What is the mission of OUDC?

Our mission is to build a group of community leaders, with the idea that a small group of dedicated people can make a huge impact. We combat issues of prejudice, privilege, racism, and anti-Semitism—issues that go undiscussed, unchecked, unfocused upon by a large part of society, not because we don’t know it’s an issue, but because it’s difficult work.

How do you implement that mission?

We work with Black and Jewish high school students who say “we identify with our ethnic backgrounds, we’re interested in this subject, and we want to be a part of this work.”

Each year, we select six African-American girls, six African-American boys, six Jewish girls, and six Jewish boys, and we get together every other Sunday for five hours. We engage the students in three ways—education, travel, and action. They spend two-thirds of the program taking in information; then they go out and engage other people in peer-to-peer dialogue. The goal is that there’s a ripple effect as they reach out to others with what they have learned.

What does your role as program director encompass?

I handle recruitment, programming, curriculum development, and summer travel. I’m a planner, administrator and facilitator. This job actually reminds me of Williams in that it’s multi‑disciplinary.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The reaction I get when I tell people what I do. Today I met an 87-year-old woman in the post office and she asked, “How can I make the world a better place?” and I said, “Here’s my card; here’s one thing we do to make the world a better place,” and she lit up.

How were you introduced to OUDC?

Actually, I participated in the program years ago. That’s a picture of me (points to a picture of himself as a teenager).

When you were 17, did you think this is where you would end up?

Never. Although my friends in the program used to call me Mr. OUDC (laughs).

How did Williams affect your career path?

Williams is a special place. I had to be present there—I had to be fully engaged. My work-study program was at Baxter Cafeteria, so I interacted not only with my fellow students, but also with townspeople. It was an opportunity to be a part of the community.

When I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, I reached out to Cheryl Hicks, a history professor, who I had heard speak at an event; I wasn’t even in her class. She invited me to sit down for coffee. She said, “Talk to me about things you enjoy.” So I talked about government and service and she asked, “Have you heard of this program called Public Policy International Affairs (PPIA)?” She gave me great advice and I did the program.

Dean Laura McKeon also helped me. She said, “Whatever you do, you have to go abroad.” So I went to Brazil, South Africa and India in one semester, with a program called the International Honors Program. That experience completely changed how I look at the world.

Sandra Burton, Ernest Brown, Kwe Yao Ageypon and Holly Silva, who were in charge of the dance program at Williams, were instrumental in helping me see my creative side—and that this creative side did not take away from my academic side, but enhanced it.

What is the value of a liberal arts education?

A liberal arts education brings together ideas from different disciplines. You have to process all this information at different levels, in multiple areas, and at some point all of your courses, no matter how divergent, have common linkages, and all the pieces fit together.

Also, Williams exposed me not only to areas that interest me, but others as well. My freshman entry roommate was a hockey player. I was an African drummer. I would go to the hockey rink, never having seen hockey before. And he knew nothing about djembes (West African Drum), but he came to a Kusika (African Dance and Drumming) show.

Math Professor Ed Burger now teaches a winter study course about failure. Have you learned from any failures or setbacks?

Oh, there were all types of failures. I don’t think you can be a successful person without experiencing failure.

If you go to Williams, chances are you don’t see yourself as someone who fails. But setbacks simply make you sit back and evaluate. Just because you try something doesn’t mean it’s going to work. What sets you apart is that you try again.

How has being part of the Williams community benefited you since graduating?

I formed some timeless friendships through Williams. Washington D.C. has a very active alumni group. I’m also part of The Alumni Executive Committee, which allows me to sit in a room of Williams grads from all over and discuss how we can make this school a better place and how we can better facilitate interactions between students, the college and alumni.

What advice do you have for young graduates?

Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” If more people were in-tune with what made them come alive, then change would happen.

This was your first job out of school. How did you come upon this position?

Like a lot of people, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after school, so I figured I’d just look for a job, get out in the real world for a couple of years, and see what was out there. I went on the OCC website and started applying for jobs. I wanted to use my economics degree, so I looked at consulting jobs and banking. I thought this job with the Fed sounded interesting, so I applied.

What convinced you this was the right path for you?

Two things that really drew me were: one, having the Federal Reserve Bank on your resume can’t look bad. Two, I knew I’d be exposed to a lot of different fields, so if I wanted to move on in business, I would have some background in that. Or if I decided to get a Ph.D. in economics, I would have more research background. It turns out I was exposed to banking legislation and financial regulation, which turned me on to the idea of going to law school.

In a nutshell, what do you do as a research associate at the Fed?

