In this episode, Alison sits with filmmaker and storyteller Elaine Del Valle, whose debut feature Brownsville Bred captures the beauty and brutality of growing up in 1980s Brooklyn. In a conversation about persistence, self-belief, and the quiet rebellion of creating without permission, Elaine reflects on what it means to keep going when the world tells you not to.
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Season 2 / Ep. 01: Explore Test Wander Emerge
This episode explores the edges of uncertainty with Jessie Shefrin — a conversation about wandering, testing, stumbling, and ultimately emerging into new clarity. Jessie reflects on the sparks that shape us, those fleeting moments of sensation that accumulate into transformation. Together, the dialogue traces how luck, timing, and openness weave into leadership and design, offering listeners a meditative space to consider their own turning points and the practices that help us stay open to what might emerge.
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Episode 12: Hella Justice
In this final episode of season one, Jacqui and Alison reflect on the times with Quinnton Harris, one of the founders of Hella Creative – the team behind the Hella Juneteenth movement. We talk about his incredible journey, the importance of Juneteenth not just as a day, or a moment, but a call for organizational change. How we can continue to grow, listen, learn, do much better, and make the hire.
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Episode 11: The Future is Bright
Episode 11 is part two of the conversation about Design Operations and where we are heading. In this episode, Jacqui and Alison go broad and extensive (and somewhat meandering ) about future opportunity areas for Design Operations and how we, as design leaders, can lead the charge in laying the groundwork for that future. We charge forward into the unknown with the responsibility to consider society, ethics, customer experience, and the employee experience. Discuss.
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Episode 10: Let’s talk about DesignOps
In episode 10 Jacqui and Alison begin to dig into the current state of Design Operations. Get ready for some more real talk around what is Design Ops anyway, where does it come from, what (and who) does it look like, and why/when/do we even need it.
Season Two of NCOMMON invites listeners into the heart of Alison Rand’s new book, Sentido: Finding Sense and Purpose in Design Leadership. “Sentido” means sense—to feel, to understand, to make meaning. This season, she’ll be in conversation with guests whose stories echo the themes of Sentido, asking the questions that often go unspoken about leadership, belonging, and change. Together they will reflect, challenge, and imagine new ways forward—finding clarity in complexity and purpose in practice.
Brasil