Geoff Hamm on Ways Childhood Shapes Personal Values

In Chapter 16 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, mobile business executive Geoff Hamm answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Hamm shares how seeing his parents' go through a divorce as a child taught him how he would and would not treat his wife as an adult. As he starts a family, his childhood experience keeps him mindful of how to disagree with his spouse in front of their children. Hamm also shares the profound influence his late grandmother had on developing his passions for cooking and respect for strong-willed women.

Geoff Hamm is a business development executive and VP Strategic Alliances at mobile marketing platform start-up Applovin in San Francisco, CA. Previous to Applovin, Hamm held senior sales management positions at Tapjoy, Scribd, Electronic Arts, Yahoo!, Orbitz, IAC and Excite where he built deep relationships with advertisers and brands. Hamm graduated from the University of Illinois.

Louise Langheier on How to Learn and Develop a Hard Work Ethic

In Chapter 2 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Langheier shares how she learned her work ethic at an early age from people she admired, including her role model parents. Over time, she learns from people give their all to something and rise to the occasion in moments of crisis.

Louise Davis Langheier is founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange, a non-profit that trains college students to teach health education in public high schools. Louise was selected as a member of the 2011 class of Aspen Entrepreneurial Education Fellows, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2012. She graduated from Yale University.

Louise Langheier on Teaching Teens Confidence and Self-Worth

In Chapter 15 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work That You Do?" Langheier notes why teaching high school students to be confident is fundamental to her mission to empower young adults to make healthier decisions. Teaching teens about confidence and self-worth gives them valuable awareness skills to understand what matters to them and then make decisions aligned to those priorities.

Louise Davis Langheier is founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange, a non-profit that trains college students to teach health education in public high schools. Louise was selected as a member of the 2011 class of Aspen Entrepreneurial Education Fellows, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2012. She graduated from Yale University. 

Conrad Doucette on How Hands-Off Parenting Fuels Creative Work Ethic

In Chapter 8 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, musician and digital strategist Conrad Doucette answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Doucette shares ways childhood experiences shaped his creative work ethic. From moving to many new places to having hands-off parents who allowed him to explore, Doucette develops creative tools he uses as an adult working in digital media and performing as a drummer with different artists. Conrad Doucette is a Brooklyn musician and the drummer for the band Takka Takka. 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. 

Idan Cohen on Building a Company Where Employees Love to Work

In Chapter 5 of 13 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, technology entrepreneur Idan Cohen answers "How Has Your Entrepreneurial Experience Helped You Grow as a Person?" Cohen finds starting and growing his company Boxee has that him about people and what sacrifices he is willing to make for others. In the six years growing the company before it sold to Samsung in 2013, Cohen finds reward knowing he helped create a place to work and a company culture that made a lasting positive impact on his employees.

Idan Cohen is a technology entrepreneur and product management leader at Samsung Electronics. He co-founded Boxee, which was acquired by Samsung in early 2013. 

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How has your entrepreneurial experience helped you grow as a person?

Idan Cohen: I think you learn more about people. You learn more about your priorities. You learn more about how much you are willing to sacrifice for what you set out to do. You learn about strengths and abilities that you didn't think you had. I think that especially looking back now after the acquisition and looking back at six years of building Boxee, the most significant thing that we did was create an amazing family with an amazing culture. It’s just--People got connected in many different ways, and, you know, the culture is a little quirky and a little weird, obviously, like maybe in any place, but the connection between the people was fantastic.

And I've seen companies that spend more time after work going out drinking together, and they spend more time doing activities or-- so it seems like they are connected, but I think that we managed to foster some kind of weird, very straightforward Israeli culture mixed in with young, local, American, New York experience and people. And it worked really well. I was extremely touched when everything went down, and one of the guys from Israel that decided-- so the team is moving here, and he decided not to move. And he wrote an e-mail back, and he said, you know, "I really hope that one day, I'll be able to say, no, Boxee was not the best place I ever worked in."

And I heard that from several other people in many different ways, and it was very hard for people to do this because they understood that something might change in the process. And they got emotional, and they felt really-- that it's-- you know, this time was significant in their life, and I think for me, suddenly that struck me, how-- like, being able to affect people's life in that way. You know, way more than eventually what we built, that-- you know, products come and go, services come and go. But I hope that the experiences people had together are the one thing that actually stays, not what they built. And I think that that, for me, was extremely touching.