All Federal Reserve Banks have research groups, where teams of economists split their time between monetary policy work (studying how the macro economy is doing and where we should be setting interest rates) and academic research. They write and publish papers and collaborate with each other and other economists. I help the economists with their projects. If they’re working on policy, I’m getting data, making charts and graphs. If they’re doing research, I’m assembling data sets, running regressions, and coming up with results. I also write a department publication called Banking Legislation and Policy, a quarterly publication covering recent banking and financial regulation and legislation and judicial decisions.

Did you do any internships or work-study in this field that prepared you for this kind of job?

The summer before senior year I worked for Professor Jon Bakija as his research assistant. It was so much fun. Summer in Williamstown was great. And then I TA’d for a couple of classes in the economics department my senior year.

What have you found to be the most enjoyable aspect of your work?

Every day is different. Because we don’t have clients, our projects are driven by the economists and our own questions. We don’t have deadlines, except with our publications. The research moves at its own pace. There isn’t that constant pressure of, “OK, this guy needs this by Friday, or else we lose this contract and I get fired.” It also was a nice transition from school because it’s an academic setting.

Did your Williams experience affect your decision to come here?

The reason I wanted to work in economic research was because of the professors I had at Williams. They really helped me with the idea of doing research and learning yourself—all the projects where you had to go out and do your own research and come in and present an idea or prove this or that. That taught me to really love learning—and learning how to get to a result, get to a conclusion.

Also, having that intense, small classroom, working closely with the professors and with the other students, where you get a lot of interaction and they really push you to do all this interesting work, was great.

What has made you decide to go to law school?

Writing Banking Legislation and Policy started me thinking about law school. Also, doing economic research can get…a little frustrating.

Have your peers had an impact on the career decisions you’ve made?

Senior year, everyone was looking at I-Banking and consulting and I had no idea what any of these things were. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. We didn’t have things like investment banking.

I still remember the day, sitting in Goodrich with Larry Dworkin (’07), and I said, “OK, Larry, you’re applying for all these jobs. Can you please tell me what all these things are? Because I have no idea.” And he just sat me down and said, “Look, here are your opportunities. The office of career counseling has all these people who are coming in recruiting and interviewing and here’s what you have to do if you want one of these jobs. Here are the different fields; here are the different ways you can go.” He taught memore about how the finance industry works as I had learned up to that point in my life.

Sam Kapala, Harris Paseltiner, Auyon Mukharji, Don Mitchell, and Dave Senft make up the string rock quintet, Darlingside. They all live under the same roof in Hadley, Massachusetts.

In haiku form, describe the kind of music you play.

HP:    Strings smothered with sings:
Mandolin rocks, cello shocks,
Face-melting drums—-POW!

Where does the name Darlingside come from?

DS: It’s an adaptation of the phrase “kill your darlings,” a proverb in the literary community which refers to the process of allowing your work to evolve through a willingness to edit out even your favorite bits. Our songwriting teacher at Williams, Bernice Lewis, used to say it often, and “Darlingside” became a friendly play on the “-cide” suffix in words like “homicide” or “fratricide.”

How did Darlingside get its start?

AM: Darlingside’s first iteration was Dan Wollin, ’07, Shea Chen, ’07, Dave, and I. We had toyed with the idea of starting a band during our first few years at Williams, but it wasn’t until we were all on campus during the summer of 2006 that we got things moving. Once the school year started, we invited Harris, Sam and Eli Walker, ’07, into the group. This seven-piece outfit lasted through the graduation of the ’07s. Highlights included playing Williams’ Spring Fling and a critically acclaimed two-stop tour from Washington D.C. to New York City.  

After graduation, Dave began playing on the streets of Boston and I traveled abroad to study music for a year. When I returned to the U.S., Dave and I connected with Sam and Harris (who were finishing up their senior year at Williams) and invited Don, who had sung with us in the Octet, to join the re-formed group. In September of 2009, the five of us moved into a house in Hadley, where we have been plugging away ever since.

When you were thinking of becoming professional musicians, what risks and benefits did you weigh?

DM: I was the last band member to sign on. A few years out of college, I made a fairly drastic move from field biology into professional music. My research position was finishing up around the time the band was getting started, and the opportunity to delve into music in such an immersive fashion was too much to pass up. Having a solid degree to fall back on certainly has made taking career risks relatively easy for me.

Blow the House Down by Darlingside. More videos can be found at the band’s website

How do you divide up the responsibility of running a business among the band’s members?

SK: Having a bunch of competent people and no prima donnas helps. We’re also really lucky to have guys with strengths in several different and crucial areas.

Dave designs our website and all the posters, flyers, T-shirts, postcards, letterhead, CD logos, stickers, press sheets, etc. that we need to stock our merch table, publicize our shows, and attract attention from potential new venues and contacts.

