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BOOK REVIEW: “It’s Not Rocket Science”

Published

11 years ago

March 12, 2015

Your father always told you to reach for the stars.

Be the best you can be, he said. Never let obstacles get in your way. Strive for success and challenge yourself – all excellent advice, but how can you harness astronomical success in this, or any economy?

In the new book “It’s Not Rocket Science” by Mary Spio, you’ll find some stellar ideas.

Back when you graduated from high school or college, you were expected to find a job, work hard, and move up the ladder until it was time to retire. The “new dream,” though, is to find work that will allow you to create “a lifestyle of freedom by defining success your way…”

Mary Spio

Mary Spio, as it turns out, lives that statement.

Born in Syracuse, New York, Spio’s family moved back to their native Ghana when she was a little girl. She grew up hearing her father’s urge to reach for the stars and she took that advice to heart: as a teenager, she came back Stateside, finished high school, joined the Air Force and went to work for NASA.

Her passion, however, lay elsewhere and she’s now a serial entrepreneur and “Game Changer.”

Game Changers are a new “tribe” of businessperson, says Spio. They “change our world in some way…by altering the way we think…work or the way we live.” Not only do Game Changers ignore the rules, but they ignore conventional, old-school advice, too.

Think Copernicus, says Spio, Bill Gates, or Oprah. They share “seven key traits” with all Game Changers.

A big imagination is at the top of the list of Game Changer attributes. Imagination leads to inquisitiveness, creativity and ideas, and “curiosity drives action.”

Game Changers have a deep passion for their work, and they live that passion in their everyday lives. Their compassion drives them, and their days are spent “doing something meaningful.”

They possess laser-focus in their actions and their “relentless hustle.” Game Changers are audacious, they make friends with risk and fear, and they have “pit bull tenacity.” Above all, they leave a “mark on the world.”

Lately, it seems, the math is simple: idea + passion + desire for change = success. And with “It’s Not Rocket Science,” that adds up nicely.

At first, though, on the surface, it doesn’t appear that there’s much new here. Author Mary Spio essentially reiterates a lot of what you’ll find inside similar books.

We’re encouraged to follow blueprints comparable to what other volumes espouse… but look closer. The twist is in illustrative stories Spio uses: they’re different, more approachable, more common-man in their scope.

Here, impossibly high-positioned, super-famous CEOs are not held up as the only examples of achievement. That gives readers a sense that, indeed, mega-success truly is attainable by anyone.

In the end, I liked this book quite a bit because of the above and because it makes entrepreneurship sound fun again. And if that’s the kind of approach you need to become the next sensation, then “It’s Not Rocket Science” is out of this world.

“It’s Not Rocket Science” by Mary Spio, c.2015, Perigee, $24.95, 244 pages.

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Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.