Afleveringen
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ABOUT MARDI NAJAFI:
LINKEDIN PROFILE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mardi-najafi-rdi-idc-772b1328/
MARDI'S BIO:
Mardi Najafi is an award-winning, multidisciplinary designer with over 30 years of experience at the forefront of the design world. A visionary leader in the field, Mardi believes that design has the power to evoke emotion, create unforgettable experiences, and leave a lasting impact. His work spans a diverse range of high-profile retail environments, from intimate boutiques to large-scale, branded experiences for some of the worldâs most iconic companies, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Virgin Mobile, Telus, Loblaws, Penguin Random House, Keilhauer, and Versace. His global portfolio reflects his ability to blend innovation and cultural context, with projects across Paris, New York, Toronto, and beyond.
As the Principal, Chief Creative Officer, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Lead at SDI Design, Mardi is passionate about pushing the boundaries of design to craft immersive, transformative environments that captivate audiences. Known for his attention to detail and his ability to seamlessly merge art and commerce, he excels at creating spaces that are not only visually striking but also deeply meaningful and engaging. His work continues to redefine the retail landscape, setting new standards for brand experiences that resonate long after customers leave.
Beyond his design practice, Mardi is an active voice in the industry as an accomplished speaker, educator, and panelist. He is deeply committed to fostering innovation, sharing his expertise with the next generation of designers through mentorship and his involvement in various professional advisory committees. A lifelong advocate for education, Mardi has taught at prestigious design schools around the world, inspiring students and shaping the future of the design community.
In 2023, Mardi was honored as the first Canadian inductee into the Retail Design Institute's prestigious Legions of Honor, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the field. He is also currently serving as the President of the Retail Design Institute Canada, where he continues to shape industry standards and advocate for the advancement of design excellence.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
EPISODE 73⊠and my conversation with Mardi Najafi.
On the podcast, our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
Mardi Najafi is the Principal, Chief Creative Officer, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Lead at SDI Design.
We discuss his life of growing up the son of an Iranian diplomat, a professional path through the fashion, exhibit design and retail industries and how teaching is about giving back to young designers in their fledgling careersâŠ
Weâll get to all of that in a moment but first, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
There are interviews that I have done over the past 73 episodes that have been specifically about a personâs work,
There have been those that have been about a brand or product category,
Or the study of neuroscience and its role in experience making,
Weâve delved into art and creativity, leadership, climate issues, and many other subjects.
And there are other interviews that I have done that focused in on a personâs career path, how their experiences brought them to where they are today. In these cases, I often find that my guest and I identify how serendipity stepped in front of them as they careened through a career, how taking the road less traveled lead them to creative professional journeys that were unexpected, and how a shift in their mindset resulted in profoundly rewarding roles at companies or with personal and professional relationships.
I love discussions about serendipity â how our life paths seem to be guided by novel circumstances that were unforeseen, yet when confronted with them, we found a moment to step aside from our pre-determined story, one that we might have created with specific objectives, a place to be at some future moment, and in the midst of new circumstances, a choice was to be made about what the next move would be without really knowing where it would lead.
There seems to be some magic in this process â a sense of wonder that keeps the creative spirit alive. There is also a good dose of courage needed at the nexus of ânow and next, when a calling summons new thinking and a re-evaluation of our pre-suppositions about how things are supposed to be now, or in the future, need re-evaluation.
I think it is often the case with creative paths or projects.
To start out knowing where you are going would suggest that you have you have already been. To start out with the end in mind creates a path of production, of doing, rather than one of seminal discoveries along the way.
There is something in the unknowing that I believe maintains the creative path as an adventure, one where in the doing of the thing we are continuously discovering rather than just in production mode.
In the discovering, we remain engaged, learning, exploring and the path is laid out as we move along it. However⊠being in a place of unknowing, can be fear inducing since I think we so often like the assuredness of the pre-determined and predicable.
I have found this particularly true in teaching at universities in design fields. Students donât like the unpredictable so much. Many prefer the determinism of knowing where their projects will eventually end up. But I think in taking this approach we short circuit the opportunity to discover something new â something we could not have predicted but when discovered, results in a sense of awe that shifts our perspective and maybe our purpose.
And I think it takes courage to follow a set of rules about designing something, call it strategy, and let the rules of the strategy guide the process. As we pursue the path of the work the rules help to guide decisions that make the next step self-evident. Then the next, and the next and so on, until a conclusion to the process meets the requirements of the design brief.
Assuming the strategy is well founded, you can rely on the rules to guide the process and decision-making. Along the design path, all decisions can be cross-referenced against the strategy and the outcomes that donât align with the determined set of rules can be set aside in a preference for the ones that best exemplify them.
Then there is the emergence of circumstances that throw you a curve ball â conditions shift within which you have little control â and your path necessarily changes. The resilience and the flexible mindset that is required in these moments are factors that influence your ability to adjust â to find yourself in a place of positive transformation or maybe to simply survive.
I have found that the key to positive transformation is to keep saying yes to serendipity. To loosen the rigidity in my mindset and welcome the unexpected.
It can be a struggle because I have generally been geared to knowing where Iâm going. I donât mind saying that I have long preferred the predictable over the mercurial.
It is at times not easy, but these moments of re-alignment with new realities can be the success factor supporting our determination to keep going and to leverage the ânewâ for the purpose of re-making ourselves. I think that in this, there is a sense of agency. I think that we are, in fact, in little control of anything but for our own reactions to adversity or the everchanging circumstances of life.
Perhaps this is the proverbial âmaking lemonade out of lemons.â When life gives you lemons⊠you know⊠make lemonade.
And this is where the life path of my guest in this episode comes in. Mardi Najafi has had a colorful host of experiences influencing his professional path.
Having grown up the son of an Iranian Diplomat, he was schooled in multiple countries including Iran, France and Russia.
He was conscripted into Iranian military service and made a friend with whom he, after his release from service, created a business bringing watches into Iran. That adventure eventually allowed him to earn enough money to buy his fatherâs release from prison and ironically lead to a career in design.
After a building a successful professional track record working in Europe, he landed in Canada where he fostered his interest in retail design.
In 2023, Mardi was honored as the first Canadian inductee into the Retail Design Institute's prestigious Legion of Honor, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the retail design field. He is also currently serving as the President of the Retail Design Institute Canada, where he continues to shape industry standards and advocate for the advancement of design excellence.
Mardi Najafi is an award-winning, multidisciplinary designer with over 30 years of experience at the forefront of the design world. A visionary leader in the field, Mardi believes that design has the power to evoke emotion, create unforgettable experiences, and leave a lasting impact.
His work spans a diverse range of high-profile retail environments, from intimate boutiques to large-scale, branded experiences for some of the worldâs most iconic companies, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Virgin Mobile, Telus, Loblaws, Penguin Random House and Versace.
Mardi is deeply committed to fostering innovation, sharing his expertise with the next generation of designers through mentorship and his involvement in various professional advisory committees.
After having a few conversations with Mardi, I would say he lands squarely in the camp of actually following Robert Frostâs âRoad Not Takenâ welcoming the discovery born of lifeâs moment of significant change - even when it is uncomfortable.
* * *
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
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ABOUT TARA HAASE HIEMINGA:
LINKEDIN PROFILE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-haase-hieminga-48124621/
TARA'S BIO:
Tara Haase Hieminga is the Elevated Shopper Experience Global Lead at Mondelez International. With more than 12 years at Mondelez he has previously held roles such as Senior Manager Shopper Marketing & In-Store Merchandising, Sr. Manager Design & Digital Engagement. Prior to Mondelez, Tara was at Kraft Food Group as the Design Strategy Leader and before that, she worked for Mars as the Brand Manager, Candy and In-Store Marketing Manager for Snackfoods.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
EPISODE 72⊠and my conversation with Tara Haase Hieminga.
On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
Tara Haase Hiemanga who is the Global Lead for Elevated Shopper Experiences at Mondelez.
She is using an understanding of neuroscience to enhance customer experiences across a number of the Mondelez brands. What brands are those, well there is a pretty big list but let me just say a few of my favorites â OREO, Toblerone, Cadbury, Wheat Thins and I could go onâŠ
Weâll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
Back around 2008, 9 and 10 my wife was studying interpersonal neurobiology with Dr. Dan Siegel.
I used to come downstairs and listen to her and all the videos she was watching and various conversations she was having and I was often saying âwow that really replies to the work that I'm doing in trying to create retail stores.â
As I listened it became clearer and clearer to me that I could perhaps rely on the lessons of understanding neuroscience as being the core driver to customer experience rather than simply thinking of it in terms of psychology, demographics and culture.
What fascinated me then and still continues today is the idea that â there was something beyond simple psychology that we would be able to use to design better stores something that would relate to almost all humans in terms of how they understood environments specifically how they would look through product assortments, identify key item presentations, understand graphics, and how color, pattern and texture would all come together to either hinder or help decision making in the shopping aisle.
Interestingly, back in the day, it took me a little while to get into architecture. I'd had a great time in junior college but my grades weren't great so I ended up enrolling in a Bachelor of Science in psychology which I was fascinated in anyway because I wanted to understand human dynamics but, I also had a sense that there was something deeply rooted and not just how buildings looked from the design point of view and but how they made people feel from an embodied / sensory point of view.
And so, when I finally got into architecture a lot of my thinking about design was about how these places that we were creating would have qualities about them that would make people feel a certain way.
I sometimes used to say that I didn't care whether you loved it or hated it (of course I hoped you loved it) but I wanted to make sure that you felt something as you were experiencing some place.
And that later in my retail design career that you were satisfied with the experiences as well as the things that you bought in the store.
In 2012 I did a presentation at global shop that was ostensibly about emotions and how we had to begin to understand that creating stores was about building emotional relationships and long term connections and then the awareness of how empathy played into this equation.
This single presentation was a turning point in my career because someone came up to me at the end of it and said ââŠthat idea should be a book.â
And so, taking that as a signâŠI was on my way to immersing myself for the next couple of years in writing âRetail (r)Evolution: why creating right brain stores will shape the future of shopping in the digitally driven world. â
In the book I really dug into the nature of shopping as a cultural phenomena; it's power across the ages to tie together ideas and commerce
the growth of shopping places around the world from the intersections of silk trade routes to the mega malls of North America and I also dug into brain science.
In fact over a third of the book deals with understanding functional areas of the brain and how if we we're able to appreciate more how our gift in perception through our body was directly tied to our emotional connections and long term memory could be used - that all shoppers and retailers would be better off.
I tried to explain it this way: imagine you're in your car - what I'd like you to do is write down 5 things that make the engine of your car run now if you're actually in your car while listening to this, do not start to write down these five things but hold them in your head as an idea what are the five things that make your car engine run? OK got 5 of them?
Now, I want you to think about your brain and think of five things that make you run - through your engine - in other words your brain.
The strange thing is and I've done this at multiple presentations around the world people are more apt to be able to describe 5 things that make the engine of their car run where they might spend 2 hours a day in rather than being able to identify more than two things that make themselves run ( the functional areas of their brain) that they spend 24hrs a day in.
I also put forward the following proposition:
- if we understood that all of our behaviors, thoughts and feelings are run by our brain-body connection, how is it possible that we could be designing stores and not have any clue about the very thing that is so influential in making decisions in the shopping aisle and our willingness to maintain relationships with the brands we love?
So, it became a little bit of a career mission to bring the understanding of neuroscience to the retail design masses hoping that they would understand the power of the brain-body and design and creating effective selling spaces.
Now, the other influence here was the emergence of digital technologies and how that was fundamentally changing the way our brains were being wired.
With the idea that the more you use a functional area of your brain the more you maintain its wiring between neurons and the less used something is the more though the brain goes on a wonderful topiary garden creating extravaganza trimming away neural pathways that are not being used.
This whole subject is referred to as âsynaptic pruningâ and fits together neatly with an idea around âneuroplasticityâ - how your brain changes over time in relation to the things that you're exposed to in the patterns of behavior you engage in.
So my premise then was: - if you are increasingly not using certain areas of your brain related to the exercise of empathy in face to face embodied interactions with other people like we continually do by communicating through our digital devices, what does that mean for the pathways for empathy in our brains and how we communicate with others?
If stores were about empathic engagement, we might have a significant challenge ahead of us.
In other words, if we are communicating less and less in embodied, face-to-face ways, what happens to the neural pathways built for empathic connection if we are using them less?
Does synaptic pruning play a role here eventually diminishing our ability to engage in empathic extension?
This became particularly interesting when you began to look at an entire cohort of emerging customers whose lives were very much directed by their interaction through social media that works and the digital devices they held in their hands.
That is the subject of a bigger and equally interesting conversation which I'll save for another podcast but for now letâs continue to focus on trying to understand what actually motivates people in the shopping aisle there have been fantastic studies that I came across the work of Baba Shiv and how decision making was made in the shopping aisle in relation to the potential for customers cognitive overload how they decided to choose one thing or another or the work of Sheena Iyengar who did a famous study of jams and the idea that a huge selection did not infact increase more purchases and satisfaction in the products chosen.
There are now a heft of studies that are available that continue to reinforce the fact that people's behavior in the shopping aisle is not fully conscious. Much of it happens below the conscious awareness radar.
We are driven by our emotions and our collective history of hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution that gear our brains, regardless of culture, religious or sexual orientation political affiliation or where you live in the world, that we all to some degree are reacting from the same baseline of brain activity in the brainâs functional areas that we all have.
Over the past 10 years there have been a number of organizations that have emerged focusing on the relationship between neuroscience and the built environment.
The ANFA - the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture would be one of them.
Another would be the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association whose conferences around the world bring together neuroscientists, designers, architects, retailers and brands to talk about the influence that neuroscience could play in creating more effective shopping places.
So, I am a huge advocate for trying to understand how we work and the neural mechanisms that influence our behavior beyond our psychology.
The whole idea here is that if we knew a little bit more about how your brain worked, you might likely not do some of the things you do as an architect or designer creating retail or brand experience places thinking it matters when in fact it's completely off of the awareness radar and probably has little influence on how people react while in stores.
And so we come now to my interview with Tara Haase Hiemanga who is the Global Lead for Elevated Shopper Experiences at Mondelez.
So⊠when I say Mondelez you may not know the parent brand but I'm quite sure that you know some, if not all, of these brands and products that might be in your diet every single week.
The Mondelez brands include: Cadbury chocolate and Dairy Milk, Chips Ahoy cookies, Clorets, Halls, the famous Oreo cookie, Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers, Tang apparently the drink that the astronauts used to have back in the day, Wheat Thins and Toblerone.
Do you know some of those brands?
Yeah I thought you probably did.
Last spring I was attending the SHOP Marketplace event and onto the stage comes Tara Haase Hieminga and a consultant from the company Sellcheck.
They proceeded to talk about how they were using neuroscience to enhance shopper experiences across their assortment of products.
Now if you've ever walked down the snack aisle at your local grocery store, I am quite sure that you are familiar with the sea of merchandise that exists there.
Hundreds of brands all selling within the same category and the question is how does a brand stand out or how do you as a consumer, if you don't already know your brand that you want to buy, decide to buy anything?
If you follow the neuroscience, it can be quite a challenge for the brain to unpack most of what's in that shopping aisle.
On the other hand, if you consider neuroscience you can begin to understand how people make decisions about what they want to buy and be able to do things in terms of your packaging, your product positioning, shelf graphics, the language you use on your packaging to enhance the likelihood that customers will give you deeper consideration and maybe buy more than they anticipated.
And that's exactly what Tara, Sellcheck and Mondelez is doing across their portfolio brands. They have begun to see the incredible impact of implementing neuroscience principles to the design of their packaging, point of purchase presentations and shelf displays so that the customers that they have, or ones they hope to acquire, will be attracted to their product, understand the messaging and end up with more than one bag of snacks in their shopping cart.
I wish that Tara and I would have had hours to discuss the intricacies of neuroscience and shopping behavior and how it relates to the design of products and in store presentations.
This is a subject that I believe all of us should have intimate knowledge.
Since I have never met a retailer who wanted to have a bad experience for their customers, I would suggest that implementing a deep understanding of our innate neurobiological hardware is critical.
* * *
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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ABOUT RON THURSTON:
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rthurston/
Websites:
Retail Pride book: https://www.amazon.com/Retail-Pride-Celebrating-Accidental-Career/dp/1544515928
OSSY: https://www.useossy.com
Retail In America podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/retail-in-america/id1618323713
Ron Thurston's Bio:
Ron Thurston's life mission is to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.
With over three decades of leading retail stores and operations for top American brands like Gap, West Elm, Apple, Tory Burch, Bonobos, and Saint Laurent, Ron has honed an extensive skill set in retail strategy, management, and innovation.In January 2024, Ron co-founded OSSY, a forward-thinking retail recruiting agency. This venture is dedicated to addressing the biggest hiring and recruiting challenges in retail, reinforcing Ronâs unwavering commitment to the industry.
As the best-selling author of RETAIL PRIDE, Ron inspires retail professionals to embrace their unique career paths. He also hosted the RETAIL IN AMERICA podcast and tour, journeying across the nation in an Airstream trailer during 2022/2023 to uncover and highlight the remarkable stories and individuals in retail.
Ron also serves on the Advisory Boards of several rapidly growing retail tech companies, including Ometria, Butterfly, and YOOBIC, lending his expertise to drive their success.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
EPISODE 71⊠and my conversation with Ron Thurston, retail veteran, best-selling author, podcast host and man on a mission to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.
On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this 70th episode I talk with Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach.
Ron Thurston has spent years opening stores for major internationally recognized brands and knows a thing or two about a career in retail. In our talk we dig into the shifting the mindset of retail being an accidental career to one of choice, about with you should be proud.
Weâll get to all that in a moment but first though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
Throughout my career in the retail design world I have often heard this statement âI never planned to be in retailâ.
And it's often said with some slight lilt of apology, that in a way somehow as an architect it was somehow not taken quite as seriously as the design of public buildings or housing or other things that architects with a capital âAâ do.
What's more, when I entered into the retail design world, quite by serendipity I might add, I came into the design of stores by way of visual merchandising. I was the resident architect of a small 4 personn design and visual merchandising consulting firm on 36th street just east of Park.
Working with a couple of seasoned pros, I learned that visual merchandisers were often regarded simply as window trimmers and I don't think quite got the respect that they were due for the power they had in shaping the retail experience for customers.
Often seen as the silent seller, visual merchandising was a key component to how the customer journey unfolded in a shopping experience. Mannequins and other displays in the store added that extra flavor to the store as a stage set in which the merchandise was the principal actor.
Architecture wasnât unimportant, but it wasnât the be all and end all of the in-store experience. You could have terrific architecture but if you couldn't get your assortment planning right department layouts an in store messaging you were likely not to perform quite as well.
It was through my first employer and mentor Joe Weishar of New Vision Studios in New York that I began to really understand the power of visual merchandising in the store designers toolbox
and that it couldn't be simply left to be an afterthought but had to be integral to the initial strategic design thinking of how a store would be laid out.
Where those special moments of surprise and delight would occur often had little to do with architecture but a lot to do with theatrics, art, marketing, graphics â in short, storytelling.
Going back to that comment a moment ago about serendipity finding me and putting me firmly in the world of retail design, it does very much align with the often heard message that âI didn't plan to be in retail.â It is in fact true, that one now is an architecture I had no awareness and probably no interest in designing stores for a living.
But, that said, I actually had no shame about being in retail.
Retail combined all the things that I loved:
stage set design, industrial design architecture, marketing, consumer behavior, trend analysis, fashion and advertising - all of these disciplines came together in the experience that a brand or retailer would provide for their customers.
The fact of the matter is, that the exchange of goods and services otherwise know as âretail,â is one of the key cornerstones of cultures around the world.
Exchange has always been tied with ideas and that makes it extremely powerful. And, these ideas change over time influenced by the comings and goings of merchants and trends and technologies.
It seems to me, and this comes from someone who was educated trained and licensed as an architect, that retail locations are probably more frequented by the general population than are the major civic buildings that would have been typically called âarchitectureâ in the past.
Think about it, when was the last time that you went to a post office, a library, an Opera House, a government building, a church, synagogue, or mosque or a courthouse?
When did you last walk the campus of a university or visit a museum?
And I am sure that there are some of you who will say well I did all of those yesterday but I'd also hazard a guess that they would be in the minority.
now, when was the last time you went to a store a shopping mall a department store or used your phone to buy something from Amazon or some other online company?
The point here is that shopping is so deeply ingrained in our everyday lives that it's inextricably tied to how we come to understand the world around us.
Shopping places therefore are important and even though many people who work in the retail space find their way there as a transition between the end of one semester and the beginning of another.
Students or younger members of our society are not the only people who find meaningful work in retail and who ultimately end up building their entire careers around working for retailer or brand or some company in the design and construction industry who's connected to designing and building stores.
And somehow our society has often placed a judgment on what type of retail you might likely be engaged in.
