The Beautiful Thinkers Project
46 episodes - English - Latest episode: 18 days ago -Join Carolyn Hadlock, founder and President of The Beautiful Thinkers Project as she interviews creatives, founders, creators, leaders, and visionaries to discover what makes beautiful thinking.
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Episodes
Season VII | EP 3: Nevada Berg, Author / Founder of North Wild Kitchen
April 10, 2024 00:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBIn this episode, Carolyn Hadlock, founder of TBTP talks with Nevada about how the landscape of Norway informed her culinary evolution. She speaks to the importance of seasons, cooking in the outdoors and respecting the food traditions of Norway while finding modern takes on them.
Season VII | EP 2: Paul Bennett, Design Leader / Former CCO, IDEO
March 14, 2024 21:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBIn this episode, Carolyn Hadlock, Founder and Host sat down with Paul Bennett to discuss his long and fruitful career with IDEO, his creative partnership with Tim Brown, how to land in a room deeply and what's next on his Not To-Do List. (P.S. Stay past the end for bonus content about his tattoo.)
Season VII | EP 1: Marcus Engman, CCO / IKEA
February 28, 2024 23:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBIn this episode, Carolyn Hadlock, founder of TBTP talks with Marcus Engman about the future of retail, IKEA's inaugural Artist in Residency Program with Annie Leibovitz, designing change and growing up IKEA as the second Engman to be Head of Design at IKEA.
Dr. Hirt (Pt. 2)
December 20, 2023 15:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBOn the season VI finale of “Saturated,” Carolyn Hadlock and IU students Mina Denny and Caterina DeSantis bring back Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at IU, Dr. Edward Hirt. If you recall, we kicked off “Saturated” with Dr. Hirt. Instead of focusing on the ways in which saturation depletes us as we did in the first episode, here we tap into how we can recharge and ameliorate our mental batteries amongst saturation. Whether an idea of someone else sparks a new creation of our ow...
Jason Q. Ng
December 14, 2023 19:00 - 31 minutes - 21.3 MBThe sixth episode of Season VI "Saturated" : IU Edition welcomes Jason Q. Ng, Author of Blocked On Weibo where he writes about Chinese internet censorship and currently works as a Data Scientist at Duolingo. In this episode Jason discusses how he has used data throughout his career to democratize information in order to help people learn about everything from incarceration rates in his work as a researcher with Citizen Lab, to helping artists on connect with listeners on Spotify, to helpin...
Denise Roberson
December 04, 2023 19:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBThe fifth episode of Season VI “Saturated”: IU Edition welcomes Denise Roberson, Chief Purpose Officer at TBWA, Professor and Speaker. Denise is the first Chief Purpose Officer TBWA has had. Denise shares her passion for purpose and her work to embed it inside organizations. While the work of purpose dates back to the late 1880’s, it would be over a century before brands would embrace it as a profit driver. She shares stories of brands who have walked the walk and brands who’ve badly bungle...
Aakash Ranison
November 22, 2023 13:00 - 35 minutes - 24.4 MBThe fourth episode of Season VI “Saturated”: IU Edition welcomes Aakash Ranison, Author, Nomad and Climate Optimist. Aakash shares his personal journey of how traveling (via bicycle) through India opened his eyes to the need for climate change. His optimistic approach calls us to shift our behaviors—starting with daily choices. Discover how he adeptly navigates the challenges of embracing a minimal lifestyle white simultaneously scaling his positive impact on the global environment.
Don McPherson
November 16, 2023 00:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MBDon McPherson invented eyewear for color blindness when he was working to develop eyewear for surgeons to use as protection during laser surgery. He would discover this when he lent his glasses to a friend who was color blind during a round of Ultimate Frisbee in Santa Cruz. In 2005 EnChroma was born. In this episode Don talks about the overlap of art + science, the importance of getting a multidisciplinary degree and overcoming pushback he got from the vision science community.
Connor Hitchcock
November 08, 2023 04:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBConnor Hitchcock founded Homefield Apparel with his wife Christa in 2018. Today they sell college themed apparel to over 150 universities nationwide. Homefield prides itself on crafting a brand based on thoughtful design, culture and values. In this episode Connor shares the benefits of starting the business in Indiana, focusing on the fans and why staying scrappy is so important.
Dr. Edward Hirt
October 31, 2023 21:00 - 26 minutes - 18.1 MBOur first episode of Season VI "Saturated": IU Edition welcomes Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at IU Bloomington. Dr. Hirt discusses his work at the HirtLab where he and students study social identity, mental depletion, replenishment and motivation. In this debut episode, he’ll walk us through how saturation impacts our daily lives through the lens of these topics.
Liz Paquette
December 15, 2022 19:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBLiz Paquette is the Senior Director of Brand for Drizly, a leading beverage alcohol e-commerce shop. Drizly was the first brand to carve out a space in direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, and it continues to revolutionize the act of buying someone a drink via mobile phone with an innovative brand strategy. She talked about the opportunity Drizly found during the pandemic, the rise of ready-to-drink cocktails, and building a brand and a category at the same time.