Don is in charge of submitting our stuff to blogs for review, signing us up for cool contests, interacting with our fans on Facebook and Fanbridge, and keeping all of our social networking content accurate and up-to-date. He also writes our nearly-monthly newsletter, and lots of our blog posts.

Harris focuses on the music mostly, but he’s also a key ideas-man on the merchandise and design stuff. For example, he coordinated all the elements (stamps, ink, cardboard sleeves, stickers, and the CDs themselves) that went into the packing of our first EP.

I do the bookkeeping and banking, pay the taxes and bills, etc., and keep track of all of the band’s equipment, including our van, Chauncy. I’m in charge of purchasing new stuff, selling old stuff, maintaining stuff, and making sure we’re well-equipped for our gigs—without breaking the bank. I also had a blast setting up and running our little basement recording studio and engineering and mixing our first recordings.

Auyon handles our bookings and day-to-day management, which he deserves special recognition for. He spends countless hours in his room researching new venues and new bands, sending out inquiries and press material, and booking gigs near and far. Once the gigs are booked, he handles all the logistics; and after we’ve headed home, he follows up with nearly every band and club manager to keep us on their radars. I don’t know how he keeps it all straight; it’s an incredibly nuanced process that is unimaginably frustrating, time-consuming, and difficult, and it requires astounding persistence and attention to detail. There’s also lots of strategy to it, and Auyon somehow has figured out how to keep the band moving in the right direction, booking ever-better venues with bigger acts.

What have been some of the most rewarding moments of band life? Any exciting breaks or events that gave you momentum?

DS: There is simply nothing more rewarding than getting on stage with your best friends and showing a crowd of excited people something you just thought up in your living room. In terms of big breaks and momentum-builders, we’ve had quite a few and they’ve stemmed primarily from two sources. Many have come from the Northampton music community being very good to their own. Connections we’ve made in Northampton have given us opportunities to open for big national acts, offers to headline at the very prestigious Iron Horse Music Hall, warm receptions from college crowds within the Five College consortium, and an enthusiastic and supportive local fan base.

Secondly, it still shocks me sometimes to see how incredible the Williams community is at finding ways to nurture the endeavors of fellow Ephs. We are in a unique position of being able to share our product widely with fellow alumni and students, not just via the Internet but often in person, and it’s been both rewarding and affirming to experience their overwhelming support firsthand.

What kind of goals have you set for yourselves?

HP: One of our goals is to create new sounds by exploring an eclectic combination of instruments and styles. We like to take chances in our writing and see how far we can stretch the textures of folk, classical, rock, bluegrass, and even a cappella. But most important to us is sharing this sound with our audiences. We would like to engage in a dialogue with as many listeners as possible.

Who’s your favorite audience to play for?

AM: Our unique instrumentation and fusion of styles endears us to a broad range of audiences. I love our contingent of senior (65+) fans who follow us to our acoustic gigs around the Pioneer Valley, and nothing makes you feel more like a rock star than playing to a screaming crowd of women at Smith or Mount Holyoke. All things considered, though, my favorite audience is our friends, classmates and family who have supported us from the start. My parents live in Kansas City and are planning to come to their first gig this November. I look forward to rocking their faces off.

How did your informal education—clubs, groups, activities, etc.—affect your choices to create this band?

DM: I met most of the guys through the Octet. Our shared a cappella experience influenced not only our vocals and musical arrangements, but also our ability to function as a tight knit unit. We immensely enjoy each others’ company, which enables long hours in the basement rehearsal space, the van, and on cramped stages. Another Williams extracurricular touchstone for the band has been Bernice Lewis’ winter study singer-songwriter class. Through that experience, all five of us had the chance to develop a compositional foundation for our current band songs. We also gained a level of confidence in our ability to consistently produce material that would engage audiences and ourselves over the long term.

Where do you see connections between your Williams education and what you are doing now?

AM: One of Darlingside’s greatest assets is our focused, almost academic approach to the music industry. A young, independent band is no different from any other start-up. As the band’s booker/manager, I often see parallels between the time I devote to researching venues and the hours I used to spend slogging it out in Professor Swoap’s lab poring over murine heart rate data for my biology honors thesis. Our liberal arts experiences have endowed us with a flexibility and work ethic that serves us well in an industry as competitive as music.

You should also check out Darlingside in their most recent article from The Record:

Mariam Naficy is the founder and CEO of Minted.com, a website that crowd-sources design for stationery and paper goods. Mariam’s previous venture, the beauty retailer, Eve.com was acquired by LVMH’s Sephora.

What is Minted? And how does it work?

