How Entrepreneurial Spirit Shapes Career - Audrey Parker

In Chapter 2 of 21 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, entrepreneur Audrey Parker answers "What Made You Realize That You Were an Entrepreneur at Heart?" Parker first accepts the "entrepreneur" identity after co-founding her company, CLEAResult; however, upon reflecting upon her past experiences, Parker recognizes she has been happiest when she is creating something. She recalls helping a woman start fter graduating from college, Parker helps to start an insurance agency. While in college, she helps to start a women's a cappella group. Parker is currently on a one-year sabbatical. Parker co-founded CLEAResult, an energy management consulting firm. In 2010, CLEAResult ranked #144 in the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies. In late 2010, CLEAResult was sold to General Catalyst Partners. Parker graduated from Wake Forest University.

How Decision and Ideation Skills Apply in Software and Design - Jon Kolko

In Chapter 7 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer and educator Jon Kolko shares the importance of and how he has developed rapid ideation and quick decision making skills. Upon graduating Carnegie Mellon, Kolko works at Austin startup, Trilogy Software, where he learns decision-making in a sink or swim environment. As his design career develops, he learns to balance rapidly creating new ideas with letting them marinate and develop. Kolko is the executive director of design strategy at venture accelerator, Thinktiv (www.thinktiv.com). He is the founder and director of the Austin School for Design (www.ac4d.com). Previously, he worked at frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He has authored multiple books on design. Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

How Investment Banking Shapes Strategic Thinking - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 8 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings shares how working in investment banking has helped him become a more strategic thinker. Bankers have limited industry insight, so it becomes more challenging to assess and understand value using limited information, assumptions, and models. Now having worked in industry roles, including at Dell and now, frog design, Stallings learns to blend the modeling learned in banking with the additional industry knowledge available in his work. Stallings is currently a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in business strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

How SCAD Alumna Finds First Job and Builds Design Career - Lauren Serota

In Chapter 8 of 18 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, interaction designer and researcher Lauren Serota graduates at the top of her college class and then struggles to find work. She broadens her horizons and takes a design recruiting job, where she learns about people and hones her interests. Ultimately, the experience positions Serota for design research work. 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 Research Experience Informs Design Career - Lauren Serota

In Chapter 9 of 18 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, interaction designer and researcher Lauren Serota shares how her design career has developed. After high school DJ and Music PR jobs, Serota attends Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to study industrial design. Over time she focuses on formative design stages, specifically design. After multiple early career jobs, she lands a design researcher job at Lextant. 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 Temp Job Leads to Computer Programming Career - Chris Hinkle

In Chapter 6 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, product designer and software engineer Chris Hinkle shares how his computer programming career began working at a temp job. Watching an inefficient process occur, Hinkle traces the inefficiency to the source and makes adjustments to save the company time and resources. This leads Hinkle to start programming and create process efficiencies. 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 Working at Coca-Cola Shapes Marketing Career Ambition - Randall Metting

In Chapter 4 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 an Atlanta marketing job at Coca-Cola out of college shaped his career.  Metting get involved with the Dasani Water product launch and learns about grassroots marketing, regional promotions, and new category expansion.  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. 

How to Adjust Talent Strategy as Small Business Grows - Mike Germano

In Chapter 8 of 16 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, social media expert and Carrot Creative president Mike Germano shares how his growing small business is forcing management to revisit hiring strategy.  Built upon hiring young passionate talent on potential, company growth now challenges management to reconcile aligning talent decisions with a company culture that meets team and client expectations.  Germano is co-founder and president of DUMBO, Brooklyn based new media agency Carrot Creative.  Before Carrot Creative, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University. 

How Dartmouth Bridge Program Prepares Social Entrepreneur - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 1 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with Erik Michielsen, storyteller and entrepreneur Michael Margolis graduates with a cultural anthropology liberal arts degree from Tufts University and then takes a month-long mini-MBA program. Margolis goes through the program alongside new hires from McKinsey management consulting. After the program, Margolis looks to social entrepreneurship, specifically applying business principles to social issues. He attends a social enterprise job fair and joins Volunteer Solutions. 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 Hewlett-Packard Engineer Becomes Cisco Marketer - Alan McNab

In Chapter 2 of 17 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, customer advocacy marketing executive Alan McNab shares how his technology marketing career developed after earning an electrical engineering degree and joining Hewlett-Packard (HP) as a network engineer. His engineering education provides him the credentials and assessment skills to get in the door with HP and, over time, transition to his client, Cisco. McNab holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University and an MBA from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He has worked in various technology marketing roles at Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Motorola, and is now Vice President, Customer Advocacy at NCR based in Dublin.

