René van Dijk is the founder of Rene.Studio, and a scenographer and visual artist, working at the intersection of music, light, and large-scale live experience. Based in Amsterdam, he creates visual and lighting shows for electronic music artists and festivals, including Camelphat, Charlotte de Witte, Adriatique, and Tomorrowland, as well as for fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Moncler — from intimate clubs to stages holding tens of thousands of people.

What happens when learning takes place in real time — without the safety of pause, reset, or a second take?

René’s path moves from a rural childhood in the north of the Netherlands, through gaming and early animation experiments, into Amsterdam’s nightlife — where projection, music, and space collided for the first time. Without formal mentors, he learned by doing, failing, and slowly earning responsibility. A personal breaking point led him away from commercial work and into months of solitude in the Himalayas, where stillness, walking, and self-observation reshaped his approach to creativity and ambition.

In this episode, René speaks about intuition over planning, learning through mistakes, and why growth often arrives later than you expect — but stronger because of it. We talk about live decision-making under extreme pressure, trust within teams, losing clients to make space for better ones, and why beauty, emotion, and shared experience still matter in a world obsessed with optimisation and speed.

Anne Kremers is the director of FENIX, the new migration museum in Rotterdam. Her path began at 24 as the youngest museum director in the Netherlands, moved through years in Hong Kong, and eventually led her back to Rotterdam. Today she leads a museum unlike any other — combining contemporary art, public space, architecture, and personal stories into a single, living institution.

What if building a museum teaches you more about yourself than about art and the museum itself?

Anne’s story unfolds between two moments: months before FENIX opened, and months after the world finally walked through its doors. She speaks about leadership under pressure, the emotional layers of parenthood and grief, and why impatience can be both a weakness and a force for movement. She shares how Hong Kong taught her to listen, why humanity is inseparable from good management, and how a museum becomes real only when visitors step inside.

Across both conversations, Anne reflects on ambition, doubt, resilience, and the responsibility of telling stories that belong to many. This is a portrait of someone building something unprecedented — while growing, learning, and recalibrating in real time.

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www.fenix.nl

Ben Wright is the co-founder and creative director of Pretty Soon, working across brand, culture, music, and sport. His path moves from Perth’s tight-knit creative scene to New York’s intensity, to Kuala Lumpur, and by moments that opened doors, including collaborations with brands and people like Nike, Puma, Under Armour and ASAP Rocky. Today, he leads a studio built on instinct, clarity, and care for the people he works with.

What if confidence isn’t something you arrive at, but something you rebuild, again and again, as life changes around you?

Ben’s philosophy centres on emotional awareness, leadership, and creative responsibility. He believes good work emerges when you understand your limits, recognise the signs, and create from presence rather than fear. His approach is shaped by fatherhood, stretches of self-doubt, and the discipline of learning to trust his own judgement.

In this episode, Ben talks about the weight of performance, the years he spent overworking, and the moment he realised ambition needed a new definition. We explore confidence, imposter syndrome, the pressure of raising a studio from scratch, and the quiet work behind rebuilding a creative identity. A conversation about resilience, emotional maturity, and the courage to lead with honesty.