Telling Tales | #03

Happy Friday folks,

Three weeks in to Telling Tales (if you missed the first two you can find them here) and I hope you’re enjoying them. The aim is to give you a good mix of things I’ve found interesting and I think you will too.

Here’s this week’s highlights for you…

1. Not all heroes wear capes.

Have loved seeing all the inspiring stories around International Women’s Day this week, from amazing businesses (check out the team at Cut by Beam!) to true revolutionaries, like my friend Gillan Burke’s mum.

Firstly, a special close-to-home mention to my wife, Polly, whose everyday heroics are a constant inspiration. From a professional point of view, Polly took over Tots About (a brilliant guide for the under 5s in Cornwall) last year with no experience at all of running a business. It was definitely a risk. But she has thrown herself into with energy, enthusiasm and a desire to learn. And she’s loving it. Sometimes those risks are worth taking.

Secondly, if you have ten minutes spare this week, I’d urge to watch this film. It’s made by filmmaker extraordinaire, Greg Dennis, and Tom Scott, from ISTA(both of whom I count myself lucky to work with) and tells the story of 91 year-old Doris Grozdanovičová, who survived the Holocaust despite being held prisoner in Terezín, a former Nazi concentration camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. A remarkable story of an incredible woman.

2. Icarus.

Whoa! What a movie (see the trailer here). Winner of best documentary at the Oscars and I finally watched it this week. Lifting the lid on doping in sport with genuinely jaw-dropping results. I won’t spoil it and I’d say if you haven’t seen, watch it without reading anything about it first for maximum impact. You can get it on Netflix.

3. Get real.

Proud moment seeing these stories go live. I had the pleasure of working with the team at Falmouth University at the end of last year, creating these profiles for their Get Real campaign. From illustrators to game designers, everyone I met or spoke to dished out little gems of inspiration in their own way, never failing to bring a smile to my face or to make me want to strive to make my own work better. They’re worth checking out.

4. Making ideas fly.

A big thanks to Luke Brady for sharing this. Have you ever had a crazy idea that wouldn’t go away? But struggle to figure out how to give it wings and make it fly? Then watch this. A ridiculously cool video about making a mad idea a reality.

Thanks for your time and have a great weekend,

Tommy