Grit (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series)

5

“Mentors Were What Helped Me Survive”

An interview with Misty Copeland by Alison Beard

From her first ballet class, at age 13, Misty Copeland set out to be a professional dancer. As a Black girl entering a discipline dominated by white performers and appreciated mostly by white audiences, she knew the odds were stacked against her. But she pressed on, joining American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and in 2015 becoming its first Black female principal dancer. She has broken ground in roles from Clara to Juliet, published several books, pushed for more diversity in the arts, and is building a charitable foundation.

Alison Beard: Why did you choose ballet as a career?

Misty Copeland: I love the sense of structure that it gave me at an early age, which ...