Podcast appearances and mentions of april well

April Wang, a second-year student studying physics and integrated science, hosts the “Weinberg in the World” podcast and interviews Mike Forman, a 2012 Northwestern graduate and senior managing director at Blackstone. Mike shares how his studies in MMSS and economics, along with his involvement in a fraternity and the Kellogg Certificate Program, were formative experiences. He discusses how these experiences, along with internships and networking, led him to a career in finance and his current role at Blackstone. Transcript: April: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is April and I am your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I'm a second-year student studying physics and integrated science, and I'm looking forward to learning more about our guest's career. Today I'm excited to be speaking with Mike Forman, who graduated from Northwestern in 2012 and is now senior managing director at Blackstone. Thank you, Mike, for taking the time to speak with me today. Mike Forman: Thank you so much for having me, April. Northwestern is a near-and-dear place to my heart, so I'm excited to chat with you. April: Excellent. To start us off today, I'm wondering if you could tell us more about your time at Northwestern as an undergrad. What did you study, and what were some impactful experiences for you that led to your current career path? Mike Forman: Yeah, yeah. Good question. I went to Northwestern from 2008 to 2012. I majored in MMSS and economics, and I also did the Kellogg Certificate Program. I was in a fraternity and made a bunch of lifelong friends who I'm still very close to today, so those were super impactful and formative. I would say MMSS definitely was the hardest academic experience I ever had. I think I learned a bunch of things from that. First of all, it was hard but it was also incredibly rewarding. I think maybe another reminder or one of the better lessons I've learned along the way of most things that were really difficult that I went through, I looked back on fondly and are pretty formative experiences that help you become who you are. That was definitely the case with MMSS. It gave me a really interesting framework to interpret the world. What else was impactful experiences? Well, hugely impactful in terms of how I ended up on my career path. I went to Northwestern, and I knew I wanted to work in business after school. But it was that vague, in terms of what I ... That was as crystallized as the idea was in my mind. I went to school, and some friends and friends of friends, I started to appreciate a number of the people who felt like were thoughtful and focused on the career they were going to have after school, started to see what they were interested in and what they were doing. A number of those people were going into either finance or consulting. That got me just interested in the finance world and investing, understanding what they did, they gave me a bunch of books to read, things like that. I ended up doing two internships my sophomore year for a prop trading firm in Chicago and also UBS. Then my junior year, I was planning on going into investment banking because that's what I think a lot of, I don't know, the people I respected and looked up, that's what they were going and doing after school. I think I was looking on it, it was called Career CAD at the time, which was Northwestern, where you used to find jobs, whatever. April: Okay. Mike Forman: I don't know what it's called today. I saw a posting for a job at Blackstone as an intern in their real estate group. I actually remembered one of my friends, he was a couple of years older than me who was also in the same fraternity as me, or had been, was working at Blackstone. Oh, I'll give him a call. I called my friend Dave Levine. I was like, "Hey, do you like your job? Do you think I would like your job?" He laughed and he was like, "Yeah, I think you would. You should apply." I had this vision in my mind of going and working in investment banking and this opportunity popped up with Blackstone, which is a real estate private equity role. I ended up interviewing, getting a job offer. I wasn't specifically interested in real estate, but I felt like everyone I had met really enjoyed what they were doing. They were super active, getting things done. They were good people. I decided to try it out. I was an intern in 2011. Then I ended up joining full-time since 2012. Actually, I've been here since I graduated, so I've been here for almost 13 years now. That was not exactly my plan coming out of school, but it's been a really fun adventure. It's changed a lot over time, too. April: Yeah. It's really tricky to figure out what you want to do, especially in college, but I'm glad it worked out. Mike Forman: Totally. April: Yeah. Mike Forman: Totally. April: Then you spoke a little bit about some of your biggest challenges turning out to be the most rewarding, which I think leads well into the next question. Which is what are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your current job? Mike Forman: I'll start with maybe some of the most rewarding aspects, and maybe I'll tie it back to some of the challenging equals rewarding later. I would say the most fun part of my job, and this organization, and the people we get to work with both inside and outside of Blackstone are getting to work with really talented, smart, hard-working, but also kind and considerate people. That's why I'm still here I think and that's pretty special. That's the most rewarding aspect, call it the people element or the human element. Besides that, look, I think investing is super fun. It's a combination of, I don't know, treasure hunting and building things. It definitely scratches my curiosity itch. I love to learn, I love to read about new things, trying to understand and form a view around where the world is going. Investing definitely, definitely scratches that itch. I've always loved technology, so my career, what I focused on has evolved