Category: The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 16: August 17, 2020 – August 21, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Learn to negotiate. Prices are always negotiable in a proposal, unless otherwise stated. Think like an entrepreneur and learn to haggle. The given price is never the final price; likewise this is more of a “flea market environment” than a retail store like Walmart.

My employer was offered a $400,000 proposal from a company looking to partner with us and provide educational materials and resources but the sticker shock is way out of our price range. I also connected with this company through a friend who works for them and my employer had been searching for an educational organization like them.

I suggested to our founder that we should ask the price for just the courses and nothing else (the company was offering a bunch of other things such as digital marketing services and career guidance to name a few, things that we didn’t need). Doing so would drive their asking price way down.

Our founder happily accepted my idea and thought it was an excellent idea. Right now, dialogue between us and the other organization will continue until we get an affordable price for the courses.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
Hurricane season has been interesting this year. Last week, the Fujiwhara effect had been trending on the news because it explains the weird phenomenon that the Gulf of Mexico is currently experiencing.

Two tropical storms (potential hurricanes) have formed simultaneously, one in the Gulf and the other in the Atlantic heading its way to the Gulf, and it can go in one of three ways; dance around each other, absorb into one large storm, or repel each other and then dissipate.

The Fujiwhara effect is a rare event but can cause devastating damage if it morphs into a huge hurricane.

With that said, anybody got double hurricanes on their 2🌀2🌀 bingo card?

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I managed to save an important negotiation deal and keep dialogue going between my employer and a potential partner organization.

Long story short, without blaming any coworkers, I talked over the phone with the founder that I’m working closely with and asked for his opinions on whether or not we should continue negotiating the proposal that was given to us.

He agreed with my idea of splitting up the proposal and taking only what we need, thus making it easier to negotiate for a lower price. Previously, our project manager made a decision, without our founder’s opinion, to reject the proposal and save it for later when our budget was more established.

I act as an ambassador between my employer and the potential partner since they are my connection. Likewise, my friend who works for them is also in a similar role so we discussed over the phone several times about my founder’s decisions and how we want to proceed. I’m happy to say that they’re more than happy to work out a deal.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m currently working on a marketing plan with my business partner. So far we’ve hit a roadblock in terms of not knowing our exact launch date or any set deadlines because we’re relying on our tech guy to finish building our website and the necessary platforms that will be included.

The tricky thing about marketing plans, at least at my BP, is that we can’t market or “sell” anything once we have a product available. Our hands are tied for the most part and people can only wait so long before they either grow impatient or forget about us.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m staying on the lookout for ways to create value for my BP by offering my suggestions on things like our product offerings based on my market research.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 15: August 10, 2020 – August 14, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Last week I learned a new tool that resulted from a rather confusing exchange between my coworker and I, with me trying to figure out what my coworker meant by “rolling up a tweet.”

The tool in question, the Thread Reader App, has been around for awhile but it’s news to me and I think it’s a useful service if you’re looking to catalog threads of tweets.

Thread Reader App serves the purpose of stitching together tweets from a single thread into a long uninterrupted page. Check them out here.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
Pro tip: if you’re into gardening and in search of fertilizer that’s effective and won’t burn your plants, use rabbit droppings.

The great advantages of rabbit manure is that it doesn’t smell, it’s rich in nitrogen and phosphorous (key ingredients in commercial fertilizers), and you don’t need to process it or wait for it to breakdown before using it. Bunnies also produce a lot of poop too. Like literally a sh–t ton.

If you’ve never seen bunny droppings it looks like hard round pellets which means the mess is minimal.

This article explains the benefits of using rabbit manure.

Maybe this is a good excuse to convince my parents in letting me adopt a bunny since they’re into gardening.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I finalized all preparations for the seminar that I helped saved from getting canceled by the pandemic. The venue I helped to book has been accommodating and we’re about to send our final payments next week.

But it was the post event social venue that proved difficult to find, again due to social distancing mandates.

After a month of searching, I finally found a restaurant that was willing to go out of their way to serve a party of 50 people, and it was less than 10 minutes away from the venue.

Persistence pays off and Google maps was my best friend when it came to searching for event venues.

