Speaking with Jennifer Davenport from Houston Grand Opera

In this episode, host Jonathan Horowitz chats with Jennifer Davenport from the Houston Grand Opera! 🎭✨ Jennifer shares her journey in the world of opera, her passion for storytelling through music, and the magic of live performances. Discover how the arts can transform communities and why opera is more relevant than ever. 

Transcript

intro: 0:05

Welcome to the business of Houston Hospitality, where we visit with and learn from the people behind Houston's vibrant and diverse hospitality industry. Each week we speak with owners and operators of restaurants, hotels, venues, attractions, museums, theaters, and more. Please welcome your host, president of the Houston Hospitality Alliance and founder of Convive Hospitality Consultant, Jonathan Horowitz.

Jonathan: 0:34

Greetings from Houston. This is the business of Houston hospitality. I am your host, Jonathan Horowitz. And today I will be speaking with Jennifer Davenport from Houston grand opera. As always, we will talk about Jennifer's history in Houston, how the business of the opera is doing and what Jennifer thinks about Houston's hospitality and tourism industry and its future. We'll get into all of that with Jennifer right now. Welcome to the show, Jennifer Davenport.

Jennifer: 1:03

Hi. Hi, Jonathan.

Jonathan: 1:04

Thank you for being here. We certainly appreciate it.

Jennifer: 1:07

I am honored to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Jonathan: 1:10

Well, that's great. Well, so, you know, before we got started, we were talking a little bit about your history in Houston, and I think it would be great to give the listeners a little idea of your past both personal and professional. And, you know, you've got a very, very interesting history and coming into the opera as you are now from, from a very different world. So I think it would be great if you could kind of give us an idea of. That history and how long you've been in Houston and where you're from and all of that fun stuff.

Jennifer: 1:39

Okay, well, I consider myself a born and raised Houstonian, but I'm technically not. I'm from Crosby, Texas, which is on the other side of Lake Houston, still in Harris County. But,

Jonathan: 1:49

Close enough. That is close enough.

Jennifer: 1:52

technically not Houston. Houston was a destination growing up. Somewhere that we, you know, would take off to for the day. But born and raised, always lived in Houston, always lived in Texas. I went to college in East Texas at Stephen F. Austin, and then immediately after college, like everyone else in the early two thousands, I wanted to get to Austin, Texas for whatever reasons. And so I lived in Austin for six years, right after school and worked in media, which was a great time. But was drawn back home to Houston. I wanted to work in professional sports at that time in my life and the best sports teams are here in Houston. So, came back home to work for Toyota Center and the Houston Rockets around 2006. Worked there for five years and then moved over to the Houston Texans. So, worked in Houston sports for about 16, 17 years. And then in 2022, moved over to Houston Grand Opera and introduced to the performing arts world of Houston.

Jonathan: 2:43

So that is quite a change. Were you an athlete growing up? Where, where did your interest in sports come from?

Jennifer: 2:49

Well, my dad was a high school football coach and my mom was a high school athlete. And so sports was our, our whole world, our life revolved around the high school football schedule. And then of course the Astros, since my dad was a football coach, I actually watched more baseball because he wasn't home a lot during football season, but baseball is what we did in the off season as a family. So yeah, major sports family played softball and golf and basketball growing up and, and just loved that I had the opportunity to work in professional sports as an adult.

Jonathan: 3:17

That's great. Well, yeah, it's such a big Astro fan and you worked for the other two big sports teams and never the Astros. It's funny how that works out.

Jennifer: 3:24

it worked out, I guess.

Jonathan: 3:26

So tell us a little bit about what you did for both of the, of the teams before you got to HGO.

Jennifer: 3:33

Okay, so at Toyota Center it was actually a nice little blend of what I had been doing and what I wanted to do. So I worked for the Toyota Center and the Rockets and did marketing and promotions for all the concerts that were coming through the building. So kind of bringing in that media and radio world that I had been in doing all the media buying and promotions. And then for the Rockets was able to To work on all their grassroots events they're non sports PR. So not Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady at the time, but more bobbleheads and Rockets power dancers. So all the off court things that we hoped were going to attract people to come to a Rockets game. So always marketing, advertising, special events.

Jonathan: 4:11

That's fantastic. So yeah, I mean, and, and obviously both of those teams, all of the teams really have such significant community involvement in Houston and they're so ingrained, you know, in, in society in general and with the philanthropy they do and all of the partnerships and sponsorships and everything. I can imagine that was extremely busy for you.

