When my mom was dying, I got in my car and drove home. No one at work asked when I was coming back.

When my mom was dying, I got in my car and drove home. No one at work asked when I was coming back.

It was 2002, and I was the Stage Manager for Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

Even people who don’t work in theater know “the show must go on”, so the idea that I walked away in the middle of a summer season is pretty bonkers.

Except it’s not. Colorado was the only place I worked that had understudy stage managers. We each trained to run one other show, just in case.

So when mom went into hospice, I left - no idea if or when I’d come back.
My understudy, Jeannette Gunderson, took over, called the show, and did a marvelous job.
And the amazing cast and crew rallied to help Jeannette succeed.

Mom died, and the festival season wasn’t quite over. After spending a little time with my family, I came back to Colorado to call one last show. It did my heart good to run one more performance of that beautiful show with beautiful humans.

And that’s when I realized how deeply important it was to me to always be replaceable at work.

In every role, I’ve done my best to ensure that if I were “hit by a bus tomorrow”, someone could pick up. It wouldn't be perfect, but there's enough information and documentation and support that the work could be done.

I'd be missed as a person, of course. But my job? Someone else could do it. And that’s exactly how I want it.

Have you ever had an understudy?
Someone who could step in when you needed to step away?