NXTLVL Experience Design

ABOUT JOE PINE: Joe’s LinkedIn profile; linkedin.com/in/joepine Websites: strategichorizons.com (Blog) StrategicHorizons.com (Company) strategichorizons.com (Personal) SHOW INTRO: Today, EPISODE 86… I talk with Joe Pine Joe Pine, an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike... * * * * I’ve been in the world of retail place-making for a few decades. 3 would qualify as ‘a few’ I guess. I took a detour for a few years in the late 20-teens, shifting from retail design into the play space of hospitality – a wonderful diversion. The transition was transformative to be sure. I got to re-imagine what I knew about customer experience place making in terms of retail stores and turn my lens towards another fascination – hotels. The interesting thing that emerged was the recognition that in the world of retail everyone, brands, and retail designers and architects alike, were all going on about experience. Now this in and of itself was curious because I’d been designing stores for a couple decades, and I couldn’t recall one client who had ever come to the game and said – ‘hey lets create a really miserable experience for our customers…’ ‘…Let’s make it hard to understand the assortment, hard to read the labels, bathe the product in bad lighting, have people walk the store not being able to find the thing they came in for, etc…’ Not one. Ironically though, while many clients never asked for that, we have all had the experience of that exactly being the case in many stores we go to. So no,… creating a bad experience was never the strategy. We retail designers always sought to create places where positive experience was key. The stuff was important to be sure, but the experience - the emotional residue of the retail interaction - was what was critically important. The stuff was supposed to deliver on what it purported to do, fit well, wear well, not break down, taste good, make you feel better, whatever… it was supposed to work. Otherwise why buy it? In some cases, the stuff just had to deliver on its practical, functional level, it didn’t need to give you more than that. It was a commodity that lived up to its promise. In other cases the stuff delivered on function but gave you oh so much more on an emotional, socio-cultural, psychological, spiritual, level… and all of that is about brand relevance and emotional impact of owning the thing – what it says about you. It’s like looking at the difference between a paper bag which you could get for about 5 cents and a Birkin bag for which you’d drop $50,000. They both provide the same functional use – they carry other stuff – I think we could make a pretty sound argument that that is true. But now the Birkin bag, well… it is supposed to offer you so much more about who you are, and what tribe you run with and a host of other non-tangibles that deeply connect us to a brand. Things way beyond function. And if the paper bag got wet and fell apart, well… you could be confident that for the price of the Birkin bag you could literally get a million replacements. The interesting thing about the stuff, or services, in retail places whether a commodity or something altogether magnificent and magical was that in either case we had to wrap it in positive experience. Mess up the experience and you’ve damaged the relationship. And repairing that rupture can take some time. So, experience matters because the overt and subtle messaging that accompanies a shopping trip is important in fostering the long-term connection between a customer, product (or service) and the brand. The value proposition that determines my choice of one brand or retailer over another can’t just be they have lots of whatever it is at low prices. Price point and SKU count are not differentiators in an economy where you can get virtually anything on Amazon and have it delivered to your door and, as a brand or retailer, you are hoping to engage an emerging cohort of customers who craves more than getting a good deal. Now... the interesting thing about hospitality is that industry never really sold stuff. You didn’t take home the hotel room (at least not until more recently). You took in, and took home, experience - the body memory and emotional residue of being there. Your stuff, as it were, was a camera full of images and tchotchkes bought along the way during the trip that serve as a conduit or a link to, or a trigger of memories and emotional responses to experiences previously lived. You don’t bring home the hotel room, though you can now buy the Westin Heavenly bed and all of the linens – I have often wondered why, if I love the room décor, I can’t just walk around with my phone and point it at QR codes on everything and in a flash have the whole thing purchased and sent off to my home or apartment to redo the guest room – or my own bedroom for that matter? So…in the end retail sells stuff and wraps it in experience and hotels only se

ABOUT JOE BAER:Joe’s LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/joe-baer-4479385Websites:zengenius.com visual911.com Email: [email protected]:Joe is the Co-Founder, Creative Director, and CEO of ZenGenius, Inc., an experiential design firm specializing in visual merchandising and event design. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Joe brings over three decades of mastery in innovative leadership and creative direction to the design, visual merchandising and special events industries. He has extensive knowledge of the customer journey from working in stores for decades and is a seasoned public speaker who has traveled the world to inspire and educate others through the art of visual merchandising, design and special events.Additionally, Joe has contributed his retail know-how to multiple publications, authored The Art of Visual Merchandising: Short North, and created one of my favorite events in the retail industry the Iron Merchant Challenge, a popular interactive visual merchandising competition held annually at the International Retail Design Conference. Joe’s passion for the world of design is evident in his role as President of the PAVE Global leadership board - a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation with the mission to support, connect, and inspire the next generation of professionals in the retail design, visual merchandising, and consumer environments industry. He also holds Advisory Board roles at Columbus College of Art and Design and VMSD Magazine. SHOW INTROWelcome to Episode 85! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey, we’ll have guests that are thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We’ll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 85… I talk with Joe Baer of Zen Genius an experiential design firm specializing in visual merchandising and event design. Joe had spent more than 3 decades working the in the retail industry bringing visual merchandising know-how to the creation of emotionally resonant branded places. Visual merchandising is allot more than simply making things look good in a store. It’s very much about 3D storytelling, sensory experiences, emotions and making places sing as Joe explains.We’ll get there in a minute but... first a few thoughts…* * * *Monique worked in the visual merchandising departmentshe was the director there and I was the director in the interior design department our two programs ran concurrently we shared some students across our programs but we seldom actually shared lunchAnd so it was slightly strange but intriguing that she invited me to have lunch with her across the street from the college at a little Thai placeWe sat down, talked about students and then - more as a throw away - she said “they want me to go to Singapore…”And I waited for the next sentence.“But I don't really want to go to Singapore.” she said. “I'd have to leave here. I'd have to leave my son who's thinking about collage a few years and I'd really just prefer to stay in Montreal.”And then there was a silence.“Singapore?!” I said.“I don't even know where Singapore is. That's in Southeast Asia, right? ““yeah, it's like on the other side of the world.” she said.“Sounds exotic. I'd go for sure. Besides, I love Chinese food. I could eat it every day.”“Really?” she said .“Sure, why not? I'd love to go. I love the whole idea of adventure.” “Well anyway,” she said, “I don’t know what they are going to do if I don’t go. It’s to be the Director of the visual merchandising program in an international fashion school and they’ve got n

ABOUT JENNIFER:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejenniferwalsh/ Websites:https://www.walkwithwalsh.comBio:For nearly 30 years, Jennifer has been at the forefront of transformative movements in beauty, retail, & biophilic design. As a consummate innovator, she has been dedicated to reimagining the human experience, whether through pioneering retail concepts, creating immersive outdoor experiences, or driving biophilic design solutions across industries.In the 1990s, Jennifer founded Beauty Bar, the first experiential omni-channel beauty brand in the U.S., introducing open-sell environments, curbside service, and men’s skincare departments, concepts that reshaped how people shop for beauty. This trailblazing work integrated biophilic principles long before they became mainstream, earning recognition as an industry innovator. After selling Beauty Bar ultimately purchased by Amazon in 2011, she continued to build groundbreaking businesses and brands, always staying ahead of the curve. Another first was created in 2014 with Pride & Glory, a collegiate beauty brand. Today, she guides large and small scale biophilic design projects to create spaces that promote human flourishing. From Recharge Rooms to retail spaces, homes, schools, and urban landscapes, her work transforms environments into ecosystems of opportunity. All inspired from lived experiences. Jennifer helps organizations leverage the neuroscience of nature to enhance experiences, foster resilience, and build deeper connections within their organizations.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to Episode 84! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey, we’ll have guests that are thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We’ll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections betw een our mind-body and the built world around us.We’ll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 84… I talk with Jennifer Walsh who for nearly 30 years, has been at the forefront of transformative movements in beauty, retail, & biophilic design. Jennifer is an innovator, and has been dedicated to reimagining the human experience, whether through pioneering retail concepts, creating immersive outdoor experiences, or driving biophilic design solutions across industries.Talking about biophilic design isn’t new on the podcast, this time though we bolt on retailing, neuroscience and experience. This conversation is more introspective and looks at one’s motivation to change to considering our environments and biophilic design from the point of view of sense of well-being and personal growth.We’ll get there in a minute but... first a few thoughts…* * * *If you go back to the early episodes of the podcast, you’ll come across Bill Browning. Bill and I connected while I was working the hospitality industry and focusing my efforts on the redesign of the Westin guestroom and lobby design strategy.Bill’s world is Biophilic – both literally and philosophically, may be even existentially. He literally wrote the book on Biophilic Design’s 14 principles, which now includes a 15th with the addition of ‘Awe,’ and he has written a more recent publication with Katie Ryan called “Nature Inside,” it is a terrific handbook to implementing Biophilic design principles in built environments.I think a lot about the design of places where nature has been completely eliminated - think major downtown cities in any corner of the world.It is also not lost on me

ABOUT BRYAN:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/bryanmeszarosWebsites:openeyeglobal.com (Company)marketscale.com/industries/podcast-network/experience-by-design/ (Experience By Design Podcast)experienceunitedsocialclub.com (Experience United Social Club)email: [email protected]:Bryan Meszaros is a 25-year veteran of the digital signage and experience design industry, known for blending innovation with measurable impact. As the founder of OpenEye Global, he proved that a small, focused team can deliver big results and helped shape the early evolution of digital engagement.He later made history as the youngest President of SEGD and the first with a digital centric background, while also contributing to the Digital Signage Federation and Shop! Association to advance industry standards.Bryan is also the founder of the Experience United Social Club (XUSC), an international networking series all about bringing together creative minds from the AV, digital signage, and design industries to share ideas and collaborate. With global experience across Europe and APAC, he has spoken at major events including EuroShop, ISE, InfoComm, and DSE, and regularly contributes to leading industry publications.Dedicated to pushing boundaries, Bryan remains focused on shaping what comes next in digital signage and experiential design.SHOW INTRO:SHOW INTRO:Welcome to Episode 83! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we continue to follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey there will be thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We’ll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us. We’ll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine. VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 83… I talk with Bryan Meszaros founder of EpenEye Global. Bryan is a 25-year veteran of the digital signage and experience design industry, known for blending innovation with measurable impact. Naturally, in a world that is increasingly digitally mediated, Bryan’s business is significantly focused on the emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a tool in his experience place-making toolbox.We’ll get to more of how Bryan sees the use of AI in digital applications in brand experience places in a minute but... first a few thoughts…* * * *I grew up on Star Trek. They original version with Shatner as Captain James T Kirk. These were the sightly campy years in black and white but wonderfully prescient in foretelling what was to come. I used to say that my father, who lived to the ripe old age of 97 was so into it that was holding out until he could just beam up through the transporter to the next phase of his existence. We all watched, my 4 brothers and I every week, my mom? Well not so much…I got used to thinking about digital communication, robots, space travel and technology integrated into our lives facilitating everything from washing dishes to extending lifespans. There isn’t a day that goes by now where my media consumption doesn’t include something on the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. Both the amazing and the alarming. How it will make workplaces completely different replacing much of what we now do with human brain and brawn with algorithms and computer chips that can fit 1000 computers from the old Star Trek days on your fingertip. How it is changing the way human brains are wired, though when it comes to our neural networks that trundle along at a speed ridiculously slow compared to the digital pace of change that i

ABOUT DINA TOWNSEND Dina's Linkedin Profile: linkedin.com/in/dinatownsendDINA TOWNSEND BIOAs Chief Sales Officer at Mamava, Dina leads the Sales Organization with energy, optimism, and a genuine passion for building connections. She is rooted in the belief that strong business acumen and a meaningful mission can be seamlessly intertwined. After a purpose-driven career pivot from Digital Signage Technology to Mamava, she channels her expertise into propelling sales for this mission-centric company. Beyond her professional endeavors, Dina is a former skydiver, a hobby homesteader, an avid college football fan, and a well-intentioned, albeit average, golfer.email: [email protected] | 802.347.2111 (o) Website: www.mamava.comSay yes to dignified lactation spaces! Be a hero—here's how you can help. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to Episode 82! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we continue to follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey there will be thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We’ll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us.We’ll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 82… I talk with Dina Townsend Chief Sales Officer at Mamava a company whose mission is to create a healthier society through infrastructure and support for breastfeeding. And, along with partners who share in in their purpose of celebrating and supporting breastfeeding, Mamava is moving closer to creating a future where there is a dignified lactation space anywhere a parent may go. We’ll get to my discussion with Dina in a minute, first though a few thoughts…* * * *A few episodes back I had Claire Coder founder and CEO if Aunt Flow on the show. That was an interesting conversation since we crossed what I think were a few boundaries (at least for me) and we talked quite candidly about menstruation. Not just about the biology of women’s monthly cycle but about the fact that there are many women who have faced the scenario of getting their period unexpectedly and not have pads or tampons to meet them in their moment of need.Enter the company Aunt Flow who provides free feminine hygiene products in public restrooms, schools and other public buildings and to Fortune 500 corporate headquarters - for which tens of thousands of women are eternally grateful.This conversation with Dina Townsend, I guess you could say, falls in the Aunt Flow camp of subjects. Breast feeding moms was not a subject that I had on the list of things to address on the podcast. But here we are nevertheless with a subject that piqued my curiosity because the company Dina works for, Mamava, checks most of the boxes in our Dialogues on DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and he Arts” catch phrase.First off…I did not know there was something called the “Pump Act”. For the curious out there, a little internet searching comes up with this:“…The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, enacted in December 2022, expands workplace protections for nursing employees by requiring employers to provide reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space for pumping breast milk for up to one year after a child's birth.This law allows for legal action if employers fail to comply…”Now… Dina will contend that many employers do in fact provide such a space and also that a janitors closet with a folding chair would be in line with the requirements. Sure, a closet meets the description of a ‘private space’ but it wholly underse

ABOUT CHRISTIAN DAVIES:Christian's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/christian-davies-fcsd-3728a513Websites: https://www.bergmeyer.comemail: [email protected]: https://www.instagram.com/christianthdavies/ Christian Davies Bio: Davies brings 30+ years' experience as a creative leader, working with brands across the globe, from disruptive startups to the very top Fortune 500 contenders in retail, experiential, beauty, fashion, hospitality, technology, luxury, and more. His veteran status includes over 100 national and international design awards (15 of which earned top honors for Store of the Year Awards), including a five-time winner of design:retail’s Retail Design Influencer as well as a coveted Retail Design Luminary award. As a Chief Strategy Officer for Bergmeyer, strategic innovation and design leadership define Davies role, stemming from a robust background in creative direction and design thinking. His approach harnesses the power of diverse, interdisciplinary teams, developed through hands-on experience in various roles across a wide variety of companies throughout his career. As Chief Strategy Officer, steering the business strategy and our passion for innovation encapsulates my daily mission.Prior to Bergmeyer, Davies served as Managing Director of the Creative Marketing Group at Verizon, Creative Vice President of Global Design and Innovation for Starbucks, Executive Creative Director of the Americas at Fitch, and Vice President/Managing Creative Director at FRCH Design Worldwide.Also See: https://www.bergmeyer.com/people/christian-davies SHOW INTRODUCTION:Welcome to Episode 81! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…What started at a pivotal moment during the COVID pandemic in early 2020 has continued for seven seasons and now 81 episodes. This season we continue to follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts. In the coming weeks we have some terrific conversations that are both fun and inspiring. They are going to include thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us.We’ll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 81… I talk with Christian Davies. We actually recorded this discussion months ago and Christian wondered if publishing it now was still relevant.I assured him it was, since Christian tends to unearth issues that are future forward - things to be mindful about should we want to address the issues we all face as individuals or societies or as architects and designers making places and things as we serve as our clients creative sherpa guides bringing ideas into the built world. Now… Christian has been sitting atop the heap of 80 conversations as the most listened to episode since we recorded our first talk a couple years ago. So, I thought, well why not do Christian Davies 2.0?Christian does not disappoint - never has – over a couple of decades, Christian has consistently drawn audiences and colleagues into conversation, sometimes challenging, and always brilliant and things that drive design thinking. His matter-of-fact English attitude to the world of design is sometimes a ‘no holds barred’ reality check that makes you think twice about the truths you have held dear. His drive towards excellence is irrepressible. That makes him, some may say, demanding because I think he expects that we all give a damn about what we are brining into the world. And why not? We all share space on this little blue dot and, we had better get it, and soon, that we are part of a vast ecosystem of interdependencies.We cover a lot of ground in this open-ended conversation – I’d not expect less from

ABOUT APRIL RINNE:BIO: My North Star: Helping people and organizations understand what's on the horizon – and how they fit into it. I decipher signals of change, help leaders and teams improve their tolerance for uncertainty, and scout new insights and opportunities in a world in flux. Over 25+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve been exposed to a wide range of companies, cultures, business models, leadership styles, and norms. And I’ve seen time and time again: Every organization, every team, and every individual struggles with change and uncertainty in some way. Even before the pandemic, and especially today. We’ve all had different experiences of change, and we could all use some help with the unknown. Leveling up our relationships to change and uncertainty is the opportunity of our lifetimes.My career portfolio includes futurist, speaker, author, advisor, global development executive, microfinance lawyer, investor, mental health advocate, certified yoga teacher, globetrotter, insatiable handstander, and ambassador of joy. Along the way I've been named one of the 50 Leading Female Futurists in the world, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a member of Thinkers50 Radar and the Silicon Guild, and one of the earliest Estonian e-Residents. I'm also the author of the international bestseller Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.My journey to Flux has been deeply personal. It began with the death of both of my parents in a car crash when I was 20. My entire life flipped upside-down. And today, there is nothing I enjoy more than sharing with others how I learned to see differently, find meaning, and strengthen my Flux Superpowers -- and how you can do so, too.April’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilrinne/Websites: https://aprilrinne.comBUY THE BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Flux-Superpowers-Thriving-Constant-Change/dp/1523093595email: [email protected] INTRO:Welcome to Season 7 of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast – Episode 80!What started at a pivotal moment during the COVID pandemic in early 2020 has continued for seven seasons and now 80 episodes. This season we continue to follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts. In the coming weeks we have some terrific conversations that are both fun and inspiring. They are going to include thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We’ll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us.We’ll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.And I don't know, maybe there will be a couple of mystery guests that will just shake things up and give us a perspective on things that we've never thought about before.As in the past couple of seasons, we are grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org So, fasten your seat belt we’re in for some good times…Today, EPISODE 80… I talk with April Rinne whose North Star is helping people and organizations understand what's on the horizon – and how they fit into it. April deciphers signals of change, helps leaders and teams improve their tolerance for uncertainty, and scouts new insights and opportunities in a world in flux. As well as being an excellent hand stander, (check out pics of her doing handstands in places all over the world on her website), she is also the author of the international bestseller “Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.”We will get to her book, some of the key ideas and so much more in a minute but first a few thoughts…It seems to me that over the past few seasons I've tended to talk about the idea of ‘the pace of change’ a lot.I'm beginning to think it's a little like my unnatural fear of sharks (thank you Steven Spielberg) and that I keep on talking about them and seeking out images of them on Instagram

