Voices from the Top Rung: A Conversation with Lynette A. Turner
In this episode of We Come to Lead series Voices from the Top Rung, host Nataki Garrett sits down with trailblazing arts leader, consultant, healer, and author Lynette A. Turner.
For more than three decades, Lynette has shaped American theatre and the national arts landscape—as one of the first Black women Producing Directors at a major PWI regional theatre, a senior associate at AMS Planning & Research, and now as founder of Positive Bliss, where she supports leaders through mindfulness, healing, and intentional living.
Topics We Cover:
• Lynette’s journey from actor and choreographer to Producing Director in the 1980s
• Being one of the first Black women in executive theatre leadership
• Her 26-year consulting career at AMS and the impact of lived expertise
• Coaching Nataki during her OSF tenure and navigating unprecedented scrutiny and resistance
• Rest, breathwork, and mindfulness as essential leadership tools
• The spiritual, emotional, and political realities of leading inside systems not built for you
• How Lynette reclaimed her voice and calling through healing work
• Her vision of legacy, joy, and meaningful dialogue
Featured Resources:
• Lynette’s website (Positive Bliss): https://www.positivebliss.com
• Lynette on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynette-turner-904a5b6/
• AMS Planning & Research tribute:
https://www.ams-planning.com/ams-celebrates-35-years-and-honors-sr-associate-lynette-a-turner/
• Book by Lynette Turner: The Ten Be’s of Positivity: 10 Steps to a More Positive Way of Living
• Referenced book: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
This is a powerful, honest, and deeply grounding conversation about leadership, rest, resilience, and the courage to stay whole while leading through change.
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