Minted crowd-sources stationery designs from online competitions; then users in the community tell us which ones to print and sell. We print holiday cards, wedding invitations, birth announcements—all the stationery products that celebrate the occasions of people’s lives. This holiday season we printed photo calendars and we plan to branch into other kinds of printed materials, as well. Our goal is to become the most commercially-successful design community on the web.

What’s your role here as CEO?

I spend much of my time managing people. Since we’re trying to build a consumer brand, I also focus a lot on brand management—both the creative expression of the brand and the merchandising and marketing of the brand. And I focus on the community from which we source design.

Did you always have an interest in design?

No. I didn’t take any art classes at Williams and I deeply regret that! I’ve always been the consummate shopper, though. This will probably horrify all the academics out there but in high school, I spent a lot of time at the mall. I’ve always appreciated great design, but more as a consumer than as someone very studied in art and design.

What’s something about your job that excites you?

One thing that really energizes me is that what we’re doing is not just about making money. We’re giving people an opportunity to make themselves and their designs known. They don’t have to live in New York City or hold a design degree from Parsons. We have some successful designers who are self-taught, who didn’t have the money to go to design school, or who live in isolated areas and can’t easily collaborate with other designers. What they find on Minted is that there’s a community where they can grow professionally. Our purpose is much broader than making a profit. I absolutely love what I do and I hope every Williams grad ends up loving what they do.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

The ability to raise capital to create a new American brand is such a privilege. I feel so lucky to be able to do that.

Where did the idea for Minted come from?

I saw what was happening in media, how people were collaborating online to produce content that was better than one individual could produce singlehandedly. Then I saw Threadless.com, a t-shirt company based on design competitions. I felt that if you could do it on fabric, you could do even more on paper. I really buy into the notion of the wisdom of the crowd.

What was your major at Williams?

Political Economy. My mom was an English major at Berkley and she told me not to major in English because I wouldn’t be able to get a job very easily. So while I loved English and psychology and music, I majored in political economy for practical reasons. My mom was right in that I ended up with a lot of good business job opportunities after school; and it pushed me in an area where I probably needed some pushing—the quantitative stuff.

What did you learn from your first job?

After Williams I was an analyst at Goldman Sachs, and that taught me what quality meant. The analyst program is intense, like boot camp. They set the bar really high. I didn’t love finance, though, and I knew I would never be successful in finance. What I did enjoy was the company of my colleagues and also the recruiting process. I learned a lot about recruiting and management at Goldman Sachs.

What did Williams give you that has helped you build a great career?

It’s became clearer over time, particularly when I interview people for jobs, that people from Williams know how to think. I’m not sure exactly what about the experience taught me how to think, but it happened. Maybe it was the analytics. Maybe it was just understanding frameworks for breaking problems down. And also to write – I learned to write at Williams.

How is Williams still a part of your life?

One of the biggest takeaways is my husband. We have this incredible set of shared friends, memories, and values—particularly values around education. It’s very grounding. When I think about what is really important to me today—friendships, the pursuit of intellectual growth, a value for learning—these things all come from the Williams experience.

Adrienne Lu is a staff writer covering education at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

How do you spend your day?
A big part of my day is spent trying to figure out what to write about and what is newsworthy. I spend a lot of time taking in information: reading, interviewing people, or just calling people to talk. After that comes reporting a story: researching and interviewing sources. And then a smaller part of my day is spent actually writing the stories.

How were you introduced to journalism?

At Williams I worked at The Record. I never really thought I was going to do it as a career, but I loved it. I spent so much time there. And then it was time to graduate and I didn’t know what else I was going to do. I applied for a bunch of jobs and internships and wound up at an internship at Newsday in Long Island, which is where I grew up. And so I did that, and I loved it.

I then came to The Inquirer. At the time, they had a two-year internship program. All of us interns, about 50 of us, were working in the suburbs at lower pay than the regular staff. That was a lot of fun. We all worked there for two years, but then had to leave. But it was a good launching platform, a good place to learn how to do the job.

You eventually pursued a degree in public policy, not journalism. Why public policy? And how did it affect your career choices?

I guess getting a master’s in journalism was a possibility, but I felt like I wanted to specialize more. And at the time, I wasn’t sure if I would be returning to journalism. I thought it would be a good idea to have something else to fall back on in case journalism didn’t work out. Then, when I went to school, I found out I really missed writing. So I did all my internships in the field and eventually I returned to journalism. I just really missed the day‑to‑day of being in the newsroom.

What makes journalism a good fit for you?

I love being paid to ask questions and show my curiosity. Basically if I’m curious about something, I can pursue it as long as it falls within the range of things that are in my beat and I can sell it to my editor as something that our readers will find interesting.

