Phil McKenzie on Finding Incredible Kindness Traveling Abroad

In Chapter 4 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "What Did Traveling Abroad This Past Year Teach You About Yourself?" McKenzie shares how traveling overseas during the past year has reinforced how rich the world is with kind and generous people. McKenzie constantly meets new people in new places and is overwhelmed how willing people are to support him on his journey.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Phil McKenzie on Asking for and Receiving Critical Feedback

In Chapter 17 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "What Type of Feedback Do You Respond to Best?" McKenzie shares why he prefers constructive or critical feedback over positive feedback and reinforcement and how he seeks it out and uses it. He finds getting pushback criticism is especially helpful when you are very passionate about something and may not be able to see faults in an approach.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Founder of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss influencer culture. Previously, he led an influencer marketing agency and was an equities trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He earned an MBA from Duke University and a BBA from Howard University.

Matt Curtis on How to Make Plans to Move in With a Girlfriend

In Chapter 3 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "How Did You Manage the Transition of Moving in With Your Partner?" Curtis shares how he and his partner Christie worked through conversations about when, where and how to move in together. He shares why they decided to get their own new place rather than have one person move into the other person's place. He shares how they figured out where to live and adjustments they made after making the move to help the relationship grow.

Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was deputy to Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He has represented the City of Austin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. In 2011, Curtis joined the Harvard Kennedy School Urban Policy Advisory Board to work on national best practices facing American cities. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas. 

Matt Curtis on Building Strategic Partnerships With Local Government

In Chapter 18 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "How Are You Improving How Your Company Builds Strategic Partnerships?" Curtis shares how working with local government stakeholders on local government issues is about not forcing issues on another party. Instead, Curtis creates construtive dialogues to help him understand both sides and build consensus on the right path to take. He finds it helpful to engage in local government groups such as Congress for New Urbanism, The National League of Cities, the United States Conference of Mayors and the Urban Land Institute to work through best practices.

Matt Curtis is the director of government relations at HomeAway Inc. Previously he was deputy to Austin mayors Lee Leffingwell and Will Wynn. He has represented the City of Austin at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. In 2011, Curtis joined the Harvard Kennedy School Urban Policy Advisory Board to work on national best practices facing American cities. He earned his bachelor's degree in radio, television and film from the University of North Texas. 

Bijoy Goswami on How to Make Progress By Living in the Present

In Chapter 11 of 17 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, community leader Bijoy Goswami answers "As a Business Owner, How Do You Decide What Time Horizon to Focus on in Your Work?" Goswami finds he is more capable of achieving goals by living in the present and not making long-term plans. He embraces living on a journey that often takes unexpected turns and gives himself flexibility to take those turns when things go differently than planned.

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas. He develops learning models to help individuals, organizations and communities live more meaningfully. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University. 

Bijoy Goswami on How to Receive Feedback by Communicating Better

In Chapter 15 of 17 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, community leader Bijoy Goswami answers "What Type of Feedback Do You Respond to Best?" Goswami finds he can receive feedback best when others clearly understand what he is trying to do. This requires him to put a greater emphasis on communicating clearly and effectively to be understood so the feedback can be relevant and targeted.

Bijoy Goswami is a writer, teacher, and community leader based in Austin, Texas. He develops learning models to help individuals, organizations and communities live more meaningfully. Previously, he co-founded Aviri Software after working at Trilogy Software. Goswami graduated from Stanford University. 

andall Metting on How to Design a Better Trade Show Booth Experience

In Chapter 13 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Randall Metting answers "What Have You Found to Be the Keys to Creating Successful Project Collaborations?" Metting shares how he worked with his team and trade show staff to create a fresh, innovative booth experience for his product, Dulce Vida tequila. By building a faux tequila distillery, Metting is able to provide consumers a more memorable branded experience.

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. 

Hattie Elliot on How Optimism Builds Relationship Trust

In Chapter 3 of 15 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Hattie Elliot answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" Elliot shares her optimistic philosophy on believing others are good people and trustworthy until they prove you wrong. She finds that while the approach may not always work, the optimism she brings into relationships has helped her build a business around relationships and develop trusting friendships she builds over time.

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.

Matt Ruby on Two Ways to Improve Comedy Screenwriting Skills

In Chapter 9 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, standup comedian and Vooza founder Matt Ruby answers "What Skills Are You Working on Right Now to Become Better at Your Job?" Ruby shares two ways he is improving as a comedy screenwriter. First, he finds it helpful to invite feedback and give ownership to his creative team of writers and actors. The added ownership gives his team an opportunity to personalize the characters and scripts to their strengths. Second, Ruby works on building better narrative arcs to improve story flow and structure. Working on short-form web videos averaging three minutes, he finds that structure makes the storyline more interesting and the characters more compelling.

