We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Mann a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

When Annie and I had the idea to start a theatre company for people with disabilities, that in of itself was a risk. Were there enough arts-loving people out there to enjoy such a thing? Were the demographics grouped together enough for it to be a practical idea? Did we, a vocal performance major and sign language interpreter, respectively, have enough talents combined to run a business?

But the biggest risk: we were broke.

How do you start a business with no money? Especially theatre which needs props, costumes and, oh yeah, a venue.

The stroke of genius came to us that we would be a mobile theatre: we would send two instructors to our clients to teach singing, acting and dancing. But would schools want that? Would libraries? And would people see through us that we were just too poor to rent out a space for our actors?

Well… it worked. And not only did it allow us to get started much faster than raising funds for a place would have… our actors loved it! Having disabilities, going to new place and sometimes be fraught with obstacles. With us coming to them (their school, their PT location, their church) they already knew the area and were comfortable.

In fact, it has been such a success that we’ve vowed to never have an actual location. Mobile theatre allows to reach our mission of theatre for all!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Annie and I co-founded OpenSpot Theatre on accident. I was a failed American Sign Language interpreter and Annie was a successful professional/opera singer. We both had a small summer job teaching theatre to youth when we had a young man with autism grace our doors. He was fantastic! He learned his (and everyone else’s) lines first and was really dynamic on stage. However, the rehearsal process was a bit much. After doing research we found nothing at the time (2011) existed for families in the state of Michigan. Being young, naive and broke we decided to try it ourselves thinking, “How hard could it be?”

The answer? Hard.

But bringing singing, dancing and acting to all people of all abilities was such a quick success! There was a deep need in Metro Detroit for fun, extra curricular activities for people with disabilities. Within ten months we reached our five year goal.

We are most proud of our work these past 13 years in bringing people together and teaching them a new skill. We put on 150 showcases a year where the students themselves write then star in the play. It’s fantastic to see them all shine on stage!

One of our students told me on the first day of class, “Ms Katie, I have no friends.” Then at the showcase six weeks later he announced, “I have 40 friends!” So grateful Annie and I took a chance.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I am a failed American Sign Language interpreter. I have a bachelors degree in interpreting and everything. But… I talk too much. This lead to carpel tunnel of the wrist that PT, shots and countless ice packs could do nothing to help.

My mom, who is very wise, advised my 23 year old self to take a “gap year” and figure out what to do. Not one to sit still I was blessed to meet Annie, of the same mind. Spending time together we saw the need for a theatre for all people with disabilities. And since I had literal time on my hands, we dove in.

It was the best pivot of my life.

I am my own boss. I create my own path. But more than that I have helped 14,000 people with disabilities learn a new skill, make new friends and be part of our shows at OpenSpot Theatre. And for that I am grateful I never became an interpreter.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We started OpenSpot Theatre with $2,700. It’s not a magical number, it’s simply all we had. Because of this limitation we had to solve the problem: How to teach people with disabilities about theatre when we don’t have a space to do so?

The solution was we traveled to them. And that became our most advantageous part of our mission statement underscoring our motto of Theatre For All.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://openspottheatre.com
• Instagram: @openspottheatre
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/openspottheatre

Image Credits

Dick McClain

Nancy Boyd