Michele Bonnell's Blog
August 18, 2013
My Favorite Teacher
Diane Katzman was my favorite teacher at Washington University. I learned so much about the topic she taught with such passion. Her unabashed zealousness was contagious. It was like getting into a roller-coaster and locking down the metal bar to hold us in for the speed and thrill of the unexpected. She dazzled us with brief Socratic questions, a few references to the text, and volleys of bite-sized lecture as the staccato clack of chalk filled the blackboard with barely readable words, a blizzard of handouts flew down the rows of students, and unbridled conversation saturated the room.
We learned so much from Diane who is now an entrepreneur and artisan designing beautiful jewelry - http://www.dianekatzmandesign.com/
Her jewelry business was never intended to be a business but rather a way of teaching math to her three daughters. But it became a business and her designs have been in Saks, featured in Style Magazine, and distributed worldwide. She has since even had commissions for the Olympics!
How did all of this happen? I had to find out. So I asked my former teacher to lunch to solve this mystery. Which tools did she use, what was her strategy, who were her connections?
There was no game plan it turns out. No multi-tiered strategy with advisory boards and brilliant business models.
It all boiled down to one word – passion.
You see Diane has never been afraid to be passionate … as a teacher, an entrepreneur, or as a mentor.
I hope some of this passion has been captured in my character, Olivia Katz, in Tunnels, Cappuccino, And A Heist, who is passionate about art, her friends, and returning a 3000-year-old Egyptian artifact in a dangerous heist that could cost her everything.
Thank you Diane for teaching me how to live life without fear of being passionate!
