After years of learning in the agency business, championing and doubling-down on a project-based model, Trevor Hubbard is on a mission to wipe out failure. The one thing standing in his way? Clarity, or lack of it. Having co-founded, and then bought outright, his agency Butchershop in California, Trevor's hit on a formula for a successful business, projects and client relationships. The Clarity Project. A concept that introduces us to the pre-mortem (over the post-mortem) and a way of looking at...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Kelly Mackenzie founded White Bear in 2014. Since then it's gone from strength to strength. No surprise really, as when we caught up with Kelly it was clear that she doesn't let much stand in her way. We chat about the challenges that women in the creative industry can face in rising to the top and how even, for all designers, this industry can sometimes feel like an extreme sport. Kelly's story of how they continued to grow during the pandemic is also a great case study on how to grow a communi...
Sep 18, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 13
We chat with Ekaterina Solomeina the founder of Future London Academy. Ekaterina challenges the traditional concept of University, a linear career path and how we learn. What happens when we move into the next phases of our career as we need to continue to learn, develop and grow? And, as we move into a quest for more diverse teams, how do we create the environments and culture to ensure that they thrive? Plus... how do you compose yourself and not freeze when you meet Donatella Versace? And, le...
Aug 28, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 12
An incredible, far-reaching episode with experts on the future and our mental health. Prue Jones, Design Director at Fjord provides a unique perspective on where to from here in 2020. Dr Zac Seidler, a psychologist and specialist in men's mental health, who also works with Movember shares practical, respectable and relevant advice. Hear advice and opinions on what will the future of our work look like? How do we build resilience? I'm at my wit's end... where to from here? and... how much vulnera...
Aug 19, 2020•57 min•Season 3Ep. 11
18 months on from our first study into the mental health and wellbeing of the creative, media and marketing industry, we’re back with a deeper dive. The purpose of the second study was to evaluate what’s changed since 2018 and to further understand how people cope and what can be done to improve the situation. This episode includes a recording of the live presentation of the results with Professor Carmel Loughland, the Director of Everymind, our research legend, Ross Tynan, Nina Nyman, co-chair ...
Jul 29, 2020•55 min•Season 3Ep. 10
When Brooke Strozdas wrote about her side hustle observations she was just letting off steam. Then bang, Twitter responded and she'd clearly hit on something that many people must have been thinking. Why all the pressure to have a side hustle? Is it becoming a mandatory? Is having a side hustle more important than the skills and passion you have for your regular job? Why are employers placing such an importance on it. Andy reached out to Brooke (despite Brooke asking that we stop asking!) and th...
Jul 17, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 9
With guests, Jess Lilley, Creative Director of Leo Burnett and Aileen Alegado, Psychologist. We discuss when's the right time to ask for a payrise. Is our industry ageist? And what's Survivors Guilt and how do we get over it? Register for future Asking For A Friend events at https://www.nevernotcreative.org/asking-for-a-friend. Links: https://mindsetpsychology.com.au/ https://mindsetpsychology.com.au/ebook/ https://jesslilley.com/ https://www.gabberish.com/...
Jul 06, 2020•58 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Andy first met Daniele Fiandaca in 2002. He was COO at (then) independent agency Profero. They were his agency and he was their client. Since leaving Profero in 2009, Daniele has gone on to co-author 3 books including 'Creative Superpowers: Equip Yourself for the Age of Creativity', become Head of Innovation at Cheil, co-founded Token Man, Brand Social, Creative Social, Culture Social and Innovation Social, hit the front page of a British tabloid, and co-founded Utopia, the culture change busine...
Jun 22, 2020•46 min•Season 3Ep. 7
When we stumbled across Creative Confessions in our insta feed, we sensed an immediate familiarity. Veronica Mike and Josh Schneider are on a mission to improve the stigma surrounding mental health in the creative industry. Based in Brooklyn, New York they've been researching with creatives across the world as well as creative leaders in New York and across the USA. Sarah and Andy chat to Mike and Josh about their findings, stories they've heard and how we can get better about opening up about o...
May 26, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 6
This episode is a fully loaded chat with Andrew Dobbie (Founder of Made Brave) and Peter Czapp (Founder of The Wow Company). One's a creative founder, the other's an accountant – in fact, Peter is Andrew's accountant. In this fascinating chat, they share stories of how they and other agencies are coping right now. There's lots of advice for how to get through everything that's happening in 2020 and how to plan to come out the other side winning. Thanks to: The Wow Company, and this special resou...
