We are excited to welcome Jack Szeltner to the Heart+Mind family, as he comes on board as a Senior Consultant working with our sales team. Since Jack is new here, we saw fit to put him through our rigorous Q+A so we could all get to know what makes him unique.
Q: Describe what you do in 5 words or less.
A: Provide evidence for confident decision-making.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
A: A marine biologist. At one point I had committed to memory over 250 species of sharks and was dead-set on doing cage diving and scuba diving as a shark researcher.
Q: What drew you to Heart+Mind Strategies?
A: The craftsmanship of the insights. Market trends within the research industry are pushing many firms towards commoditized, automated solutions that fail to provide any real strategic value, and I’m inspired by the dedication of my colleagues to produce custom work that resonates for years to come.
Q: The quality in others you most admire is…
A: Vision – I admire and draw inspiration from people and organizations who are imaginative and passionate enough to chart a course for something new, personal, and valuable. Vision is something I find infectious, exciting, and highly motivating.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: My two favorite hobbies are volleyball and Sid Meier’s “Civilization” which is a video game franchise I’ve invested thousands of hours in since I was 10 years old.
Q: What fandom are you loyal to?
A: To my chagrin, I must share that I cannot seem to kick my habit of being a Cleveland Browns fan.
Q: Do you have a favorite blog or podcast?
A: My favorite blog is Defector, which is an employee-owned sports, culture, and politics blog. Defector came into being after the entire staff of Deadspin resigned together in solidarity in response to their private equity owners continuously diluting the quality of their work, and the creative license and defiant tone of their collective risk-taking permeates and improves their collective writing.
Q: In your opinion does pineapple belong on pizza?
A: Yes, Hawaiian pizza is a treasure, and I’m glad it remains controversial, that just means extra slices for me.
Q: What question are you dying to answer that we haven’t asked?
A: Is objective reality actually a simulation?
Q: What’s the answer?
A: I’m leaning yes.