The How This Works show

Dr. Chui Chui Tan, cultural strategist and author, shares her journey helping businesses navigate cultural nuances for global growth. With over 16 years of experience in user experience internationally, she has orchestrated successful market launches for companies like Spotify, Netflix, and Bumble across 50 countries. Her approach goes beyond user research and experience to incorporate a holistic understanding of market ec...

Drew Burdick, founder and managing partner of StealthX, shares his unconventional journey into design and entrepreneurship. After growing up in the Philippines (age 4-18) and studying political science and communications in college, a chance internship introduced him to graphic design — beginning with a bootleg copy of Illustrator/Photoshop CS2. During the 2009 recession, Drew scrapped his way forward, balancing freelance ...

Skipper chats with Bumhan Yu, a designer and coder, about his perspective shaped by his linguistics and psychology background. After moving from Korea to New York City, he transitioned from academia to design, where his non-design background enriches his approach to understanding user needs and communication. His career evolved from graphic design to design operations and team dynamics, emphasizing problem understanding be...

Skipper chats with Aaron Young, founder of Switch Insights, breaking down the concept of "switch interviews" — a lesser known methodology that reveals the contextual moments leading customers to change products or services, emphasizing the importance of understanding the "why" behind customer behavior rather than just the "what." He explains that while companies often think they know why custo...

In this episode, Andy Polaine, Dr. Polaine to some, talks about his career journey, starting with his background in film and interactive media, his transition into service design, and his current focus as a design leadership coach. Andy discusses his coaching approach, which is rooted in his experience as a designer, facilitator, and teacher. He also talks about some of what he's hearing from design leaders right now, ...

Joanne Weaver, who co-runs a design recruiting agency in New York City, discussed her dual career in recruitment and music. She highlighted the importance of networking and tailoring job applications to specific roles. Joanne emphasized the need for efficiency in communication and the value of understanding both job seekers and clients. She shared her journey from starting her agency during a financial crisis to having bui...

On this episode of the How This Works show, Skipper Chong Warson talks to Carl Cleanthes, founder of Epic Made, a creative content agency based in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Carl shares his entrepreneurial journey from selling timeshares to establishing an agency that now collaborates with top brands like SyFy, Nickelodeon, USA, TNT, and WWE. He discusses his passion for art and creativity, focusing on his exploration of NFT...

Back in August, Skipper had a conversation with Jen Dary about her personal experiences and insights on leadership coaching, the importance of self-awareness and belief in one's abilities, Plucky's So Now You're a Manager (SNYaM), navigating the publishing industry, and prioritizing self-care in the coaching profession. Other topics include:

• Jen shares her experience as the oldest of three kids and how it...

• Karen's personal and professional journey exploring different forms of art, including classical music and site-specific contemporary performance art
• Empathy and storytelling in design, perspective taking, and understanding the difference between empathy and caring
• The struggle with showing empathy towards oneself and the importance of non-judgment
• The concept of being an "asshole" in social situations an...

Zolt Levay is a photographer who has produced astronomical images from the Hubble Space Telescope and has spent a career describing the process of producing engaging color images from Hubble data. Now, he has his sights set on matters closer to home, working on more terrestial matters.

During this conversation, Skipper and Zolt talk about how images are produced from the Hubble Space Telescope, the importance of being cu...

The last time we talked with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, it was Dec 2020. Now, it's May 2022 — 17 months later. A lot has changed and in some ways it feels like nothing has changed. This time around, we get into current details around coronavirus/COVID, what's happening now/the current state, and what the future looks like.

We recorded this episode over two sessions and along the way we get into many topics, including t...

Recorded in their child's bedroom on a weekday, Laura and Skipper chat about his academic background in writing (English literature, playwriting) as well as his professional background as a product design director (think desktop and mobile apps among other mediums) and how that plays into storytelling, most recently resulting in the creation of How This Works, this podcast.

They also talk about their life together — n...

Skipper talks to Sarah Sudhoff about how she works as an artist, her background as a photographer, arts administrator, and photo editor — and how all of that plays into her work today.

Recorded late on a Sunday night, Skipper and Sarah talk about her identity as being half Cuban, how she got her first camera in the fifth grade, how being in a military family influenced her world and personality at a young age, being both ...

This week, Skipper chats with Piper Payne, an audio mastering engineer.

Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, Piper starts off the episode with her professional introduction and then tells us "who she actually" is, including her being originally a Midwesterner, having three dogs, being an Aries, and her love of cheeseburgers.

We talk about how if she wasn't a mastering engineer, she might be in some form...

This episode of How This Works addresses adult subject matters and contains adult language.

This week, Skipper chats with Kait Scalisi, a certified sex educator who founded Passion by Kait. They engage in a wide-ranging conversation that explores so many areas — including shame, communication, and how pleasure is really powerful as a healing force.

And there's so much under the surface as well, like how some people c...

This week, Skipper chats with Sally McRae, a pro runner for Nike and NordicTrack among others.

Based in Bend, Oregon, Sally starts off by talking about how she often gets mistaken for a bodybuilder, a cross fitter, and even a cage fighter. She also gets into many more details of her life, including growing up in a family of seven, playing soccer and starting to run because "she knew she had the speed" and then ...

Today's episode features a conversation with two sisters — Kat Hantas and Nicole Emanuel — about 21Seeds, their company that makes all-natural, infused tequila.

They talk about what they did before starting the company — film work and corporate finance, respectively — when Kat's doctor instructed her to stop drinking fermented spirits like wine, beer, and sake to drink distilled spirits like blanco tequila instea...

This week, Skipper chats with Laura Sicola, a leadership communication and influence expert, speaker, author of "Speaking to Influence: Mastering Your Leadership Voice" (bookshop link), a coach, and host of the podcast, "Speaking to Influence: Communication Secrets of the C-Suite". But this conversation isn't just for managers or people in the C-suite, it's for anyone who wants to hear yes a bit...