Inside the Design Studio with David Peck
This podcast is where creativity meets real lifeācandid conversations on reinvention, identity, and designing a life that fits (with a bit of humor, because why suffer twice?).
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Guests, not gurus.
(Smart people, great stories.)
I sit down with designers, founders, artists, authors, and culture-makersāand sometimes go soloāto pull practical insights from real careers, real pivots, and real behind-the-scenes moments.
Expect thoughtful takes on creativity and designing a life you love, with enough humor to keep it from feeling like homework. No perfection requiredājust smart conversations you can actually use.
She Nearly Died in a Houston ER. Now, Rayna Reid Rayford Is Building the App Every Black Mother Needs
Rayna Reid Rayford was sent home from a Houston ER twice while suffering from acute necrotizing appendicitis ā and it took five physician family members to save her life. Now she's building the app she wished had existed.
Find Your Word: The Practice That's Kept Me Grounded Through Every Reinvention
For nearly a decade, I've used one word to guide my year. Not as a resolutionāas a practice. In this episode, I break down the ART method and introduce a new tool to help you find your word.
Voice Notes: Rewriting the Script - Taylor Swift, Winter Olympics, and Bad Bunny
Taylor Swift broke her own pattern, Olympic athletes navigated representing a divided country, and Bad Bunny forced America to confront a 70-year-old conversation about Puerto Rico. This week is about rewriting the scriptāwhether it's your own narrative, a national identity, or a story we've been telling wrong for decades. When you're confident in your vision, you can change the plan mid-stream and create with what you're given, not what you wish you had.
Voice Notes: Things That Matter - Catherine O'Hara, Mattering, and the Roseberrys
This week I'm thinking about Catherine O'Hara, a conversation on Oprah's podcast, and the Roseberry siblings. The unexpected through-line? Performance versus being performativeāand why some art sticks with us while everything else disappears.
Voice Notes: A Hard Week
This week felt especially heavy. In this episode, I share three moments from pop culture that helped me stay present and groundedānot to escape whatās happening, but to think about it more clearly. I reflect on Michelle Obamaās recent interview, what it means to use a platform with intention, and why even familiar comfort shows donāt always land the same way depending on the moment weāre experiencing.
Episode 41. Word of the Year 2026: How I Design My Year on Purpose
Resolutions have never really worked for me. Instead, I use one Word of the Year as a design principle for my life and work. In this episode, I walk you through my ART methodāAssemble, Refine, Tryāand share why I chose Amplify for 2026.
Episode 40. From the Menils to Karl Lagerfeld: William Middleton on Fashion, Power, and Paris
Journalist and biographer William Middleton joins me to trace the thread from Houston's legendary Menil family to Karl Lagerfeld's world at Chanel and H&M. We talk fashion, art, power, and what it really takes to write definitive biographies while designing a life between cities.
Episode 39. Popular to Popped Bubbles: Glinda, Elphaba & the Trouble With Being āGoodā
Wicked: For Good reframes Oz as a story about truth, complicity, and what happens when performing āgoodā replaces living honestly.
Episode 38. From Kerrville to Couture: Jill Reno on Holding Beauty and Grief Together
Jewelry designer Jill Reno went from plastic Michaelās beads on a Milwaukee layover to Paris Haute Couture Week, all while navigating devastating loss and rebuilding at home in Kerrville.
Episode 37. Brisbane to Birkin: Ghosts, Glam, Grit
One of my best friends, Australian stylist and salon owner David Bamford, joins me for a wild, hilarious, and unexpectedly moving conversation. From blue mohawks and Farrah Fawcett helping his green card, to opening a River Oaks salon five weeks before lockdown, to bringing a Birkin to mediationāthis is grit with glam.
Episode 36. Who Are YouāReally?
Ever worn a label that felt perfectāuntil it started itching like a bargain-bin T-shirt? Same.
In this episode, I unwrap the identities I've collected (and returned) over the years:
The week I was German, Lebanese, Egyptian, and Irishāno layovers required.
Episode 35. Well, That Escalated⦠| Tariffs, Taylor, and the Algorithm That Tried to Eat Us Alive
What do fashion tariffs, Blake Lively's alleged text-message nuclear codes, and Instagram's sneaky Discover feed have in common? They all escalatedāfast.
