How to Break Out of a Comfort Zone and Live More Fully - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 7 of 18 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis answers "Where is Your Comfort Zone and What Do You Do to Break Free of Living in It?" Curtis shares how for the longest time, his comfort zone was living a sedentary life at home. After breaking free of this by moving into the city and cutting his cable TV, Curtis now focuses on how he can become more centered each week. He finds waking up early an effective way to get the alone time necessary to plan his future. Curtis is the communications director for Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell. Curtis' charity work includes affiliations with Capital Area Food Bank, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Students of the World, the Rainforest Project and the Art Alliance. In 2011, Curtis won "Austinite of the Year" in the Austin Under 40 Awards. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

How Educator Plans Career Aspirations - Lauren Serota

In Chapter 1 of 18 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, interaction designer and researcher Lauren Serota shares her aspirations. She always wanted to live in Austin and be an educator, but learns that to be a great educator it is critical to be a practitioner as well. She pursues her goals that then allow her to move to Austin to work and teach in design. Serota is an interaction designer at frog design - http://frogdesign.com - and a professor at the Austin Center for Design - http://ac4d.com . She earned her bachelors degree in industrial design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

How R/GA Agency Culture Fosters Creativity and Innovation - Chris Hinkle

In Chapter 7 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, product designer and software engineer Chris Hinkle shares how he learned creative thinking in digital media working at R/GA advertising agency in New York City. The company sets aside research and development to look for new problems to solve. It results in a culture of product research aimed at learning new technology and making new products before there is demand for them. Hinkle currently designs products and develops software for The Barbarian Group digital marketing services company. Previously, he worked at HUGE and R/GA digital advertising agencies. He has also founded a product incubation laboratory, The Hinkle Way.

How Community Diversity Creates Austin City Culture - Randall Metting

In Chapter 9 of 11 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, brand marketer and Austin on-air radio personality Randall Metting shares how living in Ausitn has taught him about what makes communities work.  After relocating from Atlanta to Austin, Metting embraces the diverse communities shaping Austin life.  He sums it up with a coffeeshop analogy and the mixed backgrounds all part of one scne.  Metting is a brand developer focused on the intersection of luxury goods, professional sports, and charitable cause sponsorship and promotion.  He is also an on-air radio personality for 93.3 KGSR Radio Austin.  He earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida. 

Joe Stump on How to Pick a City That Best Matches Your Interests

In Chapter 3 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur and SimpleGeo CTO Joe Stump shares how living in multiple cities has informed what he looks for in choosing a city where to live. Stump looks for high walkability, good public transportation, bike friendly streets, and high speed broadband access when searching. After time in Seattle and Boulder, Stump returns to San Francisco, a place that meets his criteria best. Stump is the co-founder and CTO at SimpleGeo (www.simplegeo.com), a San Francisco-based mobile location infrastructure services company. Previously Stump was Lead Architect at Digg. He programs in PHP, Python, Django and enjoys scaling websites. He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What’s been your approach in determining which city is best for you to live?

Joe Stump: Um I would say - If you asked my mom she would say I’ve been doing a lot of statistical sampling. As far as I can remember, I’ve lived in a very small town in the middle of a corn field, a very small town in the middle of kind of in the middle of a tourist area, a college town, a mountain town and then two west coast - two pretty major west coast cities, San Francisco and Seattle. So, my approach - the things that I look for after living in all those different places, the things that I look for are a very high walk ability score, kind of my minimum entry is I need to be able to, within a block be able to get to a bar and a restaurant that I wouldn’t mind eating at regularly and a bodega of some sort.

Number two, public transportation. Number three would be biking, I do a lot of biking so lot’s of bike paths and stuff are pretty important to me, Boulder was amazing for that, San Francisco less so, Seattle even less so than that. So, those are probably the top three things I look for, oh and the last one, and that’s one that’s arguably the most important is I have to have access to high-speed bandwidth.

Erik Michielsen: So why San Francisco?

Joe Stump: Um, San Francisco, so you know I lived in Seattle for three and a half years, I love the Pacific Northwest, if I wasn’t a computer geek I would probably still be in Seattle, so San Francisco has a lot of the things I liked about Seattle, it’s laid back, extremely liberal, probably a little militant on the liberal side for my taste, but nice. You know you can still get to the mountains fairly easily, water’s there, those are all good things I like about it, but I think that what keeps me in San Francisco as opposed to Seattle or even So-Cal is really two things, one, San Francisco is a Mecca for nerds, I am a nerd, this is where my people live, and in conjunction with that my salary is now probably fifty percent higher than it would be anywhere else in the world.

I mean judging by looking at me, I’m not what you call a mainstream, normal, nine to five kind of guy. In San Francisco, those people that are considered normal everywhere else in the world are actually the weirdoes in San Francisco, and the weirdoes everywhere else are the norm. Like perfect example of why I think San Francisco is like, it’s Mecca to nerds but also just weirdoes in general. So, we have Frank Chu for instance he’s like a beloved San Francisco crazy person essentially, walks around with signs that say like “the galaxy of twelve soldiers” or whatever are coming, and he’s generally accepted as like the mascot for San Francisco.

How to Turn Passion for Storytelling into a Career - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 2 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with Erik Michielsen, storyteller and entrepreneur Michael Margolis shares how he recognized his passion for storyteling and turned it into a career. After early career social entrepreneur experience and overcoming illness, Margolis creates a career helping companies, clients, and students tell stories people can believe in. Margolis is the founder and president of Get Storied (http://www.getstoried.com), an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. As a consultant, educator and writer he uses storytelling to create more effective branding, innovation and culture change. Margolis earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

How Dad Teaches Son Valuable Social Skills - Geoff Hamm

In Chapter 1 of 16 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, online media sales executive Geoff Hamm grows up going to work, a community college, with his father. Hamm's dad encourages him to take the initiative and introduce himself to the many people he meets each week at his dad's office. Over time, this openness to meeting people helps Hamm navigate a school change in college and sets the foundation for his sales career. Hamm graduated from the University of Illinois - http://illinois.edu/ - and is now SVP of Sales at at Scribd http://www.scribd.com/ in Silicon Valley. Previously he held online sales management positions at Electronic Arts, Yahoo!, Orbitz, IAC, and Excite.

