No Straight Path

In the second installation of The Pivot, I unpack five of the most important lessons (there were many more, but I’ll get into those in future episodes) that I learned during the period of imbalance that preceded my decision to take a one-year sabbatical from my law firm job and pursue podcasting full-time. From asking for what you want to embracing your childhood qualities and giving yourself grac...

Today is the first official day of my year-long sabbatical from law. I am going to focus my energy on being a full-time podcast creator! So, I thought this would be a good time to share how No Straight Path came to be. The combination of my passion for storytelling, my desire to help other people overcome their feelings of failure, and my mom’s encouragement all led me to the point I’m at today an...

Thanks for joining us for the second installment of our two-part conversation with Stanford graduate, NFL player, and active community member, Michael Thomas. As you learned in part one, Mike is one of the NFL Player Association’s most active players, a two-time NFLPA Community MVP, and an excellent storyteller. We ended on the incredible story of how Mike earned his reputation as one of the best...

When they’re not using their athletic powers on the field, NFL players, like today’s guest, are finding ways to serve as superheroes for their communities. This week, we are joined by Michael Thomas, a fellow Stanford graduate and one of the NFL Player Association’s most active players, both on and off the field, having played with the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants,...

In the first of our two-part series on McKenzie Thomas, the Director of Operations, Ads & Business Products at Meta, we learned all about the twists and turns of her journey and how she stayed true to herself and her inner compass. In today’s episode we delve more deeply into the lessons she learned along the way. Tuning in you’ll hear more about McKenzie’s definition of success and the role of he...

The story of today’s guest epitomizes what this podcast is all about. McKenzie Thomas is the Director of Operations, Ads & Business Products at Meta, where her team is responsible for creating products and solutions that help millions of businesses reach their customers through Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta platforms. Her path to get to this point was anything but straight and, in this episo...

Rather than defining yourself by your profession, define yourself by the positive impact that you can have on other people’s lives. Rather than defining success by the amount of money in your bank account, define success by how happy you are. DeRon Brown knows the feelings of burnout and denial all too well, but he has used every challenge that he has faced as a steppingstone to a brighter future....

Just for a moment, forget the hustle mentality. Forget waking up at 5 AM to ‘get ahead’ and obsessing over your five-year plan. The pandemic has forced a cultural shift, causing many of us to reframe our perspective of what work is for, what work/life balance really means, and how we want to spend our time on the planet. Today, we speak to Jenna Kutcher, an entrepreneur who grew her business from...

Welcome to today’s episode with another inspiring guest. Cece Xie is a writer, lawyer, and content creator who has been featured in Business Insider, Bloomberg Law, and the ADA Journal. As an immigrant, Cece grew up thinking she was only good at one thing, and that was studying. This led her to Yale, followed by Harvard Law, before she worked as a lawyer in New York City. She began creating conten...

As we bring you part two of our Father’s Day series, today our host Ashley Menzies Babatunde continues her interview with her dad Sydney and his three brothers Patrick, Marvin, and Eric, by delving deeper into their individual fatherhood stories. In this episode, we learn more about how they balanced fatherhood with their careers. Patrick talks about the good and bad decisions that he made, Marvin...

In honor of Father’s Day, our host Ashley Menzies Babatunde brings you the first part of a two-part series on career and fatherhood where she interviews her dad and her uncles. Tuning in, you’ll meet the four brothers: Patrick, Sidney (Ashley's dad), Marvin, and Eric. Ashley gives us a brief introduction to each of the brothers, their careers, and the roles that they play in the family. You’ll hea...

We all experience periods in our lives that are imbalanced. And when we try to do everything at once, it often leads to burnout. In this episode, we hear more about our host Ashley Menzies Babatunde’s personal journey. With her wedding two months away, her cases blowing up, and her passion to continue producing this amazing podcast, Ashley is entering a period of imbalance. Tuning in you will hear...

And we’re back for part two with Dr. Yvorn “Doc” Aswad: pediatrician, psychiatrist, activist, and aspiring author. This episode is filled with pearls of wisdom and inspiring new views on success, joy, and humor. In a capitalist society where success is intrinsically intertwined with individualism, Doc provides an alternative, championing the “tribe” and defining success as communal. In our convers...

Today’s guest credits growing up as part of a large family in South Central Los Angeles with not only providing him with a sense of deep spirituality, pride, and belonging, but also for his passion for serving the medically underserved. Dr. Yvorn Aswad, also affectionately known as ‘Doc’, is a pediatrician, psychiatrist, activist, and aspiring science fiction author whose work centers on youth vio...

Esther Agbaje is not your stereotypical politician, fortunately! Her heart for people is so big, and through the work that she is doing, she is really contributing to making the world a better place. From a young age, Esther was drawn to the political sphere (she started writing letters to the White House at the age of 7!), and today she serves as the State Representative in the Minnesota Legislat...

Sometimes a job is hard because it’s hard and sometimes a job is hard because it’s wrong for you. In this solo episode, our host, Ashley Menzies Babatunde, revisits some of the pearls of wisdom dropped by guests in previous episodes in relation to this subject. Past guest Sabreena Merchant explains how figuring out this distinction took her longer than she would have liked, while a voice clip from...

Today we dig into part two of our conversation with Spencer Paysinger. Spencer was an American football linebacker for the New York Giants until 2017 when he pivoted to focus on film and television, writing, co-producing, and acting in All American, the TV series based on his life. In this episode, Spencer shares his thoughts on success, explains how he defines it, and elaborates on why, despite h...

Not only does Spencer Paysinger’s life story sound like a riveting television series, it was actually turned into one! Spencer was an American football linebacker for the New York Giants until 2017 when he pivoted to focus on film and television, co-producing and acting in All American, the TV series based on his life. He is also an old school friend of Ashley’s, and in this episode, we hear about...

Sabreena Merchant spent the majority of her childhood and early adulthood doing things to make other people happy. She went to religious school instead of playing basketball on Saturdays and pushed through pre-med because her parents’ dream was for her to become a doctor. All of this left her feeling anxious and unsatisfied, so, a few years ago, when Sabreena was presented with an opportunity to e...

We’re back for another episode of No Straight Path, where there are highs, lows, and lessons learned. Today’s is a solo episode where Ashley unpacks the highlights and lessons learned so far, from historic moments regarding the Supreme Court to changing the mindsets that prove detrimental to the well-being of Black women. Ashley shares her personal experiences in the academic world and some of the...

Welcome back to the second half of our conversation with Michelle Odemwingie! Today we dive a little deeper into Michelle’s career journey and what she has learned from being CEO of Achievement Network (ANet). We kick things off by hearing from Michelle about why authenticity has been integral to her success as a CEO. She describes how being honest about her process at work has helped her be a sup...

There’s a reason why so many people who have had teaching posts via Teach for America describe the experience as one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of their lives. Not only are you solving incredibly complex problems in a classroom filled with students, but you are also operating within a deeply flawed system. For our first episode of No Straight Path, we are delighted to welcom...

Hello and welcome to the first taste of the No Straight Path podcast! This is the show in which Ashley Menzies Babatunde will be exploring the idea of success with special attention given to the areas that we so often gloss over. You can expect to hear interviews with an array of fascinating guests from many different fields and backgrounds, all with the unifying theme of honesty, process, and the...