How to use music to shape atmosphere and transform experiences

I’ve been making mixtapes since I was 12 years old.

My friend Mike and I used to stay up all night in his mom’s chicken coop, feverishly passing music back and forth, picking songs to create “the perfect” mixtape. Finding new music and creating mixes became an obsession.

Fast forward 20 years — music is now an integral part of my work.

Whether I am getting 150 HR managers to dance like giddy teenagers to Bollywood music or using calm, classical piano to create a reflective atmosphere for intimate conversations — I’ve found that in just 5 seconds, the right song can shake people awake, shatter their expectations, and put them at ease.

Music is an invisible thread — but it carries enormous power. Anyone can use music to interrupt the predictable patterns of a business meeting, workshop, class, or online event to uncover the possibilities that lie just below the surface.

There are two main principles I live by when curating music.

Make people feel at home

A few years back, I was leading an offsite with an international fragrance company. Their top managers were gathered on the 26th floor of a boardroom in San Francisco. Each person had flown in from a different region. To prepare for my event, I got a list of all the countries my participants hailed from and selected music from each place.

In the middle of the event, one participant, a Japanese woman in her late 60’s, walked up to me with tears in her eyes. I was playing an obscure Japanese folk song which as it turned out, was very dear to her heart. For the first time since arriving in the US, she said she felt truly at peace. She did not have to blend into an unfamiliar environment — she was able to just be herself.

Before your next event, take some time to think about who is in your audience. What songs might you include that could reflect different aspects of their identity and culture? Be careful not to play on stereotypes. What songs might surprise and delight them? What music might make them feel at home?

Create an irresistible atmosphere

In 2010, I was living in Seattle and teaching art at an alternative high school. I had a dismal attendance rate and the students who did show up would sit back confrontationally in their chairs with arms crossed, sneering. Needless to say, the culture of the classroom needed a bit of a revamp.

So I decided to try something different.

I brought a huge sound system into my classroom. When the first student walked in, I handed him the aux cable and said “play whatever you want.”

A mischievous grin spread across his face as he plugged in his iPod and put on the most explicit rap song he could find. I told him to crank up the volume.

As each student stepped into class, their faces lit up with disbelief, looked at me curiously, and then broke into huge smiles. Heads were bobbing to the beat and some were even singing along.

It was the first moment I had seen many of them smile.

At that moment, I used music to unite my classroom. To transform my traditionally “boring class” as they would call it, into an irresistible atmosphere where they felt truly at ease.

Think about the feeling and atmosphere you want to create at your next event. You can’t force connection. You can’t force people to be open. But you CAN create an environment that helps people to drop out of their everyday thoughts and into a different kind of space.

Let yourself experiment

The next time you are planning an event — whether that’s a workshop, party, wedding, funeral, baby shower, road trip, or anything in between — take a little extra time to curate a playlist that shapes the way you WANT people to feel.

You don’t need to be a professional DJ. A little intention goes a long way.

Now here are a few playlists to get you started:

H E A R T 💓 — To help you get to the heart of things.

H E A D 🗣️ —To drop into deep thought, curiosity, and new perspectives.

H A N D S 🙏🏽 — To connect to your creativity and motivation.

If you enjoyed this article, please give it a 👏 .

Adam Rosendahl is the Chief Experience Officer of Late Nite Art, a creative learning and development lab. Through his workshops, consulting, and trainings, he fuses experiential learning, the arts, and cutting-edge facilitation to breathe imagination and connection into teams at organizations such as Adobe, Southwest Airlines, and LinkedIn. Learn more at lateniteart.com.

A call for humanization

I begin many of my online workshops with the same question: “What is one role you play outside of your work?” While facilitating a program with a group of MBA students in Guadalajara, Mexico, one young man shouted “I’m going to be a Dad!” The whole room erupted in cheers! This simple question can bring humanity into a room.

Something magical happens when we see each other. When for a moment, we drop the labels, titles, and associations to truly witness the human being sitting behind the screen.

“Everybody has a soft underbelly.” — My Mom, Denise Blanc

With the rise of remote work, it can be easy to look at our colleagues and clients as tiny rectangles on the screen. Work can become primarily transactional. And connection is often the first thing to go.

But without a personal connection, true feelings go underground. It becomes increasingly difficult to get people to speak up, share honesty, or take risks.

More than ever, we need practices to humanize the people we work with. To disrupt our routines, our obsession with productivity, and remind us that we can never fully know what’s happening below the surface.

For the last 10 years, I’ve been designing disruptive learning experiences that shake teams awake to their shared humanity and creative confidence. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned that help teams gel, get real, and lean into collaboration.

1. Let yourself be seen 🙈

“What if we showed the world what’s behind our masks?” — Ashanti Branch

I was conducting an offsite for a group of executives from one of the biggest companies in the world. Imagine black and navy suits, swift, formal communication, and limited personal sharing. As I introduced small opportunities for personal sharing, this group of formal leaders started to noticeably relax: I could see them leaning in, nodding, and starting to open up with each other. About halfway through the session, I asked the group a question that deepened the conversation: “what is something that has been keeping you up at night?” One man responded, “my 9-year old son has Down syndrome. Now that our daughter is getting married, our son is starting to ask my wife and I if he will also get married one day. I just don’t know what to tell him.” He started to tear up.

The whole room froze. And then, it softened. A door had been opened for real, vulnerable sharing. What followed was a raw and honest dialogue. A shift from the head to the heart. And the beginning of a new way of speaking, listening, and caring for one another.

There are many ways to let yourself be seen. Ultimately, we all want to feel seen and heard. So how might you create more opportunities for your team to share the parts of themselves they often hide, ignore, or avoid?

