Debbie Millman

Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, and “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, curator, and host of the podcast Design Matters, one of the world’s first and longest-running podcasts and listed as one of the best podcasts in the world by Business Insider.

Debbie is the author of six books is currently working on an illustrated book for HarperCollins titled Why Design Matters, which will be published in 2020, along with and a documentary about the making of the book, produced by Adobe. She was a writer for the world’s first design blog, Speak Up, the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine, and a columnist for N Magazine.

In 2009 Debbie co-founded the world’s first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Now in its ninth year, the program has achieved international acclaim.

Her illustrations have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, Design Observer, and Fast Company and her artwork is included in the Boston Biennale, Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, School of Visual Arts, Long Island University, The Wolfsonion Museum and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art. 

​For 20 years, Debbie was the President of Sterling Brands and was instrumental in the firm’s acquisition by Omnicom in 2008. While there she worked on the logo and brand identity for Burger King, Hershey’s, Haagen Dazs, Tropicana, Star Wars, Gillette, and the No More movement.

She is also President Emeritus of AIGA, one of five women to hold the position in the organization’s 100-year history. She is a frequent speaker on design and branding throughout the world and has been a juror for competitions including Cannes Lions, The Clio’s, the One Club, and many, many more. This year she will be the Jury President for the branding competition for the D&AD Awards in London.

Debbie is currently working with Law & Order SVU actor and activist Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation to eradicate sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and the rape-kit backlog.

3 words to describe Nature?

Cosmic. Magical. Breathtaking

3 things Nature taught you?

Patience

Scale

Humility

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Pacific Northwest, United States

Machu Pichu, Peru

Easter Island, Chile

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Powerful

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Peaceful

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Awe

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Curious

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Safe

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Dramatic

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

All!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I was at a sleep-away summer camp; it was mid-late August, very early evening. I was in a meadow in upstate New York with my campmates. It had rained and the grass was wet. We all ran outside when we realized that a rainbow had suddenly appeared. We were in awe. I might have been wearing pajamas.


Amy Chan

Amy Chan is the Founder of Renew Breakup Bootcamp, a retreat that takes a scientific and spiritual approach to heal the heart. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Heart Hackers Club - an online magazine that focuses on the psychology behind love, lust, and desire. The Observer calls her  "A relationship expert whose work is like that of a scientific Carrie Bradshaw" and her company has been featured across national media including Good Morning America, Vogue, Glamour, Nightline, and the front page of The New York Times. Her book, Breakup Bootcamp - The Science of Rewiring Your Heart, published by Harper Collins is available now.

3 words to describe Nature? 

Peace. Love. Beauty

3 things Nature taught you? 

Presence

Curiosity

Everything is connected

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

Lynn Valley hiking trail 

Clayoquot Sound 

Dunton Hot Springs

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...? 

Small, yet expansive

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...? 

Grateful to be visiting

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...? 

Amazed

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...? 

Reborn. Hopeful.

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...? 

Scared

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...? 

Cautious

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

Ocean

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

7

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

The forest was my playground. I would make forts, play in the dirt, dig holes, collect branches, and didn't have a worry in the world. The forest was vast, so it scared me, yet excited me, and sometimes when I dared, I'd go deeper inside. But as I grew up, I started to worry about dirtying my clothes and focused on getting good grades and working. I started to lose touch with nature. I'm still on a journey of connecting back to that girl that once played in the forest, not afraid to get dirt on her hands, and adventure into the great unknown.

 


James R. Doty

James R. Doty, M.D. is a Professor in the Neurosurgery Department at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Founder and Director of the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research (CCARE) of which His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons. He served 9 years on active duty service in the U.S. Army.

Dr. Doty is an inventor and an entrepreneur, holding a number of patents on devices that are used on patients around the world. He maintains a broad neurosurgical interest and is one of the pioneers in the use of stereotactic radiosurgery utilizing the CyberKnife. He is an expert in the surgical treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord and has published extensively in the areas of spine and stereotactic radiosurgery.

