Awaiting Approval

Episod

• 
  Emily Court - Authenticity 13.08.2026 1j 5min

  Emily Court is a freelance web and visual identity designer who works with solopreneurs, freelancers and microagency owners, and has built her entire practice around the idea that the client relationship should feel like a collaboration between equals, not a job interview she's perpetually trying to pass. She came to design via an unlikely route, through gift baskets, studio photography, teaching English in Korea, years of professional writing, and somewhere in the middle of all of it, a growing conviction that working for herself was the only version of work that was ever really going to fit.This conversation moves fast and covers a lot of ground. We talk about what it actually takes to go solo, not the inspirational version but the real one, about the repetitive uncomfortable things that separate people who make it work from people who don't, and about why saying yes to the wrong client out of desperation is almost always the most expensive decision you make. We talk about chronic illness, neurodivergence, the forty-hour work week as a form of polite torture, and why the most important thing Emily has ever built is not a website or a brand, but her own reputation, from nothing. And near the end, she says something about getting back up, over and over, that I think will stay with a lot of people.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Michael Glass - Legacy 06.08.2026 1j 29min

  Michael Glass has spent 25 years refusing to settle. He taught himself design in the late 90s by opening Photoshop every single day and learning something new before he was allowed to close it. He went from managing bars in Australia to becoming the guy you called when you wanted something on the FWA. He spent a decade as the most senior design voice at Fantasy Interactive, one of the world's top 3 experience design agencies. He builds his own computers, runs a local AI trained exclusively on himself, and is currently renovating his bathroom ... which he started doing in the 45 minutes before this recording began.This is a conversation about what it actually means to push work as far as it can possibly go, and why good enough is the phrase Michael finds most offensive in the English language. We talk about how he learned to argue with a designer for two weeks straight just to show them what they were capable of, about the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and what it taught him about talent versus skill, and about what it really means to relinquish control, both to your team and to the tools that are starting to do more of the heavy lifting. There is also a lot of ADHD, a missing coffee, and a demolished bathroom wall.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Awaiting Approval LIVE 2 - In The Room 04.08.2026 47min

  This one is different. No single guest, no slow burn, no deep dive. This is Awaiting Approval LIVE 2, broadcast simultaneously across three cities on one night, with people thirsty for creative insight in each room and a Clipboard of Truth to test the mettle of each guest.What made it into this edit is worth knowing about. Kris on the most ridiculous feedback he has ever received, and what it actually takes for a purpose-driven agency to earn that label rather than just claim it. Gray on what he genuinely looks for in a creative hire that most people overlook, and what it means to lead a team working on a brand that will never be theirs. Sunny on the hardest truth about creative work that nobody wants to hear, on what it looks like when a brand is lying to itself, and on why the best solution is not always the beautiful one. And across all three rooms, a conversation about AI that nobody planned but that everyone in the building needed to have.Adam, in London, hosted Kris Samyui-Adams. San Francisco, with Amy Khan in the chair, hosted Gray Joyce. New York, with Maryam Cristillo, hosted Sunny Stafford. Three rooms, three conversations, one show. What you’re about to hear is a 45-minute edit of what was a two-hour event, which means you’re getting the highlights, the sharpest moments, and the questions that landed hardest. The full experience, the energy in the room, the signing of the Clipboard, the pin badge, the gold Sharpie, the moment Gray’s camera fell over mid-answer, none of that makes it into a podcast. For that, you had to be there.There will be another LIVE event later this year. Keep an eye on socials for the announcement. In the meantime, this is what it sounded like.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Lara Juriansz - Boldness 30.07.2026 1j 29min

