Prologue Profiles

"Being afraid is part of the job. If you're not afraid of anything then you're probably not pushing yourself all that hard." - Kathryn Minshew After college Kathryn worked at McKinsey but she quickly knew management consulting wasn't for her and started looking for something new. Kathryn was frustrated with the available job search tools and realized she wanted to create a career resource of her own. In September 2010 Kathryn launched her first attempt called PYP with 3 partners including Alex Cavoulacos who she had met at McKinsey. PYP didn't work out and in August 2011 Kathryn, Alex and Melissa McCreery, also from McKinsey, launched The Muse a website that gives you a look into the careers and companies you're curious about. The Muse now reaches over 1 million users and features video profiles of companies such as Facebook, Gucci and Pinterest. You'll hear Kathryn discuss how she turned her career confusion into a source of clarity, the importance of polite persistence, and that sometimes the best opportuni

"If you don't take the chance you can never reap the benefits." - Justin Bridges Originally from Atlanta Georgia, after college Justin found himself working in finance at Goldman Sachs in New York. He soon realized he wanted to follow his passion of photography. And so he did. In the fall of 2010, Justin left Goldman, started up his photo blog called Tucked, and landed jobs in the fashion world. As of this year Justin now works full-time as a photographer shooting for clients such as Giorgio Armani, Steve Madden and GQ. You'll hear Justin discuss how he went from working behind the desk to behind the camera, the importance of practice, and that the best way to manage your fears it to drop them.

"Telling someone to 'Follow their passion' can actually get in the way of their goal to end up passionate about what they do ." - Cal Newport Cal is a student of success. While in college, Cal wrote his first book, How To Win At College. It was published by Random House. For his 4th and latest book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, Cal sets his sights on the working world and claims that the idea of "following your passion" is bad advice. Meanwhile Cal works full-time as an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown. On this Skype interview you'll hear Cal discuss how he broke in the writing world, the problem with the passion mindset, and just because you don't love every single minute of what you're doing that doesn't mean you should give up on it.

"Deep down, if you want something to happen, you can make it happen." - Tracy Weiler For the past 7 years Tracy has been growing her career as an actress in New York City, landing national commercial gigs and movie roles. She's now living in LA as she's co-producing her own TV pilot called 'Hot Fail' along with Episode 002 guest Tim Drucker. (Tracy actually played a cheerleader in Tim's off-broadway musical 'Fat Camp'.) The two successfully funded the pilot on Kickstarter which allowed them to shoot it in LA last month. You'll hear Tracy discuss her path from landing zero gigs to creating gigs of her own, how to deal with hearing "nos" at auditions, and that if you believe in yourself, you can't even imagine what you're capable of.  

"Put yourself in the position to succeed. If you want to climb to the next level, put yourself in the position to do that." - Dan Teicher Since he first picked up a guitar in the 5th grade Dan's life has been about music. Dan now lives as a musician full out - as a composer writing scores for documentaries and commercials and as a performer in his band The Ludlow Thieves, putting on sold out shows at the Bowery Ballroom and Mercury lounge. You'll hear Dan discuss his path to matching his life with his love, some beautiful creations by the producer himself and how handling risk is all in how you look at it.

"If you can have this really weird life where you get paid to make people laugh it's like I don't need people to inspire me to do that. I just will do it on my own and be very grateful for it and then die within 60 years and I'm A-Ok with all of it." - Scotty Landes While in college Scotty knew he wanted to become a comedy writer. After scraping by for years in NYC he got his first gig with only $400 left to his name. He's made the most of that opportunity and is now the co-executive producer of MTV's Money with Strangers and a writer for Comedy Central's Workaholics. On this Skype interview you'll hear Scotty discuss his path to breaking into the comedy writing biz, his unusual way of interacting with his Twitter following, and how when the door opens, be ready to walk through it.  

"It's the creative process to bring something that never existed before to the store — and then making it successful in that store — that's been so exciting for me." - Tom Donigan Tom was tired of his law job and wanted to start a food business somehow. In 2010 he called together his friends and now business partners, Matt Levey and Scott Fiesinger, for a meeting where they ended up co-creating Field Trip, an all-natural beef jerky made in upstate New York. Field Trip is already available in Wegman's, Fresh Direct and even JetBlue planes. You'll hear Tom discuss Field Trip's journey from initital idea to significant sales, how to successfully work with friends, and that when you understand your passions you understand your life.

