Paths in Progress

Dave says there is no such thing as “the best university”--only the “best university” FOR YOU.  You have to finish that sentence!  Dave’s own story illustrates this. He began as a political science major at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., paired with an internship on the Hill with his hometown district congressman. Seemed like the perfect place to be for a political science major–but it wasn’t the right fit FOR HIM.  Join us as Dave describes his undergraduate experience transferring to a school that was a better fit for him, despite what others thought about his choice, to his graduate work in Business at Northwestern, to his interesting career in product development at major corporations, where he worked on products we know like Totinos Pizza and Whirlpool washing machines.  His experience all ties together as he decided to start his own company, Troove, serving students in helping find the best college fit for them.  

You can check out Troove for yourself at www.troove.me

After considering majors in Architecture, Interior Design, and PR/Marketing, Amanda decided to move into Speech Communications because she knew she wanted to work with people.  International experiences had an impact on her life and created a desire within her to learn more about other cultures and work cross-culturally in her career pursuits.  Amanda’s path through different parts of the country and work in student Christian ministry and non-profit community organizations led her to the meaningful work does with refugees and immigrant families.  Amanda’s story is one that illustrates how each experience along our path can lead us to what we are meant to do with our lives. 

As a high school student, Christie had her life mapped out: she knew exactly where she wanted to go to school, what she wanted to major in, and what career path she wanted to take.  How did Christie go from a Journalism major, writing a story about a weapons exchange while living in Germany, to becoming a leading woman business owner in the Beverage Marketing Industry? What is Beverage Marketing? Although that is seemingly a very different career outcome, Christie tells us how she is still writing, still creating, and still contributing to her industry in a meaningful way–to the extent that she started a non-profit to support women and address major issues in the industry.  Having life take a different turn that what we originally planned can often be far better than we dreamed!  Don’t miss Christie’s story, advice she gives to students, her conviction to serve and support women, and a glimpse into life in the Beverage Marketing Industry. 

Follow Christie and her work at https://cjlconsults.com/, where you can find all of her social media handles, information about The WITI group, and listen to experts and changemakers in her industry on her podcast, Lawler Out Loud. 

From a young age, Angela loved watching The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights and spent hours drawing.  Animation wasn’t on her mind as a career path, but she knew she wanted to be an artist in some capacity. A series of classes, connections, opportunities, and dedicated work brought Angela to where she is today, working as a Storyboard Revisionist (she’ll explain that) at Nickelodeon.  In this episode, Angela details the skills she has had to develop to maintain her career, how the industry works in terms of hiring people for projects, different types of roles she has had through her career, the movies and television shows she has enjoyed working on, in addition to sharing valuable advice for students interested in this career path.  If you are curious about the world of animation, don’t miss this episode! 

As a self-proclaimed overachieving high school student, Becca set her sights high when she applied to colleges.  She was not expecting to be rejected from every school she applied to, especially considering she was an excellent student!  As nightmarish as that experience was for her, Becca says it was the catalyst that ended up sending her to the place that was a great fit for her, where she discovered the career path she was meant to pursue.  Join us for this conversation as Becca takes us from the suburbs of Chicago, to Canada, to Washington, DC, to New York City, to Jerusalem, and back to Canada along her college, internship, graduate school, and career journey that eventually led her to an enjoyable career in transportation and urban planning.  For those who are interested to hear about urban planning, Becca offers insightful explanations and gives helpful advice about this important field. 

As a young elementary school student, Mark wanted to play the saxophone. His band director thought he should play the trumpet.  Who knew that decision would so drastically impact the trajectory of his life?  Mark joins us to share his story and how he made a living as a freelance performer for many years, as well as explain the process to audition for major symphony orchestras, what the life of a principal trumpet player looks like, his practice routine, and what advice he often shares with the students in his university trumpet studio. Like many artists, Mark started a side business during the pandemic, which he enjoys and continues today. If you have any interest as a performer or freelancer in any capacity, don’t miss this episode!  

You can read more about Mark Hughes at https://markhughestrumpet.com/.

From the time he was a young boy, Eric was fascinated by space, eventually leading to his pursuit of an undergraduate degree in Astronomy.  During his time in college, he realized that the career path of an astronomer was not what he wanted. After pursuing a seemingly different path in graduate school for Journalism, Eric has merged his love of space, his talents in writing, and his side project blogging about Houston weather into a rewarding and exciting career.  Join us for this conversation about pursuing your passions and merging multiple talents and experiences to create your own path.  

You can find Eric and his work at spacecityweather.com, https://arstechnica.com/author/ericberger/, or download the Space City Weather app in the App Store.

As the son of a military colonel and a physician, Phil was expected to go to college.  Once he got there, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, so he started on a business degree track.  Join us for this conversation about how Phil discovered his love for a different subject, and how he has continued to make A or B choices along his path to get to where he is today.  Phil intentionally continues to learn, grow, and pursue his passions, all while giving back through mentorship and prioritizing the important relationships in his life. 

You can follow Phil’s podcast, Positive Philter, including a recent episode with yours truly, here, as well as other platforms:  
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/positive-philter-podcast/id1223813013

Katherine’s early love of math and a high school problem solving project with visiting engineers sparked the interest in her to pursue the field of engineering.  Always eager to learn and try new things, Katherine’s varied path throughout her college experience, internships, jobs, and graduate school led her to a place where she knew she wanted to start her own company and work on projects she truly cared about to make an impact in the communities she served.  How do you make a positive impact on communities across the world as an engineer?  Join us as Katherine takes us through her journey and shares how she and the company she formed, along with her non-profit, are changing people’s lives for the better.

You can follow Katherine @liveconsciouspower and @katherinemorua on IG

Katherinemorua.com

You can also find her music (listen to the episode to hear about this!)

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3GtAZ3LFRXG8uQbQx36Dly?si=J4nzugvuTQ-VgviYBuP_qQ and

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/katherine-morua/600061988  

After a surprise in her college admissions process, Kate started college thinking she wanted to be a psychology major.  After realizing her interests were better aligned with Political Science, Kate found herself on a path in local government, which often presented her with opportunities to learn new skills and take her down new career path possibilities.  We talk about the nerves involved with leaving home to go far away to college, working and interning for politicians, graduate work in Urban Planning, how local governments are organized and how they can use data to better our communities, and why Kate decided to leave her long-term city position to venture out on her own with her business partner.  

You can follow the work Kate is doing at https://www.porchlightinsights.com/.