Imagine a Place

Rex Miller is one of those people that seems to decode the world around us; almost as if all the complexity melts away when you speak with him. He is the principal and thought leader for MindShift, a future-focused consultancy, and organizational performance firm. He is the author of The Commercial Real Estate Revolution, The Millennium Matrix: Reclaiming the Past, Reframing the Future of the Chur...

Today's episode is all about Color. Color for social good, color to engage our senses, color in ways you probably haven’t thought of before. Laura Guido-Clark is the Founder and President of the color consultancy Love Good Color and the non-for-profit, Project Color Corps. Color changed the way Laura sees the world, and she’s using it to change the world for good. Learn more about Love Good Color:...

Philip Ross is a futurist, author, and advisor who specializes in predicting the impact of emerging technology on the way we will work, shop, consume and live. He is also the CEO and founder of UnGroup and Cordless Group, as well as the creator of the popular Worktech event series. Simply put, Philip is one of the world’s biggest thinkers when it comes to the future of the workplace. In this conve...

What if you could get 1% better every day? Imagine how your life and career would be transformed. Joe Ferraro is the host of the popular, The One Percent Better Podcast, where he and his guests share their unique insights to help us become better versions of ourselves improving our mindset, language, and behavior by 1% each day. In this episode, Joe helps us understand the art of conversation is a...

Something BIG is happening in Chicago this July and it's something you should know about - it's called "Design Your World." The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) recognized that inside the profession of interior design there's been a lack of diversity for, pretty much, its entire existence. So, to address this deficit, they dreamt up "Design Your World" - it's a high school pipeline...

Stacy Garcia founded and runs multiple businesses in design that range from textiles, to furniture and accessories. She was voted one of the 10 leading voices in the hospitality industry and honored by ASID for Design Excellence. The industry leans on Stacy for her knowledge in forecasting color and design trends. Today, she shares her life hacks and the best advice to help you get the most out of...

In this episode, you’ll get the inside scoop on how culture can unlock the true potential of your design studio… and when you really get culture right, it pulls in your clients as well. Manny Navarro is the design director and principal for IA Interior Architects in Austin, Texas and he has helped to build a culture that brings out the best in his staff. You could say he takes his culture seriousl...

Chris Stulpin is the Chief Creative Officer at Mosaic Companies, one of the world’s leading stone and tile brands. Simply put, Chris Stulpin is full of joy and wisdom. In this episode, we learn, we laugh out loud, and we share advice. Chris reflects on his past and explores the role that empathy has played in his personal and professional growth. This interview not only made a great podcast, but i...

Chrisitan Giordano is the owner and principal of the legendary New York City-based design firm Mancini Duffy, and his approach is anything but ordinary. Christian is not sitting back and waiting for the profession to evolve and change, he’s doing it himself. This episode is full of new technology concepts that are shaping the architecture and design experience at Mancini Duffy. Along with a vision...

The healthcare design field hosts a very special group of purpose-driven design practitioners. And at the very center of it all sits a passionate and dedicated researcher and reporter that so many of us in the healthcare industry have come to know and respect: Sara Marberry. For 30 years, Sara has been shaping the healthcare interiors industry through her work. In this episode, she helps us unders...

The pandemic has forced hotels to rethink the guest experience, but this is something that Staci Patton has been doing for years. Staci is an award-winning designer, Principal, Hospitality Design Director for global architecture and design firm DLR Group. In this episode, she shares with us a major shift in how hotels and resorts can make the most of their real estate footprint, the importance of...

If you're curious enough, you can look backward in time and you’ll see a ribbon of lessons, treasures, good decisions, and bad decisions. While we can’t go back and change history, we also can’t move forward without the weight of it either. Ronn Daniel, is an accomplished Author, Historian, and Interim Director for Kent State’s Interior Design Program. As a design historian, he investigates the re...

Kia Weatherspoon has spent the last 15 years defying every design stereotype. The most damaging —interior design is a luxury reserved for a few. Her voice and design practice have shifted the narrative, making interior design a standard for all. Kia is a Design Equity Advocate, Educator, Speaker, and Founder of Determined by Design - Today, she shares her amazing story of how she discovered the po...

