“ These obelisks are the world's first globally distributed product. Layers and layers of history - these obelisks moved around and stand in modern societies — that's a story to tell.”

Mark Ciccone is a P&G Alum and author of the new book “OBELISK ODYSSEY: 26 Ancient Monoliths, 4 Continents, and 1 Monumental Search for Meaning.” With a presence on four continents, the 26 surviving granite monuments are history's most mysterious objects. and meaningful man made objects, each with its own voice and message for the world. Mark set out to see each one, embarking on a six month, 25, 000 mile odyssey from his town of Boston to Egypt, England, Italy, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, and beyond, to discover what these ancient voices have to say about religion, technology, tribalism, and conflicts of all kinds. You can purchase OBELISK ODYSSEY here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCKP9PNL

After 32 years with P&G, Mark became a consultant, first with the Monitor Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then as President of Retail Net Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in retail innovation. Mark also is an instructor at Duquesne University’s semester abroad program in Rome where he has taught several undergraduate business classes. In semi retirement, Mark found meaning lying in the stone quarries of North Africa, the Egyptian obelisk. In this conversation amongst longtime Alum friends, you’ll hear about Mark + Qaisar’s many adventures, conversations, and reflections across the world.

Hosting this conversation is longtime friend of the pod Qaisar Shareef, a fellow P&G alum and author, who’s led many parts of the organization from Pakistan to Ukraine to the US. This is a feature of an Alumni Leader’s published thought leadership. Got an idea for a future “Learnings from Leaders” episode - reach out at pgalumpod@gmail.com