Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm

specializing in activating workplaces, helping leaders bring simplicity, ease, and big, giant

results to the forefront. So today's episode is an interview with one of my newest heroes,

Kevin Irvin Kelly. He's the author of the new book, Irreplaceable, How to Create

Extraordinary Places That Bring People Together. I picked up Kevin's book, kind of by accident.

It's a long story. But I loved it so much that as soon as I finished it, I went back to the

beginning and read it again. I reached out to him and now the rest is history.

Kevin is an award-winning architect, a brand innovator and co-founder of the strategic design firm,

Shook Kelly. But trust me, his work and his writing on design is all about creating spaces

that draw people in, that help us have our best experiences,

that connect us and empower us and allow us to achieve tremendous things. It's incredible how

much insight he has to offer to anyone striving to achieve workplace success. I hope you enjoy

my conversation with Kevin Kelly. Kevin Kelly, author of the tremendous new book,

Irreplaceable. It is such an honor to have you on the Modern Mentor podcast. Thanks for joining me today.

Thank you. I'm the one that feels honored. I'm so happy to be here and so glad to be a part of this

show. So thank you. So I feel like the first thing we just need to put out

there, Kevin, you and I were chatting a little bit in the green room. And I was saying that I picked up

your book a little bit by accident because there is another author by the same name. And if somebody

had told me, I was picking up a book written by an architect. I would have just put it back down.

But I picked it up and was by the time I realized you were not the author I thought you were.

I was so hooked and I was so blown away by just how relevant and resonant a book by an architect could be to a person who specializes in the workplace

and workplace dynamics. So why don't we start there? Because I don't want people tuning out

...