Isaac Gilman: project manager, bike ambassador, fútbol fan, and raging bull. Today, I have had the pleasure of interviewing Isaac Gilman, project manager of Junction 440 – TechTown’s co-working space for local startup businesses. A New Jersey native, Isaac moved to Detroit 4 years ago after graduating from the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in urban planning. After graduating, he worked for Billhighway, a software services company geared towards non-profit organizations.
At TechTown, Isaac enjoys helping others start their own businesses, pioneering new technologies, and engaging with the Detroit startup culture. In particular, he enjoys the “ebbs and flows” of each day at TechTown – he enjoys “waking up early, sleeping late, grinding it out one day, and relaxing the next.” After all, he says, “Variety is the spice of life.” Isaac enjoys the anticipation of not knowing exactly what the next day will bring, and tapping into the passionate energy of young entrepreneurs turning their ideas into reality.
Isaac defines social entrepreneurship as “anybody passionate about improving whatever they are interested in and doing good,” whether in “health care, transportation, or something else.” However, he does think that it is important to make clear distinctions between companies that are social enterprises and companies that are not. For example, he considers someone developing a better method to access hockey tickets to be a social entrepreneur, and not a self-interested hockey owner only interested in providing the sport to make a buck. Another example he gives is GM, who has a social enterprise arm, though as a whole is not a social enterprise. Before working for any company, he believes that defining what type of company that you are working at is crucial for a mutually successful relationship between employee and employer.
Isaac has been most satisfied with his life after graduating from school and moving Detroit, because he has had more time to focus on his own passions, which including launching a local bike shop and brewing his own beers. Also, he has had more time to take advantage of the many opportunities that Detroit and TechTown has to offer, as well as connecting other people with the same opportunities. Both Billhighway and TechTown, he says, have allowed him to be “elevated a little bit above ground zero.” In other words, both companies have equipped him with resources, skills, and people that have helped himself pursue social entrepreneurship. It helps, he adds, that being the manager of a co-working space gives him a free co-working space.
Isaac has several role models. He appreciates his father and mother for being smart, hard working, and providing an incredible array of opportunities that has allowed him to thrive. Also, he admires Vince Thomas, the founder of Billhighway, for his influential vision, attitude, and motivation that has allowed his company to flourish for the past 14 years. Isaac also values his Billhighway supervisors for being flexible by assigning him multifaceted projects that move the business forward, maximize his own skill set, and develop professionally.
I have no doubt that Isaac has a bright future ahead of him, and I look forward to see what the next few years bring for him. I'll leave you with a fun fact that I know you were dying to know about Isaac: his favorite restaurants are Mudgie’s, a sandwich restaurant in Corktown, and Nuestra Familia, a Mexican joint in Southwestern Detroit.
At TechTown, Isaac enjoys helping others start their own businesses, pioneering new technologies, and engaging with the Detroit startup culture. In particular, he enjoys the “ebbs and flows” of each day at TechTown – he enjoys “waking up early, sleeping late, grinding it out one day, and relaxing the next.” After all, he says, “Variety is the spice of life.” Isaac enjoys the anticipation of not knowing exactly what the next day will bring, and tapping into the passionate energy of young entrepreneurs turning their ideas into reality.
Isaac defines social entrepreneurship as “anybody passionate about improving whatever they are interested in and doing good,” whether in “health care, transportation, or something else.” However, he does think that it is important to make clear distinctions between companies that are social enterprises and companies that are not. For example, he considers someone developing a better method to access hockey tickets to be a social entrepreneur, and not a self-interested hockey owner only interested in providing the sport to make a buck. Another example he gives is GM, who has a social enterprise arm, though as a whole is not a social enterprise. Before working for any company, he believes that defining what type of company that you are working at is crucial for a mutually successful relationship between employee and employer.
Isaac has been most satisfied with his life after graduating from school and moving Detroit, because he has had more time to focus on his own passions, which including launching a local bike shop and brewing his own beers. Also, he has had more time to take advantage of the many opportunities that Detroit and TechTown has to offer, as well as connecting other people with the same opportunities. Both Billhighway and TechTown, he says, have allowed him to be “elevated a little bit above ground zero.” In other words, both companies have equipped him with resources, skills, and people that have helped himself pursue social entrepreneurship. It helps, he adds, that being the manager of a co-working space gives him a free co-working space.
Isaac has several role models. He appreciates his father and mother for being smart, hard working, and providing an incredible array of opportunities that has allowed him to thrive. Also, he admires Vince Thomas, the founder of Billhighway, for his influential vision, attitude, and motivation that has allowed his company to flourish for the past 14 years. Isaac also values his Billhighway supervisors for being flexible by assigning him multifaceted projects that move the business forward, maximize his own skill set, and develop professionally.
I have no doubt that Isaac has a bright future ahead of him, and I look forward to see what the next few years bring for him. I'll leave you with a fun fact that I know you were dying to know about Isaac: his favorite restaurants are Mudgie’s, a sandwich restaurant in Corktown, and Nuestra Familia, a Mexican joint in Southwestern Detroit.
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