College After Career

My name is J. Matthew Pierce, and I have spent much of my adult life studying people in real conditions, not just in theory.

My professional background began in photojournalism, where I learned to observe quickly, listen carefully, and notice what most people miss. Over time, that work expanded into Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and the analysis of complex, human-centered problems. In those spaces, the details matter. Context matters. Motivation matters. What people say matters, and what they avoid saying matters just as much.

Today, I also work as a consultant through readpeople.pro, supporting businesses and organizations that need clearer human insight, stronger intuition, and better decision-making when the stakes involve people, not just numbers. I help leaders identify patterns, reduce blind spots, and think more accurately about human behavior inside messy real-world environments.

But I have reached a point in my life where I can slow down and make a deliberate shift.

The truth is that I have always been drawn to a deeper question: How do people interact with their society, and how does society shape the person in return? After years of seeing the world up close, I realized I did not just want to observe it and interpret it for clients. I wanted to understand it fully, in a disciplined and systematic way. I wanted to study the theories, research, and evidence behind the human reality I have lived through.

So I made a decision that feels a little like doing life in reverse.

I am going back to college after building a career, and I am treating higher education as a serious craft, not a checkbox. I am learning how to read research, write carefully, and develop ideas with integrity in an era where information is abundant and artificial intelligence is everywhere. For me, this is not about collecting credentials. It is about building a deeper understanding of the world I have already encountered and learning how to teach what I have learned in a way that helps other people think, adapt, and act with purpose.

College After Career is a record of that journey.

This podcast and this website are where I work out loud. You will hear what it is like to return to school as a non-traditional student, shift life priorities after a first career, and pursue a second act built on curiosity, scholarship, and meaning. Some episodes will be practical. Some will be reflective. Many will be about building a disciplined mind in a distracted world. All of it will be honest.

If you are returning to school, considering a new direction, or simply trying to think more clearly about people and society, I hope this project helps you. More than anything, I hope we learn something together.

Welcome to College After Career.