Dave Santucci wanted to be a lawyer when graduating from Emory College (the Harvard of the South). He informally interviewed ten lawyers and asked them if he should pursue a career as a lawyer. Nine out of ten of them said he should consider an alternative career.

An internship with CNN led to a job as a producer. A highlight in his seven year career was going on a zero gravity simulator while reporting on science, space, and technology at NASA.

Now Director of Communications at the world’s largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, Dave dives with whale sharks once a month while handling all communication issues. Quite a different life had he not talked to those ten lawyers.

Dr. Helene Gayle is the president and CEO of CARE, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. Out of all the passionate professionals interviewed on the 2007 Pursue the Passion tour, Dr. Gayle could easily be the most distinguished. Formerly the director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s HIV, TB and Reproductive Health program, Dr. Gayle bring to CARE over two decades of experience, working in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Using what she has learned from posts at the Center for Disease Control, where she oversaw an annual budget of over $1 billion, and the Gates Foundation, where she oversaw over $1.5 billion in grants, Dr. Gayle now sets her sights on CARE’s target: extreme global poverty.

Although Dr, Gayle did her undergraduate studies in psychology, she ultimately entered medical school because it gave her a “broader way to influence peoples lives.” After medical school, Dr. Gayle continued to earn her Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University, because she saw the M.P.H. as a marriage between the medical world she aspired to enter, and the people’s lives upon which she hoped to impact. Dr. Gayle is incredibly humble about her
accomplishment, saying that she doesn’t “see [herself] as a pioneer until after the fact.” She strives, above all, to live a life that is very “fulfilling,” but also “makes a contribution.”

Under the incredibly adept leadership of Dr. Gayle, CARE continues its mission to make the world a better place, for even those often forgotten by much of society. For more information, and to see how you can help, please visit: www.care.org.

Bob Nanna, director of promotions and public relations for the Threadless t-shirt company, in Chicago, graduated from the University of Illinois, and then he went on tour. As a touring musician for twelve years, Bob did some excellent networking. So excellent, in fact, that it allowed a seasonal packaging position to become what he is doing today. Bob’s degree in communications and advertising, in his opinion, was never meant to actually support a career; it was simply the quickest way to get out of school, and onto the road. Yet, as fate would have it, his degrees now allow him expertise in a field in which he never saw himself working.

Bob’s story is an important one, because often touring musicians are not seen as people who integrate well into society, after their touring dreams have expired. In Bob’s case, however, he never would have been able to get to the position he has, without having gone on tour. He is able to work with bands, for promotions and contests, because he knows the bands, and is able to communicate more efficiently with them. Although parents may not enjoy their children being told to go on tour as a way to better their careers, they will like Bob’s advice to his 23-year-old self. “I would beat myself up, take my credit cards, and slash them up.”

Threadless t-shirts are designed by a community of users, based on an award program. They can be found at Threadless.com.p>

In 1968, at 22, Keith Covart and two friends founded Electric Fetus, an independent-minded record store in Minneapolis, MN. Nearly four decades later, Keith is the sole-owner of the thriving store, to which he added two new Minnesota locations, in Duluth and St. Cloud. When asked his motivations for starting the store, Keith says, “I certainly wasn’t thinking as much about business as I was about music.” Following that direction, or lack thereof, Keith has shaped a customer-centric music store concerned more with what is for sale, than how much is sold.

Keith spent 2 years juggling a second career as a claims adjuster before realizing that he must commit himself to his passion. “Play music you want to play,” Keith says with a smile, “And that’s your job.”

Without an advance business degree, Keith is as suited as any to run a company. “Customer service,” he says, “Is not an MBA term.” By maintaining a “wonderful staff devoted to the store,” Keith is able to offer music to “every segment of the population.” Asked for the secret to employing knowledgeable and motivated individuals, Keith says simply, “We like each other more than many stores.”

Tommy Spalding, CEO of Up With People, almost went to trade school, because dyslexia left him at the bottom of his class, barely graduating high school. Two months after seeing Up With People, at his high school during his senior year, Tommy was traveling the globe with the group, destined to, 20 years later, take the reins of the organization. In his two years as CEO, Tommy has overseen an organization that takes students around the world, places them in home stays, does community service, and opens the eyes of people around the globe to the power of community service.

“Leadership is about how you react to failure,” says Tommy, who has seen his share of success and failure. One of Tommy’s most important leadership philosophies pertains to the American connotation of ‘community service,’ which is handed out in courtrooms across the nation. “If we’re going to build a great America,” Tommy warns, “it’s really about building an America of ownership, where community service is what you do when you do something right.”

Another vital piece of Tommy’s leadership is not how, but rather where, leading Up With People to not only developed nations, but also to emerging nations so in need of the inspiration Up With People offers. “If we want to be a truly relevant global program,” says Tommy, “we need to take our students to relevant places around the globe.”