I also think having the chance to remake yourself every few years is really interesting. You can always try to get a different beat—and usually you can. For example, my coworker here in the Trenton bureau recently left to take a position as a sports reporter. It’s something that he has wanted to try for his whole career and he had the chance to do it. If I wanted to write about the environment or health, I could do that and I would be using the skills that I have already, but also it’s a completely different area. I have a short attention span, so it’s nice to have options.

You are a new mom. How do balance your work and home life?

It’s really hard. My son is almost two. I took a four-month maternity leave, and when I was at home, I really missed being at work, and now when I’m at work, I really miss being with my son. But, I know that work is a part of who I am. It makes me happy, and it makes me a better mom. Even though I can’t be at work as much as I could before having my son, I do think being a mom makes me a better reporter. I can relate better to a lot of readers. Being a working mom also has also made me more efficient. There’s nothing like knowing I get to see my son at the end of the day to motivate me to get my stories done before deadline.

What about your academic experience at Williams prepared you for a career as a reporter?

What Williams taught me was how to think critically and process large amounts of information in order to distill what’s essential. I use those skills every day.

Advice for recent graduates interested in a journalism career

What is the Rogers Empire?

It’s a real estate company. I buy foreclosed properties on the south side of Chicago (in Englewood), fix them up and rent them out to Section-8 tenants, with the ultimate plan of flipping some of the houses in five to seven years.

How did it get started?
I started it with my father, Steven Rogers (’79), two months before I finished business school, and then about two months after I graduated he decided that he should just be a father and business advisor and gave me 100 percent ownership of the company.
My father used to own these empty lots in Englewood, and I used to think about things we could do with them. Then, the summer between my first and second year of business school, I worked for Disney’s real estate group and I learned a lot about real estate development. I approached my dad with the idea of going into business together. He saw that there were a lot of foreclosures with the onset of the recession and felt we could really do something.

So it’s in the genes?
I’ve definitely followed in my family’s footsteps. Both of my parents went to Williams and then Harvard Business School [Akilah’s mother is Michele Rogers, ’79].

Did people say you were crazy to start a business during a recession?
The recession actually helps my business. I buy foreclosed properties, and because of the recession, I have an enormous supply. I buy single-family homes for between $3,000 and $25,000 because the banks want to get them off their books. So the recession made this all possible. Opportunity is all about time and luck, and also being ready and prepared.

Were you always interested in real estate?
I always knew I’d have my own business, but I wasn’t sure what it would be. I worked for an asset management company, Ariel Mutual Funds, right after graduating from Williams. I had access to the CEO, who started the company at 24 years old, and that really shaped me. And then I went to business school, the kind of place where the world becomes your oyster.

Had you started any other businesses before Rogers Empire?
As a kid I ran a few lemonade stands and started a company called Bead It, where some friends and I made bracelets and necklaces. I always enjoyed starting programs. In business school, I started a group for black women called We Can Have It All, because there’s a question out there of whether you can have a successful professional and personal life.

So do you have it all?
No! That’s why I didn’t teach the program. But I plan to get there one day

What do find fulfilling about life as an entrepreneur?
I think I’m very imaginative, which is surprising because I wouldn’t have thought that about myself. I’m not Willy Wonka-creative, but I’ve always had ideas of things I wanted to do or see or be. It’s about having a vision. As a visionary, the best thing you can do is start something, but you also have to see it through.

What’s your day-to-day life like?
Now that my younger sister, Ariel Rogers (Princeton, ’08) and Janay Clyde (Williams, ’10) work with me, I have a lot less on my plate. Before they started, my day would be something like: go show two houses to potential tenants, go sign leases with tenants who are moving in, go check on the contractors doing renovation work, go do paperwork. Now, I work more on strategy, and figuring out how to grow the company in the most effective and cost-effective way.

You were an athlete at Williams. How did that influence you in life after college?
I played volleyball and when I started, we were the underdogs. Coach Fran Vandermeer was the new coach and after one season, we became the team to beat. To be a part of a winning organization creates a winning mentality and a strong work ethic. That carries over into life. I believe that when you work hard, you win.
I also learned a lot about leadership when I was in Nothin’ But Cuties (NBC), founded by my good friend William Green, ’03, at Williams. I became a leader as a junior and at first I led with an iron fist. That didn’t go over well. I learned that just as there different types of people, there are different styles of leadership. You have to understand the people you are leading.

How do you think your classmates influenced you at Williams?
Williams has the smartest people in the universe! Like E=mc2 smart, but also really deep thinkers. And to be around smart people that love to learn really pushes you. It’s not just about grades. These are people who want to learn and share and discuss and debate.

