In episode 10 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Tracy M. King-Sanchez, an Award Winning Screenwriter and Author on her incredible journey from Brooklyn to Paris and her inspiring insights on race and diversity.Tracy M. King-Sanchez is an award-winning screenwriter, former teacher, as well as a playwright, filmmaker and writer. Her short film, Artistic Closure, screened at the Stony Brook, Big Apple and Great Lakes Independent Film Festivals. Her writings have appeared in The Southampton Review, HotHouse Magazine, Midnight Breakfast, The Normal School, Atticus Review and Bold As Love Magazine. Tracy received her MFA from Stony Brook Southampton and completed a VONA/VOICES Residency. She is working on a novel and a collection of short stories set in Paris, where she currently resides.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 9 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Afdhel Aziz and Bobby Jones, Founders of Good is the New Cool and Conspiracy of Love, on the future of purpose within brands and corporations around the world.Afdhel Aziz is one of the most inspiring leaders in the movement for business and culture as forces for good.He is the Founder and Chief Purpose Officer of Conspiracy of Love, a global social impact marketing agency whose clients include iconic brands like Adidas, Red Bull, and Oreo, and Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Mondelez, Diageo, AB Inbev and Facebook.Afdhel is the co-author of 'Good is the New Cool: Market Like You A Give a Damn', the best-selling book about brand purpose, published by Regan Arts (a division of Phaidon) in 2016.He is a writer at Forbes where he covers the intersection of business and social impact.An inspirational keynote speaker, he has travelled the world, and been featured at the Cannes Lions, SXSW, TEDx, Advertising Week, Columbia University, Conscious Capitalism and more.Born in Sri Lanka, he is a graduate of King's College London and the London School of Economics. He is now based in Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and son.Bobby Jones is a top-selling author, renowned international speaker, strategist, expert on conscious capitalism, and successful businessman who is on an inspiring mission to show individuals and companies around the world how to be forces for good.With over a decade of senior leadership experience in purpose-driven marketing and in business, Bobby's keynotes, workshops and consultations are providing leaders in business and culture with an essential roadmap for mastering the key principles of purpose, to drive growth and impact.Since the release of his best-selling book Good is the New Cool in 2016, Bobby has helped people in over 138 counties to develop solutions to global challenges. He has delivered talks, consultations and workshops to some of the biggest companies in the United States, Europe, Australia and South America, as well as NGOs, celebrities and changemakers around the globe. The tools he provides help these entities unlock their purpose—and grow their businesses and brands—by being of service to others.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 8 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Chris Gannett, President of EarBuds and Founder of CGR Ventures, on the future of digital media and how IP, music, and retail is about to go through an amazing transformation.Player-coach with the benefit of experience gained from 3 exits, 3 turnarounds and 1 category-defining pivot.In 2006, Chris left Wall Street to concentrate on building businesses in an area of consumer experience on the cusp of a convergent renaissance: content x talent x democratized marketing & distribution of entertainment and commerce. He started in Music and has worked across the highest levels of TV, Radio, Talent Management, Live Attractions and Publishing, to technologies powering advances in Advertising, Data Management, Streaming and Social Media.Today, Chris is focused on (1) building EarBuds into a billion dollar company, (2) growing and advising a venture portfolio, and (3) supporting business students as a visitor at Washington University in St. Louis and SMU.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 7 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Stefan Ytterborn, Founder & CEO at CAKE, on creating quiet and clean electric off-road performance bikes using a cross-scientific approach to sustainability.Stefan has a long background as entrepreneur, promoter, and strategist within contemporary and industrial design and communication, covering all segments of the value chain and responsible for developing more than 2,000 consumer products.He founded POC in 2004 with the mission to ”save lives and reducing the consequences of accidents for skiers and gravity sports athletes, by developing better and more accurate protection”. Committed to high-end product development from day one, POC at this point is one of the strongest brands within its markets, present in 45 countries worldwide and currently having 85 employees. After raising the initial funding of USD 12M, he also led the first acquisition of POC made by Black Diamond at USD 45M in 2012, as well as the second acquisition made by Investcorp at USD 65M in 2015.CAKE is a Swedish electric bike company born out of a passion for gravity sports, and on a mission to develop high-quality, sustainable performance products. CAKE realizes that the development of electric drivetrains will bring positive change to the future of motorbikes and that our customers appreciate this too.The global motorcycle industry produces nearly 135 million vehicles every year. Most of these run on combustion engines, leaving an ugly carbon footprint every time they are in use. This is the primary reason behind Cake – a technology company that develops high performance off-road motorcycles that run on electricity.