Roads Taken

Guest Kate Kelly had grown up thinking about herself as an athlete. But she also was someone who sought out joy in all aspects of her life. She liked being around kids, so figured she would be an educator. But something whispered to her that educating kids wasn’t all about being in the classroom. She started working in admissions and coaching at an independent school in Massachusetts but wished she could make a longer relationship with the students.

Working in residential life, she was on the academic calendar, so her summers were free and she reached out to some summer camps. She first landed at Camp Danbee, where she was in charge of 250 girls, ages six to 12. Undaunted, she realized this was what she was looking for: the intersection of experiential learning and community building and relationships. She was in love.

At the same time, her co-worker and Dartmouth classmate Briarly Kessler kept hounding her to meet Cole Kelly, a friend who lived in Georgia but just seemed perfect for Kate. Like the immediate sense of “this is it” when she got to camp, connecting with Cole had the same certainty. He brought the perfect combination of fun and care for the same things that Kate loved. Shortly after meeting, summer camp came up and Cole, who was just finishing his MBA and looking for something to go run, was all in. Along the couple’s nearly twenty year camp journey, they’ve developed and refined the values that make everything work, in both their personal life and camp life.

In this episode, find out from Kate how operationalizing your values can lead to optimized joy…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

For almost twenty years, Kate Kelly, with husband Cole, has run Camp Weequahic, a three- or six-week sleep-away camp for girls and boys located in northeastern Pennsylvania. When not on site each summer, the couple lives with their three boys in Athens, Georgia.

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 Tim Chow took a long time to make peace with who he was. As a closeted gay man in the mid-nineties—not a particularly open time—his college rah-rah spirit masked a feeling of not living authentically in his skin. He found pockets of interest, tucking himself away in the small Italian department, often working one-on-one with his professors, and studying abroad. But when he left college he still didn’t have a clear sense of who he was. In going to law school, he was following someone else’s expectations and eventually realized he needed to come out. The experience, however, was somewhat clouded by his father’s health issues.

When he had the chance to work abroad after law school, he jumped at it and lived a hard-charging international lifestyle for more than a decade. But that ultimately caught up with him and it took an “Eat Pray Love” moment for him to put things into perspective again. When he realized there were lots of reasons to embrace who he was and celebrate what was at the core, he flourished. That compounded when he let that translate to his work, expanding what integrity looks like on both a personal and professional level.

In this episode, find out from Tim how living with integrity can pay off in many ways…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley. // 

About This Episode's Guest

Tim Chow is Chief Business Integrity Officer and General Counsel Commercial at Diageo, the multinational beverage company behind some of the biggest alcohol brands in the beverage industry. He helps the company be world class in its ethical decision-making in everything from environmental sustainability and supply chain issues to employee diversity and inclusion. You can read more about Tim and his role in the Vanguard Law Magazine. 

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 K.C. Danzansky could barely believe that one could make a major by reading classic literature, analyzing it, and writing about it. She considered her English major not only fun but a good grounding in the liberal arts that would prove useful in a career. But because she loved the literary world, she figured she would remain in it, working at a publishing house or something similar. The famously low salaries and the prospect of living in the publishing mecca of New York City did not appeal, however. So she took a look at the companies that defended on campus for corporate recruiting. Consumer packaged goods giant General Mills seemed open to her liberal arts background and she thought she could put up with sales trips in pant suits for a few years. What she came to realize was that the scope and size of the organization allowed for her to try on a number of roles.

While she has remained at the company for 25 years, her husband was the casualty of a round of layoffs. But even that had a silver lining, as both of their time in CPG helped them launch a beverage company that provides the spice in her life. In this episode, find out from KC how taking one path doesn't always mean doing the same thing. In this episode, find out from K.C. how taking one path doesn't always mean doing the same thing…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

K.C. Danzansky, currently Director of Sales Communications, Analytics, Trade and Ecommerce within Convenience and Foodservice at General Mills, has held a variety of roles within the consumer packaged goods giant during her 25-year career there. She also plays CMO and general support staff to her husband Scott's beverage company that features apple-cider-vinegar-based cocktail mixers and health shots. Find out more and see K.C. playing the role of harried bartender in their brand video at TheTwistedShrub.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 Kate Shanahan, Dartmouth ’96, had grown up in Hanover in her elementary years and searched for colleges elsewhere. But nothing compared to the College on the Hill and so returned to rediscover the campus she knew so well. It took her time to find her groove but English literature lit a spark for her. Later, she found the Education department and the encounters she had there with professors and the material was life-changing. Upon graduation, she spent six more months in Hanover in the teacher preparation program, student teaching in a classroom that she’d been in as a nine-year-old.

