The Crazy One
The Crazy One is an award-winning podcast for creatives, leaders, and anyone who refuses to settle. Hosted by renowned designer and global design leader Stephen Gates, this show delivers unfiltered honesty, actionable insights, and hard-won wisdom to help you grow your creativity, lead with confidence, and build a meaningful career.
With over two decades leading world-class design teams at companies like InVision, Citi, Starwood Hotels, WW, and McCann Erickson, Stephen has built brands and digital experiences for clients including Disney, American Airlines, W Hotels, Verizon, Acura, and more — work that’s earned over 150 international awards and has been featured by Apple in 10 keynotes, 4 commercials, and the Human Interface Guidelines.
Now as the founder of CRZY, an independent strategy and design studio, he’s helping companies find bold new visions for their brands, experiences, and creative futures. Through The Crazy One, he shares everything he’s learned along the way — from integrating behavioral science with human-centered design to navigating imposter syndrome to building a career and creative life on your own terms.
With over 100 episodes and a loyal global audience, The Crazy One has been named:
• Webby Award Honoree for Best Technology Podcast
• #1 Podcast by Inside Design, HOW Design Live, and Springboard
• 5-star rated across every iTunes Store worldwide
This is more than a design podcast. It’s a wake-up call. A masterclass. A real-talk guide for finding your voice, owning your crazy, and changing the game.
No BS. No buzzwords. Just real insights from someone who’s been there.
The Crazy One
Latest Episodes
Ep 152 Tough Topics: Your Brand Isn't the Logo. It's the Standard Behind It.
AI has made speed nearly free, and brands are taking full advantage — shipping faster, cutting corners, calling it efficiency. But speed was never what customers were buying. Trust was. And trust doesn't erode all at once — it erodes the first ...
Ep 151 Career: Believing in Yourself Is an Act of Will
Believing in yourself isn't a feeling. It's not a mood you wake up into some mornings and not others. It's an act of will, which means it's going to get tested. Constantly, on purpose, by people and systems that have a reason to want you to sto...
Ep 150 Creativity: What 10 years of making The Crazy One taught me
This is the ten-year episode — 149 episodes, July 1, 2016 to today. Not a highlight reel, but an honest look at what changed in this industry over a decade, what stayed exactly the same, and a thread that's run under almost everything Stephen h...
Ep 149 Career: You're underpriced because you're under confident.
You don't have a pricing problem. You have a confidence problem, a business-literacy problem, and a habit of showing up as a pair of hands when you should be showing up with an opinion.A new report from Fast Company and AIGA surveyed 1,...
Ep 148 Creativity: 7 Years, 3 Buzzwords, 2 Studies, and 1 Constant Problem
In 2019, I helped run the largest study ever done on the relationship between design and business performance. We found that the vast majority of companies were stuck, full of creative potential that they couldn't convert into results. This mon...
