The Distiller

When Bart Campolo lost his faith, he didn’t lose his desire to minister.

After all, the word “minister” was a verb before it became a noun. The fact that Bart no longer believed in a God didn’t mean he was any less interested in helping people work through the problems in their lives. Bart still wanted to provide what might be called “pastoral care.” But without a pulpit to speak from, who would actually seek him out for input, guidance, and advice?

Bart’s somewhat unusual in that his reaction to large-scale changes in his life isn’t to go inward. He doesn’t hide out until he figures out what he thinks and feels. His response is to continue to go outward, to publicly discuss his questions and concerns. He immediately thinks to reach out to peers and colleagues. He first approached Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard to discuss how you get/create such a position. The result was the creation of the position of Humanist Chaplain at the University of Southern California. Bart held that post for three years before returning to Cincinnati to take the same position at the University of Cincinnati.

The Personal Impact of a Public Shift in Belief

Bart’s journey out of the Christian faith was not a moment of clarity or revelation, it was more of a “death by a thousand cuts” process. He describes it as taking years, and eventually kind of realizing there was nothing of it left. For many people, major transitions of belief involve baby-with-bathwater jettisoning of everything related to their faith. But Bart’s process was different. He was able to retain his love for a lot of the things in organized religion that he still valued, while letting go of the beliefs that were constraining.

Bart is a public person, his move away from Christianity was no exception. While it didn’t necessarily start there, it was perhaps best documented in a 2008 article Bart wrote for the Christian ministry publication Youth Specialties.* Bart’s missive on his belief (at that moment in time) takes the form of a written response to a young woman asking him about the question of God’s justice in light of a recent tragedy in her community. That article garnered a lot of attention. Some readers agreed and were encouraged to read someone so public espousing such a view. Others were quick to label Bart a heretic, and point out his failures of belief according to their definitions. Bart claims to be unaffected by the negative reactions. But no matter how little he may care about the opinions of people he’s never met…the financial impact of the loss of teaching and speaking invitations was real for his family.

Paying the Bills, When Work and Belief Are Intertwined

It’s hard enough to figure out how to make a living without entangling questions of belief in that process. But when your belief is your livelihood, how do you honestly examine your faith without fear of the consequences? Or perhaps: how do you not let the fear control that process. For Bart, again, the process was a little different. The same internal sense of certainty that makes him an effective public speaker and teacher (which some might label dogmatism), seems to breed in Bart a sense of confidence where others would doubt. Speaking with Bart you find surprisingly little self-doubt or regret. For someone like me, whose doubt and anxiety are generally inescapable, that apparent certainty is both appealing and alarming.

That’s not to say that there weren’t concerns or fears. But Bart seems to play those off as just the natural part of being honest about one’s process, and unavoidable even without the loss of faith. Hearing someone take on something so momentous as the loss of their ...

Mark Bowles Is Not Afraid to Fail, He’s Done It Many Times Before.

Talk with Mark about his experience in technology startups and venture-based entrepreneurship, and you’re just as likely to hear the stories of his failures as his successes. But Mark didn’t start out with a silver VC spoon in his mouth.

Mark grew up working with his siblings in the small family restaurant on the shores of Crystal Beach, Texas. After getting a degree in Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M, Mark moved to California to take his first job in technology. Working for Motorola in the semiconductor industry, and selling Apple Mac clones in the PowerPC era gave Mark the equivalent of a graduate degree in technology entrepreneurship. He pretty quickly figured out he wasn’t a great employee (he says he’s a horrible interview), and set out to start his own ventures.

Getting Started In the Technology Startup World

He started two different semiconductor companies. The one he invested six years of his life into, as well as his savings, went under, and he had to lay off 140 employees and shut the business down. The other, one he’d helped start and had some equity, sold nine months later for $110 million dollars. And so it goes. But counting failure as part of the process is not the same as being cavalier about it, or not feeling its effects. Mark refers to these failed business as “smoking holes in the ground,” signaling the degree of desolation that comes after each failed venture.