  Lara Juriansz was born in Sri Lanka, grew up in Singapore, studied in Sydney, built her career in London, and is now Creative Director at TBWA Media Arts Lab in LA, working exclusively on ... well, let’s just say a very well known brand. She has said yes to almost every significant change that has come her way, not because she was certain, and not because she wasn’t scared, but because she has learned, repeatedly, that the floating feeling eventually settles, and that the benefits and lessons learnt that come after are almost always worth the leap.This conversation unfolds across two sessions, the first cut short by a power outage, the second picking up exactly where it left off, which feels fitting for an episode about boldness. We talk about what it means to be the permanent outsider and why that might actually be the best vantage point in any room. We talk about emotional attachment to work, about knowing when a painting is finished, and about the particular pressure of being a mother who is also a creative who also cares deeply about craft. And near the end, Lara says something quietly devastating about what 80-year-old you might most want you to remember right now, and it has nothing to do with work.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call. I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Recruiter Roundtable - Part 2 15.07.2026 1j 16min

  Over a thousand questions came in from the audience. Six recruiters came back. And within the first few minutes, Tom Scott, said what a lot of people in the industry are quietly thinking: we talk about it every single day, and it would be really nice not to for an hour. And so the panel voted to ban AI from the conversation.What followed was one of the most honest conversations this show has produced, about what the hiring market actually feels like right now, about money and how to talk about it, about nonlinear paths and how to make them work for you rather than against you, and about what it costs, personally and professionally, to do this job well. The panel is blunt, warm, occasionally funny, and very much on your side. Even when they're telling you something you might not want to hear.Full panel: Laura Baker, Meg Rye, Erica Fortgang, Same Gale, Tom Scott and Toby ThwaitesIf you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Maria Nicholas - Service 09.07.2026 1j 34min

  Maria Nicholas grew up between continents, between cultures, and between disciplines, and has spent her career making that range work for her rather than against her. She came into UX from advertising and brand design, learned to code in a three-month bootcamp where she didn’t see the sun, and built her leadership philosophy around a simple idea: a good designer facilitates great decisions out of other people, they don’t arrive with all the answers. She is also, quietly and on her own time, the guardian of her father’s musical legacy, a project that took ten years and ended in a 508-page bilingual book she researched, designed, translated, and published entirely herself.This is a conversation about what it means to be in genuine service to others, to your users, your team, your collaborators, and the people whose stories you carry forward when they are no longer here to tell them. We talk about the difference between starting from yes and starting from no, and why yes, though is the more honest and more useful place to live. We talk about what AI can and cannot touch, about the heart skills that remain stubbornly, beautifully human, and about what it means to draw your own lines rather than waiting for someone else to draw them for you. Maria’s mother said it best, and it is worth hearing directly.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Martina Hodges-Schell - Range 02.07.2026 57min

  Martina Hodges-Schell has spent thirty years moving through design, from advertising in Germany at the dawn of the web, through Amazon and Yahoo in their early mobile years, to pioneering UX consultancies and a six-year run helping organisations build genuinely collaborative product teams. She is also an equine coach, working with horses as unfiltered mirrors for how leaders actually show up, beneath whatever they intend to project. It is an unusual range, and it turns out to be exactly the point.This conversation moves between the very grounded and the genuinely surprising. We talk about what a horse can teach a leader that a coaching conversation over coffee cannot, about the boulder you cannot see around until years later when the fog finally clears, and about what it actually means to be a recovering perfectionist when your entire career has rewarded exactly that instinct. Martina has a particular gift for naming the gap between what organisations say they want from uncertainty and what they actually do to squeeze it out of every process. By the end, you understand why she thinks of uncertainty not as a problem to solve but as the material she works with.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  An Invitation ... 01.07.2026 5min

