Mark Harper on Seeking Out Creative Opportunities

"I had no idea what I was doing." Mark Harper shares his story of going from ROTC to Combat Camera (leading teams of combat photographers) to Technicolor to high-end headphones to joining a startup military channel. He talked about each time where he sought out creative opportunities, the advice given to him by Sargeant Logan from his hometown (whom he will be seeing next time he returns to Upstate New York). Guest: Mark Harper, CEO, We Are the Mighty; General Manager, Military & Defense, Recurrent Ventures Mark Harper is the General Manager of Recurrent’s Military vertical. He is responsible for all editorial and business operations of Task & Purpose, We Are The Mighty, and The War Zone, as well the industry-leading military events from MilSpouseFest and Military Influencer Conference.Previously, Mark was CEO of We Are The Mighty (WATM) and joined Recurrent upon their acquisition of the brand. During his tenure at WATM, he built out content strategy and executive produced hundreds of hours of videos for brand partners, with an Emmy Award for “Songs of Service” for the U.S. Army. He joined WATM for the launch of the company in 2014.Mark is a former Captain and veteran of the U.S. Air Force. After commissioning through ROTC from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he spent most of his Air Force career with the 1st Combat Camera Squadron, deploying twice while leading combat-ready photojournalists around the globe. After leaving the military, he held numerous positions in the entertainment industry, including for Paramount Pictures and Technicolor. Mark earned his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.Mark lives near Joshua Tree National Park with his Marine veteran wife Natasha and is an active member of the Television Academy (Emmys). What are you most passionate about with your current work? : Continuing to service our extended military community. Mentioned Links We Are the Mighty: www.wearethemighty.com Task and Purpose: www.taskandpurpose.com The War Zone: www.thewarzone.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/markharper147 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markharper147/