It also helps to frame the way you ask a question about a restaurant’s capacity. Instead of asking, “Can you accommodate a party of 50?” try asking “Can you accommodate five parties with ten people each?” Doing so will increase your chances of not getting rejected. Also, talk directly to the manager since they call the shots and will give you accurate information.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m currently drawing up a marketing plan that will be later unveiled at an event that my BP is hosting for their donors. I can’t give too much details about the plan I’m creating but I’m using the OGSM process.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
Don’t be afraid to speak your mind during meetings even if you think your ideas are dumb. It’s best to be actively participating than contributing nothing to a conversation.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 14: August 3, 2020 – August 7, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
The best way to promote a new nonprofit is to dip into your network and reach out to individuals, that have at least a few thousand followers, and have them tweet about your organization.

It’s a free and efficient way to advertise and you know you can trust the individuals to not sabotage your organization before it gets off the ground (cancel culture is all too prevalent, unfortunately).

Basically, the underlying principle here is use your audience to build audience. Find the micro-influencers within your network that you know are passionate about the industry you’re in, then create a social media posts kit along with directions on which keywords to say, and send it over to them in a Dropbox or Drive folder. Also, schedule how often they should post.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
A friend of mine is a security guard for NASA at Cape Canaveral, Florida and he has federal power to arrest people but only on NASA property.

However, that’s not the most interesting fact I learned last week. According to my friend who relayed this info to me from other NASA security guards, the decommissioned Launch Complex 34 is haunted by the ghosts of Apollo 1 astronauts. Visitors and security guards have reported hearing bone-chilling screams and an ominous sense of fear.

Apollo 1 was supposed to be the first crewed mission to the moon but in January 27, 1967 a disastrous rehearsal test never launched astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee off the ground.

This photo of the three astronauts was taken in 1966 about half a year before their rehearsal test. The men sent this photo to their manager, Joseph Shea, as a lighthearted way to raise concerns about their spacecraft. But sadly, the astronauts’ concerns and the inability to make changes would be ignored by the pride of their superiors meeting deadlines and the endless bureaucracy within NASA.

It eerily foreshadowed their worst fears about the Apollo 1 capsule; it was full of highly flammable materials such as velcro, nylon netting, and pure oxygen, all of which were factors in the deadly fire that claimed their lives.

The fire was likely caused by faulty wiring or plumbing that sparked a flame which was quickly exacerbated by the pure oxygen pumped into the astronauts’ suits. It happened all too quickly, preventing the ground crew from saving them in time.

Today, a memorial stands where the disaster took place and you can tour the Apollo 1 launchpad and pay your respects at Kennedy Space Center.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I took the initiative and invited my coworker onto a Zoom call with me to discuss a marketing plan. It turns out he only specializes in paid ads and graphic design for social media but has a knowledge gap in making social media work. This is where I’ll step in and take over. Additionally, I’m creating a marketing plan using the OGSM process.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m working on a marketing plan and finishing the first stage of the plan before we launch our new nonprofit in less than three months.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m not as shy in reaching out to contacts within my network for help.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 13: July 27, 2020 – July 31, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
My coworker came up with the most beautiful metaphors to describe the entrepreneurial discovery process. We are experimenting with ways to accurately illustrate how an entrepreneur creates a business and describe it in a beautiful manner.

The first metaphor he provided for the team’s review was the Musical Composition; the entrepreneur acts like a composer and their opus is their business, with an audience who is their customer.

The second metaphor is Storytelling; the entrepreneur takes the role of a storyteller who plans out the course of a story and how it ends.

The last metaphor, and my favorite one, The Journey; the entrepreneur is like an astronaut exploring new frontiers and learns to adapt to changes in their voyage. Likewise, a business will adapt accordingly when a wrench is thrown into their plans, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
I have a confession to make. I absolutely hate spiders and I’m currently quarantining (I’m healthy, I just got back from a seminar that I had to attend for work and there were over 50 people) in a 110 year old house that is full of them. Big ones the size of my hand and I kid you not I saw one whose body alone was half the size of my palm.

