SPREADSHEETS & SEQUINS: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF SHEALENE ZITNY
BY ANNIE MORRISON, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI & PARENT RELATIONS
By day, Shealene Zitny works as a senior data engineer for the University of Colorado Boulder, managing student data and ensuring accuracy for internal reporting and audits. She is currently working with several new staff members and loves helping them go from overwhelmed to confident. “It’s rewarding to see people realize that data analytics is something they can understand and accomplish.” When the workday ends, Zitny steps into a different role: co-producing Dream Team Variety Company, a high-energy, irreverent performance troupe based in Garden City’s Visual Arts Collective (VAC). On the night of their recent show, Saturday Morning Cartoons, she arrives in a feathered blue costume with striped eyeliner. Her business partner, Julie Bean, dresses as Wile E. Coyote to Zitny’s Roadrunner. The show includes a cereal-eating emcee (Taylor Hawer ‘13), a pole-dancing Peewee Herman, singing Betty Boops, and ballet-dancing Care Bears. Though they dress the part, Zitny and Bean don’t perform. Along with their third partner, Hannah Haines, they manage logistics—everything from securing poles, sweeping confetti, and adjusting lights to marketing, ticket sales, and filing taxes. “I naturally become the center of attention in other parts of my life,” Zitny says. “I don’t need to put myself in front of a crowd.” Still, surrounded by performers and fans in the VAC bar after the show, it’s clear she draws people in wherever she goes. Outside of her two jobs, Zitny’s calendar is even fuller. She volunteers for HP’s She-Tech conference to support young women in STEM, plays bunco once a month, takes piano lessons, and is preparing to become a first-time mom. That energy and curiosity were evident at The College of Idaho, where she graduated in 2013 with degrees in math and theater. Initially, theater was not part of Zitny’s plan. In her sophomore year, the theatre department was short on stage managers, and she stepped in to help, leading her to reconsider. “One thing I always do is allow myself to change my mind,” says Zitny. For her, success meant embracing both her passions. She says the College’s small size and liberal arts model was key to succeeding with her double d grees. At the College, the math and theater departments were a frisbee’s throw apart, and the faculty knew each other. When conflicts arose, professors often rescheduled tests or assignments to allow Zitny to accomplish the requirements of both degrees. Faculty across departments shaped her values. Robin Cruz showed her math’s career possibilities; Lynda Danielson emphasized learning through mistakes. Joe Golden reminded her to keep joy in the process, and Mark Lotspeich “inspired me to be myself—even if that self is a little weird,” she laughs. Toward the end of college, Zitny stage managed for Opera Idaho as a temporary sub for Bean, who later brought her onto several more productions. Eventually, Bean—then with the now-defunct Red Light Variety Show—called her in as a last-minute stagehand. Zitny was busy beginning her career at Clearwater Analytics, but she made time to help that evening, and the troupe subsequently voted her in permanently. She stayed on for seven years, until Red Light’s final show in 2021. Two years later, Zitny, Bean, and Haines launched Dream Team Variety. At the core of everything Zitny does is a desire to lift others up. “In analytics, I get to show people that numbers aren’t scary,” she says. “In theater, I get to give others a platform and help them shine.” In both her careers, she espouses the same core values—curiosity, generosity, and the belief that you don’t have to choose one box to live in. Soon, she’ll add “mom” to her long list of roles. Like every other title she’s taken on, she plans to approach it with thoughtfulness,
flexibility, and joy. If her story is any indication, her son will grow up surrounded by spreadsheets and sequins, bedtime stories and backstage cues—and a living example of what it means to create a life full of purpose, creativity, and heart.