Harry Davis
MyLife Studio Guide, Booth School of Business Professor Emeritus, and the honoree of the Harry L. Davis Center for Leadership
Program Overview
Assert your full potential in those challenging turning points involving interactions with others that matter most through a studio-inspired approach grounded in interpersonal skills, tools from theater, coaching, and reflective practice.
MyLife Studio is a cohort-based, experiential learning program designed to support individuals navigating turning points at any time in their lives in a supported environment. Through a unique blend of reflective inquiry, coached rehearsals, and real-life practice, participants are guided to explore and enable new ways for you to show up with authenticity and confidence in the moments that matter most.
Grounded in co-development, supported by selected timeless texts and in-class discovery, the program invites you to rehearse authentic values and behaviors in real time. This work will enable you to build more confidence, presence, and adaptability required for today’s most critical personal and professional moments.
Whether you are entering a new chapter, redefining relationships, or evolving your leadership presence, MyLife Studio provides a structured yet creative space to align intention with action-and to step into the best version of yourself with clarity and courage.
Program Benefits
- Tailor your experience through an individual application focused on your current turning point challenge, drawing from universal and proven approaches.
- Apply the theatrical tools of full expression to enhance your skills in managing interpersonal and professional interactions with agility and confidence.
- Learn and receive feedback from award-winning innovators in the worlds of theater, innovation, and executive leadership.
- Explore new perspectives and build confidence in a rehearsal space as you confront life transitions and high-stakes situations with greater intention and authenticity.
- Engage in peer-coaching and ensemble learning as you grow in an open, progressive community.
- Craft a personal six-month plan to continue your development beyond the studio, turning practice into meaningful action.
Facilitating Team
Collaborating With You
MyLife Studio is the product of a 50-year journey shaped by experimentation, collaboration, and lived experience. This team, which developed the curriculum, has served as counselors to CEOs, innovative thought leaders, world-class artists, and award-winning facilitators. These experts apply their backgrounds of achievement to challenge, coach, and directly support participants. Please note that the facilitation team can not offer therapeutic support.
Charles Newell
MyLife Studio Guide, Former Artistic Director of Court Theatre, and Regional Theater Tony Award-Winning Director
Nancy Tennant
MyLife Studio Guide, Booth School of Business Adjunct Professor of Leadership, and Global Innovation Strategist
MyLife Studio is preparation for an exciting, challenging, and deeply rewarding journey. It offers accessible tools and immersive experiences that extend beyond the studio and into a community committed to ongoing growth and authentic engagement.
Harry Davis MyLife Studio Guide, Booth School of Business Professor Emeritus, and the honoree of the Harry L. Davis Center for Leadership
If you’re seeking a new challenge, stepping into a new opportunity, or looking to show up differently in the relationships that matter most, MyLife Studio offers expert guidance in this kind of transformative work.
Charlie Newell MyLife Studio Guide, Former Artistic Director of Court Theatre, and Regional Theater Tony Award-Winning Director
Small things matter. MyLife Studio is about distilling things to their essence and practicing at a micro level, so you can build confidence, understand your process, and gradually bring it into higher-stakes moments and larger arenas.
Nancy Tennant MyLife Studio Guide, Booth School of Business Adjunct Professor of Leadership, and Global Innovation Strategist
Learning Experience
You are the curriculum.
MyLife Studio is not a traditional, lecture-based university course. Instead, you will connect with your own identity, purpose, and potential for interpersonal impact through a practice-based, studio-inspired learning experience. In the rehearsal space, where everyone is taking risks and working on similar challenges, you will develop confidence and a lifelong toolkit of skills, preparing you to transform how you show up in the world by rehearsing alternative behaviors and perspectives.
Over five weeks, you will participate in three-hour sessions each week, examining the roles you choose to play and how those roles shape your behavior. You will bring to life aspirational versions of yourself and rehearse stepping into new possibilities.
Participants grow together as the members of an ensemble, fostering mutual trust as you set your own terms for growth and share feedback in peer coaching. This community embraces a mindset of lifelong rehearsal that values deliberately stretching yourself by taking small, iterative steps without the pressure to achieve perfection. The class is highly interactive and not recorded or held on Zoom.
Midway through the course, you have the opportunity to participate in Virtual Coaching sessions individually with your Guide and in a small group of students. These optional experiences offer tailored guidance to help clarify your goals, explore new ways of expressing your “self,” and rehearse real-life experiments in a supportive, reflective space. These coaching sessions balance focused individual development with the relational vitality of ensemble learning, helping you deepen self-awareness, strengthen confidence, and translate inner discoveries into meaningful action in everyday life.
