In this episode of U-Turn, I talk with Garric Nahapetian. Garric graduated from law school in 2012, and, for a short time, worked as an attorney in southern California. Today, however, he writes code for a living. That’s right — he is now a programmer. I first heard of Garric via the weekly podcast he hosts called SwiftCoders, a podcast about Apple’s modern open-source programming language Swift. If you enjoy programming or even learning about the Apple ecosystem in general, I highly recommend you check it out!

Listen as we talk about dealing with family pressure to follow a certain career path, finding the courage to do something different, and teaching yourself to write code while driving for Uber part-time.

Don Melton is “internet famous” for a few things: probably most so for his time at Apple, during which he led the team that would create the Safari web browser — perhaps you’ve heard of it?

Since retiring from Apple in 2012 as director, internet technologies, Don has stayed busy, working obsessively on an open source set of scripts for transcoding video and appearing on various podcasts, most notably Guy English and Rene Ritchie’s show Debug — which I can’t recommend enough for anyone who is a programmer or who has even a passing interest in programming. Don also hosts his own podcast for iMore every so often with Rene Ritchie called . . . Melton.

Listen as I talk to Don about learning to code, moving into management, his time at Apple, and, ultimately, his decision to retire. We also chat about open source software, the things he does with all his free time, and, of course, wine.

Patrick Carrie is the man responsible for the slinky guitar leads in the indie/alt-country band Limbeck. Since Limbeck stopped touring in 2008, he has worked for Volcom, a surf and skate brand, first as a graphic designer, and more recently as global art director. Patrick hasn’t given up music entirely, however. He has played part-time in the bands The Pride of Erie PA with former Motion City Soundtrack drummer Tony Thaxton and The Young Dudes with former Limbeck singer Robb Maclean. Somehow, he has also managed to find time to be a father to three boys and appear in an online Swiffer commercial (linked below).

In Part Two of my two-part interview with him, I talk to Patrick about how he made the transition from being a musician who toured for as many as eight months out of the year to a working full-time as a graphic designer while balancing responsibilities at home and the always-there itch to still play music.

Patrick Carrie is the man responsible for the slinky guitar leads in the indie/alt-country band Limbeck. Since Limbeck stopped touring in 2008, he has worked for Volcom, a surf and skate brand, first as a graphic designer, and more recently as global art director. Patrick hasn’t given up music entirely, however. He has played part-time in the bands The Pride of Erie PA with former Motion City Soundtrack drummer Tony Thaxton and The Young Dudes with former Limbeck singer Robb Maclean. Somehow, he has also managed to find time to be a father to three boys and appear in an online Swiffer commercial (linked below).

In Part One of my two-part interview with him, I talk to Patrick about the highs and lows of playing in a touring rock band, from ernest beginnings when everything seemed to be going right to the time when he finally realized that it was time to hang it up. We also talk about recording an album in Minneapolis with Gary Louris of The Jayhawks, saving a catfish from a dumpster in downtown St. Paul (seriously!), and how much money a guy in band like Limbeck made per year in 2007 (hint: not much).

If you consider yourself to be a part of the Apple community, you’ve probably heard of David Sparks through his work on the Relay.fm podcast Mac Power Users with Katie Floyd. Since 2009 and over the course of more than 300 episodes, David and Katie have shared tips on getting the most out of Apple technology. David also writes regularly on his site macsparky.com.

Talking and writing about Apple technology isn’t David’s day job. For over twenty years, he has been a practicing attorney. In 2015, after two decades with the same law firm, he decided to “go indie,” as we often say in the tech community, and he created his own one-man firm called Sparks Law.

In this episode, David and I talk about how you know when it’s time to finally go out on your own (hint: waking up every day saying to yourself, “Today is going to be the day I quit my job,” is one indicator), the importance of having a supportive spouse or partner, and the myriad benefits of working from home. We also grapple with the question of whether or not a new venture should get your entire focus.

After graduating from Juilliard, Mark Nelson worked as a professional actor for over two decades. He appeared in films and television, and, eventually, he and his wife (also an actress) settled in the Twin Cities to raise a family and work at the Guthrie Theater. Interestingly, his first play at the Guthrie, “Philadelphia, Here I Come” co-starred Rainn Wilson, who would go on to star as Dwight in the American version of The Office. See a review of the play from Variety below.

