Awaiting Approval. Season 2, Episode 1 : Cat How - Fearless

About this episode

Cat How has built one of the most talked-about branding agencies on two continents. She is Co-founder and Executive Creative Director at How&How, D&AD Jury President 2026, and has been recognised among the 100 Women to KNOW in America and 100 Most Influential Creative Leaders in 2025.In this episode, Cat joins Adam for a relaxed, very human conversation about the reality of creative leadership. She shares how an English Literature degree led to design criticism, then to retraining as a graphic designer, moving across the world, starting multiple businesses, and finally building How&How into a global branding agency with studios in London and LA.Cat talks candidly about the highs and lows. From selling a first business and opening a Lisbon studio that later had to be sunsetted, to the joy of rebranding Wild Things, a vegan candy, that helped fast-track a founder’s five year plan into six months. Along the way she returns to a simple mantra that runs through her life and work: go big, or go home.Adam and Cat also dig into the tension between AI and craft, how to stay curious without losing your ethics, and why throwing great dinner parties is a legitimate leadership skill. If you care about brand, brave work and building community around what you do, this one will hit home.In this episode, we cover:

* How Cat went from English Lit graduate to global branding ECD

* The story behind How&How and building studios across countries

* Sunsetting the Lisbon office and what it taught her about leadership

* The Wild Things project and taking a health food product into skate culture

* How AI is reshaping client expectations and creative practice

* Why “go big or go home” is more than a design school slogan

* The power of hosting and community outside workCat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cat-how-0499b9149/ How & How: http://www.how.studio

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This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam Jennings.Produced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner.© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.With special thanks on this episode to Steve and Stu at Mantis Broadcast for their help with the audio, and Sam at the Curzon for letting me film the pre-roll clip there. Ready to level up your leadership with real, honest support?Join the next cohort of Supercharged Creative Leaders - my flagship four-week programme for creative leaders who want clarity, confidence, and a community that gets it.✅ Small groups (just 6 per cohort)✅ Weekly live sessions with me and your cohort✅ Async access to me and your cohort via a private Slack community✅ Invitation to join my alumni community once you’ve completed the programme.Previous attendees have gone on to win major pitches, land new roles, get promoted and step into leadership with more purpose and presence.🚀 Learn more and apply here: https://www.growwithadamjennings.com

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