We were particularly interested to know whether Mark feels there’s a particular trait or quality one has to have to be a successful entrepreneur. In Mark’s case it seems to be his doggedness, and his determination. Once he grabs hold of an idea he believes can be successful, it’s very difficult to pull him off that belief. That quality of never giving upon an idea, while at the same time being responsive to market and investor questions and demands, is a tough balance to maintain. Mark’s belief in himself, balanced by his humility and understanding of where his skills do and don’t lie, is a great example of that balance.

EcoATM – A Venture Backed Success Story

Along with a few partners, Mark eventually helped invent the technology and start the company that became EcoATM. If you’ve not seen an EcoATM kiosk, you’re apparently not shopping at a major supermarket in the United States. Walk into any Kroger or Albertsons in America and you’ll see the green EcoATM kiosk in the front of the store, where you can sell your used mobile phone, ensure it doesn’t go into the landfill, and get money right on the spot.

It’s easy now to see what a great idea and invention that is, but at least 30 potential investors at the time thought was a terrible idea. As we talked about, believing in that idea involved selling a home, pulling the kids out of private school, and selling the kids’ college funds to keep the business going. EcoATM eventually sold to CoinStar for $350 million dollars. Mark talks about how you “know” it’s going to come through when you “knew” the other two ventures were great ideas too. And how do you sleep at night either way?

Success Breeds Success – Paying It Forward

Today the success of EcoATM has presented Mark with a host of new opportunities. He’s active and visible in the San Diego technology startup scene, both as an advisor and an investor. He’s helped several startups get off the ground, and is continually working with local groups to connect entrepreneurs with resources and funding to keep good ideas going. And that work extends to some places that might be surprising. Mark currently works with current and former prisoners as a part of Defy Ventures,

Theatre House owner Marty Boyer is a high-character individual.

Marty is a unique individual in that his ego has (apparently) almost no bearing on what he does for a living. Marty is the most pragmatic individual I’ve ever met. He has the ability to make a clear-eyed assessment of his skills, and then look for work that will allow him to be successful using those skills. The word that best describes Marty (and a word we use far too much in this episode as a result) is “pragmatic.” Marty is about what works. But, as we discussed, that doesn’t mean he’s without care or emotion in what he does, far from it. Marty believes the best way to care for people is to do things right. To him, “high touch customer service” is on par with how we care for our friendships or our family relationships. It’s a pretty unique idea in today’s business world.

Which leads us to the set of decisions that led Marty, a technology native who’d previously worked in advertising and business development, to buy a shuttered business selling theater supplies from costume fabric to cake makeup. Marty bought the Theatre House from a friend (who’d just bought the property without thought to what was in it) in late 2017 and immediately set about turning it profitable in the fastest possible manner. But along the way, Marty’s values influenced (and continue to influence) every decision. Hearing Marty talk about that process is a great insight into the process of a person with a distinctly unique approach and point of view.

Bringing Meaning to Work Through Clarity of Values

We started off this conversation with Marty talking about the place we met. Pachinko is a neighborhood bar in Covington, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Yelp lists it as a dive bar, but Marty describes it as a “permission bar,” a place where you have permission to be yourself. Marty worked at Pachinko in college, and remains not only a regular at the bar, but close friends with owner Tom Fessler. Tom’s owned Pachinko for over 25 years and is the heart and soul of the business. For Marty it’s a perfect example of someone who’s doing exactly what they should be, someone whose endeavors are the perfect illustration of who they are.

Listening to Marty we can’t help but marvel at the clarity he brings to the things he does. From his original decision to buy and re-open the Theatre House, to his investments in his staff, to his relationship to his customers. Marty is consistently working to be the best at what he does, not for the sake of bragging or ego, but because it’s the right way to do things. It’s the way to get the result you want. Much like our conversation with Libby Hunter in episode 17, Marty’s relationship to “meaningful work” comes not from a theoretical discussion, but from an assumed, inherent, pragmatic approach to doing things the way they should be, because that’s the approach that brings results.

