print this page
By Joan Dowling
Patrice Tanaka, co-chair and chief creative officer of CRT/tanaka, an award-winning, mid-size, national PR and marketing agency, is committed to the idea of “whatcanbe,” her agency’s brand essence, cultural ethos and approach to business. As the firm’s “whatcanbe” ambassador, she helps the agency adapt an expansive world view that has helped her firm to be recognized for its nurturing workplace culture and win more than 300 awards for client campaigns.
Patrice has been honored with notable awards such as the New York Women in Communications’ Matrix Award, the Association for Women in Communications’ Headliner Award, the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York’s Woman of Distinction Award, Working Mother Magazine’s Mothering That Works Award and the Asian Women in Business’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Award.
In her new book Becoming Ginger Rogers…How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner and Smarter CEO, Patrice recounts how she started ballroom dance lessons at age 50 to satisfy a lifelong dream of dancing like Ginger Rogers. And, in so doing, she found her way to unimaginable joy.
What inspired you to share your personal journey?
When I started ballroom dancing, I kept taking notes in my Blackberry on my lessons. At a certain point, I realized the lessons seemed to apply to my life beyond the dance floor. In 2008, I was speaking at a NYWICI event, when I was asked about my ballroom dancing. I tossed out that I was thinking about writing a book about the lessons I’ve learned from ballroom dancing that had application in my business and personal life. After I finished speaking, someone from the audience approached me for an interview about “my book,” which was not even a reality at the time. That evening I decided to speak with another NYWICI member, literary agent Fredi Friedman, about my book idea. She loved it and helped make it a reality. I really believe that because I verbalized the idea of writing a book this helped it to materialize. Once an idea is verbalized, it can take on a life of its own and become a reality. Even more powerful is stating your vision and giving it a deadline. I’ve manifested many things over the years in this way and by the stated deadline.
Is there one single message you wish readers to take away?
I want everyone to identify and pursue whatever it is that brings them joy. We often think this is selfish, but it really is critically important to living a fulfilled and joyful life. When you are filled with joy, you overflow with joy and that’s what you share with others. My “wake-up” call was September 11th. I was haunted by those nearly 3,000 people who died that day, wondering if they were prepared to die. It made me want to live my life in such a way that I was “good to go” whenever it was my time whether or not I had any advance warning. For me that meant making time to pursue my lifelong dream of ballroom dancing despite the pressing responsibilities of my business, caring for a husband who had a long-term illness and fulfilling many other professional and civic obligations. At that time, I was totally burnt out and unexcited and uninspired by my own life. I realized that I needed to “reclaim” my life and that meant scheduling myself back into my own life and making my needs and desires a priority. Ballroom dancing brought a new found joy into my life. For others, pursuing joy might mean an entirely different kind of activity or experience. Whatever it is, it should be something that is foreign to you and not part of your everyday life. The key, I think, is to get outside your comfort zone and take up an activity that you, most likely, won’t perform well at first. A friend of mine says that anything worth doing is worth doing badly, and I totally agree. Taking up ballroom dancing for me meant letting go of perfectionism, and that has been very liberating.
I want everyone to identify and pursue whatever it is that brings them joy. We often think this is selfish, but it really is critically important to living a fulfilled and joyful life. When you are filled with joy, you overflow with joy and that’s what you share with others. My “wake-up” call was September 11th. I was haunted by those nearly 3,000 people who died that day, wondering if they were prepared to die. It made me want to live my life in such a way that I was “good to go” whenever it was my time whether or not I had any advance warning. For me that meant making time to pursue my lifelong dream of ballroom dancing despite the pressing responsibilities of my business, caring for a husband who had a long-term illness and fulfilling many other professional and civic obligations. At that time, I was totally burnt out and unexcited and uninspired by my own life. I realized that I needed to “reclaim” my life and that meant scheduling myself back into my own life and making my needs and desires a priority. Ballroom dancing brought a new found joy into my life. For others, pursuing joy might mean an entirely different kind of activity or experience. Whatever it is, it should be something that is foreign to you and not part of your everyday life. The key, I think, is to get outside your comfort zone and take up an activity that you, most likely, won’t perform well at first. A friend of mine says that anything worth doing is worth doing badly, and I totally agree. Taking up ballroom dancing for me meant letting go of perfectionism, and that has been very liberating.
