Inside the Design Studio with David Peck

She flew across Canada to audition for the Moulin Rouge and told no one.

Allie Goodbun has danced at the Moulin Rouge in Paris for five years. She grew up in Woodstock, Ontario, a small town with one dance studio, and found the audition during a study break in her second year of kinesiology.

She flew to Vancouver for 48 hours, auditioned, and was back in a lecture hall on Monday morning without telling anyone she had gone. The contract came six months later. The pandemic held the move for two more years.

We talk about what it actually took to build a life in Paris, why she started posting and woke up to three million views, and how she and fellow dancer Georgia Dewstow-Smith built Ready Freddie while living on opposite sides of the world. She knows she can't dance forever, and she's building things along the way.

I lived in Paris for almost five years myself, and I moved back. She doubled down. Knowing what I know now, would I have made that same decision?

CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold Open and Introduction

0:48 Meeting Before Paris

1:17 What She Grew Up Thinking She'd Be

3:02 A Small Town and a Single Dance Studio

4:07 The Dance Competition Years

5:04 The Next Step, and a Character Built Around Her

7:39 The Rabbit Hole That Found the Moulin Rouge

10:54 Inside the Audition

13:45 Six Months of Waiting, and Telling No One

14:46 What Her Parents Actually Said

16:31 What the Pandemic Delay Gave Her

18:58 Landing in Paris

22:04 Five Years In, and France Feeling Normal

24:03 Why She Started Posting

26:57 Three Million Views Overnight

28:54 Starting Ready Freddie with Georgia

33:33 Setting Goals, and Why Spontaneous Ideas Win

38:00 What She Will and Won't Put Online

41:11 Staying Grounded While Looking for What's Next

45:06 22 Questions

47:43 Close

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

https://www.instagram.com/alliegoodbun/

https://www.tiktok.com/@alliegoodbun

https://readyfreddieshop.com

https://www.moulinrouge.fr

FULL SHOW NOTES AND TRANSCRIPT

https://davidpeck.co/podcast/53-allie-goodbun-moulin-rouge

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@itsdavidpeck on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok

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His first collection was set to launch on September 13, 2001.

Fifty-two episodes in, this is the first time I've had another fashion designer in this chair.

Rubin Singer and I have some interesting parallels. He launched his own label in 2007, the year I came home from Paris. We both started lines in New York, inside the traditional structure — market appointments, wholesale accounts, press, runway shows. We've both had to rebuild our businesses over the years and respond to recessions, COVID, and the fickleness of the fashion business.

He's a third-generation couturier. His grandfather, whose name he carries, made clothes for the highest officials of the Soviet Union. His father designed costumes for the Bolshoi. Rubin was born in Vienna while his parents were defecting from the USSR, raised in Paris, and made in New York.

He was in the store for two days of trunk shows and then for this live interview in front of a studio audience. At the end of September, I'm taking a group of eight of our clients to Paris for his runway show at the Palais de Tokyo, where he'll be showing alongside jewelry designer Jill Reno.

We talk about the piece of lace that was his first toy, walking away from Juilliard, getting hired at Oscar de la Renta as a button sorter, dressing Beyoncé years before the Super Bowl, and why none of that put money in the bank.

IN THIS EPISODE

0:00 The runway became a triage

0:52 Three generations of Singers

2:10 A piece of lace on the floor

2:35 Rebelling, ballet, and Juilliard

3:27 Two people who quit their first art

4:42 Defecting: the culture exchange and the Palais Garnier

5:07 Born on the way to France

6:33 Russian at home, French at school, English on the street

7:41 Creative careers don't come with a directory

8:38 "Actually, three"

9:04 September 13, 2001

9:31 A year he couldn't work, and the Bolshoi Opera

9:58 Carolina Herrera, the beige suit, and Kensington Palace

11:47 Fifty drawings in a box, and a job sorting buttons

12:14 Kai Milla, a severance check, and a collection built on parentheses

13:30 Linda Dresner and Vogue

13:57 Beyoncé first, then Alicia Keys, then Glenn Close

15:12 Why celebrity placement doesn't equal sales

17:31 Falling flat on your face is the tuition

18:48 Cash flow, factors, and Super Smile toothpaste

21:12 Be new — but not too new

23:54 What QVC taught him about himself

26:21 Relaunching ready-to-wear in Paris

29:04 Designing a life that fits you

29:57 Listening to what your blood whispers

30:20 The Lightning Round

32:26 Close

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

rubinsinger.com

@rubinsinger

His favorite book to give

FULL SHOW NOTES AND TRANSCRIPT

https://davidpeck.co/podcast/rubinsinger

CONNECT

davidpeck.co

@itsdavidpeck on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok

If this episode was useful, a rating or a quick review helps more people find the show.