Activity to try: Start your next meeting with a question in the chat: “What is one role you play outside of work?” Encourage a few people to share in front of the whole group. Ask them to give a window into their world.

2. Storytelling helps us see with fresh eyes 👁

“When we take the time to understand each other’s stories, we become more forgiving, more empathetic, and more inclusive.” — Michelle Obama

Imagine. The managing partner of a private equity firm looking into the eyes of a new intern. At a glance, these two men couldn’t look more different. One towering over the other, both physically and professionally — seasoned, confident, and intimidating. The other, small in stature, just out of college, and clearly out of his element. Before this moment, they had never had a conversation. But as the young intern starts to share about the neighborhood he grew up in, a smile illuminates both their faces. Their roles slip away, and they begin to see each other as human beings, perhaps for the first time.

Storytelling is a powerful tool we can use to build empathy, interrupt patterns, and see each other with fresh eyes. Our stories act like a portal to our inner world: helping us feel and understand another person in a way that is impossible to achieve with just the intellect. It’s simple, yet profound.

During the shift to remote, it has become increasingly important to create spaces for people to share their stories. While telling a story about the neighborhood you grew up in may seem like a strange way to start your company off-site, it might also transform your entire gathering.

Activity to try: “Neighborhood Stories.” Get your team into breakout rooms of 2 people. Ask them to tell a story about the neighborhood they grew up in (2 min each). When they come back, ask each person to reflect on their partner’s story, and draw the first image that comes to mind. In another breakout room with the same partner, have them share the images they drew, along with one quality that stood out from their partner’s story. I’ve done this exercise with hundreds of teams around the world, and while it might seem simple, it always evokes joy and changes the way people see and relate to one another.

3. Wisdom comes from unexpected places ⚡️

“Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.” — Terry Pratchett

I was recently leading an activity called “Board of Advisors” for a prominent Oakland non-profit. I asked the team to think about a challenge they were facing that they could use some support around. In an unusual display of vulnerability, the Executive Director asked his team: “How can I balance my need for privacy and solitude with my responsibilities as a public facing leader?” Seeing the depth of his question created the space for others to ask their own raw and honest questions. They began to receive thoughtful advice and innovative ideas from unexpected places: brand new hires, the extremely introverted VP of finance, and even from the people they had not talked to in ages.

We’ve all been in virtual meetings where everyone is multi-tasking, off video, and the energy feels dead. No one wants to share in these spaces.

In these excruciating “flat-line” Zoom meetings, there is a huge missed opportunity. With only one person speaking, the richness and diversity of different perspectives is drowned out by prioritizing the voice of the leader (or teacher) and the need to just “get through the agenda.”

Regardless of their position or level of experience, every person has unique and valuable wisdom to share. The trick is discovering new ways to encourage people to share that wisdom more freely and without the concern of being judged.

Activity to try: “Board of Advisors.” Ask your team to reflect on “a personal challenge they are currently facing that they would like some support around.” Have them frame it as a question. Now, in a Google Sheet, invite them to write their questions in the first column. Then, have the team imagine they are each other’s “board of advisors.” Invite them into a mindset of generosity, creative idea generation, and heartfelt sharing. Ask each person to move one row up and begin to respond to the questions of their colleagues. Play reflective music as people deepen into this process for 8–10 minutes. Then get into breakout rooms of 2–3 people and have them share their questions, meaningful responses they received, and any new insights about their challenge.

We all have too many Zoom meetings. 👨🏾‍💻

So let’s do this a little differently. Next time you are hosting a meeting, create the space where people can feel seen, safe to share their stories, and where you welcome every voice, no matter their title.

Just remember, behind the screen, there is a human being.

Adam Rosendahl is the Chief Experience Officer of Late Nite Art®, a creative learning and development lab. Through his workshops, consulting, and trainings, he fuses experiential learning, the arts, and cutting-edge facilitation to breathe imagination and connection into teams at organizations such as Pixar, Southwest Airlines, LinkedIn, and the Mexico Tourism Board. Learn more at lateniteart.com.

Beyond the screen, there is a human being. was originally published in Late Nite Art Learning Library on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Some people called 2020 a dumpster fire.

For others, it was an opportunity to shed a skin and begin a new chapter. This is my attempt to piece through this extra-ordinary year — to uncover the gems, reflect on the struggle, and highlight the peaks and valleys that defined my experience.

I won’t lie and say this was easy — in fact, I’d call my resistance to this process bordering on unbearable (I started feeling a little manic)— but after looking through every journal entry I wrote in 2020, all my notes, photos, and projects — I uncovered some learnings and lessons that felt too important not to share.

My hope is that these words encourage you to look back on your year with fresh eyes. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “No mud, no lotus.” We need to face the hard stuff to be present and available for what’s good in our lives.

So let’s dive into the mud, shall we?

“The call to the creative life is a call to dignity, to a life of vulnerability and adventure and the call to a life that exquisite excitement and indeed ecstasy will often visit.” — John O’Donohue

Lessons from 2020 🙏🏽

If it’s not a “hell yes”, it’s a no. Trust your gut.

Do fewer things, but do them well.

Channel your inner grandfather.

You can’t both fit in, and stand out, at the same time.

It’s easy to hide behind humility as an excuse to not take risks.

