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

    MAR 19

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

    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 question Season 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.com Grow 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

    1h 18m
  2. Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 15: Lou Maxon – Care

    MAR 12

    Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 15: Lou Maxon – Care

    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 approval If 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?J oin 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

    1h 30m
  3. Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 14 : Dan Onufrisyhn - Generosity

    MAR 5

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

    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 self This 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

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

    FEB 26

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

    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.com Grow 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

    1h 16m
  5. Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 12 - Sandra Gonzalez - Regeneration

    FEB 18

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

    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

    1h 20m
  6. Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 11 : Recruiter Roundtable - Empathy

    FEB 12

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

    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 hiring If 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

    1h 15m
  7. Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 10 : Odeya Noble-Bougay - Light

    FEB 5

    Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 10 : Odeya Noble-Bougay - Light

    By day Odeya Noble-Bougay is Director of Product Design at Aviv Group, but at heart she is a maker. Someone who thinks with her hands, listens deeply, and believes that creativity is as much about care and connection as it is about output. Her journey spans sound engineering, visual communication, early usability work, telecoms at massive scale, property tech, and leading large, pan-European design teams through constant change. In this episode, Odeya joins Adam for a gentle, reflective conversation about light – how it’s created, how it’s shared, and how leaders can help others shine. She talks about her lifelong love of making things, from pencils and paint to prototypes and systems, and why pen and paper still matter even in an AI-accelerated world. From walking by the canal with a cup of bitter tea to collecting pieces of discarded wood to paint on later, her creative practice is grounded, tactile, and deeply human. Odeya shares her career journey from sound engineering at a radio station to early startup life in the late 90s, scaling usability teams, leading 180 designers across Europe at T-Mobile, building product teams at Rightmove, and now shaping property platforms across multiple markets. Along the way, she reflects on stepping into leadership before feeling ready, thriving in chaos, and learning to systemise complexity long before design systems had a name.She also speaks candidly about moments that didn’t go to plan. From bold concepts that arrived too early for their market, to the painful impact of a truly bad manager and the long road back to confidence. Her advice is clear and compassionate. If something is draining the air from the room, leave. Protect your energy. Trust your instinct. This is a warm, thoughtful episode about leadership as illumination. About bringing people together, creating the conditions for clarity, and lighting one candle from another until the whole room is brighter. In this episode, we cover: * Growing up loving both art and engineering, and why that duality still matters* Starting out as a sound engineer and studying visual communication design* Early usability work and scaling teams in the late 90s startup boom* Leading 180 designers across Europe at T-Mobile during rapid handset evolution* Building and leading product teams at Rightmove and Aviv Group* Why chaos can be energising when it’s well-organised* Observing real users “in the wild” and what train journeys taught her about product truth* The ocean between concept and market, and why MVP should really mean “minimum lovable product”* Learning from projects that arrived too early for their context* Recognising harmful leadership and knowing when to leave* What healthy creative conversations feel like, and how to spot the warning signs* Designing for people in an AI-driven world and why human needs haven’t changed* Pride in moments of alignment, not individual outputs* Family, music, festivals, and the life that sustains the work === This is Awaiting Approval. A global 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

    1 hr
  8. Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 9 : William Barraclough - Curiosity

    JAN 26

    Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 9 : William Barraclough - Curiosity

    William Barraclough has built a creative career driven less by formal pathways and more by instinct, curiosity, and a willingness to try things before knowing where they might lead. Now Head of Product Design for International Wealth and Premier Banking at HSBC, his journey spans skateboarding, DJing, restaurant work, early digital agencies, global brands, and leadership roles earned without ever studying design formally. In this episode, William joins Adam for a wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation about curiosity as a creative force. He reflects on growing up between cultures, finding creativity through motion, music, and experience design, and discovering design almost by accident through making flyers, editing video, and hacking together early digital work. From running a one-person studio straight out of the Job Centre to working at M&C Saatchi, Yahoo, and beyond, William’s career is a story of learning by doing and asking better questions along the way. William talks openly about leadership, self-doubt, and resilience. He shares what it was like inheriting teams in moments of change, the importance of reading the room, and the leadership lesson he learned the hard way when context was missed. He and Adam explore imposter syndrome, pressure, nerves, and why those feelings often signal that something meaningful is at stake, not that you’re doing something wrong. This episode is also about life beyond work. William reflects on community, mentoring, parenting, loss, and the importance of staying curious about the world around you. From food and travel to design education and career pathways, his perspective is grounded, generous, and deeply human. This is a conversation about staying open. About curiosity as a mindset, not a skill. And about building a creative life by bringing people together, staying positive, and continuing to learn long after you think you should have it figured out. In this episode, we cover: * Finding design without formal education and learning through making * How skateboarding, DJing, and motion shaped William’s creative instincts * Early digital careers, hacking ideas, and building confidence through experience * Leadership lessons learned from pressure, mistakes, and context * Imposter syndrome, nerves, and why fear can be a useful signal * The power of community, peer support, and creative networks * Why curiosity matters more than certainty in a fast-changing industry * Navigating career ladders, specialisms, and evolving design roles * Mentoring, design education, and opening doors for the next generation* Parenting, presence, and life outside work * Why optimism, kindness, and helping others still matter #AwaitingApproval #CreativeLeadership #DesignLeadership #LeadershipPodcast #curiosity #aidesign === 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

    54 min
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5
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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
    34
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Adam Jennings
  • Show Website
    Awaiting Approval

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