Design Impact Was Built To Make A Difference

It sounds simple when you hear it, but the idea of involving those most affected by social problems in the development of solutions is somewhat revolutionary. It’s far more common, and perhaps far easier, for those in positions of power to assume they know what’s best. But Kate Hanisian and Ramsey Ford believe the best solutions come from those who have to live with them. And the organization they founded, Design Impact, is built on that principle.

That commitment to Human-Centered Design in social innovation is apparent in everything Design Impact does. Whether in their recruiting processes, in how they run projects, or deciding which clients and projects to take on… Kate, Ramsey, and the DI team are deeply committed to ensuring inclusion and equality of opportunity are considered at every step. Again, talking about it is one thing. Seeing it in practice is entirely another.

Episode #31 Links & Info

* Design Impact Online: d-impact.org* Facebook: /designimpactorg* Twitter: @designimpactorg* Instagram: @designimpactorg* ISSU: /d-impact* Linkedin: /company/design-impact* Branch Restaurant: eatatbranch.com* Facebook: /eatatbranch* Instagram: @eatatbranch

Designing Toward Design Impact

The journey to starting something like Design Impact is fascinating to hear. How do a product designer and an elementary school teacher end up moving to India to work on social problems? How does that work wind up as a social design firm in Cincinnati that’s taking on complex social issues across the United States? The answers, as you can hear in our conversation, are wrapped up in the unique personalities of Ramsey and Kate.

As complex as the journey is, at the heart of it is their relationship and the belief they have in each other. It’s obvious that their marriage is the basis for their optimism in the face of such large obstacles as systemic racism and structural inequality. And while it might seem to some that those are tricky or even dangerous things to combine…for Kate and Ramsey it couldn’t happen any other way.

Design Impact’s Kate Hanisian & Ramsey Ford on The Distiller

Kate and Ramsey

Yemi Oyediran is full of surprises.

We might have expected Yemi Oyediran to immediately jump into promoting his new film, “Queen City Kings,” about the legendary Cincinnati studio and record label King Records. But to get there, we needed to talk first about how he got interested in computers at the age of nine and even at that early age knew that’s what he wanted to do for a living. When we talked about his desire to play the drums, he said something pretty similar. We talked about martial arts, and he described how as a teen he devoted himself to it completely.

In other words: Yemi takes things seriously. He doesn’t dabble, he goes deep. But that’s not to say he’s an overly serious guy. Sit down with him, as we did for an afternoon at The Littlefield, and you get the sense he’s a guy who wants to talk, and laugh, about everything. Just our kind of person.

Episode 30 Links & Information

* AfroChine.com* Facebook: /afrochine* Instagram: @afrochine* AfroChine’s YouTube Channel* The Littlefield* Facebook: /TheLittlefieldNorthside* Instagram: @thelittlefieldns

Rejecting specialization, embracing mastery

But it would be wrong to label Yemi as a “Jack of all trades.” That phrase is usually followed by “master of none,” and that absolutely does not describe Yemi Oyediran. Whether it’s writing code, playing the drums, practicing martial arts or, these days, making documentary films…everything Yemi does, and touches, reeks of quality.

We talked about the discipline his father taught him, and how that combined with his natural curiosity. The result is a person who’s facile, deeply adept, at a surprising number of things. And a person who can speak with authority, and experience, about how those diverse interests make him a better, more well-rounded person. The one common theme throughout all his interests is his deep love of community, his commitment to his Nigerian heritage, and of his adopted hometown of Cincinnati.

Telling the King Records story

Yemi is still writing code to pay the bills (and has no intention of stopping any time soon, he loves writing software). But these days he’s also making a name for himself as a documentary filmmaker. And he’s particularly turning heads with his deep research into the legacy of the legendary Cincinnati record label and recording studio, King Records.

There’s a strong argument to be made that Cincinnati is the birthplace of rock & roll,

Kim Taylor knows how to be vulnerable.

After all, as a songwriter with five full length albums and two EPs under her belt, she’s practiced and cultivated vulnerability for years. She’s honed the craft of opening her heart and putting herself into a song. But when she recently got the chance to act in two feature films, she experienced a completely different kind of scrutiny. And the impact nearly shut her down as a performer.

Kim is a straight shooter. She doesn’t gloss over things. She doesn’t play games. Talking with her about her craft, and her approach to it over the years, is an insight into just exactly what it takes to put your heart on your sleeve every night, and invite people in. Far from the popular perceptions of celebrity or a performer who’s in it for the roar of the crowd, Kim presents songwriting as a discipline, a commitment to a skill to be honed over a career, and a lifetime.

