Episodes
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Together with cofounder Polina Veksler, Alexandra Waldman created Universal Standard in 2015 to obliterate the dividing line of size—a style barrier which often determines who has the privilege and freedom to dress with quality and style. Starting with the premise that clothes should look and feel good on everyone, Alex and Polina set out to design a line of contemporary, elevated essentials for all women and allow a size 2 and a size 32 to shop in the same way – using style as the only filter. Available in sizes 00 to 40, Universal Standard is currently the most inclusive brand in the entire world. This week Alexandra Waldman sits down with The Creative Muscle Podcast to discuss the meaning of clothes, who pays the price for fast fashion, and the role of fearlessness in generous creativity.
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Imagine you co-found something enormous and culture-shaping like, say, Kickstarter. Where do you go from there? How do you decide what to do next? Charles Adler is a designer and technologist who has dedicated his life to accelerating the creative work of others. In 2009, he co-founded Kickstarter, which has been catalyst to Academy Award-winning films, National Design Award-winning products, launched a satellite, created over 300,000 jobs, and distributed over $3.0 billion to creators across every continent. On this week’s episode of The Creative Muscle Podcast, Charles Adler discusses his process for determining what to create next, how to test your ideas, and the definition of terms you may not have heard before: “the ugly baby moment” and “flaneur.” You don’t want to miss this insightful interview! Note: Be sure to listen all the way to the end of the episode for an important announcement.
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Missing episodes?
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As we prepare to enter the third decade of the 21st century, fewer people than ever are working in traditional offices. Many of us do our work in coffee shops, airports, hotel rooms, on-location with clients, in co-working spaces, on trains and everywhere in between. We need to be able to fit our entire office into a bag. Peter Dunn spotted this trend from a mile away and created Topdrawer, a store that offers quality “Tools for Nomads” so people can do their best work wherever they are, using sustainably-made products that reduce landfill waste. Peter joined the Creative Muscle podcast to talk about the analog revolution, what our consumption habits are doing to the planet, and why gratitude is the key to everything. You don’t want to miss it!
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Six years ago Sarah Azzouzi and Kyla Embrey started a locally-owned, woman-owned and minority-owned small business called Lost Girls Vintage, a pop-up shop operating out of a 1976 Dodge RV Camper (and now a brick-and-mortar store in West Town), selling vintage clothing they source themselves. Their collection runs the gamut from Victorian garments to pieces any Spice Girl would be proud of, and everything in between. And the thing that ties it together is that they only sell what they love. They joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about owning your identity, giving others permission to express themselves, and the importance of starting before you know what you’re doing. Added bonus: take a listen to find out which Spice Girl Nathan Michael dressed up as in high school. :)
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So many people go into creative work because they want to make something that will be noticed or make an impression. But what about the kind of creativity that's meant to blend in with our everyday life? Industrial and product design is usually a success when we barely notice the way it seamlessly flows into our lifestyle. Providing alternatives to single-use plastic, Ello creates eco-friendly glassware products that are affordable, accessible and beautiful. They partner with a non-profit called H2OpenDoors, selling their products to raise money for a solar-powered water system in Kenya that will become the foundation for a women-run social enterprise. Director of Design Glen Gilmore and Director of Social Impact/Senior Industrial Designer Micaela McCabe joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about channeling your passion for social impact into meaningful work, how to vet partners, and why you should run your ideas by non-experts.
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Do all craft brewery taprooms have to be industrial spaces with loud music blasting over guys drinking hoppy beers at tables made of reclaimed wood? Samantha Lee thinks not. She is the co-founder of Hopewell Brewing, a remarkable craft brewery in Logan Square, Chicago, known not only for its accessible beers, but also for the bright, welcoming design of its taproom, and generous, hospitable presence in the community. She joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about pink beer, living wages, and why your business plan doesn’t need to be 30 pages long.
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In many operas and plays you see characters get stabbed, shot or killed in a fight. Or course, no one’s really dying or getting hurt, but it has to look like they are. That’s where Nick Sandys comes in. Nick is a certified Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors. His award-winning choreographed violence has been seen on Broadway in Steppenwolf's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, and all over Chicago, including 25 productions at Goodman Theatre and over 50 operas at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He gave The Creative Muscle Podcast a powerful masterclass on being a polymath, how to network through generosity, how to fund your creative habit, and the unexpected ways in which thoughtful, well-staged violence can save the human race.