May 07, 2020•43 min•Season 3Ep. 5
This episode is from our April Asking For A Friend event. We all know that “asking for a friend”is an easier way to ask a tough question. So once a month we’re going to allow anyone anywhere to “ask for a friend”, to an industry leader, and a psychologist, anonymously, and online. Asking For A Friend is an initiative by Never Not Creative, Young Bloods Australia and Mentally-Healthy. It exists to make it easier for creatives to ask the unaskable. Wherever you are, tune in on the first Thursday o...
Apr 21, 2020•58 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Sean Hall has seen almost every nook and cranny of our industry. From working in one of Australia's most iconic agencies to running one of Australia's most iconic brands, he now focuses on helping as many of us as possible to improve our energy levels and mental wellbeing. Energx is Sean's business and passion and it's taken him around the country and onto the stage of TEDx to share his unique insights into what makes us tick. Sean has also been kind enough to share his time in the Never Not Cre...
Apr 03, 2020•48 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In this episode Sarah and Andy chat to Mitch Wallis, the Founder of the Heart on My Sleeve Movement. Entwined within Mitch's story about his own Mental Health journey is solid scientific and strategic advice on how to tackle mental health at work. The difference between addressing performance and addressing mental health, and how we can all play a role in looking after ourselves and each other. Mitch is fast becoming one of the most recognisable faces in mental health in Australia and works with...
Mar 10, 2020•44 min•Season 3Ep. 2
We’re back. Season 3 kicks off with Chris Freel and Nina Nyman from Unltd. We talk all things mental health and how to do good in our industry. Perfect timing as we’ve recently launched the new Mentally-Healthy survey (got take it now - link in bio) and Nina is also the co-chair of the Mentally-Healthy Change Group with Andy. This is a great chat about what happened behind the scenes with our work last year, but also shines a light on the great work that Unltd do helping to connect our industry ...
Feb 24, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In our final episode of Season 2 and 2019, Andy and Sarah catch-up with the formidable "Monty" AKA Sarah Montague, Creative Director at ooh! Media. With her career as a Solid Gold dancer over before it even began, Monty got into the world of advertising. 23 years later and it's still all about the words, the pictures, the gold nugget of a human insight, where you're connecting with your audience and most of all, the emotion. Emotion is a suit she wears and taps into daily. On a personal level, s...
Dec 21, 2019•54 min•Season 2Ep. 18
We caught lettering artist and typographer, Craig Black as he was whizzing around Australia for his national AGDA tour. But better than that, we also invited his wife Alison to bring her expertise as a mental health nurse to our conversation about mental health and the life of a creative. Craig has shared a lot about his personal story, "and while he's the happiest he's ever been" he's inevitably endured the ups and downs of the creative's rollercoaster along the way. This is one of the most per...
Nov 14, 2019•56 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Sarah and Andy catch up with Shruti Rai about designing for the edge cases and how to embrace audiences and use cases that we might not be comfortable with. Diversity becomes a major theme of our conversation and inevitably, the benefits that a more diverse team can bring to the perspective and solutions for a project. Shruti is an experience designer that counts R/GA on her resumé among many other globally renowned brands and businesses. Having recently become a mother, we also discuss our indu...
Oct 30, 2019•41 min•Season 2Ep. 16
This episode, Andy is in Tasmania for Foundry Live. Foundry Live is a conference by Foundry Creative School in Tasmania. Every few months they invite industry leaders to speak to their students and local businesses. At the end of September, Andy attended alongside Todd Henderson, Director of architecture firm, Cumulus; Chi Ryan, Experience Strategy Director at pwc and Marcel Jacobs, Design Lead at Mentally Friendly. Given the audience at the event, this episode is especially good for those of yo...
Oct 16, 2019•46 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Professor David Alais is a psychologist and neuroscientist at The University of Sydney. Sarah and Andy caught up with David to understand better how the creative mind works, and how we can do a better job of looking after it. David's research focuses on how we perceive the world through our senses, how we interpret and create our reality, and how we deal with ambiguity and imagine solutions. This episode covers everything from mindfulness to mindlessness and how being productive with your creati...
Sep 04, 2019•41 min•Season 2Ep. 14
This episode is packed full of advice on running a business as a creative – get your notebooks out! Andy and Sarah caught up with Emily Cohen, creative business consultant and author of Brutally Honest. We discussed the challenges facing creative businesses, changing models, how to deal with clients, and how to get serious about business. Emily shared why it's good to be transparent with your employees, friends with your competition, how the next generation of creatives are much more business sa...