My mom said she was glad Dolly wasn't political. I disagree. Dolly Parton was deeply political.

The week Dolly Parton died, the President of the United States and the Democratic Socialists released essentially the same statement about her. One woman, both sides, same sentiment. That doesn't happen by staying out of it.

In this Voice Notes episode, I make the case that Dolly was deeply political and never partisan — and that we've largely lost the ability to tell those two things apart. From the Texas drag ban struck down the day she died, to Dollywood as economic policy, to "Travelin' Thru" and what it did to a twenty-something's beliefs, this is about how one woman changed minds without ever telling anyone how to vote.

CHAPTERS 0:00 The text I didn't answer 0:28 Both sides wanted to claim her 0:57 The day the drag ban fell 1:25 She saw everyone as human 2:02 Branson, Missouri 2:59 The t-shirt 3:22 Dolly was a paradox 3:52 It was never a costume 4:39 Dollywood was the answer 5:07 Empathy wasn't set decoration 5:40 Voting is a binary 6:03 What public Dolly did 6:51 We are all political 7:03 Four questions 7:21 Transamerica 9:00 Public Dolly, private Dolly 9:29 Made from scraps 10:17 What would Dolly do

MENTIONED

- Pivot with Kara Swisher and Kaitlyn Collins—

- Texas SB 12 ruling —

- Transamerica (2005)

- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library —

CONNECT

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Threads / Instagram / TikTok — @itsdavidpeck

Kaitlan Collins got mocked to her face and refused to take the bait. Zendaya is about to disappear on purpose.

Three people deciding how they get to be seen — and doing it by stepping back.

IN THIS EPISODE

Kaitlan Collins got mocked to her face this week at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Instead of taking the bait, she basically said, this isn't about me. Which is exactly what Zendaya is doing when she takes a step back, and the same move Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro made walking away from NPR.

I also get into Engagement Party, the new CNN podcast from Audie and Ari; Tom Holland as a case study in non-toxic masculinity; and Spider-Man: Brand New Day — which is dark and mature, but every destructive moment in it has a personal human consequence. You never feel like people are expendable.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Three people, one move

1:07 Engagement Party: I had no idea

1:58 Journalistic practice, applied to pop culture

3:07 The Touch Grass segment

3:54 Tom Holland and Zendaya are the biggest things out there

4:46 We raise people up to tear them down

6:02 Unexpected choices, and the parasocial thing

6:53 A tour de force of young Hollywood acting

7:32 Not disaster porn

8:15 Humanity behind all of it, and an Oscar case

8:44 What my sons said walking out of the theater

9:36 Kaitlan Collins and the Correspondents' Dinner

10:28 Not trying to be a personality

11:11 Not succumbing

12:20 Without a lot of fanfare

12:48 Touch grass

13:41 Colorado, and two novels

14:04 Until next time

MENTIONED

● Engagement Party (CNN) — Audie Cornish & Ari Shapiro

● Kaitlan Collins on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

● Spider-Man: Brand New Day

● The Odyssey

CONNECT

● davidpeck.co

● Threads / Instagram / TikTok — @itsdavidpeck

Three things are capturing my attention in pop culture this week, and they have almost nothing to do with each other — which is exactly why I can't stop thinking about them.

First: Threads. I was never a Twitter person, I deleted TikTok to be less distracted, and lately Instagram just feels like too much. But Threads has become one of the happiest, most affirming, genuinely funny places I land — people writing mini novels in the comments, telling wild stories, all of it. I built an algorithm that actually feels like me, and the funny part is it's a Meta platform. So now I've got a full-blown love-hate relationship with Meta, all because of Threads.

