For A Year of Positive Thinking author Cyndie Spiegel, writing her second book came after a year of personal struggle and loss in 2020. Yet, she still found moments of joy and documented them in her second book, Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay, a collection of personal essays designed to help us find joy wherever we can.   

 

In this episode, you will hear about Cyndie’s journey to writing the book, the lessons she learned from the people closest to her, and a recent micro joy in her life.  

   

Grey Interviewer: Sara Worthington, Executive Creative Director, Grey New York  

Arielle Assouline-Lichten’s dream was to create a furniture design studio that creates social change - that’s what led her to start Slash Objects, an award-winning, sustainable design studio. Arielle is a Best of NYC x Design winner, and she was a finalist contestant on the HBO Max show Ellen’s Next Great Designer.

 

In this episode, you will hear Arielle’s story of how she brought together her interests, architecture background, and entrepreneurial spirit to create Slash Objects. She discusses how the work she creates has a journey and a life of its own.

Grey Interviewer: Thiago Cruz, Grey New York’s Chief Creative Officer

Rob Herting saw a void within the podcast space where nobody else did – cinematic quality audio fiction. After leaving his job at a talent agency, he became the CEO and founder of QCODE, an audio-based production studio, creating a new outlet for creatives to tell their stories. QCODE is behind multiple critically acclaimed fiction podcasts like Blackout with Rami Malek, Carrier with Cynthia Erivo, Dirty Diana with Demi Moore, and Hank the Cowdog with Matthew McConaughey, to name a few.   
 
In this episode, you will hear Rob’s story of leaving a job with a dream to make a new outlet for creatives and why he decided to dive into the podcast space. His story will inspire anyone trying to start a business, enter podcast production, or just looking for their next fictional podcast series.  
 
 Grey Interviewer: Jason Kahner, Grey’s Chief Client Officer

For Zach Thomas, the idea of doing anything other than teaching tennis seemed out of reach while studying at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Now Zach is a podiatrist who runs the YouTube channel Foot Doctor Zach, where he reviews the latest performance shoe tech and breaks down the most advanced shoes for athletes. 

In this episode, you will hear from Zach about what interested him in studying podiatry, why he chose to review shoes, and what he learned when starting a business on YouTube. Zach’s channel has over 100,000 subscribers who watch his weekly videos where he dissects sneakers to match the best athletes with the best shoes for their feet.   

Grey Interviewer: Thiago Cruz, Grey New York’s Chief Creative Officer 

Nathalie Walton found that there were not enough resources devoted to the mental health of expecting mothers. After a serious health scare during her pregnancy, Nathalie turned to the Expecftul app to find peace of mind. The app moved her so much that she became an advisor and eventually a late-stage co-founder and CEO. She helped transform Expectful from a mediation app to a powerful tool for parents and soon-to-be parents.   
 
 In this episode, you will hear Nathalie’s stories of approaching parenthood, being a business leader, and the strategies she and her husband used to navigate the process. Her candid story is the perfect listen for current and soon-to-be parents. 

Grey Interviewer: Elizabeth Gilchrist, EVP, Account Director, and winner of the She Runs It Working Mother of the Year 2023 (New Moms Category) 

 

 

For law school graduate Neil Tanna, the idea of losing touch with his university friends was heartbreaking. Motivated by the excitement of creating and keeping connections, Neil and his team made a UK-based social platform called Howbout.  

 

Howbout raises the question, “Why is it easier to schedule a meeting with your boss than it is to schedule a drink with your best friends?” The app brings scheduling, planning, and chatting together into one place to take the hassle out of getting together with friends.

 

On this episode, Neil will discuss what influenced the idea for Howbout, the leadership practices he is proud of, and how he views the growth of the app.

 

Grey Interviewer: Bee Pahnke, Grey London’s Head of Voice

For Gavin McIntyre, what started as a classroom project and a passion for helping the planet, is now an audacious goal of ending the world's dependency on plastics through the mycelium materials company, Ecovative.

