586 – The Power of Play in Business with Cas Holman
The How of Business - How to start, run, grow and exit a small business.
Henry Lopez, Levante Business Group
4.7 • 522 Ratings
🗓️ 27 October 2025
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Toy designer and educator Cas Holman explores how embracing play can unlock creativity, reduce stress, and help small business owners reframe failure as part of growth.
Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/586-cas-holman-play-in-business/
Cas Holman, renowned toy designer, educator, and author of Playful: How Play Shifts Our Thinking, Inspires Connection, and Sparks Creativity, shares with host Henry Lopez how play isn't just for children. It's a powerful mindset for entrepreneurs.
From her early projects like Rigamajig and playful installations at New York's High Line to working with teams at Google, Nike, and the LEGO Foundation, Cas has made a career out of turning curiosity and experimentation into design breakthroughs.
Cas and Henry discuss how small business owners can benefit from a more playful approach to work, shifting from rigid outcomes to exploration and possibility. Cas explains her "three essentials for adults to relearn play": release judgment, embrace possibility, and reframe success.
Together they reveal how these principles foster innovation, collaboration, and agility - qualities essential for thriving in today's rapidly changing business environment.
"The most important thing any human can be right now is flexible," Cas shares. "A playful mindset makes us more creative, more agile, and more open to what's possible."
You will be inspired to integrate play into small business meetings, problem-solving, and daily business life. Transforming creativity from a childhood memory into a strategic advantage.
Cas Holman is an award-winning toy designer, educator, and author. Founder and Chief Designer of Heroes Will Rise and creator of the acclaimed Rigamajig building kits, her work focuses on the combination of creativity, design, and learning through play. Formerly a professor of Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design, Cas now consults with companies and teams around the world, including Google, Nike, and Disney Imagineering, on the power of play to inspire innovation.
This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run, grow and exit your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the How of Business with your host, Henry Lopez, the podcast that helps you start, run, and grow your small business. And now here is your host. |
| 0:15.5 | Welcome to this episode of The How of Business. This is Henry Lopez. And my special guest today is Cass Holman. Cass, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much, Henry. It's great to be with you. This is an exciting topic, a very interesting topic, and I think you'll find it interesting as well. Cass Holman is a toy designer, an educator, and an author, her book that's just out now, is titled Playful How Play shifts are Shifts Our Thinking, Inspires Connection, and Sparks |
| 0:39.3 | Creativity. And so she's with me today to explore how embracing play, even in a small business |
| 0:44.6 | environment, can reduce stress, unlock creativity for ourselves and our teams, and re-fame failure, |
| 0:51.0 | which is something that's hard for us to deal with as small business owners as part of |
| 0:54.5 | growth. You can find all of the business, Howa Business rather, resources, including the show notes |
| 0:59.4 | page for this episode. And to learn more about my one-on-one and group coaching programs, just visit |
| 1:04.0 | the howab business.com. I also invite you to consider supporting this podcast and joining |
| 1:08.6 | the Howa Business community on Patreon and subscribe, |
| 1:11.6 | wherever you might be listening so you don't miss any future episodes. |
| 1:14.8 | So let me tell you just a little bit more about Cass, and then we'll get into the conversation. |
| 1:19.0 | Cass Holman is the founder and chief designer of the toy company Heroes Will Rise, |
| 1:23.8 | and a former professor of industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design. |
| 1:28.8 | Cass travels the globe speaking about playful learning, the design process, and the value of play in all aspects of life. |
| 1:36.5 | We're going to particularly, of course, explore it today as it relates to owning a business. |
| 1:40.3 | She has shared her perspective in workshops and seminars with teams at Google, Nike, |
| 1:45.5 | Lego Foundation, Disney Imagineering, and art museums around the world. Some of her designs |
| 1:51.8 | includes toys like Rigamajig, and is it GMO? Is that right, Cass? Yeah, Gimo. As well as play |
| 1:58.6 | experiences at the High Line in New York City, which I'll be visiting here |
| 2:01.8 | soon, and the Liberty Science Center. |
| 2:03.9 | Her book, again, is titled Playful, How Play shifts our Thinking, inspires connection, |
| 2:08.8 | and sparks creativity. |
... |
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