Imagine a Place

Today, we hop over the Atlantic to the small coastal town of Portsmouth England to speak with Charlotte Kingsbury. Charlotte is the head of US Operations for the London-based firm Urban and she leads Urban's #bemoreinclusive movement aiming to the change demographics of architects, designers and firm leaders. If you feel that you’ve been overlooked or underrepresented through your career, or, If y...

In this special LIVE episode of Imagine a Place, host Doug Shapiro travels to Miami to attend  the 3rd annual "New Year, New You" event (presented by IIDA South Florida ). The event brings together a diverse group of interior designers and design leaders to encourage, educate, and inspire  a growing community of professionals in South Florida. This year's theme was legacy.  As Doug records live fr...

Today is a special day as Imagine a Place is launching its first children's book, " Design Your World ."   This heartwarming book shares the mission of IIDA's pipeline program of the same name (Design Your World), which aims to educate and inspire kids to see design as an accessible tool for both their life and career - and to make a positive impact on the world.  A portion of the proceeds from ea...

Nate Thompson and Alex Schwartz are the cofounders of the Disrupted Workforce .  As thought leaders and co-hosts of their own podcast (also called The Disrupted Workforce ), they bring an almost piercing level of clarity to the very muddy world of work that we exist in today. We’ll talk about leadership, priorities, the 4 day work week, and the human spirit.   Their advice at the end gives you the...

Today we’ve got something new for you. We shipped a couple of microphones and a recorder to San Diego to our OFS rep and industry enthusiast, Hillarie Martorell . As she posted up for San Diego’s big design event, the Imagine a Place Productions team tasked her with the mission to capture some specific insight in a live interview format. We wanted to discover how mentorship is changing in the prof...

On today's episode, Doug reflects on what we've learned in 2022 and takes a look ahead into what's in store for the Imagine a Place podcast in the new year. As you'll hear from Doug, there's a lot to be excited about in 2023 - great guests, new show announcements, book launches, live events, and more!  2022 was full of amazing milestones and moments, but we have SO MUCH more in store in 2023.  And...

In the final episode of our LIVE from WorkSpaces series, Doug sits down with Influence Group co-founder, Michael Owens , and senior producer, Jason Schwab . Together, they discuss how and why WorkSpaces comes together and what the future holds for their incredible lineup of events. Doug then digs back into his notebook and reflects back on his time at WorkSpaces , exploring the themes, conclusions...

Part 2 of our " LIVE at WorkSpaces " series goes DEEP on the purpose, value, and goals of the workplace. Doug and his lineup of incredible guests discuss how our new ways of working are revealing new questions about the fundamental needs humans seek through work and space. Questions like: Are we trying too hard to fit an old model of collaboration into new ways of working? Are we thinking about em...

In October, the Imagine a Place team had the great fortune of podcasting LIVE from WorkSpaces , 2022 - a three-day event that brings together workplace innovators and thought leaders from all over the world.  This amazing event was packed with incredible people, speakers, and thinkers - all with BIG ideas about the future of work, which you'll get to hear over the course of three special episodes!...

Today, you’ll hear from Alexandra Tseffos, an entrepreneur and coach who has built two separate businesses helping dealers and manufacturers blend the delicate worlds of design, technology, and sales.  Those businesses, Silent T Consulting and Design Pop are quickly being recognized as the gold standard for both CET training and community building in contract furniture design. In this episode, we...

My Nguyen is the Director of Interior Design at Holland America Group -nationally acclaimed for her design projects in the marine interior design, high-end residential, and hospitality markets, My Nguyen is known industry-wide for her diverse talent. And while her design talents are impressive on their own, it's her remarkable journey that will truly inspire you.  Today, My will share her story wh...

Ginger Curtis is an award-winning interior designer, author, Instagram Influencer, and serial entrepreneur, but most of all she's an incredible person. After surviving cancer, she began Urbanology Designs in 2015 to inspire and help others elevate their homes' beauty, comfort, and function. So, in our interview with Ginger, we’ll talk design, but there’s a long list of takeaways that will fuel you...