Jennifer: 4:36

No, it was wonderful. I think that both of my experiences in pro sports, the teams were really focused on youth. And as someone who grew up around sports, I know how impactful participating in sports can be, how it feels to have role models in the sports world. And so just being able to work for two teams that really were invested in community and especially youth in Houston was a great part of the job.

Jonathan: 4:58

So let's talk a little bit about the transition that you've made within really the past couple of years. And this is obviously kind of coming out of COVID time, right? So let's talk a little bit about that transition from the Texans organization to the arts community in Houston. And how did that happen and why?

Jennifer: 5:20

Yeah I actually met Corrie Destore, who is the CEO and General Director of Houston Grand Opera, and she was very influential in me dipping my toe into the performing arts world. She was new to Houston. and had been brought in to do great things at Houston Grand Opera and after chatting with her I wanted to be part of what she was doing. She had a strong belief that bringing someone from the outside of the performing arts is what she wanted in a marketing and branding They had never had a CMO at Houston Grand Opera before. Marketing had always lived underneath a different vertical. And maybe, I won't say it wasn't a priority, but it just didn't really have the singular focus that it has when it's its own vertical underneath the general director. And so she created the position and wanted to bring someone that wouldn't know how it had always been done, wouldn't say, this is how we do it. Because Honestly, I did not know anything about working in the performing arts. And so I definitely haven't been that person. I, I bring them definitely a fresh perspective, but because I had worked in sports and worked in entertainment and had a lot of experience of putting butts in seats, that's what she wanted for the team. And then of course brand management working for the NBA and the NFL. There's a lot of that goes into building a strong brand and, and having every element of your business contributed to a positive brand experience. So Corrie Dustor is what brought me to Houston Grand Opera and there's no looking back.

Jonathan: 6:45

That's great. No, that's I would imagine, you know, coming into it a couple of years ago or almost a couple of years ago, they would still have been in the process of quote, unquote, you know, recovery, you know, from the COVID shutdown and the COVID years. And I would imagine, I mean, obviously you weren't there prior to the pandemic, but I would imagine that things are very different there now than, than they were. Have you been able to gain a perspective on how things have changed and what the challenges are and just kind of where things stand, particularly with the opera, but With the arts in general in Houston nowadays as compared to pre pandemic.

Jennifer: 7:30

Well, like you mentioned, I wasn't there, but what people remind me of often is that for the theater district, it wasn't just the pandemic. It was hurricane Harvey as well. And, and particularly the opera had been displaced due to the flood due to the flooding downtown. And so they were just bouncing back from Harvey and kind of getting momentum again when the pandemic came. So it was several years of trying to climb out of what had happened. And I think a lot of people, you know, they, they're talking about building back our audiences. We've been doing a lot of work in the last couple of years, you know, changing audiences and changing the guest experience. And so. I think there were some years that we were very fortunate to have the support of the strong philanthropy community here in Houston. Which is how the art form is sustained by and large anyway, but to be able to welcome audiences back in full force. Last season. And then again, this season has been really amazing to see.

Jonathan: 8:19

And do you have a sense, do you have access to kind of the statistics on kind of where things are in terms of ticket sales, subscriptions you know, how things are pacing or comparisons between now and then, and just kind of how the business is doing just generally?

Jennifer: 8:40

It's doing really well. We've had a record breaking season this year. The consumer is changing, right? The subscription model isn't, you know, we definitely want to maintain and grow our subscription base, but the single ticket buyer and the people looking for flexible ticket options is the priority right now, and that's where we're seeing our audiences grow the most. This year, we were fortunate to have two shows that we had in that window between Harvey and the pandemic, and both of those shows exceeded revenue from The last time they were performed here in Houston, and so we're definitely seeing a lot of excitement and energy around opera and around what we're doing at the Wortham Theatre Center and right now on stage, we have the Sound of Music, and it is breaking all box office records that we have. We have nine shows currently that wrap up on May 12th, and it's been a really great time to see more than 15, 000 Houstonians come out and experience the Sound of Music.

