Steve Sue

[h4]Design Thinkers[/h4] [ul] [li][strong]Color Theory:[/strong] Celebrated color theorist [strong][em]Vasa Mihich[/em][/strong] pulled me from the muck of econ majors at UCLA. I took Vasa’s class on a whim and he took me under his wing. Vasa told me I had to be a designer. He asserted that I had talent. I knew he was right. I baulked at first as my Dad wanted me to avoid design. Vasa said he’d talk to my Dad. He didn’t need to… he had me from the first color swatch.[/li] [li][strong]Glass Blowing:[/strong] once in the design program at UCLA, folk art glass blower [em][strong]Dick Marquis[/strong][/em] recruited me. He was one of the coolest cats on campus. His critiques featured beer. To a 20 year old, there’s nothing cooler. He taught us that anything we’d do in art had been done before. As a corollary, he taught that if you gotta knock off someone else, be damned sure you’re copying something good. Despite all his unfiltered teachings, he’s truly a wizard of putting a new twist on an old theme. He taught how to make something your own yet honor those who came before.[/li] [li][strong]Computer Animation:[/strong] one of the guys behind the first feature-length CG film [em]Tron the Movie[/em] was [em][strong]Art Durinski[/strong][/em]. Art took me under his wing and taught me CG basics (when the entire industry was really basic) then hooked me up with [em][strong]Larry Lichten[/strong][/em], a professor at UCLA’s Engineering School. Larry scammed me night time access on the school’s mainframe computer… a computer the size of a bus. At the time, it was powerful and I drove it with a lead foot. Larry instructed me that if I crashed it, I needed to immediately shut off the lights for an hour, be quite and don’t answer any messages on the console. I sat in the dark a lot but created things no one had ever done before.[/li] [li][strong]Theme Parks:[/strong] I lived in Burbank for about a year and a half designing theme parks for Landmark Entertainment. While many creative gurus walked the halls there, my hero was [em][strong]Greg Damron[/strong][/em]. Greg taught me the business of theme parks and the art of master planning. He taught to always look at how design changes affect revenues. He taught to design in the “Kodak Moment” where visitors could get that great branded picture (now called “selfies”). He taught me to always ensure that the “Cow Catcher” retail store was positioned to push plush toy sales. I worked with him on a park called The Wonderful World of Oz ~ despite being a huge entertainment property and being funded by Ted Turner and Michael Jackson, it didn’t happen… welcome to concept design.[/li] [li][strong]Concept Design:[/strong] One day I saw this guy drawing massive pictures of mega-resorts… I had to do it. So I asked [em][strong]Bill Bardsley[/strong][/em] if he would teach me how to draw. Bill graciously invited me to hang out with him at his studio in Walnut Creek, CA. He not only taught me to draw, but also the art of the big idea. No one was bigger than Bill. And it turned out that Bill was THE top guy for Vegas casino concepts. He was The Shit. After a year or so, Bill started taking me to Vegas on design charrettes (brainstorm sessions). We designed by day and clubbed by night. We imagined and built massive stuff. In the early days, the architectural world looked down upon gaming projects. But as Vegas grew, it became the epicenter of hospitality and entertainment design. Bill warned me that when the industry heated up, it would be like a bucking broncho. With youthful vigor, I bucked up and jumped on. What a ride. After a couple years in the Vegas saddle with Bill, he retired leaving me with the reigns of power ~ then I learned true power for our client and friend Paul Steelman… but he’s more of a Business God to me, so see that section above…. Back on being a top drawer conceptualist, Bill taught me to never go on salary: idea guys are like golden gooses ~ try to shackle them and their gold globes turn to simple brown poop. Bill, you’re a God and I miss adventuring with you. One day I saw this guy drawing massive pictures of mega-resorts… I had to do it. So I asked [em][strong]Bill Bardsley[/strong][/em] if he would teach me how to draw. Bill graciously invited me to hang out with him at his studio in Walnut Creek, CA. He not only taught me to draw, but also the art of the big idea. No one was bigger than Bill. And it turned out that Bill was THE top guy for Vegas casino concepts. He was The Shit. After a year or so, Bill started taking me to Vegas on design charrettes (brainstorm sessions). We designed by day and clubbed by night. We imagined and built massive stuff. In the early days, the architectural world looked down upon gaming projects. But as Vegas grew, it became the epicenter of hospitality and entertainment design. Bill warned me that when the industry heated up, it would be like a bucking broncho. With youthful vigor, I bucked up and jumped on. What a ride. After a couple years in the Vegas saddle with Bill, he retired leaving me with the reigns of power ~ then I learned true power for our client and friend Paul Steelman… but he’s more of a Business God to me, so see that section above…. Back on being a top drawer conceptualist, Bill taught me to never go on salary: idea guys are like golden gooses ~ try to shackle them and their gold globes turn to simple brown poop. Bill, you’re a God and I miss adventuring with you.