Roads Taken

Guest Kira Lawrence felt, in high school, that she was considered odd by the academic kids because she was a “jock” and wasn’t quite a mainstream athlete because she was a “brain.” In college she felt accepted for both of those identities in a place that had lots of people who were both. But, in realizing she was gay, she gained a whole new perspective on what it meant to feel “othered.” While initially frustrating, she contends that that perspective has infused her personal and professional passions with a fight for more equality.

At a time when mainstream religion did not seem welcoming to her, she ended up finding a connection to the universe through earth sciences, her selected major. She went on to graduate school in the subject and began her focus on climate science. The safeguarding of our planet for future generations has become her focus and she has recently found ways to spend more time applying her research knowledge to the pressing real-world problems facing humanity today. Outside of environmental work, her local activism also centers on making society's future brighter.//In this episode, find out from Kira how unearthing strength in difference can help us leave things better than we found them…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Kira Lawrence who is the John H. Markle Professor of Geology at Lafayette College. She is an expert in paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, and earth systems history who uses the remnants of organisms preserved in ocean sediments to reconstruct past changes in ocean surface temperature to help us sort out where we are today and where we might be headed in the future. She is currently applying her expertise outside of academia, working to inform climate-related policy within New Jersey's Division of Clean Energy at the state’s Board of Public Utilities, which has been tasked with many of the elements of the clean-energy transition plans in New Jersey. She lives there with her wife and son, who will certainly know that at the end of her days, she will have done all she can for the planet.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Sharon Walker left her home in Trinidad for college in New Hampshire, thinking it was somewhere close to New York City. She quickly realized the cosmopolitan life she’d anticipated wasn’t what she would be living. So that first year was rather miserable. It was only after deciding that summer that she’d fling herself into activities that she started feeling part of the community and took advantage of what college could offer her.

Upon graduation, she finally made it to New York, living with friends and working at a start-up. But when her visa ran out, she returned to her birth-country of Canada and started over, again knowing no one and not knowing what to expect. She took temp jobs and considered med school, but ultimately decided on law school even though, again, she had no idea what “lawyering” would look like.//In figuring out that the regimented nature of law wasn’t a good fit for her more creative leanings, she has taken on a project to help others who feel “unsuited” to law practice figure out how to transfer those skills to something more meaningful.

In this episode, find out from Sharon how being uncomfortable in a space and recognizing how you grow can help you make different decisions…on today’s Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest 

Sharon Walker is a Canadian by-way-of Trinidad writer, traveler and self-described escapee of private practice law on the quest to design her better life. When she is not taking on consulting projects that run the gamut from helping build a company’s strategic vision to providing legal counsel, she posts to her blog and lifestyle community, Unsuited, for lawyers and non-lawyers who have "come to the sudden and unwelcome realization that maybe we fundamentally misunderstood the assignment. Who feel UNSUIT-ED to and UNSUIT-ABLE for the place we now find ourselves.” Check it out at UnsuitedTheBlog.com.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Dave Leone realized during college that his interest in chemistry might not be long lived. Instead, he found earth sciences. Upon graduation, he options were graduate school, petroleum geology, or environmental geology. He found a small environmental firm that let him do a little of everything and then moved on to a larger firm where he has stayed for nearly a quarter century, assessing contaminated properties and remediating them for beneficial use.

It was at the firm—during a 200-mile charity bike ride—that he met his wife. And after buying a house and expecting a baby, life looked good. Then, in one unexpected moment falling off a ladder one Labor Day weekend, he realized his life had changed forever.

In this episode, find out from Dave how finding focus beyond yourself can give you a way to get back on track…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Dave Leone is Associate Principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. in Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife and son. He is a geologist with over 20 years of experience performing hazardous waste site investigations and remediation work at state-regulated hazardous waste sites.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Stephanie Argamaso knew exactly who she was when she entered college: a quiet perfectionist—to the point of having to write a script for her pizza order to place next to the phone. She majored in environmental science and minored in religion but didn’t see herself using those fields after graduation. In order not to have to go home to New York, she stuck around Hanover for a couple extra years and had the fortune to audit a filmmaking class, which sparked her interest. She ended up taking a film bootcamp and getting experience—and an IMDb editing credit—on a feature film. After a little more production work, she realized she would be happier watching and appreciating films than working on them so went back to school for a master’s in film studies. She found ways to stay in the industry, though, with various 9 to 5s.

Treating her job as just that, however, she has had free time to devote to various pursuits, just for the sake of learning something new. In treating the new experiences—from the mundane to the extraordinary—as learning adventures, she used her beginner’s mind to start chipping away at her earlier need at perfectionism.