Jonathan: 9:33

that's fantastic. No, I, I would imagine. And it's, it's very interesting that you talk about sort of how the, the consumer's habits have changed because I've had a number of different conversations with folks, both inside and outside of the arts, but also particularly within the restaurant community and, and Frankly, I was doing an interview this morning with the Houston Chronicle and talking about how the restaurant consumers root demands, for lack of a better word, have changed and what their expectations are. And I think we're seeing that really. Happen in all different kinds of industries. You know, specifically with restaurants, we're seeing technology make a lot of changes in the industry. Expectations for quality for expediency, convenience and speed and all of those things really ramped up. We saw basically a generational shift in the span of, I don't know, three to four years. And I'm very curious to, to explore sort of how that is affecting the arts community particularly in Houston, because I know having read a lot on, in the business world about downtown Houston, where the opera is located you know, Buildings are still not back to capacity. People are not working downtown as much as they used to. The workforce has changed with people being more remote, et cetera. And so I would imagine that all of those things combine to really change the The way you all have to think about reaching folks and, and convincing them to come downtown to go to shows.

Jennifer: 11:14

Well, it's something we talk about all the time, and one of the places we've put a lot of emphasis is on the guest experience. I think the performing arts, and I'm new to the arts community, so I don't want to make too many generalizations or talk about the way things have been because I just, I don't really know for sure, but One of the things we're experiencing at the opera is we relied so much on what's on stage and we knew that we were producing world class art on stage and all the energy and effort was going in to what happened once you got into your seat and had that stage opera experience. And we're now taking that same attention to what happens all the way from the time you buy your ticket To when you do get into that seat, what is that experience with Houston Grand Opera like? And I don't know that the company had done that as much before. And so everything from the email communications and the social media content that we're pushing out to get you excited and more invested in the show you're about to see, to the grand four year experience when you come in and we have a grand pianist or a string quartet. Playing music, and we're working on the food offerings and having variety within that. And every, all the guest experience interactives that we've created that didn't exist before. The parking experience, all the hassle factors that can make someone's night not go as well as it could have. I think people have really high expectations of a full experience, and just putting on a great product on stage isn't enough anymore. It really has to be the total experience. So that's what we spend a lot of time talking about at the Opera.

Jonathan: 12:40

Yeah, I would imagine. And that actually dovetails very closely with a lot of the other conversations I'm having. And again, I go back to the restaurant industry because the consumer. And their desires have changed dramatically to where, as you are talking about, it's all about the entire experience. It's not just the food. It's not just the service. It's not just the location. It's all of these things combining. And in addition to that, a desire for better value. Right. They want, they want more for less essentially. And, you know, all of us, we're all consumers, we're all feeling a pinch, whether that's inflationary pressures or just whatever it might be. We all want more for our dollars. And I think focusing on that entire experience from beginning to end is something that all businesses and all different Sectors of the economy are having to do. We're, we're, we're seeing that a lot in hospitality in general. And, and you're seeing things pop up like these experiential dining places, you know, experiential restaurants where it's, it's not just about the food, you get a show, you know, it used to be, you'd have to go. To Vegas or, or New York to get dinner in a show. But now we have that here because people want that entire experience and they want more value for the money that they're spending because you know, the dollars don't go as far as they used to as before. And I would imagine that kind of plays into sort of the, i I won't call it last minute, but sort of the, the impulse, single ticket buying as opposed to purchasing series you know, at the opera.

Jennifer: 14:19

Yeah, we definitely want to be on people's minds as an option of something you can do in Houston, where you're going to have a world class, first class experience. We do, we spend time talking about myth busting around opera and what people might perceive opera to be versus what it is. Our tickets, we have affordable tickets. We have just like any event in town, we have all the price ranges, but we definitely have affordable tickets. We have student tickets. We do under 40 Fridays that are going to be more prevalent next season. We have a lot of initiatives to try and bring in new audiences more diverse audiences, first time audiences. And the other thing is like silly things, like what do you wear to an opera? I mean, isn't that one of the best things about living in Houston is that you can wear whatever you want. You can wear a tuxedo if you want to, or you can wear jeans and a t shirt, like, and

Jonathan: 15:07

And you'll see everything in between, right? You'll, you'll see people showing both ends of the spectrum and everything in between.

Jennifer: 15:13

Yeah. And we want you to come just as you are, or if you want to make it your fancy night out for the year, you can do that. But if you want to come straight from work or straight from something else that is perfectly acceptable as well. And so I think there's preconceived notions about opera that we work hard to make sure everyone feels welcome at the Wertham.

