EP23: Tom Dorresteijn On Intuition, Culture, and the Courage to Reach Your Core as Person and Brand

Tom Dorresteijn is Partner and Strategy Director at Studio Dunbar, part of the global DEPT network. His path has been anything but linear: from exploring the possibility of entering a conservatory, to studying and working in communications, to becoming the strategist of the design studio behind brands like OpenAI, Instagram and Spotify.What if the highest performance comes not from forcing — but from loosening up and daring to discover your true core?Tom’s philosophy is rooted in intuition and culture. He believes organisations reach their highest performance when individuals dare to discover their true core — not by forcing, but by loosening up, shedding appearances, and building from authenticity. At Studio Dunbar, this translates into a culture that is both tough and supportive: constant reviews, radical openness, and a demand for quality that pushes people to grow.In this episode, Tom speaks about his own journey and the lessons of working with clients, and the balance between empathy and professionalism. He explains why strategy is never about models or trends, but about reading people, culture, and context — and why without strategy, “life is what happens to you.” If you want to understand how one of the most respected design studios in the world thinks about growth, culture, and the future of branding, this is the episode to listen to.

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