Creative Capes

Most founders wait for the right idea. Tessa Clarke spent years doing exactly that before realising she'd been looking for the wrong thing, she should have been looking for a problem she cared about.

Since co-founding Olio in 2015 with Saasha Celestial-One, Tessa has grown the food sharing app to more than 10 million users and an estimated £1.1 billion in social impact, alongside a B2B arm that now redistributes surplus for supermarkets, schools and production companies.

Tessa is also a teacher at the Executive Programme at Future London Academy. Learn from her in-person: https://fla.wiki/4wZMcJ5

In this video, you'll learn:
▶ Why a two-week WhatsApp group proved the concept before a single line of code was written
▶ How Olio's most enthusiastic early users turned out to be the ones with nothing to give, and the third audience she built to close the gap
▶ Why Duolingo's streaks would never work for surplus food, and how to test a borrowed mechanic before you copy it
▶ How signing one supermarket outgrew everything the consumer app could achieve on its own
▶ How to answer a prevention-based question with a promotion-based response, and why female founders get asked them in the first place
▶ Why nobody cares about your solution, only whether you understand their problem

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Tessa Clarke Co-Founder of Olio Solving Food Waste at Scale
04:56 Why Tessa Clarke Chose Business Over Charity
09:41 Why Purpose-Driven Business Attracts Gen Z Talent
14:05 How Olio Started as a WhatsApp Experiment
19:05 The Food Waste Heroes Programme That Solved Olio's Supply Problem
21:34 How B Corp Status Helped People Understand Olio's Business Model
28:37 Why Financial Incentives Backfired for Olio
34:44 How Tessa Clarke Raised $50 Million as a Female Founder
43:32 What Is Earth Overshoot Day
47:00 How Olio Measures Its Social Impact Beyond Profit
50:34 Why Olio Pivoted from B2C to B2B
56:30 How to Pitch Purpose to Corporate Buyers
1:00:25 Tessa Clarke Wants to Replace GDP as Our Success Metric

#designforgood #sustainability #olio

Acts of kindness feel good, but they are rarely profitable. Ivo Gormley has spent nearly twenty years proving it's possible while creating an incredible community around helping people.We sat down with him to find out how.

Since starting GoodGym in 2007 with a single newspaper run, Ivo has built it into a movement of 25,000+ volunteers across 60+ cities. He's been awarded an OBE and made GoodGym the first-ever charity to win the Sky Zero Footprint Fund Grand Prix.

Ivo is also a teacher at the Executive Programme at Future London Academy.

Learn from him in-person: https://fla.wiki/3TdVYZlIn this video, you'll learn:

▶ How an £8 suggestion made over a pint became a reliable, recurring source of income

▶ Why he chose to become a charity, not a business, and doesn't regret it

▶ How he built what he needed because no one else did

▶ Why a genuine, acknowledged role in delivering something beats a frictionless experience of receiving it

▶ Why designing for contribution creates more winners than competition

0:00 - Who is Ivo Gormley? GoodGym founder introduction

1:41 - Anthropology, comedy & service design: Ivo's career path

6:03 - The story behind GoodGym: why Ivo started it

9:05 - Quitting his job to go full-time on GoodGym (2013)

12:14 - Group runs & community volunteering: the GoodGym model

14:34 - GoodGym's donation-based business model explained

19:29 - How GoodGym got local councils to invest

24:55 - GoodGym during COVID: volunteering through the pandemic

35:25 - Charity vs social enterprise: why GoodGym chose nonprofit status

44:55 - Design, loneliness & human connection

52:45 - How AI is eroding human identity (the Stack Overflow effect)

1:04:20 - Building a business with AI without losing human connectionSubscribe to our social media channels:

Instagram: @futurelondonacademy

LinkedIn: Future London Academy

futurelondonacademy.co.uk

#socialimpact #designforgood #socialimpact #design

How can design create impact at a systems level, across business, government and the planet? Cat Drew has spent a large part of her career answering exactly that question.

Chief Design Officer at Design Council, the UK's design body, set up nearly 80 years ago to help rebuild the post-war economy. Cat works at the intersection of design, business, policy and sustainability.

Cat is also faculty member of our Executive Programme for Design Leaders: https://fla.wiki/4vsrYWRAs

In our conversation, we explored how designers can better communicate their value, why sustainability belongs in every designer's toolkit, and what it takes to influence entire systems.

