We had the pleasure to chat with Nicole McLaughlin, - a designer and maker of up-cycled products, her work contributes to the topic of sustainability, and is changing the way we think about the longevity of the soft goods that we own. We kicked things off by talking about her early work in college as a graphic design major, doing unpaid internships to build her experience and credibility as a designer, so that she would eventually land an internship opportunity at Reebok. We discussed the struggles and the hustle behind unpaid internships, and how everyone should pay their interns no matter what - we also talked about the pressure she put on herself to succeed and get ahead while wrapping up her undergraduate degree. When Nicole was promoted to full time design, she discovered her love for prototyping, and began to build and make footwear prototypes from up-cycled materials during her own time after work. She later came to a realization that her side hustle can be a real studio - after receiving various media attention from Hypebeast, Vogue, and Highsnobiety - it was the validation she needed to step away from corporate America. Please listen to the whole interview for Nicole’s unique design story! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Thank you @nicolemclaughlin for being so candid and honest. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!