Cathy Erway on Getting Inspired Interviewing People You Admire

In Chapter 9 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, writer and healthy food advocate Cathy Erway answers "How Has Interviewing People You Admire Informed Your Own Career Ambition?"  By hosting a weekly radio show on Heritage Radio Networks, Erway is able to bring on guests she admires and learn from the conversation.  Erway shares an example of how cookbook author Lukas Volger has inspired her by sharing ways to make money from your food passion, be it writing or other media. 

Cathy Erway is a Brooklyn-based author, part-time cook, freelance writer, radio host and teacher focused on healthy food advocacy.  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.

Kyung B. Yoon on How Peer Advice Decreases Feelings of Isolation

In Chapter 10 of 17 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Kyung B. Yoon answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?"  Yoon talks about feeling isolated and how reaching out to peers - in her case other non-profit directors - has helped her overcome that feeling.  The resulting conversations help her feel less alone and provide useful instruction on improving her non-profit management skills. 

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: Career Planning Advice for Millennial Professionals

In Chapter 17 of 21 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business coach Jullien Gordon "What Steps Have You Found Most Effective to Help Young Professionals Create Career Plans?"  When working with younger professionals - Gen Y and Millennials - on career planning, Gordon starts with a process to help clients get clear on life and career goals.  He lays out his 4-step process to create a dream life, attract a dream career, build a dream team and land your dream job and walks through why and how to do this.  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: What steps have you found most effective to help young professionals create career plans?

Jullien Gordon: Good question. So whenever I’m talking to a young professional to help them think about their career plan, I like to break it down into four different steps. And the four steps are, one, creating your dream life. Next is attracting your dream career. Then building your dream team. Then landing your dream job. And of course the acronym for “dream” means to have your desired relationships employment and money. So it’s really about your life design, and the reason I start with creating your dream life first is because your life is bigger than your career, a lot of times people allow their career to define who they are, when in fact who we are should define what we do.

And so I start with your life first. What is your vision for your life? And then let’s find a career path that actually allows you to have the life that you want. And so we start with creating your dream life and that’s a visioning process, thinking about your perfect average day, or your perfect average week, and what you want your desired relationships to look like, and your relationships not just being with your significant other or your kids but your spiritual source, your parents, your friends, your colleagues, what do you want those relationships to look like? What do you want your employment to look like? How do you want to create value? What problems do you want to solve? How do you want to use your passion on a daily basis? And then money, what is enough? And do you have enough? And really getting clear on what that is.

And then from there, attracting your dream career is all about your professional and personal branding, that’s your résumé, your cover letter, your web presence, and your business cards, the way you network, et cetera. Building your dream team means of course your networks up, down, across and out. So not just—a lot of people have strong networks across in terms of their Facebook friends, but if you look in their cellphone, 95% of the people are in their age group, I found that the most powerful form of networking is networking up with other professionals, with peers, with mentors, with leaders in the community, et cetera. Those are the people who are on the other side of the door that you’re trying to get into. Your peers can get you to the door, but you want to know who’s on the other side of the door who – or who has the key.

And then of course, finally, landing your dream job is all about the interview process, and nailing your first 90 days at whatever new organization that you’re at. So that’s how I like to help people think about their career journey.

Lulu Chen on How to Help a Friend Find a New Job

In Chapter 6 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "How Has Your Network Helped You Find You Jobs?"  Chen notes it is especially about the little things where your friends can help you find new jobs.  This includes having your friends vouch for you as well as having them give you help updating your resume or writing a cover letter. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How has your network helped you find new jobs?

Lulu Chen: It’s all encompassing, you know, your friends can send you job postings or ideas, or tell you about things that they’ve heard of and opportunities which is I think huge, you know, and I think that a professional network or just a personal network does that, especially in such a big market in New York. But, I mean it’s the little things, really, you know, it’s like helping you proofread your cover letter, and making sure that your résumé looks good, and we all do it for each other. And from the technical small things to the fact that they will go and vouch for you, and really say to a friend or a colleague, or their boss, like, “Oh, you know, I’ve worked with this person before. I really think that they’re the best candidate for the job, and it might not be somebody who is obvious, but, you know, if you give this person that chance, she won’t let you down.”

Hattie Elliot on Growing Your Business by Making it Less About You

In Chapter 5 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "What Obstacles are You Trying to Overcome as You Grow Your Business?"  Elliot learns to make her business less about her and her personal brand and more about The Grace List events, and progressively the destination trips, that allow her business to grow.  This helps her create a more manageable business model that can scale and benefit from her business network relationships. 

Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What obstacles are you trying to overcome to grow your business?

Hattie Elliot: This has actually been a really, really challenging but incredible year for The Grace List. There’s always gonna be evolution, it’s always gonna be a work in progress. But I got to the point where I realized that I was beginning to get just—I was really kind of worn out, and I was starting to lose what I think made me so great at what I do which was this genuine, unadulterated love for bringing people together, for people themselves, for creating this wonderful—these amazing environments to connect them within. And I think that when I really had to reflect back and look at what are the issues that I’m having, why am I feeling this way, which was a tough process, and I realized that it’s because for the amount of effort I’m putting in, you know?

I feel like the business needs to be more profitable, so then I had to reevaluate the profitability, what makes money, what doesn’t. Then I realized it needs to be more scalable because it’s so Hattie-centric, you know, after I had this huge lawsuit, this intellectual property suit over the name of the company, I really stepped forward myself as kind of the pillar of the company, you know, and I did a lot of TV and I did this reality show, and—I really did that to keep the company afloat during a tough time, but in order for the company now to go to the next level, I needed to really make it less Hattie-centric and more scalable by kind of stepping back again, and making sure that the business would work and could grow if I wasn’t there. 

So those were two like really big things--profitability and scalability, so there was, you know, some major restructuring that happened. I realized that doing these events every single week, as much as I used to love them, was just exhausting. And I started losing my love for it, because it just felt between kind of hustling—making sure that, you know, we got people there, and actually setting up the event, the prep and then the cleanup and then actually putting together—all these like little thoughtful things that made the events wonderful, you know, when you’re doing it every single week in all these cities, it was exhausting. However what did make money was we started doing these big trips. 

So I decided I was gonna focus more on doing destination houses, and doing these big trips, and less on the weekly events. So that kind of solved the profitability factor, ‘cause we really make money off of membership fees, and ideally events, so now, hello, like, it’s going much more profitable, it’s also scalable because once you’ve kind of come up with a formula for these destination houses, like certain special thoughtful touches, and what people expectations they can have, you can really turn it over, you know, that formula, these special things that I do, and have other people running these different houses and trips part-time. 

And also in terms of scalability, I decided that it would be a really good idea to bring on a board of advisers and to help continue to just—to really do justice to our demographic by growing it organically through friends, and friends of friends, but doing it so through their networks. And these are people who I felt were representative of the Grace List, you know, accomplished, fun, adventurous, dynamic, just really wonderful people from different—a really diverse group of people from all over the States and all over the world, who really had great networks of their own. And that they could really take ownership in the business and get involved, and that they could be faces for the business. Because it’s all about just great people and that we could grow the membership with—through their networks, and their contacts, and it really also meant that because the destination—the offering now—the Grace List offering is much more destination based and travel based that we can open up membership worldwide. 

So it really means the business is incredibly scalable because we’re getting houses in the most, you know, exquisite and exclusive locations in the world, Aspen, you know, London, Saint Barts, The Hamptons, you know, Cape Town South Africa, so they’re places that, you know, for people of a certain age, who travel a lot, and want to mix business with pleasure, and go to these extraordinary destinations. It doesn’t matter whether you live in London or Montreal or New York, you can, you know, really reap the benefits of membership.

Hattie Elliot: How to Survive and Thrive in New York City

In Chapter 9 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Do You Make the Most of Living in the City?"  Elliot talks about the inspiration she gets from New Yorkers and how she finds motivation in progressive, forward thinking and big ambition mindsets of New Yorkers she meets.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How do you make the most of living in a city?

Hattie Elliot: Wow, I mean, I think New York City is just—it inspires me. I feel like it’s my lover. It’s like a character in my life that just like the people that I love, that inspires me to do better and be better and just the dynamism of New York, it’s not for the faint at heart, just like being an entrepreneur is not for the faint at heart, but for me, it doesn’t matter what incredible place I’ve been in the world, the moment that I step off the plane, you know, I don’t care if the city is, you know, if it’s hot and “fragrant.” We all know what New York smells like in the summer. Or freezing cold and I just came from Saint Barts, I just—I feel like I’m at home. I can take a breath. 