  Hey, it’s Adam. This is a short bonus episode because I want to talk to you about something I’m really excited about, and I think you might be too.On July 23rd, Awaiting Approval LIVE is happening again. Live, in person, in three cities at the same time: London, San Francisco and New York City.I’ll be hosting the London room. Amy Khan is hosting San Francisco. Maryam Cristillo is hosting New York. And each room has a special guest who’s going to face the Clipboard of Truth - rapid-fire questions, no prep, nowhere to hide - followed by questions from the audience.In London, our guest is David Sheldon-Hicks, CEO and Co-Founder of Territory Group. If you’ve seen Blade Runner 2049, Dune, Prometheus, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Batman, Star Wars or Avengers … David and his team designed the screen worlds inside those films.In San Francisco, it’s Gray Joyce. 25+ years across Google, Visa, YouTube, Samsung, Netflix, HP and Gap. Now CCO and Managing Partner at Thedas.And in New York, it’s Sunny Stafford. Creative and brand executive with 20+ years across Victoria’s Secret, BareMinerals, WholeFoods and 1-800-Flowers. Now a fractional CMO who believes the divide between creative and commercial teams is the most expensive myth in modern marketing.So, why am I doing this?Because this podcast has always been about what happens when creative leaders are honest with each other. And that works brilliantly in a recorded conversation between two people. But there’s something different about a room. About being physically present. About hearing someone answer a question they weren’t expecting, in real time, with 30 other people watching.I am planning to record the whole thing, and yes, it’ll probably become an episode. So you might be thinking, why not just wait and listen later?And here’s my honest answer: because it won’t be the same.The recording will capture what was said. But it won’t capture what it felt like to be in that room. The moment someone laughs before the guest has finished their answer because everyone knows what’s coming. The energy of watching someone genuinely think before they respond. The conversations you’ll have with the person next to you during the break. Those things don’t make it into the edit.And that’s really what this is about. It’s not just watching … it’s being part of it.If you come, you’ll meet the guest and the host in your city. You’ll be in a room with other creative leaders who care about the same things you do. You’ll have the chance to ask your own question. And every single person in the room gets an exclusive “I Was In The Room” pin badge that you cannot get anywhere else - not online, not afterwards, not ever.Depending on which city you’re in, there are other goodies too - in New York, for example, there’s chocolate and wine. Each city has its own thing.There are only 30 seats per city. Tickets are twelve pounds, roughly fifteen dollars. And if cost is a barrier, bursaries are available - just message me directly.We start in London at 7pm, hand over to San Francisco at 11am, then to New York at 2pm, before coming back to London to close the night. If you’re in one room, you’ll see and hear the other two cities live.And if you’re not in London, San Francisco or New York, there will be a live stream so you can still be part of the evening. But if you are in one of those cities - be in the room.BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/awaiting-approval-live-4847406 Just click on the city of your choice. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  James Ferguson - Adaptability 24.06.2026 47min

  James Ferguson has spent his career moving towards things that excite him rather than away from things that don’t. From a Scottish design agency at sixteen, to building Skyscanner’s design system, to shipping interaction work at Atlassian from the other side of the world, to leading product and creative design at OVO Energy, he has consistently backed his instincts and figured out the rest on arrival. This year he discovered improv theatre, threw himself in without overthinking it, and is absolutely loving it.What comes through most in this conversation is how much James believes in play as a serious thing. Not play instead of rigour, but play as the condition that makes rigour possible. We talk about what it means to celebrate failure out loud, about why not bringing your whole self to work earlier in your career is a kind of loss worth naming, and about what happens when you stop worrying quite so much about what everyone else thinks. There is also a peanut, or possibly a potato, that sits on his desk and occasionally gets held up to the camera in large meetings just to see who is actually paying attention.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Maryam Cristillo - Love 18.06.2026 1j 6min

  Maryam Cristillo grew up between cultures and continents, studied anthropology and art in the same breath, and has spent her career building creative teams at places like Victoria’s Secret, Naadam, and now Lindt, where she gets to do creative work on chocolate, which she will tell you is exactly as good as it sounds. She also runs a seventeen acre homestead in Maine with her husband, a hundred chickens, and two kids who roam the property wearing bells so she can hear where they’ve got to. There is a lot of love in how she talks about all of it.This conversation moves through some unexpected and tender places. We talk about a stutter she overcame with the help of a stranger her father introduced her to, about her mother scrubbing restaurant toilets to give her children a different life, and about a poster covered in ampersands that has quietly shaped how Maryam thinks about ambition ever since. We talk about leading creative teams with real care, about learning the difference between empathy that helps and empathy that overwhelms, and about why investing in yourself sometimes means stepping outside the four walls of wherever you happen to work. Underneath all of it is the same through line: people, properly seen and properly cared for, are the whole point.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Tamora Petitt - Clarity 11.06.2026 59min