Dedication to the craft of songwriting

Of course there’s the pop star version of the musician story, but there are thousands of singer-songwriters across America for whom the musician life is anything but glamorous. We talked with Kim about her first touring experiences, about the process of getting a manager, and then ultimately getting some press and finding a way to make a living off her songwriting. It’s every bit analogous to the journeyman approach to any other craft.

Episode 29 Kim Taylor Links & Information

* Kim’s website – www.Kim-Taylor.net* Facebook: /KimTaylorMusic* Instagram: @kimtaylormusic* Twitter: @dont_darling_me* Kim Taylor on Spotify* The Film: I Used To Be Darker

For an artist whose first love is poetry, songwriting wasn’t some way to pursue adulation or praise. It wasn’t about fame. You get the sense listening to Kim that there really isn’t anything else she could be doing. Her songs, and her live performances, are captivating. Her quiet presence is magnetic and her songs demand that you pay attention. It’s impossible to turn away when Kim’s on stage.

Success in unexpected places

These days Kim’s artistic pursuits have taken her places she couldn’t have predicted. First she was asked to star in the 2013 Matt Porterfield film “I Used To Be Darker.” Kim never even considered acting, and initially turned the role down. But there’s a reason musicians often make good actors. That cultivated emotional vulnerability translates well to the screen. And unsurprisingly Kim’s being told she’s “a natural.”

More recently,

The Distiller Podcast is one year old.

Our first episode aired on December 16, 2017, and featured Danny Korman of green general store Park & Vine, interviewed at The Anchor OTR in Cincinnati. Since that first show we’ve produced a show every two weeks. That’s 52 weeks. 26 shows. 32 guests. In that time over four thousand episodes have been streamed or downloaded by people in 28 countries, including locations as far off as Lithuania, Uganda, and Iceland.

It’s been a great first year.

The Distiller Podcast began with the simple idea of talking with people from all different walks of life about the work they do. Whether that work was paying or not, glamorous or not, the assumption was that simply asking people, “Why, and how, do you do what you do?” would yield interesting results. We were not disappointed.

Episode 1 – Danny Korman

Episode 3 – Ric Hordinski & David Wilcox

Episode 5 – Stephen JohnsonGrove

Episode 2 – Dom and Judi Lopresti

Episode 4 – Matt Gunderman

Episode 6 – Matt Hart

The Distiller: 2018 at a glance

* Episode Downloads: 4,353* Countries: 29 (#1: USA – 96%)* US States: 44 (#1: Ohio – 42%)* Most common platform: Mobile Apps (73%)* Most common device/OS type: iOS (iPhone/iPad – 63%, 8 total)* Most popular client: Apple Podcasts App (51%, 35 total clients)* Website Sessions (thedistillerpodcast.com): 3,794* Website Visitors: 2,676

Episode 7 – Tamaya Dennard

Episode 9 – Julius Jenkins

Episode 11 – Meredith Shockley-Smith

Episode 8 – Megan Trischler

Episode 10 – Michael Wilson

Episode 12 – Corben Bone

Meaningful Discussions About Meaningful Work

Kelly Dolan knows business can do good and make a profit at the same time.

Kelly, along with her business partner Michael Kroeger, are the co-founders of two companies, Ingage Partners, and Thrive Impact Sourcing, that are both Certified B-Corporations. You’ve likely heard of C-Corp and S-Corp companies, but a B-Corp is a little bit rarer. B-Corp companies (not the same as “Benefit Corporations”) are certified by B Lab, an independent non-profit headquartered in Pennsylvania. According to their website, bcorporation.net, “B Lab is a nonprofit that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good.”

Kelly and Michael had worked previously in the IT consulting world. When they set out to start a business of their own, they didn’t just want to create another company. They wanted to start a company that would do active good, both for their employees and for the world. And they didn’t want to create a non-profit. For reasons Kelly explains in our conversations, she is a firm believer in the ability of for-profit companies to do good. Ultimately they decided a B-Corp was the way to go.

Ingage Partners & Thrive Impact Sourcing

Ingage Partners is an IT consulting firm that offers services including not only IT solutions but organizational consulting to firms in and around the Cincinnati area. Thrive Impact Sourcing is ostensibly a talent recruiting and sourcing company. But where most talent sourcing companies hold tightly to their people, Thrive’s model is built on open-handedness. Thrive hires talented people looking for a “second act,” and pairs them with companies that need their skills. Far from demanding their employees not be “poached” by their clients (which most talent sourcing companies do to protect their workforce, and profits), Thrive actively seeks to place people in full-time, “permanent” positions. The turnover of their staff is part of their model, and creates space for new people to come in, receive training, and in turn be placed in the workforce.