a little bit over time. I now oversee our digital infrastructure investing around the world on behalf of our real estate business. We're building a bunch of really large data center businesses. By getting to focus on technology and really understand it deeply is fascinating and super fun. It feels like we're building the future, building the brain if you will. Dynamics have changed a ton. Okay, let's tie it back to the challenging part. I think one thing I came to appreciate working here is to be excellent is hard. Even if you're smart and capable, and whatever, you also just have to try really hard. Not just for a year or two, for many years. That is, I don't know, just getting a little bit tougher almost. And actually embracing that and leaning into it, maybe that's the most challenging aspect is just the hard work it takes to do a good job. But it's also something I really love about this place. I feel like there's a lot of people around me, they're smart, kind people, like I said, but they also work super hard. It's invigorating but it's not easy. April: That's great. Yeah, I totally agree with that. Speaking of challenging aspects of your job, how well did college prepare you for those aspects and for your career in general? What would you say was the most important skill or lesson that you learned from undergrad? Mike Forman: I would say the most important lesson, it was the toolkit. It was learning how to learn. I guess I've come to appreciate why a liberal arts education is amazing more as time has gone on. It's funny. I told you I wanted to go into business. At a certain part I was like, "Oh, I should go to a business school," undergrad. I'm so glad I didn't because I've been in business school since I graduated in a way. I'm really happy that I had the opportunity during college to, yes, take some economics class. But also, classes like game theory and strategic interaction, a framework to think about strategic interactions. And also, classes like Russian literature that are philosophy and pull your brain in a different direction, and give you a totally different lens to look at and think about the world. I think really, just the skillset, the tools to learn, that was a really important one. Then the second one is, I would say when I first went to Northwestern ... I would say before I went to college, I had a bad habit of procrastinating. April: Me, too. Mike Forman: Which I'm sure everyone can relate to a bit. But I realized that if I wanted to do well in school, and have a social life, and be able to do a bunch of other things, I needed to get organized and not procrastinate, and make the best use of time. That was a really important skill that I learned in undergrad that I'm appreciative I got a little bit of a wake-up call there almost to really be efficient and figure out how to make the most of my minutes. April: Yeah, definitely. That Russian literature class you mentioned, it's actually still really popular here. I've heard a couple people that are in it and they really enjoy it still. Mike Forman: Oh, it's incredible. April: That's really interesting. Yeah. Mike Forman: It's incredible. It's one of my favorite classes I ever took in school. April: What was the biggest adjustment that you had to make going from college to industry? Mike Forman: It's funny. I guess I just said something similar, but I think time is probably the big one. Making the most of your time. It's funny. I say I went to school and I had to start getting a little bit more organized, not procrastinate, really get my work done, et cetera. At times, it feels like you're almost short on time, I guess especially during finals week or whatever, when you're cramming for whatever's coming up. When you start working, you have a lot less time. I guess with the benefit of hindsight you're like, "Oh wow, I actually had a lot of free time during college." You just have a little bit more time and space, et cetera. That I think really changes and it forces you to make even better use of your minutes. Become more efficient, become more focused. And also, just appreciate the time that you have. For example, I think you have more time just to have fun and go enjoy yourself during school. One thing I appreciate is okay, maybe I'll only go do things with my friends during the weekend or not as often during the week, but I actually really savor them. That's a little bit of, I guess a tweak mentally, that is definitely an adjustment going from college to industry afterwards. I'm trying to think what else? That's probably the biggest. That's probably the biggest. April: Just out of curiosity, what were some of the fun moments you had with your friends or some things that you look back at fondly now? Mike Forman: Oh my God, there's so many. It's funny, I have this video reel playing in my head right now. It was everything from literally first days at school, I made a handful of friends through whatever random adventures we were up to, and a number of those stuck for forever. I still work with some of this people, which is kind of cool. One of my best friends from school who I lived with for a couple years works at Blackstone nowadays, which is pretty cool. I would say everything from we checked out a ton of music, we explored Chicago. We ran all over Northwestern, I don't know, playing Frisbee in the great lawn, or whatever adventures around the lake we got up to. I don't know, there's almost too many to count. But I would say I got to meet and know a number of people, they were both smart and hard-working, but also really interesting and fun. I almost feel like previously in my life, I had to choose one or the other a little bit. I don't know, that was my favorite part of school, probably. April: Definitely. Friends are great. Mike Forman: Yeah, friends are good. April: Yeah. Mike Forman: A lot of good music and food in Chicago too, so that's always nice. April: Yeah. Well, how have you approached that worklife balance, like balancing friends and going out and having fun and then school