Episode 5. Aspen Escape with Laura Max Rose
How one designer and creative practitioner approaches intentional living, building meaningful work, and designing a life beyond the ordinary.
In this episode, David sits down with Laura Max Rose to explore the philosophy and practice behind intentional living. From her work as a designer to her deep roots in Colorado and beyond, Laura shares insights on how thoughtful design extends far beyond aesthetics—it's about crafting a life aligned with your values.
Laura Max Rose is a designer, creative practitioner, and advocate for intentional living. Her work spans multiple disciplines, reflecting a philosophy that design is not limited to visual aesthetics but encompasses how we live, think, and engage with the world around us.
In this conversation, Laura and David discuss her background, her approach to creative work, and how she brings intentionality into every aspect of her life. They explore themes of design thinking, personal growth, and the importance of creating spaces—both physical and mental—that support your best self.
Whether you're a designer looking to deepen your practice, someone seeking to design a more intentional life, or simply curious about the creative process, this episode offers valuable insights and inspiration.
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform.
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“Design is not just about how things look—it’s about how we live and who we become.”
Transcript
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Hey there, design enthusiast. Welcome to Inside the Design Studio, the podcast where we unravel threads of life and design. I'm your host, David Peck, your guide through the cosmic wonders, the tangible touches, and the delightful twists of creating a life you absolutely love. Today's episode is a special peek into my eclectic toolbox, the secret weapons I use to design a life that's as vibrant as my creations. So grab your metaphorical sketch pad and let's dive into the art of intentional living. Welcome, Laura. I am so excited to have you here inside the design studio. We are not in the same place and you are virtually here, but tell everybody where you're joining from. So honored to be joining you today from Aspen, Colorado, David. I used to live where you do and it's so cool that I get to Zoom with you and chat with you today. I love Aspen so much only because I spent, well, I grew up in Colorado, well, half of my life as a young kid in Colorado. But then I spent two years as a music student at the music festival there during the summers. And so they're some of my best memories besides living in Paris. Aspen is one of my favorite places. Really is such a special place. And I will be, I'll tell you, I honestly think about that every single day. It never, it never escapes me how amazing it is. It's beautiful because it's both. I mean, I think most people really think of it as a winter destination for snowboarding, skiing, like all of the things. But the summers are glorious. Like to me, I think I even love the summers more than I love the winter. 100 percent. And I think people who live here know that to be true, that, yes, we're famous for our winters, but the summers are out of a storybook in every way. They're magical. So we'll talk about how you got to Aspen because you do lots of things that. wouldn't seem like you would be in Aspen to do them, but tell people who you are and what you do in case they don't know. That's an amazing way of putting it, David. Well, my name is Laura Max Rose and I am a mother of three girls and I used to live in Houston, Texas. Had I been born there, I would have been a fifth generation Houstonian, but I'm actually from New York City originally and I moved to Houston when I was 13. I left Houston when I was 18 to go to college in Boston. I really never thought I would return. And after striking it out in New York City post-graduation, I decided to head back and work for my mother, whom you know, for a year. I told, I told me too, I told myself, I would give myself a year. Working for her, I actually, funnily enough, she has a web design company. I am now the owner of a different web design company, but it was very cool getting to work for her and learn everything I learned. in the two years that I did work for her. So I told myself, I've already given away some of the story. I did end up staying for longer than a year. I told myself I would give myself a year and then I would start applying for jobs in New York again. And at the very end of that year, I went to a party at Tootsies, which is a very well-known store in Houston. And out of a sea of strange faces, I saw my husband. I started talking to him and I haven't stopped yet. So we got married. very shortly thereafter. And very shortly after that, he informed me that he really wanted to live where we live now, which I thought was crazy. There are 7,400 people who live in Aspen and less than 5,000 who live in the town we live in, which is basalt, which is just outside of Aspen. I just didn't think it was the type of place people move to and live in full time. I thought it was the place where people come in vacation. Then the pandemic happened. It was May of 2020. We came here with our kids. I just didn't know if life was ever going to go back to normal again. I didn't know what the future looked like, just like everyone else. I did tons of episodes on my own podcast about that uncertainty. I was asking anyone who I thought might have the answers, what do you think is going to happen next? And we were here and we'd been here for a month with our kids. We were having a really great time, but I was still desperate to sort of go back to the way things were. I had not surrendered to how much things had changed in our lives in such a short period of time. And we're walking down the street and Ben asked me for the hundredth time. He looked me in the eye and he was really serious. And he said, I know I've asked you this so many times and I know you always say no, but I want you to know I'm really serious. And I want you to know that I think this would be an amazing place to raise our family. And do you want to move here? What do you think? And I'm getting ready to say no again. And I looked down and there's a sign on the road and it says yield. And I saw it and I thought for the first time, well, maybe I'm not right about this. Like maybe I'm wrong. And I said yes. And that began the process of moving here and we've lived here for almost four years now. It's crazy to think that you've been there four years because we obviously met when you were in Houston through your mom. who I adore and has been such a big supporter. She's just one of those people who does that. She kind of takes people under their wing and I feel very fortunate to be one of those people. But we got to work together on several small projects and throughout the years. And I always love talking to you because I feel like you had such fresh perspective on things and so I think you approach things with both intelligence and heart. which I think is an interesting combination that not everybody has. But I wanted, we have a lot of like the parallels, I knew that there were parallels in our kind of stories, but not, it's kind of all coming. So the Aspen connection is one, but I had forgotten and am now remembering that you went to school in Boston, which is one of my favorite cities ever. In fact, I was supposed to go to Boston University and ended up not for a whole bunch of different reasons. So I love that. And then the fact that you're from New York and lived there and then Houston, it's, yeah, I feel like we're not in the same place anymore, but I feel like we have paths that must have crossed in other lives maybe. So for moving to a place like Aspen, like you really did upend your life. Like, and you've done this, I guess, several times now. You left New York. to go to school, you left Boston and then New York to come to Houston and now Aspen. What is it that get, I mean, you saw the sign that made you say yield, which I would love to talk to you about that because I know you have other premonitions and things that you, which I'm fascinated by. How do you kind of get to the point where you say, okay, because as lovely as Aspen is, Nothing that you do. What you do is so technologically based. You're working on websites. You're helping with branding, marketing, like all of these things. Was the pandemic really sort of the catalyst of saying like, well, everybody's doing things remotely, so