Over the Summer, we gathered together a talented group of healthcare designers to meet with one of the healthcare industry's great writers and design explorers, Sara Marberry.  In this discussion, Sara and the group explore the critical importance healthcare design plays for the patient and caregiver, as well as healthcare’s role in responding to the climate crisis. Roundtable guests:  Sara Marber...

This summer, the Imagine a Place team huddled to ask the question:  Who would be the perfect guest to explore creativity?   So, naturally, the conclusion was: Let’s talk to a Creative Director at a REALLY creative company. This led us straight to James Gregson at Lego . James’ work as the Creative Director for LEGO’s internal creative agency has landed him on AD Week’s Creative 100 List and over t...

Brenda Romero is an award-winning game director, entrepreneur, and Fulbright award recipient who entered the video game industry in 1981 and is presently CEO and co-founder of Romero Games . As a game developer, she has worked on 50 games and contributed to many seminal titles, including Wizardry, Ghost Recon, and Dungeons & Dragons. Brenda has been designing and inventing games her whole life and...

Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, Debbie Millman is an author, educator, curator, and host of the podcast, Design Matters . Launched in 2005, Design Matters , is one of the first and longest-running podcasts, and as host, Millman has interviewed nearly 500 of the most creative people in the world over the past 17 years examining the arch of their lives, fully exp...

Well, here we are...episode 100! And we're thrilled - not just because of the milestone, but because of what we get to share with you today. In this episode, we’ll be introducing you to the people, the strategy, and the work that goes into making these episodes. We also take you back to some of our favorite moments from the podcast - and if you stick around until the end, you'll hear Doug's "aha m...

Designer. Advocate. Advisor. Humorist - Brian Graham 's talent extends far beyond furniture design. For nearly 25 years, Brian has been turning out award-winning and internationally recognized work, but it's his ability to connect and communicate with people that just might be his greatest skill and a not-so-secret to success. In the wee hours before NeoCon, we sat down together in the OFS showroo...

This is a really special conversation.   Jenny McMath is going to give us an all-access pass to Los Alamos National Labs , aka "LANL" — LANL is where the most important, secretive, and secure research is happening in the United States and Jenny leads all furniture for the 8,000,000 square feet that makes up LANL. But — None of that is what makes this conversation so awesome.  It’s Jenny’s enthusia...

It takes a village. Design is certainly no exception.  David Lancaster is a member of the London based furniture design studio Roger Webb Associates.  For over 2 decades, David and his teammates have been designing award-winning and innovative furniture products for workplaces all over the globe.  Most recently, they’ve designed OFS’s Heya, Obeya, Khaleid and many more. I’ve enjoyed getting to kno...

Autodesk is best known as the source for AutoCAD and Revit.  They are a technology company that enables the designers and makers of the world.  In today's episode, we welcome Mike Haley , Autodesk’s VP of Research.  Mike leads a world-class team of researchers, engineers, and other specialists, at Autodesk, who are exploring the future of how people will design and make things. In this conversatio...

We are thrilled to introduce the latest addition to the Imagine a Place Productions family of podcasts…. It’s called The Skill Set and as you might have heard by now, it’s hosted by the one and only Cheryl Durst . An exceptional communicator, innovator, and visionary leader, Cheryl Durst has spurred progress, driven change, and encouraged the expansion of the Interior Design industry. Cheryl has s...

The story you’re going to hear today is a powerful one. I met Alejandro Estrada ( Designer at Empire Office ) at what I would rank as one of the top local design events that I’ve witnessed – The New Year New You event in Miami, Florida, where I hosted a panel. When we met at this event, what stood out about Alejandro was his aura… He had a magnetic, creative, and positive energy that you could jus...

In this episode, we decided to do something different, we wanted to reflect back on a few powerful moments that made us stop and think just a little bit deeper. Today, we revisit discussions with Mark Bryan ,  Pat Milbery , and Andrea Herron to discover those moments in the conversation that sparked our curiosity on the metaverse, how to encourage passion in others, and the importance of mental he...

Mark Bryan is the Director of Innovation and Research at M+A Architects - He’s also a certified futurist. As a Futurist,  Mark leads M+A’s Futurism services, using innovation and research to create personalized data-driven solutions and future-driven forecasts to solve now for what is to come next. Mark uses his work to predict, and protect, what inevitable change means for the future. In today's...