Tag Archives: liberal arts
Toby King Made His Own Path—From Geology To Bluegrass To Academia
When I think of people who’ve allowed life’s serendipities to shape their course, Toby King comes immediately to mind. In this episode, he walks me through a zigzagging journey that began with a keg behind the geology building before his freshman year at Amherst College even started and took him to UNC Asheville, where he’s Associate Professor and Chair of Music and, starting this fall, the chair of the UNC Faculty Assembly. Toby’s story is a reminder that we don’t always have to know where we’re going—as long as we stay open to what moves us.
Highlights include:
How Toby chose geology at Amherst after bonding with faculty during a pre-orientation outing—and a well-timed beer
Why he walked away from a geology career after a frank conversation with a mentor during an oil company internship
Why he taught himself how to play the banjo, and how he leveraged his passion for music into a spot at Columbia’s graduate program and a teaching role at Sarah Lawrence
The importance of prioritizing connections over content in teaching, and how the Amherst College geology department has influenced his approach to at UNC Asheville
The Amherst College classmates he wants me to interview next
To get in touch with Toby, check out his page on the UNC Asheville website: https://www.unca.edu/person/jonathan-king/.
Ed Castillo Is Not Your Average Strategist-Philosopher-Foreign Agent
Ed Castillo’s post-Amherst path might be one of the most uniquely purposeful stories you’ll hear from our classmates. In this episode, we follow his journey from a philosophy major at Amherst to advertising Chief Strategy Officer – and registering and acting as a foreign agent. He may not drive an Aston Martin and pack a Walther PPK, but the man loves words and has a very spicey take on reading that will get you thinking.
Highlights from our conversation:
🧠 Why Ed pursued philosophy not despite, but because of his desire to work in advertising
🛑 His early career “failure” that helped him find the field where overthinking is a superpower
📊 The limitation inherent in marketing degrees—and what he’s actually looking for when hiring
📚 His provocative argument against reading as the best vehicle for knowledge
🎯 How multicultural marketing needs to evolve beyond identity clichés
💜 The Amherst classmates he wants me to interview next
Big thanks to Lee Maicon for nominating Ed.
Justin Neely Navigates Shift From IT And Digital To The Arts
Justin Neely may be the most liberal arts-y person you’ll ever know. A polyglot (I had to look it up, too; it means one who is fluent in speaking and/or writing many languages), Justin has achieved impressive things in both the world of business and in the arts.
As with many guests on Pre-Made, Justin is navigating a significant life pivot, in this case from a career defined mostly but not entirely by IT and digital marketing to one that’s entirely focused on his art, at least for now.
In this episode, you’ll learn about:
How a trip to the then-Soviet Union nearly derailed his college plans
The dramatic impact the film Basquiat (starring Amherst College graduate Jeffrey Wright ’87) made on Justin
How former members of Amherst rock band Rosemary Caine encouraged Justin to apply for and eventually land a side hustle he was unqualified to do at the time, and how that work propelled him into a business career in IT and digital
The one person in the Amherst Class of 1994 Justin wants me to talk to next
All about Justin’s artwork and its expression of his worldview, which you can explore on his website, justinneely.com
Photo courtesy of Gordon Eriksen (http://gordoneriksen.com/)
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