Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Product Specialist, Ana Arriola-Kanada, grew up in ‘the valley’ just north of LA, watching Robotech and working in the family shop. She moved to Japan just after HS to work in Anime. An autodidact driven by a powerful work ethic and growth mindset, she propelled through all facets of tech & design playing key roles in the development of web design, emoji (Adobe), mobile computing and the original iPhone (Apple), UI/UX, PlayStation (Sony)…etc. It...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Lionel Ohayon was born in Canada to a family spanning Morocco, Israel, and Spain. This multi-cultural upbringing armed him with the ability to synthesize different inputs and understand complex topics from an early age, and an innate appreciation of hospitality. He founded ICRAVE as a design-build startup in 2002, and several ground-breaking projects later, is now leading the charge in reinventing hospitality experiences like the immersive and otherworldly Las Vegas Sphere, and the anxiety-reduc...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 208
Here’s my Valentine to you, Clever listeners. This episode is all about love and how to intentionally design and build the long-lasting, mutually fulfilling, loving relationships you desire. Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh, author of Love By Design: 6 Ingredients to Build a Lifetime of Love unpacks her paradigm-shifting model of Emergent Love, and helps us with exercises and epiphany-inducing re-defines of attraction, respect, trust, compassion, shared vision, and loving behaviors. Along the way we learn t...
Aug 06, 2024•56 min
Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten fell in love at first sight when they met in the office of Razorfish in the 90’s. But before then, Josh grew up straddling Miami and Vermont, where he gained experience navigating different worlds and perspectives. While Evan, growing up in Minneapolis, was bursting with curiosity, learning languages, and pushing to travel as often as possible. Their chemistry and compatibility ultimately led to the founding of COOL HUNTING. Now after 20 years, they are still explori...
Jul 30, 2024•58 min
For our very special 200th episode, we’re joined by world-renowned architect and designer Patricia Urquiola. While she’s now known internationally, growing up in Spain as the middle child she was often forgotten. She found a certain joy in this freedom of being “in between”. Declaring she’d be an architect at age 13, she went on to study with the pioneers of the time, growing her roots in systemic thinking and Magic Rationalism. Now, Studio Urquiola is a powerhouse of international design. Havin...
Jul 23, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Polymath Holly Howard has lived many lives. A former professional ballet dancer, bassoonist, medical researcher and board-certified music therapist, she’s pulled from science, art, and design to create a one-of-a-kind path for herself. Now, she runs the successful culture-first business consultancy, Ask Holly How, to help creative entrepreneurs grow personally and professionally, and better understand that business and creativity are more powerful when wielded together. Head to cleverpodcast.com...
Jul 16, 2024•57 min
Furniture designer Jomo Tariku grew up in Ethiopia in a home full of eclectic objects collected via his dad’s travels. In the U.S. with an Industrial Design degree, he embarked on a mission to change the western canon by designing modern furniture through an African lens. After initial heartbreak and years as a data scientist, Jomo Furniture is now in museums and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever! Images, links and more from Jomo! Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers , with editing by Rich S...
Jul 11, 2024•56 min
Interior designer and lifestyle expert Kerrie Kelly is known for her distinctive California-inspired design philosophy. She got her start at Ralph Lauren Home and then moved to Del Webb Corporation where she was a boots-on-the-ground high-volume designer of homes, before founding her multi-faceted design studio, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab, in 1995. A graduate of both design and business school, she blends both of these skill sets in her work as an interior designer, trendspotter, and brand partner....
Jun 18, 2024•40 min•Ep. 216
Artist, creative technologist, and educator, Idris Brewster grew up in Brooklyn, being filmed for a documentary about his education as a black student at a prestigious, primarily white, school. His coming-of-age, only partially caught on camera, included a lot of basketball and hands-on artistic development. A grant awarded in college gave him early access to VR technology which opened a path to combining all of his talents and interests and expressing them through new media. Now, as co-founder ...
Jun 11, 2024•57 min•Ep. 215
Architect & designer Marc Thorpe spent his youth, just outside of Washington DC, drawing and learning to navigate a destabilizing home environment. The son of two academics, he learned discipline, rigor, and resilience from his mom, while his dad, a critical thinker, taught him to challenge and interrogate everything. Always knowing he’d be an artist, he studied Industrial Design and Architecture, and instinctively flexed his ability to seize every opportunity, as well as create them from sc...
