Andrew Epstein on Creating Education Equality in American Schools

In Chapter 4 of 23 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, charter school CFO Andrew Epstein answers "Why Do You Believe That Education Equality is the Civil Rights Movement of Our Generation?"  Epstein believes all American children need to be educated and failing schools and poor teaching are creating generations of children that are not learning to read and write.  As more low-skilled jobs move abroad, Epstein sees college preparatory education as more important as ever.  He believes charter schools address this problem by introducing choice into a previously closed market. 

Andrew Epstein is CFO of the Ascend Learning Charter School Network.  Previously, Epstein was a finance executive at Democracy Prep Public Schools and an operations executive at Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam Records.  He is a former Teach for America corps member and middle-school science teacher.  He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Kyung B. Yoon on How to Make Your Work More Lasting

In Chapter 13 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "How Are You Learning to Make Your Work More Lasting?"  When she started the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) 10 years ago, she saw the potential of bringing together the next generation of Korean Americans - both the Korean born American "1.5 generation" and children of immigrants - by providing them a foundation in which to participate and contribute. 

Kyung B. Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

Jullien Gordon on How to Make Your Work More Lasting

In Chapter 7 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon answers "How Are You Learning to Make Your Work More Lasting?"  Gordon shares why he focuses on creating processes, not products or services, he can give to others.  By helping them incorporate processes into their work and habits, Gordon sees the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy that affects positive change in those he serves.  Jullien Gordon is a high performance coach and consultant to organizations, individuals and teams who want to increase employee performance, motivation, engagement and retention.  He earned a BA from UCLA, an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Masters of Education from Stanford University.

Transcript:

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

Jullien Gordon: I was having this conversation with my wife, who’s also my coach, the other day. And you know there’s a difference between selling a product, selling a service, and selling a process. And what I think I’ve created is a process. When you think about processes, you think about things like Six Sigma, that’s a process that organizations have adopted for quality control and when somebody’s adopted a process, it becomes part of their life. You can use a product here and there. You can use a service here and there. But a process is something that actually has to get integrated into your entire life and your way of being.

And so I’m trying to create and structure my work in such a way where it’s a process that you can adopt bits and pieces of on a regular basis. You know, one of those processes that I’ve established is the New Year Guide and that’s a process that people are integrating into their lives at the beginning of every year. It’s how do I go look at my goals and my intentions for the upcoming year. How do I evaluate and celebrate what I accomplished in the year before and that’s just part of the process and to the extent that I can continue to grow that year after year after year after year, it’s going to only expand and grow. Another process that I have is my thank account or my gratitude journal and that’s a process that I do daily in order to shift my mind from a mindset of scarcity to a mindset of abundance. And there are other people who have adopted this process into their life, and so I’m trying to instill processes into people’s lives and that’s how I think it will be long lasting, even beyond my life here on earth.

Mark Graham on How Getting Promoted Evolves Career Aspirations

In Chapter 6 of 17 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, digital media executive Mark Graham answers "How Are Your Aspirations Changing as Your Responsibilities Grow?"   Graham recalls why he joined VH1 and the creative opportunities the big company offered.  As a managing editor, Graham now gets to manage larger creative teams across different business areas. 

Mark Graham is currently a managing editor at VH1, an MTV Networks company. Previously Graham 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.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are your aspirations changing as your responsibilities grow?

Mark Graham: My aspirations continue to be high. One of the reasons that I went to VH1 a couple of years ago is that I saw it as a place where—you know, obviously, VH1 is part of Viacom which is a massive organization and a place where I could really grow and learn new things and try new things out. And so, professionally, I still have lots of aspirations to grow and continue to basically learn, develop more skill sets, and to be able to grow  professionally, to continue to do more things, to be able to put more of a—more of a creative stamp on projects that I do. 

