Debbie Millman has spent over 20 years interviewing the world’s most creative people, built one of the most celebrated design podcasts in existence, written a number of highly acclaimed books, co-founded the Masters Program in Branding at the SVA, and helped shape how an entire industry thinks about craft, identity, and what it means to do meaningful work. She is warm, considered, and disarmingly honest. And she is, by her own admission, still very much in the process of becoming.

What struck me most in our conversation is how someone who has achieved so much remains so genuinely curious about the gap between where she is and where she wants to be. We talk about the strange emptiness that tends to follow creative achievement (as covered in her latest TED talk), about the mechanisms we build in childhood to protect ourselves and then spend decades trying to dismantle, and about what it really means to show up for your work and the people around it with honesty and without pretence. It is a conversation about courage, mostly the kind that arrives late and the kind that is still on its way.

If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.

Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.

I’d genuinely love to hear from you.

Want to support the Awaiting Approval?

Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.

And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp

David Martin founded Fantasy Interactive before most people knew what interaction design was. He helped shape the visual language of operating systems used by billions, built one of the most influential creative agencies of its era, and worked with some of the biggest names in tech and culture. He’s also a pilot, a go-kart mechanic, a consciousness obsessive, and a dad who quit the nine-to-five to be trackside with his eleven-year-old son. He is, in the best possible way, a lot.

This conversation goes everywhere. We talk about ADHD as a superpower and a saboteur, why David believes education is fundamentally broken, the Thursday morning coffee meetings where a pastor, an ex-NFL player, and a tech founder argue about the nature of existence, and what it means to raise kids in a world where the rules are being rewritten in real time. We also talk about opportunities, the kind that change the direction of a life, and what it really takes to spot someone worth betting on. David doesn’t do inspiration for inspiration’s sake. But there’s a lot in here that’ll stay with you.

If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes. Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call. I’d genuinely love to hear from you.

Want to support the Awaiting Approval?

Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.

And you can get your hands of amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp

Season 3 of Awaiting Approval is here.

22 episodes. 22 conversations. 22 themes. One season.

Starting May 7th.

Watch the trailer now.

E1 — David Martin — Curiosity — 7th May

E2 — Debbie Millman — Becoming — 14th May

E3 — Nacho Zuccarino — Vulnerability — 21st May

E4 — Odeya Noble-Bougay — Continuity — 28th May

E5 — Charles Cadbury — Conviction — 4th June

E6 — Tamora Petitt — Clarity — 11th June

E7 — Maryam Cristillo — Love — 18th June

E8 — James Ferguson — Adaptability — 25th June

E9 — Martina Hodges-Schell — Range — 2nd July

E10 — Maria Nicholas — Service — 9th July

E11 — Recruiter Roundtable Part 2 — 16th July

E12 — Awaiting Approval LIVE — 23rd July

E13 — Lara Juriansz — Boldness — 30th July

E14 — Michael Glass — Legacy — 6th August

E15 — Emily Court — Authenticity — 13th August

E16 — Mark Iddon — Instinct — 20th August

E17 — Oriana Gaeta — Belonging — 27th August

E18 — Julie Kennedy — Reinvention — 3rd September

E19 — Roberto Rotondi — Patience — 10th September

E20 — Mikaela Dragon — Vision — 17th September

E21 — Katja Alissa Mueller — Identity — 24th September

E22 — Guy Vickerstaff — Craft — 1st October

E23 — Terri Williams — Trust — 8th October

E24 — Jess Campbell — Healing — 15th October

E25 — Cast Roundtable — 22nd October

E26 — Season Debrief — 29th October

To every single person on this list: thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your story. Thank you for your honesty, your vulnerability, and your willingness to go to places most people don’t go to on a podcast. This season exists because each of you said yes.

Just search “Awaiting Approval” on your podcast platform of choice, including YouTube. Follow now so you don’t miss the season premiere next Thursday.