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July 05, 2008
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MY FIRST DOLLAR
Typing Course Eased Switch From Stage To Nonprofits
05/12/08
Kim Hathaway got her first job working as an usherette in a movie theater. It was around the time the Barbara Streisand classic “Funny Girl” hit the big screen, and the close proximity to Babs in all her glory only fueled Hathaway’s deeply rooted passion for the theater.
But it was a typing course that her parents made her take in college that eventually smoothed her transition from aspiring Broadway star to leadership positions in major nonprofits.
Love for the theater was something she developed growing up. Her parents always played lots of show tunes. And living in Darien, she often went to Broadway with her family. When she was old enough, she trucked into Manhattan all on her own.
In high school, she was heavily involved in theater. She sang. She danced. She admits she had no flair for dramatic acting, so comedies became her specialty.
“I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” Hathaway said. “I was being a big fish in a small town and doing well.”
Performing Arts Major
When it was time to head off to college, Hathaway specifically chose the now-defunct Bennett College in Millbrook, N.Y., because it allowed her to major in performing arts immediately. She wanted to be on Broadway.
“My parents agreed as long as I took typing,” she recalled. They wanted to be certain she’d always have a job. It seemed senseless at the time. She had no idea how helpful it would become.
The year after she graduated college, Hathaway lingered in the Hudson Valley working for the New York Daily News’ Sunday magazine for the area. She didn’t have a plan for New York yet, so she decided to stay and save money for when the time finally came — which it did, in the form of a phone call from a friend.
The friend had just landed an apartment with a singer. They just needed a third roommate.
“So I thought, ‘Ok, here I go,’” she recalled.
Her first audition put her up for a part in a musical comedy on Broadway. She stood in line with what must have been 500 other hopefuls. The anticipation was killing her. Her fellow actors, it seemed, had a similar mission.
“My memory of it is that everyone there tried to destroy the other people in line,” she recalled.
People who left to smoke were not allowed back in line. People tripped each other as they walked past. It was cutthroat, and it was only the beginning of the bitter experience to come.
“I just thought, ‘I don’t know if my skin is thick enough for this,’” Hathaway said.
She finally broke through the crowd and showcased her talents before a less-than-thrilled director and crew. Who told her she could sing, they asked. And with such a low voice, we’d need a male part for you to fill, they sneered.
Devastated, she left and headed back to her apartment to ponder long and hard her future in the business.
“Is this really how I want to spend every day until I get a part?” she recalled thinking at the time. “To get there is just too difficult. I don’t think I wanted it badly enough.”
New Dreams
With her Broadway dreams shattered, she still had to find a way to survive in the city. So she took her typing skills straight to an employment agency and got a job working for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Hathaway worked there for the next 10 years.
From there, she returned to Connecticut to work for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Then, she took time to raise her two kids and did a little catering on the side. When she was ready to enter the working world again, she enlisted the services of a temp agency, which trained her in computers and landed her a job with the National Kidney Foundation. She’s been with the organization for the past 15 years, nine as the group’s CEO.
“I really believe that everyone should have magic in their lives, which was the theater for me,” Hathaway said.
Working in nonprofits has allowed her to try and make people’s lives better. “Doing this kind of stuff, that’s the magic,” she added. “You’re giving [those in need] a little magic.”
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