Best Maremel Institute Podcasts (2024)

1
From Rhythm & Hues to Dancing Atoms: Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam 47:53

9M ago47:53

47:53

We have the pleasure of sharing the adventures of Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam -- from pioneering visual effects in India to founding her studio, Dancing Atoms, and mentoring future talents. From her early beginnings in the visual effects industry in India, Vani's drive and curiosity propelled her into careers at Rhythm & Hues and DreamWorks. Vani foun…

1
A Creative Maestro: Mark Brymer Talks Show Production and Choral Arranging 39:47

9M ago39:47

39:47

I'm joined by the multitalented Mark Brymer, a creative entrepreneur with hands-on expertise in turning musical concepts into spectacular shows. Mark brings a wealth of experience — from arranging a vast collection (400,000) of choral pieces with Hal Leonard to producing dazzling shows in theme parks. We’ll get a deeper look at his journey from hig…

1
From Immersive Theater to VR Innovation: Deirdre V. Lyons' Journey 49:49

9M ago49:49

49:49

Today's guest is a true pioneer in the burgeoning field of virtual reality theater: Deirdre V. Lyons. She'll share her groundbreaking work in VR at the Ferryman Collective, such as her innovative productions like "Welcome to Respite" and "Gumball Dreams," and discuss the intricacies of producing entertainment ranging from films to webisodes. Deirdr…

1
Risk, Reward, and Representation in Hollywood with Harry Abrams 37:17

9M ago37:17

37:17

In this conversation, we are joined by a long-time innovator and entrepreneur in talent management — Harry Abrams. At the venerable age of 88, Harry reflects on a career where passion eclipsed paychecks, taking a step into adventure from lawnmower manufacturing in Indiana and instead taking a gutsy $40/week step into the glitz and competitiveness o…

1
Creating New Musical Instruments . . . with Mike Butera 52:47

10M ago52:47

52:47

Mike Butera has gone on some intriguing journeys, connecting music performance passions, philosophy and sound studies, and tech in creating new musical instruments for regular people to get into music. He shares his path to launching Artiphon after years in academic circles, ways he learned how to market new devices and thrive with Kickstarter, and…

1
Discovering New Artists and Building Your Own Path . . . with Jason Kramer 59:18

10M ago59:18

59:18

Jason Kramer shares his journey to being an EMT during the AIDS Epidemic, LA Riots, and Northridge Earthquake to Fox Sports to KLOS and KCRW. He talks about the magic of Sunday nights, how he created and drove his own luck through persistent work, asking for opportunities, and taking on new challenges. He shares a bit of his experience being presen…

1
From our sister show: Creative Innovators, featuring Mike Butera, Artiphon 52:47

10M ago52:47

52:47

Mike Butera has gone on some intriguing journeys, connecting music performance passions, philosophy and sound studies, and tech in creating new musical instruments for regular people to get into music. He shares his path to launching Artiphon after years in academic circles, ways he learned how to market new devices and thrive with Kickstarter, and…

1
From our sister show: Creative Innovators, featuring Jason Kramer, KCRW and more 59:18

10M ago59:18

59:18

Jason Kramer shares his journey to being an EMT during the AIDS Epidemic, LA Riots, and Northridge Earthquake to Fox Sports to KLOS and KCRW. He talks about the magic of Sunday nights, how he created and drove his own luck through persistent work, asking for opportunities, and taking on new challenges. He shares a bit of his experience being presen…

1
Building VR Community through Learning . . . with Dominique Wu 50:12

11M ago50:12

50:12

Dominique Wu is a real leader in bringing together education and VR for regular people. She's created the XReality Pro program. She'll talk about what it's like to be an immigrant in the United States as a creative, a different story than we've had a lot of guests share. And she'll also talk about how an early out-of-body experience in some ways se…

1
If I’m Going to Keep Evolving . . . with Peter Kiesewalter, The Moth Project 56:30

11M ago56:30

56:30

Peter Kiesewalter creates at the divergent edge -- at the intersection of art and science. In this case, he's working at the edge of ecology and biology along with music and location-based entertainment with The Moth Project. It's a live experience in beautiful places with the stories of moths and their lives to music. Over his varied career in mus…