I might as well take the chance? Or was it really just like a gut instinct at that point? Or was there the catalyst, really the pandemic? Well, there were a lot of factors, David. The pandemic actually absolutely taught me that I could do my job from anywhere. And I was actually just reflecting on this the other day. I haven't met most of my clients in person, which is crazy because when I lived in Houston, I was always working with people face to face. I worked from home and my clients would come over and they'd sit with me and we'd have tea and. We'd go over their websites together and it was wonderful and fun. And all my podcasts interviews were in person too. But nowadays I meet people, find me online and we talk over Zoom. And by the end of my projects with people, I'm friends with them. And it's emotional that we're saying goodbye to each other and we've never met. It's so nuts. I really haven't met most of the people that I work with, which is incredible. And I'm so grateful I'm able to do my job from here. I think I realized the thing that made me. Honestly, David, the thing that made me think, okay, I'm gonna be able to do this from anywhere was just this real inner, like I had this real feeling that this was something we were supposed to do, that I wasn't necessarily supposed to have all the answers yet, but that if my husband really, like I could see how badly he wanted this. And I just had a lot of faith in that. Like, I mean, he had seen his life going in a certain direction in order to move here. I mean, yeah, my job's really hard to do from like remotely, but my husband was an attorney with a practice in Houston. He had to take the bar in Colorado. He had to get certified to practice law here. It was insane. It was like really starting all over again. And I'm looking at him and I'm like, if you're willing to like risk all of this because you believe that you can do this, then I believe in you. And it was really mostly that. And then I sort of, the rest of it kind of fell into place. That's so cool. I think sometimes it does take that one person who really has that vision to kind of make us say, OK, I'm going to try this. We need something to make us believe that it is possible. And sometimes it's just putting in the work, knowing that somebody is willing to work that hard to make their dreams manifest. Oprah Winfrey used to say that luck is when preparation meets opportunity meets the divine. And I've always loved that characterization of what luck really is. I said this prayer when we were moving here and I said, whatever you believe in, I find that people are really terrified to use the word God in public speaking places because it's, I mean, people have... scary experiences with that idea. But that's the word that I use. And of course I never mean for it to scare anyone. And I've sort of come to find that most people really aren't that put off by it, but use whatever word you want in place, if that makes you feel comfortable. But I said this prayer and I said, I said, God, if this is meant to be, I want it to be like cutting butter. And if it's not, I want the door to slam in my face so hard that I don't keep going because I can't put all this effort into something that's just like gonna fall apart the last minute. We had so many moving parts. We had to take our kids out of school. We had to put our home on the market. I loved our home in Houston. We had to find a house here. We had five days to find a house here. It was crazy. And all these things that should have been so difficult ended up being bizarrely easy. But once that was done, David, it was like we had to work so hard. And we continue to work really hard to make our lives work here. And, you know, if you, if there are things in your life that you really want, I do believe that you can have them unless they're really not meant for you. But I think it really is all of those things combined. It's preparation and opportunity and the divine. And like we had this opportunity, we were prepared for it, but we have had to work for it. And I think it's really this very symbiotic relationship of us doing our part. And I think that can get overlooked a lot of the time. I mean, we've absolutely done a lot of hard work in order to be here. How much do you think that the work is a contributing factor, not only to being happy, but to kind of letting the universe God, whatever people want to call it, know that you're serious. I love that question. And I think about that all the time. David, I can't tell you how many times I've worked so hard on something and that thing doesn't work out, but something else just falls into my lap. that's like worth the same amount of money maybe that I was like working for or whatever. I really do believe we need to like say, okay, I'm gonna show up. I think that's so important. Yeah. I think it's really a combination. And I think if what we're working towards doesn't work out, I really do believe something else does. It's like Marianne Williamson's law of divine compensation, right?
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Like she writes about how. if something's taken from us, that's rightfully ours, we will get it back at another point in time when we really need it. And I've seen that happen so many times in my life. And the other side of that is if we're working really hard towards something and that thing doesn't work out, I do believe something else will. And so I think showing up is super important. And of course, like we balance that with stopping to rest when we need to, but. Um, what I have learned this year and the last year, you used to talk about having a word of the year. And I loved that. And I think I actually got the idea from you. So my word last year was capable. And, um, I chose that word because I had just had a baby. My father was dying. He is now, he's now gone, but I was sort of ushering him through that chapter at the end of his life. I had a new baby at home. I had two other children. I just launched my business. It was absolutely insane. kept hearing this voice just telling me like, you're capable of so much more than you think. And I felt like that year was to show me that and to show me that like I can do so much and so much more than I ever imagined. And like this year has been another version of that, although it hasn't been difficult in that way, it's been much more joyful, but I think we are all capable of so much more than we realize. And it's really an amazing thing when we allow ourselves to witness that. It's funny that you mentioned the word of the year, because I was just thinking about that for myself. So last year, my word was consistency. And it's interesting the kind of challenges that will get thrown your way, that the universe will sort of put into your path to make sure that you're really serious about it. And I look back at it in hindsight, and I'm like, actually, there was a lot of consistency. As hard as last year was, there was so much consistency. And this year, my word is effortless. And so far, this year has felt anything but effortless. Even doing this podcast. So I've been thinking about doing this podcast for probably five years. And it's been one of those things in the back of my mind. And probably, I guess, 18 months ago now, I was like, I'm doing this. And I even started recording live episodes in the store and everything. And somehow producing it and putting it out into the universe has never materialized. And so this year I was on this CEO retreat in February. And I was like, you know what, I just have to do it. And even if it's just me. So you have had now this experience of working virtually and doing everything not in person. And so now I'm having to learn those things, which has not been effortless. But I know that like going, when I look back in hindsight and I will see all the things that I put into place to make my life more effortless, I truly believe that the energy that we put out there is kind of like what we get, even if we don't. understand in the moment exactly how we're sort of synthesizing all of that. A hundred percent. And that there's this influencer I follow who I really adore. And I've watched her go from like just having this much smaller following to now she's just insanely successful and she's clearly worked so hard for that success. And she does the word of the year too. And her word of the year last year was calm and she had like the most like, it was so insane. And I think that's such an amazing example, though, of sometimes like. you know, the universe