![[ep 097] Zeke Reed on storytelling through audio, current landscape of journalism, and balancing creativity & academics](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts116/v4/c1/ca/fb/c1cafb61-5a84-00ee-1dc5-9e233164cd6c/mza_14502653215653207547.jpg/250x250bb.jpg)
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Zeke Reed is pure energy in motion. Whether reporting compelling stories for KCRW or producing music in his Topanga Sessions sound studio, he’s constantly contemplating, creating, and doing.
During his early childhood, his father worked as an NAACP defense attorney while his mother pursued her PhD in Theatre at UCLA. Seeking a closer connection to nature, the family relocated from Venice Beach to Topanga Canyon, where Zeke spent much of his childhood exploring the hillsides. Although both parents were accomplished academics and professionals, they also nurtured his deep passion for creativity and music—his father had been a violinist in the University of Virginia orchestra. In fifth grade, Zeke joined a gifted school program in The Valley, broadening his horizons beyond the tight-knit Topanga community.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Zeke also attended UVA, where he pursued neuroscience. This path was inspired by a neighbor who worked in the field and led Los Angeles County’s Department of Mental Health. His college thesis on Detroit earned him a spot in the CORO Fellows Program, giving him hands-on experience in public affairs across multiple sectors. Yet, despite this academic trajectory, Zeke felt an enduring pull toward music. He formed a band with a friend, performing at college parties, and continued to develop his creative identity.
Today, Zeke bridges his academic and creative pursuits with an interdisciplinary approach. By day, he’s a values-driven journalist; by night (and any other available hour), he’s a musician/producer who recently released his first EP Mushroom Disco.
In this episode, we explore his mother’s time with a troupe of gypsy actors in Eastern Europe during the Cold War; his self-designed course of study in college that sparked an interest in urban politics and cities; and music as a lifelong thread—from playing the cello in the LA Junior Philharmonic to performing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. We also delve into his growing role in the global music community, the intersection of journalism and sustainable business models, and much more.[TIMESTAMPS]
4:03 - Growing up
11:34 - If he ever felt pressure to lean into academics
12:58 - Why he chose neuroscience at the University of Virginia
17:46 - Music as a thread and starting his college band
20:10 - The music versus academic path
25:38 - His creative process
30:05 - His values as a journalist
42:06 - His philosophy of “tastes beginning to match your abilities”
48:48 - How he feels about his life
51:57 - Final question
54:49 - Where to connect with Zeke
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
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Priscilla Jimenez has a sharp intelligence and curious gaze, and to call her talented is an understatement. She’s the founder of Push More Buttons—a multidisciplinary creative studio merging music, tech, and design—as well as a music producer and DJ. An established creative & art director, Priscilla has designed work for Madonna, Eric Clapton, and My Chemical Romance, as well art directed for clients Pinkberry, TNT, TBS & more.
Born to parents who immigrated to Los Angeles from Mexico, her upbringing was shaped by a vibrant East LA culture. Her mother was a seamstress and her father an upholsterer, working hard to build a life for Priscilla and her brothers. She spent childhood summers in Ensenada, Mexico, where her parents are from, a memory she recalls in detail to this day.
Priscilla spent solo time as a kid watching films and playing with photography, media & computers. Her music love began with her siblings and an uncle, who influenced her through the genres they listened to and instruments they played—when she was 14, one of her brothers got into DJ-ing and opened her up to a new world of music-making.
In her early 20s, a mentor encouraged her to apply for a @warnerrecords internship—the creative director there hired her full-time, before she left for the ArtCenter College of Design. She began posting DJ routines on her YouTube channel, racking up millions of views, and eventually created her own agency after landing scholarships from Kit Hinrichs of Pentagram and working at other agencies.
In this episode, we get deep into why cooking for others is so important to her, how music & creativity wove into her life as a kid, and what’s currently emerging at the intersection of music and technology. We explore her approach to blending systematic thinking with free-flowing creativity and love letters to her family & East LA.[TIMESTAMPS]
3:40 - Growing up
17:11 - Where her love for music came from
21:37 - The origins of Push More Buttons
31:15 - Her creative process and if she feels that its the same with music production
37:23 - What she is seeing in music and technology that is piquing her interest
42:04 - How she has seen the music industry has evolved
45:32 - Love letters to her family and East LA
47:19 - Final Question
48:47 - Where to find her
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
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Marcy Bulkeley has infinite layers to her: powerful, creative, mystical, gentle, bold, and nurturing all at once. With over 25+ years in the music industry, she’s a respected music supervisor, having scored trailers and created original music for films like Dawn of the Dead, Inception, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse & Looper.
In 2019, she joined Universal Music Group as VP of Music Curation + Sync A&R. During the pandemic, she led an initiative to create music for meditation apps, collaborating with Kacey Musgravdes, Jhene Aiko, and Katy Perry.
After recently leaving UMG, Marcy launched her creative baby: Subtle Mother, where she guides musicians, producers & songwriters from across the globe in creating music as healing across all platforms.
She grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, where generations of her family were raised. Nature was woven into her early life, from the town’s gardens to lakes and rivers in upstate New York. Music was a constant companion—her mother had her listening to Michael Jackson and film scores, and her father would play her The Beatles and Cat Stevens. When she was 11-years-old, Marcy got the chance to go to a recording studio with her father and, after, told him she wanted to put music to picture.At 12, she picked up her first drink and her long journey to sobriety began. Through darker times, music was always grounding. After Emerson College, Marcy did stints with record labels, publishing companies, and music producers, leading to a coveted internship with the legendary G. Marq Rosswell. She discovered kundalini yoga, meditation, and breathwork during this era and got sober by age of 29.
In this conversation, we explore how playlists are time capsules in one’s life; intentionality of film scoring & music supervision and the importance of lyrics; what she learned at UMG; birthing Subtle Mother into the world; what music as medicine means; creating with her husband Danny; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
7:57 - Growing up
12:25 - Why sound tracks and film scores are important for her
23:21 - Did the way she listen to music change on her journey to sobriety
27:13 - Her creative process
33:47 - Her time with Universal Music Group
57:45 - What to expect from Subtle Mother
01:00:53 - Where to find her
01:02:00 - Final question
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
Dallas Sauer and Savannah Fox embody the term ‘beautiful souls’. Before their current endeavor Dome Home, Savannah worked in wellness marketing and Dallas is a sought-after commercial & narrative director/producer, working with Nike, Amazon Canada, Remy Martin, and Pepsi.
Savannah was born in Ottawa, Canada, then moved to the Kootenays as a toddler. Her parents met in a communal house, though they eventually separated. Her father is an artist who lives a nomadic, spiritual life—she often travelled with him when young, embuing her with a sense of adventure. When Sav graduated, she visited India and met travel nurses who inspired her to apply to nursing. But she lost her passion after practicum and headed to Nicaragua, where she had a jarring near-death experience while surfing.
Dallas grew up in a small town, only 25 minutes away from Savannah. His parents also split when he was young, so he shuttled between Castlegar and Nelson, BC. He was an athlete—though always felt like a storyteller and harbored an artistic side, participating in community theater and writing. An eventual move to Vancouver kickstarted his successful journey as a creative.
A beautiful love story, they reconnected years after high school and now are partners in life and purpose. Their venture is Dome Home, a stunning property in Baja, Mexico, that’s a 20-minute walk from a freshwater source and lined with fruit trees planted in the 1960s. Its surreal structure, built by Sav's father, is the only domed earth bag home in existence. This year, they opened its doors for stays, collaborations, and retreats.
In this episode, we talk about quality time & presence; Dallas’ passion for authentic storytelling; cultivating harmony between relationships & land; how Dome Home came to be; their vision for creating a healing space & community; and more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
5:32 - Savannah growing up
14:10 - How communal living shaped Sav’s views on living
25:05 - Dallas growing up
36:23 - How they ‘re-met’ one another
43:21 - Dome Home
57:55 - Final question
01:01:06 - Where to find them
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
Elisa Kosonen's empathetic, intuitive nature is a gift. It's why she is an incredible storyteller, having spent the last few decades in various senior level roles—editor, writer, publicist, marketing & communications—at magazines (NUVO and Flare), start-ups (Garmentory), and global brands (Aritzia and Mindful Collective). Now a registered holistic nutritionist, she recently launched her practice 14 Carrots. Her offerings include 1:1 coaching focused on reconnecting to your physiology and discovering your unique nutritional needs, reconnecting with your body/mind, and creating a lasting foundation for a full and energetic life.
Raised in the suburbs surrounding Vancouver, her childhood was idyllic—her father was an educator, her mother launched a career counseling business, and the home was filled with fun. Elisa was both creative and athletic, fascinated with the body from a young age. Though excelling in English, she always wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon—so, at university, she began a major in kinesiology. But it didn't feel aligned at the time and she explored other avenues, finding her lane in journalism. After graduating, she landed an editor role at NUVO Magazine, then had life chapters in London and New York. When her late mother was diagnosed with cancer, she returned to Vancouver and settled into her career. During the pandemic, her true calling came knocking—and she went back to school to become a registered holistic nutritionist & certified health coach.
In this episode, we discuss her creativity and penchant for storytelling; what she's learned about the beautiful interconnectivity of our bodily systems; understanding the crucial role of digestion & being present with our meals; how trying different foods can help us discover what makes us feel our best; rituals and mindfulness in eating; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
00:00 - Introduction and Childhood in Coquitlam
06:03 - Exploring Creativity and Storytelling in the Fashion Industry
13:09 - Transitioning from Fashion to Nutrition
31:13 - Personalized Nutrition and Unique Nutritional Needs
36:22 - Tuning Into Our Bodies and Exploring Different Foods
39:24 - Honoring Cultural and Ethnic Influences on Food Preferences
41:06 - Rituals and Mindfulness in Eating
45:14 - The Power of Holistic Nutrition for Well-being
50:13 - Finding Joy and Adventure in Our Meals
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
Thara Vayali is a naturopathic doctor, public speaker and educator blazing new trails when it comes to women’s wellbeing and improving a broken healthcare system. And she’s paving it not only with innovation but with intuition and compassion, too.