May 28, 2024•59 min•Ep. 214
Natsai Audrey Chieza spent her youth in Zimbabwe in a close-knit extended family where she and her cousins were “in each others’ pockets.” In her teenage years the national economy crashed, necessitating a family relocation to the UK, and she began learning the skill of “not belonging.” Architecture studies proved alienating so she found a way to combine them with her love of fashion (to the consternation of her professors.) Rejecting the prescribed path of a professional architect, she instead ...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 213
Ben Clymer grew up in a New York suburb, raised by middle-class public school teachers and enamored by his grandfather’s swagger and style. An Omega Speedmaster, a gift from said grandfather, is the piece that captured his heart and sets his story in motion. A painstakingly shy student, he began to gain self-confidence in high-school and a need to differentiate in college. In 2008 he started a tiny blog, HODINKEE, a passion-project about watches that gained traction and sent him on a mission to ...
Apr 30, 2024•56 min•Ep. 212
Co-founders of House of Rolison, Amanda Leigh and Taylor Hahn, grew up on opposite coasts but were both self-described angsty teens. Both had a deep love for art and architecture, choosing different professional paths before they met online and their fates intertwined. Their first date turned into a road trip and then quarantine-based cohabitation. Since starting House of Rolison, they’ve renovated a number of forgotten old homes into warm, elegant, modern beauties. Their complementary strengths...
Apr 16, 2024•47 min•Ep. 211
Frequently referred to as the godmother of Italian design, Marva Griffin Wilshire, grew up in a large family in Venezuela, reading House & Garden and rearranging the furniture. Drawn to Italy in the 1970’s, she landed a job as a secretary for Piero Busnelli, founder of B&B Italia, which opened up her entire world. She was introduced to architects and designers, getting a first-hand look at the inner workings of Italian design. Since then, she’s committed herself to giving young designers...
Apr 02, 2024•39 min•Ep. 210
Polymath Holly Howard has lived many lives. A former professional ballet dancer, bassoonist, medical researcher and board-certified music therapist, she’s pulled from science, art, and design to create a one-of-a-kind path for herself. Now, she runs the successful culture-first business consultancy, Ask Holly How, to help creative entrepreneurs grow personally and professionally, and better understand that business and creativity are more powerful when wielded together. Head to cleverpodcast.com...
Mar 19, 2024•57 min•Ep. 209
Lionel Ohayon was born in Canada to a family spanning Morocco, Israel, and Spain. This multi-cultural upbringing armed him with the ability to synthesize different inputs and understand complex topics from an early age, and an innate appreciation of hospitality. He founded ICRAVE as a design-build startup in 2002, and several ground-breaking projects later, is now leading the charge in reinventing hospitality experiences like the immersive and otherworldly Las Vegas Sphere, and the anxiety-reduc...
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 208
Illustrator, graphic designer, speaker and picture book-maker Andy J. Pizza grew up in the Indiana suburbs, the child of two diametrically opposite parents - dad in corporate finance and mom an artist. Often feeling out of place, he learned to cope by drawing and smoking cigarettes, before finding indie music, and from there gig posters and graphic design. Now, he’s a wildly successful illustrator and beloved podcaster who remains exceptionally honest, open, and real about the inner workings of ...
Feb 20, 2024•57 min•Ep. 207
Here’s my Valentine to you, Clever listeners. This episode is all about love and how to intentionally design and build the long-lasting, mutually fulfilling, loving relationships you desire. Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh, author of Love By Design: 6 Ingredients to Build a Lifetime of Love unpacks her paradigm-shifting model of Emergent Love, and helps us with exercises and epiphany-inducing re-defines of attraction, respect, trust, compassion, shared vision, and loving behaviors. Along the way we learn t...
Feb 06, 2024•56 min•Ep. 206
Nancy Baker Cahill spent her youth gaining an appreciation for both civic engagement and dark humor. Her creative passions were ignited with a powerful youth arts program, but then went dormant for a difficult spell in adulthood. Now, fully in her stride as a new media artist known for work that examines power, selfhood, and embodied consciousness, her AR artwork can be found covering Time Square, at international festivals, and floating in unexpected, intangible places, worldwide. Images, links...
