Roads Taken

Welcome to Roads Taken and another great season of stories that remind us that you don’t have to know exactly where you’re going, you just need to be open to the adventure that awaits. As in all our previous seasons, we will greet new guests—all a quarter-century-plus after college—and ask them about who they were as they graduated, who they thought they’d become, and how they’ve traveled down various roads to get where they are today. (From what we've hearned thus far, where we end up is rarely what we anticipated.) Interspersed with these stories from new guests this season, we will be sitting down anew with some previous guests to get an update on the paths they've trod since our last conversation. You can find our full archive at RoadsTakenShow.com and get a new episode each Monday when you subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. Every time, our guest's story will show us what Robert Frost was trying to tell us: It doesn’t really matter which way we turn….a full life awaits, regardless of the ROADS TAKEN.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley will be returning for an all new season soon—this time with a bit of a twist. As in all our previous seasons, we will talk with new guests—all a quarter-century-plus after college—about who they were as they graduated, who they thought they’d become, and how they’ve traveled down various roads to get where they are today. But this time, interspersed with those new voices, we will be sitting down anew with some previous guests to get an update on the paths they've trod since our last conversation. 

You might want to re-listen to a few previous episodes. 

Particularly handy might be the episodes with Karen M. Smith Debolt (Making Karen Great Again), Keshav Puttaswamy (Time Traveler), and Joey Hood (The Generalist Diplomat). Or visit our full archive at RoadsTakenShow.com. And be sure you've subscribed or you're following in your favorite podcast app and that your auto download feature is turned on so you don't miss any new episodes when they start dropping on January 1, 2024.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Sunni Chauhan and Sheryl Jacobson became friends freshman year of college, living in the same distant dorm near the river. Across the years, never living in the same city, they have maintained a close friendship that has sustained them. In this conversation, they discuss their friendship's origin story, how they have kept the relationship going over the years and what it has meant to each of them.

You can hear each one of their stories on a previous Roads Taken Episode. Sunni was featured in Episode 143 called Merging Interests and Sheryl was featured in Episode 144 called The Sometimes Lonely Road.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

Coming from a family of accountants and engineers, Sheryl Jacobson didn't have any real models of what to do with a liberal arts degree. But with a love of history, culture, and story she knew she wanted an international experience after graduation. She landed a job with the boutique Monitor Group, working first in marketing and market research, just beyond her comfort zone. Her consulting life bounced her all over the world and presented her with opportunities she never could have imagined from London and Hong Kong to Istanbul and Shanghai, even as Monitor became part of Deloitte. Meeting her husband along the way and contemplating motherhood after many years, she realized she could come home and still have other adventures.

In this episode, find out from Sheryl how balancing adventure and loneliness is a dance that can work out in the end…on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Sheryl Jacobson is the lead strategy partner for one of Deloitte’s Life Sciences clients. She has spent the last 20+ years helping clients and her sole employer Deloitte tackle strategic challenges and make the most of opportunities for growth and innovation. She lives in her to-the-studs renovated Brownstone in Harlem with her husband and their son.

For another story about the ups and downs of expat life with Heather McNemar.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

Although Sunni Chauhan had embraced the idea of becoming a doctor, as she knew she loved both problem solving and helping people, she thought if she was going to in medicine the rest of her life she’d take pre-med classes alongside something else that interested her. She became an economics major. At graduation, she decided to take a two-year break before jumping into med school and figured she’d be a management consultant. But if it really was going to be only two years, she realized she'd see a lot more from a deal perspective in banking where the cycles are shorter. Somehow, the two years turned into 16 and the MD her parents thought would be medical doctor turned to managing director.

Her love of mergers and acquisitions allowed her to see a lot and learn a lot over those many years. When given a chance to reinvent herself, she took those skills, found ways to acquire new ones, and landed in new spots a few times over.//In this episode, find out from Sunni how keeping open to new things can lead to unexpected joys …on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Sunni Chauhan is a strategic business leader with more than 25 years of experience advising leaders on value creation through talent, strategy, M&A and corporate finance, sustainability and stakeholder engagement. Currently she is exercising her broad skillset, gained over a wide range of professional experiences, as a consultant in the board and CEO practice at Spencer Stuart. She and her family live in London.

For another story about someone who thought they’d take a two year break and go back to the plan (and also about taking a new path after a long run) listen to our epsiode with Cameron Turner.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

As a young person, Louis Chang would make lists. Lists of long term, mid-term, and short-term goals as well as the daily tasks that he needed to do to achieve them. When he didn’t finish his daily list, he would push it to another day. One major goal was medical school right after college. But after a less than stellar grade in his intro chem class, he felt his chances at med school were over. A momentary detour afforded him the opportunity to take a range of other classes from government to German, but he actually stuck with chemistry as a major, facing the challenge head on. The breadth of experiences he had during college and his true interest for organic chemistry, however, made him question his original idea of medical school so he didn’t even take the MCATs before graduating. Instead, he worked in a chem lab at the NIH, almost pursued a PhD, and ultimately realized bench science was a little too isolating.

