At first blush, business and the arts don’t necessarily seem like a natural pair. However, the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management community members combining business smarts with a career in the arts have carved their paths to success, whether by winning a Tony, discovering the importance of arts to a city, or representing a culture through murals. Discover how their melding of arts and business is making a meaningful impact.
Winning a Tony: Kyle Burkhardt, ’20 MBA
Kyle Burkhardt, ’20 MBA, wasn’t expecting to become a Tony winner. But when the COVID-19 pandemic shut theater doors nationwide in 2020, it opened another: Burkhardt’s chance to explore a career as a Broadway producer.
Burkhardt, now the senior vice president of strategy for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, had already had his arena doors shut. At the time, he was working for the MLS’ New York City Football Club, so he had plenty of free time when the soccer season was canceled in March 2020. Like many of us on lockdown, he and his wife, Morgan Jone, started binging TV shows. Their first choice? Smash, a drama about the making of a Broadway musical.
“I was mostly joking when I turned to my wife and said, ‘This can’t be that difficult,’” says Burkhardt about producing a musical. “Turns out, it is both very difficult and also not that hard.”
Smash inspired them to read books on the subject, network with significant theater players, and eventually create Burkhardt Jones Productions. With a mission statement to uplift underrepresented stories, they started investing in, and producing, Broadway shows, including Parade. The musical features a story about anti-Semitism, and its opening last year drew neo-Nazi protestors. Months later, it won a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. Burkhardt’s most recent Broadway work, Suffs, is based on the women’s suffrage movement and opens this month.
“There’s something about seeing the best people in the world do what they do live,” says Burkhardt, whose ultimate goal is to run a sports franchise. “For me, that’s the intersection of sports and the theater. I can be effective by using my talents in a meaningful way on the business side of things … to be involved in the things I love.”
Honoring Hmong culture through art: Mia Vue Jennings, junior
The Minnesota State Fair draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually during its 12-day run. While it’s usually a packed house, there are peaceful pockets, such as the Joyful World Mural Park, where artists create murals onsite. In 2023, muralist Mia Vue Jennings created a large-scale artwork there inspired by the “paj ntaub,” a traditional Hmong story cloth. The colorful piece featured scenes of family, spirituality, farming, cooking, play, and education.
“Instead of imagining something unattainable, I wanted to show appreciation for what we already have in America and also highlight the traditional values that we still carry with us in our daily lives,” says Jennings, a Hmong American from Minneapolis. “It’s great to dream, but you have to remember there are so many things to be grateful for.”
Jennings’ art primarily draws from her Hmong identity. Along with murals, she’s worked in a variety of mediums, including digital art, paintings, illustrations, and street art. Her pieces have been displayed at libraries, childcare centers, art festivals, and Minnesota Public Radio’s “YourClassical Storytime.”
When she thinks about her dream career, Jennings sees herself as a successful artist creating murals or animating films that tell traditional Hmong stories. She’d also love to work in marketing or design at a creative agency. Overall, she wants to lead a creative career. And if she ever starts her own business in relation to her art, she says her business degrees in marketing and management information systems will help.
“As a business student, I have to remind myself why I’m here and in business—because it also helps me in my art and creative pursuits,” Jennings says. “I’m not just in it to get into a corporate job. I have my own path, and it’s OK that I’m not like everyone else.”
Playing a vital role in the community: Tom Lindow, ’05 MBA
As a kid growing up in Sheboygan, WI, Tom Lindow remembers seeing the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) on a school field trip. There was the controlled chaos of hundreds of students finding their seats, and then the absolute silence and anticipation that filled the room as the music began.
It’s a childhood memory Lindow wasn’t expecting to relive. However, that early experience played a crucial part in him accepting his position as MSO’s CFO last year.
“Had that experience not happened when I was in sixth grade, I don’t know whether I’d be sitting in this seat today,” he says. “Whether it’s inspiring young people to enjoy the arts or pursue a career in the arts, it’s just important to get in there when they’re young. It’s one of those experiences kids need to be well-rounded.”
Lindow understands the vital role MSO plays in the Milwaukee arts community and its partnerships with fellow arts organizations.
“I want to be a business partner—I want to understand all the jobs here,” he says. “If there’s a place I didn’t know a lot about, it would be the symphonic world. That gives me a lot of opportunities to learn. It’s the joy of expanding my knowledge of an industry I haven’t been involved in before.”
Not only has he developed an appreciation for all the programming the MSO does, from classical music concerts to family-friendly movies with a live score, it’s compelling, he says, to be part of the “greater good” of the community. “Even if I have a bad day, I still know that we provide something beautiful for the city to enjoy. That brings me a lot of satisfaction,” he says.
This story was adapted from the Carlson School of Management.
