How I Found Myself in the Midwest A Memoir of Reinvention

by Grove, Steve

• ISBN13: 9781668062449
• ISBN10: 1668062445
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781668062470
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-06-24
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• More Book Details

Summary

A passionate testimony to the power of moving forward by going back home, a Midwestern native shares hope in going local.

Just after turning forty, Steve Grove left Silicon Valley as a Google executive to move to his home state of Minnesota with his wife and fellow tech exec, Mary Grove, and their one-year-old twins. Gone from the Midwest for two decades, Grove returned home with fresh eyes. Yearning to put down new roots, he traded his career at Google for a position in state government with Governor Tim Walz. Far from working at a fast-paced tech company, Grove’s shift to leading a large government bureaucracy brought a sequence of struggles and triumphs vividly portrayed with both humor and affection.

But this story of reinvention takes on new urgency when crisis strikes, as the coronavirus pandemic and the tragic murder of George Floyd unfolds just miles from his newfound home, thrusting Grove’s work into an unexpected spotlight. Tasked with distributing billions in aid, rolling out pandemic restrictions, redeveloping neighborhoods, and navigating deep divisions in a state long proud of its exceptionalism, Grove’s journey through crisis brings new insights about himself and his new community. His experiences of the political, geographic, and racial divisions in his home state yield surprising discoveries about what also binds us together.

From making new friends and building a family to reconciling with his past and exploring his faith, Grove’s journey to find purpose by going local provides a roadmap for anyone looking to discover what gives meaning to their life. Along the way, Grove shares insights about a part of the country that many people ignore at their peril, and why he is optimistic about America’s future. How I Found Myself in the Midwest will move and inspire you, no matter where you choose to call home.

Author Biography

Steve Grove is CEO and publisher of the Minnesota Star Tribune. Previously, he was Governor Tim Walz’s commissioner of employment and economic development, where he led the administration’s efforts to grow and support the Minnesota economy and its workers. Prior to that, Grove spent twelve years as an executive at Google and YouTube, most recently as the founding director of the Google News Lab and previously as YouTube’s first news and politics director. A graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a Master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, Grove also worked as a journalist for The Boston Globe, ABC News, and the Northfield News, his hometown newspaper. Steve and his wife Mary are the cofounders of Silicon North Stars, a nonprofit that helps underserved youth find career pathways in technology. They moved to Minneapolis from Silicon Valley in 2018 and are the proud parents of eight-year-old twins, a yellow lab, and two farm cats.