She is profoundly connected to herself, her body, and elements of nature—foundational as cofounder & chief medical officer at Hey Freya, a brand with a mission to reimagine women’s wellness by radically shifting how women show up in the world and care for themselves. Her decades-long work focuses on the intersectionality of women’s health, society, medical research, and the environment.
She grew up in a small, predominantly Irish-Catholic town in Newfoundland, Canada, as a first-generation North American in her family. It was an intense navigation of her personal identity in the world, feeling disconnected from South India where her father and mother had come from. Becoming a naturopathic doctor was a winding path, but also a calling—she was always interested in the human body and moved toward a nutrition degree. Thara worked in the community, educating kids (through play) about nutrition throughout Vancouver.
But there was a systemic approach missing for her, and so she decided to pursue a master’s degree in environmental education to draw the connection between what we eat and where it comes from. Her thesis on how embodied yoga practice can teach connection to land—much better than words and didactic learning—won the Governor General’s Gold Medal award. She eventually applied to naturopathic medical school, and her purpose solidified even further.
A number of years later, the stars and shared purpose aligned at a femtech conference, where she met Cecilia Tse and Helkin Berg, who became her cofounders in Hey Freya a few months later.
In this episode, we explore how her connection to nature and the elements impact her approach to healthcare; what collective liberation means to her; shifting the broader healthcare system by creating spaces and resources to care for women; the life force of adrenals and their importance to women’s health; how her cofounders Cecilia & Helkin have been mirrors for her; what she would say to her teenage self; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
00:00 Introduction and childhood in Newfoundland
03:09 Navigating identity as a first-generation immigrant
06:01 The influence of parents and cultural background
10:07 The deep connection to nature and the elements
32:15 Co-founder alignment
34:19 Hay Freya's mission: Reimagining women's wellness
45:40 The shift in the medical establishment
50:30 Exploring the concept of life force
59:39 Empowering women for societal change
01:01:24 Thara's legacy: Patience and determination[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
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Everyone needs a little Sean Daly in their life. This artist, creative director, set & production designer, and go-to character architect in Hollywood has a long list of accomplishments, but his humility never lets you know it.
From set designing with legendary photographers like Annie Leibovitz, to the interior design of Lulu Restaurant at the Hammer Museum and creative direction on Phaidon books, to advising Robert Downey Jr. on Sherlock Holmes, Jamie Foxx on The Soloist, and others with getting deep into character in some of their most well-known roles, Sean has done it all.
His grandparents immigrated from Ireland and Italy to Boston, Massachusetts, to start anew, where Sean was eventually born and bred. The youngest of seven children, his household was a lively place—no two kids were alike, no cable at home, and his creativity was nurtured by his artistic mother. To her, the world was a field trip to be observed. His dad taught Sean structure and how to ask himself the right questions, a great balance to his artist soul.
A summer acting program ushered young Sean to a new world: acting. After high school, he went to a small liberal arts university in New Jersey across the river from Manhattan, a place that gave him a sense of freedom. He fell into the indie film scene, leading him to the Sundance Film Festival, then a move to LA. It was being an actor on set—and an industry strike—that sparked his curiosity in set/production design, and the rest is history.
In this episode, we talk about how imaginative play as a kid led to acting; the things one has to consider when world-building on shoots; finding the balance between character detail ideas he has, with ideas that actors may have; adventure of creative challenges he’s given; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
4:01 - Growing up
22:33 - Where his love for acting originated from
25:13 - Could he tell which kids wanted to be actors/actresses for a career
30:34 - How he felt his New York chapter changed him
37:46 - How he got to LA
44:44 - What drew him to set production
54:55 - What it was like to work on set and his creative process
58:40 - The transition of building sets to building characters and how he balances his ideas and an actor’s ideas of a character
1:05:17 - What he loves about world building and what makes him great at it
1:09:50 - Final question
1:10:31 - Where to find him
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
Lee Knaz leads with love. His aura feels like warm light and, once you’re in conversation, his words are wise. For many years, he was in the culinary world—as a sought-after private chef, a finalist on season one of Master Chef, and founder of his own company Mission Olive, which focused on good food as wellbeing. After leaving his chef life behind, he’s now a successful life & relationship coach.
Born in a small agricultural town in Israel, Lee is the youngest of his family and the only boy among three sisters. His parents were peace activists, each in their own way—his mom was part of Women in Black, a peace activist group of Jewish-Israeli and Arab women coming together every Friday and gathering at one another’s homes. His father was an artist whose work focused on co-existence and who did work as an illustrator for various newspapers.
He completed his military service from 18 to 21-years-old and was drafted in a war at 24-years-old. In 2006, Lee made a major move to California. He enrolled into business school at USC, but eventually joined culinary school during a summer off. Cooking had always come easy to him and though a gastronomy career hadn’t originally been at the top of his mind, it found him—and he began to truly set out his path in that world after landing on Master Chef.