The Work We Do vs. Who We Are

For Marty it all comes back to what he wants to do, and what he wants from life. And his values are both the building blocks and the measuring stick of that life. Listen to the episode and hear how often Marty refers back to those values as being informative to his process. For so many of us, large parts of our lives seem frequently out of control, or lacking context in the big picture of who we are or where we’re going. Marty says in our conversation that he wants to spend the last 25 years of his life “screwing off.” He’s not kidding. He wants to have some fun. He also says he doesn’t believe in “work-life balance” because it’s all just life.

In the context of our show as a whole,

Christie Goodfellow and Beth Graves Are Two Very Different Kinds of Sculptors.

The similarities and differences between Christie and Beth’s work creates an interesting give and take between the two of them. Still, they share enough in common to exchange techniques and tips, but the work that ultimately results is so different as to comprise two completely different enterprises.

Christie Goodfellow is a potter, and the owner of CGCERAMICS. She specializes in custom, wheel-thrown pottery that’s clean, modern, and elegant. Christie often works on commission, but the work is entirely hers. From start to finish, wet “slip” to kiln-dried finished piece, Christie is in charge of the entire process. Beth Graves is a custom toy sculptor. She generally starts with someone else’s idea, usually in the form of a two-dimensional drawing, and hand sculpts a three-dimensional object from that drawing. Her wax clay figures are then sent away (generally to Japan) where they’re turned first into a mold, and then replicated in relatively short production runs of soft plastic toys called “Sofubi.” Her creations are also known as “Sof-Vi,” a shortened version of the “soft vinyl” or PVC the toys are made of.

Independent Ventures in the Gig Economy

We met Christie and Beth on a Friday afternoon at Landlocked Social House, a wonderful third-wave coffee and craft beer joint in Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood. We played with Beth’s figures on the table in front of us, while we talked about what it takes to fashion a career out of such independent endeavors. Both Beth and Christie battle with the standard struggles of the “gig economy,” and their conversations are often about how they navigate the challenges of client work in their solo ventures. Both have built their businesses mostly on word of mouth. Beth’s work consistently comes from either repeat customers, or referrals from previous customers. While Christie has put in countless hours at pottery fairs and farmer’s markets, her work increasingly comes from larger orders for high end restaurants where here clean, elegant dinnerware fits with an artful, spare presentation of the food.

We talked at length about the process each of  them go through to create their work. Beth’s clients sometimes send her detailed, annotated sketches with multiple angles and views, and specific instruction for each line or detail. Just as often they send her a pencil sketch with a few short notes, and her imagination fills in the detail.

Beth described Christie’s work as “taking the weight out of the clay.”  It’s an apt description, especially if you’ve ever seen a potter at work at the wheel. The process of pulling a lump of clay into a delicate but stable shape is a performance in itself. Christie’s work is, as we’ve said, lovely and delicate. It’s no wonder restaurants are choosing to use her dinnerware to show off their food.

Artistic Work – So Much More Than Art

It was great to hear from two talented artists, and good friends, about how they approach their work. It makes sense that it’s just as much about the business as it is about the craft. When we think about artistic pursuits, or careers, it’s often easy to forget that people like Beth and Christie must not only be talented at their craft, but they have to be CEO, marketing department, finance, and more. The independence that comes with a sole venture often means a great deal of loneliness too.

Thanks again to Christie and Beth for sharing their work, and their journey, with us. And thanks to Landlocked Social House for hosting us. Please do visit the links above, and support not only Christie and Beth’s work,

Libby Hunter Believes Storytelling Is the Key to Overcoming Poverty

When you talk with Libby Hunter about literacy, you’d better buckle your seat belt. Libby talks quickly, and with purpose. Aside from a brief stint in real estate to pay the bills, she’s been working in the non-profit sector since college. She knows the kind of work it takes to effect change. When talking about WordPlay Cincinnati, the literacy non-profit she started in 2012 with a friend, her posture changes, her focus narrows. Libby Hunter is driven to make a difference.

