Overshare: Honest Conversations with Creatives – Details, episodes & analysis

In this bonus episode of Overshare Season 3, Working Not Working co-founder and CEO Justin Gignac hosts a roundtable conversation with two senior recruiters from highly-celebrated companies. Lauren Ranke is the Director of Creative Talent at Wieden+Kennedy and Chloe Harlig is the Senior Creative Recruiter at Squarespace. Both companies recently received some well-deserved acclaim from Ad Age, with Wieden+Kennedy winning Agency of the Year and Squarespace winning In-House Agency of the Year.

This recording is from a live virtual event that took place on May 7th. Lauren and Chloe discuss how their hiring approaches have changed during quarantine, why self-initiated work is more important than ever, how they continue to keep their eyes trained on the future, and whether remote work will become the standard. Our digital audience of creatives, many of whom submitted thoughtful questions that Justin relayed to the recruiters, left the conversation feeling better educated on the thoughts and considerations of those who bring them work. They also left more hopeful. 

Because Lauren and Chloe were both so generous with insights, we're excited to share the full conversation with the creative community.

Follow Overshare (@oversharetalks) and Working Not Working (@wnotw) on Instagram.

SHOW NOTES:

Squarespace

Wieden+Kennedy

The United

In the season 3 finale of Overshare, host Justin Gignac sits down with Brooklyn-based photographer Jeremy Cohen, who has received A LOT of attention recently. Like most of us, Jeremy has had a lot of time on his hands these past couple of months. He’s used this time to think, to look out his window, to cook naked, and to cook up a quarantine record for the most romantic gesture.

From his balcony, Jeremy could see his neighbors’ roofs. He started photographing and filming all of the activity: yoga, working out, kite flying, book reading, and dancing. But one neighbor stood out. He waved to her from his balcony. She waved back. He then taped his phone number to his drone and flew it across the street to her. That meet-cute has snowballed into "The Quarantine Cutie" romance, which has since taken over the internet. Millions of people have watched videos of him sending the drone, asking her out, and showing up to their date in a human-sized bubble to practice proper social distancing.

Jeremy has offered not only a great distraction for all of us, but a reminder of our shared humanity. He has a great perspective on these times, as well as the personal and professional effects that come with suddenly having half a million Instagram followers.

In this conversation, Jeremy discusses the whirlwind nature of these past couple months, which included landing his first magazine cover for New York Magazine. And well-timed with Mother’s Day, Jeremy also discusses the impact that his mother, a Stage IV cancer survivor, has had on his work as well as his positive outlook on life. This episode will help you keep your head up in these times, which makes it a great finale to this season.

Follow Overshare (@oversharetalks) and Working Not Working (@wnotw) on Instagram.

SHOW NOTES:
Jeremy Cohen ( Working Not Working / Instagram / website )
Jeremy's first drone flirtation to Tori across the street
Bubble Boy date with Tori
Jeremy's cover of New York Magazine
Roof Culture During Quarantine (Part 1  & Part 2)
Enema of the State by Blink 182
Deja and Entendu by Brand New
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver

Shawna X is an independent artist and creative based in New York, known for her vibrant, visceral and highly graphical image-making across mediums in digital, spatial, and motion spaces. She creates experiences in music, fashion, and technology, collaborating with the likes of Adidas, The New Yorker, Warby Parker, and Ghostly International. Shawna's work addresses themes like cultural identity, the creative process and more recently, motherhood.

During the conversation, Shawna opens up about how her work has evolved with recent life changes, and why sometimes that means letting go of certain clients. As she's grown as an artist, Shawna's priorities have shifted. "More than the money, more than the project, it's the people you're making work with...No project is really that glamorous." She also investigates what exists beyond surface-level goals. For Shawna, the bigger picture is freedom: of the mind, from pressures of society, from labels of motherhood and cultural expectations. The audience who she feels she has something to prove to is an audience of just one: her daughter Ren.

In this episode, you will learn that doing CrossFit while pregnant is probably not the best way to train for childbirth. Also, how having doubt and self-sabotaging your work and maybe your sanity alongside that doubt can be a valuable part of the creative process. This is a conversation we were really excited to have and it does not disappoint.

Follow @OvershareTalks on Instagram and Twitter.

SHOW NOTES:

Shawna X (Instagram / Working Not Working / website)
Adam JK's "I literally do not know what I'm doing" hat
F*** Your Manners exhibition
Shawna's partner Collin Hughes
Zipeng Zhu
Hassan Rahim makes Shawna jealous

We're bringing back some of our favorite, most inspiring episodes in the lead up to the launch of Season 3. In our most popular interview to date, Working Not Working co-founder Justin Gignac sits down with David Droga, Creative Chairman and Founder of advertising agency Droga5. At the time, David was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and three years away from selling his company to Accenture for almost half a billion dollars. He reflects on years of influential work for clients like Google, Under Armour, Newcastle, UNICEF Tap Project, Prudential, and Jay-Z, and opens up about sibling rivalry, the importance of setting almost unattainable goals, and how he balances outrageous ego versus outrageous insecurity. 

Follow @OvershareTalks on Instagram and Twitter.

We're bringing back some of our favorite, most inspiring episodes in the lead up to the launch of Season 3. In this episode from our first season, Working Not Working co-founder Justin Gignac welcomes artists Shantell Martin and Ivan Cash. If you're looking for a fresh perspective on your work and life this conversation will inspire you. Both Shantell and Ivan create work that focuses on human connection. Helping us put down our devices and our personas and live in the present. The resulting conversation is especially lively and insightful, as it shifts from creative foundations to the complex ideas of sharing and spontaneity and connection, to how artists can challenge an overreliance on technology both professionally and personally.

Welcome to a special bonus episode of Overshare. Host Justin Gignac sits down with acclaimed illustrators Ping Zhu, Daniel Fishel, Marly Gallardo, and Molly Magnell to discuss all aspects of navigating a creative career through the lens of illustration. The group tackles a wide range of topics from how to break in and get the attention of clients, being patient with yourself as you develop and discover your personal style, how to determine what to charge and what is too low for each of them, how to ask for more money, and techniques they use to navigate down times. This conversation is full of insights and advice from 4 artists navigating different stages in their careers—from Molly who is fresh out of school to Ping who was an answer on Molly's quiz in school.

This episode is a complement to Working Not Working's Illustration Week content. You can find more interviews, articles, short films, and exhibitions on Working Not Working Magazine.

This episode was recorded by our friends at Second Child in NYC. Most of season 2 of Overshare was recorded in their beautiful production facility in downtown Manhattan and we were excited to fully utilize the audio studio for this roundtable. Huge thanks to Jesse Peterson for editing this episode.

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SHOW NOTES:

Molly Magnell (@mollymagnell)

Marly Gallardo (@marlygallardo)

Ping Zhu (@pingszoo)

Daniel Fishel (@o_fishel)

Also mentioned...

Adventure Time

Steven Universe

Charley Harper

The Snowy Day Board Book by Ezra Jack Keats

The New York Times Disability essays, art, and opinion

Jillian Tamaki

Edel Rodriguez

Cushion app for freelancers

Victo Ngai

Christian Robinson

Keith Negley

Molly's new ergonomic computer mouse to counteract her trigger finger injury

In the final episode of Season 2, host Justin Gignac sits down with one of the founding fathers of streetwear, Jeff Staple. Jeff is the founder and creative director of Staple Design and Reed Space. His 2005 collaboration with Nike led to riots outside of Reed Space as people fought to get their hands on the limited Nike SB Dunk “Pigeon”. Many people credit that moment, and that shoe, as the shoe that catapulted sneaker culture to the masses.

Jeff hosts the podcast Business of Hype on Hypebeast Radio. He’s also one of the nicest and most respected people in the game and the unofficial mayor of the Lower East Side ever since he opened his store Reed Space in 2001. He is now the Creative Director of TGS Holdings whose shop Extra Butter is only a few doors down from the original Reed Space location on Orchard Street.

During the conversation, Jeff shares how he has sustained success over two decades in the game and avoided becoming just another trend. He also divulges his somewhat questionable and illicit use of rollerblades to get accepted into Parsons. Additionally, Jeff reveals what he was thinking during two near-death experiences—including his mindset when he started digging his own grave while stranded on the side of a mountain.

