One of the interesting things that I learned when you're on this precipice of making a change, I don't know if it's human nature or if it's just my personality style.
The only way I was able to envision the future was with less than what I'd had.
Less power, less identity, less money, less whatever.
I never, ever really fantasized about what I might receive in doing this.
So how do you design a life of wonder and love, of contribution and meaning, joy and expression?
Because at the end of the day, that's all we really want to know.
We've used our time on this big blue marble in a way that was worthy, that was wise, that was alive.
Which is why I was so excited to sit down with an old friend, Debbie Millman, who just happens to be a legendary thinker and doer in the world of design and branding, innovation and life.
Named one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company, she's an author, educator, curator and host of the iconic Design Matters podcast, where she's interviewed hundreds of the most creative people in the planet over the last 17 years.
Debbie is also the author of seven books and her new book, why design matters?
Conversations with the world's most creative people.
It's this stunning compilation of her own take on everything from design to branding, business, entrepreneurship and life, mixed with moments and insights from guests that have in no small part collectively designed the world that we live in.
Debbie also co founded the world's first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
She was the president of one of the world's leading brand consultancies, Sterling brands, where she worked on the brand identity of everyone from like Burger King, Hershey's, Haagen Dazzle, Tropicana, Star Wars, Gillette, to the no More movement.
And her writing and illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York magazine, print, Fast Company.
Her artwork is found in private collections, universities and museums around the world.
Debbie just has this deeply insightful, real, honest and experienced lens on how we live our lives, how we show up in work and life, how we give to what we get from, and how we tell the stories that bring it all alive.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life project.
So you and I have been rolling together for years now as we have this conversation at the beginning of 2022.