Imagine a Place

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - And we want to bring you a conversation that honors the values and legacy that Dr. King left behind for this world…. and Mike Johnson II , well, he wants to bring you a whole building full of it. Mike Johnson is a senior associate at the architecture and design firm, Perkins&Will . He’s actively engaged in advancing the profession of design at both the com...

Lori Louis is the Sr. Director, Experiential Space Design & Concepting at JLL .  And Lori has built and runs a highly effective and efficient design team that is entirely remote. So… in this conversation, Lori is going to help us crack the code. How can we bring our remote or hybrid design game to a new level?  She also challenges the processes of today’s commercial design, procurement, and constr...

In this episode, Doug Shapiro shares his personal journey as a podcast host and what he has learned after nearly two years of conversation.  Get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal :  Connect with Doug :  On Instagram : @Douglas_Shapiro On LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/  By Email : dshapiro@ofs.com Email Imagine a Place : imagineaplace@ofs.com Connect with Maria on Lin...

Rachel Bascombe is an architect in Los Angeles at the firm CO Architects and Rachel is number 412.  A number that will soon make sense to you and will probably surprise you. In today’s interview with Rachel, we’ll hear about a moment that changed her life path and how that moment helped to create a sense of purpose when it comes to place.  Rachel also shares how one project early in her career hel...

As the buyer’s journey becomes increasingly digital…so do our jobs, our communication, our processes.  As Abby Murray embraced this new digital lens, her motivation for starting Mortarr was built through a combination of frustration and opportunity. She saw the potential for a more inclusive, efficient, and greener way of doing business. Today, she is the CEO of Mortarr – A website built around co...

Today’s episode features two big thinkers when it comes to place and technology. Edward Wagoner is the CIO for the progressive-minded $17 billion,  global real estate firm, JLL . Will Cowell de Gruchy is the founder and CEO of Infogrid - a fast-growing startup aimed at making buildings smarter and the world healthier. These two are thinking about the intersection of real estate and technology at t...

Regan Donoghue is the energetic workforce strategist and co-founder of SimConsults .  For well over a decade, she’s been researching and rethinking the role of work in our lives. Today, we talk about gamification at work, the future role of place in office work, data in the workplace, and how we can build a culture that values the feedback of our employees. Regan co-founded SimConsults based on th...

When it comes to sustainability and architecture, there are few on the planet that are more progressive-minded and informed than Eric Corey Freed. We can also now say with certainty that there are none more witty and entertaining. Eric Corey Freed is the Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Cannon Design, where he is leading them on a mission to have every project be net-zero energy and halv...

This Thanksgiving we are thankful for YOU, so thank you for listening, sharing, and reaching out to us! It always feels great to say thank you, but this week we are feeling especially grateful for our amazing listeners and producers of the Imagine a Place podcast. It has been a privilege to connect with you each week! We are always so appreciative when we hear from our listeners on ideas for guest...

There’s an elephant in your office, and we’ve brought in author, podcast host, and HR leader Andrea Herron to help us understand it. That elephant is the struggle we have with mental health.  Andrea Herron is WebMD’s Health Services’ Human Resource leader.  She is the co-author of the book, " There’s an Elephant in your Office ."  She’s also the award-winning host of the podcast The HR Scoop . Pre...

Tara Headley is a rising star in the world of interior design. In this episode, we explore her journey as an immigrant, the power of networking, and her life hack around setting personal goals. Tara’s journey began in Barbados, 2000 miles away from Savannah College of Art and Design where she studied. Tara currently works at Hendrick in Atlanta designing commercial interiors - and at this past Neo...

Disclaimer: After listening to this episode, you might decide to leave the practicing world behind and begin your second career as a professor.  Our guest today is Nathan Howe , Department Head of Kansas State’s Interior Architecture and Industrial Design program - and Nathan has some stories to tell. There is an energy and openness to the academic world that just feels good to reconnect with at t...

Edwin Beltran is loaded with optimism, cultural understanding, and some powerful insights on Healthcare Design As the Design Principal at NBBJ , Edwin has led some of the firm’s most notable and award-winning healthcare projects. In today’s conversation, Edwin shares some powerful healthcare design insights; and at the end, we end up exploring his Puerto Rican heritage and how it has shaped who he...