How has the Williams network been a part of your life since graduation?
My closest friends are Williams people. My only non-family member employee went to Williams and I found her through my father—another Williams grad. So, yes, the network is strong! There are a lot of successful African-Americans from Williams, and I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by them. Terri Williams, ’03 earned her Ph.D. by the age of 25, Nikiya Asamoah, ’03 is in her residency to be a doctor, Maurice Robinson, ’06 founded a mediation company, is a college professor, and mediates at New York City courts. There are also so many mentors and people to look up to that graduated from Williams, and that has helped me feel encouraged and supported. If you stay a part of this network, you can’t help but strive to be your own best self.

Tracy Heilman is co-founder and vice president of product at ConnectedHealth, a Chicago-based start-up that helps educate consumers about health insurance and match them with plans. Her previous company, Subimo, was acquired by WebMD in 2006.

What is ConnectedHealth and how is it different from Subimo?

At Subimo, we created a series of online healthcare decision support tools to help consumers decide where to go for healthcare, how much it might cost, and how they might choose a health plan. Healthcare can seem pretty complicated, and those decisions can be difficult.

I’m taking the same approach and using it for the health insurance industry at ConnectedHealth. When people have to purchase insurance on their own, we help them think through what’s important—both from a care perspective and from a financial perspective—and we provide them with tools to help them compare different plans.

What’s your specific role at ConnectedHealth?

I’m able to be involved on many levels—from very hands-on work to more strategic, long-term thinking. My focus is online user experience, especially around consumer decision making.

You say that you’re a risk-averse person. What made you join a start-up?

My company was going through a merger and I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. The group of people that were forming were people I trusted—and they were interesting—so I knew my job would be interesting. We all kind of grabbed hands and jumped off the cliff together.

What kinds of challenges have you come across in the early stages of building a company?

One is defining focus. It’s really important when you have limited resources. You come in with a big vision and it’s all pie in the sky and then you realize you’re still just five people. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I don’t like not knowing exactly where we’re headed. It’s uncomfortable, but I’ve learned that it’s part of the process.

What part of your work do you find most fulfilling?

I love to make things. That’s why I left consulting. I would get so engaged in a project and feel like I was contributing to something, and then, once I left, I’d have no idea if they did anything with it. I’ve learned that I need to be able to say “I made that.” I can tell when I’m not in a creative period at work, because then I need to create things at home. I get out my sewing, or whatever, and create.

What is it like to be married to your company, so to speak, and also trying to raise young kids?

I put off having kids for my first few years at Subimo because everything was unknown and I was working like crazy. Eventually, though, I was able to cut back my hours. My partners helped me make it work.

Do you remember what it was like to get your first job? What was your thought process like?

When I was a senior, I knew I wanted to go to the Midwest, so I made a list of alums working in Chicago and wrote them to say I’d be in the area during my winter break and would try to arrange a meeting.

Well, it got to be the last day of my break and, being shy and a little bit of a procrastinator, I hadn’t contacted any of them! So I found the youngest guy on the list, thinking he’d be the least intimidating. It was Bill Holt, class of ’81. I talked to him for a bit and he was working at this start-up healthcare information company called The Sachs Group. I ended up meeting him.

I went in thinking it was just an informational interview, and ended up meeting a number of people at the company, including the president. He said that the best way to find out if they were the kind of people I’d want to work with was to have a beer with them, so I went out with the company that night, and left Chicago with a job offer. I ended up staying at the company for five years—and then, after business school, I went back and worked for the Sachs Group again!

You were a psychology and economics double major. Do you feel like your major had a direct impact on your career path?

I think I could have taken anything at Williams and still come out where I am now. What I learned at Williams was how to think and how to write—and that’s something you learn across all disciplines.

Do you have any advice for students or job-seekers?

In my experience, it’s not so important to focus on the job or the title or the industry. Instead, think about what you can learn. What kinds of things do you like to do? What would you like to learn to do? What do you want to get out of it? What motivates you?

You have been at the Cleveland Clinic 35 years and are now CEO. What’s it like to have spent such a large part of your career at this institution?
When I came here, we were 120 doctors and one hospital. We’re now 2,700 doctors and about 40,000 employees. We have facilities from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi, from Canada to Florida. And here in Cleveland, we have about 10 hospitals. So I’ve seen some amazing growth. Our model of care is one of the reasons why we’re so successful. We’re all salaried employees. There’s no tenure. We have one-year contracts and annual professional reviews. Not everyone gets to stay. And that helps drive the quality of the institution. It’s a very uncommon model.

Life as a CEO must be pretty different from that of a surgeon. What’s the most exciting part about your work now?
I work in a very dynamic field, and we are one of the leaders in that field. I’m responsible for leading this organization and helping develop its strategy going forward. I’m also the face of the organization. I report the outside world to the inside world and the inside world to outside world. I’m the bridge that goes both ways.

