Structured Mischief

After the worldwide pandemic, the workforce experienced a new revolution where new needs and challenges arose. The future of work is now closer than it seems with people beginning to question why spending so much time in the office is necessary. Joining David Jensen and Cecily Chambers are Sophia Lackens, Melisa Gurkan and Leili Mashhadi Manafi. These three women are determined to reimagine the future of work through a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) known as Open Work Lab. Tune in to learn about Open Work Lab and the importance of adding value back to the workforce.

How can we create a viable impact against global warming? How must we change our way of thinking to save the planet? David Jensen and Cecily Chambers dive into this topic with Innovator Francis Beland. Francis Beland is currently a Senior Partner with the Oxford Gav Conservation Venture Studio. Oxgav is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Global Accelerated Ventures. Their goal is to prevent future disease transmissions, enable economies to adjust to climate change, and preserve a shared global heritage. Tune in to hear Francis Beland’s thoughts on disrupting the status quo and listening to your gut.

Lighting design is an under-appreciated art form as far as the general public is concerned. The casual viewer will care more about the acting and the story versus the lighting. Four-time Tony Awards winner and acclaimed lighting designer Kevin Adams believes otherwise. Learn Kevin's journey into theatre and find out, as he asks himself, if he’ll ever be as good as his last success. Joining David Jensen and Cecily Chambers on today's podcast is Kevin Adams, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. Adams discusses his success and personal struggles while establishing his own unique approach to lighting. Tune in and discover the importance of just getting started and enjoying every day as it comes.

We all have stories that beg to be heard. Yet, not many have the privilege to share them. BK Fulton takes it upon himself to add to the narrative of stories that inspire and uplift humanity through film and media. In this episode, he joins David Jensen and Cecily Chambers to share with us his journey from corporate life as a CEO of Verizon Mid-Atlantic to transitioning to community empowerment with his own film and media investment company, Soulidifly. BK drills down on his 50-year plan with the lessons he learned along the way and the new and exciting ventures he is taking. Promoting a more inclusive narrative in contemporary media, he then explores how he is bringing and inspiring creatives to tell those stories. Join BK in today's great conversation as he moves us to break the rules when we need to and to do more good in the world.

One of the most important elements of filmmaking, particularly sci-fi ones, is the special effects. And for John Dykstra, embracing your adrenaline rush and going fast is the best way to come up with those mesmerizing and believable visual illusions. He joins David Jensen and Cecily Chambers to share how his childhood desire with speed reflected on his work for the special effects of Star Wars, especially the attack on the Death Star. John also explains how the movie-making industry has come a long way from using analog techniques to favoring full digital special effects, how this significant change impacted the skillsets of SFX professionals, and the legacy that this film element will leave to the world of Hollywood.

To successfully entice people in buying what you have to offer, piquing their interest is the first major step. And for John Livesay, selling through storytelling is the most effective way to do so. The well-known author and keynote speaker joins David Jensen and Cecily Chambers in discussing why integrating the relatable and unique is key in unlocking the most effective sales pitch. By gathering enough confidence in telling stories, entrepreneurs can forge meaningful connections with their audience like no other. John also talks about his different faces of fear, balancing work and relaxation, and handling sales challenges, especially during the pandemic.

A platform that provides the opportunity to invest in emerging and established artists on an easy-to-use platform, AmplifyX empowers anyone to participate in and shape the music industry. Joining David Jensen and Cecily Chambers on the show today is Adam Cowherd, the Founder and CEO of AmplifyX. Adam shares how they’re democratizing access to capital for motivated musicians and explains how, by funding artists, you can add the potential for music royalties to your portfolio and help shape the industry for years to come.

For the past 15 years, Matt Heller has been uncompromisingly focused on understanding the Millennial generation. He's spent much of that time creating and executing successful brand strategies for companies targeting this unique generation — no easy endeavor, considering they are the largest, most diverse population of consumers in history. With a focus on bridging the gap between entertainment and branding, his experience includes significant work in advertising, marketing, publicity, as well as film and television production. Together with David Jensen and Cecily Chambers, Matt discusses Millennials' behavior deeply rooted in fear from things out of their control, significantly affecting how they handle technology, politics, racial issues, and even suicidal thoughts.

California may be a rich state by any standards, but it is also home to much of the nation’s homeless population. Such is the magnitude of the problem that it is baffling why governments are not doing more than they already are to provide affordable housing and social support for these unfortunate people. Filling in the gap left by government negligence and inaction, mischief makers are calling for a positive change while doing what they can to mitigate the situation. Leading the charge is Marc Norman, an internationally-recognized expert on affordable housing and community development and the founder of the consulting firm, Ideas and Action. Joining David Jensen and Cecily Chambers on the podcast, Marc tackles the difficult subject of homelessness and the structural inequalities behind it that require a radical and strategic intervention to solve.

Can you imagine a world where sex is a core pillar of wellness, right alongside eating veggies and getting regular exercise? As more and more people are starting to recognize the importance of sex and intimacy to our health and happiness, the sexual wellness space is fast gaining a foothold in the market and making its way into the cultural zeitgeist. One such app that is making waves right now is Coral. It helps to improve happiness, impact lives, and create a more intimately connected and fulfilled society by facilitating sexual education, acceptance, and connection. Joining David Jensen and Cecily Chambers on today’s podcast is Isharna Walsh, Coral’s CEO and Founder. Isharna explains that sexuality is an integral part of our happiness, health, and identity, and as such, we should invest in our sex lives. She talks about her inspiration to create Coral and the process of pitching the idea to investors, as well as the three key pillars of the product. Tune in to this episode and discover your desires, sexy context and what you can do to create that space.