Gavin and his partner Eben Bayer have used mycelium — aka fungi — to create leather alternatives, a meat substitute product, and a fully compostable packaging foam. Based in Green Island, NY, Ecovative has been named a TimesUnion Top Work Place three years in a row.

On this episode, Gavin will discuss what influences Ecovative, including what he learned from his mother, a biologist, and his father, a physicist.

Grey Interviewer: Iman Omar, Associate Creative Director

For co-founders and longtime friends, Karen Rabinovitz and Sara Schiller, the idea of creating a place for play was always at the tip of their fingers. Together, they found joy and healing during difficult times in an unexpected way – by playing with SLIME.

 

They partnered with artists, architects, and advocates to bring the concept of a sensory playground to the world through The Sloomoo Institute. Based in SoHo in New York City, with locations in Chicago and Atlanta, this unique space is committed to neurodiversity, mental health, and of course, fun.

 

On this episode, you will hear Karen and Sara tell their story of building The Sloomoo Institute and how they found their happy place in the magic of slime.

 

Grey Interviewer: Joey Scarillo

Jessie Mueller’s Broadway career started in 2011 with the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, where she starred alongside Harry Connick Jr. She then went on to star in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical as Carole King and in Waitress as the lead Jenna. But before that, she was a theatre kid growing up outside Chicago and a student at Syracuse University. 

On our season 4 premiere, we will hear Jessie’s story of coming up in the business, what she learned along the way, and where she sees the industry moving forward. 

Grey Interviewer: Joey Scarillo

New episodes of Grey Matter: A Podcast About Ideas are launching soon and will release every other Tuesday. The Webby Award winning podcast is back with new guests, a new logo, and a new host! 

Follow to hear firsthand, how the best ideas were thought up from some of the most innovative creators, founder, and inventors.

This week, we're sharing a special episode of Grey Matter, featuring an idea from within the walls of Grey, a project called Six Feet Over.

Six Feet Over is a collection of almost 400 artifacts, images, objects and stories submitted by the folks of Grey NY. It was designed to introduce and reintroduce us to each other by spotlighting our individual journeys and the strange moment in history: the Covid pandemic through the lens of humanity and creativity. Together it creates a work of art that captures our lives since March of 2020 and shares perspectives of the time we went away.

To see more of this project, go to the @grey Instagram feed and Six Feet Over highlights.

Host: John Patroulis, Global Creative Chairman and President, Creative Business

Special thanks to Denise O’Bleness, Justine Armour, Joey Scarillo, Danielle Hunt

Wagmo is a pet insurance brand founded by serious dog-lover Christie Horvath. She learned just how important pet insurance could be after her dog was sadly diagnosed with a brain tumor.

On this episode, we will discover how Christie went from business student to business owner with the support of her friends, family, and of course, her dogs!

Grey Interviewer: Carly Quellman, Associate Creative Director

Alyse Nelson has spent her entire career empowering women worldwide. Her non-profit, The Vital Voices Global Partnership, has served more than 18,000 women leaders across 182 countries.

On this episode, Alyse speaks with Grey New York Chief Creative Officer Justine Armour about how women lead and what they've learned from women leaders around the world.

Grey Interviewer: Justine Armour, Chief Creative Officer of Grey New York

Dennis Crowley created the first community that integrated social media with the real world when he invented Foursquare, the location-based technology company.

On this episode of Grey Matter, we will pinpoint how this idea was crafted, track down its origins, and hear exactly where the mayor-badge was cooked up.

Interviewer: Kenny Gold

Susan McPherson was not expecting to spend a year in isolation when she sat down to write the book, The Lost Art of Connecting. Susan leads McPherson Strategies, is an angel investor and corporate responsibility expert, but is truly a connector at her core.

On this episode, you'll hear about the foundations of Susan's book, how she learned to deepen connections with others at a young age, and how that translated into a life and career in connecting others.