Shelob the spider demon lives outside my bedroom window. Try that for nightmare fuel.

But I learned a cool and reassuring fact about cats. They eat spiders! Here’s a short article about it. I love cats even more now and I’m seriously thinking of getting one to ease my arachnophobia.

However, it’s important to note that certain venomous spiders can be dangerous and some cats are allergic to spider bites.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I finally finished transcribing all of my marketing research into my Google document. Additionally, I created a list, of 20 questions to ask a mentor, for my coworker who is planning to interview a top mentor from SCORE Austin.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’ll be embarking on a new project and start a marketing plan for our new nonprofit, which will be unveiled publicly this coming October.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m asking for help without feeling afraid and this week I’ll ask for feedback from my coworker about my work.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 12: July 20, 2020 – July 24, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Last week I spent most of my time on a new side project which was about event planning for a seminar. This was my first time planning for an event and I started out by looking for a different venue because the original venue canceled on my employer due to COVID-19.

My first step was to ask my employer what their criteria was for this one-day seminar and then create a checklist for the venue. Basically, I asked for the number of attendees, catering options, social hour preferences, the number of hours we’ll need to rent, equipment for the speakers, and parking space accommodations for 50 plus people.

I then created a spreadsheet with a list of viable venues and restaurants (for the social hour).

This side project took more urgency than my main marketing project because the seminar is in a month and we were left scrambling to find the right place for a smaller crowd. I’m still trying to find a restaurant but it’s been difficult because of COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
I started the carnivore diet and it’s the first diet I’ve tried in my life. My goal is to not lose weight, I’m around 115-118 pounds so obviously I don’t need to lose weight and if anything I’m trying to gain pounds. I’ve heard so many great things about the carnivore diet like improved mood and staving off depression, reversing diabetes, and curing auto-immune diseases.

So if I’m not looking to lose weight then what do I hope to gain?

My main reason is to hopefully cure this rash-like blister that flares up on my lips, which starts from the edges of my lower lip and in the middle of my upper lip. I’ve suffered from this condition for over ten years and I have no idea what it’s called and I’ve been to doctors and dermatologists who couldn’t give me answers, the closest condition I’ve found that resembles mine is angular cheilitis.

If I let it get bad, my lips will produce this watery substance that oozes out of my pores and it dries into this gross yellowish crusty layer. It makes my lips hard, itchy, and chapped, and if I peel it more of that gross watery substance will ooze out. It also made me feel self-conscious because people noticed how gross my lips looked.

Every time I apply any type of lip balm it’ll only make it worse and make it more irritated. Nowadays, whenever I apply cheap lip balms and sometimes certain lipglosses or other lip products, I start to feel flare ups starting with the swelling of the edge of my lips. I guess it’s made me more sensitive to cheap products you find in grocery stores. So now, after years of experimenting, I finally found the right lip balm that won’t make me flare up and it’s from the Sephora collection.

I’m not entirely sure of the causes for my condition but I’m guessing it has to do with high cortisol, which correlates to high stress. But recently, about three years ago I discovered a treatment to manage it and it’s called hydrocortisone cream.

I bought the cream for about a dollar from Walmart out of desperation and not knowing if it’ll work, and after numerous experimenting with various other over the counter and prescription creams. To my surprise it worked, and kept the rash/blister at bay, for a while. If I stopped applying it once a day, my lips would start to flare up.

It wasn’t until two years ago I discovered another simple treatment to prevent the flare ups. Water. Yes, drinking enough water prevented that whole mess. Aqua est vita indeed.

So how does this relate to the carnivore diet? So far, after a week, my lips have not flared up once and I’m so happy I could cry tears of joy knowing that my cure was simply a nutritional and hydration deficiency. I’m not sure if it was the increased protein or fat intake but whatever it was, eating more meat saved me from a lifetime of suffering.

Nutrition really is everything, folks.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I made valuable networking connections and in fact it was with a connection I made last year when I was at my previous apprenticeship. My friend who works part time for the Blockchain Center in Miami, emailed me about the courses they offered and later called me to see if my organization would partner with them.