In this episode, find out from Stephanie how saying yes and embracing the beginner's mind can make for an exciting life…on today’s Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Stephanie Argamaso works, by day, in the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting within the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, approving film shoots in the five boroughs. At all other hours, you can find her taking advantage of a new learning opportunity--from sword fighting to pole dancing to being in an all-women's drum line. 

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Rebecca Benn was excited to meet new people at college since she had been with the same small handful of schoolmates in her Mississippi Catholic school for her entire upbringing. Despite the welcome diversity of experiences of that she saw in her college friends, however, she also recognized similarities in values and inquisitiveness. She immersed herself in making deep friendships and in subjects that brought her enjoyment, namely English literature and education. She didn’t think these would necessarily be building blocks to a specific career path but pursued them out of interest.

When a fellowship to work on Capitol Hill took her to Washington, DC, she immediately felt comfortable in what she considered an approachable city. But she had so many other interests she didn’t figure she’d stay forever. The ability to work in a number of different subject areas and make many close friends ended up keeping her in the nation’s capital for her entire career. She has been careful, though, not to tie her identity too closely to the work—either when she was a staffer on the Hill or now that she is a lobbyist.

In this episode, find out from Rebecca how defining yourself not by what you do but by what you love can be a very good policy.…on today’s Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Rebecca Benn is a Mets fan, red wine drinker, music lover and ready accomplice for a winning happy hour or brunch in Washington, D.C. She’s also a partner at bipartisan lobbying firm Ballard Partners where she continues to advise both government and corporate decision makers on a wide range of policy issues.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla shared part one of her Roads Taken story, in which she talked about her early career in fashion and television and how she was always listening to her heart and feeling as though she were called to do more. At the same time, her home life became very confusing when her husband began exhibiting odd behaviors. That chapter ended as her husband Mike—who had been hospitalized numerous times for mental illness—came home and things between them seemed to repair themselves. Eventually, a psychiatric admission to the emergency room helped Nakiah recognize the symptoms of Huntington’s Disease in Mike.

With the terminal diagnosis came clarity of treatments and a new set of resources she could rely on. As it is an inherited condition, however, she knew that their son Auggie might also have an uncertain future. His juvenile Huntington’s Disease and Nakiah was committed to making the most of the time he had. They turned it into an adventure, checking items off of Auggie’s “baby bucket list.” Along the way, Nakiah has returned to school for coding, data science, and engineering to understand both Auggie’s condition and the innovations that are possible in therapeutics for people with disabilities. In diving into those new technological fields, she ended up finding an answer to the call to do more to help people.

In this episode, find out from Nakiah how listening to the call of the heart can help you help others…on today’s Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla, is a data scientist and engineer focused on the use of data and technology in making significant changes in the lives of people everyday. Her interest center on the creation and development of technology, apps, games and advanced bionics for special needs children, disabled citizens, and underserved communities. Though she has extensive work experience in public relations for fashion and media companies, she has developed hard-won expertise in neurodegenerative diseases, data analytics, assistive technology, digital media, and special education advocacy.

Part One of this Roads Taken story was posted on April 4, 2022.

Mentioned in This Episode

A study discussed in a previous Roads Taken episode with Elizabeth Manheim included the mini-documentary “Auggie’s Story,” produced in association with Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla and intended for use with the case study “Auggie’s Story: A Child with Huntington Disease” by Laura Y. Lorentzen, Kristie Reilly, Connor Baucom, and Elizabeth A. Manheim.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla felt as though she was born a generation too late, as she has always felt a call to advocate for societal change and for help people. But she also has listened to the call to go out on the town and live it up. Upon leaving college, she entered into the fashion industry in New York, taking on public relations and operations roles with big brands such as DKNY and fashion magazines such as Allure and Elle. Although it was fun to rub elbow with designers, photographers, and hip hop artists and get to go to glamorous shows and parties, at some point she started feeling as though she needed to do something with more substance. She moved to L.A. but quickly went to the Bay Area and, as a stop-gap before she found her next thing, became a pre-school teacher. The kids and school leaders loved her and told her she was great at it. But she’d heard that before. Just because she was good at something didn’t mean it was the thing she needed to be doing.

Having found the man she was going to marry, she moved back to New York to pursue a career in television. She worked at Viacom and quickly moved up and around, from Nickelodeon to MTV and even helped launch Logo, the LGBTQ network—all while getting pregnant and having her son. Around the time she began contemplating a leap from television, her home life became very confusing when her husband began exhibiting odd behaviors.

