Terry Young's Sparks & Honey Is Mapping Culture To Forecast The Future

From a small town in Western Kentucky to becoming an entrepreneur on Madison Ave, Terry Young joins us on this episode of Ambition Today. Terry is a successful advertising entrepreneur and the CEO of Sparks & Honey, a company identifying and mapping emerging cultural waves through the use of machine learning systems, algorithms, and human insight. After earning his Master's Degree in advertising, Terry started working in the digital advertising industry in 1995, when digital marketing was just getting started. A short two years later, he was running the company. Terry got the opportunity to live in China and help start-up initiatives while working for McKinsey. He also lived in Kazakhstan while in the Peace Corp where he helped small business shops with their financing and starting their businesses. Terry brings a great perspective on culture and new trends. On this episode, we also discuss: Growing up in a small town in Kentucky The impact of joining the Peace Corp Rebuilding the traditional advertising model The intersection of being gay and an entrepreneur.  How Sparks & Honey maps culture  Why predicting the future matters Defining micro signals and macro trends What is happening in the space industry Ambition Today Question of the Day™ : "How do you best recommend that people in organizations ride the waves in a trend?" The Single Greatest Piece of Advice Anthony Has Ever Learned: Join the Ambition Today A-list to listen now! Quote Of The Episode: "I say to every person who was here … that has left, you are also leaving your shape and your mold on the company, because it is a reflection on them too." Links from this episode: Sparks & Honey Sparks & Honey Facebook Terry Young on Twitter  Now, Next App Peace Corps WeWork Founder Institute   ========== This episode of Ambition Today is supported by: + Founder Institute New York: goo.gl/RGezjW   + WeWork: goo.gl/hyzzuP + Toptal: goo.gl/OObfM9 + Audible: goo.gl/Urjq6k   ========== Visit Ambition Today on the Web: www.siskar.co/ambitiontoday Follow Kevin Siskar on Twitter: twitter.com/TheSiskar   Follow Kevin Siskar on Instagram: instagram.com/thesiskar Follow Kevin Siskar on Facebook: facebook.com/kevin.siskar Add Kevin Siskar on Snapchat: snapchat.com/add/krsiskar   Kevin Siskar brings you ambitious entrepreneurs inspired by Tim Ferriss Show, How I Built This with Guy Raz, Residual Income, Entrepreneur on Fire, NPR, HBR, TED Radio Hour, the StartUp podcast with Alex Blumberg by Gimlet Media, Pat Flynn, Tony Robbins, The Uncertain Hour, Bigger Pockets, Art of Charm, Dave Ramsey, Planet Money, Jocko Podcast, EntreLeadership, Zigler, APM Marketplace, This Week In Startups with Jason Calacanis, Mixergy, Seth Godin, Joe Rogan Experience, GaryVee, James Altucher, Monocle 24, How to Start a Startup, Crooked Media, and The $100 MBA Show with Omar Zenhom, and Casey Neistat.   Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS (apple.co/1NRRPzL), on Google Play Music (goo.gl/LmmciJ), or on Stitcher for Android (bit.ly/1Rn01dy).