Courtney Spence on Living Up to Expectations as a Company Leader

In Chapter 11 of 20 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, nonprofit CEO Courtney Spence answers "What Role Does Living Up to the Expectations of Others Play into the Way You Live?" As a leader of a company, Spence, experiences and accepts the constant pressure that comes with meeting expectations from investors, employees, clients and partners. She finds it is about staying mindful of her journey and her organization's mission, purpose, and values while making a difference and having fun doing so.

Courtney Spence is founder and CEO of Students of the World, a nonprofit empowering a diverse network of student and emerging filmmakers to apply storytelling skills in purposeful work. She is also the Founder and CEO of CSpence group, a creative agency building millennial-focused content and programs for brands. Spence earned a BA from Duke University. 

Courtney Spence on How to Value a Relationship

In Chapter 19 of 20 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, nonprofit CEO Courtney Spence answers "How Do You Measure the Quality of Relationships in Your Life?" Spence shares how she measures the quality of relationship in her life by the trust and loyalty she sees in others. She finds trust is about not breaking your word or commitment. As far as loyalty goes, she finds it comes down to what Coach Royal said, "Dance with the one that brung you."

Courtney Spence is founder and CEO of Students of the World, a nonprofit empowering a diverse network of student and emerging filmmakers to apply storytelling skills in purposeful work. She is also the Founder and CEO of CSpence group, a creative agency building millennial-focused content and programs for brands. Spence earned a BA from Duke University. 

Courtney Spence on Identifying Sources of Strength and Struggle

In Chapter 20 of 20 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, nonprofit CEO Courtney Spence answers "What Are the Sources of Strength and Struggle in Your Life?" Spence shares how family, including close friends, is a source of strength, especially during hard times. She struggles with the reality that business partners will not always have shared values and belief systems. While this does not deter her from seeing the best in others, she does learn that good people can make mistakes and do things that are not good.

Courtney Spence is founder and CEO of Students of the World, a nonprofit empowering a diverse network of student and emerging filmmakers to apply storytelling skills in purposeful work. She is also the Founder and CEO of CSpence group, a creative agency building millennial-focused content and programs for brands. Spence earned a BA from Duke University. 

Randall Metting: How Holidays With Grandparents Shape Family Values

In Chapter 1 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Randall Metting answers "What Were Your Grandparents Like and How Did They Influence Your Development?" Metting reflects on holidays spent with his grandparents and their influence on family holiday traditions. As a child, Metting remembers traveling over the holidays from Georgia to spend time with his grandparents in Texas. He fondly recalls the general atmosphere of having the family all together for the traditional Texas Longhorn game against the Texas A&M Aggies.

Randall Metting is a brand development and marketing manager at Dulce Vida Spirits in Austin, Texas. Over 17 years, he has built brands in spirits, luxury real estate and lifestyle, music, and sports industries. He has been a radio personality at KGSR Radio and a marketer at a hyperlocal startup acquired by NBC Universal. Metting earned a BA in Advertising from the University of Florida and started his career at The Coca-Cola Company. 

Anatole Faykin on How to Assess Fit Applying to Grad School Mid-Career

In Chapter 14 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Did You Assess Fit When Deciding Where to Apply for Bioscience Graduate Programs?" As an internet entrepreneur now mid-career, Faykin looks for bioscience grad schools who support entrepreneurial thinking and blend learning science in labs with applying science in business. Ultimately, he identifies three graduate programs that fit his criteria and applies to each of them.

Anatole Faykin is an Internet entrepreneur and digital marketer exploring new career options. A passionate world traveler and problem solver, Faykin plans to return to graduate school to earn a biosciences masters degree. Previously, Faykin has started multiple companies, including Tuanpin, a Shanghai startup he sold in 2011. He holds an MBA from NYU and a BS in computer science and biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Michael Olsen on 3 Ways Parents Instill Positive Values in Children

In Chapter 4 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" Three childhood experiences shape Olsen's view of the world. First, his parents teach Olsen the importance of travel, culture and inclusiveness. They do this by taking him to Europe as a 9-year old and, every Christmas, inviting people from different cultures to the Olsen family dinner table. Second, his father gets him involved in local Rotary Club events, specifically an annual pancake breakfast fundraiser, which teaches him the value of community service. Third, his parents show him the value of education by not only pushing him to value education but also by constantly learning and leading by example.

Michael Olsen is a management consultant at Accenture. Previous to Accenture, Olsen earned dual MBA and MPH degrees at Emory University in Atlanta. Olsen earned a BA in symbolic systems from Stanford University and spent the next five years founding an IT consulting company, Redwood Strategies. 

