Stian Dahl Sommerset is a Norwegian ultrarunner, public servant, and Satisfy pro athlete, balancing life between long-distance endurance racing and working on environmental and infrastructure policy in Norway. Raised north of the Arctic Circle, his relationship with darkness, nature, and solitude has shaped how he approaches effort, ambition, and meaning.

What does endurance reveal when winning is no longer the point?

Stian’s path moves from football and law school into ultra-distance running, where effort stretches beyond performance and into psychology, community, and shared experience. He speaks openly about fear at the start line, the privilege of chosen suffering, and why motivation cannot survive on ambition alone. We talk about racing as a social act, why finishing together can matter more than finishing first, and how support systems carry athletes long before the race begins. Stian reflects on unlearning competitiveness, processing failure, running through darkness, and advocating for dark-sky preservation in a world that rarely slows down.

This episode is about endurance as a way of relating to others, to nature, and to yourself — especially when the outcome is uncertain.

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.

MORE INFO

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.

Tim Hooijmans is a light designer, building custom pieces for brands like Stone Island, Off-White, and On Running and Antwerp restaurant The Jane, to name a few. His work is defined by honesty and manufacturing discipline. Not trends, not aesthetics, but light itself. From designing in a small Utrecht workspace to producing hundreds of bespoke fixtures for global flagships, he has built a practice rooted in values, independence, and extreme commitment to craft.

What if the real work is not the lamp, but the person you have to become to make it?

In this episode, Tim speaks openly about resilience, burnout, and the physical toll of caring so deeply about your craft. He explains why his process begins with light rather than objects, why he refuses to compromise on values, and why manufacturing is inseparable from design.

Tim shares how boxing shaped his honesty, why becoming a father sharpened his time and focus, and why independence allows him to stay close to his values. A conversation about fear, self-belief, craft, and the courage to build the life you want, one lamp at a time.

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MORE ABOUT TIM

www: www.de-studio-standard.com

IG: www.instagram.com/timhooijmans

Chiara Tomassi is an architect and designer based between Milan and Rome. Her career spans some of Europe’s most ambitious cultural and fashion projects, from MVRDV, AL_A, and MCA Architects to the Victoria & Albert Museum, Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and Nike EMEA Campus. Today, at 2050+, she focuses on transformation over new construction, creating meaning through restraint, awareness, and time.

What if balance isn’t found in doing more, but in learning to do less, with care and intention? Chiara’s story is one of rebuilding and redefining ambition. She shares how she learned to slow down, to stop proving herself to others, and to treat time as a material in itself, something to shape rather than chase. Her perspective turns architecture into a reflection of life: a discipline where awareness, empathy, and adaptability matter as much as vision.

In this episode, Chiara speaks about the pressures of performance, the role of presence in design, and the art of finding rhythm between work and recovery. We talk about leaving cities, returning home, and the power of being gentle with yourself, your collaborators, and your process.

Atlas of Shows, founded by Livia and Dan, is a research-driven platform dedicated to the architecture and scenography of fashion shows. What began as a university thesis evolved into one of the most respected digital archives in fashion culture — followed by nearly 100,000 people and trusted by brands, institutions, and museums around the world.

What if the future of fashion lies not on the runway, but in the stories behind it?

In this episode, Livia and Dan share how Atlas of Shows grew from late-night drawings into an international voice for spatial design and cultural storytelling. They speak about rejection and resilience, the turning points that almost ended the project, and the night they decided to open an Instagram account that changed everything.

We talk about validation, burnout, and partnership — as well as their collaboration with the Vitra Design Museum, their views on criticism and authenticity, and the importance of giving credit to the people behind the scenes. A story about belief, persistence, and the courage to turn curiosity into a career.

Follow: www.instagram.com/atlasofshows

Willem de Kam is a Rotterdam-based photographer whose work captures the tension between order and chaos in everyday life — from commercial campaigns and city streets to football stadiums and social rituals. His lens focuses on the spaces where people express identity, belonging, and emotion, from the terraces of Feyenoord to the quiet intimacy of personal moments.

What if photography isn’t about control, but about learning to see what’s already there?

Willem’s path began in graphic design before he found freedom in photography. Over the years, his work has grown into a study of human behaviour: how we organise chaos, how we perform in public, and how emotion becomes identity.

In this episode, Willem reflects on discipline, insecurity, and the balance between being a fan, an observer, and an artist. We talk about documenting football culture from the inside, the power of physical books in a digital world, and why empathy defines great photography.