1
Ask the Right Questions . . . with Isaac Saldana, CEO, Memo 42:45

11M ago42:45

42:45

Isaac Saldana leans on two core values: asking the right questions and humility. Along with a good friend, he launched several companies. And several failed -- until he launched SendGrid in 2009. After learning to hire up with strong CEOs, the company went public in 2018. Since then, he has gotten an Executive MBA, launched Joy Labs, and now is a f…

1
New Markets, Bold Choices . . . with Miki Agrawal, Serial Founder & Musician 44:54

12M ago44:54

44:54

Some guests have a LOT of gumption and energy to create new. Miki is releasing her first album now. But over time, she has launched new companies and created new spaces. Some of the road has been bumpy and some has developed whole new categories that help people's lives. Guest: Miki Agrawal, Co-founder and former CEO of THINX and founder of TUSHY a…

1
Knocking Down Boundaries . . . with Jordy Freed 49:12

1+ y ago49:12

49:12

Jordy Freed from Sony Corporation of America shared his journey from jazz saxophone and building websites to public relations and marketing. Twists and turns took him to radio, Blue Note, Grey Advertising, and finally to Sony. He shares the stories of his twists and turns and the challenges of managing and growing diverse brands. Jordy talks about …

1
Seek Out Creative Opportunities…with Mark Harper 49:05

1+ y ago49:05

49:05

"I had no idea what I was doing." Mark Harper shares his story of going from ROTC to Combat Camera (leading teams of combat photographers) to Technicolor to high-end headphones to joining a startup military channel. He talked about each time where he sought out creative opportunities, the advice given to him by Sargeant Logan from his hometown (who…

1
I fell in love with IP . . . with Mike Huppe, SoundExchange 37:12

1+ y ago37:12

37:12

Michael Huppe, CEO of SoundExchange, fell in love with IP and came into music through law. He had played keyboard and trombone as a young person and ended up at the Recording Industry Association of America, which led him to SoundExchange. He shares how SoundExchange is also a tech company, needing to help and represent its members with opportuniti…

1
Ask a Creative Lawyer . . . .with Dave Ratner 43:13

1+ y ago43:13

43:13

Dave Ratner moved from skiing to managing bands into law, and now works with creative companies out of Boulder, CO to understand how to maneuver so many different new opportunities in music. He talks of innovation in his own life as to how to add capabilities, learn by doing, and then add that in with great creatives. He shares wisdom in how to eva…

1
Creativity, Branding, Muppets, Yo Gabba Gabba, and other Career Adventures . . . with Mike Polis 1:03:21

1+ y ago1:03:21

1:03:21

Mike Polis started and ended with animation and graphic novels and cool creative content. In between, he has run marketing for Yo Gabba Gabba, Jim Henson, and other adventures. Mike shares his stories of how he moved from desktop publishing after college to food marketing, to DVDs for Universal Studios, and into adventures with Kermit and other cre…

1
Be An Artist . . . .with Kevin Breuner 43:49

2y ago43:49

43:49

Many of our guests move on a nonlinear line between jobs and ideas. Kevin in one of our few guests who has been with a single company -- CD Baby -- for a long period of time. He shares his journey with both CD Baby and as an artist with Small Town Poets. We talk about challenges exploring new technologies that don't yet have revenue models, educati…

1
If I Hadn’t Been a Translator on a Wild Boar Farm . . . with Jessica Powell 48:34

2y ago48:34

48:34

Jessica's journey -- what a ride! Music change agent Jessica Powell shares her Roads Taken, ranging from following a now-ex boyfriend across countries to using her languages at CISAC and on a wild boar farm (!!) -- to Google London, Google Asia, and to her current AI and Stems startup, AudioShake. And even that founding with her co-founder Luke Min…

1
I didn’t just have one thing . . . with Lafiya Watson Ramirez 38:51

2y ago38:51

38:51

From photography to musician websites to Flash to now AR, Lafiya Watson Ramirez combines visual and experience creation with storytelling. She tells her own story about how she moved from photography to web and interactive design into being inspired by Pokemon Go to pursue Augmented Reality (AR) through Snap Studios and a residency there. She share…

