I was in fourth grade and at soccer practice when the most intense headache of my life brought me to my knees. My parents rushed me to Raleigh Fitkin-Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital (now Jersey Shore University Medical Center), where doctors placed me in an isolation room for what felt like weeks. Not knowing yet whether … Read more
The world of technology illustrates the power of ideas and how they create opportunity and transform the world. It’s heady stuff, with high-profile execs becoming celebrities, inventions changing commerce and the very fabric of society. The ability to turn sci-fi into reality is garnering big investments from venture capitalists and fueling IPO dreams. It’s the … Read more
The children’s playground rhyme — “First the worst, second the best, third the one with the hairy chest” — unfolds as a runner-up’s taunt, a reminder of inadequate achievement. And yet many successful people get their start in last place — and work their way up. There are times I’ve experienced being “the worst” at … Read more
I first lived in France in 1991. I was struggling with fitting in at Reed — it was lonely being one of three members of the Reed Republicans — and I did not feel any kind of existential urgency to finish college. I loved the idea of France because I had studied the language since … Read more
In 1996, after a 17-year career in the destination marketing industry, where I gained national standing as the CEO of the Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County, I was recruited by the founders of a new professional basketball league for women. The American Basketball League (ABL) hoped to leverage the success of the 1996 USA women’s national team at the Atlanta Olympics — much like USA Soccer is now leveraging the U.S. Women’s National Team’s victory in the World Cup. The ABL wanted a team in Portland, and they wanted me to be its general manager.
The CEO and co-founder of Elemental Technologies reflects on the state’s natural assets.