Stepping Out of the Linear Career Lane with Edmond Huot, Part I

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Episode 380: Stepping Out of the Linear Career Lane with Edmond Huot, Part I

Episode Notes

“As a kid growing up on a farm in midwestern Canada, Edmond Huot spent countless hours lost in imaginative storytelling, obsessing over all things relating to aviation, architecture, and illustration. His penchant for expressive design helped to lay a formative foundation for what would eventually blossom into a long career in brand advertising.” (Press Recent stories (forward-studio.co))

Edmond emerged as a creative director in a NYC-based company of 20+ advertising, design, and PR firms, working for clients like Honda, TD Bank, Expedia, Singapore Airlines, Microsoft, and Kenneth Cole Fashions. In 2016, he shifted gears to focus his time and attention on revisiting his childhood passion for aviation and built a practice area in the airline space with a partner.

Revisiting his childhood passion connected him with a longtime friend, Peter Clark, in a new way. Together, they formed an aviation-focused design firm partnership called Forward Studio. It isn’t often that we can have a childhood friendship evolve into a business partnership and entrepreneurial collaborator like Edmond found with his Canadian friend, Peter Clark. Through their collaboration and innovative thinking, they expanded their international airline branding and public relations studio work to include brand design, PR, media, advertising, and special events.

Recently, it occurred to Edmond that he could explore another dimension of himself outside of Forward Studio. In our podcast planning session, he said, “Every advertising campaign begins with sketches. I draw the sketches.” He began wondering if there was a market for his aviation drawings.

That curious question is where we find Edmond Huot in a creative space, stepping out of his linear career lane to examine the connections between art and aircraft. You will find out what he is learning.

Edmond is finding the ‘newness’ in his life transition at age 50. He is the creative director and design professional, putting himself, as the artist, on the front line. I especially love the free-flowing conversation and how Edmond explains his creative process.

He has a public relations project with a prominent aircraft manufacturer he cannot name, but he can tell us his idea and how he plans to integrate his art into a public event. It serves a dual purpose that satisfies his spiritual desires and emotional connection to his lifework.

Edmond describes the difference between commercial art and how he challenges himself as an artist, which he explores: “Commercial art doesn’t have the same virtues. Art, for the sake of art, has a greater purpose. And I believe some of our clients want to be aligned with that and not something that comes across as commercial.”

Edmond is taking the concept of “microcosms” and viewing it through the lens of airliners. He is fascinated with how untethered from the ground we are when we fly. The world is in motion and flux. “Art and aircraft have always inspired artists,” he says, explaining how artists have always been fascinated with flying and aircraft.

How do you think about your lifework through a dual purpose, as Edmond Huot describes it, or through another lens? Not only is it stimulating to ponder where spirituality, emotional connection, and pragmatism intersect with your lifework, but thinking this way can bring a deeper meaning to your work and life. DOWNLOAD

Episode Resources

• 
  A Magazine Interview with Edmond Huot
  
• 
  The Art of Designing An Aircraft Livery
  

NEXT STEP: Challenge yourself and do the three Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring (C.A.L.M.) Activities, below.

Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring

After listening, do these three C.A.L.M. Activities:

1. Take this risk or do this adventurous task: Edmond Huot seeks to create work with a dual purpose, bridging the connection between our spiritual desires and emotional connection to our lifework. Answer this question: How do you think about your lifework through a dual purpose, as Edmond Huot describes it, or through another lens?
2. Apply Self-Compassion: Acknowledge that the question above will take time to ponder. Allow yourself to sit with it and see where your thoughts take you. Experiment by setting a time limit, like a few days or a week, to come up with your answer.
3. Welcome Appreciation: “I appreciate Edmond Huot’s courage to explore his transition from a creative director and design professional to adding professional artist to his lifework. Putting yourself out into the world musters up the depth of who we are and requires us to integrate our ego in a new way. To become egoless or more of who we are by evolving in the direction the Universe is nudging us. I appreciate Edmond and his journey. I appreciate his authenticity and am excited to learn how he integrates his art into his projects going forward.”

Your Turn. Start with, “I appreciate what I heard from today’s Guest Mentor, Edmond Huot. I appreciate this week’s adventurous task because….”

“Most of the problems in our lives and world are caused by relational dysfunction, a dysfunction in how we relate: as social groups, as individuals, to animals and the environment, and even to ourselves. Therefore, developing relational literacy—the understanding of and ability to practice healthy ways of relating—is essential for personal, social, and ecological transformation.” —Melanie Joy, psychologist, author, theorist, educator

When WeMentor… your life becomes more meaningful!!! Redefine how you lead while redesigning your business. Dual Innovation Leadership WORKS.

Guest Mentor

Edmond Huot.

As chief creative officer and founding partner at Forward Studio, Edmond Huot shares more than 25 years of experience with his clients, colleagues, and friends.

Growing up on a farm in midwestern Canada, Edmond spent countless hours lost in imaginative storytelling, obsessing over all things airliner, architecture, and design. His penchant for the dramatic and theatrical laid a formative foundation for what would eventually blossom into a career in advertising.

Edmond and his longtime friend, business partner, and entrepreneurial collaborator Peter Clark founded several companies in Canada and the U.S. In his late thirties, Edmond rose to become the creative head of a New York City-based holding company comprising more than 20 advertising, design, and public relations firms, whose clients have included Honda Cars, TD Bank, Expedia, Singapore Airlines, Microsoft Tableau, and Kenneth Cole Fashions. In 2016, he shifted gears and began focusing his time and attention on revisiting his childhood passion for aviation, building a practice area in the airline space. Today, his creative outlook and point of view touch a range of bespoke services, including brand design, PR, media, advertising, and special events.

Episode 380: Stepping Out of the Linear Career Lane with Edmond Huot, Part I

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