Transforming the economy with awe: With Niall Smith

I'm a 2011 Fellow and remember experiencing total imposter syndrome as I looked around at my Associate Programme cohort, a group of intimidatingly competent and high-achieving people. But if I can do it, anyone can!

Placements with O2 and Interface in areas entirely new to me provided me with more learning than I would have gotten in five years of a regular job. The coaching, mentoring, peer-to-peer, On Purpose core team and placement support made this possible. The care and attention to the experience and growth of Associates is remarkable.

Since completing the programme, I've worked in private companies, charities, startups, design studios and private foundations. In every role, the network and connections of On Purpose have helped me bring tangible value.

I'm fascinated by purposeful action within complexity and how it is assisted or blocked. Focusing on the cognitive state of awe as a means to help humans regenerate themselves and the systems we share and develop offers that understand the emotional topography of an environment, experience, or touchpoint, enabling awe-rich interventions.

I'm also launching an open call to design a new economy built from an understanding of human internal and external experience.