Podcast
A podcast on creatives, careers and the workplace
Metaleap Creative founders José and Nikolle Reyes—delve into the generational divide on how to approach creative work culture with a new mindset.
Workplaces are changing. Today’s creative leaders must reconcile the traditional agency grind with a new culture and young creative talent who expects work/life “balance” and the ability to bring one’s “whole self” to the office.
Naturally, these differences bring friction — and friction means growth and meaningful conversations.
These heart-to-heart exchanges capture the realities, nuances, complexities and joys of modern creative workplaces, as told from the POV of tenured leaders to recent Gen Z graduates. If you’ve wanted to know how management and new hires really handle workplace apathy and toxicity, mentoring and reverse mentoring, achieving mastery, and collaboration in a new virtual world — get ready to press play.
Your hosts José and Nikolle know the ins and outs of creative management. As the Executive Creative Director and Managing Director of Metaleap Creative, they’ve clocked 20 years of successfully running a premier visual design agency in Atlanta, Georgia. Their secret to success is an open one: they embrace the messiness of being business owners, creatives, and parents who have been married for 28 years — and they relentlessly cultivate a robust work environment by investing in their team’s personal fulfillment, without compromising on mastery or craft.
Tune into the Right Mind at Work.
Season 1 Guests
This Feeling is Real, but What is it?
David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. His column appears every Tuesday and Friday. He is currently a commentator on “PBS NewsHour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”He is the author of “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” and “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense.” In March 2011 he came out with his third book, “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement,” which was a No. 1 New York Times best seller.
This Feeling is Real, but What is it?
David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. His column appears every Tuesday and Friday. He is currently a commentator on “PBS NewsHour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”He is the author of “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” and “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense.” In March 2011 he came out with his third book, “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement,” which was a No. 1 New York Times best seller.
Is the Idea of Mastering a Craft Dead?
Gail Anderson is Chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts and creative director at Visual Arts Press. Anderson serves on the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee for the US Postal Service and the advisory boards of Poster House and The One Club for Creativity. She is an AIGA Medalist, the 2018 recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a 2022 Art Directors Club Manship Medallion honoree. Her work is represented in the Library of Congress’ permanent collection, the Milton Glaser Design Archives, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Is the Idea of Mastering a Craft Dead?
Gail Anderson is Chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts and creative director at Visual Arts Press. Anderson serves on the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee for the US Postal Service and the advisory boards of Poster House and The One Club for Creativity. She is an AIGA Medalist, the 2018 recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a 2022 Art Directors Club Manship Medallion honoree. Her work is represented in the Library of Congress’ permanent collection, the Milton Glaser Design Archives, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
I Don’t Care About Your War Stories
Katie Belloff is an Art Director and Designer in Brooklyn. Born and raised in New Jersey, she attended Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts and currently works for The New York Time’s TBrand Studio as an Art Director. She is also a board member for The Society of Publication Designers, for whom she designed the identity for their 56th Annual Awards. She previously worked as the Art Director for Popular Science magazine, where she received five SPD Merit Awards between the years of 2020-2021.
I Don’t Care About Your War Stories
Katie Belloff is an Art Director and Designer in Brooklyn. Born and raised in New Jersey, she attended Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts and currently works for The New York Time’s TBrand Studio as an Art Director. She is also a board member for The Society of Publication Designers, for whom she designed the identity for their 56th Annual Awards. She previously worked as the Art Director for Popular Science magazine, where she received five SPD Merit Awards between the years of 2020-2021.
Collaboration Doesn’t Mean What You Thought
Sergio Lozano is a designer and creative problem solver who enjoys leading and mentoring creative talent. He spent over 30 years at Nike, most recently as a Senior Design Director and Innovator. It is also important to note that he designed the iconic Air Max 95 while he was a relatively new designer there. (He has a hypebeast page dedicated to the legendary shoe!)
