Welcome back to Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley. We are thrilled to be bringing you 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, in each episode we will talk to our 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. This season, we will be talking about sizing up achievement, finding home, experiencing loss, and picking yourself up again.

You can find our full archive (which used to be three really long seasons but we recently renumbered them into shorter seasons to make the sifting through a little easier) at RoadsTakenShow.Com and get a new episode each Monday when you subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. 

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]

Hi, Roads Taken listeners. The show will returning for another season on Monday, April 17. We have spent our hiatus going to bed at a reasonable hour on Sunday nights and lining up a slew of great guests for you. So you have only a couple more weeks of waiting to hear their journeys. (Listen to find out how we went from season 3 to season 8!) Just make sure you have 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 April 17 with all new guests and Leslie Jennings Rowley on Roads Taken.

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]

After another successful season, which hosted our 120th guest, Roads Taken will take another brief hiatus. During the break, revisit the rich archive of past episodes at RoadsTakenShow.com and also nominate yourself or another storyteller to be on the show. We will do some interviews this winter and come back in the spring with a new slew of stories for our next season.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Peter Jastreboff had considered a variety of paths to travel at college, from politics to medicine. When he actually started, his interests remained varied, diverging from those early thoughts and staying seemingly scattered. He ended up melding computer science and psychology into a major to better understand neural networks and minoring in religion. Put those pursuits together with his extensive time at the college radio station and it’s clear that at the core of his interests lies a fascination with the nature of human interaction.

Ultimately, after college, he found himself where technology and finance interact—first creating his own company with a college classmate and then taking on a number of technology management roles at financial firms large and small. Over time, though, he learned that it was the human side of the business that appealed as much as the technology.

In this episode, find out from Pete how searching for a sense of belonging and listening to the nuances of culture can sometimes be the key to everything…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Peter Jasterboff is a global technology leader who has spent a career in the finance industry. He is currently VP of Client Services at Talos, helping provide institutional-grade technology infrastructure for digital assets trading. Though he's been in all the world's financial centers, he’s recently moved with his wife and children to London.

For another story about moving around the world and finding the core meaning in what you’re doing beyond the industry, listen to our episode with Shuhei Sekiguchi.

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]

Going along with the flow was the natural way for Jack Kolodny. He tended to stick with what he knew--particularly those things where there were cut-and-dried, right-and-wrong answers but he also followed his interests and things that other nice people were interested in and cultivated an interesting life in college. Upon leaving, he didn't change course so much, hearing from a friend that management consulting was fun and following nice people to a good firm. He characterizes this approach as being a leaf in a stream

But at some point, around the time of attending business school, he realized that the people that were paddling all around him might be on to something and he started paying attention to how his skills and values pointed him on the right course. He wanted more skin in the game so worked at a hedge fund helping the newly acquired businesses run. Eventually he wanted even more of. say in the values that would underlie the decision-making so co-founded his own firm. He finally shifted from being a leaf in the stream to paddling his own course.

In this episode, find out from Jack how getting the right people in the boat with you can make all the difference…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Jack Kolodny is Managing Partner at Auxo Investment Partners, an operationally-focused private investment firm that specializes in investing in and growing founder- and family-owned industrial, manufacturing and business-services companies. He lives in one of the L.A. area canyons, growing wine grapes on his back slope. He's accompanied on his life's boat by his wife and their three children—one who envisions paddling toward far off oceans, one already blowing up Instagram with his fashion designs, and one who will figure it out in time. 

For another story about centering other people in our lives, listen to our episode with Jonathon Stewart. 

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]

Guest Ben Brainard had cared for only a goldfish before getting to college but he somehow had the idea of becoming a veterinarian. He thinks it might have been on account of reading James Harriot’s tales of days spent bucolically going from farm to farm treating animals of all sizes. But even after doing the pre-med track and shadowing vets in Vermont he still didn’t have the full picture of what a diary animal doctor did. In vet school he discovered much of the reality of that work was caring for the farm rather than the individual animals and he realized he needed to switch gears. Going into critical care for people’s pets, he got to exercise his interests in both problem solving on the fly and communicating with people. Along the way he needed to negotiate with the person closest to him and ultimately decide on caring for his own.

In this episode, find out from Ben how figuring out who we want to care for is often a path to contentment…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Ben Brainard is currently Edward H. Gunst Professor of Small Animal Critical Care at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, where he is also director of clinical research. He is an expert in fish anesthesia, coagulation, and--as we heard earlier--dealing with primates of all sorts through the Great Ape Heart Project. Ben and his wife are raising their inquisitive daughter in Athens, Georgia. And though he seems to have put his basement band dreams to rest with Vegetative Propagation, he thankfully still wears bow ties.

For another story centered on caring for creatures great and small (and even our own), listen to ourepisode with Liz Rawson.