I have often heard the position that price point of product is somehow equated to pride in a sales associateâs work or price of products being a precursor to better service but this should not be the case. Experiences in retail stores should not be better if the products it sells are expensive.
Service should be excellent across the product price spectrum of retail experiences.
In fact we've all probably had experiences where being in high priced stores did not render necessarily better service.
The point is that you need to strip away what you sell and deliver high levels of experience regardless of the product or the service that you're providing to your customers.
Providing great service often has to do with how people connect to others and the level of emotional intelligence that sales associates bring to their job every day. Which also suggests that the way we train sales associates in customer interaction protocols might likely be less about the rubric of sequential steps on how to connect â first you do this, say that, then do this, and say that â but might likely be more effective if you train on why we all need emotionally resonant, empathic connection â how empathy is built into our collective DNA.
And this is where my guest, Ron Thurston comes into the story.
Ron suggests that empathy, curiosity and focus translate into every job in retail. He believes that we need to teach human connection rather than sales training. I would bet that most of us can spot the âsales pitchâ a mile away. We could almost speak the script because we have been exposed to it too many times.
Ron Thurston's life mission is to celebrate, elevate, and empower the people and spirit of the retail industry.
Core to his philosophy is to stop referring to your career in retail as âaccidentalâ because you diminish you own power. Its ok to say âI choose to be the best sales associate, leader or stock person and I am proud of my role in the world of retail.â
With over three decades of leading retail stores and operations for top American brands like Gap, West Elm, Apple, Tory Burch, Bonobos, and Saint Laurent, Ron has honed an extensive skill set in retail strategy, management, and innovation.
In January 2024, Ron co-founded OSSY, a forward-thinking retail recruiting agency. This venture is dedicated to addressing the biggest hiring and recruiting challenges in retail, reinforcing Ronâs unwavering commitment to the industry.
As the best-selling author of RETAIL PRIDE, Ron inspires retail professionals to embrace their unique career paths. He also hosted the RETAIL IN AMERICA podcast and tour, journeying across the nation in an Airstream trailer during 2022/2023 to uncover and highlight the remarkable stories and individuals in retail.
I was happy to catch up with Ron Thurston after his key note presentation at the SHOP Marketplace event and sit down for a great talkâŠ
* * *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
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ABOUT SAMAR YOUNES:
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samaryounes/
Websites:
bio.site/samaritual
www.samaritual.comBio:
Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach. As the visionary behind SAMARITUAL, a multidisciplinary creative studio, she weaves multidimensional narratives at the intersection of humanity, technology, and nature. With over 20 years of experience as an artistic director and brand strategist, Samar blends generative AI with artisanal craftsmanship and ancestral wisdom to create immersive experiences that challenge stereotypes and envision nuanced futures.
A Central Saint Martins alumna, Samar's work explores global south futures, otherworldly narratives, and interspecies harmonies through three interconnected spheres: Creator, Catalyst, and Cultivator. As a Creator, she crafts visionary artworks and installations that blur the lines between art, fashion, and architecture. In her Catalyst role, she provides strategic foresight and cultural alchemy for organizations navigating our evolving world. As a Cultivator, she nurtures future creativity through her Imaginalogy hybrid future edu lab, empowering individuals with tools and perspectives to thrive in an ever-changing creative landscape in the age of AI.
Samar's transcultural perspective allows her to seamlessly integrate diverse cultural influences, creating a unique aesthetic and transcultural language symbiotic to her diasporic and third culture experience. Using a neuroaesthetic lens, she celebrates kaleidoscopic identities that resist binary categorizations. Through SAMARITUAL, Samar fosters interconnectedness, radical imagination, and visionary world-building, inviting us to participate in crafting inclusive, sustainable narratives that bridge ancestral wisdom with speculative futures.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
Well here we areâŠSEASON 6âŠour 70th episode. And weâve had some great interactions in the first 69.
This season will be no less engaging.
In the coming weeks weâll have artists, architects, authors and educators. We dig into tech issues with people who make crafting a digital future their lives work. Scientists who will expand our understand of the way we work and how the environments around us work on us.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this 70th episode I talk with Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach.
Samar blends generative AI with artisanal craftsmanship and ancestral wisdom to create immersive experiences that challenge stereotypes and envision nuanced futures.
First though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
At the core of this podcast is the idea of fostering âdynamic dialogues on data DATAâ an acronym to include Architecture, Design, Technology and the Arts.
Of course, the idea of talking about DATA is that it's a double entendre that allows me to dive into subjects about the impact that a data-driven society has on a myriad aspects of our human experience.
Since writing my book âRetail Revolution: Why creating right brain stores will shape the future of shopping in a digitally driven world,â I've had a persistent interest in studying how technological advances are reshaping the way we interact with each other and the world around us.
The impact on various industries - commercial enterprises like the retail and hospitality worlds where I have built a 30 year career. And I've often chosen to discuss how artists and creators of all kinds can wield this amazing tool of data as a new medium for the creation of places where we can interact and connect in relevant ways.
At both a city level or small footprint retail store level, I've looked at how digital technologies have grown beyond touch screen interfaces and wayfinding devices to fully immersive environments that deeply affect the way we experience a brand, a product assortment, entertainment venues, a night out for dinner a hotel museums or librariesâŠthe list could go on.
In many of my discussions with guests in previous seasons, when we've talked about the emergence of digital technologies, there have been the obvious concerns about how AI and super intelligence could begin to replace humankind.
While I don't discount the possibility of those dystopian views being possible, I've tended to land on the side of thinking about technology and its extraordinary capacity for creating and making - or for âmaking right,â some of the things that design, even though some of the things that we have designed into the world have been extremely successful in supporting human advancement, have resulted in other challenges that we now face like the global climate crisis.
We've looked at how technologies have been used for pure entertainment as well as applying technology to new approaches in farming. Weâve had guests with whom I have talked about how technological advancements in neuroscience have allowed us to understand more about how the human brain's capacity to spontaneously create, as in a jazz improvisation, and how that is even possible.
Across the 70 episodes that we've published we've intentionally cut across a wide range of subjects. That has been intentional because I happen to believe that everything is connected to everything - that we live in a world of intricate interdependencies where nothing exists in a vacuum and everything in some way either directly, physically, or energetically impacts everything else.
And so, when we talk about things like artificial intelligence, we don't do that in a vacuum either. My guests tend to understand the interrelationship of these extraordinary advances in technologies and that they are derived from a human hand or a human brain.
This idea of the touch of a hand is important to me because I've always believed that there's something magical in making.
That one of the clear defining features of humankind is that we are makers - that we make things that make other things.
I've said this often before - birds make nests and so do the great apes but they don't make nests that create other nests on their own.
I think that when we look at AI, there's often this idea that artificial intelligence is this deep dark cold entity. Perhaps we tend to paint it that way in dystopian movies the capture our imagination and our strange propensity for thinking about destroying ourselves - but I'd rather talk about how artificial intelligence and the hand of the artisan can collaborate to make things that have never existed before and how that collaboration is a critical component to envisioning the new possible.
If you begin to interact with things like ChatGPT and Dall E or Mid Journey, creating visualizations of things that you initially write as prompts, you begin to see what is possible from machines hallucinating but the even those outputs don't exist entirely on their own. They require a human to start the ball rolling.
Sitting a the keyboard, I need to be able to initially imagine something and then write a text-based prompt that will effectively give instructions to the AI upon which it builds an imaginary reality.
And so, it's not exactly true that there is some robotic process at work entirely devoid of emotion and feeling when using Ai tools as way to generate inspiration.
We can introduce emotion - one of our foundational human qualities - into Ai created content and see what emerges from the machine when asked to represent the emotional experience of a place or things.
Ask Mid Journey to create a light blue box and it will do a spectacular job. Ask the ai to create a visual representation of the emotions felt when opening a gift from Tiffany and thatâs an entirely different output.
We can infuse the prompts with emotional content and when we do, the output can be really fascinating.
I think we've often turned to art and in its many forms as expressions of emotion. Sometimes the things that we can't put into words are somehow better expressed through dance, music, painting or other graphic visualizations. And yet when we think about places of human experience it seems that art is often considered decorative rather than part of the strategy.
Now⊠I know that that's not entirely true and cannot be used as a sweeping generalization because certainly there is architecture that in its detailing is considered high art and that the artful design of places it is very much part of the overall experience.
Think of places created for the purpose of the enactment of religious rituals or other public or cultural institutions.
Remember the Mies van der Rohe quote âGod is in the details.â
I think there is something magical and mystical about the maker who take materials and transforms them into places and things that have not been before. And now we have new materials in our palette of things to use.
Data is a new medium, yet it doesnât exist alone in the tool box. When we combine âhand intelligenceâ with artificial intelligence, the skill of the craftsman with the collective intelligence of the masses, we are in for some really interesting creative futures.
This is where my guest Samar Younes comes into the storyâŠ
Samar Younes is a Beirut-born hybrid artist, futurist, and creative catalyst whose work embodies a transcultural approach.
As the visionary behind SAMARITUAL, a multidisciplinary creative studio, she weaves together multidimensional narratives at the intersection of humanity, technology, and nature.
With over 20 years of experience as an artistic director and brand strategist, Samar blends generative AI with artisanal craftsmanship and ancestral wisdom to create immersive experiences that challenge stereotypes and envision nuanced futures.
Samar explains that her work explores otherworldly narratives, and interspecies harmonies through three interconnected spheres: Creator, Catalyst, and Cultivator.
As a Creator, she crafts visionary artworks and installations that blur the lines between art, fashion, and architecture.
In her Catalyst role, she provides strategic foresight and cultural alchemy for organizations navigating our evolving world.
As a Cultivator, she nurtures future creativity through her Imaginalogy hybrid future edu lab, empowering individuals with tools and perspectives to thrive in an ever-changing creative landscape in the age of AI.
When seeing Samarâs work, I am transported to a new place where imagination plays. She is a creativity maven who wields the tools and touch of an artisan and the deftness of a data scientist in making the new possible.
I was lucky to sit down with her at the SHOP Marketplace show to talk about the worlds of artisan craft and its new creative partner in artificial intelligenceâŠ
* * *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
About Angela Gearhart:Angelaâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/angela-gearhart2024Websitesangelagearhart.com/ (Portfolio)mediamaxxcom.net (Company)greendogbotanics.com (Company)
ANGELA'S BIO:
Angela Gearhart, known for creating transformational brand experiences, tackles mission-critical challenges facing brands today. Where there is a gap between brands and their customers, they risk both revenue and relevance. Angela's deep understanding of consumer behavior and her ability to harness the synergy between marketing, sales, and technology, allow her to develop strategies that bridge the gap, igniting growth and fostering brand loyalty.
By optimizing the human-physical-digital experience, she enables brands to disrupt and connect across consumer touchpoints. During her tenure as VP of Connected Brand Experience at Sleep Number, disrupted the mattress category, driving the company's growth from $300M to over $2B, with her team earning over 30 retail design, innovation, and technology awards.
As a trusted advisor and influencer in the retail industry, Angela has earned accolades including recognition as a CSA Top Woman in Retail, Remodista Women2Watch in Business Disruption, Retail Innovator by Retail Touchpoints, and Design Influencer by design:retail Magazine.
Angela is a Founding Partner at Media Maxx, which specializes in accelerating brand growth through ecommerce partnership marketing and retail strategies. Additionally, she serves as Executive Practice Director at AAG Consulting Group, where Angela leverages her insights into buyer dynamics and retail technology landscapes to deliver effective positioning strategies for B2B retail tech firms. She also contributes her expertise to advisory boards for Retail Touchpoints, Goldstein Museum of Design, IRISCX, and Digital Signage Experience.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Angela Gearhart a retail industry leader who spent 20 years at Sleep Number Corporation as the VP of Connected Brand Experience changing the way co nsumes shopped for beds by integrating relevant technologies to enhance the shopping experience and foster deeper relationships between the brand and its customers.
First though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
Off the top of our discussion, this is the sentiment that my guest Angela Gearhart expressed as we dug into a conversation about the nature of retail what it is really about.
No doubt, when you think about retail there is indeed buying involved, but it is so much more than that. In the exchange of goods and services there is an intangible factor to long-term customer life-time value⊠a relationship.
Shopping is less about stuff than a deep interpersonal connection built on our need to be in social groups. The sense of belonging and that the relationship establishes context and meaning to our lives is key.
Is that too much to put on the back of a retail experience?
I donât think so.
For millennia, shopping has been connected to the sharing of ideas as well as the exchange between parties, you give me something and I in return I give you something.
Shopping is ultimately more than getting stuff.
While I think it's certainly true that factors like price point and overwhelming product assortments and some logical sequence of getting people into the store moving them through departments exposing them to products and getting them to buy has been a prominent way to think about, retail I think that it's ultimately more than that.
In a world where shoppers don't have to go to the store because of the modern emergence of digital technologies allowing for convenience shopping from any place anytime from the palm of your hand, the question becomes what is it that drives people to go to the store?
I don't think it would be that just price or having lots of it whatever it is I want would be the only motivator.
I think what customers really want will be for their products and services to be imbued with both utility and significance.
The design of entire experiences will become a critical factor in making shopping places relevant in a world where you have ubiquitous access and abundant choice. But beyond providing products, services and experiences that are beautiful and maybe even transcendent, I think shoppers will desire, as they have for centuries, the feeling of connection, a relationship, being valued and that they can find meaning in the shopping aisles as well as the dry goods and sundries.
In the end we are social beings bound to an innate need to come together in community to cooperate, to share and to use our imaginations to create. Over millennia, these parts of us really haven't changed but the ways we satisfy these needs have been in continuous evolution.
Advances in technology have modified the speed of change moving it from a generational evolution and incremental steps to something more akin to revolution - something that happens very quickly. The pace of change these days is exponential.
So, the way we see technologies and its relationship to interaction and engagement in retail places will be a fundamental driver to how we now expect experiences to unfold.
We have these devices in the palm of our hand and we will likely continue to expect that what we do from the power of our palm - which gives us a sense of agency and control over a developing customer journey narrative - will be something that we also want to do while I'm in the store.
Emerging customers want to interact with technology in a way that is relevant to them - to engage in a way that changes the experiences so that it's focused on them.
Personalization and customization will be key drivers to how we end up creating meaningful retail places in the near future.
This is super important to understand because an entire generation of emerging shoppers who are digitally enabled and very savvy are interested in creating brand relationships that reflect their own personal ideologies.
It won't just be whether or not the things they can get will be inexpensive or easy to access. Ease and convenience will simply be table stakes.
Shopping or the idea of trade and commerce have been simply embedded in our evolution.
Over twisting trade routes across continents, through sprawling bazaars, across the counter at a general store, through the mail or making a purchase with your smartphone on a street corner, shopping has always given us away to make meaning of who we are, how we interact and how we live.
So yeah, I think shopping experiences have always been more than simply getting stuff. Shopping has at its core is an exchange forging trusting relationships and connecting to the world beyond us.
Shopping whether it was in the intersections of silk trade route, the Greek Agora or in today's mega shopping malls has given us a way to connect to our families, our communities, our nations and the world and in doing so we add ourselves to that intricate weaving of our personal and cultural human tapestry. Shopping is part of our cultural orientation.
I think we can look at places like the Greek agora as an ancient version of a social networking site.
When you were going down to the market to get eggs and bread you were likely passing people on the way and overhearing conversations about what was happening in your community. The town crier did not stand out in the middle of a field some distance from the city he was there on the proverbial soapbox informing people of the important information of the day in the town square - in the cultural epicenter of the town surrounded byâŠshopping.
Great retailers have it embedded in their corporate DNA that people drive their business and that their business is equally promote ideas and ideals.
I think more so than ever before it's become critical to understand that for brand to remain relevant it's not just about what you sell but it's about what you stand for that is most important.
So there's meaning attached to the stuff we buy it says a great deal about who you are and how do you feel about social or environmental policies. What we take away from the shopping experience is far more than the stuff but a profound and intangible element of interaction which we've come to call the âexperienceââŠa body memory.
Stores have naturally become the three-dimensional embodiment of the brand and a venue for interacting and emotionally connecting with people.
So how people feel about the time they've committed to shopping in a retail place is a best indicator of whether or not they'll in fact make a purchase and be committed to come back over and over again. In the end it's not so much about the stuff they get but the positive feelings they hold about the people they interacted with and that helps to make shopping experiences more memorable.
I know that I have had, and I'm sure that you likely have had too, experiences where a great interaction with the sales associate has helped you either make a decision about buying something or making you feel fabulous in that new black dress or that outfit.
Positive memories of shopping also enhance the willingness to share that story with other people and become advocates for the brand.
In the recounting of the experience you share feelings about the people you interacted with - how kind they were - how they seemed to tune into what your needs were in the moment.
And in the best case scenario, it's more than just following a well crafted customer engagement protocol where a script is laid out about how to speak to a customer. There are some brands where the associates simply have it in them to know how to connect and make you feel great once you've arrived in the store.
And of course this is not a new idea in the creating a great shopping experiences but this intangible nourishment of their relational right brain through personal connections helps promote the likelihood that customers move from shopper to customer and it also fosters a willingness to keep on coming back.
If you're in the retail design space - for years we've used Apple as the example of it not necessarily being about this stuff.
The experience is not about an inexplicably broad assortment of products in Apple stores. They have very few products displayed on any of the iconic Parsons tables. The key driver to the Apple shopping experiences about the interaction you have when you walk through the door and you meet someone in a blue shirt who asks you how they can help and their then technology facilitates the relationship.
And that is a key part about the integration of technology and retail stores. Technology in retail stores needs to be in the service of something that I call âTECHNEMPATHYâ - the use of technology in the service of empathic extension.
If you're not using technology to build the relationship then it's digital wallpaper and not really of much use.
Now⊠it is true that immersive digital experiences can be exceptionally captivating and I do think that we will eventually end up with stores that are somewhat like the holodeck using AR and VR.
I also think that digital experiences will somehow reflect back to us my personal emotional neuro-biological - inner mind-body state. But technology can't only be for wow factor. It has to be for engaging people in relevant ways where it facilitates a relationship between me, the product and the store and the brand.
And this brings me back to the beginning of this introduction to talk about my guest Angela Gearhart who spent 20 years with Sleep Number Corporation changing the entire paradigm for how we bought beds.
Sleep number doesn't just have great technology in the beds that they sell you shifting your purchase from some commodity that you spent eight or so hours a day on, but to selling the idea that sleep was geared towards health and well-being. The benefits of a good night sleep â and how their bed could provide it.
According to Angela Gearhart technology needs to have a purpose in a retail store.
That could be to simplify the process and reduce friction or to have a wow experience but in addition to that, technology needs to help retailers understand more about their customer and connect to them after the purchase so that there is a continuous cycle of exchange of information where the relationship continues on beyond the time you spent working out the details of how your bed needs to be custom made to you.
So for about for Angela, the value equation needs to include things like ease and convenience but it also has to have meaningful benefits. The experience also has to be meaningful in terms of how the environment and the product come together to sell you more than just the product.
She also agrees that affordability will never not be part of the equation but if you can move people to understanding the deep benefits of the product beyond its functionality you're driving towards a different kind of relationship
In my conversation we touch on a number of factors for what Angela believes are the critical components for retail innovation where technology is a key determinant of building the relationship.
Angela Gearhart, is known for creating transformational brand experiences and tackling mission-critical challenges facing brands today.
Her deep understanding of consumer behavior and her ability to harness the synergy between marketing, sales, and technology, has allowed her to develop strategies that bridge the gap, igniting growth and fostering brand loyalty.
By optimizing the human-physical-digital experience, she enables brands to disrupt and connect across consumer touchpoints.
During her tenure as VP of Connected Brand Experience at Sleep Number, her work changed the mattress category, driving the company's growth from $300M to over $2B.
Her team earned over 30 retail design, innovation, and technology awards.
As a trusted advisor and influencer in the retail industry, Angela has earned accolades including recognition as a CSA Top Woman in Retail, Remodista Women2Watch in Business Disruption, Retail Innovator by Retail Touchpoints, and Design Influencer by design:retail Magazine.
Angela is a Founding Partner at Media Maxx, which specializes in accelerating brand growth through ecommerce partnership marketing and retail strategies.
AndâŠadding to that already impressive list of retail activities and accolades, she serves as Executive Practice Director at AAG Consulting Group. In that role Angela leverages her insights into buyer dynamics and retail technology landscapes to deliver effective positioning strategies for B2B retail tech firms.
Letâs dig inâŠ
* * *ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
About James Damian:Jamesâ Profile: linkedin.com/in/james-damian-3a54956Website: james-damian.com (Company)Email: [email protected]
JAMES' BIO:
Senior Executive and Consummate Business Leader who drove major change across the consumer retail industry by leveraging the power of design thinking as a strategic advantage, delivering economic success. Trusted advisor committed to creating purpose, achieving profit through performance for sustainable growth. While at Best Buy James and his group led innovation and new concept stores making them the most profitable in the history of the company to date. During his time the Store count went to 1400 from 275 and the stock soared from $7 a share to $110.