gives us something we don't expect. And it's our job really to surrender to that. And sometimes we get exactly what we were imagining, but sometimes it's really the opposite. And I think letting go and leaning into that is so much more productive than like trying to force ourselves into something that just doesn't work for us anymore. Yeah. Speaking of podcasts, you are, if people don't already follow you, and they should, you had a very successful podcast, Look Mono Hands for many years. And you had sort of with the... I guess the craziness of last year had stepped away from it. And I'd love for you to talk about the reasons why. But you have recently relaunched a podcast. And I want people to know about that, because it's part of the reason why I asked you to be on this podcast was because I've enjoyed talking to you on your other podcasts. And then when I realized you were back at it, I was like, Oh, Laura is the perfect guest. So tell me about the new podcast and what inspired it, because I really love it. And since then, we have been. exchanging voice memos, which inspired by you. Thank you so much. Well, I have always loved. I mean, I absolutely loved having my old podcast and it was like another child to me in so many ways. And I did think about 88 interviews on that podcast and each one was done with. I mean, I was extremely thoughtful with whom I guess we're going to be. And I put my heart and soul into that podcast. That podcast took place during the pandemic as well. And when the pandemic was happening, as you now know, we had to move. We had two young children. Um, my hands felt so full ironically, cause my podcast was called look, my no hands that I felt like I learned enough about life to understand that sometimes you have to put things down and you will pick them up later. But I was really just killing myself trying to make that podcast happen. And it, it wasn't fitting into my life anymore. And I want to say, I mean, I was really sad about that and I didn't understand it, but every time I tried to make it work, it just something else happened and I needed to give my attention to something else. So I just put it away. I put it away and it was always on my mind. I would run into people and they'd ask me how my podcast was doing and I'd get a little sad. And I did a few interviews here and there. And then my father passed away about a year ago and I hired a medium and the medium, and I've talked about this on my own podcast, I had an incredible session with this woman. I cried through the entire thing. And I found out after our session that she also does these sort of psychic counseling sessions. And I thought, well, I have a few questions for her actually. or beyond what we had discussed in our first session. And I'm gonna call her and see if we can talk. And so I made an appointment with her. She was amazing. I told her about my hangups around my podcast, which were that I hadn't had time and I feel like I dropped it and I don't know how to pick it back up again. And the main reason for that is that I really had created this box for myself that I felt like I didn't fit into anymore. I created a podcast that was all about motherhood, but not just motherhood. It was really from the perspective of a very brand new mom. who had a lot of questions that were really coming from a place of, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm scared. And now I have three children and my youngest is two and my oldest is seven. And there are still plenty of things that I don't know or understand about parenting, but I'm not so terrified of getting it wrong. And a lot of my previous podcast came from this place of just being really afraid of messing up. And I, I didn't have that fear. anymore, which was wonderful, but I didn't really know how to proceed. Now that I had different questions, I wanted different guests. I wanted it to be more of a general interest podcast. And she just gave me permission to totally start over, which was amazing. And when I had, when I got that permission, that was when the idea started really flowing for me about like, okay, what am I going to do? How am I going to do this? And I came up with the, I came up with the name. I just have to say with Laura Max, because every time I'm talking to my best friend, I always start my messages with, I just have to say, and then I go into this whole thing. So I don't think I say that very much on my podcast, which is funny, but that was why I gave it that name. And it was really supposed to give me room to do solo episodes, like sort of voice note recordings, almost like you're listening to your best friend while you're getting ready in the morning. And also having really wonderful conversations like this. I was looking for a podcast, like the one that I started and I couldn't find it. So my goal was to have a podcast where you really felt like you you were tuning in and tuning into a great conversation that you wanted to be part of. Isn't it interesting how sometimes we have to either get permission or give ourselves the permission to do the thing that we know that we're supposed to do? Huh? It's amazing. Yeah. I feel that way about this podcast because I, as I don't know if you're into the Enneagram or anything like that, but I'm a type three. So I like things to be done and done well and perfect and like all the things. And so many times that inhibits me from actually doing the thing or making my life super complicated because I build it into what I can imagine it to be from the very beginning. And that's, you know, impossible. And so that's what this podcast is really a lesson in giving myself permission to just do the thing and like not have all the answers and to have, you know, it's a very eclectic smorgasbord of topics and guests and things that, you know, solo episodes, that I think we'll all eventually kind of like hang together as something that feels cohesive. But, you know, sometimes we have to have that freedom to give ourselves, or once we've given ourselves permission to try the thing. And I'm so glad that you've done that with your podcast. Thank you so much. And it really is totally imperfect. And every, every week I find something to fix every week. I'm like, okay, I have time to fix my audio now. Okay. Now I'm going to be able to do video promos. Now I'm going to be able to add captions. I just kind of try to add something like once a week, if I can, I do my best. A friend of mine was telling me that her and her husband have something called the 80% rule. And I love this. Yeah, can they do it 80%? 80% is good enough. And I think I've been thinking about that all the time since she said it, I think I was doing that subconsciously, but it gave me permission. It made me feel better about doing it. You can't do it all perfectly. And I realized that not doing it all was making me really unhappy. So just decided to do it. Well, you're a very creative person and you I think it's very difficult when you have a business and you have kids and all of that to find room to be creative because if you're too creative in your business, then your business can go off the rails. He can't be too creative with your kids. They go off the rails. So there has to be some sort of outlet or that creativity. I was talking to my CEO group that today about that and That's really kind of what this podcast has allowed me to do, is kind of experiment with being creative in a way that doesn't feel so high stakes and not be perfect because I am, I think, a recovering, well, no, I am, it's not that I think, I am a recovering perfectionist. Like I remember like very vividly the first time I didn't get 100 on a test and crying. So, you know, it's one of those things that we have to kind of work through. So I'm so excited and people should listen to your podcast because I love that it is a mix of you doing solo episodes and interviews and it's not just a formulaic, this is the topic. It's really what has kind of entered your mind and heart and you're talking about it. Oh, and that's all me. I mean, one week I'm talking about Colleen Hoover books and the next week I'm talking about the war in Israel. But I mean, there's really nothing more authentic at this point than those are really all the things that go through my head and everything in between. So I'm not holding any of it back. I love that. And just a quick plug, you are going to be coming back in August to do our book club. And we are going to be talking all things, calling Hoover because you are the closest person I know to an expert on calling.
