Going Deep With Aaron Watson

Qxhna Titcomb was born the youngest sibling of a family that loves the sport of ultimate. In 2006, she and her siblings created the ultimate frisbee apparel company Five Ultimate. The company’s mission? To “serve the sport of ultimate”. Over the next decade, Qxhna learned about business, event planning and the culture of her sport while traveling around the world playing ultimate and working at tournaments. She and her siblings also own and operate the AUDL’s Seattle Cascades, which she credits with teaching her to put on great single game productions.   She also has enjoyed a decorated playing career that has included; 4 years at Tufts University

Josh is the founder of Work Hard Pittsburgh formerly The Hardware Store. He is dedicated to making entrepreneurial opportunities available to underserved populations and demographics. Before starting the Work Hard Pittsburgh, Josh ran several startups including Crowdasaurus and AsOne. Josh also taught high school chemistry for over a decade.   Josh’s Challenge; Go to a neighborhood that you don’t usually visit, get dinner, and walk around.   Articles Hard Work Pittsburgh press   Connect with Josh   Twitter @workhardpgh

Episode twenty recaps the launch of the show and the lessons I have learned along the way. Thank you so much for listening! Many more episodes to come.   What I’ve learned Just Do It One of the hardest parts was getting started, I waited weeks to release my first episode after I had completed it Ask the person who your are afraid to contact, they will probably say yes, and if they don’t, you’ll get over it When you play the waiting game, you overthink things and drive yourself crazy

Ken began playing Ultimate in the summer of 2007 and found leadership opportunity in organizing his high school ultimate club. Attending Kettering University in 2009, Ken quickly worked on establishing a team, pursuing varsity status and full funding granted 2.5 years later. Ken went on to serve as a college regional director, then developmental division director for USA Ultimate and director of operations for the Detroit Mechanix.   While working as a mechanical engineer, he started Aero Ultimate as a simple outlet of his ideas like the SkyLight. Ken set out to reform Aero in late 2013 to provide meaning to Ultimate's future. Ken's talents and passion can be found in almost everything Aero produces.   Ken’s Challenge; When defining what success looks like to you, consider what you will have to do to obtain it AND what you may have to give up. If you aren’t willing to give up those things, redefine what success looks like to you.   Articles Starting an ultimate team SkyLight data analysis Reddit

Melissa is an NCSA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist  who, through her online business The Ultimate Athlete Project, is on a mission to improve the training techniques of folks in the ultimate frisbee community. With a background degrees in Chemistry and Kinesiology, she is uniquely suited to sort through the sea of available research to find what’s most important, effective, and applicable for developing superior athletes and teams.   The Ultimate Athlete Project was designed to give players the tools they need to train like the serious athletes they are.  In addition to writing The Ultimate Athlete Handbook and starting The Ultimate Athlete Project, Melissa gives ultimate fitness clinics nationally and internationally.  She has enjoyed teaching players from Ireland, Colombia, and all over Europe. When not trotting the globe playing and coaching, she enjoy reading, hiking and enjoying the outdoors. Melissa’s Challenge; Give something and ask for something every day for 30 days Skyd

Isaac is currently an editor at A Plus, a digital media company co-founded by Ashton Kutcher. The site features stories that make a difference and create positive change that, in less than a year, has reached an audience of approximately 50 million monthly visitors by highlighting social issues, sharing breaking news, and creating original, entertaining content. Isaac and I were teammates on the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds in 2015 and on the University of Pittsburgh’s ultimate team from 2010-2013. We co-captained the team in the 2012-13 season where we won our second national championship.  Isaac is a lifelong ultimate player whose interests extend into music, writing, sports, politics and thoughtful conversation. He is also great at talking shit and giving speeches in team huddles.  Isaac’s Challenge; Don't hesitate to do something nice for someone else. Don't let excuses stop you.  Articles What Richard Sherman Taught Us About America The Financial Trap of PayDay Loans Connect with Isa

Zach is an Associate at Draper Triangle Ventures where he helps identify and conduct due diligence on potential investments. He spends his days meeting with entrepreneurs, attending tech-community events, and developing relationships in the innovation community.   Draper Triangle is a Venture Capital Firm that partners with the Midwest’s most extraordinary entrepreneurs who set out to change the world. Founded in 1999, Draper Triangle has invested in some of the Midwest’s most successful startups including TOA Technologies, Renal Solutions, BodyMedia, CardioInsight, and Carnegie Learning. DTVC partners with early stage companies to create iconic and disruptive businesses in emerging markets including software, digital media, robotics and medical devices. Draper Triangle is a proud member of the Draper Venture Network, a robust venture collective bringing together experienced investors and innovative entrepreneurs from around the globe to share strategies, source opportunities, and create greater value. O