Grey Interviewer: Holly Williams, Global Planning Director

When Jim McKelvey invented the Square card reader with Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey, he had no idea he was headed into a David vs. Goliath battle with Amazon that he would ultimately win!

On this episode, you will hear what drove Jim to make payment simpler, how he and the team conquered competition, and what he's up to next. After listening to the podcast, you can read more in Jim’s new book, The Innovation Stack.

Grey Interviewer: Kenny Gold, Executive Director, Social

Tiana Epps-Johnson and her co-founders had an ambitious and critical goal; to simplify and modernize U.S. elections.

To reach this goal, they established The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), whose data has been accessed over 250 million times by U.S. voters through partnerships with local election committees, Google, and Facebook.

On this podcast, you'll hear from Tiana, the co-founder and Executive Director of CTCL, about the organizations' humble beginnings, how its work became crucial to fight election misinformation, and how Tiana's courage for this work has been passed down through generations.

Grey Interviewer: Joey Scarillo, Senior Project Manager & Podcast Producer

It's no wonder 305 Fitness founder and CEO Sadie Kurban has been called "the next fitness cult leader" by the New York Observer. With seven studios across New York, Washington D.C., and Boston; and 1,000 certified instructors teaching worldwide, 305 Fitness has been seen by over 100,000 people and counting.

On this week's podcast, Sadie shares the story behind 305 Fitness and how she built an entire community around feeling good.

Grey Interviewer: Carly Quellman, Associate Creative Director

Sadie and her team are offering one free month of 305 Fitness to all Grey Matter listeners: http://305fitness.info/greymatter

April Walker became a legend in the hip-hop fashion scene, as the first woman to break into the industry when she opened her store, Fashion in Effect in the late 80’s. Over the decades, she dressed icons like Biggie, Tupac, Jay Z, and Mike Tyson in her Walker Wear brand. In the process, she herself became an icon.

For our season 3 premiere we’ll hear April’s story, from her inspirations growing up in Brooklyn to the next generation she is inspiring now.

Grey Interviewer: John Patroulis, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer

New episodes of Grey Matter: A Podcast About Ideas are launching on Tuesday June 15th and release every other Tuesday.

Follow to hear firsthand, how the best ideas were thought up from some of the most innovative creators, founder, and inventors.

This episode wraps up our deep dive into the question “What makes a good idea a great one?”

We’re deep-diving into the creative criteria we hold our work to at Grey. This week is “Audacity.”

On this episode host John Patroulis, the creative mind behind the criteria, and Grey New York’s Chief Creative Officer, Justine Amour, articulate a definition for what audacity means in creativity as they share personal stories from their journey to creative leaders.

We are continuing to investigate “What makes a good idea a great one?” through the creative criteria we hold our work to at Grey. This week is “Craft.”

On this episode host of the show, John Patroulis chats with season two guest Keith Cartwright, the co-founder of the creative collective Saturday Morning , and founder/CCO of Cartwright, a West-coast agency recently launched in partnership with Grey, about how craft has played a huge part in his work. John and Keith also reminisce about their time together as creative partners early in their careers.

“What makes a good idea a great one?” is the question we will continue to explore on this bonus series.

We’re discussing the creative criteria we hold our work to at Grey. This week is “Simplicity.”

On this episode, producer Joey Scarillo chats with season two guest Greg Marsh, founder and CEO of Keyme, about how simplicity has factored into his work. He also tells us how the company has adapted during the pandemic.

Welcome to Grey Matter’s first bonus series, exploring the question: “What makes a good idea a great one?”

We’re diving into some of the ideas we’ve featured in the podcast, through the lens of the creative criteria we hold our work to at Grey. First is “Surprising but Feels Inevitable.”

On this episode, producer Joey Scarillo chats with former Grey Matter co-producer Graham Nolan about the inevitability of starting this very podcast in 2019. Think of it as Grey Matter’s origin story.