ABOUT JAIME SCHWARZ:BIO: Jaime Schwarz is an award-winning copywriter and creative director, having worked with over 100 brands at NYC agencies before starting his entrepreneurial journey.In 2017 he authored the world's first NFT-focused patent and launched BrandTherapy.coach, a product market fit-focused consultancy built on the technique of letting the brand speak for itself. After co-founding seven startups and consulting for dozens more, in 2022, Jaime pivoted into the web3 world by using AI to literally teach brands to speak for themselves and co-founding The TeamFlow.Institute using team intelligence to maximize the momentum of decentralized teams to create the Company Betterment Industry. He also co-founded ParallelWorlds.us and positioned it as the world's first spatial transformation company. Since then, once his patent was granted, he has been building MRKD as an IP-founded venture focused on empowering the IP economy through co-creationism. He serves on the board of Wayfinders on the Hudson, is an advisor to XRSI.org, and lives in Hastings on Hudson with his wife and two boys.Jaime’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/jaimeschwarzWebsites:brandtherapy.coach (Company)jaimeschwarz.com (Portfolio)calendly.com/getbrandtherapy/30min (Other)Email: [email protected] INTROWelcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast EPISODE 79 … and my conversation with Jaime Schwarz an award-winning copywriter and creative director, founder of Brand Therapy and a number of other ventures.On the podcast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgJaime Schwarz spent years work in the fast-paced world of New York advertising agencies where he came to deeply understand brands. Since then, his entrepreneurial journey has led to patent awards, and a few business ventures that truly bring things to the NXTLVL. We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *OK so where to start on this one...You know… I try to lead teams by being authentic and transparent. Candid when it matters to get to the heart of the matter and circumspect when sharing the whole story it might not be appropriate. But thinking about my interview with Jamie Schwarz makes me sit back in my chair and consider what I think I know.I think I know a little about a lot and I say that not lacking humility, but I've been always compulsively curious about stuff. All kinds of stuff.I like to know why things work the way they work, how people got to the places they got to in their careers, how history unfolds and the story of culture is our told and retold. And all sorts of other stuff. I like reading about quantum physics but will confess I still get confused about how traveling at the speed of light and coming back to your origin will mean that you come back years in the future while the passage of time for you may only be a few moments. I loved the movie interstellar. I don't know things like that just sort of confused me, but they fascinate me nevertheless.I digress.I think I probably know a little bit about enough and in some cases it just might be that I know enough to be dangerous as the saying goes. One of the motivations to doing the podcast is that I get to speak to lots people who are just way smarter and tuned in than me…and I generally add here that the bar is actually set pretty low because there are so many really smart people in the world.I like studying about the things that I try to engage in conversations about. I'll read books, watch hours of online content – presentations, speeches and interviews. I'll dig up articles and make sure that I show up ready to go for a conversation.Early on in the podcast series I had someone thank me for showing up well prepared. I just sort of thought that that was my responsibility to

ABOUT CLAIRE CODER:BIO: Claire Coder (Forbes 30under30) is a 28-year-old Thiel Fellow and founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. On a mission to make the world better for people with periods, Aunt Flow stocks public bathrooms with freely accessible tampons and pads. Through Claire’s leadership, Aunt Flow launched patented tampon & pad dispensers in 60k+ bathrooms and raised $17m+ in venture capital. Coder launched her first company at age 16, designed a bag for Vera Bradley that sold out in 24 hours, and has her own line of GIFs. After getting her period in public without the supplies she needed, at 18 years old, Claire dedicated her life to developing a solution to ensure businesses and schools can sustainably provide quality period products for free in public bathrooms. Since 2016, Aunt Flow has worked with thousands of businesses and schools, including organizations like Google, Princeton University, Netflix, and 30+ professional sports stadiums, to offer freely accessible period product dispensers, filled with organic cotton tampons and pads. Aunt Flow has donated over 7 million organic cotton tampons and pads to menstruators in need since 2021. Claire’s ultimate goal in life is for any menstruator to walk into any bathroom and never need to worry if they start their period, because Aunt Flow period products are freely available!Claire’s story has been featured in TeenVogue, Forbes, Fortune, and she starred in TLC’s Girl Starter Season 1. Claire speaks regularly surrounding her advocacy work, starting a social enterprise and journey as a female founder. For more information, please visit LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairecoder/ Websites:clairecoder.com (Personal)goauntflow.com (Company)SHOW INTROWelcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 78 … and my conversation with Claire Coder the Founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. On the podcast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgWhen Claire Coder was 18 years old she was at an event and she used a public restroom. While there, she discovered that she had unexpectedly started her period. And… she didn't have a quarter. Why she would have needed a quarter and what happened as a result of not having one is the subject of an exceptional entrepreneurial trajectory that has changed woman's public bathrooms around the country.We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *What if you had an amazing idea that you knew was a no-brainer, an idea that provided something deeply necessary, but it seemed that everyone had overlooked it.What if you had a moment of insight from a personal experience that chartered out a clear path for providing a product and service that seemed to satisfy the deeply under met needs of more than 50% of the population?And what if when you took this moment of clear mental insight to a group of venture capitalists explaining that this was not just an idea that would not only satisfy a certain customer need but that could be an extraordinarily profitable business operation but when you asked for their involvement, they simply said… “NO”.And what if you heard “NO” 86 times when trying to get people interested in supporting your idea. Would you give up? Would you have already given up after the 1st or 10th or 50th “NO”? And what if you happened to be an 18-year-old young woman with this vision and enthusiasm and the subject of your VC pitches dealt with menstruation and woman's public bathrooms... How far do you think that would have gotten you?I could focus in on this intro by talking about the thing that we don't talk about, at least as a guy I can't imagine me and my guy friends would have ever talked about…as a teen, young man or frankly even today.Which is to say… women and monthly periods. I could fo

ABOUT CHARLES LEON:CHARLES' LINKEDIN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chleon/COMPANY WEBSITE: charlesleon.uk CHARLES' BIO:Writer and Illustrator of Sketch Journals, including The Kew Sketch Journal. International Speaker and Trainer on the Creative Process and how Applied Innovation actually works. With more than 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to helping Organisations and Individuals overcome Innovation Stagnation and achieve Creative Breakthrough.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 77… and my conversation with Charles Leon. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org On this episode I connect with Charles Leon who has 30 years experience in design, and an extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the working of the creative mind.We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *When I was nine years old my mom put me in a after school art program in a small little studio a few minutes walk from my school. Every Thursday afternoon, after my regular school classes were done, I would walk down the street, sit in an art studio and learn how to paint in oils. For the next 10 years this was a welcome change in my daily routine that became in some sense a safe place. A place where all the world's troubles or the typical challenges I was having as a teenager would disappear and I would spend a couple of hours focused on painting. My mom had recognized early on that I was pretty handy with a pencil and very interested in creative expression. She did her very best to make sure that I was continually engaged in creative processes whether it was doing Ukrainian Easter eggs or sketching and drawing or baking creative Christmas cookies.She was always there pushing the go button on creativity. As it turns out, she was actually a pretty good artist herself and later in her life she began doing decorative painting which she became exceptionally adept at and the house was full of wonderful pieces of her craftsmanship.My interest in art followed me through the first few years of high school and finally landing in a place where it was just time to decide where I was going to university and to which program I would go.My mom, recognized that I was firmly sitting on either side of the creative and scientific fence, 1 foot firmly in both worlds, and she suggested architecture since it seemed to combine both of my interests.While I was studying to be an architect I took every single drawing and painting course that I could possibly take, whether they were weekly freehand drawing studios or evening classes or sketching schools.These courses during my university years were a safe place there I had more confidence than in doing pretty much anything else.But it really wasn't until those years in university under the tutelage of a great art teacher Gerry Tondino that I really began to understand drawing and painting.It wasn't so much that I was learning technical aspects of drawing or painting but that I was more learning how to see rather than simply look at things.Gerry would say, ‘once you learn to see and draw what you actually se, rather than what ou think you see, the drawing takes care of itself.’I had deep respect for Gerry Tondino and I think I really finally learned how to deeply appreciate the world around me to see the color, texture and value relationships. To understand how objects exist within a context and it wasn't specifically the thing you looking at but everything around it that helped to define its edge.In college I would continue to take afterschool watercolor courses thinking that it was more convenient than painting in oil

ABOUT NATALIA OLSZEWSKA:NATALIA'S LINKEDIN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-olszewska/COMPANY WEBSITE: improntaspace.com EMAIL: [email protected]'S BIO:Natalia is a versatile professional with a foundation in medicine and neuroscience, dedicated to applying neuroscientific principles to architectural design. She adeptly connects these two realms, striving to improve our built environment by making it more human-centered and conducive to well-being. Furthermore, Natalia is an accomplished researcher and practitioner in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture, specializing in evidence-based and neuroscience-informed design. She garnered invaluable experience during her tenure at Hume, a pioneering architectural and urban planning firm founded by Itai Palti, where she led the 'Human Metrics Lab.' Natalia lent her expertise to design projects for prestigious clients such as Arup, Skanska, HKS Architects, EDGE, the Association of Children's Museums, the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, Google, as well as numerous individual clients.Her interdisciplinary approach transcends boundaries, allowing her to craft built environments that foster individual well-being across various dimensions - social, psychological, and cognitive. Natalia's co-founding role at IMPRONTA, a consultancy specializing in health and well-being design, underscores her commitment to leveraging neuroscience and applied sciences in architecture. Since 2020, she has also been contributing to the NAAD (Neuroscience Applied to Architecture) course at IUAV University in Venice.Natalia's educational journey is characterized by a distinctive blend of backgrounds, encompassing medicine from Jagiellonian University and Tor Vergata, neuroscience from UCL, ENS, Sorbonne, and neuroscience applied to architectural design from Università IUAV.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 76… and my conversation with Natalia Olszewska. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgOn this episode I connect with Natalia Olszewska is a versatile professional with a foundation in medicine and neuroscience, dedicated to applying neuroscientific principles to architectural design. We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *For a while now I have had a fascination with the connection between buildings and brains. While I loved psychology, and studied it before getting into architecture school, it occurred to me in the middle of the 20-teens that buildings, or the environments we design and build, have a direct effect on our psychology. There are places in which we feel good or bad or uneasy or exhilarated, or a sense of awe or agitation. There are places where we feel calm, and others that make me feel ill at ease. And all of those feelings have a body sense to them as well. Heart rises or decreases. I sweat more or less. My chest feels tight or relaxed. Cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and other neurochemicals and hormones are released and coursing through my body as I experience places. And many of these hormones and neurochemicals being released into my blood stream I have little control over. My brain-body reacts to environmental stimuli and biochemistry does its thing.Buildings may make me feel certain way, induce certain emotions, that we may think are just about your thoughts, brain activity, but at the core, our body too is in a relationship with conditions in the environment.We feel architecture with our bodies, we don’t just intellectually experience them in our heads. The experience of buildings, and our emotional reactions to them, is as much a ‘bottom-up process’ - our body’s sensory processes taking in stimuli fro

ABOUT LOUISA WHITMORE:TIK TOK: LOUISA'S BIO:Louisa Whitmore is an architecture content creator on TikTok with over 350K followers, as well as the host of the cable television documentary series “The Nature of Design.” A former commentator for the USModernist podcast, Whitmore has also worked as a live radio host and PSA producer at CHMA 106.9FM, the local radio station at Mount Allison University, where she’s currently an honors student studying international relations and French. She enjoys telling stories, and is passionate about sustainable design.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 75… and my conversation with Louisa Whitmore. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgLouisa Whitmore is a TikTok creator phenom whose content is about architecture. With almost 400 thousand followers her no holds-barred, straight from the heart and to the point commentary about the buildings she loves and loves to hate, brings a user experience point of view and accessible critique into the mainstream.We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *The great thing about doing this podcast is it gives me an opportunity to rethink some of the assertions that have held to be true and cross check whether in fact they are immutable or whether there is room for challenging myself and maybe digging into some subtleties and nuances… and seeing things a different way.Like for example the idea of criticism – who does it and its value…I have to admit I haven't been particularly fond of the idea of critics for a very long time. This would be generally true of the kind who dole out the negative kind of commentary.Years ago when commenting on something, I think it was some art piece, and my son said to me “…dad why is it that you never really say you hate anything…”which I sort of thought was kind of funny then. I think I responded “…well because I don't really hate anything… I try to always view things from the other side - a different point of view. I try to get beyond the visceral reaction and look to design principles and comment from a place of applying principles to the work and see how they line up…and then make a comment that is based yes on whether I simply like it, the colors, shapes, energy, feeling , may be a message it is trying to impart AND whether I can see the value in it based on principles determined to be generally accepted by experts in the domain…” so yeah I don’t really hate things…If I apply the idea of casting judgement on art, music, architecture… it got me thinking… again…What is the value of judgement? Is it to determine the appropriateness of something to a particular context or challenge?I have my favorite architects and artists and musical performers, I like different styles and periods. But I don’t listen to heavy metal (though my sons love it). I don’t know that I can say that I hate it. Perhaps I just don’t understand it and maybe if I did, it still wouldn’t jibe with me.It just doesn’t go in my body well. It’s a sensory mismatch.I don’t hate it – It makes me agitated. So, I just don’t listen to it. And I guess you could say the same thing for certain genres of art.For example… I'm not particularly crazy about a lot of contemporary art.I have a hard time understanding a performance artist dipping her hair in paint and swinging aloft from a rope while her hair drags across a canvas and the painting while on lookers wrapped in dimly lit light bulbs stand slightly by selling for millions of dollars… it isn't something I quite get. And I know that authorized replicas of the Marcel Duchamp sculpture called the “Fountain” - which is a urinal - sell for somewhere between 3 and $4 million each and here's the kicker... apparently because the o

ABOUT TREVOR BULLEN:LINKEDIN PROFILE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-bullen-6b55b615/DUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY: https://www.linkedin.com/school/dunwoody-college-of-technology/TREVOR'S BIO:Trevor is the Dean of the School of Design at Dunwoody College of Technology. He is an award-winning architect with over 25 years of professional experience. He has significant international experience; working on a wide range of architecture, landscape architecture and planning projects in Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States. In addition to his role as Dean, Trevor has taught architectural design at the Boston Architectural College, the City College of New York as well as the University of Minnesota and is a frequent guest critic at schools of architecture nationwide.Prior to joining Dunwoody, he was a Senior Associate and Director of Operations at Snow Kreilich Architects, the recipient of the 2018 AIA Architecture Firm Award. From 2000 to 2016, he co-founded and led an architecture and planning studio on the island of Grenada, completing more than 30 built projects. The work of his firm has been published extensively in journals and books as well as being exhibited at the 2021 Architecture Biennale in Venice. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 74… and my conversation with Trevor Bullen. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgTrevor is the Dean of the School of Design at Dunwoody College of Technology. He is an award-winning architect with over 25 years of professional experience who believes that design and teaching architecture is synonymous with discernment.We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *When I think back to my architecture education, it seems like another universe to today’s practice. And then again, in some ways it is much the same.Architecture school was 4 long years of hard work and all-nighters that, at the time, we wore as a badge of honor. It seemed that there was never enough time to do what we were being asked to accomplish. Or maybe I was trying to do more than was necessary to fulfill the learning objectives. I certainly felt I had a lot to prove since it had taken me a couple of years to finally get accepted into the program after not doing particularly well at calculus and linear algebra in junior college. I also took extra math in fifth grade. Yeah… math wasn’t my thing.Or at least it wasn’t my thing until I had a good tutor in second year who helped me understand that I was visual spatial learner and if I could draw or make models of the problems they would all make sense. Seeing algorithms… my eyes would roll back in my head.Anyway…I stuck with it, took every drawing class I could, loved design studio and managed the engineering. I was proud to graduate from the McGill School of Architecture school, go on to study for my licensing exams - another series of all-nighters – pass and be able to enter the profession of reserved title and call myself an “Architect.”I was proud to wear the traditional pinky-finger white gold ring with 7 notches in it representing the 7 Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin. Ruskin was an English polymath – a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. The Seven Lamps were seven principles which Ruskin viewed should be reflected in a building: Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. The white gold ring was a tradition of McGill 4th year architecture graduates, as symbols of having legitimately put the time in, done the work on the design thesis and survived it. In those days we drew our projects by hand and built models in the workshop. We got our hands dirty. There were 4 years of design studio

ABOUT MARDI NAJAFI:LINKEDIN PROFILE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mardi-najafi-rdi-idc-772b1328/MARDI'S BIO:Mardi Najafi is an award-winning, multidisciplinary designer with over 30 years of experience at the forefront of the design world. A visionary leader in the field, Mardi believes that design has the power to evoke emotion, create unforgettable experiences, and leave a lasting impact. His work spans a diverse range of high-profile retail environments, from intimate boutiques to large-scale, branded experiences for some of the world’s most iconic companies, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Virgin Mobile, Telus, Loblaws, Penguin Random House, Keilhauer, and Versace. His global portfolio reflects his ability to blend innovation and cultural context, with projects across Paris, New York, Toronto, and beyond.As the Principal, Chief Creative Officer, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Lead at SDI Design, Mardi is passionate about pushing the boundaries of design to craft immersive, transformative environments that captivate audiences. Known for his attention to detail and his ability to seamlessly merge art and commerce, he excels at creating spaces that are not only visually striking but also deeply meaningful and engaging. His work continues to redefine the retail landscape, setting new standards for brand experiences that resonate long after customers leave.Beyond his design practice, Mardi is an active voice in the industry as an accomplished speaker, educator, and panelist. He is deeply committed to fostering innovation, sharing his expertise with the next generation of designers through mentorship and his involvement in various professional advisory committees. A lifelong advocate for education, Mardi has taught at prestigious design schools around the world, inspiring students and shaping the future of the design community.In 2023, Mardi was honored as the first Canadian inductee into the Retail Design Institute's prestigious Legions of Honor, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the field. He is also currently serving as the President of the Retail Design Institute Canada, where he continues to shape industry standards and advocate for the advancement of design excellence. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 73… and my conversation with Mardi Najafi. On the podcast, our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgMardi Najafi is the Principal, Chief Creative Officer, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Lead at SDI Design.We discuss his life of growing up the son of an Iranian diplomat, a professional path through the fashion, exhibit design and retail industries and how teaching is about giving back to young designers in their fledgling careers…We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first, a few thoughts… * * *There are interviews that I have done over the past 73 episodes that have been specifically about a person’s work, There have been those that have been about a brand or product category, Or the study of neuroscience and its role in experience making, We’ve delved into art and creativity, leadership, climate issues, and many other subjects.And there are other interviews that I have done that focused in on a person’s career path, how their experiences brought them to where they are today. In these cases, I often find that my guest and I identify how serendipity stepped in front of them as they careened through a career, how taking the road less traveled lead them to creative professional journeys that were unexpected, and how a shift in their mindset resulted in profoundly rewarding roles at companies or with personal and professional relationships. I love discussions about serendipity – how our life paths seem to be guided by novel circumstances that were unforeseen, yet

