Just A Chat With

In this episode of "Just a Chat With," host Andrew Dobbie speaks with Siobhan Mackenzie, an award-winning Scottish fashion designer known for her unique approach to contemporary Scottish dress. Siobhan shares her journey from a young girl sketching designs in the Black Isle to dressing celebrities like Justin Bieber and Shania Twain. She discusses the importance of her heritage and how it influences her work, particularly in creating bespoke kilts that blend tradition with modernity. Siobhan also reflects on the challenges of being a solo entrepreneur, the significance of mentorship, and the impact of her upbringing on her creative process.The conversation delves into Siobhan's experiences in the fashion industry, including her education, the importance of practical skills, and the hurdles she faced in establishing her brand. She emphasises the value of storytelling in fashion and how her designs are rooted in personal narratives. As she prepares for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, where she wi

Known in the industry as "Heineken Jesus," Andrey Tyukavkin is one of the most inventive creative minds working today. As Global Executive Creative Director at Le Pub and Chief Innovation Officer & Founder of Le Garage—their global innovation and prototyping hub—he's led award-winning work for Heineken, Netflix, and Philips, racking up 70 Cannes Lions and over 232 creative awards to his name, ranking as the #3 Executive Creative Director at Cannes Lions 2022. He also speaks seven languages!In this episode, we explore the fascinating connection between neuroscience and creativity. Andrey opens up about his panic attacks, the "dead spot" in his brain, and the science that links an enlarged amygdala to creative genius. We discuss why the best ideas often come from brains that refuse to work in linear ways—and why being "a bit sick" might be exactly what the industry needs.We also dive into his approach to innovation: from The Closer (a bottle opener that shuts down your work

Keywordscreativity, AI, digital advertising, leadership, work-life balance, personal growth, innovation, creative management, technology, storytellingSummaryIn this episode of 'Just a Chat with a Brand and Creativity', host Andrew Dobbie interviews Lars Bastholm, a seasoned creative leader with a rich history in digital advertising and AI. They discuss Lars's unconventional journey into creativity, the evolution of digital advertising, and the challenges of leading creative teams. Lars shares insights on work-life balance, the impact of AI on creativity, and the importance of personal projects for young creatives. The conversation also touches on the duality of AI's potential, exemplified through a humorous experiment with an AI-generated Billy the Fish, showcasing the playful side of creativity in the age of technology.TakeawaysLars's journey into creativity was accidental, starting from a film and English degree.Direct marketing taught Lars the importance of understanding customers.The arrival of the intern

In this episode of Just a Chat with, I sit down with architect and entrepreneur Danny Campbell, founder of Hoko Design and judge on BBC’s Scotland’s Home of the Year.We chat about building a business with purpose, the dangers of ego, and what happens when you scale too fast. Danny opens up about how near-burnout reshaped his views on success, why he swapped a Jaguar for Crocs, and how kindness—not competition—became his guiding principle.It’s a conversation about design, growth, and rediscovering what really matters—at work, at home, and in life.Key Takeaways:Ego is the enemy. Growth driven by ego leads to stress and instability. Purpose-driven growth lasts.Kindness scales. Doing good for others multiplies back—personally and professionally.Simplify to survive. Hoco shrank from 35 people to 10 and became more profitable and happier.Inside-out success. The best businesses start by getting the people and purpose right before the process.You don’t need more—just the right things. Letting go of material pressure

In this episode, we sat down with Adam Morgan who is the Executive Creative Director at Adobe. With over 25 years of experience in marketing, with a focus on creativity, strategy and storytelling, Adam has produced several award-winning campaigns. He was also named the 40 under 40 up-and-coming professionals by Utah Business Magazine and in 2020 and AdWeek named him one of the top 100 creative minds in the world, influencing advertising, media, and culture.  If that wasn’t enough, he has also written a book called “Sorry Spock, Emotion Drives Business” and hosts his own podcast, “Real Creative Leadership” which talks about the issues, challenges and benefits of creative leadership.  Follow Adam here: Linkedin — Watch this episode on YouTube — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the world’s best in class. Hosted by Andrew Dobbie Sponsored by The One Club for Creativity Powered by MadeBrave Follow us: Facebook Instagram Twitter Linkedin Our website:  https://justachatwith.com