Yoav Gonen on His Experience Adopting an American Name

In Chapter 1 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Gonen shares how moving around as a child - by 25 he had lived in 9 cities - proved challenging with having a foreign name difficult to pronounce. He changes his name during college to something easier to pronounce and later switches back to Yoav and embraces it for its difference. Yoav Gonen is a reporter and City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post daily newspaper. Previously he spent nearly six years covering the education beat for the New York Post. 

Yoav Gonen on Developing Work Ethic by Doing Something You Enjoy

In Chapter 2 of 19 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, New York City reporter Yoav Gonen answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Gonen shares how learning to work hard and develop a work ethic came naturally by doing things he enjoyed. He finds just because it is called "work" it does not have to feel that way if you have fun doing it. When smaller tasks need to come before more enjoyable ones, he takes an eager approach to knock out short-term tasks to work on long-term projects. Yoav Gonen is a reporter and City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Post daily newspaper. Previously he spent nearly six years covering the education beat for the New York Post. Gonen earned a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Journalism from New York University.

Michael Margolis on How to See Yourself in a Fast Changing World

In Chapter 1 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" When he was nine, Margolis and his family moved from Lucerne, Switzerland to West Los Angeles, California. The cultural shift and resulting identity issues of being a stranger in a strange land inspire Margolis into a career helping others understand and tell their story. This becomes more important as culture change hastens from what Alvin Toffler described as "Future Shock" to what Douglas Rushkoff now calls "Present Shock" across education, government, media, and religion. Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

Michael Margolis on Learning Work Ethic After Graduating College

In Chapter 4 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Margolis notes he did not develop a hard work ethic until after graduating college, when he knew he had to find work and decided to create jobs and businesses to make an impact. He finds motivation in the process of proving to himself and others his work is meaningful. Margolis notes how he Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

Michael Margolis on How to Be Confident by Being Yourself

In Chapter 10 of 17 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, educator and entrepreneur Michael Margolis answers "What Role Does Confidence Play in the Work That You Do?" Margolis finds he is confident not because of what he knows but because he knows himself. This knowledge gives him a sense of security and creates a natural authority for him to be present, witness others, and get energy from being himself. Michael Margolis is founder and president of Get Storied, an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. He earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

Tricia Regan on Learning Values and Work Ethic From Role Model Parents

In Chapter 3 of 15 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Regan tells the story of learning her work ethic from her mother and father. Her father tells her "There's no job worth doing that's not worth doing well" and instills in her the importance of doing work with integrity. Tricia Regan is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for writing, directing and producing documentary films, including the Emmy-winning "Autism: The Musical". She also has worked extensively in non-fiction television for A&E, ABC, FOX, Lifetime, MTV Networks and NBC. Regan earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University. 

Tricia Regan on Learning Cultural Diversity Working in Film and TV

In Chapter 11 of 15 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, filmmaker Tricia Regan answers "What Have You Found Most Rewarding About Traveling to New Places?" Making documentary films and shooting and producing television shows has given Regan the opportunity to travel around the world and deep into sub-cultures within regions and communities. She shares how going into different worlds, for example working on a murder investigation TV show where she filmed interviews with serial killers, has pushed her to be more accepting of differences in others. Tricia Regan is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for writing, directing and producing documentary films, including the Emmy-winning "Autism: The Musical". She also has worked extensively in non-fiction television for A&E, ABC, FOX, Lifetime, MTV Networks and NBC. Regan earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

Richard Moross on Turning Anger and Frustration into Motivation

In Chapter 1 of 14 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Moo.com CEO Richard Moross answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" Moross shares how several "knock back moments" in his childhood fueled anger he equates to Incredible Hulk moments. Over time, he learns to channel this anger and frustration into motivation, which he ultimately uses to start a business and become an entrepreneur. Richard Moross is founder and CEO of award-winning online print business Moo.com. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member at Ladbrokes PLC. Before Moo.com, Moross was a strategist at design firm Imagination. He graduated from the University of Sussex.

Slava Rubin on Ways Childhood Experiences Shape Your Values

In Chapter 1 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, Indiegogo CEO Slava Rubin answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Rubin moves from Belarus to the United States very young and learns work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit from his role model parents. After losing his father to cancer, Rubin grows up quickly at home and resulting new school experiences teach him the importance of respecting the differences in other people. Slava Rubin is CEO and co-founder of Indiegogo, the world's largest crowdfunding platform. Indiegogo empowers anyone, anywhere, anytime to raise funds for any idea—creative, cause-related or entrepreneurial. Prior to Indiegogo, Rubin worked as a management consultant. He earned his BSE degree from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What childhood experiences have been most fundamental in shaping who you are today?

