Saul Colt is smart, so he definitely makes the list of smart people I know. He travels all over giving talks on how to build a really, really great community.  

Sarah: You've carried around an interesting job title for quite a while now. What is it and what does it mean?
Saul: My job title for the last few years (as well as currently) is Head Of Magic. The origin of the title is pretty simple, I have a unique ability to make a lot out of nothing and on top of that a very pretty woman told me that I did was "magical" so it seemed like the only appropriate title.  

Sarah: As Head of Magic, how do you spend your day?
Saul: Every day is a little different and hard to describe (kinda like a magic trick) but on any given day I can be writing strategy documents/plans around Customer Activation, Customer Acquisition, Customer Re-Invigoration, Social media Plans, or Real World Stunts. Also I am a little crazy about my ideas and like to manage the execution so I also can be executing on stuff or maybe just maybe I am on a plane, speaking at a conference or like at this moment I am sitting in an Airport Lounge in Brazil answering your questions in hopes this interview will make me more attractive to the opposite sex or impress my Mom. 

Sarah: I've no doubt your mom is very impressed. What's the career path that led you to this?
Saul: Like most people who have jobs that they really love, the secret to my path has just been head down hustle and not stopping so people can tell you your goals are unreasonable. As for actual path I have worked in several industries (packaging supplies to automotive to publishing to creative agency to startups and Online Invoicing) but the common element was the style I developed to market products and communicate with people. I made myself the very best at a very specialized skill and worked hard to develop all my skills to be transferable.  

Sarah: You speak often. How long does it take you to prepare for each talk you give?
Saul: I spend more time on preparation then a lot of folks I know because of two reasons. I very rarely give the same talk twice (it only happens if I am asked to do something last minute) and my process is that I will "walk around" with the idea around the talk for a few days (or longer). I'll roll it around in my head a bunch of different ways. Once I find a way I like I can usually write the presentation in a few hours and then I do a final polish a day later and add some jokes or a picture or two with fresh eyes. 

Sarah: What is your favorite part of what you do? 
Saul: Dealing with people and solving problems.  

Sarah: We always hear the idealized version of people's jobs. What has to get done that you hate doing
Saul: I don't like planning farther then a quarter at a time even though it is usually insisted on. Some of whatever success I have had has come from being able to not only adapt to situations but recognizing when you need to adapt to new information. Because of this I try to leave a lot of room for interpretation in my plans and this also is part of why I am so crazy about wanting to execute my own stuff.

Sarah: What are you excited about outside of work?
Saul: When I am not working I get excited by sunsets and long walks on the beach in a warm rain. 

Thanks for answering all of my questions Saul! If you want to know more about Saul, you can check in on his fave recent accomplishment, his fave client, a friend he thinks is cool and an Emmy Award winning comedy write who is a potential BFF candidate. You can can also read his blog. 

 

 

Hanan Chebib is today's interview for I know smart people. She is definitely smart and has chosen to work in the non-profit industry. I won't lie, I got a little teary-eyed over her job and what she does all day. Get a tissue ready :)

Sarah: What do you do?
Hanan: I'm the Manager of Development at the Missing Children Society of Canada. I create relationships to get people engaged in our cause so that our investigators can continue the search for our families.

Sarah: What was the career path that led you to this?
Hanan: It's not so much a path but more of a leaping from one rock to another. I have a Bachelor's in Physical Anthropology, as I was going to be a Forensic Anthropologist when I grew up, made the leap into becoming a pharmacy technician for 5 years, then another leap into photography for 11 years, then another as an event producer for 3 and half years.... then my most exhilarating and challenging leap was into the non-profit world this past April. Each time I jumped into a field it had a huge learning curve and its own special challenges, but what they have in common is the fantastic mix of the technical and the creative.

Sarah: Is it motivating or disheartening to learn about Missing Children?
Hanan: It's a stark reality that children in Canada go missing at the rate they do.... the number shocked me when I first heard the stat. The RCMP released that over 50,000 cases of missing children were reported in 2009 alone! In the first 48 hours, 50% are recovered, but what happens to the rest? What was motivating was to hear that an organization like MCSC was actively doing something about it. And I mean, really doing something about it! The investigators at MCSC are all retired cops with over 25 years of experience each in detective work and they are actively looking. How amazing is that!

Sarah: What’s the best part about working for a non-profit?
Hanan: I know it's cliche, but knowing that whatever effort you make in your job, it has a direct positive result in making a difference in someone's life. A couple of weeks ago, MCSC assisted in a reunification between a father and his daughter. He had been looking for her for two years. He stopped by the office with his little girl and his mother to thank us for helping him out. It was amazing! Nothing compared to that in my corporate job.

