EPISODE 15: ANSWERING YOUR CREATIVE INTUITION
JOIN US FOR A ROUND TABLE WITH with guests, AL THOMAS and DAN COHEN, AS WE DISCUSS listening to and embracing our intuitions.
THE ROUND TABLE EXPLORES
Together we explore with creative producers and educators, Al Thomas and Dan Cohen, the evolving creative educational landscape, persistence as a skillset, and diversifying your creative network.
“And I go back to a mentor who said this all the time is that, ‘You just don't know who's waiting on you’. You don't know who's waiting on you to do whatever it is that you're doing. Like that thing that's been nagging at you in your heart to be able to create that you feel like you're not doing,” reflects Al Thomas. “You don't know who's waiting on you to create that thing, to step into that and to make space for that. And I think that is the thing where I'm constantly trying to reiterate to those that are having those urges, that there may be something greater that is out there for you. It may not be financially a windfall, but it may be something that is just so impactful that it creates this ripple through time.And I think that it's so important for us to just.”
“When someone joins and gets a job and it’s ‘Oh, I really don’t like it.’ When you ask someone, why don’t you like it? It’s ‘I’m not doing the work I should be doing, could be doing, my value is not realized’. One of the big things at the company I work at now, and they always ask you, is to come and be your authentic self.
You hear the word authenticity a lot, which is one of the reasons I really like working there because, twice a year we have these surveys that go out and we talk to our managers about being your authentic self and making sure you’re doing the work that you do best. And there’ve been times where it’s like a project will come in and they’re like, ‘Dan loves design, Dan loves working with design agencies, let’s give this to him’. And I think it takes a really good manager or leader to be able to see those things to be able to connect the job function with the person’s skillset or their passions.”
MEET THE GUESTS
AL THOMAS. An educational leader with a passion for creativity and the opportunities it can provide for students. Al has more than twenty years in the field of education as a teacher, principal, district-level director, and consultant. His passion is to develop and curate unique and innovative solutions that improve learning for all, and he believes that if we are to prepare students for future success, we must equip them with creative problem-solving skills that harness their talents and abilities. He is continually a sought after leader and presents with Adobe for Education, Google for Education, among other leading educational and technology conferences across the country.
DAN COHEN. A creative producer and program manager with over 15 years of experience working with a diverse range of creative teams across consumer products. Throughout his career, Dan has managed external agencies and in-house creative teams to execute both marketing campaigns and brand work for hardware, software and service products. His focus is on systems thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and process iteration, as you’ll see - Dan is detail oriented, but always looks to understand the big picture. As Creative Producer at Apple, he helped produce what is now known as Apple’s iconic packaging among other elevated design initiatives within the company As the first Senior Producer, he helped build out the in-house creative team to service the entire company. As Founder of Collective Good, Dan built an organization that connects designers and artists with non-profits to produce events and projects that raise money and awareness around social causes. Currently, Dan is Lead Program Manager at Facebook where for the last 6 years has led many extensive product and experience design and management projects.