Jonathan: 15:30

Well, you touched, you touched on it, but I wanted to get to the question of, particularly with the opera, probably more so than any other kind of performing arts you know, option out there. How do you attract the younger generations? Because as you said, there is definitely a lot of education that needs to go along with that. And I, there's so many options and there's so many things that affect, you know, You know, what younger people are, are watching or interacting with or engaging with how do you make opera a part of that calculation as to what they're going to do?

Jennifer: 16:07

Well, you know, I, I think I'm someone who is new to opera and is just learning about the art form. So I can relate not necessarily to being in a younger generation, but being introduced to it for the first time. And, and what I would say is that opera is sort of like movies. Like you, you wouldn't hear someone say, I hate movies. They might not like Thrillers, they might not like rom coms, but you don't dislike all movies. So if you've come to an opera, maybe it's not the one that you like to come to another one, because they're all so different and varied. And the art form is such a a mixture of everything. We've got an orchestra, we've got a chorus, we've got acting, we've got singing. I mean, it's, we've got beautiful sets and scenery. It's all done on the grandest scale. scale right here in Houston, and so I think that's another thing if you have even the slightest interest in the performing arts, something about opera will speak to you. And then it's constantly evolving. Just this year we had a world premiere that happened right here in Houston, J. Keggy's Intelligence, and it's, it's a story that's more familiar. A lot of operas are stories from centuries ago, but this was a Civil War story, so it's something that, Is a little bit more relatable and timely. We've had mariachi operas that might appeal to someone who has different musical tastes. I really just think if you, if you dive into the world of opera, there is something for everyone.

Jonathan: 17:21

Yeah. And that I would imagine that a lot of your time is, is spent figuring out how to educate, how to get that message out and how to, how to educate, you know, the public, particularly the younger public, that that is a viable option for them. So maybe talk a little bit about sort of what you're doing on a daily basis. Daily basis or a regular basis, you know, where, where is your focus that then, and how potentially, how are you bringing some of your prior experiences particularly, you know, with larger organizations, sports organizations, how did those skills and those experiences translate into what you're doing now and trying to go out and reach the public and younger audiences and convincing them that, you know, the opera is a fantastic choice. For an arts experience.

Jennifer: 18:11

Gosh, there are so many different directions. I could go with that, that question, because it's, it's, So much that goes into trying to build an audience. I think first and foremost, it's building up our brand and, and helping people see the people at Houston Grand Opera, the people who are behind the curtain, the people who are putting together the productions, the cast that are so amazing and talented, and a lot of them young and, and fresh out of school and out of their training. And so I think that's one thing that we focus on a lot is in my previous life, we called it helmet off, like taking the helmet off the football player and helping people. Connect on a human level, but we're doing that with the opera landscape as well. And so I think content and, and driving awareness and education around who the people are and how the art form is created is one way that we're trying to make connections. I think through community work we have a great community and learning department at Houston grand opera that spends a lot of time. First of all, talking about how do we get arts back into the schools and how are we supplementing the parents desire to have art in their Children's lives. And so we're creating programming and having conversations about multi generational art and how we can have like next season. We're doing Cinderella on the main stage. But in addition to the five productions, we'll have a family day. That's an 11 a. m. 90 minute in English production that is targeted for families and kids to hopefully start investing in the interest at a much younger age. But that's in addition to Being out in 170 schools and libraries all year long, introducing the art form to children. So, we're doing that. Of course, we're doing all the things in your media mix that you would expect to be doing in our advertising. And then in our PR, in our earned media, trying to Tell deeper stories. We've been building out our blog on hgo. org that we've hired three content creators that are just focused on telling the stories of our productions and of our staff and of our community and generating our own content, even if we're not getting that in earned media. So again, I feel like I'm rambling at this point because I could just tell you all the things that we're doing to try and make sure that Houston knows what a treasure we have right here in our community community with Houston Grand Opera.

Jonathan: 20:20

Yeah. And it sounds like, you know, what you're getting at and what you're doing, particularly with that content creation and you're, you're kind of, it's, it sounds to me like you are going out and meeting the audience where they are. Right. You're, you're meeting the public where they are and giving them access on platforms that you might not in the past have expected to see a grand opera. Right. Or an opera company being promoted. And I, I think, you know, you've got the opportunity, particularly now with the technology that's out there and people's desire and familiarity with it. Seeing these types of promotions and, and advertising and content literally on their phones every day, you know, handheld, if, if you can reach them there, I think you've got, you know, the great opportunity to make an impression. And maybe, you know, convince them to give a shot. You know, for sure. Do you have, it leads me to another question that I was thinking of earlier. Do you have an idea or statistics on your ticket purchasing and subscription base that would tell you locals versus visitors or, or tourist versus Houston residents, or are they, you know, drive markets or where, where are the people coming from that are coming to HGO?

