What experiences have you had and/or skills do you possess that make you a stellar candidate for VentureOut and the Program Manager role?

My experiences and skills make me a stellar candidate for this role and for the VentureOut family because I have not simply touched, but I have lived every vertical and aspect of the organization. I’ve been a founder who under-appreciated the value of the New York Tech Innovation Ecosysystem. I’ve been a CEO who eventually experienced first-hand its impact on the growth and visibility of my business. I’ve worked with entrepreneurial affinity groups like Sheworx and Startup Grind (Singapore, Newark, Baltimore, & Medellin), spending time understanding and appreciating the pain points of today’s tech entrepreneurs and innovators. I’ve worked as a consultant, advisor and coach to tech founders and startup teams around the world, understanding both the unique per client aspects and the universal norms that must be considered when assessing the roles of internal and external optimization, strategy, and implementation for scaling a business.

 I understand the perspective of our potential participants. As a former startup founder, I grasp the importance of being a source of stability, vision, and resoluteness for your team, all the while remaining adaptable, teachable, and able to plan, do, assess and iterate quickly on a regular basis. I know what it feels like to realize you have an entire team of people depending on you; that the decisions you make have an impact, not just on their careers but on their families and on their livelihoods. Being able to not simply ‘appreciate’ this position but to actually empathize with the mental processes of our participants will prove a major asset in my ability to connect with our founders.

 In my role with The Fit Founder, I’ve consciously curated a number of systems that allow me to perform at the highest levels across all of my obligations, largely leveraging the integration of a number of both enterprise and custom technical solutions. I’ve learned how to reformat a number of Saas products to best compliment my thought and problem-solving processes and, when necessary, can think outside of the box as well. I created my own custom relationship management tool that accounts for the time zones, personal and professional notes, and preferred communication styles/frequency of my network, allowing for more meaningful and genuine connections. While I use of a number of proven strategic tools and processes to ensure every detail of every client project is captured and accounted for while maintaining a crystal-clear understanding of the overall objective, KPIs, the priorities of each key stakeholder, I’m also constantly working to identify ways to maximize efficiency and minimize waste wherever possible.

 My affinity for effective communication, radical candor, EQ, and Lean Practices make me an asset within any team. I mean what I say, I say what I mean, I own my mistakes and quickly identify the learning opportunities and how the next time will be better. My experiences have shown me that ruminating or spending valuable time, energy, and emotion lamenting things of the past are not only a hinderance for me but for the team and our greater objective. I’m a data driven problem solver that believes in the use of Systems Thinking and the utilization of each team member’s unique assets to influence meaningful insights and actionable results within any organization or team.

 Living and working abroad for over 3 years has given me an appreciation of the role of both global innovation and of diversity of thought when considering the future of the collective entrepreneurial community. These international experiences have also highlighted the need of greater equity for these entrepreneurs and thought leaders but it’s a process that takes time, resources, and intention. I know that my time working in this space has already lit the fire but the potential for influence and impact will be amplified exponentially in working with VentureOut.