Were you always interested in medicine?
Yes. I always knew I wanted to be a surgeon. When I was eight, I saw a surgeon in a mask and cap and thought I’d look good in one too.

How do you keep educating yourself?
The thing I find most stimulating is finding new ideas. When I was a heart surgeon, I traveled around the world to observe other surgeons. I took little ideas from here, little ideas from there, and melded them into something different and bigger, kind of like an artist does. When I was named CEO, I told everybody in the clinic that I expect them to take a trip someplace every year and bring back their findings.

At Williams you were a history major. Isn’t that unusual for a pre-med student?
Yes. It seemed like they pushed all pre-med students toward majoring in chemistry. But I thought chemistry was pretty awful…and it didn’t like me any better. So I did the minimum amount of chemistry and majored in history!

How did your Williams experience prepare you for your job here?
Williams exposed me to the most diversely talented group of people with whom I’ve ever been associated. It was also very difficult for me. I came from a high school were only 13% of the students went to college. And it was a challenge, because I’m dyslexic, but I didn’t know it until I had finished my formal education. So, for me, Williams was a real grind. It taught me perseverance because I had to work very hard. I developed a work ethic.
The other thing I did was play basketball, on a very good basketball team. It taught me about team play and furthered my interest in team activities. Cardiac surgery is an enormous team event. The Cleveland Clinic is a big-team event. If you have to be an individual, I don’t think modern medicine is for you.

The Cleveland Clinic has a reputation for outstanding architecture. Can you trace your interest in art and architecture back to Williams?
No question. At Williams I audited art history classes. It raised my consciousness to a point where I’ve continued to pursue it. Amazingly, I now get to hobnob with some of the greatest architects in the world and hope they will build our buildings.

There’s a math professor at Williams named Ed Burger, who teaches a class on failure. It’s a foreign concept to many Williams students. But have you learned from any experiences with failure?
Yes, I gave a Convocation talk on the topic! The title was What’s Your G.Q.?, meaning Guts Quotient. I talked about failure—all the ways I’d failed and all the lessons I’d learned from my failures. Probably most of the people in the audience hadn’t failed yet, but I told them that they should be ready, because they were about to. I told them what is important is how they use failure to move forward. I think you learn more from failure than success—certainly in surgery.
For me, Williams was a crucible. So was Vietnam. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through either experience. I don’t think you get very far by staying in your comfort zone.

How does it feel to be part of the Williams alumni network? How have your relationships with your peers benefited you?
I think your classmates raise the level of expectations for you as much as your professors do. That’s what Williams does—raises the level of expectations higher than you would have done yourself. I figured if my classmates could go on and do these great things, why couldn’t I?

Prosper Nwankpa and Murti Hussain are web entrepreneurs and founders of Peanut Labs, a company that creates embeddable surveys for social media sites like Facebook.

Your business has evolved over time, but what is Peanut Labs today?

PN: There are two parts to our business. The first is related to social networking. We monetize the networks. We turn their people into money. The second is related to market research. We give brands and businesses access to people using social media and games.

How did you get started? And where does a peanut fit into all of this?

PN: When we launched our social networking site called Xuqa.com, the site had these peanuts, a kind of virtual currency you could accumulate and use to play games or buy virtual gifts. We saw that this was really popular and that people liked collecting them. Initially, we gave peanuts to people when they did more activity on the site. Then we introduced surveys, which paid users with peanuts. People loved it! When they ran out of peanuts, they’d take more surveys.

It worked because market researchers couldn’t figure out how to reach young people through social networks, but we figured out a way.

Also, we provided a way for people to have fun when taking surveys online. The value of the virtual currency you get from taking a survey is huge.

MH: It’s kind of like frequent flyer miles. People do crazy things to earn miles. Virtual currency and social gaming has become a phenomenon. There are probably about 300 million people around the world playing these games.

Can you describe the group’s first ventures into the world of start-ups?

PN: We built a site called Hotcampusparties.com, which we launched at Williams. It was an events and party calendar. And about 2,000 people signed up for it in the first two days. But then we realized that people who like to party don’t tend go to a website to find out about them.

MH: Instead campus security tends to go to the site.

PN: So we turned that into a social calendar called iventster.com, where you could input your classes and meetings. When we launched, we did some pretty cool viral marketing and got 300,000 users to sign up over the course of three weeks. We camped out at Jessup in Room 206. Our wireless password in our office is “jessup206,” because that’s where it all started.

How did you end up in San Francisco?

PN: The Ivenster site wasn’t successful, but it showed initial promise and put us on the map with some investors. One of them called us one day to ask if we were looking for funding. At the time, we had found some Williamstown doctors and dentists to contribute to a friends and family financing round. But this investor called us up, flew us to San Francisco, and gave us some start-up money, and we liked it so much that we decided to stay.

