Synchronicity Theatre hosted a virtual panel discussion for the 2021 Virtual Women in the Arts and Business Luncheon on Friday, April 30, from 12 p.m. —1:30 p.m. You can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feQhPmFXVCI&t=856s

Lara Smith counts two things as her proudest achievements of her nine years as managing director of Dad’s Garage Theatre Company, the comedy improv theater troupe. The first was securing its forever home, an Old Fourth Ward church it renovated and opened in 2015, after development plans pushed it out of its longtime Inman Park facility. The second has been helping support its artists and staff during the pandemic by raising $50,000 in emergency funds.

As a type-A person, I’ve always been good at checking things off to-do lists. But how do we make sure we’re always working towards our legacy, as people, and as organizations? This is going to sound dark, but every year I write my obituary as a way to keep my why as a North Star. Five years ago, as I worked on it, I identified that it’s my purpose in life to help people and organizations reach their full potential. I have loved getting to do it at Dad’s, because I am able to have a deep impact on staff and a more shallow impact on every single person who walks through the door.

During her nine years as Dad’s Garage Theatre’s managing director, Lara Smith oversaw the fundraising, search, and then purchase and renovation of an Old Fourth Ward church the nonprofit theater company has called its “forever home” since 2015. Pre-pandemic, Smith doubled the 26-year-old Dad’s Garage annual budget to almost $1.9 million. Smith takes her final bow as managing director on Aug. 13, transitioning into a full-time role with the consulting firm Purpose Possible.

For many years, I would joke with Lara Smith that she was one of the “Great Leaders of Our Time.” Although you may not immediately recognize her name, Lara has been the managing director, aka: the business brains, behind Dad’s Garage Theatre for close to ten years.

Even though being a leader in the arts is a tough job, Lara has excelled in the face of setbacks, challenges, and frustrations. Having served faithfully for over a decade, Lara is stepping down from her role this year and passing the baton to Stacey Sharer, the new managing director. Over her 10-year tenure, Lara has exemplified leadership in ways that I would like to share with you here. I hope that this can inspire other business leaders to become more engaged with arts organizations because we need strong leadership in this sector.

Like many folks in the theatre industry, I have been anxiously awaiting clarification about SVOG and PPP2, patiently preparing for the programs’ experts to weigh in. Unfortunately, what I’ve learned is that there are no experts poised to swoop in, and no deus ex machina to explain it all for us. It’s up to us to figure it out and support one another—the one consistent lesson of this COVID experience.

Synchronicity Theatre will host a virtual panel discussion for the 2021 Virtual Women in the Arts and Business Luncheon on Friday, April 30, from 12 p.m. —1:30 p.m., followed by 30 minutes of small group networking time, a press release says.

Twenty-five years ago, a cohort of freshly minted graduates from Florida State University’s School of Theatre moved to Atlanta and started a theater company. It wasn’t just any theater company though. It was a gonzo, punk rock kind of theater company run by a group of subversive, irreverent bootstrappers who loved improv and called themselves Dad’s Garage Theatre.

Dad’s Garage, the hardy Atlanta improv theater, had grandiose 25th-anniversary plans this August: a big outdoor street party with carnival rides, beer and alums flown in from around the country.

But the pandemic scuttled those plans.