1
Bonus: Postcard Moments . . . with Gigi Johnson 6:11

2y ago6:11

6:11

We are in post-production on new episodes, so our host, Gigi Johnson, shared a story about "Postcards" and Postcard Moments that has come up in prior episodes and in many recent conversations. She shares how a single postcard created a pivot that changed her direction when a TA offered the suggestion that she apply for USC Film School after a singl…

1
Bonus: Postcard Moments . . . with Gigi Johnson 5:13

2y ago5:13

5:13

We are in post-production on new episodes, so our host, Gigi Johnson, shared a story about "Postcards" and Postcard Moments that has come up in prior episodes and in many recent conversations. She shares how a single postcard created a pivot that changed her direction when a TA offered the suggestion that she apply for USC Film School after a singl…

1
Simplifying Complexity for Indie Labels . . .with Bruno Guez 38:43

2y ago38:43

38:43

Bruno shares his saga from playing the drums and enjoying international music, mixing songs and culture from Tunisia, France, and LA. Those facets led to studying at UCLA Ethnomusicology, becoming a DJ at KCRW, and building a record label in his living room. He shared work in place-based music and compilation records, in building the sonic architec…

1
Simplifying Complexity for Indie Labels . . .with Bruno Guez 35:14

2y ago35:14

35:14

Bruno shares his saga from playing the drums and enjoying international music, mixing songs and culture from Tunisia, France, and LA. Those facets led to studying at UCLA Ethnomusicology, becoming a DJ at KCRW, and building a record label in his living room. He shared work in place-based music and compilation records, in building the sonic architec…

1
Educated Luck and Building Digital Bridges . . . with Dick Huey 1:03:23

2y ago1:03:23

1:03:23

[Enjoy our podcast this week that we share with our sister Maremel Network podcast, Innovating Music, that has just launched its fifth year.] Dick Huey claims that his career jumps have been "educated luck." "Because they they are luck. And I'm, I'm I don't ever pretend that I have more information than everybody else does. But I think I'm good at …

1
Educated Luck and Building Digital Bridges . . . with Dick Huey [Creative Innovators] 1:02:50

2y ago1:02:50

1:02:50

[Enjoy our podcast this week that we share with our sister Maremel Network podcast, Creative Innovators.] Dick Huey claims that his career jumps have been "educated luck." "Because they they are luck. And I'm, I'm I don't ever pretend that I have more information than everybody else does. But I think I'm good at identifying opportunity. So for me, …

1
Building Blockchain and Music Tools . . . with Morgan Hayduk from Beatdapp 45:10

2y ago45:10

45:10

Morgan Hayduk initially aimed for basketball and law -- and thank goodness kept going into building new tools and working with large organizations to fight fraud and manipulation in streaming music. He shares with us his adventures in building his personal Toolkit of marketing, scaling, and selling -- plus working with his blockchain wizard co-foun…

1
Architecture, Mars, and VR . . . with Alfredo Muñoz 51:15

2+ y ago51:15

51:15

Questions: How do we design for extreme conditions and resource challenges? Is that for Mars or Earth? Guest: Alfredo Muñoz, Architect; Founder; Onteco; Founder, ABIBOO Studio; Chair for Memberships of the Technical Committee of Space Architecture at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Digital twins? Space architecture? Alfredo M…

1
Out on a Limb . . . with Darryl Hurs 47:43

2+ y ago47:43

47:43

Question: How can you build a rich creative life based on referrals and going out on a limb? Guest: Darryl Hurs, Owner/CEO, Indie Week; Managing Director, Downtown Canada; Director, Market Development, Canada, CD Baby; Educator, Harris Institute In this episode, Darryl Hurs shares his journey from studying music, working in retail at HMV, and being…

1
Music + India . . . .plus Ritnika Nayan 29:39

2+ y ago29:39

29:39

Question: How do you connect independent artists and music business in India as a young woman? Guest: Ritnika Nayan, Managing Director, Downtown India; Owner: Music Gets Me High Ritnika Nayan shares stories about her passion: helping indie artists succeed and make money through various avenues that they might have been neglecting. She does that in …