What motivates you to take risks?

MH: We started off with zero. We are both from developing countries. Our families are modest. There isn’t much to lose. At the end of the day, the lifestyle of being an entrepreneur is really fulfilling. If I put in 100 hours, it’s because I want to and I enjoy it.

What do you find fulfilling about starting a business?

PN: The prospect of building something new and cool that wasn’t there before. Taking something from zero to a few million dollars.

MH: I like building stuff, whether it’s a model airplane or a company.

What do you wish you had learned in school to prepare you for life as an entrepreneur?

MH: There are so many things you need to succeed in the real world that school does not teach you. You need management and people skills. It’s hard to teach those in a class, but there are some great books that have helped me, by authors like Richard Branson and Malcolm Gladwell.

How has a liberal arts education benefited you?

PN: Being able to express yourself is very important. If you’re writing a speech or trying to convince someone that your product is cool—basically building an argument—you have to know how to write.

Did any of your courses at Williams surprise you, or affect your career in unexpected ways?

PN: There was this entrepreneur class over Winter Study taught by a serial entrepreneur, who was very confident that if you wanted to, you could go out there and build something. That was my first exposure to entrepreneurship. I got the bug. One way or another, I decided I wanted to build something. And that class is where it started.

At the time of this interview, Payson Cushman was a line cook at Momofuku Ssäm in New York City. He is now at Craft (www.craftrestaurant.com), also in New York City.

What is your title?

I’m a line cook – a tournant – which means I work at as many stations as possible on a given shift.

You’ve worked at Momofuku for one year. Did you start as a tournant?

No. I was making buns. You have to “trail” first. You work a stint at each station, until you master each one.

Tell me about the day-to-day of your job.

I come in at 3:00 in the afternoon and leave around 1:00 in the morning. Ssäm Bar opens at 5:00, so I have an hour to do all that needs to get done before opening. Sometimes there’s a line at the door when we open and we’re busy until at least 10:00.  By 12:30, we’re all cursing at each other.

How were you introduced to cooking?

I was 12 years old and my mom was working. I’d come home from school and plan dinner. My mom enjoyed it and I liked it, too.

Did you cook at Williams?

I used to make soup all the time. And I started working at Mezze my junior year.

After graduation, what was your first step?

I stayed at Mezze for the summer. I learned a lot there and the chef de cuisine was really good to me. I asked him, “If I’m going to do this, should I get a job in New York or go to culinary school?” He gave me some terrible advice, which was to go to culinary school, because he thought I’d get my ass kicked in New York.

I’m pretty down on culinary school. It gets you in the door, but I could have gotten a job at a restaurant and learned a lot more than in the two years I spent learning how to cut vegetables. It did solidify my commitment to cooking, though. As soon as I got there, I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

What makes your job a good fit?

There are three things. One is that on a yearly basis I have ultimate freedom. I am free to move wherever I want, whenever I want, because a cook can almost always find a job. The second is that it allows me to be super-intense while I’m working—passionate, involved, expending so much energy—but when I’m not working, I can relax. My days off are really days off. It’s like appreciating spring after a long winter. The third is that I love to cook. So even when I’m working, I’m doing something I love.

What makes you a good cook?

I have a competitive side. I want to be better than the person who came before me. We talk a lot of trash in the kitchen, and I always want to back that up with some good food.

What’s the most fun part of it all?

When it’s busy and we pull off something great and we’re not too tired at the end of the day to celebrate.

What are the challenges?

To be a cook, you have to have a decent amount of confidence in the kitchen. You have to think you’ll succeed. And when you first start out, nothing makes you think you’ll succeed. Everyone above you thinks you’re an idiot; and they set you up to fail because they want to test you and make you better. So every day you lose confidence. That’s the hardest part. But I believe that if you love something, you have to go through some tough times.

Also, it’s not as intellectually stimulating as the work you do in college. It is intellectually stimulating in ways, but you don’t think about the big picture much. It’s easy to lose perspective.

Was your decision to become a chef affected by your liberal arts education?

I wouldn’t give up the Williams education for anything; it’s the greatest kind of education you can get. I think it made me very open-minded and gave me a sense of freedom to do something different. It enriches the approach with which I go into anything. Also, if I open my own place, it will give me a leg up—like 15-fold!

Any final advice for people interested in what you’re doing?

Be willing to take chances. Going to Williams doesn’t mean you have to be a doctor, lawyer or investment banker. Also, stick things out. Just because you get frustrated or sometimes hate your job, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not doing what you love or what ultimately will make you happy.