I always said I didn't want to be a lawyer because I didn't want to work as hard as my Dad [Laughs] but now I realize it's not just because he's a lawyer - he works for himself - and so I'm going to be working just as hard but when you find something you love it makes it worthwhile. - Pamela Kalmus Since she was little Pamela has wanted to do her own thing. Doing what exactly, she didn't know. That's all changed as Pamela is the founder of Mani Diaries, a manicure management iPhone app which she launched September 2012 and now has 36,000 users! Pamela's created Mani Diaries without any partners or any previous tech experience and while holding a full-time job. Just a side note that I actually knew little Pamela as we were neighbors growing up in New Jersey. You'll hear from a first-time tech entrepreneur who has funding on her mind on what it's like to be in her shoes and the courage it takes to have a dream.

I love the faces that music gives people. You know they're smilin' and their eyebrows go up a little bit and they're cheesin' and they're just like, Yeah! That's my jam! - Ezekiel Akinyemi aka DJ Zeke Zeke (DJZeke.com) made a name for himself while DJ'ing as a student at St John's University. After college he became a DJ full-time, and has since toured with artists such as Rich Ross' Maybach Music Group and Nas. Zeke was recently selected by Red Bull to host their Thr3estyle University Tour on college campuses across the country. You'll hear Zeke discuss his path to becoming a professional crowd controller, the doubts that come with how to best use your gifts, and that if your plan involves achieving your dreams, you'll achieve them.

An hour from now I'll have a horrid thought about how horrible I am and how [awful] my writing is and then I'l just get back to square one. So I think it's just fighting myself, how hard will I fight myself to get things done? - The hez of Travis Tate Travis is currently at Stage 2 on the Escalation of Actualization scale. He knows he wants to be a successful filmmaker but hasn't gotten his dreams off the ground. The only thing in Travis' way is hez, which is hesitation as a result of being scared to take action. Travis gives Grade A excuses like: • I want to know my style better • I need a mentor • I'm not confident • I want to change things up and move to a new city • I don't have the right ingredients • I hope the day comes when I'm ready • I'm excited now but I'm going to sabotage myself later • And the all around classic, I don't know After our conversation Travis is now on his way to making his original web series, Black Mountain, where he's created 2 teasers, a fundraising page and most importantly, ha

If you're willing to sacrifice, nothing's impossible. - Brendan Weafer As a kid Brendan was a blackbelt in martial arts. Brendan's now a professional fighter who's trained with Jackson MMA, one of the top team's in the world and in 2012 was casted to compete on FX's The Ultimate Fighter show, all while developing his own personal training business You'll hear Brendan discuss how he honed his craft as a professional fighter, including some graphic play-by-plays, the importance of being present, and that the only step to take in life is the next one.

"You Google, you freak out, you panic, you hesitate, you don't do it, you get tired of not doing it, you sleep, you YouTube...and then you do it [Laughs]. And so there comes a point in time where you get so sick of yourself that you do it!" - Ishita Gupta After college, Ishita got accepted into med school but becoming a doctor didn't feel right. She decided to embark on a journey of self-experimentation which lead her to working side by side with marketing expert Seth Godin. Ishita has since launched her own online magazine called fear.less and is now a life coach building her own line of personal development products. You'll hear Ishita discuss how she worked through her confusion and fear to create a path with potential, the joy of unexpected inspiration, and that with a strong belief in yourself there's no stopping you.

"The only time I'm unhappy is when I don't have something interesting or valuable to work on." - Colin Wright After college, Colin was running a successful branding studio, but he wanted out of the 120 hour work week he'd created for himself. In 2009 Colin decided to travel the world full-time by having the readers of his blog, Exile Lifestyle, vote for which country he should live in every 4 months. Along the way Colin decided to make the leap from blogger to author and now supports himself with his book sales. On this Skype interview you'll hear Colin discuss how he matched his lifestyle up with ambitions, the victories of leaving your comfort zone, and that life is one big experiment.