work? Or now that you're in industry, how are you balancing worklife balance in your career? Mike Forman: Yeah. I guess it comes back to, I feel like I'm talking about time a lot, but just being focused and trying to make the best use of your minutes, that's key. Okay, if you're going to be working, be focused, get it done, do the things that you need to do. But also, I think you need to make space for fun in your life. Working hard is very fun, and also super rewarding and energizing. But also, making time for the other things that you love to do is super nourishing and makes it all really sustainable, and I don't know, ties it all together. For example, I love to surf. Even though I got lots of stuff going on, I've always been able to find a way to fit that into my life, go on cool trips, and get better over time. I love to do yoga and meditate. If you make sure you prioritize and make space for the things that you care about and make you happy, first of all, you can fit them in. But also, if you are happy and you are enjoying yourself, it's infectious. It's the point almost of everything we do. I think you need to prioritize it. By the way, also just spending quality time with family and friends. That's, I don't know, super important. Look, there's this tension. I guess I've come to appreciate hard work is actually pretty cool because as you keep at it, you get more knowledgeable, you get better at it. That's this feedback loop, it's a little bit of a flywheel that's rewarding. If you make no space for the other things that you enjoy and your family and friends, I don't know, what's the point of that? I think you do need to prioritize and make space for it, but then try to keep it all in balance and trying to squeeze the most juice you can out of the time you have I guess is what it all comes down to. I will say, I think that, as you have to make more of the time or as you feel more and more stretch, I do actually feel like you come to appreciate things a little bit more deeply, which is pretty cool. April: Yeah, definitely. Are there any things that you wish you had done more or, or maybe even less of in college? Mike Forman: That's a good question. What do I wish I did more of? I would say, look, what would I tell myself then? I would say this time in school and in academic setting with all these incredible intellectuals, it's like a wide menu of things that you can go to a bunch of subject matter experts to and really learning a ton about. And actually, more time to go be curious and see what interests you, or learn about this thing or that thing. I would say really push yourself and take the hard classes that stretch your brain or that intrigue you. I think sometimes there is a little bit of this tension where it's like, "Okay, I'm going to take these hard classes I have to, and then I have some space here, I'm going to take something that is a little easier." Maybe there's a couple cases I could point to for myself where I was like, "Shoot, I actually wish I took that really hard foundational science class," or whatever, because I'll never take it now. It's actually pretty cool if you have a good, good foundational understanding of some of these topics. By the way, I don't know, I guess personally I wish I took more classes on philosophy. Maybe that was one of the things I loved the most about the Russian literature classes. April: Yeah. Mike Forman: I think it's what interests you, and then really go for it. Don't try and take the easy path, I guess. April: Well, I guess we've talked a lot about your college time and things that you wish you had done differently. What's one specific piece of advice that you would give your past undergraduate self? Mike Forman: I would say ... What advice would I give myself? Look, I guess I've said this already, but really take advantage of a liberal arts education. Do not focus on one thing. By the way, it is such a good opportunity to get this broad understanding of the world, and again, a bunch of different ways to look at it. Really take advantage of that and don't get sucked into a vortex of being like, "Okay, I need to do exactly this thing." Then also, be a little bit flexible in terms of what it is you think you want to do after school. I had a little bit of a sense, but I let the exploration path of trying to find a job shape what it was that I wanted to do a bit. Just be receptive to, I don't know, friends. I don't know, just be receptive to where the process guides you a little bit. The most important thing is what you do and where you do it matters, but who you do it with is so important. Probably more important. Really being excited about the people that you get to work with is totally key longterm. By the way, keep in touch with your friends from Northwestern. I know it's easy, but they go on and do pretty cool things. They've got a lot of really smart people. By the way, it builds on itself over time as their careers go on. Stay in touch with people and understand what they're up to. And by the way, stay in touch with the school. I'm so grateful for the experiences I had at Northwestern and how it set me up for the rest of my life. It's super fun and rewarding to, A, go visit campus. B, spend time with students when I can, understand what's going on at the school. I don't know, I guess that's a couple pieces of advice, but it's what comes off ... April: Yeah, Northwestern has a great alumni network. We get to talk to people like, so that's pretty great. Mike Forman: Oh, it's awesome. Yeah. April: Yeah. Mike Forman: When I was looking for a job for example, Northwestern's alums, they were so helpful. They dropped whatever they were doing and be happy to help and provide advice, et cetera. Then afterwards, there's lots of cool things that I've been able to get involved with over the years. April: What's something that you are looking forward to going forward, now that you're working and out of college? Something exciting? Mike Forman: What's exciting that's coming up? I would say personal life, I got