About the show
Guiding listeners through the reconsidering journey are three co-hosts — Meredith Black, Bob Baxley, and Aarron Walter — each in a different season of life confronting their own questions about living a satisfying life.
Meredith Black
I lived in four different states before I turned six. Needless to say, that sort of thing forced me to both learn how to adapt to change as well as how to read people — quickly. Those skills naturally inspired me to earn a degree in Sociology/Criminology and put me on the path to being an FBI agent. Can you imagine?
Shortly after college I found myself in San Francisco — both literally and figuratively because it was there where I discovered the world of design and technology as well as a career and community in Design Operations. Looking back it seems obvious that chasing criminals and organizing designers are related but at the time, I was just trying to understand what made all the “creatives” tick so I could help everyone get things done without all the drama.
A decade and a half later I found myself again, though this time rather burned out, under-stimulated, and starting to reconsider if I could somehow make it on my own outside the traditional structures of work, life, and that whole work/life balance thing. All of which naturally led me to start a podcast with my two friends Aarron and Bob, still trying to figure out what makes all of us tick.
Bob Baxley
Adopted at birth under the closed adoption laws of the State of Texas, my entire life has been a journey of self discovery, an endless examination of the most central question of life — who am I and where did I come from? More drawn to wandering than science, I was profoundly lucky to unexpectedly find myself in Silicon Valley in 1990 at the very moment of my 27th birthday. It was here that I found my tribe, my passion, and my place — though all of those have been shaken and come into question over the last few years as both the culture of Silicon Valley and my place in it have naturally continued to evolve.
Professionally I have been privileged to work at some of the most dynamic and creative companies in history, leading design teams and helping to shape software that’s been used by billions of people around the world. It’s been an amazing journey, though an ephemeral one — a powerful reminder that in the end what matters most isn’t the work itself but rather the relationships, the collaborations, and the memories of what we built together.
And so it is now that I find myself with two amazing friends, collaborators, and co-travellers, on a journey of discovery together with you, spending time and Reconsidering.
Aarron Walter
Growing up in small towns in the Midwest, I was an oddball obsessed with art and the allure of living a creative life. Dreaming of making my mark in the art world, I studied painting and drawing. But my dreams and career were painfully recalibrated when I realized art was not my generation’s medium of influence — the Web is.
Design and technology became my new passions. When not building websites for clients I taught college courses and began writing about what I was learning. To help students in some of my courses, I wrote a well received book about web technologies and began speaking internationally on design. Later, I was offered a leadership role at a tiny startup called Mailchimp, which grew quickly.
Along the way I discovered a simple formula that’s helped me grow and find satisfaction: regular exploration of new skills and subjects stimulates creativity, teaching others what I’ve learned brings mastery, and being of service to others makes my efforts meaningful.
It’s a formula that’s led me here, investigating the art of living a satisfied life with my friends and colleagues, Meredith and Bob.
Production Team