Welcome to the inaugural "Well, That Escalatedā¦"āthe once-a-month segment where I drag my favorite opinion-sharpshooter Laura Max Rose out of our group-chat bunker and into the studio. It's basically the audio version of us texting "WAIT, DID YOU SEE THIS?" at 1 a.m.
Episode 34. BookTok, Box Office, and Bizarre Casting Controversies with Laura Max Rose
I'm joined once again by my friend, writer, podcaster, and self-proclaimed Colleen Hoover expert Laura Max Rose for a conversation that's part literary therapy session, part red carpet roast, and part adaptation wish list. We dig into the controversies, casting choices, and unexpected emotions that came with the It Ends With Us adaptationāLaura's seen it six times, so she's got notesāand talk about what works (and what doesn't) when a beloved book becomes a movie.
Episode 33. Tariffs, Textiles, and Truth: What It Really Means to Make in America
In this solo episode of Inside the Design Studio, I get into a question that's more political than it might seem: Do Americans really want things to be made in America?
It sounds good on paperāand even better on a campaign trailābut the reality is messier. As someone who has spent the past 15 years making clothes in Houston, I'm here to tell you: wanting the label is not the same as supporting the labor.
Episode 32. Kelli O'Hara: Broadway Star to TV's Gilded AgeāCareer, Family, & Creative Risk-Taking
š How does a Tony-winning Broadway actress transition to television, balance family, and keep reinventing herself?
In this episode of Inside the Design Studio, I sit down with the legendary Kelli O'Hara to talk about her journey from small-town Oklahoma to Broadway's biggest stages and HBO's The Gilded Age. Kelli shares how she:
Episode 31. Hustling Into Fashion PR: Travis Paul Martin on Reinvention, Grit, and Making It Work
In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend, Travis Paul Martin, who went from aspiring actor to fashion PR powerhouse. We met over 20 years ago at Parsons Parisāback when we were young, stylish, and slightly delusional about how the industry worked. Now, after working with brands like Gucci, Barneys, and Rothy's at top agencies like KCD and BPCM, Travis has built his own firm, TPM Consulting, helping brands craft stories that truly make an impact.
Episode 30. Burnout, Broadway, & Big Ideas: How Katharine Quinn Manages It All
Katharine Quinn never set out to run Broadway's most innovative social media campaigns (have you SEEN "The Great Gatsby" on Instagram and TicTok?), but here she isāshaping the future of theater marketing, one viral moment at a time. In this episode, we dive into her fascinating journey from performer to director to creative brand strategist, her accidental foray into social media, and how she built a business that's redefining Broadway marketing.
Episode 29. Galentine's Day, Rom-Coms, & Pop Culture's Best (and Worst) Love Stories
Love is in the air⦠or is it? In this special Galentine's Day edition of Inside the Design Studio, I'm joined by Leisa Holland-Nelson Bowman and Shavonnah Roberts Schreiber for a no-holds-barred conversation about Valentine's Dayāromantic, cynical, and everything in between. From pop culture's best (and worst) love stories to the joy of Galentine's, Hallmark movies, bad date-watching at Steak 48.
Episode 28. The AI Dilemma: Creativity Killer or Ultimate Muse?
Is AI the ultimate creative sidekickāor is it slowly replacing human originality? In this episode of Inside the Design Studio, I sit down with poet, educator, and someone who is deeply engaged with AI in education, Scott Chalupa to explore the tension between AI and creativity.We tackle: š AI's role in art, poetry, and film (yes, including The Brutalist controversy!) š Whether AI is inspiring new ideas or just remixing old ones š¤
Episode 27. What's My Word of the Year? A Reflection on the Past and Intentions for 2025
What's in a word? Everything, if you're David Peck. In this solo episode of Inside the Design Studio, David reflects on his annual tradition of choosing a word to guide his yearāand reveals the word he's chosen for 2025. Along the way, he revisits past selections like Effortless, Consistency, and Abundance, exploring how these words shaped his personal growth, challenges, and victories. Curious about the word setting the tone for 2025? Tune in to find out and get inspired to design your year with intention.
Design a Life You Love
New episodes released every week to help you approach life with creativity.