That drive to make a difference is both generalized and specific. It’s generalized, in that Libby has been working with non-profits almost her entire professional life. When asked where that drive comes from, it’s so ingrained in her that she almost can’t answer. That sense of mission has always been there. It’s specific in that she can trace the roots of WordPlay to a single night in Cincinnati’s Northside neighborhood. It’s a mission born of rocks thrown at a defenseless client by a group of disadvantaged kids and by a need to know why these kids would do this. What would make them think it was okay? What factors played a role in creating this situation? And what would need to be different for things to change?

The Past and Present of WordPlay Cincinnati

It was out of that experience that WordPlay was born. Libby and her co-founder Elissa Yancey discovered 826 National, the nationwide organization founded by writer Dave Eggers to improve child and teen literacy across the US, and she traveled to their headquarters in California to get training. Over the ensuing six years, Libby has worked tirelessly, with the help of volunteers, a committed board, and an ever-increasing staff of paid do-gooders, to get to where WordPlay is today. And where WordPlay is today, is finally at the place where Libby can take a brief, but much needed vacation. Which is saying a lot for a non-profit.

With six full-time staff, a center of operations in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Cincinnati, and inroads into numerous in-need schools, WordPlay is making a real difference. Do some Google searches and you can find out more about the good WordPlay has done and is doing…but The Distiller is about work. So we asked the person who’s most comfortable talking about her organization, to do the thing she’s least comfortable doing: talk about herself.

The Finer Points of Urban Literacy, at 3 Points Urban Brewery

We met Libby at 3 Points Urban Brewing in Cincinnati’s Pendleton District. You may remember Pendleton from Episode 11 with Meredith Shockley-Smith, recorded just down the street at Urbana Cafe.  Since we spoke with Meredith in April, Pendleton has continued to transform. Those smoke alarms we referenced in episode 11 are now fully functional and installed at 3 Points. On the same block is the new Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey, and the just-opened Lucius Q barbecue restaurant. And then there’s the Nation Bar & Restaurant – in the heart of it all and arguably the place that kicked off this development boom.

And more businesses are coming! We talked with 3 Points owner Aaron Kohlhepp, off mic, about the expanding perception of The Pendleton District as a walkable part o...

It took a while for Mark Dejong to call himself an artist.

Mark Dejong was born in The Netherlands, but his family moved to Cincinnati when he was a child. In his 20’s he took classes at the University of Cincinnati’s prestigious School of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (better known locally as “DAAP“, pronounced “dap”), but didn’t pursue an art degree. Following his interests, and principally doing work that would allow him to pursue his passion for travel, Mark worked as a carpenter into his thirties, and his original interest in art languished.

Through those years, the title of “artist” conveyed something Mark wasn’t ready to inhabit. So it lie dormant while Mark honed his skills and paid the bills. But those years gave him the skills and confidence he needed to eventually combine his interests into his own unique “work.” And it was in finding that work that Mark found the willingness to call himself an artist.

How many of us let concerns about titles and perceptions stand in the way of the work we have to do? How many of us never get back to picking up the thing we laid down? Fortunately for us…Mark did pick it back up.

The Intersection of Art and Housecraft

Mark talks about “housecraft,” a combined term for the skills that go into making and re-making living spaces. While he’s the first to say he’s not an expert, or necessarily a master craftsman, Mark’s interests lie at the intersection of art and housecraft. He’s figured out a way to combine his passion and his profession into something uniquely his. Sometimes it may lean toward the professional, as in Mark’s “Circle House” where creating a livable space where the artistic elements are secondary to the practical concerns. Or, as in the Swing House, the skills of housecraft may combine to make something wholly new that, while technically functional as living spaces, are designed more to be enjoyed as art than lived in.

We met Mark on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. The kind of afternoon where a brief, torrential summer downpour overwhelms gutters and downspouts. Where the roadways are overwhelmed, and hilly neighborhood streets turn into raging rivers. On the tail-end of one such storm, under overcast skies we sat at a small table and nursed bourbon drinks while we investigated the turbulent waters of finding one’s work. If you listen close you may hear the thunder that accompanied our discussion.