While she loved teaching and knew she was good at it, she did wonder whether she wanted to make it her life-long profession. A wise adviser suggested that her focus should be not so long term but rather about what to do right now. That laid her on the expected path to teaching. But in taking spending time on the west coast during the six months before taking on her first full-time classroom, she took a by-road would set an unexpected course for a geographic switch.

In this episode, find out from Kate how focusing on the first step can take the pressure of off forever, but lead you there anyway…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Kate Shanahan taught at several private schools on the East Coast before moving to California and joining the Harker faculty of the Harker School in San Jose, California, in 1998. During her long tenure at Harker, she has led the English department and has taught both upper elementary grades, chiefly grade 5 English and writing. She lives with her husband and two sons in sunny San Jose.

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 Ryan Donovan, Dartmouth ’96, felt as though his priorities were running, drinking, and studying in that order. But a guest speaker in a course on Sport and Society opened his eyes to how a government major might be able to marry his love of sport and a career. Dick Dunham ’53 talked about his career working with the U.S. Olympic Committee and Ryan reached out for some mentoring and a recommendation letter to an Olympic Committee internship. He didn’t get that internship but did land something in sport, which kicked off a career in the sport world that he loved. After his MBA and an experiencing at a creative agency that helped him realize he was a marketer of heart, he has had a string of interesting jobs in the industry, culminating in his dream of being a senior executive at a sport company.

A pivotal moment in his journey came in the last two years when he decided to stop drinking. In this episode, find out from Ryan realizing what you love becomes healthier when differentiating that which is good for you from that which isn’t…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Ryan Donovan is a life-long sports marketer who has served in leadership positions at NBC Sports and other organizations and is currently Senior Vice President of Marketing at Fanatics, Inc. After a few years' hiatus, he is running again.

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 Carrie Kuss, Dartmouth ’96, was at first sure that she was a future veterinarian. But after a few chemistry classes and more government classes, she was equally sure she was a future attorney, if not Supreme Court justice. Being waitlisted for law schools, she decided to make sure the law would be the right path and so served as a paralegal for a few years.

While in a large firm in Boston, the law partner for whom she worked decided he wanted to run a charity golf tournament. The opportunity to organize and run the tournament for charity felt much more meaningful to Carrie than the on-the-job legal education she had been getting. And it introduced her to the world of non-profit fundraising, a field she knew nothing about previously. When she ran a marathon for another charity and ended up being a key organizer along the way, she got enough experience to know this is something that felt right for her.

In this episode, find out from Carrie how walking down a path is sometimes the only way to figure out the fit…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Carrie Kuss is senior director of field fitness programs with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she has spent over two decades working in various programmatic and fundraising capacities. She lives in Colorado and travels when she can. Find out more about her organization at StJude.org.

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 Wendi Potter McKenna, Dartmouth ’96, has always been one to look for what others found impossible and pursue it. In college, she found her passion and home among the women’s rowing team and considered it a big part of her identity. When she got a diagnosis of an athletic career-ending injury, she wasn't willing to accept it. Instead, she found a physical therapist who asked “What do you want?” and helped get her to do the impossible and get where she wanted to go. In the process, she realized she wanted to do that for others.

After changing majors senior year to get her closer to the PT dream, she finished her prerequisite courses at Boston University and got a job working as a part time aide to a teen with cerebral palsy. That experience changed her focus from sports therapy to pediatric therapy, where she has spent her career ever since. She built her own clinic and helped countless families through the journey of their babies' and children's motor and sensory development. Along the way, she developed a deep understanding of the psychology behind the work and has shifted her practice to spend more time with parents on their own transformational journeys.

In this episode, find out from Wendi how knowing what you want and not taking no for an answer is as much about listening as it is about determination…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Wendi McKenna is a pediatric physical therapist and transformation parenting coach who is passionate about helping parents understand, marvel at, and support their babies' and children's motor and sensory development. She is the owner/founder of Strides Physical Therapy, Inc., in the San Diego area where she lives with her husband and their three kids. But she coaches parents everywhere through her Success Parenting program. You can find out more about Wendi’s world at MovePlayGrow.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 Bill Tovell, Dartmouth ’96, left for college shortly after Hurricane Andrew ripped through Miami and destroyed his boyhood home and everything in it. He went as far as he could, to the wilds of New Hampshire, and looked for something new. He tried new things, such as rugby, and even set aside some preconceptions he had about a life in medicine. Economics and corporate recruiting took him into banking in New York despite a tantalizing set of discussions with the CIA. His work within financial services seemed fairly typical. But again, he was looking for something new and took an opportunity in Bermuda. A bounce back to his old organization in San Francisco seemed like a good move, but became less fun a little while later when the dotcom bubble burst and his entire team—except him—was let go. He was asked to move back to Manhattan, which he did on September 7, 2001.