I introduced my coworker who is head of the project with Scott Spiegel of the Blockchain Center and they will coordinate a time to hop on a video meeting to discuss how Scott can create a course for our platform.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m finishing up the market research I conducted and completed all the needed interviews. Soon I’ll start a marketing plan that will be presented in October this year.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
Be kind and apologize. Always own up to your mistakes.

Weekly Monday Workshop:

What Praxis Monday session did you attend last week (ie. what was the topic & who was the guest)?
LinkedIn with Patrick Downs of PandaDoc.

What was your favorite highlight from the session?
I appreciated the step-by-step guide he provided in his slides.

What was your biggest takeaway from that session?

LinkedIn’s algorithm is slightly easier to break compared to Facebook.

Step 1: Build a profile
– Get a professional headshot
– Upload a cover photo of your personal brand or company you work for
– Create a unique and personalized tag line, e.g. I help sales team ditch documents. I help x do y.
– Add your fun personality

Step 2: Posting Behavior
– Post 3-5x a week
– Follow a scheduling formula
– Infuse your personality
-Hashtags, but not too many. Check for the most active ones for your audience.
– Comment on every comment but over several days to reengage your post.
– Medium sized word posts work best. This means no links on the post nor photos. Just text.

Step 3: Follow the right people
– Follow people respective to your interests and niche

Step 4: Comment habitually
– Comment 3-5x daily minimum. Be thoughtful and add personality
-Post ASAP on influencers’ pages
– Don’t post useless thoughts unless it’s meaningful

You can view the slides here.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 11: July 13, 2020 – July 17, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
I’m officially one of two people in the entire organization who knows how to run the bookstore POS (Point of Sale) system. And I learned it all in one day but there was still a few things I needed help on like processing special discounts. Not bad for a one time crash course.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
Fun fact: rabbits can’t vomit which explains why they have such delicate digestive systems.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
In addition to learning the bookstore POS system, the value I provided was freeing up my coworkers time so he could fulfill more bookstore orders. I also had a meeting with my boss and coworker about my market research updates and my future role within the company.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m finishing up my research project for figuring out the core target of the organization. Then I’ll be taking ownership of the new marketing plan.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
Taking the initiative and doing grunt work without complaint.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 10: July 6, 2020 – July 10, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
I’m continuing to conduct interviews with entrepreneurial dreamers and experienced entrepreneurs for my market research study. One of the common themes I’ve found among entrepreneurial dreamers was the uncertainty about how to start a business. Many expressed their concerns and to them it felt like entrepreneurship is a nebulous and confusing concept to bring into fruition.

A few of the entrepreneurial dreamers said a program (courses) that is formatted like a roadmap would help them tremendously. So something similar to Salesforce Trailhead would give them the means to learn how to lay the framework and foundation of their future business instead of wasting countless hours and energy on gathering resources from the right people.

I explained this hurdle to an experienced entrepreneur I also interviewed and he said these three basic steps that he came up with helped him launch his own business:

1. Identify the problem in the market, which means figure out what people complain about the most, then come up with a solution.
   
2. Draw a customer → solution “map.” Make bullet points about who is your customer in one column and do the same for your solution in another column. The arrow in the customer → solution “map” represents your marketing plan and this can be figured out using your basic marketing tools like SEO, social media insights, social media engagement, trade shows, ads, vlogs, etc. It’s imperative that you are as specific as possible about who is your customer because otherwise you might accidentally target the wrong people (or have no clue who to target) and end up wasting thousands on product development then realizing nobody wants it.
   
3. Find your first group of customers. This group will be the early adopters of your product. Step 3 also ties into step 2. The point is to figure out your marketing plan because marketing comes before anything else in a future business including product development, sales, operations, and customer success.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
The best way to increase your likelihood of getting accepted into grad school is by creating value. A grad student explained to me his experience with grad school and the factors that would significantly make applicants stand out among the thousands of applications professors sort through.

What I find fascinating is the fact that there’s a common theme I’m seeing pop up in my entrepreneurship program, Discover Praxis, and other places like going on a job hunt. But I was surprised to see the same principle be applied to academia since they have a reputation of being detached from the real world.

