Elevation Nation

Parker came across a list that Jesse Itzler (entrepreneur and motivational speaker) posted on his LinkedIn page earlier this week: WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR 21 YEAR OLD SELF

For the 150th episode of Elevation Nation, Parker and Sam discuss, agree and disagree with the ten tips that Jesse provides in his list. 

Ben Putzer is a soon-to-be college graduate and entrepreneur. As a student at The University of Maryland, Ben started a company called Visitour, a platform for prospective college to students to find customized campus tours. Visitour has more than 50 unique tour guides across three schools in the Big Ten.

As graduation approaches, Ben is mulling a big decision: Will he go full-time on Visitour after college or try to find a job and do it part-time. 

We talk with Ben about:

• What is Visitour?
• Why college campuses need more personalized tour experiences
• Ben’s big decision
• Advice for college to the real world

LinkedIn
Visitour
TikTok

Sam and Parker catch up after a week of not chatting due to a busy week of travel. Parker is down in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Sam just came home from a trip in New York City. With things getting very busy, they talk about how to they are trying to be more intentional with how they go about their day.

Ilana Dunn is the Host and Executive Producer of “Seeing Other People”, a podcast show about dating and relationships. Ilana’s Snapchat show “Screening For Love”, where she interviews strangers about dating advice, recently hit 50k subscribers. 

Although Ilana graduated college with a top journalism degree, she struggled to find her fit and fulfillment in the real world. When she was let go from her most recent employer, she went “all in” on herself to start making her dreams come true. Now she is truly elevating herself by helping others with their dating lives. 

We talk with Ilana about

• Her struggle in the music industry post-college
• How she made the decision to go full time on her passion
• Vulnerability in dating
• Advice on approaching dating apps

LinkedIn
Instagram
Seeing Other People

Parker and Sam get together for their first in-person podcast in over a year! In this conversation, they talk through a fear that Sam brought to Parker’s attention while they were talking on the roof about life. 

Based in Los Angeles, Ryan Modnyy is a 21-year-old entrepreneur on a mission to bring together influencers and brands with a focus on wellbeing and mental health. Ryan is a partner at S1 Group and Founder of Modnyy Entertainment. 

After seeing the power and influence that TikTok had on the world early on during the pandemic, Ryan took a leap of faith and doubled down on himself. He dropped out of college and moved to LA. Now, a couple years later, Ryan is working with some of the top creators in the world and is making a difference by bringing awareness to mental health.

We talk with Ryan about:

• Getting bullied as a child and the impact that had on him
• Dropping out of college and moving to LA
• How he created one of the most popular mental health conversations on Clubhouse
• What it is like to work with popular influencers

Instagram
LinkedIn

We all know the phrase “work life balance”. Whether we see it in articles, in the news or hear our employer talk about it, it’s a common term. However, do we always have a work life balance? Is there a reason why work comes before life in the phrase? We talk about some of our work life imbalances and how we go about leveling the scale. 

Rahul Vinod is the co-founder of Rasa, a fast-casual Indian restaurant based in Washington D.C. While growing up, Rahul and his co-founder, Sahil Rahman, saw their parents bring Indian cuisine to America through their restaurants. Inspired by their cultural roots, their parents' entrepreneurial drive, and a lack of fulfillment in corporate America, Rahul and Sahil set out to create their own take on Indian food. 

With three restaurants (and more to come), Rahul and Sahil are on a mission to bring together their American and Indian roots to share the authentic flavors of their youth with the DMV community.

In this episode, we talk with Rahul about:

• Realizing the corporate grind wasn’t for him
• How Rahul and Sahil went about quitting and starting Rasa
• How Rasa plans to inspire taste buds with its Indian food

Website
Rahul’s LinkedIn

Parker recently came back from a week long trip in Punta Cana. While he spent time to unwind and relax, he also disconnected completely from the outside world by turning off his phone for the week. We talk through his six day experience and what he realized about how digitally connected we actually are. 

AJ Eckstein is an entrepreneur and product marketing consultant. As the Founder of The Final Round, the go-to career platform to knock out the competition and advance past the final round interview, AJ and his team are on a mission to democratize fun, tailored, and high-quality career advice. 

In this episode, we talk with AJ about:

• College to Career
• Delivering an effective elevator pitch
• Balancing entrepreneurship and 9-5
• What hobbies can teach about happiness

LinkedIn
Website
Podcast