  Tamora Petitt has spent 25 years helping people find their way through complex experiences, from redesigning one of the internet’s most visited health tools to building UX teams from scratch, teaching over 200 career changers the craft, and quietly applying design thinking to everything around her, not just the screen in front of her. She started out as a dancer. That turns out to explain a lot.What comes through most in this conversation is how much clarity Tamora has about what the work is actually for. We talk about why the people commissioning the work need to be in the room long before the final presentation, about the difference between asking for approval and asking for alignment, and about what happens when you start treating the relationships around your work with the same care you bring to your users. There is also a redesigned symptom checker that is still live today, a six-year-old vocabulary change that reframes every stakeholder meeting it touches, and a lesson learned on the floor of a Target store that has never left her.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Charles Cadbury - Conviction 04.06.2026 54min

  Charles Cadbury has spent 25 years building things at the edge of what’s possible. He created one of the first voice-enabled hotel concierge systems, invented voice-activated audio advertising, won the global Alexa Cup, and has spent the last decade quietly convinced that the way we talk to technology is about to change everything. He also watches the sunset every Thursday, without fail, with someone worth talking to. That alone tells you so much about him.This is a conversation about conviction, the kind that keeps you building in a direction long before the world catches up. We talk about what it actually takes to bet a business on a technology that isn’t ready yet, about the difference between brands that will own the voice era and those that will be left scrambling, and about why the most important thing you can do, in work and in life, is stay genuinely curious about the person in front of you. Charles has a way of making the future feel less frightening and more like something worth leaning into. Don’t be scared, he says near the end. Be excited.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
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  Odeya Noble-Bougay - Continuity 28.05.2026 1j 5min

  Odeya Noble-Bougay returns. If you heard her in Season 2, you already know why. If you didn’t, go back and find it, then come here. Odeya thinks in ranges rather than binaries, leads with a generosity that feels entirely natural rather than performed, and has a way of reframing a question that makes you wonder why you were asking it the other way round in the first place. She was the obvious choice to bridge Season 2 into Season 3. Continuity, in every sense.This conversation picks up where the last one left off, which is to say it goes somewhere new entirely. We talk about kindness as an act of noticing, about what it means to hold space for the people around you without losing the thread of what you’re trying to build. We talk about why things are never as clean as the framework suggests, and why that is not a failure of process but simply the nature of real work. And we talk about the moment a CEO said something to Odeya so simple it has stayed with her ever since. If there is doubt, there is no doubt.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support the Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Nacho Zuccarino - Vulnerability 21.05.2026 1j 16min

  Nacho Zuccarino - VulnerabilityNacho Zuccarino has lived several careers in one lifetime. He started out teaching metaphysics in Buenos Aires, moved into advertising, spent a decade in Silicon Valley working at orgs like Google and Netflix, helped launch Starlink with SpaceX, and has spent the last two years building at the intersection of creativity and AI. He is restless, warm, and deeply, disarmingly honest. And he will tell you, without hesitation, that he is still a broken kid.This conversation goes to places neither of us expected. We talk about what it means to drag yourself into rooms full of people who know things you don't, and why that discomfort is the fastest way to learn anything. We talk about therapy, about fathers and mothers, about the generation of men who were taught to take the hits and say nothing. We talk about what happens to your identity when the two things you built it around, being a parent and being a professional, are suddenly out of reach at the same time. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, Nacho says something that has stayed with me: becoming an adult is mostly killing your creativity. That is what this conversation is really about.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support the Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Debbie Millman - Becoming 14.05.2026 48min