Even academia is admitting that applications and credentials alone don’t make you stand out. More creative solutions must be done to fast track your way into grad school since the old ways are slow and efficient.

My grad school acquaintance recommends doing the following to avoid getting your application in the discard pile, where many hopeful students end up.

1. Email the professor you wish to study under and introduce yourself and bring up a specific paper he/she published that you genuinely want to explore more on behalf of the professor. Then ask if he/she has the time for a 30 minute Zoom call (schedule 15 minutes if the professor is pressed for time), so you can get a feel for each other’s personality and if you would be the right fit. This is the time to ask questions about their needs and hurdles they’re facing. Keep in mind, be genuinely interested and passionate about this professor’s research.
   
2. Managing up your professor. Time is very valuable and hard to find for busy professors. Find ways to alleviate their stress especially around exam time. Grad school professors want their ideas to be heard and respected more by their peers and it’s the reason why they write countless papers but many don’t go back to correct mistakes or logical inconsistencies in them. Choose one of their unique ideas that hasn’t been widely explored and ask if you could explore more of it in your thesis, or offer to edit their existing papers.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I interviewed a young and experienced entrepreneur who also happened to be a friend of mine. He has given valuable insight into the minds of millennial entrepreneurs and what sort of solutions they need.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
Market research about future and current entrepreneurs and their wants and needs. I’m still conducting research interviews and waiting for participants to reply back. The interviews are easy to conduct since I record them on Zoom and I come prepared with a list of questions. Most of the time I treat it like a conversation between friends.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
Be friendly, supportive, and finding the silver lining. I think my coworkers and boss appreciate having hopeful and positive thinking people around them since their profession is centered around the dismal science.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit (my position is subject to change depending on the needs of my employer). At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 9: June 29, 2020 – July 3, 2020

TL;DR Interesting tidbits about what my market research uncovered and true facts about pelicans.

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Last week I started interviewing candidates for a marketing research study and discovered several cool things.

Twitter is a surprising and excellent source to find mentors despite its notorious reputation for being one of the most toxic social media platforms.

Think about it, Twitter has produced mini cults of personality and not just bad ones either but inspiring entrepreneurs and well-read academics. It’s not just a platform for who can screech the loudest about their polarizing politics.

The key to turning Twitter into an intellectual and networking platform, like LinkedIn, is quite simple. Tailor and filter who you follow, meaning it’s time to unfollow those who don’t contribute to your growth and start following accounts that are actively giving advice or contributing constructively in some way.

I’m sorry to say that overconsumption of memes won’t do you much favor, it’s like eating too much junk food.

This new feed could be spiritual guidance, learning new recipes, learning your favorite academic subject from top professors around the world, etc.

If you’re looking for a business mentor or someone you want to model yourself after, find someone and don’t be afraid to reach out to them. Ask, “I’m in X situation/position, how do I get to where you are and what advice would you give me?”

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
I’m not sure if this would qualify as a cool thing but it’s rather terrifying and downright freaky.

Get some eye-bleach ready because if I had to see it so do you. It would be rather selfish of me to keep this knowledge to myself.

I came across this post, on Instagram, of a shoebill and pelicans seemingly vomiting their spines to cool themselves. You’re welcome.

View this post on Instagram

😱 Follow @birbsplace for daily funny birb. . . . . . . . #Birb #birbmeme #birbmemes #funnymemes #funnyvideos #funny #cute #memes #meme #love #instamood #happy #photooftheday #fun #birdsofig #birdsofinstagram #birdstagram #birdlovers #instabirds #parrotsofinstagram #instaparrots #cuteanimal #cockatiels #bird #birdmemes #birdmeme #cockatiel #parrotlovers #birdlovers #birds #parrotslover

A post shared by Mr Birb (@birbsplace) on Jun 30, 2020 at 3:53am PDT

But wait! This isn’t entirely true. These birds are actually yawning, not cooling themselves off.

This article from IFL Science! debunked the meme shown above.

“What these images are actually showing are some, still very freaky, yawns that force the birds’ lower, soft-tissue beak over their neck, giving the appearance of a spine due to the flesh color of the inner beak. Sometimes pelicans will also stretch their heads up and seemingly push their skulls through the same part of the beak.” 