Collaboration Doesn’t Mean What You Thought
Sergio Lozano is a designer and creative problem solver who enjoys leading and mentoring creative talent. He spent over 30 years at Nike, most recently as a Senior Design Director and Innovator. It is also important to note that he designed the iconic Air Max 95 while he was a relatively new designer there. (He has a hypebeast page dedicated to the legendary shoe!)
More Than Capable
Davian-Lynn Hopkins is a designer based in Austin, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech in May 2020 and took a position as a digital designer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. After his time at the Fed, he moved on to a position as an editorial designer at Entertainment Weekly and then on to Netflix when Entertainment Weekly ceased their print publication. Davian is currently a designer at Pentagram in Austin.
More Than Capable
Davian-Lynn Hopkins is a designer based in Austin, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech in May 2020 and took a position as a digital designer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. After his time at the Fed, he moved on to a position as an editorial designer at Entertainment Weekly and then on to Netflix when Entertainment Weekly ceased their print publication. Davian is currently a designer at Pentagram in Austin.
It’s About Mentoring, Not Managing
Lakisha Clemons is the Global Head of Workforce and Organizational Transformation at TransUnion. Clemons is an accomplished organizational change management and human capital practitioner with 15 years of experience providing solutions for multiple Fortune 100 companies such as Delta Air Lines, Hilton Worldwide, Southern Company, and JPMorgan Chase. Her areas of expertise are leading large cultural change transformations, process improvement initiatives, and large system implementations such as SAP, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Oracle Suite.
It’s About Mentoring, Not Managing
Lakisha Clemons is the Global Head of Workforce and Organizational Transformation at TransUnion. Clemons is an accomplished organizational change management and human capital practitioner with 15 years of experience providing solutions for multiple Fortune 100 companies such as Delta Air Lines, Hilton Worldwide, Southern Company, and JPMorgan Chase. Her areas of expertise are leading large cultural change transformations, process improvement initiatives, and large system implementations such as SAP, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Oracle Suite.
Season 1 Episodes
This Feeling is Real, but What is it?
David Brooks is a researcher, Yale professor, columnist for The New York Times, commentator on “PBS NewsHour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” This Baby Boomer shares what he has embraced while working alongside Millennials. He puts a finer point on the great resignation, apathy and toxicity in the workplace and the existential crisis facing us all.
Is the Idea of Mastering a Craft Dead?
In company with hosts, José and Nikolle, legendary graphic designer Gail Anderson digs into defining the existential crisis facing older creatives and the conflict with a generational mindset that doesn’t care about their glory days. What must change to continue to be relevant? How can younger creatives attain mastery with higher industry demands for generalists? Ultimately, what is at odds in the heart of a creative and what leads to career satisfaction?
I Don’t Care About Your War Stories
Katie Belloff has made a name for herself as a graphic designer. She is a millennial who currently serves as an Art Director over a team of growing designers. She offers a counter-argument to the old-school work-grind mentality and sheds light on the newer generation’s broader definition of collaboration and overall expectations around mentorship.
Collaboration Doesn’t Mean What You Thought
Sergio Lozano’s long tenure at Nike taught this Gen X baby that there is no “i” in team. Though the workplace be a house of cards, Sergio intimates that collaboration and mentorship are still an art worthy of cultivation. He shares his experience leading designers at Nike and abroad and proffers traditional and contemporary approaches to leadership that are both innovative and inspiring.
More Than Capable
Now a designer at Pentagram, Davian-Lynn Hopkins knows first hand how dubious the last 3 years have been. As a Gen Zer, he speaks to the resilience necessary for a young designer trying to keep his footing in the tenuous work market. He also gives voice to the growing demand to become a “generalist” as opposed to a traditional view of focused mastery.
It’s About Mentoring, Not Managing
Lakisha Clemons gives voice to reason among the chaos. Her experience as Global Head of Workforce and Organizational Transformation at TransUnion in market research and technology illuminates change as a necessary good. Though not all traditional work-life rhythms are here to stay, she gives hope that some mainstream bedrocks of leadership and collaboration are here to stay.
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