Victor is a recognized technical cycling expert and is co-host of the top-ranked podcast, Cycling 360. Which has a worldwide audience and downloaded by more than 40k listeners each month and over 2 million lifetime listeners. Victor also created several online video-based courses to help road cyclists and triathletes become better riders while consulting with select athletes one-on-one to help with the technical aspects of cycling.   Victor Jimenez has been a trusted advisor and enabler, helping people have fun and do what they love for nearly 30 years.  A consummate entrepreneur Victor has founded many small businesses focused around his passions of fitness, cycling, business, marketing, and conversation. The one thing that has connected all of his ventures is helping people do what they love. Some have been wildly successful and some have been abysmal failures. One thing that has been common among all of his ventures, is they were based on interests and dreams. He knows what it feels like to start fro

Scott Rogerson, Chief Executive Officer at Community Elf, specializes in strategic and business planning, data-driven decision making, process improvement, security, management, and compliance, as well as the development of custom applications for data collection and analysis.  He is also President-elect of the Pittsburgh Community Services, Inc. (PCSI) Board of Directors. PCSI is the Community Action Agency of the City of Pittsburgh.  The goal of PCSI is to help low income persons achieve self-sufficiency through the development of processes and activities that empower individuals and families to make life-altering changes, which can reduce the barriers and characteristics of poverty. Prior to joining Community Elf, Scott was co-founder and Managing Director of Oakhill Equity, an operator-led private investment fund employing the search fund model. Oakhill was capitalized by a diverse mix of institutional and individual investors.  A magna cum laude graduate of Duquesne University, Scott earned a

Po Shen Loh took an hour out of his day to sit down with the Going Deep podcast and discuss his company Expii that helps students learn difficult STEM topics.   He represented the USA Math team at the International Mathematical Olympiad as a high schooler in 1999, where he won a silver medal. He came back to the team as a deputy leader (assistant coach) in 2004 and 2010-2013. He took over the Head Lead role in 2014 and led the US to its first championship in 21 years in 2015.   Po founded Expii Inc. in January of 2014 as a learning tool to help replicate the most effective methods of teaching students all over the world. Expii's mission is as follows;    "We believe that high-quality educational resources should be available to anyone, no matter where they are or what they can afford. We also believe that students and teachers are the best at explaining things. We build the tools ordinary people need to educate one another. So far, we've designed an approachable markup language that enthusiasts have u

Jason is true kid at heart. Anything that involves play or being active is fair game for him. This very well could explain the hobbies and career path he's taken throughout the years. In his professional life, Jason serves as the Assistant Director for the Department of Intramurals & Recreation at the University of Pittsburgh. In his roll he helps to oversee all aspects of campus recreation for the University community, including club sports, intramural leagues, aquatics, special events and facility rentals.    Prior to working at Pitt, Jason was Director of Aquatics at Central York High School in York, PA. During his time there he oversaw all programs and operations for a brand new, state of the art natatorium. He was also the head coach and president of Central York Aquatics (CYA), a competitive age group swim team that he grew to a 140 member club.   Jason earned Bachelor and Master Degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and was a member of the Varsity Swimming & Diving Team where he broke sever

Charlie Eisenhood is the Editor and Founder of Ultiworld, "the premier media site for the sport of ultimate". Charlie started Ultiworld in 2012 after graduating cum laude from NYU with a degree in economic theory. He grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has worked at the Albuquerque Journal, Center for American Progress, and NYU Abu Dhabi before starting his own media site. He has played ultimate since 2005 and captained the NYU team his senior year. He currently resides in Brooklyn and travels the country covering elite ultimate in all divisions and leagues. From the Show The original article that inspired Charlie to launch Ultiworld.

A self-described ‘activator and connector,’ Larry Gioia doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet (and thinks that sleep is overrated!) Larry, a Pittsburgh native, graduated from Gannon University in 2004 and Carnegie Mellon in 2005. At Gannon, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems.  During his sophomore year, Larry began exploring his entrepreneurial interests and started GioiaDesign.net, where he worked as an independent consultant advising Erie businesses as they established their presence on the Internet. After Gannon, Larry went on to attend the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).  It was here that he earned his Master of Information Systems Management degree. While at CMU, Larry continued his passion for leadership and entrepreneurship.  He was the recipient of the MISM Student Leadership Award and also helped launch COMPackage.com, the Alphabot mobile app, and advised numerous other technology start-up ventures. Upon graduation from CMU

When I finally decided to start this podcast, "Mick" was the first person I asked to be on the show. He has been an amazing mentor, teammate and friend to me over the years and is always up for a great conversation. We recorded in a shared work space that he occupies when putting in hours for Zero Six Eight.  Mike's Challenge; Put other people's problems ahead of your own. This completely typifies Mike's personal philosophy and I encourage you to make a greater effort to incorporate this into your own life. Connect with him on Twitter @paxnobiscum

Aaron lays out his plans for the show.   Be sure to check out goingdeepwithaaron.com  Twitter @AaronWatson59 Snapchat aaron_watson   Please subscribe, like and leave us a review!