Mark Starr, owner of David’s Pizza in Spokane, Washington, goes to work everyday to make a difference; success has been a pleasant byproduct. David’s Pizza sits adjacent to the campus of Gonzaga University, on the outskirts of a neighborhood of 3rd and 4th generation Spokane residents. The placement is fitting; Mark spends nearly all of his free time giving back to the community that sustains him. With a thriving catering business, in addition to the actual pizza parlor, Mark has empowered his employees to love the restaurant, and feel committed to what they represent. As part of this empowerment, Mark rewards good grades by paying half of his staff’s tuition at the local community college.

As liberally as he donates his time and talents, Mark has built an incredibly successful operation. His pizza has been voted best in Spokane 11 years running, and an informal survey of a Spokane tavern places his status, in Spokane, at Unofficial Mayor. Mark is a humble man, saying the only way to succeed is through long hours, and a deep sense of compassion. David’s Pizza does not advertise, relying instead on its public works, and of course, its pizza. Mark says, “Our advertisement everyday is giving you good food.” For what it’s worth, the food is fantastic.

Scott Hatley, founder of the non-profit Incight, is wheelchair-bound due to muscular dystrophy. That did not stop him, however, from graduating from the University of Portland, in 2001, and immediately starting his company, which offers employment and educational opportunities to people with disabilities. Scott was inspired by his summers spent at the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s summer camps. Scott realized that camp was the best part of the year for many of his friends, who did not otherwise envision themselves as normal people, with normal opportunities.

Scott’s success is incredible. Incight is currently supporting 70 disabled scholars, in their college career track program. These students receive not only financial support, but also the support of mentors, and internship programs; all of this is intended to help people overcome, what Scott calls, their “handicrap.” This is the term coined to describe all of the excuses and self-imposed barriers and limitations many disabled people must confront, if they are to find their way in the world. Really, it is applicable to every person, who must overcome insecurity and fear, and just go after what they love.

Anne Jaeger loves to garden, but it took a life-threatening illness to force her to truly pursue her passion.

Anne was working as a television reporter when she was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare form of lymphatic cancer. Facing possible death, Anne decided she could not live with regret inside of her and, with the support of her employer, began to do the work she always dreamed of. Changes in management left her facing possible unemployment, but Anne would not be deterred. She picked up her show, and her sponsor, and took them to a different network. Instead of unemployment, she now faced a primetime Saturday night television show, hosted mostly from her own garden.

Recently 49, and glad to have made it, Anne is a correspondent for Smart Gardening, a PBS gardening show broadcast around the nation. A beautiful woman, who at one point lost her hair and faced a very uncertain future, Anne now does what she has always wanted to do, and glows with excitement when talking about it.

To arrive at this point, the most difficult step, she says, is overcoming fear. “Fear keeps us in some pretty tight boxes,” she says, suggesting that younger people find a job that satisfies them. “Have fun,” she says, “Take time to enjoy life.” It is a good reminder to anyone stuck in a rut; life is too short to be lived in a rut.

Darius Monsef IV, founder of the creative color design resource colourlovers.com, has lived and worked all over the world; he is 25 years old. Feeling restless with the peaks and valleys of the freelance design world, Darius decided his life needed to change. After the tsunami struck Thailand in December of 2004, Darius attempted to volunteer in the tsunami disaster area. As an unskilled worker, he was not allowed a position. Not a man to be told what he can and cannot do, Darius bought an open-ended ticket to Thailand, and started the non-profit Hands on Disaster Response, an organization that places unskilled volunteers in disaster areas. This organization has since provided relief in Biloxi, Mississippi, after hurricane Katrina, and in the Philippines. All in all, Darius spent 11 months, out of two years, working in disaster areas.

A compassionate man, Darius speaks of the fragility of life, and how experiencing that fragility hands-on, has inspired him to follow his heart. “Why live for Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Find something that makes you love every day.”

Colourlovers, Darius’ current main focus, has nearly 20,000 members and 500,000 page hits a month. Even away from the non-profit world, Darius is rabidly building a community, to someday take “design trends out of the boardroom,” and put them in the hand of the people. When asked what he would tell his 22 year-old self, Darius says, “Regret nothing. If I hadn’t made every mistake and weathered the lows, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

At first glance, Cathy Anderson hardly appears capable of a furtive takeover of a company, yet that is precisely what she did. In 1997, upset with what she calls “ethical issues” in the San Diego chamber of commerce, Cathy moved the San Diego Film Commission, the organization she still heads, literally in the middle of the night. Through coordination with her fellow employees, who were also perturbed by issues of ethics, Cathy managed to secretively make autonomous a government funded organization, and neither she, nor her employees, ever missed a paycheck.

After graduating from college with degrees in film and theater, Cathy became quickly disillusioned with the meager compensation offered to the regular folks who tread among the stars. She left the industry to teach, but thanks to the support of her husband, who insisted she do what she love. This led her to a volunteer position with the film commission, from which she established herself as an invaluable leader.

She advises that only through communication was she able to earn the trust to take control in 1997, and suggests that all aspiring leaders focus on their communicative abilities. San Diego is lucky to have Cathy, and the $80 million dollars left in their community last year alone, by film, print and television crews capturing the beauty of what lies south of Hollywood.