James is a Design Thinking practitioner, Creative Strategist and Motivational Speaker at International CEO Summits, illustrating how to create a Customer Centric Culture through Design Thinking where Culture precedes Strategy, creating growth through an integrated, collaborative, interdisciplinary process.
BOARD LEADERSHIP
As Chairman of the Board for Buffalo Wild Wings from 2008 to 2017, helped to shift corporate focus to an employee and customer-centric culture with the goal to become the ultimate social experience for sports and gaming fans. This strategic shift accomplished through alignment of the board with management enabled an extraordinary run of top quartile performance delivering an 850% return to shareholders.
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP THROUGH CREATIVITY
Drove culture of innovation within Best Buy and consequently transformed the 'Big Box' consumer electronics retail format. Pioneered companyâs ânew storeâ experience by integrating creative visual merchandising and design into the overall corporate vision. Instrumental in expanding BestBuy from 275 to 2,500 stores. This experience based strategy was instrumental in driving revenue from 8 billion to 50 billion in a 12 year period, attaining status as a Fortune 50 company.SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with James Damian a retail industry leader who was mentored in the fine art of visual merchandising and display by one of retailâs icons, Gene Moore of Tiffanys. James has had a brilliant career leading major transformations at Best Buy where he was SVP and Chief Design Officer of Experience Design Group, the Chairman of the Board of Buffalo Wild Wings and now shares his experience and passion for retail as a consultant with GAP international.
First though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
In 1994 I was working in my hometown of Montréal as an architect and at the same time teaching was the director of the interior design program at College Interdec at LaSalle college.
One day my friend and colleague Monique Piroth invited me out to lunch across the street from the school for a sandwich we talked about the world of visual merchandising, the program that she was the director of and where our careers would take us.
She explained that the college wanted her to go to Singapore to step into the role of the director of the visual merchandising program at La Salle international Fashion School in Singapore, an affiliate of LaSalle College, because our friend and colleague Guy Lapointe had to return to Montréal to tend to his ailing father.
She effectively said that she didn't want to go and I immediately offered up the option that I would instead.
This was one of a series of fateful moments of serendipity that would shape my career for the next 30 years. I never planned to be in retail... It just happened.
I wasn't out looking for it, but it somehow found me.
And so, after that somewhat joking, off the cuff remark, I was on a plane for Singapore not much more than two weeks later.
At that point, my life shifted and instead of practicing architecture in the way that I thought that I would, I shifted into the world of visual merchandising and store design.
While running the Visual Merchandising program at LaSalle International Fashion School, I was asked to do a presentation on visual merchandising trends at a Retail Asia conference.
To be honest, I had very little insight what trends were shaping the retail world since the whole thing was new to me. I was reading everything I could in retail design magazines and trying to learn about who the voices were in the industry and what they were talking about.
I scoured the magazines trying to determine who were the thought leaders in the industry and compiled a short list of people who I thought had great insights and sent out invitations, by fax, for them to provide some insight on what they considered to be major trends in the industry.
One of those individuals was a gentleman named Tom Beebe who at the time was the visual merchandising director for a men's fashion store in New York called Paul Stewart.
Tom was an enthusiastic participant and when at the end of my one-year tenure in Singapore I arrived in New York I made sure to make a point of connecting with Tom.
Tom was gracious and enthusiastically set up meetings for me to meet people in Manhattan so that I could start off on the right foot in a new city and upon a path of the new career.
One of those individuals was Gene Moore.
Gene was the visual merchandising maven that shaped the visual display direction not just for Tiffany's, where he was the master of storytelling in the small windows on 5th Avenue, but he influenced an entire generation of what were then called window trimmers later being called visual merchandising and display people.
Genes work elevated the making of stories in store windows into an art form.
I was lucky enough to be invited to spend an afternoon with Gene Moore in the Tiffany display studio on 5th Avenue. It was truly a memorable moment of my career but I confess that at the time, I had very little idea about who Gene Moore was and why I might have otherwise treated him with extraordinary reverence.
I think the few hours that I spent there were kind of like when you meet someone who's famous but you actually have no idea who they are and so the conversation is casual and unpretentious, and you don't spend time worrying about what you're saying or trying to play to their preferences.
Gene didnât have to take the meeting. But he did and shared his delight and passion for his profession with a total newbie with nothing but questions and awe for making magic in retail stores.
What an honorâŠ
Another of the introductions that Tom Beebe made for me was to the late great Peter Glenn.
Peter invited me into his home on Sniffin Court on 36th St. east of Madison where he talked about the world of retail stores and customer experience â his specialty - over a freshly brewed pot of English tea.
I look back now at how fortunate that I was to meet these two luminaries in the most early days of my retail career and grateful I am to have had an industry friend like Tom Beebe who, out of the goodness of his heart and genuine love of retail and visual merchandising, shared his passion for the industry as well as his connections to some of the great influencers of the day.
Over the years my path has crossed with Tom.
His passion hasnât waned neither for the world of creating compelling retail places with stunning and cleaver visuals nor his love of one of his mentors Gene Moore. Tom gave a compelling and impassioned retrospective presentation on Gene Moore, with another industry friend and colleague Eric Feigenbaum, at the International Retail Design Conference in 2023.
Both of them aficionados and ombudsmen for the world of visual presentation â Eric being the New York Editor for VMSD magazine and a standout writer and educator in the field.
In New York I settled in as the resident architect at a small 3-4 person consulting firm called New Vision Studios lead by another industry icon Joe Weishar. Another strange serendipitous occurrence since I had read Joes book âDesign for Effective Selling Spaceâ while in Singapore and had canvassed Joe for a trends report for the Singapore presentation but⊠he was a non-responder.
Ironically I end up working for him.
Joe Weishar truly taught me what I know in the retail design and visual merchandising world bringing together the art and science of visual presentation in the making of great stores.
In the late 90âs, and into the next decade, the world of retail and visual merchandising was magical.
The Christmas season in New York meant the NADI show, showroom parties that were spectacular and windows on 5th Avenue were a must-see event.
During those years there were a number of people in the New York area who were making things happen in the retail design space. These were the people who were a few years ahead of me in their careers and unbeknownst to them, became my mentors from a distance. James Mansoor, Tom Beebe, Eric Feigenbaum, Linda Fargo, Judy Bell, Ellie Chute and Denny Gerdeman, Ken WalkerâŠ
A bit later, in the mid 2010âs there was Christian Davies, Harry Cunningham, Ray Esheid, Anne Kong and Elisabeth Jacobson, Bevan Bloomendaal, Ignas Gorischek, Linda Lombardi, Bill Goddu, Christine Belich, Tony Mancini - All who had begun to create a wave of new thinking about retail stores and how to design them.
And there was James DamianâŠ
I knew James Damien more by name and for the fact that at that time he was the head of Design at Best Buy.
Things that were happening at Best Buy were extraordinary.
The creation of magnolia, the introduction of Apple shops - within an electronics mass merchant - and the complete rethinking of that category of Retail stores was about.
But more than that it was a presentation that I saw James giving at the International Retail Design Conference in Atlanta in 2005 or 2006 that completely left me awestruck.
I can't truly remember what James was talking about, but I distinctly remember him becoming emotional on stage and needing to take a moment to gather himself.
That moment of vulnerability began to change my thinking about being an impassioned, creative an emotional leader.
If a senior leader at a major electronics company could become âVerklemptâ on stage⊠I don't know⊠it just captured my imagination and I have not since forgotten it.
It turns out that, and maybe not so surprisingly, James Damien and Tom Beebe are deeply connected as long time industry friends and colleagues but also grew up in the retail industry under the mentorship of none other than... Gene Moore of Tiffany's.
Are you getting all these weird crossovers of interconnectedness?
I don't even think that there's 7° of separation here I think like there's this interconnected interwoven set of interdependencies and crossing paths that keep on surrounding my retail career.
In any case, James Damien was another one of those names, luminaries of the retail industry who I, from a distance, would admire and borderline stock over the years watching and following what he was doing in hopes that I would learn what the secret sauce of creating great retail spaces was.
And so, it may also not seem as a surprise that I would eventually find my way to getting James Damien as a guest on this podcast and that it would be a delightful conversation that unfolds with ease and mutual admiration.
Which to me, makes it all the more special.
I have held such great respect for James over the years and that unbeknownst to me he shared the same feelings. I'm not sure whether it's because I followed him, and the others I've mentioned so closely, that my ideas about great retail space, visual merchandising and leadership are so similar or that somehow, independent of each other, we both grew to believe in the same things.
In any case, the points of connection are plentiful.
James came up in the world of Retail in the windows. Really from the artistic side rather than the corporate leadership side and I think that gave him a different sensibility that is emotionally closer perhaps to what happens on the sales floor.
He took a risky step out of the windows into the machine of corporate retail in a somewhat unlikely segment â consumer electronics â with Best Buy. While at Best Buy, James and his group led innovation and new concept stores making them the most profitable in the history of the company to date.
James drove a culture of innovation within Best Buy and consequently transformed the 'Big Box' consumer electronics retail format. He pioneered the companyâs ânew storeâ experience by integrating creative visual merchandising and design into the overall corporate vision.
During his time the Store count went to 1400 from 275 and the stock soared from $7 a share to $110.
While there James, evolved into a Senior Executive and consummate business leader who drove major change across the consumer retail industry by leveraging the power of design thinking as a strategic advantage, delivering economic success.
Through his own moments of serendipity, Jamesâ skills, experience and passions landed him the role as Chairman of the Board for Buffalo Wild Wings from 2008 to 2017.
While in this role, he helped to shift corporate focus to an employee and customer-centric culture with the goal to become the ultimate social experience for sports and gaming fans.
James Damian is a Design Thinking practitioner, Creative Strategist and Motivational Speaker at International CEO Summits. In his talks he illustrates how to create a Customer Centric Culture through Design Thinking where Culture precedes Strategy, creating growth through an integrated, collaborative, interdisciplinary process.
James knows the power of a good pause⊠he can tell a good story and he has had some remarkable experiences to share.
I have hung on every word in his presentations that I have had the good fortune to listen to and our talk was no exception.
* * *
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
About NICOLE MALACHOWSKI:Nicoleâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/realmalachowskiWebsites:linktr.ee/realmalachowski (Company)damelionetwork.com (Other)
NICOLE'S BIO:
A 2019 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee and recent Presidential appointee, Colonel
Nicole M. E. Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) has over 21 years of experience as an officer, leader, and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Upon her commission into the military, she was competitively selected to fly combat aircraft and embarked on an adventure among the first group of women to fly modern fighter jets. Nicole served as a mission ready fighter pilot in three operational F-15E squadrons and accumulated over 2,300 flight hours, including 188 hours in combat. She has had the honor of commanding a fighter squadron, flying as a USAF Thunderbird pilot, serving as a White House Fellow and as an advisor to the First Lady of the United States. Nicole has forged a successful path through immense cultural changes in the military as well as significant adversity in her personal life. Following her medical retirement from the Air Force due to the severe impacts of late-stage Tick Borne Illness, Nicole reinvented herself as a highly successful entrepreneur, professional speaker, and leadership consultant. Sheâs been happily married to her husband Paul, an Air Force veteran, for over 22 years. When not hurriedly chasing their thirteen-year-old twins around, she finds immense meaning in traveling and advocating for those impacted by Tick Borne Illnesses. (©ïž2024 Nicole Malachowski & Associates, LLC-All Rights Reserved).
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Nicole Malachowski a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force, an F-15E fighter pilot, who commanded a fighter squadron, flew as a USAF Thunderbird pilot, serves as a White House Fellow and as was an advisor to the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.
First though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
It seems that I talk a lot about speedâŠ
Itsâ sort of a fascinationâŠ
âŠthe pace of change and what it likely means for emerging markets, changing guest expectations, how we address new needs, how we transition through moments of uncertainty and ambiguity and how leaders shift their orientation from current, or past paradigms, that are no longer relevant or adaptable to the fast-paced world we are now living and working in
âŠand turn their attention to growing companies and workforces into flexible structures that are deeply embedded with the idea of change as a given - something not to be feared but seen as an emergent space of possibility.
And I gotta tell you, this change thing isn't easy.
It takes a persistence of thought and a modicum of courage to keep on looking into the void, unable to predict the distant future and maybe rely on shorter term gains in the near future.
Yeah, it's not easy.
Especially when you've spent most of your life believing that there was a path that you were supposed to follow. Something that was laid out and that you could rely on as being consistent. And predictable.
But it seems as though life keeps having its way of throwing a monkey wrench in that ideal and reminding me that very little is in our control.
And there is that old, I believe Hebrew, saying that âman made plans and God just laughed.â
Now I'm not sure who's exactly laughing at whom here but one fact remains⊠that uncertainty is a certainty. I think based on the speed at which our technology and societies are changing that uncertainty will be the name of the game for the future.
Of course, there are some inherent challenges in taking that position in leadership because generally speaking, no one wants a leader who seems to be uncertain about where to go next.
My hunch is though, that leaders who are able to say that they're not exactly sure where things will lead might likely be not only more realistic about possible future outcomes but more endearing to an emerging cohort of customers or employees.
This may seem to go totally counter to the idea that we like our structures and the paradigms that we build our emotional and business selves aroundâŠ
âŠbut it seems to me that weâre increasingly in need of strategic positions that plan for things being upended.
It's almost like having a âcontinuous contingency planâ in place - if this then that and then if this then that and so on and so on.
Recently I took on a role advising a group of students who were given the design challenge in a competition to build the hotel of the future... For opening sometime in 2050.
It seemed to me that I was having trouble predicting the next five years rather than the next 25 years and I mused out loud that I don't know how they could predict anything that was that far ahead.
The strange thing is, that it's not actually that far ahead.
It is very much in front of us - right now - if you consider that we'll be moving towards that time much more quickly it than we'll have ever moved before.
And so, with the group of students, I suggested that maybe what we needed was to consider that we engage in scenario mapping - planning a strategic platform within which many potential options could play out.
In this exercise it seemed to me that what we needed to do was to be able to provide for all sorts of contingency plans while at the same time having a structure to allow for various outcomes to emerge based on a host of changing circumstances.
There are a couple of ideas here that I frequently find myself thinking about:
One would beâŠ
âŠthat if âyou know where you're going, you've already goneâ as the saying goes and the delta between now and then is simply about production. There is a certain comfort in the knowing⊠I know where we are going.. the end point is predetermined, it is predictable and I feel reassured in knowing the end game.
In this case, I think that the joy of discovery that you have when taking the âroad less traveledâ is diminished, or disappears, and the work becomes transactional and geared towards efficiently getting to the outputs.
Discovery falls away in preference for getting it done.
I think that way about design as well⊠that it is often more process than product.
It is during the making of something where a lot of the magic happens.
My hope is that in those moments we have the collision of memories, emotions, ideas, the challenges of solving programmatic requirements, meeting the needs of end users, etc., etc. Design is a journey where all these things come together in a process where discovery leads us to a place of awe and reverence for the creative act so that we stand back from the things we have made in bewilderment that we are even able to do these things.
There should be a moment where you stand back from the thing that you created and revel in how it was that you even got there.
The second thing that also occurs to me about navigating into the unknown is that, at a brain level, we may have a certain level of being ill-at-ease about the unknown, we actually love the idea of novelty.
I know I've talked about this before but, these moments of novelty and discovery where experience doesn't align with our expectations - or the predetermined schemas for how things should be - that we have in our in our brains are where, in a sense, our brains wake up and pay attention.
We have predicted something to be a certain way and it doesn't happen and so things emerge from unconscious awareness into our consciousness â into a front row center level of awarenessâŠ
⊠the new experience releases dopamine and other neurochemicals that make these experiences both desirable as well as potentially being full of trepidation.
This is a neurobiological imperative that has been embedded in our neurophysiology for millions of years.
Seeing and being able to determine the novel in our environments was a crucial factor to our very survival.
In a way, this makes me think about how we might try to operate in a fast paced, changing world where every day becomes a continuous flow of fluidly changing experiences.
How do we adapt to not having long periods of times of consolidating and understanding experiences when we're quickly on to the next thing?
It seems to me like that would be a heavy burden on the brain and our emotions âŠliving in the ânew nowâ might be exhausting.
And so, we face periods of Headwinds - moments where the proverbial weather shifts and we might feel that we are unprepared having left our umbrella at home.
Or other times when we might be carrying the umbrella, and the winds shift direction and blow it backwards making it entirely unusable.
It's in those moments where we are confronted with whether we have planned well and are able to fight, or flow, with the wind in these moments of adversity.
In those moments we need to be able to turn to teammates, close allies people who have got your back, who know you so well that they know what your next move will be either because they've simply been with you for so long or you were all following the same playbook ⊠and running in the same directionâŠ
Sometimes these moments are like being in a crucible where significant change is going to happen and, often with the support of allies, family members, good friends, mentors⊠we come out the other side changed
âŠwe don't just bounce back to what it was, but we bounce beyond into a new way of being where we're transformed beyond our expectations.
In that process of transformation there is a need for trust⊠trust in the process, and trust in the people who you are surrounded by - that they will be able to nurture you through these moments of significant change.
Seems to me that part of a leaderâs role is to know themselves, and to lead the team through these moments of unpredictability knowing that on the other side â if they commit the to work of transformation (that is not easy) and you have the courage of your convictions, that you'll end up being better for it.
When I think about positive leadership, it's not about giving false hope or making promises that you can't keepâŠ
⊠because in many cases we simply can't predict the outcomes of things as well as we believe we could.
It's about mastering your self-awareness â tuning into how you are feeling in the moment - mastering your self-control and being really good at balancing both of these things because losing one or the other can result in losing your team's confidence.
And at the same time, to be authentic and transparent in your communication and naturally vulnerable so that your team sees you as human and that maybe you don't have all of the answers. But together you will find the ones where your leadership vision is not 20-20.
And this is where this episodeâs guest comes into the discussion.
Colonel Nicole Malachowski â now retired from the US Air Force, is a former F-15E fighter pilot who knows how to manage speed.
Nicole has flown at twice the speed of sound and as I understand it, traveling at that velocity requires not just extraordinary skill but also âstaying ahead of the jetâ as she says and working multiple contingency plans when things don't go as expected.
⊠and as far as I can tell from our conversation, things very rarely go as expected. Especially one someone has their sights trained on your multimillion dollar aircraft and wants to shoot you out of the air.
In Nicoleâs mind, your speed and decision making should vary based on your context but that in the end âspeed is always something that gives you options.â
When traveling at twice the speed of sound your saving grace may be having been well prepared and knowing what your contingency plans are as you face headwinds, whether that's changing weather or enemy fire.
In those moments of extreme adversity, teamwork and trust are vital to fast decision making and potentially your very survival.
Nicole gathers all of these lessons learned from a brilliant career in the military and applies them to coaching, mentoring and giving capitivating speeches on an international stage where she shares her experiences.
Nicole Malachowski is A 2019 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee and recent Presidential appointee.
She has over 21 years of experience as an officer, leader, and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. She put on her countryâs uniform at the age of 17 and upon her commission into the military, she was competitively selected to fly combat aircraft and embarked on an adventure among the first group of women to fly modern fighter jets - fulfilling a dream she had since the age of 5.
Nicole served as a mission ready fighter pilot in three operational F-15E squadrons and accumulated over 2,300 flight hours, including 188 hours in combat.
She has had the honor of commanding a fighter squadron, flying as the first female USAF Thunderbird pilot, serving as a White House Fellow and as an advisor to the First Lady of the United States â Michell Obama.
Nicole has forged a successful path through immense cultural changes in the military as well as significant adversity in her personal life.
In a poignant twist of ironic fate it wasn't enemy fire that retired her from active duty in the US Air Force. Instead, it was something that sat on the head of a pin.
In a âblink of a biteâ as she says, her career at the stick of an F-15E fighter jet was shifted to struggling for her life with advanced tick-born illness, at times suffering from locked in syndrome unable to move or speak.
Following her medical retirement from the Air Force due to the severe impacts of late-stage tick borne illness, Nicole reinvented herself as a highly successful entrepreneur, professional speaker, and leadership consultant.
Nicole Malachowski knows speed, adversity and navigating the unknown. She is a captivating and inspiring speaker who I was honored to have a conversation with.