In this beautiful conversation, we explore the sights and smell of his hometown; his quiet observations as a child; why he decided to move to the United States; how culinary school felt like learning a language he already knew; cooking as meditation, reciprocity & healing; his career transition from cooking to coaching; how his daughter Vida is teaching him to be a child again; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
3:27 - Growing up
11:03 - What made him leave Israel
13:14 - How he found his way into a culinary career
17:55 - What does cooking feel like
21:29 - Can he tell when someone needs to be nourished
25:04 - How the spotlight was for him after MasterChef
31:23 - How he was able to stay composed while his dishes were being judged
39:50 - What drew him to self-leadership
49:22 - How he thinks his daughter sees him
56:55 - Final question
58:31 - Where to find him
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
Scott Borkowski has an energy that’s calm yet dynamic. Humble but no doubt powerful. Creativity pours out of him as an artist, tattoo artist, skateboarder, entrepreneur and owner of Grateful Tattoo in Squamish, Canada.
Born and raised in Toronto, though his parents both worked in the corporate world, they unconditionally supported his artistry and right-brain inclinations. As a teen, he often took the train downtown, eventually moving there when he was 18-years-old. Skateboarding brought much into his life, a medium for getting more deeply into art, culture and music. Scott was fascinated by tattoos from a young age, getting his first one at 15. After a chance apprenticeship and doing temporary tattoos at music festivals, this fascination ended up becoming a booming career, with him inking some of the biggest names in music, including Rüfüs Du Sol, LANY, Lil Yachty, and 6lack.
When the pandemic hit, he and his wife took a leap and moved west. There, he’s been steadily building community through his tattoo shop, giving back to the skateboarding community and mother nature, percolating on additional ventures, and working with brands like Levi’s, Panasonic, Environmental Defense, and more.
In this episode, we explore Scott’s childhood, how he feels about art, what skateboarding has brought to his life, his philosophy when it comes to tattooing, what’s on the horizon, and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
3:31 - Growing Up
7:41 - How art and creativity came to hime at a young age
9:35 - What drew him to skateboarding
10:29 - How has he seen the scene change
11:34 - What he hopes to carve in the industry for himself
12:40 - What led him to be a tattoo artist
17:06 - Philosophies of work and business
19:00 - What brought him to Squamish and how it has been
23:39 - Leaps of faith
26:17 - Would he move back to Toronto
27:42 - The next 5 years of his life
28:41 - Giving back
30:35 - What would he say to his younger self
31:07 - Upcoming projects
32:14 - How he pushes through imposter syndrome
34:12 - Final question
34:42 - Where to find him
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session -
Sara Gulamali is bright and brilliant, not only as a person but also as an award-winning young artist. For years, she’s created her own works, has hosted creative events through the Tate Exchange Programme and is now part of supporting artists as associate director at Howard495 Gallery, a global art advisory firm and gallery serving new and dedicated collectors in both the private and commercial spaces.
As a British-Pakistani, she is proud of her Muslim heritage and in 2017 with two close friends, founded Muslim Sisterhood, a collective and creative agency working across campaign production, research, consultancy, and community-focused initiatives with clients such as Nike, Crocs, Disney, the NHS, and more. Their aim is to spotlight, unite and uplift Muslim women across the world, and they’ve been featured in British Vogue, DAZED and Marie Claire Arabia.
Born and raised in London, she came from a close-knit family and had a wonderful bond with her late grandmother, who taught Sara the basis of the Muslim faith. She was also very close with her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2011-2012 and passed two months later. Creativity was intrinsic to Sara as a young person, and she was always practicing art in various methods. After high school, she attended @KingstonUniversity for a Foundation degree, followed by Central Saint Martins for a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Sara also co-curated the first student show at the Lethaby Gallery, within the university. In 2019, she relocated to Vancouver from London to be with her now-husband and eventually connected with Krista Howard, founder of HOWARD495.
In this conversation, we go deep into the circumstances of life that forced her to grow up quickly; what faith looks like to Sara; the role art plays in her life; how art university experiences & friendships taught her to question the nature of things; the genesis story of Muslim Sisterhood; navigating the culture shock moving from London to Vancouver; how she chooses to navigate spaces as a Muslim woman; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
6:34 - Growing up
9:21 - Life circumstances, grief & growing up quickly
11:16 - What faith looks like to her
14:11 - The role art plays in her life
19:08 - Her time at art universities and what it taught her
22:18 - How Muslim Sisterhood came to be
30:55- Navigating her life transition to Canada
43:26 - How to build an art collection
45:06 - Vancouver and its art scene
51:00 - A reflection on her ancestors
53:13 - Final question
54:55 - Where to find her
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
Before Company: https://beforecompany.com/discount/CRAFT10 - get 10% off your entire order; one-time use per customer; no expiry dateotō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session
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Adam Lewis is precisely the kind of person you want in your life: a supportive friend, conscious being, creator/entrepreneur & community builder. He’s driven and fired up, while also being open and vulnerable—an admirable balance. He was founder of flash chilled coffee brand Miura, before launching hot & cold therapy circuit The Portal Project.
Now, as head of partnerships for Othership, Adam has a big hand in growing the popular Toronto-based social bathhouse—focused on wellness through sauna, ice bath & breathwork experiences—and helping cultivate its dedicated community.