For the last several years, his interest has focused on understanding the neural basis of compassion and altruism. He collaborates with a number of scientists in a variety of disciplines including neuroscience and psychology at Stanford and multiple universities throughout the world. He is the Senior Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science.

As a philanthropist. Dr. Doty has supported health clinics throughout the world and groundbreaking neuroscience research. He has endowed chairs at multiple universities including Stanford and the chair for the Dean of Tulane Medical School, his alma mater.

He is the New York Times bestselling author of “Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart” which has now been translated into 36 languages.

3 words to describe Nature?

Awe. Joy. Inspiration

3 things Nature taught you?

Love

Hope

The ability for renewal

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Redwood forests

San Juan Islands

Hawaii

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Small

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Infinite possibilities

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Weak

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Hopeful

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

How we must respect nature

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Scared

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Forest

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10/10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I had just learned to swim and my parents took the family to a lake surrounded by redwoods. I remember my hesitancy stepping into the water, how cold it felt and then I started to swim and I swam across the lake. I never felt more powerful or alive then in that moment.


Anne Kreamer

Anne Kreamer is the author of “It’s Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace” and “Going Gray: What I Learned About Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters.” Hew latest book, “Risk/Reward: Why Intelligent Leaps and Daring Choices Are the Best Career Moves You Can Make,” decodes what it takes to get ahead and achieve satisfaction in today’s unpredictable new workscape. 

Anne has also worked as a columnist for Fast Company and Martha Stewart Living, and has written frequently for Harvard Business Review. Her work has appeared in Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Real Simple, and Travel + Leisure. Previously, Anne was Executive Vice President and Worldwide Creative Director for the television channels Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite and part of the team that launched SPY magazine. As the Associate Director for the International Television Group for Sesame Workshop, she was integral to building Sesame Street into the pre-eminent global children’s brand.

 In 2019, with her daughter, Lucy Andersen, Anne launched Wild & Rare (wildandrare.com) an accessories business showcasing endangered wildlife. By shining a light on individual plants and animals, they hope that Wild & Rare products will function as miniature billboards, focusing our attention on the smaller, more manageable parts of the environmental crisis. 100% of the profits go to organizations working toward the same goal.

Anne graduated from Harvard College and lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the writer, Kurt Andersen. 

3 words to describe Nature?

Grounding. Transcendent. Powerful.

3 things Nature taught you?

Humility

Patience

Resilience

3 most treasured Nature spots?

My Brooklyn backyard, touching the Dawn Sequoia I planted 20 years ago, now 100 feet tall. 

The Housatonic River, Connecticut 

Lucy Vincent Beach, Martha’s Vineyard

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Clean and bright

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Euphoric

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Awe-struck

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Joyful

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Excited

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Anxious

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Forest

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Sitting on a bluff in the Flint Hills of Kansas with my father watching enormous thunderstorms roll into the Plains from Colorado. It was primal.

 


Kat Edmonson

Kat Edmonson is an American singer and songwriter who calls her music vintage pop. The Texas native began crafting her signature sound while performing in Austin’s local club circuit for years before releasing her debut Take To The Sky in 2009. She went on to tour worldwide with high profile acts including Lyle Lovett, Chris Isaak, Gary Clark Jr., Shawn Colvin, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Nick Lowe and more. 

In 2014 Edmonson released The Big Picture, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers, #1 on Contemporary Jazz Chart, and #2 on Total Jazz Chart. Her 2015 performance on “CBS This Morning: Saturday” garnered the program’s highest rated viewership since 2006. Her 2012 Way Down Low was described by The New York Times as “fresh as a spring bouquet,” and her performances at WNYC’s Soundcheck and Daytrotter were included in “Best Live Performances” and “Best Sessions of 2012,” respectively.

