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Ray Gastil is currently Director of City Planning for Pittsburgh. Previously, he was an urban designer in Seattle, where his work was focused on connecting innovative program and design concepts to the pragmatic challenges of making extraordinary projects and places, grounded in their communities.
Expertise includes comprehensive city and regional planning, with a focus on planning and urban design guidelines and arts, housing, and public realm incentive frameworks for campuses, mixed-use districts, arts districts, waterfront redevelopment and public spaces. His work has included strategic planning, division and team management, and designer selection including design competitions. Ray’s Challenge; Recognize most were decisions. Interactive map of Pittsburgh Connect with Raymond ray.gastil@pittsburghpa.gov If you liked this interview, check out episode 125 with Dan Gilman where we discuss city politics and civic duty.
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Radiant Hall founder Ryan Lammie was born in Pittsburgh and educated at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 2011 he was selected for the Yale / Norfolk Summer Residency in Connecticut and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Lammie’s sculptural work, often assembled from found materials (discarded furniture, old radios, and the like), is driven by two tendencies in tension with one another: a skepticism of exchange value and a love of maximalism.
As an entrepreneur, Lammie has built Radiant Hall into a nonprofit venture that supports over 50 Pittsburgh artists at four locations city-wide. He is also a creative consultant at the new Energy Innovation Center, overseeing design projects that support the EIC’s social and educational goals. Ryan’s Challenge; Go out of your way to meet a new artist or reconnect with an artist you already know. Unpack their process. Connect with Ryan Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 124 with Baron Batch where we discuss art, entrepreneurship, and the creative process.
James Andrew Miller is an award-winning journalist who has worked in politics, media, and entertainment in a career spanning more than 20 years.
In 1985, he wrote the bestselling book RUNNING IN PLACE: Inside the Senate. Later, he and co-author Tom Shales wrote LIVE FROM NEW YORK: an Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, which spent more than four months on the New York Times bestseller list and was named by Fortune as one of the top 75 “Smartest Books We Know.” In 2011, he co-authored with Shales, THOSE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN: Inside the World of ESPN, which was an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller. He newest book is Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency. Through interviews with more than five hundred industry movers and shakers --- a virtual Who’s Who of Hollywood that includes, for the first time, the entire current leadership of the notoriously secretive CAA as well as nearly three dozen top agents, many of CAA’s most aggressive competitors, and scores of major movie, television, music, and sports stars – Miller spins a tale with all the glamour, treachery and groping for power of the most lurid Hollywood blockbuster – except that this time, it’s all true. Connect with Jim Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 123 with Tucker Max where we discuss the secrets of a bestseller and why you should write a book.
Derrius Quarles makes things happen. Having grown up in a financially humble background and as an alumnus of foster care, his journey to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur and globally recognized social changemaker has been complex. His turning point came when as a high school student and he made the decision that he wanted to become the first in my family to go to college. Living in poverty at the time, scholarships were an invaluable resource to his pursuit of higher education. Before entering Morehouse College, he gained over one million dollars in scholarship awards.
He graduated disenchanted with the state of higher education access for low-income youth and those who have experienced foster care. The led him to become the Founder & CEO of Million Dollar Scholar, an ed-tech social venture that provides a high-impact low-cost scholarship and financial aid curriculum to decrease financial barriers to higher-ed. He is now a sought-after speaker in the areas of scholarship education, youth/foster youth empowerment, and entrepreneurship. He is also the author of the education bestseller MillionDollarScholar: Winning The Scholarship Race. Derrius’s Challenge; Try meditation. Even if it’s just 3 minutes. Connect with Derrius Personal Website MDS Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 114 with Dan Bull where we discuss giving inmates a second chance through entrepreneurship.
Dan Gilman is currently serving his first term as City Council member for the 8th Council District of Pittsburgh. Gilman has been very active in his first year on Council, having passed two pieces of legislation and a resolution aimed at reducing the discrimination and stigma pregnant women and nursing mothers continue to face. He has also been active in imploring the PA legislature to support the PA Women's Health Agenda.
The Councilman worked extensively with the Mayor’s office to implement smart technology that will vastly improve City services such as snow removal, paving, online permitting, and the 311 system. He also called for online auctioning of unused equipment—including vehicles—as a revenue generating measure for the City; an idea that the mayoral administration has started to pursue. Gilman has received many awards and accolades for his hard work. He was selected as one of only twelve leaders nationwide to join The New DEAL, a national network committed to highlighting innovative ideas from state and local elected leaders. He has also been recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s “40 Under 40” by Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP, as well as one of Pittsburgh’s “50 Finest” by Whirl Magazine. Dan’s Challenge; Don’t be passive. Take up a cause or mission and make something happen. Connect with Dan Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 107 with Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto where we discuss politics, Pittsburgh, and leadership. 
Baron Batch is a cultural icon, community builder, dot connector, conceptual multimedia artist, and entrepreneur based out of Homestead, PA. He rose to fame through his street art and currently serves as Creative Director of Studio AM.
Studio AM is a multi-faceted creative collective that specializes in guerilla marketing, unique private events, and is a production facility for his “Angry Man Salsa”. He has an extensive background in public speaking is a graduate of Texas Tech. 
Baron’s Challenge; Practice Stoicism. (Aaron's note; you can read this to learn more)
Connect with Baron Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 114 with Dan Bull where we discuss giving inmates a second chance through entrepreneurship. 
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Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicled his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com,which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it as the result of a bet in 2000.
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell was a New York Times #1 Bestseller and made the Bestseller List each year from 2006 to 2012. It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone. In 2010, he released a book titled Assholes Finish First, and in 2012 marked the literary releases of both Hilarity Ensues and Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers. He was a 2009 Time 100 finalist based on internet votes, although he did not make the magazine list His new company is Book in a Box, a service for helping busy experts transfer their wisdom into a book format. The company interviews clients in a systematic way that properly structures their ideas. They then turn those words into a book. All clients need to do, as the author, is answer questions about what they already know. Everything else is handled by BIAB’s team of experienced publishing professionals. Tucker’s Challenge; Ask yourself “Why” multiple times until you reach an irreducible answer. Get a Free PDF of Tucker’s How-To-Guide Connect with Tucker Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 118 with Kevin Kelly where we discuss the inevitable technological trends shaping our future.
Kris Reid is the founder of Ardor SEO and Media Factory. He founded the company after losing his job as a software engineer, opening offices in Cambodia and the Philippines.
Ardor Media Factory is a multi-national backlink building company. They help businesses achieve success in their respective niches by offering a wide range of services including search engine optimization, search engine ranking, and link building. They also produce high-quality content for business websites through informative articles and free services such as keyword research and web analysis. Kris’s Challenge; Do something that you are scared of. Step out of your comfort zone and do something that makes you nervous. Ardor SEO Audit Giveaway https://ardorseo.com/podcasts/going-deep-with-aaron-watson/ Connect with Kris kris@ardorseo.com If you liked this interview, check out episode 93 with Phil Laboon where we discuss entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and lifestyle design.
John Thornton is the CEO of Astrobotic, a company aspiring to be the logistics company for Space.
Astrobotic delivers lunar payload and services to government and commercial customers. The company’s first Moon mission will carry customer payloads, win the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE, and explore a possible cave entrance on the surface of the Moon. Astrobotic has 17 prior and ongoing NASA contracts, strong partnerships, and world-leading staff and technology for the development of robotic landers. John’s Challenge; Find the darkest place you can and look up at the stars.
Connect with John
Website If you liked this interview, check out episode 27 with Henry Thorne where we discuss building a technology company and building businesses. |
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