married- April: Congrats. Mike Forman: ... last January. April: Wow! Mike Forman: Thank you. Thank you. It was actually our one-year anniversary yesterday, which was pretty cool to celebrate. April: Oh, wow. That's so fun. Mike Forman: I think that's something that's exciting. Family life I guess, that'll be a fun adventure ahead. That's one area. Then in terms of work, I love getting to spend a ton of time in the technology world and the companies we're getting to build. We've got the largest and fastest-growing data center platform around the world, which is an awesome opportunity to learn, to build, and to get to work with some super fascinating people. I'm really excited for what's in store for this year, and getting to travel around the world and learn a ton about different markets, different cultures, all that good stuff. I've always loved to travel. Traveling in a work context, sometimes it can be a little intense and the timezone changes are tricky. What a cool way to understand other cultures and get a true experience. When you go and visit somewhere as a tourist, you check out the sights, try the restaurants, which is awesome. But that's not really what people who live there do every day. They go to work and do things. It's a pretty cool and authentic way to get a taste for different places around the world. April: What are some of your favorite places that you visited? Mike Forman: Last year, I got to spend a bunch of time in Tokyo and Australia, which were both incredible places. Totally different, but both pretty incredible and really fun to visit. Those were up there. I always love going to California. April: Yeah. Mike Forman: I'd say Europe as well, there's a bunch of pretty cool ... There's so much history and the cities are beautiful, and a little bit cleaner than New York which is nice, too. April: That's pretty exciting, getting to travel. That's fun. Mike Forman: Yeah, it's super fun. It's awesome. April: Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you so much for talking with us, and for sharing your advice and your experience in undergrad. Yeah, just thank you for joining us today. Mike Forman: Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me and be well. April: Of course. Okay, thank you for listening to this special episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast. We hope you have a great day, and go Cats! Mike Forman: Go Cats. Bye-bye.

Borderline Podcast! Four friends who have no idea what they are doing, but are having fun doing it. Join us for this week's episode where special guest Carlos helps the gang find the greatest videogame of all time. Email us @ Borderlinecast@Gmail.com, Follow us on Twitter @Borderline_Pod, and Instagram @Borderline664

How many people have you met in your life? Try to count them. Start with your parents, then your brothers and sisters, your neighbors, your friends. Add up those you know from school, church, vacations, and so on. What number are you up to? Are you over a hun­dred yet?You will meet even more people as you get older, go to different schools, play differ­ent sports, move to different houses, and do different jobs. You are going to meet so many people that eventually you will not be able to count them all or remember them all!There are probably other people you would love to meet but they probably don’t want to meet you. Maybe it’s an athlete you admire, or a singer, or a politician. You think about them and hope one day to meet them, but they don’t know you and therefore don’t want to meet you.But there is one person you must meet more than anyone else. And this person wants to meet with you too. And if you meet him, you will never forget him. His name is Jesus, and I want you to meet him because he is the most awesome person you can ever meet.I really, really want you to meet with Jesus. That’s why I wrote a book for kids called Meeting with Jesus. It’s going to be published at the end of April 2020, but I thought I’d tell you a bit about it first and hopefully you’ll join me in meeting with Jesus.But how do we meet with Jesus? Where do we meet with Jesus? We meet with Jesus by reading the Bible.“But the Bible’s a tough book,” you might say, “It’s hard to read and understand.”That’s why I wrote this book, called Meeting with Jesus, to help you read the Bible, understand it, and so meet with Jesus. Wouldn’t that be a great way to use the lockdown we’re all living through? We may not be able to meet with our friends, but quarantine can’t stop us meeting with Jesus.So, here’s what I’m suggesting. Ask your Mom or Dad to get you the book, Meeting with Jesus. Over a number of weeks, it will take you through the whole life of Jesus – his birth, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection – with short daily readings of just a few verses of the Bible a day. There’s also a brief question to answer each day. And maybe each day after breakfast, lunch, or supper, you can play the podcast together and hopefully not just you but the whole family can meet with Jesus.So, what will we do until the book comes out at the end of April? Well, over the next couple of weeks on the Living the Bible podcast, I’ll be introducing you to Jesus and how to meet with him. I’ll answer questions such as “Who is Jesus?” “Why do we need to meet with Jesus?” “How do I know if I met with Jesus?” and so on. Then we’ll be ready to start the book at the end of April/beginning of May. Sound good?One other thing, what age do you have to be? Well, you need to be able to write a little each day, so probably six or seven is a good starting age. But it’s good for kids up to, say, age twelve as well. If you’re younger than that, you probably can’t use the book, but you can still meet with Jesus through listening to this podcast.And if you’re much older than 12, maybe in your twenties or thirties, or even sixties or seventies, remember you’re never too old to meet with Jesus and I hope this daily podcast will help you to do just that.I look forward to meeting Jesus with you in Meeting with Jesus.

