Jason Giles - VP of Product Design at UserTesting (ex-Ticketmaster, AT&T, Microsoft)

From laying carpets by day and playing synths by night to becoming a VP of Product Design at UserTesting, Jason Giles’ journey is anything but conventional.

In this episode, we dive into his early struggles with imposter syndrome, how a supportive culture at Microsoft helped him rise, and why he believes some of the best design leaders come from the most non-traditional paths. Jason reflects on leadership as an act of service, what it means to be truly people-first, and how a chance encounter in a UK office reshaped his understanding of company culture. Now leading teams at UserTesting, he shares the lessons learned from building products with empathy, fighting for inclusion, and always staying just uncomfortable enough to grow.

You can connect with Jason on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Dr Chris Arnold – Author, Ethical Marketing Pioneer, Neurodiversity Champion (Former Creative Director and Board Director at Saatchi & Saatchi. Founder of Creative Orchestra and Dyversity Lab)

What if your greatest creative strength was the very thing school told you was wrong?

In this energetic, honest, and refreshingly unfiltered conversation, Dr Chris Arnold shares how being ADHD and dyslexic became his superpower - fueling a career that spans radical creative direction, industry-shifting PR stunts, and one of London’s biggest community arts festivals.

We talk about his time at Saatchi & Saatchi, founding multiple agencies, why most creatives are actually “thought architects” - and the art of flipping a client from fear to bravery.

This episode is packed with practical wisdom: how to sell big ideas, delegate with clarity, and stop waiting for permission. Plus: glue-based billboards, 21-foot condoms, and the real reason mediocrity wins (for now).

It’s a bold call to arms for designers, creatives and business leaders to reject average, challenge the status-quo - and lead with purpose, not perfection.

You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Lou Maxon - ECD at Maxon House (Acer, BMW, McDonald's, Lego, Lexus, Sothebys, etc)

From crafting editorial layouts at Time Out New York to building immersive brand experiences for global giants, Lou Maxon’s career is rooted in curiosity, craft, and storytelling.

In this conversation, Lou shares what it’s like to lead from a forest-bound studio on rails, why authenticity beats scale, and how his work has helped shape everything from sippy cup startups to sustainability campaigns. We talk about career pivots, design culture, the death of craft, and why the best creative leaders are more like conductors than commanders. This one’s a journey worth taking.

You can connect with Lou here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Kevin Parry – Stop-Motion Animator & Video Wizard (Clients include Disney, Laika and more)

From hand-drawn frames to viral visual illusions, Kevin Parry has carved a unique path from the stop-motion stages of Laika to the scroll-stopping magic of social media.

In this episode, Kevin reflects on learning animation with pencil and paper, creating one-to-two seconds of footage a day on features like Kubo and the Two Strings, and the rigging ingenuity that makes stop-motion breathe. We explore his early lessons in CG, the creative joy (and isolation) of working solo, and the moment he knew he had to call a redo on a weeks-long shot. Kevin shares his thoughts on AI-generated content, why clarity and wonder matter most, and what becoming a father taught him about creative success.

You can connect with Kevin on LinkedIn here

He’s also on Substack : Kevin Parry

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Jane Cook - Product Experience Design Leader (ex-Uswitch, Global Media, Visa Europe, Vodafone, Dell Technologies, Hasbro, Mattel)

From designing Barbie dolls in Milan to leading design teams across fintech, healthtech, and global consumer brands, Jane Cook brings heart, grit, and clarity to every stage of her creative leadership journey.

In this episode, Jane shares how an early career in industrial design laid the foundation for two decades of product design leadership, the moment she realised she loved mentoring more than pixels, and why scribbling on walls still plays a key role in her process. We explore the evolution of design ops, inclusivity, and responsive design, and unpack how she stayed creative while leading at scale. Jane reflects on the pressures of leadership, the power of being people-first, and how to hold onto creativity even when the system tries to wear it down.

You can connect with Jane on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Bill Snebold – Creative Director & Entertainment Industry Specialist (Former design leader at Paramount Pictures and Disney; clients include Disney, The CW Network, and PBS)

From specifying typographic details for actor resumés in a Hollywood attic to designing marketing materials for Titanic and Mission: Impossible, Bill Snebold has been at the forefront of media innovation.

In this episode, Bill traces a career that began with X‑Acto knives and paste‑up boards and evolved into award‑winning digital campaigns, websites, and packaging for some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises. He reveals how an insatiable curiosity led him to pioneer design in Flash, the early web, iPhone apps, and now AI - while keeping storytelling and client goals as his true north.

Join us for behind‑the‑scenes lessons on leaping from analog to digital, designing under pressure, giving clients what they really want, and accepting that even the brightest ideas sometimes end up on the cutting‑room floor.

You can connect with Bill on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Rashmi Lopez - Creative Director & Founder (ex-CareRev, Genius Sports, MediaTemple, IGN)

From gaming and beauty to healthcare and tech, Rashmi Lopez has led design across some of the most unexpected corners of the creative industry. Her journey? Anything but linear.

In this episode, Rashmi opens up about surviving multiple layoffs, chasing community over titles, and why every sketchbook should be your messy sketchbook. We explore the shift from making things pretty to making things matter - and what it really means to lead with purpose in an industry that often forgets the human behind the design.

You can connect with Rashmi on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here

Dave Zaboski - Artist & Former Animator at Disney, Warner Bros. and Sony (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Fantasia 2000)

From animating some of the most iconic films of all time to painting for the Dalai Lama and co-founding a tech startup, Dave Zaboski has spent a lifetime turning thoughts into things - and teaching others to do the same.

In this episode, Dave reflects on his time inside Disney’s second golden age, what it means to “solve for the light,” and why culture matters more than process when building high-performing creative teams. We talk about plussing, power, and presence - and how real collaboration needs care as much as skill. Dave shares lessons from leaving Disney to follow a deeper calling, and why he believes AI must be guided by human intention, not simulation. A conversation full of warmth, wisdom, and creative truth.

You can connect with Dave on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?

Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.

✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)

✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort

✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community

✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.

Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.

🚀 Learn more and apply here