Sarah: What are some of the things you do at your job day-to-day that people would be surprised to find out about?
Hanan: Well, how creative it is. We have an environment of openess where people from every walk of life can sit down with us for a brainstorming session. I get to converse with people everyday and listen to their ideas on how to do something better, or how to use something that exists in a new way. We have partners from all over Canada that have developed one of a kind initiatives to help us with our cause. How exciting is that! I, too, know smart people!
Oh, and we laugh a lot here at MCSC. We all love coming to work and we get charged by each others successes. We're never short of smiles here. I think that would surprise people the most.  

Sarah: Where do you see a non-profit like Missing Children going in the next few years?
Hanan: One of our volunteers, Jason Long summed it up beautifully, we're one of the best kept secrets in Canada. I'd like that to change. We're moving in a direction where each and every Canadian will be empowered to prevent child abduction simply by recognizing their own strengths  and it'll be our job to celebrate and share that story. Every day we receive emails, letters or phone calls from Canadians who made a decision to take an small step to help and each and every single contribution will ripple into a societal change.

We have a farmer in Milton who grows a crop of pumpkins every year. It's an honor system, he places a table and a box at the end of his lane and neighbors drive by, pick a pumpkin or two and drop a couple of dollars into the box. This year he made a decision to donate the dolars to MCSC and he made a sign to share it. He noticed that more than not, people put an extra couple of bucks into the box. He raised $521.00 dollars! When we talked to him, he said it wasn't a big deal. It's what he does. He grows crops. He sold over 200 pumpkins this past fall. What he really did was engage an entire community to make a small action in helping us, just by being good at what he does. That's a big deal to us!

In the next few years, I'd like to see all Canadians become part of the movement to stop child abduction, in the way that speaks to them personally.

Sarah: Does the Internet make it easier to solve cases?
Hanan: Oh, yes! Google alone is a key tool. Our investigators can use Google Search on the names of our missing children and monitor the information. Or if there is an address that comes up in the course of their search, they can sit at their desks with Google Earth and do a preliminary look. Not to mention that nowadays our search has become global and it's much easier to source contact information and to build relationships critical to a case when you have it right at your finger tips.

We have also partnered with Marketwire this past year and they push out through their channels on the web all our child search alerts with helps us get realtime information out to a greater audience. Their reach is over 300,000 people, not to mention the secondary ripple of information sharing that occurs. Which is critical to our success in a case.

Sarah: What can other people do to help?
Hanan: Sometimes, it something you're already doing, but you may need a bit of help to tie it in to what we're doing. We can help with that. We all do something in our lives that can be a source of charity. You just don't know it yet! Send us an email to start a dialogue, or join our Facebook page, or go to our website and become a monthly donor.

Hanan, thank you so much for sharing what you do with us. You can follow Hanan on twitter if you want to know what she's up to next. 

 

That's right, I know more than one smart person! Next up, find out what Michelle Sklar, one of my best friends is up to:

Sarah: What do you do all day?
Michelle: Many things! I am the Director of Marketing and PR, Europe, for Poynt Corporation.  I am the online video host for Techvibes video programming.  I serve on two boards and one committee.  The Board positions are with Digital Alberta and the Missing Children Society of Canada; I am on the Steering Committee for TEDxYYC.

Sarah: How did you arrive at where you are today?
Michelle: I have been an entrepreneur my entire professional career.  I am passionate about innovation and social change.  I have been in online broadcasting as host, producer and business development, where I have been able to build a broad network of people, gain a unique and comprehensive understanding of digital media, emerging technologies and business models.  I turned a corner on my career... pulled a lot of my skills together and fashioned them into what I am doing now.

Sarah: Is this what you thought you would be doing when you were in school?
Michelle: No, I wanted to be a lawyer! 

Sarah: What is your favorite part of what you do? 
Michelle: Working with people, being around innovation and creativity.  I am a builder and a connector, and I am to do that with all of the activities I am involved with.

Sarah: ...and the other side of that, what is the most annoying part of what you do? 
Michelle: Navigating bureaucracy - I am an action oriented person and not all that patient! 

Sarah: What gets you out of bed every morning?
Michelle: I love my job - my team, the industry and what we do are exceptional and I am so excited to be a part of building out this company. I am thrilled to be serving on the boards and engaged in other community based activities - I have lot's of energy, and I love being an agent of change, a builder and a connector.

If you would like to know more, you can follow Michelle on Twitter. You can also read/watch some of her interviews on Techvibes and Technorati.