What you'll learn:

► How to build design's influence inside a large organisation, and make the business case for it, from Decathlon to Impossible Foods

► Why sustainability and "skills for the planet" now belong in every designer's toolkit

► How design can shape government policy, not just products

👤 Who this episode is for: Chief Design Officers · Design Leaders · Heads of Design · Policy Makers · Sustainability Leads · and anyone curious about design's role in business, government and the planet

00:00 Meet Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer at Design Council

2:04 80 Years of Design Council: From Post-War Product Awards to Design for Planet

6:45 Why Governments and Businesses Still Misunderstand the Word Design

9:39 Design Speaks a Different Language Than Business

12:10 How to Build Design Influence Inside a Large Organisation

14:33 Five Business Arguments for Design, With Case Studies From Decathlon to Impossible Foods

19:04 What Governments Actually Care About: Design Economy vs Design for Policy

23:54 Measuring Impact in the Public Sector From Vulnerable Families to Mental Health Access

29:54 Salford Wetlands: A Design Solution That Solves Five Problems at Once

32:34 Should Designers Even Use the Word "Design"?36:44 Introducing Skills for the Planet and the Weight of Design's Responsibility

45:58 How Can Designers Advocate for the Planet

49:31 Judging FLA's Executive Programme & What Design Leaders Are Building Next

52:03 Q&A: B Corp Certification vs Measurable Regenerative Impact

53:42 Q&A: Why Designers Need Hands in Soil and Feet in Rivers

56:49 Q&A: Fixing Design Education for the Next Generation

01:03:45 Q&A: Designing for Systems When Work Is Project-Based

01:06:08 Q&A: Building a Business Case for Retainer-Based Sustainability Work

01:10:35 Q&A: Who Kat Thinks We Should Invite Next to the Podcast & Why

01:12:21 Q&A: Bridging a Career Into Purpose-Led Work

More about our Executive Programme at Future London Academy: https://fla.wiki/4vsrYWR

#design #designcouncil #valueofdesign

How design leaders build influence, navigate conflict, and lead across cultures. In this episode, Ekaterina sits down with Julia Whitney, executive coach and former General Manager and Executive Creative Director at the BBC, where she led a 150-person UX and design team.Julia spent over 20 years as a design leader across the UK and US before turning her experience into a coaching practice that helps design leaders at companies like Condé Nast, AWS, the Financial Times, and IDEO perform at their best.Julia is also a teacher at our Executive programme for Design Leaders: https://fla.wiki/4fDlOirWhat you'll learn:

► Why self-limiting beliefs about leadership are the hidden barrier for most design leaders

► How to build sponsorship at the next level up — and why empathy is the first step

► How cultural differences shape communication, hierarchy, and trust — and what to do about it

► The four types of workplace conflict and why identifying them early changes everything

👤 Who this episode is for:

Design Leaders · Heads of Design · Creative Directors · UX Leaders · People Managers · Anyone going for a senior or C-level role · Anyone who's been passed over for promotion and wants to understand why

00:00:00 Welcome, Julia Whitney, Executive Coach and former Executive Creative Director at BBC

00:02:05 What design leaders most commonly struggle with

00:04:20 Self-limiting beliefs and the leader you think you have to be

00:07:25 How introverts can build influence without performing extroversion

00:12:00 Levels of zoom: how leadership shifts at every career stage

00:17:25 Why candidates get rejected for senior roles — and what to do instead

00:20:00 How to build sponsorship at C-level using empathy

00:27:25 Generational differences at work: what the research actually says

00:36:20 Multi-hyphenate careers and the future of work

00:40:25 Remote vs in-office: why it's more nuanced than you think

00:46:55 The SCARF Model and why people resist change

00:49:30 Leading multicultural teams and the Culture Map by Erin Meyer

00:54:35 High-context vs low-context cultures and remote communication

00:59:30 How to handle conflict: the broken record technique and four conflict types

01:07:05 Centralising design in a broadcaster organisation

01:13:45 Final thoughts and who Julia recommends we speak to next

By 26, Ivy Ross had jewellery in the permanent collections of 12 international museums, including the Smithsonian and V&A. She went on to hold executive roles at Calvin Klein, Swatch, Mattel, Gap, and Disney before arriving at Google, where her hardware design team has since won over 240 global design awards and helped Fast Company name Google the most important design company in the world in 2018.

Her book Your Brain on Art, co-authored with neuroscientist Susan Magsamen, became a New York Times bestseller. She is one of the most creatively accomplished people working in business today.