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It’s no secret that there are astonishingly high levels of gun violence in Chicago, particularly among young people. Could creativity be part of the solution? Project Fire is an artist development employment program that offers healing through glassblowing. They’re a dauntless band of therapists, social workers and artists who combine glass arts education, mentoring, and psychoeducation to support trauma recovery and create jobs for youth injured by gun violence in Chicago. Psychologist Bradley Stolbach, PhD, glass artist Pearl Dick and trauma specialist Brittney Autry joined us in the studio to talk about processing emotions through art, failing safely, and the importance of adaptability.
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If you want to learn and grow, do you have to go back to school and get a Master’s Degree? Victor Saad designed his own Master’s by completing 12 projects in 12 months. He called it The Leap Year Project and his experiences culminated with staging his own graduation at a local TEDx and publishing a book of stories focused on the power of learning through risk. He later launched Experience Institute, a program for college students and career professionals to learn and grow through short-term, real-world experiences. In 2015, he was inducted into Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in the field of education. In 2017 he joined the team at Stanford’s School of Engineering as a Lecturer in Design. This week he joins The Creative Muscle to talk about how to expand your comfort zone, how to keep a learner’s mindset, and how to decide what to do next.
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If you’re freaked out by a recipe with more than ten ingredients, if you don’t know what to make for dinner tomorrow, if you’re ready to take your cooking game to the next level, Teri Turner is here for you. She is a master collaborator, blogger, food columnist, regular contributor to Whole30 and editor @thefeedfeed. In anticipation of her new cookbook No Crumbs Left (coming out May 21st!), she joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about the trouble with truffles, the importance of exploration, generosity, moxie, marinated onions, and not diluting yourself to become palatable to others.
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Why does it seem like art is so expensive? How much money goes to the artist and how much goes to the middle man? Where can people turn if they value quality art but can’t afford the price point of traditional galleries? The Other Art Fair was born from a realization of the gap between an audience eager to discover meaningful pieces for their walls and talented artists hoping to share their work. This week the fair’s director Sophie Lucas sits down with The Creative Muscle to help us understand the ins and outs of the wild world of art. As a bonus, you’ll get to hear from three emerging talents featured at the fair: architect and painter Nathan Casteel, printmaker Emily Shopp, and craftivist Shannon Downey (Badass Cross Stitch). Take a listen and be sure to stop by The Creative Muscle booth at The Other Art Fair at Mana Contemporary May 16-19.
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From collaborations with Feist, Drake and Daft Punk to breaking the Guinness World Record for Longest Solo Piano Performance in history (27 hours), Grammy-winning musician Chilly Gonzales is one of the world’s most interesting musical scientists, a purveyor of the mischievous and sardonic, a revivor of Romantic-era chamber music, a revelator of the deep joys of solo piano, and the founder of his very own music school, The Gonzervatory. In this insightful and thought-provoking episode, Gonzo shares with the Creative Muscle his beliefs about the power of being an outsider, the difference between success and money, and why it’s healthy to express your fantasies through art.
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Growing up, Erika Sánchez did not see anyone who looked like her represented in the books she was reading. So she decided to solve the problem herself by putting her own authentic Mexican-American voice into the world through writing. Her novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is a New York Times-bestseller and a finalist for the National Book Award. She is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, and has written for Rolling Stone, The Guardian, TIME, Cosmopolitan, Jezebel, and many other publications. She talked to the Creative Muscle about identity, truth, judgment, and the importance of serving the work instead of the ego. As an added bonus, listen to this episode to find out which of the hosts is Not Your Perfect Mexican Son. :)
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Ok, we can’t avoid it any longer. It’s time to talk about the F word. Probably not the one you’re thinking of. We’re finally broaching the dreaded topic of...finances. Specifically, the Top 5 Financial Mistakes Freelancers Make. Why is it so taboo to talk about money? Why is there so much shame around what is or isn’t in our bank accounts, especially for people in creative fields? This week the Creative Muscle hosts get vulnerable and open up about their failures and mistakes, tips and tricks, and things they wish they’d known when they first went freelance. Don’t bury your head in the sand! Instead, listen to this episode to wise up about zero-sum budgets, tax write-offs, pricing yourself accurately, subscription audits, saving for retirement, and why it’s never too early to start being generous.