ABOUT TARA HAASE HIEMINGA:LINKEDIN PROFILE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-haase-hieminga-48124621/TARA'S BIO:Tara Haase Hieminga is the Elevated Shopper Experience Global Lead at Mondelez International. With more than 12 years at Mondelez he has previously held roles such as Senior Manager Shopper Marketing & In-Store Merchandising, Sr. Manager Design & Digital Engagement. Prior to Mondelez, Tara was at Kraft Food Group as the Design Strategy Leader and before that, she worked for Mars as the Brand Manager, Candy and In-Store Marketing Manager for Snackfoods.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 72… and my conversation with Tara Haase Hieminga. On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgTara Haase Hiemanga who is the Global Lead for Elevated Shopper Experiences at Mondelez.She is using an understanding of neuroscience to enhance customer experiences across a number of the Mondelez brands. What brands are those, well there is a pretty big list but let me just say a few of my favorites – OREO, Toblerone, Cadbury, Wheat Thins and I could go on…We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * *Back around 2008, 9 and 10 my wife was studying interpersonal neurobiology with Dr. Dan Siegel. I used to come downstairs and listen to her and all the videos she was watching and various conversations she was having and I was often saying ‘wow that really replies to the work that I'm doing in trying to create retail stores.’As I listened it became clearer and clearer to me that I could perhaps rely on the lessons of understanding neuroscience as being the core driver to customer experience rather than simply thinking of it in terms of psychology, demographics and culture.What fascinated me then and still continues today is the idea that – there was something beyond simple psychology that we would be able to use to design better stores something that would relate to almost all humans in terms of how they understood environments specifically how they would look through product assortments, identify key item presentations, understand graphics, and how color, pattern and texture would all come together to either hinder or help decision making in the shopping aisle.Interestingly, back in the day, it took me a little while to get into architecture. I'd had a great time in junior college but my grades weren't great so I ended up enrolling in a Bachelor of Science in psychology which I was fascinated in anyway because I wanted to understand human dynamics but, I also had a sense that there was something deeply rooted and not just how buildings looked from the design point of view and but how they made people feel from an embodied / sensory point of view. And so, when I finally got into architecture a lot of my thinking about design was about how these places that we were creating would have qualities about them that would make people feel a certain way.I sometimes used to say that I didn't care whether you loved it or hated it (of course I hoped you loved it) but I wanted to make sure that you felt something as you were experiencing some place. And that later in my retail design career that you were satisfied with the experiences as well as the things that you bought in the store.In 2012 I did a presentation at global shop that was ostensibly about emotions and how we had to begin to understand that creating stores was about building emotional relationships and long term connections and then the awareness of how empathy played into this equation.This single presentation was a turning point in my career because someone came up to me at the end of it and said “…that idea should be a book.”And so, taking that as a sign…I was on my way to immersing myself for the n

ABOUT RON THURSTON:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rthurston/Websites:Retail Pride book: https://www.amazon.com/Retail-Pride-Celebrating-Accidental-Career/dp/1544515928OSSY: https://www.useossy.comRetail In America podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/retail-in-america/id1618323713 Ron Thurston's Bio:Ron Thurston's life mission is to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.With over three decades of leading retail stores and operations for top American brands like Gap, West Elm, Apple, Tory Burch, Bonobos, and Saint Laurent, Ron has honed an extensive skill set in retail strategy, management, and innovation.In January 2024, Ron co-founded OSSY, a forward-thinking retail recruiting agency. This venture is dedicated to addressing the biggest hiring and recruiting challenges in retail, reinforcing Ron’s unwavering commitment to the industry.As the best-selling author of RETAIL PRIDE, Ron inspires retail professionals to embrace their unique career paths. He also hosted the RETAIL IN AMERICA podcast and tour, journeying across the nation in an Airstream trailer during 2022/2023 to uncover and highlight the remarkable stories and individuals in retail.Ron also serves on the Advisory Boards of several rapidly growing retail tech companies, including Ometria, Butterfly, and YOOBIC, lending his expertise to drive their success.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.EPISODE 71… and my conversation with Ron Thurston, retail veteran, best-selling author, podcast host and man on a mission to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this 70th episode I talk with Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach. Ron Thurston has spent years opening stores for major internationally recognized brands and knows a thing or two about a career in retail. In our talk we dig into the shifting the mindset of retail being an accidental career to one of choice, about with you should be proud. We’ll get to all that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts… * * * Throughout my career in the retail design world I have often heard this statement “I never planned to be in retail”.And it's often said with some slight lilt of apology, that in a way somehow as an architect it was somehow not taken quite as seriously as the design of public buildings or housing or other things that architects with a capital “A” do.What's more, when I entered into the retail design world, quite by serendipity I might add, I came into the design of stores by way of visual merchandising. I was the resident architect of a small 4 personn design and visual merchandising consulting firm on 36th street just east of Park.Working with a couple of seasoned pros, I learned that visual merchandisers were often regarded simply as window trimmers and I don't think quite got the respect that they were due for the power they had in shaping the retail experience for customers. Often seen as the silent seller, visual merchandising was a key component to how the customer journey unfolded in a shopping experience. Mannequins and other displays in the store added that extra flavor to the store as a stage set in which the merchandise was the principal actor.Architecture wasn’t unimportant, but it wasn’t the be all and end all of the in-store experience. You could have terrific architecture but if you couldn't get your assortment planning right department layouts an in store messaging you were likely not to perform quite as well.It was through my first employer and mentor Joe Weishar of New Vision Studios in New York that I began to

ABOUT SAMAR YOUNES:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samaryounes/Websites:bio.site/samaritualwww.samaritual.comBio:Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach. As the visionary behind SAMARITUAL, a multidisciplinary creative studio, she weaves multidimensional narratives at the intersection of humanity, technology, and nature. With over 20 years of experience as an artistic director and brand strategist, Samar blends generative AI with artisanal craftsmanship and ancestral wisdom to create immersive experiences that challenge stereotypes and envision nuanced futures.A Central Saint Martins alumna, Samar's work explores global south futures, otherworldly narratives, and interspecies harmonies through three interconnected spheres: Creator, Catalyst, and Cultivator. As a Creator, she crafts visionary artworks and installations that blur the lines between art, fashion, and architecture. In her Catalyst role, she provides strategic foresight and cultural alchemy for organizations navigating our evolving world. As a Cultivator, she nurtures future creativity through her Imaginalogy hybrid future edu lab, empowering individuals with tools and perspectives to thrive in an ever-changing creative landscape in the age of AI.Samar's transcultural perspective allows her to seamlessly integrate diverse cultural influences, creating a unique aesthetic and transcultural language symbiotic to her diasporic and third culture experience. Using a neuroaesthetic lens, she celebrates kaleidoscopic identities that resist binary categorizations. Through SAMARITUAL, Samar fosters interconnectedness, radical imagination, and visionary world-building, inviting us to participate in crafting inclusive, sustainable narratives that bridge ancestral wisdom with speculative futures. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.Well here we are…SEASON 6…our 70th episode. And we’ve had some great interactions in the first 69. This season will be no less engaging.In the coming weeks we’ll have artists, architects, authors and educators. We dig into tech issues with people who make crafting a digital future their lives work. Scientists who will expand our understand of the way we work and how the environments around us work on us. These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this 70th episode I talk with Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach. Samar blends generative AI with artisanal craftsmanship and ancestral wisdom to create immersive experiences that challenge stereotypes and envision nuanced futures.First though, a few thoughts… * * *At the core of this podcast is the idea of fostering “dynamic dialogues on data DATA” an acronym to include Architecture, Design, Technology and the Arts. Of course, the idea of talking about DATA is that it's a double entendre that allows me to dive into subjects about the impact that a data-driven society has on a myriad aspects of our human experience. Since writing my book “Retail Revolution: Why creating right brain stores will shape the future of shopping in a digitally driven world,” I've had a persistent interest in studying how technological advances are reshaping the way we interact with each other and the world around us. The impact on various industries - commercial enterprises like the retail and hospitality worlds where I have built a 30 year career. And I've often chosen to discuss how artists and creators of all kinds can wield this amazing tool of data as a new medium for the creation of places where we can interact and connect in relevant ways. At both a city level or small footprint retail store level, I've

About Angela Gearhart:Angela’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/angela-gearhart2024Websitesangelagearhart.com/ (Portfolio)mediamaxxcom.net (Company)greendogbotanics.com (Company)ANGELA'S BIO:Angela Gearhart, known for creating transformational brand experiences, tackles mission-critical challenges facing brands today. Where there is a gap between brands and their customers, they risk both revenue and relevance. Angela's deep understanding of consumer behavior and her ability to harness the synergy between marketing, sales, and technology, allow her to develop strategies that bridge the gap, igniting growth and fostering brand loyalty.By optimizing the human-physical-digital experience, she enables brands to disrupt and connect across consumer touchpoints. During her tenure as VP of Connected Brand Experience at Sleep Number, disrupted the mattress category, driving the company's growth from $300M to over $2B, with her team earning over 30 retail design, innovation, and technology awards.As a trusted advisor and influencer in the retail industry, Angela has earned accolades including recognition as a CSA Top Woman in Retail, Remodista Women2Watch in Business Disruption, Retail Innovator by Retail Touchpoints, and Design Influencer by design:retail Magazine.Angela is a Founding Partner at Media Maxx, which specializes in accelerating brand growth through ecommerce partnership marketing and retail strategies. Additionally, she serves as Executive Practice Director at AAG Consulting Group, where Angela leverages her insights into buyer dynamics and retail technology landscapes to deliver effective positioning strategies for B2B retail tech firms. She also contributes her expertise to advisory boards for Retail Touchpoints, Goldstein Museum of Design, IRISCX, and Digital Signage Experience.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Angela Gearhart a retail industry leader who spent 20 years at Sleep Number Corporation as the VP of Connected Brand Experience changing the way co nsumes shopped for beds by integrating relevant technologies to enhance the shopping experience and foster deeper relationships between the brand and its customers.First though, a few thoughts… * * *Off the top of our discussion, this is the sentiment that my guest Angela Gearhart expressed as we dug into a conversation about the nature of retail what it is really about.No doubt, when you think about retail there is indeed buying involved, but it is so much more than that. In the exchange of goods and services there is an intangible factor to long-term customer life-time value… a relationship. Shopping is less about stuff than a deep interpersonal connection built on our need to be in social groups. The sense of belonging and that the relationship establishes context and meaning to our lives is key.Is that too much to put on the back of a retail experience? I don’t think so. For millennia, shopping has been connected to the sharing of ideas as well as the exchange between parties, you give me something and I in return I give you something. Shopping is ultimately more than getting stuff. While I think it's certainly true that factors like price point and overwhelming product assortments and some logical sequence of getting people into the store moving them through departments exposing them to products and getting them to buy has been a prominent way to think about, retail I think that it's ultimately more than that. In a world where shoppers don't have to go to the store because of the modern emergence of digital technologies allowing for convenience shopping from any place anytime from the palm of your hand, the question becomes what is it that drives people to go

About James Damian:James’ Profile: linkedin.com/in/james-damian-3a54956Website: james-damian.com (Company)Email: [email protected]' BIO:Senior Executive and Consummate Business Leader who drove major change across the consumer retail industry by leveraging the power of design thinking as a strategic advantage, delivering economic success. Trusted advisor committed to creating purpose, achieving profit through performance for sustainable growth. While at Best Buy James and his group led innovation and new concept stores making them the most profitable in the history of the company to date. During his time the Store count went to 1400 from 275 and the stock soared from $7 a share to $110.James is a Design Thinking practitioner, Creative Strategist and Motivational Speaker at International CEO Summits, illustrating how to create a Customer Centric Culture through Design Thinking where Culture precedes Strategy, creating growth through an integrated, collaborative, interdisciplinary process.BOARD LEADERSHIPAs Chairman of the Board for Buffalo Wild Wings from 2008 to 2017, helped to shift corporate focus to an employee and customer-centric culture with the goal to become the ultimate social experience for sports and gaming fans. This strategic shift accomplished through alignment of the board with management enabled an extraordinary run of top quartile performance delivering an 850% return to shareholders.STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP THROUGH CREATIVITYDrove culture of innovation within Best Buy and consequently transformed the 'Big Box' consumer electronics retail format. Pioneered company’s “new store” experience by integrating creative visual merchandising and design into the overall corporate vision. Instrumental in expanding BestBuy from 275 to 2,500 stores. This experience based strategy was instrumental in driving revenue from 8 billion to 50 billion in a 12 year period, attaining status as a Fortune 50 company.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with James Damian a retail industry leader who was mentored in the fine art of visual merchandising and display by one of retail’s icons, Gene Moore of Tiffanys. James has had a brilliant career leading major transformations at Best Buy where he was SVP and Chief Design Officer of Experience Design Group, the Chairman of the Board of Buffalo Wild Wings and now shares his experience and passion for retail as a consultant with GAP international.First though, a few thoughts… * * *In 1994 I was working in my hometown of Montréal as an architect and at the same time teaching was the director of the interior design program at College Interdec at LaSalle college. One day my friend and colleague Monique Piroth invited me out to lunch across the street from the school for a sandwich we talked about the world of visual merchandising, the program that she was the director of and where our careers would take us.She explained that the college wanted her to go to Singapore to step into the role of the director of the visual merchandising program at La Salle international Fashion School in Singapore, an affiliate of LaSalle College, because our friend and colleague Guy Lapointe had to return to Montréal to tend to his ailing father. She effectively said that she didn't want to go and I immediately offered up the option that I would instead. This was one of a series of fateful moments of serendipity that would shape my career for the next 30 years. I never planned to be in retail... It just happened. I wasn't out looking for it, but it somehow found me. And so, after that somewhat joking, off the cuff remark, I was on a plane for Singapore not much more than two weeks later. At that point, my l

About NICOLE MALACHOWSKI:Nicole’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/realmalachowskiWebsites:linktr.ee/realmalachowski (Company)damelionetwork.com (Other)NICOLE'S BIO:A 2019 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee and recent Presidential appointee, Colonel Nicole M. E. Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) has over 21 years of experience as an officer, leader, and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Upon her commission into the military, she was competitively selected to fly combat aircraft and embarked on an adventure among the first group of women to fly modern fighter jets. Nicole served as a mission ready fighter pilot in three operational F-15E squadrons and accumulated over 2,300 flight hours, including 188 hours in combat. She has had the honor of commanding a fighter squadron, flying as a USAF Thunderbird pilot, serving as a White House Fellow and as an advisor to the First Lady of the United States. Nicole has forged a successful path through immense cultural changes in the military as well as significant adversity in her personal life. Following her medical retirement from the Air Force due to the severe impacts of late-stage Tick Borne Illness, Nicole reinvented herself as a highly successful entrepreneur, professional speaker, and leadership consultant. She’s been happily married to her husband Paul, an Air Force veteran, for over 22 years. When not hurriedly chasing their thirteen-year-old twins around, she finds immense meaning in traveling and advocating for those impacted by Tick Borne Illnesses. (©️2024 Nicole Malachowski & Associates, LLC-All Rights Reserved). SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Nicole Malachowski a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force, an F-15E fighter pilot, who commanded a fighter squadron, flew as a USAF Thunderbird pilot, serves as a White House Fellow and as was an advisor to the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.First though, a few thoughts… * * *It seems that I talk a lot about speed…Its’ sort of a fascination……the pace of change and what it likely means for emerging markets, changing guest expectations, how we address new needs, how we transition through moments of uncertainty and ambiguity and how leaders shift their orientation from current, or past paradigms, that are no longer relevant or adaptable to the fast-paced world we are now living and working in …and turn their attention to growing companies and workforces into flexible structures that are deeply embedded with the idea of change as a given - something not to be feared but seen as an emergent space of possibility.And I gotta tell you, this change thing isn't easy. It takes a persistence of thought and a modicum of courage to keep on looking into the void, unable to predict the distant future and maybe rely on shorter term gains in the near future. Yeah, it's not easy. Especially when you've spent most of your life believing that there was a path that you were supposed to follow. Something that was laid out and that you could rely on as being consistent. And predictable.But it seems as though life keeps having its way of throwing a monkey wrench in that ideal and reminding me that very little is in our control.And there is that old, I believe Hebrew, saying that “man made plans and God just laughed.”Now I'm not sure who's exactly laughing at whom here but one fact remains… that uncertainty is a certainty. I think based on the speed at which our technology and societies are changing that uncertainty will be the name of the game for the future.Of course, there are some inherent challenges in taking that position in leadership because generally speaking, no one wants a leader who seems to be uncertain about w

