Do you have that recurring idea that’s really cool but hard to make time for? That’s the insight today’s guest, Jessica Semaan, has built an entire company around. Despite her success at Stanford Business School and as an early employee at Airbnb, Jessica found herself unfulfilled. So she spent a year interviewing 100 people who were doing what they love. During this time she found her own passion, which is helping people find theirs. And today she’s dedicated full-time to this through her company, the Passion Co. What are the biggest barriers to pursuing your passions? And how can you overcome them? Jessica was kind enough to share her revelations.

Today, we are beyond THRILLED to introduce you to Andy Weir, a computer programmer turned New York Times #1 Bestselling author of The Martian. He joins us to talk about turning his nights and weekend hobby into, not just one of the most successful self-published novels of all time, but also a soon-to-be major motion picture starring Matt Damon. How did he do it? And exactly how does a guy survive life on Mars with only a handful of potatoes and a thumb-drive full of disco music? Andy was kind enough to fill us in.

Today we're excited for you to meet Aaron Scott, a data scientist who made the very conscious decision to move from his gorgeous San Francisco home overlooking the Pacific Ocean into a van. Why would anyone do that? And how is it working out for him? Aaron shares his story and makes it sound like it might just be a really great idea!

Today we introduce you to San Francisco-based artist, designer, and writer, Elle Luna. After her own success as a designer for companies such as Mailbox, Uber, Medium, and IDEO, Elle completely redesigned her life and started a movement around Choosing Must. Her first book, "The Crossroads of Should and Must" just launched in April. If that wasn't enough, she is currently partnering with The Great Discontent to kick off The 100 Day Project, which asks anyone who will answer, what could you do with 100 days of making? If anyone epitomizes the concept David Kelley mentioned in our last episode about Bias to Action, it is Elle.

Today we want to introduce you to one of the most influential people on the planet when it comes to design, innovation, and creativity. Founder of IDEO and the Hasso Platner Institute of Design at Stanford (The d.school), David Kelley has spent decades helping students, employees, and organizations apply unleash the creativity that lies within each and every one of us. We thought, if there was one person most qualified to give advice on how you can design your life, it would be David.

In our inaugural episode, we talk about what design means to us, how we've applied the tools of design used in business to our own lives, and what it could all mean for you. In future episodes, we'll talk to people already designing their lives, as well as those curious to get started. Maybe that's you! Our dream is to build a community of people who can create and take advantage of any opportunity that interests them.