Do I need school to be..‪.‬ Alex Villacís

Have you heard the expression "Never meet your heroes"? Well, I met one of my podcasting heroes and he surpassed my expectations! Dave is the founder of the Print Design Academy, teaching Graphic Designers how to print and how to fall in love with print. His story is a whirlwind of learning experiences, getting chances and taking advantage of them, following passions and showing them to others. From learning on the job to becoming a teacher, Dave tells us his tale.

On this interview we spoke about:

* Our shared obsession with paper and printed goods
* Getting up at 4am to workout (I mean damn!) because Discipline over Motivation
* How an ex-girlfriend's dad had a major impact in Dave's life
* Learning print on the job at a printshop
* His other podcast (the low key inspiration for this show)
* The Print Design Academy and the Colour Bar Challenge
* The Design Community born out of a challenge

Want to learn more about Dave and the Print Design Academy? Here are some useful links
PDA Website [https://www.printdesignacademy.com/]
PDA Podcast [https://www.printdesignacademy.com/podcasts/print-design-podcast]
PDA Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/printdesign_academy/]
PDA on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/PrintDesignAcademy]
The Quickie Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/6cX7gO7xbN2x2UKkZtVBQd?si=bfba42ec787a44db]

Here are Dave's recommendations:
The 4-hour work week by Tim Ferris [https://tim.blog/tim-ferriss-books/#the-4-hour-workweek]
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss [https://www.blackswanltd.com/our-team/chris-voss]
'Don't wait for the motivation to do something, have the discipline to do something.'

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide [https://www.instagram.com/rohalfhide/] for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dinschool2b/], LinkedIn  [https://www.linkedin.com/company/do-i-need-school-to-be-podcast/?viewAsMember=true]and support the show on Buy me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dinschool2b]. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here [http://dins2b.pod@gmail.com/].

This week, I had the pleasure of learning more about my wonderful colleague Ray Lawlor. Ray and I both work at The Customer Bureau (Helping iconic brands become customer centric) and a while back Ray approached me with an amazing story, his story. In his words, he didn't know what he wanted to do until he was 30. Ray believes that learning and figuring out what you want to do is a constant process of life and that change is wonderful and nothing to be afraid of. This story is truly wild and I can't wait to share it with you.

On this interview we spoke about:

* Ray's selftaught journey
* From music to television to advertising to engineering (I mean, what?!)
* Celebrating scholarship programs
* A wonderful woman named Anne
* Not being made for formal education
* Supporting partners during freelancing and jumping from freelancing to company team member
* The importance of having awesome colleagues
* Giving kids the chance to be lifelong learners
* A chat about priviledge

Want to learn more about Ray Lawlor? Here is how you reach him and where you can find his work!

LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-lawlor/]

Engineered's Website [https://weareengineered.com/]

Here are Ray's recommendations:

The Customer Bureau [https://www.thecustomerbureau.com/]

Rory's Story Cubes [https://www.storycubes.com/en/]

Irish Language Broadcast Fund [https://www.northernirelandscreen.co.uk/irish-language-broadcast-fund/]

Emma Fanning's episode (one of Ray's favourites) [https://zencastr.com/z/8WEBTgPI]

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide [https://www.instagram.com/rohalfhide/] for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dinschool2b/], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/do-i-need-school-to-be-podcast/?viewAsMember=true]and support the show on Buy me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dinschool2b]. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here [http://dins2b.pod@gmail.com/].

Staying in line with the environmentalist topic, this week we have another warrior for the earth but who uses a physical medium and not a digital one. Rafael Martig, has a fascinating story of combining the logical and emotional to advocate for conservation of flora and fauna. From a young age, he loved nature and learned to observe and learn from it. Born into a family of creatives, he took the science path before getting back to his roots and picking up a brush to make his audience think about the role they play in the future of the planet. A true pleasure to talk to such a rare bird (that joke will make sense after you listen to this episode, trust me it's brilliant)

On this interview we spoke about:

* Going from scientist to visual artist
* A lifelong fascination with birds and being known as the bird guy
* Doing what you can with the skills you have
* The voting pencil that inspired a super long painting (literally, it's super long)
* How impact can start in your own backyard

Want to learn more about Rafael? Here is how you reach him and where you can find his work!

Website [https://rafaelmartig.nl/]

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/rafaeldavidmartig/?hl=nl]

LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-martig-85493865/]

Here are Rafael's recommendations:

Ask an artist Podcast [https://www.askanartistpodcast.com/]

'100 Ways to Draw a Bird and Make a Living from Illustration by Felix Scheinberger [https://www.bookdepository.com/100-Ways-to-Draw-a-Bird-and-Make-a-Living-from-Illustration-Felix-Scheinberger/9788417656188?redirected=true&selectCurrency=EUR&w=AF74AU9TLVCJCLA8VTJZ&gclid=Cj0KCQjw166aBhDEARIsAMEyZh7TxVSXNxFePD1VZoVoy1AWkHTCuGplC7I3xow9O3SbQJ4c9VQnhZwaAviVEALw_wcB]

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide [https://www.instagram.com/rohalfhide/] for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dinschool2b/], LinkedIn  [https://www.linkedin.com/company/do-i-need-school-to-be-podcast/?viewAsMember=true]and support the show on Buy me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dinschool2b]. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here [http://dins2b.pod@gmail.com/].

I'm not a fan of social media, sounds weird because I have a podcast but I'm really not a fan of the social media aspect of it. That's why I was so excited when Neerja and Aparna reached out to me because I love to be proven wrong and to learn what the other side looks like and does. In today's episode I'm taking to Neerja from 'Humans Of Earth', an online platform focused on sharing stories from small climate activist and promoting their efforts and knowledge to expand their reach and provide information to the world. So much respect for these ladies and their work!

On this interview we spoke about:

* Using social media to enact change
* A lawyer and an engineered becoming climate activists
* Featuring stories about ordinary people enacting change
* The effects of climate change
* The power of social media to unite people



Want to learn more about Apart, Neerja and Humans for Earth? Here is how you reach out to them!

Website [https://humansforearth.weebly.com/]

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/humans_for_planet_earth/?hl=en]

Issue 1 of the HFE magazine [https://issuu.com/humansforearth2/docs/hfe_issue_1.pptx]

LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/humans-for-earth/]

Their e-mail to reach out [http://humansforearth2@gmail.com/]

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide [https://www.instagram.com/rohalfhide/] for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dinschool2b/], LinkedIn  [https://www.linkedin.com/company/do-i-need-school-to-be-podcast/?viewAsMember=true]and support the show on Buy me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dinschool2b]. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here [http://dins2b.pod@gmail.com/].

After break due to illness and medical stuff, the podcast is back and we have amazing interviews for you starting with Mr. Paul Delaney. Paul went from the field of Graphic Design into Illustration through the master degree route (you know how I feel about degrees). Paul likes to draw pictures, scribble ideas for stories, make stuff look nice on a page and brighten people's day. This style is fun and playful and organic, he brings joy to my instagram feed and I hope he brings it to yours too.

On this interview we spoke about:

* Paul's experience doing a masters in Illustration
* His personal style and why he makes a drawing everyday.
* The difference between Graphic Design and Illustration
* Plans for the future
* The difference between going to school in person and going to school online



Want to learn more about Paul and his work?

Website [https://pauldelaney.ie/]

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/pauldelaney.illustration/?hl=en]

His prints on CowPat [https://cowpat.ie/paul-delaney/]

Paul's Sketchbook [https://pauldelaney.ie/sketchbook/]

Here are Paul's recommendations:

Ben Howard's Music [https://open.spotify.com/artist/5schNIzWdI9gJ1QRK8SBnc?si=Mun5Ts8lTGerBFcyY3tY4g]

Arcade Fire's Music [https://www.arcadefire.com/]

Future Island's Music [https://future-islands.com/]

The 1975's Music [https://the1975.com/]

Parcels's Music [https://www.parcelsmusic.com/]

Ocean Colour Scene's Music [https://www.oceancolourscene.com/]

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield [https://stevenpressfield.com/books/the-war-of-art/]

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide [https://www.instagram.com/rohalfhide/] for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dinschool2b/], LinkedIn  [https://www.linkedin.com/company/do-i-need-school-to-be-podcast/?viewAsMember=true]and support the show on Buy me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dinschool2b]. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here [http://dins2b.pod@gmail.com/].

And we made it to the C-suite! Yes, my guest this week is the Founder and CEO of Startdock, Thom Wernke. Funny enough in this episode we'll question the role of CEO and what it actually means, spoiler it's just a role. For those thinking, what is Startdock? Startdock is a coworking space where community is everything. Startdock and its Dockers believe it takes a community to grow a company. At StartDock, tenants are promised flexible contracts and the ability to scale up and down with their workspace adapting to their journey. With 4 amazing locations (5th one is on the way), an active startup community and that believe that your business will grow because of the StartDock environment, it truly is the place to be for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

On this interview we spoke about:

* How Startdock selects the cities for their locations
* Starting a company with multiple founders
* Thom's organic journey into becoming CEO
* The weight (or lack of weight) of a title
* Accelerator programs? Yey or Nay?
* Being an eternal student, the situational aspect of teaching
* Startdock's journey into becoming a B-corp



Want to learn more about Thom and Startdock? Here are some links:

Startdock's Website [https://startdock.nl/en/]

Startdock's Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/startdock/]

Thom's Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomwernke/]

Thom's blog post about the event in London [https://startdock.nl/en/blog/why-go-to-a-coworking-event-in-london/]

B-corp and the B-lab certification [https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/]

Here are Thom's recommendations:

'Scaling-Up, how a few companies make it and why the rest don [https://scalingup.com/book/]'t [https://scalingup.com/book/]' by Verne Harnish [https://scalingup.com/book/]

'Over Routines' a podcast by Arie Boomsma [https://open.spotify.com/show/2BBo3IDR3MQPCIR3MTmeqz]

'How to Win Friends and Influence People [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4865.How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People]' by Dale Carnegie [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4865.How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People]

'Sapiens, A brief history of Humankin [https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens-2/]'d by Yuval Noah Harari [https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens-2/]

'The Joe Rogan Experience', a podcast by Joe Rogan [https://open.spotify.com/show/4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk]

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide [https://www.instagram.com/rohalfhide/] for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dinschool2b/], Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/company/do-i-need-school-to-be-podcast] and support the show on Buy me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dinschool2b]. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here [http://dins2b.pod@gmail.com/].