Awaiting Approval. Season 1, Episode 6 : Rashmi Lopez

Jul 17, 2025

Rashmi Lopez, a dynamic Creative Director and Founder, has navigated diverse industries from gaming to healthcare. She candidly shares her journey through multiple layoffs and emphasizes the importance of community over titles. Rashmi champions messy creativity, advocating for sketchbooks that embrace spontaneity. She dives into the significance of designing with purpose, the balance between creativity and business, and how we're redefining leadership in the age of AI, encouraging a hopeful return to storytelling and connection.

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ANECDOTE

Messy Sketchbooks Fuel Creativity

Rashmi Lopez realized her creativity flourished in messy sketchbooks rather than neat, pretty ones.
She values the freedom and authenticity that come from imperfect creative processes.

ANECDOTE

Nonlinear Career Across Industries

Rashmi's career path was nonlinear across multiple industries like gaming, beauty, publishing, tech, and healthcare.
She evolved from junior designer roles to creative director through experience and community connections.

ADVICE

Prioritize Community over Money

Chase community and meaningful connection rather than money or titles in your creative career.
Finding your purpose early could accelerate your professional growth and fulfillment.

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Rashmi Lopez - Creative Director & Founder (ex-CareRev, Genius Sports, MediaTemple, IGN)

From gaming and beauty to healthcare and tech, Rashmi Lopez has led design across some of the most unexpected corners of the creative industry. Her journey? Anything but linear.

In this episode, Rashmi opens up about surviving multiple layoffs, chasing community over titles, and why every sketchbook should be your messy sketchbook. We explore the shift from making things pretty to making things matter - and what it really means to lead with purpose in an industry that often forgets the human behind the design.

You can connect with Rashmi on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

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