In this episode, we sat down with Alex Dickens who is the Head of Brand at Grenade.  Alex has been working for Grenade for the past eight years, starting out as their Junior Graphic Designer. Throughout this time, he has managed to build the Grenade brand into the award-winning, worldwide, explosive brand it is today.  Listen on to find out how he managed to get the best out of his creative team and what the Grenade brand stands for beyond the product.  Follow Alex here: Linkedin Instagram — Watch this episode on YouTube — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the world’s best in class. Hosted by Andrew Dobbie Sponsored by The One Club for Creativity Powered by MadeBrave Follow us: Facebook Instagram Twitter Linkedin Our website:  https://justachatwith.com

In this episode, we sat down with Craig Black who is an amazing visual artist from Scotland. Craig is extremely passionate about what he does and has recently shifted away from his original technique of typography to create a whole new technique in visual art called Acrylic Fusion. This new technique involves mixing acrylic paints to create interesting and mesmerising patterns on different surfaces and products such as shoes, footballs and skateboards. All this began after he was inspired by his Wife’s leggings! His unique and versatile style has since led him to work with brands such as UEFA, Wisdom Audio, Pepsi and Ribble Cycles and his work has been displayed from New York to Dubai and Sydney. Listen on to find out how he has managed to grow such a successful studio, how he has evolved his artistic talent and his top tips for bringing in new opportunities. Follow Craig here: LinkedIn. Website. Instagram. — Watch this episode on YouTube — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the world’s b

In this episode, we sat down with James Cross who is the Creative Director at BBC Creative. James joined the BBC in 2017, shortly after its inception. Since then, James has produced award-winning campaigns such as the Tokyo 2020, FIFA 2018 world cup and the ‘We know our place’ campaign celebrating women in sport. James got his start as a Copywriter, working with brands such as WKD, Domino’s and Harley-Davidson. Today, we discuss his transition from Copywriter to Creative Director, and how he manages to create such talented and distinctive creative work.  Follow James here:  Linkedin Website — Watch this episode on YouTube — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the world’s best in class. Hosted by Andrew Dobbie Sponsored by The One Club for Creativity Powered by MadeBrave Follow us: Facebook Instagram Twitter Linkedin Our website:  https://justachatwith.com

In this episode, we sat down with Rob Mayhew, a stand-up comic, TikTok star and Head of Influence and Retail at FleishmanHillard.    In his 20 years of agency experience, Rob has worked with brands such as McVities, GSK, Lacoste, Bacardi, Molson Coors, and General Mills, building both content and global shopper strategies.    Rob now uses this experience, along with his comedic timing, to create viral sketches about agency life that resonate throughout the entire industry.    Listen on to discover how he comes up with ideas for TikTok, how he manages to post consistently while working full-time, what impact his TikTok success has had on his life and some of his top tips to get started! Follow Rob here:  TikTok LinkedIn Twitter Watch this episode on YouTube — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the world’s best in class. Hosted by Andrew Dobbie Sponsored by The One Club for Creativity Powered by MadeBrave Follow us: Facebook Instagram Twitter Linkedin Our

In this episode we sat down with Ndukwe Onuoha, an advertising copywriter, spoken word poet, and Creative Director at Oliver MEA which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over the course of his career, Ndukwe has created memorable communications in Nigeria and West Africa for brands like AB InBev, Uber, British Council, and Diageo's International Premium Spirits, amongst others.  Ndukwe describes himself as a “copywriter by day but a poet by design”, and you can listen to his second Spoken Word album, ‘Nwa Chukwu’, on all popular streaming platforms.  In 2020, Ndukwe was endorsed by Arts Council England for his work in poetry and moved to the UK with his family in 2021. He now lives in Derby with his wife and two children and continues to work on getting African stories told on the world stage.     Check out Ndukwe's work here Watch this episode on Youtube — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the world’s best in class. Hosted by Andrew Dobbie Sponsored by The