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 175
Michael Ford is the designer and activist known as The Hip Hop Architect. Born in Highland Park, Michigan the son of a minister, Michael was raised to be inquisitive and question the world around him to find deeper truth. Early on, he found his passion for design and music, expanding it into a practice of architecture and design through the lens of Hip Hop culture. This led to his founding of The Hip Hop Architecture Camp®, a camp that positions Hip Hop Culture as a catalyst to introduce archite...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 141
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Product Specialist, Ana Arriola-Kanada, grew up in ‘the valley’ just north of LA, watching Robotech and working in the family shop. She moved to Japan just after HS to work in Anime. An autodidact driven by a powerful work ethic and growth mindset, she propelled through all facets of tech & design playing key roles in the development of web design, emoji (Adobe), mobile computing and the original iPhone (Apple), UI/UX, PlayStation (Sony)…etc. It...
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 205
Malene Barnett is an artist, activist, speaker and legacy maker working in one-of-a-kind ceramic sculptures and bespoke textiles. Raised in Norwalk, Connecticut, she’s an authority on the cultural traditions and practices of art in the African diaspora and how it translates into the modern black experience. She founded the Black Artists + Designers Guild, and is on a mission to use art as a tool to expand the conversation around marginalization in the arts and create greater opportunities for in...
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 132
Legendary visual artist Cey Adams grew up in NYC immersed in the excitement and danger of graffiti, embellishing buildings and tagging “Cey City” on subway cars. From there, he began selling in galleries along with contemporaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, and designing merch, logos and singles for Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J. As founding Creative Director of Def Jam he designed cover art for Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, etc., toured with his go...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 204
Lettering artist Lauren Hom was a super shy and studious child. Her crafty mother would make snacks with her initials cut out of cheese slices. In her teenage years, her first love led to slipping grades and the realization that her creativity, not science, would be her path to college. She sold her parents on going to art school with the promise of learning the advertising business. After a brief stint at an ad agency, she started freelancing with her art, and now has made an art out of freelan...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 119
Lighting Designer John Sorensen-Jolink grew up in Portland, filling his days with soccer, youth symphony, horseback riding, and taking cabs between schools to train for a future as a pro dancer. After 10 years of performing with the best of the best (think Twyla Tharp et al) he answered an urge to learn how to design and make objects grounded in human connection. Now Coil + Drift is celebrated for its material forward honesty and graceful gesture with light and space. I guess you can take the de...
Nov 14, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 203
Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten fell in love at first sight when they met in the office of Razorfish in the 90’s. But before then, Josh grew up straddling Miami and Vermont, where he gained experience navigating different worlds and perspectives. While Evan, growing up in Minneapolis, was bursting with curiosity, learning languages, and pushing to travel as often as possible. Their chemistry and compatibility ultimately led to the founding of COOL HUNTING. Now after 20 years, they are still explori...
Oct 31, 2023•58 min•Ep. 202
For this extra special episode, we’re taking a practical look at the modern leadership methods and values that support a thriving culture and new vision of prosperity. We’re joined by four exceptional leaders - Natalie Nixon, Creativity Strategist & CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, Jenny Vazquez-Newsum, author of “ Untapped Leadership: Harnessing the Power of Underrepresented Leaders ” and CEO of Untapped Leaders, Jen Ruckel, Senior VP of Sales at 3form, and Karli Slocum, VP of Product and Marketin...
Oct 24, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 201
For our very special 200th episode, we’re joined by world-renowned architect and designer Patricia Urquiola. While she’s now known internationally, growing up in Spain as the middle child she was often forgotten. She found a certain joy in this freedom of being “in between”. Declaring she’d be an architect at age 13, she went on to study with the pioneers of the time, growing her roots in systemic thinking and Magic Rationalism. Now, Studio Urquiola is a powerhouse of international design. Havin...
Oct 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 200
Julian Lennon’s adventurous spirit sprung from a semi-nomadic youth in the English countryside where he spent his days as a farm hand and climbing trees. He navigated the tricky world of being John Lennon’s son by finding peace in nature, which he channels into his many creative endeavors. Through music, photography, film, books, and philanthropy, Julian’s path reflects his dynamic, curious spirit. Images, links and more from Julian! Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers , with editing by ...
Oct 10, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 186
Sound Designer Dallas Taylor picked up the trumpet in grade school and a whole new world opened up. After a debilitating chapter, he needed to find a new way to translate his love of sound into a profession. He went from music to recording, and into post-production for TV and film. Now he’s the creative director of his leading sound design studio, Defacto Sound, and the host of a lovingly crafted (and very popular) podcast, Twenty Thousand Hertz, about the stories behind the world’s most recogni...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 199
