Episode 65: The Hard Truths About Building Boston's Design Community

Episode 65: The Hard Truths About Building Boston's Design Community

From Talking Marketing by AMA Boston

May 5, 2026 · 1h 1m · Episode 65

About this episode

The episode features a candid discussion with Catherine Headen-Carlucci about the challenges and realities of building a design community in Boston.

Welcome back to Talking Marketing - Episode 65 - The Hard Truths About Building Boston's Design Community. This week I sat down with Catherine Headen-Carlucci — designer, consultant, and President of AIGA Boston — for one of the most honest conversations I've had about what it really takes to build a design community from the inside. We went deep on: — The gap between what designers are trained to believe design is, and what it actually is in practice — What AIGA Boston is doing that most designers don't know exists — Why Boston loses its talent to other cities and who's responsible for changing that — What the next version of Boston's design community needs to look like. This is not a surface conversation. Catherine doesn't hold back — and that's exactly why you should listen.

People in this episode

Guest: Catherine Headen-Carlucci

Topics covered

  • design community
  • Boston
  • AIGA Boston
  • talent retention
  • design practice
  • community building

Keywords

  • design
  • community
  • Boston
  • AIGA
  • talent
  • consultant
  • building
  • practice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AIGA Boston

Places: Boston

More episodes of Talking Marketing

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Talking Marketing podcast page.