Pokémon trainer Steve Sarumi tells us how to make money as a full-time Twitch Streamer, and whether it’s actually as fun as it seems. He chats with Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio about building your community, why he started, how he grew a following of 45k+ people, and what got him to a six-figure salary.
Jessica Lewis is a Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. She sat down with Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio to share the details of her career — from interning at the White House, to attending Harvard Law School, to working at the Southern Poverty Law Center, to becoming an attorney at the ACLU. She also discusses the pay discrepancy between “big law” and public interest law, the pros and cons of following your passion, and what it really takes to change the world.
Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio chats with Jon Moy, owner of the Moyzilla food truck, to find out what it’s really like to run your own restaurant on wheels. He shares that there’s a lot happening behind the scenes — from navigating the often confusing rules and regulations, to fixing flat tires and faulty generators, to dealing with the financial ups and downs. And even though it’s not as expensive as opening a restaurant, the startup costs for a food truck are a little surprising.
Career Crush
Career Crush is a series for Harvard Business Review that explores the jobs of young people and pulls back the curtain on what it’s really like, misconceptions and tactical things like the interview process and money.
”Most of the time, I have no idea what it takes to get a job like theirs, and I don’t pretend that I do. After all, I’m not an expert in software engineering, or Twitch streaming, or photography. I’m still in my early career, too. So, the questions I ask and the ideas I uncover are based on things I’m genuinely curious about. That curiosity is crucial to creating a connection with our viewers.” - Kelsey Alpaio
Kristina Kang, a senior management consultant, shares what it’s really like to work in consulting. And, spoiler alert, it’s not all travel and PowerPoints. She chats with Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio about some typical pathways into the industry, the skills you need to be successful in consulting, and what you can expect to get paid when you’re just starting out.
Lindsey Redd has coded for some of the coolest tech companies in the world: Slack, Lyft, and now Stripe. She shares her journey from wanting to be a doctor, to studying computer science at Stanford, to thriving in the top echelons of software engineering. She tells Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio about some common misconceptions about software engineers, what it’s like to work in a predominately white and male industry, and how to nail an interview for a job like hers.
Dave Jorgenson, the “Washington Post TikTok Guy,” shares his journey from interning at The Colbert Report, to making YouTube videos, to becoming the newspaper-hat-wearing TikToker. He chats with Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio about his creativity process, how he turned his job into one he loves, and how he helped the Washington Post’s TikTok reach almost one million followers.