“All you need is that moment of insane bravery — to go with it and create something.”
— Ben Nemtin, Four Peaks Media Group
By Cheechee Lin and Bijan White
The UCLA Anderson Executive Dining Room has been transformed. In its place, a suave lounge bathed in lush blue light with white cushions strewn across the floor signals the 2015 TED Week at Anderson. As students fill the room, the projectors come alive and illuminate the walls, streaming presentations about the eccentric, innovative and outlandish work of the most non-ordinary of individuals. As the red and blue lights gently dim, the crowd awaits with baited breath as fashion designer Hussein Chalayan takes the stage and speaks eloquently of his journey of inspiration.
Chalayan leads us through dazzling and at times disconcerting memories, art expositions and fashion shows. Chalayan’s work, a manifestation of his sentiments of detachment and separation, takes the form of cutting-edge designs blurring the lines between art, fashion and commercial design. Centered on the independent female figure caught in a perpetual state of transition between physical spaces, Chalayan’s designs feature pieces exploring technology, politics and architectural forms.
The Anderson panelists responding to Chalayan’s work explored the nature of inspiration and creativity. From where do we draw inspiration? How is it captured and shaped into action? Rosie O’Neill (’05) and Ben Nemtin, both successful entrepreneurs, tackled such questions by reflecting on their experience with innovation and the creative process.
O’Neill embarked on her career path “going for a kid’s dream job,” serving as a marketing director for Barbie before transitioning into the world of gourmet candy when she founded Beverly Hills boutique Sugarfina. Nemtin is a New York Times bestselling author and co-creator and star of MTV’s The Buried Life. After setting out on a road trip to complete a list of 100 Things to Do before You Die and helping others achieve their own goals in the process, Nemtin and his friends secured funding to shoot their own pilot based on this concept. Nemtin recently launched his own production company, Four Peaks Media Group.
O’Neill and Nemtin spoke about bringing a concept to reality and overcoming hurdles in their entrepreneurial journeys. For O’Neill, inspiration comes from everyday life — and making the space to be inspired. After watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on her third date with her fiancé, O’Neill was inspired to create a candy store that captures the spirit of Willy Wonka’s edible paradise. “We didn’t really have plans,” O’Neill admitted. “We just had an idea that was fun. It’s a hobby that turned into a business.”
Nemtin draws inspiration from collaborating with people who help him turn creative concepts to reality. “I had a friend in high school that started a fashion line, and I became involved with the blog. I realized, ‘Wow! That was really easy to make happen.’ And that triggered me to thinking about what I wanted to do.” This served as a source of inspiration for Nemtin’s “100 Things” project, later becoming a show that was successfully was sold to MTV. “In my case,” he said, “we started a passion project, it gained momentum, and it turned into what it is today.”
For those looking to make their dreams into reality, O’Neill shared her personal mantra of “never getting comfortable.” “Taking these risks (when I ventured into entrepreneurship) meant that I had little to no experience, but I was willing to give it a shot and do things differently,” O’Neill said.
Nemtin emphasized the importance of “growing and getting to know yourself through creating things and making visions happen through trial and error.” He said, “You might surprise yourself — you might do what you didn’t think you could do.”
This year's TED conference convened in Vancouver, Canada, under the theme Truth and Dare. The fourth annual TED Week at Anderson brings together the UCLA community to share ideas that change attitudes and, ultimately, the world.
Check out the UCLA Anderson TED Week schedule
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