Video Interviews — Capture Your Flag

Intellectual Curiosity

Cathy Erway on Why to Question and Confront Status Quo Thinking

In Chapter 18 of 20 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and food writer Cathy Erway answers "What Has Experience Taught You About How to Better Manage Confrontation?" Erway shares how confronting another person on a point of view is too often seen as a negative and should also be viewed as a positive. She shares why it is good to challenge and confront conventional thinking and how a resulting debate can be healthy. She shares an exaple of writing a blog about not eating out and challenging conventional thinking around dinners, dating, birthdays and weddings.

Cathy Erway is an author, food writer, freelance copywriter, radio show host and teacher focused on healthy food advocacy. Her second book, "The Food of Taiwan: Recipes From the Beautiful Island" is a cookbook featuring Taiwanese recipes ranging from homestyle dishes to street food favorites. Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  Erway earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College. 

Phil McKenzie on How to Give Better Advice When Asked for Help

In Chapter 18 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "How Have You Learned to Give Better Advice When People Ask You For Help?" McKenzie prefaces his willingness to give advice with the fact that knowledge he shares is based on his own circumstances or experience. This brings context to the conversation and prevents him from coming across as judgmental or biased.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Jullien Gordon on How to Give Better Advice When Asked for Help

In Chapter 14 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach and public speaker Jullien Gordon answers "How Have You Learned to Give Better Advice When People Ask You For Help?" When asked for advice, Gordon finds it helpful to start by asking questions and not giving answers. This helps him shift his model for personal development from a "let me teach it to you" approach to providing others space to come up with their own answers.

Jullien Gordon is a business coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase performance, motivation, engagement and retention. Gordon is also a public speaker on career planning for colleges, conferences, and corporations. He earned a BA from UCLA and MBA and M. Ed degrees from Stanford University. 

Jullien Gordon on Adapting Teaching for a Flipped Classroom Setting

In Chapter 17 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach and public speaker Jullien Gordon answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?" Understanding teaching starts by asking the right questions and creating a safe place for learners, Gordon probes deeper to find better ways to hold students accountable. He finds flipping the classroom, providing exercises in advance of the class to focus class time on discussion, hugely beneficial to teaching success. He applies this approach, learned from Khan Academy, to improve how he designs his annual New Year goal setting event.

Jullien Gordon is a business coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase performance, motivation, engagement and retention. Gordon is also a public speaker on career planning for colleges, conferences, and corporations. He earned a BA from UCLA and MBA and M. Ed degrees from Stanford University. 

Hammans Stallings on Staying Passionate About a Fast-Changing Job

In Chapter 1 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Are You Learning to Use Your Passions in New Ways?" Stallings shares how working at frog design gives him new opportunities to learn all the time. Stallings finds the wide variety of projects and wicked problems that come with his work huge motivators to stay curious and embrace a passion for learning new things.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings on How to Use Philosophy in a Consulting Career

In Chapter 12 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Has Learning Consulting Been Useful in Your Management Consulting Work?" Stallings shares how reading philosophy and studying philosophers deepens his unerstadning of core arguments and ideas that have been debated for 1000s of years. He learns from the masters to bring these old ideas into present work solving problems working on consulting projects.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Hammans Stallings on How to Turn Lack of Confidence into a Strength

In Chapter 14 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work That You Do?" Stallings shares how it is important not only to possess confidence but also to be familiar and comfortable with areas where you lack confidence. Rather that masking these areas, Stallings embraces this and uses it to study and learn from others.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Matt Curtis on Building Strategic Partnerships With Local Government

In Chapter 18 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "How Are You Improving How Your Company Builds Strategic Partnerships?" Curtis shares how working with local government stakeholders on local government issues is about not forcing issues on another party. Instead, Curtis creates construtive dialogues to help him understand both sides and build consensus on the right path to take. He finds it helpful to engage in local government groups such as Congress for New Urbanism, The National League of Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors and the Urban Land Institute to work through best practices.

Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was deputy to Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He has represented the City of Austin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. In 2011, Curtis joined the Harvard Kennedy School Urban Policy Advisory Board to work on national best practices facing American cities. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas. 

Bijoy Goswami on Finding Strength Through Conscious Living

In Chapter 17 of 17 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, community leader Bijoy Goswami answers "At This Moment in Time, What Are the Sources of Strength and Struggle in Your Life?" Goswami shares how he tries to live a life where he consistenty expands his consciouness through experiencing and learning. He struggles when he tries things when the situation or timing is not right but ultimately finds strength through the process of embracing and not retreating from new experiences.

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas. He develops learning models to help individuals, organizations and communities live more meaningfully. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University. 

Randall Metting on Growing Into a Craft Spirits Marketing Manager Job

In Chapter 5 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Randall Metting answers "How Are Your Responsibilities Changing As You Gain Work Experience?" Promoted into a marketing manager role, Metting shares how increasing sales and marketing responsibilities are giving him deeper exposure to what life is like working at a fast growing craft spirits beverage company.

Randall Metting is a brand development and marketing manager at Dulce Vida Spirits in Austin, Texas. Over 17 years, he has built brands in spirits, luxury real estate and lifestyle, music, and sports industries. He has been a radio personality at KGSR Radio and a marketer at a hyperlocal startup acquired by NBC Universal. Metting earned a BA in Advertising from the University of Florida and started his career at The Coca-Cola Company. 