In this episode, find out from Nakiah how staying true to your heart can be a guiding force, even when life throws trial after trial your way…on today’s Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla, is a data scientist and engineer focused on the use of data and technology in making significant changes in the lives of people everyday. Her interest center on the creation and development of technology, apps, games and advanced bionics for special needs children, disabled citizens, and underserved communities. Though she has extensive work experience in public relations for fashion and media companies, she has developed hard-won expertise in neurodegenerative diseases, data analytics, assistive technology, digital media, and special education advocacy.

Part Two of this Roads Taken story will be available wherever you get your podcasts on April 11, 2022.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Aliza Pressman went to college wanting to develop a side of herself beyond her natural artistic side. Although she did have a range of experiences while there, she ended up combining her interests in art history, English literature, and drama and exploring the human condition throughout it all. Not wanting the experience to end with graduation, she and some friends started a theater company in New York. After a few years, when she saw that other people had deeper drive and talent than she was mustering, she found other ways to make connection, namely working with kids in theater arts. But when someone mentioned a psychology program to her, things changed.

She eventually found another route to answering the question of what makes us who we are: Developmental psychology. Initially drawn to teens and adolescence, she made a turn to infants and ultimately realized that so much of the environment of a child’s development has to do with parenting. She then made it her mission to translate the academic research on parenting and human development to the people who need it the most: Parents.

In this episode, find out from Aliza how taking on a role and having the tools to embody it can be two different things…on today’s Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Aliza Pressman, known nationally as Dr. Aliza, is a developmental psychologist with decades’ experience working with families. She received a masters in Risk, Resilience and Prevention from the Department of Human Development at Teacher’s College and her PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia and is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Behavioral Health Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. After co-founding SeedlingsGroup and the Mount Sinai Parenting Center (the former with fellow classmate Blair Seidler Hammond) she began the Raising Good Humans Podcast. Featuring other psychologists and national parenting authorities, as well as such notable parents as Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, and Jennifer Garner, her podcast conversations sprinkle in the latest academic research on child development and deliver it directly to parents.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Even when guest Andrew Friedman didn't have much experience with something, but thought it would be a fun challenge to try, he would go after it. For example, having never played football in his life, he walked onto the college team. Having taken only a couple computer science classes, he started building websites for area business while still in college. In hindsight, trying to get a job in a growing internet company such as Amazon or Yahoo would have fit his self-taught skills and passions. Instead, he found himself at what he considered a traditional job consulting for PriceWaterhouse.

After a couple of years, though,  he learned of an opportunity to make games for the internet. Lack of actual qualifications didn't deter him and it seemed like it could lead to something fun. Starting in the industry by building the games and doing the actual engineering, he later evolved with the evolution of the industry, working in product development and product management, as well as business strategy and operations. He's worked inside small start-ups, bigger start-ups and even established his own small company—twice.

In this episode, find out from Andrew how looking for the challenge and being willing to figure things out can sometimes help you level up...on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Andrew Friedman Andrew Friedman, who has spent over two decades in the online gaming industry, having had a hand in every aspect from engineering, product development, and product management to business strategy and operations. He has worked for many start-ups, pivoted to being an entrepreneur and starting and running his own companies, and currently works for Osmo, a children's educational gaming company. He lives with his family in Las Vegas. (290)

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Sarah Lugaric was drawn to the study of religion and the myths and narratives that all cultures have to help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. Leaving college without the clearest sense of who she was, but with a job on Wall Street, she learned the culture of business and found that she was still interested in what that said about being human. She didn’t love banking, though, and when she finally quit, she took a 30-day sea kayaking trip, rekindling her relationship with nature and herself. She found a consulting company that applied the leadership lessons that had served her so well in the wilderness to organizations and their employees, marrying two important aspects of herself.

When she had the chance to work with the captains of industry and the environmental world to bridge cultures and make positive environmental change, the glacial pace of that change and the missed opportunities caused her to take a break, spending time with her growing family, and unlock different paths to help others live with more grounding, authenticity, and security.

In his episode, find out from Sarah how navigating the world sometimes takes looking inward and protecting space, time, and that which you love…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Sarah Lugaric provides the tools to build resilient organizations, families, and individuals through her work as a founder of Seven Streams Group, a transformational coaching and consulting firm and also as the founder of Equipt, the groundbreaking personal emergency preparedness consultancy. Shenow lives in North Carolina with her husband and three kids, dogs, cats, chickens and goats. 

Mentioned on this episode: Joseph Campbell

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]