“Look good — feel good. Feel good — play good. Play good — get paid good.” — Khamall Jahi

Every day, ask yourself: “How can I make today the best day of my life?” and “How does it get any better than this?” — Yasmeen Turayhi

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will never get there.” — Yogi Berra

“You are already healed. Your mind just doesn’t know it yet.“ — Joel Decker

“A lot of times the person we are complaining about is actually our teacher.” — Jim Dethmer

“Sometimes you need to let yourself fall through the cracks to remember that the Earth will always be there to catch you.” — Joel Decker

“Your word is your wand. “ — Yasmeen Turayhi

“Breathe.” — Wim Hof

“The inhale is essential if you want to continue to exhale.” — Roshi Joan Halifax

“Stop walking through the world looking for confirmation that you don’t belong.” — Brené Brown

“No fact has ever caused you any suffering. The only thing that causes you suffering is your stories. And you make them all up.” — Jim Dethmer

“Our true home is the present moment. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment.” — Tich Nhat Hahn

Daily quarantine questions (to keep me sane during the Covid-19 lockdown) ✨

What am I grateful for?

Who am I checking-in on or connecting with today?

What expectations of “normal” am I letting go of today?

How am I moving my body today?

What beauty am I cultivating or inviting in, or creating today?

Projects and Facilitation in 2020 🙋🏼‍♂️

Delivering my first TEDx talk 🎤

On January 11th, 2020, I delivered my first TEDx talk at TEDxSonomaCounty (in Santa Rosa close to where I grew up!). Here are a few lessons I learned:

• No one does this alone. I am deeply grateful for the people who helped me hone my message and crystalize my talk: My Mom, Denise Blanc, and friend Smiley Poswolsky were truly instrumental in this process. As were Nadia Chaney, Andrew Nalani, Marilyn Nagel, and so many others!
• “After you are mic’d up and about to get on stage, take some deep breaths and strike a warrior pose.” — Ashanti Branch.
• “Blast them open with your heart!” — Forest Stearns. This is not about acting, it’s about being authentic.
• Don’t be afraid to pause. Trust your voice. There is no need to fill space.
• “Before you begin, take a deep breath and look out at the crowd. This will connect you with everyone and help get you grounded. Make eye contact with one person you feel comfortable with and focus on them. Tell your stories to THAT person.” — Denise Blanc (My Mom)
• “Take your time getting off-stage. Acknowledge everyone. Give it a moment. Let people clap for you. Take it in.” — Forest Stearns

Shifting Late Nite Art® to virtual

“Everybody is the creative type .” — David Kelley

For the last 8 years, I’ve led creative workshops for teams around the globe, transforming the typical business gathering into an unforgettable and connective experience.

For Late Nite Art®, 2020 started off with a bang 💥. In January and February, we hosted live events in Philidelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, with plans to head to Cambridge, U.K., and São Paulo, Brazil later in the year. Business was booming.

But things came to a jarring halt in March when Covid-19 shut down the world. I watched in a state of disbelief as my full calendar of events slipped like sand through my fingertips, and I received email after email from my clients: “I’m sorry, but we are going to have to cancel.”

It got dark there for a minute. In March I became sick with a fever and went through a grieving period — “is my business going to survive this?” “Am I going to survive this!?”

But at its core, Late Nite Art has always held the spirit of experimentation.

During the lockdown, individuals and teams were experiencing loneliness, isolation, grief, disconnection, and overwhelm on an unprecedented level. With support from my friend and colleague Lotus Wong, we put together the first virtual Late Nite Art prototype “Creative Doorway,” as a way to heal, come together, and process the swirl of emotions we were all feeling. Before long, we were leading online workshops with organizations of all sizes and bending the capacity of Zoom to bring intimacy, creativity, connection, and cohesion to teams, conferences, and universities around the world.

Here are a few highlights for Late Nite Art in 2020:

• We facilitated 31 experiences (8 in-person, and 23 virtual)
• We pivoted the business from leading face-to-face events to 100% virtual (until we can come back together in person!)
• We designed a new website with a fantastic designer: Lala Openi and creative copywriter Corey Rosenberg
• I joined the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Accelerator, a rigorous business development program that will help launch Late Nite Art to the next level (and reach $1 Million in revenue).
• We had the opportunity to work alongside amazing clients this year — many of whom, have become friends. Our 2020 clients: Adobe, Clif Bar, Twilio, Verizon Media, Kaiser Permanente, Asana, Genentech, Google, Girls in Tech, Gainsight, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, FinancialForce, Affinity, Common Future, Beneficial State Foundation, and LaunchDarkly

“Late Nite Art recently brought joy, movement, and connection to our globally distributed team. During these unprecedented times, with teammates working from home, it can be a challenge to cultivate a sense of community, but they created a warm, welcoming virtual space for us. It was 100 minutes of pure magic!— Bailey Sharrocks, Program Manager & Organizer of Adobe Design Summit, Adobe

Illuminated Notes 🖌

“Show up and do good work.” — Forest Stearns

2020 was an exciting year for Illuminated Notes, a project I created with my dear friend and illustration mentor Forest Stearns. Illuminated Notes capture the spirit of keynote speakers, leaders, and their teams through beautiful illustrations.

I’ve been drawing portraits of people since I was a kid at the dinner table. Part of the fun is the reaction I get when people see themselves illustrated on the page. Sometimes it’s surprising laughter or self-criticism, but other times it looks like genuine disbelief or tears from feeling “seen.” It’s a natural pattern interrupt and has a way of shaking people awake.

Here are a few highlights from Illuminated Notes in 2020:

• Verizon Media hired Forest and me to illustrate portraits of 33 leaders from the Spark Multicultural Leadership Program as a gift for each leader as they closed out their 1-year leadership journey (check out a few of the pieces below).

• Forest and I taught “Bring Your Notes to Life with Illuminated Notes,” as a virtual class for the students at Santa Barbara Visual Arts and Design Academy.
• I led a “Bring Your Notes to Life” workshop for the employees at Verizon Media.
• I was delighted to see some of my close friends and clients begin using the Illuminated Notes method in their notetaking :)

Illuminated Sounds 🎶

Music plays a huge role in my life. As a music consultant, I use soundtracks to transform stale and traditional environments into more creative, lively, and playful spaces. I’ve been creating playlists since I was 12 years old and it continues to be somewhat of an obsession for me.

