Seattle Design Center Launches New Podcast with Designers, Creators 

The Seattle Design Center (DEZA), the only designer showroom in the Pacific Northwest, today announced the launch of its first podcast series, “Inspired Design: Iconic People and Iconic Places,” which will be broadcast on May 5, 2021 via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, is available. Stitcher and Outcast. This seven-episode podcast, moderated by Gina Colucci, the core of the SDC, offers an impressive and diverse selection of artists from the Pacific Northwest, designers, musicians, chefs and managing directors, who also tell intimate stories about their favorite rooms personally or who live in the community.

Inspired design arouses curiosity, sharpens the senses and takes every listener into the depths of their preferred cult spaces. The conversation between Gina and the guests explores familiar and unfamiliar places and delves into personal, intimate sanctuaries that have never been shared before. Inspired Design provides authentic and inspiring conversations for listeners who really appreciate the intricacies of design and crave newfound knowledge about the brilliant minds that amaze us and the distinctive spaces that evoke emotion. Colucci says: “The SDC created this podcast to delve deep into some of the PNW’s most brilliant minds – to learn and discover what inspires them through space, design or texture. As I bonded with each guest, my love for Seattle exploded with deep admiration and sparked a sense of childlike excitement that I believe applies to every listener from industry insiders to curious designers. “

As a foretaste of what to expect, Luly Yang takes the audience on a journey through her world-famous bridal, evening and uniform collections, her signature process, and unveils for the first time her next collection, due out this spring. LaNesha DeBardelaben wows the audience with her deep knowledge of African American history and personal connection back to Seattle and a deep immersion in some famous Seattle families with a soulful and beautiful energy unique to their style.

The complete list of guests for the first series includes:

• Luly Yang – multiple award-winning artist and internationally known fashion designer based in Seattle. Their latest project: the exciting and clearly visible new uniform design for the more than 19,000 employees of Alaska Airlines. Luly was named Women of Influence by Puget Sound Business Journal, Best Custom Dress Designer by Seattle Bride Magazine for 13 consecutive years, and was named Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year.
• Alan Maskin – client / owner of the award-winning architecture firm Olson-Kundig. Alan has won first place in several international design competitions, including the Bob Dylan Center, the Jewish Museum Berlin Children’s Museum and Fairy Tales 2016, the world’s largest competition for architectural ideas. Alan led the recent renovation of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle.
• Tom Douglas – Nationally Recognized and Award Winning Chef from Seattle, has been cooking Pacific Northwest cuisine since 1984. In addition to being an American chef, he is also recognized as a restaurateur, author and radio talk show host. Awards include the 1994 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northwest; 2012 and James Beard Award, Best Restorer.
• LaNesha DeBardelaben – President and CEO of the Northwest African American Museum. She is a public historian, museum administrator, and writer. She examines the intellectual life of black women, who attended predominantly white colleges in the early 20th century, and their later civil rights activism. At the University of Washington, she is a graduate student in the College of Education writing on African American educational history.
• Tomio Moriguchi & Denise Moriguchi – Tomio is an American businessman and civil rights activist who served as CEO of Uwajimaya supermarket chain in Seattle from 1965 to 2007. His daughter Denise is the current President and CEO of Uwajimaya. In addition to her role as CEO, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Washington State Convention Center and was a member of the 2018 Japan-US leadership delegation.
• Linda Derschang – Founder and CEO of the Derschang Group; a mix of restaurants, cafes and bars in Seattle, Washington. Their first was Linda’s Tavern, founded in 1994, a neighborhood bar that has become a Capitol Hill institution. 25 years later, she has opened eleven successful bars and restaurants and continues to be committed to community engagement and causes.
• Nathan Merhvold – formerly Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, is the co-founder of Intellectual Ventures and lead author of Modernist Cuisine and its follow-up books. Mehrvold was born on 17U.S. listed as co-inventor. Patents with Microsoft and is co-inventor of over 900 other US patents issued to his company and its affiliates.

Inspired Design is produced in collaboration with Larj Media. Larj Media produces podcasts for thought leaders, celebrities and brands. Recent customers and guests include: Sir Richard Branson, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Senator Nina Turner, Senator Bernie Sanders, Tom Douglas, Nick Hanauer, Robert Reich, Ben & Jerry and many other celebrities.