From Nuclear Science to STEM Entrepreneurship: Dr. Jarvis Sulcer MS ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98

(upbeat music) - Welcome to the Engineering Career Conversations. I'm Krista Downey, Director of the Engineering Career Center at Cornell University. - And I'm Tracy Nathan's Kelly, Director of the Engineering Communications Program. We are excited to bring you this forum where we will host lively conversations that we hope will inspire you. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Jarvis Solser, who is the co-founder and COO at Lingo Solutions Incorporated. He earned both his masters and his PhD in Nuclear Science and Engineering at Cornell. Join us as we learn about his educational journey, his path to being an entrepreneur, and how he gives back to his communities each and every day. (upbeat music) - Jarvis, hi, it's great to see you here. - Yes, glad to be here, looking forward to this opportunity to share a little of my story. - I'm excited to share your story. I love what you are building. And I think we'd like to start with you telling us about your current work. And then also, what does that look like day-to-day and perhaps what motivates you day-to-day? - Great question. So, I'm currently the co-founder and COO of Lingo Solutions Inc. and Ed Tech startup that develops a coding kit that is, that empowers students to build at home or in the classroom. And it comes only with a coding kit, the heart rate piece, but also we have step-by-step instructional videos that allow students who have no prior experience or even teachers who have no prior experience in coding electronics to get introduced through hands-on, real-life applications of different technology. And so day-to-day, even my title is co-founder and COO, as you know, at a startup of any type, you have multiple hats. And so for me, the biggest hat I wear is B to B sales and business development. And so my title doesn't reflect actually what I'm primarily responsible for, which is driving revenue, new business opportunities from a B to B standpoint. So my day looks like following up with customers, engaging new partners that align without mission and values leading my team, small team, small with powerful team, sales team, and having ongoing communication with my founder, CEO, Isha Bo, on a day-to-day basis and then engaging with our customers, that what drives any business is in customer engagement and follow-up and ensuring they have a great experience and making sure my team has what they need to be successful and then get out the way. - That sounds like you have a lot going on all the time. - Yeah, and it's fun. I didn't say what motivates me, right? I didn't, I left that part out, right? So for me, what motivates me more than anything is the impact on the lives of the students that we serve through our partners. And our partners include corporations that want to do in community engagement, schools and school districts that want to engage their teachers and students and nonprofits that may not have a STEM component or may have a STEM component, want to add something like Lingo to their portfolio of offerings to their students. So for me, it's the opportunity to play a role in transforming our students' life. Put them on a different trajectory. They may have been intimidated by coding or computer science or tech and then they get a chance to build something from scratch with no prior experience and then see the backup sensor for our car beeping and work and say, "You did that." A three hours ago, you had no idea what, even what would have meant to be a condition and loops in the context of coding or what our sensor is or just trying to censor. But now you build something, tested it and now like, wow, this is possible. So for me, that aha moment of students and saying that aha moment for teachers who may be intimidated as well. So for me, that would motivate me every day. It's like, we're making a different life of a student and that student's from a family and that family might be impacted. A cousin might be impacted. You know, it might turn a light on for a teacher who's teaching that student and realizing that, wow, look at this gift that we have in this classroom. I didn't know that you had that in you. So for me, that every day gives me up and keep me moving forward with what we're doing through all the challenges that come with being in the role that I'm in. But it's fun. - It sounds like so much fun. I laugh about it now. I coach the Lego Robotics team at my kids grade school. And so a lot of what you were saying just now, like, oh, I've never done X before, like cold or use the little engines or, you know, map out a plan for build and all this. I've never done that before. So I can't help you. No, just dive in. And I really get a sense that that's what you're trying to help people do here. - Yes, it is. It is at the core of why we started Lingo because we wanted to provide students who oftentimes may not have access or unexposed these type of opportunities. And so we wanted to be not only hardware, but software, like, and understand the connection between the two, because everything is driven by a combination of those two. Even though they might think about it, but when they are in a car and they hit it back up, when