John Pittman
Director of Strategic Innovation
USA Funds
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
As a young person, I enjoyed building stuff with my dad, a mechanical engineer.
Bored w / school. Enrolled in college at dad's insistence. Majored in marketing b / c it was a hot area.
Became a Christian. Christ transformed my life. I got married and was blessed with our first child.
Began first job in financial ops while waiting for a marketing position to open up. It never did.
Gained technology & business experience by participating in many corporate start-up initiatives.
Became VP of operations for Fortune 300 company. Expanded role to include corp business development.
Worked nights and weekends to get real estate brokers license and learn Sales. Started RE company.
Burned out with corp world. Started independent business development consulting for non-profit.
Education
High School
Career
Director of Strategic Innovation
I oversee new product innovation.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Entrepreneurship
Education
Accomplishing Goals
Day to Day
Everyday is different. Success is making solid progress towards the overarching goals.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Make sure this is the right fit by engaging business leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate professionals in your local community to better understand what they do. Volunteer to work for / with them. Begin building a network. Pursue formal education as necessary and seek out local opportunities to obtain the knowledge and critical skills needed to be successful. Start something while in school (create your first product or service, develop a website, start a blog, etc.).
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Friends:
"Why do you need to go to college? Just get a job with one of the major manufacturers. We are doing alright without a college education."