 

I am finally on track to get posting on I know smart people. I meet so many smart people and I always find myself saying, "Oh, if only you knew so-and-so" all the time. Well, I am a (wom)man of action! Instead of just hoping everyone could meet each other, I thought I'd share some info on some of the coolest people I meet on this blog and a little bit about what they do all day. So let's get to it. 

Harley Young

Sarah: Harley, explain to us what you do with your time.
Harley: I cook with enthusiasm. I run to remember what’s important. I read voraciously. And, I help clients imagine and deliver technology solutions that improve their business. Sometimes that means I help companies merge another company into their business. Other times, it means I help state governments rewrite their entire disease reporting and surveillance system to improve public health outcomes. Each time there are some things that remain the same, and some things that differ, but it's generally fascinating.

Sarah:That's pretty impressive. How does one end up with a job like that?
Harley: After undergrad, I helped start a small software company in Ottawa. After sleeping under a server box at the office 2 nights a week for a couple years, we were acquired by a bigger US firm (Manugisitcs, now JDA Software). I resigned shortly after the acquisition, and went to graduate school thinking that I’d do my PhD and then dedicate my life to teaching. While I loved teaching, I didn’t care much for academic research, so I left graduate school with a MSc, and rejoined Manugistics as a technology consultant. After a year flying around North America, I was invited to join another startup in Toronto. 2000 was unkind to many dot-coms, and my new start-up was no different. After 3 months we were out of money and closed the doors. It was then that I joined my current employer, where I’ve mostly been since…save a 20 month break for a backpacking trip around the world, and about 7 months with another consulting firm. 

Sarah: Did you have any idea this is where you would end up?
Harley: Oh, absolutely not. I was initially a student of accounting and economics, figuring that I’d eventually become a Chartered Accountant (CA). It wasn’t until my third year of undergrad that a professor who taught one of my electives remarked that I often arrived at very clever solutions to technology problems. His compliment was followed by the suggestion that I might want to consider switching majors. Since no one in my family knew very much about technology, discussion of this around the dinner table was met with no-small amount of skepticism. “Do you really think there will be jobs in that field?” my mum asked. Don’t worry. She uses the Internet now.

Sarah: What is your favorite part of what you do that people might not think about right away?
Harley: I have two favourite things:

1. Travel. As part of my job, I spend a lot of time moving around, so I have the opportunity to visit many new places. Sometimes they’re big cities full of thrills, and other times they’re tiny towns that move at a slower pace. Both are great for different reasons.
2. People. Since I work for many different clients, I am always meeting new people. I enjoy the chance to learn new skills from them, offer some advice and guidance, and sometimes make new friends. I also enjoy connecting people I know to each other. Sometimes it’s just for a coffee when someone moves to a new city. Other times, it’s because I think they have something neat to offer one another.

Sarah: What's the worst part?
Harley: A few weeks ago, a guy who was about 27 was on his way from Toronto to Fort McMurray to start a new job. I had a window seat, and he was sitting next to me in the middle seat. As we pushed back from the gate, he kept craning his neck to sneak a peak out the window. I turned and asked what he was looking at. He told me that it was only his second flight and he loved watching the takeoff. I switched seats with him, and he sat with his face glued to the window while the plane took off, and while it later touched down. He was completely enamored with the magic of flight.

The ability to visit new places is one of my favourite things about my job. However, the process of actually going through customs, being frisked (or backscatter X-rayed) by security, and having your neatly packed shirts all rumpled by well-meaning inspectors multiple times each week has eroded the magic. About that, I’m sorry.

Sarah: I was thinking that all of your travels must have made you an expert packer.
Harley: If you've seen Up In The Air, you know my packing and airport strategy. The two keys to packing well are:

1. A good rolling bag (Zuca Pro)
2. Smart choices about clothing and shoes

There are lots of vidoes and sites about this. You can check out One Bag, or hit your favourte search engine and video site for one-bag packing or travelling light.

Sarah: What are you most excited about?
Harley: I am excited about a lot of things. I’m really excited about my girlfriend and her enthusiasm for providing kids with a solid foundation in math (she’s a grade 5/6 teacher). I’m also really excited about the future. There remains a lot of tragedy in the world, of course. But there are also a lot of people getting online for the first time, discovering and learning new things, connecting to each other and realizing that we’re all part of a community. I see how transparency, participation, conversations, and shared experience have changed my clients, and I’m excited to see how it will help support the desires we all share to help make life better.

Thanks to Harley for being one of the first people on I Know Smart People. You can follow Harley on Twitter or stay up-to-date on his whereabout by reading his blog.