Second: the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. A little over a year ago I saw this strange building going up by the lake and had no idea what it was. Now that it's done, it makes complete sense — the speech carved as lattice into the windows, the door-of-no-return symbolism, and the fact that it's not just a presidential library but a community center with basketball courts, a sledding hill, and a Chicago public library. What moved me most was who showed up: the Obamas, the Clintons, and the Bushes, genuinely respecting each other across the aisle. That, and a Michelle Obama speech that was epic, funny, and authentic.

Third: The Capture (on Peacock in the US). A British thriller that was years ahead of its time on AI, video, and surveillance — back for a third season and more relevant than ever. The whole premise turns on "Correction," where live video gets edited in real time using AI. It's a complicated, genuinely entertaining look at technology we haven't figured out how to live with yet. Holliday Grainger is captivating, and fun fact: season one starred Callum Turner — now Dua Lipa's husband and rumored next James Bond.

What are you watching, reading, or listening to right now? Tell me — your recommendations keep showing up in these episodes.

This week's Voice Notes: three things I can't stop recommending, and one celebrity who lost me.

Brené Brown and Adam Grant's new podcast The Curiosity Shop, the tradwife thriller Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, and season two of The Four Seasons on Netflix — plus why Gwyneth Paltrow disappointed me this week. They looked like four unrelated things. They turned out to be the same conversation: the difference between real intellectual curiosity and the performance of it.

It's been a minute. If you've noticed, the podcast has been sporadic at best for the first part of this year — and I want to explain what's been happening. The short version: I was writing a book. Not the one I told you about last year, but a completely different one that grew out of my Word of the Year workbook and turned into fifty thousand words in about two months. You'll have to wait for the title — that's for another episode — but the cover is designed, the name is locked, and it's coming November 11th. I also get into the plot twist of my word of the year: Amplify didn't mean getting louder. It meant amplifying my ideas internally before I could put them out into the world.

• Amplify didn't mean "post more" — it meant amplifying my ideas internally before I could put them out into the world.

• My Word of the Year workbook spiraled into a complete book — fifty thousand words in about two months.

• I wrote it by using my own methodology on myself: assemble, refine, try.

• Coming Soon! — November 11.

• A word I choose to design my life always surprises me. The disconnect between the dictionary definition and how I live it is the most interesting part.

• 0:00 — The cold open: Amplify did the opposite of what I expected

• 0:40 — It's been a minute: where the podcast went

• 1:30 — Bigger ideas percolating: the mastermind and the "messy middle"

• 3:00 — Debuting the ART framework through the Word of the Year workbook

• 4:30 — The realization: I was writing a completely different book

• 6:00 — 50,000 words, and using my own methodology on myself

• 7:30 — What the book actually is: memoir, self-help, how-to

• 8:45 — The withhold: cover designed, name locked, November 11

• 10:00 — Back to Amplify: amplifying internally before externally

• 12:00 — Why a word, not a resolution — and how it surprises you

• 13:30 — Why I wrote it: the prescription I needed for the transition

• 15:00 — What's next: more episodes, the reveal, save the date

At 30 weeks pregnant, Rayna Reid Rayford walked into a Houston ER in excruciating pain. They sent her home. Dehydration, they said. She came back a week later, still in agony. Same diagnosis. Same dismissal.

What changed everything? Five physician family members in town for her baby shower. They asked the questions. They demanded the MRI. They found the acute necrotizing appendicitis that would have killed her if she'd been sent home again.

She's one of the lucky ones. And she couldn't stop thinking about the ones who aren't.

Pregnant and Black launches April 11th during Black Maternal Health Week — a free app connecting Black expectant mothers with culturally competent healthcare advocates who can be virtually present during appointments or emergencies. No insurance required.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why Harris County is the deadliest place in America for Black women to give birth
• What it felt like to be a lawyer with a family of doctors and still not be believed
• The Serena and Beyoncé parallel: money doesn't protect you
• How the app handles privacy in post-Roe Texas
• Why joy — not just safety — is the right word for what Black maternal health should look like
• And what it costs to build something on top of a trauma

App launches April 11th at the Advocacy and Action Benefit Brunch, Westin Houston Downtown. Honoree: LeToya Luckett, founding member of Destiny's Child and maternal health advocate.

pregnantandblack.com

@pregnantnblack

@raynareidrayford

davidpeck.co

@itsdavidpeck

00:00 — Harris County is the deadliest place in America for Black women to give birth