they back up a car and they hit that beeping sound, that's not just hardware. Some little doubt on the back of the bumper. Their software behind was happening. So yeah, that's what we were trying to achieve is give students that exposure and opportunity to say, you can do this. So yeah, I get that motivation bit, quite a, you know, that aha moment, I think, is what keeps a lot of people in the education of Jason Spaces going. And so you were talking about business to government, business to business, non-profits, schools, all these sorts of things. And so we're wondering, what is a normal day? Is there a normal day? And what does that look like? A normal day. A normal day is, again, waking up, looking at my calendar and then following with customer customers. That's a constant. It's constant following with customers, constant looking at new leads, you know, vetting those leads, you know, going to the normal sales things you do, but it's also what's behind that is opportunity and impact our life. These organizations are looking for solutions, the problems, and that's how I see what I do. So even though I'm in sales, I feel like I'm helping. I'm bringing a solution to a problem or pain point. And in many cases, what we're providing is not a vitamin, but a painkiller. And so you need a painkiller, you can take your vitamin, we should, but painkillers you need, right? And so I think Lingo is a painkiller for a lot of organizations, a lot of students, a lot of teachers. And so for me, my regular day is, to get following up with our customers, mostly it could be, you know, executive directors, CEO, decision makers who are deciding whether or not they want to bring what we provide to their respective organization, be it a school, be it a nonprofit, be it a corporation, and doing what we can to position up to be successful and implementing what we do. That is at the core of what I do every day. And ensuring my team is also positioned to do the same as they're reaching out, I mean, engaging customers, and me supporting them. So that is at the core of what I do. And then there's all the operational things that I do that are not sales related, some are some not. And then there's also dealing with people issues, thankfully we have a great team. And so it's not a lot of that going on, thankfully, but it's still leading a team, managing a team, giving them what they need to be successful. And so and it's fun. It's challenging, it's a lot of work. And but I enjoy it, it's not just a gig for me, it's part of my passion, why I do what I do. I never thought I'd be doing this, and that probably followed along in this interview and in this discussion. But yeah, that's all for that, give you a sense of what my day looks like. Sign up to sundown. - Jarvis, we spoke a few weeks ago, and I learned more about what you're building. And I wish every student had an opportunity, had this access. And so you understand you're going through these different channels to get this out there. And I'm wondering what maybe in terms of sales, maybe something else, but what's been the most significant challenge that you've faced? - That is a really good question, significant challenge. So in the context of what I'm doing now, I think is on the student side is getting to believe that they can really build in their confidence. So that's a challenge because they may have had quote unquote failures or other challenges that is preventing them to explore what they really can do. And so I think that's a challenge. And in the same thing holds true for teachers, right? It's a lot on their plate. And now we're going to add one more thing, a lingo kid or a coding kid or whatever, right? And like, when do I have time to do that? And so being able to convince, you know, a someone that this is going to be a value add and we're going to hold your hand, we're going to be by your side and make sure that what we're providing doesn't become a door stop. 'Cause oftentimes that would happen if you don't get the proper support for teachers. So that's a challenge. And then given the teachers shortage and all the things that have come along with schools, be it public, particularly public schools. I think that's a challenge. On the business side, it's a lot. 'Cause it's a, you know, it's a startup, right? And so I didn't work in a startup before. I worked in other spaces, Silicon Valley, big Fortune 500 companies, you know, nonprofits. This is different, but it's the challenges. For me, I put a lot of pressure myself to put position, lingo so that the investors who believe in us see a return on what they've given us. I know there's a high, you know, it's a high risk hobby award environment, but for me, that's the challenge. Like, can we give them 10X, 100X what they invested in us? And that's not easy because there's no guarantees. But I'm doing every day what I can to ensure that with my team that they look back and say, "Well, I'm glad we made that investment." And then we see a lot that have been impacted as a result. So I hope to answer your question. - I appreciate that perspective. Yes, thank you. - So I have a question that we didn't send in advance, but. - That's okay. - So I'm just reading all this and I'm thinking through everything. And so you're one of the few people that we've