Dig Beneath Design Podcast

When the COVID lockdowns hit Sydney, landscape architect Jess Hodge turned to cooking for stress relief, discovering a talent that got her into Season 13 of MasterChef Australia.

Her passion for plants and food sparked a hunger to learn about native ingredients and collaborate with First Nations knowledge holders. Now, Jess is principal landscape architect at Yerrabingin, a Designing with Country practice in Sydney. She shares the milestones, mentors and attitudes that helped shape her unconventional career journey. Find out how to ride waves of opportunity, keep an eye out for burnout, and what to do when a prime minister walks out of your presentation.

This episode is produced in partnership with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA).

Pouring beer and waiting tables during uni, Terrence Stapleton would never have dreamed of his fabulous future career. Now he’s a successful landscape architect leading TCL’s Sydney studio, with rich, complex projects all over Australia. Terrence reveals how he learnt to be confident in his own strengths, champion his team and curate diverse voices to get the best results. Find out how to hold your own when your client has 20 years more experience, keep your cool when fighting to save trees on an infrastructure project and ways to flip the script at your next design review panel.

Dr Libby Gallagher designs major parks in Sydney, teaches at leading universities and advises government on urban tree canopy. Her Cool Streets research gained national media coverage and was featured in the Powerhouse Museum's 100 Climate Conversations. But Libby’s success hasn’t come easy - - she reveals the leaps of faith that forged her career path, the long days and late nights spent honing her work and the courage it's taken to make sure her message of climate resilience reaches as many people as possible. Find out how to welcome critique but stand firm against unjustified attacks, how to translate your research into action and why facing your fears can lead to surprising results.

Freelance photographer Bo Wong has done things most sole traders only dream of. Like take an 8-month creative sabbatical, swim in the ocean daily, even collaborate successfully with family and friends. Now she supports other creative freelancers trying to juggle life, work and wellbeing through mentoring, retreats and her Soul Traders podcast. Find out why it’s better to be respected than liked, when to use containers in your communication, and the three words you need to remove from your emails right now.

As a young planner, John O’Callaghan created a buzz in the industry by using social media to get his peers engaged with cities. Now, after ten years leading strategic planning and engagement company JOC Consulting, John shares how he learnt to slow down, find his voice and focus his energy in order to have the greatest impact. Find out how to disrupt a highly regulated industry and harness the latest tech for powerful engagement, plus what John really thinks about planning jargon.

Nicole Larkin is an architect, artist and an expert on ocean pools. Her Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship canvassed all 59 pools along the NSW coast, allowing Nicole to create opportunities, forge connections and bring a fresh perspective to coastal design, planning and policy. Find out what it takes to go from recent graduate to respected expert, ways to supercharge your career and generate dream projects, plus what needs to go up front in your next presentation.

Host of Grand Designs New Zealand for six years, Chris Moller is a charismatic TV star. But behind the camera is an erudite architect urbanist who challenges the way we live, build and think. Chris has taught at prestigious architecture schools, run practices in the UK, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and invented a prefab building product called Click-Raft. His latest project is a community centre in Christchurch inspired by a giant shellfish.

Helen Lochhead sends a refreshing jolt of energy through the architecture profession. As the first female dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at UNSW Sydney, national president of the Australian Institute of Architects and one of the Australian Financial Review’s top 100 women of influence - she’s resilient, ambitious and inspiring. Helen shares insights on communicating ideas in private practice, the public sector and academia. Find out how to impress a design review panel, how to beat imposter syndrome and embrace your own leadership style, plus essential tips for student presentations.

Greg Grabasch models a new role for landscape architects - as design facilitators. In 2006 he founded UDLA design studio in Fremantle, Western Australia on strong principles of social and environmental justice. Greg talks about holding the middle ground - building and maintaining trust with communities while delivering outcomes for developer and government clients. Find out how Greg became the go-to landscape architect for the trickiest projects in the toughest towns and why he thinks designers need to listen more than they speak.

Indira Naidoo is an expert communicator. You might have seen her on TV, heard her on radio or read her books The Edible Balcony and its sequel The Edible City. Indira knows how to hook you into a story, from a spelling bee that nearly spelled the end of her TV career to a real-life bee that’s become a symbol of hope for climate resilience.

Find out Indira’s top tips from 30 years in the communications industry: how to grab people’s attention in an era of fake news, why never to watch yourself on film, what she really wants to hear from designers and how to deal with sexism in the workplace.