In 2018 she released Old Fashioned Gal, which Billboard calls “an intimate journey from doubt to resolve and implied triumph.” NPR Music raves the album is “a handsome showcase for her songwriting, which has grown ever more confident over the last decade,” while the Associated Press says the record “sounds like an alternate soundtrack to an Audrey Hepburn film.” 

Edmonson’s new album Dreamers Do reached the #1 spot on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz chart, and the album debuted #1 at iTunes Jazz, #2 Most Added at Jazzweek and was named Deezer’s Album of the Week upon release.

3 words to describe Nature?

Inherent. Steadfast. Adaptable

3 things Nature taught you?

There is always a place to grow from.

As long as I am living, I can adapt to anything.

The most important thing, at any point, is to be present.

3 most treasured Nature spots?

I live near Prospect Park in Brooklyn and I go there frequently each week. It is a grounding place for me. 

I annually visit the mountains in the Northeast in the summertime and hike around the Taconics, the Catskliils, the Berkshires, the Adirondacks and more. It’s my favorite time of the year. 

Also, I just visited the Redwoods when my band and I were on tour this month and they were incredible! I was stunned by how quiet it is in the forest. The stillness there is incredibly powerful.

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Scaled-to-size. It’s a funny thing to articulate but walking around in the city, I feel very big and important- quite full of myself- and standing in front of an ocean, I am immediately reminded how small my conceptual self is in proportion to nature and I am humbled- gratefully, so. 

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Safe

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Powerful

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Inspired

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Both excited and scared at the same time! Thrilled!

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Uncertain

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Can I pick two? How about a forest on a mountain? ☺

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I didn’t have great opportunities to be in nature as I grew up in a metropolitan area and we really didn’t travel but I went to camp every summer in Central Texas. I slept in a cabin with no air conditioning for a month and was subject to plans being cancelled when a big thunderstorm blew through and I loved it. I cherished the giant Cypress trees that live by the Guadalupe river. I fancied them wise elders that protected the river and us as we played around it. I loved how low and vast the land lay there around the water beneath the towering guardians that sheltered everything. The grass was cool no matter how brutal the sun beat down on any given day.


Jonathan Santlofer

Jonathan Santlofer is the author of 5 novels, including the international bestseller The Death Artistand Anatomy of Fear, which won the Nero Award for best crime novel of 2009. He is editor, contributor and illustrator of the short story anthology, The Dark End of the Street, editor/contributor of LA NOIRE: The Collected Stories, The New York Times bestselling serial novel Inherit the Dead, Akashic Books’ The Marijuana Chronicles, and The New York Times “notable book” It Occurs to Me That I Am America. His stories have appeared in numerous short story collections. Santlofer, also a well-known artist, is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, has been a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, the Vermont Studio Center and serves on the board of Yaddo, one of the oldest arts communities in the U.S.

His bestselling memoir, The Widower’s Notebook, has received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, has appeared on more than a dozen “best books” lists of 2018, and is an Amazon bestseller. He was recently a guest on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

3 words to describe Nature?

Beautiful. Calming. Fierce.

3 things Nature taught you?

To be respectful

To slow down

When I bought an old house in upstate NY there was no lawn, no grass, which I planted and was awed when it grew!

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Dutchess County, NY (where I had my house)

Canyon De Shelly

The Arizona desert

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Mostly calm

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

From a distance it makes me feel small. Inside, I can feel either protected or lost and it often reminds me of fairy tales, like Hansel and Gretel.

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

I have never seen a volcano in nature. In pictures or films they amaze me with their power, and make me think of Pompeii, which I’ve been too.

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Depends where I am, and what it’s like, but often good – if I’m paying attention (and I guess I should be).

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

I love thunder if I’m inside.

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Again, if I'm inside, or on a porch, it’s like eerie though beautiful music.

