Everyone needs a little Sean Daly in their life. This artist, creative director, set & production designer, and go-to character architect in Hollywood has a long list of accomplishments, but his humility never lets you know it.

From set designing with legendary photographers like Annie Leibovitz, to the interior design of Lulu Restaurant at the Hammer Museum and creative direction on Phaidon books, to advising Robert Downey Jr. on Sherlock Holmes, Jamie Foxx on The Soloist, and others with getting deep into character in some of their most well-known roles, Sean has done it all.

His grandparents immigrated from Ireland and Italy to Boston, Massachusetts, to start anew, where Sean was eventually born and bred. The youngest of seven children, his household was a lively place—no two kids were alike, no cable at home, and his creativity was nurtured by his artistic mother. To her, the world was a field trip to be observed. His dad taught Sean structure and how to ask himself the right questions, a great balance to his artist soul.

A summer acting program ushered young Sean to a new world: acting. After high school, he went to a small liberal arts university in New Jersey across the river from Manhattan, a place that gave him a sense of freedom. He fell into the indie film scene, leading him to the Sundance Film Festival, then a move to LA. It was being an actor on set—and an industry strike—that sparked his curiosity in set/production design, and the rest is history.

In this episode, we talk about how imaginative play as a kid led to acting; the things one has to consider when world-building on shoots; finding the balance between character detail ideas he has, with ideas that actors may have; adventure of creative challenges he’s given; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

4:01 - Growing up

22:33 - Where his love for acting originated from

25:13 - Could he tell which kids wanted to be actors/actresses for a career

30:34 - How he felt his New York chapter changed him

37:46 - How he got to LA

44:44 - What drew him to set production

54:55 - What it was like to work on set and his creative process

58:40 - The transition of building sets to building characters and how he balances his ideas and an actor’s ideas of a character

1:05:17 - What he loves about world building and what makes him great at it

1:09:50 - Final question

1:10:31 - Where to find him

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

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Lee Knaz leads with love. His aura feels like warm light and, once you’re in conversation, his words are wise. For many years, he was in the culinary world—as a sought-after private chef, a finalist on season one of Master Chef, and founder of his own company Mission Olive, which focused on good food as wellbeing. After leaving his chef life behind, he’s now a successful life & relationship coach.

Born in a small agricultural town in Israel, Lee is the youngest of his family and the only boy among three sisters. His parents were peace activists, each in their own way—his mom was part of Women in Black, a peace activist group of Jewish-Israeli and Arab women coming together every Friday and gathering at one another’s homes. His father was an artist whose work focused on co-existence and who did work as an illustrator for various newspapers.

He completed his military service from 18 to 21-years-old and was drafted in a war at 24-years-old. In 2006, Lee made a major move to California. He enrolled into business school at USC, but eventually joined culinary school during a summer off. Cooking had always come easy to him and though a gastronomy career hadn’t originally been at the top of his mind, it found him—and he began to truly set out his path in that world after landing on Master Chef.

In this beautiful conversation, we explore the sights and smell of his hometown; his quiet observations as a child; why he decided to move to the United States; how culinary school felt like learning a language he already knew; cooking as meditation, reciprocity & healing; his career transition from cooking to coaching; how his daughter Vida is teaching him to be a child again; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

3:27 - Growing up

11:03 - What made him leave Israel

13:14 - How he found his way into a culinary career

17:55 - What does cooking feel like

21:29 - Can he tell when someone needs to be nourished

25:04 - How the spotlight was for him after MasterChef

31:23 - How he was able to stay composed while his dishes were being judged

39:50 - What drew him to self-leadership

49:22 - How he thinks his daughter sees him

56:55 - Final question

58:31 - Where to find him

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

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Scott Borkowski has an energy that’s calm yet dynamic. Humble but no doubt powerful. Creativity pours out of him as an artist, tattoo artist, skateboarder, entrepreneur and owner of Grateful Tattoo in Squamish, Canada.

Born and raised in Toronto, though his parents both worked in the corporate world, they unconditionally supported his artistry and right-brain inclinations. As a teen, he often took the train downtown, eventually moving there when he was 18-years-old. Skateboarding brought much into his life, a medium for getting more deeply into art, culture and music. Scott was fascinated by tattoos from a young age, getting his first one at 15. After a chance apprenticeship and doing temporary tattoos at music festivals, this fascination ended up becoming a booming career, with him inking some of the biggest names in music, including Rüfüs Du Sol, LANY, Lil Yachty, and 6lack.

When the pandemic hit, he and his wife took a leap and moved west. There, he’s been steadily building community through his tattoo shop, giving back to the skateboarding community and mother nature, percolating on additional ventures, and working with brands like Levi’s, Panasonic, Environmental Defense, and more.

In this episode, we explore Scott’s childhood, how he feels about art, what skateboarding has brought to his life, his philosophy when it comes to tattooing, what’s on the horizon, and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

3:31 - Growing Up

7:41 - How art and creativity came to hime at a young age

9:35 - What drew him to skateboarding

10:29 - How has he seen the scene change

11:34 - What he hopes to carve in the industry for himself

12:40 - What led him to be a tattoo artist

17:06 - Philosophies of work and business

19:00 - What brought him to Squamish and how it has been

23:39 - Leaps of faith

26:17 - Would he move back to Toronto

27:42 - The next 5 years of his life

28:41 - Giving back

30:35 - What would he say to his younger self

31:07 - Upcoming projects

32:14 - How he pushes through imposter syndrome

34:12 - Final question

34:42 - Where to find him

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session