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I'm so excited, David. Thank you. No, David, this is amazing. And I want everyone listening to know this I'm 35 years old and don't let anyone tell you, you can't pick up a new hobby or a new habit when you're 35. I've never been a reader in my life. I read all 24 of Colleen Hoover's books this year. I've read probably almost 20 additional books. And I actually started after the new year. I was telling my friend today that reading has completely changed my life as a mother. I am so grateful to have stumbled upon the joy of reading. I have these, I have the Kindle app on my phone. I have two out of three of my children require. company to fall asleep. Sometimes it's hours, David. It really is. And I'm sitting there and I'm just reading. And it's so amazing that I have this thing that I really enjoy. I'm not about to sit there like watching Netflix while they're going to bed. Like I couldn't do that. I don't have time. I can't watch a show. It's loud. Reading has been the most incredible thing for me. And it's really gotten me out of my own head, like getting engaged in other people's drama. I think as you were saying, as a creative person is so amazing because It kind of gets that out and like, I get to be in their drama and then I come back to my life and I don't need to like, do any of that stuff here. I've like, I've read about it. It's good. Um, and it's just such a wonderful thing to do. I mean, everyone should read or whatever, whatever brings them joy, but I love it. I think it really is important. I was a voracious reader growing up. I read so much and I think life just happens. It gets in the way and, um, I got out of the habit of reading or I shouldn't say got out of the habit of reading. I started focusing all on like business books and like self-improvement, like very kind of not heavy. Yeah. So it's like all the things you're trying to do as you're trying to start a business and be a better person and all of this. And I had forgotten like how much I really enjoyed reading and just kind of getting immersed in a character. I don't know about you, but as much as I love movie and TVs, I think because there's so much, I almost get bored by it. I do too. And I feel like I need to be seated in a certain location watching this thing. It's just a different experience for me than reading completely. And also like it's so easy when you're watching to like pull out your phone and scroll, and then you're not really watching, and then you're not really engaged. And so I have a different relationship with watching things now than I used to. But reading, you have to sort of be engaged. And the nice thing, I'd listen to a ton of audiobooks because of being in the car, carpool, like all of those things. And so I've gotten, I've forced myself, and now it's not forcing, but like to have something fiction in my lineup. So for every something serious nonfiction book that I read, then I have to read something that's fiction, at least one. I love that. I think that's a really wonderful rule. And I, like you, was only really reading nonfiction and just the joy of reading these fictional stories. Also, speaking of creativity, especially when it comes to Colleen Hoover, I mean, this woman has written 24 books and each one, I'm like, how did you come up with this twist? How did you come up with this story? And it gets my mind going and thinking in different directions. And I think it really contributes positively to the stuff that I do in my work every day and just the way that she... looks at life. I mean, I'm fascinated by her. She's absolutely my dream interview. I want to get inside of her head and try to figure out how she comes up with these storylines. To do it once is one thing, but 24 times, I mean, are all of her books as good as it ends with us and it starts with us? No, but they're really good. I mean, there's really only one book of hers I read that I'm like, eh, I wouldn't read that again. That was it. That's crazy. That is crazy. She's sort of like the author version of Taylor Swift. She's like, she really is. She's a hit maker. Yeah. Very prolific. And she obviously loves what she does. And she's connected to her fans in a way that is so deep and meaningful because they're diehard. They'll go to the grave for her. I want to say something about that though. She does love writing, but if you read the recent article that she was featured in Texas Monthly, it was about a month ago. She was supposed to write a few books that were supposed to come out this year. And she's way behind. And she's talking about how all of her publishers are so frustrated with her. And the reason for that is because she has gotten so much negative commentary on Tik TOK and other social media networks, but especially on TIK TOK, that she's so blocked that she's like, I'm just a person. Like it is so difficult for me to write when I've read all these things about myself. And I'm thinking, wow. look at what we have the power to do to this woman who's so talented because we can't help ourselves with what we do online and with being keyboard warriors. And we have to say these like horribly demeaning things about really talented people and look what it does to people with this amount of talent. And I just, I was talking to my husband while I'm reading this article and just thinking about how incredibly sad that is. But it's a really amazing opportunity to reflect on the fact that if a woman who's that talented, could feel that way from reading her own negative press on social media. Imagine what it does to those of us who haven't published 24 books in a lifetime. And those who read her books are like, gosh, could you please write something else? We love what you have to say. So I think it's a really good reminder that let people talk, let them. Let them talk about you and you keep doing you because the world needs what you have to offer. I wish I could tell her that. It's so true. Well, and that's actually another parallel to Taylor Swift because she disappeared for a year. I don't know. I'm a big Swifty. So like, if you're not, I'm sorry. No, I've seen your Swifty hood and I love that about you. I feel like, I feel like I'm so not, I, I'm so in love. I think she's amazing and I'm so fascinated by her, but I don't know her music as well as you do, but go ahead. Anyway, no. So she had this whole thing before Reputation came out where, um, the him and Kanye of the world of it all, uh, basically tore her down and the internet kind of jumped on her. And so she felt like she had to disappear for a year. because she didn't know how to be. She didn't know how to connect. And she was depressed and all this stuff. And then ended up through that writing the album, reputation and kind of taking it back. But it was not well received because. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just sort of interesting. I mean, her fans loved it, but like critically, it was not. She didn't get nominated for a Grammy or anything for that year. And it's really interesting to see the trajectory from her being at her lowest point now to basically world domination, literally. Oh, yeah. It's insane. Like the number of people who are going to see the heiress tour, like. I mean, hundreds, I mean, thousands of people. It's unbelievable. It's the Woodstock of our generation, except for more people. I mean, nothing, there's never been anything like it. She sold way more albums than the Beatles. It's unreal. It's so crazy. And the fact that, you know, you can go from being, it's very inspiring to me to think that you can be the lowest of low and sort of not knowing what to do with yourself, even though you could probably intellectualize and say, I'm super talented. I've done all this stuff. I've been so successful, but being in that dark place to like, Pulling yourself out and kind of being able to, I don't know, come back in that way is pretty impressive. I hope that serves as a reminder to people who love her and who watch her, which is so many people, that these things are