Rachel Funnel, writer for IFL Science!

I fact checked the scientist, Dr. Dani Rabaiotti, that the writer sourced and it checks out. Here is a video of a yawning pelican in action.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I’m continuing to make progress on my marketing research project by reaching out to experienced and inexperienced entrepreneurs. The purpose of the research is to hear their journey, needs, and how they became successful.

After each interview, I recorded my results into my work document that’s shared with my team.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
Marketing research and finding out the motivations, inspirations, needs, and wants of our core target.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m brainstorming ways to create value for my coworkers by talking to my Discover Praxis network and letting ideas simmer.

This will be a continuous self-improvement process, one that I recommend you try. Talk to people smarter than you and let their ideas sink into your brain. This helps form new ideas and can solve hurdles you’re facing at work. It also puts you into a creation mindset and with enough practice you can become a one-person idea machine that’s valuable to your peers.

Basically, this concept is similar to rubber duck debugging. It’s a process that programmers are familiar with when faced with a creative block. Programmers use a rubber ducky as a sounding board.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 8: June 22, 2020 – June 26, 2020

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:

I learned about consent forms with professional market researcher, Isabel Aneyba.

One of the things I forgot to consider was the privacy concerns of the study subjects. I asked two participants to be in the study but they were hesitant because they were worried about where their information and answers would go since the interview was to be recorded. In particular, the participants were concerned about me selling their data or using their answers against them for political gain.

My reasons for recording the participants was to accurately quote them in the conclusion of my study. I needed a way to remember the responses of all ten participants. Taking notes is one solution but there are times when I’m not able to write fast enough.

I learned from Ms. Isabel how to write a consent form. She suggested to make it personable instead of dry and stiff like those medical forms you fill out at the doctor’s office.

Ms. Isabel suggested incentives like gift cards but I was instructed by my coworker to not give any since we can’t spare the money. I’ll discuss with the team about what incentives we can give to participants, perhaps a free course.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
A friend on Facebook shared this YouTube beauty guru’s heartbreaking struggles with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) that caused her infertility.

RawBeautyKristi, the YouTuber below, struggled with fertility treatments for 15 years and just last week she miraculously became pregnant. In her video, she described how the timing of everything leading up to her pregnancy was too perfect to simply be a mere coincidence; she and her husband just happened to be in the right mood and her body created the right pregnancy environment, and it’s interesting to note that the house they were about to buy, but didn’t, was on a cliff with no fences around to prevent a child from falling.

So how did she become pregnant through natural means? She suspects it might be a low carb diet like keto. She wanted to lose weight through keto and then started getting regular periods. If you know anything about PCOS you know how periods can be unpredictable or altogether nonexistent.

Here’s another interesting observation; RawBeautyKristi tried a different diet years ago and lost more weight but it wasn’t low carb and her periods were still irregular.

Keto is certainly not for everyone and in my opinion it’s overhyped. However, there are plenty of positive outcomes for people who have gone on the diet and have changed their lives for the better. If you struggle with weight loss or infertility you might want to try keto especially if you have nothing to lose.

Speaking of diets, is beef fizz, keto approved? 😳

I don’t know if I should be disgusted or concerned that someone thought it would be a great idea to turn this into a recipe. I wonder how Gordon Ramsay would react to this abomination.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I researched and added more active learning resources on a shared document with my coworker who is mostly out of the loop with the best learning practices. Additionally, I created a research study framework (loosely similar to the scientific method) for my entrepreneurship market research.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m currently working on studying the motivations and needs of both experienced and inexperienced entrepreneurs. You can look at my research document here.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I’m being proactive and anticipating future potential problems by asking questions about the safety and security of my coworker’s future platform.

The Armchair Economist’s Apprenticeship is a weekly series documenting my progress throughout my journey in the apprenticeship module of the Praxis program. I’m currently a market research analyst apprentice for a non-profit. At the request of my boss, I’ll be keeping the details of my employer under wraps for the time being.

