We were lucky to catch up with Roger Lee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Roger, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Roger Lee Arts, LLC was launched during the spring of 2012. I wanted to create a lifestyle business that produced my work as an independent multidisciplinary artist, gave me the autonomy to make my own art without interference, and gave me true work-life balance.

The foundation of my arts business was my career as a professional dancer, choreographer, and painter. By the time I started my arts business, I had been a working artist for 11 years. I was ready to venture out on my own as an entrepreneurial artist that managed their own career. I decided to do this by launching my own business that produced my own art.

Another motivating factor for my business launch was creating opportunities to help other artists grow in their careers. I did this by offering professional performance opportunities and 1-on-1 career coaching to emerging artists. I believe that when one artist wins, we all win. Each of our individual career successes collectively strengthens our creative industries. I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the arts by supporting artists. All of these motivations led to the birth of Roger Lee Arts, LLC.

Roger, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Roger Lee and I am an arts entrepreneur and a multidisciplinary artist. I became a working artist at the age of 12. My mom took me to an audition for a local television station. They were looking for child dancers to join their new dance team. Out of nearly 400 hopefuls, I was selected as one of the eight lead dancers. I choreographed my first dance routine at the age of 15. I sold my first painting at the age of 16. These were the origins of my artist career story. These experiences set the foundation for me to grow as an artist and eventually launch my own arts business at the age of 23.

Roger Lee Arts, LLC (est. 2012) produces arts-based services, products, and events. Our services include artist career coaching, art commissions, and dance performance. Our products include original paintings and dance merchandise. Our events include solo painting exhibitions and Roger Lee Dance Company concert series. My main hats are being the business’ owner and the business’ featured artist.

I have been blessed to accomplish many things that I dreamed about early in my career. My proudest accomplishment was being featured on the cover of an international bilingual magazine. The cover story was about my career in the arts.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Being an arts entrepreneur requires an extra dose of resilience. Thriving in the business of making art is one of the most challenging and rewarding things that a person can choose to pursue professionally. My resilience was strengthened during the initial isolation phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roger Lee Dance Company was prepared to present our 16th live concert series in Philly. It was business as usual as we prepared for our annual spring concert series in March 2020. We were one week away from showtime when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the city to shut down. I had to make a quick executive decision that was best for me, my family, my team, and my audience. I decided to cancel my production before I was required too. A few days later the whole city was in lock down. I made the right choice and the hard choice. My fellow cast members and I were devastated. We couldn’t perform the show that we spent the last six months rehearsing. I had to issue refunds to my ticket buyers. I had to pivot to a new normal.

I soon decided to turn my live production into a virtual one. As a result, my cast decided to quit. They weren’t interested in dancing at home for an online audience. I had to recruit new virtual performers, hire a videographer, and redo my entire production. The product was a virtual concert video that was available to the public. This was my one and only virtual production.

I had no idea that it would take three years to perform live on stage again. My dance company did not perform on a live stage again until October 2022.This was just in time for our 10th anniversary season. God got us through this rough patch, turned my test into a testimony, and strengthened my resilience in the process. I now feel more resilient than ever before!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There are many times that I had to pivot in my career. One of the biggest pivots I made was going from full-time dance educator to full-time education administrator.

I began teaching dance at 15 years old. I began by renting out my middle school gym to run and teach my own dance classes for community members on Sunday afternoons. Since then, I became a professor of dance at two universities, taught dance master classes at two of the world’s most prestigious dance schools in New York City, taught dance on national and local television segment, was a featured dance instructor in a national dance magazine, and won two dance teacher of the year awards. I was proud to bring my love of dance to thousands of students of kids, teens, and adults. My passion became my full-time profession.

After 15 years of teaching dance full-time, I decided to make a big pivot. I became a full-time education administrator five years ago. Since then, I have been administering entrepreneurship, innovation, and future ready education programs at universities and a high school. I bring a lot of what I learned in the dance studio to my office roles. I thought that I was finished teaching dance. God had other plans for me! I am now teaching dance again as part of my full-time administrative role at a high school. I am so blessed to be wearing my dance educator hat again. I missed wearing it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rogerleearts.com
• Instagram: @RogerLeeArts
• Facebook: @RogerLeeArts
• Linkedin: @RogerLeeArts

Image Credits
Photos by Stephanie DeFeo.