Check out #5Things from Grey, a weekly round table panel that covers the latest in social media. Check it out wherever you get podcasts. 

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Apple Podcasts

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Pocket Casts

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When George Dawes Green hosted his first Moth event, before even calling it The Moth, the event, in his words, was “horrible.” Through determination and a passion for the telling a good story, George grew the idea into a global platform to celebrate raconteurs.

In our Season 2 finale, we will hear George’s story and learn the inspiration behind the international storytelling platform, The Moth.

Grey Interviewer: John Patroulis

Please participate in our Grey Podcasts survey, it can be found HERE, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

After you listen to Grey Matter, check out another podcast from Grey: The #5Things, a weekly deep dive into culture through the lens of social media. You can find #5Things on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you find this podcast.

When Jackie Carter earned her three post graduate degrees in her 40’s, all she wanted to do was help people. After the brutal murder of Philando Castile in 2016, her mission became clear – make traffic stops safer for black motorists and police officers alike. She is the inventor of the Not Reaching pouch, and on this episode, you will hear her inspirational story.

References: Not Reaching | The Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops

Grey Interviewer: Lori Bullock

When Mikael Cho and Stephanie Liverani created Unsplash they had no idea how quickly they would find success – seemingly overnight. Unsplash fills the unmet needs of creative professionals – a free and culturally aware, current solution for people who are simply trying to make cool things.

Grey Interviewer: Kenny Gold

Link to Mikael's OMG album on Unsplash

After navigating a painful divorce, VC Chickering used her personal experience to write her first novel, the humorous and racy, Nookietown. We’ll learn how she landed her first book deal, insight into her writing process, and the struggles between the creation of her first and second books.

Grey Interviewer: Holly Williams

Content Warning: This episode discussed adult themes and may not be suitable for children.  

In 2016, motivated by the deaths of Philando Castile and Eric Garner and many others, Keith Cartwright, and his collaborators, started the creative coalition, Saturday Morning.  In this episode, you’ll hear what led Keith, one of Saturday Morning’s co-founders, to the many partnerships and creative endeavors that Saturday Morning takes on as an organization. We’ll also hear exclusively from Keith, Saturday Morning’s goals for the future.

Grey Interviewer: Jhanell Biggs

As a child, Tal Zvi Nathanel would look through the department store windows in New York City and be transported to a magical place. This passion for wonder and imagination led him to create Showfields, often called the Most Interesting Store in the World. Tal, the co-founder and CEO of Showfields, talks about how he and his team reimagined the shopping experience through the eyes of the customer using immersive experiences, great service, and discovery.

Grey Interviewer: Kenny Gold

When Jon Sandler started collaborating with his bandmate Luke Moellman, there was an instant musical chemistry that led them to start the band, Great Good Fine Ok. On this episode of Grey Matter, you'll hear from Jon, the band's lyricist and lead vocalist, learn the secrets of their success, and find out how Jon was feeling when he wrote the song "2020."

Grey Interviewer: Holly Williams

For Claudia Edelman, advancing an agenda of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Hispanic community can be traced back to her most-formative childhood experiences. In this episode, Claudia speaks about her vision for We Are All Human, the non-profit she founded; and discusses how important it is to talk about failure openly.

Grey Interviewer: Karol Chang

When Greg Marsh's wife was locked out of their apartment, the experience of calling a locksmith was so negative that it inspired Greg to innovate. In this episode, you'll hear the story that led him to KeyMe, a security technology company famous for its digital key printing kiosks in retail locations.

Grey Interviewer: Dan Bennett

The challenge for Allurion Technologies co-founder, Dr Shantanu Gaur and his team was to invent a safe and inexpensive way for a gastric balloon to enter and exit the stomach. The solution was a true innovation in weight loss, the Elipse. You’ll hear how Dr. Gaur’s passion and perseverance led him to drop out of Harvard Medical School for a path of entrepreneurship.

