GRAIN

1. Borrowed Authority (Immediate Credibility Boost)
When you interview people shaping culture, design, business, or creativity, you borrow their authority.
Their reputation → becomes part of your brand signal.
Why it matters for you:

• Positions GRAIN as a contemporary cultural journal, not “Adrian writing alone.”

• Signals that you operate in the same league as the people your audience respects.

• Makes you appear plugged into global creative ecosystems (which supports your Consulting > Creative Director positioning).

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2. You Become a Cultural Node, Not a Commentator
People who write essays are commentators.
People who interview leaders become connectors.
A connector has status, reach, and access.
Strategic benefit:
Your brand becomes a hub.
GRAIN shifts from “a content platform” to “a place where important conversations happen.”

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3. Effortless Access to New Audiences
Every interviewee has their own audience.
When they share the conversation, you gain:

• exposure

• followers

• email subscribers

• warm leads

• network expansion

You cannot get this with essays alone.
For GRAIN, your biggest growth vector early on will be social proof through others.

 

4. Endless Content Multiplication
One 45-minute conversation becomes:

• a long-form interview piece (GRAIN)

• 3–5 shorter essays inspired by quotes

• 10+ LinkedIn / X micro-posts

• 1 Substack issue

• future references in your essays

• clips, carousels, audiograms

• consulting talking points

• a future book chapter

• part of your authority archive

This is the highest-leverage content format in your ecosystem.

 

5. Demonstrates Depth, Curiosity, and Intelligence (Brand Tone)
Interviews communicate:

• taste

• discernment

• empathy

• intellectual range

• ability to sit in complexity

• the capacity to ask elite-level questions

These traits are exactly what clients look for in a Creative Director / Strategic Partner.
You’re not selling “coaching.”
You’re showing how your mind works.

6. Social Proof for Consulting Without Selling
Interviews subtly say:

“I move in circles of creative leadership.”
This creates a halo effect:

• founders trust you faster

• clients feel you understand culture deeply

• sales cycles shorten

• referrals increase

• your consulting feels premium and selective

No pushiness. All pull.

 

7. Builds Intellectual Property FROM Others (Then Becomes Yours)
When someone brilliant drops a line or insight, you:

• absorb it

• remix it

• contextualise it

• turn it into frameworks

• fold it into your consulting methodology

Your expertise compounds through others’ thinking.
This is how modern thought-leadership is built.

 

8. Creates a Living Archive of the Cultural Moment
This is core to GRAIN’s ethos:
Cities, aesthetics, and people as reflections of the inner world.
Interviews create an anthology of:

• what creatives struggle with

• what founders are wrestling with

• how people think about culture, place, identity, and work

This becomes the brand’s long-term cultural equity.
Over time, the archive itself becomes the magnet.

 

9. Makes Travel + Place-Based Storytelling More Authentic
Because you want GRAIN to have a geographical lens, conversations with:

• local designers

• artisans

• architects

• cultural thinkers

• founders

• craftspeople

turn your city essays into multi-dimensional cultural studies.
You become a documentarian of the world, not just a writer.

10. Interviewees Become Future Clients, Collaborators, or Amplifiers
Many will:

• hire you

• introduce you to others

• recommend your work

• invite you into their circles

• collaborate on projects

• help you enter new markets

This is how you build a global Creative Director practice organically.