I am delighted to welcome India Mahdavi as the first guest.
An architect and designer, she has built her own business model — she calls it her ecosystem.
She has experienced organic growth ever since, which is actually the key to her continuous success.
With sincerity and her (legendary) sense of humour, India talks about the reasons why she chose this job; her team; and the industry.
She treats us with deep insight, genuine advice, and many « quote of the day »s as I like to call them.
The whole interview is in French — stay tuned for Episode 2.2 (April 15th), a solo bonus in English in which I go over the highlights of our conversation. For this first interview, I have the honour and pleasure of welcoming India Mahdavi — internationally renowned architect, designer and set designer, multilingual and colourful, she has made rue Las Cases in Paris the heart of her ecosystem.
She explains to us how she created her own business model, which is ultimately the key to her organic growth and long-term viability.
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India also tells us, with the sincerity and touch of humour that characterise her, about the reasons why she chose this profession, her team, and the design industry.
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♟️ «My advice to young people? Try to hit the mark, and know how to choose your compromises»
♟️ «If I went into this creative profession, it wasn't to end up having to deal with day-to-day administration.»
♟️ «I never thought I'd have a team of 25 people and have broad enough shoulders to be a business owner – and I still don't see myself as a business owner»
♟️ «Being a leader is about uniting people, knowing how to surround yourself, and seeing what matters»
♟️ «You, Lili, provide support, a backing, a structure to all those thoughts that are more organic, more free»
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If you’d like to find out more about what I call Creative Management, I dedicated a full episode to it a few months ago.
Today, I would like to take a closer look at one aspect of Creative Management: team-building.
What exactly does it involve?
What are the benefits?
I also share a great example, as well as a counter-example, from my own experience as an employee.
And bonus: I talk about my favourite sports coach, Ted Lasso. (no spoiler as I haven’t started Series 4 yet).
If you're interested in offering your team a workshop / team-building / training session, do drop me an email! lbm@lilibonnet.com
I can organise and facilitate almost anywhere in the world 🙂
I’ve known Fabien for over 20 years, back when he was a graphic designer.
We worked together on a project and have stayed in touch — partly because it’s something I enjoy doing, of course, but mainly because I’ve always admired his entrepreneurial spirit.
Even when he enrolled at art school, he didn’t know what he was going to do later on; he just had a fairly broad vision of his future:
– getting up whenever he wanted;
– not working for a boss;
– and living in a loft.
Today, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
He’s the owner of UNSEEN, a vintage shop in Brussels, but he’s also a designer, a carpenter…
it’s clearly impossible to define him in a single word, as he has developed and put to use a wide range of skills.
And it’s quite fascinating to see how much this multi-potential individual needs to free himself from the constraints that a single skill entails, to allow himself not to be confined to just one profession. Not to limit himself. And that is precisely the driving force behind everything he undertakes.
this episode, we also talked about:
– pop culture,
– imposter syndrome,
– mental health,
– and identity, thanks to his recent reconnection with his country of origin, Vietnam.