01:09 — Introducing Rayna Reid Rayford and Pregnant and Black

02:32 — Appendixgate: dismissed twice, saved by a family of doctors

04:21 — What it felt like to be educated, supported, and still not believed

06:47 — The Serena and Beyoncé parallel: money doesn't protect you

07:23 — Is this systemic or regional? (The answer is both)

08:34 — Why pregnancy feels like a silo now — and how the app rebuilds community

09:07 — Legislating against women and the crisis of not being believed

11:31 — From trauma to tech: how she connected the dots

12:54 — Walk-through: what the app experience actually looks like

14:26 — Privacy in post-Roe Texas — how PAB handles your data

15:20 — Launching an app with "Black" in the name right now

17:29 — The Lion King, the circle of life, and why men need to be in this conversation

18:55 — Why joy is the right word — not dignity, not equity

20:07 — If you could change one thing about ER physician training

21:53 — Why representation inside the medical system literally saves lives

23:05 — The personal cost of building on top of a trauma

24:51 — The 22 Questions Lightning Round

28:43 — Where to find the app and how to support Pregnant and Black

For nearly a decade, I've used one word to guide my year. Not as a resolution. As a practice.

And it's changed how I make decisions, navigate transitions, and design a life that actually fits.

Most "word of the year" practices are aspirational—you pick a word that sounds good, make it your screensaver, and hope it sticks. But by March, you've forgotten about it because it never meant anything real in the first place.

This practice is different. It's evidence-based, not aspirational. You're not picking a word you wish you were. You're naming what's already in motion.

In this episode, I walk through:

• Why most word-of-the-year practices don't work
• How to find a word that's actually yours (built from evidence, not expectation)
• The ART method: Assemble evidence, Refine the pattern, Try it out
• How this practice has helped me navigate reinvention after reinvention

If you want to do this practice yourself, I created a free guide: Go to davidpeck.co/yourword and you'll get:

• A beautifully designed 11-page guide that walks you through the ART method
• A 7-day email series teaching you how to use it
• Monthly check-ins for a year to help you live with your word

This is for you if you're navigating a transition, tired of following frameworks that don't fit, or ready to design a year around who you actually are.

Links:

• Get the free guide: davidpeck.co/yourword
• Watch on YouTube
• Follow on Instagram: @itsdavidpeck
• More episodes: davidpeck.co/podcast

Chapters

0:00 - Intro: The one thing that's kept me grounded through every reinvention

0:45 - Why most word-of-the-year practices don't work

2:15 - What makes this practice different (evidence vs. aspiration)

3:30 - How to get started: The free guide

4:15 - The ART framework: Assemble, Refine, Try

5:15 - What you get: 7-day series + monthly check-ins for a year

6:30 - Who this is for + final call to action

This week, I'm thinking about three things that all have something in common: rewriting the script. Sometimes it's a script someone else wrote for you, sometimes it's your own script that you decide to change, and sometimes it's a narrative we've been telling wrong as a nation for over 70 years.

I talk about Taylor Swift's unexpected "Opalite" video and how she's reclaiming England by filming there and casting directly from the Graham Norton show couch. I explore what it means for Winter Olympics athletes to represent America when the country feels so divided. And I discuss Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance almost entirely in Spanish (with notable exceptions like Lady Gaga's solo, "God Bless America," and the powerful line "the only way to combat hate is with love") and how it forces us to confront that Puerto Rico IS America - something the characters in West Side Story were grappling with 70 years ago that we're still grappling with today.

This is about identity, representation, and who gets to tell the story.

0:00 - Introduction: Rewriting the Script The hook - three pop culture things connected by rewriting the script

0:29 - Taylor Swift's "Opalite" Music Video The unexpected release, Graham Norton casting, filming in England, reclaiming her narrative, visibility vs. community

3:49 - Winter Olympics: Representing a Divided Country Personal connection to individual sports, athletes navigating what it means to represent America, competing with integrity despite conflict

7:38 - Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Show Performing in Spanish, Puerto Rico IS America, West Side Story's narrative 70 years later, rewriting what "American" looks like

9:33 - Closing Thoughts Connecting all three - expectations being flipped, rewriting narratives

CONNECT WITH ME:

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Instagram and YouTube: @itsdavidpeck

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