Gina Rayson

Bio:

I grew up in the perfect place to harbor what would become a vivid imagination and curiosity for all things new and exciting: the middle of nowhere.  Armed with a never-ending arsenal of questions (who, what, when, where, how, and why), I couldn't have been luckier than to have grown up together with the good old WorldWideWeb in the middle of a smallish town in Indiana.

As time passed, the internet and I grew up together (I wish my Mom would've kept our AOL 1.0 startup disc so I could've auctioned off on ebay - what a missed opportunity, Mom!), and my love and passion for a diversity of culture, ideas, experiences, and possibilities exploded; I realized that my little old town just wasn't cutting it for me anymore, especially for a girl who was dying to be a part of the music scene - thanks, Napster.

Fast forward through a mediocre educational experience at NYU to some awesome opportunities with people doing amazing things (and, even more importantly, doing things that they thought were amazing), and the apple of my eye with regards to this curiosity and love of the new and exciting developed to a different level.  In addition, I fortunately realized that what I am most inspired by are the people who are actively pursuing what they love.  

Fast forward again through some more experiences which, although important in shaping where I am today, weren't the tops in terms of my ideals and what I longed for, when ::BAM!!:: a fun light at the end of my subway tunnel:  the opportunity to be a part of something new and exciting, with exposure to amazingly diverse cultural and intellectual experiences.  In addition, and most importantly, the chance to help curate an environment designed to reward risk-takers and innovators who are working passionately to create something different, perfect, or delightfully interruptingly imperfect.

So here I am today: Membership Director for FoundersCard, loving every minute of it.

• Title: Membership Director, FoundersCard
• Age: 25
• Location: SoHo
• Contact: LinkedIn

What does a typical day at FoundersCard for you look like?

As we are always seeking ways to further contribute significantly to a successful and enjoyable entrepreneurial lifestyle, considerable time is spent daily interacting with Members to ensure a positive experience with the current community and Member benefits,  welcoming and encouraging feedback and recommendations from Members of their favorite brands, properties, and services that they would be interested in sharing with fellow Members and like to see added to our benefits program, and then working to develop these opportunities.  While these key few ideas are central to our daily operations, we have the very exciting privilege of having unique interactions with our Members that provide us with a new set of ideas and challenges to pursue each day.

Who was your role model while growing up?  Is there anyone that you consider a role model now?

My Mom has been really influential in showing me that discipline, dedication, trust, and determination all work most effectively alongside fun, love, compassion, and sincerity.  In addition, I've had the great fortune to work with some people I very much admire who have been amazing examples--professionally and personally--of how rewarding honesty, hard work, and generosity can be.  Finally, Michael Jordan--it'll take a lifetime for me to get over my love of his dunking skills.

If you could go back in time and tell your younger self how to make your college experience less mediocre, what would you say?

I would tell my younger self that I have a right to expect an engaging and stimulating learning environment and shouldn't settle for anything less, that I should slow down and take a bit of time to smell the Washington Square Park roses, and to never give up on my dream of being Ms. PacManhattan.  (In case you're not up to speed on the legend that is PacManhattan: http://pacmanhattan.com/index.php)

What do you consider the best thing about New York City?

The endless exploration, creation, and sharing of ideas and experiences (and Artichoke Pizza).