Malcolm Smith grew up in Michigan City, Indiana, with two parents who worked hard. Smith’s father worked in a foundry. And each day he’d go to work, come home, watch TV, go to bed, get up and do the same thing all over again.

At 18, Malcolm joined his dad at the foundry. And after two years, he swore he’d never work there again; this was not the life he wanted. Smith recently sat down with a colleague at Thresholds to talk about some of his experiences … and things he wishes had gone differently.