let them know that they are a part of it, let them become invested. Doing it entirely on your own is so much more difficult. Find the people that you know already and the people you will meet who can be your village. The more they feel that they are a part of what you are doing, the more they will sing your praises from the rooftops.

{photo by Britt Olsen-Ecker}

BH: How can the Business Heroines learn more about Single Carrot Theatre?

Genevieve: You can always visit our website at .

If you are not in the area, but want to hear more about what we’re thinking about, we have recently started a podcast, “Freshly Observed” to talk with various people about ideas, arts, education and Baltimore. It is available on our website and on iTunes.

***Special Offer for Business Heroines***

We’d love to offer Business Heroine readers a 50% discount on a pair of tickets to see any Single Carrot production in the 2014/2015 Season. View the season’s offerings here:

Coupon code BIZHER

For your reference if you find yourself on the East Coast, we are 1 hour north of Washington, DC, 2 hours from Philadelphia, and 3 and a half hours from New York. 

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November 2014 Issue