Talking Art and Work Over Bourbon at The Comet

The Comet is a perfect place for such a discussion. Originally opened in 1997, The Comet has remained essentially unchanged as a quaint, mostly quiet, welcoming neighborhood bar of the best variety. The craft beer case is always stocked with something exotic. The rotating taps boast a perfect mixture of interesting novelties and low-budget standbys. The back kitchen turns out cheap, delicious, abundantly sized burritos with options like jerk tofu and pineapple salsa. When in doubt, always go with the salsa-of-the-month.

Yeah, Comet has regulars, but it’s easy to feel like a regular at The Comet, no matter how many times you’ve been there. Stop by for bike night on Tuesdays and you’ll see a mix of re-tooled classics, scooters, crotch-rockets, and more. The riders all just happy to be there, with nary a judgmental comment between them. Or come Sunday night and dance the new week in with the Comet Bluegrass All-stars.

Liz McEwan is not your typical homeschool mom.

Or perhaps she is. Maybe the “typical” homeschooling parent doesn’t actually exist.

Most of The Distiller‘s guests have some professional ambition or goal they’re pursuing. The majority of our discussions about “work” necessarily center around professional concerns, and how people balance the question of meaning with the need to put food on the table. But what about people who have made different decisions, and have different priorities? Or what about people who, through no choice of their own, have been removed from the workforce, such as retirees, or the disabled? How do we appropriately value and recognize the work of those whose “value” is less tangibly tied to economics?

We’re committed to showing as many sides of the “work” discussion as possible. Our conversation with Liz is the beginning of bringing more of those marginalized voices into the discussion.

The Economics of a Different Path

We sat down with Liz on a hot Tuesday afternoon in June, at Sundry and Vice, an apothecary-themed craft-cocktail bar in the center of the smoldering city. Owners Julia and Stewart welcomed us in, and behind the bar Joe served up a cold hefeweizen for Liz, and a perfect old fashioned for Brandon. And we got down to it.

When their first child was born, Liz and her husband decided they didn’t want (and couldn’t afford) to pay for daycare. It was actually cheaper for Liz to scale back her hours, keep working part time, and be home with their son. There was no over-arching plan to leave the workforce, no grand belief that homeschooling was the perfect way. Seven years and three more kids later, Liz gave up the last of her freelance hours and today, while she still picks up the occasional freelance writing job here or there, she is every bit the full-time stay-at-home mom.

Challenging Our Definitions of Work

Sure, we’ve seen articles that say the work of stay-at-home moms is worth $115k per year. And perhaps we nod our heads at what grueling work we know it is. But in the same breath we minimize the contributions these parents make to society. Or we judge their choices to homeschool out of a belief that their kids are lacking socialization. Maybe we just carry around the stereotype of the “weird homeschool kid.” For Liz, these aren’t hypothetical considerations. They’re her daily life. That’s why we wanted to dig into the rhythm of the days, the intention behind the choices, and the sacrifices and regrets that accompany them.

Liz was as candid and forthcoming as we could have hoped, describing both the complexity and simplicity with which she and John arrived at this point. And she talked about how she does and doesn’t pay attention to what people think of her choices. For Liz the ecosystem of input is necessarily small. But that doesn’t mean their lives are sheltered. Living smack-dab in the middle of the largest intact historic district in the United States, in a neighborhood where this conservative white mom is definitely in the cultural and ethnic minority, these choices have meaning and impact that goes far beyond the caricature of the suburban homeschool co-op parent. Liz and John are raising their kids as open-eyed citizens of the world.

We can’t talk about work in a vacuum. Or at least we can’t learn anything much if we do. But if we’re genuinely interested in what it means to do “meaningful work,” then we have to investigate different perspectives on that question. We’re grateful to Liz for providing us th...

Chef Derek Dos Anjos’ Secret Weapon May Surprise You

Ask a chef or restaurateur what skill is most important to running a restaurant, and you’re likely to get a lot of different answers. Maybe it’s the ability to multi-task. Perhaps it’s knowledge of specific kitchen skills. For some, it might be a secret recipe. But when The Distiller posed that question to Derek Dos Anjos, chef and owner of The Anchor OTR in Cincinnati, we got an answer we didn’t expect: compassion.

