Conducted Winter 2009 Q. What keeps you up at night? A. I usually sleep pretty sound, but thoughts of my business, Trew, and powder days will surely keep me awake. Q. What’s the last book you read? A. Good to Great by Jim Collins. Cliché, I know, but I wanted to read it again using Trew as a lens to think critically about our decisions. Q. What is the first album/CD you bought? A. Def Leppard’s Hysteria. ’80s music rocks! Q.What’s on your iPod? A. Absolutely everything. It's important for me to have music that matches my mood, so I have everything -- Audioslave to Beethoven, Randy Travis to Dave Brubeck. Q. What’s the most thrilling/adventurous thing you’ve ever done? A. Tough question, but it was probably bungee jumping at "K" bridge outside of Queenstown, New Zealand, or backcountry skiing out of a remote hut in the British Columbia wilderness. Q. Guilty pleasure? A. Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, and Red Bull. Q. Who is your personal hero (and why)? A. My mom because she doesn't care if she's eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese or dining at the 21 Club in NYC. All that matters is that you have family and friends around to share stories and hopefully many, many laughs. Q. What was your first job? A. Working for my junior year English teacher with two friends rebuilding her brick patio and doing general landscaping. Q. What is the best business decision you ever made? A. To quit working at JPMorgan. It took a leap of faith, but allowed me to follow my true passions and make me a stronger, happier person. Q. What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago? A. Have lots of different experiences with lots of different people. Travel, work different places, and try new things. In the process you'll learn more about yourself and contribute more effectively as a member of our society. Q. What is the one thing you learned in business school that you’ll never forget? A. That interpersonal skills -- the abilities to learn, listen to others, garner trust, etc. -- are invaluable. There are lots of people who know how to do a DCF model or build a regression table, but very few have all the "soft" skills to compete in today's world. Q. What is the most important room in your home? A. The kitchen. This is where people tend to congregate. What's better than good food and good people??? Q. What is the first website you access in the morning? A. It depends on the time of year. During the winter I check snow reports and during the summer I check wind reports (I kiteboard), but I also visit espn.com, cnn.com, and nytimes.com, as well as the drudgereport.com. Q. Favorite comfort food? A. Pepperoni pizza. Q. If you had a theme song, what would it be? A. "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd because I don't need much to make me happy. Q. Favorite line from a movie or television show? A. From Meet the Parents: “So Greg, how is your portfolio doing?” “Strong to quite strong.” Q. Three people, living or dead, you’d have over to dinner? A. My maternal grandfather because he passed before I was born; Jesus because I think we'd find out he is a Democrat; and Dean Smith, the former coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina, because he is an incredible yet humble leader. Q. Best trophy/award you ever won? A. Biggest brown-noser in my high school superlatives. Q. Pet peeve? A. People who don't really understand how long it takes to do something. Q. How do you hope your giving will impact the Ross School? A. I have two goals when I give to Ross and other educational institutions. 1) To foster an environment where great teachers are found in the classroom. In my humble opinion, higher-level education is in desperate need of individuals who want to teach, spend time in and out of the classroom helping students think critically about the field of interest, and are less focused on research. After all, the reason students pay exorbitant amounts of money is to learn and interact with the experts. 2) Give students the opportunity to follow their true passions. Students leave school today strapped with too much debt. This results in students seeking jobs primarily because they pay top dollar and not because it's what they truly want to be doing. I thought the 2007 Class Gift, designed to allow students to pursue careers at nonprofits and lower paying jobs by aiding in the payment of their school debt, was particularly effective.