Bub on Purpose Bubby Vernon

In this episode of the Bub on Purpose Podcast, I speak with Matt Ritter. He is a botanist, an author of many books, and a professor at Cal Poly University. His books range from his Climate Fiction book Rain Walkers, to another titled CALIFORNIA PLANTS: A Guide to Our Iconic Flora and he even has written a children’s book, which is coming out in 2021, called Something Wonderful.

Matt was my brother Scout’s favorite professor at Cal Poly, so he joined me on this podcast. In our conversation, Matt shares a bit on how he became so interested in plants and the natural world, as well as his personal philosophies for passionately living a fulfilling life.

I came across this quote from William Mcdonough before the conversation that really should be quite humbling for anyone, and acts as a unique connector between Matt’s world of Botany and one of my world’s, designing objects: “Imagine this design assignment: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the seasons and self-replicates.... why don’t we knock that down and write on it?” William McDonough

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Matt Ritter.

In this episode I recorded in the fall, and have sat on it until now. I think it will be especially intriguing for those of you who have considered a next step in education and those who are continually looking to educate themselves.

After graduating from Kingston University in graphic design, and seeking advice from designers she admired, Stacie Woolsey, who I’m going to be talking to today found that postgraduate education was, unofficially, the only way in. But when she realized it would cost her £40,000 including living expenses, she came up with the Make Your Own Masters project: a series of briefs she requested from designers, and completed in her own time, between bar jobs. She completed four projects over 18 months which resulted in a final project which she exhibited in her own “design show”. The four projects she did were based around anthropological futures - the study of current behaviours for future speculation. The four projects were:


New Coal - a project that looks at a speculative future for working class mining towns

Faith in the Fish - a study on micro-plastics as a modern parasite

Milk - how we might redesign milk for those who actually need it

Dirty Soaps - a project about exposing infants to just enough dirt, while maintaining the parental need to nurture and protect.


In her words, M.Y.O.M. HAS ALLOWED AND ENABLED HER TO:

Forge her discipline ‘Anthropological Futures’ - making her the only graduate in this field.

Have confidence in her own work, her voice and what she can bring to this industry.

Build a professional network of 100+ peers, mentors and briefers.

Develop a portfolio that has allowed her to work with brands and institutions such as Selfridges, BBC, ICA, John Lewis, Science Gallery, Dezeen and more.

I made two rookie mistakes with this episode. The first is that I went ahead with the podcast even though the room she was in was a bit noisy, so her audio isn’t great. The second is that I forgot to begin the recording for the first few minutes… hmmm. Anyways, in the beginning she talked about how she found out that she was dyslexic at 18 and that Because she didn’t realize it for so long, she had to work really hard to learn things and figure them out in different ways. I began to speculate that that is one of the reasons she got creative and figured out how to get a masters without the 40,000 pounds or roughly 46,000 USD.

She spoke about how Make Your Own Masters came about. She worked at some  design firm not learning much of what she wanted to learn, while realizing she wasn’t really a designer, but still wanted to create projects worth having in her portfolio, so she decided to do what she calls “freelance learning” - intentional, self driven learning.

"We need to make education less elitist and create practical solutions that are not restricted by income, location or background." - Stacie Woolsey

In this episode of Bub on Purpose, I speak with Vincent Stanley. Vincent co-authored The Responsible Company with Yvon Chouinard, has been with Patagonia on and off since its beginning in 1973, and for many of those years in key executive roles as head of sales or marketing. More informally, he is Patagonia’s long-time chief storyteller. Vincent helped develop the Footprint Chronicles, the company’s interactive website that outlines the social and environmental impact of its products; the Common Threads Partnership; and Patagonia Books. He currently serves as the company’s Director of Philosophy, and is a visiting fellow at the Yale School of Management. He is also a poet whose work has appeared in Best American Poetry.

In our conversation, we dive into the term sustainability versus Responsibility, how not being a surfer helped him at Patagonia, his thinking behind Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy this Jacket” ad, and much more! Here is my conversation with Vincent Stanley.

In this episode of the Bub on Purpose Podcast, I speak with Jack Fellows. He is a leader in the weather and climate research community,  was Climate Change Science Institute Director Emeritus at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Vice President of UCAR, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, among many other titles and is currently based in Boulder, Colorado. In our conversation, he shares a bit on his life path, and his concerns for humanity, regarding climate change. Because this is my longest episode yet, I thought I should share with you that I will often listen to podcasts at 1.5 times regular speed, which can easily be done by pressing 1X in your listening app, wherever you listen to podcasts. I typically do this because it allows me to listen to more podcasts, and it helps me stay focused because the pace requires me to. I totally understand that you may enjoy the natural speed and rhythm of regular speed but I want to put that out there, in case you don’t already know that is possible. 

In this episode of Bub On Purpose, I speak with Sebastian Errazuriz. Sebastian is a Chilean born, New York based, artist, designer, activist, and tech entrepreneur (repeat). His work has been featured on multiple magazine covers and portrayed in thousands press articles. He has also received critical acclaim from The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, among others. As you’ll realize in our conversation, he has many unique habits, he questions everything, drives towards his passions with unparalleled motivation, and has a conviction that is contagious.

In this episode, Candra shares her wisdom on finding a passion, listening to your body, and cultivating awe for a richer life. Candra Canning is the founder of Live Bright Now which works with organizations to improve corporate culture and facilitate leadership development.