And what a great answer it is. In today’s “celebrity chef” culture chefs are increasingly more important than the quality of what they produce. It’s easy to forget that the key to managing the stress and unpredictability of the kitchen doesn’t have to be ego or bluster, but it can actually be compassion.

It’s also unsurprising, after listening to Derek’s story, that this is his answer. Honestly, he undersells a bit of the hardship but that’s his character. Listen to the interview and you’ll hear the stories of significant challenges. Not just distractions (like working in MTV for a spell), but things like your restaurant burning to the ground immediately after opening. But what you’ll hear more of is Derek’s focus on relationships. You’ll hear about the importance of having been mentored by someone who really believed in him. You’ll hear about how important it was for him and his wife to move back to Ohio to be closer to family. And you’ll hear how he’s carrying that forward in the way he runs his business today.

The Anchor OTR played host to the first episode of The Distiller back in December of 2017. For this episode, we wanted to get Derek away from the daily concerns of running his business, so we met at Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar in Covington, Kentucky. OKBB (as it’s known in Covington) is a bourbon lover’s dream. And as Derek and host Brandon Dawson sipped glasses of Woodford Reserve‘s Double Oaked bourbon, they talked about that path, and about the importance of remembering what’s important along the way.

Leadership and Lobster Rolls

For Derek, a big part of that has been his relationship with Mary Redding, owner of Mary’s Fish Camp in New York’s West Village. Mary was a mentor to Derek, and eventually a business partner, and remains a big influence on his life and work. That influence includes bringing the award-winning lobster roll recipe from Mary’s Fish Camp in the West Village, first to Brooklyn, and then to Cincinnati. Derek described what makes a true New England lobster roll, and why it became such a hit after the real-estate crash of the early 2000’s.

These days Derek is thinking about the next step. The neighborhood has changed around The Anchor, and what was a somewhat isolated outpost in Over the Rhine when he first opened in 2012, is now the epicenter of Cincinnati’s burgeoning restaurant culture. Derek’s thinking about another location…maybe a bar. Somewhere a little less stressful. Somewhere you might see a couple of people sipping bourbon and recording a podcast. We look forward to it. In the meantime, you’ll find us enjoying the lobster rolls every Wednesday at The Anchor. Hope to see you there.

The Distiller Podcast with Derek Dos Anjos

Corben Bone’s Work Is Play

On the field or off, Corben radiates energy. Watch him play in his midfield role for the F.C. Cincinnati soccer team, and you’ll see the way he sparks the team to life when play lags. In person Corben is direct, approachable, and no-nonsense, both physically and philosophically. There is an ease about him, recognizable in anyone who knows they have put in the work and are prepared for anything

We met Corben on a Friday morning, just before the day’s training, at Red Tree Art Gallery and Coffee Shop in Cincinnati’s Oakley neighborhood. Corben is not a big guy, but his intensity fills the room. The word that comes to mind is “focus.” His five-foot, ten inch frame is wiry, like a coiled spring. He’s present, engaged, ready.

Playing the Long Game

Talking “work” with a pro athlete is an interesting opportunity. How does a person whose childhood dreams have become reality, think about vocation? Or do they? And how do you think about work, when your work is “play?” For The Distiller host Brandon Dawson, it was a great opportunity to unpack some of the notions those of us in more “traditional” occupations take for granted. And largely what we find is: being a pro soccer player is (in many ways) not that different from what most of us do for a living.

Currently in its third season, F.C. Cincinnati (or “FCC” – the “F.C.” stands for “futbol club”) plays in the United Soccer League (USL), a league long considered a “feeder” league to the top-tier MLS. But the USL is catching up. And even as the club pursues an invitation to the big leagues, including planned construction of a facility unambiguously named “MLS Stadium,” players like Corben Bone and his FCC teammates are giving the MLS a run for its money in terms of quality and competition.