Born in Toronto, he spent his childhood growing up just outside of the city. He comes from two lineages: Jewish on his father’s side, Japanese on his mother’s. His father grew up in South Africa, during the intensity of the apartheid. His mother’s grandparents immigrated to Canada from Japan to plant roots abroad. A wild & free kid, Adam found solace in nature (still does). As a teen, he was captain of the track & field team, representing Canada at high level competitions. Entrepreneurship was his main focus at Dalhousie University, and Miura was his first solo business. As Miura wound down, Adam went through a life shake-up and found healing in cold plunging in lakes & building a portable sauna with his own hands. This became the Portal Project, and served as a bridge to connecting with Othership, where he is today.
In this conversation, we go in many heartful directions: his family lineages & the cultural impact of his Jewish & Japanese roots; how being a top athlete encouraged him to push his body & mind limits; the transition unwinding Miura into discovering hot & cold therapy; understanding masculine & feminine energies within; what he’s learned being on the Othership team; being loving witnesses to each other’s life journey; and more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
5:36 - Growing up
7:21 - His parents as people
8:47 - Reflecting on his Jewish and Japanese lineages
22:42 - What being a competitive athlete taught him
28:55 - Pivoting from his business to the Portal Project
31:48 - How he found hot & cold therapy
37:24 - The Portal Project
40:17 - Balancing masculine and feminine energies
46:53 - How he found his way to Othership
59:12 - Profound revelations that have come up for him recently
01:05:22 - Honouring his lineage moving forward
01:06:53 - How he wants to honour himself
01:07:47 - Final question
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
Before Company: https://beforecompany.com/discount/CRAFT10 - get 10% off your entire order; one-time use per customer; no expiry dateotō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session
Before Company: https://beforecompany.com/discount/CRAFT10 - get 10% off your entire order; one-time use per customer; no expiry dateotō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session
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There’s a built-in optimism and passion to Sung Lee that’s contagious—and he is well-loved by many because of it. He was employee number one at Herschel Supply, first as a graphic designer and, over the course of a decade, became the brand’s creative director. Now, Sung leads creative at premium, contemporary dinnerware brand Fable.
He was born in Korea and spent his childhood there. An architect, his father was the definition of a stoic, emotionally closed Asian father. His mother, an art teacher, continuously nurtured his creative side, encouraging him to draw, paint, and go to art school. Their upper middle class life ended when the IMF economic crisis hit Korea and, one day, Sung was suddenly told they had to live with an aunt. It turned out his father had borrowed money to keep his business afloat, and the Korean equivalent of the yakuza had come around to settle and his father wanted to keep the family safe.
Eventually, the family moved to Canada, with Sung applying to an ESL school—he struggled until his mother enrolled him in a Korean art school, where he made some friends. This brought him to Emily Carr, where he learned to present his work in English phonetically. On a trip back to Korea, his father expressed he was sick—his parents returned to Canada, leaving 23-year-old Sung to sell their house in Korea. As he drove home from the airport, his mother told him his father had cancer and, two weeks later, Sung’s father passed. To move through grief, Sung took on a physical warehouse job. After a few months, his creative spirit came back. He started by launching a fashion show and landed a job at a small design agency that had an office beside Vans, where Lyndon Cormack worked prior to launching Herschel Supply with his brother Jamie. It was an instant meeting of like design minds, leading to a deep bond with the Cormacks and launching his long career as a creative director.
In this conversation, we examine the effects on not sharing emotions with his family members; how Sung found skateboarding as a teen and its influence on him; his chapter at art school; navigating his father’s passing, surviving in Canada and processing his grief; the story of how he landed the job as employee number one at Herschel Supply, where he spent a decade; the roles of a graphic designer versus creative director at a company; his current interest in AI and its impact on design; Korea’s cultural dominance; the love for “han” or sorrow amongst Koreans; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
6:41 - Growing up and family history
16:36 - His transition to Canada
25:16 - Reflection on processing his father’s death
39:48 - Skills he learned from being a graphic designer to being a creative director
41:56 - His creative process
45:32 - What's fascinating him right now
47:20 - His transition from Herschel to Fable
53:10 - What a good feeling feels like for him
54:16 - One thing that can change someone’s perspective
56:20 - Missing Korea
57:32 - How he met his wife
01:06:41 - Korean cultural dominance
01:14:53 - Expressing his emotions now
01:15:36 - Looking back at his life's journey
01:20:01 - What he would say to his dad right now
01:21:08 - The kind of life he hopes for his daughter
01:23:32 - What 'han' means to Koreans
01:26:27 - Final question
01:28:29 - Where to find him
[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
Before Company: https://beforecompany.com/discount/CRAFT10 - get 10% off your entire order; one-time use per customer; no expiry dateotō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session
Before Company: https://beforecompany.com/discount/CRAFT10 - get 10% off your entire order; one-time use per customer; no expiry dateotō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session
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Dean Morris is a very good man. It’s a feeling you get immediately—he feels like the human version of an all-encompassing, welcoming hug. A longtime educator, he found his way to being a pastor, an athlete and lululemon ambassador and now co-host of the podcast A Little More Good & A More Good Media cofounder.
He grew up in Richmond, on an acre property in the middle of the city. It was a quintessential childhood, running free and exploring the outdoors—he was always curious about how things worked and wanted to understand the world around him. In high school, his class was tasked to research their heroes, leading him to find leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., both of whom looked up to Jesus as a guiding light. Religion was not a foundation of his household, but Dean had friends who were part of a church and, in his curiosity and despite some skepticism, met with a pastor to ask about Jesus. He started to go to church, with some wise words from his father: keep your brain turned on.