I feel like I’m in a really good place right now professionally. I recently was promoted and because of that I’ve gained some new responsibilities, and right now I feel like I’m still sort of feeling my way out in this and learning to deal with a larger team of people who I’m responsible for, making sure that they’re satisfied and they feel like they’re growing in their lives, professionally speaking. That’s been a new challenge for me, and something that I’ve really, really enjoyed, and, you know, candidly I need to continue to work on as well. So right now I feel like I’m in a place where I’d like to spend a little bit of time in this particular role, learning how to deal more with people on my team, building my way up through the organization, and continuing to grow in that sort of a facet.

Stacie Bloom on Reflection-Informed Personal Growth

In Chapter 12 of 18 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, Neuroscience Institute Executive Director Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Role Has Reflection Played in Shaping Your Personal Growth?"  Bloom shares how reflection has become more important as she gets older.  Now in her 30s, Bloom uses reflection to set more clear priorities in her work and her relationships. 

Stacie Grossman Bloom is Executive Director for the Neuroscience Institute at the NYU Langone Medical Center.  Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) and, before that, held editorial roles at the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Nature Medicine.  She earned her BA in chemistry and psychology from the University of Delaware, her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did post-doctoral training in Paul Greengard's Nobel Laboratory of Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience at Rockefeller University. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen:  What role has reflection played in shaping your personal growth? 

Stacie Grossman Bloom:  I’ve become a much more sort of reflective person over time. I think, you know, I was in my 20’s, I was running around all the time, I was doing a million things, I didn’t really think about my actions, I just sort of lived for the moment. And now I realize I wanna create a legacy, and I wanna build a great Neuroscience Institute at NYU, I wanna help contribute to an effort that really will bring benefit to people’s lives, and in my own personal life. I want to have a successful relationship with my husband, and I wanna raise great kids. And a lot of that is looking into myself and my actions and my behaviors, and trying to make the best decisions that I can to make sure that I’m gonna be proud of my life.

Why Aspire to Be a Good Person - Ross Floate

In Chapter 1 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "To What Do You Aspire?"  Floate notes his aspiration is to "come out on the right side of the ledger" and be a good person.  He does not aspire to become wealthy and grow a large business. While those may come in time, Floate works instead on doing things in an honest, straightforward way to support others.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

Learning to Make Life Decisions That Are Right for You - Ross Floate

In Chapter 15 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "How Are You Learning to Make Better Decisions?"  Floate begins by looking back at the poor decisions he has made, ones that have not been the right fit and ones that were not true to himsef.  These experiences bring to light how Floate ignored that proverbial voice in his head.  He learns to trust his gut and think through how the person on the other side of the decision would feel.  Lastly, he talks about leaving a legacy behind that shows he was a good person who chose to make the right decisions, not necessarily the easy decisions.  Ross Floate is a principal at Melbourne, Australia-based Floate Design Partners.  Experienced in branding, design and both online and offline publishing, Floate and his team provide marketing services to clients seeking to better communicate business and culture goals via image, messaging, and story. He is a graduate of RMIT University.

What It Means to Be a Strategist - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 2 of 22 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings answers "What Does it Mean to Be a Strategist?"  Stallings finds his strategy work is about constantly searching for new ways to create advantages for his clients.  He enjoys the discovery and research process that he gets with each project that play into creating that strategic client plan.  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. 

Idan Cohen on Aspiring to Leave a Legacy Behind

In Chapter 2 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, Boxee co-founder and head of product Idan Cohen answers "To What Do You Aspire?"  Cohen aspires to create work that will be remembered when he is gone, referencing great art and architecture, from the Pyramids to Le Corbusier, to small tombstones.  

This is Idan Cohen's Year 1 Capture Your Flag interview.  Cohen is co-founder and head of product at Boxee Inc, an online video software company.  Previous to Boxee, Cohen held telecom software innovation and developer roles at Comverse.  He was a Captain in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Geophysics and Art.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: To what do you aspire?

