Melody McLaren
BS '77, Independent Studies

How did you transition from your studies at Caltech to your current position?

To most people in the Caltech community (not to mention my Asian-American relatives), my career probably resembles a random walk more than anything else. However, if there is a theme which captures my time on earth to date, it is that I've always been driven by a strong sense of curiosity. Everything I do seems to revolve around discovering how things, nature and people work – what Richard Feynman called "the pleasure of finding things out." As a result, I've had a pretty curious life, wandering around, finding out all sorts of interesting things and meeting fascinating people along the way.

Back in spring 1983 I took what was envisioned as a three-month leave of absence from a Ph.D. program in applied cognitive psychology at UC Berkeley to tour Europe as a Hula Hoop demonstrator, having been invited by Wham-O Manufacturing Company to promote the silver anniversary of their famous product. This opportunity arose as a consequence of my childhood curiosity about how to twirl a Hula Hoop (at which I was initially hopeless, so envious of siblings and friends who could do this naturally), winning the World Hula Hoop Championship in 1969. (For the mathematically inclined, see Professor T. K. Caughey’s paper on this subject).

As a result of my Hula Hoop stint in the Netherlands and the UK, I went sideways into sales promotion and copywriting – meeting my husband Ian in the process – and in 1990 joined Business in the Community, a network of large UK companies promoting corporate social responsibility. During my ten years there I drafted speeches for business leaders as well as BITC's president, HRH The Prince of Wales (aka Prince Charles); worked as a campaign manager promoting the business case for corporate social responsibility; and - after a four-year break working as a web developer in Silicon Valley during the height of the electronic gold rush – managed IT/web development and then learning and development, triggering a part-time return to academia to complete an MSc in organizational behaviour at Birkbeck College (University of London).

After six months as interim managing director of The SMART Company, a corporate social responsibility consultancy, I decided to go freelance in autumn 2006 and now pay my mortgage working as a writer and consultant specializing in the corporate social responsibility field. I also promote the work of the Global Music Foundation, although I do this more for love than money (see extra-curricular activities, below).

Going freelance has been the smartest move of my so-called career, liberating me from my daily London commute and the artificial constraints of organizational life. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a pretty smart person who can figure out what you need to do to ensure you are clothed, fed and can keep a roof over your head. I recommend you make that break for freedom as soon as you possibly can.

Describe a "day in the life." What do you encounter in a typical day on the job?

Although my days vary quite a bit, my current activities divide roughly between those related to writing – encompassing a fair amount of time sitting at my computer (with breaks to go for walks or to the gym) or liaising with clients – and those related to promoting jazz music and ensembles. The jazz musicians I work with live outside of London, so I spend quite a bit of time with them online, on the phone and, most pleasantly, getting out to their late-night gigs, which can be anywhere in the United Kingdom and occasionally on the European Continent.

What are your "extra-curricular" activities? What do you do outside of work?

While I enjoy my writing work, my real passion these days lies in making, promoting and listening to jazz music. Having burned out on classical piano at age 15, my husband Ian (a bass player and jazz aficionado) embarked on a 20-year campaign to convert me to jazz when we met in 1984. In 2005, I underwent a Road-to-Damascus-style experience at a Global Music Foundation summer school in Tuscany, Italy and have never looked back. I play piano and keyboards with the McLaren Burns Quartet, have a weekly duo restaurant gig with Ian, and promote the Frank Harrison Trio and the GMF's Jazz Rainbow Project, which is widening the audience for jazz, particularly to families with children.

What's your best advice to Caltech students, or to alumni who want to switch to a career like yours?

Every life path is unique, so no two careers will ever be the same. But if you want happy, fulfilling work, I think the best thing you can do is try to be as open as possible to everything that's happening around you. Doors are opening around you all the time in unexpected ways but you have to give up any pre-conceived notions about what your life and career ought to be if you are going to sense those opportunities. So go ahead and make plans but don't get too hung up on them. All the best times of my life have arisen from unexpected, happy accidents that had nothing to do with planning and control and everything to do with saying "yes" to impulses borne of natural curiosity and the desire to help others. Jazz is a great metaphor for a happy life: just let go, listen and respond to what's happening around you and you'll have a great time.

 

 

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