How Working Before Law School Benefits Career - James McCormick

In Chapter 3 of 12 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, legal career advisor James McCormick shares how working with lawyers in arbitration and dispute resolution before applying to law school informed his career. Working directly with lawyers provides McCormick an on-the-job perspective that not only shapes his law school application decision but also, over time, his long-term career planning decisions. McCormick is a Vice President at Empire Search Partners (http://www.empiresearchpartners.com) in New York City. Before transitioning into legal career advisory services, McCormick practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for both Proskauer Rose (http://www.proskauer.com) and Jones Day (http://www.jonesday.com). He holds a JD from Tulane University Law School (http://www.law.tulane.edu) and a BA in History from the University of Michigan (http://www.umich.edu).

How Start Group Peer Relationships Impact Career - James McCormick

In Chapter 6 of 12 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, legal career advisor James McCormick highlights why shared start group experiences - the first-year experience at a firm or organization - create bonds and a support network. Going through things together forms supportive bonds that can provide longer term personal, professional, and financial support. James McCormick is a Vice President at Empire Search Partners (http://www.empiresearchpartners.com) in New York City. Before transitioning into legal career advisory services, McCormick practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for both Proskauer Rose (http://www.proskauer.com) and Jones Day (http://www.jonesday.com). He holds a JD from Tulane University Law School (http://www.law.tulane.edu) and a BA in History from the University of Michigan (http://www.umich.edu).

How Passion for Relationships Prompts Social Sciences Career - Gabrielle Lamourelle

In Chapter 1 of 21 in her 2010 interview with Erik Michielsen, global health consultant Gabrielle Lamourelle comes to a career in the social sciences to better understand her surroundings. An initial cue from biology and photosynthesis blossoms as Gabrielle shifts focus toward relationships among people. Upon graduating University of California at Berkeley, Lamourelle take temporary jobs to identify what she does and does not like, ultimately refining focus to a social sciences career. 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.

How Initiative Can Create Breakthrough Career Moments - Alayne Cotterill

In Chapter 4 of 13 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag Host Erik Michielsen, wildlife biologist Alayne Cotterill details a breakthrough career moment - using initiative to move from an entry-level safari guide job into a national park animal search and capture team. Animal lover Cotterill accepts the opportunity and the adventure - flying across African national parks spotting rhinos - that comes with it. Ultimately, Cotterill builds upon this experience in her work across Africa with rhinos, elephants, lions and other large animals. 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 Teacher Turnover is a Big Charter School Concern - Yoav Gonen

Yoav Gonen returns to Capture Your Flag to build upon his 2009 interview with a 2010 conversation with host Erik Michielsen. In Chapter 16 of 17, Gonen, a New York Post education reporter, shares why teacher turnover is a central issue in the charter school debate. He highlights how many charters rely on highly motivated, energetic young teachers coming from Teach for America. Their commitment is several years in length and charter schools, who tend to have longer work hours and school terms than public schools, tend to burnout the young teachers. Gonen highlights a New Orleans charter school experiencing burnout, but cautions that charter schools require a longer trial - 5 to 10 years longer - to assess teaching sustainability and turnover issues. Before starting his New York City newspaper reporting career, Gonen earned his BA in English from the University of Michigan and his Masters in Journalism from New York University.

How to Find a Teaching Job in the Right School for You - Yoav Gonen

Yoav Gonen returns to Capture Your Flag to build upon his 2009 interview with a 2010 conversation with host Erik Michielsen. In Chapter 14 of 17, Gonen, a New York Post education reporter, provides insight into the free Department of Education (www.ed.gov) online resources experienced and prospective teachers can use to identify opportunities and research schools. Gonen recognizes teachers seek schools where they are comfortable and where they get along with school leaders. He highlights how the Obama Administration has made student performance and school surveys available, ranging from parent feedback to teacher and administrative rankings, that provide visibility into school performance and management. For example, Gonen highlights how the surveys show management effectiveness and trust between teachers and administration. The surveys and information may be found at the Department of Education website. Before starting his New York City newspaper reporting career, Gonen earned his BA in English from the University of Michigan and his Masters in Journalism from New York University.

How Stanford Symbolic Systems Studies Direct Career - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 2 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen channels his broad interests into studying symbolic systems at Stanford University. Olsen's studies take a multi-discipline perspective - computer science, history, philosophy - in his studies. Upon graduation, Olsen continues to work in insurance industry and founds an Internet consulting firm. The interdisciplinary approach helps Olsen balance pitching clients ideas and technology project execution.