One Cold Email and a Full-Circle Moment I Didn’t See Coming

In 2017, I sent an email to Playbill.

At the time, I was a student trying to figure out what a career in theatre could look like beyond the stage. I knew I loved storytelling. I knew I loved marketing. And I knew that Playbill felt like the perfect intersection of both. So I found the Social Media Manager at Playbill, someone whose job I quietly considered my dream job, and I asked a simple question: How did you get here?

I didn’t expect much. Maybe a short reply. Maybe nothing at all. Instead, she invited me to the Playbill offices.

She took the time to walk me through her career path, answer every question I had, and treat me like someone whose curiosity mattered. That one interaction shifted something for me. It made the path ahead feel less abstract and more…possible.

Fast forward nearly ten years.

I found myself back at the Playbill offices, this time meeting up with my friend and colleague, who now works on their social media team. After nearly two years of connecting online, we were finally sitting in the same space, talking about the evolving role of social media in the theatre industry. And somewhere along the way, my name had ended up in over 30 Playbills.

I now get to create content alongside one of the most iconic organizations in theatre, while also championing regional work through Theatre Under The Stars. The same brand that once felt like a distant dream is now part of my professional world. It’s hard to describe that feeling. It’s not a dramatic, cinematic “I made it” moment. It’s quieter than that. More surreal. More grounding.

What stays with me most isn’t the outcome. It’s the reminder of how it started.

One email.
One question.
One moment of choosing curiosity over hesitation.

Careers are rarely built in big, sweeping moves. More often, they’re built through small decisions that don’t feel significant at the time. Reaching out. Following up. Staying interested. Staying open.

To the students, recent grads, and anyone who feels like they’re still figuring it out: You don’t need to have the whole plan mapped out. You don’t need to feel “ready.” You are building something, even when you can’t see it yet.