Continuing our series “Getting to Know our Neighbors,” we want to introduce you to the Redmonds. We’ll let Phil tell their story and here it is:

Phil Redmond and Fong Chu, as original residents of The Esplanade, have enjoyed the building, staff, and neighbors for almost 33 years.  Phil explained that they moved back to Cambridge when he joined a computer software company.  “I had lived here in the 70’s as a grad student at Harvard [Ph.D. program in pure math and then Harvard Business School] and at my first job, with Boston Consulting Group.  BCG was a LOT of work, a lot of pressure, but a great experience, and I met some really amazing people.  Mitt Romney was there just ahead of me, Jim Koch [founder of Boston Beer Company] and Indra Nooyi [CEO and Chairperson of Pepsico] worked for me, another fellow on one of my teams made over $100 million in aluminum – the list goes on.  I can only assume they looked at me and thought ‘Gee, if he can do well, surely we can be superstars!’  Of course, they were right….”

In 1983 Phil moved to Chicago to help start BCG’s new office there, and while he had a lot of business success, the real win was meeting his wife, Fong Chu.  They were married in 1989, just as they were relocating back to Boston.  “After 30+ years of marriage, I understand now why people congratulate the groom at the wedding – best decision I ever made!”

He left BCG to pursue a variety of business ventures.  “I was incredibly lucky – investing in commercial real estate in the 80’s, joining a software company in the early 90’s, then doing venture capital and private equity in the mid 90’s; quite a trifecta!”  Aside from a few lingering board memberships, he retired in 1996.

The Esplanade has been a great home for both of them.  Besides walking to work and being convenient to both MIT and Harvard (a key requirement for Phil), they have been blessed with wonderful neighbors.  In addition, they also love East Cambridge — urban, but not overwhelming.  “When we go to NYC for a few days, we love it, but realize living in Manhattan or Brooklyn would just be too much for us.  Call us country bumpkins, but we like the relaxed atmosphere here.”  But maybe the best thing about the Esplanade, at least according to Phil, is the large number of dogs.  “We always had dogs when I was growing up, and while we don’t have one now for various reasons, we can experience dogs vicariously through our neighbors.”

These days Phil spends a fair amount of time on math and physics and learning Chinese.  “Some years ago, we went to China, and I fell in love with the language, and with aspects of the culture.  Fong grew up in Taiwan, so we have both enjoyed our many trips to Asia (Singapore is her favorite city).  I’ve given a number of speeches there to business groups, but have most enjoyed helping Chinese high school students applying to US universities, editing their essays and giving advice, occasionally taken.  It quite interesting seeing how their upbringing reflects their culture, and thinking about how our students reflect ours.”

Before COVID, they liked to travel internationally a few times a year, but the pandemic has made that difficult.  Nevertheless, they did get to France last year and will be spending a few weeks in Nice (and of course, Paris) this April.  Fong has been learning French and is looking forward to the stay.  Meanwhile, Phil has been practicing looking sophisticated, delivering wry humor with amused detachment, and saying “soup de jour.”

Fong also loves food and new restaurants.  At first, Boston was disappointing after the lively food scene of Chicago, but it has improved dramatically in recent times.  They had developed many favorites over the years, only to see so many close down with COVID and the accompanying restrictions.  Of course, public health comes first, but hopefully new favorites will emerge over the next few years.

Both Phil and Fong also enjoy biking, exercise, and sports.  Fong is a yoga enthusiast as well as a Blue Bikes “Bike Angel,” which means she moves bikes around to where they are needed, in return for free extensions of her subscription.  As a mathematician and business investor, Phil keenly appreciates the financial benefit of the program to them -- “It works out to almost $1 an hour.”

Tennis is a major activity these days, with weekly lessons for both of them.  “I’m not sure you can say “we play tennis.” more like “we play at tennis.”  They also played a lot of golf earlier on, but eventually Fong lost interest and felt frustrated.  Phil quit as well, remarking, “To be reasonable at golf takes a lot of time, and if your spouse doesn’t want to participate, it’s not worth it (or maybe it is worth it, depending on your relationship with your spouse).”

As Phil describes it, he has reached “for your age” status, as in “You look good, for your age” and “You play well, for your age.”  So when you see him in the building, it’s ok to say, “You look good!” – just don’t add “for your age.”