Play gets dismissed as the opposite of serious. It isn't. And the whole point of the Creative Consultants podcast is to make that case.

Trudi Boatwright holds a Master's in Design Futures and works as a Playful Experience Designer. Matt Smolen is a Creative Director with over a decade in visual storytelling. Together, they're making the argument that a playful mindset isn't a distraction from high-performance thinking. It's a prerequisite for it.

The challenge was finding a format that felt professional enough for an organisational audience while staying true to the playful nature of the subject matter. A stiff, corporate-feeling set would have undermined the whole premise.

By managing the technical delivery end-to-end, the production team gives Matt and Trudi the freedom to think out loud, share expert insights, and swap genuinely interesting ideas without ever worrying about whether the setup is working. That consistency has helped elevate both hosts as recognised subject matter experts, turning their regular catch-ups into a valuable business development and brand-building tool.

It's a proof-of-concept for the very thing they're talking about: play, done seriously, produces remarkable results.