MyLife Studio culminates with each participant solidifying their individualized growth to real-world action by producing a forward-looking, six-month plan for their ongoing development beyond the end of the studio experience, including avenues for staying in touch. A celebratory event will be held after the final session to foster connection, reflection, and continued collaboration among participants. This event is included in the program at no additional cost.
mylife studio
Online Information Session
On January 26, join MyLife Studio instructors Harry Davis, Charles Newell, and Nancy Tennant to learn how this dynamic program fosters personal growth, professional development, and meaningful community connections.
Application & Audition
To be admitted to MyLife Studio, you must complete an application, which includes three short-answer questions, and participate in an audition with a MyLife Studio Guide.
Auditions are not focused on performance ability, but on ensuring that you have a real challenge you’re ready to work on, you’re willing to be open and reflective, and you’re motivated to contribute to a supportive learning community. Auditions also serve as the basis for knowing your unique challenges that you would like to bring into the Studio, so the team can customize the studio experience to fit your needs.
There are no other prerequisites.
MyLife Studio Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply to MyLife Studio?
The Spring 2026 application is now open. The process involves answering three short-answer questions about your interests and intentions, followed by a virtual audition with a MyLife Studio Guide.
What does the program cost? Are scholarships available?
Spring tuition is set at $1,995. Once admitted, a $500 deposit required at registration. Partial scholarships are available, and we encourage applicants to inquire during the admissions process.
When are the classes held?
MyLife Studio meets on Monday afternoons from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago. The spring session begins April and runs for five weeks.
Do I need to attend every session in person?
MyLife Studio is a highly interactive experience that is not recorded or held on Zoom. To successfully complete the course, participants cannot miss more than one session.
What happens in a typical session?
You’ll engage in guided exercises, reflective dialogue, one-on-one coaching, and personal experimentation—all designed to help you practice new ways of showing up.
Do I need to have a background in theater or performance?
Not at all. MyLife Studio uses theatrical tools as learning methods, not for acting. You won’t perform or memorize anything. You’ll simply explore characters, roles, and stories as a way to better understand yourself.
How is this different from a personal development workshop or leadership course?
MyLife Studio is immersive, intimate, and practice-based. It’s not about absorbing information; it’s about trying on new ways of being, in real time, with expert support from MyLife Studio Guides. This embodied learning experience blends theater, coaching, and reflection in a highly customized journey based on your needs and goals.
What if I feel nervous or unsure about participating?
The experience is designed to offer emotional support. You’re not expected to be confident; you’re expected to be open. That’s where transformation begins. In the Studio, there are no observers, critics, or passive participants. Everyone takes risks together.
How do I know if I’m the right fit?
If you’re at a turning point moment, craving meaningful growth, and ready to explore who you are in community with others, you’re likely a great fit. The application and audition process will help to determine your readiness. Please note that the facilitation team can not offer therapeutic support.
Is there homework or work outside of class?
You’ll be asked to try real-world experiments, reflect on them, and share your insights. There will also be some short reading assignments.
What can I expect during the Virtual Coaching sessions?
Virtual Coaching sessions offer a highly personalized extension of the Studio experience. In these approximately one-hour sessions, you’ll work individually with a Guide and in a small group to explore your goals, experiment with new ways of expressing yourself, and rehearse real-life scenarios in a supportive environment. The sessions blend focused individual attention with ensemble-based reflection, allowing you to deepen self-awareness, strengthen confidence, and turn insights from the Studio into meaningful action.
Are the Virtual Coaching sessions required?
No. Virtual Coaching sessions are optional, though they are strongly encouraged. Participants consistently find these one-on-one or small-group sessions to be a valuable way to deepen learning, receive tailored feedback, and apply studio insights to real-life goals.
When do Virtual Coaching sessions take place?
Participants can sign up for one-on-one or small-group Virtual Coaching sessions during the third and fourth weeks of the course. Scheduling will begin during the first class.
Sessions are offered between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the following dates:
- Week Three: Tuesday, April 28; Wednesday, April 29; Thursday, April 30
- Week Four: Tuesday, May 5; Wednesday, May 6; Thursday, May 7
MyLife Studio Stories
Exploring Identity and Leadership: The MyLife Studio Experience
Rooted in his passion for ballet, Pablo Sánchez’s journey from performer to business leader reflects how creativity and self-reflection can illuminate the path to transformative leadership.
Acting as a Catalyst for Change
Charlie Newell on the Power of Rehearsal in Everyday Life.
Be True to Yourself: A Glimpse into My Life Studio’s Transformative Idea
As collaborators in the Graham School’s newest offering, faculty Harry Davis, Charles Newell, and Nancy Tennett bring a unique blend of business insight, artistic vision, and personal transformation expertise to MyLife Studio.