unproductive by daydreamers

Katina and Dupi, Daydreamers' co-founders and your hosts of this podcast, wrap up Season 1 with a deep conversation about what it really means to be "unproductive". They reflect on the themes, similarities, and differences across all of their guests in Season 1  - as well as share some never-before-heard conversations and observations. Katina and Dupi also give a preview for what Season 2 will be about, and how we can all find creativity more often in our everyday. 

Have ideas, comments or guest recommendations for Season 2? Email us at [email protected] and follow us at @daydreamerspace to stay in the know.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by: Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Check out what we’re about at daydreamerspace.com.

Dominique Crenn is a human-being, first and always. And, even though she has created a life that is speckled with achievements - from becoming the first (and only) woman to earn three Michelin Stars for her first restaurant, Atelier Crenn, to being named the Best Chef in the World by the James Beard Foundation - she has continued to stay guided by her curiosity instead.

From a young age, Dominique bent the rules for good; growing up as an adopted child in France, she was given the freedom to tap into her creativity. And, that creativity drove her seemingly risky decisions: move across the world to San Francisco, convince a world-renowned chef to work with you (without any formal culinary training might we add), and open an 18-course restaurant with poetry instead of menus. 

But, through it all Dominique hasn’t let the rules or awards or growth sway her away from her personal mission: help people reconnect to their roots, become more conscious of their choices, and treat our planet (and each other) with kindness. This chat is for anyone who feels like they have a burning passion within them to change the world - and is ready to bend the rules a little bit to do so.

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Check out what we’re about at daydreamerspace.com.

Benjamin Witte is a creative entrepreneur, and founder of Recess, the CBD-infused sparkling water brand whose mission is much bigger than selling drinks; it’s to help people feel more calm, cool and collected. You might know them from their Instagram feed, which has a cult-like following and rocketed to success only two years after launch.

But, our chat with Ben isn’t just about taking Recess from a tiny idea to a full-fledged company with no prior knowledge of the CBD or CPG industries (although we do dive into some behind-the-scenes strategy around their creative marketing decisions). We’ll dissect Ben’s childhood and early career - when he knew he was a creative entrepreneur at heart, but was constantly being told he was “unmanageable” - and exactly what he did about it.

This conversation is for any budding entrepreneur, or human, really, who feels like they never necessarily “fit in” any of their normal jobs, but didn’t know what path to take. Ben shows us how being an outsider could be your greatest superpower.

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. We just launched our first product. Take a peek + get on the waitlist to snag your own at: daydreamerspace.com.

Liz Plank is a perspective shifter - she has spent her entire career (and life!) dedicated to asking the difficult-but-curious questions that shift the narrative of both big societal belief systems - and personal ones. Liz is also an award-winning journalist, former Executive Producer of several critically acclaimed shows on Vox Media, and author of her latest book For The Love Of Men: A New Vision For Mindful Masculinity.

In our chat with Liz, we learn about her creative process of asking the right questions from the inside out. Liz walks us through many examples of her own narrative shifting - like, how she navigated “sticking out” in her Master’s Program at Oxford, and turning that unique storytelling ability into her greatest creative gift (and in turn, a successful career in media).

We not only discuss Liz’s personal journey - but her behavioral research that informed the outcomes in her book, For The Love Of Men. around gender roles and societal beliefs of what we’re allowed to do. We specifically share the impact that gender roles can have on our ability to be creative - and what we can do to tap into our humanness instead.

This conversation is for anyone who is ready to break some barriers, shift conversations - in their own head or their communities - and tap into their creativity no matter what you’re “supposed” to be doing.

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to meet us IRL at: daydreamerspace.com.

Justin Bettman is a prolific photographer who still approaches life and work with a punk-rock view. Even though Justin has worked with some of the most well-known celebrities and brands in the world (think: everyone from Daniel Radcliff to Spotify), he is constantly living by the motto: do first, ask questions later.

But, Justin didn’t seamlessly move from There to Here, as you’ll hear in our chat today. Like many of our guests so far, Justin continues to push his own boundaries and definition of creativity - whether it was during his first job at Ogilvy, the top-tier advertising agency - where he started in a rotational business program and somehow figured out his way to become an in-house photographer, or when he started #SetinTheStreet - a now-viral, international art project that simply started as a way to have fun with photography without having access to a fancy set or props.

This conversation is for anyone who feels like they have a creative spark within them, but feels too constrained by what they “should” be doing (like Elle Luna explained last episode). For our photography buffs - Justin shares the exact ways he prepares and thinks about a photoshoot. And for the rest of us, he dives deep into something extremely important: the mindset he’s cultivated to help him get from There to Here -without letting money, resources or excuses hold him back.

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to meet us IRL at: daydreamerspace.com.

Craig Hatkoff is a disrupter at heart. His accolades span many arenas - Craig is a prolific real estate investor, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, best-selling children’s book author, philanthropist, expert on innovation - and the list could go on. But most importantly, Craig has been able to craft a life filled with creativity, passion and storytelling by collecting as many “dots” of experiences as he could - and connecting them looking backwards.

