With 15 minutes to deliver her speech at Wednesday’s awards dinner for the annual Century City Chamber of Commerce Women of Achievement, keynote speaker Anita Mann wants one particular notion for everyone to walkaway with: women support groups are important and necessary.
“And of course I’ll be open if anybody ever wants to call me or meet me,” she said from her home in Santa Monica days before the event. “I just love mentoring and helping women to accomplish things that they might not feel they can do on their own but they probably can. But I’m there for them.”
Mann is a helper, but she’ll be the first person to tell you she didn’t make it on her own, though she strongly subscribes to the idea that you make your own luck. There was her mother, who worked everyday of Mann’s life and served as a constant example of dedication and sacrifice.
“I come from absolutely nothing,” Mann recalled. “Every year they raised the rent and every year we moved. I never had a home,” she said, never had stability. She said she attended three different grammar schools, two different junior highs, and two different high schools. But during this time, “you find out what your inner strength can accomplish if you believe in that. A big focus for me will be to inspire, to motivate, how we accomplish what we set our goals what we set out to accomplish.”
And then there was Lucille Ball, whom Mann will dedicate the last part of her speech to.
“She was my main woman mentor in the industry in my formative years,” she said.
“Before I became a choreographer I was the assistant choreographer, and she took me under her wing, really. And speaking of women in achievement, she owned the studio that we worked at. I just fell into some very lucky time. I believe that you make your luck I do believe that, but I also believe in the fact that there are times in your life that fall into your lap that you have to take advantage of and not be blind to them and open yourself up to opportunity and put yourself out there. But one of the major focuses on my speech will be the importance of the belief in yourself and the love of what you believe in and what you can accomplish.”
Mann has danced with and choreographed for Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and countless other stars while maintaining a four-decade relationship with all the major networks.
As choreographer for “The Muppets,” she even taught Miss Piggy how to tap dance.
Her choreography credits include five seasons on the 1980s pop dance television show, “Solid Gold,” for which she was nominated twice for a Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography.
She has gone on to win five Emmy awards and a dozen other nominations, as well as accolades from every corner of the industry. President of Anita Mann Productions in Santa Monica, Mann is also an actress and dancer.
As producer of the 16-year-old Las Vegas hit show “Fantasy” at the Luxor Las Vegas, Mann is an accomplished producer these days.
One big part of “paying it forward” for Mann is to support and foster artistry.
“I just want to always make sure that if someone does become an artist, that they don’t ignore it if they have a gift of artistry in anything,” she said. “Sometimes we forget that support that we need if we want to go into the arts, to become an artist. And we have to sometimes to fight to accomplish that as a career and we’re kind of looked down upon. I just think that to become an artist is also an important part of life.”
On whether feminism charged a path for her own career, Mann recalled she was simply too busy breaking actual glass ceilings than to talk about them.
“I just put blinders on and worked. I didn’t even know at times that it was going on,” she said.
Mann gave recent examples of Jennifer Lawrence’s essay on the Hollywood wage gap and the more than 40 women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault to highlight the progress women have made to speak up and take off the blinders in support of a cause. And now she does see a positive change from when she was working in the past.
“I think in the 70s, that’s when I was beginning a big career as one of the few women doing what I was doing. I have stories left and right about the workplace,” Mann said. “But I was so busy working and working to try to make the playing field equal, earning respect, working 24/7, and taking care of my kids.
“But I think by living through those times, I have heard from several women, quite a few in our industry who are very famous and successful, [and] they have thanked me for mentoring and for paving the way in a lot of ways. I never even knew I was doing it,” she said.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, but I’m excited and looking forward to how it will hopefully will go when my granddaughters are working,” she said. “I have a positive feeling about it, and I’m excited about the future. I’m excited that people are focusing on an important part of equality.”
Perhaps her career served as the best example of what feminism means to her.
The Century City Chamber of Commerce Women’s Business Council (WBC) is a more than 25-year-old event that recognizes inspirational women within the Century City circle and publicly acknowledges their commitment and dedication to professionalism and overall excellence.
“The women that are speaking all come from so many different backgrounds and have accomplished so much, and I’m just blessed that they’re allowing me to get the night off to have fun,” Mann said.
The 2015 Women of Achievement Awards Dinner will take place Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 5:30 to 8 pm at the Beverly Hilton.
The six professional career women were selected through nomination on the basis of devotion to make the community stronger, a dedication to raising awareness or funds for non-profit and charitable organizations, and a commitment to mentoring others in their respective careers.
The women represent a cross-section of industries, ranging from medical to entertainment to food services.
The honoree are: Danielle Carrig of A+E Networks, Judge Patricia Collins of ADR Services, Dr. Kelly Hong of Kelly Smile Dentistry, Julie Felss Masino of Sprinkles Cupcakes, Michelle Olenick of Hines, and Cindy Giordano Taylor of CBRE.
“I think its great that if we can just inspire people to just show up they’re going to maybe learn the one thing that gives them the strength and vision of what they can accomplish in their own careers and in life,” she said.
But mostly, Mann’s excited to hear what the Women of Achievement honorees have to say at the awards dinner.