so temporary and that they don't last forever. That when you're struggling, it feels like it's been forever and it feels like it will be, but it's not. Like the other day, I was complaining about something and my husband asked me, well, how long have you really felt that way? Because I was using words like I always, and I felt like. things that would indicate that I felt this way my whole life. And I started to laugh and I said, like, since March, it's not that long, right? And I think honestly, it was after that conversation, I don't even remember what I was talking about. So I must not feel that way anymore. But yeah, it wasn't really for that long, but it felt that way in my mind. I find, I have found, I'd be trying to become more self-aware that when people use like always, or you always, or ever, you know, it really like is a little bit triggering to me. So I'm like, it's not true. There's no nuance or like gray in that like situation because nothing is ever always that. Yes, yes. And you see that with children. Children like to say, you mommy, you always do this. And like, I think it's a really good reminder that is, it's a childish way of looking at things and not that that's good or bad, but our higher selves know that. that that's not really how it is. Yeah, then I have to stop myself from having a childish response when people say you always. I do. Like, I do not. Well, speaking of figuring out your path and kind of designing, this podcast is about designing a life that you love. I know that you feel very much connected to the beyond. And part of that happened with this medium and your dad. But I'm very fascinated because I have. had an obsession with numbers and I can tell you exactly when it started. It was before I moved to Paris in 2002 and I started a friend mentioned seeing 11 and I was like what's that? I've never had a connection to numbers ever and ever since that conversation it like 11 started following me everywhere and then like it was 22 and like I just see numbers all the time and they're kind of like my comfort when things are not going well. Like the other day, I had a really rough day, and every hour I kept saying like, one, two, three, and not intentionally, like I wasn't even picking up my phone, but even when I did, the times that I did pick up my phone, it just happened to be there, or the date, or like there was a palindrome, like, you know, 12, 21. And it was just like, I was like, okay, it's gonna be okay. This is a hard day, but like, it's gonna be okay. Tell me about your experiences with. the signs from beyond. I think the yield sign when you were in Aspen for me is just such a special thing. I think inside we're all maybe a little bit afraid of really believing that signs could be real. But what's really amazing is once you allow yourself to actually believe that, it's incredible how much you could really be guided by them and in amazing ways. I have so many stories, David, I don't even know where to start. And I know that I... first learned about consecutive numbers having meaning. People call them angel numbers. When you see consecutive numbers on the clock, 11, 2, 22, what have you. Each sequence allegedly has a different meaning, which I do believe. And I remember when I was a little kid and I was doing soccer carpool, like first and second grade, everyone would see 11, touch the clock, make a wish. That was kind of like my first introduction to that. It was something that happened, I think, around when I met my husband in 20, what was, oh my gosh, in 2013. It was sometime then we really kind of got into the premise together and I don't know what specifically prompted that. But as life has gone on, it has become so much more a part of our lives and just a way that we receive guidance every day. And I think once you do believe in it, you just, you don't question it as sort of a thing of whether or not this is real. It's just so in your face. So a few really incredible stories that just kind of come into my mind. I I went to the, I was going to Boston with my now husband.
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He was my boyfriend at the time. And I did not, I knew that we were going to be getting engaged soon, but I didn't know that it was about to happen. And we were in the airport, the airport was like shutting down. He had this whole proposal planned out that was supposed to happen on the airplane. And of course he called my mom and he's like, what do I do? I don't even know if the plane's going to take off. She's like, you just do it now. So he goes up to the flight attendant and the whole, the whole airport is like full of people who are waiting to board planes. And he basically reconstructed his plan in five seconds and asked the flight attendant to call us up to the terminal. And he was gonna propose on the intercom and which is what he actually did. So as she calls my name up to the head of the terminal, I look down in my phone, it's 555, which if you look up the meaning of 555, it's that a positive change is about to happen. And it was the last number that I saw right before that happened. So that's one of the really significant ones. This is another amazing one. I got a really scary piece of news on November 10th a few years ago, which is 1110. And I think it was like at 1110 that I got it on 1110. I had seen that number so many times that day that I'm like, I don't know, like, what does this mean? I'm gonna look this up. So I look up the meaning of 1110 and it is known to mean that everything is going to be okay. And since that day, three years ago, I see that number on the clock every time I'm worried about anything. I mean, the second something pops into my head, I will see that number, which is really, really amazing. The number eight symbolizes prosperity. Whenever I see consecutive eights, if I'm like in the middle of a conversation with a client, like... It's usually when a proposal of mine gets signed or somebody starts to work with me or something happens, that's really cool for my husband. But threes are the number of, you know, the people who are no longer with us, the ascended masters or anyone you love who's no longer with us. And so when my father passed away, I started to see threes everywhere. And this is really the most incredible story. But what I noticed, I mean, I would see like three, not just like three, 33, like. Somebody with a phone number, 33333333, would pull up in front of me on the highway. It was all the time. So I'm one of those people who doesn't clear out their inbox. And I had 33,335 emails one day. And I started to notice that I was always seeing a five at the end of this section of through, at these series of threes. And I did a little research and I found out that my father's office building in New York City was 33 Fifth Avenue. And I was at Target yesterday and I'll always ask for guidance from my dad and the angels when I'm shopping. Okay, what should I get? I know that's so silly, but I don't think anything's too silly to ask for guidance around. And I tried on this thing that was just so not anything I usually wear. And I really liked it, but I'm like, is this silly? And I look at the barcode because I'm about to scan the barcode to see if they had a different size. And the barcode is 3-3-3-5. And I thought, okay, well, I'm going to get this. I throw it in my bag. I mean, I think like we also, we often think of guidance as being for like really big things. And it certainly can be, and often it is, but I don't really think anything's too small. And I mean, even in like the tiniest little decisions in my life, I have found that I get guidance through, through numbers often, sometimes through a song that we'll just start playing. And it can be so clear. I almost didn't go to a wedding the other few weekends ago. And I shared about this on my other podcast that I just thought it was gonna be way too big of an effort. And I was about to cancel the babysitter that we had, and it was gonna be an overnight away from my three kids. And I'm going to send the cancellation