Katz, who majored in technical direction at Purchase, began his career at Showman Fabricators in Long Island City, NY. After eight years, he was about to turn 34, and the Atlas Scenic Studios in Bridgeport, CT, was up for sale. He took the leap and bought it. As 2012 dawns, Atlas has 55 employees and has become one of five major scene shops in New York City. Katz’s company built the sets for two Broadway shows running in January 2012—Wit and Follies—and fabricated substantial portions of the scenes for How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying and Anything Goes. He also designs sets for fashion shows for Victoria’s Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, and Sergio Rossi. “I figured I needed to try it so I didn’t have regrets later in life,” says Katz, 40, of Stratford, CT. “I needed to do it before I was old and a curmudgeon, which I happen to be now.”
FLEXIBILITY TO FIND OPPORTUNITY IN OBSTACLES Entrepreneurs are good at reinventing themselves and their products or services. Peter Fogel ’80, an actor and stand-up comic, grew weary of show business by his late 30s. He moved to Delray Beach, FL, and developed a freelance life that included writing advertising copy, Internet marketing, corporate training, and motivational speaking at corporations and associations. Fogel also keeps in touch with his inner funnyman as the co-host of the no.1 self-indulgent help program on Internet radio: “The Boomer Humor Radio Show” ( www.boomerhumorradio.com and www.reinventyourselfnow.com ). “Since the day I graduated from Purchase, I’ve been on my own,” says Fogel. “I’m a martial artist who, when defending myself, uses my hands, arms, elbows, and the environment—everything I have. When reinventing yourself, you need all present and past skills you have to overcome obstacles that might otherwise get in your way.”
Peter Fogel
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Anna Finke
That reinvention can happen within an organization as well. Anna Finke ’03, who studied dance at Purchase, met the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham while serving as a production intern at Merce Cunningham Dance during the summer after graduation. The internship led to a job with the company in the fall of 2003, working on its lighting crew. When the company’s costume designer was unable to accompany the group on tour to Asia, Finke, who’d grown up on a strawberry farm in Minnesota, mentioned that she could sew. She flew to Asia to work on Cunningham costumes. That trip led to more costume work and to getting hired as the company’s wardrobe supervisor, which didn’t tap into her artistic proclivities. But she kept at it, looking for opportunities within the company. She began taking photographs, and soon became the company’s official photographer. By 2007, she’d designed her first costume for the company, and later became the group’s costume designer. “I didn’t study photography or costume design at Purchase, but being a dancer really helped,” she says. “I used to be in the dancers’ shoes. I knew what they needed in a costume to be comfortable. And it’s nice to know, when shooting, that I have an eye for what the dance should look like.” Even the greatest performances must come to an end. The Cunningham company closed on New Year’s Eve with a huge finale, for which Finke designed the costumes. She’ll be working there for six months as the company’s costumes are shipped to the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, MN, for its permanent collection. It’s time for Finke to reinvent herself— a 21st-century task that entrepreneurial Purchase alumni seem well equipped to carry out. “At Purchase, the dance program is very intense, and you don’t know how you are going to get through, but you do,” she says. “I found my way by going to the right places, meeting people, being open, and seeing where the world brought me.”