(Header photo by Illkoncept)
Man, what a year. As I type this, all of the memories just keep popping up. I know it sounds super cliche, but, this year was by far the biggest year of my life. I was able to do so much with the website this year… I’m thankful for all of the people I was able to meet and develop relationships with. To all of the people that also supported me, shared a post, referred someone to interview, took photos for my interviews (shoutout Sammy/Brandon)… from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. Because of you guys, I was able to accomplish two major goals on the website this year. A year ago I finished the year doing 70 interviews, I knew I wanted to top that going into 2017. I decided on a goal of hitting 100 interviews. On Chicago Creatives alone, I was able to publish 145 interviews. WOW. On top of that, I started an Interview A Day Project from November 1st – EOY. I accomplished that goal as well. 61 interviews. With that, it only made sense to recap my top 5 favorite interviews of the year. Once again, thank you guys for all of the support! 2018, year three, here I come.
Man… There’s so much to say about this one. I’m very thankful for Jason. If you know me, or have followed me over the years, then you know just how bad I wanted to interview Jason and work @ Havas. For years, my strategy was to interview a ton of people @ Havas so there could be a slight chance for him to see the work I was doing. Jason is by far one of my biggest inspirations and I hope to be able to impact culture the way he has. Thank you for giving me a chance, Jason, I can’t thank you enough.
2) Elise Swopes
Back in 2015 when I first started the website, one of my first ever interviews was with Swopes. Crazy to think about. I definitely did not deserve that interview that early. Unfortunately, it was through email. However, crazy how things work out because, fast forward a year and a half later, I received an email to come to Edelman’s office to meet her and interview her for the recent campaign she did for Kellogg’s new Cinnamon Frosted Flakes. Very cool experience, plus, I got to meet Tony The Tiger. Haha. How can that not be one of my favorite interviews?
3) Craig Hensel
Craig Hensel is the fucking man. Finally got the chance to interview him earlier this year. Throughout the year Craig has also been a constant support, sharing articles and putting me on to interview new people. I’m thankful for a friendship like that.
DES MONEYYYYYY. Des is such a humble dude and dropped so many gems in our interview. I’ve always been a fan of Des and his creative endeavors, so it was good to finally be able to talk with him. I even got to interview him again for a Podcast and it was hella fun. Thanks, Des!
Kevin Coval, the icon. I had been wanting to interview Kevin for so long. Tried a few times, nothing, nothing, then all of a sudden February this year I got the chance to finally meet him. We had a great talk. There’s just this energy you get from meeting and talking with Kevin. It’s hard to explain. Following our interview, for like the next month I just kept running into him everywhere. If you haven’t picked up his book, go ahead and pick it up here. I hope to one day impact my city the way Kevin has.
Chicago Creatives 