interviewed so far that has gone on to get their PhD. And in nuclear, right? Which is amazing. So masters and the PhD and usually people think, "Oh, well, PhDs are gonna go into academia." And you've decidedly not done that. Can you walk us through that path that you've taken? - Yes, so that's what my intent was to give my PhD and be a professor. I went to a historical grad college or undergraduate. And so I was thinking, I'm gonna give my PhD, I'm gonna go back to my alma mater while they're mind the grad and physics and be a professor, build a lab, get research funding, and cultivate the next generation of innovators, right? They may go on to do the same, right? Go be a postdoc and follow that path. However, when I, I think my third year maybe of Cornell as a graduate student, I realize it's not what I really wanted to do because of two reasons, doing a master PhD anywhere is extremely difficult and challenging, right? Regardless of what field it is, right? And then to think about getting tenure, going through that process all over again and having friends that were much further along the main who were in that process of getting tenure and what they were telling about what the challenge is. I'm like, do I wanna spend another six years basically trying to go to that path and so I said, no, I don't think I wanna do that. And I was so married. So I got married two years before I left Cornell. I'm like, don't put my wife through this. She was here with my wife at the time, but we were, no, like I said in my second year, I'm sorry, my two years before I started, maybe my finish, we got married right, I'm like, I don't think that'd be a good idea. And then I also wanted to get industry experience. And the first time I had a Cornell and even my undergrad who brought the most value to the classroom was those who had industry experience. And so I thought, okay, let me at least go to industry and maybe I'll come back at some point and teach further down in my career because I could make a one professor at Cornell, professor of Frank Wise, my student, he's still there now. He was an applied engineering physics. And he had worked at AT&T Bell Labs at one point. And the way he taught quantum mechanics and how he, I mean, it was just, I was blown away. Like, and coming to final, he had worked in industry and came back and had, and the same was true for other professors that I had at Cornell and other places that they had the industry experience and that, but a different value to the classroom. So for me, I realized that I wanna go to industry, I ended up staying in industry, but realized also I wanted to teach. I still wanted to teach, but I wanted to do it as a professor. And so I started a tutoring company. And I had a tutoring company for 13 years in a Bay or he had been kids in math and science. So that was my first business and I got to entrepreneur book when I got the Silicon Valley. We didn't even think about entrepreneurship, we didn't even think about, didn't know what a startup was, honestly. It was not on my radar to be to, even when I started the tutoring company, it wasn't about, let's grow this, let's scale this. It was just, I wanna help kids, and why don't you step up a business structure? I need to, you know, it was more of that. And so I just fell in love with entrepreneurship. And I'm like, I wanna do this, even after social entrepreneurs. I went to nonprofit and I have this scale. It's programming from one site in UC Berkeley to Stanford to UCLA. And now they got sites all over the country, right? And I was part of that initial team that had grown. And I just, I just, then I left there and there came to where I am now, with STEM board at the time, which is our sister company. And she was like, well, I'm developing this business, defense business contracting company, but I wanna have educational arm to it. I said, how are you gonna do both of these? Well, I can't, I need someone to help. Ah, me. So moved from Silicon Valley to DC and helped build our educational arm of STEM board. And out of that spun Lingo. And so it's just the path. That's how I decided to do what I'm doing now. It was not like I had this plan mapped out, because the plan I had mapped out did not materialize. It was PhD, industry experience. So I did, I think the back, I did teach for a semester at a community college, while I was at at QD Packard at the time, when I first graduated. My fellow Cornell graduate recruited me to HP at the time. That's why I ended up in Silicon Valley, to a Cornell alum who, with the graduate of the electrical engineering department, and he recruited me to HP. And there, they allowed me to teach part time on a Friday, a similar class at a community college. So I did do a little dabble my foot, so to speak, into academia in that way. But yeah, that's how I started. So my path is not what I had envisioned that I'd be doing right now, but I wouldn't change anything. I think so many of our people say that, where I am right now is not anything that I predicted. We've heard that kind of as a theme repeatedly, over and over, as we've been talking with these alums. So it's nice to hear that it's working out so well for you. - Yes. - So you've already lit on some of this, and I can, I think I might know where you would take