Path Found

Holly Hill didn't wait for the world to catch up with her vision — she designed her own path. In this episode, Holly shares her remarkable career journey from environmental compliance at IBM in the 1990s, to sustainable design at an architecture firm, to her current role as Head of Sustainability at Zoom.

Long before corporate sustainability was mainstream, Holly was marrying business strategy with environmental purpose, even b...

Tyler Reeb grew up on a Canadian farm, moved to Long Beach at 11, slacked through college, and somehow ended up leading one of the country's most influential transportation research centers. Tyler reflects on what his path has taught him — about failure, procrastination, the value of integrity over people-pleasing, and why he's genuinely worried that young people are turning to AI before they've learned to think for ...

Jessica Nersesian’s journey doesn’t follow a straight line; it is driven by curiosity, ethics, and a deep belief that design can change the world.

A lifelong reader and systems thinker, Jessica explored communication, ethics, sustainability, and design before co-founding a product design firm that now guides products from concept to manufacturing, recyclability, and end-of-life impact. Along the way, she has worked across continents...

Gus Orozco’s story is one of resilience, service, and the power of saying yes to unexpected opportunities.

Growing up in Long Beach as the child of immigrants, Gus struggled in school, dropped out of high school, and earned his GED while searching for direction and support. Structure and community eventually came through ROTC and military service, where he deployed to Iraq at a young age and carried the weight of leadership far earl...

Melissa Romero never followed a straight line—and that’s exactly the point. From a perfectionist, science-loving kid with dreams of being a singer or mermaid to an environmental advocate writing legislation and lobbying in Sacramento, Melissa built a meaningful career in public policy. Yet even in success, something felt unfinished.

 That quiet pull led her somewhere unexpected: birth work.

 After witnessing the birth of her niece, M...

Sudeep Wahla’s path was anything but conventional.

Raised in Fontana by first-generation immigrant parents, Sudeep assumed college was the next step—until he didn’t get into the schools he expected. Instead of regrouping locally, he made a bold decision at just 17 years old: move to India and enroll directly in veterinary school, bypassing the traditional U.S. undergraduate route entirely.

In this episode, Sudeep shares what it was l...

What happens when the path everyone expects you to take doesn’t feel right—and the one that does feels risky, misunderstood, or “not legitimate enough”?

In this episode of Path Found, Monica sits down with Macey McCallion, an equine professional, entrepreneur, and lifelong learner whose journey challenges traditional ideas of success. Macey shares what it was like growing up shy, misunderstood in school, and constantly fee...

Joon Kim’s life looks successful on paper: senior leadership in higher education, decades of mentoring students, and a career built around helping others reach medical and graduate school. But his path there was anything but linear.

Born in Seoul, raised across three countries, and shaped by the expectations placed on children of immigrant families, Joon grew up believing there was only one acceptable destination: academic...

Londa Jensen has lived many lives—often before most people finish their first résumé.

From backstage passes at rock shows in high school, to studying Arabic in Cairo, teaching in northern Iraq, leading students across Russia, India, and China, and eventually becoming CEO of a global personal-development company, Londa’s path has never been linear—or safe.

In this deeply honest conversation, Londa shares the full s...

What if the idea of a “dream school” is shaping college decisions in all the wrong ways?

In this episode of Path Found, I sit down with New York Times' bestselling author and journalist Jeffrey Selingo to unpack how students and families navigate one of the most consequential and misunderstood decisions of their lives. Drawing from his books There Is Life After College, Who Gets In and Why, and Dream School, Jeffrey e...

Kayla Anderson’s story is anything but linear — and that’s the point.

From dreaming of becoming a trauma surgeon, to exploring aerospace engineering, to diving into environmental justice, livestreaming, climate communication, and ultimately building her own media company, Kayla’s path is a masterclass in curiosity, reinvention, and choosing what truly fulfills you.

In this episode, Kayla opens up about navigating burnout, discovering...

In this episode of Path Found, Monica speaks with Corinne Argano, Executive Director of Greenspace, about choosing fulfillment over certainty. The conversation traces her journey from veterinary ambitions to conservation leadership, highlighting mentorship, transferable skills, and the power of intentional living.

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Real stories of pivots, side quests, and scenic routes that inspire new possibilit...

In this episode of Path Found, Monica sits down with Katie Drexhage, a senior environmental scientist whose career spans federal wildlife regulation, county public works, and California State Parks.

Katie traces her path from a sheltered high school student fascinated by insects and biology to a leader managing conservation programs across 20,000 acres of coastline, forests, and public lands. Along the way, she shares what college f...

This week on Path Found, Monica speaks with Vikki Yaller Radow—a tech leader who built a career by jumping in, speaking up, and tearing down barriers long before diversity in tech was a conversation.

 Raised by hardworking parents who never attended college, Vikki began her journey rolling out personal computers at Northrop Grumman. She learned to troubleshoot hardware, embraced early‑era startup chaos, helped build GeoCities and Fr...

Sierra Emrick’s journey is a powerful story of resilience, growth, and rediscovering what “success” really means. From studying marine biology to working in Sri Lanka and Panama, Sierra chased meaning across the world—only to realize her purpose was right where she started. Today, as Executive Director of the Central Coast State Parks Association, she shares how failure, sensitivity, and persistence shaped her path toward leadershi...

In this episode of Path Found, Monica talks with Sal Medina—an immigrant, former ESL student, educator, small business owner, and former mayor of Claremont, California.

Sal shares candid stories from his childhood growing up poor in Azusa, wearing hand-me-down clothes, learning English as a second language, and navigating daily bullying at school. He describes his “day-to-day origin story”: not dreaming about careers and titles, but...

In this episode of Path Found, I talk with Clay Sandidge, whose journey from sealing driveways in a Kentucky summer to leading major environmental projects at Arcadis is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the power of mentorship.

Clay shares how one mentor’s simple driveway project set him on a new path — leading to his first company at sixteen, a college degree in geology, and a lifelong career that blended entrepreneurshi...

In this episode of Path Found, Monica talks with Renée Kavanagh, a licensed clinical social worker and leader in school-based mental health. From her early ambitions of becoming an ER doctor to her transformative years working in London hospitals, Renée’s path is anything but linear. She shares how her global experiences—from supporting mothers battling addiction to traveling the world for a year—shaped her empathetic approach to l...

In this episode of Path Found, environmental scientist John Sayers shares how a winding journey — from sports and firefighting to running a struggling plant nursery — eventually led him to a career protecting California’s coastlines and ecosystems. John reflects on the challenges of starting over, the lessons learned from failure, and the power of networks and mentors in shaping opportunities.

Whether you’re a student figuring out y...