Jim Kastema was a guest speaker that really intrigued me. He had so many different ventures that he has been involved in from government office, to small 3 person projects. One thing that I took home from his lecture was that he taught us that you got to keep trying different things in the world of entrepreneurs. That drive is something that he has engrained in him and if you want to be self employed and try to get after the big bucks with big ideas, you cannot concede when things dont work out your first time out.
He also taught me that by keeping professional relationships in tact and not burning those bridges is paramount in this world, because one day you may need to call on someone that you once worked with or were employed by. Making that bond with people and keeping it is what seems to have worked for Mr. Kastema, being that he was one of Washington's most influential people for a reason. It seems that Jim didnt like being a politician as that is a whole different world, and my guess from his presentation about it was that he didnt like dealing with all the "old boy" culture and he seems that he was more progressive than most of his counter parts in state government. I like this side of him, as I was once, a long time ago, a political science major and I also fell victim to the nausea of how government really works and it turned me off to wanting to pursue that as a "career". This is where I am thankful that I could see someone who was "successful" in that realm, and had an uncensored way to portray this to our class, that was respectful but also quite clear by his tone of that lifestyle.
This was one of my favorite guest speakers this quarter, and I wish Jim the best in his future ventures. He surely helped to give me insight to things that I have wondered about when it comes to local politics, and want to stay clear of that path. He also helped me to understand the importance of persistence.
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