We especially love this conversation with Craig, because he not only shares stories of his own deeply interesting life experiences, but also tactical tools we all can use to develop our own life bucket list. He walks us through how to disrupt the status quo both within big institutions - like investment banking and film festivals - and spaces that don’t even exist yet, like writing children’s books about dealing with trauma and loss. Each step of the way, Craig has managed to fit in without losing his ability to stand out.

Join us for an energizing conversation about disrupting the status quo from within, not being afraid to experiment, and the real reason why you need to collect as many “dots” as possible (hint: it even has its own mathematical equation!).

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to meet us IRL at: daydreamerspace.com.

Elle Luna found herself at a crossroads: one between continuing to collect life’s “Shoulds” or finally following her “Must.” As an artist at her core, Elle lived her early life collecting trophies and thinking practically. Since she was a kid, Elle wanted to be a lawyer and did nearly everything she could to get there - until the world forced her in another direction.

Elle is now a best-selling author, speaker, painter, and expert on finding your passion. She started her career as a designer at major San Francisco startups, like Uber, Medium, and Mailbox in their early days. But, she kept having this recurring dream of a white room - one where she felt fully at peace - which was so different from her normal life, she knew something had to change.

So, after following her (literal) dream, she discovered that her “Must” had been hiding under her nose all along - and she didn’t need a fancy job title at another Silicon Valley startup to find it. Elle wrote her observations in a Medium post, “The Crossroads of Should and Must” that went viral and landed her a book deal all about discovering your passion. Elle’s journey is a continuous demonstration that tuning in to your Must, your creative passions, is a beautiful unfolding.

This conversation with Elle is for anyone who finds themselves at a crossroads, battling against the stories about what the world tells them they should be - instead of what they really want to be doing. We dive deep into the ways that all us humans keep ourselves in a prison, far away from a creative, passionless life - but most importantly, how we can chisel away at those beliefs in order to craft a life that we love. Join us for a grounding conversation about finding your passion, removing your Shoulds, and tapping into your innate creative mind to heal.

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to meet us IRL at: daydreamerspace.com.

Jemel has spent over ten years in the entertainment industry - moving through every single phase of the process from backup dancer to artistic director. And, now that he is calling the shots, he’s been a major visionary in creating cultural movements through his work. Jemel crafted Janelle Monae’s historic performance at the 2020 Oscar’s (making it not so white) and bringing together Lizzo’s Big Grrrls crew. No matter what type of creative project he’s working on, Jemel is consistently bringing together all body types, colors, experience levels to the table - no matter how long they’ve been left out of the conversation.

Join us for a conversation that’s equally energizing and grounding - and one that’s deeply needed in our world right now.

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to find out what tricks we have up our sleeves (hint: we’re launching something major soon): daydreamerspace.com.

We are putting our normal podcast programming on hold this week to honor the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the many others who have been affected by racism in the United States.

Daydreamer's founders + our (un)productive podcast hosts, Katina and Dupi, will share a brief, raw, and unedited chat about systemic barriers, like racism, that hold us back from accessing creativity - and most importantly, how we can use our voices to fight against it. They will share specific statistics, tips and their own actions as allies to fight against injustice in our world.

If you want to take action to support Black Americans learn more here.

You may want to listen to Morgan Harper Nichols' chat on the (un)productive podcast, and stay tuned for a conversation with Lizzo's lead choreographer, Jemel McWilliams, about culture, race and creativity.

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to find out what tricks we have up our sleeves (hint: we’re launching something major soon): daydreamerspace.com.

Think about your last delicious meal at a restaurant. How did it make you feel?

Restaurants are the lifeblood of creativity, community, and storytelling - and these days, they’re an art form whose importance we’re all too aware of. This week, we’ll hear from Michael Chernow, a restaurant entrepreneur and storyteller extraordinaire. Michael is the co-founder of the famous NYC restaurant, The Meatball Shop, and his latest spot, Seamores, a sustainable seafood restaurant - among other food and wellness ventures.

In today’s chat, we’ll dive into the why and how behind creating a restaurant in one of the most competitive cities in the world - New York - and Michael’s exact process from idea to rocket-growth of launching not one, but two, successful restaurants that have been featured everywhere from Jimmy Fallon to Chelsea Handler, have tens of thousands of fans, cookbooks and more.

This episode is quite nostalgic for any foodies, restaurant lovers, or even NYC dwellers (past or present!) who are currently craving the coziness, comfort, and community that bubble up inside of your favorite restaurant. Whether you’re curious about becoming a serial entrepreneur, or simply enjoy whipping up a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs - our chat with Michael reminds us all that we can create, even in the most difficult (simple) of moments.

Some stuff we also cover:

Resources you might want to check out:

As always, this podcast is sponsored by:

Daydreamers. At Daydreamers, we’re redefining how we all spend our free time and making space for adults to build creative hobbies. Get on the waitlist to meet us IRL at: daydreamerspace.com.