text message and a promotional text comes through right in that moment. And it says, trust me, you don't wanna miss this. And I'm like, all right, well, I'm not canceling this. So. Could I have chosen to have ignored that and decided that I was insane for believing such a thing? Sure, but I ended up going to the wedding because I listened to the guidance that I felt I was receiving. And I had the most amazing time and I'm so grateful I didn't miss it. So I think what we choose to believe is true to a large degree. And I choose to believe that we're never alone and that the universe wants us to know that and guidance is always there. We just have to ask for it. Yeah, I love that so much. I love that you're being guided at Target. Oh, yeah. What should I buy? What should I get today? Well, I mean, I don't know. I hate buying things I don't need. Makes me nuts. So no, that's perfect. I truly believe that, too. And I grew up in a very conservative religious home. And so sometimes I was always taught that, you know, God is there to guide and protect you and like all of the things. But I think as I got older, I started realizing there's a lot of other, I don't know, signs, there's mysteries that we can't explain, coincidences that feel a little bit too on the nose. And to me, that feels like it has broadened my idea of faith and kind of feeling like... Somebody out there has my back in the biggest possible way, even when you're going through really difficult times, to have those small little reminders that keep following you, like whether it's a number or a random promo thing that pops up on your phone that kind of like pops up to give you a message. What would you recommend to people who don't feel as in tune? Because I think for some people, they're like totally down with this and they're down with the woo. I think for other people, they're going to be like, you're just weird. But maybe they have a little bit of an open mind. What would you give them as advice to sort of be open to receiving messages? That's a really wonderful question, which is sort of begging, asking me, like I'm now asking myself, okay, where did this all begin for me? I felt like I had a real spiritual awakening when I was 20 years old, which wasn't through the typical, I wasn't sitting in an ashram or anything like that. And I didn't go to some sort of psychic who gave me a prophecy. I was raised in a Jewish home and I am Jewish and I love my faith and I love the structure and I love the rules that my faith offers me. I love the guidance my faith offers me. And it's become a much larger part of my life, the older I've gotten. But when I was that age, I was feeling pretty disconnected from my Judaism. It wasn't something that I thought of very frequently anymore. And I had sort of started looking into other... ways of connecting with God and connecting with a higher power, but I felt really lost. And for me, my healing and my spirituality really came from my healing. I was in a lot of pain from a lot of what had occurred for me during my childhood. And I had addressed it, but not successfully up until that point. And I had found something that was really working for me and helping me heal. And I... There was no question for me that God was present in that because it was the first time I wasn't trying to do it all alone. And a really good therapist told me that one of the hallmarks of being, what I considered myself, which was my father was an alcoholic. So I was an adult child of an alcoholic. And one of the hallmarks of being raised in an alcoholic home is thinking that you have to do everything alone. And I was just, my mind was blown by that because I had always felt like my healing was my responsibility, like my job. Yes, it was my responsibility, but I felt like it was also my job to do by myself. And I would buy all these self-help books and I would try to like fix myself. Like I was a project. And when I was 20, I finally realized I couldn't do that. I couldn't fix myself. I was gonna need help. I was gonna need help too. I couldn't get myself out of the situation that I had gotten myself into. And... I felt like that was really key to understanding. Like I'd never, in that year of my life, I just felt like God was right next to my face the whole time. There's a poem and I think it's honestly more of a Christian aligned poem, but I love it so much. It's called Footprints. Maybe you've heard of it, but it's very famous. It's in every Walgreens gift card section you've ever seen. But there's a person that's saying to God, where were you? Like he's looking behind him and there's only one set of footprints. during this time in his life where he was really struggling and he says, God, where were you when I was struggling? And God says, that's when I carried you. And I loved that poem. And I think about that all the time. And I felt like I'd really been, I looked at my life differently. Like I'd really been carried through these difficult times, not abandoned. And how did I survive them? I don't know. I think just because I was never alone. And I think my sort of emotional healing yielded a faith in God that I couldn't have. when I was suffering so much because I just was too, I was too caught up in the darkness, which is like a really understandable thing. But that yielded further curiosity and it like one, it was just like a road that never ended for me and it still hasn't. And this is premise that we're not alone, that like we are, we knew that too, I believe when we were small. I watched my own children, like just their sense of not being alone is so innate and it's so wonderful. The idea that we are comes from sort of external factors that maybe hit us when we're growing up, but it's not what we, I do believe we started out sort of knowing the truth. And, you know, there's a quote I used to have on my Facebook cover photo back when that was like a cool thing 12 years ago. And it said, for small creatures such as we, the vastness is unbearable. The vastness is only bearable through love. And I believe that, like I felt like I... I found this sort of spirituality through other people who helped me. And then eventually through my own relationship with a higher power with God. And that just sort of continued and numbers became a part of that along with many other things. I love how we get those kind of reassurances through whatever journey you've gone on to get there. I think that's lovely. It reminds me of one of my favorite Sondheim songs is from Into the Woods as No One is Alone. Well, I love that song. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's, I don't know, it just, it feels like you, you do have those kind of forces beyond you that are guiding you and directing you. I truly believe that. And I think the little physical manifestations of that, whether it's numbers or signs or barcodes, you know, barcodes, yeah, whatever. It's everywhere if you choose to believe it. And I do. So yeah, I do as well. And one thing that you had on your previous podcast, you had an astrologer who also practiced astro-cartology, which I became fascinated by several years ago and I'm total believer in. But remind me, it was something that you did for your husband or husband is- Well, it's interesting. There's something called, I think it's called astrocortography. And it's basically the idea that there are certain places on the planet that bring certain things out of you. and certain places in the planet that are sort of better for you in certain areas of your life and certain areas that are not. And this all depends on your birth time and date and place. And it's my husband is so into it. And we have, we've, we have an astrologer who I was mentioning this to you before the podcast. She was on my last podcast. I have interviewed her, but I'm not going to have a session with her for many years because she is so booked out. Somebody had a session with her and they wrote a book about it and the book became a New York times bestseller. So She is very famous at this point in time, but there's a reason for that.