Unsure what was next, he tried his hand at a law firm in DC but pretty soon he knew that wasn’t the right fit either and finally applied to med school. The mix of tenacity and a willingness to try something new came in handy again when he actually did follow the to-do list toward his anticipated speciality, only to find out life had other plans. 

In this episode, find out from Louis how checking out the detours can help you leave no regrets …on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Louis Chang a neurosurgical spine specialist with expertise in minimally invasive surgery for spinal disorders. He also is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

For another story about navigating the path to the medical life that feels right (this time in urology!), listen to our episode with George Huang. 

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

A chance selection of a freshman seminar on environmental health made Derek Shendell recognize there were entirely new ways of using his interest in science and medicine. A subsequent international experience showed him first-hand how geography and other social factors were involved. Public health had been an unknown career path to him, but rather quickly he realized it was exactly how he wanted to make an impact in the world. Getting a little bogged down by joint MD/MPH programs, he stumbled a bit at the start but got on the right track and found he could make impact with a number of different lines of work, all focusing on shining light on inequities and doing good science to help shift policies to make society healthier.

In this episode, find out from Derek how looking beyond your own environment can sometimes help you see how you can do the most good…on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Derek Shedell is Professor and Concentration Leader  for Environmental Health Sciences in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health & Justice at the Rutgers School of Public Health. He is also the Director of the New Jersey Safe Schools Program there. He is widely published and continues churning out high-impact work.

For another story about seeing the world around you and wanting to make it healthier, listen to our episode with John Peoples.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

In his younger days, when many of his contemporaries didn't really know what they wanted, David Reynolds was pretty clear on where he’d end up. And things ultimately came to pass just as he had imagined in both professional and recreational pursuits. He parlayed his engineering degrees into roles in technology and manufacturing and honed his leadership skills in business school. Spending twenty years in the same company afforded him the opportunity to flex those skills and build a broad toolkit. But now, with some years behind him, he is wondering about the opportunity costs of staying in one spot. 

In this episode, find out from David how sticking with things for a while can both help you get better and leave you guessing about alternatives …on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

David Reynolds has a wide variety of experiences and a deep skill set in technology manufacturing management. He has spent more than two decades with Cabot Corporation in the greater Boston area, where he lives with his family. He is still into competitive sailing and on and off the water wants to keep getting better at things while always looking to what's on the horizon.

For another story about balancing stability and change, listen to our episode with Keshav Puttaswamy.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

With an inclination toward making things, Ben Mitchell was drawn to an engineering path until differential equations came along. The promise of being able to get his hands dirty with tools right away made the computer science major more appealing. The burgeoning tech world seemed the natural fit after graduation and an MBA gave him the management skills to complement his coding ones so that he could flex in product management roles. Luckily the ebbs and flows of the tech industry gave him opportunities to get his hands dirty in not only a variety of companies but also outside pursuits.

In this episode, find out from Ben how keeping the maker spirit alive outside the day job can sustain you in important ways …on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Ben Mitchell has had a bunch of experiences in the online world, including product management, service delivery, and privacy in such settings as PayPal, Cisco, and Facebook. He's also gotten into lobster diving, has built a boat with his dad, and continues to build large scale mechanical contraptions for theatrical shows all in his non-working hours. 

And, as promised, here's a picture of Ben with a really big lobster.

For another story about working to live, listen to our episode with (Ben’s fellow Zete) Zack Stein.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]

Believing that her future was in the ministry, Kristen Carlone Hurley saw a future in divinity school with a husband and kids somewhere in the Northeast. When her parents blindsided her with the news of their divorce in just before her junior year and she was going through relationship issues of her own, her faith was shaken. She dealt with a period of depression and first put the divinity school on hold until she realized she needed another path. After regrouping, she took opportunities as they came, no matter how divergent from the original ideal. Ultimately where she landed diverged quite a bit.

In this episode, find out from Kristen how sometimes exercising faith means knowing you'll find something good where it is, not necessarily where you thought it would be…on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Kristen Carlone Hurley followed opportunities as they came about, ultimately finding herself in the financial sector. She lives in Florida with her husband, enjoying the sunshine and living her bliss.

For another story about faith taking you to unexpected places, listen to our episode with Michelle Erickson Waters.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

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]