[/li] [li]Filmmaking: Flash forward to 2019 when I got hog-tied to do what I thought would be a short classroom video on the Shaka Gesture. It turned out to be a story with more twists and turns than anyone could have expected, eventually becoming an 82-minute feature documentary. I’d worked on film sets years before, but never lead the charge, so I hired two of the best I could find in editor Deborah Miller and director Alexander Bocchieri, both of whom coddled me into filmmaking existent. Along the way, producer/director, Bryan Spicer joined the team, showing me the ropes from a big-boy perspective.[/li] [/ul]

[h4]Innovation Mentors[/h4] [ul] [li][strong]The Law:[/strong] My entry point to business was the study of law at UC Berkeley. The frank truth is that I sucked at the law. But two guys at the law school kept me in the game. [em][strong]Sandy Kadish[/strong],[/em] renowned criminal law professor taught me that the law is well-meaning. It establishes order. It is very forgiving. He had the good instincts to pull back on the socratic reins and go easy on me, a first-year pony with a gimp. As a first-year, I was on the bubble about staying in law school as I had competing offers to be an art director at a couple of computer animation companies. One went on to make a feature about [em]Ants[/em] and the other ended up with a jumping drafting lamp logo ~ damn you Sandy, you shoulda opened that can of lawyer’s whoop-ass on me as I woulda been ground floor at [em]Pixar[/em]. But all roads lead to a bright future anyways so you’re forgiven. Then there’s the other guy:[em] [strong]Jesse Choper[/strong][/em], Dean of the School and the “God” of constitutional law. But Dean Choper was also very human. He’d occasionally sweep the library at night looking for kids to take out to eat hot dogs and talk philosophy. A [em]Top Dog[/em] in the middle of the night on Telegraph Ave with the God of Con Law? Pretty heady stuff. He made you feel special. Smart. Seen. On campus, he called me The Artist as he knew I spent more time designing t-shirts for law reviews than doing cite checks. I was not born for the law but both of these guys embraced who I was and taught me the human side of the law.[/li] [li][strong]Branding:[/strong] For a number of years I was a hired gun at SF and LA agencies. At one of the firms, I met [em][strong]David Takiguchi[/strong][/em], the best creative director I ever worked with. David is wickedly talented. He has great taste. He’s awesome with both clients and staff. A super nice guy and [em]Hanai[/em] family to me. Eventually he left his agency and joined me as a partner in my firm. His first action was that he wanted to change us into an “Environmental Branding Firm.” I was like, “Woo-hoo! Awesome!… uh… what’s branding???” It took me years to figure out what “branding” is. I owe a lot to David for bringing the world of branding to my doorstep. The challenge of understanding it was what spurred me to create the software app BizGym.com, initially a brand development software. I thank David for this, sharing his family with me and the many good times and deep friendship we share.[/li] [li][strong]Bodaciousness:[/strong] one of the most influential mentors in my life was [em][strong]Paul Steelman[/strong][/em]. Paul is a top-drawer casino architect in Las Vegas. While he’s a brilliant architect and master planner, he’s a business genius. He’s also a silver-tongued evangelist. Paul taught me the arts of visioning ~ and selling the vision. Paul is the Pied Piper ~ he toots his pipe and everyone falls in line. He creates and executes big ideas that actually work. Pau is all about Big. Really Big. REALLY, REALLY, BIG. Iconic and bodaciously BIG. Paul’s most common critique was one simple word, “BIGGER.” Over the years I learned how to meet his bar. Paul is The Man and I’m eternally grateful for being able to be part of his flock.