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Today is International Women’s Day, and we are featuring one of our favorite female artists in town: celebrated muralist Lauren Asta, whose public art has become recognizable from the Bay Area all the way to NYC. In Chicago’s West Loop her playful and iconic murals have been the backdrop for thousands of selfies, engagement photos, graduation photos and even baby announcements. Our city is truly a more beautiful and interesting place because of Lauren. This week she dropped by the studio to talk about how taking a random job at a distillery led to the opportunity that launched her career, why you should make art for yourself that no one sees, the upsides and downsides of social media for creatives, and what every person starting out in their career needs to know. Take a listen for some important advice and real talk from a smart, scrappy woman whose work makes the world a more abundant place.
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Jahmal Cole thought his only career options were to be a basketball player or a rapper because that’s all he could see in the neighborhood where he grew up. It wasn’t until a Greyhound bus trip to Texas took him outside the city that he realized there was a great big world out there waiting to be discovered. Decades later, Cole is a multiple award-winning youth mentor, author and community organizer who has been named “Chicagoan of the Year” and one of the “20 Most Inspiring Chicagoans.” His organization My Block, My Hood, My City takes youth from under-resourced Chicago schools on field trips around the city in order to overcome isolation, boost educational attainment, and open them up to new possibilities for their lives. In one of our most inspiring interviews to date, Jahmal Cole tells the Creative Muscle his harrowing story of overcoming obstacles, using creativity to beat seemingly insurmountable odds, the importance of mentors, the need for the long game, and power of goals.
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What should you do when no one’s hiring you to do the kind of work you want to do? How do you find the balance between creating things that make money vs. the things you personally love and want to see? This week the co-hosts of the Creative Muscle sort through interesting and important questions about navigating passion projects, how to be present to your “yes” when accepting an opportunity, knowing when it’s time to make a change, and thinking intentionally about the three forms of payment: money, experience, and influence.
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A lot of people have developed their skills and passions into successful careers that bring satisfaction and profit. But what if businesses could be more than just profitable? What if they could play a bigger and more meaningful role in the world? Flowers for Dreams CEO Steven Dyme has built a socially conscious company that not only brings smiles to the faces of people receiving flowers delivered by bicycle, but also contributes to the greater good by donating a quarter of their profits to amazing local charities. With hand-written notes accompanying the bouquets, blooms sustainably sourced from local farmers, and the all-around good vibes that come from working hard at something that benefits the community, Steven’s story is a case study in profit and purpose working together. He sat down with the Creative Muscle team to discuss the value of starting out with no money, the importance of tackling one thing at a time, and why some businesses choose to be great instead of big.
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When you find a problem in the world that needs to be confronted but it falls outside your area of expertise, what should you do? Start over? Go back to school and get a whole new degree? Born in Naples and raised in Milan, Chef Bruno Abate spent several successful decades in the food business before finding in himself a passion to reform the American prison system. But how? His solution was to utilize his existing skill set to create Recipe for Change, a culinary arts training program inside Cook County Jail, providing a solution to the problem of inmates released without job skills or self-confidence. We couldn’t be more excited or honored to feature Chef Bruno on our first episode of 2019, a year we hope will be marked by many more conversations with and about using creativity to change the world for good.
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It's been a year full of ups and downs, surprising turns and new revelations. Events in the news like soccer players trapped in a cave, the royal wedding, Senate Judiciary hearings and the March for Our Lives proved that everyone must use creativity- from rescue divers to wedding planners to government leaders and high school protest organizers. Creativity and empathy have been in high demand in 2018, and they will be even more in 2019. This week, in what our co-host Jon Guerra calls a dose of "extra-high-octane-super-charged-inspiration," we bring you some of our favorite moments from interviews this past year, and fill up on gratitude, courage and enthusiasm for the year ahead. Take a listen to get refreshed on the best and brightest nuggets of wisdom from 2018 and get calibrated for 2019. Take a listen!
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