How to Make International Work Experience Relevant at Home - Gabrielle Lamourelle

In Chapter 19 of 21 in her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, global health consultant Gabrielle Lamourelle explains how her non-communicable disease thesis work done in India is applicable to United States public health work. Lamourelle highlights the overlapping diet change and sedentary lifestyle issues affecting resource poor urban settings in both the U.S. and India. She finds many similarities in designing health programs to tackle obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease problems across countries. Lamourelle graduated with a BS in Sociology from University of California at Berkeley and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Sociomedical Sciences from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. View more career learning and development knowledge videos at http://www.captureyourflag.com. Follow Capture Your Flag on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/captureyourflag. Follow Capture Your Flag on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/captureyourflag.

How Animal Lover Builds Biology Career Working in Africa - Alayne Cotterill

In Chapter 1 of 13 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag Host Erik Michielsen, wildlife biologist Alayne Cotterill shares how her early love for animals informed her biology career development. As a university biology major, Cotterill focuses attention on ecology and the bigger picture and connected elements it covers. Over time, she moves to Africa to begin working with large animals, including lions, rhinos, and elephants, in their natural habitat. Learn more about Alayne's work at http://www.lionconservation.org.

How to Transition from Business Consulting to Product Marketing - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 10 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor details how he started his consulting career at Accenture after graduating Northwestern University and migrated to Silicon Valley to pursue work in Internet product marketing. While consulting, Pryor gains technology experience and training he then applies to a fast-paced Internet culture, beginning with a role at search engine Ask Jeeves. Pryor leaves behind a long-term consulting partner career track for the immediate responsibility Silicon Valley presents.

Why to Pursue International MBA at IESE Business School in Spain - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 8 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why he chose University of Navarra's IESE Business School for his MBA Studies. Pryor notes the rigorous classroom component, including mandatory attendance, intense workload, case studies, and cold calling. He also notes the absolute curve and associated probationary periods. While more academically focused than North American peer schools, Pryor finds value in high percentage of international students and the related post-graduate international networking possibilities. Learn more about IESE at http://www.iese.edu/en/MBAPrograms/index.asp.

How International MBA Creates Global Business Network - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 7 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why he decided to leave Silicon Valley to study business at the IESE MBA program in Barcelona, Spain. Pryor sets long term goals to live internationally and reasons that an internationally located MBA will help cultivate a global business network. This pushes Pryor to rank foreign options, including IESE, above domestic ones such as the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley.

How Living in Foreign Cultures Stimulates Learning - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 2 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares what fascinates him most about living in foreign cultures. Pryor relishes new experiences, and moving to a new location provides him the license to build a new routine by exploring the people, language, and places in the new surroundings.

Why Relocate from the Suburbs to the City - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 14 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis explains his motivation to leave suburban Austin, Texas for downtown living. Curtis had space, but also felt isolated, often staying inside for a weekend. Upon relocating downtown, Curtis becomes more active and engaged in the community. He purges tons of stuff - VHS tapes, Hall and Oates audio tapes, Renaissance fair swords - and finds a simplified life more enjoyable. Living in a 600-square foot apartment pushes Curtis to explore his neighborhood, meet neighbors, and participate as a member of the community.

How to Turn Passion for Environment into Business Career - Audrey Parker

In Chapter 2 of 15, energy efficiency consultant Audrey Parker applies her passion for environment into an environmental career. After a short stay working in insurance, Parker relocates home to Texas and finds an energy job that combined her business education and experience with her passion.

Why Mobile Phones Accelerate U.S. Reurbanization - Dan Street

In Chapter 1 of 20 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview , hyperlocal entrepreneur Dan Street reveals his excitement for present day opportunity to evolve how communities interact. Street traces community development post World War II, from factional American communities to suburban sprawl to cable development and the Internet. In short, he traces how American culture has become increasingly isolationist. Until now. Street cites Austin, New York, Houston and Los Angeles as examples where individuals are engaging more in the community. This includes farmers markets, arts events, volunteer events, and Meetups. The missing connection is how mobile phones can connect these pieces, which is why Street formed his hyperlocal Internet company, Loku (previously Borrowed Sugar).

Street is the founder and CEO of Loku which develops Internet software to strengthen local communities.  Previously, Street worked in private equity at Kohlberg, Kravis, and Roberts (KKR) and management consulting at Bain & Co.  He earned a BA in music and business from Rice University. 

How Arkansas Showcases American Cultural Values - Andrew Hutson

In Chapter 8 of 16, environmental management expert and Wal-Mart corporate sustainability advisor Andrew Hutson talks about finding a newfound respect for American culture upon relocating from Washington DC to Arkansas. Between a genuine neighborly inquisitiveness and a slower, gentler pace, Hutson finds the move a refreshing reminder of what makes his country great.

How Informational Interviews Lead to Graduate School Admission - Diana Wilmot

In Chapter 9 of 9, Diana Wilmot shares how building practical experience and talking to people about job roles focuses her educational measurement and assessment career ambition. Upon moving to northern California, Diana Wilmot visits University of California Berkeley and asks what it will take to get admitted into the masters and doctorate program. She then goes off and teaches for several years, meeting new professionals along the way to understand what possibilities exist in assessment.