* * *
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
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About Maya Colombani:Mayaâs Profile
linkedin.com/in/maya-colombani-0a118369
Websites:https://www.loreal.com/en/nordics/pages/commitments/l-oreal-for-the-future/Email:[email protected] Inserra
MAYA'S BIO:
Maya Colombani - LâOrĂ©al Canada - Chief Sustainability & Human Rights Officer
Maya Colombani has been appointed Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of L'OrĂ©al Canada in April 2022. With an international career of over 20 years at L'OrĂ©al, Maya is distinguished by a rich and comprehensive professional background. She began her career in France, working for leading design and advertising agencies such as Dragon Rouge, Publicis, and Euro RSCG. She then joined L'OrĂ©al's Professional Products division in 2001. There, she held positions in operational marketing and DMI (Direction Marketing International), for KĂ©rastase and L'OrĂ©al Professionnel. She carried out assignments in India and in the Western Europe zone, before moving to Brazil in June 2010 where she worked in marketing functions. Since the end of 2016, she has been Director of Sustainable Development for Brazil.In this role, she profoundly transformed LâOrĂ©al Brazilâs approach to sustainable development and human rights. She has implemented actions that inspired the LâOrĂ©al Group and positioned LâOrĂ©al Brazil as a national benchmark. LâOrĂ©al Brazil is indeed regularly cited as an example and is used to fuel new reflections, both on environmental issues and on human rights issues, as well as with respect to the relations with the indigenous people of Brazil.
Her projects have been rewarded by the best rankings such as Guia Exame 2017/2018/2019; recognized as the best company in climate change as well as biodiversity management; and has received the WEP gold award 2021 on women empowerment supported by ONU Women and Compact Global.
In 2022, thanks to her strong inclusive social programs for indigenous and communities, the GLOBO recognized LâOrĂ©al Brazil as âThe company that makes the difference in term of inclusion and diversity.â
In Canada, Mayaâs mission is to increase the positive footprint internally and externally in terms of sustainable development and human rights, and to accelerate the actions carried out within the framework of âLâOrĂ©al For the Future.â Among her first projects, she has already focused, with the Canadian teams, on achieving the companyâs full carbon neutrality on all its sites, as well as accelerating ambitious targets on water management and implementing cleantech partnership and eco-design business with committed brands.
Thanks to impactful projects in Canada, earned her the prestigious âCanadaâs Clean 50â award that "recognized the most impactful 50 individual LEADERs that have demonstrated measurable leadership in fighting climate change and helping Canada transition to a low-carbon economy." Another important achievement for Maya is being named President of the âPositive Impact Clubâ of the French CCI in Canada, to have a positive impact on our society and reinforce the bond between France and Canada.
Maya graduated from Reims Business School and completed an MBA semester of International Business Strategy in Victoria University, Australia. She now lives in Montreal, Québec, Canada with her family.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.
VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Maya Colombani Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of LâOrĂ©al Canada. Maya is one of the most passionate proponents of rethinking sustainable business practices and supporting human rights that I have ever met. Her energy is infectious and her passion is a positive push to do more in support of people and the planet.
First though, a few thoughtsâŠ
* * *
Certain themes keep on emerging in my discussions with my guests. Health, wellness, and sustainability frequently come into the conversation regardless of whether or not I'm speaking to a designer, a neuroscientist, an artist or obviously someone who's work life is focused on sustainable design Practice within their business.
We are more aware today of the influence of the built environment on our mind body state, our very psychology and neurophysiological makeup. I have often referred to this as ontological design - The fact that the things we design and bring into the world design us back.
The field of neuroaesthetics that have come up in previous conversations with Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross in the ir book Your Brain on Art or with Tasha Golden in my discussion with her and the work she does at the Arts and Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins have pointed out that the psychological effects of bad or simply banal buildings is part of our potential mental health crisis.
Advances in neuroscience driven by technologies is allowing us to see into the human brain and understand the interrelationships between its functional areas and it's and our connection to the environment in a way that we have not been able to do so before. And because of this new ability we are more able to determine, with a very high degree of confidence, what goes on in our inner world when we are immersed in our outer world.
We've talked about color and its influence on our mind body state with Valerie Corcias and we've talked about music and how the arts having a deeply resonant place in our collective experience of our social groups and culture.
Sustainability keeps on emerging as an obvious focus in the guests that I speak to whether it was with Bruce Mau and talking about his book MC24 or Martin Kingdon and his relationship to the store fixture manufacturing world in Europe and then there was Denise Naguib, of VP of Sustanability and Vendor Diversity at Marriott International, who I won't soon forget reminded me that the planet will be just fine without us and that we just have to decide whether or not we want to live here.
When I go to conferences and I listen to the subjects that are often talked about by keynote presenters, panelists and just the everyday conversations that happen outside of the lecture room, sustainable design practice quickly surfaces and becomes a focal point.
I think to most of us now, we are aware that we are facing an existential crisis that will shape the course of humanity in the near future. There are some that say we are already too late that reversing the effects of climate change maybe a losing battle.
There are others that soldier on believing that it is the responsible thing for us to do and that changing our approach to living, manufacturing, building and other human endeavours needs to be reconsidered so that we change to protecting the planet from ourselves, not so much for the planet itself but for the fact that if we want to live here we need to be able to preserve Mother Nature and be good stewards of the gift that we have been given.
When you consider the length of time that this little blue dot has been spinning around our sun, somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 billion years, and you consider the amount of time that humans have been occupying the earth, it should be setting off alarm bells that in just a couple of centuries we've begun to destroy the ecosystem that was here long before we arrived.
And that frankly will be here a long time after we are gone.
The challenge is that I don't think we're going to be able to get off this planet and get on an interplanetary transport to Mars and build colonies there before this earth go through some significant changes that will affect all of humankind.
Is it too late?
It may be but one thing is for sure, if we don't change our practices and think about regenerating nature along with driving capitalism forward we will most definitely end up in a climate disaster. And so, this is why it is so important that the practices and policies that are being pushed forward by people like my guest on this episode, Maya Colombani, are so critical to the course of humanity.
One of the obvious things is that sustainable design practices are not just about saving the planet and providing a viable environment for humans but they also happen to be good for business. One of the opportunities here is to change our thinking about how we see innovation in the sustainable design space and make sure that we consider that it is something that brings value for business and societies.
Retailers and manufacturers have a responsibility with the power they wield to address innovating our way into a sustainable future that addresses directly the effects of climate change.
Part of this of course is going back to our roots - meaning engaging indigenous communities in understanding how to treat the planet better. A westernized mentality towards dominating the planet and its people have put us on a collision course with a disastrous future. If we could fully realized that indigenous communities can teach western societies a great deal about how to manage our resources we would ultimately be much better off.
One school of thought is that we have created this problem and we can therefore therefore fix it, but my hunch is that we are not going to be able to continue to be so arrogant as to believe that we can do it on our own.
Large corporations need to turn to the ancient wisdom of indigenous peoples and engage them in a collaborative process of sustainable and social responsibility which should be, in the end, at the center of all of the decisions that we make.
LâOreal Canada along with Maya Colombani wants to be a laboratory for good and they want to reinvent retail and corporate manufacturing policies that are good for society with the added benefit of it being also good for their business. That involves engaging the corporate structure including suppliers in the process of rethinking how they bring goods to market.
Maya Colombani will say that it's not good enough just to fight climate change⊠what we have to do is regenerate nature and part of that is that sustainability is not about having good intentions it's about action and measurable outcomes.
This of course requires a significant shift in mindsets which is very difficult, kind of like changing the direction of the aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean because in the end the future belongs not in the hands of major companies but in those of the citizens of the world who have, through their buying power, the ability to vote for companies who are doing the right thing and to do so with their wallets.
Maya Colombani would say that in sustainable development there is never an individual victory but only great collective victories that push us to grow further every day. Having won a number of awards for her efforts she sees these recognitions as an invitation to work even harder and faster to face the unprecedented global humanitarian and climate crisis that we are currently embroiled in.
Maya Colombani was appointed Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of LâOreal Canada in April 2022.
In her more than 20 years with the company prior to her current role, she had carried out assignments in India and Western Europe and then moved to Brazil in 2010 where she worked in marketing functions.
In 2006 she was the director of sustainable development for Brazil. While in this role of she transformed LâOreal Brazil into a national benchmark for how to rethink both environmental and human rights issue as well as our respect for relations with indigenous peoples.
She has received many distinguished awards being recognized for her passionate approach to people and the planet. In Canada, Maya's mission is to increase the positive footprint internally and externally in terms of sustainable development and human rights and to accelerate the actions carried out within the framework of âLâOreal For The Future.â
She has been focused on achieving the company's full carbon neutrality on all of its sites as well as accelerating ambition targets on water management and implementing clean tech partnerships and eco design businesses with committed brands.
Thanks to the impactful projects in Canada she earned the prestigious Canada's âClean 50â award that recognized the 50 most impactful individual leaders that have demonstrated measurable leadership in fighting climate change and helping Canada transition to a low carbon economy.
When I met Maya Colombani at the Bensadoun School of Retail Management Retail Summit in the fall of 2023, I was immediately struck by her energy and passion for this subject.
I think you'll discover in this episode that to say that Maya is passionate about people on the planet might be an understatement.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
About Laura Inserra:
LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/laurainserra
Websites:laurainserra.com (Company)chambersofawe.com (Company)metamusic.teachable.com (Company)Email:[email protected] Inserra
Laura's Bio:
Laura Inserra is a world-renowned leader in sound healing - a sound alchemist, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and multimedia producer. She lives and creates at the confluence of global music, ancient wisdom traditions, and cutting-edge technology.
She grew up on the volcanic island of Sicily and has been exploring the power of sound since her youth. Her work is rooted in 30+ years of global cross-cultural studies and initiations in ancient traditions and modern schools of wisdom, as well as the direct observation of nature.
A world-renowned Hang musician, Laura plays hundreds of ancient and modern instruments from around the world, including many made by her. She utilizes cutting-edge technology to augment the natural sources of her instruments, creating Chambers of AWE - multimedia productions featuring ceremonial instruments and field-recordings, enhanced with 360o visuals andAI-generated content rooted in ancient wisdom.
In these settings music becomes experiential - the body and the mind merge with the sound, traveling beyond the fields of cognitive perceptions, to enhance profound shifts of consciousness, deepen our relationship with nature, and facilitate inner transformation and healing.
SHOW INTRO
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode, I talk with âSound Alchemistâ Laura Inserra about the deep effect that music has on our sense of well-being, sound journeys and energy we share with each other and ancient musical instruments and shamanic practices. And, make sure you listen right through for a special treat⊠But first a few thoughts.
****************
I am increasingly convinced that I am moving away from the idea that âthere are no accidentsâ as simply a quaint phrase to it being a foundational principle in the nature of things.
In previous episodes I've probably described that most of the major life changes that have reshaped my career and life path on the planet have emerged through what I used to simply think was serendipity.
A career change that led me halfway around the world to live in Singapore, to a meeting at a conference that took me from 20 years designing retail stores to working in the hospitality industry and many other occurrences that seem to be unexplainable but nevertheless happen, it seems, purposefully.
And so, it also was with meeting my guest in this episode Laura Inserra whose path I crossed at the Intentional Spaces Summit in Washington DC in the fall of 2023. I'll get to talking about Laura in a moment.
But first I just gotta say, I love music.
I remember as a youngster being enthralled with musicians and watching variety shows on television where I imagined myself being one of the band. I have a clear memory of rewriting lyrics for a song to the 1968 tune of âSpinning Wheelâ by the bandBlood, Sweat & Tears, written by Canadian lead vocalist David Clayton. I think my parents humored me at the time with âthatâs nice sweetheart.â
In high school my best friend Jeff and I bought guitars, strummed our way through James Taylor and Eagles tunes. I bought a harmonica and thought I might be a Blues harp player. But Jeff became the better musician playing piano and performing at a piano bar in a local Italian restaurant.
In my early days of college when I met my now wife of 35 years, we were both interested in sports and being in the great outdoors, but it was music that brought us closer together. She was a Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music graduate and piano teacher in her late teens and early 20s and when she sang she sounded like Karen Carpenter.
When we played Neil Sedaka's âLaughter in The Rainâ I fell hopelessly in love and I waited for the lyric ââŠafter a while we run under a tree, I turned to her and she kisses meâŠâ Because ya know, if the lyric says it, wellâŠ
Music was everywhere in our relationship.
She introduced me to jazz a genre where she really found her tempo (yes pun intended) as a musician in the high school jazz band. Where she incidentally always won awards for being a stand out pianist. Through her, I learned about Chic Corea, Coltrane, and the Canadian flutist Moe Kaufmanâs âJungle Womanâ became signature tune of our relationship.
My wife wrote the music for our wedding ceremony that was sung by the FACE Highschool choir and âHow do You keep the music playingâ by James ingram and Patti Austin was our first dance as husband and wife. Oh and when James and Patti modulate about three quarters the way inâŠstill today my chest fills with pleasure, pain, longing, hope, inspiration, love and the mysterious power of music taking me to another plain all together.
When our first son was born we listened to Debussey in the delivery room and then through his first few years turned to big band and danced around the column in the basement of our condo. When son number two was born his older brother came into the hospital room and exclaimed âhi baby brother! Iâm going to teach you how to dance to jazz music!â
Our first son grew up to play with the inaugural National Youth Jazz orchestra as the drummer, opening a European tour by playing first at Carnegie Hall. Our second son was indeed taught by his big brother to love music and he has evolved into an exceptional jazz pianist, composer and he actually wrote, performed and engineered the theme music for this podcast.
They are both deeply connected to the music, composing, and playing every day. I hear music at home until 11pm most nights.
When I think back to it, almost every significant life event has been connected to music.
During the pandemic when uncertainty was all around us and I hadn't picked up my guitar in years, I instead picked up paintbrushes and began to do portraits of jazz musicians and other musical icons.
Listening to hours of music while painting has become a profound influence on my sense of well-being and managing the unknown but more than that, it simply gives me a deep sense of peace. There is a palpable joy that comes to me while painting and listening to hours of the music of the musician I am working on.
Music energizes, soothes, and transports us back to significant moments of our lives. Music releases energy locked in our bodies and unearths emotions - joy, sadness, fear, longing, anticipationâŠ
Music has healing power in our own bodies and joins us together in sympathetic resonance between our collective bodies. Rudolph Steiner was quoted as saying âthe science of the future will be based on sympathetic vibrationsâ and since all things vibrate, it seems like music is both art and science.
To prove the point about music being both art and science, there is a somewhat niche field within physics and acoustics call âcymatics.â
Cymatics explores the visualization of sound through the patterns and shapes created by vibrations in different mediums like salt or sand. But it also works on heart cells. Certain sound frequencies played through these mediums cause them to arrange into complex geometric patterns which as far as I am concerned are equally beautiful pieces of art.
Study of cymatics suggests that these patterns exist in us when we pay or listen to music. As Einstein once said, âeverything in life is vibrationâ or as the more recent physicist Michio Kaku put it âeverything is music.â
Our bodies are resonance chambers that oscillate to frequencies right down to our very cells. It is not surprising to me that we are so deeply connected to music since âall things are part of real and rhythmic wholeâŠâ as Tesla suggested in 1926 when describing wireless technology.
We are almost 100 years from time that Tesla was quoted in Harpers Bazar magazine. The wireless technology he was referring to in telecommunication is now also deeply influencing the music we create. But digital music is different than the tones played on ancient instruments.
Digital music filters out tones that may not be perceptible by the human ear but nevertheless may be felt by the body. And so, we have a different connection to the sounds of an ancient Mayan flute or ancestral aboriginal drum than we do to the top 40 hits we play through our wireless Apple Airpods that we insert into our ears.
The music goes in our bodies differently.
And this is where my guest Laura Inserra comes into our story about music and its weaving into the history of us.
Laura Inserra is a world-renowned leader in sound healing. She describes herself as a sound alchemist and a multi-instrumentalist, educator, and multimedia producer. She lives and creates at the confluence of global music, ancient wisdom traditions, and cutting-edge technology.
Laura grew up on the volcanic island of Sicily and has been exploring the power of sound since her youth. Her work is rooted in 30+ years of global cross-cultural studies and initiations in ancient traditions and modern schools of wisdom, as well as the direct observation of nature.
A world-renowned Hang musician, Laura plays hundreds of ancient and modern instruments from around the world, including many made by her. She utilizes cutting-edge technology to augment the natural sources of her instruments, creating Chambers of AWE which are multimedia productions featuring ceremonial instruments and field-recordings, enhanced with visuals and AI-generated content rooted in ancient wisdom.
In these settings her music becomes experiential - the body and the mind merge with the sound, traveling beyond the fields of cognitive perceptions, to enhance profound shifts of consciousness, deepen our relationship with nature, and facilitate inner transformation and healing.
So⊠now going back to my lead-in to this episode about serendipityâŠ
I attended the Intentional Spaces Summit in Washington DC last fall in 2023.
To start this two-day journey into the power of our built environment to influence human health and well being, a woman comes on the stage, places herself among a number of musical instruments and within minutes the audience is transported to another plain of being.
We collectively experienced a Laura Inserra Sound Journey.
I leave the auditorium after her performance, call home and describe what I just experienced to my wife, who exclaims that about 4 years earlier she had come across Chambers of Awe by Laura Inserra and had sent me the link to her website saying that this was something I had to listen to.
The universe had its own timing in mind when placing Laura and I in the same conference. We connected at a reception, and there was a sympathetic resonance leading to my invitation to be a guest. I am grateful that she said yes.
Laura Inserra refers to her work as âsound alchemyâ⊠things coming together to make other things more precious than the original constituents and she describes her compositions as âstructured improvisations.â
This conversation felt very much like that â we followed a structured baseline that allowed for the musical and mystical to create magical improvisational moments.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT JEAN-PAUL MORRESI:
Jean-Paulâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/autsideWebsite: thinkautside.com (Company)Email: [email protected]BIO:
Jean-Paul Morresi is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada. Over 3+ decades, Jean-Paul has worked across 5 continents, run offices in Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai, overseen a Shanghai based creative team, and led projects teams across the Americas and Europe.
An Architecture graduate of the University of Toronto, Jean-Paulâs unique background weaves marketing, merchandising, design and construction into an interdisciplinary approach where creative, strategic and executional acumen conspire, delivering customer focused, performance driven retail and brand experiences.
A regular contributor to industry publications and events, Jean-Paul currently sits on the Retail Touchpoints/design:retail Editorial Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of retail technology company Virtual Visions, and Curriculum Advisory Committees for Humber Collegeâs Interior Design and the Sheridan Collegeâs Visual Merchandising Programs.
Jean-Paul & the Autside team are currently collaborating on the design of projects spanning the retail spectrum, branded corporate interiors, showroom spaces and a variety of in-store digital marketing and engagement tools.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Jean-Paul Morresi the the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada about a creative career in the world of retail and design.
But first a few thoughts.
****************
It has seemed that during my career some of the really cool stuff, the things that change the path of my life, that took me to places around the world and introduced me to new ideas and people who challenged all the things that I believe to be true about myself and the world, came by way of serendipity.
I started a career as an architect in Montreal and got an invitation to go to Singapore and run an International School back in the mid 90s.
And that opportunity popped up at a lunch with a colleague of mine who said she was asked to do the job but really didn't want to go all that way.
I of course raised my hand saying yes Iâll do that and two weeks later I was living in Singapore and my life in the world of Retail Design started at that juncture.
I landed in New York a year later and spent four years working in the office of New Vision Studios with Joe Weishar.
We traveled the world teaching retailers how to merchandise their stores, how to use design principles and apply them to more effective selling spaces.
Those years were critical because I spent time on the sales floor moving fixtures around, stripping down shelving and re-stocking them at the same time as we were teaching various managers, department heads and sales associates the basic principles of visual merchandising.
Those years were foundational in my career because it gave me a different view on how to look at the world of retail design not from simply the point of view of the architect but as from someone who had worked the sales floor.
From the point of view of who had the sales floor experiences of about it was like to put merchandise on a table or shelf or a hanging rack
and how visual presentation and visual merchandising were critical components of the retail storytelling that happens inside stores.
When I think about having been pushing those store fixtures around on the sales floor I often wondered then what my parents, who had invested in my education as an architect, would be thinking that their son who was supposed to go off and build huge projects and save the world from itself through architecture was instead occasionally putting flower displays together and stripping down or merchandising store fixtures with baby booties, bras and panties, canoes, big ass TV's and rice steamers all on the same day.
My father wasn't particularly jazzed about the idea that I mostly truly interested in being a painter.
âGet a degree or get a trade that'll lead to you making a good job he used to tell meâ
In the end he was probably right because the idea of being a starving artist was never particularly interesting to me.
I actually did end up in architecture having studied psychology beforehand and I oftner think about how interesting it is that a confluence of educational orientations and experiences all came together to study of architecture school at McGill University in Montreal.
I just about quit in second year, it was a tough , tough program, and almost applied into the Fine Arts department at another university.
But somehow I got myself a tutor who got me through the engineering courses and I ended up continuing my studies in architecture completing 4 year degree going on to getting in license to practice.
Iâm proud of the fact that I'm an architect for the past 35 or 40 years of my professional career. It has served me well.
I also liked teaching a lot and was always in front of students whether it was as a ski school technical director teaching other teachers how to teach or being engaged in universities in both Montreal, Singapore, New York, Philadelphia and most recently teaching a course in cognitive science at the Columbus College of Art and design.
Teaching has always been part of what I've liked to do.
Teaching is a passion (as well as painting) and no matter where I've been at what phase of my career I've always included teaching in that process.
