Empathy Map

I decided to create a persona for my brother-in-law. He and I get along very well, however, he is the person whom I consider to be most dissimilar from me, so he is the perfect subject for my first blog

1. What Matters

Early Cuyler is a 34-year-old male with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Early said “I do” to my sister, Mickey, this May at a beautiful outdoor wedding in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. He is very family-oriented, as he spends the majority of his time with my sister and at gatherings with his siblings and parents. Early and my sister frequently visit our family in Fort Worth, Texas, which is about 200 miles away from their apartment in Oklahoma City. They make this three-hour drive every two or three weeks demonstrating how significant it is for them to spend time with both families. 

I don’t know many 34-year-olds, but he is the first and only 34-year-old hipster I’ve met. He listens to a number of strange bands/artists that I never even knew existed. Battles, The Blow, Tune Yards, Grimes, and Tennis are a few of his favorites. He’s a Fun Fun Fun Fest type of guy and he and Mickey will be attending it this year for the third time. Although his taste in music is bizarre to me, I will admit that I’ve grown to like a few of those bands— only a few. The others are just weird and I don’t even think they qualify as music. He has definitely brought out the hipster in Mickey and me.

Preoccupations Early works 45+ hour weeks at a software company, but the evenings and weekends are strictly reserved for working out and outdoor adventures with Mickey. When they lived in Texas, he and my sister were members of a cross fit gym and clocked in many hours there engaging in hard core workout routines that really kick your behind. He has a history in maintaining an excellent exercise regimen, as he played football in high school and was a wide receiver on the scout team for Oklahoma State during his undergraduate career there.

During the summer, Early spends a lot of his weekends with his family and friends on the lake where he makes wake boarding and surfing look like the easiest activities on the planet—he’s pretty darn good at it. Early and Mickey also go camping and hiking year round.

His talent goes beyond academics and physical activities. Early has great culinary skills and having one of his meals is a true delight. He is very creative with the meals he makes and includes the most important food groups: vegetables and protein—A LOT of protein. I should add that Early is a bit of a health nut and has a huge appetite; I’m convinced that he could eat an entire cow in one sitting.  

Worries and Aspirations Early and Mickey live in an apartment in down town Oklahoma City, but are currently looking to purchase a house. Although he is a well-rounded fellow, Early has never been out of the country and he only speaks English. The first place he would like to visit is Mexico mainly because our family is from there. Most of his in-laws speak English, but he would like to learn Spanish so that he can someday understand what is said when the family starts speaking in their native language.

2.  What he sees

Environment As I mentioned before, Early enjoys the outdoors, so he is very in touch with nature. In the summer he sees the lake on a regular basis, and during the cooler months he sees the beauty that the woods have to offer. In order to go on so many adventures, you have to own all the right equipment. Early orders most of his stuff from The Clymb, a website where you can find all kinds of outdoor apparel and gear at a discounted price; he probably has The Clymb bookmarked on his computer.

 

As any good husband would do, Early sees his wife and her attention-seeking, but cute, Dachshund every day. He also sees his parents and siblings several times a month.  

 

Because he is an engineer interested in technology, Early stays updated with the latest news in this area. He is an avid Google+ user and sometimes shares his findings on this social network.

He doesn’t spend a lot of time watching TV, but when he does, Early watches golf tournaments, football, cooking shows, and sometimes creepy documentaries about ants and parasites. Throughout the day, Early sees his bottomless mug of black, pressed coffee. In his kitchen he sees his fancy set of ridiculously sharp cooking knives; his new Ninja blender; and his large (and growing) collection of empty Kraken bottles.

3. What he says and does

Early is 6’4’’ and has lean, yet strong frame. He has a good head of hair and is carefree about his appearance, but maintains a clean cut image. Most of the time he wears polos or t-shirts with logos of his favorite bands. Serene, humble, and kind are a few adjectives I’d use to describe Early. Although he has very good interpersonal skills, he hates drawing attention to himself. He’s also very friendly and helpful. When Early visits our home, he interacts with everyone in the family. He and my dad have conversations about computers and technology, which makes sense because both of them are pretty nerdy.

 

4. What he hears

Since he is a family guy, Early is strongly influenced by his wife and parents. His mother is a nurse practitioner and Mickey is in nursing school, so he hears a lot about that field. At work he hears about coding and technology, as he is a software engineer at his company.

5. Points of Pain Being tall and slender, however, comes with a price. Apparently polo shirts aren't manufactured for men with long torsos. Early has a hard time finding shirts that fit him well, as they are often too short. Express and Banana Republic are two of the few stores where he shops. The price of men’s apparel is something he’s also complained about in the past. One of the very first conversations I had with Early was about how, in his opinion, women’s clothing is less expensive than men’s. Sometimes I can be frugal when it comes to shopping, so I was shocked to know that he thought it was acceptable to pay $25+ for a blouse. I knew right then and there that Early and I would get along fabulously.

Early absolutely hates Walmart and avoids contact with this establishment as much as possible. While many people are fascinated with Apple and its products, Early – I hope you’re sitting for this—strongly dislikes this brand. While he may be a cross fit fiend, Eary is actually afraid of scary movies, particularly Paranormal Activity 3. One of Early’s obstacles is not being able to understand the Spanish language.

6. What he hopes to gain

Although they have enjoyed living in the apartment they have now, Early and Mickey hope to purchase a home before the end of this year. He also wants to learn to speak Spanish, although this may take longer to achieve. I would say that Early has been successful in maintaining a healthy relationship with his wife and family, taking good care of his own health, getting through the Paleo diet without cheating, and accomplishing academic goals.