Version 1

Emily Pavacic on fiber art, the intricacies of embroidery, and the meaning of hands in her art

Emily Pavacic is a Queens-based visual artist, dancer, and educator whose artistic career has been shaped by her dual passions for the visual arts and dance. Her love of creating hand-stitched art began with an unconventional drawing assignment while studying at Adelphi University. Upon graduating, she decided to continue her studies and earned a Masters in Art Education from NYU- the prelude to a 9-year public school-teaching career. Inspired by the human experience and deep connections, her work is often described as tender and intricate. While Emily no longer teaches for public school, she has maintained a deep interest in community work and teaches weekly volunteer ballet classes to her local community. In this episode, we talk about her dance background, how she started using embroidery in her art, what hands mean to her in her art, eco printing with flowers, and overcoming depression and imposter syndrome. 
 
Follow Emily on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilypavacicstudio/ 
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John Fabiano aka Wags Around the World on dog photography, global adventures, and pursuing a self-funded passion

John Fabiano is the Founder of Wags Around The World, a photography project that explores the varying relationships between dogs and humans in different cultures. After working a career in sales, he left his 9-5 role to pursue his passion full-time. The project has taken him to 20 different countries to photograph dogs, including sled dogs in Greenland, herding dogs in Australia, and street dogs in India. In this episode, we talk about how being laid off led John to pursue his passion for dog photography full-time, teaching himself photography, adventures he’s had around the world with all types of dogs, making friends through his work, and overcoming imposter syndrome. 
 
Follow Wags Around the World on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wagsaroundtheworld/ 
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Anika of Ooh Baby on starting her own fashion line, the advantages of being self-taught, and positive affirmations

Anika Ignozzi is a self-made artist and fashion designer who launched Ooh Baby in 2018 at just 20 years old, after dropping out of college to pursue her vision. What began with a dream, naïve courage, and a clothing rack at a street market in Pittsburgh has evolved into a thriving brand rooted in creativity and self-expression. Each Ooh Baby collection starts with a painting—Anika’s artwork forms the foundation of the designs, brought to life through bold patchwork, vivid patterns, and vibrant color stories. Her mission is to create clothing that taps into your inner child and empowers self-expression through wearable art. In this episode, we talk about dropping out of college and going into fashion, how Ooh Baby has changed throughout the last 7 years, the advantages of being self-taught, and how she uses positive affirmations in moments of doubt. 
 
Follow Ooh Baby on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oohbabybyanika/ 
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Jesse Kearse IV on fine art photography, movement as inspiration, and creating his own style

Jesse Kearse is a photographer originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He’s a graduate of Morehouse College, and has photographed musicians such as Anderson .Paak and J. Cole, events, and much more. His first solo show, “Nu Narratives” premiered in Manhattan this past February. In this episode, we talk about finding inspiration from movement and music, what his photography setup is, film vs digital, and what he wants to say through his work. 
 
Follow Jesse on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessekearseiv/
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Ginn Choe of “Bobby’s Triple Threat” on what makes a good cocktail, taste and flavor inspirations, and the art of mixology

Ginn Choe is a bartender on Food Network’s show “Bobby’s Triple Threat,” where she crafts new custom cocktails and mocktails for Bobby Flay and chefs Michael Voltaggio, Brooke Williamson, and Tiffany Derry. She has over a decade of experience in New York City’s hospitality, nightlife, and cocktail programs. Since launching nightlife venue Chapel Bar and the beautiful fine dining experience of Verōnika, she has since launched a new cocktail bar called Era in Hell’s Kitchen. 
 
Follow Ginn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginndoll/?hl=en
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Emily Roemer on design, finding inspiration everywhere, and overcoming imposter syndrome at Amazon and The New Yorker

Emily Roemer is a graphic designer whose work has been on the pages of magazines, totebags, food trucks, umbrellas, matchboxes, posters, and much more. She’s currently the design lead of lookbooks at Amazon, and previously was the senior designer at The New Yorker. She has a BFA in graphic design from Louisana State Univeristy and an MFA in design from the School of Visual Arts. She’s worked with big names such as GAP, Hulu, James Blke, The Smithsonian, Soho House, and many more. In this episode, we talk about learning design in college, how The Beatles inspired her, what her creative process is like for both clients and herself, why Taylor Swift needs her design help, and how we both adopted maltipoo dogs spontaneously. 
 
Follow Emily on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roemerdesigns/
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Jack McGuire on songwriting, performing, and overcoming challenges while at Juilliard

Jack McGuire is a songwriter, composer, and sound designer who produces music under the names Wet Hands, Ranch Hands, and FCTRYDRM. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music (2018) and is originally from Ohio. Jack has worked on many different interdisciplinary projects ranging from live scoring new dance pieces, film scores, and immersive theatre. His work has been performed all over the world, from Lincoln Center in New York to Scotland, Australia, and Germany, and he regularly performs his music at venues and bars throughout the city. In this episode, we discuss challenges he faced while at Julliard, his songwriting process, and how he thinks about the visual elements of his music. 
 
Follow Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wet__hands/ 
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Claire Akkan on creative writing about NYC, staying disciplined, and designing vintage bags

Claire Akkan (@​​claire.akkan) is a writer and designer based in New York. Claire has a background as a venture capital chief of staff and brand strategist. She is a Fulbright scholar and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Russian & Eastern European Studies and a B.A. in Humanities. She writes the Substack award-winning newsletter Cappuccino Thoughts and runs a sustainable luxury bag brand (@claireakkan.bags). In this episode, we discuss how she got started on Substack, not experiencing writer’s block, staying disciplined, and designing and repurposing vintage bags.
 
Follow Claire’s Cappuccino Thoughts on Substack: https://cappuccinothoughts.substack.com/
Buy Claire’s bags: https://claire-akkan.myshopify.com/ 
 
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Anjali Sundaram on creativity in cooking, experimenting with flavors, and food writing

Anjali Sundaram (@cooking.4.1) is an NYC-based food writer and recipe developer, focusing on tips and methods for the solo chef. She loves to discover new flavor combinations and push the boundaries of home cooking, using her years of writing and videography experience to inspire people to love cooking for themselves. In this episode, we dig into how Anjali started cooking and developing her own recipes abroad, how she experiments with pairing different flavors, how she balances creating and working full-time, imposter syndrome, and how she takes the pressure off herself to always be posting that helps prevent burnout. 
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Emmanuel Dzotsi on his love of storytelling, finding inspiration, and embracing challenges

Emmanuel Dzotsi (@newsmanual_) is an award-winning journalist, podcast host, and producer for This American Life. He’s reported stories on everything from backroom deals for political power, the strange phenomenon of white people sending Black folks venmo payments as reparations, to vast money-making phone scams hidden in plain sight. He co-hosted the third season of Serial and the popular podcast about the internet, Reply All. In this episode, we talk about his diverse background and how that influenced his love of storytelling, his stints in filmmaking and politics before switching to radio and podcasts, what his creative process looks like, and how a story for This American Life comes together. 
 
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