In this episode we sat down with the amazing Ash Jones, the Founder at personal branding agency, Great Influence.   Ash has helped to build personal brands for some of the UK’s biggest CEOs & Founders and transform them into industry-leading influential figures on Linkedin.   His journey started with Steven Bartlett, CEO of Social Chain, where he was one of the founding employees in the team. Ash helped set the strategy for Steven’s personal brand. Steven is now widely considered to be one of the UK’s most influential entrepreneurs, with his #1 business podcast 'Diary Of A CEO' and Sunday Times bestselling book 'Happy Sexy Millionaire'.   Since then, Ash has worked with a number of CEOs & Founders, most notably the CEO of PrettyLittleThing - Umar Kamani, Myprotein Founder - Oliver Cookson, Huel Founder - Julian Hearn, and Parklife & Warehouse Project Founder - Sacha Lord. Follow Ash here Check out Great Influence Watch this episode on Youtube — We’re a video podcast talking brand a

In this episode we sat down with the amazing Betty NFT, who is the co-founder and director of Deadfellaz - an NFT collection & community and you could say metaverse web 3.0 brand. The Deadfellaz collection of 10,000 NFTs sold out within 20 minutes of launch on the 13th September 2021, and has since traded over 46 million USD through NFTs. With a DeadFellaz token comes art, culture & community. And they are here for the love of art and the evolution of gamification, IP & NFT tech. They have big plans and focus on innovating within the NFT space & empowering their holders in creative ways. Betty’s role within Deadfellaz as one of the two co-founders (along with her husband and Deadfellaz illustrator Psych) who have handled everything from concept development, community engagement, and brand outreach to marketing, innovation, and experience design.  Betty is also co-Director of a creative production agency servicing AAA brands and corporations globally and has been in the industry for the la

In this episode we sat down with the amazing Chris Do, an award-winning designer, director, CEO and Chief Strategist of Blind which is a Brand Strategy Design Consultancy.   Chris, based out of California, is also the founder of The Futur which is an online education platform with the mission of teaching 1 billion people how to make a living doing what they love through various online courses, and tools to help you people build better design skills and better creative businesses! His Youtube channel for the Futur now has over 1.8m Subscribers.   His company Blind was founded in 1995, and is a pioneer of Motion Design. Today, Blind continues in the tradition of excellence by bringing a world-class team of strategists, designers, filmmakers, writers and animators to create truly memorable video content for clients such as Snapchat, Nike, EA Sports and Microsoft to name a few!    Chris currently serves as the chairman of the board for the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA)

In this episode we sat down with the amazing Claude Silver who is the Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia which was founded by Gary Vaynerchuk and has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore. With over 20 years of experience in positive psychology and leadership positions in brand strategy, Claude is nearly seven years into her current role at VaynerMedia where she oversees talent management, retention, L&D, coaching, people operations, recruitment, and especially culture for over 1000 people. Claude has a passion for creating spaces where people can thrive, and says her life purpose is “to be of joyful service and unlock emotional optimism in all” Claude is also the host of ‘Emotional Optimism: Living in the Silver Lining Podcast’, where she talks to guests about tapping into emotional optimism, and heart leadership. More about Claude here on her website Listen or subscribe to Claude's podcast Watch this episode on Youtube! — We’re a video podcast talking brand and creativity with the worl

In this episode we sat down with the amazing Ica Headlam who is a creative and podcast host based here in the north-east of Scotland. In late 2017 Ica started to independently produce and host the 'Creative Me Podcast', a weekly show that explores creativity and arts in the North East of Scotland, with the aim of drawing a wider focus on Aberdeen's creative community. To date, it has been commissioned for the Look Again Festival, Northlands Creative, and City Moves festival dance live. The podcast has also been downloaded over 26,000 times, and is about to hit 100 episodes. Ica is also the founder of We Are Here Scotland a platform that aims to amplify the voices of Black and People of Colour artists and creatives across Scotland's creative industries. Ica is also a qualified Social Worker who works with vulnerable young adults across the city and is a strong advocate for representation across the arts and values the importance of open and honest dialogue. Hailing from South-East London - Ica moved to Scotlan