It sounds a lot like a non-profit model, but you don’t have to do much searching about either company to find articles touting the size of their success. Today both Ingage Partners and Thrive Impact Sourcing are multi-million dollar ventures, employing approximately 150 people between them. Ingage Partners actually re-organized last year into an ESOP. An ESOP is an “employee stock option program,” meaning the employees now own the company. It’s just further proof that Kelly and Michael are seriously committed when it comes to doing right by their people.

Making A Difference, Making A Profit

It’s almost a given that when we talk about companies who put “meaning” or “impact” into their mission statements, we’re going to be talking about non-profits. But with their two (pardon the pun) thriving B-Corps, Kelly and Michael are proving, along with thousands of other B-Corps around the world, that profit and impact are not mutually exclusive.

And the work they’re doing together is not going un-noticed. Kelly was recently named one of the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Enquirer’s 2018 Women of the Year. These days she’s in demand not only for her IT knowledge, but for her wisdom in creating and managing companies that balance human and environmental impact with profits. Kelly Dolan is proving you don’t have to choose between being good, and being profitable. Now there’s a lesson about truly meaningful work.

Kelly Dolan of Ingage Partners on The Distiller Podcast

 

There’s a lot of talk about immigration right now.

In fact it’s become one of the central hot-button issues in our political discourse. But studies have shown that cultivating relationships with people from other cultures and races has a significant impact on one’s politics. Personal stories are important, now more than ever, and this episode shows exactly why.

Anne-Marie Herrera and Luis Laya immigrated to the United States seven years ago after a violent episode involving their nine-year-old son. For reasons they discuss in detail in our conversation, now they couldn’t go back even if they wanted to. Living in Venezuela, both Luis and Anne-Marie had established careers in well-paying fields. Luis is an oil and gas technology engineer and architect by training. Anne-Marie is a biologist and field ecologist who started and ran an NGO. But leaving Venezuela meant leaving not only their jobs, but the associated security and status behind. For them, it was a question of necessity.

The human face of the immigration debate

Think about the work you do, the time you’ve invested in learning your trade or craft or field, the education, the experience, the time you’ve spent working your way up the ladder. Then imagine that all disappearing because you’re forced to move to a new place. Imagine starting over at zero with no acknowledgement of the time and effort you’ve expended, or the expertise and mastery you’ve developed. Imagine what that would do to your sense of self.

We talked with Anne-Marie and Luis about these questions, and about their inside-view on the immigration question. As we discuss these issues in theory, in the safety of our homes, it’s important to recognize that this is the face of immigration. This is why people leave: not for convenience, not to “take someone’s job,” but out of necessity. You don’t leave uproot your family, and risk never seeing your child again, out of anything except extreme need.

Keeping up hope in the face of adversity

And yet, through it all, somehow Luis and Anne-Marie have never despaired, never given up hope. When asked how they kept going, kept believing things would get better, they say giving up hope was never a thought, never an option. It’s a lesson those of us in more comfortable circumstances would do well to learn. And so, far from giving up and giving in, they’ve continued to dream, to work, to build. From starting out in America with $9 and a suitcase, Luis worked as a handyman, took a job as an apprentice mold-maker at a local pottery studio, did odd jobs, and did what it took to get by. Today he’s a mold-maker at the historic Rookwood Pottery Company in Cincinnati.

Marie took a job as a checker at a Meijer supermarket. Leveraging her bilingual skills she found jobs native English speakers couldn’t fill. Today she’s a bilingual account lead at National Band & Tag company. Through it all, Anne-Marie and Luis have held on to the idea that their work is not who they are. We talked about how Venezuelans approach their work, and the challenges of cultivating an increasingly schizophrenic identity as both Venezuelan and American.

Connecting trauma, work, identity, and ego

We also talked about the ways in which traumatic experiences change you for good. Sometimes we think about “getting back to normal” when things calm down. But those who’ve been through prolonged challenges understand that there’s often no “getting back to normal.” Instead we work to find out who we are now, and how to find a future in the “new normal.

For Luis and Anne-Marie, that new normal is all about cultivating vibrant experien...

Django Kroner lives in the trees.

Working as an arborist and tree house builder with his company, The Canopy Crew, everything Django does “professionally” involves trees. And it’s a pretty magical life, by all accounts. Django is the child who dreamed of living in the trees, and actually made it happen.

But these days, that life in the trees involves a lot more than swinging from ropes and appreciating the view. Django has gone from living in a tree house by himself for three years, to running a thriving company that employs over a dozen people, and creating custom tree houses for people all over the world.