About Maya Colombani:Maya’s Profilelinkedin.com/in/maya-colombani-0a118369Websites:https://www.loreal.com/en/nordics/pages/commitments/l-oreal-for-the-future/Email:[email protected] Inserra MAYA'S BIO:Maya Colombani - L’Oréal Canada - Chief Sustainability & Human Rights OfficerMaya Colombani has been appointed Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of L'Oréal Canada in April 2022. With an international career of over 20 years at L'Oréal, Maya is distinguished by a rich and comprehensive professional background. She began her career in France, working for leading design and advertising agencies such as Dragon Rouge, Publicis, and Euro RSCG. She then joined L'Oréal's Professional Products division in 2001. There, she held positions in operational marketing and DMI (Direction Marketing International), for Kérastase and L'Oréal Professionnel. She carried out assignments in India and in the Western Europe zone, before moving to Brazil in June 2010 where she worked in marketing functions. Since the end of 2016, she has been Director of Sustainable Development for Brazil.In this role, she profoundly transformed L’Oréal Brazil’s approach to sustainable development and human rights. She has implemented actions that inspired the L’Oréal Group and positioned L’Oréal Brazil as a national benchmark. L’Oréal Brazil is indeed regularly cited as an example and is used to fuel new reflections, both on environmental issues and on human rights issues, as well as with respect to the relations with the indigenous people of Brazil. Her projects have been rewarded by the best rankings such as Guia Exame 2017/2018/2019; recognized as the best company in climate change as well as biodiversity management; and has received the WEP gold award 2021 on women empowerment supported by ONU Women and Compact Global. In 2022, thanks to her strong inclusive social programs for indigenous and communities, the GLOBO recognized L’Oréal Brazil as “The company that makes the difference in term of inclusion and diversity.”In Canada, Maya’s mission is to increase the positive footprint internally and externally in terms of sustainable development and human rights, and to accelerate the actions carried out within the framework of “L’Oréal For the Future.” Among her first projects, she has already focused, with the Canadian teams, on achieving the company’s full carbon neutrality on all its sites, as well as accelerating ambitious targets on water management and implementing cleantech partnership and eco-design business with committed brands.Thanks to impactful projects in Canada, earned her the prestigious “Canada’s Clean 50” award that "recognized the most impactful 50 individual LEADERs that have demonstrated measurable leadership in fighting climate change and helping Canada transition to a low-carbon economy." Another important achievement for Maya is being named President of the “Positive Impact Club” of the French CCI in Canada, to have a positive impact on our society and reinforce the bond between France and Canada. Maya graduated from Reims Business School and completed an MBA semester of International Business Strategy in Victoria University, Australia. She now lives in Montreal, Québec, Canada with her family. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Maya Colombani Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of L’Oréal Canada. Maya is one of the most passionate proponents of rethinking sustainable business practices and supporting human rights that I have ever met. Her energy is infectious and her passion is a positive push to do more in support of people and the planet. First though, a few thoughts… * * *Certain themes keep on emerging

About Laura Inserra:LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/laurainserraWebsites:laurainserra.com (Company)chambersofawe.com (Company)metamusic.teachable.com (Company)Email:[email protected] Inserra Laura's Bio:Laura Inserra is a world-renowned leader in sound healing - a sound alchemist, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and multimedia producer. She lives and creates at the confluence of global music, ancient wisdom traditions, and cutting-edge technology.She grew up on the volcanic island of Sicily and has been exploring the power of sound since her youth. Her work is rooted in 30+ years of global cross-cultural studies and initiations in ancient traditions and modern schools of wisdom, as well as the direct observation of nature.A world-renowned Hang musician, Laura plays hundreds of ancient and modern instruments from around the world, including many made by her. She utilizes cutting-edge technology to augment the natural sources of her instruments, creating Chambers of AWE - multimedia productions featuring ceremonial instruments and field-recordings, enhanced with 360o visuals andAI-generated content rooted in ancient wisdom.In these settings music becomes experiential - the body and the mind merge with the sound, traveling beyond the fields of cognitive perceptions, to enhance profound shifts of consciousness, deepen our relationship with nature, and facilitate inner transformation and healing.SHOW INTROWelcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode, I talk with “Sound Alchemist” Laura Inserra about the deep effect that music has on our sense of well-being, sound journeys and energy we share with each other and ancient musical instruments and shamanic practices. And, make sure you listen right through for a special treat… But first a few thoughts.****************I am increasingly convinced that I am moving away from the idea that ‘there are no accidents’ as simply a quaint phrase to it being a foundational principle in the nature of things. In previous episodes I've probably described that most of the major life changes that have reshaped my career and life path on the planet have emerged through what I used to simply think was serendipity. A career change that led me halfway around the world to live in Singapore, to a meeting at a conference that took me from 20 years designing retail stores to working in the hospitality industry and many other occurrences that seem to be unexplainable but nevertheless happen, it seems, purposefully. And so, it also was with meeting my guest in this episode Laura Inserra whose path I crossed at the Intentional Spaces Summit in Washington DC in the fall of 2023. I'll get to talking about Laura in a moment.But first I just gotta say, I love music.I remember as a youngster being enthralled with musicians and watching variety shows on television where I imagined myself being one of the band. I have a clear memory of rewriting lyrics for a song to the 1968 tune of “Spinning Wheel” by the bandBlood, Sweat & Tears, written by Canadian lead vocalist David Clayton. I think my parents humored me at the time with ‘that’s nice sweetheart.’In high school my best friend Jeff and I bought guitars, strummed our way through James Taylor and Eagles tunes. I bought a harmonica and thought I might be a Blues harp player. But Jeff became the better musician playing piano and performing at a piano bar in a local Italian restaurant.In my early days of college when I met my now wife of 35 years, we were both interested in sports and being in the great outdoors, but it was music that brought us closer together. She was a Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music graduate and piano teacher in her late teens and early 20s and when she sang she sound

ABOUT JEAN-PAUL MORRESI:Jean-Paul’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/autsideWebsite: thinkautside.com (Company)Email: [email protected]:Jean-Paul Morresi is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada. Over 3+ decades, Jean-Paul has worked across 5 continents, run offices in Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai, overseen a Shanghai based creative team, and led projects teams across the Americas and Europe.An Architecture graduate of the University of Toronto, Jean-Paul’s unique background weaves marketing, merchandising, design and construction into an interdisciplinary approach where creative, strategic and executional acumen conspire, delivering customer focused, performance driven retail and brand experiences.A regular contributor to industry publications and events, Jean-Paul currently sits on the Retail Touchpoints/design:retail Editorial Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of retail technology company Virtual Visions, and Curriculum Advisory Committees for Humber College’s Interior Design and the Sheridan College’s Visual Merchandising Programs.Jean-Paul & the Autside team are currently collaborating on the design of projects spanning the retail spectrum, branded corporate interiors, showroom spaces and a variety of in-store digital marketing and engagement tools.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Jean-Paul Morresi the the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada about a creative career in the world of retail and design.But first a few thoughts.****************It has seemed that during my career some of the really cool stuff, the things that change the path of my life, that took me to places around the world and introduced me to new ideas and people who challenged all the things that I believe to be true about myself and the world, came by way of serendipity.I started a career as an architect in Montreal and got an invitation to go to Singapore and run an International School back in the mid 90s. And that opportunity popped up at a lunch with a colleague of mine who said she was asked to do the job but really didn't want to go all that way.I of course raised my hand saying yes I’ll do that and two weeks later I was living in Singapore and my life in the world of Retail Design started at that juncture. I landed in New York a year later and spent four years working in the office of New Vision Studios with Joe Weishar.We traveled the world teaching retailers how to merchandise their stores, how to use design principles and apply them to more effective selling spaces. Those years were critical because I spent time on the sales floor moving fixtures around, stripping down shelving and re-stocking them at the same time as we were teaching various managers, department heads and sales associates the basic principles of visual merchandising. Those years were foundational in my career because it gave me a different view on how to look at the world of retail design not from simply the point of view of the architect but as from someone who had worked the sales floor. From the point of view of who had the sales floor experiences of about it was like to put merchandise on a table or shelf or a hanging rack and how visual presentation and visual merchandising were critical components of the retail storytelling that happens inside stores.When I think about having been pushing those store fixtures around on the sales floor I often wondered then what my parents, who had invested in my education as an architect, would be thinking that their son who was supposed to go off and build huge projects and save the world from itself thr

ABOUT VALERIE CRCIAS:Valerie’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/valerie-corcias-218b5a13Websitesmycoocoon.com (Company)brainbo.co (Company)BIO:Husband and wife team Valerie Corcias (Argentina) and Dominique Kelly (Brasil) possess a unique southern hemisphere perspective on trends and knowledge related to international visions of culture, ideology, and technology.Dominique has worked on architectural identity for Luxury Brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Baccarat… Valerie has worked on product design and development for many brands.In 2000, they created the PANTONE UNIVERSE consumer brand and signed a worldwide license agreement with PANTONE for conception, distribution, and communication of the Brand.In 2007, they established Contramundo, an incubator for sustainable projects involving women and children’s education in a Brazilian fishermen's village, generating content based on sustainable values and integrating processes which provide solutions through art and notions of equity, sharing, and exchange.From their experience with color and commitment to creating social, technological, and human connections, they have created mycoocoon, a worldwide project to improve well-being by balancing energy through color experiences and natural elements that awaken the senses. The emotive elements of color have been our field of expertise for more than 30 years and have become part of our DNA.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Valerie Corcias Co-founder, with her husband Doninique Kelly, of mycoocoon and the BrainBo App. Based on chromotherapy, the Mycoocoon Color-Institute combines the ancestral beliefs about color with the aid of technology and immerses its users in a color bath that supports health and wellbeing.First though, a few thoughts on color… * * *When I was young, my mom put me in a painting school. She recognized that I loved to draw and every Thursday I would run down to a small painting studio about a mile from my home and immerse myself in the world of art. For a lot of years, I did most of my early art experiences in black and white.It seemed like the pencil felt comfortable in my hand and I loved exploring through drawings tonal value relationships, shades and shadows and creating textures. But most of it was in black and white.Drawing in black and white simply seemed to be easier and I always believed that color was a greater challenge.I found color to be complex and to be honest, somewhat scary. I was often concerned that in mixing colors I would make mud rather than magic.It wasn't until I got to architecture school and taking watercolor courses with a deeply influential person in my art life path - Jerry Tondino - that I began to understand color. It seemed like a natural progression to understand light first and then move to color and color theory and how color could be leveraged to increase the impact and expressiveness of artwork.Even now, with the paintings that I do all of my reference photos are in black and white. The color that I choose is of my own making. I guess you could say I've become more comfortable with understanding how to use color. That said, I think that my experiments are in still trying to understand colors – primaries and complementary colors - first or second or third order complementarities to the basic color hues that I'm trying to use in paintings. I've also come to understand that I tend to gravitate towards a certain range of colors. Mostly in the fuchsias and purples and dark blues.You don't often see many of my paintings in green for example. For some reason green just doesn't seem to go in my body well, even though I know that the color green has a relationship to emotions and well-being

ABOUT KEN NISCH:Ken’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/ken-nisch-a1922325BIO:No one knows retail better than Ken. His resume includes brands big and small, local and global – with an award list to match. His consumer knowledge and entrepreneurial insights have been an integral part of the conceptual development and strategic image positioning for many retail operators, manufacturers and brand marketers in multiple verticals for more than 40 years.Ken has been named a “Retail Luminary” and “Retail Influencer” by design:retail Magazine and currently serves on their Editorial Board. He was inducted into the Retail Design Institute Legion of Honor, recognizing his outstanding career achievement in the field of retail store design and also presented with the Asia Retail Leadership Award at the Asia Retail Congress in Mumbai, India.ClientsAllen Edmonds, Blue Nile, Disney, El Palacio de Hierro, Five Below, Hershey’s, H&M, Mayo Clinic, Museum of Arts and Design, Paradies Lagardère, Signet, Sleep Number, Sundance, The North Face, Warner Bros., Whole Foods MarketRecognition“Retail Luminary” and “Retail Influencer” by design:retail MagazineEditorial Board for design:retail MagazineInducted into the Retail Design Institute Legion of Honor, recognizing his outstanding career achievement in the field of retail store design.Asia Retail Leadership Award – Honored at the Asia Retail Congress in Mumbai, India. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Ken Nisch Chairman of JGA an internationally recognized design firm. Ken recently has also co-authored with Vilma barr a new book titled Sustainability for Retail: How Retail Leaders Create Environmental, Social, & Cultural Innovations.It is a great global overview of retailers and brands who are leading the way on how sustainable deign practice will shape retail places in the new future.Before we get into the talk with Ken a few thoughts on sustainability and retail place making.***********Over the past couple of seasons of the show I have had a handful of guests who have focused our discussion on sustainability – the internationally acclaimed designer Bruce Mau, of Massive Change Network where we talked about his life and approaches to design and a number of the key ideas from his book “Massive Change” Denise Naguib of Marriott International, Christian Davies of Bergmeyer, Martin Kingdon of Popai and how the sustainability issue is being addressed in the UK and Ireland, architect Yasmine Mahmoudieh whose eco-centric mindset shapes her design approach with sustainable materials like mycelium and a few seasons ago, Caspar Schols who created Cabin ANNA a truly innovative house design that literally transforms, opening up to the elements placing its inhabitants under the stars, should they want to be, while they sleep.The conversations have covered a lot of ground ranging from talking about the impact of packaging covering the products we buy every time we visit a store. It doesn’t really matter what type, could be clothing, hardware or grocery, packaging figures prominently in all of them……to the footprint of a global hospitality behemoth with over 8000 hotels most of whom provide hotel guests with a couple bottles of water when they arrive – A nice amenity with a potentially huge ecological impact since, despite how much we may believe in recycling a lot of those bottles still end up in a landfill. This by the way, is not simply a Marriott hotels issue, it applies to the hotel industry as a whole.We’ve discussed the impact of the building industry at large with respect to its contribution to CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore th e global climate crisis. Ithink that most of us who are connected to the

ABOUT TASHA GOLDEN, PhD:Tasha’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/tashagoldenWebsites:tashagolden.com (Other)facebook/ellerymusic (Other)ellerymusic.com (Other)Twitter:goldenthisBIO:Tasha Golden, PhD is Director of Research at the International Arts+Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and a national leader and consultant in arts + public health. Holding a PhD in Public Health Sciences, Tasha Golden has published extensively on the impacts of the arts, music, aesthetics, and social norms on health and well-being. She has served as an advisor on several nati onal and international health initiatives, is adjunct faculty for the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine, and recently led the pilot evaluation of CultureRx in Massachusetts: the first arts-on-prescription in the U.S.Golden is also a career artist and entrepreneur. As singer-songwriter for the critically acclaimed band Ellery, she toured full-time in the US and abroad, and her songs appear in feature films and TV dramas (ABC, SHOWTIME, FOX, NETFLIX, etc). She is a published poet (Humanist Press) and founder of Project Uncaged: an arts-based health intervention for incarcerated teen women that amplifies their voices in justice reform.Tasha’s diverse background drives her success as an international speaker and thought leader. She gives talks and facilitates workshops for artists, businesses, researchers, practitioners, and more—helping them enhance and reimagine their work. As a consultant, she helps leaders and organizations draw on the science of arts and health to further their goals. This is one of those conversations that literally just scratches the surface of what is possible when considering how the arts influences our lives. It is an important conversation about why we need to put art back into our daily routines as a prescription to wellbeing. SHOW INTRO: Welcome to episode 61 of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.As usual, thanks go to VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media.VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn a minute, we’ll dig into my discussion with Tasha Golden - Director of Research at the International Arts+Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University.But first a few thoughts to set up our talk…****************Art and making is part of our human experience – it is part of who we are as a species.I have had this feeling for a number of years, and probably expressed it on this podcast a number of times, that art and making are intrinsic to all of us. There's something unique about the making of things that humans do that is different than other living creatures on the planet. Sure, some of the animals in our world make things too. Birds make nests and the great apes do as well, for some apes, new ones every night as I understand it. But the defining feature between humans and the other creatures making things on the planet is that we make things that can make other things.We are Homo Sapiens – “Man The Thinker” but we are also “Homo Faber” or Man The Maker. I think we're equally “Homo Ludens” – “Man The Player.”I'm sure that there's some deep connection between the idea of the making of things and play that are also deeply connected in defining who we are and how we come to understand ourselves and navigate the world. When I am deeply connected to the making of things, specifically when listening to music and painting, I am very aware of the fact that I am in a Flow state that feels like being deeply involved in play. Time disappears, dissipates… its otherworldly. I think that making, whether objects, stories, music or other manifestations of our creative minds is part of who we all are. But I also think we have pushed it aside getting up in our rational heads believing that we could think our way through our lives rather than feeling, or maybe even creating our way through them.Sir Ken Robinson had said some

ABOUT YASMINE MAHMOUDIEH: Yasmine's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminemahmoudieh/Websitesmahmoudieh.com (Company)impactdesignnow.com (Company)[email protected]_ArchMykidsyltd BIO:Yasmine Mahmoudieh, an acclaimed architect, designer, and tech entrepreneur, is internationally recognized for groundbreaking designs and an unwavering commitment to sustainability. Her work has earned her numerous international design awards, including the prestigious Global Sustainability Award in 2022 for her contributions to architecture and design in hospitality. With an illustrious career spanning prestigious institutions, she serves as a visiting professor at renowned establishments such as EHL Hotel School and Institut Paul Bocuse, inspiring emerging talents in the field. Additionally, Mahmoudieh is a sought-after speaker, lecturing around the world on hotel architecture, design, and development. She has even been invited to speak at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, focusing on the critical subject of sustainability in architecture and design.Mahmoudieh seamlessly integrates modern technologies with traditional design principles, crafting captivating and immersive spaces that engage all senses.As a prominent global ambassador for eco-conscious practices, she pioneers sustainable construction techniques, utilizing recycled plastics through 3D printing and exploring mycelium as a substitute for traditional building materials.With an unwavering passion for harmonizing functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability, Mahmoudieh continues to shape the future of architecture and design with her profound influence and visionary approach.SHOW INTRO: Welcome to episode 60 of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. This season will be no different than the previous ones where we continue to have great discussions with visionary leaders from various industries and professions. These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.As usual, thanks go to VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media.VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn a minute, we’ll dig into my discussion with Yasmine Mahmoudieh - architect, designer, and tech entrepreneur, who is internationally recognized for ground breaking designs and an unwavering commitment to sustainability. But first a few thoughts to set up our talk…****************I remember back in 2009 going to see the movie Avatar. The narrative followed a typical story of white man's colonization and subjugation of an indigenous peoples - this time on Pandora - a planet light years away from earth - because presumably we had succeeded in trashing our own planet and had gone off to exploit the natural resources of another. There were multiple other themes written into the script but in principle it dealt with what I would characterize as corporate greed and the decimation of natural landscapes an indigenous peoples. The singular motivation to mining the planet’s natural resources?... the billions of dollars of revenue for a large corporation who was mining a natural resource called “unobtanium.” Naturally the corporation militarized their operations under the guise that the 10 foot tall blue-skinned sapient humanoid indigenous peoples called the Na’vi - as well as the flora a fauna were… lethal. Another re-telling of big bad corporations exercising their power over a helpless people by flexing their military muscle with sociopathic leaders with a bent for murderous behavior. And adding insult to narrative injury, there was the denial of science and the well intentioned initiatives of creating Avatars of the Na’vi where humans could transfer consciousness into alien bodies cultivated in an enormous incubation chamber, that would then animate and go out among the native beings and infiltrate their community with the intention of learning more about them.OK... So this is a story that we're p