Corben Bone has been with FCC since the team’s inception in 2016. As you’ll hear in our discussion, it was a long road to get here, and FCC has been a redemption of sorts. Once the college player of the year at Wake Forest and a first-round MLS draft pick expected to make an immediate impact, Corben Bone is now (dare we say it) one of the elder statesmen of the club. One of only three players remaining from the 2016 team, he’s a solid presence, not only in the midfield but in the locker room as well. And the adversity he’s gone through to get here has made him an anchor both the coaches and other players can rely on.

But Corben is on a timeline that is not entirely in his control. Athletes in most professional sports have short, visible careers that end with almost an entire working life still ahead of them. That built-in career horizon makes for some interesting calculus when it comes to considerations of things like home, family, roots, and legacy. Corben is well aware of those considerations. And even as he quietly hopes for a return to the MLS as part of FCC’s ongoing upward climb, he knows who he is and what’s important to him. He’s a man with his priorities clear and his heart in the right place.

For the first time in his life, those considerations span beyond him. The long-time free agent now has his wife Annie and son Brooks to factor in. And the purchase of a home in Cincinnati’s diverse and lively Northside neighborhood indicate Corben is planning on being around the Queen City for a while. Cincinnati soccer fans certainly hope so.

Corben Bone on The Distiller Podcast

 

 

 

Meredith Shockley-Smith just took a big leap.

(Updated 6/9/17 – we forgot to include the link to the podcast Brandon mentioned in the episode; it’s Shankar Vedantam’s NPR podcast “Hidden Brain.”  The episode, originally aired March 20, 2017, is titled “The Scarcity Trap: Why We Keep Digging When We’re Stuck In A Hole.“)

Meredith spent over a decade working her way to a Ph.D. in Educational Studies. She successfully landed long-sought-after, hard-to-get teaching positions at some major universities in the Cincinnati area. She made it, right? But despite significant investment and a genuine love of teaching, she left her distinguished position and switched careers. Two months ago she was teaching race and gender equity at Miami University of Ohio. Meredith is now the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Strategies at Cradle Cincinnati, a local non-profit dedicated to reducing the regional infant mortality rate.

Cradle Cincinnati is a fantastic organization, doing great work. But our primary interest in talking with Dr. Shockley-Smith was to talk about her transition, the leap from one stream to another. So many people feel trapped in their work, without options for a different future. Meredith is one of the people who took the leap and made the decision to stop wondering and act.

Talking Transition at Urbana Cafe

It’s one thing to tell your kids, and yourself, that you can be anything you want to be. It’s another to make choices and take action to do it. Much larger than a single decision, that process involves the ability and willingness to believe, to hope into a new future. It requires people to help envision what could be. And more often than not, it involves a willing and supportive family or partner who not only supports the decision but is willing to endure the financial and emotional consequences of such a process.

We met Meredith at Urbana Cafe in Cincinnati’s Pendleton District. It’s a great historic area that is under almost constant reinvention. Even with the constant rumble of construction vehicles and the fire-alarms set off by the work crews next door, Urbana is an oasis of quiet. Owner Daniel Noguerra invited us in, served delicious espressos, and made us feel right at home. If you live in or around Cincinnati and haven’t visited Urbana, either in the Pendleton or at Findley Market, please do. And look for their soon-to-open location in Walnut Hills.

Important Insights on Career Change

Talking with Meredith about her journey to this point is wonderfully illustrative of that path for one person. She’s very candid about her frustrations while in academia, and about the challenges she faced in leaving. She’s also very open about the discussions she had with her family before and after the move. Of course, it’s all still pretty new (she’s only been with Care Cincinnati for seven weeks as of this recording). But the happiness and excitement of the new venture and new direction are apparent when you hear her talk.

As necessary as it was for Meredith to move on, she’s also aware that she wouldn’t be where she is now without that history. The experiences of the past have prepared her for the work she’s now doing. Sometimes the good is built on the hard, and bad situations are often filled with wonderful people. Those realizations allow us to avoid the trap of labeling an entire situation as horrible. It’s important to maintain perspective…that the good must be cared ...