When his parents divorced after his high school graduation, Dean went through a huge transformation within and began to truly understand the spiritual nature of who he was. He began working at church, where he did some music and teaching and eventually went to seminary and got his masters in ministry leadership and culture.
In this conversation, we explore topics from ownership versus belonging; his desire for social justice; reconciling with his ability to carry the weight and hold space for many others; the tools he uses to regulate his nervous system and triggers; religious doctrine & Christianity and how it's moved away from the original values of pure love and acceptance; the advent of ‘new religions’; how his relationship with running and his physical body has changed recently; and more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
5:46 - His childhood
19:29 - The thing in his life that changed his perspective
26:52 - How he deals with dis-regulation in the body
31:59 - His spiritual path
1:05:36 - What religion means to people nowadays
1:17:05 - His university path
1:19:59 - What is he unlearning
1:29:29 - What holding space means to him
1:31:31 - Final question
1:35:17 - Where to find him
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Donnel Garcia walks with a vibe of confidence, but it’s one that’s chill and observant. For many years, he was a careworker drawn to behavioural development programs, helping figuring out what people were good at and helping them create routines to integrate them back into society. Photography was a side hobby that became a career, working with clients like lululemon, Half Moon, Livestock, Vans Vault, and more. His work has also been widely shown in print and digital publications like Street Dreams Magazine.
Sharing A Living Taste studio with a few other creatives and makers, he also launched an incredible community library of art, fashion, photography, and design books and magazines called Book Section, where they can be signed out for two weeks (returns are by an honour system).He was born in the Philippines, immigrating with his parents to Canada when he was five. An only child, Donnel was often left to his own devices, catching the train downtown to explore solo and also playing sports, mainly basketball. After observing a careworker friend of his parents, he started to look into nursing programs and worked as a nurse for more than five years. It was meeting twin brothers, who quickly became his friends, that opened his world to photography, art, fashion, and music. When they eventually founded an agency, Donnel became their photographer, marking his transition into a new career and purpose.
In this conversation, we wander through a wide range of topics: what people want from those who are caretaking for them; how his work as a nurse has translated into his career as an artist & photographer; observing patterns in the world, conversation & your interactions; Donnel’s approach to mentoring emerging photographers; why he’s taken a break from photography at the moment and recalibrating his vision; the honesty in his artistic point of view; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]6:02 - Growing up
7:29 - How his parents navigated their transition to Canada
21:58 - Life after high school
27:40 - What people want from those taking care of them
33:20 - Patterns in culture that he is paying attention to in today’s world
47:11 - His process of mentorship
01:05:52- Being an artist versus a photographer
01:11:23 - Defining his point of view
01:21:31 - How his friends the Garcia twins contributed to his life’s journey
01:26:42 - What he wanted to say in the world with his last project
01:36:44 - Final wuestion
01:38:54 - Where to find him and Book Section
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Reanna Evoy has a playful spirit and imagination that just can’t be replicated or replaced. Her life and work are beautiful reflections of being born creative and free—she cofounded Butter Magazine with friend Kris Blizzard, was art director of Enroute Magazine, creative director of Aldo Shoes and Kit and Ace, and is now cofounder of creative studio Super Bonjour.
She was born in Ontario, but the family moved shortly after to Vancouver—her young, fun parents were fans of The Beachcombers and wanted to go west as a result. Reanna flew back to Ontario to spend summers with her Ukrainian grandparents on an organic farm outside of a small town, wearing babushkas and clogs to churn butter, farm, bee keep, build sheds, climb trees, be with animals & break bread with neighbours.
As a shy and quiet teen, art was her expression—she painted fruits purple, drew complete fashion collections, and was obsessed with print magazines. Despite artistic leanings, she went into science at university and floundered. She made a switch after a conversation with her mother, who asked Reanna what brought her joy, pointing out that she was an artist at heart. She then went into art history, with a minor in fine art—her goal, at the time, was to become a curator. It was discovering Starbucks that ignited her interest in design—and she soon fell in love with branding.
In this conversation, we explore her culturally rich childhood; what she loves about curation and world-building; the things she learned creating a print magazine; her chapter as Aldo's creative director and working with top photographers like Cass Blackbird and Tim Barber; how major shoots for brands are orchestrated; the way spirituality, meditation & breathwork helps Reanna channel creativity; how Super Bonjour finds what makes clients shine through ‘brand therapy’; living joyously as connected humans in a capitalist world; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
6:56 - Growing up
15:58 - Her parents
17:03 - Where she thinks she got her artistic side from
27:03 - How she got into design
30:30 - Butter Magazine
33:14 - Her chapter in Montreal
37:14 - Her time in Australia and what happened after
39:20 - How professional shoots operate
46:46 - What made her grow the most during her career
49:19 - Genesis of Super Bonjour
51:39 - Brand therapy
56:58 - How has her passion for spirituality made her a better person in her own life
57:13 - How do we live more joyfully in today’s society
01:03:17 - Does she feel like an artist
01:03:37 - What in culture is fascinating her right now
01:05:41 - What does a rejuvenating space look like to her
01:14:41 - Does her work ethic come from her grandfather paying for school
01:16:46 - What does it feel like when she is aligned with her truest form
01:19:55 - Final question
01:19:55 - Where to find her and Super Bonjour
[Today's Sponsors]
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Maddalen Pasini is a force. Her passion for her passions is infectious, transfixing when she’s talking about the things she’s bringing into the world. A long-time publicist, she began at Joe Fresh as an intern, then went to Toronto-based boutique agency Faulhaber Communications. Over the years, her clientele grew beyond fashion into design, hospitality, art & cannabis with Tokyo Smoke. Just before the pandemic in 2020, she and best friend Sam Brophy launched their psychedelic wellness movement brand Yawn.