Mark would go on to perform in over 20 productions at the Guthrie. At age 40, however, when most people are settled firmly into their careers, he decided to make a major change in his life: he started medical school to become a family practice physician.

Listen as I talk to Mark about why he decided to give up acting, how he handled the transition back into the life of a student, and what he hopes to achieve in his career as a physician.

Shawn Blanc is a guy who makes stuff on the internet. He got started writing for his site, shawnblanc.net, which he took full-time in 2011 by offering paid memberships to readers. Since then, he has started two other sites, Tools & Toys and The Sweet Setup, that are devoted to cool stuff and great software, respectively. Somehow, Shawn has also found time to create a combined eBook/interview/video product called Delight is in the Details, a guide to “making good things great.”  Most recently, he created The Focus Course, which “aims to help people find focus to do their best work in the age of distraction.”

Listen as we talk about finding the courage to quit your day job, focusing on what’s important, staying productive without a boss looking over your shoulder, and the shame of leaving Colorado with bleached blond hair.

Jill Shephard is the founder of Ruff House Art, a letterpress stationery brand & print studio located in Lawrence, Kansas. She has been creating wedding invitations, greeting cards and Eco-friendly paper goods since 2009.

In this episode of U-Turn, Jill and I talk about her transition from Kansas farm girl to owner of a successful letterpress and design studio. She shares how she turned an Etsy-only operation into a successful wholesale business with national distribution and retail store while still managing to find time to spend with her growing family.

This episode of U-Turn is sponsored by Electric Pulp.

Electric Pulp is a full-service digital agency specializing in smart, modern solutions for web and mobile.

Founded in 1996, Electric Pulp has deep technical roots in business solutions and ecommerce and works with a wide range of clients including well-known brands like Ford, O’Neill and HP.

Electric Pulp works on projects of all shapes and sizes and can handle strategy, design, development, search & analytics, social & email, as well as ongoing support for your company’s next project.

To get started, visit electricpulp.com or send them a note at [email protected].

Sam Means, formerly one-half of the band The Format with Nate Ruess, gave up the life of a touring musician for a quieter life in Phoenix, Arizona with his family. After The Format broke up, he started a successful company called Hello Merch that, today, sells merchandise for over 100 bands, artists, and even companies like WordPress.

In part two, Sam and I talk about how he started his company Hello Merch after the breakup of The Format. We also talk about the importance of taking risks in life (while still having things to fall back on), his upcoming solo album 10 Songs, and the benefits of having a six-year-old daughter around to listen to your songs.

This episode of U-Turn is sponsored by Electric Pulp.

Electric Pulp is a full-service digital agency specializing in smart, modern solutions for web and mobile.

Founded in 1996, Electric Pulp has deep technical roots in business solutions and ecommerce and works with a wide range of clients including well-known brands like Ford, O’Neill and HP.

Electric Pulp works on projects of all shapes and sizes and can handle strategy, design, development, search & analytics, social & email, as well as ongoing support for your company’s next project.

To get started, visit electricpulp.com or send them a note at [email protected].

Sam Means, formerly one-half of the band The Format with Nate Ruess, gave up the life of a touring musician for a quieter life in Phoenix, Arizona with his family. After The Format broke up, he started a successful company called Hello Merch that, today, sells merchandise for over 100 bands, artists, and even companies like WordPress.

In part one of two, Sam and I talk about his childhood in Phoenix, Arizona and his time in the band The Format with Nate Ruess.

This episode of U-Turn is sponsored by Electric Pulp.

Electric Pulp is a full-service digital agency specializing in smart, modern solutions for web and mobile.

Founded in 1996, Electric Pulp has deep technical roots in business solutions and ecommerce and works with a wide range of clients including well-known brands like Ford, O’Neill and HP.

Electric Pulp works on projects of all shapes and sizes and can handle strategy, design, development, search & analytics, social & email, as well as ongoing support for your company’s next project.

To get started, visit electricpulp.com or send them a note at [email protected].