My Top Spotify Playlists of 2020:

Click each link to listen 🎧

Adam’s Top 20 of 2020 🚀

H E A R T 💓

H E A D 🗣️

H A N D S 🙏🏽

Scaling Intimacy ⚡️

The Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design

“Go slow to move fast.” — Jenny Sauer-Klein

This year I officially joined The Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design team as a Senior Facilitator. It’s been an amazing learning journey working alongside Jenny Sauer-Klein, Julia Winston, and Joanna Miller, all of whom are close friends and fabulous facilitators.

During this age of Zoom fatigue, isolation, and burnout, the work we are doing feels incredibly important. We train leaders from around the world to deliver life-changing programs that transform how we gather and learn both online and in-person. As Jenny heads out on maternity leave in March, Julia, Joanna, and I will be taking the reigns on Scaling Intimacy’s programming in 2021.

Peaks and Valleys of 2020 ⛰

Boom 2020 🥁

It started as an idea in Jenny’s living room. We were jamming on a loop pedal, singing our hearts out, and remembering how damn healing it feels to sing and play music without an end-goal in mind. We thought, “let’s get some of our wildest, music-loving, improvisational friends together to jam in the woods for a few days!” Boom 2020 was born.

On Jan 3–6, we kicked off the year with a rambunctious weekend of spontaneous music-making and unbridled play. This retreat was a good reminder for all of us that singing and making music is restorative, inspiring, and healing for the soul!

Officiating Eli and Jannah’s wedding on the beach in Koh Samui, Thailand 🇹🇭

When Eli and Jannah asked me to officiate their wedding, I was deeply honored. Who would have known that their wedding would take place just weeks before the whole world shut down?

One memorable highlight: after the surreal moment when Eli and Jannah both said “I do,” and ceremonially stomped on the wine glass, I asked everyone in the audience to get into two parallel lines and hold hands with the person across from them. The bride and groom then walked with a state of child-like wonder through the “love tunnel” as their closest friends and family reached out lovingly to touch them and whisper wishes and dreams for the newlyweds. The moment was unforgettable (photo below).

I have to give Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering, a shoutout here for inspiring me to create a truly unique and interactive wedding ceremony.

Traveling solo through Penang, Malaysia 🇲🇾

After the wedding, I traveled solo for 3 weeks in Thailand and Malaysia. My friend Azalina Eusope encouraged me to visit her brother Daus in her hometown of Georgetown, Penang. Daus, his wife Tina, and their three adorable daughters Arissa, Amanda, and Damia treated me like family. They called me “brother” and taught me about Mamak culture and cuisine. The term ‘Mamak’ is widely used to describe Indian Muslims and is at the confluence of Indian and Malay cultures.

I was deeply inspired by the playful and affectionate way their family interacted and it brought up beautiful visions of how I would like my future family to feel 💕.

Self-quarantine, and living alone during the pandemic

“I’m finding a small boat to carry me across the river of my anxiety. But that river is drying up and I am coming across to the other side.” — My journal

What I forgive myself for during quarantine:

• I forgive myself for getting moody.
• I forgive myself for not eating “on time” and turning into a monster.
• I forgive myself for spending too much time on screens.
• I forgive myself for being hard on myself.
• I forgive myself for the times I felt lazy, scattered, unproductive, and lost.
• I forgive myself for sometimes playing a victim.

#BlackLivesMatter and the global fight against racism

On May 25th, 2020, the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer triggered worldwide protests against police brutality, police racism, and the lack of police accountability. Upon watching the video of Floyd’s murder, I felt angry, ashamed, and horrified at the blatant dehumanization and open display of racist violence against my black brothers and sisters.

George Floyd’s friends called him “Big Floyd.” They said he loved Latin music and would dance badly to make people laugh. He had a quiet personality with a beautiful spirit and he loved to receive hugs from his regular customers. He was 46-years-old, a father, and he loved his city.

The journey of the fish man 🐠 and bull woman 🐂

“That’s what a man is, yaar. A man is truly a man when he wins the love of a good woman, earns her respect, and keeps her trust.” — Vikram (from the book Shantaram)

Our first date was April 11th, 2020. The rest is history :)

The biggest gift of 2020 was finding my life partner, best friend, and adventure companion. Despite the circumstances of this insane year, we lived it up!

A few of our magical adventures this year:

• Mount Shasta
• Sonoma County
• Livingston and Bozeman, Montana
• Mendocino
• San Luis Obispo
• Chicago
• Tulum, Mexico
• Sedona, Arizona
• San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Friends and collaborators this year

“It’s not the quantity of friends but the quality of a few relationships that actually matters.” — Brené Brown

Teachers I studied with in 2020

“When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

• Yasmeen Turayhi — Love, Spirituality, and Partnership
• Denise Blanc — Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Life
• Jenny Sauer-Klein — Experience Design and Facilitation
• Sara Karritt — Afrobeats dance
• Joel Decker — Therapy and Somatic Experiencing (SE)
• Kate Shela — 360 Emergence Dance
• Nicole Boyar — Coaching
• Nick Baker — Coaching
• Paulo Rebello — Therapy and the Enneagram
• Bardia Hariri — Financial Planning and Life
• Kamaljit Bains — Bookkeeping and Life
• Sarah Tulin — Human Design

Growth and Learning

Books that changed my life this year

• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood — Trevor Noah
• 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week— Tiffany Shlain
• Creative Quest — Questlove
• Shantaram — Gregory David Roberts
• The Beastie Boys Book — Michael Diamond (MCA) and Adam Horovitz (Adrock)
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck — Mark Manson
• Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear — Elizabeth Gilbert
• Understanding Women: Unlock the Mystery — Alison Armstrong
• The Amazing Development of Men: Every Man’s Journey from Knight to Prince to King— Alison Armstrong
• Like Brothers — Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism — Robin DeAngelo
• Tattoos On the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion — Father Gregory Boyle
• When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times— Pema Chodron
• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: And It’s All Small Stuff — Richard Carleson
• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff in Love: Simple Ways to Nurture and Strengthen Your Relationships— Richard Carlson and Kristine Carlson

Gratitude

It’s been an intense year. Covid-19. California on fire. Economic despair. Worldwide protests for racial justice. The election. And it just goes on.