Future London Academy spent a day with her in London, during which Ivy has shared And if you are curious about our Executive Programme for Design Leader that Ivy teaches on, you can find more information here: https://fla.wiki/4evyOFI

How can designers reach the executive level, and what are their responsibilities and the impact they get to create?To find out, join our Design Executives Series with Tim Greenhalgh, Founder and Creative Director at Like a Moth and former Chief Creative Officer at Landor & Fitch, one of the most iconic creative agencies in the world.Tim is also faculty member of our

Executive Programme for Design Leaders: https://fla.wiki/3RTKnxH

Over more than 30 years, Tim has led a team of over 1,200 curious minds across 20 countries, creating award-winning brand experiences for clients including Apple, LEGO, and Adidas. During our live interview, Tim will share his mistakes and learnings, along with insights into leading at executive level.

What you'll learn

► How to create and maintain high-quality design standards, and motivate the team to "destroy the ordinary"

► The value of design and creativity for business performance

► Tim's journey from creative director to chief creative officer

00:00 Meet Tim Greenhalgh — 40 years leading global creative at Fitch and Landor, now founder of Like a Moth

02:00 What Tim learned from Rodney Fitch about the value of design

05:15 How to justify the value of design to clients

13:00 How to present bold creative ideas so clients say yes

19:25 Why most creative briefs are just agendas and how to fix them

23:35 What nobody tells you about being a chief creative officer

33:10 Dealing with underperformers in creative teams without burning the culture

35:30 Why there's no such thing as a bad project

45:20 How Tim uses sight, insight, foresight to start every creative project

52:40 Destroy Ordinary: the creative framework that united 26 global studios

57:45 The future of craft, ideas and creative leadership

01:06:00 How to sell the value of an idea (not just the design) to business leaders

01:08:45 Has hybrid working destroyed studio culture?

01:12:20 If you could change one thing in the world

👤 Who this episode is for: Design Leaders · Creative Directors · Heads of Design · Agency Founders · Brand Strategists · Innovation Leads · and anyone curious about creativity, leadership, and business

Tim is also faculty member of our Executive Programme for Design Leaders: https://fla.wiki/3RTKnxH

How IDEO uses play to solve real business problems. In this interview, Ekaterina sits down with Michelle Lee, IDEO Partner and Executive Managing Director of IDEO San Francisco.

Michelle Lee began her career as an aerospace engineer, working on satellites, wondering why it took so long to launch one. A friend's room full of toys changed everything. What followed was a winding path through the toy industry: an internship at IDEO in 2004, a startup she spun out and left, and a return to lead the Play Lab. Over two decades, she brought over 250 products to market with Hasbro, Mattel, and Sesame Workshop, and today, she is Partner and Executive Managing Director of IDEO's San Francisco studio.In a recent conversation with Future London Academy, Michelle shared what she's learned about creativity, leadership, ambiguity, and why play is one of the most underestimated tools in business.

What you'll learn:

► Why play is a serious business tool, not a frivolous one

► How to design a non-linear career by following curiosity rather than chasing titles

► How to move from individual contributor into leadership without losing the craft

► Why clients are partners, not customers, and how generosity builds trust

► How to prove the ROI of design, play, and creativity using IDEO's POWER framework

► How to use AI as a sparring partner without losing your creativity

👤 Who this episode is for: Design Leaders · Product Designers · Heads of Design · Service Designers · Experience Designers · Creative Directors · Agency Founders · Innovation Leads · and anyone curious about creativity, leadership, and business

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and why play matters in business

05:30 How to design a non-linear career by following curiosity

10:30 From individual contributor to leader without losing the craft

17:00 Heart vs dollar sign: balancing creativity and business as a senior professional

20:30 Why clients are partners, not customers

24:30 How to step into senior leadership without going it alone

29:30 The IDEO IQ framework and the ROI of play

41:30 How to sit in ambiguity and why good friction matters

48:30 How to convince business leaders that play drives results

53:30 Cultivating IDEO's culture: concrete floors and rough prototypes

01:01:30 AI at IDEO: rough, rapid, right prototyping in the AI era

01:10:30 Earning design a seat at the table and more curiosity in the world

Nearly 30 years ago, James Hilton answered an ad in Creative Review, met a stranger named Ajaz Ahmed, and they signed Virgin as their first client. That was the beginning of AKQA.

AKQA went on to win Grand Prix Cannes Lions, James was named the UK's number one digital creative director three times, and they were acquired by WPP for around $550 million. He also made the Creativity 50 alongside Jonathan Ive and Lady Gaga.

What followed was a design studio, a custom motorcycle brand featured by Netflix and Top Gear, a Chief Creative Officer role at Native, and now a position inside Abbott, helping a 100,000-person healthcare company grow.
James invited Future London Academy to his home outside London to chat about his journey.

