017: Jenny Price & Seth Johnson of AIGA Minneapolis
S2 #17

017: Jenny Price & Seth Johnson of AIGA Minneapolis

Two design leaders, one powerful connector, and a story of mentorship turning into lifelong creative partnership—this episode is a masterclass in community, transformation, and the wild, wonderful culture of design retreats. Hear how cold emails blossomed into careers, how chapter leadership became a training ground for corporate change, and why human pyramids (and arm-wrestling in Denny’s) became legendary.

Key Takeaways
  • A cold email changed everything: how Jenny’s outreach to a connector unlocked career-long leadership in AIGA and beyond.
  • Mentorship in motion: Doug Powell introduced them, their partnership flourished, and he later reunited them professionally at IBM.
  • Volunteer leadership is scalable leadership: Seth’s AIGA experience taught him how to structure repeatable systems—a key skill at IBM.
  • Some habits stick: from human pyramid diagrams to impromptu arm-wrestles and Denny’s storylines, design community rituals are unforgettable.
  • Retreats are more than meetings—they’re cultural boot camps: from security profiles to nighttime antics and shared rituals, those moments formed their leadership DNA.

Episode Chapters
  1. 00:43 – Meet Seth Johnson: Design Director at IBM, educator, and former AIGA Chapter President.   
  2. 01:31 – Meet Jenny Price: Global Design Lead Producer at GM, architect of IBM’s first DesignOps community and playbook.  
  3. 02:41 – Jenny’s cold email to Doug Powell: The spark that lit her AIGA involvement.  
  4. 03:07 – First shared AIGA event: Seth and Jenny both at the same W Hotel event—though hadn’t yet met.  
  5. 04:14 – The pivotal introduction: At GAIN 2010, Doug introduced them—setting a path that changed both their careers.  
  6. 05:00 – Jenny launches board leadership: Her first AIGA board role—Co‑Director of Education—while still new to Minneapolis.  
  7. 07:46 – Seth’s parallel path: Introduced to AIGA through local connections and mentors, moving quickly into chapter leadership.  
  8. 11:20 – Seamless partnership: Their roles visually aligned—Jenny succeeding Seth on education, then VP after his presidency.  
  9. 15:56 – Reunited at IBM: Doug invites Jenny to help build IBM’s DesignOps community—the AIGA playbook going corporate.  
  10. 21:57 – AIGA lessons at scale: Seth reflects how AIGA taught him how to make initiatives repeatable and scalable—critical to his work at IBM.  
  11. 34:18 – Leadership retreats get real: Designers are profiled for their habits by hotel security—ugh, wearing human pyramids like a badge of honor.  
  12. 36:00 – Human pyramid training: From diagrams in Illustrator to napkin-coded six-tier team builds—a Minnesota tradition.  
  13. 43:38 – Denny’s arm wrestle moment: Jenny accidentally flips David out of his chair mid-arm-wrestle; legendary snapshot captured.  

About Our Guests
  • Seth Johnson – Design Director at IBM’s Chief Data Office, educator at Parsons and Art Center, former AIGA Minnesota president. Seth’s journey from local volunteer to corporate design leader showcases how leadership in community scales to global impact.  
  • Jenny Price – Global Design Lead Producer at General Motors (Craft & Interface), pioneer of DesignOps at IBM (built its community and internal playbook). Her volunteer roots in AIGA helped her architect new systems of design leadership in enterprise contexts.

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