She grew up just outside of Toronto, the only child of hardworking, loving parents. Her father was in the police force for over 30 years and Staff Sergeant of Homicide for a decade. Her mother, an immigrant from Hungary, was in the dental industry. Hungarian was Maddalen’s first language, something she learned young from spending time with her grandparents. Growing up was sticky, with her navigating bullying. As a teen, she took the train to the city and began going to metal shows, where she found her community. Her network began to grow through pockets of the underground music scene.
She graduated from university with a double major in cultural studies & film—and she began questioning what she really wanted to do. The answer lay in her network, and she began a PR career. Transitioning into psychedelics was organic & something that had been brewing for a while—today, the brand donates a portion of profits to organizations conducting research & trials and offering support, such as the Heffter Institute & the @firesideproject, North America’s first psychedelic peer support hotline.
In this conversation, we dive deep into the importance of finding her metal community in her teens; how ‘outsiders’ often become culture makers; the way psychedelics helped changed her over the last 15 years; why education around harm reduction and psychedelics is essential; current psilocybin regulations; equity in the space; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]6:02 - Growing up
9:14 - High school and life after
16:27 - When she got into psychedelics and her first experience
18:49 - The transition from PR to Yawn
21:38 - Yawn and the ‘psychedelic wellness movement’
25:39 - Why harm reduction is essential
29:52 - Regulations and setbacks in the industry
33:54 - Hero dose vs. microdose
43:15 - How Yawn began
45:47 - Equity and what she wants to see change in this industry
49:48 - Change our view on these medicines and avoiding exploitation of them
53:03 - Major shifts in herself as a human
55:47 - Yawn x Secular Sabbath collaboration
01:01:01 - Upcoming projects
01:04:15 - Tips for microdosing
01:05:46 - What psilocybin has brought to her life
01:07:10 - What she loves most about herself and humanity
01:09:30 - Final question
01:10:18 - Where to find Yawn
[Today's Sponsors]
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Emma Devin is, quite simply, magical. Welcoming and funny, they have a gift for transmuting your energy into a more peaceful state the moment they give you a hug. The cofounder of Brood, Western Canada’s largest doula agency, Emma is trailblazing in the care industry and helping redefine familial structures and what family can mean.
They were born in Paris, France, to parents that—as they say—have “itchy feet”. Before high school, they had transferred to 10 different schools and lived in France, the UK, and the east coast of North America. Eventually, they went to high school in Vancouver but a week before graduation, their parents moved onto a boat with a plan of sailing the world. Emma took a gap year with them, sailing down the coast of Mexico, to Hawaii and more, before coming back to be in Victoria and go to university. It didn’t agree with them, however, and they ended up going to Pacific Rim College instead, becoming a certified doula and caregiver. This time of life wove together all the innate parts of themself: a deep love and care for—and creating and welcoming—new families.
After this, they worked at a local doula agency providing birth and postpartum care, before buying the business in 2019 and rebranding it to Brood Care Inc. with co-founders Gillian Damborg and Lizzy Karp, who had formerly been two of their clients. In 2021, first year out of the gates, Emma doubled the team size and the company was profitable. Inspired by LGBTQIA2S+ families in their community, Brood has emerged at the forefront of family caregiving, a tech-enabled learning platform and in-person care service for pregnancy, birth, postpartum care and new parenthood with a focus on millennial/Gen-Z families.
In this conversation, we explore their nomadic childhood; the difference between a doula and midwife; what the concept of family means to them and how the different systems can look like; how they built their own incredible chosen family; the effects on the pandemic on birth & postpartum care; what emotions they feel when witnessing a baby’s arrival into the world; how a “yes” decision feels in their body; reconciling with their life journey through this work; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]6:39 - Growing up
10:04 - Having a nomadic childhood
12:12 - Where their interest in family structure originated
13:22 - What living on a ship taught them
15:33 - Why they chose to be a doula
18:25 - The difference between a doula and a midwife
20:49 - What being a doula taught them about themselves and others
26:02 - The genesis of Brood
35:21 - Care of expecting & postpartum mothers and what needs improvement in the healthcare system
43:19 - What family means
50:14 - The most important first question to ask clients starting a family
52:53 - What brings them joy
55:09 - How they feel when a baby is born
57:16 - What a ‘yes’ feel like in their body
1:00:18 - A reconciliation journey through being a doula
1:01:19 - What they want their chosen family to know
1:02:40 - Final question
1:03:46 - Where to find them
[Today's Sponsors]
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Some people bring a serene energy when they come into a room—Amanda Giannakos is one of them. The cofounder of Movement by NM and head of marketing & in-house counsel for Omnifilm Entertainment began her career working in film before finding her truest calling in helping others cultivate an intrinsic joy and love for movement.