And if you are curious about our Executive Programme for Design Leader that James teaches on, you can find more information here: https://fla.wiki/42jCun4

00:00:00 — Meet James Hilton — The Design Leader Who Built AKQA Into a 6,000-Person Agency

00:01:00 — Selling AKQA for £340M

00:04:00 — What made AKQA succeed: obsession, craft & hiring people smarter than you

00:09:00 — The founder's paradox: staying in the work vs. scaling a creative business

00:11:00 — Building a Culture of Honest Feedback as a Creative Leadership Strategy

00:16:00 — Over-delivering as a growth strategy: how AKQA became a trusted advisor

00:28:00 — Life after AKQA: leaving, fear, and starting over from scratch

00:37:00 — Imposter syndrome, catastrophic thinking & using data to fight anxiety

00:44:00 — Stoicism as a leadership practice: the philosophy that changed everything

00:49:00 — Design with a capital D: transforming organisations at scale (Abbott case study)

00:53:00 — Why design leaders are a business value lever, not a visual service

01:00:00 — AI as a design tool, post-scarcity futures & final advice for design leaders

#designleadership #agencyfounder

How Bompas & Parr built a creative agency that stands out.In this interview, Ekaterina sits down Sam Bompass. Nearly 20 years ago, Sam Bompas quit his job in property PR to make jelly. Since then, as co-founder of Bompas & Parr, Sam has cooked on molten lava, built a breathable cloud of gin and tonic, and founded the British Museum of Food. His studio works with governments, global brands like Coca-Cola, Johnnie Walker, and Mercedes, and major cultural institutions including the V&A, the Design Museum, and The Met. In a recent conversation with Future London Academy, he shared his remarkable hard-won wisdom about creativity, leadership, and what it really takes to build something lasting.What you’ll learn► How to turn a creative experiment into a scalable experiential agency► Why systemising ideas strengthens creativity rather than limiting it► How to pitch bold concepts while protecting budgets, feasibility, and client trust► What it takes to lead multidisciplinary teams across food, design, strategy, and making► How to use history and culture as a source of commercially powerful innovation► Why AI will not replace human creativity, and what founders should focus on instead👤 Who this episode is for:Design Leaders · Product Designers · Head of Design · Service Designers · Experience Designers · Brand Designers · Agency founders · Creatives · Creative Directors · and anyone interested in creativity and business Chapters: 00:00 Welcome introduction and the origin of Bompas and Parr06:37 From jelly experiments to building a global experiential agency13:01 Creative risk safety lessons and scaling ambitious ideas18:48 Finding inspiration in London and using history as creative fuel30:22 Systematising ideas from studio archives to client-ready concepts35:43 What makes a strong idea clarity impact, feasibility and business value42:32 Pitching bold work, presenting multiple routes, and winning client trust49:43 Leading multidisciplinary teams culture rituals and hybrid working56:41 Co-founder dynamics long-term partnership, and complementary strengths01:03:51 PR visibility and rescuing projects under pressure01:09:54 Food, drink, design inspiration and the power of service01:13:57 AI: The future of creativity and discovering new cultural possibilities

With so many AI tools flying around, it’s easy for creative teams to feel overwhelmed. Which tools actually matter? And more importantly, what stays uniquely human in design leadership as technology evolves?

In this episode of Design Leadership in the Boardroom,Ekaterina sits down with Cal Thompson, VP Design at Headspace and curator of Future London Academy’s Product Design Strategy course. Cal shares how AI is changing the strategic power of design (not replacing it), where these tools genuinely help guiding roadmaps, measuring product signals, prototyping visions, and where they don’t belong at all, especially when it comes to anchoring human stories.

Joining as a special guest, Rachel Arredondo , Senior Product Designer at Headspace, offers a practical, grounded view of AI as a thought collaborator. She shows how she uses Claude to expand her reach without outsourcing judgment, and why designers must shape tools just as much as tools shape us.

Expect a conversation rooted in empathy, culture, and creative responsibility, plus a clear, usable framework for deciding where AI fits in your design process.

What you’ll learn 

• Why design’s strategic influence can grow in an AI-enabled world
• Where AI helps most across the process of guiding roadmap, synthesising measurement signals, prototyping future visions, navigating crowded markets
• Why human observation and interviews can’t be replaced by synthesis tools
• How to build a design culture that fuels collaboration, trust, and imagination
• What AI means for junior talent, and how leaders should rethink career pathways
• Why the next “design movement” will be collective, not solo-AI driven

Who this episode is for

Design Leaders · Product Designers · Head of Design · Head of UX / UX Director · Product Design Lead · UX Design Lead / Design Lead · Design Managers & Senior ICs navigating AI adoption · Solo/In-house designers · Creatives and cross-functional partners (PMs, researchers, engineers) shaping AI-enabled products