Being Your Own Boss in Cleveland

Next City isn’t just a news website, we are a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire social, economic and environmental change in cities. Part of how we do that is by connecting our readers to urban changemakers and holding an annual Vanguard conference bringing together 40 top young urban leaders.

Saving Cities Team at Nine Mile Run in Pittsburgh during production of “Red, White and Blueprints.”

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Next City isn’t just a news website, we are a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire social, economic and environmental change in cities. Part of how we do that is by connecting our readers to urban changemakers and holding an annual Vanguard conference bringing together 40 top young urban leaders.

Name: Jack Storey
Current Occupation: Founder, Saving Cities
Hometown: Cleveland
Current City: Cleveland and Columbus
Twitter Tag: @jackstorey

I drink: Obscene amounts of coffee
I am an: I suppose, like most, this depends on the day, but mainly, I’d say extrovert
I get to work by: Car, by necessity, though walk or bike whenever possible
The area I grew up is: Half city, half suburbs

What was your first job? When I was 13, I asked my old man if I could have $20 for a CD, which were still cool, and thus expensive. I was surprised when he said, “Sure, get in the car.” I excitedly hopped in, and he promptly drove me to Molinari’s Panini Grille, told me to go in and ask for Fran. I was to tell her I was his son and wanted to start work. I reluctantly did so, and worked there for almost two years.

What is your favorite city and why? Cleveland. I feel like the answer to this could take up an entire book. How about I offer to take anyone on a tour of the city and just show them instead? My email is jack@savingcities.com, and you can absolutely email me to ask for a tour of Cleveland.

What do you do when you are not working? I read a lot, mainly nonfiction. I enjoy debating science fiction with my fellow nerds. I additionally love a good public lecture/debate, depending on the topic and, yes, I have had girlfriends, I swear.

Did you always want to be a civic entrepreneur? Not at all, I wanted to be a musician, and did that full time for about six years, post-high school. Touring was a huge influence on my love of cities, and pushed me to explore what kind of work I could do to help rebuild cities like my beloved Cleveland.

What do you like most about your current job? It’s mine. I own it, and I get to work with people I love and care about. I can take on projects that interest me and promote the kind of initiatives that are beneficial to our cities. Ultimately, I get to experience those cities in a completely different light, which is fantastic.

What is the coolest project you worked on? I always think the current project I’m working on is the coolest, but I suppose if we’re looking back at all the fun stuff we’ve gotten to do, I’d say that making “Red, White and Blueprints: A Rust Belt Documentary” was the most rewarding and amazing project I’ve gotten to be a part of. It took me all over the region, and I got to sit down and talk about inspiring work with incredible people every day.

What are the hard parts about your job? Silos. Everyone exists in silos. On top of that, many in my line of work have been at it for so long that they’ve become accidentally opposed to change or doing things in a way that feels unfamiliar. That aversion to change is tough.

What is the biggest challenge facing cities today? Communication. We can’t possibly hope to address our issues as a community if we don’t know how to talk to one another. This could be neighbor-to-neighbor, organization to individual, government to citizen; it’s all a mess.

What’s the best professional advice you have received? Don’t back down unless you’re wrong and you know you’re wrong. There are a million people out there who will attack you and your work and your ideas because they’re angry, lazy, bitter, etc. In this work environment, you have to defend your ideas and defend your work, and it’s not always easy to do.

What career advice would you give an emerging urban leader? Don’t wait to get started, don’t waste time and don’t assume a degree makes you more qualified to fix a problem than anyone else in your community. Also, send at least three emails immediately after you read this inviting three folks whose work you admire to coffee. I still do this constantly and I think I’ve only ever been declined three times.

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