A Vancouverite all her life, she was raised an only child—her father worked in government, and her mother is a longtime television producer. Like her swimmer parents, she was athletic, doing gymnastics and eventually found her stride playing competitive tennis. She also wanted to be seen as an adult from a young age and spent time with her mother at the office, absorbing the ins and outs of the film industry.
After high school, she worked as a distribution assistant at Omnifilm, answering fan mail for wellness shows. It was at this time that her own interest in yoga, movement, and strength training began to really grow—and she knew she could lead in this space. From this, Movement by NM was born, bringing to the market a more cinemagraphic, storytelling lens to digital fitness in a wide range of disciplines.
In this conversation, we explore growing up as an only child; the right way to breathe from the diaphragm; the grace and flow of sports; her mother being a trailblazer in bringing health & wellness to television and her influence on Amanda; vulnerability in creating for others; training new mothers to feel at home with their bodies again; current & emerging fitness trends fitness; how to be a steward for your body; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]6:16 - The proper way to diaphragmatically breathe
7:33 - Growing up
16:10 - What her mom did in film & how it shaped her
25:09 - Her feelings about the artistic side of movement
29:41 - How Movement by NM started
32:40 - Her experience recovering from pregnancy
37:27 - Current landscape of digital fitness
39:46 - What people want for their bodies right now
41:55 - Body flexibility
46:51 - What wellbeing and being fit means to her
49:34 - Final question
51:20 - Where to find her and Movement by NM[Today's Sponsors]
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Powerhouse is one way to describe Andrea Mestrovic, who has had a long and accomplished career across various disciplines: sales & marketing, brand, public relations, consumer packaged goods, and journalism. She's held top positions at companies and brands like Shared Vision Magazine, International Cellars, the Kanke Group, Oak Bay Marine Group, Olivia Palermo, Kit and Ace, and the Mark Anthony Group, before striking out with business partners to launch Very Polite Agency.
To date, the agency has worked on Hootsuite’s rebrand and with clients Amazon Canada, Mackage, La Mer, Bosa Properties, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Canada Goods. They recently launched two of their own brands, a carbonated sake drink called Billion Trillion and Maater Cosmetics. For many years, she has also closely worked with @lululemon founder Chip Wilson, running his personal public relations.
Andrea was born in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and also spent time living in Bosnia, Serbia, and Macedonia—her father had been a soccer coach and a well known one back then. She spent much of her childhood in Sarajevo, but because of the Bosnian war, became a child of war and fled with her family to Canada—eventually settling in Vancouver. Becoming a dentist was an idea drilled into her, but she found herself drawn to liberal arts, too, ending up with biochem & communications degrees.
After university, she landed her first job at a conscious consumer magazine group, kickstarting an admirable career in multiple industries.
In this conversation, we explore being a child of war and how it shaped her perspective & her approach to opportunities; her experience integrating into life in Canada as a pre-teen; why sales is the basis of good marketing; her first crack at starting a PR agency in her mid-twenties; what she learned about successful negotiation while at the Kanke Group; what her agency partners have brought to her life; things things she learned from Chip Wilson on being a better leader & human; what she wants her daughters to know about her; and much more.
[TIMESTAMPS]
5:46 - Her childhood8:16 - Her parents
9:57 - What she was like as a child/teen
19:51 - What life skills her parents have taught her
21:21 - Her early career
28:11 - PR side hustle
34:15 - What she's learned about successful negotiation
40:18 - Her side hustle in fashion journalism
44:32 - Her experience at Kit & Ace
51:35 - What has Chip Wilson taught her about being a better business person, leader, and human
56:01 - The perfect amount of transparency as a public figure/brand
59:56 - What Very Polite Agency stands for
01:07:47- What have her business partners brought to her life
01:09:54 - Their two new brands
01:17:00 - What she misses most about the cultures lived in as a child
01:21:48 - Having a courageous spirit
01:23:22 - What would she like people to truly know about her
01:26:17 - What she wants her daughters to know about her
01:28:33 - Final question
[Today's Sponsors]
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Instead of a full episode this week, we put together our second compilation of answers to the show's final question. As regular listeners of The Craft know, I ask the same question of my guests at the end of each episode: with what you do, what it is that you want to leave behind in the world?
Here are some nuggets of life and legacy wisdom from artists, musicians, restauranteurs, designers, photographers, entrepreneurs, arbiters of culture & thought leaders in their field: Zoë Pawlak, Justin Tisdall, Beth Richards, Zach Berman & Ryan Slater, Courtney Chew, Payton Nyquvest, Brit Gill, Mauvey, Steve Rio, Pennylane Shen, and Jeff Hamada
Enjoy this short and sweet round up—link in bio to listen on @spotify @applepodcasts @google @amazon.
We'll be back next week with a conversation with the indomitable @andreamestrovic of @verypoliteagency.
Much love,
May - Visa fler
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