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Contributor
Wade Eyerly
About:
Wade Eyerly is the Founder and CEO of Degree Insurance, which works to insure that investments in college education pay off with a better salary after graduation. Previously, he was a part of three presidential campaigns, worked at the White House, and was CEO of Surf Air.
We asked Wade Eyerly to provide us with a little more information about himself by asking him some quirky questions:
🦬 What is your spirit animal?
I love the American Bison. They ruled the plains, were nearly wiped out, but they’re still here and thriving. It’s a real comeback story—and that’s something I love rooting for. They’re majestic, powerful, and uniquely American. My kids like to tease me that I’m always looking for Buffaloes.
🦸🏻♂️ If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I’d love to be able to help people understand one another—really digest why someone thinks the way they do, even when we disagree—especially, perhaps, when we disagree. So, maybe the ability to share one person’s experience with another person so that they could feel and understand where that person is coming from. So, some sort of shared consciousness or mind melding, I suppose.
🧑🏫 If you had one wish to improve the world, what would you change?
I’d love to live in a world where everyone had access to high quality education and could reap the rewards of leveling up their knowledge. Talent is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not. Correcting that would unlock tremendous human flourishing. Anytime you can unlock Health, Education, or Opportunity for someone, you’re changing the world for the better.
🌎 If you had chosen another path in life, what might you be doing now?
I think I might have worked in foreign policy. Early in my career I worked for an intelligence agency and at the Pentagon. I spent some time on Dick Cheney’s staff, as well. All of those experiences make you appreciate the skill and talent of the folks we have (on both sides of the aisle) working to keep us safe, and ensure a free flow of information and goods around the world. Then again, young Wade would have told you he wanted to work for the Kansas City Chiefs, so… maybe things could have gone a whole different direction if I’d studied contract law and cap tables.
📚 Which books do you recommend to others?
- “The House of Wisdom” by Jim Al-Khalili. It tells a story I just didn’t know, largely about Arab contributions to science. We think of ancient Greece, and Rome – and Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and the great thinkers. But, we often overlook the tremendous Arab contributions to science – and the key role that the translators in Baghdad’s House of Wisdom played in preserving those Greek and Roman texts.
- “Accidental Superpower” by Peter Zeihan. As a professional Geographer, he puts the Geo in Geopolitics and presents theories on why nations and cultures develop the way they have.
- “Destiny of the Republic” by Candice Millard is a biography of James A. Garfield and tells the story of a presidency cut too short.
- “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller—it’s a modern re-telling of the Iliad. It’s not been re-set to modern times, it’s just written in very approachable prose. Was a great read.
- “The Clockmaker’s Daughter” by Kate Morton. Enthralling book, it’s got everything.
- “The Spy and the Traitor” by Ben Macintyre. It’s the true story of the only time the West tried to smuggle someone out of the Soviet Union.