this, but tell us about what you're doing, to help move us towards a more sustainable, equitable world. You're doing all this education stuff, and so that's the link there, but we'd like to hear more from you. - Yeah, so I think one thing, a couple of them doing, the one is I've spoken about already, which is around providing students experiences that allow them to explore what is possible, and doing it in a way that will have them think differently about how they see the world, and the difference they can make in the world, in a positive way through technology, 'cause in addition to just Lingo, the product, we do a technology entrepreneurship camp, and we give students problems, global sustainability, you name it, and they gotta come up with a unique solution, to say a problem that they would identify, 'cause most entrepreneurs scratch their own itch, a lot of them do, right, or something that makes them mad, and they want to do something about it, right? A lot of us do that, right? And so for students, sustainability, climate, all that is top of mind for a lot of students, and so they begin to come up with a unique idea. So one thing we've done from a content standpoint, we have a plant health lesson, as a way to spark students, it's about thinking about sustainability. So we have a lesson that's around, and they build it, that they build like this sensor to say, "How is your plant thirsty or not?" So they get a sense to build this system, and they enable it, you know, test it with the sensors, the community sensors, and see, you know, and then they get to see the data on the screen, and so it gets them to thinking. So it's an engagement piece, it gets them thinking about sustainability, and plants, and all those things that come along with that. And then we have lessons to go along with that that teachers can use. And so that's one way. I think the other way from a, is with our product, so we have one kit, multiple projects you can do. So instead of happening by all this hard, we're all over every time you do a new project, we can do one kit, and you can do a product about different projects. And it's open source. So even if you decide not to work with us after one year, two years or whatever it may be, we prefer all of us you to continue with us, with current revenue, with that, you know, but at the same time, we want students to have the ability to tinker, explore, and innovate, four of a year on what we've made, they may do with us. Oftentimes, what they receive from us is free, because it's sponsored by the school, or by the organization, about the corporation, and after that's done, they may not be in the position to afford, to pay for subscription, or to re-engage with us. But what they do have in their hand is something that allows them to continue to build and explore on their own, with us or without us. So in my mind, those are the ways in which we are contributing to equity, sustainability, through those needs. - So what people and organizations are important collaborators toward this greater future? - Yeah, so quite a few. So I'll start with our pinnacle, private ventures, they're the ones who gave us the funding, to do what we're doing now. So they're a big partner and a great resource, can't thank them enough for how they have put trust and belief in what we're doing. And so they're one, at the other one, I think we'll, I would say, is 1863 ventures. They are great help as well. They've also made an investment in what we're doing. And then there's the nonprofit partners, like Enroats. They've been around for 50 plus years, and they have to get internships and they transition out of college into corporate America. But they provide them with opportunity to get internships and they have a pre-coz program, which we support in mid-supporting since 2016. So before Dingo, that was a Dingo, we were still supporting them around their STEM engagement with their students in area in 18 cities now, a more engrowing. Another organization is General Dynamic, GDIT, one of our corporate partners, who we started in St. Louis with some years ago, about three or four years ago now. And now, through their work in a little bit foundation, the partner we work with them, we're in like 18 schools now, started with two, working with them. And then now that we've expanded our multifaclet on Monday, we'll be doing a training with teachers, with four schools at our profit in Tampa. And then we got something that's in the works in Denver. So those are my partners. We got Siemens. Siemens has an initiative around Siemens sisters in STEM. And that's been going on for like the last three years and we've got a STEM partner. And so they work with Bureau Zinc out of Philly. Then it's Bureau Zinc in Atlanta. So those are my partners, Lighthouse. So we had a cool project we did with Lighthouse and Bubblewala, who races for Micah Jordan's racing team. And we did this unique custom kit for them. And so they've been a big supporter of our work through that initiative, but also with other local schools here in the DC, they're based out of Reston. Well, it's one of their main headquarters in Reston. And so they do a lot of supporting our work with schools in the local community. And then there's other organizations that also, we also work with the