Can a website help save the planet?   Joanna Abrams believes so.  Joanna Abrams is the CEO and Founder of Mindclick , a product intelligence platform that rates the environmental impact of manufacturers and their products. Joanna’s journey into Mindclick is an entertaining listen, full of windy roads, detours, and even failures.  One of the highlights of this episode comes towards the end, when Jo...

In this episode, we’re going to discuss soap operas, anime, Visco Girls, and pro-wrestling… and it’s going to be one of the most intellectual dialogs that we’ve had on this show. Sam Ford is an expert on Pop Culture - And if you think pop culture doesn’t matter, then you might be missing the bigger picture. Culture is messy and Sam is here today to help us decode it. Sam Ford is an MIT Media Alum,...

Samantha Lee Smugala is doing important work in St. Louis.   She’s the founder of Pocketparks , a non-profit that is reimagining and reinvigorating the vacant lots that are scattered across St Louis Neighborhoods. For Samantha, it all started with a simple sketch that caught the attention of the local news and eventually propelled her to think bigger about what’s possible. Samantha’s story behind...

As a pro snowboarder and artist, Pat Milbery is one of Denver’s most creative and interesting people.  Buildings all over the city feature Pat’s iconic wall murals - sometimes 40 feet or higher, full of color, geometry, and narrative.  His goal through his art is simple - spread love.   Here’s the thing though -- All these accomplishments are irrelevant to the conversation that you’re about to hea...

Danya Hakky, Ph. D. is an Interior Designer and Design Researcher for Perkins Eastman, a global architecture and design firm. She is also a co-author of the recently published research paper, " The Subtle Art of Place Making ," which sought to answer the question: Why do we still need to create meaningful places when virtual settings and interactions are on the rise? The findings of this research...

Martin Flaherty is the witty and outspoken co-host of the podcast Tailgating with Geniuses.  Tailgating with Geniuses blends the entertaining personalities of the hosts with some of today's most creative thinkers and leaders. Martin also has some interesting ties to the world of design and construction that are rooted in sustainability.  In 2005, he co-founded Eco-Scorecard.  At that time, Eco-Sco...

When we think of what it means to “change perspective”, we often don’t think of it in its literal sense. Yet, for Malcolm Berg, it wasn’t until he was zooming towards the ground in an aerobatic aircraft that he understood architecture in a fundamentally new way. Malcolm Berg is an award-winning architect and designer who leads his firm EoA Group out of Miami.  He was recently selected as IIDA’s Ho...

Steve Jobs was a firm believer in the power of place and the impact that an in-person collaborative environment can have on innovation and a creative corporate culture.  The in-person method of work is being called into question by so many that have found their rhythm as a remote worker. Today, Kay Sargent, Director of HOK’s global WorkPlace practice, helps us explore the new promise that our work...

Mike Petrusky Has been the host of the ioffice’s Workplace Innovator Podcast for 3 years running. He’s had over 150 interviews with real estate, technology, and facilities leaders from all over the world. His style, his humor, and his honesty when it comes to the difficult topics surrounding the workplace today make him the perfect guest for Imagine a Place. In our conversation, Mike and I cover l...

Named by CNN as one of the ten most fascinating people in the world you've never heard of, Raghava KK is a multidisciplinary artist, storyteller, and featured TED speaker, who explores the intersection of art, life, and technology.   His public art installations include a library for the Robin Hood Foundation in the Bronx, NY, and is internationally treasured, but behind all his accomplishments… t...

Today, we’ll hear from a recent graduate who just began her career at Gensler.  If you think there is nothing to learn from a student, you are about to be turned upside down.  Sofia Acosta is as wise, collected, and clear-headed as anyone we’ve interviewed on the podcast so far.   Sofia graduated in May 2021 from Kansas State’s 5-year master's program in Interior Architecture and Industrial Design...

Have you thanked a teacher lately? Somewhere out there is a teacher that has helped you become who you are today. Well, for so many in the world of architecture and design, that teacher is Jon Otis. Jon is widely known in this industry for so many reasons. He’s on the international board of directors for IIDA, he’s a professor at Pratt, runs his own practice, Object Agency and he’s champion of div...