The Breakdown + Breaking Pointe: Andy Dunn and Tamara Rojo on Artistry and Innovation 👖🩰
Breaking Barriers in Mental Health and the Performing Arts
Andy Dunn and Tamara Rojo are proof that smashing the status quo doesn’t mean you have to play by anyone else’s rules. Andy turned his mental health challenges into a power move for leadership, while Tamara made ballet leap out of its tutu-and-tiara box and into the heart of today’s social issues.
What do they share? The guts to challenge traditions, the brains to innovate, and the heart to inspire the rest of us to do the same.
👖 The Breakdown: Andy Dunn on Battling Bipolar, Building Bonobos, and Baking Pie
Bonobos wasn’t just a business; it was a blueprint for how to lead with empathy and innovation. From better-fitting pants to a better-fitting conversation about mental health, Andy set a new standard.
"The scariest thing wasn’t the business challenges—it was facing myself. Accepting my bipolar diagnosis taught me that true leadership starts with being honest about who we are."
🩰 The Breaking Pointe: Tamara Rojo's Bold Vision for a Vibrant Future
From edgy storytelling to contemporary choreography, Tamara has turned the San Francisco Ballet into a creative powerhouse with its pointe firmly planted in the now.
"Ballet doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it reflects the society we live in. By commissioning works that challenge conventions, we can start conversations about who we are and where we’re going."
Andy and Tamara remind us that breaking precedent is as much about inner transformation as it is about outward innovation. Andy’s openness about mental health shows the power of vulnerability in creating meaningful change, while Tamara’s modern commissions prove that art has the ability to challenge and reflect society’s biggest questions.