ABOUT NEIL REDDING:Neil's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reddingneil/Website: https://www.neilredding.com/Editor, Near Future of RetailBIO:Neil Redding is a keynote speaker, author, Innovation Architect and Near Futurist.Neil has worked at the convergence of digital and physical for decades, and is an expert speaker and advisor in the realms of spatial computing, augmented reality (AR), AI, and convergent brand ecosystems. As a Near Futurist, Neil focuses on connecting what's possible with what's practical — pulling the future into the present through a digital experience lens.Neil currently leads Redding Futures, a boutique consultancy that enables brands and businesses to engage powerfully with the Near Future. Prior to founding Redding Futures, Neil held leadership roles at Mediacom, Proximity/BBDO, Gensler, ThoughtWorks and Lab49.He has delivered for clients including Visa, Nike, Cadillac, Macy’s, NBA, Verizon, TED, The Economist, MoMA, Converse, Morgan Stanley, Apple, Oracle, Financial Times, and Fidelity Investments.He has spoken at numerous conferences including SXSW, AWE, Immerse Global Summit, infoComm, Tech2025, CreateTech, SEGD XLab, A.R.E. Shoptalk, Creative Technology Week, Design+AI and VRevolution.Neil is also editor of Near Future of Retail, author of the forthcoming book The Ecosystem Paradigm, and advises multiple startups at the leading edge of the digital-physical convergence.SHOW INTRO: Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Neil Redding Founder of Redding Futures about Near Futurism and Spatial Computing.But first a few thoughts.****************I grew up on Star Trek. And Walt Disney of course.Sunday nights were special my brothers and I would gather together with my father watching captain James T Kirk careening around the universe and battle everything from klingons to tribbles.It gave me a vision of the future and a world of possibility beyond what was known. I think having had that experience, and my father's fascination with the possibility of beaming anywhere, set me on a path for being always curious about the expanse of the universe, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, what would happen when you traveled at the speed of light or entered the event horizon of a black hole. Later on I began to be interested in string theory and tried hard to understand the math and physics of the general theory of relativity.It's equally become important as a practice to hold future thinking in context with present realities. The pandemic offered an opportunity to really understand what it meant to be present -where the future vision for my life that I had established weren't coming to pass - at least in the short term. And so, it became interesting for me to think about the future not as some long far off vision of something that would happen 25 or 50 or 100 years from now but to think increasingly about the near future. It also became clear that the distant future was becoming increasingly difficult to imagine. When thinking about the exponential pace of change it became very clear to me that we were very definitely on the upswing of an exponential curve where moments of significant technological advances would become closer and closer together and therefore the deltas between one significant moment and the next would also become smaller putting us perhaps in the perpetual present, fluidly moving from now and next .And of course, if you do any meditation or have a mind body practice, the whole idea is to find yourself in the present letting go of past and a longing for understanding future. And that's great and I do have a meditation practice each day that helps me stay centered focused on the now, hopefully ridding

ABOUT Lisa Sun:Lisa's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-sun-793777/Websites:To learn more about Lisa’s book: https://gravitasnewyork.com/pages/gravitas-book-the-8-strengths-that-redefine-confidenceLearn more about our forthcoming book, GRAVITAS: The 8 Strengths That Redefine ConfidenceTo discover your superpowers: www.MyConfidenceLanguage.comwww.GravitasNewYork.comBIO:Lisa Sun is the founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, a company on a mission to catalyze confidence. GRAVITAS offers innovative size-inclusive apparel, styling solutions, and content designed to make over women from the inside out. Prior to founding GRAVITAS, Sun spent 11 years at McKinsey & Company, where she advised leading luxury fashion and beauty brands and retailers in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America on strategic and operational issues. Her first collection was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, People, and the Todays how in the same month.Sun and GRAVITAS have been featured on CNN and in Forbes, Fast Company, New York magazine, Elle, Marie Claire, InStyle, and more. GRAVITAS includes among its activities a commitment to AAPI causes and New York City’s Garment District. Often called the “dress whisperer,” Lisa is also a highly sought-after public speaker who likes to impart her hard-won knowledge on gravitas and how to best harness it to other women.SHOW INTRO: Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Lisa Sun the Founder and CEO of the apparel brand Gravitas and the author of the recently published, runaway best seller titled - “Gravitas: The 8 Strengths That Redefine Confidence.”But first a few thoughts.****************In the spring of 2022, I was in New York for the annual Vision Monday Leadership Summit. This event was being called “Discover & Recalibrate! Trends, Ideas and Tactics for Confronting Radical Change.” This 13th Annual gatherings brought into sharp focus the megatrends shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.A lot of change has occurred in the world from the spring of 2020 up to this event. The COVID pandemic had shifted our worlds. The uncertainty and ambiguity brought about by the evolving circumstance of a global pandemic was a cause for pause. A time to re-evaluate and find strategies to address new challenges that faced us all.My talk focused on navigating the fluid world of exponential change, facing down the unknown and looking for ways to remain buoyant in the sea of change all around us. I suggested that cultural mindsets had been shifting over the past few years and that they had been hastened in the context of the global pandemic. When brands, their goods, services and experiences, are at odds with evolving culture, they can lose their value even if their legacy stays strong. As cultural transformation happens, brands need to learn how to navigate cultural complexity and create a different future that is aligned with the pace of change. In a post-pandemic, experience-seeking economy, health, safety and welfare are a baseline in the guest expectation set. But addressing evolving customer needs was now well beyond making sure customers were safe while shopping, visiting a hotel or simply being out in the community. How do we keep up with the pace of change? As the pace of change speeds along how can we finding meaning in the in-between of the last and the next big thing? I focused on how can changing your mindset about change allow us to see the ‘now’ as an emergent space of creative possibility?Changing your mindset – reframing the context – seeing the interdependency of things – looking for opportunity in upheaval… these all seemed to be front-row-center how we needed to adjust to a new world order.As I was in the speaker’s green room waiting fo

ABOUT Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross:Susan's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-magsamen-6345918/Ivy’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/rossivyWebsites:Website: www.yourbrainonart.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourbrainonartbook/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-brain-on-art/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089357061217&mibextid=LQQJ4d BIO - Susan Magsamen:Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, a pioneering initiative from the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her body of work lies at the intersection of brain sciences and the arts—and how our unique response to aesthetic experiences can amplify human potential. Magsamen is the author of the Impact Thinking model, an evidence-based research approach to accelerate how we use the arts to solve problems in health, well-being, and learning. In addition to her role at IAM Lab, she is an assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins and serves as co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint project in partnership with the Aspen Institute.Prior to founding IAM Lab, Magsamen worked in both the private and public sector, developing social impact programs and products addressing all stages of life—from early childhood to the senior years. Magsamen created Curiosityville, an online personalized learning world, acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014 and Curiosity Kits, a hands-on multi-sensory company, acquired by Torstar in 1995.An award-winning author, Magsamen has published eight books including The Classic Treasury of Childhood Wonder, The 10 Best of Everything Families, and Family Stories.Magsamen is a Fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts and a strategic advisor to several innovative organizations and initiatives, including the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, the American Psychological Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Brain Futures, Learning Landscapes, and Creating Healthy Communities: Arts + Public Health in America. BIO - Ivy Ross:Ivy Ross is the Vice President of Design for the Hardware organization at Google. Over the past six years, she and her team have launched 50+ products winning over 240 global design awards. This collection of hardware established a new Google design aesthetic that is tactile, colorful, and bold. A winner of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, Ivy’s innovative metal work in jewelry is in the permanent collections of 12 international museums. Ivy has held executive positions ranging from head of product design and development to CMO and presidencies of several companies, including Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Bausch & Lomb, and Gap. Ninth on Fast Company’s list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business 2019, Ivy believes the intersection of arts and science is where the most engaging and creative ideas are found. SHOW INTRO: Welcome to season five of the next level experience design podcast. It's kind of amazing when I think of it… now five seasons… wow.This season will be no different than the previous ones where we continue to have great discussions with visionary leaders from various industries and professions. These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.As we jump into this new season thanks go to VMSD magazine. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL experience design podcast on VMSD.com. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgOK, let's dig in... With our first interview of the season with two remarkable women Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross whose recent book “Your Brain on Art has garnered huge attention since its recent release. But first a few thoughts on art and making...****************When I was about 9 years old and my mom had me in an after school art program at a local painting studio near my childhood home. Thursdays, as it would turn out, became the sing

ABOUT MARTIN KINGDON:Martin’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/martin-kingdon-121b693Websites:popai.co.uk/sustainability/ (Company)popai.co.uk (Company)Email: [email protected]:Martin has been involved with the display industry for twenty five years as a volunteer, board member and for twenty years Director geneneralHe has been responsible for Insight since 2010, Sustainability since 2019 and has defined POPAI’s offer including setting up the Sustainability council representing all sectors of the industry, the POPAI Sustainability Standard for corporate accreditation and the Sustain® global eco-design indicator tool now widely used in the UK and overseas.He has spoken extensively around the world on many aspects of the display market, sustainability and shopper insight. SHOW INTRO: Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. Over our 4 seasons we have focused on “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture, Technology and the Arts”. NXTLVL features provocateurs for whom disruption and transformation are a way of engaging in work and play every day.They include leading scientists, artists, musicians, architects, entertainers and story tellers whose research, exploration and built work brings new understanding of the impact and relevance of place-making to the world. On the show, we focus on what’s now and what’s next.On this episode we talk with Martin Kingdon Insight and Sustainability Director of POPAI UK and Ireland about the impact that retail stores, and all of their merchandising units and displays, have of on the environment.First though, a few thoughts on retail, building sustainably and the carbon footprint of stores… * * * * * * *On your last shopping trip, to any retailer, what do you remember most?Was it the crowd or the sales associates?That you could, or couldn’t, find what you were looking for?If you were walking the aisle of your favorite grocer, you might recall the product displays, how fantastically the apples were built into a pyramid, the water being misted across the fresh produce crisp keeping it crisp. The meat counters or the smell of bread being baked.You might have even thought, why on earth they keep putting the milk at the far back corner, but then you’d probably be savvy enough to know that’s a ploy to exposed you to as much merchandise as they can as you go on your dairy search and rescue mission.If you were shopping your favorite apparel store you might noticed that the mannequins were decked out in new outfits, that some new colorful tops were on the table just after you entered or that those big tables always seemed to be a constant state of disarray with sales associates busying over them putting things in neat stacks to be upended by customers a moment later.You might notice signage, or the lack of it, when you are trying to find something. You might remark about the lighting, paint colors, a pattern on the floor and perhaps some architectural element.Chances are, that you probably don’t recall, in any detail, the things the stuff was sitting on, hanging from or enclosed in. Those things often slip into the background, receding away from your conscious awareness. And that would also be by design.My first boss in the retail world at New Vision Studios in New York, the late Joe Weishar, would remind be that the merchandise was the star of the show and all the rest of what was in the store were merely supporting actors or scenery. Merchandise was king, or queen, or maybe prince or princess. And, all of that scenery, all of those supporting actors come at a cost. The architecture, store fixtures hanging racks, shelving, displays, refrigerated cases, signage, coat hooks in fitting rooms along with the chairs or benches, floor tiles, wallcoverings, lighting, checkout counters and cash registers…all of it…comes at a cost.Not just the cost of designing, prototyping, manufacturing, shipping, installing, repairing or replacing in terms of dollars, but the cost of what all of it adds to our world in terms of carbon.The amount of carbon generated and released into the environment from the making of that store you love to shop in, is staggering. The built environment in general is a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore a major contributor to the global climate crisis. By some reports, the built environment generates 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. Of those total emissions, building operations are responsible for 27% annually, while building and infrastructure materials and construction (typically referred to as embodied carbon) are responsible for an additional 13% annually.So, when you amble around in your favorite retailer, look again, beyond the stuff, at the environment, and all of those supporting actors, and try to imagine how much embodied carbon is in that one store. Every element that allows you to shop for all the stuff you remove from the store, stays in the store and has contributed to the global climate crises.According to Architecture2030.org, the g

ABOUT MIRELLE PHILLIPS:Mirelle’s LinkedIn Profile:linkedin.com/in/mirelle-phillips-52077b29Company Website: https://www.studioelsewhere.co BIO:Mirelle Phillips is the Founder and CEO of Studio Elsewhere, a design and technology company developing bio-experiential technology to promote behavioural, cognitive, and social health. Studio Elsewhere uses evidence-based and data-driven practices to develop virtual and physical interventions that promote brain health. We are pioneers of bio-experiential design - interactive, immersive environmental design using technology and physical design toward a healthier brain-body connection. Our embedded emerging technology solutions support the needs of healthcare professionals, researchers, patients and caregivers.​We use software and hardware development, emerging technology, immersive game design, and biophilic design to reimagine the experience of health, wellness, and care. ​Our model allows us to develop a first-of-its-kind technology and design practice that leads with compassion, imagination, and inclusivity.Studio Elsewhere was selected to represent the first ever New York City pavilion at the 2021 London Design Biennale and selected to design the United Nations Pavilion for the World Expo 2021. As a Latina Founder and innovator, Phillips is a passionate advocate for women in colour in STEM. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and previously led Experiential Design in the video game industry.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. Over our 4 seasons we have focused on “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture, Technology and the Arts”. NXTLVL features provocateurs for whom disruption and transformation are a way of engaging in work and play every day.They include leading scientists, artists, musicians, architects, entertainers and story tellers whose research, exploration and built work brings new understanding of the impact and relevance of place-making to the world. On the show, we focus on what’s now and what’s next.* * * * * * *In this episode we talk about the power of design and its influence on well-being with the Founder and CEO of Studio Elsewhere, Mirelle Phillips. Mirelle and her team collaborate with various medical institutions to create environments that support patients, their families and healthcare workers in the journey to recovery and well-being.Most of us have had the experience of going to a doctor's office or dentist or hospital or some sort of medical facility and having to wait. Some of us may even have spent a night in a temporary bed hooked up to a machine reading out our vital statistics and a team of nurses, doctors and specialists busying around us trying to understand what was wrong and how to make it right. Some of us might have even spent time lying on that bed in a hallway before a room was available, staring up at a ceiling at a large rectangular fluorescent light, an acoustic tile ceiling and a rather drab overall interior.Some of us might have even been a patient with a long term stay in a medical facility or had to return regularly for treatments for our particular condition.Or some of us may have been caregivers or family members who accompanied our loved ones to the medical facility or care for them daily at home. And then there are the health care workers themselves who over the past few years have caried an extraordinary burden as frontline workers during the COVID pandemic that, during the early phases, put crushing pressure on the medical system worldwide. Whether we are a patient, a caregiver or healthcare worker, environments designed for supporting the care and recovery journey affect the experience along the path. The design of healthcare environments influence things like recovery time, they can mitigate stress, anxiety and fear and provide a sense of agency for those who feel like their bodies, and lives, are no longer in their control.Our minds and bodies can be deeply affected by buildings. Well maybe I need to refine that, not putting all the pressure on the built places. The environments we inhabit, natural or human made, affect us. A whole field of cognitive science has emerged that recognizes the influence hat the environment has on our mind-body state call neuroaesthetics.Neuroesthetics is a term coined by Semir Zeki in 1999[3]. A more formal definition was arrived at in the early 2000’s as the scientific study of the neural bases for the contemplation and creation of a work of art.[4]It doesn’t just apply to what is happening in the brain while looking at a piece of art. Among other things, it finds applications to music, dance, poetry, music, places and buildings. What neuroesthetics does is it uses neuroscience to explain and understand the aesthetic experiences at the neurological level and helps us understand the relationship to how we feel and what we experience through the arts and architecture. Books like “Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives” by Sarah

ABOUT JOE LANZISERO: Joe’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/joelanziseroEmail: [email protected]: joe_lanzisero Website: lanziserocreative.comInstagram: @joelanziseroBIO:JOE LANZISERO Former Creative Executive, Senior Vice President, Hong Kong Disneyland & Disney Cruise Line Portfolios Walt Disney Imagineering, Current Creative and UX Consultant, and Executive Vice President & Creative Director Zeitgeist Design and Production Joe Lanzisero served as the senior creative executive in charge of projects for Walt Disney Imagineering across multiple platforms in the company’s cruise, theme park, hotel & resort, restaurant and retail business lines. With more than three decades of Disney experience, Joe worked with teams of artists, writers, architects and engineers, he serves as the eyes and artistic conscience of a project from conception through completion. Joe was responsible for the creative development of the two newest ships for the Disney Cruise Line, and oversaw the teams that designed these new state-of-the-art ships (Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy) which launched in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Many features such as the innovative dinner show “Animation Magic” and the inclusion of an onboard water coaster (the AquaDuck) are cruise industry firsts. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Joe oversaw the expansion of the park by more than 20 percent over a three-year period. The additions of three new lands – Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and most recently, Mystic Point, adds more excitement and fun for guests of all ages. Lanzisero began his Disney career in 1979 in Feature Animation (now Walt Disney Animation Studios), working on the animation, special effects, storyboarding and story development of numerous features, shorts and special project. He came to Imagineering in 1987 as a concept designer and was on the design teams for Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park at Walt Disney World, Critter Country at Disneyland, and Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris. In 1991, Lanzisero was promoted to senior concept designer and immediately plunged into the development of Mickey’s Toontown, the wacky cartoon “community” that opened at Disneyland Park in 1993. He also developed the concept for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, a wild and funny dark ride that opened in Mickey’s Toontown the following year. Lanzisero also supervised the concept design for the Tokyo Disneyland version of Toontown that opened in 1996. Before joining the Tokyo Disneyland project team in 1999, he developed the concept for Fantasia Gardens and Winter Summerland, a pair of unique miniature golf courses at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Another new venture, Disney Cruise Line, benefited from his work on children’s spaces and activities. And he was behind the 12/10/2013 conceptual design and development of DisneyFest, a unique Disney entertainment venue that traveled throughout the Far East and South America. In 2001 Joe was promoted to creative vice president for Tokyo Disney Resort, charged with overseeing all design in Tokyo. For Tokyo Disney Resort, he worked on such attractions as Pooh's Hunny Hunt, Toontown, Critter Country and Splash Mountain. He did the concept development for Mermaid Lagoon and Arabian Coast in Tokyo DisneySea as well as many other projects. He directed the creative development of Tower of Terror attraction and Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek.In March 2007, Joe was promoted to creative senior vice president with the added responsibilities of overseeing all design for Hong Kong Disneyland, including leading the design of a major three-land expansion of the park. A member of the first graduating class of the Walt Disney Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts in 1979, Lanzisero developed his artistic talents with old-time Disney professionals. He applied his education as a teacher at the Otis Art Institute and in the animation industry before joining The Walt Disney Company. Currently Joe is a consultant to the Themed Entertainment, Cruise, Museum and Hospitality industries with a portfolio of ongoing international and domestic projects in various stages of design and production. Joe is also actively involved in the UX world and is a sought after speaker in this sector. He has been the Keynote Speaker at the World Usability Congress in Graz Austria and has spoken and consulted on UX to major companies like Macys and Silicon Valley startups. He is also currently Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Zeitgeist Design and Production. Zeitgeist currently has a roster of international and domestic projects. Domestically they are working on high profile museum projects. Internationally they are the creative development team exclusive to Chimelong Resorts in Guangzhou China. Joe is full-time consultant working for visionary clients all over the world. He welcomes the chance to learn more about your big idea and explore ways he might serve you. SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design p

