Welcome back to school! Tom Swartwood has made the world a better place by accelerating endless students around the globe. We talk about activating the entrepreneurial spirit within academia and redefining retirement for leaders who will never stop making a ruckus to fuel positive change around the world.
Nancy Mwirotsi is a nationally recognized wayfinder who inspired students to lead by outfitting them with skills in technology and innovation. Over the past 10 years, Pi515 has promoted diversity in STEM careers and graduated hundreds of students, with free programs geared toward refugees, young women, and people of color.
The real skills we talk about in this episode of #YDNTP defines the future of work and empower students to thrive through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Have fun!
Rebekah Sletten is an agricultural advocate in Iowa and tells stories for America’s Cultivation Corridor. Rebekah’s activity throughout the startup community has her connected into emerging agtech innovations and the future of food. Together, we discuss the value of building an engaged network outside of your own industry. We also learn about the Cultivo Virtual Academy, why she’s interested in web3, precision agriculture, and fresh ways to harvest innovation.
When technology moves so fast, we’ll always feel behind, but that is your invitation to tinker.
Instead of letting the unknown scare us, we can use curiosity to prompt action. Even when life feels occupied by existing responsibilities, there’s more room to push further. To prove it, hold your arm as high as you can. Now, hold your arm higher!
Tinkering requires initiative. Thankfully, we all have extra gears to avoid feeling like we left something on the table. Yes, the barriers of busy are unavoidable, comfortable feels safe, and easy is nice. But why not turn a few knobs to let that idea breathe, to see your idea twinkle in the wild.
Extra Shot
An early no beats a long, wrong yes.
It’s amazing how much happens by showing up and activating a few early moves. When we accept an invitation to tinker, financial capital can speed things up, but time is required to make something exist.
While more of everything will be needed to make it better, thinking about commercialization as being a season of exploration versus a strategic goal reduces weight and welcomes smaller steps toward progress.
If you’re having a hard time finding inspiration or if excuses keep you saying someday, avoid isolation and force yourself into environments where others are tinkering too. Activity within a startup community can provide energizing human, intellectual, and network capital. Conferences are cool, but when was the last time you attended a multi-day, hands-on hackathon? Classrooms, skill-building workshops, industry groups, maker spaces, coworking, and networking events also have people tinkering together.
As you create more than you consume around others doing the same, you’ll find energy, direction, and opportunities. You’ll feel less alone, surprise yourself, push past barriers, and collide with people able to help.
Whether it’s at home or in public, tinkering celebrates pure wonder and will nourish your innovative spirit. Even if the answer is no, at least you’ll know.
Brewed From Within
#69 📖 Technology
