How to Find Work in Creative Writing and Music - Conrad Doucette

In Chapter 9 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, musician Conrad Doucette answers "How Are You Finding New Ways to Find Jobs That Blend Your Passions for Writing and Music?"  Doucette shares that he did not know what exactly he wanted to do but knew he would find it in New York City.  By putting himself in close proximity to inspiring individuals in digital media, creative writing and music, he meets people who share similar passions.  Doucette continues to do this as he moves into writing, copywriting, digital producer, branding and communications jobs.  Each gives him an opportunity not only to work with musicians but also with people who share many of the same goals. 

Conrad Doucette is a Brooklyn musician and the drummer for Takka Takka, which released its 3rd studio album, AM Landscapes, in late 2012.  He has performed with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The National, Alina Simone, and many other leading acts.  When not performing music, Doucette is the communications and brand director at music licensing and publishing startup Jingle Punks.  Doucette earned a BA in History from the University of Michigan.

Garren Katz on Why Travel to Distant and Unfamiliar Places

In Chapter 7 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business and personal coach Garren Katz answers "What Have You Found Most Rewarding About Traveling to New Places?"  Traveling to distant and unfamiliar places teaches Katz about people.  He finds this is something he is unable to get by watching TV or movies - being present in a foreign place connects him not only to people he meets but also to humanity in general. 

Garren Katz is a business and personal coach based in State College, PA and advises his national client base on small business management, entrepreneurship, relationships, and personal finances.  He is also an active angel investor in several business ventures.  He earned his BA from Western Michigan University. 

Garren Katz on How to Get Started Investing in Small Business Ideas

In Chapter 15 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business and personal coach Garren Katz answers "How Are You Learning to Make Better Investment Decisions?"  Katz notes it is as much or more related to the growing abilities of those he invests in as it is his own skills.  He learns from experiences investing in others and benefits from the relationships he builds over time by investing in others' ideas.  He mentions the importance of approachability in investing, i.e. it does not take much money to help someone move an idea toward actualization.  Katz finds joy learning about others' ideas and offering to fund those investments.  He notes many ideas take a relatively small amount of money to support an idea and turn it into a business.  Katz sets an intention to tangibly support what others do while also looking for monetary gain. 

Garren Katz is a business and personal coach based in State College, PA and advises his national client base on small business management, entrepreneurship, relationships, and personal finances.  He is also an active angel investor in several business ventures.  He earned his BA from Western Michigan University. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are you learning to make better investment decisions?

Garren Katz: I don’t necessarily know that I’m getting better in my investment decisions, I would say that the folks I invest in are getting better at executing on what they’re taking on. My investment decisions are working out more often than not but I wouldn’t say that’s directly related to my process, I’d say it’s more very fortunate to know folks that are up to some really, really neat things. An example would be investing in—I love to invest in ideas and they’re sitting all around us all the time, and so I actually had dinner with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago and he was—he’s got what I think is a fantastic idea, I think it fits his personality perfectly, and I simply asked him. I said, boy, I said, I think you have a fantastic idea, I’d love to—if the opportunity presents itself, I would love to invest.

And it doesn’t have to be on a significant level, I think so many folks have this idea that if you’re going to invest, you have to have a tremendous amount of money. Well, there’s a lot of smaller projects out there. There’s a lot of little ideas that have the potential to be big, so a relatively small amount of money can get you into a place where you’re supporting that idea and I think that’s important to think about is what is your intention with an investment? You know, my intention—sure, on the backend, it’d be neat if it makes me some money, but my intention is truly to tangibly support what that person is up to. And I set that intention inside of myself at this point with any investment that I make, and that’s not a feeling I get when I buy a stock or something like that. I can only—At least for me, I’ve only been able to find that or have that feeling that my intention is support when I’m supporting a person or a small organization and what they’re up to.

Simon Sinek on How to Improve Strategic Thinking

In Chapter 14 of 16 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, author and public speaker Simon Sinek answers "How Do You Make Strategic Thinking More Implementation Friendly?"  To Sinek it comes down to language and the importance of using words people understand.  When the language is simple, the directive becomes clear to everyone and can be more easily followed and implemented.  Simon Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people.  His goal is to "inspire people to do the things that inspire them" and help others find fulfillment in their work.  Sinek is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action".  He works regularly with the United States Military, United States Congress, and many organizations, agencies and entrepreneurs.  Sinek is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and an adjunct staff member at the think tank RAND Corporation.  Sinek earned a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Brandeis University.

Transcript

Erik Michielsen:  How do you make strategic thinking more implementation friendly?