1
Building Campfires . . . with Arturo O'Farrill 40:05

2+ y ago40:05

40:05

Question: How can you build campfires, mixing music and social activism? Guest: Arturo O'Farrill, Founder, Artistic Director, Afro Latin Jazz Alliance; Professor, Global Jazz Studies, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Arturo O'Farrill builds campfires and connects music, activism, and communit…

1
Asking for What You Want . . . with Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia 40:36

2+ y ago40:36

40:36

Question: What can you do with focus on drive in both toys and STEM? And what can a persistent Shirin Salemnia do? Guest: Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia, Founder and CEO, WhizGirls Academy and PlayWerks Shirin shares a passionate tale of drive, success with extreme persistence, and then designing new businesses to give back. She talks about her journey t…

1
Making Sense Backwards . . . with Jeremy Yuille, Meld Studios 49:00

2+ y ago49:00

49:00

Question: How can life make better sense backwards? How can we weave together arts, spatial sound, architecture, and organizational change? Jeremy Yuille, with Meld Studios in Melbourne, Australia, works with organizations to transform how they work in the face of changing futures. His own past weaves through architecture, art, music, and spatial i…

1
AR and Love of the Lab . . . with Ippolito Caradonna 35:04

2+ y ago35:04

35:04

Question: How can we use Augmented Reality to enhance the practice of collaborative biology? Guest: Ippolito Caradonna, Co-Founder/CEO, Aug Lab; Director, HoloPractice Ippolito Caradonna mixes his love for biology with his background in film and passion for assisted research. He is co-founding Aug Lab, an AR software interface for laboratory produc…

1
Leaning Out Over His Skis . . . .with Jeremy Sirota, CEO, Merlin 44:57

2+ y ago44:57

44:57

Jeremy Sirota, Merlin Our first guest of Season 2 shares his tales of two loves: music and technology. His journey to Merlin includes early fandom in the Orange County punk rock scene, learning brand design in New York City while launching a mini fashion brand, and a road through technology law, Warner Music, and Facebook. He shares his adventures …

1
Welcome to Season 2! 3:24

2+ y ago3:24

3:24

Welcome to Season 2 of Creative Innovators. We're going to have intriguing guests this season. Our question to you: Who inspires you? Who would you like to see on the show? We have great folks recording now as guests, and we'd like to include creative innovators who inspire our community. Please reach out to us and let us know at https://bit.ly/CI-…

1
That Was an Accident . . . with Martin Atkins 46:14

3+ y ago46:14

46:14

Question: How do you decide what adventures to take in your nonlinear career? What are intentional plans vs. accidents? Guest: Martin Atkins, Music Industries Coordinator, Millikin University; producer, drummer, documentary filmmaker, DJ, and teacher Photo: Kara Hammond and NARAS Martin Atkins talked with our host, Gigi Johnson, from his studio tha…

1
Tidbit Tuesday . . . Postcard Moments and Planned Happenchance 9:37

3+ y ago9:37

9:37

This was fun. Your host, Gigi Johnson, has been speaking for college classes this past week and kept being asked to tell her/my story of the pivot points and non-linear decisions over 9 careers. So in this Tuesday Tidbit segment, I share the story of how I changed into a film major at USC based on postcard from my teaching assistant for a single cl…

1
A Very Human Culture . . . with David Hernandez 39:05

3+ y ago39:05

39:05

Question: What if you could build a company around your passions? In this episode, David Hernandez shares how he is unlearning and relearning what he knows to create competition for his company . . . in his own company! He runs Colonize Media, a multiplatform network music aggregator. He has worked to create “a very human culture” with his team of …

1
Tidbit Tuesday - What is a Creative Career? 4:07

3+ y ago4:07

4:07

Today starts the first segment of Tidbit Tuesday, which brings in parts of the Redesigning Your Creative Career program from NextCareer.me. What is a Creative Career? What are we talking about when we throw around the term “creative career”? This could be having a traditional career in a creative industry, or it could be doing something that has cr…