  Debbie Millman has spent over 20 years interviewing the world’s most creative people, built one of the most celebrated design podcasts in existence, written a number of highly acclaimed books, co-founded the Masters Program in Branding at the SVA, and helped shape how an entire industry thinks about craft, identity, and what it means to do meaningful work. She is warm, considered, and disarmingly honest. And she is, by her own admission, still very much in the process of becoming.What struck me most in our conversation is how someone who has achieved so much remains so genuinely curious about the gap between where she is and where she wants to be. We talk about the strange emptiness that tends to follow creative achievement (as covered in her latest TED talk), about the mechanisms we build in childhood to protect ourselves and then spend decades trying to dismantle, and about what it really means to show up for your work and the people around it with honesty and without pretence. It is a conversation about courage, mostly the kind that arrives late and the kind that is still on its way.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes. Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call. I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support the Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
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  David Martin - Curiosity 07.05.2026 47min

  David Martin founded Fantasy Interactive before most people knew what interaction design was. He helped shape the visual language of operating systems used by billions, built one of the most influential creative agencies of its era, and worked with some of the biggest names in tech and culture. He’s also a pilot, a go-kart mechanic, a consciousness obsessive, and a dad who quit the nine-to-five to be trackside with his eleven-year-old son. He is, in the best possible way, a lot.This conversation goes everywhere. We talk about ADHD as a superpower and a saboteur, why David believes education is fundamentally broken, the Thursday morning coffee meetings where a pastor, an ex-NFL player, and a tech founder argue about the nature of existence, and what it means to raise kids in a world where the rules are being rewritten in real time. We also talk about opportunities, the kind that change the direction of a life, and what it really takes to spot someone worth betting on. David doesn’t do inspiration for inspiration’s sake. But there’s a lot in here that’ll stay with you.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes. Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call. I’d genuinely love to hear from you.Want to support the Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Season 3 Trailer & Cast Reveal 30.04.2026 4min

  Season 3 of Awaiting Approval is here.22 episodes. 22 conversations. 22 themes. One season.Starting May 7th.Watch the trailer now.E1 — David Martin — Curiosity — 7th May E2 — Debbie Millman — Becoming — 14th May E3 — Nacho Zuccarino — Vulnerability — 21st May E4 — Odeya Noble-Bougay — Continuity — 28th May E5 — Charles Cadbury — Conviction — 4th June E6 — Tamora Petitt — Clarity — 11th June E7 — Maryam Cristillo — Love — 18th June E8 — James Ferguson — Adaptability — 25th June E9 — Martina Hodges-Schell — Range — 2nd July E10 — Maria Nicholas — Service — 9th JulyE11 — Recruiter Roundtable Part 2 — 16th July E12 — Awaiting Approval LIVE — 23rd JulyE13 — Lara Juriansz — Boldness — 30th July E14 — Michael Glass — Legacy — 6th August E15 — Emily Court — Authenticity — 13th August E16 — Mark Iddon — Instinct — 20th August E17 — Oriana Gaeta — Belonging — 27th August E18 — Julie Kennedy — Reinvention — 3rd September E19 — Roberto Rotondi — Patience — 10th September E20 — Mikaela Dragon — Vision — 17th September E21 — Katja Alissa Mueller — Identity — 24th September E22 — Guy Vickerstaff — Craft — 1st October E23 — Terri Williams — Trust — 8th October E24 — Jess Campbell — Healing — 15th OctoberE25 — Cast Roundtable — 22nd October E26 — Season Debrief — 29th OctoberTo every single person on this list: thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your story. Thank you for your honesty, your vulnerability, and your willingness to go to places most people don’t go to on a podcast. This season exists because each of you said yes.Just search “Awaiting Approval” on your podcast platform of choice, including YouTube. Follow now so you don’t miss the season premiere next Thursday. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 18 - Debrief 02.04.2026 18min

