Reed 
Tomlinson
geo business starter

Lauren 
Herwehe
globetrotter & student

Mike 
Colosimo
geo business starter

Sam 
Zuhlke
nat geo 
educator

Learn about Myles' Geo Journey in a 5 minute clip.

"I've always been super passionate about physical geography.  I grew up in an outdoorsy family and my father is a geographer, so it has always been a big part of my life.  While at University, I got more into the human side of geography.  I often work with start ups who are either working with the physical world or people.  My geography background enables me to combine both people and place.  For example, I can show businesses where their customers are located and how they behave."

"I studied geography at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where I learned about mobile technologies like GPS.  After I graduated, I became a Product Manager for Trimble Navigation.  After three years working there, I moved to the U.S. and became a Mobile Product Manager at Esri.  My role there has evolved over the last six years.  I now focus completely on working with start ups to integrate geography into their Software as a Service (SaaS), web, and mobile products."

"If you are curious about starting your own geo business,  go and talk to as many folks as possible who have already started one.  Ask for their advice about how to run a company.   You need to think about questions like: How you are going to start building prototypes? Who is going to buy your products? How are they going to gain value from your product or service? What's the culture of the organization you want to create?"

"Another way to get started is to intern with an early stage start up.  Pretty much every company I come across has some way they need to leverage location data, but they don't know how to actually create the maps, set up the data, or run the analytics.  If you have these skills, you can add value to their company."

"Having multiple mentors is important, since  everyone has a unique background and perspective.  Tapping in to these can help you grow in multiple directions.  I've learned that people can achieve the same results by going down totally different pathways.  They will have different advice on how to achieve the same goal.  You have to be able to make your own decisions from conflicting information you gather from multiple sources."

Reed Tomlinson
geo business starter

Lauren Herwehe
globetrotter & student

Mike Colosimo
geo business starter

Sam Zuhlke
nat geo educator

Learn about Sam's Geo Journey in a 5 minute clip.

"Geography is important to me because it's a tool for understanding—it provides a means to analyze and interpret, and to create a better world around us.  It gives me an edge because it allows me to see the whole picture.  It's a little bit of everything, very holistic, and I love keeping that larger picture in mind as I move through the day-to-day."

"Communicating clearly helped me land my current job.  Being able to talk about what I do and what I want to do has opened a lot of doors for me and has been invaluable.  I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life... But I do know what I want to do right now and how to express it."

"There's almost nothing more important than exercising good judgement, both personally and professionally.  It's important to learn how to distinguish between opportunities to pursue and which ones to let go."

"People who pursue their passions inspire me.  It doesn't matter what that passion is for - geography, photography, animals, cooking, etc..  People who have identified what they're supposed to do, and are doing it - that's inspiring!"

Part 1
Reed Tomlinson
geo business starter

Part 2
Lauren Herwehe
globetrotter & geo student

Part 3
Mike Colosimo
geo business starter

Learn about Mike's Geo Journey in a 5 minute clip.

"Geography provides an additional layer of relevance.  Maps are a great way to show what is important in people’s lives in a compelling format.  Our customers often ask for lists because that’s what they are used to seeing.  We have to challenge them to think spatially.  We do this by showing them how much easier it is to make decisions when information is presented with geographic context."

"We try to do a bike ride or a walk as a company every day to help us think more creatively.  A lot of times we don’t have enough bikes, so we end up towing skateboards behind bikes.  We’ve had a couple of really bad crashes on our lunch time adventures.  Some people come back a little black and blue.  We just laugh it off and get back to work."

"My career has been all over the place.  I did my undergrad degree in mechanical engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy.  I worked there for 3 years as a business manager and did an internship over the summer at the Pentagon.  Then I moved to Los Angeles, where I completed an MBA and worked as a management consultant.  After I graduated, I moved into urban planning and consulting.  I left in 2011 to focus on building my own business."

"The best way to get started in a geography career is to just start! Pick something that you get excited about.  If you have 10 ideas that sound awesome, throw a dart at that board and start someplace.  Then, be completely open to everything that comes across your plate.  I still don’t know what I’m going to do, and I’m almost 32.  I feel like everyday another opportunity redirects my career path in new and interesting directions that I didn't see coming."