The morning of September 11, Bill found himself on the 50th floor of 60 Wall Street, from where he saw the second plane hit the World Trade towers. The immediate aftermath of that event stayed with him and ultimately led him to take a year to travel around the world. When he came back, he was fired up to take some action.

In this episode, find out from Bill how looking for meaning after disaster strikes requires forging one’s own path.…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

 Bill Tovell has been working in global corporate and investment banking with a variety of clients across a diverse set of industries with the same financial services firm—off and on—for the last quarter century.  For the last twenty years, he has been involved with the organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. As a civilian board member, he champions the efforts of post-9-11 veterans, specifically around mental health and PTSD. He lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons.

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 Howald Hughes, Dartmouth ’96, started playing hockey at age seven, at least a year after she wanted to. She was told girls couldn’t play in the league that young. When she was eligible she kept playing—with the boys—until going off to high school for junior and senior year, setting her sights on playing at the college level. Hockey got her to Dartmouth, which she ended up loving, despite the long hard hours of training, practicing and competing as a two-sport athlete. Though a formidable javelin thrower, she shone on the ice. As a college sporting career studded with Ivy League championships and All-Ivy recognition came to a close, she didn’t want her time in a rink to end. Instead of pursuing continued playing opportunities, however, she wanted to be a coach.

The problem was, a starting coaching job was going to pay little more than a volunteer role. So she opted to go back to school for an education degree, which would put her on a more secure path toward a teaching job with a coaching assignment. When she finished the degree, though, and was offered the teaching job in a small town in Saskatchewan, she was also offered—on the same day—another chance at a University coaching position. Having turned the dream down once, she wasn’t about to turn it down twice, even with the salary disparity. More than two decades later, she has built her program and lived the dream.

In this episode, find out from Sarah how seeing things from both sides can make you appreciate where you are…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley. 

About This Episode's Guest

Sarah Howald Hodges has been the head coach for the University of Regina Cougars women's hockey program in Saskatchewan for more than two decades. She has also coached for the Canadian National's U18 and U22 teams in addition to leading other development efforts for the sport. In her playing days at Dartmouth, she was on two Ivy League Championship teams, was named first team All-Ivy, and was one of the co-captains our senior year. She led her team in points for two of the four seasons, and is still among the top-ten leaders in career goals in the program's history. She also threw a mean javelin. She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, with her husband and two hockey-playing daughters.

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 Carrington Bradley, Dartmouth ’96, feels as though a number of happenstances, “twists of fate” as he calls them, have really helped shape the trajectory of his life. One of the earliest was when his mother stumbled across the ROTC scholarship application the day before it was due and—because it didn’t require an essay component—Carrington completed it. Getting that scholarship and joining the ROTC program at Dartmouth handed him the educational opportunity to study engineering and also took the pressure off during senior year when everyone else worried about what would come next. Without any decision-making on his part, he knew that he would be in the Army for four years. His first assignment took him to Korea where he was leading a group of over 30 servicemen just a few months after graduation. Leadership is at the core of everything an army officer does and while some of his engineering and problem-solving skills were put to the test, it was his soft skills—persuading people to do things on time, on budget, and well—were developed most of all.

When his team did not get deployed to Bosnia as they thought they would (another twist of fate), he ended his military career when his four year commitment was over and visited friends in the Bay Area. Fate found a way to set him up in Silicon Valley to begin a second career in project management in the semiconductor industry. He enjoyed working with other former military officers with a boss who asked them to do whatever it took took to solve the problem. Once the problem was solved, he decided to head back east to business school.

Meeting his wife in business school (ah, sweet fate) and compromising on geography by moving back to the Bay Area, he returned to the semiconductor industry. This time, he joined a startup and had the classic Silicon Valley crash-and-burn experience after the financial downturn. Fate smiled again, however, and introduced him to the electric vehicle industry where he continues to use his project management and leadership skills in building out charging stations and making EVs usable for a wider market.

In this episode, find out from Carrrrington how recognizing the signs and following twists of fate can sometimes provide chances to take an active leadership role …on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Carrington Bradley is an expert in charging station technologies within the electronic vehicle industry who is on a mission to make you into an electric car driver and to connect you to the power you need. A project manager at heart, Carrington also has a background in the semiconductor industry as well as military leadership.

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]