Week 7: June 15, 2020 – June 19, 2020

During these past few weeks when I began learning market research, I was surprised to learn that researching isn’t just about numbers, charts, and graphs. Subjective value like personal experiences and opinions are more important when it comes to figuring out your target audience and your customer’s motivations and behavior. You need to hear their stories instead of attempting to quantify it with spreadsheets and charts.

What I’m Learning:

One cool thing I learned at work last week:
Last week I coordinated a Zoom meeting with a professional market researcher, Isabel Aneyba.

Here are the steps on how to conduct individual in-depth interviews for market research. To learn more in-depth about research techniques listen to this podcast episode, Isabel Aneyba: Listening From the Heart and the Techniques of Empathy.

It’s important to note that this is an exploratory stage where we don’t need to ask specific questions. Ask broad questions instead.

Remember, keep this interview conversational as if you’re talking with a friend.

This process can be simmered down to 2 steps: start with an emotional handshake and then organize your questions into buckets.

1. Before you interview, begin with figuring out your research objectives, what do you want to look for?
   
2. Then open the conversation with an emotional handshake, find common ground and connect with your interviewee and get to know them. Start with an easy, broad, and non intrusive question, e.g. “What do you enjoy in life?” or “Tell me about your hobbies/last vacation/interesting beliefs you hold.”
   
3. Then ask another broad but more specific question relating to your research objectives, e.g. “What inspired you to start your own business?” Keep asking until you find info about your interviewee’s motivations.
   
4. Remember, don’t ask “why” too much because it can put people into a defensive mode and they might think they answered your question wrong. Instead, say “Tell me more” or “How so?”
   
5. Follow this interview guide sample to help you organize your research objectives and questions.

One cool thing I learned outside of work last week:
A friend of mine shared this video on Facebook and it is one of the most inspirational and eloquent speeches I’ve heard.

Jeff Deist is the president of the Mises Institute, an economics think tank and the fountainhead of the Austrian school of economics.

In his speech, Deist points out that the most effective form of action, for a libertarian attempting to plant seeds of liberty, is to redirect the individual’s energy to things within their immediate control. For example, things like choosing to read self-help books or learning a new skill instead of arguing with strangers on Twitter.

What I’m Creating:

One example of how I created value at work last week:
I moved a step forward by scheduling a time to talk with Isabel Aneyba, the professional researcher who helped me learn the beginner basics of in-depth interviewing. Her expertise helped me gain a clearer idea of how to conduct interviews and that subjective research is more valuable than cold, hard numbers.

I’m currently planning who to interview within my network and I’ve gathered the questions I want to ask.

What project I’m currently working on at my BP:
I’m still working on our market research and figuring out 18-29 year old entrepreneurs. I’m responsible for finding active learning resources as well.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall:
I figured out a way to learn faster and it all boils down to one simple step: looking for patterns. This has worked for me and might help you learn anything, especially with topics that are based on patterns and rules like language learning or verifying sources/stories/personal experiences by comparing with other individual accounts. Find the things that are in common.

Weekly Monday Workshop:

What Praxis Monday session did you attend last week (ie. what was the topic & who was the guest)?
Getting a pay raise with Tim Chermak

What was your favorite highlight from the session?
Tim gave us Praxians practical retirement advice; save at least $1,000 per month.

What was your biggest takeaway from that session?

1. “When you’re specific, it forces you to think about what you have to do to justify the raise.” — Tim Chermak
2. Don’t just do more work. Think of how you can create new value.
3. “An NFL quarterback doesn’t make more money by being a kicker too, or playing defense. He can earn more money by being a better quarterback.”
4. Don’t just say you’ll “create value.” Be specific about the type of value you’ll create.
5. Become an entrepreneur inside your company. Learn about the business model. Make sure you understand the revenue structure and profit margins and costs. Your boss will be thrilled you’re curious too, and you’ll learn which levers you need to pull in order to create significant value.

How do you intend to apply that takeaway to your life?
When I negotiate a raise in the future I’ll be specific about the value proposition I offer my employer and show specific examples of what I’ll do to increase value. This is all about working smarter and not harder; I think it’s also interesting to note that this principle puts a dent into the labor theory of value.