When faced with a big career decision or taking a risk to enter into the unknown we are often crippled by fear. This could be fear of being outside of our comfort zone, fear of not being capable or valuable, fear of being 'found out', and/or fear of failure. Many of these fears are not actually that warranted or that scary but we build them up subconsciously in our minds. However if we stopped to pause and look at our fears in the daylight, we would realize that we can choose how we respond to them and how we rise to face them and eventually transcend them. Chell Smith knows a lot about rising to the occasion and taking risks! As the only woman in the boardroom many times, she is used to constantly challenging conventional wisdom. On today’s podcast, Chell joins David Jensen and Cecily Chambers to talk about the importance of taking risks, and thriving in change. She also talks about combating imposter syndrome, beating cancer twice, and always having a sense of play in everything you do.

Creativity is structured. It may sound a contradiction of terms, but when you really think of it, it does make sense. We live in a structured world and creative energy does not float amorphously through it without some structure to contain it – to allow us to focus in it. Before artists can create, then need to put up a structure that will allow us to work in their creative space. This episode’s guest, Kario Salem, knows this to be true from his decades of experience as an artist. Kario is a respected pluralist, actor, screenwriter and musician. In this conversation with with David Jensen and Cecily Chambers, Kario shares his creative journey in acting, music and writing, and the lessons he accumulated over those colorful years. Listen and partake of his valuable insights on ambition and rebellion, being present, willful destruction of the ego and his honest thoughts on the country’s political atmosphere in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial unrest and social upheaval.

How does America look like to persons of immigrant background right now? How does the promise of America that they have believed growing up square with the realities of injustice and intolerance? Is America really great or will the things that make it great eventually be its downfall? David Jensen and Cecily Chambers get some powerful insights to these questions from California-based artist, Amir Fallah. Amir’s experiences as someone who comes from an immigrant background solidified his views on how America measures up in terms of justice, equality, diversity and inclusion. He powerfully expresses these insights in this conversation. Amir also talks about other subjects on this episode, including his honest thoughts on Bandsky’s graffiti art, the relationship between ambition and rebellion, his unique portraiture style, and outsiderness and success.

There is so much talent and potential for change leadership hiding in underserved communities and among people who were not traditionally given opportunities. The Caravanserai Project, a nonprofit that supports social innovators and change makers along their journeys, aims to make inroads into that huge pool of undiscovered leadership potential through SEED Lab, an 8-month pre-accelerator for early stage social entrepreneurs. Join in as hosts, David Jensen and Cecily Chambers talk to the orchestrators and prime movers, Stephen Bennett and Mihai Patru. Learn a great deal from their insights on social impact entrepreneurship, change leadership, the role of influencers, COVID-19 activism and so much more in this wonderful conversation. Plus, learn what structured mischief means for Stephen and Mihai and how it figures in the groundbreaking work that they do.

There is something special about being a nonconformist, an outsider who is unique and set apart from the mainstream. This urge to feel special is so strong in some circles that the tendency towards gatekeeping is palpable even when it doesn’t really reflect reality anymore. Celebrity and social media influencer Chloe Dykstra takes the example of nerd culture to illustrate this. Joining David Jensen and Cecily Chambers, she shares her insights on why people who identify with nerd culture cling to gatekeeping even as nerd culture itself is being increasingly identified with pop culture. In many ways, Chloe is a troublemaker. Among her many projects and interests, she talks about Pizza and Porn and Coffee and COVID, which really show her love for breaking the rules for the greater good. Apart from these, she also talks about her views on the protest movements, COVID-19, Instagram and more.

In this episode, Kenny Gravillis joins David Jensen and Cecily Chambers to talk about how he has navigated the waters of being a black-owned agency in the mostly white-dominated entertainment marketing field. Kenny is the co-founder and chief creative officer of Gravillis, Inc.—a boutique graphic design firm that specializes in television and film marketing campaigns. He takes us across his journey to finding success in his field along with the challenges he has encountered, especially when it comes to seeking representation, diversity, and inclusion, and later on, moving forward those needs in the industry. He then discusses how it is not his job as a marketer to make the audience feel comfortable and why it is important to be authentic and use power for good. Join this conversation as Kenny shares more about his experiences working with Spike Lee and Melina Matsoukas and designing iconic movie posters like Straight Outta Compton, Black Klansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Star Wars (to name a few). Plus, Kenny ponders, "Where is the black Seth Rogen?" today on the podcast.

In what ways has activism changed over the past six decades and in what ways has it stayed the same? David Mixner knows, having been a civil rights, anti-war and LGBT rights activist for 60 years. Having been around that long in the protest movement, David possesses an incredible amount of wisdom and experience, which he shares in this interview with David Jensen and Cecily Chambers. David is a storyteller and for much of this conversation, he imparts his biggest lessons in life through his powerful stories. In a world that is once more in upheaval, his message of courage is an inspiration to all those who continue to stand for what is right to this day. Whether you’re a long-time activist or someone who has just started making their voice heard, this episode is definitely for you.