Simon Sinek:  Language.  Strategic thinking can be more implementation friendly when you use words that you understand. It’s amazing to me how often we read strategies that are incomprehensible. To be the pre-eminent supplier, you know, we’re gonna—I mean, what—I mean these are things that you can’t do. Based on what metric? We wanna be the best? That’s your strategy? Like that’s not a strategy. That’s nothing. We wanna be the—we wanna be ranked number one. What—revenues, profit, quality, customer satisfaction, loyalty, what? It’s complete nonsense, you know? And so the more specific a strategy can be, the clearer the language can be, the more implementable it can be.

I’m a great believer that if you speak like a scientist, only scientists will understand you, but if you speak like a truck driver, both truck drivers and scientists will understand you. And the amazing thing is if you actually speak like a scientist, even a lot of the scientists don’t understand you. The point is use very simple terminology that’s somebody who’s not in your industry who doesn’t know your business would understand what you’re trying to do. And if that’s the basis of the language that you choose to use that anyone can understand what you’re attempting to do and if you started someone tomorrow, they would be able to take the reins and go because it’s so crystal clear. That’s the standard that we need to use inside our own organizations. When the language is clear, when the language is specific, when the language is simple, it’s easy. It’s easy to implement. Right? Off the races you go, you know?

How Family Relationships Change With Age - Richard Moross

In Chapter 3 of 17 in his 2012 interview, London entrepreneur and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How Are Your Family Relationships Changing as You Get Older?"  Moross notes the slow change that comes with family relationships.  As he gets older and sees his lifestyle becoming more similar to his parents, he finds it easier to connect with his parents.  Moross finds synching into similar patterns, principles, and rules of being a grown-up help him better connect with siblings as well.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com and a leader in the London startup scene.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

How to Value Your Business Network - Richard Moross

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2012 interview, London entrepreneur and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "How Do You Value Your Business Network?"  Moross sees the strength of his network as how much it provides value to others rather than how much it provides value to him.  He finds great joy finding opportunities to help people by making connections with his network.  This is especially true with the recruiting, hiring and job seeking process, as Moross finds it eliminates inefficiency and insincerity that come with recruiting, sourcing, and headhunting firms.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com and a leader in the London startup scene.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

How to Use Story to Frame and Solve Problems - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 14 of 22 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "Why Do You Believe the Best Stories Solve Multiple Problems?"  Stallings shares how story form and story end, typically resolution of a conflict, are natural ways to communicate complex problems.  He adds how story allows you to simplify complex problems and break down the story meaning in ways that can connect differently with different audiences.  This is Hammans Stallings' Year 2 CYF interview.  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 Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, 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.

Courtney Spence on How to Effectively Delegate Responsibliity

In Chapter 11 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Courtney Spence answers "How Are You Learning to More Effectively Hand Off Responsibility?"  As an organization founder, after years feeling she knew best, Spence learns to trust her team with roles and tasks she previously held.  She realizes she is not the best person for many roles and turns her attention toward supporting those that best perform in those roles.  Courtney Spence returns to CYF for her Year 3 interview.  As Founder and Executive Director, Spence leads non-profit Students of the World to empower college students to use film, photography, and journalism to tell stories of 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 more effectively hand off responsibility?

Courtney Spence: I’m learning a lot about handing off responsibility. I think that as a founder, you know, there’s founder syndrome, and there’s tons of articles and books written about it, but I do think that for many years it was – I felt that I always knew what was best from a big level to a very micro, small level. And what has been so powerful for me to see in the last few months is getting the right people on the right seat and the right place. They will make decisions and they will come up with ideas and solutions faster, better, smarter, more creatively than you ever could.

Now, they’re not gonna go necessarily run the organization now, I mean I’m still leading it and providing the leadership and the vision and, you know, the blood, sweat and tears of it. But I recognize that at some point that role will not be the role that I’m most effective at for the organization, just as I am now not the most effective person to do recruiting for our students necessarily, I’m not the most effective person in coming up with the curriculum and the programming for our students as they participate, we have people in our organization who are way smarter about that stuff than I ever would be. And it’s really exciting when you start to see as you hand off responsibility to others, see things happen in a way that you never dreamed it could. And I think that’s a very encouraging thing.

I needed to see that before I could really let go. At the same time, you also have to recognize that mistakes will happen and some things will slip through cracks but – I make mistakes all the time and things slip through the cracks for me all the time, and it’s not a matter of well, if I’d only been a part of that, this wouldn’t have happened. Those situations do arise but I think in general, when you have the team in place that you trust, handing over responsibility is absolutely essential, and you have to do it joyfully, willing-fully, and with great purpose. And that’s what we’re trying to do.

How to Be Less Judgmental and More Accepting

In Chapter 13 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, leadership philosopher Bijoy Goswami answers "How Do You Create Hope and Dispel Fear When Introducing New Concepts and Ideas?"  Goswami stresses the importance of meeting someone where they are and not judging them for being wrong for where they are.  It is not a right versus wrong discussion.  Rather it is about acceptance and how to introduce new concepts into the conversation.  Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas.  He develops learning models, including MRE, youPlusU, and Bootstrap, to help others live more meaningfully.  Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software.  Goswami graduated from Stanford University, where he studied Computer Science, Economics, and History. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How do you create hope and dispel fear when introducing new concepts and ideas?

