As part of our Book Stall Talks Business series, we are delighted to welcome management and organizational specialist Alyssa Rapp, as she discusses her new book, Leadership & Life Hacks.  This event is free and open to the public, and aimed at people working to reconcile conflicts between worklife and home life schedules and responsiblities. (And  hey, isn't that most of us?) 

About the book:
We all lead busy lives with conflicting responsibilities. How can we succeed at work and at home? Alyssa Rapp knows better than anyone that sometimes we need shortcuts, work-arounds, and work-throughs to navigate the different spheres of everyday life. In other words: hacks. Leadership & Life Hacks is the perfect guidebook for anyone hungry to be more efficient and effective. Alyssa takes you into the boardroom and into her own home, providing invaluable strategies for everything from leading a meeting with key stakeholders and managing a household, to answering emails and taking colleagues to rock concerts. It’s The 4-Hour Workweek meets Emily Post. Whether you’re a CEO, entrepreneur, businessperson, athlete, teacher, spouse, stay-at-home parent, community leader—even if you’re still figuring out who you want to be—you’ll walk away from this book confident and empowered, ready to hack your life.

"Alyssa Rapp is a triple threat – of talent, drive and connectedness. This inspirational book puts together her life story and the lessons she has learned in a format that is relatable to every leader, wherever they are in their journey. Her life hacks are simple and impactful. You won’t find them taught in an MBA program, but I expect you’ll reach back and read them over and over again." -- Madhav Rajan , Dean, University of Chicago Booth School of Business and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

“Leadership & Life Hacks is a perfect reflection of its author’s intellectual agility and commitment to being a lifelong learner. I can’t imagine anyone not both enjoying and benefiting from its useful stories and suggestions about making your life more efficient and impactful.” --Christie Hefner , Former Chairman, CEO, Playboy Enterprises; Strategic Advisor & Progressive Activist

“Alyssa is an all-star educator, an all-star leader, civic activist, and an equally all-star friend, a true triple threat. She is a master storyteller and powerful communicator. I am so delighted that her unique talent previously directed at her organizations and some of the world’s finest MBA students is now available more broadly via Leadership & Life Hacks .” --Wendy Berger , Board Member, Green Thumb Industries; CEO and President, WBS Equities, LLC

About the Author: 

Alyssa currently serves as the Managing Partner of AJR Ventures, a firm providing strategic advisory services to companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500’s.

Starting in January 2018, Chicago-based private equity firm Sterling Partners hired Alyssa J. Rapp to be the CEO of Surgical Solutions, a healthcare services portfolio company based in Deerfield, Illinois. In less than six months in healthcare, Alyssa was named one of Crain’s Chicago’s “2018 Most Notable Women in Healthcare,” and was featured in Becker’s Hospital Review and Thrive Global for her thought leadership in the category. She also serves as the Managing Partner of AJR Ventures, a strategic advisory firm serving primarily family offices and private equity firms on their portfolio companies with $100MM+ revenue in need of guidance on their e-commerce, digital media, content and innovation strategies. Through AJR Ventures Alyssa also makes select angel investments in start-ups or emerging venture funds pursuing consumer, consumer technologies, and artificial intelligence strategies.

Starting in April 2014, Alyssa joined the ranks as a lecturer-in-management at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and the History of Art from Yale University in 2000 and an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2005. At Yale, she earned the Frank M. Patterson prize for the best essay on the American political system for her senior thesis on public housing reform in Chicago.

When not immersed in entrepreneurial and civic life, Alyssa loves to ride her Peloton, run track, do yoga, ski fast, and try as hard as possible to decipher a slider from a curve ball from her husband, fellow Stanford GSB alum and 1990 MLB World Series champion, Hal Morris.