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She's absolutely incredible at what she does, but she was the first person who ever brought up the concept of astrocortography to either one of us. And... I, we were moving here. I think we asked her like what, like we'd already decided to move. We'd already found the house and then we were like, okay, we want to make this decision on our own. And then we're going to ask if it was like the right decision. And she commented that it was like a really going to be an amazing place for both of us, which is really awesome. But it's really cool to see how different places, if you've ever traveled, you may find that your energy feels very different in different places. Maybe something drags you down about a place or maybe something feels, makes you feel like you're just. on top of the world and maybe a really depressing place externally makes you feel really joyful. And you don't know why I feel like Astro cartography explains a lot of that. And it's really, really amazing. We were on a transatlantic cruise with our three children. Yes, we all survived. And it was a two week long journey that was during in March, this past spring break. And we were going over like the Bermuda triangle and just like miles and hundreds and hundreds of miles of ocean and no land. And There were a few days in there where I just started to get a little weary. And obviously the experience itself could kind of, um, the, explain that, but it was weird. It was bizarre. I felt, I felt kind of sad. I didn't really know why. And, um, of course my husband like pulls out his astro-chortography guide and I'm like in an area of my chart that is like a very difficult for me. And it's like, I could so see where somebody would hear this and be like, are you kidding me? Like how, but I, again, like if you believe in it, if you let yourself look at it, it's really, really fascinating, but you can look at it in different ways. So like, I had no control over where I lived when I was a child because my parents were deciding where they were going to move and I was just going along with them. And then my astrologer ends up telling me that certain places that I grew up in New York, New Jersey, Houston, all brought these certain things out of me. But that was like part of my journey. It was meant to be there. It wasn't like a choice. And I felt like I was brought to those places so that I could have those kinds of experiences. So it's kind of like, which thing are you gonna look at first? But I don't think we're, I don't think any of us are like in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't believe you can miss the boat, if you will. I think there are lots of boats and. I don't like the idea that like, oh my gosh, I'm not in the right place for me, I need to move. I think the question we need to ask ourselves is what am I supposed to learn from this? And I think whenever we're having a challenging experience, we should ask ourselves, okay, what am I supposed to get out of this instead of trying to resist it or like leave that situation? Yeah, I think the key with all of these different tools or whatever is the awareness, the self-awareness of what is. whatever situation bringing out in you. And I think that's really the same thing with astrology, astro-cartology or astro-cartography, oh, either one, is that you're sort of using these tools to give you a bearing on your surroundings and what might be influencing you. And it's your job to use that energy for good or for ill. Like, I think it's like being aware in the moment, like I'm feeling this way. Is there something deeper behind it? And not necessarily blaming the circumstance or the place, but understanding this is what, what am I needing to confront within myself or celebrate within myself, you know, by being in this place? 100%. And life is not devoid of challenges and it never will be, and it's not supposed to be. And I think that one of the ways that, you know, I think astrology at some point, and I don't know this history well enough to like comment on it as an authority, but my understanding is that a long time ago, you know, astrologers, especially in Judaism, were sort of like part of the fold and like people would go see them like maybe once a year, but you're not supposed to see them every day. You're not really even supposed to see, I mean, like, I feel like once a year is great, but I think you can get into a place where it's like, okay, I'm going to reference this constantly and make all these decisions based off of this and then you're getting into this sort of American thing of like avoiding conflict and discomfort. And like, you can't, you just can't do that. So at a certain point, you kind of have to ask yourself, okay, what am I supposed to be getting out of this? What am I supposed to be learning from this? Because pain and suffering, unfortunately, are some of the ways that we learn some lessons. Not all of them, but some of them. Yeah, I truly believe that. And I feel like... you can use anything as a crutch and you could become just as addicted to astrology or trying to figure out. I don't think it's meant to predict your future. I think it's supposed to give us insight. I mean, the way I kind of have come to terms with it or like, because I'm fascinated by it is we're all energy. We, I mean, literally, scientifically, we're all energy. And so if the oceans can be affected by, you know, the moon and the tides and like everything, then why we as humans would be immune to that doesn't make any sense. And so if we can get some sort of, I don't know, outline or we can get some sort of bearing in the world and kind of figure like, oh, what's going on? Maybe we wouldn't put as much blame on ourselves for like, and sort of like do the bad self-talk. If we'd be like, oh, this is what this is bringing out in me and how do I kind of reconcile that rather than saying I'm trying to predict my future. Because I don't look at astrology as something where I'm like, oh, I'm trying to figure out what's going to happen. It's like, no, these are the places where I feel this. Or maybe I'm going through a particularly difficult time. And it's like, is there a reason? Is there something outside of myself that is maybe affecting that energy and giving me a reason to feel a little off? Or do I just need to breathe through this moment and then wait to see what comes out on the other side? I don't know, I find it a really interesting tool to sort of just, not necessarily, I wouldn't necessarily plan everything. I'm not gonna travel when Mercury's in retrograde. Like I think then you sort of, you build a prison for yourself. But if you're sort of more aware, you're like, oh, maybe things are heightened a bit now. I'm gonna be a little bit more cautious or I'm gonna be a little bit more on guard to look out for things. Maybe that's just the way the universe is. telling us to like wake up and be more aware and that that's a tool we can use. 100%, absolutely. So I've loved talking to you and I feel like I can talk for hours, but maybe not everybody wants to hear us do that, but they'll get to hear us in a couple of months when we talk about Colleen Hoover. But tell people where they can find you