Meet Victoria Detres

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Victoria Detres. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Victoria, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

As a young girl with big dreams about the life I was going to make for myself, I always asked myself what do I want to do? And in this pondering I projected a question back to myself, how does living my purpose feel? The only answer was love.

I knew that no matter what my life could be, I wanted people to know that I loved them and that the work I did had a clear thread of love woven into it.

This translated into the work I do today.

I think we find our purpose through absence. When we feel a lack or loss, it illuminates what needs to be cultivated to fill this absence.

I work in the theatrical industry, and this is an immense privilege but one that I never imagined having. At a very early age I witnessed a lack of representation on stages and in mainstream media. I constantly found myself searching for women who looked like me in these places, later coming to the disparaging realization regarding the lack of representation. So much of my experience in the industry was a bit of an uphill battle, often being one of the only women of color in the room. Through these many experiences, lacking community, I felt my own self worth compromised and my voice weakening.

Then a shift happened, a collective consciousness awoken. I began to meet established artists in the industry, my early mentors who uplifted me and championed me by building structures for my success. And slowly but surely in this career journey more opportunities for marginalized communities to find each other were created. As I found myself being a lucky recipient of these experiences I wanted to then open doors behind me, and I became an individual building these systems for equity.

It was only by losing my voice, that I was able to find my purpose. I did not want future generations of young women like me to ever feel this way. That’s when I realized my path of purpose, cultivating care. My purpose now lies in community building often centered around the arts, creating new pathways of inclusion and leading from a mindset of abundance. Understanding that if we build new ecosystems of intentionality we all benefit. My purpose of cultivating care was something I was meant to discover, a purpose my younger version of me seemed to already understand. Care is just love in practice.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a theatrical producer, producing new work by artists of the global majority. And I am also one of the founding members of the RISE Theatre Directory and I currently manage the RISE Theatre Program. The RISE Theatre Directory was founded in collaboration with Maestra Music, Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Miranda Family Fund. It is the linkedin for the FULL theatrical industry serving all roles and positions behind the scenes and in administrative offices. Intentionally designed to amplify marginalized folks such as women, people of color, trans, non binary, deaf and disabled. To fight the narrative that these candidates don’t exist, and instead make it easier to find these candidates through our search filters.

Additionally we gather and share statistics about where the performing arts is with representation, and in an effort to increase equitable opportunities we have a national group of 45 Network Partners. All of our network partners range in opportunities for increased equity across the board. Whether it is through accessibility services or fellowships for black artists, we amplify and create a roadmap for folks interested in supporting and being involved with these organizations.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Empathy and compassion for myself has been some of the greatest skills I could develop for myself in this journey. Life is already stressful, so being mean to yourself for what you can’t control is just unfair. Early on in my career I understood that clear boundaries for my work were important because it stopped me from becoming my own worst enemy. Boundaries can look like refusing to answer emails after 9pm, or very clearly setting your work hours. Hustle culture although enticing actually extinguishes so much of our internal will power that helps us lead. When the individual forgets to care for themselves it can often trickle out into unintentional frustration or conflict in many interpersonal relationships.

Empathy- Giving myself grace during failures. We are human and errors happen. Most of the time our biggest failures are our most important lessons. I won’t always have the right answer but understanding that I am ever evolving allows me to escape the confines of my own anxiety.

Advice for anyone early in their journey is to cultivate your own individual forms of self care. For a long time I dealt with, and still sometimes deal with anxiety around rest, often feely guilty or lazy when I have an off day. I’ve had to heavily challenge this notion, and often times when I refused to take time to rest the universe will find a way to make me rest (usually in the form of a cold). If we are not able to fill our own cup, we begin waiting for quick fixes that do not lead to long term sustainability.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

Ever since I was a child I remember my parents always telling me to be a leader, to use my voice. I was often confused and annoyed by how often they recited this. Thinking “duh, of course”, not realizing the true depth of this advice. It initially acted as a protection, if I can use my voice and be a leader, I can protect myself from relationships that might not have the best intentions for me. It inspired autonomy for a young woman who had to navigate various social and political worlds in her lifetime that always aspired to rob her of her autonomy. My parents in these small words of wisdom saw all the potentials of me in a world that could be scary, then did the work of nurturing and empowering me to always be my own hero. It was vital to have their confidence instilled in me before the world was able to knock it down.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://victoriadetres.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-detres/

Image Credits

Heather Gershonowitz
Daleelah Saleh
Rebecca J Michelson
Gina Detres
Anthony Artis