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]

Guest Shilyh Warren was comfortable in college having uncomfortable conversations about inequality and gender and felt herself to be a bit of a ramble-rouser. She wasn’t exactly sure what her path would be like but she wanted to emulate the activists who went out and made a difference in the world dismantling systems. Her first job after college was doing political organizing, where she realized how hard that work was and the pace of change didn’t meet her expectations. After investigating a few more options, she decided to join a boyfriend’s dream to travel and work in South America. A twist in that story that made her take a look at what her own dreams held, led her to a few different kinds of adventure. Ultimately the cultural pieces that she was learning on the road intersected with the life of the mind she’d loved cultivating in the classroom.

In this episode, find out from Shilyh out how casting a critical eye and reflecting deeply can manifest in different kinds of activism…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Shilyh Warren is currently at the University of Texas, Dallas where she is Associate Professor of Visual and Performing Arts & Film Studies as well as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology. Her research takes up debates in film history, feminist theory, documentary studies, and film theory. She and her writing, including her award-winning piece "Revolution is Another Climax," can be found @shelikeswhat on Twitter (if that's still a thing.)

For another story centered on finding an outlet for gender-related activism in the arts and the academy, listen to ourepisode with Erika Meitner.

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]

Guest Chris McGee loved science--even lab work--but it was really the story behind the science that captivated him. He thought that probably meant being in the biotechnology industry, but wasn't exactly sure how that would manifest in his life right after college. In an early attempt, he realized he was too far removed from the impact of the work. At the next company, he was getting closer to the actual work, but it wasn't the kind of work I wanted to be doing. At that point, the suggestion from a friend to pack it up and take an adventure to Nepal provided the welcome break he needed. He extended his adventuring with another friend but finally decided to move across the country for both professional and professional reasons.

In this episode, find out from Chris out how momentarily getting off the path you’re on—even the right one—sometimes lets you travel it more wisely…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Chris McGee currently serves Portfolio and Project Management Team Leader at Pfizer, where he has worked in various capacities since 2006. While dodging potentially ill-advised adventure offers from friends, he has his own adventures with his wife and two children in Brooklyn. (207)

For another story centered on pharmaceutical development, listen to ourepisode with Drew Natenshon.

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]

Guest Christopher Kelly spent many a night during his college career in a film screening, honing a knowledge and love of cinema. But even more than his abiding love of film was his passion for writing about it and reflecting on culture more broadly. It wasn’t immediately obvious, however, how to make a life’s work of that. After a few placements at magazines and a freelance career that could keep ends meet, he applied on a whim to an open film critic position at a newspaper in Fort Worth, Texas, and he got it. That remained the dream job for a few years and then he was ready for new opportunities, just as the two worlds on which his career was built—the film industry and print journalism—were undergoing complete transformation.

In this episode,find out from Chris how staying attuned to the tastes of the audience and being open to change can help you navigate the critical junctures…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Christopher Kelly is Vice President of Content of NJ Advance Media, overseeing all content for NJ.com and the Newark Star-Ledger. He is also a novelist, who won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction in 2008 for his combination “coming-of-age and revenge story” A Push and a Shove. His second novel, The Pink Bus, was published in 2016, just before he found other ways to spend his free time with his husband and two kids.

For another story featuring a writer about culture and film, listen to ourepisode with Suzanne Leonard.

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]

Guest Blair Seidler Hammond navigated her freshman year of college knowing that her mother was sick with cancer. Her mother died at the end of that year and when Blair returned after the summer break, she was still trying to process and understand what the purpose of life was. Feeling the answer was to live into every moment, she prioritized daily joys such as painting and sailing. Realizing her fatalism might be a little outsized, she started reevaluating what a well-lived life was, and was determined to final a vocation that felt full of purpose. The problem was, even though everyone was telling her she should be a doctor, she couldn’t stand the sight of blood. Eventually, she let her love of science manifest it in teaching and research but finally felt the pull back to the classroom and entered med school. When she found pediatrics, she realized she could live out the purpose-driven life imagined after all.

In this episode, find out from Blair how leaning into joy and relationships can actually be the same thing as finding meaning…on Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode’s Guest

Blair Seidler Hammond is a board certified pediatrician at the Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice where she founded the General Pediatrics Faculty Practice. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai, where she has received their Excellence in Teaching Award. Along with classmate Aliza Pressman, Blair is Co-Founding Director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, where she also serves as Director of Medical Education, helping to transform the way pediatric healthcare is delivered by maximizing opportunities to promote strong parent-child relationships and early childhood development within everyday healthcare interactions. She applies her work at home, too—living and parenting as she does with her husband and classmate Scott Hammond and their three children—in Westchester, New York.

For another story featuring the Mount Sinai Parenting Center that Blair discussed founding, listen to ourepisode with Aliza Pressman, the program’s co-founder.

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]