But like Leonard Cohen says, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Sometimes it’s only the places we are broken where we are able to find the light. No mud, no lotus 🌸.

“When day comes, we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.” — Amanda Gorman

For the last 8 years, I’ve led creative trainings for teams around the globe, transforming the typical business gathering into an unforgettable and connective experience.

Just imagine. Business executives writing collaborative poems to solve the challenges that keep them up at night. Engineers doodling to let go of their inner critic. Quantum computing scientists drawing blind portraits of one another to build empathy. Intrigued?

After 350 live events across 12 countries, my business Late Nite Art was finding its niche. Then, out of nowhere, COVID-19 hit. Since so much of what we do is about face-to-face connection and getting people OFF their screens, the shift to online was hard for us to even imagine. Like many other small business owners, I felt paralyzed.

But at its core, Late Nite Art has always held the spirit of experimentation.

So for months now, we’ve re-imagined new ways to bring meaningful connection to teams online. We’ve led dozens of online workshops with organizations of all sizes, and learned so much about how to create an engaging virtual training. Here are a few insights:

1. People are tired of sitting 🪑

Although it can feel like a risk, incorporating movement into your next meeting can shake people awake and provide an unexpected burst of energy. Whether it’s a body scan or a quick stretch, even the most subtle movement exercise can breathe new life into your group.

2. Use music, with intention 🎧

Music is the best tool I’ve found so far to transform a Zoom meeting into a more creative and welcoming space. Don’t underestimate the power of a well-selected Spotify playlist to shift the atmosphere and help your audience feel at ease. Here’s the Late Nite Art Official Mixtape to get you started.

3. Bring in new modalities ✍🏾

It’s time to move beyond just slides and keynote speakers. Bringing in modalities like creative writing, storytelling, or visual art may seem like an odd choice for your monthly team call, but harnessing these art forms and applying them to your topic can bring a fresh lens to looking at challenges and opening pathways for expression. Using an arts-based approach also caters to multiple learning styles and helps people get out of their heads and into their hearts.

In August 2020, LNA facilitator Kelsey Lotus Wong and I applied these insights to our biggest virtual training yet: we were hired to design the closing experience for the biennial Adobe Design Summit. Following 4 days of content, our workshop provided a much-needed “deep belly breath,” allowing space for contemplation, and developing community for the 600 designers, researchers, engineers, and strategists attending from around the globe.

“Late Nite Art was 100 minutes of pure magic.” — Bailey Sharrocks, Lead Organizer of the Adobe Design Summit

With the whole world now working online, people are craving new opportunities to connect and feel seen by their colleagues. We are excited to bring this refined and fully digital version of Late Nite Art to teams worldwide.

As you plan your next team retreat, all-hands meeting, conference, or event, consider doing things a bit differently. Let us be your creative partner!

Schedule your free consultation here.

Adam Rosendahl is the Chief Experience Officer of Late Nite Art, a learning and development lab. Through his experiential workshops and trainings, he fuses art, music, and dialogue as a vehicle to breathe imagination and connection into teams at organizations like Pixar, Southwest Airlines, LinkedIn, and the Mexico Tourism Board. Learn more at lateniteart.com.

If you enjoyed this story, please click the 👏 button!

A recipe for building connection online. was originally published in Late Nite Art Learning Library on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Follow the omens.” — Paulo Coelho

2019 was a blur.

A month back, if you had asked me what happened last year, I might have looked at you with a blank, overwhelmed stare. You know that feeling when you’ve done so much but you can’t remember any of it?

So, over the last few months, I decided to slow wayyyy down and reflect on this beautiful and challenging year. I participated in a program called “Nightingale: A Year End Review Immersion.” It’s a 3-week program in December led by experience design pioneer Ting Kelly, where you re-examine every aspect of your year. As someone who likes to be in motion, this was an excruciating process for me. Taking the time to stop… slow down… and reflect felt like I was caging a wild animal.

But now, after reading through every journal entry from 2019, looking back on every photo, reviewing every project, clearing my physical and digital spaces, and finally, undergoing a 3-day solo immersion in Sausalito over New Year’s, I am proud (and surprised) to share what I’ve uncovered.

From key lessons and favorite music, to new practices and celebrating friends who passed away, this story straddles my peaks and valleys of 2019.

You ready to go on an adventure with me?

Lessons from 2019

Don’t rush through your life. Savor it. “Celebrate slowing down.” — Julia Winston

Practice “the sacred pause.” — Karen Roeper

Invoke your inner child. Ask yourself, “How is Little Adam doing today?” — Kelsey “Lotus” Wong

Spend more time with little kids. They are connected to the true source of creativity and you can learn a lot from their lack of inhibition.

“What you have can’t be taken away from you.” — Cyndi Yee

When faced with a hard decision, ask yourself: “What would make the better story?” — Erin Johnson

Ask beautiful questions. Don’t get too caught up in your own life that you lose track of your curiosity in others.

Admire, don’t envy. “Comparisons are the thief of all happiness.” — Ashanti Branch

Be transparent about what you really want.

