Poppy MacDonald | Data-Driven Decisions | Why You Must Gather the Facts Before You Act with the President of USAFacts

Show Notes

The President of USAFacts Poppy MacDonald shares with us about why USAFacts’ mission is to make government facts accessible to people around the world, and why she believes it is wise to gather all of the facts before you act.

www.USAFacts.org

1. Yes, yes, yes and yes! Thrivetime Nation on today’s show we are interviewing the President of USAFacts, Poppy MacDonald! Poppy, welcome onto The Thrivetime Show…how are you?!
2. Poppy MacDonald for the folks out there that are not super familiar with USAFacts…what is USAFacts and what problems does it solve?
   1. USAFacts’ mission is to make government facts accessible
   2. We believe that people should have a trusted source of government data that is non-partisan
   3. We just provide the data
3. Poppy MacDonald How closely do you work with Steve Ballmer?
   1. FUN FACT: USAFacts was founded by Steve Ballmer an American businessman and investor who was the chief executive officer of Microsoft from January 13, 2000, to February 4, 2014, and is the current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association
4. Poppy MacDonald I know that you’ve had a ton of success at this point in your career, but I would love to start off at the bottom and the very beginning of your career. What was your life like growing up and where did you grow up?
   1. I grew up in Salem, Oregon to parents who were surprised to be parents
   2. When I was young, I decided that I wanted to go to college
   3. I was accepted into Scripps College where my friend’s father was a dean
5. Poppy MacDonaldWhat is your favorite old school jam?
   1. “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice
   2. James Taylor songs
   3. “Sweet Caroline” – Neil Diamond
6. When did you first figure out what you wanted to do professionally?
7. Poppy I know you had success as the president and chief operating officer of POLITICO USA…how did you get started with POLITICO?
8. Poppy MacDonald You oversaw the launch of Politico’s first paid subscription model…what was that process like?
   1. I got my foot in the door through media
   2. They asked who I thought was a good fit to run this and never considered myself as a candidate
   3. I was responsible for getting the first sale, setting up the subscription model, etc.
9. FUN FACTS: Thanksgiving Fact Sheet – https://thanksgiving.usafacts.org/
10. So tell me about how USAFacts came about?
11. When did you first feel like you were truly beginning to gain traction with your career?
12. What is your vision for USAFacts?
13. Why do Americans need to be able to have easy access to facts and data?
    1. Steve Ballmer said that he couldn’t imagine making decisions without facts
    2. Having access to data is now a life and death decision point
    3. Data couldn’t be more important
14. Poppy MacDonald, I’d love for you to share with the listeners about the kinds of projects that you are up to?
15. You come across as a very proactive person…so how do you typically organize the first four hours of your and what time do you typically wake up?
16. What are a few of your daily habits that you believe have allowed you to achieve success?
17. What mentor has made the biggest impact on your career thus far?
18. What has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight through during your career?
19. We find that most successful entrepreneurs tend to have idiosyncrasies that are actually their super powers…what idiosyncrasy do you have?
20. What message or principle that you wish you could teach everyone?
21. Poppy MacDonald You are super successful, but what do you struggle with the most…what is your weakness…what is your kryptonite? 
22. What are a couple of books that you believe that all of our listeners should read?
23. Poppy MacDonald You’ve got the mic, what is one thing that you want to share with the Thrive Nation before you drop the mic?

www.USAFacts.org