Idan Cohen: I think I wanna be remembered after I’m gone. I was always fascinated with architecture because I think that that’s one of the only things that really survive—like that’s one of the few things that can really survive after you’re, you know, after you’re gone. And, so you can look at it from wherever, from the pyramids to, you know, Le Corbusier, in New York, or wherever. It’s kind of like the most amazing phallic thing that you can put out there and people will never be able to kind of forget it. And in some ways—Well, it will sound really weird but like tombstones are like very small architectural leftovers of—It might sound weird, but like of small people, and then big people can just get, you know, cremated and their ashes can be spread around, but they have these massive things that are remembered after they’re gone, or at least for a few hundreds of years. So, in some ways, I think that we all want—or I hope—I don’t know, for me, I know that I want to be—I wanna leave something behind me.

How to Cultivate a Future Generation of Leaders - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 8 of 18 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis answers "What Has Been Most Exciting Thing About Making the Transition From Winning Austinite of the Year to Encouraging a Future Generation of Leaders in Austin?"  Curtis reflects on his time as Austinite of the Year and how he is turning his attention to promoting more formal program alumni involvement to support future award winners in the Austin community.  Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn.  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.

The Rewards of Working in a Family Business - Ken Biberaj

In Chapter 12 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City Council candidate and public relations executive Ken Biberaj answers "What Have You Found Most Rewarding About Working in a Family Business?"  Biberaj notes how the shared experience working with family has helped him build trust across family generations and put a foundation in place for future generations.  He shares what he has learned from other family business owners and how it plays into the American immigrant experience.  Ken Biberaj is currently a 2013 Candidate for New York City Council for the West Side of Manhattan.  He is also a public relations executive for the Russian Tea Room restaurant at One Fifty Fifty Seven Corporation, a family business focused on real estate development, investment sales and retail leasing.  Previously he was Florida Research Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President Campaign. He holds a JD from New York Law School, a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Political Science from American University. 

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Take a Vision From Theory to Practice

In Chapter 7 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller answers "How Are You Getting Better at Selling a Vision?"  First, he shares how he has learned to "Start With Why" in how he explains why, what and how he does what he does.  Second, he shares how his visioncasting has gone from theory to reality in building out the under-30 young leader Sandbox Network.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of the young leader accelerator, Sandbox Network, and HOLSTEE, an apparel and design firm that sells meaningful products to mindful shoppers.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its school of General Studies.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How are you getting better at selling a vision?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I'm getting better at selling a vision by more understanding it myself and I think that’s a very normal thing as an entrepreneur, you start something, you kind of know where you’re going but you figure it out on the way and through conversations, through self-reflection, through feedback, through debrief, whatnot, you better understand what you’re doing and that definitely helps.

One thing I learned this year is I started to explain the vision in three parts and always kind of the same way. I start with why, I explain how and then I go to what. I used to do it the other way around. I used to explain what I do first, then how we do it, and why we do it but I realized that starting with the reason why is it that you’re doing this, what is really driving you makes visions much more tangible and makes it better for people to understand what is driving you there. Then you explain how you wanna get there and in the end you talk about concrete tangible things that leaves people with something that they can relate to and, you know, he’s not just flying in the clouds. He’s actually talking tangible steps.

Erik Michielsen: What is your vision for the Sandbox network and what steps are you taking to realize it?

Fabian Pfortmüller: The reason Sandbox exists is to find amazing, young doers under 30 and turn them into a global family. I use the word family very consciously. I believe it’s about not just allowing them to network but to really build an enormously trusted close-knit community of peers and how we do that is that we build communities all over the world, we connect them and we provide platforms for learning.

Learning is at the core of this family feeling and we identify those young people, we create the platforms and we encourage and push them to really go out there and build a family together. And very concretely we have by now 25 hubs across the world and those hubs are each an accelerator of young people themselves. They host tons of events, we’re expanding every single day and as we move forward we think of what are other ways of how we can turn those people into a more closer family and how we can accelerate them even more.

So, we think of things like building an investment fund, being able to provide those people with capital. We’re thinking about building very structured incubation programs and for example running a test program at the moment in New York where we picked 20 people, 10 males, 10 females, super diverse crowd of the top, top, top young achievers from anything from social entrepreneurs, tech entrepreneurs, artists, designers, musicians and we have them go for a yearlong acceleration program that they provide themselves. It’s a peer-to-peer MBA and that’s what we wanna do and replicate all over the world. Provide peer-to-peer learning and in the end of the day really allow people not just to bond but really learn from each other.

