Beyond Ward Circle

Q&A With Amy Holzman, Another SPA Alum Turned Entrepreneur

One of the things I have learned over the past few months is that more than a few SPA grads have turned to entrepreneurship in one form or another since graduation. While many of our classmates have had long and productive careers in government, politics, the law, and related fields, the company and organization creation bug seems to have made the rounds as well. Recently I have connected with Amy Holzman (SPA/'89) and she was nice enough to take the time to answer a few questions for me.

You went from getting a degree in political science to launching a startup travel web site.  How did that happen?

Like most political science majors, I had a strong interest in politics, government, public affairs, and certainly, the law.  And, like most poli sci majors, my intent was to pursue a law degree upon graduation from AU.  The last two jobs that I had in college were working for The Department of Interior and Citibank.  I graduated within a couple of years after the stock market crash, and as a result, many students who may have pursued MBA degrees were now applying to law schools.  Competition was fierce, and I decided to take one year off to work and save some money before going to law school.  Upon graduation, I accepted a full-time position with Citibank; my one-year off turned into five years with that company alone.  During this experience, I awoke one night with a revelation about how companies can effect increased profitability by actually walking the customer service talk – and I had a valuable process to help them do that.  It would be a few years before I cut my teeth as an entrepreneur, but in 1997, I created my first company, Service Solutions International, Ltd.

Creating a company from scratch is an incredible challenge – and amazingly fulfilling.  It provides an education that one cannot be taught, but must experience.  In 2005, after struggling to find, and safely and easily rent a vacation home on Cape Cod, I took the skills that I learned and honed through the years to launch my current venture, Keys to..., LLC, and www.keysto.com.  While emerging from Phase One, Keysto.com is a proprietary; global; online; and secure real-time reservation system for short- and long-term vacation and extended-stay property, and related services and products.  Keysto.com also interactively provides a spectrum of useful information, as well as additional valuable, tangible features and benefits to many kinds of users, including: vacation and extended-stay rental property owners and administrators (listing and leasing agents, management companies, et al); short-term and extended-stay travelers; Professional Members, such as travel, real estate, and corporate agents; and related third-party service and product vendors.  It’s been very exciting working toward bringing to reality my visions as to how to meet global needs and wants in the private vacation property market.

What lessons have you learned from entrepreneurship so far?

Being an entrepreneur is very challenging, and very rewarding.  You have to be able to weather the numerous peaks and valleys that you will encounter on the journey.  As an entrepreneur, you can engage in every aspect of the process, turning your vision into reality – and seeing your vision become reality is an incredible feeling.  Of course, as with most things, creating a company, and certainly a successful company, is a collaborative effort. It’s important to recognize that you can’t do everything, and you aren’t an expert in everything.  Recognizing that you need to enlist the skills and expertise of others, delegate responsibilities, and empower others to do their jobs well, is key.  I also believe very strongly that you must take care of your internal customers in order for them to be able to take care of your external customers.  As an entrepreneur, you set the culture for your company.

What is the most valuable thing you took away from your AU experience?

I had a wonderful experience and received a very high quality of education at American University.  It’s difficult to pinpoint only one most valuable thing that I took away from my AU experience because because I think that there were many valuable aspects.  However, if I had to choose only one, I might say that the more social education that I received as a result of the diversity of the student population and the incredible cultural offerings and opportunities both at American University and in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area tremendously influenced and impacted my life in many positive ways.  Truly, the American University community is so fortunate to have such broad-reaching global access and exposure.

What would your AU classmates be most surprised to know about you?

...probably that, while I have made my home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I still miss life in Washington, D.C.!  And while I will always foster my entrepreneurial spirit, I still hope to complete my law degree and pass the bar exam someday...

Q&A with Chris Heuer: Social Media Expert, Entrepreneur, and Author

Chris Heuer (SPA/CLEG/'91) is a co-founder and partner with The Conversation Group, a marketing and communications agency that is redefining the way companies interact with the markets they serve.  In 2006, Chris founded Social Media Club in order to bring a level of professionalism to the emerging industry of Social Media by bringing people from different background together to share best practices, support industry standards and promote ethical behavior.  He has been an Internet entrepreneur since 1994 when he co-founded an interactive agency and local content network, with some time off from the private sector in 1999 when he served as Chief of eBusiness at the US Mint.

Chris shares his experiences in the following interview with Beyond Ward Circle.

You're extremely active in social media.  What attracted you to it?

My interest in what is now called Social Media goes back to my first interactions with the computer, a TRS-80, when I was in 7th grade. After taking some classes in programming Basic and TurboPascal, I quickly realized I was more interested in what you can do with a computer then how to make it work.

In the mid-90's I read Virtual Community by Howard Rheingold and I found my life's calling -- it also inspired me to start my first business, Virtual Community Network.  Social Media is really the natural evolution and manifestation of what Howard, and many other people, particularly those from The Well, called Social Computing. The things people promised in the early days of the dot-com era connected people beyond geographic boundaries.

What really inspires me today to help more people understand Social Media, is that it is a powerful force for transformation, empowering people to find their voice and share their stories with others. Across society, and particularly within the enterprise, people are using Social Media to connect, to communicate and to collaborate in entirely new ways, usurping the power of command and control systems to make things right and get things done.

