Awaiting Approval

Adam Jennings hosts a podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Design
  • Updated Weekly

What happens when seasoned creatives finally speak without filters? Hosted by Adam Jennings, a design leader with three decades of experience, Awaiting Approval invites creative directors, design leads, and experienced makers to share the work they’re proud of, the lessons they learned too late, and the messy, human truth of leadership. Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production. Hosted by Adam Jennings. Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner growwithadamjennings.substack.com

  1. 6h ago

    Mark Iddon - Instinct

    Mark Iddon is Senior Commissioning Editor for Comedy Entertainment at UKTV, which means his job, in its simplest form, is to decide what gets made and what doesn’t. He has spent over 20 years in television, moving from making things to deciding which things get made, and somewhere along that journey he has developed a very particular set of instincts about people, about ideas, and about the difference between winning an argument and winning the thing that actually matters. This is a conversation that goes somewhere unexpected and stays there. We talk about what it means to find the person in the room who cares more than you do, and why that is sometimes the best creative decision you can make. We talk about neurodivergence and the damage done by defining normal, about the gap between the bravado we perform and the person underneath it, and about the long, slow work of giving yourself permission to just be that person. Mark also has a grandfather’s watch on his desk, an unreleased album he won’t tell you about, and a very clear opinion on what the world would look like if we stopped calling things abnormal. 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

    Mark Iddon - Instinct

  2. Aug 13

    Emily Court - Authenticity

    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

    Emily Court - Authenticity

  3. Aug 6

    Michael Glass - Legacy

    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

    Michael Glass - Legacy

  4. Aug 4

    Awaiting Approval LIVE 2 - In The Room

    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

    Awaiting Approval LIVE 2 - In The Room

  5. Jul 30

    Lara Juriansz - Boldness

    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

    Lara Juriansz - Boldness

  6. Jul 15

    Recruiter Roundtable - Part 2

    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 Thwaites 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

  7. Jul 9

    Maria Nicholas - Service

    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

    Maria Nicholas - Service

  8. Jul 2

    Martina Hodges-Schell - Range

    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

    Martina Hodges-Schell - Range
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About

What happens when seasoned creatives finally speak without filters? Hosted by Adam Jennings, a design leader with three decades of experience, Awaiting Approval invites creative directors, design leads, and experienced makers to share the work they’re proud of, the lessons they learned too late, and the messy, human truth of leadership. Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production. Hosted by Adam Jennings. Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner growwithadamjennings.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Adam Jennings hosts a podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Adam Jennings
  • Show Website
    Awaiting Approval

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