ABOUT BERT MARTIN OHNEMULLER: Bert Martin’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/bert-martin-ohnemüller-bmoWebsites:Personal: bmo.de Company Website: www.neuromerchandising.comPhone: +4915158780680 (Mobile)Address: Kaiserstrasse 61 60329 FrankfurtEmail: [email protected]: BertMartin SHOW INTRO:In 2015 I had finished writing my book Retail (r)Evolution and was the world of speaking engagements where I was out spreading the message. Anyone who has written a book will tell you that getting the text published it's just the beginning. The next exciting, though occasionally somewhat tiring, step is to be out on the road speaking at conferences and engaging audiences in the ideas that you had spent the previous two or more years developing and putting to paper.I had the good fortune to be invited to speak at the Shopper Brain Conference in Amsterdam presented by the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association.Speaking at the Shopper Brain Conference was somewhat of a an acid test, a way to be able to gauge whether me - the non-neuroscientist but but the artist, architect, educator and now author, who happened to spend the last four years or so deep diving into the world of neuroscience and its interrelationship with customer behavior and emerging digital technologies, would survive in front of an audience full of scientists and neuromarketing practitioners. My son who I had offered the opportunity to come along on the trip with me would be busy working on homework in the hotel lobby while he was dad was out in front of a few 100 conference attendees talking about the brain, the things you might just want to know about how it works if you're proposing to make engaging customer experiences and the influence that digital technologies was having on both the three pound organ inside your skull and the behavior of shoppers around the globe.I had studied psychology before ente ring the school of architecture at McGill University in Montreal but digging into the world of neuroscience had totally captivated me. I knew that at a base level there was more than just psychology at play in what people did when on a shopping trip. My original intuition was there had to be something, at a base level, that was driving behavior that was maybe crossed generationally, cross culturally, cross ethnically etc similar for all humans. And so, studying neuroscience, brain structures and how things worked inside our head became an area of deep study.That fascination his not left me but only become deeper. Seemed like the more I studied the more I felt I didn't fully understand. But then again that probably made some sense because the pace at which discoveries were being made in the neuroscience world were unfolding at a rapid pace where imaging technologies we're now allowing us to see into the brain in ways that we've never seen before.And so there I was digging into subjects like the mind body connection, the power of stories and the release of neurochemicals, mirror neurons and understanding the brain as a pattern recognizing machine. Understanding the brain began to suggest that what I might have understood as intuition based on experience and careful observation of how people reacted in places could be augmented with the heft of science that was quite definitive about what people might likely do or feel in spaces based on how the environment around them was designed and the interactions they were having with other people.While at the conference I sat and watched scientists, marketing and advertising executives, thought leaders and design practitioners all talk about the power of understanding the brain.One of the other speakers and I struck up a conversation while there and it seemed as though we both we're coming to this world with deep fascination about how the understanding of neuroscience would shape the interactions between people in the brand experience place. Bert Ohnemuller and I seemed to connect immediately. Bert seemed to have an air of approachable and transparent authenticity. He seems genuine and curious in his willingness to discover new ideas and to hear new insights and different points of views that challenged his preconceptions. He was candid and attentive in our conversations sharing some of the challenges in understanding science behind the brain and other subjects such as creating places for relevant customer engagement and leadership.In the past few years Bert and I both chased different professional paths and until recently Bert and I reconnected. His enthusiasm to learn and compassionate approaches to understanding how we as humans might optimize our lived experience had not left him. In fact to the contrary, it seemed like it had only become more profound. He’s a man on a mission.Talking to Bert Ohnemuller is like opening a compendium of thought leadership seminars, that are founded in neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Despite his deep understanding of neuroscience, he is someone that very much has decided to lea

ABOUT REFIK ANADOL:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/refikanadol/LinkedIn page for Refik Anadol Studio: https://www.linkedin.com/company/refik-anadol-studio/Website: https://refikanadol.comYoutube Videos:Disney Concert Hall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKfCrChDWpYMelting Memories: https://refikanadol.com/works/melting-memories/Machine Halucinations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OviC5RwpnvATED TALK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxQDG6WQT5sSHOW INTRO:Number of years ago, in 2014, when I was writing my book Retail (r)Evolution, I was looking at the interrelationship between brands, they're physical expression, cognitive science neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.I was thinking a lot about the emergence of a new cohort of experience seeking consumers and their proclivity to use their digital devices not just us communication devices but as vehicles for self-expression through the use of media making. Going out and capturing images and posting to Instagram or social media platforms wasn't just about pushing visual content into the world it was about storytelling, media making and creating narratives of one's life experience in a very different and hugely impactful way.I was beginning to see that young emerging consumers would be extremely savvy in terms of marketing because pushing content into the digisphere required them to understand what their individual markets were interested in, in terms of contenttheir ability to stay in front of their viewers was a large part of their success. True, I also felt that a lot of this was an otherated sense of validation that was driving a deep emotional connection to a sense of well-being and a sense of self in community but it nevertheless suggested that making stories and rewriting narratives of experience was becoming common place and was influencing expectations about how brand engagements should unfold. Brands could no longer just assume that they would give their customers certain services or products and that they would be acceptable and if they didn't like them this season, well, they could come back and next season. But that the ability to remain relevant was tied to the idea of engaging guests in the creation of part of the narrative, something that they could own, something that gave them a sense of agency and connection to the brand in a very different way. I also began to think that what this likely meant was that, as we moved to a world of artificial intelligence and using data to help us understand decision making in in the shopping aisle or online, that it would likely also mean that places that we inhabited might also change based on the interchange of data between my personal devices and a set of algorithms that drove brand experience.I then began to think about the opportunities here of a space that could change in real time to accommodate my individual needs perhaps even from data that was pulled from my smart devices that were reading body temperature, skin conductance, heart rate, breathing rate and even neural activity that was indicating maybe what parts of my brain were being more activated than others and how that might change the environment to align the physical space with my mind body space.This then became a platform for me thinking about a future state where brand experience places were more like brand performance places where the interaction between the performer in this narrative and the stage set on which the story unfolded were intimately tied together and transformed in ways that adapted to different need-states and expectations driven from both personal digital footprints, the places and manner that we used our digital devices and our bio data pulled from our personal digital device connected to our person.There were certainly at certain some points where I believed that all I might need as an architect was it data set, an algorithm, a projection system and a white box. And into that white box we could project data images that were representation of my inner desires or inner mind body state.Then along comes an exposure to something that was called a data sculpture in the Sales Force headquarters in San Francisco. The extraordinary digital image moved across a large part of a wall surface was pulling data from the environment and changing in response to the weather, traffic flows to public sentiment about certain things.This became my first exposure to the fact that someone out there was actually doing this thing I had imagined would be possible. Subsequent to that, I stumbled across an exhibit called “Melting Memories” where Refik Anadol ,a Turkish data visualization artist, had been able to capture brain data of people's memories and made the invisible visible. Refik Anadol’s data paintings, or data sculptures, were enormous high-definition fluid moving images that were like watching a campfire - ever changing and captivating. I found them captivating more so because they were a physicalization of someb

About Ruth Zukerman:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-zukerman-83678b3b/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Riding-High-Ruth-Zukerman-audiobook/dp/B07HHC7HMM/ref=sr_1_5?crid=RV1R0WVHKRQA&keywords=riding+high+book&qid=1677367136&sprefix=riding+high%2Caps%2C735&sr=8-5 Bio:Ruth Zukerman is the co-founder of Soul Cycle and Flywheel, both wildly successful companies that innovated the studio cycling movement. Ruth pioneered the boutique fitness industry by creating the “studio” with a pay per class structure, modeling them after the dance studios she would frequent when she was pursuing her dance career. Over the last decade with these companies, she has come to realize that her passion is greater than simply cycling or fitness. Her mission is to connect people to each other as well as to their own inner strength, and empower them to carry the positive, powerful attitude they have on the bike on into their lives and their careers. She speaks around the country, inspiring people to get unstuck and find new paths and new passion for a successful second, third or even fourth act in their careers. Ruth is following her own advice and left Flywheel at the end of 2018 to pursue her next great adventure. She lives in New York and is very close with her grown daughters. Her memoir RIDING HIGH: How I Kissed SoulCycle Goodbye, Co-Founded Flywheel and Built the Life I Always Wanted, was published in October 2018. SHOW INTRO:I like riding a bike.I think it’s a bit if a holdover from doing triathlons many years ago.I didn’t like swimming too much – I tended to sink, and so I relied on the wet suit to give me some buoyancy. Still though, it didn’t make the swim that much more enjoyable.Ah… but the bike… you could go fast and go far. You had something you could tinker with, a piece of equipment, something technical.That was, and still is, cool…These days, I get out on the road at the end of a long workday and ride through the Maryland countryside. A few miles from my home, the rolling hills and corn fields are a landscape that helps me unwind, breathe deeply and think.A few years ago I took to the Peloton bike with a passion. I road the bike religiously having my favorite instructors call me out, inspire me like I was at church, and I found that they were connecting with meaningful messages while they also kicked my butt. I also liked to competitiveness of the leaderboard. Always wanting to ride in the top 10% of riders in the class. The goal kept me on it, in pursuit of fitness for sure, but it was more than that, it was a community.And the instructors, Alex, Ally, and Jess became, unbeknownst to them, my friends and motivational mentors.I remember that back in about 2014, or something, I took a spin class at the local Y. I was riding with a cycling team called Team Evesham, a group of sometimes a 100 or more weekend road warriors, who peddled through the pinelands of South Jersey.They somehow got a deal to get a few free classes for each of us, if we were interested. I wasn’t totally convinced back then, I preferred to be outside, you know on a real bike, with the wind on my face and all that jazz.…boy did that change in later years with my love affair with Peloton.What I didn’t know then was there had been a growing spin cycling thing happening in New York for a few years. A place called SoulCycle had been attracting customers to in-door spin classes and it had been really catching on. And it had grown into a brand with locations all over the place. Still though, I was riding outside. The purist in me was still winning out.Leap forward a few years and I buy my Peloton bike in the fall of 2018. Spinning had finally captured my interest and I was hooked. I was fully on board with team Peloton but friends and colleagues who were into spinning swore by SoulCycle and this other brand called Flywheel who had figured out the leaderboard and ride metrics, so the story goes, before Peloton became a player.Leap forward again to fall 2022. My Peloton ball cap, that had become a standard fashion accessory, was well worn and I am more familiar with SoulCycle, I can imagine the logo in my mind’s eye and picture the color yellow but still … I have never been.I am at the International Retail Design Conference and the stories of spinning, SoulCycle, Flywheel and Peloton are about to all converge. I arrive late to the closing keynote being giving by Ruth Zukerman.Now I don’t now Ruth Zukerman from Adam, but then… I actually do. As I listen to a candid, heartfelt and inspiring presentation about leadership, resilience in the face of adversity and creating nationally recognized brands, I look at the session summary in the brochure and it turns out the Ruth Zukerman founded SoulCycle, left her brainchild and created Flywheel and was principally responsible for starting the spinning craze in a studio on the Upper West Side in New York.It also turns out that, though this interview, I learn that Ruth turned down an opportunity to join J

About Toni Roeller:Toni’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/toni-roeller-3624676Bio:Toni Roeller currently serves as Senior Vice President, In-Store Environment, Visual Merchandising and House of Sport at DICK'S Sporting Goods. In this role, Toni is responsible for bringing the brand to life through the overall in-store experience, while ensuring the athlete is at the center of all merchandising strategies.Toni joined the company in May 2014 as Vice President of Visual Merchandising. In 2019, she was named Vice President of In-Store environment and Visual Merchandising, overseeing all aspects of evolving the in-store environment and visual storytelling. Prior to joining DICK's, she served as Vice President of In-Store Environment at The Home Depot. Throughout her career, she also has held increasing roles of responsibility at Best Buy, Levis Strauss and Maurices.Toni earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Concord University.SHOW INTRO:I grew up one of five boys. No sisters… just 5 rambunctious, energetic, physically active, sometime mischievous, food consuming boys. Oh, and we had dogs and cats, birds, gerbils, Guinea pigs, turtles and I think at one point we even had a parrot… or was it a cockateel.My mother, God bless your soul, somehow held this sometimes-unwieldy lot together and made sure, along with my father, that we were exposed to the great outdoors.This, or course, was a time where there was no such thing as a home computer or a cell phone. There was a TV, but for many years it was black and white with something like 3 or 4 channels and so outside we were most of the day at the park, the swimming pool, or playing in the street while the summertime the sun went down and the last round of kick the can was played before we were all called in for a bath. Summer trips from Montreal to Winnipeg, where my father side of the family lived, brought us through Toronto and most of northern Ontario. We camped the entire way which was always a lot of fun. 5 boys in a station wagon, with the dog and a camper in tow. For days…My father made sure that we were also well versed in the world of fishing which I can imagine must have tested his patience as toddlers undoubtedly got hooks stuck in themselves and each other more than they likely caught any fish.Throughout high school there was no music or theater program at my high school. And so, my friends and I played every sport that there was able to be played starting in the fall with football, leading to volleyball and then basketball and then track and field and then rugby. There never was a time in school where I wasn't playing sports and I loved it. My high school football coach Chuck Poirier still stands as a significant and memorable figure through those years.All of my brothers and I became ski school instructors which was one of the only ways to survive Montreal winters which could naturally get as cold as minus 20 or 30 below zero. No big deal really. My parents had us on skis as soon as we could stand, somewhere around the age of two or three. And so, we were used to being out in the cold.In any case, my parents made sure that we played sports all the time and that we were always physically active.In college, my mother would show up at all of my football games sitting in the stands, rain or shine, cheering me and the team on. She showed up at my baseball games too. And she was always there reminding me that playing team sports was important because it taught you cooperation, collaborating towards a common goal and teamwork and that you had to rely on others at times to reach your objectives. The ‘all for one and one for all’ mantra of The Three Musketeers was something that she truly believed in. My mother had no problem with us being team players, but she believed in leadership in fact she always encouraged her sons to lead the charge in whatever team they were playing.As for sports stores to meet our needs, well, growing up in Montreal there was Canadian Tire and a store I remember called Le Baron. There was nothing like Eddie Bauer with indoor fishponds and taxidermy statues of giant bears or elk with enormous antlers. There wasn't anything like REI with rock climbing walls and there certainly wasn't anything like a two-story 100,000 square foot Dick's Sporting Goods that seemed to have merchandise for any sport you could possibly imagine.My uncle Roy, one of my dad's older brothers, was the Wilson sporting goods distributor for Western Canada so we occasionally got a good set of golf clubs a few flats of balls and some tennis rackets. But again, nothing like you find at a Dick's Sporting Goods.DICK'S Sporting Goods is an amazing story of a young man, Dick Stack, who worked in an Army Surplus shop who, when asked to come up with some ideas about what other products could be sold, was dismissed by his boss, the shop owner.Upset about the interaction, he goes to his grandmother’s house and shares the story of the interaction with his

ABOUT AMBER BAZDAR;Amber’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/amberbazdarAMBER'S BIO:As a seasoned retail executive, Amber Bazdar’s sharp foresight, expertise, and ability to guide a traditional retailer into a new phygital generation has made her stand out in the competitive world of retail.Amber’s diverse professional background includes retail design, visual merchandising, brand experience and fixture and lighting design. Throughout her career, Amber has excelled at developing and growing retail locations through innovative design and visual merchandising strategies, solving complex “back of house” problems with advanced solutions and attracting and developing high performing talent. A vibrant and proactive leader, Amber excels at propelling corporate visual standards and creative direction while developing innovative concepts to engage customers.A life-long learner, Amber was recently an Adjunct Professor of Visual Merchandising at Lasell University, where she taught at the undergraduate level. She has been involved with curriculum development, student/industry design projects and design competitions.Amber currently resides in the Seacoast of New Hampshire with her husband, three children and their GSP, Luna. She enjoys living near the mountains and sea, where she can enjoy nature frequently with her family.Amber is also the recipient of the "2022 Retailer Innovator Award" SHOW INTRO: A of lot of brands have a story. A narrative that underpins the entire enterprise.These stories are crucial since they establish a framework helps define the customer, their needs and how the brand’s products or services is going to satisfy them.The brand story isn’t just about what the brand sells though, or who buys their stuff, it’s more a statement of what the brand is about, its essence, its raison d’etre.It is what it means to be in business in the first place, why they do what they do and how they do it. It sets out a series of promises, that sort of act like a contract for engagement between the brand and its customers. Let’s say you were single, you already felt pretty confident about who you were, you knew what you liked and knew what you needed in a relationship.Let’s say there was a dating service… but it matched people like you with brands in an effort to create that special relationship. And let’s say that you thought that a relationship with a brand would make a great compliment to who you already were. It's not that you need something, or someone, to make you whole but that a good brand relationship would just make experience better, more fulfilling.Well, if there was such a service existed then you’d probably also want to check out the brand’s online profile. You know…do some research. If you did, you might find that the story they’d likely tell may be a little aspirational - for example a friend who is out on the dating circuit, tells me that everyone’s profile says that they are into hiking… and dogs… they may only climb up and own the stairs at home and have a dog calendar hanging on the wall, but for some that may qualify.In any case, you’d hope that the narrative is authentic and is genuine.You’re a little bit of a dreamer, you might even like the idea of hiking too, or maybe you area just optimistic, always looking for the thing that could augment your everyday.If you moved along and you liked eachother then you maybe you’d accept an offer to get together. What you hope is that on the first date, and everyone after that, that it delivered what you were expecting. It held the relationship in the highest regard. And the act of doing life together, yes, made it your personal experience better. But more than that, you feel that you and this new brand relationship became connected. You felt that on some level you didn’t become one, enmeshed, indistinguishable from each other, but became better, interdependent, and that the relationship was generative. It grew you.Some brands make up that foundational, ‘who we are‘story. They see a market opportunity. Build a customer profile, brand platform, product or service assortment and go to market. Others have an authentic origin story, a real life narrative, that lays the foundation for how they show up, every day, everywhere with everything they do.Timberland is one of those brands.A Russian immigrant buys a shoe company, dedicates his ingenuity and craft of making quality boots to growing a company. He creates a boot that is built for the harsh New England climate and it catches on becoming a pop cultural icon whose name has become part of the lexicon of a generation of musicians with rappers like Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z and DMZ calling them out in lyrics.My sons call them Timbs and the signature yellow leather boot is as much a recognizable brand character as a blue box is for Tiffany.This dating service I was imagining earlier, well it exisits, it’s pretty much anywhere you might come in contact with a brand. And the place for the first date also exists. It’s called the