Concealing how you feel often leads to interpersonal problems. So you may as well be honest and vulnerable. As Brené Brown says, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”

“Things do not get better or go away by thinking about them more. Only by thinking about them less.” — Cyndi Yee

“If you keep denying your shadow, your inner monster. If you keep stuffing it down. It will eventually bite you. It may even eat you alive.” — Midori

When you are kind to yourself, you are kind to others.

Forgive yourself. Be gentle and loving. Every evening, ask, “What do I forgive myself for today?”

Discarding physical objects opens up energetic and emotional space. If it doesn’t “spark joy,” let it go. — Marie Kondo

You are not meant to be contained. Stop trying to fit into the box of a “businessman,” or “entrepreneur.” You are an artist, first. And that is enough. — Monisha Chandanani

Jump into bodies of water as often as you can.

My life purpose statement:

“With luminous joy, kindness, and a sense of wonder, I teach myself and others to slow down, drink from the well of creativity, and suck out the marrow of life, so that we can heal, connect more deeply, and tap into the magic all around and between us.” — Adam Rosendahl, June 2019

What I forgive myself for in 2019

“You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.” — Alain de Botton

• I forgive myself for sometimes feeling sad, lonely, and overwhelmed.
• I forgive myself for being so damn hard on myself.
• I forgive myself for numbing and distracting myself through addiction to screens and “keeping busy”.
• I forgive myself for sometimes concealing how I feel and not being fully honest.
• I forgive myself for constantly worrying and feeling so much stress, anxiety, and fear about the future.

“I love life. I love my path. I’m moving forward.” — My mantra for 2019

Projects and facilitation in 2019

LATE NITE ART®

“We help people break through social and creative walls”

2019 was a huge year for my business, LATE NITE ART®. Being self employed continues to be a roller coaster, moving from peak experiences, adventurous travel, and feelings of deep-rooted satisfaction, to fatigue, sleepless nights, and overwhelm. It’s been all-encompassing, but I wouldn’t choose any other path.

At its essence, LATE NITE ART is about helping people heal and connect to themselves and each other using the arts.

I am so grateful to be surrounded by a rockstar team of facilitators and team mates who I consider mentors and dear friends. I continue to evolve my practices around self care, leadership, and I think I am starting to get the hang of this entrepreneur thing.

I am proud of the work we did this year. Here are a few highlights:

• We facilitated 44 experiences across 25+ cities
• Kelsey “Lotus” Wong joined our team as a Lead Facilitator! Lucky us.
• We hosted events in 3 new countries: Vietnam, Mexico, and Australia
• We launched our Industry Leader Event Series: an invite-only, experiential networking event that brings together the top leaders in the Bay Area to explore a specific theme or industry. For our first event, LNA: Culture Edition, we partnered with LinkedIn L&D. Our second event, LNA: People-Development Edition, we partnered with Google SF. We are currently working on our third event, LNA: Belonging Edition, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• We had the opportunity to work alongside amazing clients this year — many of whom, have become friends. Our 2019 clients: Airbnb, Apple, LinkedIn, Verizon Media, Stanford University, Robinhood, Google AI Quantum, Alpine Investors, Sephora, Kaiser Permanente, Google Cloud Iberia, RealChange, Summit, Intellum, Blueboard, TheSkimm, Hive Global Leaders, Adda Clevenger School, EdTec, EO Oceania, Gainsight, Ignixion, EGADE Business School, Tec de Monterrey, REACH Vietnam, The Battery, CreativeMornings Oakland and Splash

Illuminated Notes

“Practice, practice, practice.” — Forest Stearns

In 2019, Forest Stearns and I officially launched Illuminated Notes as a new business offering. Illuminated Notes capture the spirit of keynote speakers through beautiful illustrations.

Forest and I brought Illuminated Notes to some amazing conferences this year. We had the opportunity to illustrate a few of our heroes: Sir Ken Robinson, Paul Stamets, and Esther Perel. I loved watching people’s mouths drop as we created these pieces live. Some speakers even started to cry when they saw themselves depicted in our drawings. Conference highlight include: Culture First, Summit LA19, Unify by Singular, the Google Quantum Spring Symposium, and Sparked at the Battery.

For me, this is a huge deal. I went to undergrad to study visual art, and although my work revolves around encouraging other people’s creativity — I haven’t been creating as much of my own artwork. Forest Stearns has become my visual art mentor, and I’ve learned so much about drawing. We are seriously on a roll with this project and I’m excited to see how it evolves… You can see all our drawings here.

We’ve also begun teaching the Illuminated Notes methodology as a workshop to help people bring their note-taking skills to the next level. This year we hosted our “Bring Your Notes to Life” class at CreativeMornings, AdobeLive, and Today At Apple.

Illuminated Sounds

“If you try to knock me you’ll get mocked / I’ll stir fry you in my wok / Your knees will start shaking and your fingers pop / Like a pinch on the neck from Mr. Spock” — MCA of the Beastie Boys (One of my mixtape mentors!)

I’ve always been a music addict. It started in 6th grade staying up all night making mixtapes. Then I turned to burning c.d.’s. And now… it’s Spotify Playlists. This year I made literally hundreds of playlists on Spotify. And I just started doing it for clients.

I’m calling it Illuminated Sounds. I create custom soundtracks for corporate trainings and conferences around the world — using music as a tool for leadership development. My clients include Google School for Leaders, Verizon Media, VMWare, and Palo Alto Community Child Care.

I’ve also begun curating Seasonal Creativity Playlists: compiling all my favorite music from each season into one bangin’ list.

Here are my favorite playlists. Click each link to listen:

➡ 🌼 Spring 〰️ Bloom 🌼

➡ Summer 🌴 Time

➡ Fall 🍁 Into ❄️ Winter

➡ LATE NITE ART Official Mixtape 🖌️

Peaks and Valleys of 2019

My first solo international trip: Vietnam 🇻🇳

“Find time for rejuvenating play.” — Christian Forthomme

Vietnam melted my heart.

