Establishing Career

Cathy Erway on What It's Like to Work as an Advertising Copywriter

In Chapter 12 of 20 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and food writer Cathy Erway answers "What Is It Like to Work as a Copywriter at an Advertising Agency?" Erway shares how she has worked in editorial advertising copywriting jobs since after graduating college. Working on product writing - product descriptions and web copy - provides her freelance creative writing work to complement food writing and freelance journalism pursuits.

Cathy Erway is an author, food writer, freelance copywriter, radio show host and teacher focused on healthy food advocacy. Her second book, "The Food of Taiwan: Recipes From the Beautiful Island" is a cookbook featuring Taiwanese recipes ranging from homestyle dishes to street food favorites. Her first book, "The Art of Eating In" developed from her blog "Not Eating Out in New York".  Erway earned a BA in creative writing from Emerson College. 

Phil McKenzie on How to Do More With Less When Starting a Business

In Chapter 11 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur Phil McKenzie answers "How Are You Learning to Do More With Less?" McKenzie reflects back on when he started his business and how he tried to be everywhere at once. Over time, he learns to cut out unnecessary steps and streamline his process planning and producing a global event series. While resources grow, he is able to apply these efficiency lessons with his team and be more resourceful as budgets, teams and projects grow.

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.

Hammans Stallings on Why Working Internationally is a Good Career Move

In Chapter 17 of 19 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, strategist and management consultant Hammans Stallings answers "How Has International Work Experience Contributed to Your Professional Development?" Stallings finds working internationally has been a fundamental benefit to both his personal and professional growth. Working in distant places teaches him to think differently about people, culture, choices and values and then bring what he learns back into his own culture at home in the United States.

Hammans Stallings is a Principal Strategist at frog design. Previously Stallings worked in strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Matt Curtis on Creating Impact in a Sharing Economy Job

In Chapter 5 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "What Do You Enjoy Most About Working a Job in the Sharing Economy?" Curtis shares how working in government affairs at HomeAway in short-term vacation rentals has opened his world to the sharing economy, also known as the collaborative economy. Working in a new industry that includes companies like HomeAway, Uber, Lyft, Car2Go, and Airbnb, among others, Curtis is able to contribute by working to design win-win sharing economy government solutions to benefit local communities.

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 Learning Customer Service in First Job After College

In Chapter 10 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Matt Curtis answers "What Did You Learn in Your First Job Out of College That is Still Relevant Today?" Curtis shares how working at a wine bar in his first job out of college taught him the importance of customer service. Even though the winery was beautiful, Curtis found the customer experience was dependent on consistent, high quality service.

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. 

Courtney Spence on How to Train Young People to Do Creative Jobs

In Chapter 15 of 20 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, nonprofit CEO Courtney Spence answers "How Are You Advancing the Ways You Train and Support Creative Talent?" Spence shares what she has learned over 15 years working with and managing teams of twentysomething creative professionals. She finds training millennials is less about teaching technology and more about teaching accountability and how to work on a project for someone else. These client project skills teach young creatives a structure of how to be professional and meet employer expectations.

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 on How Role Model Father Inspires Marketing Career

In Chapter 2 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Randall Metting answers "What Childhood Experiences Have Been Most Fundamental in Shaping Who You Are Today?" Metting shares how his father Roger Metting exposed him to the world of music and hooked him on live performance, including an early Bruce Springsteen show in 1978. From there, Randall's father supports his interests in branding and promotion and, as the music industry changes, pushes Randall to pursue a career in agency and event management companies.

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. 

Randall Metting on Job Search Advice for Recent College Grads

In Chapter 15 of 16 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, Randall Metting answers "How Are You Becoming a Better Teacher?" Metting shares how he provided career coaching for a recent college graduate looking to find a new job. He advises the young graduate to write down ideal qualities for a job and then to start networking to meet people and find related job openings.

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. 