And that’s how I know I love New York. And I feel like the incredible influx of culture and people and restaurants and just the geography of New York and the architecture and the history are so inspiring. And New York is not kind to those who are stagnant. New York forces you in a brutal but wonderful way every day to move forward. There’s just—If you’re gonna survive in New York, you have to be a progressive forward-thinking person, and this city that just has a way of doing that to people. And I personally thrive off of it. And I feel like it’s been, you know, hugely beneficial in my business and just realistically, you know, the connections you make in New York, this is a city that’s full of some of the most, you know, successful people in every different, you know, field and profession, and real movers and shakers in the international world. 

I mean you are a little fish in a big pond. You do not come to New York, you know, to be Joe Schmoe, the prettiest, tallest, hottest, wealthiest person because there’s always gonna be someone in this city who’s more than that. You really come here to be pushed. And I really love that about New Yorkers, in general. And it’s something that inspires me in my personal and professional life every day, and one of the reasons that, I mean, I can wholeheartedly I just am so proud to call this city home.

Hattie Elliot on What Types of Friends Give the Best Advice

In Chapter 16 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?"  Elliot finds her growing relationships provide her actionable advice.  From friends who provide level-headed advice to creative branding advice to small business advice, Elliot makes it a point to learn from those around her.  

Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

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

Hattie Elliot: I don’t have one particular source, like it takes a village is what I like to say. It—I’ve got a bunch of really great people in my life, in various capacities that I have great respect for, and admiration for, some—I mean, I love them all, you know, for different reasons, but I think, you know, some of them I feel like—Like, one of my girlfriends, I feel like is just really level-headed, and she comes from a corporate law background so she’s almost kind of critical and—like just the way that she thinks is very different from me, so I find it very valuable to when I’m, you know, facing certain problems, to go to her and I really admire the advice she gives me. And the perspective that she brings to the table.

And then I have friends and business contacts who are incredibly creative, and the way, you know, if I have an idea, and, you know, mention it to them, whether it’s an event, or a challenge I have with my business or branding, they bring to the table something really wonderful and different that I would never be able to come up with.

And then, you know, I have, you know, people I talk to who just have hugely successful businesses and if kind of, you know, birds of a feather, they say, stick together. I have a really great network of people that I really respect and admire who are entrepreneurs, some of them extraordinarily successful, some of them, you know, are kind of starting out, you know, at all different stages, but I find it equally valuable to talk to them and—and I seek advice from them often. And even not advice, but just kind of schedule time to have coffee and just kind of talk about the status of my company, and to hear about theirs. Learning is so empowering, and so I feel like every day is an opportunity to learn more.

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.

How Networking Helps Develop Musician Career - Conrad Doucette

In Chapter 16 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, musician Conrad Doucette answers "How is Your Network Helping Your Music Career Develop?"  First, Doucette notes how meeting people opens new doors to play with and be inspired by different people, different bands.  Second, he notes how playing in different groups or ensembles helps develop musician skills.  Lastly, making connections opens doors to unexpected opportunities.  Doucette shares how playing with The National opens doors to joining them in a Headcount sponsored concert with Bob Weir and select Brooklyn musicians. 

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: Why to Invest Savings in Friends and Not Stocks

In Chapter 14 of 15 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, business and personal coach Garren Katz answers "How Has Being Open to New Opportunities Shaped Your Investing Experience?"  Katz shares his progression from traditional investing - Roth IRA, SEP IRA, securities - in his 20s to investing in friends in his 30s.  He notes how more and more of his friends have been starting businesses and why he is choosing more and more to invest in these people rather than those traditional outlets. 

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 has being open to new opportunities shaped your investing experience?

Garren Katz: Wow, I would say when I was in my 20s, I invested very traditionally, Roth IRA, SEP-IRA, in securities and that type of thing. You know, we live in a time now where more than likely somebody you know, or a buddy or a friend or a family member, they’re up to something. And they’re up to a neat idea. And they probably could use some money to help them along.  

So I’ve really shifted some of my money that goes towards investments into a pool where I want to invest in people, especially friends, folks you know. It’s so much more rewarding on so many different levels, if I invest in a stock and that stock does well, that feeds my ego a bit, and it’s kind of a one-dimensional satisfaction, whereas putting money into a project that a friend’s working on is rewarding on a multitude of levels, and honestly, I would have to say I get more satisfaction out of investing in a friend or a friend’s project that might not float than I do out of a successful stock transaction because it’s—it creates a new element to our relationship. So I really, really enjoy investing in other people’s passions, what other people are up to, what other people are taking on, I love being a part of it.

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.