But traveling alone was hard. I would go from being lonely and feeling sorry for myself, to having a full-blown peak experience in the course of one hour. I was struck by the power of being alone. Suddenly, every task or outing became an adventure. I was fascinated by this idea of “manifesting” what I wanted at any moment.

2019 began on a motorbike in the pouring rain, riding between the cities of Hue and Hoi An. On December 31st of 2018, I found myself completely lost, singing at the top of my lungs, dodging goats and cows in the road, and climbing up the jungle-filled mountains of Central Vietnam. I thought to myself, “this is what freedom feels like.” Fresh out of a 2-year relationship, I felt like I had shed a skin, and was just discovering the new man I had become. This trip was about adventure, freedom, finding myself, and opening up my heart again.

Meeting Eva

Eva is wise, magical, and intuitive — I’d call her a “good witch.” We shared many beautiful adventures this year and I am grateful for our relationship (February to October of 2019). We loved listening to music — the louder the better. She was a model for me around self-care and she taught me how to truly relax.

Power of Hope Canada

“One trusted adult can change the trajectory of a young person’s life.” — Mike Sagun

This year marks my 19th anniversary with the Power of Hope: a youth-empowerment program that brings 50 teenagers and 25 adults together for 8-days and uses different art forms to help them explore their connection to themselves, each other, and the world. When I first attended this camp at age 13 — it shifted the trajectory of my life.

This year, I trekked back up to beautiful Cortes Island, British Colombia to be one of the lead facilitators for the POH Canada Camp.

Working with teenagers is profound. They feel on such deep level. But I am shocked by the amount of self harm young people inflict on themselves. I was heartbroken hearing the shame, unworthiness, and depression many these teenagers were struggling with. At the same time, their resilience took my breath away. And I was reminded of the true healing quality of the arts.

“The deeper journey is to dive into the abyss and find the light.” — Monisha Chandanani

To date — being a lead facilitator at the Power of Hope is some of the most impactful work I’ve done in my entire life.

Experience is Everything: A 6-month mastermind on experience design and facilitation

“Now is your time Adam.”— Jenny Sauer-Klein

One of my absolute highlights this year was participating in the Experience is Everything Mastermind hosted by my dear friend, mentor, and collaborator, Jenny Sauer-Klein.

We laughed our hearts out. I cried a lot. I was raw. I shed a skin. I discovered a new side of myself as a leader, teacher, facilitator, and experience designer. Friends turned into clients. Clients turned into friends, collaborators and mentors. And we all created life-long friendships.

I think my friend Jen Conti-Davies described us well: “A community builder, two surfers, a professor, four executive coaches, an adventure architect, a DJ and 3 tech entrepreneurs. All led by a woman on a mission to revolutionize the way we gather and learn and proven at creating world-class and cutting edge experiences filled with energy, engagement, profound insight, and meaningful connection. All coming together for an intensive 6-month mastermind.”

“What is experience design? It’s about creating transformational human-to-human experiences built on meaningful connections and collaborative learning.”

— Jenny Sauer-Klein

Working in Mexico for the first time 🇲🇽

Alex de Santiago, founder of Ignixion, brought me down to Mexico to lead two events: one was at EGADE Business School in Monterrey, the best MBA program in Latin America. The other was at TEC de Monterrey high school in Guadalajara.

Alex treated me like family. We ate delicious food, soaked in hot springs, went to a tequila factory, blasted music on late-night drives through the city — and just had the best time. We spent 8 days straight together, and at the end of it all, he felt like my big brother. His Mom told me “you are now our American son. You will always have a home in Guadalajara.”

I can’t wait to go back.

Traveling to Melbourne, Australia 🇦🇺

Jeff and I took a whirlwind, 5-day trip to Australia to host LATE NITE ART at a cool conference called Ignite Melbourne, run by Entrepreneur’s Organization Oceania. Unfortunately, Qantas Airlines lost our luggage containing our supplies, and we went through a gauntlet of hell trying to get it back. Let’s just say it was a bonding experience. We both loved Melbourne: the food, the people, the vibe. We were genuinely stunned by how friendly everyone was — from the people at the airport and strangers in the street, to our new friend Andy Lee who generously toured us around the city and hosted us in his beautiful home.

One memorable moment: after our grueling 16+ hour flight from San Francisco, Jeff and I found a rooftop spa and spent the afternoon in huge fluffy white robes, hitting the steam room, sauna, and cold plunge. Looking out over the Melbourne skyline in the jacuzzi we felt like kings.

The best Thanksgiving ever in Montana

It doesn’t get much better than soaking in Boiling River Hot Springs inside Yellowstone National Park, surrounded by snow and wild elk, doing Wim Hof breathing practices and covering the faces of your family with wet mud. My family knows how to get down!

I went out on a limb this year, and tried some fun social experiments:

• I had each person draw a visual representation of the Thanksgiving dish they had cooked, and give it a creative name. Together we created a beautiful visual menu (below).
• I led a “Free Your Freestyle” workshop in the living room. Seeing my Mom, Aunt Sue, and cousins take creative risks and freestyle together was priceless.
• After dinner, I facilitated an activity called Story Swap — where we shared personal stories, and then retold them in the first person. By the end, we were all laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks.

Living alone

2019 was my first year living alone. As a serious extrovert (and a 7 on the Enneagram), this has been challenging— but I know it’s the medicine I need. Because I spend so much time in motion and facilitating large groups of people — learning how to rejuvenate, relax, and fill my energetic cup has become essential. I’m still learning how to truly enjoy my time alone and shift my mindset from “being lonely” to one of “embracing solitude.”

