1. If you could describe your job to a 5-year-old, how would you describe it?

I help make things look and work as good as possible. If I were working on a book, I would make sure no words were misspelled and all the sentences made sense. If I were working on a game that you play on your tablet, I would make sure that all the controls work and all the graphics show up.

2. What's your favorite project you've worked on?

Truth be told, my favorite thing to work on is process improvement, and I've had many opportunities to do so at RAPP, for which I'm grateful. I've created and optimized process flows, authored reference documentation, and broadened lines of communication. Those kinds of things are my bread and butter.

In terms of client work, even though I have worked on countless projects of varying type and complexity, I tend to favor simple solutions. I've worked on hundreds of email campaigns for Toyota, and the ones that had a single focus, were eye-catching, and contained no extraneous information have almost always been my favorites.

3. If you can thank someone that helped get you to where you are now, who would you thank and what would you say?

This is the easiest of these questions for me to answer. While plenty of people have helped teach and guide me in my career, one is head-and-shoulders above the rest, and that is Cinnamon Brunmier. She was my manager at RAPP for seven or eight years, which included the critical period when I stepped up from team player to team manager. At that point, I knew how to manage work; I didn't know how to manage people.

Cinnamon led, as all great leaders do, by example. She puts people first and advocates fiercely for her team; she challenges people and empowers them with fair opportunities to rise to those challenges; and she knows the value of having some fun and laughs in the course of work. Those are all key facets of my own management style, all adopted from my experience reporting to her.

So thank you, Cinnamon, for all the wisdom and good practices you imparted to me, either directly or by example. I miss working with you, and I'll forever look back fondly on those years we had working together.

*Nathan currently lives in Los Angeles, CA and works as Director of Quality Assurance for RAPP.*