The Creative Mindset

How does the power of asking good questions shape one’s approach to creativity and problem-solving? On this week’s episode, we welcome John C Jay, the Creative Chairman at Uniqlo, to hear about his humble beginnings as an Asian immigrant to the United States, how he found his way to pursue creativity as his calling, and the philosophies behind his creativity in work and life. He emphasizes that al...

What does it mean to be creative, and is creativity a privilege reserved for the wealthy? On this episode, we welcome back Dr. John Maeda, former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and current VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft, to hear his definition of creativity and his candid thoughts on what it takes to be creative. He also reflects on personal experienc...

Working across different disciplines is no easy feat, and requires interdisciplinary knowledge, empathy, and perseverance. On this week's episode, we welcome John Maeda, former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and currently VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft, to hear about his experiences as a Japanese American in the US and Japan, pivot from engineer to de...

We wanted to let our listeners know that we’ll be making a small change to our podcast release schedule. Starting this week, our podcast will be moving to a brand new day of the week. Instead of releasing new episodes on Mondays, you can now look forward to hearing from us every other Thursday. So stay tuned this Thursday to welcome our next guest, John Maeda. Thanks for tuning in! ◆Instagram http...

The desire to attract people’s attention may just be your powerhouse for creativity, according to Paola Antonelli. On this week’s episode, we welcome back Paola, the Senior Curator of Architecture & Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), to hear about the specifics of her work as a curator, how curiosity can help you stay motivated, and how creativity is like “flowers becoming flagrant to...

You could never fully know what life has in store for you. But when it comes to life opportunities, Paola Antonelli shares how being in the "right place" makes a difference. On this week’s episode, we welcome Paola, the Senior Curator of Architecture & Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), to hear about the beginnings of her career, life events that became curation opportunities, personal...

Happiness can sometimes feel challenging, or even impossible to attain, in the world we live in. Provided that there may be no single one-size-fits-all solution, what if you could design your own system and focus on what “you” want to make happen? On our episode this week, we welcome back Cindy Gallop, CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, to hear about how a personal midlife crisis became her very opportunity...

Rei speaks with Cindy Gallop, former founder of BBH New York and current founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, which launched at TED 2009 - ‘Pro-sex. Pro-porn. Pro-knowing the difference’. Today, Cindy pushes to socialize and normalize sex to make it easier to talk about and promote good sexual values and behavior. In this episode, our guest Cindy shares her work philosophy to attain key career mile...

In this episode, we welcome back Ian Spalter, the Director of Metaverse Design at Meta, to discuss how introducing a “state of play” in the workplace is key to creativity, whether talent is nature or nurture, Japan through Ian's eyes, and challenges as a Black designer. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:55 How do you encourage an organization to be more creative? 08:30 Is creativity nurture or nature? 10...

Rei speaks with Ian Spalter, former head of design at Instagram who led the redesign of Instagram in 2016, after which Instagram saw an explosive user growth worldwide. Featured in the Netflix documentary “Abstract: The Art of Design,” Ian is currently the Director of Metaverse Design at Meta and oversees the design of its Avatars and immersive social products. In our first episode, Ian opens the...

I&CO founding partner Rei Inamoto speaks with the world’s leading practitioners of creativity from industries such as art, design, architecture, cuisine, and much more, to offer a glimpse into the minds of what it takes to build a successful career. In each episode, these creative luminaries share their beginnings, intimate moments of success and failure, and pieces of advice for work and life...