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PODCAST

Awaiting Approval

Adam Jennings hosts a podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership

What happens when seasoned creatives finally speak without filters? Hosted by Adam Jennings, a design leader with three decades of experience, Awaiting Approval invites creative directors, design leads, and experienced makers to share the work they’re proud of, the lessons they learned too late, and the messy, human truth of leadership. Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production. Hosted by Adam Jennings. Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner growwithadamjennings.substack.com

arts design

All Episodes

76:35

Nacho Zuccarino - Vulnerability

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/05/21

Nacho Zuccarino - VulnerabilityNacho Zuccarino has lived several careers in one lifetime. He started out teaching metaphysics in Buenos Aires, moved into advertising, spent a decade in Silicon Valley working at orgs like Google and Netflix, helped launch Starlink with SpaceX, and has spent the last two years building at the intersection of creativity and AI. He is restless, warm, and deeply, disarmingly honest. And he will tell you, without hesitation, that he is still a broken kid.This conversation

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48:01

Debbie Millman - Becoming

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/05/14

Debbie Millman has spent over 20 years interviewing the world’s most creative people, built one of the most celebrated design podcasts in existence, written a number of highly acclaimed books, co-founded the Masters Program in Branding at the SVA, and helped shape how an entire industry thinks about craft, identity, and what it means to do meaningful work. She is warm, considered, and disarmingly honest. And she is, by her own admission, still very much in the process of becoming.What struck me most

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47:35

David Martin - Curiosity

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/05/07

David Martin founded Fantasy Interactive before most people knew what interaction design was. He helped shape the visual language of operating systems used by billions, built one of the most influential creative agencies of its era, and worked with some of the biggest names in tech and culture. He’s also a pilot, a go-kart mechanic, a consciousness obsessive, and a dad who quit the nine-to-five to be trackside with his eleven-year-old son. He is, in the best possible way, a lot.This conversation

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4:30

Season 3 Trailer & Cast Reveal

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/04/30

Season 3 of Awaiting Approval is here.22 episodes. 22 conversations. 22 themes. One season.Starting May 7th.Watch the trailer now.E1 — David Martin — Curiosity — 7th May E2 — Debbie Millman — Becoming — 14th May E3 — Nacho Zuccarino — Vulnerability — 21st May E4 — Odeya Noble-Bougay — Continuity — 28th May E5 — Charles Cadbury — Conviction — 4th June E6 — Tamora Petitt — Clarity — 11th June E7 — Maryam Cristillo — Love — 18th June E8 — James Ferguson — Adaptability — 25th June E9 — Martina

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18:27

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 18 - Debrief

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/04/02

Season 2 of Awaiting Approval comes to a close with something a little different.No guest this time. No one-word theme attached to a single conversation. Just me, stepping back to look at what this season became.And honestly… I’m still a bit stunned by it.Since launching the show in summer 2025 with no marketing spend, the podcast has grown far beyond anything I expected. More than 10,000 listens. Charting in over 15 countries. And not a single day since August 2025 where it hasn’t appeared

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77:56

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 16 : David...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/03/19

David Sheldon-Hicks, founder of Territory Studio, closes out Season 2 of Awaiting Approval with a conversation about awareness… and what it really takes to build something that lasts.We start in the garden with a hot drink. After long stretches in dark studios and edit suites, David will take any excuse to get outside. From there we move into the organised chaos of creative life: shelves of unread books, piles of film scripts waiting to be finished, and the strange comfort of a workspace that is

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89:46

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 15: Lou Maxon –...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/03/12

Lou Maxon returns to Awaiting Approval for part two of our conversation, and this time the theme is care.We meet in a metaphorical Bryant Park with Mountain Dew in hand and quickly move beyond nostalgia into something deeper: what it really means to lead with kindness in an industry obsessed with speed, scale, and minimal viable products.Lou shares the story of the Mr. Rogers figurine that sits on his desk - a daily reminder that creativity is about moving between reality and imagination, and that

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46:33

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 14 : Dan...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/03/05

Dan Onufrishyn is Director of the Creative Leadership Program at Miami Ad School. But before the title, before the CV, before the impressive brand list, there is something simpler running through this conversation: generosity.We start on a nature walk with green tea in a thermos. Mountains, sketchbooks, laptops, stream-of-consciousness doodles. It quickly becomes clear that Dan thinks in systems, in patterns, in long arcs. His career moves the same way. From Denver to New York. From School of Visual

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76:19

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 13 : Lucy...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/02/26

Lucy Jackson is the Founder and Chief Clarity Officer at Studio Jackson. She’s also a brilliant example of what happens when you back yourself, even when the plan isn’t fully formed yet.We start with a metaphorical drink in an English country pub and quickly get into Lucy’s love of flexibility, autonomy, and working in whatever spot has the best light. From there, she takes us through a career that reads like a masterclass in brand-building, licensing, and creative leadership, from designing

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80:28

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 12 - Sandra...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/02/18