Michael Olsen on What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 2 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Olsen shares how developing daily habits has made his life easier by making him more productive. Specifically, making daily checklists allows Olsen to do things easily that once were hard. As for what is getting harder, he finds making the transition from his 20s into his 30s presents some big challenges, including decisions around committing to a career path and starting a family.

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. 

How to Research Career Options While in Graduate School

In Chapter 9 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "How Did You Research Career Options While Attending Graduate School?" While doing a joint business school and public health graduate program, Olsen finds each school treats career planning very differently. Business school career planning is more structured around personality test analysis to identify fit for career paths. Olsen finds public health school career planning more open-ended. In both programs, Olsen focuses on meeting the experts invited to speak at the schools. There he gets advice that in order to build a long-term career in social entrepreneurship, a good place to start is working a corporate job before transitioning into social enterprise.

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. 

Michael Olsen on How to Assess Communication Effectiveness

In Chapter 14 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "How Are You Learning to Communicate More Effectively?" Olsen shares his approach to testing his communication and persuasiveness, from trying alternative approaches to gathering data and assessing results. 

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. 

Michael Olsen on Establishing a Career After Business School

In Chapter 19 of 20 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, management consultant Michael Olsen answers "How Are You Learning to Apply Your Passions in New Ways?" As a new MBA / MPH graduate starting a job at Accenture, Olsen finds that the most important thing for him to do at this stage in his life is to focus on his management consulting work. Over time, as he builds experience and gains security, he looks to think more about cultivating his passions.

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 What Gets Easier and What Gets Harder

In Chapter 4 of 17 in her 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, author and small business owner Rachel Lehmann-Haupt answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" As a professional storyteller, Lehmann-Haupt finds life gets easier as you gain work experience and build confidence in your job skills. As she gains experience and confidence, she finds it harder to find the right job because she has become more selective with prospective clients and projects.

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 Finding Great Value in a Liberal Arts Education

In Chapter 4 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "Where Has Your Liberal Arts Education Been Most Valuable in Your Career?" Law finds his liberal arts education from Georgetown University has prepared him well for an international career in business consulting. The diverse education helps him adapt as he moves from country to country and project to project. It also helps inspire him to build a Angola University, a liberal arts college in Africa.

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. 

Bryan Law on Using a Psychology Degree in Human Capital Consulting

In Chapter 5 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "How Did You Get Involved in Human Capital Consulting and What Did You Learn in That Job?" Graduating Georgetown University with a BA in philosophy and psychology, Law searches for business jobs that value psychology. This leads him into HR consulting and teaches him to build skills on how company human resources and human capital shape strategic business planning.

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 Getting Married Changes Your Priorities

In Chapter 22 of 23 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, business strategist Bryan Law answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing As You Get Older?" After getting married, Law finds he is more selective about what he is and is not willing to do. He focuses more on the type of work he enjoys that will give him opportunities to create impact in his work and maintain a work-life balance.

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. 

How Teach for America Prepares Future Leaders

In Chapter 8 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, education technology entrepreneur Adam Geller answers "How Did Teaching in the Teach for America Program Inform the Next Steps in Your Career?" Teaching disadvantaged students in the classroom inspires Geller to make a career fixing K-12 education or as he terms it "Big E Education." This leads him to build on Teach for America teaching and get a masters degree in education as well as formal teacher certification. He joins Teach for America's national organization to work on strategy and organizational development and learn at more systematic ways to improve Big E Education.

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.

How to Use a Journalism Degree to Teach Middle School

In Chapter 9 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, education technology entrepreneur Adam Geller answers "Where Has Your Journalism Work Experience Been Most Useful in Your Education Career?" Geller finds his journalism degree is most useful on a day-to-day basis as a teacher. He finds the daily test of clearly communicating what he knows so his students can absorb the lessons similar to journalist work articulating information so an audience can internalize the information. As a science teacher, journalist training also helps Geller tailor teaching to learning styles to best engage students.

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.