Inspiring Women of Imagineering
On Sunday July 16, 2017, “Inspiring Women of Imagineering” took the stage at D23 Expo. Kathy Mangum, Andrea Lawler, Charita Carter, Jodi McLaughlin, Wendy Anderson, Marnie Burress, Sara Thatcher and Laura Cabo discussed what it takes to be an imagineer and how they got into the business.
“I literally walked across the street to WDI in Glendale,” says Carter who was working in accounting at a firm that decided to move its operations east. She got her foot in the door with her accounting skills. Carter says that she has had opportunities with Disney that she never dreamed of having. She went from financial analyst to Blue Sky sessions that her mentors pushed her to try. She encourages people to take advantage of all the opportunities to learn as much as they can.
Lawler had a degree in screenwriting but loved math and science. She missed doing those problems and got an internship to work on robotic characters. After the internship, she joined ride engineering. “You could have both disciplines working together.”
“Imagineering just reeks with this optimism,” says McLaughlin.
“When you step into a Disney park… you’re walking into a world,” says Anderson. “I’m still making theater, but it’s on a grander scale.”
“The culture of ‘Yes, and…’ has been really gratifying for me,” says Anderson. “Our job is to say, ‘How can we make that happen?’” As a business culture, “it’s been an open-hearted place.”
“We do it together,” says Burress.
“Imagineers are all very idealistic,” says Cabo. They try to do the best they can do. “Themed plaster is an art.”
“We’re story first and foremost,” says Mangum. The mall maybe doesn’t have a story.
“The whole world really resonates around stories,” says Cabo.
The pod program helps people tell their stories. The AG Gaston Hotel in Birmingham needed to be reinvigorated. Imagineers helped design an immersive story to help bring its history to life. Cabo likes the pod program and says, “We really have a responsibility to be careful about what we do.”
Burress joined the Animal Kingdom construction team because she wanted to learn how to build something.
“I thought it would make me a better designer,” says Burress. She just need to learn about better design.
“No idea is a bad idea,” says Thatcher. “What we do at R&D is discovering” the way to move the parks to the future.
“I literally walked across the street to WDI in Glendale,” says Carter who was working in accounting at a firm that decided to move its operations east. She got her foot in the door with her accounting skills. Carter says that she has had opportunities with Disney that she never dreamed of having. She went from financial analyst to Blue Sky sessions that her mentors pushed her to try. She encourages people to take advantage of all the opportunities to learn as much as they can.
Lawler had a degree in screenwriting but loved math and science. She missed doing those problems and got an internship to work on robotic characters. After the internship, she joined ride engineering. “You could have both disciplines working together.”
“Imagineering just reeks with this optimism,” says McLaughlin.
“When you step into a Disney park… you’re walking into a world,” says Anderson. “I’m still making theater, but it’s on a grander scale.”
“The culture of ‘Yes, and…’ has been really gratifying for me,” says Anderson. “Our job is to say, ‘How can we make that happen?’” As a business culture, “it’s been an open-hearted place.”
“We do it together,” says Burress.
“Imagineers are all very idealistic,” says Cabo. They try to do the best they can do. “Themed plaster is an art.”
“We’re story first and foremost,” says Mangum. The mall maybe doesn’t have a story.
“The whole world really resonates around stories,” says Cabo.
The pod program helps people tell their stories. The AG Gaston Hotel in Birmingham needed to be reinvigorated. Imagineers helped design an immersive story to help bring its history to life. Cabo likes the pod program and says, “We really have a responsibility to be careful about what we do.”
Burress joined the Animal Kingdom construction team because she wanted to learn how to build something.
“I thought it would make me a better designer,” says Burress. She just need to learn about better design.
“No idea is a bad idea,” says Thatcher. “What we do at R&D is discovering” the way to move the parks to the future.