Ayse Birsel is a designer based out of New York City, Co-founder and Creative Director of Birsel + Seck, the award-winning design and innovation studio, and creator of the workbook 'Design the Life you Love". Born in Izmir, Turkey, Ayse later attended the Pratt Institute in 1986. Since then she has been based in New York and owns the studio with life and business partner, Bibi Seck. Birsel + Seck have worked with Herman Miller, GE, Colgate-Palmolive, IKEA and Toyota, among others. Ayse was identified by Fast Company as one of the world’s most creative people and is on the Thinkers50 Radar List of the 30 management thinkers most likely to shape the future of organizations. She is the creator of Design the Life You Love, a book and coursework that teaches designers and non-designers how to create a meaningful life using her design process, Deconstruction:Reconstruction™. In this episode Ayse recounts how, at 5 years old, she discovered her passion for drawing and tells us of two individuals who played a profound role in introducing her to the world of design. We cover a range of topics including how to tackle a creative block, how design can be a systematic process and what it’s like to work with your life partner. Ayse shares an array of memories and experiences in ways that are poetic yet simple, interlaced with laughter but sincere and positive yet realistic. Follow Ayse on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AyseBirselSeck Get the book ‘Design the Life You Love’: http://www.aysebirsel.com/book/ Thanks to our patrons for this episode: Anna Caroline who coaches leaders in Berlin: http://truthcircles.com/ Caoimhe Keogan https://twitter.com/caoimhekeogan Johannes Kleske johanneskleske.com If you want to help us create The Role Models Podcast in the future, become a patron and chip in $1, $3, $5, or $10 per episode. Read more about the different tiers and rewards on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rolemodels