Jennifer: 21:41

It's predominantly Houstonians. But yes, we do look at our ticket purchasers were able to see their zip codes and find their information of where they're coming from. And we do have robust programs targeting national, international and, of course, regional with Parsifal. So we just did Wagner's Parsifal this season. And from what I've been told, again, being new to the art form Houston had not done that production in over 30 years, and it's only been done once in the United States in the past 10 years. So it's not a, it's a grand massive show that isn't done often in, in the United States. And so that show, we Did a heat map actually showing where we had guests coming from, and it was from Australia, and it was from Europe, and it was from China, and it was from all over the world. That definitely drew a lot of people to Houston, but we also have a patrons program where we, We always have two shows that are on stage at the same time that are alternating nights and we do one where you can come on a Saturday and see one and Sunday and see the other. So it's our national patrons weekend that we call them where people can come to Houston and see both of the shows that we're producing at once. And so we definitely have a huge draw that brings people in from all over the United States to see those productions because you can come to Houston three times a year and see all the productions that HGO puts on stage.

Jonathan: 22:59

What is the actual season? What, what, what are the dates and how many productions go on and during an entire full season?

Jennifer: 23:06

So we open at the end of October and we have our fall rep then in winter rep, we're back on in January and February, and then in spring rep, it's in April and May. So our season is October to May. We share the theater, as you know, the main stage with the ballet. And so when we're in rehearsals, they're on stage. And when they're in rehearsals, we're on stage. So we're going back and forth in that cadence. We typically do six main stage productions a year around 40 performances. But like I said, that That's only what we're doing on the Brown stage at the Wortham Theatre Center. We're doing hundreds of other performances all around Houston, everywhere from high schools and libraries to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church is one of our partners where we have an annual event. So one of our major initiatives is getting opera outside of the Wortham Theatre Center and into Houston's communities.

Jonathan: 23:55

Yeah, I would imagine, you know, the opportunity to get those types of productions and that type of material into the schools would both be very challenging and extraordinarily rewarding. You can do it because I would imagine it would make a significant impression on the kids who are able to experience that and potentially lead them to consider, you know, getting into the arts or at least, you know, appreciating it as they grow older.

Jennifer: 24:23

Oh yeah, I mean there are children experiencing the arts all over Houston. We're fortunate to have, you know, passionate community members who are making sure that children are getting interested in band and drama and theater and chorus and so, oh look at me saying chorus instead of choir. I am in the industry now. I've got the lingo down, but But yeah, and I think about all the teaching artists and even the local members of our orchestra and chorus, they're all members of our community helping spread the passion and love for the performing arts.

Jonathan: 24:55

So where do you see the entire group of performing arts centers in downtown? Where do you see the arts community going? You know, you've been involved now for 18 plus months. You, you've kind of seen some of the challenges and I, I do want to get a sense of, of what you think your biggest challenge is right now. But what do you see, you know, going forward in terms of opportunities and challenges, not only for HGO, but for the arts community in general, you know, having taking into account some of the things that we've talked about, you know, obviously coming out of Harvey and coming out of the pandemic. And now seemingly, you know, hitting a bit of a stride and getting better, you know, what do you see going forward?

Jennifer: 25:44

Well, this I'll take this a little personally that for me, I am personally a charging myself with helping just raise more awareness in Houston for what we have in downtown Houston and what a treasure we have in our performing arts community. I think we can all tend to live in our own little bubbles and I think I was in the sports bubble for 16 years here in Houston and definitely had no idea the great art and the. world class international appeal that our performing arts have, particularly Houston Grand Opera and the huge legacy it has in American opera. And so I just feel honestly a little guilty for taking it for granted and not appreciating what we had. And I know there are so many things that Houstonians pride themselves on, and we're so proud of our Restaurant scenes, and we're so proud of our diversity and our sports teams, but we should be really proud of the Performing Arts Center that we have in Houston and the really great companies that are producing art here. And so I just, I want to bang the drum as loud as I can and try to bring more attention to what's happening and, and definitely have it be one of those things that when You're having friends and family come to town. You're, you're bragging about how great the Performing Arts District is in Houston and any performance, any of the 13, 000 seats that are available in our Performing Arts District, that you would be telling your friends and family, they can't leave town without having that experience. So I think I'm just personally feeling like I need to shout that to my circle of friends in my community.