American Association of University of Women, AAUW. We've been working with them for several years now and, as a matter of fact, tomorrow, I'm doing entrepreneurship workshop at their annual conference at University of Maryland College Park. So my wife and I both are tag teaming a workshop for them for young women in college. So looking forward to that. So that was a summary, that's not an exhaustive list, but those are some of our partners that have been supporting our work. Microsoft is another one. We work with them from the very beginning. And some schools, Bowie State, Riverview Garden School District. So yeah, it's your George Mason University. And now I can add Cornell University. (laughs) - Absolutely. We love, that's an impressive list, right? So just the expansion here is really amazing. I mean, you're gonna be reaching those who need you. - Yes, yes. And two to 18 cities, it's just like, that's my vibe. - Yeah, yeah. Don't despise most beginnings, they say, right? So, you have to, yeah, it's great to see the growth in expansion. 'Cause for me, what I see is students being impacted. Teachers being served and supported. So that's in my mind what it translates to. When it's all said and done, yes, we wanna drive revenue, drive growth. That's critical importance as well to any company because what business you're in, but for me, is what's behind that and that is the impact and the changes of the lives of the students who are receiving support, not only from us, but from our partners who are actually on the ground in those communities supporting them on our daily basis basically through all the initiatives that we collectively do. - Sounds so fantastic. It made so much energy, but like you said, it energizes you right back. - Yes, it does, yes, it does. - So one of the things that we've been asking recent folks that we've been interviewing is, okay, what about AI? - Yeah, yeah. - Well, how do you see this impacting your work or in this case, this work of your students or those teachers? - Yeah, so I think for us, I think that's a couple of things. One, I think it's gonna enhance the overall end user experience. Just overall, I think just broadly speaking. Specifically, I think for us, the type of tools that can be designed for educators and students to use, I think that's the other area I think, you know, AI is gonna have a tremendous impact in terms of the kind of tools you can develop leveraging that technology. And I think third, it's the level of customization that can now be done for students in their learning experiences and their learning styles, where I call it a teacher could have a assistant in the classroom that is customized to a particular student's learning style or in a gap they may have in a way that they cannot do now, right? So I think it's gonna enhance what students can be able to do in the classroom and outside the classroom with support of teacher on big on teachers and that would never go away. Okay, how much we advance in terms of AI, that human component, I think, is essential. And I think that's going away, but I think the tools that can support in particular on AI is gonna enhance, I think, teachers' ability to support students in the classroom in their learning experience and what they can do. - Speaking of classroom experiences, what classroom experiences had the greatest impact in preparing you for your career? - So as I think about, as I thought about that, as I'm thinking about you, I see this question, I can't know particular class comes to mind, but what does come to mind is the research experience I had as an undergraduate. Starting with my first intern at AT, AT&T Bell Labs, where all the people I was in my group that were all PhDs. And I was the first time I thought about maybe, if I wanna do this kind of cool research, and I may need to get a PhD to do it, because all of you will lead in the labs and leadership position doing the research, and with basic research as well, I was like, okay, so that was the first. And then there was the San Diego National Lab, I worked at San Diego National Lab. My mind for that was, that was my first intern with that San Diego co-op, I did a co-op, a summer co-op. And then with the AT&T Bell Lab, the following summer, then what topped it all off was my experience at Cornell. I was a little undergraduate in Louisiana, at Southern University, came to Cornell for a summer research experience, sponsored by NSF, and worked in a nano, it was called a nano fabrication facility at that time. I know it's, the name has changed, not the nano scale science, you know, I know it's changed, but when I was there was a nano fabrication facility. Night, like I think night was the, went behind this, and that completely opened my eyes to the possibilities of graduate school, 'cause I was actually at Cornell meeting graduate students, meeting undergraduates, meeting these amazing professors, and my professor, who was my point, while I was on campus, Dr. Steven McGuire, who also was a Cornell alum. He said, "You should apply to graduate school." Like, Cornell, really? I don't know if I can, I don't know if they should apply. You did a great job with summer with your research, should apply, like, I don't know, and say, "Well, trust me, just apply." You will see what