Ryan Lott
December 06, 2022 18:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBRyan Lott is a musician, composer, and founding member of music collective Son Lux. Ryan and his Son Lux collaborators developed the score for the 2022 film “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” much of which was written in a home Ryan rented out in Indianapolis. He talked about reconciling his classical training with a musical rebellious streak, the relationship between music and movement, and why he chose his bandmates to intentionally not just be a bunch of white men.
Candy Tong
November 15, 2022 17:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBCandy Tong is a dancer, model, and entrepreneur based in New York City. Having trained and worked in the world of ballet, Candy has a unique perspective on femininity and body politics, and she uses her platform to push the changing look of ballet further forward. She talked about the importance of her education as a dancer, the pressure of social media on dancers and non-dancers alike, and why she’s proud to be a nontraditional ballerina.
Ray Roberts
October 25, 2022 14:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MBRay Roberts is a former NFL player who currently serves as the Director of Unified Champion Schools for Special Olympics North America. A naturally talented leader and speaker, Ray brings the same heart, work ethic, and communication skills to his career in the nonprofit world that he did to the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks. He talked about the realizations that brought him to retiring from football, living his life with the mindset of a lineman, and his ongoing quest to become a b...
Amy Conway-Hatcher
August 18, 2022 19:00 - 31 minutes - 21.5 MBAmy Conway-Hatcher is an attorney, author, advocate, and founding member of Chief (a network built to support and empower women in positions of executive leadership) in Washington DC. Her book “Infinitely More: Choosing Freedom, A Career Mom’s Turning Point” recounts her journey from equity partner at a prestigious law firm to dedicating more of her life and career to making the worlds of business, law, and more into places where women have better opportunities to accomplish their goals and ...
Bryce & Jill Morrison
December 07, 2021 20:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBBryce and Jill Morrison are the co-founders of Mom Water. All-natural, non-carbonated, and available in flavors like the Julie (passionfruit) and the Karen (lemon-blueberry), Jill and Bryce created Mom Water for their group of parent friends before marketing it to the masses in four US states and counting. The beverage gained popularity through social media sites like TikTok, but also organically through the network of moms they discovered while creating the brand. “I've discovered how moms,...
Martha Hoover
November 22, 2021 20:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBMartha Hoover is the founder of Patachou, Inc. One of the first restaurateurs to emphasize fresh farm-to-table ingredients back in 1989, Martha has transformed Patachou into an enterprise of multiple European-inspired restaurant concepts that have elevated the restaurant scene in Indianapolis and the Midwest as a whole. She talked about how restaurants can shape a city, making the food she wanted to see be made, and why she thinks motherhood is an oppressive word.
Kourtney Morgan
November 10, 2021 15:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBKourtney Morgan is a Senior Designer at Patagonia— and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People In Business in 2020. Kourtney, a nature lover herself, has taken up the company’s mantle to find unique solutions for minimizing waste in Patagonia’s clothing design, from championing the brand’s Worn Wear program for selling gently used out-of-season clothes to designing the ReCrafted collection from used and damaged clothing. According to Kourtney, the brand isn’t looking to just own these sus...
Susan Holmes McKagan
November 03, 2021 13:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBSusan Holmes McKagan, author, model, and influencer. Susan has defied the expectations of being a model and rock star wife (to Guns N Roses’ Duff McKagan) by taking on a host of other careers, from swimwear designer and businesswoman to journalist and novelist. She talked about stressing the importance of her entertainer kids’ education, co-hosting a Sirius XM show with her husband, and the rejection-filled process of publishing a rock n roll novel.
Kevin Lynch
October 27, 2021 12:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBKevin Lynch. Creative Director at Oatly. World traveler. Story maker. Beautiful thinker. With a background at ad agencies in Chicago, Kevin first traveled the world to work in Shanghai, and later came to help the nondairy milk brand headquartered in Malmo, Sweden make creative messaging to further develop its quirky, highly individual tone. Kevin talked about educating consumers through laughter, being a brand with bravery, and staying in a year’s worth of Shanghai Airbnbs.
Chris Davis
June 04, 2021 15:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBChris Davis, Chief Marketing Officer of New Balance, on forming authentic partnerships, calculated risk-taking, and making dad shoes cool.
Julie Browning Bova
May 25, 2021 17:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MBJulie Browning Bova, designer/founder of Julie Bova Design, on story-centered interior design, putting intentional fear into your life and Midwest craftsmanship
David Napolitano
May 18, 2021 18:00 - 31 minutes - 21.9 MBDavid Napolitano, founder of Breadico, on baking out of a garage, the perks of growing a business in a smaller market, and why we all got so into bread in 2020.
Alessandro Manfredi
May 11, 2021 18:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBAlessandro Manfredi, EVP, Dove at Unilever on why brand purpose is good business, the need for systemic change in the world of beauty, and partnering with Lizzo.