Bijoy Goswami:  You have to go back and meet someone where they are and if you meet someone where they are then they’re not wrong for being where they are, right?

So, one of my things is we’re all on this journey, we’re all on this journey of evolution and we’re some place and I was 12 at one point and I knew what I knew, now I'm 38 and be something. So, to me it’s if I can meet someone where they are, then there’s nothing wrong, they’re not wrong for being who they are. They’re not wrong for being where they are. They’re not wrong for holding the beliefs they do or whatever. Once that acceptance not just posing as it I actually do understand that then I can say okay. Well, what’s a concept or how can I then stimulate a new concept or how can I, you know, intervene in the system but if you meet someone where they are there’s no question of fear or its – Because the other piece of it is that even when you introduce something new you’re actually, you’re gonna co-create that with them, right?

Like this dialogue here, we’re creating a dialogue here. We’re both creating it together. Same thing there, so immediately they go, Oh, wow. It’s a give and take, it’s a 1 + 1, we’re going back and forth, alright? So, when I think about new concepts or any ideas I'm always listening for where are they gonna inform what I'm doing because I'm actually trying to advance it, it’s not a static thing. It’s an evolving thing. How are they gonna advance it from me, so how they can meet where I am, right?

Once it’s in a dialogue in that sense, a dialogue in which you’ve really met where they are in their path, I don’t think you have that sense of fear. You don’t have that sense of loathing or foreboding, it’s oh that’s great and we all know there’s something next. Whenever I’m in a moment, there’s a new moment. That’s just the way, that’s just the way things are.

How Having a Child Changes Family Relationships - James McCormick

In Chapter 7 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, legal career advisor James McCormick answers "How Are Your Family Relationships Changing as You Get Older?"  As a new parent, McCormick shares how his son has influenced his family relationships and created new perspectives and conversations with his parents and brother.  James McCormick is a Partner at Empire Search Partners in New York City.  Previously, he practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for Proskauer Rose and Jones Day.  He earned a JD at Tulane Law School and a BA in History at the University of Michigan.

How to Create an Inclusive Company Culture - Mike Germano

In Chapter 13 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, social media ad agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What Steps Have You Taken to Create an Inclusive Company Culture?"  Germano finds culture building the most important thing happening at his company.  Culture building comes with respecting each other and listening to one another.  He finds these often get lost as organizational charts become more tiered and employee levels get clustered.  Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO, Brooklyn based social media advertising agency Carrot Creative.  Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut.  He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University.

Brett Goldman on How to Make Neighborhoods Nicer Communities

In Chapter 5 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Has Jane Jacobs Taught You About What Makes Communities Great?"  Goldman shares how Jacobs' writing about eyes on the street and low to medium density neighborhoods have informed his efforts to unify neighborhoods into communities. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What has Jane Jacobs taught you about what makes communities great?

Brett Goldman: She really taught me that places make communities.

Jane Jacobs was all about eyes on the street and it was -- she was all about low-density or medium-density neighborhoods that as a result of their nature caused communities to happen. And I sometimes try to apply that to my work. But it's very difficult. It's like place-making. 

Feeling Freedom Riding a Motorcycle

In Chapter 11 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "Where Do Motorcycles Play into Your Story?"  He shares how he gets a feeling of freedom by riding and how exploring the country on a cycle differs from exploring it in a car. 

Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities in New York City.  He holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: Where do motorcycles play into your story?

Brett Goldman: I just love the feeling of freedom, it's totally different when you're riding a motorcycle than driving a car. When you're driving a car -- even a convertible, but mostly a regular car that's totally -- has windows and windshields, you don't feel the wind, you don't feel like you're outside even though you think that you are outside and you feel like you're outside when you're driving in a car, when you're on a motorcycle, it's completely different.

I can drive 60 miles on a motorcycle versus 60 miles in a car, and the 60 miles on a motorcycle is -- it's almost difficult in that you experience every mile, and I like to stop on the side of the road a lot. The way that we've set up the interstate system in this country, you can really just fly through places and never even know that they exist and if you stop for just a second and just take it in, it's a whole different experience. But you have to stop when you're in a car. When you're on a motorcycle, it's almost as if you're on foot. And you feel like you've been to some place, not just been through it. 

Cathy Erway on Finding Purpose Writing Healthy Food Recipes

In Chapter 9 of 16 in her 2012 interview, author and food writer Cathy Erway answers "How Do You Create Hope and Dispel Fear When Introducing New Recipes and Foods to Others?"  Erway embraces the challenge of showing foods and ingredients in new recipes.  She finds the visual and written elements of her food blog help her more effectively communicate that message to her audience. 