Aug 20, 2019•51 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Andy and Sarah caught up with Chris Doyle who last year started an initiative called This Is Not University. TINU is a mentoring program that Chris started to help bridge the gap between education and career as he realised that he didn’t have the time / money to be able to commit to hiring interns. Almost a year in and Chris joins us with Wilson Leung, the first participant in the program and now full time employee of Christopher Doyle & Co. We discuss Chris’ goals for the programme Wilson’s...
Aug 07, 2019•57 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Our industry is nothing without the people who make it. So, what do we do to make sure they're thriving? How are we helping them grow? In this episode, Andy and Sarah catch up with Manon Pietra, People and Culture Director at PHD Media . We discuss how to talk about and develop job satisfaction, the minimum standards of a mentally healthy workplace that you should expect from your employer and what we can all do to help look after each other. If you enjoy this episode and would like to keep talk...
Jul 24, 2019•46 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Australian Design Radio and Never Not Creative hosts Matt Leach and Andy Wright found themselves in Brisbane together at The Design Conference. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to combine mics and interview the founders of Ustwo, Sinx and Mills about the ups and downs of running a business and what it's like to do all of that as best mates. You can follow Ustwo and Mills at @ustwo or @millsustwo - thanks to the guys for such a great chat! Thanks to @Streamtime for making a lot of what we do happen...
Jul 06, 2019•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 10
After a month of high quality events in the creative industry, Sarah and Andy unpack how important it is to get out to find inspiration, community and spend some time on your own self-development. Sarah attended Rare by Google , Semi-Permanent and The Design Conference (TDC), while Andy was also a co-host of TDC. We discuss the great job these events are doing, why it's important to take the time to attend and what we've learnt in the last month. This is also a great insight into the content and...
Jun 07, 2019•43 min•Season 2Ep. 9
This episode was sparked by a tweet. On the 2nd April, Andy tweeted, "Sometimes it feels like we really don't want to create a better industry. When you look at what we do to the people trying to start out or get ahead it's simply baffling..." It was followed by a series of examples and stories that people had shared through the Never Not Creative community. Quite a few of you chipped in with thoughts and opinions, and some of the active participants of the conversation agreed to get together an...
May 22, 2019•51 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Big questions in this episode. Is the lack of diversity in the creative industry holding us back? Can we be more creative as a result? What's it like to be a person of colour in our industry? Jane and G work in a Sydney creative agency. Both people of colour from London, they're certainly a minority in the Australian creative industry. What has their experience been so far? How can we help more people get into our industry? We discuss everything from quotas to education and family expectations. ...
May 08, 2019•58 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Maggie Tang (ex Frost, Houston Group and current Head of Brand at Ableton), and Christian Hewitt ex R/GA, part of InVision's Design Leadership Forum and current Head of Design at Streamtime) join Andy and Sarah to discuss what it's like to make the decision to go in-house as a creative. Will you compromise your creativity? Do you get bored working on one brand? Are the hours and your mental health better? And, why are more and more people crossing the line? If you like the discussion and think o...
Apr 25, 2019•50 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This episode Andy and Sarah discuss a recent Never Not Creative event – The Future Of Internships. Should they or shouldn't they be paid? How do we make sure that internships aren't just accessible to those who can afford them? What stories exist around unpaid internships? What's the law? Why is our industry breaking it? What's the role of education in improving this situation? Included on the panel at the event were: Beau Penton, host of The Design Kids, Sydney Bianca Jarvis, Graphic Designer R...
Apr 09, 2019•51 min•Season 2Ep. 5
We catch up with Katy Cowan, the founder of Creative Boom. The online magazine for the creative industry that supports and provides resources for anyone working (or thinking of) in the creative industry. Katy shares stories of freedom, growing a side project, and finding the balance of doing what you love AND helping others. Is growing business the goal, or should we focus on growing ourselves and managing our mental health? Oh, and is a mid-life crisis actually a thing? Check out Creative Boom ...
Mar 27, 2019•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 4
In this episode we get frank about the experiences of women in the creative industry. Mirella Marie is the founder of Womentor. An international mentor network for female graphic designers. Mirella talks to us about the inspiration for Womentor and how it has evolved into a global program. We also find the link between design and crime as Mirella shares her passion for criminology and the part she plays in the RMIT innocence project. If you're interested in applying for Womentor, head to womento...
Mar 12, 2019•36 min•Season 2Ep. 3