Jonathan: 27:11

Yeah. And I, I've had these conversations before and I've, I've felt this way, you know, myself for a while, but I, I talk to folks all the time who didn't think they wanted to come to Houston. We're, we're, They were forced to come for some other reason, whether that was a business reason or convention or they were visiting family or going to the Texas Medical Center or, you know, whatever it might be. And all of a sudden they realized, man, this is, this great, you know, there, there's so much going on for all of the reasons and things that you were just talking about, particularly the diversity and the arts community is, I think, underappreciated both locally and nationally for having. You know, some of the absolute best performing arts venues and companies, etc. And it's amazing how many people come here with, you know, preconceived notions or, or negative opinions that, you know, haven't been here before. And then all of a sudden they get immersed, you know, and understand the, the hospitality of it all, the friendliness, the diversity the culture that's, that's here and all of the things that are, are available to do in Houston. And, and they're blown away. And, and some of them end up just never leaving. I mean, literally they're like, I'm, I'm going to stay. And you know, it's, it's a business friendly place and, and the economy is, is pretty good here. And, you know, all of those things, not a bad place to raise a family, et cetera. And there's just a lot of folks who didn't really want to come to Houston, but absolutely love it once they do. And in the arts community is a huge part of that.

Jennifer: 28:48

Oh yeah. I mean, I've never met a group of people prouder than anything than Houstonians. We love us some Houston.

Jonathan: 28:55

Yeah. Yeah. No, there's, there's absolutely a lot to love. No question about that. So is there anything, you know, that we, that we haven't touched on that you think is important for people to know about HGO and, and what you are doing there and, and what you see coming up in the future. Anything you want to tell folks about, you know, how, how it operates and, and how fantastic it really is.

Jennifer: 29:23

I think we just, the energy at Houston Grand Opera right now is so electric. I think everyone feels passionate about what we're doing and the quality of work that we're doing, and we're so excited to see full theaters and full houses, particularly for Don Giovanni and Sound of Music right now. And, and we've gotten such a strong reaction to the programming that we have for next season. Next season, which starts in October and our subscriptions are on sale now. Is a season consumed by love is what we're calling it. It's it, all the offers that we've programmed for next year, touch on some element of love, passion, romance, and everything that comes with that. And so we're, we're hopeful we have two brand new productions. That'll be world premieres of those productions next season and Il Trovatore and Tannhäuser. We've got West Side Story and La Boheme. So popular stories that people are familiar with as well as Cinderella and then Breaking the Waves. groundbreaking modern work that will have a Houston debut next spring. So I think I would just say that the people that work at Houston Grand Opera are really, really proud of what we're doing and we just want more Houstonians to come have that experience with us and it's happening and we see it and it's motivating all of us.

Jonathan: 30:35

Well, that's yeah, it's very encouraging actually to hear you talk about, you know, things picking up the business being good, you know, seeing that trajectory of, of engagement and ticket sales and all of that. And I'm, I'm knocking on wood, you know, as, as I'm saying this, but it's nice that, you know, you can hopefully have a few years of, You know, steady, nothing crazy interrupting business, you know, I mean, you know, between hurricanes and pandemics and all this other stuff. I mean, let's, let's just have a few years of calm, you know, I mean, wouldn't that be great just to be able to do business and share art with people and just not have to worry about all this other stuff.

Jennifer: 31:16

Exactly. Joy, happiness, celebration. Let's have lives. Let's get out of the house. Let's enjoy great art.

Jonathan: 31:23

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, I think that's a A fantastic way to to bring our discussion to a bit of a conclusion. However, before I let you go I have three questions that I ask of all of our guests on the business of Houston hospitality. And we are talking with Jennifer Davenport from Houston Grand Opera. And Jennifer, my first question for you. is what is your favorite travel destination? If you were to hop on a plane tomorrow, anywhere you want to go just for fun, where would you go?

Jennifer: 32:00

A couple of places. I would, you never go wrong in Hawaii. I love every day I've ever spent in Hawaii. And then I, I love an outdoor place that is just breathtaking. And so for me, the two favorite places I've ever been are the Canadian Rockies sort of Banff area. Or Queenstown, New Zealand. And

Jonathan: 32:19

Yes. Oh my God.

