This is the 75th article in Bears Doing Big Things, a weekly column celebrating the stories of notable M-A alumni.
“My goal is to support people to actively have better lives and create stronger character,” Flint Mitchell ‘13 said. Mitchell wrote a book, hosts a podcast, and created a company to do just that.
At M-A, Mitchell recalled enjoying AP Literature with Lisa Otsuka. “17-year-old me liked that stuff, but I still prioritized sports over school and learning. She helped me dive deeper into my interest in literature,” Mitchell said.
“I always had that interest, but I came from a family of engineers. Growing up in Silicon Valley, you can definitely get pushed down the STEM direction. I ended up focusing mostly on math oriented things at M-A,” he added.
Mitchell was captain of the junior varsity soccer team his freshman year and played on the varsity team from sophomore to senior year.
When Mitchell was on the soccer team, there was a club called ‘Doce Hombres’—Spanish for 12th Man—that brought along crowds of over 150 people. “Most of the fan base was of Latino descent, and they brought drums and instruments. I remember one captain of Doce Hombres who said he was going to shave his head at halftime to try and get people to come to the game—and he did,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also acknowledged the pressures of growing up in the Bay Area. “It’s a very intense experience that can cause a lot of issues with mental health, and I definitely felt that stress. It’s a pretty gnarly environment with respect to college admissions and career in general,” he said.
After graduating, Mitchell went on to Southern Methodist University (SMU). When applying to college, Mitchell was not sure what he wanted to pursue. Having taken high-level math classes, he believed engineering was a good fit of his skills.
He continued to play club soccer at SMU and majored in electrical engineering. “SMU ultimately was the cheapest option for me through scholarships to the engineering school. I wanted to try something a little different and Dallas, Texas is definitely a little different,” Mitchell said.
At SMU, Mitchell paired engineering with the pre-med track due to his interest in the brain: “I wanted to know more about not necessarily artificial hands and stuff like that, but why do we feel emotions? Why do we feel proud of ourselves when certain things happen?”
Beyond his engineering studies, Mitchell spent lots of his free time in college reading. “There’s access to basically anything you want to learn or do these days. If someone has an interest, they just have to turn off their phone and jump into whatever they want to do,” he reflected.
After college, Mitchell returned to the Bay Area and worked at Roche, a pharmaceutical company developing genetic sequencing technology. “It’s fulfilling to build things,” Mitchell said about his multiple patents of novel genetic engineering.
Following a few years at Roche, Mitchell spent a year “just looking for surf and hiking” while living in a van. On this journey, he learned how much he values spending time in the ocean and has lived near the beach since. After traveling, he lived in Oahu for a year, Santa Cruz for two years, and has now been in San Diego for two years.
“The path of places I’ve lived is associated with the season of life I was in. In Oahu, for example, I was a bit more focused on being in the ocean than working,” Mitchell said.
After spending time discovering his own values, Mitchell went on to publish “Seeking Authenticity” in 2021. The book is a series of essays on value systems throughout human history.
Along with it, Mitchell created a podcast to host conversations with authentic people—including Otsuka.
Mitchell sent a letter to Otsuka after graduating from SMU, and they have been in touch since. “I’m a big fan of handwritten letters and after university I was sending a ton to formative people. I sent one to Otsuka and she sent me back Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, which is now one of my most gifted books to others,” Mitchell said.
“I just love talking with people,” he said. “I love not necessarily hearing what they do, but also why they do it. The podcast is a way for me to consistently put myself in those conversations with people that I find authentic and genuine.”
In 2023, Mitchell launched iAlign, a service that helps people align with their values by checking in for 60 seconds every day. “The more consistently you draw your attention to these concepts, the more consistently you identify if you are or if you are not taking actions that are in alignment with them,” Mitchell said.
“Seeking Authenticity and iAlign are the result of me trying to mesh the literature side of my life with the engineering side,” he said.
Mitchell continues to work in biotechnology as a private consultant while developing his company. On balancing the two, he said, “The short answer is, it’s a lot of work.”
“A better answer,” he added, “is it’s all about priorities. When you can identify your priorities, then you can build an environment that supports those priorities. I’m very passionate about the projects that I’m pursuing right now, and I recognize that they are priorities for me, and that means that I have to holistically look at my life to say, ‘How can I spend a lot of time pursuing this thing without destroying myself or my life in the process?’ What that looks like is, yes, a lot of time in front of my computer.”
Seeking Authenticity and iAlign are the result of me trying to mesh the literature side of my life with the engineering side.
“I think that where I’ve gotten now, both in my career and also as a person, is due to consistent reflection on who I am. I have ended up meeting lots of cool people, reading lots of cool books, and doing lots of random, interesting things that were simply the result of me being really passionate about growing as a person,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell’s advice to current students: “Stand up for yourself and the things you believe in and want. Be willing to change your mind, too.”
For students interested in pursuing a passion project: “Start with a small project first. The bumps you run into will inspire you and teach you to do bigger things. With a book, write some essays or blog posts first to accrue more knowledge. When I start a new project, I swallow my ego and accept that I’m there to learn to be good at something.”
Mitchell recommended the following books to high schoolers: “Freedom Found” by Warren Miller, “A Guide to Rational Living” by Albert Ellis, and “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
You can learn more about Mitchell at flintmitchell.com.