happened. No guarantees, but apply. I did, and all that they say, the rest is history. So those three experiences, in terms of my career, at the greatest impact, on me doing what I'm doing now. And I'll be free of a grateful. - Again, it's that personal connection, right? A professor saw something in you, saw the promise there, like, this is your, this is made for you. So jump in. I find it to be such an important connection. Just not being a face in the crowd, right? In these large lecture rooms, but taking advantage of those undergrad research experiences, if you can, or internships. - Yes. It creates an opening. - Yeah, that was key for me. You made the greatest difference, I think. And I will also say that, even early on, it was the teachers that I encountered, even from elementary school. I said when my fourth grade teacher named Ms. Crawford, is where I learned my multiplication tables in fourth grade. Now, the first in my class to do it, and that was the first inkling that, maybe something in math and science, maybe in my future. 'Cause I got a candy bar. I got a chocolate candy bar. So he's like the first person in the class to learn all the multiplication tables from one to 12. And I tell you this through all the time, I was competing with the young lady named Stacy. I think we're on Stacy Jimmison. So I'm very competitive. I still remember, this is fourth grade now, and she was beating me. She was ahead, and she got stuck on nine times seven. And that allowed me to pass her, and I got the candy bar. So as I'm sitting in class, everybody else is like, "Oh, can I have one?" No, I'm just gonna eat my chocolate candy bar. And literally, it was there when I thought, maybe math is something in science, I should. So I had no idea I was then fourth grade, but here I am. (laughing) - That's the best story. Love to reach out to Stacy to see how she's doing. - Yeah, I haven't had any contact with Stacy Jimmison, but I remember her name, that's how I, it was, you know, yeah. But the candy bar in fourth grade, Ms. Crawford. - Love it. - That was the beginning. (laughing) - Nice. - We also like to ask people specifically about their sophomore year in college, because that's when you matriculate, you know, you're like, "Okay, this is gonna be my major, "and people get a little stressed out or worried." You know, it's a big decision, but it's not a decision that you have to stick with. So what did that look like for you during your undergraduate, which was not a Cornell, it was elsewhere, but it got you on this, on this right path. - Yeah, what I'm gonna share, I think it's still applicable for me as a sophomore in college, who was understanding the power of networking. You know, and making connections and building relationships that will, that could be for a lifetime, or that they have to get to that next opportunity. So for me, one thing I share with students all the time is, don't underestimate the power of connections and building relationships, meaning for relationships with your professors, if there's an opportunity for you to connect with industry people that come on campus, make every opportunity, because it will pay dividends down the road if not immediate. Could be for internship, the next summer, could be for a foot down position three years later, or two years later, could be for a job five years later when you are, you know, you just never know. And so, just reflecting back on my, my time as a sophomore in college, I would say that is something that I really didn't understand to someone shared it with me. Like, you know, and then, looking back, all the opportunities that have come my way, been through a relationship, not that I'm just applying for a job online, or it's been through some connection, some relationship, even getting a Cornell with through a friend of mine, who had been at Cornell the previous summer in a summer internship. And she said, "I met the professor. "I think he's from Louisiana." And he went to, he did a PhD at Cornell, and then I reached out to him and through that connection, 'cause he was a friend of mine from undergrad, who was at Cornell for some research experience, and she connected me with Dr. Maguire, who then invited me to come for the summer to do research, and now, and then I, you know, going through my master's in graduate work. And then as a sophomore in high school, it was my low GPA of 1.8, which is why I part couldn't go to Cornell as an undergrad, 'cause (laughs) you only once semester to blow it, right? And it just brings everything down, but in a case, it wasn't in the world. And I know Cornell as a school is tough. Engineering, in particular, is very challenging, but you have been accepted to Cornell, because they believe that you have what it takes to not just survive, but thrive at Cornell. And there's so many resources that you can tap into as a student to ensure your success, if you use them. And so, as my father always used to tell me, nothing that's worth it, it's easy. So you have to put in the work. You have to accept and work and not just study, study, study. That's great, you have to do that. But also the connection, making a con-rescientia, accessing the resources that are at your disposal. Building community, building those friendships with other classmates. And all