“We’re just trying to be able to support and cultivate the strongest community that we can, especially of our loved ones - All that conditioning, where it’s like, we got to do it by ourselves? Nah. ‘You want to go farther, go together. If you want to go fast, go alone.’ But fast is never the right decision. I don’t think it’s ever the right decision.” - George Hofstetter

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by George Hofstetter. For many, the first things that come to mind with George are his many accomplishments at the young age of 21 - Stanford University Innovation Fellow, CEO of his own company, board member for Kingmakers of Oakland - but George would be the first to tell you of all of the relationships, mentors, and support systems he’s had along the way. Ever since Ashanti met George as an eighth-grader leading a team of professional coders, George has been all about building deep relationships so that we can achieve bigger and better things together. We hope you enjoy learning about George’s masks, and how they play a role in his life every day.

(1:35) Ashanti’s introduction.

(5:00) George introduces himself, and Ashanti shares how he met George - when he was an eighth-grader, already providing leadership and direction to a group of adult computer programmers. George shares how this and many other things in his life have been coming full circle.

(15:40) George shares the front of his mask - confident, creative, loud, outspoken - and explains why his extroverted brand of creativity is less common than introverted creativity.

(17:40) Ashanti shares the front of his mask - funny serious, hard-working - and he explores the contradictions that he lives with, sitting between funny and serious

(20:40) George shares the back of his mask - imposter syndrome, overthink, observant. He shares some of the racial disparities he has experienced in the tech industry. Then, Ashanti and George share how these experiences have shaped what is behind their mask.

(29:20) Ashanti shares the back of his mask - worried, "am I enough?", fear of. He reflects on his college experience, the need for mentorship in his community when he was a child, and how important support systems are in his life today.

(35:10) George shares all of the support systems he’s cultivated over the years.

(43:10) Ashanti and George share some final thoughts, and George shares how you can get in touch with him

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Connect with George Hoffstetter:

Check out George in 8th Grade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tnXsnAaEF4

Website: georgehofstettertechnologies.com

Instagram: instagram.com/ghtechinc

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Create your own mask anonymously at www.100kmasks.com

If you are interested in being on the Face to Face podcast, email us at [email protected]

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: instagram.com/branchspeaks

Facebook: facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch

Website: branchspeaks.com

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Send in a voice message:

anchor.fm/branch-speaks/message