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Daring Creativity
"If we could just be a little more fearless" (Lauren Hartstone bonus episode)
00:14:25
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- [00:00]
A
Hey. Welcome to another bonus episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. This is episode number 27 of this season so far. I'm here to unpack some of the gems from this week's conversation, pulling out those moments that deserve a second look and digging deeper in what makes them special. Because I'm always on the lookout for the moments and ideas that hit differently. This week, I spoke to Lauren Heartstone, a creative director and partner at Sibling Rivalry in New York, who discovered her real passion lies at the intersection of systematic brand thinking and emotional storytelling. The episode published a few days ago was titled Dare to Find Magic in Straight Lines, and I enjoyed joining the dots of Lauren's creative life and career so far. It's a fascinating conversation. If you haven't checked out a full interview yet, let me start with these four moments that stood out from our conversation.
- [00:50]
B
There is a system to branding and. And listen, every company does it differently. Every company. There's a process, and certainly with different challenges and different brands, even you modify it, of course, but there are systems around it, and I had to learn that. And I think I was so confident before, and I know there was plenty of ego in creative, and all I was saying about, like, trying to get your boards in, like, all of that, I feel like I rose so fast, and then I got to Gretel and I was like, oh, my God, I don't know anything. And that was, you know, that was scary. So I had to, like, step back and learn the systems behind branding and learn the systems behind systems, because they're quite complicated, and I was not really building systems. I was. I remember I did this branding job at Imaginary Forces, and yes, it was a system, but it was literally based on how you felt.
- [01:57]
A
As I said in the intro, the conversations were absolutely fascinating because even though Lauren's career can be somewhat linear, I believe still, there's so many interesting twists and turns and junctions that got her to where she is. And what shone through was the fact that the when we step back and listen, magic happened. In Lauren's case, this particular moment captures the most vulnerable and transformative moment, actually, in anyone's career. The transition from mastery to beginner's mind. After five years at Imaginary Forces, where Lauren had risen rapidly through the ranks from senior designer to director, she was creating title sequences for major productions, and she had every reason to feel confident she was at the top of her game in cinematic storytelling, getting her boards big and doing exactly what she dreamed since watching the title sequence for seven while she was in college. But the confidence before Humility can become a ceiling. She left imaginary forces and moved to Gretel, a branding agency where she was almost forced to confront the limits of her expertise. While she was brilliant at creating emotional, cinematic moments, she hadn't yet mastered the systematic architecture of branding, the frameworks, processes and strategic thinking that make brands scalable and sustainable. This wasn't about losing confidence. It was about recognizing that true growth requires the courage to become a student again. To become a student again, even when you already feel accomplished. What makes this admission so powerful is that Lauren didn't retreat to discomfort. She leaned into it. She stepped back, listened and learned. And this humility became the bridge that allowed her to eventually merge two disciplines, cinematic storytelling and systematic branding, into something more powerful than Eva. Alone is the reminder that scariest moments in our career are often the ones that unlock our greatest evolution.
- [03:58]
B
It's changed everything. It's changed everything about how I work. So yes, there's the feeling of curiosity and seeing life in a completely different way. You know, they ask me all kinds of questions that are funny and sad and weird and I love it and it makes me look at everything differently. So there's that. There's also just the phases of your life where I told you when I was IAF and in that Gretel, even at that moment, you work all hours and I didn't care what I was missing. That's all I did and I was totally happy to do it. But then you have these kids and suddenly, you know you have to. You have personal responsibilities that you just you, they demand of you. And the good news is that your career actually shifts at the same time, because as you grow into leadership, your value isn't measured anym or in the hours that you're worked and the volume of your work, but it's in your vision and your clarity and your impact. And so I really believe that I've learned to work so much smarter and faster and I have way more confidence than I had then. And I think that my kids have weirdly given me that.
- [05:20]
A
You talk about a fundamental shift in how Lauren understood leadership that catalyzed directly by becoming a mother of two young daughters. @ her previous job at Imaginary Forces and in her early career, she had operated in the classic creative agency model. Sleeping in studios, working weekends, measuring work through sheer volume and hours logged. This approach worked when she had nothing else demanding her time or attention. As the industry rewarded this dedication, she quite nicely told me that I didn't know what I was missing. And I'm sure that many of Us can relate to that. But when her daughters arrived while one while at Gretel, another one just before joining sibling rivalry, this model became unsustainable. She faced a choice that many creative partners encounter. Either sacrifice their creative ambition or fundamentally imagine how she works. Lauren chose the latter and in doing so discovered something profound. Leadership isn't about martyrdom or presenteeism. It's about the quality of your thinking, the clarity of your vision, and the impact you create in the time that you have be rising through the ranks to the leadership role changes how we work. Because she's learned to work smarter, faster, and with more confidence, she couldn't afford to second guess or overwork every detail. She had to trust their instincts, provide clear direction, and empower her team. The pressure of parenthood forced her to become the kind of leader who creates value through strategic thinking rather than brute force hours. It's a powerful message for an industry that often still conflates long hours with dedication and improves that. Becoming a parent doesn't compromise creative leadership, it can actually sharpens.