[/li] [li][strong]Numbers:[/strong] I first met [strong][em]Myron Nakata[/em][/strong]  as a client of my wife’s home-based body alignment business. He’d stay on occasion for dinner and we became good friends. Myron is very understated and humble. And while he has no clue as to what “IMHO” stands for, top-used Myron-isms begin with, “In my humble opinion…” But he’s the guy that walks softly and carries a big stick. Myron has raised the bar for me in strategic thinking. He thinks big ideas straight through to the numbers. He’s a validator and he’s practical. He’s the contractor that measures twice to cut once. He does not miss. And he’s also very giving and philanthropic ~ Myron was one of the founders of Lemonade Alley and Bizgenics Foundation. On the non-profit side, he works quietly behind the scenes never looking to be aggrandized. On the business side, I routinely seek his counsel for strategy, numbers and reality checks. Myron’s combination of skills and perspectives renders him a practical, salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. Thanks Myron for your generous heart and for grounding my bodaciousness.[/li] [li][strong]Evangelism:[/strong] I grew up eating [em][strong]Wally Amos[/strong][/em] Cookies. Wally is the legendary talent agent turned entrepreneur who created the gourmet cookie category. Decades later, Wally became a good friend and nonprofit partner who helped build Lemonade Alley, our nonprofit’s kid-biz challenge. Through the many press events we did together, Wally taught me how to evangelize and make a big impression.[/li] [/ul]

[h4]The Meaning of Life[/h4] [ul] [li][strong]Benevolence:[/strong] In Hawai’i, people that are close as blood but not biologically related, are called [em]hanai[/em] family. I’m lucky to have several [em]hanai[/em], including [em][strong]Po Chi Wu [/strong][/em]and family. Po Chi is an academic and venture capitalist. He’s also pedigreed (his father was known in China as [em]The Father of Physics[/em]). But what’s most impressive about Po Chi are his philosophical powers. Whenever we’re together we talk. A lot. More than imaginable. The rest of the family knows to clear out. Yet while he has great intellectual powers and deep perspective, the best part of Po Chi is that he is wise and full of love. I think of him as the [em]Benevolent Venture Capitalist[/em] ~ kind of like a vegetarian shark. Po Chi: Thank you for sharing so much of your life force, encouraging words and most of all the love of your entire family.[/li] [li][strong]Perspective:[/strong] I talk frequently with my brother [em][strong]Alan (AJ) Sue[/strong][/em]. It’s said that asking the right question is 90% of problem solving and Alan is the [em]King of the Question[/em]. Alan and I share a love for nerding on biz. And we’re both at the stage where we’re trying to figure out the “Why?” of life. Despite Alan being my younger brother, I consider him to be one of my mentors. Alan: I’m proud of the rock star you’ve turned out to be. On the point of siblings, It would be stupid of me not to recognize my sister [em][strong]Linda Sue[/strong][/em] for always supporting my antics and being so caring, and my brother [em][strong]Larry Sue[/strong][/em] who despite hogging all the brains in the gene pool, never threw it back in our faces. All of the kids in our family are highly unique. All have different perspectives. Yet we are one. I love all you guys.[/li] [li][strong]Love & Light:[/strong] I thought I was well balanced until I met [strong][em]Karen Asato[/em][/strong]. As a swashbuckling concept guy, I thought I was pretty good on the right-brain side. But Karen pushes my hippy-dippy every day. She helps me shed shackles I don’t even know are there. More importantly, she is the very essence of unconditional love. She lets me be me. That’s important and deserve an encore: she lets Me Be Me. No matter how whacky my ideas might seem at the time, she lets me be me. And she stands by me through thick and thin. Together, we hold hands, spit into the wind and laugh. Karen and I both work from home. We’re together 24/7. And we’re entirely copacetic: no strife, no strain, all love. Karen: you are the love of my life. That may sound trite but I’ve never felt truly at home with anyone else. You are good through and through. I love you and everything about you. Also on the home-front, there was [em][strong]Mia the Dog[/strong][/em] 2007-2025. Yeah, you’re thinking, “Really… the dog was his mentor?” Yep. Mia kept it real. She was a wise old spirit. I’m caught in a life as a workaholic like my Dad. I can’t do enough in a day. But Mia knew priorities. Eat. Play. Snuggle. Poo. She was very powerful. She only has to look at me and I’m on the floor with her rolling around like a canine on crack. Trigger words to us were, “snackies” “walk” and “bath” ~ I would spring the last one on [em]her[/em] just to keep it real… Ha! Take that you little mutt! Mia kept it real… and was a bright light in our lives.[/li] [/ul]