Becoming Ginger Rogers: How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner, and Smarter CEO

Patrice Tanaka

Sep 2011 · BenBella Books

About this ebook

“An absorbing, inspirational memoir” about finding joy in the midst of challenge and hardship—step by step (Publishers Weekly).
 
If you’ve spent most of your life pursuing your career, raising your family, and/or caring for loved ones who may be ill or infirm, your own needs may have been neglected in the process. Patrice Tanaka found herself, at age fifty, needing an infusion of joy after losing her husband and her business, and experiencing the sorrow of living in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11.
 
In Becoming Ginger Rogers, she tells her very personal story of growing up Japanese-American in Hawaii and finding success in Manhattan—and then, in midlife, embarking on ballroom dance lessons to satisfy a lifelong dream of dancing like Ginger Rogers. Offering a behind-the-scenes look at the world of competitive ballroom dancing, she also reveals how the things she learned—about being fully present, about the value of following as well as leading—ultimately made her a better partner and a smarter CEO.
 
Becoming Ginger Rogers shows us how we can revitalize ourselves even after years of woeful neglect, so that our most exciting and joy-filled days are ahead of us.
 

Ratings and reviews

Despite the girl on the cover's shoes being too big, it was an interesting book.

About the author

Patrice Tanaka is cochair, chief creative officer, and ambassador for CRT/tanaka, an entity she cofounded in September 2005. Her agency has been recognized as the “Best Agency to Work for in America,” “Most Admired Mid-Size PR Agency in the U.S.,” and “#1 Most Creative PR Agency in America,” among other accolades by various PR organizations and trade media. CRT/tanaka has also won more than three-hundred PR and marketing awards for client campaigns.

Tanaka has been honored by many public relations, marketing, business, and civic organizations, including the Public Relations Society of America (“Paul M. Lund Award for Public Service”), The Holmes Group (“Creativity All-Star” Award), New York Women in Communications (“Matrix” Award), Association for Women in Communications (“Headliner” Award), Girl Scout Council of Greater New York (“Woman of Distinction” Award), Working Mother Magazine (“Mothering That Works” Award), and Asian Women in Business (“Entrepreneurial Leadership Award”).

Born and raised in Hawaii, Tanaka graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1974 and following that worked as an editor at Hawaii Press newspapers in Honolulu and later served as PR Director of the Hotel Inter-Continental Maui in Wailea. In 1979, she fulfilled a life-long dream of moving to New York City. Tanaka joined Jessica Dee Communications, a PR agency she helped to build, which was acquired by Chiat/Day Advertising in 1987. In 1990, she led a management buyback of a group of eleven colleagues to co-found PT&Co. and served as the PR agency’s CEO & Chief Creative Officer. In 2005, Tanaka and her cofounders sold PT&Co. to Richmond, Virginia-based Carter Ryley Thomas to form CRT/tanaka.

A widow since 2003, Tanaka lives in Manhattan. She devotes much of her free time to serving on the boards of non-profit organizations dedicated to helping women and girls, including the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the American Friends of Phelophepa (the South African health care train), and Asian Women in Business. She also serves on the Past Presidents Council of New York Women in Communications and is a former trustee and member of the Women’s Forum New York. Tanaka is a competitive ballroom dancer and avid tennis player.