Pursue The Passion
902 posts
Interview: How I started a coffee company Tommy Thwaites is the Owner of Coda Coffee, a wholesale coffee company. We interviewed Tommy live in front of a high school audience in Colorado. I’ve been professionally involved in coffee for the last 14 years. I’m 32 now. I started when I was 18 years old. Most…
Interview: How To Become a Freelance Photographer My first job was in photojournalism. In my mid twenties, I saw the world. It was wild. I got lost, it was scary. I was there alone for three days with a shotgun by my side. It was really a life and death kind of struggle. After that…
The question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” really used to bother me. I believed it was a throwaway question in an interview that didn’t measure anything. How are we supposed to know where we are five years from now? I was flipping through old notebooks this weekend and I came across a…
Interview: How To Become a General Manager of a Hotel I was playing ball in college for maybe six months when my son was born. I needed to provide for him. I think everyone has that crossroads that you come to where you decide to either be someone they respect, and look up to, or…
Earlier this week our two other Pursue the Passion trip mates, Noah Pollock and Jay Whiting, flew in to help create some PTP media. Both are now living in L.A. pursuing their music career. This weekend will be one of their biggest shows, opening for Pigeon John at The Knitting Factory.This should be a fantastic…
I went to the grocery store at around eleven o’clock last night. Wearing my Arizona basketball jersey, I stood in line annoyed at yet another first round exit from the March Madness tournament. A Sun Devil fan walked by in a t-shirt with that horrid yellow color, which to Wildcat fans, has the same effect…
A big part of the Pursue the Passion’s mission is to improve the quality of student’s lives, both as professionals and individuals. While we have a multitude of theories and messages that we try to utilize for articulating our message there is still the question of how to facilitate actual change. It requires more than…
Last night I went to the Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns basketball game. This post is not about basketball and the millions players make, nor how it was very nice of Mary Gilbaugh to provide me with complementary tickets, but rather about the initiation college graduates have when entering the “real,” working world. Brandon…
This weekend myself and two other members of the Pursue the Passion tour will be attending Jobing’s leadership retreat, “Leading You”. I have been able to learn very little about the nature of the training from my coworkers who seem to have been sworn to secrecy. I think it’s pretty clear we’re being taken to…
How often do you receive customer service on a level that compels you to tell people of your consumer fortune. I’m guessing not often enough… Well, last night I had such and experience and can’t wait to sing praises. Last night Brett and I left the house at 6:30 to play a little pick up…
Last night my softball team completed a long streak seldom achieved in the annals of sports. It’s the type of result that cannot be realized without a strong team effort and consistency of play. Despite the pressure and palpable expectation, we put on our game faces, played one of our best games of the year…
By no means am I an economist. I am not qualified to write this article. That’s why this post is merely a paraphrase of an article I read last night in Forbes, written by Rich Karlgaard, which said we don’t need to worry about going into a recession for three reasons. 1) This is an…
This week was my first spent entirely in the office and provided me with a much needed opportunity to work on the documentary. Watching video of our trip for ten hours while intermittently trying to engage myself in real world conversations has left me red eyed, frazzled and unnecessarily brazen. Our trip promoted a certain…
As I waded through hours of PTP video archives yesterday I came across a video Brett shot after our first month on tour. The clip consists of Brett interviewing me about my impression of the first month and what impressed me most. The primary issues I focused on were two I had since, nearly forgotten……
Noah Kagan, president of software development company Kickflip, will tell you what he does for a living, but don’t make that your lead if approaching him at a cocktail party. “I hate that question,” says the 25 year old Berkeley grad, who has worked for at least four separate companies that should have made him…
, founder of npost.com, was not sure what to do with his degree in microbiology from the University of Washington. Working for a large medical manufacturer, he began, in his free time, to interview interesting people about their jobs and their career paths. From this sprang nPost, a resource for people looking into the…
Josh Olson is an Academy Award nominated screenplay writer for his work with the movie History of Violence. Josh just moved out of a Hollywood apartment and into a secluded home with a view of the Los Angeles skyline from his patio. What does a screenwriter do? I have a license to put myself in…
The last television appearance we had was on NBC-Nashville. The segment aired that Friday night, and even though I didn’t see it, Linda Harrison in Hermitage, Tennessee did. Linda went to our website and submitted her story. She wrote: “I am currently a Fainting Goat Rancher but have a business degree with an accounting major.…
-Jenkins, founder and president of JNI, LLC, knows something about hard work and commitment. As the son of Cuban immigrants who instilled a great deal of patriotism in their son, for his new country, Jesus attended West Point and served in the United States Army for five years. Entering the private sector, Jesus immediately…
Some people can’t hide how much they love their job; Emilee Warner, the voice of Country Music Television’s radio network is one of those people. At 21, Emilee has graduated college, bought a house and found her way deep into the Nashville music scene, all because she is a charming extrovert and, more importantly, a…
Alex Guarnaschelli, executive chef of NYC’s Butter, did not, after college, have the “frame of reference” to enter the culinary world with her art history degree in tow. So, the daughter of a cookbook editor did what anyone else would do: she took a road trip across the country with her three best friends. After…
Whitney Johnson left a seven figure Wall Street job in an effort to help women dream. Her BLOG, Dare to Dream, states: “women in the U.S. may be placated, even pampered, but because we aren’t dreaming, we are also desperate and depressed.” Whitney hopes to inspire other women to dream as big as she has.…
Maura Policelli, chief of staff for U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th), has been working on Capitol Hill for twelve years, and seems to have lost none of her passion for public service. “A lot of people are cynical about our government,” says Maura, “but I’m still in awe of our democracy.” Maura continually appreciates…
, director of promotions and public relations for the Threadless t-shirt company, in Chicago, graduated from the University of Illinois, and then he went on tour. As a touring musician for twelve years, Bob did some excellent networking. So excellent, in fact, that it allowed a seasonal packaging position to become what he is…
