Work/Life Solutions with Alex Oppenheimer

Giving: I am a true believer in the importance of chesed. Whether it’s Rav Dessler’s Torah on giving and taking or Adam Grant’s book Give and Take, I’m in. Since college, I have spent a large amount of time advising younger friends on their careers, training interns and new hires, and helping companies — all without any compensation. Each conversation not only helps the other person, but also helps me — I learn something new about a business, role, or person, or I help improve the efficiency of my team. I have found that one of my biggest value-adds professionally is being able to connect the right people, and in order to do that effectively, I’m constantly thinking about other people and what they need.

Focus on the Big Picture: Keeping in mind a broader context for what I’m doing has been a consistent force in my career. On a macro level, it has allowed me to get involved in some very cool stuff that may not have seemed worthwhile at the time. And it’s also what led me to being okay with being on the bottom of the totem pole — being able to see how big and lasting it really is. On a micro level, this focus has kept me organized and efficient. I am always the guy building templates, creating folder structures and doing other seemingly mundane things on the front end so that later on everyone shares the efficiency gains.

5 of 9 If you were granted an extra three hours per day or a spare million dollars, what would you do with that time or money?

Learn more Torah. It may sound like a cliché, but I genuinely feel a bit behind in this area, so any additional time that I can wrangle I try to put toward Torah learning. I would probably fund a kollel in the nonexistent basement of my house so that I would never have an excuse not to learn seriously with people who are engrossed in learning.

6 of 9 What is the most inspiring feedback you’ve ever received? How did that impact what you did next?

Here’s some helpful background to my answer:  During my time at Stanford, I met Rabbi Ephraim Kamin on campus and attended my first ever Shabbat dinner (I am now approaching 150-plus meals at the Kamins’ house in Palo Alto). I also went on Birthright that summer, which was my first-ever trip to Israel. Then, while working around the clock at Morgan Stanley, I discovered why I truly need Shabbos in my life. Later, while working for NEA, Rabbi Zvi Teitelbaum and his program, Mesorah DC, had a huge impact on me by providing an infrastructure and community to learn and grow.