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 6 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Nancy Youssef, Chief Corporate Development Officer for Soles4Souls, on creating global entrepreneurs through an innovative nonprofit approach.Nancy Youssef currently serves as Chief Corporate Development Officer for Soles4Souls, a non-profit enterprise based in Nashville. Soles4Souls turn unwanted shoes and clothing into opportunity, by keeping them from going to waste and putting them to good use – providing relief, creating jobs and empowering people to break the cycle of poverty.She is also the Founder and President of Curves with Purpose, established in 2017, a women’s e- commerce marketplace celebrating shape diversity, serving sizes up to 5X, curating global brands, utilizing fit tech and helping disrupt the cycle of poverty through charitable partnerships. She served as senior vice president of international business development for Destination XL group, the largest omni-channel speciality retailer of big and tall men’s apparel.Prior to Destination XL, Nancy was vice president of international business development for Genesco, Inc. where she pioneered the Fortune 1000 footwear and apparel retailer’s portfolio of brands outside the United States. She currently serves as a director on the Nashville Chamber of Commerce International Business Council, the Mayor’s Advisory Council for Minority and Women Owned Businesses and the Mayor’s Advisory Council for New Americans.Nancy earned her B.S. in Marketing from The Pennsylvania State University and has also completed International Fashion Design studies at the Instituto Marangoni in Milan, Italy which gave her the opportunity to become fluent in her fifth language, adding Italian to Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 5 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Les Ferdinand, legendary footballer and Director of Football at Queens Park Rangers on his career journey and creating new pathways for diversity in management roles within the football community. Les is currently the only black technical director in English football.Les Ferdinand is a former professional footballer and current director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers, Beşiktaş, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers, Reading and Watford during which period he earned 17 caps for England.Les is the eleventh-highest scorer in the history of the Premier League, with 149 goals and he contributed a further 49 assists in the division.The Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club based in White City, London. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. They were founded in 1886 after the merger of Christchurch Rangers and St Judes Institute, although their official founding date is 1882 which is when Christchurch Rangers were first formed.The club's achievements include winning the League Cup in 1967, and they were FA Cup finalists in 1982. Their highest ever league finish was achieved in 1975–76 when they were runners-up in the First Division, now known as the Premier League, and qualified for Europe for the first time, reaching the quarter-finals of the 1976–77 UEFA Cup.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 4 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Robin Chadha(Chief Marketing Officer) & Lennert de Jong(Chief Commercial Officer) of citizenM on the future of hospitality.Robin Chadha has worked for a number of fashion and lifestyle companies, including Tommy Hilfiger Jeans and Mexx. The launch of a unique and creative food & drink experience called RAIN in 2004, allowed him to successfully expand into the hospitality industry. Prior to selling RAIN in 2008, Robin became Marketing Director at citizenM hotels where he safeguards the brand’s integrity throughout all disciplines, initiates innovation, and fosters partnerships.Lennert de Jong is responsible for citizenM’s business strategy. From finding new opportunities in an industry that gets disrupted, to strategic ventures and new business models. From performance management to customer journey optimization.citizenM started over a decade ago (in 2008), with one hotel at Schiphol Airport. citizenM now operates 20 hotels across North America, Europe, and Asia, with over a dozen new hotels under development globally.The company will continue to disrupt the hotel industry with enormous European and US expansion, new additions in Asia, and ventures into unchartered territories (hello, Australia). Most recently, they've opened flagship hotels in Boston, Seattle, Washington DC, Zurich and Geneva.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 3 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with Ben Branson, founder of Seedlip on creating the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit.Seedlip is on a mission to change the way the world drinks with the highest quality non-alcoholic options.Ben launched Seedlip Spice 94 in London’s Selfridges on November 4th, 2015. His first handmade 1,000 bottles sold out within three weeks, the second thousand in three days, and the third in 30 minutes online.The pioneering movement of offering those not drinking alcohol a sophisticated, adult option has since become a segment all its own: the ever-growing no & low alcohol category.In the last three and a half years, Seedlip has grown from Ben’s kitchen to a presence in more than 25 countries. Seedlip’s three variants (Spice 94, Garden 108 and Grove 42) are stocked in over 7,500 of the world’s best bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers, including the majority of the world’s 50 best cocktail bars and over 300 Michelin Star restaurants.In August of 2019 Diageo announced the acquisition of a significant majority shareholding in Seedlip.Based on herbal copper pot distilled non-alc remedies documented in The Art of Distillation published in London in 1651 & in continuation of his family's 300 year farming legacy.Awards include:Top 100 World's Most Influential Bar Figure - Drinks International 2019 & 202012th Coolest Person in Food & Drink - Business InsiderTop 50 Most Influential People in Food & Drink - TelegraphTop 100 Makers & Mavericks - David HieattYoung Achiever of the Year - Drinks Business2x Golds at Chelsea Flower ShowSubscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 2 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with David Jones, leading sports presenter and host of Sky Sports Super Sunday and Monday Night Football on his journey to reach one of the pinnacles in his profession.David Jones is a leading sports presenter and host of Sky Sports biggest live football shows Super Sunday and Monday Night Football.David has hosted hundreds of live outside broadcasts for Sky from England internationals to cup finals, play-off finals, Champions League games, and the Football League.He took over as the host of Super Sunday and MNF in 2016, anchoring the Premier League’s biggest games alongside Thierry Henry, Jamie Redknapp, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness.David was also host and co-producer of The Footballers Football Show, a panel discussion programme which won acclaim for tackling some of the game’s big issues, and now regularly appears on the week nightly Sky Sports show The Debate.David is a long-standing supporter of Sunderland AFC and in December 2019 fulfilled a lifetime ambition by joining the board as a non-executive director.His role is to advise the owner on football matters and structure, whilst liaising with the manager, head of recruitment, head of the academy and the football operations director.David is an active supporter of several charities and is in the process of organising his own inaugural Golf Day at The Grove, supporting Blood Cancer UK, which is scheduled for Spring 2021.He ran the Great North Run in 2013 to raise funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation supporting cancer care in the North East, and the Royal London Parks Half Marathon in 2015 for Parkinson’s in support of his friend and Sky colleague Dave Clark.David also joined Dave for his fund raising Coast to Coast Walk in 2016. He’s also helped to raise funds for local charities Down’s South London helping children with Down’s Syndrome.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Learn more about the show here.
In episode 1 of the Masters of Craft podcast, we speak with photojournalist Jimmy Nelson on his incredible life story and his passion for connecting with humanity through photography and humility.Jimmy Nelson is a photojournalist known for his portraits of tribal and indigenous peoples from around the world. His work as been spotlighted in the New York Times, CNN, National Geographic and many other media outlets spanning the globe. His TED Talk from 2014 has now been viewed over 1.5 million times by citizens around the world.Jimmy grew up with a geologist father who in his job travelled all over the world living among different peoples and cultures. The citizens he meets with share no common language, but there are always ways to reach common ground – when both parties are willing. For Jimmy, all of his travels and photography have much to do with searching for a place where he can feel that he belongs."If you change the way you look at people, the people you look at change. And if that change is powerful enough, it will gather momentum to affect the whole of humanity." - Jimmy NelsonThrough his photography books, Jimmy has started a global conversation around his work and mission. As a result of both books becoming a worldwide success, the projects have gained a sustainable natural momentum. "We seem to have touched upon the Zeitgeist of the global discussion. My industrious team in Amsterdam is now busy creating many exhibits and installations, which will be presented around the world to enable us to share our story." Jimmy has also started the Jimmy Nelson Foundation, which he believes will be his lasting legacy.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Learn more about the show here.
Presented by Crafted Society, Masters of Craft highlights phenomenal human beings from fashion, art, business, sport, philanthropy, media, music and entertainment through one-on-one conversation focused on the journey of becoming a master of one's craft. Receive first hand knowledge, learn of real life sacrifices, courage and passion and above all, be inspired. Masters of Craft is hosted by Martin Johnston, the founder of Crafted Society and Grant Trahant, the founder of Causeartist.