John Arensmeyer is the founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, a California-based, national, nonpartisan organization. Prior to starting Small Business Majority, Arensmeyer was the founder and CEO of ACI Interactive, an award-winning international e-commerce company. Before chatting about health reform’s implications for Californians, he took our Green Room Q&A.

Q. Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?

A. Unfortunately, since health care reform passed, in the office.

Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?

A. Not go into the office at 10 a.m. on a Saturday.

Q. What music have you listened to today?

A. Nothing that stands out.

Q. When do you feel most creative?

A. When things are extremely intense.

Q. What is your favorite word?

A. Empowerment.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional character?

A. Huck Finn.

Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A. Some kind of a political leader.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?

A. Architect.

Q. What is the best advice you have ever received?

A. To look at everything pragmatically, and to not have any fixed ideological frame.

Q. What is your most prized material possession?

A. An original Mickey Mantle signature I got when I was seven years old, when I met him on a train.

Q. What comforts you?

A. An interesting evening with good food and good friends.

Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most like to meet for dinner?

A. Franklin Roosevelt.

To read more about Arensmeyer’s panel, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.