  Season 2 of Awaiting Approval comes to a close with something a little different.No guest this time. No one-word theme attached to a single conversation. Just me, stepping back to look at what this season became.And honestly… I’m still a bit stunned by it.Since launching the show in summer 2025 with no marketing spend, the podcast has grown far beyond anything I expected. More than 10,000 listens. Charting in over 15 countries. And not a single day since August 2025 where it hasn’t appeared somewhere in the charts.That still feels surreal.But this episode is not really about numbers. It’s about what stayed with me.Across Season 2, I gave each episode a single word. Not to reduce the conversation, but to give it an anchor. A way of holding onto the essence of what each guest brought into the room. And when I stepped back and looked at those words together, something else emerged.A pattern.Not a neat one. Not a single message repeated over and over. But a thread.And the thread that kept surfacing, in all sorts of different ways, was kindness.Kindness in the work. Kindness in leadership. Kindness in how we treat each other. And maybe most of all, kindness towards ourselves.Because so many of these conversations touched on pressure, expectation, self-doubt, burnout, ambition, fear, and the endless feeling that we should somehow be handling it all better than we are.And underneath all of that was this quieter truth.We do not need to make it harder than it already is.This episode is a reflection on what Season 2 has meant to me, what the guests gave so generously, and how the podcast has started to grow into something bigger than a series of interviews. I also talk about one unexpected side project that came out of the season - a playlist called Awaiting Approval - The Soundtrack - made up of one song from each guest, with no names and no explanations. Just emotional fingerprints, side by side. Tune in on Spotify here Tune in on YouTube here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg04wl30BvuxGIPVDNyfEZPO69njpSldz&si=xBMGXih7Drz8Qztr There is also a look back at the first ever Awaiting Approval LIVE, which was very much an experiment, and a look ahead to Season 3, which is already in motion and feels bigger, deeper, and more emotionally honest than anything we’ve done so far.More than anything though, this episode is about gratitude.For the guests. For the listeners. For the people who shared the show, rated it, messaged about it, or quietly kept coming back to it.Because without that, this would just be a collection of conversations.With that, it becomes something else.In this episode, we cover:• The growth of Awaiting Approval since launch• Why Season 2 felt different• The one-word structure behind each episode• The themes that emerged when looking across the full season• Why kindness became the defining thread• Pressure, self-doubt, expectation, and the emotional undercurrent of the season• The importance of being kinder in the room, in the work, and to ourselves• The origin of Awaiting Approval - The Soundtrack• Why one song from each guest became its own kind of portrait• Reflections on the first Awaiting Approval LIVE• What I learned from putting the podcast into a room• The different ways listeners can support the show• Gratitude to every guest who trusted me with their story• Why the audience matters more than stats ever can• A first glimpse at what’s coming in Season 3If the rest of Season 2 was about listening closely to others, Episode 18 is about listening closely to what the season itself was trying to say.And for me, it said this:Lead with care. Stay human. Keep going.===This is Awaiting Approval. The globally charting design podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam Jennings.Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner.© Cordial Fox Limited, 2026.Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.🚀 Learn more and apply here: https://www.growwithadamjennings.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 16 : David Sheldon-Hicks - Awareness 19.03.2026 1j 17min

