Security Check: Adam Braun, Founder of Pencils of Promise and NYTimes Bestselling author of The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change.

What’s your historical Los Angeles and New York connection?
I’ve lived in New York for almost 7 years, but two of my brothers live in LA, so I spend a lot of time visiting.

Describe your experience in LA and NYC.
I’ve never lived in LA full-time, but I’m there a few times a year for family and work. It’s slowly won me over, and now I really look forward to every visit. Although I grew up in Connecticut, I was born in NYC and moved back to the city after graduating college. I love the energy of this city. Despite being hectic, it is still possible to find moments of clarity and beauty surrounded by millions of people.

What was the biggest challenge of moving from LA to NYC (or vic versa), or simply in splitting time?
I travel a lot for my job, so regardless of whether I am traveling from New York to LA, or New York to Ghana, the biggest challenge is spending time away from loved ones. I don’t have the best sleep routine either, so constantly traveling across different time zones is also a little rough.

How can NYC and LA best engage with each other?
New Yorkers can spend more time outdoors, and Los Angelenos can create more intersections with industries outside of entertainment, which they’ve been doing a great job of lately.

Favorite LA secret spot:
Rock & Reilly’s Irish Pub in West Hollywood. My brother gets credit for showing it to me though.

Favorite NYC secret spot:
Numero 28 in the East Village. They have the greatest thin crust pizza, ever.

If you were not at Pencils of Promise what would you be doing?
Trying to find a way to support other entrepreneurs.

Inflight Entertainment: tell us what song/album, TV show, podcast, or web videos you’ve been watching lately.

I’m a huge Bob Dylan guy, and Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 has come back into heavy rotation lately.

From the 2462 Miles newsletter: connecting NEW YORK CITY + LOS ANGELES