When I came back to New York from a year in Singapore, I didn't land in the big firm that I'd hoped to but in fact I ended up starting in a small firm.
In that basement office of a brownstone on 36th street just off of Park Aveneue, Joe Weishar, another merchandising pro by the name of George Homer, an interior designer and I were a four-person office with a big client list.
It was an amazing experience and I think it fundamentally changed the way I thought about store design.
I spent about 22 years designing stores and as another moment of serendipity crossed my path, or maybe I crossed its path, and I had an opportunity to shift away from retail, still staying in the world of brand experience placemaking, and joined Marriott as a vice president of global design strategies.
This was a pretty significant shift and people asked me how does retail affect the hospitality how are you gonna do that because I had never designed a hotel before in my life.
but I was confident in my design skills and that I had enough experience in understanding brands and people and making spaces for their interactions that hotel would be like painting with a different palette but I would never forget the rules of how to apply paint to the canvas. And so, for a number of years I was in the hospitality space which I have always loved and yet again, I began to forge a new path.
Often when I've had to describe my career to people when they've asked, as they usually do at a party or some event, what do you do? I sort of get stuck and say well I'm I'm not a one trick pony.
I have taken to describing myself as a hybrid professional which seems to fit because painting teaching podcasting architecting and working across multiple types of business segments has given me an amazing career with a wealth of different experiences.
I suppose you could say that they all fit into the world of design, architecture and placemaking but I've been able to exercise those passions in very different areas.
You could say that focusing on one thing and one thing only was not the way I decided to lead my career.
What Iâve really begun to understand that I was spending more time connecting the dots between all of the experiences that I had.
My fascinations gave me a broad mindset of multiple influences. I've often seen my job as finding the blank spaces between the notes and deciding how to fill them in.
The interesting thing about career path changes are that they're the ones that seem to present the most interesting opportunities for growth. For challenging the way you think about things and for giving you a different point of view. It's also allowed me to think about the idea of collaboration and how to do it well.
When working across multiple disciplines you end up having to put a number of different hats on each day. I suppose that is also true of designing multiple stores for different brands. I was never particularly interested in focusing on one type of retail design versus another.
For example, I never really thought that my world would be designing shopping malls or big box retailers or specialty jewelry stores.
I've always tried to find myself in an office where my curiosity and creative interests would allow for multiple expressions. I simply found that much more interesting than being singularly focused on one idea.
And this it brings me to a fundamental understanding about doing retail design that emerged out of my early years working in New York and that is:
âŠthat ultimately, in the end, it's not about me as the designer it's about the product and about the brand and if I can get a little bit of me in there then I feel good about that.
I don't have to change the world like I thought at the onset of my career path but that it is often good enough to change a small thing that impacts many people in a small way and perhaps the compounding of those smaller individual experiences ends up creating something great.
But if it doesn't, that's OK too.
If it changes a single individual and gives them a better experience or allows them to see something a new way and learn , then I'm good with that.
Now in the world of advanced technology my passions for living a life in the time of Star Trek are coming to fruition.
AI, as well as all of the generative design tools and immersive digital technologies that we are now able to employ in the service of creating great experiences, are beginning to make real some of the things that a number of years ago I was always fantasizing about.
This brave new world we are entering into makes a career in brand experience placemaking super exciting.
Now, when I take a moment to think about each of these individual areas serendipity forging a path in retail - working the sales floor, thinking about art school versus architecture, teaching my whole life, working in the small firm and having opportunities to shift career paths to major corporations, developing an understanding about what makes good leadership built in trust, authenticity communication yada yadaâŠ
I end up bumping into an industry colleague at the SHOP Marketplace event a number of months ago. I had known Jean Paul Morresi from the industry though I have to admit we have never had time to sit down and talk. I recognized him at industry events. We would often say hello and we had industry friends and colleagues with whom we collaborated and against whom we often competed.
So, when I offered Jean Paul an opportunity to do an interview for the NXTLVL Experiences Design podcast, he eagerly accepted and we sat down to what became more like a fireside chat with a good Scotch in our hands sharing stories about how our careers evolved. And lo and behold, we discovered that in many ways our career paths had aligned with many, I mean many, of the same experiences, values and principles that led us from then to now.
Jean-Paul Morresi is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada.
Over 3+ decades, Jean-Paul has worked across 5 continents, run offices in Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai, overseen a Shanghai based creative team, and led projects teams across the Americas and Europe.
An Architecture graduate of the University of Toronto, Jean-Paulâs unique background weaves marketing, merchandising, design and construction into an interdisciplinary approach where creative, strategic and executional acumen conspire, delivering customer focused, performance driven retail and brand experiences.
A regular contributor to industry publications and events, Jean-Paul currently sits on the Retail Touchpoints/design:retail Editorial Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the retail technology company Virtual Visions, and Curriculum Advisory Committees for Humber Collegeâs Interior Design and the Sheridan Collegesâs Visual Merchandising Programs.
Jean-Paul & the Autside team are currently collaborating on the design of projects spanning the retail spectrum, branded corporate interiors, showroom spaces and a variety of in-store digital marketing and engagement tools.
This conversation with John Paul Morresi is a little bit different than the ones I've done in the past. Having met at the SHOP Marketplace tradeshow and decided to put a mic in front of each of us and have a conversation and record it, this talk didn't have a strong thematic orientation like in many of my other discussions.
Instead, I sort of let it unfold and what I discovered was a like-minded creative professional with whom I shared many life experiences on a parallel path.
It was kind of like getting to know an old friend all over againâŠ
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT VALERIE CRCIAS:
Valerieâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/valerie-corcias-218b5a13Websitesmycoocoon.com (Company)brainbo.co (Company)BIO:
Husband and wife team Valerie Corcias (Argentina) and Dominique Kelly (Brasil) possess a unique southern hemisphere perspective on trends and knowledge related to international visions of culture, ideology, and technology.
Dominique has worked on architectural identity for Luxury Brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Baccarat⊠Valerie has worked on product design and development for many brands.
In 2000, they created the PANTONE UNIVERSE consumer brand and signed a worldwide license agreement with PANTONE for conception, distribution, and communication of the Brand.
In 2007, they established Contramundo, an incubator for sustainable projects involving women and childrenâs education in a Brazilian fishermen's village, generating content based on sustainable values and integrating processes which provide solutions through art and notions of equity, sharing, and exchange.
From their experience with color and commitment to creating social, technological, and human connections, they have created mycoocoon, a worldwide project to improve well-being by balancing energy through color experiences and natural elements that awaken the senses.
The emotive elements of color have been our field of expertise for more than 30 years and have become part of our DNA.SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Valerie Corcias Co-founder, with her husband Doninique Kelly, of mycoocoon and the BrainBo App.
Based on chromotherapy, the Mycoocoon Color-Institute combines the ancestral beliefs about color with the aid of technology and immerses its users in a color bath that supports health and wellbeing.
First though, a few thoughts on colorâŠ
* * *
When I was young, my mom put me in a painting school.
She recognized that I loved to draw and every Thursday I would run down to a small painting studio about a mile from my home and immerse myself in the world of art.
For a lot of years, I did most of my early art experiences in black and white.
It seemed like the pencil felt comfortable in my hand and I loved exploring through drawings tonal value relationships, shades and shadows and creating textures.
But most of it was in black and white.
Drawing in black and white simply seemed to be easier and I always believed that color was a greater challenge.
I found color to be complex and to be honest, somewhat scary. I was often concerned that in mixing colors I would make mud rather than magic.
It wasn't until I got to architecture school and taking watercolor courses with a deeply influential person in my art life path - Jerry Tondino - that I began to understand color.
It seemed like a natural progression to understand light first and then move to color and color theory and how color could be leveraged to increase the impact and expressiveness of artwork.
Even now, with the paintings that I do all of my reference photos are in black and white. The color that I choose is of my own making.
I guess you could say I've become more comfortable with understanding how to use color.
That said, I think that my experiments are in still trying to understand colors â primaries and complementary colors - first or second or third order complementarities to the basic color hues that I'm trying to use in paintings.
I've also come to understand that I tend to gravitate towards a certain range of colors. Mostly in the fuchsias and purples and dark blues.
You don't often see many of my paintings in green for example. For some reason green just doesn't seem to go in my body well, even though I know that the color green has a relationship to emotions and well-being that are fundamental because we came from swinging through forests and living for much longer in a verdant green jungle than a concrete one.
When I'm using deep blues, purples and fuchsias I have a sense of calm. I'm not really sure why that exactly why that is but I appreciate that it is part of my color personality profile.
This doesn't necessarily mean that my entire clothing wardrobe for example is fuchsias and purples although I must admit those colors do pop up in patterns. There was a period of time where I was focused on buying shirts from designers like Robert Graham whose color and pattern were I believed extraordinary. I
'm also aware that many of the people in my industry, designers, architects and other creatives tend to wear black a lot.
I'm not sure where it is that black actually emerged as the uniform for creatives because it seems to be a color that is dead.
Or maybe it's the sum of a pigments combined together creating black. So, you could consider black as the sum of all color pigments as being âcolor inclusive.â
I know that color in light and color in pigments are different things but they still both are wavelengths.
Color pigments that we perceive in the world around us are wavelengths that are not absorbed by the molecules of whatever it is we are looking at and they are reflected back to us and then perceived as color.
Then there is color as light.
When you combine colored light you dont perceive them as black like those that are used in pigments but combined together to create white light.
Understanding the physics of light and color have been influential in terms of how I understand painting and reflected colors and how the colors of one object influence the surrounding objects.
A pink object in a white room necessarily makes part of that room pink, or some version of pink, as the wavelengths are reflected from the object and also influences its surroundings.
This brings me to the idea that color in our surroundings has a direct effect on how we feel.
If I happen to love fuchsia, purples and dark blues surrounding myself with these colors may also effect my emotional state.
It's often said that red for example stimulates love, hunger or aggression or it is a color that induces a sense of fearâŠ
whereas oranges induces a sense of energy or happiness and vitalityâŠ
yellow also is a happy color with a sense of hopeâŠ
it also happens to be the color in the visual spectrum that is most easily perceived by the human eye. Think about it next time you're at a sporting event and look through the audience you'll likely be able to see the guy wearing a yellow shirt much more quickly than someone who might be wearing something like a deep purple or blueâŠ
green has a sense of new beginnings or a sense of abundance and obviously natureâŠ
and blue induces a sense of calm and perhaps often related to the idea of sadnessâŠ
hence the Blues as a music genre are connected to the lament of painful life circumstances as expressed through musicâŠ
purple has been related to creativity and royalty and creating the pigment purple was originally made from crushing seashells. It was so expensive to produce that it was often only available to aristocracies and royalty.
black connotes a sense of mystery to me and maybe even evil ..I was often not particularly fond and felt afraid of the darkâŠ
but strangely, at the other end of the spectrum, it has a sense of eleganceâŠ
black tie eventsâŠ
and not surprisingly, we often say that it's a gray and moody day when overcast and raining.
All of this leads to the idea that we have over time attributed certain values and emotions to different colors.
Therefore, it's not surprising that during the early goings of the COVID pandemic people were rushing out to renovate their homes, since they were spending more time in them, and changing the colors of their interiors some to be more uplifting by using brighter colors or variations on whiteâŠ
there are hundreds of variations on white.
So this is where discussion of my guest on this episode comes in.
Valerie Corcias and her husband Dominic Kelly worked in the color industry for years with companies like Pantone and they developed a deep understanding about color and light and how these things affected our mood.
In recent years they've created a company called mycoocoon - spelled all in one word as my.. double CâŠdouble o âŠn and something called the Brainbo app.
Mycoocoon, has developed a color immersion relaxation pod, and has launched the Color-Institute App that features a simple test to determine a userâs personal color profile, which will then help them select a light immersion session to balance their energy needs.
The app can be used as a standalone application for color therapy combined with music, or as a remote control for the relaxation pod or Mycoocoonâs color walls.
Valerie Cocias explains in our talk that ââŠbased on chromotherapy, the Mycoocoon Color-Institute combines the ancestral beliefs about color with the aid of technology.â
Ancestral beliefs about color combined with modern tech.
Mycoocoon taps into something that is deeply embedded in our ancestry.
You might even say that color is an emotion are just in our DNA.
For hundreds of thousands of years our visual system has been attuned to the world around us and all of its color. And those colors, as I mentioned, have come to represent certain emotional feelings.
It may be obvious that red for example would induce a sense of fear or anger because of say ancestral wars or the fact that a member of your ancient hominid tribe would have been carried away, bleeding, by a Saber toothed tiger.
And so these things are deeply embedded in us.
Mycoocoonâs product line includes the pods, which give clients a âlight bathâ under biocompatible lamps.
And it turns out that the lamps are critically important in creating a visual environment where the mind the body is bathed in color.
One of the challenges with using modern technologies like LED lighting systems is that there is a flicker to the lamp we don't see. Itâs happening so quickly that it blends into what we perceive as a as a persistent glow of a particular color from a lamp.
But if you use your cell phone and try to take a video of LED lights you will quickly see lights flickering. It also turns out that that flicker is disruptive in our brain and you can imagine why certain colored lamps in the LED technology world have a direct effect on compounding things like fatigue in workplaces and other potential emotional effects.
The lamps in the mycoocoon pod immerse the whole body in key colours, along with sounds to enhance the experience and can be used for meditation sessions.
The company also supplies Color Immersion Walls, which can be implemented in various room configurations and used with yoga, reflexology, or treatments for jet-lag, or can be installed in a relaxation room.
This idea of using color in rooms becomes an aha moment in my discussion with Valerie as I consider the implications of setting up office spaces and or meeting rooms with clients bathed in certain colors.
It could very well be that the color experience of a room prior to a meeting could set the meeting off on a good or bad foot. So next time you're thinking about having a meeting or maybe having to discuss a difficult issue with a client, friend or other significant relationship imagine what it would be like to be in a room where the color experience of that place is directly affecting our mind body state creating us more calm or enthusiastic and energetic and more willing to take risks and take on challenges.
The implications here are super important because we can begin to understand color as a mediator or activator of certain emotional states. And that has a direct effect on how we consider using color in the built environment.
One other consideration here would also be the proliferation of digital screens in our environments and the use of immersive digital experiences at an urban scale. Think about the color influence of standing in the middle of Times Square in New York and how that might elevate your sense of agitation or perhaps the fact that all of that visual stimulation and you were being blasted by color wavelengths from all angles also increases your sense of exhaustion.
Mycoocoon recently launched its products in Asia in partnership with VDL Cosmetics so consumers can select their makeup based on their colour moods after taking the Mycoocoon test and immerse themselves in the colour pods.
Another way to consider color would be to understand what people's color personality profile would be.
Meaning, I happen to like fuchsia purples and dark blues that says something about my personality. Now imagine you're also in a corporate meeting of some sort and or you have a company that has multiple brands. Often these different segments of businesses become siloed and also develop in a sense their own personalities.
It would be interesting to get members of different brands owned by the same parent company in workshops and begin to understand that even though they're working within different segments of the business their color personality profile actually makes them more connected to each other than they may think.
These are the sort of things that Valerie Corcias and mycoocoon actually do.
They speak at international conferences, run workshops for hotels and work with international brands to begin to teach people about the importance and influence of color has on our emotions and our sense of well being.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT KEN NISCH:
Kenâs LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/ken-nisch-a1922325BIO:
No one knows retail better than Ken. His resume includes brands big and small, local and global â with an award list to match. His consumer knowledge and entrepreneurial insights have been an integral part of the conceptual development and strategic image positioning for many retail operators, manufacturers and brand marketers in multiple verticals for more than 40 years.
Ken has been named a âRetail Luminaryâ and âRetail Influencerâ by design:retail Magazine and currently serves on their Editorial Board. He was inducted into the Retail Design Institute Legion of Honor, recognizing his outstanding career achievement in the field of retail store design and also presented with the Asia Retail Leadership Award at the Asia Retail Congress in Mumbai, India.
Clients
Allen Edmonds, Blue Nile, Disney, El Palacio de Hierro, Five Below, Hersheyâs, H&M, Mayo Clinic, Museum of Arts and Design, Paradies LagardĂšre, Signet, Sleep Number, Sundance, The North Face, Warner Bros., Whole Foods Market
Recognition
âRetail Luminaryâ and âRetail Influencerâ by design:retail Magazine
Editorial Board for design:retail Magazine
Inducted into the Retail Design Institute Legion of Honor, recognizing his outstanding career achievement in the field of retail store design.
Asia Retail Leadership Award â Honored at the Asia Retail Congress in Mumbai, India.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Ken Nisch Chairman of JGA an internationally recognized design firm. Ken recently has also co-authored with Vilma barr a new book titled Sustainability for Retail: How Retail Leaders Create Environmental, Social, & Cultural Innovations.
It is a great global overview of retailers and brands who are leading the way on how sustainable deign practice will shape retail places in the new future.
Before we get into the talk with Ken a few thoughts on sustainability and retail place making.
***********
Over the past couple of seasons of the show I have had a handful of guests who have focused our discussion on sustainability â
the internationally acclaimed designer Bruce Mau, of Massive Change Network where we talked about his life and approaches to design and a number of the key ideas from his book âMassive Changeâ
Denise Naguib of Marriott International,
Christian Davies of Bergmeyer,
Martin Kingdon of Popai and how the sustainability issue is being addressed in the UK and Ireland,
architect Yasmine Mahmoudieh whose eco-centric mindset shapes her design approach with sustainable materials like mycelium
and a few seasons ago, Caspar Schols who created Cabin ANNA a truly innovative house design that literally transforms, opening up to the elements placing its inhabitants under the stars, should they want to be, while they sleep.
The conversations have covered a lot of ground ranging from talking about the impact of packaging covering the products we buy every time we visit a store. It doesnât really matter what type, could be clothing, hardware or grocery, packaging figures prominently in all of themâŠ
âŠto the footprint of a global hospitality behemoth with over 8000 hotels most of whom provide hotel guests with a couple bottles of water when they arrive â A nice amenity with a potentially huge ecological impact since, despite how much we may believe in recycling a lot of those bottles still end up in a landfill.
This by the way, is not simply a Marriott hotels issue, it applies to the hotel industry as a whole.
Weâve discussed the impact of the building industry at large with respect to its contribution to CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore th e global climate crisis. I
think that most of us who are connected to the building industry either as architects and designers, manufacturers, general contractors, installers and other suppliers to the built environment, are increasingly aware of the implications of putting millions of square feet of new buildings on good âole âterra firma.â
It is estimated that about 40% of CO2 emissions are related, in some way, to the building construction industry.
When we think about being a good steward of this planet that we have been gifted, is not just about doing âless bad.â Itâs about a fundamental shift in the way we see ourselves in relation to this little blue dot.
I think itâs about appreciating that the planet has been here a long, long, time before we ever walked it and it will be here a long time after we are gone.
The irony is that when humankind leaves mother earth, as I suspect we will, evolving into an interplanetary species, she will be just fine without us. I donât think she will pine like a parent after dropping her young adult off at college and eagerly await their return at the holidays.
There are some who say that it is already too late; that the current efforts to stem the effects of pumping toxins into the air and seas leading to climate change and the potential for an ecological catastrophe, are not going to reverse what is already well on its way.
But that would be to live without hope and so, there are those who hold to the idea that if we created this state of affairs, we can uncreate it.
That we have designed our way here and we can therefore design our way out.
And in that, I find the encouragement to continue on believing that design, while not the only contributing factor in solving the climate issue, is a fundamental piece in the solution.
Letâs assume we too will be here for a long, long time and that the cynical view of us leaving scorched earth behind as we rocket off to evolve into an inter planetary species, perhaps to do it again elsewhere, will not come to pass.
Suppose what is now a rumbling becomes a global cacophony of âhell no,â we learn, and we collectively embrace the idea that our current path is unsustainable.
To get there, everyday people, governments, associations, brands and retailers need to do more and talk about what they are doing more. Policy and practice at the level of governing a nation, a business or your family needs to put the discussion at the head of the spear and keep it there.
Sustainability has become a defining feature of why a consumer will or will not align him or her self with a brand.
How the core ideological ideas around ESG and DEI that underpin a brand come to life in an experience place are critical determinants of engagement.
The principles on which a company stands related to sustainability can make or break the connection between a brand or retailer and a consumer. Itâs not just what they say but what they do that makes a difference.
This is a two-way âputting your money where your mouth is.â
Businesses that invest in sustainability initiatives enhance the likelihood of consumers investing in them.
Emerging consumers want to know that companies align with their individual points of view on these issues for brand adoption to happen.
Consumes want to know if the brand promotes ideas, policies and practices that match theirpersonal positions rather than, as a consumer, they are attaching themselves to a brand to accrue a sense of identity or belonging to the brandâs platform.
This may seem like a subtle shift, but consumers show up already certain about their mindset on issues of sustainability and they quickly determine whether or not the brand is on their team â not the other way around.