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

My upstate home was surrounded by forest, which I liked. I love driving through the desert. Being near the ocean is always special. Mountains are beautiful in the distance, but I’d never climb one.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

Not sure I would put a number on nature but it’s essential to my well-being. I live in a city so it’s important for me to escape on a regular basis. I am always calmer in nature, which makes me wonder why I live in a city!

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

Getting lost at the beach when I was around 6 or 7. Always a kid who daydreamed, I wandered along the shoreline far away from my parents. I remember sitting in the sand and drawing pictures in it with a stick and watching the waves wash them away. I was very happy doing this, having the water lapping over my feet, and not at all afraid even though I knew I was lost. Eventually the lifeguards found me and took me back to their station, where they gave me ice cream.


Chef Niki Nakayama

For Niki Nakayama, the art of cooking all comes down to feeling. Always one to follow her intuition, Nakayama’s instincts guide her path as a chef, and it continues to be the driving force behind every dish she creates. At n/naka, her highly acclaimed restaurant in West Los Angeles, Nakayama secures her place among the foremost chefs in the world of modern kaiseki—a traditional Japanese dining discipline based in gratitude and appreciation that balances taste, texture, and presentation through a progression of dishes served in a meticulous, thoughtfully curated order. For Nakayama, the kaiseki philosophy allows her to show a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature, with the purpose of, “highlighting natural flavors, presenting them in their purest way without over-complication, and serving them how they were meant to be in their peak season.”

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nakayama began her career at the popular Takao restaurant in Brentwood, following her graduation from culinary school in nearby Pasadena. After embarking on a three-year working tour of Japan immersing herself in the deeply nuanced methods and flavors of both traditional and contemporary Japanese cuisine, including the art of traditional kaiseki, Nakayama returned to her hometown to open Azami Sushi Café on Melrose Avenue.

After eight years—during which she became known for her omakase menu—the chef branched out to host elaborate chef’s table dinners that resulted in Nakayama’s modernized kaiseki dining experience, which has become the signature cuisine of n/naka. As Nakayama describes, “I was ready to put my name on something, ready to take that leap and challenge myself—and ready to take the traditional kaiseki philosophy and make it my own.”

Today, n/naka serves as a global destination for modern kaiseki with a California twist, at which Nakayama serves world-class, artfully curated, and exquisite dishes in a progression designed to reflect the mood of season, time, and place. One of the toughest reservations to get in L.A., n/naka’s books typically fill up three months out, a testament to Nakayama’s resonance in the international culinary world. Critics also take note—the restaurant has appeared on Jonathan Gold’s “101 Best Restaurants” every year since opening in 2013, and continues to catch the attention of media including T Magazine (The New York Times), Eater, Vogue.com, and many more.

Nakayama’s devotion to sustainability also plays out at n/naka, with currently 70% of its ingredients sourced locally—a rarity in Japanese fine dining. At 2017’s Food on Edge symposium in Galway, Ireland, she explained how the pillars of kaiseki, to integrate your surroundings into the cuisine, find harmony with these sustainability initiatives.

Outside of the restaurant, the chef can be found at her Los Angeles home spending time with her wife and their three dogs—a golden retriever, a Chihuahua, and a terrier mix. One of her favorite pastimes, playing guitar, “allows for decompression,” she says, when she steps away from the kitchen.

3 words to describe Nature? 

GIVING. VAST. BEAUTIFUL

3 things Nature taught you? 

APPRECIATION

GRATITUDE

HUMILITY

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

ALL OCEANS, MOUNTAINS, FORESTS

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…? 

ALIVE AND SMALL

When you see a forest, it makes you feel…? 

PEACE

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…? 

WONDER

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…? 

LOVE

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…? 

SCARED

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…? 

WONDER

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

OCEAN

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

THE FIRST TIME I EVER PLAYED IN THE SNOW AT BIG BEAR, I THOUGHT I’D FOUND MAGIC POWDER. EVERY TIME I SEE SNOW, IT REMINDS ME OF HAPPINESS AND HOLIDAYS.