How has taking on the challenge of learning ballroom dancing helped you in business?
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from ballroom dancing is the need to be fully present — mind, body and spirit — to dance well. Executing your present step full-out and fearlessly is what will produce a great next step — or your “future.” If, however, you’re stuck in the “past,” beating yourself up over a misstep, you’ll compromise your “present” step, which will, in turn, compromise your “future” step. That is why staying present is your best guarantee of producing the future you desire. So now, I focus on trying to be fully present in my life off the dance floor, including my business engagements. When you are not fully present, you can miss a lot of information. Being fully present in mind, body and spirit is the most powerful mode in which to operate. Communications become clearer; you can make stronger connections with others and, as a result, create more successful and powerful partnerships.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from ballroom dancing is the need to be fully present — mind, body and spirit — to dance well. Executing your present step full-out and fearlessly is what will produce a great next step — or your “future.” If, however, you’re stuck in the “past,” beating yourself up over a misstep, you’ll compromise your “present” step, which will, in turn, compromise your “future” step. That is why staying present is your best guarantee of producing the future you desire. So now, I focus on trying to be fully present in my life off the dance floor, including my business engagements. When you are not fully present, you can miss a lot of information. Being fully present in mind, body and spirit is the most powerful mode in which to operate. Communications become clearer; you can make stronger connections with others and, as a result, create more successful and powerful partnerships.
What advice can you give women who are defining and identifying their own grand mission in life?
Determine your life’s purpose so that you can live in a way that fulfills that purpose. It’s important that you determine your life’s purpose and not let it be determined by others. I’ll often ask prospective hires as well as others I meet what their purpose in life is as a way to quickly understand what’s central to them. The answer to this question communicates a lot about a person. Only you can identify your purpose in life. If you’re not sure, then spend some time thinking about and determining what it is. Knowing your life purpose makes clearer the things that are good uses of your time and those that are not. If you don’t know your life’s purpose, you can be susceptible to spending a lot of time pleasing everyone else but yourself.
Determine your life’s purpose so that you can live in a way that fulfills that purpose. It’s important that you determine your life’s purpose and not let it be determined by others. I’ll often ask prospective hires as well as others I meet what their purpose in life is as a way to quickly understand what’s central to them. The answer to this question communicates a lot about a person. Only you can identify your purpose in life. If you’re not sure, then spend some time thinking about and determining what it is. Knowing your life purpose makes clearer the things that are good uses of your time and those that are not. If you don’t know your life’s purpose, you can be susceptible to spending a lot of time pleasing everyone else but yourself.
Which ballroom dance is your favorite and why?
I love the samba. The music is joyful and you dance with a bounce in your step. I call it the “dance of joy.” I love my samba so much that I really want to perform it as well as I can. In dance there is always a more advanced way to execute a step or series of steps called figures, so I’m constantly practicing to improve my samba even after all these years of dancing it. Much like in PR, you can execute a brilliant campaign, but if you had the chance to do it over again, you could probably improve upon it. It’s all about continual improvement. Through ballroom dancing, I’ve been able to view so-called “failure” as a stepping stone to success. You never really achieve perfection, but you work towards it every day.
I love the samba. The music is joyful and you dance with a bounce in your step. I call it the “dance of joy.” I love my samba so much that I really want to perform it as well as I can. In dance there is always a more advanced way to execute a step or series of steps called figures, so I’m constantly practicing to improve my samba even after all these years of dancing it. Much like in PR, you can execute a brilliant campaign, but if you had the chance to do it over again, you could probably improve upon it. It’s all about continual improvement. Through ballroom dancing, I’ve been able to view so-called “failure” as a stepping stone to success. You never really achieve perfection, but you work towards it every day.
Join NYWICI on these social networks: