Wolfgang Bremer shares a candid look at design leadership, the weight of trust, and why real impact goes far beyond pixels 🚀 — revealing how humility and humanity shape design at scale 🌍.

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Episode Chapters:

00:00 – Learning Patience Through Fatherhood

00:30 – Welcome and Introduction

02:10 – Early Design Projects and Bootleg CD Covers

05:30 – How Parenthood Changed His Communication and Leadership

10:00 – The Importance of Explaining “Why” at Home and Work

13:44 – Families, Work, and Where We Spend Our Energy

19:00 – Why Trust Should Be the Default in Teams

22:30 – Building Connection and Trust Through One-on-Ones

28:30 – Structured vs. Unstructured Approaches to One-on-Ones

36:00 – Knowing When to Lean In and When to Step Back

43:00 – Leadership as Asking Better Questions

46:20 – Leadership Compared to Doing the Dishes

53:00 – Designing the Environment for Teams to Thrive

58:00 – Overcoming Misconceptions About Design’s Role

1:01:22 – Lessons From a Career in Global Design Leadership

1:06:21 – Closing Reflections and Where to Find Wolfgang

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Who is Wolfgang Bremer?

Wolfgang Bremer is a seasoned design leader whose career spans mobile, enterprise, and automotive design 🚗. He was recently the Vice President of Design at Elli, a Volkswagen Group brand focused on electric mobility, where he grew a cross-functional team and embedded design into business strategy.

He has:  

✅ Led global design teams at Volkswagen, SAP, and HERE Technologies  

✅ Designed early mobile experiences at Nokia  

✅ Spoken at conferences across Europe, North America, and Asia  

✅ Advocated for people-first design and building trust at scale  

✅ Believes leadership is sometimes… like doing the dishes

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Find Wolfgang Bremer here:

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfgangbremer/ 

Website → https://bremer.co/ 

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Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

Brendan Jarvis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/  

The Space InBetween Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/