In this episode, we sit down with Pavlína Louženská — an influencer & an author whose Substack newsletter has some 20,000 subscribers; she is a friend, a trend forecaster and a full-time creator. We're unpacking where the creator economy is headed, the pressure behind “the shoulds,” platform dependence, burnout, AI, and what it actually takes to build a sustainable creative career today.

An Chen is a graphic designer and an illustrator. The list of her selected clients includes Apple, YouTube, Gucci, The New Yorker and many more. In this episode, Irina and Maria chat with An about the strategy behind building a sustainable creative career.

We discuss how personal work turns into client work, why consistency beats trends, and how illustrators can protect their style in the era of AI image generation.

What happens when an engineer becomes a storyteller — and uses comics to explain AI? In this episode, we sit down with Fawzi Ammache, creator of the Year 2049 newsletter, to explore how design, creativity, and artificial intelligence are shaping a future that doesn’t happen by accident — but by design.

In this episode of The Imagination Industry, Irina and Maria sit down with Christina Ernst — engineer at Google and creator of She Builds Robots, an online platform inspiring girls to code through fashion, art, and robotics.From her viral animatronic Ratatouille rat to AI-assisted designs and wearable tech that moves, Christina shares how she coined the term “fashioneering” — blending fashion and engineering to make creativity tangible.🔗 Follow Christina: @shebuiltsrobots00:00 — Meet Christina Ernst: the engineer who builds fashion-powered robots02:00 — The origin of “fashion-eering” and the power of making things by hand05:00 — From hackathons to She Builds Robots: how a side project went viral09:30 — The Ratatouille robot moment — Pixar noticed12:30 — Creating for education, not ego: building a community of makers17:00 — How AI helps design faster21:00 — What it’s really like balancing a full-time job and a creative career27:00 — Inspiration, backlog, and the fantasy worlds behind her designs32:00 — Her biggest career highlight (and a possible Met Gala look)34:30 — Quickfire round: first paycheck, challenges, and favourite creators

Philosopher and writer Jonny Thomson (Mini Philosophy, Big Think) joins The Imagination Industry to decode the creator economy through a philosopher’s lens: What is a creator, how do you compress big ideas into 3 seconds, and why “quality engagement” beats empty virality.What you’ll learn:— Creator vs. influencer vs. artist — and where Jonny sits;— Turning complex ideas into accessible, human stories;— The real business model behind “education creators” (and why followers ≠ income);— Building communities that debate, not troll;— AI as research copilot, theft risk, and why verification must evolve.If you care about culture, attention, and ideas that travel, this one’s for you. Hit play, think better.