of those things are part of the work. And so for me, I would say students who may be struggling or may have a rough year, 'cause it's, everybody at Cornell is smart. No matter what, they may come across, they're all smart. All these students are not coming here because it's kind of a lot of guy through high school. No, or even graduate school, undergraduate. No, these are some of the top students in the country of not the world that are at Cornell. And so, you among those students in Cornell, like the school, see you as the same. And so, I think, let the students know, even they are struggling that they can do it. There's not the end of the world. You're gonna back on your dearest at Cornell. And I'm like, wow, I struggled here, but I made it. And now I'm impacting life through my career, whatever that may be. So, that's what I would like to leave with students who are wherever they are in their journey academically, especially that sophomore year, 'cause that's the key year in terms of whether or not you're gonna persist in a lot of data out there, saying that if you can make it for the first two years, your chances of graduating with a degree, particularly in a STEM field, significantly increases, 'cause no first two years can be brutal, but it's not a young ability to be able to accomplish. - I love your statement there that the networking, the socializing, the reaching out, connecting with people is part of the work. Right, it's not just the classes, but like doing all those other things is part of the work of being an undergraduate. I love that idea so much. - Yes. I didn't know that when I was an undergraduate or an undergraduate student. - I didn't either. (laughing) - I did a lot of socializing, but I didn't know I had a purpose. (laughing) - Yes, yes. - We'll cut this part out. (laughing) - I'm gonna hand it over to Christa. - Yeah, yeah, so where do you go to stay current to get in for, yeah, to stay current with your work in this field? - Yeah, so a lot of, I mean, I'm a big fan of HBR, so I use that, I read a lot of, I read articles there. I mean, I have Google Earth set up, so anything coming around edtech, startups, STEM education, and trying to see what the latest and greatest going on. I was there, you know, all the sources out there, CNBC. I like, I like looking at the business out of thing what's happening in the markets. So those are top kind of top of mine where I go for the most part. And my wife is a lot more reading than I do, so I also lean on my wife. (laughing) Oh, check this out. Do you know about, oh, no, I did, no, okay. And then I go and read this article and vice versa, but she does more of that to me than I do for her, so. (laughing) - So that's a good person. - Yes. - So we have a few of these like fast, quick, and fun questions here at the end of the day. So if you weren't doing all of this right now, which is plenty, what would you be doing instead? - Instead. If I had it in my way and I continued to grow taller, I would have been an NBA. (laughing) So growing up as a kid in Louisiana, I had a path in my backyard and I wanted to be an NBA player, you know. And so for me, that's what I would have wanted to do, ideally, but obviously, you know, the chances of doing that are slim to none. At that even doing, they just didn't know the number for the percentages, right? So what I'll be doing is probably teaching. I think I would be teaching 'cause I, you know, tutoring is definitely different from teaching, but as an un I've been tutoring for a long time. Even before I had a tutoring company, I was tutoring students and I was undergraduate. He had my brother that's five years younger than me. So his friends were struggling with algebra, algebra to pre-cal. I was, you know, tutoring them on the side and making a little money from their parents and to keep me going, gas money, whatever. And so I think, and I just, and then I did some TA as an undergraduate fitness classes. And so again, I like coming home for students even though we're my peers and being able to explain something in physics and they're taking a class 'cause it's on their, you know, in the curriculum, not like they are physics majors or whatever, or they engineering majors like, I gotta take this physics class and I don't like physics. I like computers or whatever, but to be able to see that light come on for them, right? It was just, it just did something, right? So I think if I wasn't doing this in a way I'm doing it now, it would be, I think teaching. But ideally, love had been a professional athlete 'cause I love sports. And now I love tennis more than I love the other sports. In terms of joy playing, I don't play anything, but tennis now. I watch basketball on occasion, watch football on occasion, but now I'm an avid tennis player. 