Whether you can feel it happening or not, we are losing our grip on our creative mind and the stakes are high. Today’s conversation features the author and creativity expert, Martin Lindstrom. Martin has written seven New York Times bestsellers and is a frequent contributor to HBR, NBC, Fast Company and named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. His writings, al...

For our 1-year anniversary episode, we welcome back Angie Lee, Partner and Design Director at FXCollaborative. Angie was our first ever guest on the Imagine a Place podcast, and together we look back on the last 365 days. Angie’s curiosity about what makes us feel and think the way we do, and her courage to explore these ideas out loud, make this a very special episode that we are proud to share....

Bill Van Erp's work spans over 30 years as Gensler's resource librarian, a role he would master. In this role, Bill managed the design catalogs, materials library, and vendor relationships for Gensler's design department. Over the course of Bill's career, he was able to observe the paths of hundreds of designers that would come and go from Gensler's San Fransisco office and he developed a sense fo...

This episode features Annie Lee, Design Principal at ENV in New York. Annie’s path to design is anything but ordinary. She gives us a taste of life inside the fashion industry, and we end up in a great conversation around the similarities of Design and Language. The part you’ll love most though is the incredible story of her grandmother in Korea that will leave you inspired to endure and make the...

In this episode, we play host to the two entertaining voices of "Break Some Dishes," Verda Alexander and Jon Strassner. Break Some Dishes is a podcast that covers the environmental crises through the lens of creativity and design. They believe that bad design is bad for the planet. Verda is a thoughtful and talented artist and designer -- She is co-founder of the popular and world-famous interiors...

Kelly Bacon joins us today to help us understand the role of place in a world where work can happen anywhere. She is the Global Lead for AECOM’s Workplace Advisory Practice and co-author of “Future Office- Next Generation Workplace Design." In this interview, we’ll discuss some of the key present-day shifts in the workplace design and strategy and how you can prepare for a work-life that we’ve yet...

Jennifer Ruckel is the Vice President of Sales for 3form, one of the most design-centric material companies shaping the built environment today. In my interview with Jennifer, I set out to learn about leadership…but I ended up getting so much more. In this episode, you'll hear tips on how to nail your next interview and how to be the mentor that really makes a difference in others. You’ll also get...

Hilary Green is the Director of Change Management for Scotiabank, and with 88,000 employees, the stakes are high. In our interview, Hillary shares some of her most valuable insights for dealing with change -- both at a personal and enterprise level. She even throws in some practical advice for our transition back to the office. View more Imagine a Place, please visit: https://ofs.com/imagine-a-pla...

Taylor Staten is one of only 520 Black female architects in the US. She owns and runs TnS Studio, an architecture firm in the South Side of Chicago. She speaks up, she speaks out, but most importantly she speaks in. Through TnS Studio, she mentors young Black teenagers in her neighborhood around the possibilities that a career in architecture and design could hold for them. In our conversation, sh...

Today, we bring you a story about a school in North Carolina and how the power of place transformed the future for a group of high school students. Meredith Williams is the principal at North Rowan High School. Her story takes us behind the scenes on how the courage to see things differently opened up a new world of possibilities for her students. Today, with visionary leadership and a new way of...

Emmanuel Daniel is director of industry innovation, Smart Buildings and Campuses at Microsoft. Today, he will paint you a picture of a day in the workplace in 2031 and how data will play a role in creating better experiences for your workday. Building a modern campus: https://news.microsoft.com/modern-campus/ For more design stories visit: https://ofs.com/imagine-a-place Connect with Maria on Link...

Jane Hallinan, of Perkins Eastman in Pittsburgh, has become one of the most networked designers in the Workplace Design industry. She is also the founder of “Not A Decorator,” an apparel and accessory brand dedicated to reflecting the pride and passion she has for her career as an interior designer. In this episode, she shares the keys to personal growth and the importance networking plays in a ca...