And so, when you read a book like âSustainability for Retail: How Retail Leaders Create Environmental, Social, & Cultural Innovationsâ by this episodeâs guest Ken Nisch, you get an overview of how the sustainability issue is being highlighted by standouts in the retail industry around the world.
Ken and his co-author Vilma Barr provide a well-rounded summary of retail brands and companies who are âdoing the right thing.â
Use to be that many of them didnât wear their efforts on their sleave, they just planted trees or sustainably sourced materials or engaged in fare trade practices because they believed it was, well⊠the right thing to do. Seemed obvious to them.
As they pursued the sustainable path, not beating their chest, in self-congratulations, their efforts were certainly having positive impact on the planet but maybe not in heightening awareness and the urgency to act now.
Well⊠a lot of that has changed in recent years and customers want to know where brands stand on the issues. As awareness grows, change gets a foot hold and conscious awareness of the issues becomes increasing woven into how retailing is done.
When someone like Ken Nisch canvases the retail world to promote companies who are addressing the sustainability issue, he does it from a place of knowing whoâs who.
His resume includes brands big and small, local and global â with an award list to match. His consumer knowledge and entrepreneurial insights have been an integral part of the conceptual development and strategic image positioning for many retail operators, manufacturers and brand marketers in multiple verticals for more than 40 years.
Ken has been named a âRetail Luminaryâ and âRetail Influencerâ by design:retail Magazine and currently serves on their Editorial Board.
He was inducted into the Retail Design Instituteâs Legion of Honor, recognizing his outstanding career achievement in the field of retail store design.
He was also presented with the Asia Retail Leadership Award at the Asia Retail Congress in Mumbai, India.
Ken Nisch has worked with Disney, Hersheyâs, H&M, Mayo Clinic, Sleep Number, Sundance, The North Face, Warner Bros., Whole Foods Market and a host of other great brands.
In this discussion, Ken Nisch and I unpack a number of efforts being done on the sustainability front by companies in the retail industry.
There are certainly more than those I pull from Kenâs book for us to talk about.
What âSustainability for RetailâŠâclearly establishes is the idea that the ground swell of initiatives that retailers and brands are taking on will likely grow changing the retail landscape.
Talking about these issues increases awareness.
The outgrowth of these concepts being at the forefront of our thinking as we create retail stores, is that places of customer engagement remain relevant as crucibles for more than simply the exchange of goods and services.
They are places where ideas and commerce are connected.
Stores are much more than a place to get something at a good price. They can be places where ideas that matter, that concern us all, come to life.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT TASHA GOLDEN, PhD:
Websites:tashagolden.com (Other)facebook/ellerymusic (Other)ellerymusic.com (Other)Twitter:goldenthis
Tashaâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/tashagoldenBIO:
Tasha Golden, PhD is Director of Research at the International Arts+Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and a national leader and consultant in arts + public health. Holding a PhD in Public Health Sciences, Tasha Golden has published extensively on the impacts of the arts, music, aesthetics, and social norms on health and well-being. She has served as an advisor on several nati onal and international health initiatives, is adjunct faculty for the University of Floridaâs Center for Arts in Medicine, and recently led the pilot evaluation of CultureRx in Massachusetts: the first arts-on-prescription in the U.S.
Golden is also a career artist and entrepreneur. As singer-songwriter for the critically acclaimed band Ellery, she toured full-time in the US and abroad, and her songs appear in feature films and TV dramas (ABC, SHOWTIME, FOX, NETFLIX, etc). She is a published poet (Humanist Press) and founder of Project Uncaged: an arts-based health intervention for incarcerated teen women that amplifies their voices in justice reform.
Tashaâs diverse background drives her success as an international speaker and thought leader. She gives talks and facilitates workshops for artists, businesses, researchers, practitioners, and moreâhelping them enhance and reimagine their work. As a consultant, she helps leaders and organizations draw on the science of arts and health to further their goals.
This is one of those conversations that literally just scratches the surface of what is possible when considering how the arts influences our lives. It is an important conversation about why we need to put art back into our daily routines as a prescription to wellbeing.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to episode 61 of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
As usual, thanks go to VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In a minute, weâll dig into my discussion with Tasha Golden - Director of Research at the International Arts+Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University.
But first a few thoughts to set up our talkâŠ
****************
Art and making is part of our human experience â it is part of who we are as a species.
I have had this feeling for a number of years, and probably expressed it on this podcast a number of times, that art and making are intrinsic to all of us.
There's something unique about the making of things that humans do that is different than other living creatures on the planet. Sure, some of the animals in our world make things too. Birds make nests and the great apes do as well, for some apes, new ones every night as I understand it.
But the defining feature between humans and the other creatures making things on the planet is that we make things that can make other things.
We are Homo Sapiens â âMan The Thinkerâ but we are also âHomo Faberâ or Man The Maker. I think we're equally âHomo Ludensâ â âMan The Player.â
I'm sure that there's some deep connection between the idea of the making of things and play that are also deeply connected in defining who we are and how we come to understand ourselves and navigate the world.
When I am deeply connected to the making of things, specifically when listening to music and painting, I am very aware of the fact that I am in a Flow state that feels like being deeply involved in play. Time disappears, dissipates⊠its otherworldly.
I think that making, whether objects, stories, music or other manifestations of our creative minds is part of who we all are. But I also think we have pushed it aside getting up in our rational heads believing that we could think our way through our lives rather than feeling, or maybe even creating our way through them.
Sir Ken Robinson had said something like âwe are all born creative, and we have it educated out of us.â Thatâs a tragedy with huge implications to our world when I think we really need super creative solutions to lifeâs pressing challenges.
It seems to me that creativity was a necessary skill to be developed as part of our evolutionary history. Being creative, a good problem solver, was an insurance policy for survival. This is also true of our ability to engage in empathic relationships in collaborative communities. When working together, we were much better able to survive. Millenia ago, being cast out of the group and having to go at on your own in the wild might have significantly reduced your chances of survival.
And so, making and creating close knit social communities and problem solving have been with us from time immemorial.
But beyond making tools, creating shelters and being creative in these ways so as to survive in an unpredictable and sometime brutal world, the arts, at least we call them now evolved as a way for us to express ourselves, our ideological orientations, our understanding of the world.
In some ways they were an attempt to understand and answer some of the existential questions of what it meant to be human and how we fit into the cosmological scheme of things.
The arts in its many forms; sculpture, dance, song, music, and later literature, brought communities together in shared understanding of the meaning of being individuals as well as members of a larger whole. The arts were a vehicle for the expression of ideas, the asking of questions and searching for answers.
In many ways the arts helped to express the ineffable.
The arts aligned with our penchant for using narratives to navigate through the world.
Stories put things into place, they described the why and how of things. Cognitive scientist Roger Schank has said âHumans are not ideally set up to understand logic; theyâre ideally set up to understand stories.â
And many of the stories we tell are in the form of the arts. From the paintings on the walls of caves in Lascaux France 1700 years ago, to the contemporary dance of Martha Graham, to best-selling books (you pick the author) or immersive digital experiences of media artists like Refik Anadol, the arts have been, and continue to be, part of our lives.
Without the arts, life would be bereft of meaning.
I have often heard people say I can't draw or I've got no rhythm and can't dance or I can't hold a tune. These self-judgmental comments go completely contrary to what we know from science about the value of engaging in art or even doing simple things like humming your favorite tune and the positive effects it has on your mind-body state.
I find myself humming or singing to myself all the time â Christmas carols in the summer, old 70âs rock classics any day, doesnât matter. Humming, an ancient artform, plays a key role in activating the parasympathetic nervous system â also known as your ârest and digest stateâ.
Because your vagus nerve, one of your neural superhighways connecting your brain to major organs in the rest of your body, runs through your larynx and pharynx in your throat, the vibrations that humming stimulates your vagus nerve and creates what's known as âvagal tone.â
Humming can also improve heart rate variability which is an important metric that shows how well you can recover from experiences of stress. So, when you hum you induce something called âparasympathetic dominanceâ which means that you move from a fight or flight state into one of increased relaxation.
The idea here is that bringing the arts into our lives even in the simplest of ways like humming, reconnects us to ourselves and helps support mind body health, an overall sense of well-being.
More and more research is pointing to the fact that engaging in the arts and having a sense of well-being can be directly connected.
In fact the whole emerging field in cognitive science called neuroaesthetics is geared towards the understanding of how the arts, in all of their incarnations, influences how we feel - not just when listening to a piece of music or staring at a painting on a wall in a museum - but how the overall built environment potentially influences our emotional state which may have a direct effect on our body systems potentially leading to disease.
So, there is a significant problem at hand when arts funding is slashed from school curricula thinking that it is less important than getting our school aged children ready to compete on the world stage by simply focusing on STEM based curricula only. Fully integrating the arts into the school, and even our workdays, increases learning and company performance.
As a personal example, I know I've described this in a number of the podcast episodes, and at the risk of being repetitive I'll do so nowâŠ
âŠduring the pandemic between 2020 and 2022 and I poured myself into painting, writing and doing this podcast all of which would qualify as the arts.
I firmly believe that if it weren't for me finding a Flow state, a pseudo meditative experience, through painting and listening to music while doing it , that my experience of the pandemic may have been drastically different.
I think that in many ways, it might have actually been quite negative and that I might have been a very difficult person to live with.
Instead, art gave me a sense of agency to be able to navigate the ambiguity of an uncertain future. Engaging in the arts, if even on a small plain of my physical world in the form of a 36 by 48-inch canvas, gave me a certain sense of control.
I shifted the negative energy of anxiety and fear of the unknown into creativity in the form of a pandemic production of 25 canvases. I was directly exposed to the value and impact of how the arts could be harnessed to create a profound sense of well-being.
And this brings me to my guest Tasha Golden.
Tasha Golden, PhD is Director of Research at the International Arts+Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and a national leader and consultant in arts + public health. Holding a PhD in Public Health Sciences, Tasha Golden has published extensively on the impacts of the arts, music, aesthetics, and social norms on health and well-being. She has served as an advisor on several nati onal and international health initiatives, is adjunct faculty for the University of Floridaâs Center for Arts in Medicine, and recently led the pilot evaluation of CultureRx in Massachusetts: the first arts-on-prescription in the U.S.
Golden is also a career artist and entrepreneur. As singer-songwriter for the critically acclaimed band Ellery, she toured full-time in the US and abroad, and her songs appear in feature films and TV dramas (ABC, SHOWTIME, FOX, NETFLIX, etc). She is a published poet (Humanist Press) and founder of Project Uncaged: an arts-based health intervention for incarcerated teen women that amplifies their voices in justice reform.
Tashaâs diverse background drives her success as an international speaker and thought leader. She gives talks and facilitates workshops for artists, businesses, researchers, practitioners, and moreâhelping them enhance and reimagine their work. As a consultant, she helps leaders and organizations draw on the science of arts and health to further their goals.
This is one of those conversations that literally just scratches the surface of what is possible when considering how the arts influences our lives. It is an important conversation about why we need to put art back into our daily routines as a prescription to wellbeing.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT YASMINE MAHMOUDIEH:
Yasmine's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminemahmoudieh/Websitesmahmoudieh.com (Company)impactdesignnow.com (Company)EmailTwitterMahmoudieh_ArchMykidsyltd
BIO:
Yasmine Mahmoudieh, an acclaimed architect, designer, and tech entrepreneur, is internationally recognized for groundbreaking designs and an unwavering commitment to sustainability. Her work has earned her numerous international design awards, including the prestigious Global Sustainability Award in 2022 for her contributions to architecture and design in hospitality. With an illustrious career spanning prestigious institutions, she serves as a visiting professor at renowned establishments such as EHL Hotel School and Institut Paul Bocuse, inspiring emerging talents in the field.
Additionally, Mahmoudieh is a sought-after speaker, lecturing around the world on hotel architecture, design, and development. She has even been invited to speak at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, focusing on the critical subject of sustainability in architecture and design.
Mahmoudieh seamlessly integrates modern technologies with traditional design principles, crafting captivating and immersive spaces that engage all senses.
As a prominent global ambassador for eco-conscious practices, she pioneers sustainable construction techniques, utilizing recycled plastics through 3D printing and exploring mycelium as a substitute for traditional building materials.
With an unwavering passion for harmonizing functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability, Mahmoudieh continues to shape the future of architecture and design with her profound influence and visionary approach.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to episode 60 of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
This season will be no different than the previous ones where we continue to have great discussions with visionary leaders from various industries and professions.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
As usual, thanks go to VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In a minute, weâll dig into my discussion with Yasmine Mahmoudieh - architect, designer, and tech entrepreneur, who is internationally recognized for ground breaking designs and an unwavering commitment to sustainability.
But first a few thoughts to set up our talkâŠ
****************
I remember back in 2009 going to see the movie Avatar.
The narrative followed a typical story of white man's colonization and subjugation of an indigenous peoples - this time on Pandora - a planet light years away from earth - because presumably we had succeeded in trashing our own planet and had gone off to exploit the natural resources of another.
There were multiple other themes written into the script but in principle it dealt with what I would characterize as corporate greed and the decimation of natural landscapes an indigenous peoples.
The singular motivation to mining the planetâs natural resources?... the billions of dollars of revenue for a large corporation who was mining a natural resource called âunobtanium.â
Naturally the corporation militarized their operations under the guise that the 10 foot tall blue-skinned sapient humanoid indigenous peoples called the Naâvi - as well as the flora a fauna were⊠lethal.
Another re-telling of big bad corporations exercising their power over a helpless people by flexing their military muscle with sociopathic leaders with a bent for murderous behavior.
And adding insult to narrative injury, there was the denial of science and the well intentioned initiatives of creating Avatars of the Naâvi where humans could transfer consciousness into alien bodies cultivated in an enormous incubation chamber, that would then animate and go out among the native beings and infiltrate their community with the intention of learning more about them.
OK... So this is a story that we're pretty familiar with.
Notwithstanding the re-telling of a narrative we all know, James Cameron the director, brough the theater-going public compelling visualizations of an imaginary verdant jungle-like environment. On the big screen of a movie theater it was immersive and realistic.
Iâd say that for a while Avatar was a superb example of the use computer generated imagery that brought viewers into the experience of a distant world.
Ok, so as not to get bogged down with the nasty-self-serving-humans part of the story ...
âŠone of the key feature of this world was the Home Tree (which the humans eventually destroyed as well).
Ok sorry I had to add that inâŠ
Home Tree - and all other tress for that matter - created an eco-system, an integrated network, that was connected underground.
For the Naâvi people, Eywa was the living deity but not in the physical form humans would have expected.
Eywa was a biological sentient guiding force of life and was physicalized through a network of plants, trees and other wildlife that stretched across Pandora. Eywa acted to maintain equilibrium among all things.
Now⊠the obvious connection to be drawn here is the idea that our earth is a massive ecosystem and that there is an urgent need for our collective understanding that everything in this ecosystem works as a complex set of interdependencies.
Everything is connected to everything.
Our life energy is intimately intertwined with the planetâs natural resources. We are from the earth. Though, I believe, many often see themselves as separated from it.
I seem to have been having an increasing number of conversation with people where one of the things we end up returning to is sustainability. What the building industry does in negative ways to the environment and by consequence us, emotionally and physically.
The conversation is encompassing straight up building practice, materials and finishes and what the CO2 contribution is to the planet when we build things, anything.
Not a good thing for the environment and by extension not a good thing for us.
and⊠what the effect of the building typologies has to do with our emotional well-being â a field called Neuroaesthetics â how he built environment affects us at a mind-body level.
The sea of sameness and a building stock of overwhelming banality can undermine a sense of well-being. We are born experience expectant and our brains love novelty. The brain isnât fond of being bored.
And yet, many of our urban environments are monotonous.
So not only is the building industry responsible for about 40% of the CO2 in the atmosphere contributing to the global climate problem, the buildings we are putting into the environment are, from the neuroaesthetics point of view, often not contributing to our sense of wellbeing since they often create city blocks that area mundane.
This is where my guest Yasmine Mahmoudieh enters the scene.
Her work has earned her numerous international design awards, including the prestigious Global Sustainability Award in 2022 for her contributions to architecture and design in hospitality.
With an illustrious career spanning prestigious institutions, she serves as a visiting professor at renowned establishments such as EHL Hotel School and Institut Paul Bocuse, inspiring emerging talents in the field.
Mahmoudieh seamlessly integrates modern technologies with traditional design principles, crafting captivating and immersive spaces that engage all senses.
With an unwavering passion for harmonizing functionality, aesthetics, and sustainability, Mahmoudieh continues to shape the future of architecture and design with her profound influence and visionary approach.
So why the whole description of the movie Avatar and undergound connections between trees and other forest plants?
Because that idea directly aligns with the emerging use of mycillium. What is mycelium?
Mycellium is tubular thread of cells that spread through the soil underground and connects the roots of plants to one another. It is like the earthâs natural internet. Everything is connectedâŠ
Why would understanding the portential use of Mycellium as a building material be important ?
Well⊠it is a naturally occurring substance and research suggests that it has a positive effect on enhancing immune strength.
As a prominent global ambassador for eco-conscious practices, Yasmine Mahmoudieh pioneers sustainable construction techniques, utilizing recycled plastics through 3D printing
and exploring mycelium as a substitute for traditional building materials.
The Naâvi and Eywa had something goinâ on. And humans just bulldozed it all in search for a rock in the ground. A familiar story with tragic outcomes.
I think that the more we turn to ancient indigenous traditions, understand them and perhaps augment them with modern science, the more we may find solutions to some of the more profound eco challenges we now face.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT NEIL REDDING:
Neil's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reddingneil/Website: https://www.neilredding.com/Editor, Near Future of Retail
BIO:
Neil Redding is a keynote speaker, author, Innovation Architect and Near Futurist.
Neil has worked at the convergence of digital and physical for decades, and is an expert speaker and advisor in the realms of spatial computing, augmented reality (AR), AI, and convergent brand ecosystems. As a Near Futurist, Neil focuses on connecting what's possible with what's practical â pulling the future into the present through a digital experience lens.
Neil currently leads Redding Futures, a boutique consultancy that enables brands and businesses to engage powerfully with the Near Future. Prior to founding Redding Futures, Neil held leadership roles at Mediacom, Proximity/BBDO, Gensler, ThoughtWorks and Lab49.
He has delivered for clients including Visa, Nike, Cadillac, Macyâs, NBA, Verizon, TED, The Economist, MoMA, Converse, Morgan Stanley, Apple, Oracle, Financial Times, and Fidelity Investments.
He has spoken at numerous conferences including SXSW, AWE, Immerse Global Summit, infoComm, Tech2025, CreateTech, SEGD XLab, A.R.E. Shoptalk, Creative Technology Week, Design+AI and VRevolution.
Neil is also editor of Near Future of Retail, author of the forthcoming book The Ecosystem Paradigm, and advises multiple startups at the leading edge of the digital-physical convergence.SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Neil Redding Founder of Redding Futures about Near Futurism and Spatial Computing.
But first a few thoughts.
****************
I grew up on Star Trek. And Walt Disney of course.
Sunday nights were special my brothers and I would gather together with my father watching captain James T Kirk careening around the universe and battle everything from klingons to tribbles.
It gave me a vision of the future and a world of possibility beyond what was known.
I think having had that experience, and my father's fascination with the possibility of beaming anywhere, set me on a path for being always curious about the expanse of the universe, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, what would happen when you traveled at the speed of light or entered the event horizon of a black hole.
Later on I began to be interested in string theory and tried hard to understand the math and physics of the general theory of relativity.
It's equally become important as a practice to hold future thinking in context with present realities.
The pandemic offered an opportunity to really understand what it meant to be present -where the future vision for my life that I had established weren't coming to pass - at least in the short term.
And so, it became interesting for me to think about the future not as some long far off vision of something that would happen 25 or 50 or 100 years from now but to think increasingly about the near future.
It also became clear that the distant future was becoming increasingly difficult to imagine.
When thinking about the exponential pace of change it became very clear to me that we were very definitely on the upswing of an exponential curve where moments of significant technological advances would become closer and closer together and therefore the deltas between one significant moment and the next would also become smaller putting us perhaps in the perpetual present, fluidly moving from now and next .
And of course, if you do any meditation or have a mind body practice, the whole idea is to find yourself in the present letting go of past and a longing for understanding future.
And that's great and I do have a meditation practice each day that helps me stay centered focused on the now, hopefully ridding me of my worries or my regrets from things that I might have done in the past or perpetually longing for a future to be a certain way.
But at the same time, there seems to be a paradox - we're not naturally good at staying in the perpetual present because we need to rely on past for learning and we often long for understanding our future perhaps because we want some sense of predictability in in otherwise largely unpredictable world.
And so I began to think a lot about this idea of near future - not lingering on the past, though hoping that I bring lessons learned from those experiences forward to make me smarter and help support the decision making in the present and not completely alienating myself from future.
Iâve come to think of this a matter of a proportioning of my daily brain power - how much time am I spending thinking about what was or has not yet come to pass.
