Monthly Archives: October 2025
Zack Henry Has Mastered The Art Of Connection
Since our freshman year in Morrow (“Psycho Ward”), Zack Henry has built a life that’s taken him across the globe. He’s lived on four continents, worked on six, and led projects ranging from energy dialogues in Saudi Arabia to business development in New York and São Paulo. But at the heart of his story is something simpler and deeper: a belief in what he calls “the hidden pass.” Borrowed from soccer, it’s his metaphor for the unexpected connections between people and ideas that unlock opportunity.
In this episode, Zack and I talk about his life as a global connector and the balance he’s learning to strike now between professional ambition and being present for his two kids. We also get into how he’s reinvented himself over and over again, from entrepreneur to executive to coach, and what that’s taught him about curiosity, connection, and growth.
Highlights include:
Memories from the “Psycho Ward” and the Amherst friendships that started it all
What it means to be a “recruiter’s worst nightmare,” and why that’s a good thing
Lessons from a global career and the importance of staying curious
The classmate he wants to hear from next
You can email him at zackhenry@gmail.com.
Jessica Smith Sent Climate Instruments To The Edge Of Space. Now, She’s Reimagining Her Path.
Thirty years ago, a Boston Globe classified ad launched Jessica Smith into a career at Harvard, where she built bespoke instruments and launched them on NASA’s converted U-2 aircraft, flying at 70,000 feet to read the chemistry of our stratosphere. In this conversation, she traces the improbable path from Amherst’s machine shop to equipping these delicate high fliers for experiments over the Arctic winter, tracking ozone recovery, and measuring changes in and storm impacts.
After a federally funded program cut led to a layoff in March, Jessica is candid about resilience, reinvention, and where that Amherst-honed knack for figuring things out might take her next: faculty life, lutherie (look it up), or starting a delightfully serious soft-serve ice cream business. Along the way, she reflects on a pivotal senior-year “academic blowout,” the joy of hands-on work, and what’s at stake when long-running climate data sets and training pipelines are disrupted.
To get in touch with Jessica, email her at jessica.b.smith@hotmail.com or find her on LinkedIn.
Erin Cowhey Designs Spaces That Tell Her Clients’ Stories
Erin Cowhey is an Amherst College classmate and architect whose profession is awfully interesting its own right, but it interests me more than ever now that my daughter works as an interior designer. Erin runs her own firm in Brooklyn but wasn’t always destined for the field. She enrolled at Amherst with every intention to go pre-med before pivoting to architecture. In this episode, she talks about how personal tragedy reshaped her career path and how she’s balanced running her own firm with raising a family in New York City. What emerges is a portrait of someone who designs homes with the same care she’s taken to designing a meaningful life.
Highlights include:
Pivot with purpose: Erin’s fascination with art and architecture led her to trade medicine for design.
Resilience in loss: After losing her first child, she rebuilt her life and career by starting her own firm, prioritizing flexibility and family.
Brooklyn life, fully lived: She reflects on the joys and contradictions of raising kids in the city she and her husband, a landscape architect, love so deeply.
Design as storytelling: Erin views every project as a chapter in her clients’ lives: spaces that evolve as families grow and change.
Looking ahead: With her children nearing college, Erin is eager to take on larger, collaborative projects and to keep exploring creativity on her own terms.
Plus, Erin nominates two new guests to go next.
To learn more about her practice and get in touch, email her at erincowhey@gmail.com or visit her website, erincowhey.com.
Brian Clark Heals Others – And Himself – From Trauma
Brian Clark transferred into our Amherst Class of 1994 having emerged from a childhood marked by instability and deep family pain. Today he serves as Director of Partnerships in Technology at the Spiritual Life Center in Hartford, where he helps others find healing through faith, psychology, and honest self-examination. Brian talks about growing up in a home dominated by an abusive father, the moment he chose to break free from the cult his dad started, and what it means to be both a healer and still healing. We also talk about post-traumatic growth, the “second half of life,” and the role Amherst and music have played in his journey toward wholeness.
In this episode, we discuss:
How Brian’s relationship with his controlling, abusive father shaped his understanding of faith and identity
The moment he chose to end generations of trauma and begin his own healing
What post-traumatic growth looks like and how pain can lead to purpose
Whom from the Class of ’94 he wants me to interview next
To get in touch, email Brian at bcurtisclark@gmail.com. You can learn more about the Spiritual Life Center in Hartford at https://www.spiritlifectr.org/
Additional resources:
To learn more about spiritual companionship, click here. https://www.spiritlifectr.org/find-spiritual-support#IndividualSpiritualCompanioning
To hear some simple recordings of the chants that Brian sings: https://audio.com/brian-clark-4
Update: Justin Neely Reflects On The Fire That Destroyed His Art Studio And The Path Forward
On September 17, a 19th century warehouse located in Red Hook, Brooklyn, went up in flames, resulting in a five-alarm response that was unable to spare Justin Neely’s art studio home of over 12 years. He’s facing the loss of every painting he has ever made, photographs that chronicle his life, computer equipment, and a treasured collection of sports jerseys.
In this episode, Justin demonstrates remarkable generosity of spirit, acknowledging that others have it worse and that authorities who are trying (and sometimes failing) to help have the best of intentions. He has a tough road ahead, but he’s showing the sort of resilience that I believe will get him through it.
If you’d like to help support Justin, there are a couple of ways to do it. You can reach out to him directly (justin.neely@gmail.com, @jn33ly on Instagram). You also can contribute to a GoFundMe he has established to help him relaunch his art practice: https://www.gofundme.com/f/red-hook-fire-plea-and-protest-justin-neely
Finally, at Justin’s request he encourages listeners to enjoy his podcast at 2x speed. I don’t think that’s necessary, but I promised to mention it.
Jason Spero Is Learning From Both Endings and Beginnings
Jason Spero is going through a lot of change. His father recently passed away following a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s. His youngest child is in the back half of her high school years, and after nearly two decades helping to build Google’s mobile advertising business, he is stepping away from a big job to chart a new path, one shaped by family, community, and the lessons of mortality and loss.
In this candid conversation, Jason opens up about caring for his father during his battle with Alzheimer’s, preparing to send his daughters into adulthood, and the clarity he’s gained on how finite our time is. He reflects on the pride and worries that come from shaping the mobile and digital industry, and why he’s now turning his focus to entrepreneurship, technology for climate solutions, and reimagining community in an increasingly digital age. Jason also shares how Amherst set the foundation for his curiosity and critical thinking, what he hopes to impart to his own kids, and why liberal arts matter more than ever in an AI-driven world. And of course, he nominates the next classmates he hopes to hear on the show.
You can email Jason at jason.spero@gmail.com.
Resources Jason mentions:
Video – We Only Deserve a Styrofoam Cup: https://youtu.be/FNf1pKRhay8?si=czeWR5fizxc0afbN
Book – Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks: https://a.co/d/ignmyTZ
Matt Collins' Blog 