"Perseverance and will make all the other problems go away." - Cameron Robertson While in college, Cameron was going down the finance route but he realized he wanted to start his own business. He met his business partner Paul Gerhardt and after two failed attempts of creating a marketable product they created Lockitron, which fits over your deadbolt to turn your smartphone into your house keys. The first production of Lockitron is slated to ship in late May 2013. On this Skype interview, you'll hear Cameron discuss his obstacle-ridden path to co-creating a product that people actually want, the powerful possibilities of self-crowdfunding, and that how far you go in life, is up to you.  

"Do you want to tell your kid 'Do what you love because I gave up my dream so that you could have yours?' or 'Follow your dream in the same way that I followed mine.'?" - Jullien Gordon Note: This is the last episode of 2012. I'm grateful for your attention and interest in what my guests and I have created together and I'm excited about what's to come in 2013! Now onto the episode!... While in college two traumatic life experiences led Jullien to decide his purpose was to help others find theirs. He is now The Innerviewer, helping companies and professionals reach their highest potential. I first heard of Jullien after watching one of his TEDx talks and thought he'd be great for the show, a few weeks later I was at an event organized by Jason Womack and sitting across the room from me was Jullien himself. You'll hear Jullien discuss his path to becoming The Innerviewer, the silent danger of underemployment, and how following your dreams starts with you.  

"I love that I'm creating my dream and it feels good to be working this hard for something that I want, that I'm creating." - Fabiola Arias In the ninth grade Fabiola decided she would become a fashion designer. She launched her line while still a student at Parsons and at 25 years old she now sells her eveningwear collection of cocktail dresses and gowns at Neiman Marcus Couture Salons across the country. Fabiola played a key role in Episode 025 as she helped inspire me to create Prologue Profiles. We're also a couple. (Shucks) You'll hear Fab discuss how she got her collection off the ground and onto the racks of Neiman Marcus, how fragile our dreams can be, and how the path to success is a whole lot of hard work. 

"Make it. That's it. It's not gonna happen the first time you do it and you cannot become discouraged that it didn't work because all it is is just, 'Do it again.'" - Jeff Laub After college Jeff wanted out from his law job. Jeff took action and in 2009 co-founded the Blind Barber, a bar/barbershop in the East Village of New York City. Earlier this year the Blind Barber opened its second location in Culver City LA. You'll hear Jeff discuss how he took the Blind Barber from an idea on his mom's couch to opening its doors on 10th st and avenue B, the contagiousness of confidence, and how hearing 'No' just means your work isn't done.

"Being realistic is a silly thing. You should swing for the fences and go for the bigger or better thing." - Shane Snow Shane Snow has a really cool name. He also has a really cool story. After college, Shane moved to New York to become a tech journalist. Without any credible experience to build on, Shane's goal was to be published in Wired within a year. By using his technique of non-traditional ladder climbing he made it happen in 8 months, and now is regularly published in Wired magazine. Shane's also the co-founder of Contently a tech startup which has figured out how to create a marketplace to match the growing number of freelance journalists looking for work with the growing number of companies looking to hire them. You'll hear Shane discuss his effective use of non-traditional ladder climbing, the precious role of integrity and how going for what's bigger or better is always one step away.

"If we're always chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow, we forget we're riding rainbows all day." - Bassam Tarazi Prologue Profiles was created to inspire you. It's no accident that I've asked Bassam (@BassamTarazi) to be on this show. In 2007 Bassam found himself unemployed and without any direction in life. Bassam switched his perspective and became effectively diligent in finding employment. He realized he could teach others to be accountable to themselves and earlier this year he decided to become a full-time life coach and author. You'll hear how Bassam took control of his life and found his purpose along the way, why we shouldn't feel guilty for the opportunities we have and how you don't know what's on the other side of the door until you walk through it.

“I don’t want to make you feel small. I want to make you feel like you can do whatever you want to do, because people like you are doing it.“ - Dan Feld People have been asking me to do an episode on my story and how Prologue Profiles came to be, but I’ve been holding off. I still felt too close to my massive failure last year of quitting my market research job in New York City to become a teacher in Mississipi.  Six months and 024 episodes in, I’m ready and excited to share my story with you. Leading the interview is Stuart Blake, the guest of the very first Prologue Profiles. You’ll hear me discuss what sparked me to quit my job and move to Mississippi, how I recovered from the biggest failure of my life, and how the best way to do something, is to do it.