and how, I mean, you're an amazing, I don't even think we mentioned this, besides being a podcaster, you're an amazing designer. You do websites, but you also now are coaching people, not only through their website building process, but in their business. And tell me a little bit about how this kind of evolved to be and like what are the services that you offer? Thank you so much. And thank you for having me on David. It's been such a pleasure talking to you. First of all, I've absolutely loved our conversation and I can't wait for more of them. But to answer your question, my company is called Maxwell Media. It's based here in Aspen, Colorado. And I do everything from website design, graphic design, print advertising, online advertising, all of that stuff, logo branding. I sort of define it and I've been defining it this way recently as you can buy a turnkey house, but with Maxwell Media, you can buy a turnkey business. So if you come to me with an idea, I'm going to be able to take that idea and I'm going to be able to implement the entire idea from start to finish, from your branding to website to launch, to even helping you with your invoicing software. I'm helping you establish yourself as a business, helping you with your social media, sort of everything that you need to know and that you need to have in place in order to launch your business so that you're not launching and then not knowing how am I going to send out a proposal? What proposal software am I going to use? Like I'm going to set all of that stuff up for you if you want me to. And I also do little pieces of it here and there. But another component of my business, which you were mentioning is that I, I do consult with people and I coach them on helping them hone their ideas and helping them launch their businesses in a successful way that makes sense for them in the lives that they're living and basically helping people get unstuck. And I decided that I was going to add that component to my business because it was something I was doing anyway. And you can find a web designer on Etsy, you can find a web designer on Fiverr, but the people who hire me aren't hiring me for that reason. My web designs are awesome and I love them. And thank you for being so kind about them. They're so fun and I absolutely love fitting them together. But it's so much more than that when you work with me, it's really all the components of building and launching a business and doing it with confidence. And I absolutely love working with people and helping them bring their ideas to life, helping them get out from behind a cubicle and a computer and a cubicle that they've been miserable in. I've gotten to do that so many times. And it's really the most amazing feeling and bringing people to life on the screen. People's ideas are really like their babies and giving them a brand and giving them an aesthetic. that really, really feels like them. Every day when somebody asks me for my business card, I know they're gonna go look at my website and I'm so excited for what they're gonna find. I love giving that to my clients because I used to walk around being afraid that people were gonna look at my website because I was thinking, oh my God, no, my work is so much better than that. Don't go to my website, it's really outdated. And now I have a great website and I give that to my clients every day and I love getting to give them that confidence. It's wonderful. And if you wanna find me online, you can. Check out Maxwell Media at MaxwellAspen.com and you can follow me on Instagram. My handle is at Laura Max Rose. Well, I just have to say, it has been awesome talking to you. I love that. Thank you, David. It's been wonderful talking to you. I'm so excited for you. And I'm so excited about your podcast and it's really an honor to have been your guest. So thank you again for having me. I hope this will be the first of many. And I do encourage everybody to go check out Laura's podcast. It really is like listening to your friend. And I love how intimate it is and that it's really, there's so much spontaneity in it. And it doesn't feel like a, in the best possible way, manufactured. Thank you, David. That means so much to me. Thank you so much. I think we're all craving a little bit of authenticity these days. And so having somebody who is talking about the process of figuring it all out is quite refreshing. So go listen to, I just have to say with Laura Max and we'll catch you next time. And there you have it, another episode of Inside the Design Studio and the Books. If you enjoyed this exploration of life's design, hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. And hey, if you're feeling extra generous, leave us a review. Your thoughts fuel our creative journey. I'm David Peck, your design companion on this adventure. Until next time, keep crafting a life that's as captivating as your favorite masterpiece.
How do you design your life?
Join David Peck and Laura Max Rose for a conversation about intentional living, creative practice, and building meaningful work.
Key takeaways
Intentional design extends beyond aesthetics into how we structure our lives, routines, and environments.
Embracing your multidisciplinary interests (like Laura's blend of design, music, and creative practice) can lead to unique, innovative approaches to work.
Creating meaningful work requires both strategic thinking and openness to where your path leads.
The spaces we inhabit—both physical and digital—profoundly influence our creativity and well-being.
Small, consistent intentional choices compound over time to create transformative results.
Guests Appearing in this Episode
Laura Max Rose
Laura Max Rose is a designer, creative practitioner, and educator based in Aspen, Colorado. With a background spanning design, music, and creative arts, Laura brings a multidisciplinary approach to her work. She is passionate about intentional living and helping others design lives aligned with their values. Her practice encompasses design consulting, creative direction, and mentorship for emerging creatives.
A memoir about a young woman who leaves her survivalist family to pursue education. Explores themes of personal growth, self-discovery, and the transformative power of learning—key themes in Laura's journey.
An exploration of the relationship between plants, people, and the environment. Combines indigenous wisdom with scientific knowledge, reflecting themes of interconnection and design in nature.
A foundational text on design thinking and how thoughtful design shapes human experience. Directly relevant to Laura's approach to creating intentional, beautiful spaces and systems.
Explores how small, consistent changes compound over time to create meaningful transformation. Aligns with Laura's philosophy of intentional design in daily living and creative practice.
Examines why diverse experiences and broad knowledge create innovation and success. Connects to Laura's multidisciplinary approach to design, music, and creative work.
Resources
David Peck on TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@itsdavidpeck
David Peck on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidpeck/
Inside the Design Studio Podcast — https://www.itsdavidpeck.com/podcast