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt on Aspiring to Be a Happy Mother

In Chapter 2 of 17 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and small business owner Rachel Lehmann-Haupt answers "To What Do You Aspire as a Mother?" Lehmann-Haupt aspires for her child to happy and finds the best way to achieve this is for her to be happy and share that energy with her son. As a single mother aspiring for happiness, she focuses on creating balanced influences in and out of work that provide her 18-month old boy with a strong foundation for growth.

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt is a writer, editor and multimedia content strategist. She is the owner of StoryMade, a storytelling studio that creates new media content solutions for businesses. Previously, she was a founding editor and multimedia producer at TED Books, designing TED Talk content for tablet computers. She is the author of "In Her Own Sweet Time", published in 2009. Lehmann-Haupt earned a BA from Kenyon College and a Masters in Journalism from UC-Berkeley. 

Getting a Strategy Job at Google to Help Change the World

In Chapter 17 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About What You Do?" Through years working internationally in economic development and management consulting, Law finds his passion and his purpose is providing access to new information to help less fortunate individuals. He joins Google to build upon this through a private sector company committed to bringing information access to those in need.

Bryan Law is a Principal in the Global Business Strategy Group at Google and a board member at Angola University. Previously, he was a manager at Monitor, management consulting firm. He has worked in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt and Mercer. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business and a BA from Georgetown University. 

Ramsey Pryor on Building a Work Ethic to Get the Most Out of Life

In Chapter 1 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, product management executive Ramsey Pryor answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Pryor shares how from a Baskin-Robbins job at age 14 through his current job at IBM, he has honed his work ethic. He finds project-based work with short deadlines are best for keeping him engaged and busy. His parents teach him to value life outside work and make it a priority set limits on work goals to enjoy life outside work.

Ramsey Pryor is a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based collaboration and security software products. Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM. Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.  

Ramsey Pryor on How Moving Often as a Child Shapes Adult Life

In Chapter 2 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, product management executive Ramsey Pryor answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental to Shaping Who You Are Today?" Pryor shares how moving often as a child taught him to be better at adapting and embracing new environments. Living in rural and urban areas also gives Pryor an appreciation for and an ability to relate to small town values and urban living.

Ramsey Pryor is a product management executive at IBM focused on cloud-based collaboration and security software products. Previously he was VP Product Marketing at Outblaze, acquired by IBM. Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.  

Geoff Hamm on Learning Work Ethic From Self-Made Parents

In Chapter 8 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, mobile business executive Geoff Hamm answers "Where Did You Learn Your Work Ethic?" Hamm learns his work ethic from role  model parents who instill the value of hard work. At age 15 Hamm gets his first job at a hardware store and learns to appreciate working with his hands. He finds having a job gives him purpose and the means to better others who also work with purpose.

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.

Two Key Things to Look For Before Joining a Startup

In Chapter 12 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, mobile business executive Geoff Hamm answers "How Did Working at Your First Startup Inform What You Looked For at Your Second Startup?" When looking for a new startup job, Hamm first looks at the founders' story and experience. He learns a hard lesson about inexperience working with first-time founders and chooses a founding team with previous startup experience when he joins his next startup. Additionally, he learns to understand what to look for in an advisory board and the importance of board involvement in the company.

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.

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.

Aspen Fellow Preston Smith on Developing Leadership Capacity

In Chapter 14 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "How Did Your Aspen Institute Fellowship Contribute to Your Professional Development?" Selected into the Pahara Fellowship leader development program at the Aspen Institute, Smith joins a cohort of entrepreneurial education leaders. There, he learns via peer self-refections that help him identify ways to improve how he leads his life and his organization.

Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows. 

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. 

Louise Langheier on Assessing Job Candidate Fit Hiring New Employees

In Chapter 18 of 21 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur Louise Langheier answers "How Have You Learned to Better Assess Fit When Hiring New Employees?" Langheier shares how her organization continues to recognize the importance of assessing job candidate fit across both job skills and motivation to do the job. She notes this "skills and will" duality helps her company screen for candidates who can contribute to the organization and who the organization can best support in their professional development.

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. 

Mark Graham on Setting Aspirations as a New Father

In Chapter 2 of 15 in his 2013 Capture Your Flag interview, media executive Mark Graham answers "To What Do You Aspire as a Father?" Graham takes inspiration from his own father as he sets goals for managing the responsibilities of being a new dad. Graham learns a lot about how to treat a young baby by watching his father bond with his son. Graham sets a goal of doing his best to be a role model father just like his dad.

Mark Graham is currently a managing editor at MTV Networks. 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.