'Cause they even have this book, you see this? - We are STEM. - So we are STEM. And so basically, it's a notebook. It's not a, it's a notebook of aspiring quotes. Light is a quote from mine, of mine, but they are also quotes from friends of mine throughout my career who I said, when you were in elementary middle and high school, what would you tell your younger self? What is an aspiring quote, your own quote, or someone, for a custom quote, from you are a quote you can share that you would speak to your younger self. Then I can share this, you know, and then I told them to put a notebook together. And so there's me on the front cover in the middle. So with the basketball in one hand and in the other hand, you're pretty good, or you can see it now, but the engineering book and the other. And so the idea is to encourage young men, in a particular, you know, doing them can do another one for women as well, but I was thinking, you can dominate on the athletic field and in the classroom. You don't have to get one up for the other. You can do both. I did it, not as a professional athlete, but I did as a tennis player in high school with the state and also got a full scholarship in physics. So you can do both. You can dominate in the classroom and on an athletic field. So that's why I said I want to be a professional athlete, because you see here, basketball in one hand, and I took all that energy, all that passion for sports and began to apply it to my academics in a way that allowed me to get to the place I am now. And obviously it helped my parents and others who were on my team, I would call it my village. Played an instrumental role in being where I'm now. And so I give a lot of credit in order to those who came before me and the shoulders I'm standing on. I could never pay them back for what support they were giving me. But first is that Cornell. I'm a professor at Southern University from the mentors. So this is my way, which I'm glad to invite me Chris to be on this, is with me paying it forward. I think you can encourage the next sophomore undergraduate, grad student at Cornell, or whoever else may hear this podcast, that you can do it. I'm no different, I'm a blue color, a blue collar on our student. It ain't come easy to me for me. So yeah, I'm really happy for this opportunity. - I'm happy to share your story. It's a great story. You're doing wonderful things, making an impact on so many lives. And I'm excited for our young students to hear this. And if they wanted a copy of your journal, is that for sale, someone? - Yeah, it's on Amazon. - Yeah, excellent. - We were still leaders to put my name in at a pop up. I could send you a link to it. I'd include it in here, but I should probably should have. But I can drop it into the document, a link directly to it, did I include it? Yeah, I did. I included it in the, as a hyperlink in the document. So, yeah, and if they want to connect with Echo Lingo, they can go to lingo stillmlingo.com. We have, yeah, subscription-based product. We have our B2B stuff we do. So yeah, I'm looking forward to more engagement with Cornell. Any more questions? This is fun, this is fun. - So at the end of the day, or in the middle of the day, it doesn't even matter. - What do you do for yourself, for your family, to re-energize, relax, and make yourself feel better? - Yeah, so for me, it's at the very beginning of the day for myself, I played tennis at 6 a.m. in the morning. 'Cause it's the only time I have to play. So I play about an hour, three or four times a week. So that's one thing I do to relax, to get my mind straight for the morning. 'Cause I'm a morning person. I don't even need a long clock to get up. I just automatically just wake up even though often I do not get up, but (laughs) but 6 a.m. I play tennis. And then almost every Thursday, I take my daughter who is seven in soldier, my wife. We also go to our club, indoor tennis club, and we play, I work with her. Not sure she will become the next serena, a cocoa golf, but she's having fun and why she's still having fun. I'm gonna tend to expose her to tennis. And then for just other ways I've relaxed with my family, like go to the movies, read books, vacation, definitely Caribbean, my wife is part, it's not part, she's guy in these from the Caribbean. And so she loves, we love going to the Caribbean. We're going to got a Caribbean vacation playing the next couple of months. So that'd be nice. And just hanging out, I mean, cherishing every moment with the family. At home, relaxing, cooking dinner, going out to dinner, doing lunch together, the family on the weekend. So watching Shark Tank a lot, by go to love Shark Tank. So we all watch it and do dinner, or just watch it just for relaxation and to learn something as well. In about some of the products sometimes, it's really cool. Oh, this is pretty cool. So yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming online with us today and having this talk. I mean, what an enjoyable thing to just learn like your trajectory and the way that you're paying it forward in the local communities and the STEM community and the tech community. It's all just, it's amazing. So thank you for your time. But thank you for the opportunity again for having me on your podcast. We'd appreciate it, Christopher. We should now have a connecting and following up really means a lot to be able to share a little bit of my story that would hopefully encourage someone else on their journey. Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying these conversations, please follow, write, and review on your favorite platform. Join us for the next episode where we will be celebrating excellence and innovation among engineers whose impact contributes to a healthier more equitable and more sustainable world.