The Creative Muscle

Together with cofounder Polina Veksler, Alexandra Waldman created Universal Standard in 2015 to obliterate the dividing line of size—a style barrier which often determines who has the privilege and freedom to dress with quality and style. Starting with the premise that clothes should look and feel good on everyone, Alex and Polina set out to design a line of contemporary, elevated essentials for all women and allow a size 2 and a size 32 to shop in the same way – using style as the only filter. Available in sizes 00 to 40, Universal Standard is currently the most inclusive brand in the entire world. This week Alexandra Waldman sits down with The Creative Muscle Podcast to discuss the meaning of clothes, who pays the price for fast fashion, and the role of fearlessness in generous creativity.

Imagine you co-found something enormous and culture-shaping like, say, Kickstarter. Where do you go from there? How do you decide what to do next? Charles Adler is a designer and technologist who has dedicated his life to accelerating the creative work of others. In 2009, he co-founded Kickstarter, which has been catalyst to Academy Award-winning films, National Design Award-winning products, launched a satellite, created over 300,000 jobs, and distributed over $3.0 billion to creators across every continent. On this week’s episode of The Creative Muscle Podcast, Charles Adler discusses his process for determining what to create next, how to test your ideas, and the definition of terms you may not have heard before: “the ugly baby moment” and “flaneur.” You don’t want to miss this insightful interview! Note: Be sure to listen all the way to the end of the episode for an important announcement.

As we prepare to enter the third decade of the 21st century, fewer people than ever are working in traditional offices. Many of us do our work in coffee shops, airports, hotel rooms, on-location with clients, in co-working spaces, on trains and everywhere in between. We need to be able to fit our entire office into a bag. Peter Dunn spotted this trend from a mile away and created Topdrawer, a store that offers quality “Tools for Nomads” so people can do their best work wherever they are, using sustainably-made products that reduce landfill waste. Peter joined the Creative Muscle podcast to talk about the analog revolution, what our consumption habits are doing to the planet, and why gratitude is the key to everything. You don’t want to miss it!

Six years ago Sarah Azzouzi and Kyla Embrey started a locally-owned, woman-owned and minority-owned small business called Lost Girls Vintage, a pop-up shop operating out of a 1976 Dodge RV Camper (and now a brick-and-mortar store in West Town), selling vintage clothing they source themselves. Their collection runs the gamut from Victorian garments to pieces any Spice Girl would be proud of, and everything in between. And the thing that ties it together is that they only sell what they love. They joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about owning your identity, giving others permission to express themselves, and the importance of starting before you know what you’re doing. Added bonus: take a listen to find out which Spice Girl Nathan Michael dressed up as in high school. :)

So many people go into creative work because they want to make something that will be noticed or make an impression. But what about the kind of creativity that's meant to blend in with our everyday life? Industrial and product design is usually a success when we barely notice the way it seamlessly flows into our lifestyle. Providing alternatives to single-use plastic, Ello creates eco-friendly glassware products that are affordable, accessible and beautiful. They partner with a non-profit called H2OpenDoors, selling their products to raise money for a solar-powered water system in Kenya that will become the foundation for a women-run social enterprise. Director of Design Glen Gilmore and Director of Social Impact/Senior Industrial Designer Micaela McCabe joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about channeling your passion for social impact into meaningful work, how to vet partners, and why you should run your ideas by non-experts.

Do all craft brewery taprooms have to be industrial spaces with loud music blasting over guys drinking hoppy beers at tables made of reclaimed wood? Samantha Lee thinks not. She is the co-founder of Hopewell Brewing, a remarkable craft brewery in Logan Square, Chicago, known not only for its accessible beers, but also for the bright, welcoming design of its taproom, and generous, hospitable presence in the community. She joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about pink beer, living wages, and why your business plan doesn’t need to be 30 pages long.

In many operas and plays you see characters get stabbed, shot or killed in a fight. Or course, no one’s really dying or getting hurt, but it has to look like they are. That’s where Nick Sandys comes in. Nick is a certified Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors. His award-winning choreographed violence has been seen on Broadway in Steppenwolf's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, and all over Chicago, including 25 productions at Goodman Theatre and over 50 operas at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He gave The Creative Muscle Podcast a powerful masterclass on being a polymath, how to network through generosity, how to fund your creative habit, and the unexpected ways in which thoughtful, well-staged violence can save the human race.

It’s no secret that there are astonishingly high levels of gun violence in Chicago, particularly among young people. Could creativity be part of the solution? Project Fire is an artist development employment program that offers healing through glassblowing. They’re a dauntless band of therapists, social workers and artists who combine glass arts education, mentoring, and psychoeducation to support trauma recovery and create jobs for youth injured by gun violence in Chicago. Psychologist Bradley Stolbach, PhD, glass artist Pearl Dick and trauma specialist Brittney Autry joined us in the studio to talk about processing emotions through art, failing safely, and the importance of adaptability.

If you want to learn and grow, do you have to go back to school and get a Master’s Degree? Victor Saad designed his own Master’s by completing 12 projects in 12 months. He called it The Leap Year Project and his experiences culminated with staging his own graduation at a local TEDx and publishing a book of stories focused on the power of learning through risk. He later launched Experience Institute, a program for college students and career professionals to learn and grow through short-term, real-world experiences. In 2015, he was inducted into Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in the field of education. In 2017 he joined the team at Stanford’s School of Engineering as a Lecturer in Design. This week he joins The Creative Muscle to talk about how to expand your comfort zone, how to keep a learner’s mindset, and how to decide what to do next.

If you’re freaked out by a recipe with more than ten ingredients, if you don’t know what to make for dinner tomorrow, if you’re ready to take your cooking game to the next level, Teri Turner is here for you. She is a master collaborator, blogger, food columnist, regular contributor to Whole30 and editor @thefeedfeed. In anticipation of her new cookbook No Crumbs Left (coming out May 21st!), she joined The Creative Muscle Podcast to talk about the trouble with truffles, the importance of exploration, generosity, moxie, marinated onions, and not diluting yourself to become palatable to others.