Why Writer Enjoys Telling Stories - Scott Gold

In Chapter 8 of 20 of his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and writer Scott Gold answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About Telling a Good Story?"  Firstly, Gold notes the satisfaction of physically delivering something and receiving the positive response.  He also finds gratification in the storytelling process itself, detailing several ways in which it provides satisfaction.  Scott Gold is an author and writer based in New York City.  When not writing, Gold moonlights as a bartender at Char no. 4 restaurant in Brooklyn.  He earned a BA in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis. 

How Writing a Book Compares With Recording an Album - Scott Gold

In Chapter 11 of 20 of his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and writer Scott Gold answers "How Does Writing a Book Compare and Contrast with Recording an Album?"  Gold notes the respective challenges and rewards associated with each.  He notes how writing a book is less expensive to create and can be done alone at any time.  Conversely, recording albums are typically collaborative efforts that require larger investments.  Gold also takes time to share, compare, and contrast how writers and musicians derive satisfaction from others receiving their art.  Scott Gold is an author and writer based in New York City.  When not writing, Gold moonlights as a bartender at Char no. 4 restaurant in Brooklyn.  He earned a BA in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis. 

What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder - Conrad Doucette

In Chapter 3 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, musician and Takka Takka drummer Conrad Doucette answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?"  He finds it easier knowing what will be satisfying and fulfilling.  The increasing challenge is focusing on opportunities amidst so many options to pursue.  Doucette is the drummer for the Brooklyn-based band Takka Takka.  He also performs with The National, Okkervil River, and Alina Simone.  When not performing, Doucette works as a copywriter, blogger, and digital media producer.  He has worked at Blender, Fuse TV, and Heavy.com.  Doucette earned his BA in History from the University of Michigan. 

Why to Play in a Band - Conrad Doucette

In Chapter 5 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, musician and Takka Takka drummer Conrad Doucette answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About Being in a Band?"  He begins with the second most enjoyable piece is the creative process collaborating and working with others.  His primary motivator is simply playing and the emotional and physical satisfaction that come with it.  Doucette is the drummer for the Brooklyn-based band Takka Takka.  He also performs with The National, Okkervil River, and Alina Simone.  When not performing, Doucette works as a copywriter, blogger, and digital media producer.  He has worked at Blender, Fuse TV, and Heavy.com.  Doucette earned his BA in History from the University of Michigan. 

How Health Scare Changes Life Outlook - Ken Rona

In Chapter 4 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, data analytics expert Ken Rona answers "How Has a Recent Health Scare Changed How You Live Your Life?"  The scare reminds Rona he is on the Earth for a finite amount of time and that he should enjoy it.  For many years, he has deferred travel and holidays to focus on saving and work.  The scare causes Rona to shift some value to current enjoyment, including buying a convertible and taking more family vacations.  Rona is currently VP Audience Insights and Ad Sales Partnerships at Turner Broadcasting.  Previously, Rona has worked in roles in data analytics at IXI Digital and AOL and management consulting at McKinsey & Co.  He earned a BA and MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Behavioral Economics from Duke University.

How to Develop Staff and Leave a Legacy - Ken Rona

In Chapter 13 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, data analytics expert Ken Rona answers "What Do You Find Most Fulfilling about Working in General Management and Staff Development?"  Rona shares how an ex-McKinsey colleague frames legacy ambition as team.  Rona finds a legacy is better framed via people and, more fundamentally, staff development.  Rona is currently VP Audience Insights and Ad Sales Partnerships at Turner Broadcasting.  Previously, Rona has worked in roles in data analytics at IXI Digital and AOL and management consulting at McKinsey & Co.  He earned a BA and MA in Political Science from Stony Brook University and a PhD in Behavioral Economics from Duke University. 

Stacie Bloom: A Day in the Life of a Bench Research Scientist

In Chapter 10 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Do You Respect Most About People Doing Bench or Laboratory Science Research?" She believes the people who are working as the bench scientists are the people who are solving the problems of the world. She shares the challenge life scientists encounter in their work and the persistence and commitment required to succeed in the job.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What do you respect most about people doing bench or laboratory science research?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: The people who are working as the bench scientists are the people who are solving the problems of the world. I think every physician who is treating patients in the clinic should have to have a glimpse into the day of a bench scientist, on a day that the experiment isn’t working well.

