thank you 2025
shipped a rebrand. published a lot. built cool shit. visited barcelona, bahamas, dominican republic, and amsterdam. dinner boys and ghabaghouls. upstate. friends. one of my bros getting married. got laid off. joining Ramp to lead their brand. healing. photos. things. Bebe. bye.
“Don’t grow your garden in someone else’s yard.” 🌱✨
@pauljunbear breaks down the real problem with agency websites: polished case studies with no soul, no story, and no value for fellow creatives. Who are we really talking to when we write that word salad? 🤯
We get into why owning your content, building your own space, and telling your story with clarity matters more than ever.
🎧 Listen to the full episode — link in bio!
#NeverWorkADay #PreviewMedia #PaulJun #CreativeLeadership #DesignThinking #OwnYourContent #StorytellingMatters #CreativeStrategy #BrandBuilding #FoundersLabNYC #PodcastDrop
Tune in Tomorrow! 🎙️
In this episode of Never Work a Day, we’re joined by @pauljunbear a multi-hyphenate creative force whose career spans brand leadership, design direction, writing, and photography. Currently the Director of Brand at Personio, Paul’s journey includes shaping brand identities at Mixpanel, launching IDEAS at COLLINS, and helping build the foundation of Seth Godin’s altMBA. We dive into what it means to lead with intentionality in both work and life, the importance of craft over clout, and how writing and photography continue to sharpen his creative perspective. From deep dives into branding to reflections on creativity and discipline, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating a meaningful path in the creative world.
#NeverWorkADay #PreviewMedia #Podcast #Brooklyn #FoundersLab #FoundersLabNYC #iTunes #Spotify #NewEpisode #ListenNow
This time last year, I was recovering from Achilles surgery and starting a new job in an unfamiliar industry. By year’s end, the team overhauled the entire product, brand, sub-brands, offices, and internal materials.
Most rebrands rarely touch the product experience. This was a rare career opportunity where brand strategy influenced product design, design systems, tone of voice and beyond.
One of the first sentences I wrote after sitting with all the research was, in hindsight, quite obvious: HUMANS AREN’T RESOURCES.
Consider the other strange terms:
Human capital.
Human leverage.
Human asset management.
Resources are things you use up. Assets are things you own. Capital is something you spend. This is old-world language, a time of factories and people viewed as numbers.
When talking to customers, it was painfully clear why they got into this work: to work with people. To grow talent. Nurture careers. Design workplace cultures that make a business grow or thrive. Instead, they’re labeled as “HR”—reduced to paperwork handlers and policy enforcers.
Worse, they aren’t called by their first name. What has this industry become?
We now have the power to automate entire processes. To predict instead of react. To focus on tomorrow instead of drowning in yesterday’s tasks. This is the work HR managers signed up for: to be strategic partners, culture builders, and coaching teams on human-centricity.
This isn’t about doing old things faster. It’s about reimagining a new way of working.
This is more than a product update. It’s a revolution in how HR works, thinks, and delivers value. (I’m on a personal crusade to remove the acronyms ‘HR’ completely.)
HUMANS AREN’T RESOURCES.
Let’s start designing companies with this belief in the center of every decision and process.
To the core team that worked tirelessly, and all of the partners that helped bring this to life over the past year: thank you.