What It Means to Be a Leader in a Real Estate Investing Career

In Chapter 8 of 14 in his 2012 interview, real estate development executive Brett Goldman answers "What Does it Mean to Be a Leader in What You Do?"  Goldman shares it means to achieve excellence in real estate.  He points to sustainability and how informed decision making and consistency shape results over long periods of time.   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 does it mean to be a leader in what you do?

Brett Goldman: The leaders in our business are successful, continue to be successful, make smart moves, keep a relatively low profile, lead by example, and they're generally sharp people that have made strings of good decisions for most of their career. So those are the people that lead in my business. The people that are most well-known are the people that are doing the most deals for the longest time, and that doesn't necessarily mean the guy who's coming in doing 10 deals in a year and then never does a deal again because he overpaid. There's been a lot of companies especially in '05, '06, '07 that overpaid and they looked great in those years, but they didn't survive and so the leaders in the business are the ones that can survive the ups and survive the downs and keep going. 

Erik Michielsen: And as you’re crafting your own path of leadership, what specific takeaways are you pulling from those that have blazed that trail before you?

Brett Goldman:  It's about making smart decisions, and that means reasoned. Like really doing a lot of research in order to make decisions. And doing them with a historical basis in your mind. Meaning you can't be fooled by just today's environment, you always kind of have to -- you have to know what the winds are blowing or how the winds are blowing, what they're bringing and what they've brought. And if you can kind of understand what the history of things are, it can -- I think that it can get you to a better place in understanding where you are in that history. Sometimes that makes us more conservative as investors and sometimes we lose out on deals because of that. But I think that it keeps you in for the long haul and that's how you lead.

How to Build a Stronger Korean American Community - Kyung Yoon

In Chapter 13 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung Yoon answers "What Makes Your Work Meaningful?"  Yoon shares how she is building the bridge between the first immigration wave from Korea which focused on survival and the second, which is now thriving.  She details how she is working across the Korean American community to utilize the assets to make deeper contributions to America.  Kyung Yoon is the executive director of the Korean American Community Foundation (KACF) in New York City.  An award-winning journalist and documentary film producer, Yoon earned an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in History and Political Science at Wellesley College.

How to Make Work Meaningful and Lasting - Andrew Hutson

In Chapter 3 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Andrew Hutson answers "How Are You Learning to Make Your Work More Meaningful and Lasting?"  Hutson, an environmental advocate, finds lasting purpose working to preserve the Earth and habitat for future generations.  Fundamentally this is why he does what he does.  He looks at meaningful in the context of both to self and to others.  Hutson is a senior project manager at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where he advises corporate partners such as Wal-Mart on sustainable supply chain initiatives.  Hutson holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MEM from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.  He earned his BA from Michigan State University. 

How Inspirational Leaders Teach Big Thinking - Andrew Hutson

In Chapter 9 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Andrew Hutson answers "What Has Reading Gandhi Taught You About How You Set Goals?"  Ghandi teaches Hutson why and how to think big, especially when and where it is needed.  This big thinking helps Hutson set seemingly impossible to accomplish goals in his own work in the environment.  Hutson is a senior project manager at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where he advises corporate partners such as Wal-Mart on sustainable supply chain initiatives.  Hutson holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MEM from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.  He earned his BA from Michigan State University. 

How Entrepreneurs Differ From Small Business Owners - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 2 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "What is the Difference Between Being an Entrepreneur and a Small Business Owner?"  Allen frames his answer in aspirations and scale.  He compares and contrasts small business examples with what he sees as entrepreneurial focused ventures.  As an entrepreneur 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 Small Company CEO Learns to Hand Off Responsibilty - J.T. Allen

In Chapter 7 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, education entrepreneur J.T. Allen answers "What Has Been Most Challenging Handing Off Responsibility to Others?"  He shares stories about how he learns to be less directly involved and hand off responsibility as his company grows to over 100 employees.  He shares examples from growing a call center to hiring a CFO and how he went through the decision process.  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.