Brett Lockley Interview

When told I would have to interview a student leader, the first person that came to mind for me to interview was Brett Lockley. Now some of you may know who Brett is, but for those who don’t, Brett Lockley is a junior at UArts who is majoring in Ballet Education. He is also the founder and president of one of the student activities on campus: Cataclysmic. I met Brett at the beginning of the school year when he asked me to take some pictures of his club. So as I sipped my green tea frappuchino at Starbucks, I got the opportunity to ask Brett some questions about being a leader and some advice he could offer:

To start off, I had to ask Brett exactly what is Cataclysmic? Cataclysmic is a modeling group, which Brett created in the Fall of 2009 with one of his friends he went to high school. Brett had participated in fashion shows in his high school, which held fundraisers to raise money for scholarships... amongst other things. Brett wanted to bring a modeling group to college but expand it even further; Brett wanted to give more people the opportunity to be able to model. Brett’s responsibilities as a leader cover anything from running the rehearsals, emailing the models, making space reservations, putting together advertisements, making clothes, buying clothes, directing shows as well as planning the artistic vision for each semester.

When I asked Brett what prior experience and background had lead him to this leadership position, he answered by saying that observing the four people in charge of the fashion show back at his old high school helped him prepare for his role as president. He also said he has a natural ability and desire to lead others; he has never thought of himself as a follower. Brett described himself as always looking at ways things could be better or work more functionally. He also said that from the people he’s met in his life and the different environments they came from, has helped him communicate better with people overall. Brett’s leadership role has him working with teachers, administrators and peers. He says it can be hard to be a leader to people that are the same age as you, but you have to remember to be confident in what you do, so people know that you’re capable of being in charge.

What Brett likes most about being the president of Cataclysmic he said, while laughing, “I love having control.” When you have that kind of control, you have the ability for things to go well. If things go wrong, well the only person to blame is himself. Brett also loves the end product when Cataclysmic puts on their final show. He loves when his models are having fun and enjoying themselves. The negative side of being in control is getting a lot of the blame. Brett has learned that everyone isn’t always going to be happy with the decisions he makes; he has to make decisions that will help the majority of the group. Sometimes people will disagree with Brett when he changes a date or time for rehearsal, or someone will complain about a costume choice, and Brett tries his best to make adjustments to make others happy, but sometimes he can’t. Brett also says being in charge of a student group is a lot of pressure, filled with responsibilities that may get overwhelming at times. on As a full time student who is juggling 18 credits a semester, while also running a modeling group, can pose its challenges...but overall Brett loves what he does.

What Brett hopes will happen to Cataclysmic in the future? He says he hopes Cataclysmic will have more opportunities to do things in the community. He also hopes the club will expand and have a good mix of students from all different majors. From his leadership position at Cataclysmic and the skills he has learned, Brett hopes he one day be able to start his own dance company. His experiences with working, dealing and communicating with all different types of people will surely help him in the future. The last question I asked Brett was do you believe anyone can become a leader? His answer was yes. When asked to explain more he said for some, the way people are raised and the environment you grow up in makes it easier to become a leader. “You have to want to be a leader, to be a leader.” You have to take on the role of a leader, be active and want to lead others. And you also have to remember that there are people behind you who believe in you. Even if a leadership position doesn’t always turn out positively, the important thing is to learn from the mistakes you made in order to become an even better leader the next time around.

I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Brett. He inspires me. The advice he offered along with his story makes me feel more at ease knowing I am slowly on the right track in becoming a successful leader. What I took most out of Brett’s interview is that you have to want to lead in order to be a leader, and with being a leader you aren’t always going to be able to please everyone. The important thing is to be ambitious, genuine, dedicated, organized, respectful and responsible…being a leader is a journey, not a destination.