Justin Parnell
April 27, 2021 15:00 - 37 minutes - 25.5 MBJustin Parnell, Senior Director of OREO at Mondelez International, on staying playful, building a doomsday vault in Norway, and being an “and” brand.
Alex Matisse
April 20, 2021 15:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBBeautiful Thinker: Alex Matisse, founder of East Fork Pottery, on bringing old-school manufacturing back, making community part of brand DNA, and finding success beyond his family’s legacy.
Alan Lightman
April 13, 2021 16:00 - 23 minutes - 16.1 MBAlan Lightman, author, physicist, and educator, on living a creative life, challenging science’s view of the unexplainable, and bringing the humanities to MIT.
John Merris
April 06, 2021 15:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBJohn Merris, President and CEO of Solo Stove, on cultivating a solid company culture, radical customer service transparency, and creating your own fire.
Giovanni Corazza
January 06, 2021 22:00 - 30 minutes - 20.9 MBGiovanni Corazza, founder of the Marconi Institute for Creativity, on the dangers of expertise, balancing creative ideas with business principles, and how even non-living things can be creative.
Emily Granger & Luke Tierney
December 16, 2020 18:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBBeautiful Thinkers: Emily Granger, harpist, and Luke Tierney, founder of Tier 1 Arts, on discovering the harp, the modern playlist movement, and what happens when classical music meets social media.
Wes Rozen
December 10, 2020 18:00 - 25 minutes - 17.4 MBWes Rozen, founder of Camber Studio, on the dynamic meaning of "camber," finding creativity in the spaces between, and building the perfect place to work from home.
Marshall "Mr. P" Pollard & Hugh Weber
December 01, 2020 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBBeautiful Thinkers: Hugh Weber, Managing Editor and CCO of The Great Discontent, and Marshall “Mr. P” Pollard, Founder of the Creative School, on creating equity through networks, intergenerational education, and an unlikely friendship that began on a bus in Switzerland.
Lindsay Adler
November 24, 2020 16:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBBeautiful Thinker: Lindsay Adler, fashion photographer, on starting a business at 15, redefining femininity and the symbolism of the color red.
Mark Graham
November 10, 2020 23:00 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MBBeautiful Thinker: Mark Graham, Culinary Director at the Kellogg Company, on the role of ritual in food, global palates, and owning breakfast.
Joshua Ramus
November 04, 2020 20:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBBeautiful Thinker: Joshua Ramus, Designer and Founding Principal at REX, on evaluating conventions in architecture, the utility of aesthetic, and COVID's impact on gathering spaces.
Adam Lisagor
October 27, 2020 13:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBBeautiful Thinker: Adam Lisagor, founder of Sandwich, on representing digital concepts in physical space, embracing your niche, and making mistakes only you can make.
Bill Neff
October 20, 2020 18:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBBeautiful Thinker: Bill Neff, VP Consumer Marketing at YETI, on expanding from hook and bullet, befriending communities, and the invisible work that cements a brand.
Katherine Gray
August 03, 2020 19:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBBeautiful Thinkers: A conversation with Katherine Gray, artist and judge on Netflix's Blown Away, on glass blowing's mystical history, elevating domestic glassware, and interpreting the world through the polarities of glass.
Rebekah Moses
July 21, 2020 14:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBBeautiful Thinkers: A conversation with Rebekah Moses, Head of Impact Strategy, Impossible Foods on the global becoming local, the pitfalls of guilting consumers, and her cautious optimism on COVID's environmental impact.
Pete Johnson
June 30, 2020 16:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBBeautiful Thinker: A conversation with Pete Johnson, Head of Creation at the Lego Group, on living your company values, the universal state of play, and moving from Brooklyn to Denmark.
Kat Vellos
June 01, 2020 20:00 - 30 minutes - 20.9 MBBeautiful Thinker: Kat Vellos, author, activist and former UX designer at Slack, on forging meaningful relationships through the intersection of design and empathy.
Tom Herbst
May 07, 2020 18:00 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBBeautiful Thinker: Tom Herbst, former CMO for The North Face, on cultivating a sense of exploration and curiosity — especially now.
Sophie Kelly
April 17, 2020 19:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBBeautiful Thinker: Sophie Kelly, SVP, Whiskies, Diageo North America on redefining status, having purpose at the heart of a brand and shaping the future.
Hugh Weber
February 25, 2020 19:00 - 57 minutes - 39.4 MBHugh Weber, Managing Editor and CCO of The Great Discontent on telling untold stories from the spaces in between and the wider definition of the word creativity.
Paula Scher
December 05, 2019 16:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBPaula Scher, Partner at Pentagram, on fighting the inner and outer critics and doing your best work in mundane moments.
Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio
December 05, 2019 16:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBArmin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, founders of Brand New, on the benefits of being married to your partner, creating to survive, and what it’s like to publicly critique your mentor’s work.