Everyday Lessons from Unique Work

What Django does for a living is pretty unique. But the approach he takes to that work is analogous to how we all live our lives. Django talks about learning to run his business the same way he learned to climb. He took risks. He wanted to be the person who was known for just going for it. And he says that if there’s any secret to his success, it’s that approach to his work.

When talking about what it takes to work with trees, his approach is also applicable to how those of us with “normal jobs” approach our work. He describes the constant learning necessary to do what the Canopy Crew does. In fact he says that working with trees is essentially a commitment to constant learning and growth. The body of knowledge is never-ending and the learning curve is endless.

Small Business Lessons from Big Adventure

It’s a great lesson to hear someone who’s achieved what Django has, say that if they’d known what was involved when they started, they never would have done it. It’s important for everyone to learn that no-one has it figured out from the start. To some degree we’re all figuring it out as we go. And after over forty tree houses built, the creation of a successful and growing business, and even a successful TV pilot on the Animal Planet channel, Django still considers himself a learner when it comes to both business and trees.

Last thing: Django mentioned on the show that The Canopy Crew is looking to add a couple members to their team. If you’re interested in living a life in the trees with Django and his crew, check out The Canopy Crew’s job listings on LinkedIn.

Django Kroner of The Canopy Crew on The Distiller Podcast

 

 

 

 

Nevin Essex doesn’t play the piano.

At least he wouldn’t call himself a pianist. But he’s directly responsible for thousands of pianos, and tens of thousands of performances. Through his art, Nevin makes the art of others possible. And that’s a beautiful thing.

In the forty-plus years he’s been working as a piano technician, Nevin has developed and honed his craft to the point of what we’d call “mastery.” These days when he asks a pianist what they’re looking for in the sound of the piano, as often as not they say “Just work your magic.” Because Nevin is something of a magician. He works with a finicky instrument, subject to the variations of time, temperature, humidity, and the touch of the pianist. And his work is to make that instrument a perfect, beautiful canvas on which the pianist can paint his masterpiece.

The Connection Between Focus and Mastery

John Lennon famously said, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.”  Nevin didn’t set out to be a piano technician when he was young. His grandfather was a vaudeville musician, and there was music all through his family, but his career chose him just as much as he chose it. And as we’re learning through these conversations, mastery is often just as much about perseverance as it is about intention or talent. Nevin brings a sustained concentration to his work that a more extroverted person might not. There’s no doubt he has a talent and a facility for what he does. But someone less inclined to extended periods of solitude and isolation might have grown tired of the work of beautifying pianos. To Nevin that extended focus, both in terms of hours on a single instrument and years perfecting his technique and approach, is a kind of therapy. It’s exactly what he wants to be doing.

Craft Conversations at a Craft Brewery

We recorded this conversation live on a Tuesday afternoon at Urban Artifact, a craft brewery, taproom, bar, and live music venue in Cincinnati, Ohio’s Northside neighborhood. We have to say…when a previous venue fell through, Tyler and the staff at Urban Artifact welcomed us in on a moment’s notice, and were great hosts. Urban Artifact specializes in sours and “wild” beers. Their tap list at any given time is a wonderful assortment of fruited beers, sours, Gose’s, and variants on the typical IPA or lager. They’re doing great work, brewing great beer, and creating a fantastic community hub for events and the arts. Places like Urban Artifact are everything that’s good about the craft scene these days, and we couldn’t be more appreciative of their hospitality. You’ll definitely see The Distiller back and UA for episodes in the future.

Piano Technician Nevin Essex on The Distiller Podcast

Photos for this episode by Avian Dawson.

 

 

 

Ruya Coffee is the realization of a lifelong dream.

That’s not surprising, since Ruya means “dream” in Turkish. Melis Aydogan, the founder of Ruya Coffee, never saw herself as an entrepreneur, or a small-business person. But when a chance meeting on a bus from Chicago to Cincinnati started her thinking about community, the idea behind an authentic Turkish coffeehouse quickly came together.

On episode 8 of The Distiller we interviewed Megan Trischler, Program Manager for People’s Liberty. People’s Liberty is a Haile Foundation program that gives grants to individuals and non-profits working to build community in Cincinnati. That chance encounter was with a previous People’s Liberty grantee, who asked Melis what she would create if she won a grant. Her Turkish heritage immediately surfaced, and she had the idea for Ruya within a few days.

More Than Just Coffee: Community and Connection

Before recording the podcast, we spoke to Melis’s mother Aysa, who explained that coffee is at the heart of hospitality in Turkish culture. When someone comes to your home, you offer them coffee. When you meet for business, you start by having coffee. Coffee is the catalyst, the springboard for relationships of all kinds. Melis wanted to bring that experience to Cincinnati in a way that wasn’t just about the coffee, but carried through to the community.

