Awaiting Approval

Debbie Millman - Becoming

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

1w ago00:47:35Tap to summarize

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

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Season 3 Trailer & Cast Reveal

2w ago00:04:30Tap to summarize

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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 18 - Debrief

Apr 200:18:27Tap to summarize

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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 16 : David Sheldon-Hicks - Awareness

Mar 1901:17:56Tap to summarize

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

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Season 2, Episode 15: Lou Maxon – Care

Mar 1201:29:46Tap to summarize

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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 14 : Dan Onufrisyhn - Generosity

Mar 500:46:33Tap to summarize

Dan Onufrishyn is Director of the Creative Leadership Program at Miami Ad School. But before the title, before the CV, before the impressive brand list, there is something simpler running through this conversation: generosity.We start on a nature walk with green tea in a thermos. Mountains, sketchbooks, laptops, stream-of-consciousness doodles. It quickly becomes clear that Dan thinks in systems, in patterns, in long arcs. His career moves the same way. From Denver to New York. From School of Visual Arts to ESPN. From broadcast graphics in Times Square to J.P. Morgan, WPP, healthcare consultancies, sports management, data science. In-house. Agency. Freelance. Back again.It is a career built on curiosity.Dan talks about how every industry has its own culture and language. Entertainment runs like entertainment. Finance runs like finance. Healthcare runs like healthcare. As creatives, we get immersed inside those systems. We learn to observe them. Translate them. Shape them.But the heart of this episode is leadership.Dan speaks openly about the shift from making artefacts to leading people. About the shock of stepping into responsibility without a manual. About the importance of alignment before momentum. About lessons learned the hard way when executive buy-in came too late.And then we get to Miami Ad School.His move into teaching happened organically. A partnership event. A conversation. A follow-up. Now he’s shaping the next generation of creative directors, not just teaching craft, but teaching relationship-building, empathy, accountability, and how to “do the right thing well.” It is clear this is where his generosity lands most powerfully.We also talk about AI. The speed of change. The myth of the machine being smarter than it is. Dan’s view is grounded and pragmatic: right now, it replicates processes. It does not replace judgment. The creative edge still belongs to the human who decides what is funny, what is meaningful, what resonates.There’s humour here. There’s reflection. There’s humility. And there’s a quiet confidence that comes from someone who has explored widely, then chosen to focus narrowly.When I ask him what he’d tell his 15-year-old self, he says: “You’re doing the right thing.”When I ask him what his retired self would say now, he says: “Keep going.”And when I ask whether he is still awaiting approval…… well, you’ll just have to listen to and see. In this episode, we cover:• Moving from Denver to New York to study branding at SVA• Working full-time while studying, and the discipline that shaped him• Broadcast design at ESPN and seeing your work in Times Square Transitioning into finance at J.P. Morgan and learning institutional culture• Agency life at WPP and consultancy leadership across industries• Why in-house focus can create deeper impact• The importance of executive alignment before scaling creative work• Lessons from projects that didn’t go to plan• Why nature and mountains are his reset button• The shift from artefacts to people in creative leadership• Teaching relationship-keeping and accountability at Miami Ad School• AI, process replication, and why judgment still belongs to humans• Specialisation as a survival strategy in a changing market• What he’d tell his 15-year-old selfThis one is thoughtful, measured, and quietly generous.===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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 13 : Lucy Jackson - Discipline

Feb 2601:16:19Tap to summarize

Lucy Jackson is the Founder and Chief Clarity Officer at Studio Jackson. She’s also a brilliant example of what happens when you back yourself, even when the plan isn’t fully formed yet.We start with a metaphorical drink in an English country pub and quickly get into Lucy’s love of flexibility, autonomy, and working in whatever spot has the best light. From there, she takes us through a career that reads like a masterclass in brand-building, licensing, and creative leadership, from designing chocolate packaging in London to building global programmes and leading creative in New York across fashion, talent, and entertainment.But the heart of this episode is the moment everything changed. Lucy was laid off unexpectedly. It was brutal, emotional, and disorienting. Then it became something else. A forced reset. A relief. A door opening.She shares what it felt like, how she navigated the shock, and how she rebuilt her confidence through one word she chose as her anchor for the year: discipline. Discipline to show up. Discipline to keep moving. Discipline to stop letting fear run the strategy.We talk about impostor syndrome, ageism in the industry, and why creativity isn’t just aesthetics. It’s emotion, story, and human connection. Lucy also shares a brilliant mental model for chaos moments: “Work the problem.” It’s simple, practical, and it’s saved her more than once.By the end, Lucy’s definition of success has shifted too. Less glitz, more freedom. Less ego, more alignment. More life.And when I ask the final question… she answers it with the kind of self-approval we could all use more of.In this episode, we cover:* Building a business of one, and why freedom matters more than ever* Lucy’s career journey from London packaging design to New York brand leadership* Emotional branding, and why creativity has to make people feel something* The tension between craft and commercial goals, and how to balance both* Working remotely with “bare essentials” and staying creatively sharp* Impostor syndrome, confidence, and using evidence to shut down false narratives* “Work the problem” as a practical mindset when things go wrong* Lessons from high-pressure campaigns and experiential activations* Layoffs, identity, grief, relief, and rebuilding after the shock* Choosing “discipline” as the anchor for transformation* Why Lucy never wants to rely on one income stream again* The Reframe Sprint workshop and getting out of your own way* Leaving New York and relocating to Europe, and what that represents#AwaitingApproval #CreativeLeadership #DesignLeadership #LeadershipPodcast #light===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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 12 - Sandra Gonzalez - Regeneration

