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WILKES-BARRE — Anne Rodella’s career allows her to enjoy her passions every day.

“I’m beyond lucky,” she said.

The Wilkes-Barre native currently serves as the director of sales and marketing for the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts and has worked at the Kirby Center for the past 18 years.

It’s that work that has earned her recognition as one of 20 Distinctive Women in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

In her current role, Rodella is in charge of marketing the shows that come to the center, maintaining the brand of the Kirby and working on posters and in-house materials, as well as managing marketing and sales to make sure the theater is hitting the goals and numbers they need to.

But marketing wasn’t Rodella’s first love. Growing up, Rodella loved theater, and even studied it in college. She attended King’s College, where she studied theater and English. The plan, she said, was to be a high school English teacher, but life took her down another path.

Her senior year, Rodella said she got a part-time job in the box office of the Kirby Center.

“May of 2000, it was a Willie Nelson show,” she said.

She took home a poster from the show, and it was that job that sparked a long-lasting career in the building. When she decided she wouldn’t be a teacher, Rodella said she took a full-time gig after graduation.

Now, 18 years and multiple positions later, that Willie Nelson poster still hangs in her office.

“Every office I get in the Kirby, it follows me,” she laughed.

From the moment she got her first job, Rodella said her desire to learn led her through her career. She said every time a job became available, regardless of department, she went for it.

“I was really lucky,” she said. “Any job that was available I said yes to.”

That mentality allowed her to grow within the organization, she said. She has worked in development, group sales and the box office before entering the realm of marketing in 2013, and she said her desire to always be learning allowed her to flourish.

Even when moving departments, Rodella said she kept up with some of her old jobs.

“My whole tenure, I kept up how to sell tickets,” she said.

Rodella said her time at the Kirby has been a “learning experience,” and she feels lucky to have a job that allows her to do so much.

“I was lucky to work for an organization that fostered my love for learning, my interest in taking on new tasks,” she said.

Her favorite position, she said, is her current one. In every role, though, Rodella said her favorite part remains the same: communicating with guests.

“Across the board, all the people I get to speak to,” she said. “Getting to talk to the customers on a marketing standpoint.”

She said she loves being able to talk to customers about the shows and their experiences at the theater.

“On a marketing view, I get to talk about the fun stuff,” she said.

As someone who loves and studied theater, Rodella said being able to work inside the Kirby is “unbelievable.”

“I just have a gigantic love for the building,” she said.

She said she’s thankful for her job, and tries to take it all in when she can.

“I try to step back and realize every day when I see those brass doors,” she said.

“I’m beyond lucky that I have this job. It’s a dream.”

And it’s not just the job she’s thankful for. Rodella said her peers and coworkers contribute to the job she loves so much.

“It’s family here,” she said.

It’s a family that has kept her in the area, too. Rodella said when she first took her full-time job out of college, she stayed for friends and family, but over time, she said the energy and support from the entire community has made her want to stay where she’s at.

“It’s an extraordinarily supportive community,” she said.

Her work with the chamber, downtown business association, Diamond City Partnership and so many employees of local businesses has made life outside of her role in the Kirby Center so worth it.

“I stayed for friends and family,” she said. “And I continue to stay for the business community.”

Outside of her Kirby job, Rodella is on the board for the Third Friday art walk downtown and the Gaslight Theater Company.

She said being nominated to be a distinctive woman was shocking. She said having a community that supports her and her work, reinforces her attitude in work and life.

“I’m so touched,” she said.

“And overall so thankful.”

Anne Rodella Aimee Dilger|Times Leader
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL02XX18Rodella1-1.jpg.optimal.jpgAnne Rodella Aimee Dilger|Times Leader

Anne Rodella Aimee Dilger|Times Leader
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL02XX18Rodella2-1.jpg.optimal.jpgAnne Rodella Aimee Dilger|Times Leader

By Brigid Edmunds

[email protected]

Anne Rodella

Hometown: Wilkes-Barre

Occupation: Director of sales and marketing for the F.M. Kirby Center

Quote: “I try to step back and realize every day when I see those brass doors. I’m beyond lucky that I have this job. It’s a dream.”

Reach Brigid Edmunds at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @brigidedmunds