Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Molly Sasse, Virginia Corey and Frances Smith, from left, enjoy lunch at an event honoring the family of Bill Brock, Pat Brock and Frank Brock.* Name: Molly Sasse
* Position: Executive director
* Location: Chattanooga Symphony & Opera
* First job: Spending summers working in the typing pool at her father's company.
* Favorite part of her job: "There's not really anything about it I don't absolutely love. I love working with the board of directors and the volunteers. I love working with the musicians. I love being a liaison between those two different worlds of the really creative, artistic personalities and the more practical, business-minded, bottom line focus, and helping both sides see each other's priorities. I love advocating for the music because I love the music. I love the staff that we have. I'd be hard pressed to pick any part of it I didn't really love."
* Least favorite part of the job: "Sometimes there are issues that come up between personalities. I deal with probably thousands of people, and everybody has a different point of view and different concerns, so sometimes meshing all those personalities together is a challenge, but even that I wouldn't say is my least favorite part. There's nothing about this job I don't adore. This is what I've wanted to do since I was a teenager."
* What she's learned: Gratitude. "I'm so grateful to have a job that I absolutely adore. I know so many people have to go to work every day to do something they don't enjoy. I'm so grateful for that. Hopefully that translates into other areas of my life." Multitasking. "I have to do lots of things at the same time." Passion. "I have a passion for this work and hopefully that translates into the volunteer work I do and other arenas I'm involved in."
* How to make a career of it: Sasse has a masters in arts administration. "I think hanging out as much as you can with musicians or theater people, being on the fringes of what it takes to make the concerts happen. You just learn a lot." She recommends anyone interested in arts administration try to find a related internship. "The CSO almost always has an intern. I hope we give those young people a good taste of what it takes to run an orchestra. You get a lot of good experiences. And if you're really interested in classical music, it helps to know classical music." Sasse, who spent years singing in choirs, has a particular affection for the Baroque period.
-- Compiled by staff writer Holly Leber, hleber@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/hollyleber.