This week we do some sweet talking, as the guys debate on what's the best Halloween candy. Why are we discussing Halloween candy in April? Well it has to do with Jeff defending the honor of Peeps. We also discuss how to make this quarintine more exciting with your significant other. And one of the ways, is with the game we end with! Topic Timestamps: 3:00 - Going Live on IG and Twitch 13:30 - Peeps and Candy 35:30 - Quarantine Creativity 50:00 - Stay The F*** Inside Podcast Promo: Microphones and Monsters (https://microphonesandmonsters.com/) We are proud to offer all of our listeners 20% off everything at www.manscaped.com if you use promo code 'TGOT' at checkout. Use our comment section @ https://tgot.webflow.io and connect with us on: Twitter - www.twitter.com/TGOTpodcast Facebook - www.facebook.com/TGOTpodcast Instagram - www.instagram.com/TGOTpodcast Discord - www.discord.gg/5PN3kNz Patreon- https://www.patreon.com/TGOTpodcast/ Review this episode on Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/those-guys-over-there-794442/episodes/episode-61-not-smooth-enough-t-57678245

Don’t miss a single moment of our 2020 episodes — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!In two weeks, we’re reading one of Sarah’s picks, Lorraine Heath’s Waking Up With the Duke, which was a tough choice because Lorraine is amazing and Sarah wants you to read all of her books. Read Waking Up With the Duke at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.Show NotesJen's disappointed with the iHeartRadio Podscast awards. It's an honor just to be nominated, and that didn't even happen! For your consideration: Best Pop Culture Podcast and Best Fiction Podcast! Come on! Literary Disco wasn't even nominated!Everyone loved The Pegging episode! Jen found this really interesting article too late for those show notes, but why not drop them here? We don't really think that we jumped the shark. Oh, and any chance to drop the "smashing from the back" rap.The 20 minutes Eric cut were about RWA. So just read Jen's article for Kirkus instead. Just kidding. We don't really need D & O insurance. Do we? Either way, Eric should stop harshing our dream mellow.Scotty vs. Scottie.Our Kristen Callihan origin stories: Sarah recommends Evernight in the Darkest London series, but Jen can't help but think of Tony Stark. Jen wrote about Kristen's book The Hook Up in the Who Did it Better in the Library post.Slumpbusters from this week: The Player and Sweet Ruin for Sarah, and two Sophie Jordan books, While the Duke was Sleeping and The Scandal of it All, for Jen. And the shipbuilder book by Holley Trent is called Lowdown Dirty.If you're trying to find the sex scenes in books, Jenny Nordbak from the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast has the sure-fire keyword search word: thrust.The kind of super fancy first class where the seats turn into beds looks pretty great. Recently, we saw this happen in the movie Crazy Rich Asians.Unbuttoning a glove is a huge romantic moment in Lord of Scoundrels and The Age of Innocence.In case you have to travel with a rock band on a bus, the internet provides useful tips, of course! Jen loves this famous tour bus scene from the movie Almost Famous. Also, read Daisy Jones and the Six, which uses interview format to tell the story of the rise and fall of a 70s rock band.Our Rock Star Romance interstitial was our very first interstitial. It's 20 minutes long, and you can listen to it here.Revision is everything, but it is also very hard.Interested in more slow burn romances? Goodreads has you covered.Kerrelyn Sparks is the one who told Sarah romance is like a football game.If you're worried you have an STI like Chlamydia, please see a doctor. Also, if you have kids, make sure they get the HPV vaccination.Being a professional friend is a real job.More about the A in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.If you're ever in Chicago, you should go to the dining room of the Chicago Athletic Association, check out the trophies, and play some bocce ball.Looking to hang out with us in April? We'll be at KissCon and Spring Fling.Buy buttons and stickers from Kelly and t-shirts from Jordan.Next up, Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath, a book that blooded Sarah.

The Snack Size edition of Eat! Drink! Smoke! this week asks the question that everyone has asked eachother in the wake of the testimony and confirmation hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh: Have You Ever Been Black-Out Drunk? Tony Katz speaks with Fingers Malloy and April D. Gregory about the question that gripped America. For the record - Tony was a no. Fingers and April? Well......

Courtney talks with Jeff Poulin, Arts Education Program Manager at Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading organization for the advancement of the arts and arts education. Remember the Face to Face conference back in April? Well, Courtney captured some fascinating conversations with a few people there all about Teaching Artistry. #ArtsEdWeek would be a great time to showcase these conversations with Spencer Townley-Lott, Christopher Totten and WT McRae. Listen now!