Steve is co-editor of The Most Important Element. His passions include listening to and playing music, enjoying time spent with his wife and kids, and absorbing lots of information, then trying to find ways to clear his head.

FIRST JOB: Mowing lawns for cash, followed soon after by a slightly longer stint in the newspaper delivery business.

BEST JOB: I have been very lucky to have had some really excellent jobs, working with a lot of great folks, but my all time favorite was working at a now-defunct record store in New Brunswick, NJ called “Cheap Thrills Records”.

WORST JOB: Chicken preparer at a local fried chicken take out restaurant. I obviously was not “clued in” to the finer art of fried chicken preparation and was let go within two days!

Steve Maffei is an management consultant based in Dallas, Texas. For more information about Steve, go to www.integratedelements.com or email him at communicate@themostimportantelement.com

Tom is co-editor of The Most Important Element. His passions include running, time with family, and following all Chicago sports teams (excluding the Cubs).

FIRST JOB: Landscaping and Lawn Maintenance

BEST JOB: Ace “burger flipper” at Burger King. Remember the “French Frying Legion”? Actually, it was the best because I met my wife there, had a lot of fun, and started many lifelong friendships as a result!

WORST JOB: Territory Manager (I had to travel approximately 50,000+ miles per year in a car before cell phones and iPods!)

Tom Fleming is an management consultant based in Dallas, Texas. For more information about Tom, go to www.integratedelements.com or email him at communicate@themostimportantelement.com

Parker is the web designer for The Most Important Element. His passions include painting canvas, archiving music and watering gardens.

FIRST JOB: McDonald's – the McLove Affair lasted only two days.

BEST JOB: Does a volunteer position count? I was an on-air DJ for two years at UT student radio (91.7 KVRX in Austin). I enjoyed the freedom of creating my own show format and playlist - a music lover's dream. “Sit tight and listen keenly while I play for you this brand new musical biscuit...”

WORST JOB: Filling inner tubes with compressed air in a non-ventilated, non-air-conditioned building at a water amusement park one Texas summer. They did provide unlimited free Pepsi, however.

James Parker is a web designer based in Dallas, Texas. For more information about Parker or his company, The Creative Think Tank, go to www.TheCreativeThinkTank.com or email him at parker@TheCreativeThinkTank.com

Mike Stovall provided all of the illustrations for The Most Important Element. His passions include family, comics and collecting vintage "stuff".

FIRST JOB: McDonald's (Mike was a recipient of the much coveted “Silver Spatula” Award!)

BEST JOB: Animator on the film A Scanner Darkly in Austin, Texas.

WORST JOB: Waiting on banquet tables at the Hilton. I did it for three weeks - minimum wage, no tips allowed, and most of the event attendees were either rude to or completely ignored the wait staff.

J. Michael Stovall is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Houston, Texas. For more information about Mike, go to www.stovepipe.net or email him at mike@stovepipe.net