Sandra Gonzalez didn't take the expected route into design leadership. She started in engineering, moved into education, product, and front-end development, then taught herself UX by building her own mobile app startup, intentionally designed to give her hands-on experience as a mobile UX designer and help her break into a UX career. That same conviction runs through everything she shares in this conversation: you can design your own future, but you have to be willing to claim it.Sandra is the

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74:48

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 11 : Recruiter...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/02/12

Hiring in 2025? Brutal. Struggle. Chaos. Messy. Exciting.In this special bonus roundtable episode, Adam is joined by five leading recruiters and talent partners – Laura Baker, Erica Fortgang, Sam Gale, Meg Rye and Jared Tredly – for an unfiltered state-of-the-market conversation about what’s really happening in design hiring right now.This isn’t a tips-and-tricks episode. It’s a frank, human discussion about ghosting, burnout, toxic leadership, AI expectations, neurodiversity, layoffs and what

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59:32

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 10 : Odeya...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/02/05

By day Odeya Noble-Bougay is Director of Product Design at Aviv Group, but at heart she is a maker. Someone who thinks with her hands, listens deeply, and believes that creativity is as much about care and connection as it is about output. Her journey spans sound engineering, visual communication, early usability work, telecoms at massive scale, property tech, and leading large, pan-European design teams through constant change.In this episode, Odeya joins Adam for a gentle, reflective conversation

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54:25

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 9 : William...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/01/26

William Barraclough has built a creative career driven less by formal pathways and more by instinct, curiosity, and a willingness to try things before knowing where they might lead. Now Head of Product Design for International Wealth and Premier Banking at HSBC, his journey spans skateboarding, DJing, restaurant work, early digital agencies, global brands, and leadership roles earned without ever studying design formally.In this episode, William joins Adam for a wide-ranging, thoughtful conversation

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50:49

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 8 : Hardy Sidhu...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/01/22

Hardy Sidhu is the Founder and CEO of Format-3, but labels have never sat comfortably with him. Designer, strategist, business builder, father, philosopher… Hardy has moved fluidly through roles and identities since entering the industry as a teenager, driven less by titles and more by a constant need to feel, question, and stay awake to the moment he is in.In this episode, Hardy joins Adam for a raw, expansive conversation about presence, discomfort, and what it really means to be alive inside your

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57:19

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 7 : Angela...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/01/15

Angela Arnold has built her career by listening deeply. To herself, to others, and to the quiet signals that tell you when something feels right… or when it doesn’t.As Head of Product Design at Genomics England, her work sits at the intersection of craft, care, and impact, shaping experiences that matter in some of the most sensitive and complex human contexts.In this episode, Angela joins Adam for a thoughtful, warm, and deeply reflective conversation about creative leadership, instinct, and trust

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69:59

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 6 : Joel Gill -...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/01/08

Joel Gill has lived several creative lives in one. Musician, engineer, global design leader, single father, mentor, and now Chief Experience and AI Officer at Experience Artisan. His story stretches from hiding in a school music room and becoming a session synth player & pianist in 1980s London, to shaping early digital at British Airways, to leading design inside megacorps like Shell, HSBC and S&P Platts—while also contributing his craft to teams across Barclays, WPP, Santander, Hyatt, Sapient,

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58:02

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 5 : Venessa...

Awaiting Approval ·

2026/01/01

Venessa Bennett has built a career that mirrors the evolution of digital itself. She is now Global Director of UX at Dye & Durham, but her journey began in graphic information design, moved through early digital agencies, transport consultancies, comparison sites, and eventually into design leadership, where she found her true sweet spot. Her story is one of intentional growth, constant reinvention and learning how to listen to her instinct.In this episode, Venessa joins Adam for an honest,

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83:18

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 4 : Hema Mehta -...

Awaiting Approval ·

2025/12/25

In this episode of Awaiting Approval, Adam sits down with Hema Meta for a deeply honest, heart-first conversation about what it means to keep going when life and work both feel heavy. It is a quiet, powerful episode about bravery in the very ordinary moments - telling the truth about how you feel, asking for help, and staying soft in a world that keeps hardening its edges.Across the hour, Hema lets herself be seen. There are pauses, emotion, and a lot of reflection. It is not a polished “success

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63:46

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 3 : Anjali...

Awaiting Approval ·

2025/12/18

Anjali Gajera Patel has lived multiple creative lives across India, the UK and now San Francisco, where she is Director of Product Design at Ancestry. Her story spans advertising, freelancing during a global recession, self-taught UX, major in-house roles at Clorox, GAP and Kodak, and the cross-continental journey that eventually led her to one of the most loved consumer brands in the world.In this episode, Anjali joins Adam for a warm, honest and deeply human conversation about finding strength

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55:02

Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 2 : Christopher...

Awaiting Approval ·

2025/12/11

Chris Nguyen has lived more creative lives than most designers ever get close to. He is the Founder of UX Playbook, former Head of Product Design at TrueMonkey, and previously UX Manager at Wizeline, where he helped grow the team from a dozen designers to more than forty.In this episode, Chris joins Adam for a fast, honest conversation about designing a career on your own terms. He shares how he went from dropping out of computer science and working in restaurants, to stumbling into a tech company

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