  David Sheldon-Hicks, founder of Territory Studio, closes out Season 2 of Awaiting Approval with a conversation about awareness… and what it really takes to build something that lasts.We start in the garden with a hot drink. After long stretches in dark studios and edit suites, David will take any excuse to get outside. From there we move into the organised chaos of creative life: shelves of unread books, piles of film scripts waiting to be finished, and the strange comfort of a workspace that is never quite as tidy as the designer in you wants it to be.David reflects on the early influences that shaped him. Growing up inspired by animation, behind-the-scenes filmmaking documentaries, and the feeling that creativity was something you could build with your hands. That curiosity eventually led him from Portsmouth to Berlin, through AKQA, motion design studios, and onto film sets like Casino Royale and The Dark Knight, before founding Territory Studio in a small attic space in Hatton Garden.Prometheus became the studio’s breakthrough moment. From there came the work that Territory is now known for: designing the future on screen. But David is quick to point out that the work alone doesn’t build a studio.People do.The conversation moves into the real mechanics of creative leadership. The bottlenecks founders create without realising it. The painful lessons that come from trying to do everything yourself. And the moment David realised Territory could only grow if he stepped away from being the creative director on every project.There’s also a powerful thread about listening. Listening to directors, production designers, teams, and collaborators. The difference between trying to prove your creativity and understanding the intent of the project. David argues that the best creative directors aren’t the loudest voices in the room… they’re the ones paying the most attention.Along the way we talk about therapy, imposter syndrome, the discipline of learning from mistakes, and why curiosity across industries keeps creative work alive. Film, automotive design, games, architecture… for David, creativity isn’t about staying in your lane. It’s about understanding the wider system you’re designing within.And by the end of the conversation, David shares a perspective that feels both simple and profound.Don’t spend too much time chasing hope in the future.Be present in the moment you’re already living.In this episode, we cover:• David’s early fascination with animation and making images move• Studying communication design and discovering the intersection of art and technology• Learning the craft through studios like AKQA and Peacock• Designing on-set graphics for Casino Royale and The Dark Knight• Founding Territory Studio in a small attic space in Hatton Garden• How Prometheus launched the studio into the world of film design• The hidden complexity of running a creative business• Why founders must eventually get out of their own way• The painful lesson of stepping back from Star Wars: The Force Awakens• How hiring the right creative leaders unlocked the studio’s growth• Why listening is the most underrated creative leadership skill• Learning from production designers, directors, and collaborators• Therapy, self-awareness, and leadership growth• The importance of curiosity across industries and disciplines• Living in the present rather than chasing the future• David’s answer to the final questionSeason 2, Episode 16, our season finale, is a conversation about awareness… of your work, your team, and yourself.===This is Awaiting Approval. The globally charting design podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam Jennings.Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner.© Cordial Fox Limited, 2026.Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.🚀 Learn more and apply here: https://www.growwithadamjennings.comGrow With Adam Jennings is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe
• 
  Season 2, Episode 15: Lou Maxon – Care 12.03.2026 1j 29min

  Lou Maxon returns to Awaiting Approval for part two of our conversation, and this time the theme is care.We meet in a metaphorical Bryant Park with Mountain Dew in hand and quickly move beyond nostalgia into something deeper: what it really means to lead with kindness in an industry obsessed with speed, scale, and minimal viable products.Lou shares the story of the Mr. Rogers figurine that sits on his desk - a daily reminder that creativity is about moving between reality and imagination, and that how we treat people matters just as much as what we make. From there, we explore the erosion of hospitality in product and brand experiences, the cultural drift toward MVP thinking, and why “good enough” is quietly damaging the magic of great creative work.There is a thread running through this entire episode: care is a choice.Care in how we present ideas. Care in how we treat collaborators. Care in how we show up for customers. Care in whether we scale convenience or scale kindness.Lou reflects on hospitality in Japan, the power of unexpected generosity, and how small, human gestures can ripple outward in ways no KPI can measure. We talk about the difference between internal experimentation and external experience, why creativity should entertain and respect its audience, and how showing up as a great teammate might matter more than individual brilliance.There is also something beautifully grounding about Lou’s perspective. He speaks about curiosity over ego, being interested rather than trying to be interesting, and following unexpected doors when they open. Whether that is building a studio on rails, operating a century-old train in Japan, or starting a podcast that invites others into honest conversations, the common thread is this: care enough to make it real.By the end, Lou reframes approval entirely. It is not something he grants. It is something earned through generosity, teamwork, and showing up with integrity.In this episode, we cover:• Why kindness feels urgent in today’s creative culture• The hidden cost of MVP thinking and incrementalism• Hospitality as a design principle• Scaling care versus scaling convenience• Being a good teammate in the “locker room” and on the ice• Player-coach leadership and knowing when to step in or step back• Curiosity as a creative advantage• Creating amazing experiences versus adequate ones• Serendipity, adventure, and following unexpected doors• Why being interested makes you interesting• Delivering work that respects the audience’s time• What it really takes to earn Lou’s approvalIf Season 1 was about people being the work, Season 2, Episode 15 is about how we treat those people once we’re there.===This is Awaiting Approval. The globally charting design podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam Jennings.Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner.© Cordial Fox Limited, 2026.Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.🚀 Learn more and apply here: https://www.growwithadamjennings.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe