Design Convo LLC

Last fall, the brilliant and visionary Leila Ladani reached out to us about a Research Traineeship Program with NSF and asked if we would be interested in collaborating and helping graduate students from ASU, Duke, and West Virginia, learn core entrepreneurial and leadership skills otherwise not available in their programs. After squealing with pure delight, we said “ABSOLUTELY, WE HAVE JUST THE THING”! And this week, after months of planning, it happened! And what an incredible multi-day program and “bootcamp” it was! Through some of our most favorite techniques, tools, frameworks, and activities, we helped students navigate failure, embrace ambiguity, unleash full brain creativity, engage team dynamics and collaboration, make future-centered decisions, and build the skill of strategic storytelling and narrative presentation! And at the end of this incredible week, the students stood up in front of peers, faculty, and expert judges to put everything they learned together and present a 5-min pitch presentation combining their research & data with the engaging narratives they had been working on. Before dashing out, a student stopped us and said “I realized that facts and numbers don’t move or motivate people; they need to feel something, believe something, and be inspired to action and only stories can do that. And now I know HOW to do that. I will be using so many of the things I learned moving forward” and I about cried! ?? We do a lot of different incredible work through Design Convo LLC but this….this ability to help shape and mold the future, this has a special place in our hearts! #leadershipdevelopment #research #engineering #graduate #NSF #entrepreneurial #ASU #Duke #WestVirginia #bootcamp #appliedskills #futurethinking #humancentered #teamdynamics #ambiguity #failure #collaboration #storytelling #presentation The Storytelling Leader Anca Castillo Cary Lopez, PhD

So honored and thrilled to have been able to be a part of this wonderful and visionary event and to facilitate the “Innovators Table” session! You might be curious as to what that looked like, well: ?We asked participants to reflect on their “why” stories and use Lego to build a model that represented their story ?They connect by sharing their stories and build with each other ?They then brainstorm different future careers they have heard from students in their spheres ?And use HCD tool called Concept Poster, they designed the degree that would lead to one of those future careers It was such an energizing session full of applied collaborations and creativity! At the end, a participant came up to us and said “I have been to a lot of conferences and its always the same thing over and over again. But this today, I didn’t expect this! This was really fun and different!” Thank you Manuel G. Aviles-Santiago, PhD for inviting us to collaborate with you on this marvelous event!! ????

It started with a one-hour wait for a rental car we never got. Then we realized we forgot the masking tape. Then we miscounted and didn’t bring enough supplies. Then we had to change the agenda last minute. Then setting up for the afternoon took longer than expected, so we missed lunch. And to top it all off, after checking out, we left our car keys in the hotel room (and didn’t know). And yet—this was such an impactful, energizing, and well-received workshop! A room full of leaders (C-suite execs, directors, managers, and supervisors), from the same organization coming together to collectively learn about navigating organizational change—not just conceptually, but through neuroscience, frameworks, applied scenarios, and storytelling. And here’s the irony: while we were facilitation how to embrace change, we were living it in real time—adapting the agenda, shifting the approach, even improvising the ending. Because in facilitation, like in life, we have learned that the only constant is change. And instead of resisting it and wishing things would go “perfectly”, we expect that they won’t it, and have fun figuring out new adaptations in real time. In reflecting, we realized that this workshop wasn’t just about navigating change, it was about leading through it. ?? #Leadership #OrganizationalChange #Storytelling #Agility #ChangeManagement #Facilitation #Consulting #LeadershipDevelopment #Fun

One of the recent quotes we heard that stuck with us is….”you cannot be great without the greatness of others”. And that resonated with us so much because it is ABSOLUTELY true! We are living proof of that! So this Valentine’s Day…we want to acknowledge the greatness of all those around us…our families, our friends, our colleagues, our collaborators, and all those who speak our names in rooms we are not! Your love, support, camaraderie, compassion, and community allow us to live into our potential (and dare we say…our greatness) every day! And for that we say THANK YOU! From the bottom of our hearts! #valentinesdays #love #support #gratitude #greatness #community #leadership #collaboration Anca Castillo Cary Lopez, PhD

Most of the work we are brought it to do and most of the leadership development we are asked to run focuses on one fundamental thing: collaboration! And in our hundreds of sessions with thousands of people....we have learned something important: collaboration is hard and people assume they should just be able to do it! Well...fun little update! We are taking our knowledge and stories of collaboration and writing a book about it! With some of our projects being paused or canceled, we have a bit more time to complete this book with the goal of finishing it and publishing it this year! Working title? High Stakes Collaboration: How to Master the Art and Science of Working Better, Together And we think the timing of it might be perfect because it seems like what we need now more than ever, is to come together to collaborate...no matter how hard it may seem! But we want to hear from you! Is this a book you would want to read? Let us know (and hold us accountable ??) in the comments below! #book #collaboration #graveassumption #communication #business #leadership #development #learning #stories #engage #drama #consulting #yesand #read Cary Lopez, PhD Anca Castillo

We just received some deflating news that 2 of our upcoming international workshops (that we were so excited about).....are being "paused" for an unknown amount of time because of recent executive orders. We were so looking forward to these sessions, not to mention they were some of our bigger upcoming contracts for Design Convo LLC. And while we took a moment to feel all the feelings, we quickly turned around and said "well this must be happening for a reason." ? Maybe our schedules are being cleared out for something else... ? Maybe we should be exploring a different path... ? Maybe we should use that time to finish our book... Whatever the reason may be, it reminded must of this quote we heard somewhere, "I asked God for flowers and He gave me rain". Consulting it a rather "uncertain" line of business. It is unpredictable and can even be "scary" at times....which is why flexibility and faith are critical! So, while we are outright bummed about this big pivot, we are excited and curious to see what is coming next! #consulting #pivot #flexibility #hope #faith #change #curiocity #upsanddowns #sharing #yesand Anca Castillo Cary Lopez, PhD

The 2025 work season has officially kicked off! For us, it started it with a Strategic Storytelling workshop for the Advanced Leadeship Initiatve with ASU University Design Institute. This is our 3rd year facilitating this workshop for the program and we are so honored to engage this new cohort of exceptional leaders and help them build this critical leadership skill. Of course, using one of our all time favorite programs…The Storytelling Leader! The energy, vulnerability, authenticity of the stories from the leadership was remarkable, our favorite thing, our absolutely favorite thing, is…. watching the confidence of the leaders increase in REAL TIME as they draft, share, and get feedback on their stories; realizing how impactful and influential they truly ARE! It creates a certain energy in the room that is magical! What’s next? We cannot wait for more strategic retreats next week and heading off to Mexico City and Utah in February! ???? #kickoff #energy #leadershipdevelopment #storytelling #skilldevelopment #strategic #narratives #influence #engage #impact #clarify #redthread #future #workshop #facilitation Cary Lopez, PhD Anca Castillo

We decided to take a moment to look back at 2024 and all we can say is WOW…2024 was INCREDIBLE! From crafting proposals to facilitating impactful workshops, this year was a whirlwind of 1,247+ hours spent doing what we love! Whether leading retreats or designing strategies, we connected with 24 organizations across 7 states and countries on 29 separate engagements. And while we had 13 proposals and RFPs (worth over $500,000) that didn’t make the cut, every “no” taught us something valuable and fueled our growth. ?? But wait, those aren’t our only impressive metrics! Alongside our professional work, we racked up 173 school pickups, 450+ hours of homework help, 200+ books read, 400+ hours of working out and—somehow—1,200+ meals prepared. Thank you to all the incredible leaders, organizations, and units that put their trust in us to make an impact! #review #consulting #data #leadershipdevelopment #workshop #design #facilitation #keynote #engagement #collaboration #international #skillbuilding #yesand #moms #founders Anca Castillo Cary Lopez, PhD

The happiest of holidays….all the different holidays…to everyone! Even if that holiday is just some time off for rest and relaxation. This holiday, we were fortunate and thankful to be able to message all of our incredible clients, collaborators, and partners a special message and with a special treat! So for the Linekedin Community…we just want to come and say THANK YOU for your support and engagment! We wish all of you a happy holiday season full of joy, laughter, and fulfilling connections! #holidays #greetings #support #engagement #thankful #card #rest #collaborators #partners #yesand #consulting Cary Lopez, PhD Keep calm and Cary Anca! ?? #consulting #holiday #card #greetings #thankful Anca Castillo Cary Lopez, PhD

Ahhh…..yet another incredible and inspiring strategic storytelling workshop! Today we got the opportunity to lead a FULL 4-hour storytelling workshop for the inaugural Enrollment Leadership Institute (ELI) under the visionary leadership of Matt Lopez at ASU. Most times, we are asked to do this workshop in 90 minutes or if we are lucky, 2 hours. But not today! Today we got the a FULL 4-hours and it was magnificent! We got to cover ALL the rich material we have of the The Storytelling Leader program and these remarkable leaders got to develop and share 2 stories: a why story and a work-focused story. One of our favorite parts of the day is when we where sitting at lunch (halfway through the workshop) and we were bitting into my delicious sandwichs, when we overheard participants at a different table sharing stories using the framework they just learned….”so there I was….” It was unscripted, unexpected, and unbelievable! We looked at each other and even though our mouths were full of food….we smiled big smiles?? We know how impactful and transformative this skillset is for leaders and to see them take it and run with it….just wow!! We are honored to have had this opportunity and cannot wait to hear the stories of impact from these wonderful leaders in this program! #leadershipdevelopment #storytelling #strategic #communication #impact #influence #workshop #highereducation #humor #style #future