Her heels, impossibly thin and impractically tall just like her, sound like wealth echoing off the windows. “Do you know who I am,” she slurs, “The mayor will hear about this. You’re nothing in this town.” I nod and the alcohol conspires with me to pull her from the ballroom, where I catch the eye of the bouncer who gently steers her away. I smooth my rented designer dress and adjust my headset before returning to the room. Discreetly, I let the celebrity host know that all was taken care of. She compliments first my efficiency, then my chunky, practical heels. When I tell her they were from a second-hand shop, she insists I take her there one day.

Sarah Jean Benvenuti is a writer, musician, professor, and creative entrepreneur. She is the Founder and CEO of Benvenuti Arts; an adjunct professor for Master of Arts Management Programs at Carnegie Mellon University and the Università di Bologna; and a cofounder of the roving artists colony, the Wandering Theatre Collective. Her arts management writing can be found on the Benvenuti Arts blog and she has been published in The Atlas of Gratitude & Delight by Write Pittsburgh. While based in Pittsburgh, she has been nomadic for over a decade and can be found frequently in Bologna, Italy and Inverness, Scotland. See her site.