Erik Michielsen: What does it look like?

Stacie: It’s really frustrating and it’s really hard and usually you are surrounded -- if you are a life scientist -- you are usually surrounded by a million little, tiny, labeled tubes, and pipette tips, and radiation shields, and freezers, and maybe mice, and you’re probably there at two o’clock in the morning, 3 o’clock in the morning because everything is always timed. I appreciate their commitment to that job. That job does not pay well. It’s really hard. And for every experiment that results in a high-quality scientific publication, there are probably a hundred that failed.

How Creating a Company is Like Building a Family - Audrey Parker

In Chapter 14 of 21 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, entrepreneur Audrey Parker answers "How Creating a Company is Like Building a Family?" When starting her business, CLEAResult, she did not think there were parallels. Over time, however, she finds those parallels, from establishing trusted relationships to building and implementing learning programs. From a feminine or woman's perspective, she finds meaning knowing she was the family mother of a company that has now grown up to do good in the world. 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.

Courtney Spence on Making Your Work More Meaningful

In Chapter 4 of 16 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit founder and executive Courtney Spence answers "How are You Learning to Make Your Work More Meaningful and Lasting?" She makes it a priority to enjoy the process and the journey of her organization's impact and story. Spence is founder and executive director of Students of the World a non-profit that partners with passionate college students to create new media to highlight global issues and the organizations working to address them. Spence graduated with a BA in History from Duke University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen :  How are you learning to make your work more meaningful and lasting?

Courtney Spence:  I think it’s really important to enjoy the process.  I think, for a while, there it was so much about we haven’t met these goals.  Where are we?  I was so disappointed in not being where I wanted to be.  And when you sort of – I had to let that go this last year because we were giving it one last shot, and it was, you know, making some crazy decisions, and, you know, making some risky decisions, and it started slowly, it’s starting to pay off, but what I realized is I had a great team.  I mean the women that I work with, I love, and we laughed more, and we have more fun than I’ve had in the long time, so I have really, really enjoyed the process because that’s all we have.  We have the journey, the destination is not guaranteed, and when you get there, it doesn’t look like you thought it would look, and then there’s another place you gotta go.  So if you don’t enjoy the journey, you’re not gonna enjoy your life, and the work that you do won’t be as impactful as it could be.

How Family Business Shapes Work Ethic and Aspiration - Jon Kolko

In Chapter 1 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer and educator Jon Kolko answers "To What Do You Aspire?" Kolko shares how his aspirations have progressively become defined in the process of hard work. Kolko shares how he learned work ethic from his parents, who taught him by working in the family eyeglass business. Kolko finds motivation in this process, learning Internet by playing with PC Plus while at the office on weekends. 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.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Rethink Career and Find Fulfilling Work

In Chapter 6 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares why he challenges traditional career planning thinking.  He feels careers are built upon societal norms and ways of thinking.  He offers instead non-linear options built on modular experiences and a stronger embrace of uncertainty and the unknown.  Pfortmüller finds this approach more fulfilling and in line with his passions and interests.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Why do you encourage others to investigate nontraditional careers?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I really believe in nontraditional careers because I don’t believe in careers. And already saying ‘Do a nontraditional career’ means do not the thing that you should be doing or the normal thing and I believe that’s totally wrong. You know the career that is laid out for you and has the several modules where you start at school and you go to university and you have a job and you have a better job and you go from there… I’m not sure if that’s what life’s about.

I encourage myself to really think hard, is that something that I actually want because career the way we know it and I think that’s very prominent here in the US is not defined by yourself, it’s defined by society. And I’m not sure if I want to have my life for the next thirty, forty years laid out by society values, I’d rather have them laid out by my own values. And I can see – I can give you an example that I believe being at Columbia I’m surrounded by lots of really smart kids who – they have the talents the skills to do anything in the world.

So, my question is why should they do exactly that, why should they go and go into classical ibanking, and consulting careers and legal and medical if they have the skills for everything? And I believe it has a lot to do with stability. Career has to do with stability, it’s kind of a widely accepted way of leading your life and I just, I’m willing to take the instability of not knowing exactly what’s coming next and looking at it in modular ways of ‘Well you do first this and then maybe this and then this and then maybe something else afterwards’ and it might not be linear of just going up, it might be up and down and sideways and so on, I think that’s more fulfilling for me personally.