Tell us a bit about your experience as an entrepreneur in the San Francisco Bay Area and how it compares to Washington, DC.

I have been an entrepreneur in Miami Beach, Washington DC and the Bay Area over the past 14 years, also spending some time in New York's start-up scene, and nothing compares to the culture of entrepreneurship in the Bay Area.  There is such a great ecosystem here for supporting start-ups and no one has been able to re-create it anywhere.  The differences are many, but the root of it all from my perspective is a combination of four factors:

1. the tolerance for risk, the willingness to fail fast and forgive those who fail
2. the belief that anything is possible and that all problems have solutions
3. the willingness to work hard beyond a 9-5 clock
4. the water, the sun and the air -- it really is an amazing place to live

The other thing that I have noticed in talking with entrepreneurs who relocate here is that in the Bay Area, we socialize frequently with other people in the same industry.  In other areas, work associates and personal friends are usually two different groups of people, whereas out here, it is often one and the same -- or at least, we spend as much if not more time with industry friends as we do others.  This engenders more trust between people and makes business deals much easier to complete.

What's the most valuable thing you took away from your experience at AU?

In looking back now, there are a number of things that I think were very formative.  The most valuable thing by far was my friendships -- there have been some hard times which would have been even more difficult to get through were it not for my friends.  From an academic perspective, my CLEG degree has been invaluable in helping me under socio-economic impacts on market behavior and a holistic way of thinking that has helped me understand business models.  My experience working with Dr. Brenner gave me an invaluable understanding of contract law that has helped immensely in business negotiations.  As a member of Phi Sigma Kappa, I learned firsthand the value of team work, brotherhood and a never say quit attitude.

Would would surprise your AU classmates most to know about you?

That I am more then just a beer drinker... OK, my real friends knew that, but I had a lot of fun during my college years and was not striving to showcase my intellect as much as I was trying to enjoy the collegiate experience.  When I run into old classmates, I think they are most surprised to discover that I have been an entrepreneur and a geek -- that I am actually a fairly smart and creative guy with a knack for innovative problem solving.  These days, I think they would be surprised to discover that I am writing a book (The Social Media Playbook) with a great publisher that is being published by Wiley and due out this summer.

Q&A With Geoff Livingston: Author, Marketer, and Entrepreneur

Marketing strategist Geoff Livingston recently added author to his list of accomplishments when he published his first book.  Over the past 14 years he has worked with the likes of AT&T, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bartleby Books, BEA Systems, Hughes Network Systems, ManTech, the Washington Nationals, Intelsat, Verizon Wireless and many others.

Geoff graduated from American University in 1994 with a BA in Literature.  He was kind enough to take a few moments to reflect on some of his experiences at AU as well as his life since graduation.  I'm sure I met Geoff at AU since we graduated in the same year, though it was probably at Quigley's where he worked rather than a classroom, but it wasn't until this year that I actually got to know him.

You just published a book, Now Is Gone, that helps educate executives and entrepreneurs about new media.  What compelled you to take the time to write the book?

I literally was getting peppered with requests to explain social media to local execs.  I could not keep taking the time to do it, and felt the book would be a better way to meet their needs.  Little did I know what I was getting into.  The time consumption was amazing.

What lessons would you share with others interested in writing their first book? 

Get ready for the long haul.  Writing a book is an arduous journey, but marketing it is also a long and tedious process.  There’s much more that goes into book publishing than you can possibly imagine, and financially, it’s not that rewarding.  So make sure it’s something you want to do.

If you want the book to be successful and well received, make sure you are writing for others, not for yourself. If you write to make yourself look good, or about your many thoughts, the book will not be of service to its readers. It’s about them, not you.  Like all things in life.

We rushed our book to market so it would be timely. The resulting reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, but I feel it could be better.  Maybe my standards are too high, but I hope we can sell enough books to get to a second edition, and a cleaner version of the book. This is my Achilles Heel with Now Is Gone.  I would tell other writers to make sure your publisher has a real strong editing team in place.

The other thing is that people will suddenly criticize you randomly. Developing thicker skin has been a trial by fire process, and not that enjoyable.  Yet I understand it.  By becoming an author you inadvertently put yourself on the public’s pedestal for pot shots.  Simultaneously, you do get viewed as a subject matter expert, which is the positive trade off.

What was most valuable about your experience at AU?

I had a great medieval history professor by the name of Terry Murphy.  Professor Murphy wouldn’t take my spun bunk for work, and insisted I think. The end-result was a new way of looking at the world, analytically and culturally.

What would your AU classmates be most surprised to know about your post-college life? 

That I actually became something more than a bartender (go Quigley’s)!  Somewhere around 24 I woke up and smelled the coffee, turning my life focus from partying and debauchery to responsible actions. Thank, God. I’m so glad not to be that guy anymore.

I look back at my college years, and dread the wasted hours that I should have been studying.  But I was fortunate enough to get a second chance at Georgetown, and graduated with honors.  For me that relieved a lot of guilt from my poor undergraduate performance.