In this episode, you will learn what it takes to stay relevant over the course of your career, how to maximize your sleep, and that your only job in life is to just stay alive.

Follow @OvershareTalks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

SHOW NOTES:

Staple Design

Reed Space

Extra Butter

Jeff's Podcast Business of Hype on Hypebeast Radio

PUMA x STAPLE PIGEON Suede Classic Sneakers

This Overshare is an in-studio conversation with film director and creative director Elena Parasco (@elenaparasco). Host Justin Gignac (@justingignac) chat's with Elena about her burgeoning directing career and the motivation behind it. Instead of complaining about the lack of content that represented women in sport in a way that relates to her, she decided to make her own. The result is a growing body of work that examines sport and play through the female gaze. Disrupting those traditional, cliché stereotypes of sports imagery that we’re used to and making work that celebrates more accessible female role models.

Elena is tenacious and resilient when trying to get her ideas out into the world, whether for herself or for clients like Nike, Air Jordan, A$AP Rocky, Calvin Klein, and Guess. She touches on how her non-traditional background studying cognitive science and psychology has informed her creative career and filmmaking. And is adamant about the necessity to have women in the room when creating content.

In this episode, you will learn about embracing the doubt of others as motivation and how to find happiness in small wins. Especially, when going through challenging times in your career.

Follow @OvershareTalks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

SHOW NOTES:

Elena's Website

Elena's films DOWNTOWNGIRLSBBALL and Nike Locker Room Talk

National Women’s Ice Hockey team of Mexico film and trading card series "Trade Your Hero for Mine" in Victory Journal

Elena recommends reading The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel

"A little madness goes a long creative way." - Donald Kuspit

Justin learned a new word from Elena. Ebullient...cheerful and full of energy (also means (of liquid or matter) boiling or agitated as if boiling.)

Host Justin Gignac (@justingignac) sits down in the studio with Tina Essmaker (@tinaessmaker) for a deeply personal conversation. Tina opens up about loss, divorce, resiliency, and new beginnings as she moves on from her role as Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of The Great Discontent. She embarks on this next chapter of her career as a coach, speaker, and writer with courage and enthusiasm.

Tina has made a career out of listening to and supporting others. For more than a decade, she was focused on social work helping runaway and homeless teens. Then co-founded TGD where she interviewed over 250 artists, makers and risk takers, including Cheryl Strayed, Debbie Millman, Reggie Watts, Tavi Gevinson, Leon Bridges, and Krista Tippett.

In this episode, you will learn how to pick yourself back up in difficult times and create a life from the inside out based on what’s important to you instead of reacting to outside pressures and expectations.

Follow @OvershareTalks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

SHOW NOTES:

Tina's Website

Asking Not Asking, Tina's Bimonthly Coaching Column on WNW Magazine

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Dan Rubin interview, the first on TGD

Author Sheila Heti

Author of Wild, Cheryl Strayed

Tina's 2017 AIGA Design Conference talk on humanity, vulnerability and empathy

Podcasts about money

Every Dollar, Dave Ramsey's budgeting app

Justin's speaking nightmare of losing his notes in his first ever professional talk (just watch the first 60 seconds)

Dave Franzese and Mark Richard Miller are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their creative studio Dark Igloo. Host Justin Gignac (@justingignac) invites the duo into the studio to reflect on the past decade of creating work that's drenched in humor and nostalgia. They discuss their mission to do 50% of projects for themselves (like Bored Game and Contact Us) and 50% for clients like Bonnaroo, Nike, Dig Inn, and most notably, GIPHY.

Their conversation touches on topics from '90s nostalgia, what we absorb from our parents, and how having children has changed their perspective on both work and play.

In this episode, you will learn that every project, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, is an opportunity to build a relationship that could change your career in the future. And that passion, enthusiasm, and play are self-perpetuating and worth prioritizing.

Follow @OvershareTalks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

SHOW NOTES:

Deep Work by Cal Newport

Jim Henson

Stan Winston

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs