We’ve always believed that forming a strategy is impossible until your clear on what your values and principles are. Without values and principles to guide you, making decisions can seem impossibly difficult. Given how important setting values and principles is to decision making we asked folks we admire to tell us about the values or principles that matter most to them.

Dr. Joe Perez | Senior Systems Analyst, Chief Technology Officer, & International Keynote Speaker

The importance of integrity; that is, of valuing accountability over ability, and integrity over celebrity. When I’m building a team around me, I want people I can trust and count on to get things done. There’s something to be said about a person’s willingness to help and their loyalty more so than number of years of experience or perceived ability in certain skills. Skillsets are important, but you can train someone to make up for the lack of knowledge in a given skill. Now if you’ve got somebody who can’t bring himself to take ownership, or who doesn’t have a sense of accountability, that’s something you can’t really train for – it’s got to come from within. Read more>>

Anna Bratton | Copywriter

My brand focuses on authenticity. When I first decided to begin Anna Bratton Copywriter, I looked at a lot of other copywriters, and I thought I needed to mimic what they were doing to be successful. Talk about confusion and resistance! In reality, all I felt was fear, imposter syndrome, and an inability to start the dang thing. Read more>>

Chad Singleton | Environmental scientist & Science Communication Officer

Resilience matters the most to me. Failure isn’t something to fear. I have certainly experienced failure in my life. Everyone has. The key is never giving up. My parents always say that nothing worth having comes easy. I’ve definitely experienced this personally. As a scientist, a science communicator and a graduate student I’m faced with new hurdles almost every day. Being resilient against adversity and overcoming these hurdles gives me a sense of pride. More often than not, on the other side of that hurdle is growth and an amazing experience Read more>>

Tory Keit | CEO

I’m most passionate about improving the economic mobility of underserved communities. Read more>>