And so when I reconnected with Neil Redding in an online conference that I see saw him speaking at, I was fascinated with his concept around near futurism end other subjects like spatial computing.
Things that has focused his profession professional path on over the past number of years since our first meeting in New York over a decade ago.
When we met then we shared a stage at a Society for Graphic Designers event and I had just published my book Retail (r)Evolution and was talking about the emergence of a new experience seeking cohort of shoppers focused in the digital world and what the emergence of digital media, as a medium for interacting with customers, would mean.
Then I was talking about Google Glass which had just come on to the market and I saw it as a potentially new way of engaging in experiences of our physical environment.
I explained to my sons that I was selected to be a beta tester and their remark to me then was âdad, you're not actually gonna put that thing on your face are you?â
Google Glass ended up not gaining traction and faded away. But that didn't mean that companies developing augmented reality headsets head disappeared they were just perhpas waiting for a time where general adoption of the tech would become more robust.
I happen to think that augmented reality is a better solution than virtual reality because augmented reality keeps us in the present it keeps us in a place where we are actively engaged in a mind body way with the environments that we're in.
Augmented reality offers us an opportunity to have a digital overlay on those experiences and it draws from our Hansel and Gretel trail of digital ones and zeros that suggest our preferences, our desires, our need for certain kinds of information so that products and places could be customized by us.
Augmented reality also offers us the opportunity to share in the expereicne of place.
Both myself and a friend or family member could visit a store, a museum or even a National Park standing side by side and through our augmented reality headsets or glasses, we could at the same time, share in the experience and also have it equally customized to our individual preferences.
The idea of augmented reality actually isn't new. L Frank Baum, who wrote the Wizard of Oz, actually described a headset in his 1901 book âTHE MASTER KEYâ.
There he previewed the invention of the Taser, a hand-held PDA with Google Glass-like capability, including live video /AR and a wireless phone.
The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale, Founded Upon the Mysteries of Electricity and the Optimism of its Devotees, describes the adventures of a 15 year old boy who experiments with electricity.
The young lad accidentally touches "the Master Key of Electricity," and comes into contact with a Demon who bestows upon him various gifts.
One of these gifts is a "Character Marker" which is described on p. 94:
"It consists of this pair of spectacles. While you wear them everyone you meet will be marked upon the forehead with a letter indicating his or her character. The good will bear the letter 'G,' the evil the letter 'E.' The wise will be marked with a 'W' and the foolish with an 'F.' The kind will show a 'K' upon their foreheads and the cruel a letter 'C.â Thus you may determine by a single look the true natures of all those you encounter."
Sometimes I think people like L Frank Baum and others like Nicola Tesla knew, long before they actually came into common usage, where our technology would finally bring us. It just seems like the actual evolution of digital technology was simply lagging behind our imagination.
Tesla for example was quoted in in 1926 Colliers magazine article as saying âwhen wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will become converted to a huge brain, which in fact it is. All things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole... and the instruments through which we shall be able to do this will be amazingly simple compared to our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocketâ and then he goes on to say that we'll be able to communicate with each other independent of geography.
About a decade ago there was a Time magazine article called âNever Offlineâ where they described wearables - meaning the digital interfaces that we would put on our bodies from smartwatches to things like Google Glass or augmented reality goggles.
In that article they suggested that ââŠwearables will make your physical self visible to the virtual world in the form of information, an indelible digital body print, and that information is going to behave like any other information behaves these days. It will be copied and circulated. It will go places you don't expect. People will use that information to track you and to market to you.â
Now I suppose one way of taking this view would be that it aligns with the often dystopian vision of a future where information is used without our knowing and perhaps to our detriment.
On the other hand, things like wearables and spatial computing devices can be used to augment experiences to the benefit of people.
One of them which seems to be Ground Zero for the application of augmented reality or spatial computing is in the retail world.
It's easy to imagine shopping experiences that are already difficult to navigate - because retailers cram their spaces with so many products that it makes choosing and navigation of the assortment difficult - could be alleviated through the use of smart devices like an augmented reality headset of some kind.
Signage could be clearer, information leading to better decision making could be better and navigation through a complex maze of products in any store could also be made more efficient.
Wearable technologies have not disappeared since Google Glass came on the market and then faded away. Compnaies have been spending time refining technologies allowing our ability to collect, parse and share data.
The introduction of artificial intelligence and natural language processing has also become more part of our everyday world. And this is where spatial computing becomes increasingly interesting.
What if we can talk to our devices as we navigate space what information could we call up that would help us make decisions or be better informed?
What visual clutter could we remove from our streets and highways? that instead of having large billboard structures lining highways that that information could simply be a visual virtual overlay that we see through our dashboard or through the glasses we're wearing on our face.
Or maybe it offers up the opportunity for things that are specifically related to me like what restaurant I'd like to go to and how far it is away because my personal preferences are already loaded into the algorithm.
Perhaps our actual 3D environment becomes less littered with this type of visual noise and the work of providing that kind of information is provided through a set of glasses and an augmented reality overlay.
So having this conversation with Neil was interesting because he's actually doing this sort of thing.
Neil Redding has worked at the convergence of digital and physical for decades, and is an expert speaker and advisor in the realms of spatial computing, augmented reality (AR), AI, and convergent brand ecosystems.
As a Near Futurist,Neilfocuses on connecting what's possible with what's practical â pulling the future into the present through a digital experience lens.
Neil currently leads ReddingFutures, a boutique consultancy that enables brands and businesses to engage powerfully with the Near Future.
Prior to foundingReddingFutures,Neilheld leadership roles at Mediacom, Proximity/BBDO, Gensler, ThoughtWorks and Lab49.
He has worked for companies including Visa, Nike, Cadillac, Macyâs, NBA, Verizon, TED, The Economist, MoMA, Converse, Morgan Stanley, Apple, Oracle, Financial Times, and Fidelity Investments.
He has spoken at numerous conferences including SXSW, Immerse Global Summit, infoComm, Tech2025, CreateTech, SEGD XLab, A.R.E. Shoptalk, Creative Technology Week, Design+AI and VRevolution.
Neil is also editor of Near Future of Retail, author of the forthcoming book The Ecosystem Paradigm, and advises multiple startups at the leading edge of the digital-physical convergence.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT Lisa Sun:
Lisa's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-sun-793777/Websites:To learn more about Lisaâs book: https://gravitasnewyork.com/pages/gravitas-book-the-8-strengths-that-redefine-confidence
Learn more about our forthcoming book, GRAVITAS: The 8 Strengths That Redefine Confidence
To discover your superpowers: www.MyConfidenceLanguage.com
www.GravitasNewYork.com
BIO:
Lisa Sun is the founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, a company on a mission to catalyze confidence.
GRAVITAS offers innovative size-inclusive apparel, styling solutions, and content designed to make over women from the inside out. Prior to founding GRAVITAS, Sun spent 11 years at McKinsey & Company, where she advised leading luxury fashion and beauty brands and retailers in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America on strategic and operational issues.
Her first collection was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, People, and the Todays how in the same month.Sun and GRAVITAS have been featured on CNN and in Forbes, Fast Company, New York magazine, Elle, Marie Claire, InStyle, and more.
GRAVITAS includes among its activities a commitment to AAPI causes and New York Cityâs Garment District. Often called the âdress whisperer,â Lisa is also a highly sought-after public speaker who likes to impart her hard-won knowledge on gravitas and how to best harness it to other women.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
In this episode I talk with Lisa Sun the Founder and CEO of the apparel brand Gravitas and the author of the recently published, runaway best seller titled - âGravitas: The 8 Strengths That Redefine Confidence.â
But first a few thoughts.
****************
In the spring of 2022, I was in New York for the annual Vision Monday Leadership Summit. This event was being called âDiscover & Recalibrate! Trends, Ideas and Tactics for Confronting Radical Change.â This 13th Annual gatherings brought into sharp focus the megatrends shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A lot of change has occurred in the world from the spring of 2020 up to this event. The COVID pandemic had shifted our worlds. The uncertainty and ambiguity brought about by the evolving circumstance of a global pandemic was a cause for pause. A time to re-evaluate and find strategies to address new challenges that faced us all.
My talk focused on navigating the fluid world of exponential change, facing down the unknown and looking for ways to remain buoyant in the sea of change all around us.
I suggested that cultural mindsets had been shifting over the past few years and that they had been hastened in the context of the global pandemic. When brands, their goods, services and experiences, are at odds with evolving culture, they can lose their value even if their legacy stays strong.
As cultural transformation happens, brands need to learn how to navigate cultural complexity and create a different future that is aligned with the pace of change.
In a post-pandemic, experience-seeking economy, health, safety and welfare are a baseline in the guest expectation set. But addressing evolving customer needs was now well beyond making sure customers were safe while shopping, visiting a hotel or simply being out in the community.
How do we keep up with the pace of change? As the pace of change speeds along how can we finding meaning in the in-between of the last and the next big thing?
I focused on how can changing your mindset about change allow us to see the ânowâ as an emergent space of creative possibility?
Changing your mindset â reframing the context â seeing the interdependency of things â looking for opportunity in upheaval⊠these all seemed to be front-row-center how we needed to adjust to a new world order.
As I was in the speakerâs green room waiting for my time slot to come up, in bounds a woman with an air of openness, humility and eagerness to connect. There was an energy of confidence that emanated from her.
She seemed to stand her ground, command her conversations and did so while not imposing on you but welcoming you into a shared space of empathic connection. I thought to my self, that I had to make sure that is saw that presentation.
When Lisa Sun hit the stage, she was direct and vulnerable. She was hilarious with her impressions of her Taiwanese mother who she says was a Tiger Mom before it became a thing with publishing of Amy Chuaâs book that popularized the term.
She shared her personal journey, living with her immigrant parents in Rancho Cucamonga who ran the only Chinese restaurant withing 40 miles of her home. Her first job out of college was working in a scrap metal yard, then worked for 11 years at McKinsey and Company where she spent on average 250 days a year on the road. She decided to take an 11 month sojourn to travel the world ending her trip with passing through Taiwan where her parents had retired.
Her mother tried convinced her to spend half of her lifeâs saving to create her own business rather than going back to the corporate consulting world. A fateful yearly performance review led to an epiphany and that in turn led her to her company Gravitas being born.
Today Lisa Sun is the founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, a company on a mission to catalyze confidence. GRAVITAS offers innovative size-inclusive apparel, styling solutions, and content designed to make over women from the inside out.
Her first collection was featured inO, The Oprah Magazine, People,and theToday show in the same month.
Lisa Sun and GRAVITAS have been featured on CNN and inForbes, Fast Company,New York magazine, Elle, Marie Claire,InStyle, and more.
Often called the âdress whisperer,â Lisa is also a highly sought-after public speaker who likes to impart her hard-won knowledge on having gravitas and how to best harness it in other people.
10 + years after starting Gravitas the company, âGravitas: the book, subtitled âThe 8 Strengths That Redefine Confidenceâ has been published.
In her book Lisa Sun shares her journey of self-discovery and combines it with proprietary research, real-world examples, and anecdotes from other successful women who have championed their own definition of self-worth.
When I think back to the Vision Monday Leadership Summit and it being called âDiscover & Recalibrate! Trends, Ideas and Tactics for Confronting Radical Changeâ I was talking about the radical environmental contextual change all around us and how that would influence change in the way we re-thought the design of our companies, brand experience places and re-writing long-held narratives that were no longer suited to a world of rapid change.
I think Lisaâs talk was signaling the need for personal radical change. Seeking for a view of oneself that required a mindset shift to believing in a sense of self-empowerment - welcoming change as a vehicle for personal growth.
Gravitas, both the apparel company and the book, seek to âcatalyze confidence.â
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross:
Susan's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-magsamen-6345918/Ivyâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/rossivyWebsites:Website: www.yourbrainonart.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourbrainonartbook/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-brain-on-art/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089357061217&mibextid=LQQJ4d
BIO - Susan Magsamen:
Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, a pioneering initiative from the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her body of work lies at the intersection of brain sciences and the artsâand how our unique response to aesthetic experiences can amplify human potential.
Magsamen is the author of the Impact Thinking model, an evidence-based research approach to accelerate how we use the arts to solve problems in health, well-being, and learning. In addition to her role at IAM Lab, she is an assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins and serves as co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint project in partnership with the Aspen Institute.
Prior to founding IAM Lab, Magsamen worked in both the private and public sector, developing social impact programs and products addressing all stages of lifeâfrom early childhood to the senior years. Magsamen created Curiosityville, an online personalized learning world, acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014 and Curiosity Kits, a hands-on multi-sensory company, acquired by Torstar in 1995.
An award-winning author, Magsamen has published eight books including The Classic Treasury of Childhood Wonder, The 10 Best of Everything Families, and Family Stories.
Magsamen is a Fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts and a strategic advisor to several innovative organizations and initiatives, including the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, the American Psychological Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Brain Futures, Learning Landscapes, and Creating Healthy Communities: Arts + Public Health in America.
BIO - Ivy Ross:
Ivy Ross is the Vice President of Design for the Hardware organization at Google.
Over the past six years, she and her team have launched 50+ products winning over 240 global design awards. This collection of hardware established a new Google design aesthetic that is tactile, colorful, and bold.
A winner of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, Ivyâs innovative metal work in jewelry is in the permanent collections of 12 international museums.
Ivy has held executive positions ranging from head of product design and development to CMO and presidencies of several companies, including Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Bausch & Lomb, and Gap. Ninth on Fast Companyâs list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business 2019, Ivy believes the intersection of arts and science is where the most engaging and creative ideas are found.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to season five of the next level experience design podcast.
It's kind of amazing when I think of it⊠now five seasons⊠wow.
This season will be no different than the previous ones where we continue to have great discussions with visionary leaders from various industries and professions.
These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and humanâs influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.
As we jump into this new season thanks go to VMSD magazine. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL experience design podcast on VMSD.com.
VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.
Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience.
SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org
OK, let's dig in... With our first interview of the season with two remarkable women Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross whose recent book âYour Brain on Art has garnered huge attention since its recent release.
But first a few thoughts on art and making...
****************
When I was about 9 years old and my mom had me in an after school art program at a local painting studio near my childhood home.
Thursdays, as it would turn out, became the single time of the week where the outside world disappeared and I entered into a place of pure creativity and innovation which many years later I would discover was called âflow.â
Even to this day Thursdays seemed to hold a special body memory for me of calm and an internal sense of both peace and joy. Thursdays somehow carry a different energy from me that I think was implanted in my body all those years ago where my creative passion was fully expressed.
For years I would paint on Thursdays and that turned into a passion that became a profession as an architect.
I wasn't great at math or physics but I was pretty confident about my skills in art and I knew that there was something specific about the feeling that I had in going to this small art studio that was because of the things I was doing as well as the place that I was doing it in.
So studying architecture was always grounded in this idea for me of creating places that moved people emotionally.
It didn't matter to me too much whether you loved it or hated it, although I would have preferred you loved it. But my goal was always to connect to people on an emotional level to find the right combination of materials and finishes space volumes and textures and all those other things that we have in our architects toolbox and how we moved through and experience space from a mind â body emotional perspective.
I think early on I developed an aesthetic mindset.
I seemed to have a high level of curiosity, a love of play and open-ended exploration, a keen sensory awareness and a drive to engage in activities as a maker or beholder.
Through my architecture studies at McGill University I discovered principles of experience rooted in ritual and that there was a very different physical and emotional feeling connected to participating in ritual versus simply watching them.
I was always very interested in how people participated in space. How they participated in the making of their experiences because I always believed that in making we brought something unique to the world that humans were capable of doing better than any other creatures on the planet.
I developed a keen interest in ontological design - basically put - that the things we make return the favor by in part making us who we are. Our neurobiology reacts to the environment around us and so our mind body state is directly influenced by what we experience in the built environment. Our brains are in a feedback loop of making and being made by experience.
The Irish poet John O'Donoghue once said âart is the essence of awarenessâ and I find that particularly relevant to how we experience the places that we build and how we interact with them.
What I learned as a young artist on Thursday afternoons was that somehow in the making of things I became acutely aware of my mind body state as well as my surroundings.
As I started to create and design retail places it seemed that everywhere I walked the world around me became more relevant I was tuning in to everything that I could see and hear. When in the middle of trying to solve a design challenge, I seemed to tune into things that might not have otherwise been apparent to me.
What I found interesting was that this attunement to the environment around me also grew a connection between my sensory experiences and my appreciation of art. As I engaged more fully in the environment around me and the various kinds of arts I also learned more about myself.
During the recent pandemic I turned to painting to help navigate the uncertainty and ambiguity of a global crisis that had left everything that I had believed to be true and a path that I had created for myself professionally in flux. Art it seemed became the grounding mechanism that calmed my nervous system that brought joy amidst uncertainty.
Over the past few decades as a creative architect I've become acutely aware that the environment around us has a profound effect on our mind body state, our sense of well-being, our feelings of joy, community, connection, belonging, relevance.
Being exposed to the arts provided context and meaning, a way for me to understand where I stood in the grand scheme of things. And art also gave me a sense of agency of being able to have a sense of control and to bring things into the world that had never been there before.
And so, because of all of these understandings I have a deep appreciation for the book recently published by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross called âYour Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.â
This book is wildly successful because I believe it is a writing whose time has come. It brings forward the ideas that the arts are fundamental to who we are as people and that long before we had written language we danced around fires sang songs, made drawings on walls and shared the meaning of our lives with each other by being in community, in relationships, participating in rituals and making.
And so, it's not surprising that the arts in all of its forms visual, literary, dance, sculpture and others are part of who we are as individuals and as members of a broader human whole.
When I bought this book I thought that it would help me understand the neuroscience of what was happening in my brain as I stood in front of a painting. But it did more than that. It helped to unpack why I was led to feel certain ways about my experience of art in general including paintings, dance, musical theater, poetry, a good movie and a great book.
It was chock full of examples and great research on how the arts are used in healing practices and health care industry to augment patient recovery.
It looked at how the arts are being used in education, though not nearly enough, to enhance learning.
Your brain on Art also brought me greater understanding about making music and how memories are tied to our experiences of hearing music. That's why it's likely you can clearly remember tunes from your childhood and tag them to early childhood experiences. Or why your playlists from your high school years probably are still able to be recalled with ease. And why I can remember the high school dance and my girlfriend at the time and the song Lucky Man by Emerson Lake and Palmer and that kiss.
The book dives into understanding arts and the neurodivergent brain and play and how these are critical to our development.
And if all of that wasn't quite enough it digs into the idea of how the arts support flourishing and asks the question - What constitutes a good life? I did not know that there is a burgeoning subfield of neuroscience and psychology now dedicated to identifying and understanding the neural mechanisms that contribute to a state of flourishing.
And Your Brain on Art brings to light some of the neuroscience related to creativity, awe and wonder.
Your Brain on Art is a collaborative effort between two remarkable women who together combine neuroscience and creative vision into a must-read book.
Susan Magsamen has over 35 years of experience in developing effective learning programs rooted in the science of learning and is an active member of the brain sciences research, arts, education and social impact communities.
She currently serves as Executive Director of the International Arts and Mind Lab, Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at the Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University where she is also a faculty member. She is also the senior advisor to the Science of Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She works with both the public and private sectors using arts and culture evidence based approaches in areas including health, child development, workforce innovation, rehabilitation and social equity.
Ivy Ross is the Vice President of Design for the Hardware organization at Google. Over the past six years, she and her team have launched 50+ products winning over 240 global design awards. This collection of hardware established a new Google design aesthetic that is tactile, colorful, and bold.
She is a winner of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and her innovative metal work in jewelry is in the permanent collections of 12 international museums.
Ivy has held executive positions ranging from head of product design and development to CMO and presidencies of several companies, including Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Bausch & Lomb, and Gap. Ninth on Fast Companyâs list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business 2019, Ivy believes the intersection of arts and science is where the most engaging and creative ideas are found.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT MARTIN KINGDON:
Martinâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/martin-kingdon-121b693Websites:popai.co.uk/sustainability/ (Company)popai.co.uk (Company)Email: [email protected]BIO:
Martin has been involved with the display industry for twenty five years as a volunteer, board member and for twenty years Director geneneral
He has been responsible for Insight since 2010, Sustainability since 2019 and has defined POPAIâs offer including setting up the Sustainability council representing all sectors of the industry, the POPAI Sustainability Standard for corporate accreditation and the SustainÂź global eco-design indicator tool now widely used in the UK and overseas.
He has spoken extensively around the world on many aspects of the display market, sustainability and shopper insight.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. Over our 4 seasons we have focused on âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture, Technology and the Artsâ.
NXTLVL features provocateurs for whom disruption and transformation are a way of engaging in work and play every day.
They include leading scientists, artists, musicians, architects, entertainers and story tellers whose research, exploration and built work brings new understanding of the impact and relevance of place-making to the world.
On the show, we focus on whatâs now and whatâs next.
