Christina Amini on “You + You + You: The Power of Collaboration”

Collaboration can be powerful, it can be magical. It can “end up making something bigger than yourself,” says Christina Amini, who was our opening speaker at January 2019’s In/Visible Talks conference. As examples, she shared some products that have come out of creative sessions with her team at Chronicle Books, where she is Executive Publishing Director: Food, Lifestyle, and Art. (Their “Pad of Butter” is delightful, and Christina’s line “Trust the butter in your life” quickly became a popular quote with the print gun.)

In “You + You + You: The Power of Collaboration”, Christina introduced her suggestions for how to reclaim collaboration. Purpose, trust, and time are three keys to success; attention, openness, and flexibility are pluses. She shared stories from her career and incredibly moving stories from her personal life to illustrate the benefits of authentic teamwork. “The point of all these collaborations is the relationships—the love you put out there and the love you give back,” she said.

Christina sparked our imaginations then left us with warm fuzzies that set the tone for the day. (Hint: You may want to stand up for the exercise she leads at the end.) Check out the video of her heartwarming talk here.

Yael Braha on “Hitchhiking with Fear, Courage + a Big Heart”

Yael Braha’s work encompasses designing, filmmaking, coding, teaching, modeling, and a whole lot of experimenting. Currently she is a Multimedia Director at Moment Factory, an entertainment studio that immerses audiences in extraordinary environments at concerts, flagship stores, and public spaces.

For her talk at 2019’s In/Visible Talks conference in January, Yael shared stories of overcoming obstacles and challenges, of balancing work and life, of being inspired and inspiring others. In “Hitchhiking with Fear, Courage + a Big Heart,” Yael encouraged us to use all our senses, to learn from our mistakes, and to embrace curiosity and wonder. “Be open to what happens next,” she said.

You can watch the video of Yael’s talk here.

Laurie Rosenwald on “How to Make Mistakes on Purpose”

Laurie Rosenwald brought down the house at January 2019’s In/Visible Talks conference with her talk on “How to Make Mistakes on Purpose”. With her hilarious delivery, she spoke from decades of experience as a professional artist, designer, and workshop leader about embracing chaos, imperfections, “things that are whackadoodle,” and randomness. “I believe there’s power in the other thing we aren’t all doing,” she said. “I want to zig when you’re zagging.”

Among the examples she listed as brilliant happy accidents: Velcro, the microwave oven, the Slinky, and Cornflakes (originally promoted as a vegetarian food that would help promote a more chaste lifestyle).

In addition to being one of our conference speakers, Laurie led a workshop the following day. If you missed both—or if you made it to both and want to be reinspired—watch the video of her fabulous talk here.