Cathy Erway is an author and food writer living in Brooklyn.  Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  She earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  How do you create hope and dispel fear when introducing new recipes and foods to others?

Cathy Erway:  Well, I like to always challenge the conventional by having somewhat strange or unusual combinations maybe or techniques or just ingredients that are less commonly used. And I like to show them in a new light by just, you know, doing a delicious recipe that hopefully comes through in the instructions and in the photos.

Basically, that's the best I can do, and I think that that's always actually a huge mission of mine because I would make these things and tell people about how great they were, but without the evidence of like a photo or like the written recipe that you can wrap your head around, it doesn't go through, so this is really one of the reasons why I write my blog, is to showcase it. 

Cathy Erway on How to Find a Food Writer Mentor

In Chapter 11 of 16 in her 2012 interview, author and food writer Cathy Erway answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?"  Erway details how she is learning from experienced food writer mentors and the steps she has taken to build relationships with them over time. 

Cathy Erway is an author and food writer living in Brooklyn.  Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  She earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  At this moment in your life, where are you seeking advice and coaching?

Cathy Erway:  At this moment, I am seeking advice and coaching from veteran food writers. I love to talk to them, hang out with them, eat with them. As well as I found that older, you know, food writers really like to hear what's going on with the youth culture, so it's a win-win. I have a few friends that had been doing cookbooks for decades and, we don't really, like, so much talk about cookbooks all the time. We kind of just hang out and maybe we will talk about the Super Bowl and just other stuff, you know, our families, what's going on in politics, but, you know, if we ever need each other's advice--like I've been helping a certain older food writer friend get into Twitter and do more social media and stuff like that, and figure all that stuff out. And I'm sure I will go back to him if I ever need a contact at The New York Times or something.

Erik Michielsen:  And do you find there’s just inspiration that comes from being in that group's presence independent of what specific thing you're talking about?

Cathy Erway:  Well, for me, definitely. Because the older, the more experienced you are, the more foods you know about, I think. I mean it's really a learning experience, the more places they've probably been around the world, so, yeah, I love hearing about that kind of thing and I will ask them endlessly and they're like, "Oh, and then in Barcelona, we went and had these snails..." you know, so I just love hearing about it I was like, "I wanna go."

Erik Michielsen:  Have you ever been intimidated asking, you know, to be part of that conversation, be part of those gatherings, and if so, how did you overcome that, you know, trepidation and push yourself in there?

Cathy Erway: No. No, I don't think so. I mean I will, like if I see a food critic at a party, say we're at the same event, and it's a public event, right? And some people are shy to walk up to people. I'm not, you know? Or email them out of the blue, because a lot of times they'll respond and they're really awesome. I try to do that to people that email me out of the blue. Maybe I don't get to all of them, I don't know, I think I do. If anyone's listening. I don't know, I mean, I think that it's, you know, if you wanna talk to them, they'll probably be happy to talk to you, too. 

Learning Small Business Working at American Express - Julie Hession

In Chapter 8 of 21 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, food entrepreneur Julie Hession answers "How Did Working at American Express During Business School Teach You About the World of Small Business?"  Hession interns at American Express while studying at Duke for her MBA.  She gets paired with three senior women and it tasked with doing the competitive analysis with the company's new foray into small business, the Blue Card.  She gets exposure to a new market, and also senior female leadership, that open her mind to future career options.  Julie Hession is the founder of Julie Anne's All Natural Granola Company.  Passionate about food since childhood, Hession has developed her career by food blogging, cooking contests, and starting fine food companies.  Hession earned an MBA in Marketing from Duke University and a BA from UNLV. 

How CEO Leadership Changes as Company Tops 100 Employees - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 8 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "What Does It Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Allen compares and contrasts leadership responsibilities when starting a company to the present, where he now has over 100 employees.  He shares challenges staying connected with employees while setting an example and vision for his team to follow. J.T. Allen is the CEO and co-founder of myFootpath, a company that provides higher education online resources and call center services to help high school and adult learners choose academic programs in line with career goals.  Before myFootpath, Allen worked in strategy consulting for Ernst & Young.  He earned his BBA and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

How CEO Finds Executive Mentors Using Business Network - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 14 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "How Are Your Mentor Relationships Changing as Your Business Grows?"  After ten years in business, Allen begins looking outside his business, investors, and advisors for individuals with shared experience and values that can join him on his adventure.  J.T. Allen is the CEO and co-founder of myFootpath, a company that provides higher education online resources and call center services to help high school and adult learners choose academic programs in line with career goals.  Before myFootpath, Allen worked in strategy consulting for Ernst & Young.  He earned his BBA and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.