How Food Author Finds Purpose Beyond the Bestseller List - Cathy Erway

In Chapter 8 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with Erik Michielsen, author and food writer Cathy Erway shares how she defines and measures success. Cathy acknowledges her first book, "The Art of Eating In", is not going to be a New York Times Bestseller or mainstream hit. Rather, it is a niche book. She feels successful when her book and writing connect deeply with a small number of people, in particular with those who respond to her writing on making positive changes to the food system and how we eat. Erway is the author of "The Art of Eating In: How I learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove." She writes two blogs, "Not Eating Out in New York" (http://www.noteatingoutinny.com ) and "Lunch at Six Point" (http://www.lunchatsixpoint.com ). Erway earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College.

Why to Work in Big City Education - Andrew Epstein

In Chapter 7 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, charter school executive Andrew Epstein shares why he enjoys working in big city education. Epstein compares his current charter school experience to earlier career time with Teach for America and how both have created national movements. He enjoys being part of the public charter school movement innovating classroom education. Epstein is currently Senior Director for Finance at Democracy Prep Public Schools in New York City. Previously, he was a finance executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records and, previous to that, a schoolteacher in the Teach for America Corps program. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

How Charter School Movement Creates MBA Jobs in Education - Andrew Epstein

In Chapter 2 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, charter school executive Andrew Epstein shares why he left his corporate finance job at Island Def Jam Records for a charter school finance director role. Epstein considers the move a sort of homecoming, as previous to Island Def Jam he was a Teach for America teacher. He notes how the charter schools are attracting highly passionate and educated candidates from traditional corporate career paths. Epstein is currently Senior Director for Finance at Democracy Prep Public Schools in New York City. Previously, he was a finance executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records and, previous to that, a schoolteacher in the Teach for America Corps program. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

How Red Carpet Celebrity Interviews Make Career More Meaningful - Mark Graham

In Chapter 16 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, editor and writer Mark Graham shares what he enjoys most about working red carpet events. Shortly after joining VH1, Graham gets his first red carpet experience at the Critics Choice Music Awards helping on-air correspondents cover the event. During the event Graham gets firsthand experience with nearly 25 celebrity interviews. Graham compares this personal connection with his experience interviewing celebrities on the phone over the course of his media career. Graham is currently a senior editor at MTV Networks. Previously he worked in editing and writing roles at New York Magazine and Gawker Media. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English.

How Entertainment Writer Defines and Measures Success - Mark Graham

In Chapter 14 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, editor and writer Mark Graham shares how he defines success personally and professionally in his pop culture writing for the Internet. Graham notes traditional metrics - unique page views, comment volume, social media sharing - as well as larger, more personal work - are you proud of your work, are other people talking about your work, are you trying something new. He notes this is incredibly important writing for television, as each new season offers new opportunities to try new storytelling and writing angles. Graham is currently a senior editor at MTV Networks. Previously he worked in editing and writing roles at New York Magazine and Gawker Media. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English.

How Transparency Improves Writing and Blogging - Mark Graham

In Chapter 5 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, pop culture writer and editor Mark Graham shares how his blogging and writing experience has taught him to be more transparent. Graham's online and offline personas are the same. Over time, his online personal has become the same voice as his everyday one, instead of a fictional character or persona. This allows him to better interact with his audience via exchanging feedback and comments. Graham is currently a senior editor at MTV Networks. Previously he worked in editing and writing roles at New York Magazine and Gawker Media. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English.

Why to Channel Creative Aspirations in Advertising and Design Career - Doug Jaeger

In Chapter 5 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer Doug Jaeger shares his aspiration to create a legacy of creation across the products, experiences, and campaigns he develops as an advertising and design professional. Jaeger constantly looks for ways to create and share things in faster and faster cycles. He finds support using mechanical and technical tools. Over time, Jaeger finds fulfillment not only in creating things but also in creating things that last and have a timeless element. Jaeger is a partner at design firm JaegerSloan - http://jaegersloan.com/ - and is also president of the Art Director's Club - http://www.adcglobal.org/ . Previously he founded thehappycorp and has served in creative director leadership roles at TBWA/Chiat/Day and JWT. Jaeger holds a BFA in Computer Graphics and Art Media Studies from Syracuse University.