ARCHIVE

The recession was a "volcano" that pushed Alain to start his own company, one that's since been featured in places like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and Fast Company.

Alain's interview originally aired on November 12, 2018.

Alain Sylvain is the founder and CEO of Sylvain Labs, a strategy and design consultancy that helps companies seize the reality and potential of their business, products and brands. In addition to Sylvain Labs, Alain is a partner and investor in several ventures, including Master + Dynamic, a design-driven, premium audio brand, So Choice Softworks, a mobile gaming company, Lilo, an açai bowl company, and PetMio, a smart pet food startup. In addition, he has served as executive producer on short documentaries, including Some Kind of Quest, a profile of one very unique individual and his journey to keep a dream on track, and Instafame, an exploration into the psychological impact of digital fame on young people. Prior to founding Sylvain Labs, Alain was managing director at Redscout and a lead strategist at Mother New York. He also held positions at The Martin Agency, Publicis and SS+K. He frequently shares his perspective on innovation, culture, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The New York Times, Monocle, Inc. Magazine, Business Insider, Quartz, AdAge, Paper Magazine and others. He is also a current board member of + Pool and the VCU Brandcenter. Additionally, Alain is an active contributor to various non-profit initiatives around the world. Alain attended Columbia University’s SIPA and Columbia Business School, as well as Vassar College.

Food Radio is a radio station started by Food New York. For season one, Office Hours, we took over a storefront in Chinatown and interviewed over 50 artists, designers, chefs, architects, entrepreneurs, and one politician, all to find out how they managed to make money doing what they love. The space was open for anyone to visit, hang out, attend workshops and ask questions. All of the interviews were recorded live. A special thanks goes out to Jelisa Blumberg, Wave Farm, Montez Press Radio and Patrick Nininger.