Jennifer: 32:21

places are special to me. I'm a traveler. I love traveling. So those are the three places that jumped to mind when you asked me.

Jonathan: 32:27

Yeah. So I have had the great good fortune of, of going to both Australia and New Zealand a few different times. And I tell people. Whoever will listen, I will tell every single time that New Zealand is the most spectacularly beautiful place I've ever seen. I, I've never seen anything so green and so dramatic and just between the water and the mountains and everything and the fjords. I mean, it's just mind blowing. Absolutely love it.

Jennifer: 32:54

I need to go back. My trip was cut short and so I only did the South island, but I, I need to go back and do it all again.

Jonathan: 33:01

Absolutely. Yeah. No, it's just phenomenal. I totally agree. Okay. Question number two. And, you know, obviously you're going to be slightly biased in this, but I'm looking for an objective answer. If you're talking to somebody from anywhere around the country, around the world, who's never been to Houston, and they say, why should I come to Houston? What is, what would your go to response be is the best reason to come visit Houston?

Jennifer: 33:26

So to live or to visit?

Jonathan: 33:28

To visit.

Jennifer: 33:29

to visit. Well, I always do talk about the reasons to live here and you hit on a lot of them. It's just everything you could want in one city. But as far as to visit, I would, I mean, it's so cliche, but it, I mean, you could come to town just for the Mexican food, like literally. Hey, so in margaritas would be enough to get me to visit Houston. If I didn't

Jonathan: 33:50

am supportive of that idea. I am. And, and, and my wardrobe and my waistline, you know, would, would agree with you.

Jennifer: 33:58

yeah, can't go wrong.

Jonathan: 33:59

Can't go wrong. As a matter of fact we saw that the Rolling Stones were recently in town and Mick Jagger from stage mentioned that he had gone to the original ninfas and enjoyed some of their margaritas. So we're, we're getting Rolling Stones international acclaim for the for the Tex Mex in Houston.

Jennifer: 34:18

Perfect.

Jonathan: 34:19

Okay, so that brings us to our final question, and this is a personal and business oriented question. If you would be talking to somebody younger coming up in the business and wanting to kind of follow in your footsteps, What would be the one thing that you would want to pass along to the next generation of you who want to be able to do what you do? What is, what is a, a lesson learned in your business career that you would want to pass along to anybody who would want to follow in your footsteps?

Jennifer: 34:55

Well, I think my answer is a little bit influenced from working in sports because, you know, there are a lot of people wanted to work in sports or do want to work in

Jonathan: 35:04

Of course.

Jennifer: 35:04

I would always tell them, you want to be, you know, an entry level marketing intern in sports. There are 32 jobs. That do that in the entire United States in the NFL. And so I would always just encourage people, like, don't zero in so tightly on what you think is right for you at any age, I guess, at any age in life, like keep your, your eyes open to other opportunities and adjacent industries and opportunities where you can learn and grow. And if you get so transfixed on one goal and think it's failure, when you don't hit that, you've really lost, you've really missed out. Like I think just Keeping your options open and understanding the bigger picture, particularly early in your job search will serve you well down the road.

Jonathan: 35:44

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I think that's actually a great parallel with just trying to play professional sports in general, right? There are so few people, the percentage of folks that actually make it to be a professional athlete of any kind is minuscule. And I know from personal experience, having thought I was going to play professional golf as a career and got into college and played golf in college and realized, yeah, that's probably not going to happen.

Jennifer: 36:12

Exactly. And I think focusing on your skills rather than a position or a job or an employer is really where I've been served. Well, it's like, how do my skills translate? It's not about the name on my business card as far as the company, but it's really what I do and what I contribute that I feel like has made me feel most fulfilled.

Jonathan: 36:30

Yeah, that's fantastic. I think that is a great message to pass along. So thank you for that. Well, I want to thank you again, Jennifer Davenport from Houston Grand Opera from joining us today on the business of Houston Hospitality. Of course, many thanks always to the Houston Hospitality Alliance for continuing to connect and educate, promote and advocate for the entire community. Houston Hospitality Community. You can get more information on the HHA at www. houstonhospitalityalliance. com. Please join us next time as we continue to explore the people and the businesses behind Houston's amazing and diverse hospitality industry. Thank you again, Jennifer Davenport.