- [07:04]
B
It. I am not great at turning off like that. And I know that's not, that's not what I should say. I wish I said I put everything down and I sit with my kids and I put, you know, and my kids, by the way, are 12 and almost 10. What I have found better for me, and this is not for everyone, but what I have found better is to keep them completely merged. And the reason why I do that is because then it doesn't stress me out. When I tried to keep them apart, then I'd be like, oh my God, like I have to get back to work because all of this stuff is piling on me or I'm on vacation and I'm. And I, I know I can't work and I don't do that anymore. Like, I will rather just take the call, jump into that, think about it when I can, and I keep it completely flexible and back and forth and then I'm not stressed out. It's just a part of my life. And my kids know it's a part of my life and they love what I do and they see all my work and it's fine, you know, I just keep it all together as.
- [08:06]
A
One. During our conversation, I was more curious about the life of a working parent and how, if any, there's a sort of work life balance. And Lauren quite rightly say that she rejects almost the framework entirely. And it's not about workaholism but about self awareness. She told me I Have to be creating, I have to be working. If I'm not working, I'm not happy. Because let's be honest, the work life balance isn't some sort of written rule by a government, by the industry, or by life coaches. It's how we perceive lives. You know, it's is how we see our self awareness and how we see ourselves, who we are, you know, if we are someone who needs to create and finds joy and in fulfillment in our work, we become restless when forced into artificial boundaries. In Lauren's case, and mother of two daughters, now 12 and 10 years old, she could easily feel guilt about this admission that, you know, work life balance isn't something that she feels pressured into and that she's got something right. But it's about being able to mix those two together. Because in our conversation we had a really nice exchange about the fact how our work inspires our children, how it shows them what it could be, how they can apply their learnings into their future work. In Lauren's case, their daughter. Watch her work, understand what she does, get excited about sports projects she's creating, and learn what's possible in creative careers. Ultimately, we can't stop our brains thinking about work. It's impossible to stop thinking about motion, time, sound and storytelling just because you've left the office. Rather than fighting the reality, Lawrence built a life that accommodates it. In doing so, she's become both a better creative leader and more present parent. And because she's no longer exhausted by the performance of.
- [09:59]
B
Separation. I went and basically lived at the store. I went through all the aisles. I got to know all of the employees, I got to know the corporate, everyone who works there. And I think why I loved it so much is because they are so honest, they are so true to who they are and they just really are sincere and direct and they have a kind of quirky and unique personality. And all I wanted to do was celebrate them, right and, and really honor their personality and their values and let people in on it, right? So that's really all it is. And it's so funny because in branding and in storytelling, oftentimes you're looking for some bigger insight or something outside. You're looking at the competition, you're looking at something different. And usually it's just inside. It's just like it's just them. That's all it was. I was like, how do we just let people see exactly who they are? And that's what made it so great. So, yeah, I filmed the brief history of B and H and it was a wonderful opportunity to just represent exactly who they.
- [11:27]
A
Are. One of the examples of working projects we talked about was Work for B and H, which for the English people listening to this is not Benton and Hedges. It's actually B and H Photo Video Store in New York. Very much an institution over there in supplying all sorts of creative people with the right equipment. And Lauren shared with me a video that she did when she started Sibling Rivalry. And they were absolutely mesmerizing. A fantastic piece of work. Eight videos that I just couldn't stop watching. They were really fantastic. And part of the conversation about the project was the fact that it the project was done with Google and YouTube and it was quite a while ago, let's say, you know, seven, eight years. And as the work was ongoing, there was data that she was able to sort of sift through on how the videos were performing. And naturally, as a sort of creative first person, I'm thinking potentially the data might be quite disruptive to the creative process. But what we've learned here and throughout the conversation with Lauren was the fact that data is your friend. Data tells you how everything works and how your work is performing. Because as my conversation with Luke Woodhouse and other people before is like, we are not creating this stuff for ourselves. We create into tells these stories to other people and how we can let them in on the world of other companies and other organization and how those companies have have humans at heart of their operations. So hearing about how data actually let them finish the second part of these absolutely incredible videos was so liberating to hear about because throughout the conversation I got to understand that Lauren is from a family where her dad and her brother got degree in sociology. Her dad runs a market research company. And all of the stuff that she creates is so intertwined and so interwoven into one another. How we understand humans, how we feel, how we operate, how we are alike and how we are equal and create brand storytelling and storytelling per se. The Dutch's heart and wins awards. Thank you for joining me on this episode. I hope you check out a full interview with Lauren Hearthstone and I look forward to seeing you on the next one. If you enjoyed this episode and would like more accessible resources to help you discover your daring creativity, you can pick up one of my books on themes of mindful creativity, creative business, branding and graphic design. Every physical book purchase comes with a free digital bundle including an ebook and audiobook to make the content accessible wherever you are and whatever you do. To get 10% off your order, visit novemberuniverse.co.uk and use the code podcast, have a look around and start living.