When you walk into Ruya Coffee, just off the main square of Cincinnati’s Findley Market, it feels like you’ve entered another world. The soft colors, the tapestries, the draped ceiling and low couches all make you feel as though things have slowed a bit, and invite you to settle in and relax. But just as much as the coffee and the atmosphere, the ritual, including the traditional Turkish art of fortune telling, using the spent coffee grounds, transforms the experience from internal and sensory, to external and communal. When Aysa crouches next to a couch to read someone’s grounds, you can’t help but lean in to hear. And the result is laughter, conversation, connection.

Meaningful Work, From the First-Generation Perspective

Other than college, Melis Aydogan has lived in Cincinnati her entire life. Her parents immigrated from Istanbul before she was born, even though they were very happy in Turkey. They figured they’d live here for a couple of years to establish dual citizenship for their children, and then move back home. But surprisingly, they found they loved Cincinnati. And two years turned into two decades, and counting.

Melis grew up very Turkish and very American, attending high school in the affluent Indian Hill suburb of Cincinnati. Her family would travel back to Istanbul with her family, and maintaining connection to their roots. In college, Melis quickly found she had a lot in common with other first-generation students. While she doesn’t want to paint with an overly broad brush, she says most of them had priorities completely different from their classmates. They were all cognizant of the sacrifices their parents made to come to the US. College for them was not about fun, or “finding yourself.” College was about getting through as quickly as possible, and getting a job to be able to contribute to the family and help pay your parents back for all they gave. When Melis graduated (early) from Boston University, she looked for opportunities that would earn well, and that would be stable. Her uncle had worked in sales at P&G, and so it was the first place she looked.

Studying The Grounds for What’s Next

Today, Melis works hard. She’s good at her job. But working at P&G has never been about personal meaning or mission for her. Work has always been about family,

Tasha and Justin Golden have been married a long time by any standard.

Just about twenty years, in fact. And you don’t stay married that long without learning some pretty good lessons about relationships. During that time, they’ve also gone through some fairly major life changes. They’ve both changed careers at least a couple times. They navigated some significant changes to their belief system(s). And they moved cities to pursue work. That’s a lot of change for one marriage to withstand. But Justin and Tasha are up for the challenge.

They first met as teenagers at college, around a love of music. That shared interest soon birthed not only their relationship, but their band, Ellery. Justin and Tasha performed, recorded, and toured as Ellery for over a decade before Tasha’s anxiety and depression became so pronounced that they had to take a break. That break ended up lasting seven years.

Change By Choice, Change By Necessity

So what do you do when the only thing you ever wanted to do is taken from you? When your body and mind simply refuse to cooperate with your dreams? For Tasha, that process has been one of finding that there can be more than one dream. And that sometimes the thing you thought you were made to do, may not be who you are after all.

Tasha explains how she eventually enrolled in classes at Miami University of Ohio, as much to fill her days as out of a deep desire to learn. But there she found a passion for research, and for structure, and eventually for academia, that she didn’t even know she had. Today she’s a PhD candidate at the University of Louisville, studying Public Health (of all things). And she’s doing deep, meaningful work with incarcerated women, helping give voice to their lives and struggles. The joy and satisfaction in this work is evident on her face. And the examples of changed lives are in the many writing snippets she shares.

Taking Care of Business, Taking Care of People

For Justin, the transition out of recording and touring as Ellery meant “getting a job.” A connection with a friend led to a project management job at a video production agency in Cincinnati, where he worked for five years. The job supported their family while they figured things out, and taught Justin important lessons about his ability, and what it means to take care of people in a professional context.

Taking care of people is central to who Justin is. If  you didn’t recognize the name, or pick it up while listening, Justin is the audio editor and mixer for The Distiller. He’s the reason anything we do sounds good. When Justin and The Distiller host Brandon Dawson first started talking about working together on the show, Justin proposed the idea of “audio hospitality.” It’s the notion that the show should be inviting, comfortable, to listen to. And it’s an idea we hold at the core of how we make the show. We’re inviting you into our space…why wouldn’t we make it as welcoming as possible while you’re here.

Justin eventually left the PM job to get back into music (which he never really left) full time. Justin now works as a web/broadcast audio producer, doing “sound-to-picture” for outlets like Funny Or Die. And he does the occasional tour with artists like Ben Sollee, mixing the shows and making it sound great. He’s working as a studio producer and engineer, having just completed production on Kim Taylor’s forthcoming album (to be released in early 2019). Needless to say, he’s staying busy. And he’s doing great work.

New Dreams, New Dreamers