Feb 1801:20:28Tap to summarize

Sandra Gonzalez didn't take the expected route into design leadership. She started in engineering, moved into education, product, and front-end development, then taught herself UX by building her own mobile app startup, intentionally designed to give her hands-on experience as a mobile UX designer and help her break into a UX career. That same conviction runs through everything she shares in this conversation: you can design your own future, but you have to be willing to claim it.Sandra is the founder of UX for Change and the UX Director at Trustpilot, and this episode explores territory that's harder to find in most design conversations.We start with presence - and the quiet way our relationship with technology erodes our instincts, our communities, and our capacity for genuine connection. Sandra offers a grounded perspective on what it means to truly feel seen, why humans are wired for belonging, and how easily we mistake online networks for real support.From there, the conversation opens up. Sandra shares her evolution from trauma-informed design into regenerative experiences - including an event she hosted that used movement, music, and embodied practice to connect participants with the sun, soil, animals, and future generations before moving on to the design activities. What shifted in that room is worth hearing.We also talk about leadership and its responsibilities: tokenisation, knowing when you're not the right voice, and offering compassion to your past self instead of critique. There's a thread here about becoming the kind of ancestor you'd be proud to be - and what that demands of design leaders right now.Sandra closes with what she considers her most significant work, the one she is most proud of: the Responsible Design for Change Fellowship, built to train the next generation of design leaders in practices that scale impact through the people they'll go on to lead. She makes a compelling case that designers can no longer afford to be naive about the economy they work within - and that alternatives like doughnut economics, circular systems, and designing within planetary limits aren't fringe ideas. They're where the important work is heading.This is a calm, expansive episode. It’s practical in places, philosophical in others, and deeply human throughout.In this episode, we cover:• Moving from engineering into UX by building your own path• Why presence and community matter more than we realise• The difference between trauma-informed and regenerative spaces• Hosting embodied, earth-centred design experiences• The danger of mistaking online connection for real support• Tokenisation and knowing when to step back• Compassion for your past self• Designing within planetary limits• Doughnut economics and alternative economic models• Building the Responsible Design for Change Fellowship• What it means to become a responsible ancestor#AwaitingApproval #CreativeLeadership #DesignLeadership #LeadershipPodcast #light===This is Awaiting Approval. A 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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 11 : Recruiter Roundtable - Empathy

Feb 1201:14:48Tap to summarize

Hiring in 2025? Brutal. Struggle. Chaos. Messy. Exciting.In this special bonus roundtable episode, Adam is joined by five leading recruiters and talent partners – Laura Baker, Erica Fortgang, Sam Gale, Meg Rye and Jared Tredly – for an unfiltered state-of-the-market conversation about what’s really happening in design hiring right now.This isn’t a tips-and-tricks episode. It’s a frank, human discussion about ghosting, burnout, toxic leadership, AI expectations, neurodiversity, layoffs and what candidates are actually up against. It’s also a moment of accountability – recruiters reflecting on their own practices, pressures and blind spots.One thing is certain; it’s clear these people care deeply about their candidates.The panel tackles the “ghosting” debate head-on. Where does it actually happen? Why does it persist? And what do candidates misunderstand about volume, systems and feedback? There’s honesty on both sides – including the uncomfortable truth that designers ghost too.From there, the conversation moves into burnout and what recruiters see when candidates are trying to leave environments that have drained them. When is it just “time for a change”? And when is someone running on fumes? The panel discusses coaching, emotional readiness, and why sometimes the best move isn’t a new job – it’s a pause.Toxic leadership becomes a major theme. The group agree: people rarely leave because of the workload. They leave because of direction, dysfunction, or the absence of psychological safety. So how do candidates spot red flags early? What “spicy questions” should they be asking in interviews?Of course, AI comes up. It had to. The recruiters unpack whether AI literacy is now a baseline expectation, what “future-ready” actually means, and how much is hype versus reality. Is AI experience mandatory? Or is problem-solving still the true differentiator?Neurodiversity is discussed with candour and care, including personal experiences from the panel. Should candidates disclose? When? How? The consensus is clear: transparency matters – but so does individual choice and context.And finally, the hard truth about layoffs. Senior leaders sitting on the market for 9–18 months. Juniors struggling to break in. The market contracting at the top and bottom while mid-level product designers move faster. The panel don’t sugarcoat it – but they also don’t remove hope.The episode ends with a predictive word for 2026. There’s cautious optimism. There’s realism. And there’s momentum.This is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the hiring side of creative leadership – messy, nuanced, human.In this episode, we cover:* Hiring in 2025 described in one word* Where ghosting really happens – and why* Why feedback is harder than it looks* Systems, scale and inbox overload* Burnout signals recruiters see immediately* Coaching versus placing – when to slow someone down* Toxic leadership as the number one exit reason* How to test culture in an interview* “Spicy questions” that reveal the truth* AI expectations – hype versus practical literacy* What future-ready actually looks like* Neurodiversity disclosure and workplace safety* Layoffs, confidence and market timelines* Senior versus mid-level versus junior realities* What 2026 might look like for design hiringIf you’re navigating the market right now – whether as a candidate, hiring manager, or creative leader – this one’s for you.===This is Awaiting Approval. A 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.© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.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

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Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 11 : Recruiter Roundtable - Empathy