Grey Interviewer: Joey Scarillo

J. Ivy is a poet, rapper, and spoken word artist whose creative journey began when a teacher assigned him to speak in front of a crowd. His love of language has led him down many paths, including Kanye West’s 2004 hit album, The College Dropout. You’ll learn what inspires J, what famous singer got their name from J, and you’ll get to hear him recite his own poetry live in the studio.

Grey Interviewer: John Patroulis

Tanya Zhang and Wesley Kang are the co-founders of the men's fashion brand Nimble Made. They created a clothing brand focused on size inclusion for men needing a truly slim shirt. Hear how they launched from their apartment and what they learned on their road to entrepreneurship.

Grey Interviewer: Karol Chang

Steereo Co-Founder Sean McKenzie is driven by music. It’s a drive that’s led him to a one-of-a-kind business solution for ride-share app drivers. The Steereo app is a music discovery platform used by drivers and compensates them for streaming music to their passengers.

Find out how Sean came up with ONE solution for problems spanning across multiple industries and how that dovetailed perfectly into a win/win for everyone.

Grey Interviewer: Kenny Gold

Joe Lunardi has had a lifelong passion for basketball. A passion that has led him to his career in Bracketology at ESPN. Each year, he projects the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament field. His work is a culmination of sports, stats analysis, and a deep understanding of the game.

In this episode, we’ll hear all about what inspired and led to Joe’s position within the world of college basketball, as a bracketologist.

Grey Interviewer: Joey Scarillo

Melody Henderson is a Brooklyn native, and the Creative Director, and co-founder of Curly Girl Collective. As the Creators of CURLFEST® – the largest natural beauty festival in the world, she and her co-founders are building a global community where women and girls of every shade, shape, and size can celebrate and be celebrated for who they are. In this episode, we’ll discover what inspired Melody Henderson to dream up such a powerful movement. 

Grey Interviewer: Holly Williams

Loren Hammonds is the Programmer of Feature Films and Immersive at Tribeca Film Festival. With over 15 years of experience in the film and entertainment industry, Loren oversees the curation of Virtual Arcade, a collection of incredible VR art, installations, and narratives. He’s made way for a world of virtual visually immersive art and experiences and created a space for artists to showcase this ever-evolving art form.

In this episode, we’ll hear how Loren curated one of the greatest VR experiences in the world.

Grey Interviewer: Dan Bennett, Worldwide Chief Innovation Officer

Diamond Dallas Page aka DDP began his legendary wrestling career at age 35. He was met with skepticism upon entering the wrestling world at his age but proved everyone wrong and triumphed within the sport. That is, until a spinal injury brought his career to a screeching halt.

But just like he did before, he didn’t let this stop him. What began as an attempt to heal turned into the creation a one-of-a-kind yoga work out for people of all levels of fitness experience. In our season 2 premiere we’ll hear how DDP turned lemons to lemonade and created one of the most effective fitness plans today.

Grey Interviewer, John Patroulis, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer

Announcing new episodes of Grey Matter launching on Tuesday January 28th 2020 and will release every other Tuesday. 

In Grey Matter’s first-ever bonus episode, our conversation with Sleeping Giants co-founder, Matt Rivitz, continues. The discussion ranges from free speech, to technology’s unintended consequences for media companies, to updating the terms of service for advertisers to meet their needs. Listen to learn more about Matt Rivitz and his journey in co-creating Sleeping Giants. 

Grey Interviewer: Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, John Patroulis

Season 1 of Grey Matter: A Podcast About Ideas is live, look out for Season 2 coming Winter 2020

Matt Rivitz is the co-founder of Sleeping Giants, a social media activism organization that combats racism, sexism, and all hate speech in advertising and media. In our season one finale, we’ll hear how Matt has harnessed the power of creativity to make real-world change. Listen to learn more about Matt Rivitz and his journey in co-creating Sleeping Giants.   

