Imagine a Place

Latest Episodes:

Powerful moments from the pod. May 30, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we decided to do something different, we wanted to reflect back on a few powerful moments that made us stop and think just a little bit deeper. Today, we revisit discussions with Mark Bryan, Pat Milbery, and Andrea Herron to discover those moments in the conversation that sparked our curiosity on the metaverse, how to encourage passion in others, and the importance of mental health in the workplace.

Hear the full episodes below:

Mark Bryan: "The future of design and work."

Pat Milbery: "Give it all away."

Andrea Herron: "There's an elephant in your office." (Watch the webinar)

Reach out! Want to ask Doug a question for our next podcast? Leave him a question or comment here.

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Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

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Imagine a Place gathers industry-leading voices that can inspire the design community through storytelling and broaden our creative horizons. The goal of Imagine a Place is to further elevate the belief that the places we make and the ways we design them matter in our lives.

The future of design and work. May 23, 2022

Show notes

Mark Bryan is the Director of Innovation and Research at M+A Architects - He’s also a certified futurist. As a Futurist, Mark leads M+A’s Futurism services, using innovation and research to create personalized data-driven solutions and future-driven forecasts to solve now for what is to come next. Mark uses his work to predict, and protect, what inevitable change means for the future.

In today's episode, we go deep into the metaverse, artificial intelligence, and what the future might hold for work and life.

To hear more from Mark Bryan, check out the podcast he co-hosts, M+Ake It Innovative.

Want to ask Doug a question for our next podcast? Leave him a question or comment here.

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

From ER Nurse to Interior Designer. May 16, 2022

Show notes

Lakiesha Stanley spent 7 years as an ER Nurse… and now she’s designing hospital interiors.

As Lakiesha moves about her career as a healthcare interior designer (currently with Gresham Smith), she brings so much more than empathy from her time as a nurse… She brings over a mindset on how to prioritize and deal with tough situations. In today's episode, she lets us in on how we can "triage" any situation.

The second half of the conversation really captures the advice she has for others - and there are some ways in which she understands herself - and her journey that connects to so much of what many of us might have felt at some point.

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

Is your information diet holding you back? May 09, 2022

Show notes

Today our guest is Mario Vasilescu, he's the CEO and Co-Founder of Readocracy and this episode just might revolutionize how you feed your brain. Over the past 5 years, greater awareness and data have helped us understand the layers of our health and wellbeing in ways that we’ve never considered before. However, there’s one very important layer, that is too often left out of the conversation - information.

This episode centers around the importance of your information diet and new technology that is basically, the Fitbit of reading.

Join the Readocracy waitlist here and reference "the Imagine a Place Podcast" to get early access.

Read more about information health and Readocracy on their blog:

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

How to put a city in a building. May 02, 2022

Show notes

Adam Stover is a Senior Principal at Kansas City’s Populous and has led the design for some of the most significant sports stadium renovations and new builds of the last decade:

These include Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, Gillette Stadium, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever….. which is exactly where we met Adam for this interview, smack dab on center court.— And as you might have expected, we brought the crew and filmed it – you see the center court action for yourself here.

Today, we’ll go deep on designing for the human experience and Adam shares his advice on how we as individuals and teams can grow in our pursuit of excellence.

Watch the conversation with Doug Shapiro and Adam Stover, center court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

Designing through story. Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

A well-designed hospitality experience transports you… and so does a great conversation. But when you have a great conversation about well-designed hospitality experiences… well, that’s just going to a whole nother level.

Today, we bring on Valentina Castellon, DLR’s Principal and Sr. Interior Designer out of Minneapolis. She’s a leader in the hospitality space, and her love of story and experience is felt through this entire conversation.

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

Earth Day in a new way. Apr 18, 2022

Show notes

Earth Day is a time to celebrate, learn, and maybe try something new,
So we’ve got a great conversation today and a couple of questions for you too,
Today, we brought back two of our favorite podcast pals,
The hosts of Break Some Dishes, to boost your Earth Day morale.
And what do we cover in this conversation, today?
We’ll help you get your mind and your spirit prepped for Earth Day.

About Break Some Dishes:

Hosted by Verda Alexander and Jon Strassner, Break Some Dishes is a podcast that covers the environmental crises through the lens of creativity and design. They believe that bad design is bad for the planet. Verda is an artist and designer and Jon is a talker, and together they find those unique people who have found amazing ways to make a difference in saving our planet.

On their podcast, they talk about ghost fishing, ocean plastic pollution, and the work being done to remove poisonous ingredients from products. But, that's just the tip of the iceberg, so join the discussion, start breaking some dishes, and get going on fixing things!

Earth Day Haikus:

Jon Strassner:

We must stop takin
Without giving or fixing
Our time is too short

Verda Alexander:

Abundant earth, blue
And verdant the spoils bury
Listen just for now

Doug Shapiro:

From you I borrow
My life, my soul, everything
What will I pass on?

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

Raise your hand. Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

Today, we speak with Wendy Rodgers, CEO of architecture and design firm LPA - and in this episode, she's going to encourage you to "raise your hand."

Since joining LPA as an intern in 1987, Wendy Rodgers' journey has taken her all the way to CEO. How'd she do it? As Wendy explains, embracing an entrepreneurial spirit and taking on BIG initiatives can create momentum in your career - however, the journey might not always be easy, and there is a risk, but leaning into this risk is where we learn and grow.

We will get into that journey in this conversation, but we’ll also cover the state of the industry, career advice, and the future of building greener schools. So, get ready to be motivated to take some risks, learn to fail, and grow towards your goals.

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

Sensitivity and Toughness. Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

Today, we host the developer and president of Prince Concepts, Philip Kafka - and we promise, this episode will feed your mind and your soul. Philip Kafka’s bold but unconventional vision for reimagining urban spaces has earned him commercial, critical, and career success with acclaimed projects in Detroit.

In this episode, Philip explains the keys to personal growth, how to do GREAT work, and the necessity of maintaining a balance between sensitivity and toughness.

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with host, Doug Shapiro, below:

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.

Click here to get your own Imagine a Place Conversation Card Deck.

Start with who. Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever heard the expression, "start with why?" Well, Rex Miller starts somewhere else.

Here’s what's awesome about this episode… We are dropping this one before the launch of The Resilience Lab. It’s an Imagine a Place Productions original that features Rex Miller interviewing experts who explore ways to build resilience into your work, life, and practice of design.

Rex is a well-published author, a business and life coach and he packs into this conversation a greatest hits episode where we explore a variety of concepts that all center around getting to a better you at work… and it starts with a fundamental question: Who. Are. You.?

Subscribe to The Resilience Lab: https://apple.co/3ulzUvJ

Learn more about Rex Miller

Connect with Rex Miller on LinkedIn

Click here to get your FREE copy of the Imagine a Place journal

Connect with Doug below:

On Instagram: @Douglas_Shapiro

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/

By Email: dshapiro@ofs.com

Email Imagine a Place: imagineaplace@ofs.com

Connect with Maria on LinkedIn.

Follow Imagine a Place on LinkedIn.

Click here to get your copy of Maria's children's book—Design Your World.