Anatole Faykin on How Academic and On-The-Job Learning Compare

In Chapter 11 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Does Learning in an Academic Setting Compare and Contrast With Learning on the Job?" Faykin shares how on-the-job learning focuses more on achieving incremental steps rather than thinking big about how things work. He contrasts this practical learning with the freedom of an an academic environment, where thinking is less about making money and more about giving yourself space to think more deeply on subjects.

Anatole Faykin is an Internet entrepreneur and digital marketer exploring new career options. A passionate world traveler and problem solver, Faykin plans to return to graduate school to earn a biosciences masters degree. Previously, Faykin has started multiple companies, including Tuanpin, a Shanghai startup he sold in 2011. He holds an MBA from NYU and a BS in computer science and biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Anatole Faykin on Studying Life Sciences to Refresh Business Career

In Chapter 16 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Do You Expect to Use a Life Sciences Master's Degree in Your Business Career?" As a serial entrepreneur who has started multiple businesses, Faykin goes to school first to pursue his passion for studying biosciences and life sciences. He notes that by re-immersing himself in the field of science after many years away he hopes to identify problems to solve by starting new companies to build products that address them.

Anatole Faykin is an Internet entrepreneur and digital marketer exploring new career options. A passionate world traveler and problem solver, Faykin plans to return to graduate school to earn a biosciences masters degree. Previously, Faykin has started multiple companies, including Tuanpin, a Shanghai startup he sold in 2011. He holds an MBA from NYU and a BS in computer science and biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Michael Olsen on Job Skills You Learn Studying Public Health

In Chapter 8 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "What Skills Did You Learn Studying Public Health That You Hope to Use in Your Career?" Studying in a dual degree business and public health masters program, Olsen shares how public health studies taught him to understand scientific evidence and use structure to improve problem solving. Additionally, he finds studying public health helps him better understand how he can make a difference in the world, in particular in developing regions. He sees firsthand how global health disease states such as child mortality, HIV and malaria are dropping and it inspires him to be part of that movement as a global health professional.

Michael Olsen is a management consultant at Accenture. Previous to Accenture, Olsen earned dual MBA and MPH degrees at Emory University in Atlanta. Olsen earned a BA in symbolic systems from Stanford University and spent the next five years founding an IT consulting company, Redwood Strategies. 

Michael Olsen on How to Assess Communication Effectiveness

In Chapter 14 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "How Are You Learning to Communicate More Effectively?" Olsen shares his approach to testing his communication and persuasiveness, from trying alternative approaches to gathering data and assessing results. 

Michael Olsen is a management consultant at Accenture. Previous to Accenture, Olsen earned dual MBA and MPH degrees at Emory University in Atlanta. Olsen earned a BA in symbolic systems from Stanford University and spent the next five years founding an IT consulting company, Redwood Strategies. 

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt on Moving From New York to San Francisco

In Chapter 5 of 17 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and small business owner Rachel Lehmann-Haupt answers "How Has Moving to a New City Created Positive Change in Your Life?" Working in media and publishing, Lehmann-Haupt finds New York City to be, as her mentor Clay Felker puts it, "about power and who's up and who's down." Upon arriving in the San Francisco, she finds the Bay Area culture to be more about ideas and experimentation and open-mindedness to new possibilities. Lehmann-Haupt connects with the culture, joins TED Books to work on the future of digital media publishing and ultimately launches her own firm, StoryMade.

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt is a writer, editor and multimedia content strategist. She is the owner of StoryMade, a storytelling studio that creates new media content solutions for businesses. Previously, she was a founding editor and multimedia producer at TED Books, designing TED Talk content for tablet computers. She is the author of "In Her Own Sweet Time", published in 2009. Lehmann-Haupt earned a BA from Kenyon College and a Masters in Journalism from UC-Berkeley. 

Bryan Law on Learning Languages in International Business Consulting

In Chapter 10 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "As a Non-Native Speaker, How Did You Overcome Language Barriers Working in Brazil?" Working as a management consultant, Law is staffed on a Brazil project and, as a non-native speaker, learns Portuguese when he finds the work is done in native language and not English. As an international consultant, the experience teaches him the importance of engaging clients in their native languages as best as possible. This helps him on future projects, including one working with the Mozambique government.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. 

How to Cultivate Child Curiosity for Learning

In Chapter 4 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, product management executive Ramsey Pryor answers "How Do You Encourage and Support Your Children's Curiosity for Learning?" Pryor learns from his Mom that giving young children an opportunity to explore at a young age fosters curiosity and learning. He relocates his family to the San Francisco Bay Area in large part to give his kids year-round opportunities for family time outdoors and museums that make learning continuous, fun and exciting.

Ramsey Pryor is a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based collaboration and security software products. Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM. Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University. 

Why to Major in Broadcast Journalism

In Chapter 5 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, education technology entrepreneur Adam Geller answers "Why Did You Choose to Major in Journalism and Mass Communication in College?" In college at UNC, Geller chooses to major in broadcast journalism. He minors in chemistry to round out his skills of focusing on business, science and medical journalism. He finds studying journalism helped him be a better learner and more effective communicator.

Adam Geller is founder and CEO of Edthena, a video platform enabling online teacher coaching, peer review, and group learning. He is a recent Education Ventures fellow at the Kauffman Foundation and the founder of Teach For Us, a network connecting Teach for America corps members and alumni. He earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MA from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.