Season 3 has arrived! In this episode we sat down with Ashwin Chacko, aka, Whacko Chacko who is a multi-disciplinary illustrator, designer, hand-letterer, and motivational speaker living and working in Dublin. Working 12 years now as a solopreneur, Ashwin has worked with clients such as Facebook, Adobe, Nike, Puma, United Nations, and many more. Ashwin specialises in positive visual storytelling, helping businesses to connect with their audiences through illustration and design for advertising campaigns, products, packaging, editorials, children’s books and one-off commissions from around the world. With a passion for uncovering the social interactions that drive culture, Ashwin captures these moments in bold lines and shapes, focusing on a strong use of characters intermingled with typography and patterns. Ashwin describes his work as ‘positively playful’ influenced by contemporary culture rooted in his love for music, comics, tattoos and street art. Ashwin has also published several illustrative books, many

In this episode we sat down with Andy Nairn who is a Founding Partner at Lucky Generals. With nearly 30 years’ experience in the creative industry, Andy is now one of the world’s most respected brand strategists. As one of the UK’s most successful creative agencies, Lucky Generals have done and are famed for their amazing work for the likes of Amazon, Yorkshire Tea, Paddy Power, the Co-op, and many more. They’ve also been shortlisted for Campaign magazine’s Agency of the Year for the last five years in a row. Andy has been named the country’s top strategist for the last two in a row and one of the top five creative people in world of advertising by Business Insider. Now Andy wants to share his luck with others, so he’s donating his royalties from his first book ‘Go Luck Yourself’ to Commercial Break: an organisation that helps working-class talent break into the creative industries. Andy grew up in the Scottish Borders but has worked in London since 1993 (apart from a short period in San Francisco). He now li

In this episode we sat down with Gavin Quirk who is the Head of Fulfillment Operations for Global Creative Production at Netflix. With nearly 20 years of experience in brand and marketing strategy, Gavin started his career in London with Diageo on the Graduate Development Scheme after graduating from the University of Strathclyde Business School here in Glasgow, Scotland.  While at Diageo Gavin held various Sales and Marketing roles including leading retail activation strategies in Sainsbury's stores across the UK and France and Brand Management roles for Guinness, Jose Cuervo and Three Barrels brandy.  After leaving Diageo, he moved to Disney where he led 360 brand campaign strategies for Studio releases across Live Action and Animated movies. This role eventually took him to Los Angeles where he held several Disney leadership positions in Marketing, Operations and Business Development.  In 2018, after almost 12 years at Disney, he moved to Netflix where he currently leads a team at the inters

In this episode we sat down with Andy Morahan who is a world-renowned commercial, film, and music video director.  With nearly 40 years of experience in the industry, Andy has produced music videos and films for artists such as George Michael, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Tears for Fears, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Wham! Tina turner, Brian Adams... and my all time favorites - Guns N' Roses!  and the list doesn’t stop here. Andy won an MTV Award For Best Director for George Michael's Father Figure and Best Video for Guns N' Roses' November Rain’ - which has now been streamed over a billion times on YouTube. Andy was also twice Grammy-nominated for Long Form videos - 'Cyndi Lauper - Live in Paris' and 'Michael Jackson - Live in Bucharest'. Andy also directed the groundbreaking Guess Jeans 'Cheat' commercial. Featuring performances from Juliette Lewis and Harry Dean Stanton, the stylish and innovative piece won over 80 advertising awards worldwide,

In this episode we sat down with Kevin Swanepoel who is the CEO at The One Club for Creativity, which is the world's foremost non-profit organisation recognising creative excellence in advertising and design. As CEO, Kevin leads ‘The One Show’ which is one of the most prestigious awards shows in the communications industry. He has also shaped the global brand of The One Club, providing leadership for its expansion into China and beyond. With 35 years’ experience in media and marketing in the creative industries, Kevin is a frequent speaker on current advertising trends, he has appeared on FOX, NBC and CBS and has also been published in Adweek, Advertising Age, Creativity and AdHoc. Kevin established ‘Creative Week’, the pre-eminent festival in New York which I attended two years ago for their Executive Creative Summit (which was amazing) - The festival celebrates the intersection of advertising, design, digital media and the arts. Kevin also travels and lectures frequently and is enthusiastically involved in