In this episode, Ari Alvarez, a visual thinker, design thinker, and teacher from Mexico City, Mexico, talks about her shift from being an industrial design professor at university into full-time visual thinking and teaching.

She shares how experiencing professional and person burnout led her to this radical change into full-time visual thinking.

This is an inspiring discussion you won’t want to miss!

Sponsored by the Sketchnote Ideabook

This episode of the Sketchnote Army Podcast is brought to you by The Sketchnote Ideabook, the sketchbook designed for sketchnoters.

Equipped with a no-bleed, now show through paper, The Sketchnote Ideabook can take almost any marker or pen you can throw at it.

Save 15% on your entire order of Sketchnote Ideabooks and Autoquill Pen sets at the Airship Store when you use code IDEABOOK15 through December 31, 2021.

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Running Order

• Intro: Who is Ari?
• Ari’s origin story
• Dealing with burnout
• Ari’s transition into visual thinking
• Teaching visual thinking to others
• Working with Clubhouse
• Teaching in Spanish
• Ari’s Masters in self-driven learning
• Tools
• 3 tips
• Outro

Links

• Ari’s website
• Ari on LinkedIn
• Ari on Instagram
• Ari on Facebook
• The Sketchnote Handbook
• Mexican Art
• Clubhouse

Tools

Amazon affiliate links support the Sketchnote Army Podcast.

• The best tool will not save a poor visual map
• Copic Markers
• Tombow
• Sakura Micron
• Chameleon Markers
• The Sketchnote Ideabook
• Moleskine Dot Grid
• iPad Pro
• Apple Pencil
• Noteshelf
• Apple Notes
• Procreate

Credits

• Producer: Alec Pulianas
• Theme music: Jon Schiedermayer

Subscribe to the Sketchnote Army Podcast

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Support the Podcast

To support the creation, production and hosting of the Sketchnote Army Podcast, buy one of Mike Rohde’s bestselling books. Use code ROHDE40 at Peachpit.com for 40% off!

Subscribe to the Sketchnote Podcast

You can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube or your favorite podcast listening source.

Support the Podcast

To support the creation, production, and hosting of the Sketchnote Army Podcast, buy one of Mike Rohde's bestselling books. Use code ROHDE40 at Peachpit.com for 40% off!

Sketchnote Lab is Mike Rohde’s space designed to bridge the gap between sketchnote theory and practice. You don’t need to be an artist to think visually. Join Mike and learn to use sketchnotes to clarify your thinking, solve problems, and move forward. Learn more about Sketchnote Lab.

Mike is the author of The Sketchnote Handbook and The Sketchnote Workbook, bestselling books that teach regular people how to start sketchnoting and build a regular sketchnoting practice.

He founded the Sketchnote Army and hosts the Sketchnote Podcast, where he interviews visual thinkers to understand what makes them tick.

Mike teaches recorded, live, and in-person workshops to accelerate your sketchnoting practice and provides personalized coaching for your specific visual-thinking challenges.

He is the illustrator of bestselling books like REWORK, REMOTE, The $100 Startup, Honest SEO, The Culture Playbook, and The Future Begins with Z.

Become a Supporting or Founding Lab Partner to support Mike’s work.

Some links in Sketchnote Lab posts are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools and resources I use and believe in.

©2026 Mike Rohde, Sketchnote Lab