ABOUT RICHARD LEMS:Richard’s LinkedInProfile: linkedin.com/in/richard-lems-4235082aWebsite: rituals.com (Company)Email: [email protected] INTROAbout 12 years ago, I was visiting Amsterdam and spent days wandering the city, eating stroop waffles, pancakes, drinking coffee and shopping along the Kalverstraat. The Kalverstraat is one of the main shopping streets in the city center of Amsterdam. It’s more like an outdoor pedestrian mall jammed with the retail stores of well-known international and home-grown Dutch brands as well as independent retailers.My preferred approach to exploring an unknown city is generally given to wander about, sometimes down alleys, looking through fences or over walls into hidden courtyards. It’s mostly about discovery. Looking for things that other tourists may not find and connecting to the local nature of a place.I remember coming to a corner and an open door invited me into a store I was unfamiliar with. Crossing the threshold, I stepped away from the rush of the crowd and entered into to another world. It looked homey. Warm and cozy.Perimeter wall units were illuminated with colorful frames, each identifying a specific category of merchandise. And…it smelled great!I didn’t know the Rituals brand but my first experience, 12 plus years ago, is easy to recall with a vivid sensory-based memory.I liked the store’s name, since I have had a fascination with the idea of rituals, what they mean, how they are enacted, whether participating directly in them versus being an observer had any effect on their relevance. I spent the next half hour sampling fragrances, learning about ancient rituals upon which the products were based, the products’ ingredients and how they had an effect on our body and mind.And of course, I bought bags of products home. The smell of spray bottles that stayed in a bathroom drawer for a while after they were emptied, brought me back to the street corner, the city of Amsterdam, the food and the friends I met while there. From a neuroscientific point to view, scent is deeply connected to memories. Scents can quickly affect mood. That’s why realtors suggest that baking cookies or bread when you are about to show your home is a good thing; because it activates emotions and nostalgic memories that make people feel more relaxed and draw a connection to a sense of comfort and security. These are all good feelings to engender when trying to sell your home. It’s an interesting connection – the body and the home. More interesting still that a company like Rituals has made the connection between the body, the home and cosmetics. And in doing so, they have tapped into the basic idea that good retailing isn’t just about the products, or services, but in the end about emotions.“If you can get to the emotions,” says Richard Lems, the Director of Format and Design for Rituals, you create fans rather than just customers. While everyone else was following the ‘pile ‘em high and watch ‘em fly’ mentality to retailing years ago, Rituals was working to sell emotion. Engendering feelings that were attached to ancient stories, the practices of ayruveda, or a hammam, or the rituals of Sakura have become the experiential foundation for Rituals stores. Behind every product there is a deeper meaning, a deeper story based on ancient traditions and they are made contemporary with Western technologies. For Lems, there is no disconnect between the home and the body. You know that expression ‘Home is where your heart is”? Well, for Rituals, home, body, heart, soul are all connected. They are in a reciprocal feedback loop, interconnected and interdependent. One influences the other.Like with my strategy of discovering a city, Rituals believes that the discovery process leads customer experiences in their stores. It may start from the street, lead to a cup of tea and hand washing to exploring their assortment. Richard Lems explains that Rituals “innovation is on a very high level.” They are constantly innovating with new products and experiences like meditation chambers in their new flagship store in Amsterdam - built 100 meters away from the store I stumbled upon years ago.And while the Rituals brand has a robust social platform on on-line store that fulfills orders all over the world, Lems believes that the only way to really feel them, smell them, and touch them is in store. The Rituals store is the nexus of ancient stories and practices, products and people. It is the physical touchpoint where product presentation and the hospitality of store associates brings the narratives to life. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative profe

ABOUT JUSTIN BOLOGNINO:Justin "JB"’s LinkedIn Profilelinkedin.com/in/jbologninoWebsiteslinktr.ee/metajb (Company)metajb.com (Company)meta.is (Personal)Links:Flatland: https://www.metajb.com/flatland-a-romance-of-manyUnreality: https://www.metajb.com/unreality-1 The Map of Realities: https://medium.com/@jbolognino/the-map-of-realities-4dc12875adbc TwitterjbologninoJustin Bologninos' Bio:Justin Bolognino is the original META.His ground-breaking endeavors are threaded by technology, real-time design and evolutionary immersive experiences focused on revealing hidden human connections. The “Synchronicity Architect" is founder and CEO of META, an immersive experience studio that specializes in “The Art of Being There.” A new META spinoff, launching publicly in early 2022, Unreality is set to be the definitive professional ecosystem for the global “Immersive Media industry.” Taking their skills and touch to nature, Bolognino and wife Elizabeth founded Silent G Farms in North Branch, NY, a retreat compound designed for nourishing creativity and consciousness. JB also helped to develop and launch of Brooklyn Bowl (2009), serving as Creative and Media Director, as well as Arcadia Earth (2019) in NYC, the first artist-driven immersive experience dedicated to sustainability, where he also designed two of the installations.With brand clients like Spotify, Twitter, HP, Samsung, Google, Vimeo, and artistic collaborations with St. Vincent, Dubfire, Skrillex, Phish, Porter Robinson, Troye Sivan, Tiesto and many more, META creates live, multi-sensory experiences that use technology, design and storytelling to ignite the human spirit. META was born originally as “the Meta Agency” in 2009 under Bolognino’s philosophy that the artists creating cutting-edge digital event designs and high-tech performance elements should be recognized, much like the celebrities and brands they create for. An industry visionary, Bolognino is extremely forward-thinking when it comes to technology’s role in immersive experiences. Over the last 15 years, Bolognino has helped make Brooklyn Bowl a celebrated institution, redefined the SXSW experience through #FEED, produced multiple documentaries, led marketing campaigns, and created interactive art and live music for the sake of creation through his first company, Learned Evolution. His role as designer and curator of The Lab at Panorama, and Director of The Antarctic dome show at Coachella, “FLATLAND: A Romance of Many Dimensions”, has played an essential part in the evolution of the festival experience. Bolognino currently lives at Silent G Farms with wife Elizabeth, daughters Chloe and Francesca, son Just, and puppy Billie Holiday.SHOW INTRO:For some time now I have been interested in the merging of design, AI, technology, neuroscience, and art. They all seem to be coalescing into the creation of a new form of place-making.I like most others have been calling it 'immersive experiences' And while the places that are now being created to provide them are proliferating, I think that we are often seeing them only as spectacle. We pay a few dollars, get immersed in data paintings and surround sound, sometimes get corralled into a gift shop, and we’re done. My guess is that we don’t often look beyond the use of light and data as building materials – which on it’s own is a fantastic and transformational tool in our designers tool box – to consider things like the interrelationship of the design of our environment and consciousness.I’m a big advocate of ontological design, which in its most basic description can be frames as - the things we design design us back. Our brain/body/mind is in a reciprocal feedback loop in which the things we design and put into the world in turn influence our neuro-biochemistry and neuro-physiology so that we are literally made in the image of the environments we inhabit.If we venture down the path of consciousness, we need to consider then that we are not singular entities in this world but that we are part of an integrated and interdependent rhythmic whole. Nicola Tesla wrote an article for Colliers Magazine in 1926 where he penned …“When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted to a huge brain, which in fact it is. All things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole…” He went on to explain that ‘the devices with which we would do this would fit in our breast packet and we would communicate with each other independent of geography…’1926!While written almost a hundred years ago Tesla was envisioning a future of digital communication where we would share information, enabled by software and hardware, and in doing so, we would augment our mindware.Dr. Dan Siegal has a definition of mind that seems to work from me.He explains the mind this way: The Mind is an “emergent, self-organizing, embodied, and relational process that regulates the flow of energy and information.”Our minds are in constant reciprocal feedback loop with the environment including t

ABOUT DR. PAUL ZAK:Dr. Paul Zak’s LinkedIn Profile:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-zak-91123510/Websites:Immersion book link: https://www.amazon.com/Immersion-Science-Extraordinary-Source-Happiness/dp/1544531974/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1669735115&sr=8-1Twitter: @pauljzakWebsite: https://pauljzak.comWebsite: https://www.cgu.edu/people/paul-zak/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/[email protected]. Paul Zak's Bio:Dr. Paul J. Zak is a Professor at Claremont Graduate University and is ranked in the top 0.3% of most cited scientists with over 180 published papers and more than 19,000 citations to his research. Paul’s ten decades of research have taken him form the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. Along the way he helped start a number of interdisciplinary fields including neuroeconomics, neuromanagement, and neuromarketing. He has written three general audience books and is a regular TED speaker. His newest book is Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and Source of Happiness. Paul is also a four-time tech entrepreneur; his current company, Immersion Neuroscience, is a software platform that allows anyone to measure what the brain loves in real-time to improve outcomes in entertainment, education and training, live events and to help people sustain emotional wellness. He frequently appears in the media in such places as Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, Fox & Friends, ABC Evening News, and his work has been reported in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time, The Economist, Scientific American, Fast Company, Forbes, and various podcasts. Fun fact: he is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and has created dialog for two movies.SHOW INTRO:For some time, I have been intrigued by experience making, especially those that we might qualify as ‘immersive.’ When I have imagined what these experiences might be like, I have mostly considered them as being in places that surround you with an environment that is all encompassing, enveloping you in multi-sensory input.Immersive digital environments can do this.I have a deep enthusiasm for the merger of digital technologies, especially in our nascent capacity to blend art, AI and neuroscience into data visualizations. I have a fascination in the creation of places that make the invisible, data, visible.The digitally immersive experiences we now see like the multiple Van Gogh exhibits - or those that bring the art of other famous artists like Picasso, and Degas to digital life - are beautiful and are part of a shift in the nature and relevancy of museums. Venues are emerging like Artechouse whose immersive experiences have included the digital virtuosity of data visualization artist Refik Anadol. Companies like Moment Factory are transforming disquieting nighttime forests into delightful walks illuminated with stories projected on trees.These are all captivating and visually rich experiences. And yet, I have equally puzzled over the idea that ‘immersion’, as an idea, is more than data paintings filling museum spaces from floor to ceiling. Immersion is more than a feast for the visual, and maybe auditory, systems of our brains. On some level, I have felt that ‘Immersion’ is something more transformative. Something that activates areas of our brains that are responsible for feelings of arousal or pleasure as well as areas that give us the sense that what is happening has a resonant social value. This is where Dr. Paul Zak steps into the narrative. Dr. Paul J. Zak is a Professor at Claremont Graduate University and is ranked in the top 0.3% of most cited scientists with over 180 published papers and more than 19,000 citations to his research. He has stood on the TED stage 5 times and speaks all over the world.Immersion, he suggests, is driven by two factors:the activation of areas of the brain that produce the neurochemicals dopamine and oxytocin. Most of us will have heard that dopamine is the ‘pleasure’ neurochemical. It plays a role in the pleasure center of the brain and is tied to addiction. Dopamine is also tied to our brain’s ability to predict and prediction errors. It is connected to our ability to differentiate anomalies in complex patterns.It sort of creates an alert system that something is worthy of our attention. It is part of how we learn.When we hear the word ‘oxytocin,’ some may know it to be the “Love hormone.’ Among other life moments, it is present in childbirth, breastfeeding, sex, a good long hug…Oxytocin is often linked towarm, cozy feelings. It has the ability to regulate our emotional responses and pro-social behaviors, including trust, empathy, positive memories, processing of bonding cues, and positive communication. All of which are critical to having positive brand experiences.Oxytocin has a connection to whether or not an experience has a level of emotional resonance and the brain’s ability to identify an experience as having some social valu

ABOUT MONTAHA HIDEFI:Montaha’s LinkedIn Profile:linkedin.com/in/montahahidefiWebsitewww.montahahidefi.cawww.colorlanding.comwww.colorarchaeology.caPhone+1-519-760-5910Emailmontaha.hidefi@yahoo.comTwittercolorfulmontahaMONTAHA HIDEFI's Bio:A world-renowned Color Archeologist™, Montaha Hidefi centers her consultancy services on developing color trends foresights and color forecast projections, portfolio ideation and customized color related insights to small, medium, and large organizations on a global basis.In 2020, Montaha established the notion of Color Archaeology™, a trademark of her Color Landing Studio, to best define the practice of color forecasting and its intricacies. Color Archaeology incorporates the skills and expertise to track and observe societal trends, analyze how they are interpreted in current times, and predict how they will evolve into the future.A public speaker, Montaha lectures and keynotes about color and trends virtually and in-person at international events and company settings. Her articles on the subject matter are published in countless trade publications.Montaha serves at Color Marketing Group® (CMG) as Vice President of Color Forecasting, at the Executive Committee of the Colour Research Society of Canada (CRSC) and as Vice President of the Canadian Freelance Guild (CFG). She holds a comprehensive background in international marketing, color marketing and the coatings industry. Montaha was born and raised in South America, is an avid traveler and has lived and worked in the Middle East, Europe, and North America.She is the author of Giving Voice to My Silence, Dando voz a mi silencio, and Groping for Truth, and the co-author of Colour Design: Theories and Applications.SHOW INTRO:On my first day of the freehand drawing studio at McGill University School of Architecture, the teacher, Gerry Tondino, explained that he would not teach us how to draw. Instead, he said, we would learn how to see. To understand light. How without light nothing exists. How it created form, texture, and color.I loved those classes where every week, for three hours, we would ‘learn to see.’ I took additional drawing classes in the evenings and Sketching School where we would travel to some location and spend a week drawing outdoors.And learn to see I did.Gerry Tondino fostered my love of drawing with his gentle teaching approach. He would walk the studio in his well-worn jean jacket saying “put a line at the top of the paper, now another one at the bottom, now draw the figure…” 30 seconds late he would say it again, and again, and again. The 3 hours studio seemed to go by in 30 second increments as we learned to see.Mostly we worked in black and white. Charcoal on newsprint paper.Color would come later. Color had its own challenges. Understanding color was tough. Understanding color was a process that went on for years. Even now in my recent paintings, color is a challenge but one I take on with enthusiasm. What color goes with what other color. How does one color seemingly change the hue of another simply because it is adjacent to or surrounding it? How is light reflected off of one object coloring another? Cool. Warm. Saturated. Transparent. Opaque. I love color. Fuchsia particularly. To me, it is vibrant and signals enthusiasm and creative innovation. And then there is understanding color from the neurobiological point of view. How our brain processes color is fascinating. The eyes take in wavelengths of light activating rods and cone in our eyes sending signals to the occipital lobe in the back of our head and the information is turned into our perception of color. And that is the simplest description that there ever likely was of how it works.The other thing about color, especially when we think about objects ‘being colored’ is that isn’t actually what is happening. Our human eyes are actually able to only see a very small portion of the full light wavelength spectrum. Some animals are actually better at seeing light in the infrared spectrum which we cannot see. These wavelengths still enter our eyes but our visual apparatus isn’t able to ‘see’ it.So, when the full sunlight hits objects, a certain portion of the visual light spectrum is absorbed into the molecular structure of the object. The remaining wavelengths of light are reflected and are perceived by our eyes and decoded by our brain as color. What we see is the reflected wavelengths. So, if you looking at a red shirt, all wavelengths of light except those that are perceived as red are absorbed by the fabric and pigments and the red wavelengths are bouncing off and entering our eyes and voila… red shirt.But it is oh so much more complex than that…And what about how certain colors make us feel? Colors affect our mood. Our neurology and colors are interconnected and there’s a heft of science that describes the very real relationship of color to our emotional state. Colors activate our neurobiology and can be calming, activating, agitating, and

ABOUT GABRIELE CHIAVE:Gabriele’s LinkedIN Profile: linkedin.com/in/gabriele-chiave-b1959022Bio:Gabriele Chiave knows no boundaries. As a lifelong observer of the world around him, Gabriele is driven by the comprehensive nature of design and a desire to ignite meaningful interaction between product and consumer. Born to diplomat parents in Metz in 1978, he has lived in France, Dakar, Caracas, Buenos Aires, Rome, Milano and now makes his home in Amsterdam. These diverse resident experiences enable him to bring a global perspective to design like no other.Gabriele studied at the European Institute of Design in Milan, Industrial Design Academy, French Lycée Chateaubriand in Rome, French Lycée Emile Zola in Buenos Aires, Argentina and French Lycée Collegio Francia in Caracas, Venezuela. He holds a Baccalaureat in Economics and Society. In addition to spending five years at Marc Sadler Studio / IS European Design Center, he won competitions for Emergency, Rotari, Epson, Toshiba and Pirelli, and worked with prestigious Italian brands such as Alessi (organization of 7 Workshops held by LPWK/Alessi), Dainese, Foscarini and Serralunga. These experiences helped Gabriele master the subtle nuances and delightful balance between form and function, industry and art, structure and experimentation. Gabriele's ‘design upbringing’ was inspired by design masters Magistretti, Castiglioni, Branzi, Delucchi, Sotsass and Mari who made Italy the worldwide leader in industrial design. Gabriele exudes this foundation at Marcel Wanders, where he has worked since 2007. Evolving to become Creative Director, he now oversees all projects in product and interior design, and art direction for some of the most renowned international design brands such as Kartell, Poliform, Flos, Cappellini, B&B, Baccarat, KLM, Magis, MAC, Target, L&V, Alessi, Christofle, Marks&Spencer and many other international companies and hotels. Gabriele whole heartedly embraces the challenge of combining industry and the arts, blending Marcel's emotion with Italianindustrial tradition. His vision for the eclectic team at this ever-expanding creative hub is to freely make beauty and technical simplicity accessible to all in order to expand the human experience.************************************************************************************************************************************The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “dialogues on DATA: design architecture technology and the arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. And remember you'll always find more information with links to content that we've discussed, contact information to our guests and more in the show notes for each episode. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David