Part 1
Reed Tomlinson
geo business starter

Part 2
Lauren Herwehe
globetrotter & geo student

Part 4
Sam Zuhlke
geo educator

Learn about Lauren's Geo Journey in a 5 minute clip.

"I have geography to thank for all of my adventures.  It really opened up the world to me and allowed me to do incredible things.  I didn’t actually start traveling until I went to college.  Almost all of the traveling I’ve done was for coursework and research. Geography is about studying people and places; it encourages you to explore the world."

"Traveling to so many countries has helped me see that there is more than one “right” way to live life.  Americans tend to keep themselves so busy working, there is no left time for family and friends.  The biggest take-away I gained from other cultures is to make time for people in my life.  It makes me more productive and more creative if I give myself time to reboot."

"I’ve been all over the map, literally.  I spent a year in Tajikistan as a Fulbright Scholar studying farmers' access to water.  Before that, I was an intern at the American Geological Institute in Washington, D.C., where I attended congressional hearings and summarized proposed bills for their website.  I was also a Research Assistant with the German Academic Exchange Service.  My job was to test soil samples for a project studying landscape development and climate change."

"Part of my job as an intern at the American Geological Institute was to write about current events.  I was really excited to cover a high-profile event during my short time there.  My big chance came with the BP Oil Spill.  I wrote a great story about it, starting with the sentence, “BP spilled 4.8 billion barrels of water into the Gulf of Mexico.”  No one caught the error and it got published prominently on their website! I’m glad I could provide everyone with a good laugh."

Part 1
Reed Tomlinson
geo business starter

Part 3
Mike Colosimo
geo business starter

Part 4
Sam Zuhlke
geo educator

Learn about Reed's Geo Journey in a 5 minute clip.

"Finding creative ways to use geographic and civic data has always been the best part of my non-profit and for-profit jobs. When you can use data to add new context or new information to a real-world location, you can create a new sense of place, and that's always been fascinating to me."

"I landed my first real job after college through networking and volunteering.  I’ve had nine employers and twelve positions in the last three and half years.  Each position has been different, but each one builds on the previous ones. Don’t be afraid to pivot when you stop learning and growing."

"Network, network network!  You need to step out from behind your keyboard, even if it doesn’t come naturally to you.  In the end, business is about people, and learning to build those relationships is not something that’s taught in more technical fields of study.  It’s something that has to be practiced and learned, but once you do, it’s a joy in itself."

"I've been with a couple of failed startups. It's hard to move past a career failure. It can affect your confidence and your motivation.  All you can do is move on: make a plan, and move forward.  Don’t let one moment affect your big picture plans.  Chase your own curiosity and your own growth, and you never know where you’ll end up."

Part 2
Lauren Herwehe
globetrotter & geo student

Part 3
Mike Colosimo
geo business starter

Part 4
Sam Zuhlke
geo educator

"I was about to give a software demo in front of everyone important in my field.  I began with a long intro about how, unlike other tools...mine actually worked.  Awkward silence filled the room as my computer crashed on the first screen.  We all waited patiently for my computer to restart, then it crashed AGAIN!  The demo never worked."

"Deciding to become an academic.  I came from a community where being an academic was like being an alien.  Growing up, I didn't see it as a possible future for me since I didn't have any tangible examples of success. I was inspired to pursue a PhD while getting my Masters Degree at Penn State."

The same is true for your geo-journey.  It's a lot less intimidating if you have access to advice and friendly faces from the geo-community. 

Introducing...GeoPivot Magazine.  

Join our crew, where we laugh at snafus, share personal stories, and meet up with other job-seeking geo-peeps.

Sometimes you have to JUMP OUT of your comfort zone to move forward!  Read on to find out how you can get started today:

A while ago, I was hired to be a GIS intern for a research institute run by a big university. I was excited about the opportunity to work on a bunch of different projects with a bunch of different people of varying expertise. I started my job in the winter, just after the Christmas holiday, and I arrived nicely dressed in brand new clothes, ready to take on some new challenges. 

My first assignment? Take down the Christmas decorations. Shortly after that, I was recruited to move a bunch of furniture and dusty old boxes from an office on the first floor to an office on the second floor using a tiny freight elevator. So much for the nice new clothes!

-Annonymous

Urvashi Banerjea, Undergrad Student.