A. I studied English in college and wrote for the college newspaper in anticipation of working as a journalist after graduation. I then went on to work a couple of internships in the media, including a great one at Harper's Magazine. Once I decided to work as a writer instead of an editor, I began to freelance for magazines and covered business and Silicon Valley. I wrote a story about creating brand names that led to a book I wrote called Wordcraft. From there I went on to write my newest book, Punching In.
Q. Can you give me a description, as detailed as you can, of your daily responsibilities and current projects? How many projects do you typically work on at one time?
A. I am currently working on a couple of articles for magazines. I typically have a few projects going on at once, but hopefully not too many.
Q. How did you get interested in writing? How and when did you come up with Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee? What contributed to you writing this?
A. I got interested in writing by reading a lot. I was drawn to nonfiction and memoir during college, in part because I appreciate the opportunity to learn from others through this medium and also because I am a naturally curious person. The writing of John McPhee, in particular, captivated me in college. I was amazed that people like him got to spend their time tracking down their interests and writing about them.
I worked in high school as a helper during the summer at Stanford's business school, and this exposed me to the marketing case studies that they teach with. Though most people would think of this material as fairly dry, I found it really interesting. Since then I have been very interested in how companies cater to people and their needs. When I started the research that led to Punching In, I thought of it as an opportunity to live inside some of these case studies and study up close the interaction between employees and customers at places like Starbucks and UPS.
Q. What were some of the most interesting, most shocking, most enjoyable, and most difficult experiences you faced while writing this book (whether they relate to the actual process of writing or the "behind-the-scenes work" you did for the book)?
A. Putting on the uniforms of the various companies where I worked were the most interesting experiences I had. Like any extended research project, there were more than a few times that I questioned whether it was worth all the time I was spending researching the story. Turning my experiences into writing that I felt would be interesting to readers also at some points proved challenging.
A. I had an idea of the companies where I wanted to work — mostly places that I had been in as a customer and also places that had been cited by external sources as a good place to work. That said, not all of the places that I wanted to work wanted me. I was not able to get hired at Home Depot or Whole Foods, for example.
Q. What is one of the most important things you've learned from this experience?
A. Chiefly I learned that though many companies appear sterile and homogenous, the people who are working there are often not at all plastic. Also, the role of people in the service industry is increasing in importance, not decreasing.
Q. How has your thinking towards retail changed? How have you changed because of this experience?
A. I've learned that the interaction between a customer and a retail employee is largely up to the customer. If the customer approaches the situation with an open mind, he or she will often find him or herself involved in a much richer experience. There are also ways to be a "smart" customer by learning a bit about how a given company operates.
