Meaningful objects and the stories they tell

In our first week of residency for our executive MBA at?Ross-Michigan?we were asked to bring a meaningful object that tells a story about who we are. The goal was to get us to open up a bit to our team and start connecting with our classmates.

I was very impressed with the personal objects my teammates brought and the stories they told. Everyone really opened up and this simple exercise gave us the opportunity to put our guards down a bit, open a trust zone and share a small part of the story of who we are with our new team.

Many of us surround ourselves with meaningful objects. They often tell stories of who we are, who we were or who we want to be. I have three things (including the dog tag I brought to UM) that tell part of my story that I'd like to share with you.

McNamee, Porter and Seely (MPS) Keychain

My father is an Iranian immigrant who landed in Detroit in the late 1970’s. He worked various odd jobs (painted apartments, mechanic, ice cream man) to put himself through his bachelors and masters degrees in civil engineering from 美国韦恩州立大学 (a big influence on my decision to study at WSU!). My dad worked harder than anyone I had ever seen. The work paid off – in 1984 my dad started with an Ann Arbor based engineering / consulting firm called McNamee, Porter and Seely (MPS).

I remember him coming home from long days of work and then spending time on housework, fixing one of our cars (we were regulars at the local junk yard which was a playground for a kid!) or finding time to spend time with his family. He was always busy but he never made us feel that he was too busy for us. Amazingly, he spent his entire career (37 years) with MPS / TetraTech!

I keep this MPS keychain (MPS was acquired eventually by Tetra Tech ) on my desk as a reminder of where I came from and that regardless of how hard I work or whatever successes or failures I encounter, I am doing so on the shoulders of my immigrant parents (my German mom worked dozens of jobs in retail, restaurants, and the like and raised us kids full time) who, despite financial and other hurdles, always made us kids feel like we were all that existed in their world. The keychain is a constant reminder that no matter how busy I am with work and school, making time for my family, especially my kids, will give me the most rewarding long-term returns.

RAJA Dog Tag

I used to have three Siberian huskies that were a huge part of my life. Two of them, Nadia and Raja, were siblings who I raised from young puppies. When I went through a few tough times in grad school and into my career, I leaned on them for support and found strength in distance running. We would log 6 miles a day most days, a long run on the weekends (up to 20 miles) and usually 50 miles per week minimum.

At age 4 Raja was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. It was so bad that I had to make the decision to have his left hind leg amputated. I was scared but within a few days of his surgery he had found a new energy for life as a three legged husky! Our runs were shorter (he would still make it 2 miles) and he required a lot more care (a lot of carrying him up/down stairs) but he was always excited and happy even when he couldn’t keep up.

Raja made it another two years before his cancer returned and this time it had spread. One of my greatest losses was saying goodbye to Raja in 2012, just as I was finishing my PhD. He was a big part of my identity to that point and helped me through some tough times. His dog tag is on my key chain as a constant reminder that there are others that depend on me that that I need to make the most of every day.

Arecibo Coffee Mug

My second year of grad school of a few of us friends went from having a Friday night beer at Pickle’s Pub in Baltimore, MD to, hours later, being on a last-minute flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We spent 3 days exploring the island, enjoying the beaches and a few of us took the trip out to see Arecibo, the giant radio telescope in Barrio Esperanzo. A want-to-be astronomy junkie and a huge fan of Carl Sagan and the movie Contact, the trip rekindled a kid like enthusiasm for the interplay between SciFi and real science. I bought this mug on that trip and it has been hand carried each time I have moved (9 times by my count from 2006-2018). It was filled with coffee during many long days writing my thesis and has been a vesicle of Maker’s Mark more than a few times (in December 2012 it got a lot of use).

Arecibo’s telescope was a casualty of 2020 (not COVID!) and was decommissioned at the end of the year. This mug represents to me the curiosity I held about the universe as a young kind, reminds me to take time to explore the world and be spontaneous, and the importance of something constant through life’s ups and downs.

I also surround myself with piles and piles of books (my love affair with books and pens comes from early influence by my amazing sister). Some books have been read, some flipped through, and some I really want to read (though I might never find the time). Books represent the pursuit of lifelong learning and open-mindedness, two things that are important to me as I continue to develop as a leader.

I’m always interested in other peoples meaningful objects and the stories they tell. I’d love to hear from some colleagues and friends about items that are important/meaningful to you. Feel free to send a message if you’d rather not share here!