Mark Grattan, Creative Director and Founder of VIDIVIXI Studio, shares his perspective on safeguarding his creative headspace and the rewards of being a loner.

?Authenticity is my north star,? says designer Mark Grattan ? founder and creative director of VIDIVIXI (it means ?I saw, I lived? and references a Victor Hugo poem), consultant to Solange Knowles for her hyper-creative platform Saint Heron, and the much-lauded winner of the debut season of Ellen?s Next Great Designer earlier this year. In this week?s Milkshake, the usually Mexico City-based Grattan joins us from his sublet in New York City to share his thoughts on creative self-preservation, risks, and authenticity, and the links between them.
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?Authenticity is my north star because it fuels my work,? he says. ?If I’m able to communicate things in a way that’s coming from my own, true voice, then I’m happy about it. It’s something that I pursue.? He connects his appreciation for authenticity to his mother?s capacity for risk-taking: ?There are no risks without authenticity, and there’s no risks without bravery,? he says. It?s just something that comes naturally [to me]. That was something my mother passed to me. She was a risk taker. She threw caution to the wind a lot; she trusted the universe. She had a lot of faith, and I’m so happy that I’ve sort of been able to trust myself, and trust the world around me.?
Also in this episode, we talk with Mark...