Slava Rubin: Yeah, I think what happened when I was a kid is really important in terms of how you grow up. I had great parents, my mom and dad. My mom was a doctor and my dad was an engineer. And they were always very into education, into hard work, and they were entrepreneurs themselves, not in job but the fact that they were willing to take a risk and leave Russia, or Belarus, where we grew up, and right away move when I was 9 months old in ’78 to America. It was cool because I right away got to learn from my parents what it means to work for what you need to accomplish, to not have it handed to you, to really strive to do something better, and I right away had that work ethic and that entrepreneurial spirit, inspired into me.

Then when I was 15, my dad passed away from multiple myeloma, which we’ve talked about before, which had a huge impact, because right away I had to grow up pretty quickly, and with my mom and myself, I had to, I guess, be the two leaders of the household. It’s pretty interesting when I was actually helping to refinance the mortgage when I was 16 years old.  

Those two things really helped me to grow up. Plus just being the only Jew in high school, I think I got to learn about diversity and what it means to how people get treated, so I think that was really helpful in terms of wanting to create a platform for equal opportunity.

James McCormick on How Summer Camp Can Teach Responsibility

In Chapter 2 of 21 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, legal search and consulting firm executive James McCormick answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" For McCormick, it was about growing up in a very steady and stable family environment. He shares how going away to Sanborne western boys and girls summer camp in Colorado taught him responsibility while opening his eyes to the world of the mountains and great outdoors. 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.

Leslie Kerner on How Childhood Experiences Can Shape Your Values

In Chapter 6 of 21 in her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, education software company executive Leslie Kerner answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" Kerner looks back at her childhood and talks about the formative experiences that shaped her values. From swimming at the community pool to unstructured play to spending time with grandparents, Kerner learns the values of managing a busy schedule, making time for family, and having a curiosity for learning.

Leslie Kerner is Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Professional Services group at Amplify, a software and services company innovating K-12 education. She is responsible for building and managing training, professional development and consulting services for schools. Previously, Kerner worked as a management consultant at Deloitte & Touche. Kerner earned an MBA from the Duke University and a BA from Northwestern University.

Matt Curtis on the Benefits of Playing Outdoors as a Child

In Chapter 1 of 18 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, HomeAway government relations director Matt Curtis answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Curtis recalls a childhood where he and his friends were free to roam the neighborhood and play outdoors into the late hours. The constant outdoors experience gives Curtis an early appreciation for nature and for embracing the outdoors. Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was communications director for Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas.

Courtney Spence on How Mourning the Loss of a Loved One Brings Family Closer Together

In Chapter 1 of 20 of her 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Courtney Spence answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Spence remembers her grandparents on her mother's side of the family. As a 10 year old, Spence recalls the importance of family coming together in a year where both her maternal grandparents passed away.

Social entrepreneur and storyteller Courtney Spence founded 501c3 nonprofit Students of the World (SOW) to shine a light on progress and celebrate the world's problem solvers. She is building a movement of next-generation storytellers and creative activists through the SOW program The Creative Activist Network. Spence is a graduate of Duke University.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What childhood experiences have been most fundamental to shaping who you are today?

Courtney Spence: I was very close with my sets of grandparents. On my mother’s side, it’s a big Lebanese family, so it’s lots of food, and lots of family, and lots of cousins, fifth removed but if there’s still a cousin. And I think that—so, for me, it was holidays, and good times, and hard times, the family always came together. And you realize that, you know, whenever anything great was achieved, or anything, you know, the passing of a grandparent, anything that was hard to get through, it was really about the family coming together and the community supporting each other. And, you know, I was just talking to my mother about this last night.

We were talking about her parents when they passed, and when we were going through the last year with them where we had to have in-home, you know, nurses, 24/7, and these women came into our home and they were like angels. And, you know, I was 10, but I have very vivid memory of that year. It was the year that I lost both my grandparents on my mother’s side. And although it was a difficult year, I have so many warm memories and so many memories of my family coming together. And I think that as I’m older and as I’m looking at my own family now, and I look at my family and work, and anything that I have achieved, it’s only because of the people and the community that surrounds you, and that supports you, and that brings you into their fold. And, you know, I just think that that appreciation of community and family is something that I continue to strengthen, and understand, and appreciate every year. So, that’s what’s on top of my mind right now.