At the end of this year I started drawing out my vision for how I want my 1-bedroom apartment in Oakland to “feel.” Here’s what I came up with:

Friends and Teachers

“It is the quality of our relationships that determine the quality of our life.” — Esther Perel

Friends who inspired me this year

Every evening, when writing down the things I am grateful for, I thank my friends. The people who “see” me, call me on my bullshit, push me to grow and love me as I am. Here are some of the amazing people who shaped, influenced, and inspired me through 2019.

“Our deepest human need is really to be seen and known by other people” — Brené Brown

Saying goodbye to friends who passed in 2019

“Death is but the next great adventure.” — J.K. Rowling

Teachers I studied with in 2019

• Jenny Sauer-Klein: Experience Design and Facilitation
• Denise Blanc (my Mom): Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Life
• Dave Worm: Beatboxing, Vocal Percussion and Circle Singing
• Wim Hof “The Iceman”: Breath Work, Mindset, and Cold Water Immersion
• Mike Sagun, Dan Doty, Owen Marcus: Mens Work, Somatic Awareness, Expressing Feelings
• Diane Musho Hamilton: Conflict
• Cyndi Yee: Inner Work, Mindset, Inside Out Revolution
• Bardia Hariri: Financial Planning and Life
• Kamaljit Bains: Bookkeeping and Play
• Julia Winston: Passion, Purpose, and Slowing Down
• Adam Smiley Poswolsky: Public Speaking
• Ting Kelly: Ritual and Reflection
• Forest Stearns: Illustration and Being an Amazing Dad
• Kelsey “Lotus” Wong: Forgiveness Work and Culture Consulting
• Polly Cherner: Enneagram (I was so sad to hear about Polly’s passing on February 7th, 2020. She was a teacher and guide for the journey “inward” and helped so many of us to see ourselves more fully. She held a monthly Enneagram Panel at her warm home in San Anselmo where you were sure to find great people, delicious food, and fascinating discussions about our personality types.)

My spiritual board of advisors

Here are my chosen teachers and spirit guides who I call in to help me navigate my life. I recently started this drawing to capture my Board of Advisors visually — it’s a work in progress!

Growth and Learning

“Knowing is the enemy of learning.” — Tom Chi

My favorite songs of 2019 — Spotify playlist here

1. Soweto — Michael Brun, Shirazee
2. Crazy Dream — Tom Misch, Loyle Carner
3. Deep in the Three — Adriatique, Thyladomid
4. My Life — ZHU, Tame Impala
5. On the Low — Burna Boy
6. Ghana Bounce — Ajebutter22
7. Leg Over — Mr. Eazi
8. Ella Quiere Beber (Remix) — Anuel AA, Romeo Santos
9. Ça sert — Nemir
10. Follow the Leader — George the Poet, Maverick Sabre, Jorja
11. The Moon — Sol Rising

Books that changed my life this year

• The Art of Gathering — Priya Parker
• The Magic Art of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo
• Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism - Fumio Sasaki
• The Inside-Out Revolution - Michael Neill
• Scaling Intimacy - Jenny Sauer-Klein
• How to Change Your Mind - Michael Pollan
• Beastie Boys Book - Michael Diamond & Adam Horowitz
• Run Studio Run: How to operate and grow a small creative studio - Eli Altman
• The Break Through Speaker - Adam Smiley Poswolsky
• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership - Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, Kaley Warner Klemp
• Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad - Austin Kleon

New practices I implemented in 2019

• EVRYMAN: Checking in with my emotions. Where does that live in my body?
• Wim Hof: Deep breathing exercise. 3 rounds every morning. Followed by a cold shower. “A cold shower a day keeps the doctor away” — Wim Hof
• 9Round Kickboxing: I love this place. No class times.
• Productivity Planner: This little task-planner is a game-changer. Now that I have a place to put all my “to-do’s,” I don’t have dozens of post-it notes scattered around my bed stand and desk.
• “The Sacred Pause:” Every time I get into my car, right before I turn the key in the ignition, I take one deep breath. Every time I turn off the ignition, before I get out of your car, I take another deep breath. Try it!
• Radical Self Care (RSC): Monthly foot massage dates with my brother Ashanti Branch.
• End-of-day journaling practice: What am I grateful for today? What do I forgive myself for today? What did I learn today? What were the big questions on my mind today?
• Marie Kondo Tidying Festival: I got rid of 2 cars full of stuff! “The things you own end up owning you.” — Fumio Sasaki, Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism

The last day of 2019

“Follow the next lighted step.” — My Aunt Robin Mascari

I watched the last sunset of 2019 alone, standing atop a grassy mountain in the Marin Headlands. The Golden Gate Bridge glittered below me, thick fog hugged the sides of Mount Tam, and the sky was lit up with vibrant shades of red, orange, and purple. Headphones on, I was dancing my ass off. Crying, laughing, singing, freestyling. I was “feeling” myself and reliving my year through music.

I now call this year of 2019 and all of its events COMPLETE. I call it good enough. I am good enough. Everything I did was good enough. I declare this year complete across all space, all levels, and all dimensions. — From the “Conscious Completion Habit” by Jennavieve “JJ” Joshua

And with that. On to 2020!

Gratitude

Big appreciation to Ting Kelly for being my magical guide through the Nightingale: 2019 Year End Review Immersion, and for my friends Kelsey “Lotus” Wong and Jen Conti-Davies for helping me put on the brakes, push through my self-doubt and procrastination, and bring this artifact to life.

Hi! I’m Adam Rosendahl. I’m a facilitator, artist, experience designer, and the founder of LATE NITE ART®. Learn my creative recipe to unlock deeper connection here.