WHAT WISDOMOLOGY IS . . .

So, what is Wisdomology.com?

Wisdomology.com is a place where people can come together and have meaningful conversations that can open new vistas of heart and soul.

. . . AND HOW IT ALL BEGAN

The "Wisdomology Story" begins with one of those life-changing conversations. It begins with the first conversation between its co-founders, James McMahon and Lauren Rosenfeld.

In January 1993 these two grad-school students (James was studying Atmospheric Chemistry at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., while Lauren was studying Jewish Mysticism in nearby Brookline) found themselves mingling at the birthday party of a mutual friend. Despite their broadly diverse backgrounds, within moments of meeting, each of them instinctively knew that they had found a kindred spirit in the other. So the scientist and the mystic tucked themselves away in a quiet spot on the floor, away from the music and reveling. They sat together and talked privately for the rest of the evening. Their discussion quickly and naturally transitioned from basic introductions to a deep conversation about the directions of their personal paths in life.

Those paths, it turns out, would soon merge and become one.

A week after the party Lauren and James went out on their first date. Four weeks after their first date, they became engaged. Four months after the engagement, they were married. And fourteen years and four children later, they launched Wisdomology.com, a website that reflects the kind of deep sharing, meaningful dialogue, and personal exploration that began their lives together that first night.

ONE LIFE PATH: TWO CAREER PATHS

In the years that followed, though they often envisioned how delightful it would be to work together, their job skills sent them down separate paths. Ultimately settling their family in Atlanta, Georgia, Lauren became a teacher (and then after the birth of their first daughter, a stay-at-home-parent), while James’ technical skills led him to work as an IT Project Manager at Coca-Cola, overseeing the development of Coke’s consumer-facing websites. When their four children were old enough to go to school full time, Lauren opened a private practice as a Spiritual Parenting Coach. James continued to work for Coca Cola. He was successful in his work and found his job as a Project Manager challenging and fulfilling. But then in the summer of 2005, they started a new conversation that began: “What if . . .”

A NEW CONVERSATION AND A NEW HOME

“What if I started a website that really reflected our core values?” James wondered aloud. “What if we moved out of the city and into the mountains where we could slow down the pace of our lives?” they wondered together. At first both of these ideas seemed a little farfetched.

But like their first conversation, this conversation quickly intensified and soon materialized as a new adventure for James and Lauren. By the spring of 2006, James left Coca-Cola to begin developing Wisdomology.com. And in June of 2006, with their children, their dog and two cats loaded in the family cars, and with their two independent businesses in tow, Lauren and James moved to Asheville, North Carolina: the new home of the Rosenfeld/McMahon family and Wisdomology.com.

ASHEVILLE: A CITY OF DREAMERS

James and Lauren soon found that in Asheville, pursuing a crazy dream was nothing out of the ordinary. It’s just what people did in Asheville. It seemed that everyone had an interesting story and a hyphenated career: lawyer/musician, artist/innkeeper, schoolteacher/yoga instructor. So when James began to ask friends and colleagues if they knew of a programmer that could help build the website he envisioned, it seemed very much in the key of Asheville that he should be introduced to Bruce Hauman, a former whitewater rafting guide who was not only a brilliant technician who could build streamlined, graceful web applications, but was also a craftsman who built geodesic domes and yurts in his spare time.

In October of 2006, Bruce signed on with James and the two began to build Wisdomology.com from the ground up.

TWO ADJOINING OFFICES AND A SUDDEN A-HA

Once settled in Asheville, James and Lauren found adjoining offices in a historic building in downtown Asheville, looking out over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Though still running separate businesses, the French doors connecting the two office spaces were always open and Lauren found herself visiting James’ office frequently to consult on creative issues and to help guide Wisdomology’s vision. Until one day it finally dawned on them: this was the life they had always envisioned. So in the January of 2007, after fourteen years of life partnership, the two of them became business partners as well.

THREE AMIGOS WITH ONE VISION

Nowadays James, Bruce, and Lauren (whose diverse paths have led them out of the Ivy League, down the Appalachian Trail, and through the joys and challenges of stay-at-home-parenting) come together each day and try to imagine ways that Wisdomology can enlighten, inspire, inform, and connect people whose backgrounds are as diverse as their own. It is their dearest hope that you find the kind of meaningful dialogue you seek here; and that your life, like theirs, will be touched and changed by crossing paths with kindred spirits on the road to joy, understanding, and peace.

The "Wisdomobile"! When Lauren & James first moved to Asheville, they decided to let the kids (and interested grownups) paint the old Buick with nailpolish. The funniest part is that this car is NOT the most eccentric one in the neighborhood!