On this episode we talk with Martin Kingdon Insight and Sustainability Director of POPAI UK and Ireland about the impact that retail stores, and all of their merchandising units and displays, have of on the environment.
First though, a few thoughts on retail, building sustainably and the carbon footprint of storesâŠ
* * * * * * *
On your last shopping trip, to any retailer, what do you remember most?
Was it the crowd or the sales associates?
That you could, or couldnât, find what you were looking for?
If you were walking the aisle of your favorite grocer, you might recall the product displays, how fantastically the apples were built into a pyramid, the water being misted across the fresh produce crisp keeping it crisp. The meat counters or the smell of bread being baked.
You might have even thought, why on earth they keep putting the milk at the far back corner, but then youâd probably be savvy enough to know thatâs a ploy to exposed you to as much merchandise as they can as you go on your dairy search and rescue mission.
If you were shopping your favorite apparel store you might noticed that the mannequins were decked out in new outfits, that some new colorful tops were on the table just after you entered or that those big tables always seemed to be a constant state of disarray with sales associates busying over them putting things in neat stacks to be upended by customers a moment later.
You might notice signage, or the lack of it, when you are trying to find something.
You might remark about the lighting, paint colors, a pattern on the floor and perhaps some architectural element.
Chances are, that you probably donât recall, in any detail, the things the stuff was sitting on, hanging from or enclosed in. Those things often slip into the background, receding away from your conscious awareness.
And that would also be by design.
My first boss in the retail world at New Vision Studios in New York, the late Joe Weishar, would remind be that the merchandise was the star of the show and all the rest of what was in the store were merely supporting actors or scenery.
Merchandise was king, or queen, or maybe prince or princess.
And, all of that scenery, all of those supporting actors come at a cost.
The architecture, store fixtures hanging racks, shelving, displays, refrigerated cases, signage, coat hooks in fitting rooms along with the chairs or benches, floor tiles, wallcoverings, lighting, checkout counters and cash registersâŠall of itâŠcomes at a cost.
Not just the cost of designing, prototyping, manufacturing, shipping, installing, repairing or replacing in terms of dollars, but the cost of what all of it adds to our world in terms of carbon.
The amount of carbon generated and released into the environment from the making of that store you love to shop in, is staggering.
The built environment in general is a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore a major contributor to the global climate crisis.
By some reports, the built environment generates 40% of annual global CO2 emissions.
Of those total emissions, building operations are responsible for 27% annually, while building and infrastructure materials and construction (typically referred to as embodied carbon) are responsible for an additional 13% annually.
So, when you amble around in your favorite retailer, look again, beyond the stuff, at the environment, and all of those supporting actors, and try to imagine how much embodied carbon is in that one store.
Every element that allows you to shop for all the stuff you remove from the store, stays in the store and has contributed to the global climate crises.
According to Architecture2030.org, the global building stock is set to double by 2060.
And they say, âTo accommodate the largest wave of building growth in human history, from 2020 to 2060, we expect to add about 2.6 trillion ft2(240 billion m2) of new floor area to the global building stock,the equivalent of adding an entire New York City to the world, every month, for 40 years.â
Now⊠if you have ever been to New York, think about how many stores are in that city. Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs of Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn have a combined area of approximately 370 million square feet of retail stores. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1011185/total-retail-space-nyc-by-borough/)
According to the New York State Comptroller - âBefore the pandemic, the retail sector in New York City accounted for32,600 establishments, 344,600 private sector jobs and $16 billion in total wages in 2019. Dec 31, 2020â
Iâm not sure if you apply the âadding the equivalent of a New York City to the world every month for 40 yearsâŠâ in terms of buildings, that it follows thatyou are also adding 370 million square feet of retail space to the world every month. Iâd like someone to do that mathâŠbut âŠ
See the thing here?
Retail is a huge component of the global building footprint and major contributor to the climate issue. And your favorite retailer doesnât, in most case, have one store. They may have hundreds or maybe even thousands.
Where does all the stuff in stores come from?
Does it arrive in your local grocer or fashion store, sustainably sourced, manufactured and shipped?
How is all of it packaged?
What happens to all of those displays, shelving units, hanging racks and refrigerated cases when the retailer goes out of business or renovates every handful of years?
And what about all of the product that fills the shelves of retail stores? What is their impact on the environment in the total amount of CO2 that the store is responsible for producing every year?
Now⊠to be fair, according to Barronâs, of the top 100 most sustainable companies in the US right now, there are some retailers who have found themselves on the list.
Namely, # 7 Best Buy (Richfield, Minn.), # 21 Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.), # 27 Kroger (Cincinnati), # 30 Loweâs (Mooresville, N.C.), # 49 Williams-Sonoma (San Francisco), # 67 Target (Minneapolis).
And⊠we canât forget about companies like Patagonia whose commitment to saving the planet has been going on for years before it became either cool or politically correct to do so.
They just do it because, well⊠itâs the right thing to do and designing something, manufacturing it and putting it out there into the world in the thousands should be done with some accountability for its long-range impact on the global ecology.
And this is where my guest Martin Kingdon comes into retailâs sustainability story.
Martin has been involved with the display industry for twenty-five years as a volunteer and board member.
He is an expert in Shopper Behaviour research, particularly shopper engagement with retail store displays or layouts.
Martins has been the Director General of POPAI leading the UK division of the global trade association for companies involved in the Point of Purchase advertising market. POPAIâs members are drawn from retailers, brands, agencies, POP suppliers, installation companies and other support services.
Today he is the Insights and Sustainability Director for POPAI UK and Ireland. He has been responsible for Insight since 2010, Sustainability since 2019 and has defined POPAIâs offer including setting up the Sustainability council representing all sectors of the industry, the POPAI Sustainability Standard for corporate accreditation and something called SustainÂź a global eco-design indicator tool now widely used in the UK and overseas.
I was able to speak with Martin Kingdon at the SHOP Marketplace event in Austin Texas about the impact of building store environments and somethings to consider curtailing retailâs effect on the global climate crisis.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT MIRELLE PHILLIPS:
Mirelleâs LinkedIn Profile:linkedin.com/in/mirelle-phillips-52077b29
Company Website: https://www.studioelsewhere.co
BIO:
Mirelle Phillips is the Founder and CEO of Studio Elsewhere, a design and technology company developing bio-experiential technology to promote behavioural, cognitive, and social health.
Studio Elsewhere uses evidence-based and data-driven practices to develop virtual and physical interventions that promote brain health. We are pioneers of bio-experiential design - interactive, immersive environmental design using technology and physical design toward a healthier brain-body connection. Our embedded emerging technology solutions support the needs of healthcare professionals, researchers, patients and caregivers.
âWe use software and hardware development, emerging technology, immersive game design, and biophilic design to reimagine the experience of health, wellness, and care. âOur model allows us to develop a first-of-its-kind technology and design practice that leads with compassion, imagination, and inclusivity.
Studio Elsewhere was selected to represent the first ever New York City pavilion at the 2021 London Design Biennale and selected to design the United Nations Pavilion for the World Expo 2021. As a Latina Founder and innovator, Phillips is a passionate advocate for women in colour in STEM. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and previously led Experiential Design in the video game industry.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. Over our 4 seasons we have focused on âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture, Technology and the Artsâ.
NXTLVL features provocateurs for whom disruption and transformation are a way of engaging in work and play every day.
They include leading scientists, artists, musicians, architects, entertainers and story tellers whose research, exploration and built work brings new understanding of the impact and relevance of place-making to the world.
On the show, we focus on whatâs now and whatâs next.
* * * * * * *
In this episode we talk about the power of design and its influence on well-being with the Founder and CEO of Studio Elsewhere, Mirelle Phillips. Mirelle and her team collaborate with various medical institutions to create environments that support patients, their families and healthcare workers in the journey to recovery and well-being.
Most of us have had the experience of going to a doctor's office or dentist or hospital or some sort of medical facility and having to wait.
Some of us may even have spent a night in a temporary bed hooked up to a machine reading out our vital statistics and a team of nurses, doctors and specialists busying around us trying to understand what was wrong and how to make it right.
Some of us might have even spent time lying on that bed in a hallway before a room was available, staring up at a ceiling at a large rectangular fluorescent light, an acoustic tile ceiling and a rather drab overall interior.
Some of us might have even been a patient with a long term stay in a medical facility or had to return regularly for treatments for our particular condition.
Or some of us may have been caregivers or family members who accompanied our loved ones to the medical facility or care for them daily at home.
And then there are the health care workers themselves who over the past few years have caried an extraordinary burden as frontline workers during the COVID pandemic that, during the early phases, put crushing pressure on the medical system worldwide.
Whether we are a patient, a caregiver or healthcare worker, environments designed for supporting the care and recovery journey affect the experience along the path. The design of healthcare environments influence things like recovery time, they can mitigate stress, anxiety and fear and provide a sense of agency for those who feel like their bodies, and lives, are no longer in their control.
Our minds and bodies can be deeply affected by buildings.
Well maybe I need to refine that, not putting all the pressure on the built places.
The environments we inhabit, natural or human made, affect us.
A whole field of cognitive science has emerged that recognizes the influence hat the environment has on our mind-body state call neuroaesthetics.
Neuroesthetics is a term coined by Semir Zeki in 1999[3].
A more formal definition was arrived at in the early 2000âs as the scientific study of the neural bases for the contemplation and creation of a work of art.[4]
It doesnât just apply to what is happening in the brain while looking at a piece of art. Among other things, it finds applications to music, dance, poetry, music, places and buildings.
What neuroesthetics does is it uses neuroscience to explain and understand the aesthetic experiences at the neurological level and helps us understand the relationship to how we feel and what we experience through the arts and architecture. Books like âWelcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Livesâ by Sarah Williams Goldhagen and âYour Brain on Artâ by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross are great examples of recent publications that help unpack how the environments we live in, and the art, music, dances, literature influences us.
On the show I have talked about ontological design â the idea that what we design designs us back. Neural connections in our brains are formed, reinforced or dismantled through a process of neuroplasticity by the experiences we have. Our environments shape us on a neurological level. Research is quite definitive about the idea that the environment has the capacity to help us recover from illness faster or make us perhaps diminish well-being.
And so the question arisesâŠif we know that the environment has this profound effect on our minds and bodies, why is so much of what is built around us so banal?
This question goes beyond thinking about sustainability in design and building practice â though this is a critical consideration of addressing issues of global warming. Sustainable design practice should be a baseline for anything we build or manufacture.
What if places we built engaged the mind-body with a profound understanding of the impact of art, music, nature, and design, the study of neuroaesthetics?
If we did, we would have many more of the projects that Mirelle Phillips and Studio Elsewhere have created over the past few years.
Studio Elsewhere uses evidence-based and data-driven practices to develop virtual and physical interventions that promote brain health. They are pioneers of bio-experiential design - interactive, immersive environmental design using technology and physical design toward a healthier brain-body connection.
Their embedded emerging technology solutions support the needs of healthcare professionals, researchers, patients and caregivers using software and hardware development, emerging technology, immersive game design, and biophilic design to reimagine the experience of health, wellness, and care.
âThey have developed a model that allows for the development of a first-of-its-kind technology and design practice that leads with compassion, imagination, and inclusivity.
Mirelle Phillips is the Founder and CEO of Studio Elsewhere. She leads a team of designers and digital technology mavens developing bio-experiential technology to promote behavioural, cognitive, and social health.
While many of the application of Studio Elswhereâs work supports the well-being of patients, caregivers and healthcare workers, I can imagine a day when these big ideas find enormously impactful applications in the built environment across education, corporate interiors, retail, hospitality and almost every other place where brains and buildings connect.
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
-
ABOUT JOE LANZISERO:
Joeâs Profile: linkedin.com/in/joelanziseroEmail: [email protected]: joe_lanzisero Website: lanziserocreative.comInstagram: @joelanziseroBIO:JOE LANZISERO Former Creative Executive, Senior Vice President, Hong Kong Disneyland & Disney Cruise Line Portfolios Walt Disney Imagineering, Current Creative and UX Consultant, and Executive Vice President & Creative Director Zeitgeist Design and Production
Joe Lanzisero served as the senior creative executive in charge of projects for Walt Disney Imagineering across multiple platforms in the companyâs cruise, theme park, hotel & resort, restaurant and retail business lines.
With more than three decades of Disney experience, Joe worked with teams of artists, writers, architects and engineers, he serves as the eyes and artistic conscience of a project from conception through completion.
Joe was responsible for the creative development of the two newest ships for the Disney Cruise Line, and oversaw the teams that designed these new state-of-the-art ships (Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy) which launched in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Many features such as the innovative dinner show âAnimation Magicâ and the inclusion of an onboard water coaster (the AquaDuck) are cruise industry firsts.
At Hong Kong Disneyland, Joe oversaw the expansion of the park by more than 20 percent over a three-year period. The additions of three new lands â Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch and most recently, Mystic Point, adds more excitement and fun for guests of all ages.
Lanzisero began his Disney career in 1979 in Feature Animation (now Walt Disney Animation Studios), working on the animation, special effects, storyboarding and story development of numerous features, shorts and special project.
He came to Imagineering in 1987 as a concept designer and was on the design teams for Disneyâs Typhoon Lagoon Water Park at Walt Disney World, Critter Country at Disneyland, and Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris.
In 1991, Lanzisero was promoted to senior concept designer and immediately plunged into the development of Mickeyâs Toontown, the wacky cartoon âcommunityâ that opened at Disneyland Park in 1993. He also developed the concept for Roger Rabbitâs Car Toon Spin, a wild and funny dark ride that opened in Mickeyâs Toontown the following year. Lanzisero also supervised the concept design for the Tokyo Disneyland version of Toontown that opened in 1996.
Before joining the Tokyo Disneyland project team in 1999, he developed the concept for Fantasia Gardens and Winter Summerland, a pair of unique miniature golf courses at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Another new venture, Disney Cruise Line, benefited from his work on childrenâs spaces and activities. And he was behind the 12/10/2013 conceptual design and development of DisneyFest, a unique Disney entertainment venue that traveled throughout the Far East and South America.
In 2001 Joe was promoted to creative vice president for Tokyo Disney Resort, charged with overseeing all design in Tokyo. For Tokyo Disney Resort, he worked on such attractions as Pooh's Hunny Hunt, Toontown, Critter Country and Splash Mountain. He did the concept development for Mermaid Lagoon and Arabian Coast in Tokyo DisneySea as well as many other projects. He directed the creative development of Tower of Terror attraction and Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek.
In March 2007, Joe was promoted to creative senior vice president with the added responsibilities of overseeing all design for Hong Kong Disneyland, including leading the design of a major three-land expansion of the park.
A member of the first graduating class of the Walt Disney Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts in 1979, Lanzisero developed his artistic talents with old-time Disney professionals. He applied his education as a teacher at the Otis Art Institute and in the animation industry before joining The Walt Disney Company.
Currently Joe is a consultant to the Themed Entertainment, Cruise, Museum and Hospitality industries with a portfolio of ongoing international and domestic projects in various stages of design and production.
Joe is also actively involved in the UX world and is a sought after speaker in this sector. He has been the Keynote Speaker at the World Usability Congress in Graz Austria and has spoken and consulted on UX to major companies like Macys and Silicon Valley startups.
He is also currently Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Zeitgeist Design and Production. Zeitgeist currently has a roster of international and domestic projects. Domestically they are working on high profile museum projects. Internationally they are the creative development team exclusive to Chimelong Resorts in Guangzhou China.
Joe is full-time consultant working for visionary clients all over the world. He welcomes the chance to learn more about your big idea and explore ways he might serve you.
SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. Over our 4 seasons we have focused on âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture, Technology and the Artsâ.
NXTLVL features provocateurs for whom disruption and transformation are a way of engaging in work and play every day.Theyinclude thought leaders who are driven by curiosity, a passion to create the âNew Possibleâ and a mindset of promoting new paradigms of experiences.
They include leading scientists, artists, musicians, architects, entertainers and story tellers whose research, exploration and built work brings new understanding of the impact and relevance of place-making to the world.
On the show, we focus on whatâs now and whatâs next.
* * * * * * *
In this episode we talk about storytelling with a master, Joe Lanzisero former SVP at Walt Disney Imagineering.
Weâll get to our conversation in a minute but first a few thoughts on why I love this topic:
* * * * * * *
Stories are powerful.
They are among the engines of culture and we have relied on sharing them for millennia as part of our human socio-cultural and spiritual development. We stamped out narratives around tribal fires, shared them on trade routes and built public squares combining commerce and culture through the need to share life experiences with storytelling.
Stories are also crucial to our empathic development, as well as providing context to our lives.
And stories can also act as path to follow for designers that provides a reference point for design decisions guiding massing or volumes, layouts, use of materials, geometries and other aesthetic choices. Story can be used as a tool to determine the sequence of a brandâs signature moments and experiences along a customer journey.
The best stories are easy to remember because they paint pictures in our minds that tap into our deep feelings. Because they often create emotional responses and evoke strong visualizations, they play into our long history of communicating through pictures. In many ways, stories are the framework by which we remember things.
While the core components of good storytelling may be the same as they have been for years. In fact Joseph Campbell asserted in his book âA hero With A Thousand Faces,â that there was really only one story, a structure that was reinterpreted across time and cultures.
The super interesting feature of our brains and stories is that while reading, listening to or watching stories unfold on screen, we develop elaborate mental representations of the situations described in the text, lyrics or scenes.
Researchers have gathered evidence through fMRI scans of individuals reading narratives that âthe neural responses to particular types of changes in the stories occurred in the vicinity of regions that increase in activity when viewing similar changes, or when carrying out similar activities in the real world.â (see: Reading Stories Activates Neural Representations of Visual and Motor Experiences, Nicole K. Speer, Jeremy R. Reynolds, Khena M. Swallow and M. Zacks, Psychological Science, Volume 20 â No.8, 2009).
In other words, as subjects read about characters in a story, their brains react in a manner that is similar to them personally experiencing those charactersâ situations.
Studies by Brian PulvermĂŒller (see: PulvermĂŒller F. Brain Mechanisms Linking Language and Action. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2005;6:576â582) have demonstrated that brain regions involved in reading action words (verbs) are some of the same regions involved in performing analogous actions in the real world. So, if you read the word âthrowâ or âcatchâ, brain regions light up in fMRI scans that are activated when moving oneâs arm or hands.
When engaging with story, our brains react to words as if weâre experiencing the story in the real world.
Cognitive scientist Roger C. Schank explains that - âHumans are not ideally set up to understand logic; theyâre ideally set up to understand stories.â
Iâve been fascinated with story for years. Stories were a crucial part of bedtime rituals with my sons when they were young.
We were deeply connected to the value of story and their ability to communicate ideas, morals and values.
When my older son was very young, he loved stories and asked my wife to read two stories at the same time so that he could introduce the characters from one narrative to those in another book. âno mommy,â he explained âturn dis book towards de other so the characters can see each other tooâŠâ
So this is where my guest comes into the narrativeâŠ
JOE LANZISERO is the Former Creative Executive, Senior Vice President, Hong Kong Disneyland & Disney Cruise Line Portfolios Walt Disney Imagineering. He is currently the Creative and UX Consultant, and Executive Vice President & Creative Director Zeitgeist Design and Production.
Joe Lanzisero served as the senior creative executive in charge of projects for Walt Disney Imagineering across multiple platforms in the companyâs cruise, theme park, hotel & resort, restaurant and retail business lines.
With more than three decades of Disney experience, Joe worked with teams of artists, writers, architects and engineers, he serves as the eyes and artistic conscience of a project from conception through completion.
Lanzisero began his Disney career in 1979 in Feature Animation (now Walt Disney Animation Studios), working on the animation, special effects, storyboarding and story development of numerous features, shorts and special project.
After a number of years and promotions with in the Walt Disney organization Joe was promoted to creative vice president for Tokyo Disney Resort, charged with overseeing all design in Tokyo in 2001 and then again in March 2007 to creative senior vice president with the added responsibilities of overseeing all design for Hong Kong Disneyland, including leading the design of a major three-land expansion of the park.
Joe is currently Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Zeitgeist Design and Production and a consultant to the Themed Entertainment, Cruise, Museum and Hospitality industries with a portfolio of ongoing international and domestic projects in various stages of design and production.
As a note to the listener, I caught up with Joe Lanzisero, at the SHOP Marketplace event in Austin Texas. So, you going to hear the din of the tradeshow floor but the conversation is nonetheless engagingâŠ
ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b
Websites:
https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)
vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: DavidKepron
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/
NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/
Bio:
David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand âwhyâ, âwhatâs nowâ and âwhatâs nextâ. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe.
David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriottâs âPremium Distinctiveâ segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels.
In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies.
As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.
David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazineâs Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundationâs Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.
He has held teaching positions at New Yorkâs Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.
In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: âRetail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven Worldâ and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called âBrain Foodâ which is published monthly on vmsd.com.
************************************************************************************************************************************
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound.
The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.
Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL âDialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Artsâ wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
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