1
Ceremony and Story . . . with Beatie Wolfe 48:17

3+ y ago48:17

48:17

Question: What if you could pursue the creative projects that you already saw in the world? Guest: Beatie Wolfe, Singer, Songwriter, Technologist (Photo: Ross Harris) In this episode, Beatie Wolfe takes us through her creative journey to become the technologist and artist she is today. Back when she was 7 or 8, she began to imagine the “music books…

1
Welcome to Tuesday Creative Career Sessions 6:11

3+ y ago6:11

6:11

Starting next Tuesday, we'll be sharing parts of the NextCareer.me career exploration programs to tie in with the non-linear career stories from each of these podcast interviews. We'll be sharing each week on Tuesdays a bit of the programs we have been working on for a few years with groups on how to expand your creative career, using examples from…

1
Finance, Story, and The Storm . . . with Christopher Zyda 48:29

3+ y ago48:29

48:29

Question: What if you need to leave creative work to deal with crisis? How can you bring your creativity to other fields? Guest: Christopher Zyda, Author; CEO, Mozaic LLC In this episode, Christopher Zyda shares his journey through the 1980s AIDS pandemic as a young professional writer-to-be and his shift into finance to help care for his partner w…

1
Combining All Your Loves Together . . . with Laura Escudé 38:26

3+ y ago38:26

38:26

In this episode, Laura Escudé takes us on her journey from violinist to adventures in Los Angeles as a seat filler for TV shows from Craig’s list to market research to other one-off jobs. . . until she becomes a tech support staffer at M-Audio because of problems she had with her own keyboard. For listeners who are inspired by linear journeys, this…

1
Seeing Solutions - A Blessing and a Curse . . . with Dae Bogan 50:45

3+ y ago50:45

50:45

Dae Bogan shares how he sees solutions and “warps” them into business ideas -- which is both a blessing and a curse. He began with selling cakes in middle school and organizing bus tours in high school from Cleveland, OH to New York. From his early history in acting, singing, and creating and producing events, he moved into a long series of start-u…

1
This is our Future: Saving the Planet . . . with Bas den Braber and Jenna Seiden 45:56

4y ago45:56

45:56

In this episode, we hear how Bas den Braber and Jenna Seiden are following their purpose with Zambezi Partners, a benefits corporation with a mission to eradicate African wildlife poaching during our lifetime. They both worked in large company business-to-business strategy, consulting, and brand leadership, and have found their purposes after their…

1
Wearing a Cape This Whole Time . . . with Tania Katan 38:53

4y ago38:53

38:53

Tania Katan shares her wit and wisdom about how to use creativity to challenge with playfulness our rigid organizational cultures. She works with large and small companies, helping them find new alignment around their daily contradictions through “small c” creative work, facing everyday practical problems with imagination. She shares the tales of #…

1
Pirates, Magicians, and Wizards . . . with Megan Elliott 37:19

4y ago37:19

37:19

Megan Elliott shares her journey from Australia and indigenous cultural media to trade union representation in Ireland to traveling across Asia connecting leaders and cultures . . before she was found on LinkedIn to bring her superpowers to Nebraska. She tells of the shared collaborative creation of the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts,…

1
An Incredible Experiment. . . with Mark "Frosty" McNeill and Ale Cohen 55:20

4y ago55:20

55:20

Ale Cohen and Mark "Frosty" McNeill share their journey through “experimenting with sound” and community in building the Internet radio collective DUBLAB over the past two decades. They share what inspired and drove them to build this institution and how it has shifted gears in our listen-from-home global era. Dublab is not your average radio stati…

1
I Never Knew I was Supposed to Only Do One Thing. . . with Arabian Prince 33:36

4y ago33:36

33:36

In this episode, Arabian Prince shares the rest of the story -- both before and after working with NWA. He shares how he got started with tech, entrepreneurship, and music creation at a young age. He talks with Gigi about how he taught himself new gaming and creative technologies, and how he brings that energy to his many current adventures. Guest:…

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