Stacie Bloom on How to Be a Better Mentor

In Chapter 11 of 18 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, Neuroscience Institute Executive Director Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "What Do You Find To Be the Most Important Elements of a Mentorship Experience?"  Bloom shares how mentors have shaped her non-traditional science career outside the laboratory.  She notes the importance of respect, trust, open communication, selflessness, and dedication to your personal network and knowledge development.  She also makes it clear a good mentor does not necessarily need to dedicate a large amount of time to the relationship; rather it just needs to be focused and dedicated. 

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 do you find to be the most important elements of a mentorship experience?

Stacie Grossman Bloom:  You know I think a relationship with a mentor is really important. For me, it was really key in helping to shape my career, I try really hard to be a good mentor, in particular to people with PhD’s who are looking for careers outside of the laboratory, so outside of that very traditional career path. And I’ve hired a lot of those kinds of individuals and they’ve gone on to do amazing things. I think a lot of communication, open communication, having a mentor who you really respect and trust is really important, someone who’s really selflessly being helpful to you and not undermining you. And I think someone who can help you build your network, someone who will take you to places where you can meet people who may be able to help you in your career. I really think of a relationship with a mentor as being like a lifelong relationship.

Erik Michielsen:  And how do you set aside time to be a mentor? 

Stacie Grossman Bloom:  I don’t think it takes a lot of time to be a mentor. I don’t necessarily say, okay, today I’m gonna set aside an hour of my time to being a mentor, but I get contacted by a lot of people. I’ve spoken at a lot of conferences and I’m invited to give talks at a lot of universities about my career, and afterwards I’m contacted a lot. I also have hired a lot of PhD scientists who have worked for me and I’ve spent a lot of time with those individuals. I don’t think that you necessarily need to set aside time, but I do think that it’s really important to take the time to help people like that, so I get a lot of cold calls, I get a lot of emails, I’m always trying to respond, if I can’t respond to an email directly then I usually ask someone who’s worked with me or -- and for me, to help me and maybe they can step up and be a mentor to that individual. I think it’s very hard to field all the calls and all the emails but I do try to make an effort to get back to everybody. Because I think my career path has been unique and I think that it’s a really—that it’s a career path that a lot of people could pursue, I don’t think that I’m so special, but I think knowing how to do it and how to navigate it is really important.

What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder - Randall Metting

In Chapter 4 of 7 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, brand marketer and on-air radio personality Randall Metting answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?"  Metting notes how after five years in Austin and putting himself out there in the community, it is getting much easier to network.  He is challenged with thinking about the next step in his career - from doing radio to serving charities to working in marketing, Randall looks to put his passion for work carving out a job that matches his interests.  Randall Metting is an on-air radio personality at 93.3 KGSR Radio in Austin, Texas.  When not on the radio, Metting consults organizations on integrated marketing strategy and brand development.  He also writes the Austin community music and entertainment blog at www.randallmetting.com.  Metting earned a B.A. in Advertising from the University of Florida.

How to Use Your Network to Help Others in Need - Randall Metting

In Chapter 7 of 7 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, brand marketer and on-air radio personality Randall Metting answers "How Do You Value Your Business Network?"  Metting frames his network as a "spider web of life" and he finds himself very engaged in helping those in their network, whether they are moving to Austin, traveling to Austin, running a charity, navigating the ins and outs of running a business or building a career.  Randall Metting is an on-air radio personality at 93.3 KGSR Radio in Austin, Texas.  When not on the radio, Metting consults organizations on integrated marketing strategy and brand development.  He also writes the Austin community music and entertainment blog at www.randallmetting.com.  Metting earned a B.A. in Advertising from the University of Florida.

How to Build a Business Network by Helping Others First - Ross Floate

In Chapter 10 of 20 in his 2012 interview, branding and design strategist Ross Floate answers "How Do You Use Your Network to Get Help Making Career and Life Decisions?"  Be it because he grew up as an only child, was an introvert or was simply shy, Floate tries to avoid taking the traditional route of meeting people at networking events.  Instead, Floate finds doing others small kindnesses helps him build his business network.  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.

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.

Joe Stump on Management Career Advice on Finding a Mentor

In Chapter 9 of 14 in his 2012 interview, Internet entrepreneur Joe Stump answers "At This Point in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?"  Stump references his goals to be a good businessman, programmer, partner, son, and brother.  He recognizes the domain specific nature of each and highlights the importance of cycling in new opinions regularly.  As his career responsibilities progressively become management focused, he turns to new mentors, including his father, who provide outside perspectives from different industries.  Joe Stump is a serial entrepreneur based in Portland, OR. He is CEO and co-founder of Sprint.ly, a product management software company.  Previously he founded SimpleGeo, which was sold to Urban Airship in October 2011.  He advises several startups - including attachments.me and ngmoco:) - as well as VC firm Freestyle Capital.  He earned a BBA in Computer Information Systems (CIS) from Eastern Michigan University. 

Transcript:

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

Joe Stump: A number of areas. I continue to leverage my Jedi Council. I have a number of mentors. I find that you can’t – I mean look, long term, I have to be a good businessman, I have to be a good programmer, I have to be a good boyfriend, partner, husband to my lady, and I have to be a good son and brother. And those each take different skill sets. And so, the mentoring that I seek out tends to be a little bit more domain-specific.

I also try to cycle new opinions into the Jedi Council. So, what I seek out now, like it's changed a lot. I used to lean heavily on a lot of programming mentors. I'm not programming as much anymore so I don’t really lean on them so much. I've actually been leaning a lot more on my dad when it comes to management. My dad’s a great manager. He’s done great things where he’s at and I like talking to him about that because he gives me an outside perspective from a completely different industry on how to interact and build employees up.

I have a friend of mine who is also kind of an engineering manager similar to me and he has this saying about employees. He treats employees, he thinks of employees like campsites and that you should leave them better than you found them. So, getting that outside perspective, I think is really important. I think it's been a really great bonding experience. My dad now calls me and will ask me questions about management, which I think is kind of funny.

So yeah, so what I look for in a mentor has definitely evolved over time because my career has evolved. Like, I'm no longer – I’m not sitting and banging out 10,000 lines of code a day. I'm managing, I got to do accounting now, I got to do – like I’m management benefits, I got to talk to lawyers, I have to read contracts. So yes, seeking out different advice now from different people has been pretty important.

Courtney Spence on How Support Networks Help Women Professionals

In Chapter 15 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, non-profit executive Courtney Spence answers "What Makes a Women's Professional Network Valuable?"  Spence notes the majority of her organization is female.  She notes the career and parenting balancing challenges being a woman presents and the importance of both giving support to and receiving support from other women while finding that balance over time.   Courtney Spence returns to Capture Your Flag 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: What makes a women’s professional network valuable?

Courtney Spence: Interestingly enough, our staff is 98% female. We work – it’s all women and it’s not purposeful it’s just how its happened. It’s been wonderful and I think what I’ve realized is I think women – everybody has their challenges and this is not a woe is us, but women do have a lot more to balance, in a sense of, you know, this – the urge and desires to have a family and the urge and desires to have a career, and just by default that women have to carry the babies for 9 months and deal with that repercussion, there’s a lot more to I think that struggle of I want – if I wanna be a mother, I wanna be a great mother. If I’m wanna be a professional, I’ll be a great professional, and I wanna do both. How in the hell am I gonna do both?

I think that, you know, I look at my mother and she was – she’s, I’m convinced, the best mother in the world. And I wanna be just like her if I choose that path to have children but how am I gonna do that and do Students of the World which is a child, and it’s my child that I have had for 12 years. So how do I do that? How do I struggle with the emotions that come with that? I think there’s, again, as you get into your 30’s, you start to really – you have to start making decisions that will affect the rest of your life. You have to start living more consciously than you did in your 20’s, or at least I have, because you do recognize that, you know, life doesn’t go on forever and that there are certain phases to life and you have to prepare yourself for those because you don’t wanna wake up one day and be like, how did I – I never made a choice, and this is where I am. I wanna be a lot more an active participant in my life personally.

And so as I’m struggling through what does that mean and what does that look like, finding other women to be supportive and give advice and go through those trenches with me and me to do that with others is really important because I think there’s not just the need to be mentored and supported but as women, we feel the need to support and mentor others in general, and there is great satisfaction that comes from that.

And I think that for me, the women – the women’s movement – and, you know, this started, you know, when I wrote a, you know, high school paper on the importance of first ladies, and I remember I sent a copy to then first lady Hillary Clinton. And I realized that Hillary has been such a really, really incredible role model for me, you know, that I, you know particularly since 2008, have recognized the need to really bring women together and that the importance of a woman’s network and how difficult that is because, you know, unlike other groups or cohorts, women are so diverse, you know, in physical locations, in socio-economic situations, but we all have the commonality of being female, of being a woman, and how do we bring that group together more effectively is a great challenge of our time I think.