Grey Interviewer: Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, John Patroulis

For Mary Pryor, a personal health focus drove an idea that’s become a national discussion. Amid the legitimization and growth of the cannabis industry, and all the positive potential for financial and medical health that comes with it, the co-founder of Cannaclusive shares her concept about how to elevate the discussion of why diversity is essential to the future of the business.   

Grey interviewer: Graham Nolan

Some of the world’s best ideas come from physical activities: as you hone the machine that is your body, your mind is freed to make new connections. So it makes sense that during his run across the entirety of the Sahara Desert, Charlie Engle’s transcendent thoughts and global exploration led to the idea of water.org. Hear about his extraordinary trip, and the idea for a movement born of his journey.  

Grey interviewer: Worldwide Chief Innovation Officer Dan Bennett

Morgan Givens is someone who truly understands the transformative power of storytelling. Through the fiction podcast Flyest Fables, Morgan tells "hopepunk" stories with rich imagery. These audio adventures are tailored to children but enjoyed by just about everyone. Listen to learn more about Morgan and the inspiration behind building Flyest Fables. 

Grey Interviewer: Joey Scarillo 

**Program note: To celebrate International Podcast Day 2019 we are releasing this conversation a day early, on Monday Sept 30, we will return to Tuesday releases next week.**

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Faced with a daily routine of costly meal bars plus coffee, Aaron Kinnari – founder of FLT Bars – thought to combine them both into one clean energy recipe for improved health. We discuss how a simple idea, a willingness to expand skills, and the need to fuel change led to Aaron’s delicious, vegan entrepreneurial venture.    Grey interviewer: Global Strategy Director Holly Williams

Tiffany R. Warren had a moment of emotional epiphany that motivated her to unite an industry around diversity through ADCOLOR – which challenges creative industries to connect in stronger, more honest ways to create meaningful progress. Find out here how the emotion led to the idea, which led to seeking out support, which led to meaningful change. 

Grey interviewer: Strategy Director Karol Chang

The idea behind the hit mobile game Dots might appear to be simple fun, but the concept that led to the phenomenon was rooted in artistic ambitions. Here, Grey talks to game creator Patrick Moberg about the aesthetic inspiration and the innovation environment that took the idea from a visual notion to an expanding game ecosystem.  

Grey interviewer: SVP, Director/Social Media Kenny Gold

Given the changing role of published stories in our modern world, Charlie Melcher had a great idea: what if a new community could elevate the way we tell stories, across any medium? Here, we talk to the Future of Storytelling founder about how his idea embraced collaboration, tech and innovation to create a new chapter for an established industry.

Grey interviewer: Global Strategy Director Holly Williams

The idea was: defy 100 fears in 100 days. The result was inspiration for a lot of people who didn’t realize how fear was a barrier to their happiness. How did this idea go from scary whim to a full movement? Michelle Poler – Keynote Speaker, Fear Facer and founder of Hello Fears – shares the genesis of her triumphant, life-changing concept. Grey interviewer: Strategy Director Karol Chang

Was the idea for the world’s premiere social media community and discussion forum conceived… at Burning Man? Toby Daniels – co-founder and CEO of Crowdcentric Media and Executive Director and Founder of Social Media Week – talks about how he thought up and then developed the idea for the industry’s foremost social media insights platform.

Grey interviewer: Worldwide Chief Innovation Officer Dan Bennett

In a world that is so wired, how does someone disconnect long enough to think up a platform for a more unplugged, conscious society? For Jess Davis, the founder of Folk Rebellion, the idea sparked during a vacation – and grew into a movement where she promotes slower-living and the more mindful use of technology (which we could all use these days).

Grey interviewer: Worldwide Chief Innovation Officer Dan Bennett

Week in and week out, actor and comedian Cecily Strong (SNL, Ghostbusters, the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner) thinks of hilarious ideas for characters and scenes… but how? We hear from Cecily about how the world and people around her inspire her writing and characters, and how the simplest, most obvious ideas can be the best ones when well executed.

Interviewed by Grey Worldwide Chief Creative Officer John Patroulis