Matt Ruby is a standup comedian based in New York City. He also founded Vooza, on online comic strip web series that makes fun of tech startup culture. As an actor, director, writer and producer, Ruby leads the creative direction for the team. Before his comedy career, Matt was employee #1 at 37Signals. He graduated from Northwestern University. 

Anatole Faykin on How to Work With People Who Do Not Think Like You

In Chapter 4 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Are You Learning to Work More Effectively With Different Personality Types?" Faykin shares how he has learned to listening to and observing others to understand how they perform best. He finds there are many ways to be successful and keeps an open mind to embrace these different approaches on a team.

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.

Anatole Faykin on How Academic and On-The-Job Learning Compare

In Chapter 11 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Internet entrepreneur Anatole Faykin answers "How Does Learning in an Academic Setting Compare and Contrast With Learning on the Job?" Faykin shares how on-the-job learning focuses more on achieving incremental steps rather than thinking big about how things work. He contrasts this practical learning with the freedom of an an academic environment, where thinking is less about making money and more about giving yourself space to think more deeply on subjects.

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 the Hard Part of Building Relationship Trust

In Chapter 15 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "How Do You Establish Trust When Building Relationships?" Olsen shares how he struggles with assuming trust in a relationship and being trusting before a relationship has had time to develop. He looks for ways to build trust from the inception of a relationship to complement the trust that comes with doing what you say you are going to do.

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 Moving From New York to San Francisco

In Chapter 5 of 17 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and small business owner Rachel Lehmann-Haupt answers "How Has Moving to a New City Created Positive Change in Your Life?" Working in media and publishing, Lehmann-Haupt finds New York City to be, as her mentor Clay Felker puts it, "about power and who's up and who's down." Upon arriving in the San Francisco, she finds the Bay Area culture to be more about ideas and experimentation and open-mindedness to new possibilities. Lehmann-Haupt connects with the culture, joins TED Books to work on the future of digital media publishing and ultimately launches her own firm, StoryMade.

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. 

How to Reinvent a Media and Publishing Career

In Chapter 13 of 17 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and small business owner Rachel Lehmann-Haupt answers "What New Challenges Are You Facing in Your Media and Publishing Career?" Lehmann-Haupt finds traditional 30-year careers in media and publishing are going away. To succeed in media and publishing, she finds it critical to have a willingness to reinvent herself by building new skills and adapting to new publishing mediums. Further, Lehmann-Haupt gains career momentum by being more entrepreneurial in how she approaches her writing career.

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. 

How to Improve Creative Project Team Collaboration

In Chapter 15 of 17 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and small business owner Rachel Lehmann-Haupt answers "What Have You Found to Be the Keys in Creating Successful Project Collaborations?" Working on creative project teams, Lehmann-Haupt has learned to prioritize getting along with teammates, even when she disagrees. While creative tension facilitates collaboration, disrespect kills it. She finds a general level of respect is fundamental to working together with teams in a creative business environment.

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. 

Bryan Law on Learning Leadership as Student Body President

In Chapter 8 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "What Did Your Experience as Student Body President Teach You About Leadership?" As student body president of his Kellogg MBA class, Law learns to lead in two ways. As a student government leader, he first embraces a philosophy of engaging his team to understand their perspectives to shape the team direction. Second, his work as a class president teaches him that while consensus is optimal, sometimes a leader must make unpopular decisions.

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, a 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. 

How to Use 360 Degree Feedback for Reflective Learning

In Chapter 8 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, product management executive Ramsey Pryor answers "What Role Has Reflection Played in Shaping Your Personal Growth?" Pryor shares how experiencing the 360 degree feedback professional development practice while working at Accenture changed his career trajectory. Getting feedback from those who manage you and those you manage provides Pryor a balanced set of insights that complements his own reflections on what he is doing right and where he can improve over time.

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. He started his career as a consultant working at Accenture. Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.  

How to Prepare Teachers for Nontraditional Education Jobs

In Chapter 11 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, education technology entrepreneur Adam Geller answers "What Has Your Work Experience Taught You About How Education Careers are Changing?" As a former teacher now running an EdTech startup that provides a video platform to train teachers, Geller finds the more time he spends in education, the more ways he sees to affect change in a nontraditional education career. From online video to game design, the world of job opportunities in education continues to expand beyond teaching and administration job roles Geller learned about as a science teacher.

Adam Geller is founder and CEO of Edthena, a video platform enabling online teacher coaching, peer review, and group learning. He is a recent Education Ventures fellow at the Kauffman Foundation and the founder of Teach For Us, a network connecting Teach for America corps members and alumni. He earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MA from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.