ABOUT BRUCE MAU:For press and event inquiries: [email protected] INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS:Bruce Mau - https://www.instagram.com/realbrucemau/#Aiyemobisi Williams - https://www.instagram.com/aiyemobisi/Massive Change Network -https://www.instagram.com/massivechangenetwork/ LINKEDIN ACCOUNTS:Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer Bruce Mau -https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-mau/Co-founder, Chief Insights Officer Aiyemobisi “Bisi” Willia -https://www.linkedin.com/in/bisiwilliams/ Company Page Massive Change Network -https://www.linkedin.com/company/massive-change-network/about/WEBSITES:Massive Change Network -https://www.massivechangenetwork.comHealth 2049 Podcast -https://www.health2049.comMAILING LIST:https://massivechangeworkshops.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=edecf2a3075fbcc167f6019ec&id=592db25fb8 BRUCE'S BIO:Bruce Mau is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Massive Change Network (MCN), a global design consultancy based in the Chicago area. Across more than thirty years of design innovation, Bruce has worked as a designer, innovator, educator, and author on a broad spectrum of projects in collaboration with the world’s leading brands, organizations, universities, governments, entrepreneurs, renowned artists, and fellow optimists. To create value and positive impact across global ecosystems and economies, Mau evolved a unique toolkit of 24 massive change design principles — MC24 — that can be applied in any field or environment at every scale. The MC24 principles underpin all Bruce’s work — from designing carpets to cities, books to new media, global brands to cultural institutions, and social movements to business transformation – and they are the subject of his book,“Mau: MC24, Bruce Mau’s 24 Principles for Designing Massive Change in Your Life and Work.” Books are central to Bruce’s purpose of achieving and inspiring understanding, clarity, and alignment around visions of a better future. He is the author of“Massive Change”;“Life Style”; and“Mau: MC24: Bruce Mau’s 24 Principles for Designing Massive Change in Your Life and Work”;– all published by Phaidon Press. Bruce’s“The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth,”a forty-three-point statement on sustaining a creative practice, has been translated into more than fifteen languages and has been shared widely on the Internet for nearly twenty-five years. Bruce is also co-author of several books, including the landmark architecture book“S, M, L, XL”with Rem Koolhaas;“Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World – The New Convergence of Art, Technology, and Science,”with Julio Ottino, dean of Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering;“The Third Teacher”with OWP/P Architects and VS Furniture; and“Spectacle”with David Rockwell.Bruce has collaborated with clients on the development and design of more than 200 books, including Art Gallery of Ontario, Claes Oldenburg, Douglas Gordon, Frank Gehry, Gagosian, Getty Research Institute, James Lahey, Mark Francis, and Zone Books. In these times of complex, interrelated challenges that are unlike any we’ve faced before, Bruce believes life-centered design offers a clear path towards identifying the full context of our problems and developing innovative, sustainable, and holistic solutions. Bruce’s work and life story are the subject of the feature-length documentary, “MAU,” scheduled for North American theatrical release in May 2022.EP. 43 BRUCE MAU - SHOW INTROWhen I was a kid, my parents used to load my four brothers and I, along with our dog, into a station wagon, hook up a trailer and travel on summer vacation from Montreal to Winnipeg, effectively halfway across Canada, to visit my father's family. The trek would take us along the Trans Canada highway following a route around Lake Superior and passing through cites like Wawa, which had an enormous Canada goose statue, Dryden with the monumental statue of Max the Moose, and Sudbury Ontario with the Big nickel.The big nickel. It was enormous. This thing was a towering 30 feet tall and was said to be about 64 million times the size of the nickel you’d have in your pocket. In a time when penny candy stores were a big thing for a youngster in the late 60’s, how much that nickel could buy at Ed’s market, the candy store a walk from my parent’s house, was beyond imagination. Sudbury was also one of the largest nickel mining areas on the planet. My memory of Sudbury at that time was that it was desolate. For miles around the nickel mines, Sudbury was gray. The landscape was just gray. There were no trees. There was no grass. It was the closest thing my young mind could have imagined when thinking about what the surface of the moon would have looked like. In those seemingly dead zones, it was stark and infertile.In 1971 and '72 NASA actually sent its astronauts to train there for the Apollo 16 and 17 missions, because it approximated what astronauts would encounter when they landed on the lunar surface.While I passed through as a tourist on vacation,

ABOUT Kyle Bergman:Kyle’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-bergman-629809131/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ADFILMFESTInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/adfilmfest/Websites:Architecture and Design Film Festival: https://www.adfilmfest.com/Pacific Rim Parks: https://pacificrimpark.org/Kyle Bergman's Bio: Founder & Festival Director - Architecture & Design Film Festival / New YorkArchitect Kyle Bergman founded the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF) in 2009 and serves as its festival director. He has always recognized the strong connection between architecture and film and ADFF provides a unique opportunity to educate, entertain and engage people who are passionate about the world of architecture and design. Now in its 14th season, ADFF has grown to become the largest film festival dedicated to the creative spirit of architecture and design.Mr. Bergman also serves as president of Pacific Rim Park (PRP) whose mission is to use the process of designing and building parks as a tool to connect people and communities around the Pacific. Mr, Bergman has been involved with PRP since its first park built in Vladivostok, Russia in 1994.Mr. Bergman has been involved with design/build education since 1992 when he created and moderated an architectural lecture series about the design/build process for the Smithsonian Institute. He has taught community design/build classes in the Dominican Republic for the Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont, and served on their board of directors for 9 years.An entrepreneur at heart, Mr. Bergman founded Alt Spec in 1999, a publishing company that produced a visual resource of unique and alternative products for architects and designers. He also produced a play, The Glass House, about the design and construction of two famous homes — Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House and Phillip Johnson's Glass House. SHOW INTRO:When I was in college I took an elective in hypnosis and one of the few things that I learned during that course is that everyone can be hypnotized, to some degree. That degree has a lot to do with the individual’s ability to let themself go, to suspend disbelief, to have a strong imagination as well as the proclivity to get lost in story.What I have always know about myself is that when I watch a movie, the outside world disappears. I am with Frodo on our way to Mordor, in a landing craft on the beach of Normandy on my way to Save Private Ryan, falling in love with the heroine, summiting the mountain… I could go on but you get the idea.The same happens with great novels where I am fully in the narrative and I find portrayals of human excellence deeply moving.Over the years, I have found myself using expressions of famous novelists, musicians, architects and filmmakers as truisms to live my life by. I love documentaries because I learn things I did not know. I love discovering how things work in our world and how things we often take for granted in out built environment are not there by happenstance but have come to be through an intense, and usually lengthy, process of collaborative making.I often stand in places and I'm amazed at the amount of decisions that had to be made to bring the thing that I'm experienced into the world. This is no small thing and it's something that I think the general public is unaware of. I would hazard a guess that most walk through their environments blissfully unaware of the magnitude of human invention and hard work that it took to bring most buildings to the world.There have been stories I have read - biographies, monographs and radio shows and podcasts that I have listened to that have described the lives of famous makers, builders, architects, artists, designers and musicians - these alchemists of human ingenuity bringing things to the world that are lasting expressions of what it means to be human - in a certain place - at a certain time.And so, it's probably not so surprising that documentaries that focus on the work of architects or TV shows that show how things are made or how to make them better or how our built world has come to be I find particularly fascinating. I think that if people better understood architecture and design, and the intricate set of interdependencies and decisions made to make the beautiful building or ice cream scoop, the world of design and architecture maybe experienced with more reverence.I've often heard it also said that architects tend to make buildings for architects and the much of the subtlety and deep meaning of what architects and designers do is lost on the general public.An this may be, in part , due to the fact that architects haven’t been too good at explaining what they do to the public. In the past there were various guilds, associations of craftsmen or merchants that formed for mutual aid and protection and for the furtherance of their professional interests.And indeed, knowledge of the craft was often held in confidence among its members. I've often heard it also

ABOUT DENISE NAGUIB:Denise’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/denisenaguibEmail: [email protected]: dnaguibBio:Denise was born in Cairo, Egypt where she lived for half of her childhood before moving to Michigan, Minnesota, and finally Oregon. She attended the University of Oregon, earning a Bachelors of Science in Geography with an emphasis on biological and human impacts on the environment. After graduating, Denise became involved with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, implementing environmental education programs at various locations. In 2005, Denise moved to the Cayman Islands to implement Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Naguib moved to Washington, DC and led the environmental strategy for the brand, as well as supporting the growth of the Cousteau program within The Ritz-Carlton. In January 2010, Denise joined the Global Operations group at Marriott International and continued her work on sustainability strategy for all brands, as well as expansion of the Cousteau program. In 2012, Denise was named Vice President of Sustainability and Supplier Diversity, integrating both of these important subjects in the company’s global operations. In 2017, Naguib launched the company’s new Sustainability and Social Impact platform, Serve 360, and accompanying goals. Denise is working on a variety of projects including responsible sourcing, food waste, carbon reporting and supporting efforts to increase spend with diverse businesses globally.Denise currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board for WEConnect International, the global organization supporting women businesses around the world. She is also the Chair of the National LGBT Chamber’s Procurement Council, on the Board of The Conference Board’s Sustainability Center and serves on the boards of The Ocean Foundation and Arbor Day Foundation. SHOW INTRO:A few years ago, my family gave me a book that was full of amazing illustrations of planet earth… without humans.The images it showed were both fantastic and tragic. But as you looked through the images one thing became perfectly clear, that earth without humans was actually OK. Now I'm not suggesting that we work hard to leave earth. On the contrary, I'm actually suggesting that we need to work harder at saving earth from ourselves.When you think about it, in the grand scheme of things, the big universal timeline, humans have been around for a micro moment, not even a blink of an eye. And to be sure, in the very short time that we've been around, we have done some pretty remarkable things. There isn't a day go by that I don't marvel at human ingenuity as well as the strange paradox that we equally seem to be working as hard at making this planet uninhabitable for ourselves well at the same time we're trying to save each other from devastating diseases to keep us alive for as long as we can.Which I suppose points to the idea that despite our irresponsible treatment of mother earth we really love being here.As an architect I am particularly tuned in to what our built environment costs, not in terms of materials or operating expenses, but in terms of what it does to the environment around us what natural resources we strip from the earth, the cost of shipping them to construction sites and the leftovers of the construction process that end up in landfill. As a LEED certified architect I'm even more tuned in to the lifespan of buildings and the impact that they have on the environment. Alan weismann’s book “The World Without US” brought to light some pretty interesting ideas regarding how the world would be if we simply retreated further into the background and let natural ecosystems take over.We've seen some of these changes over the past two years in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It's kept people inside, animals have had a chance to roam, our urban environments have become less raucous, the ozone layer has had a chance to mend and even the canals in Venice are running clear.So, it does tend to make you want to question what would happen to our planet if for example we weren't here. Now, having said that, I think most of us want to be here. We find this little blue dot spinning uncontrollably in the vast universe an astounding place to be with a wealth of natural resources flora and fauna, that if you look, just for a moment, you can be nothing but amazed at the complexity, beauty, detail and design of all things.It's not surprising as well that during this pause imposed on us over the past couple of years, that people have begun to reconnect to the value of nature. Biophilic design is rolling off the lips of more people these days than ever before and sustainable practices are being embraced and young GenZers, like Greta Thunberg, are being lauded for sailing across the ocean and bringing a global consciousness to the climate change issue.I can tell you, my sons are quite concerned about the planet they've inhe

ABOUT DR. CHARLES LIMB:USSF Health: https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/dr-charles-limbhttps://ohns.ucsf.edu/charles-limb https://profiles.ucsf.edu/charles.limbWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_LimbTED Profile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_LimbTED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_limb_your_brain_on_improvKennedy Center:https://www.kennedy-center.org/artists/l/la-ln/charles-limb/https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/center/discussionspoken-word/2017/jazz-creativity-and-the-brainsound-health-music-and-the-mind/https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/digital-stage/discussionspoken-word/2019/music-and-the-voice-brain-mechanisms-of-vocal-mastery-and-creativity--sound-health/https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/center/discussionspoken-word/2019/sound-health-inside-esperanza-spaldings-brain--the-kennedy-center/https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/center/classical-music/2018/music-and-the-mind-with-piano-prodigy-matthew-whitaker/The Art of The Spark: Musical Creativity Explored with Dr. Charles Limb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQmGOVr8aJ0Articles: https://www.artsandmindlab.org/charles-limb-md-mapping-the-creative-minds-of-musicians/On Creativity: mihaly csikszentmihalyihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi DR.CHARLES LIMB Bio:Dr. Charles Limb is the Francis A. Sooy Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the Chief of the Division of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at UC San Francisco. He is the Director of the Douglas Grant Cochlear Implant Center at UCSF and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Limb received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, medical training at Yale University School of Medicine, and surgical residency and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in functional neuroimaging at the National Institutes of Health. He was a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Peabody Conservatory of Music and the School of Education between 1996 and 2015. Dr. Limb joined the UCSF Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in 2015.Dr. Limb is the 2021-22 President of the American Auditory Society and the Co-Director of the Sound Health Network sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, NIH and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is the PI of an NEA Research Lab and Co-PI of an NIH R61/R33 grant. He is the past Editor-in-Chief of Trends in Amplification (now Trends in Hearing), and an Editorial Board member of Otology and Neurotology. Dr. Limb was selected as the 2022 NIH Clinical Center Distinguished Clinical Research Scholar and Educator in Residence. He was also named in 2022 as one of the Kennedy Center’s Next 50, a group of fifty national cultural leaders who are “moving us toward a more inspired, inclusive, and compassionate world”.His current areas of research focus on the study of the neural basis of musical creativity and the study of music perception in deaf individuals with cochlear implants. His work has received international attention and has been featured by National Public Radio, TED, 60 Minutes, National Geographic, the New York Times, PBS, CNN, Scientific American, the British Broadcasting Company, the Smithsonian Institute, the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sundance Film Festival, Canadian Broadcasting Company, the Kennedy Center, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Discovery Channel, CBS Sunday Morning, and the American Museum of Natural History.SHOW INTRODUCTION:A number of years ago I attended a series of lectures at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC that focus on music and the brain and as I sat and watched and listened to these presentations, I was absolutely amazed with the interrelationship between brain activity, spontaneous creativity, music, language meaning and all these things that we share as human beings.For years I've been fascinated with the creative process. It seems natural I suppose given that I'm an architect, an artist, an author and occasionally I might even consider myself a novice musician because I can bang out five chords of a James Taylor song on my guitar. I do however have the extraordinarily good fortune of living with three musicianS. MY sons who are jazz musician, a pianist and a drummer, and a wife who is also a pianist and composer/songwriter and have been surrounded by music and love it for years.In fact, when I paint, and I happen to be focusing on a series of portraits of famous jazz musicians and other musical artists, I only listen to their music as I'm creating. Somehow I think I'm channeling John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Keith Richards or Janis Joplin or Prince.But it helps, it really does. It gets me into a flow state and the world outside me just disappears. For a long time now I have held that creativity is part of who we are. We are equally Homo Faber man the maker as we are Homo Sapiens man the wise.

About Hannah Grady Williams:Hannah’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/hannah-williams-genz-ceo-advisorWebsite: hannahgwilliams.com/ (Personal Website)Phone: 828-490-7535 (Work)Email: [email protected]:As a 12-year-old middle schooler and the oldest daughter of seven children, Hannah Williams’s dad took her to work at his start-up one day per week. Usually, they would visit properties, collect rent, and file paperwork, but one afternoon was different. “Hey Hannah, the phone is ringing. There’s a guy on the other line with a house for sale and you’re going to close the deal.” Hannah took the phone and fumbled through the call, but sure enough, within weeks, they owned the property.Before long, Hannah was religiously consuming business books. She enrolled in college at age 14 and graduated with a degree in international business by 18. Since then, Hannah has consulted Fortune 500 companies and boutique luxury brands and has had the pleasure of working with some of the best and brightest leaders across the globe. Hannah is now on a journey to help companies connect with her generation, and her first book will be published in the Summer of 2021. In a time when the world is increasingly divided, Hannah has made it her mission to foster #RadicalEmpathy in the workplace - helping both young and old gain a voice.SHOW INTRODUCTION:Since watching my son Ben create Instagram posts years ago when he was 12, I have had an intense interest in what Gen Z was doing with their phones beyond using it for a communication device. As I have watched and seen the creativity pouring out of my sons in the making of digital content, I have become increasingly aware that what they are doing with their digital devices goes beyond texting, playing games and watching videos, they are imbibing content at a remarkable pace, learning more about the world than I knew about the world well into my early adulthood and… making stories.They are content creators writing narratives of their own lives. They are bringing to life themselves, their own personas, as individual brands, with strong points of view on politics, media, identity, social issues, the economy, climate change and more.As content creators they have a facility with media production not seen in generations before them. That power of connection into the digisphere lays in the palm of their hands and they come to the table with an expectation set that is very different that other consumers.Contrary to popular belief, they don’t love digital technology. They aren’t amazed orconfounded by it. It just is. It is as if it is simply another appendage that they wouldn’t be able to navigate the world without. And, this mindset has particular consequences in how brands and corporations will interact with them. As they create media content whether on FB, Instagram, TickTock or myriad other platforms, they become their own brands with thousands of followers who align with the projection of their personal brand image - all before the age of fifteen.They have become savvy marketers. They have had to, because to be relevant in their sphere of influence, they have attached relevancy to the system of ‘likes’ that tells them what they are producing and pushing out on digital platform is valid – that they are valid – that they exist and matter.As long as they are recognized for what they produce and validated for creating it, the Brand of Me counts. This is of course a real challenge, rife with psychological complexity and pitfalls that can lead to significant emotional issues. Nevertheless, they have had little say in the matter since they were born into a system of digital platforms that promulgates the creation of content that is targeted directly at the base of the brain stem feeding primitive neurobiological processes. But then, they are generally wise to that too.However, conscious awareness of the slippery slope that digital content consumption has them careening along, does not necessarily supplant brain chemistry that has one going back for more. Even if you have an inkling that it’s likely not good for you. Gen Z sees through inauthenticity and want straight talk and not BS. They’ll jettison brands that speak out of both side of their mouths paying lip service to social causes while they sit on a historical heap of supporting institutionalized inequities. They can smell a sales pitch a mile away and will dump a brand relationship in a minute, not necessarily because they don’t align with the company’s brand position, but that the company doesn’t align with their individual brand ideology.As culture shifts in response to exponential change, this emerging generation of experience-seeking consumers may be less tied to tradition as a benchmark for their engagement with a brand. They live in a series of nows. The fluid nature of the digitally enabled world might suggest that what has worked in the past is simply no longer relevant today, tomorrow or in the next moment. This group seems to be m