The engineer who became a silliness consultant
(and 8 other projects I can't stop thinking about)
Hey, it’s Harrison 👋 Welcome to my publication about creativity as a tool for personal growth.
If you’re ready to make a big life or career shift through a creative project, I offer 1:1 coaching to help you navigate that transformation. To explore what you could achieve by partnering with me, send me an email and we’ll set up a call to chat.
Dear subscriber,
What’s that thing you want to create but haven’t let yourself take seriously yet?
[Please think of it, before you read on]
With that in mind, I want to tell you about a new ‘passion project’ accelerator I’m helping to build called Act Two—and in particular about the intriguing, inventive, and inspiring creative projects students are building there.
I’ve been telling my friends and family about these projects, and when I watched their eyes bulge and their mouths gape, I realised that other people would be interested in hearing about them too, so I’m sharing some of them with you.
If reading about the following projects makes you tempted to join Act Two to start or develop a passion project of your own, but you have questions or concerns, feel free to grab 30 mins with me and I’ll be happy to tell you all about it.
I’m going to include some more context about Act Two at the bottom of this post (how to join, etc). But first, let me briefly tell you about the crazy-good projects students are building at Act Two.
Cees Kamp, currently living in the Netherlands, is really into water. His background is in academia and he also runs a company that makes water filtration devices. Cees is using his time in Act Two to write what he describes as a “Water Bible,” sharing the untold history and unrivalled impact of this most abundant and taken-for-granted liquid.
Based in Poland, Ada Zielinska is an artist whose Act Two project is to transport an entire burned forest into a museum space, creating an immersive and interactive site-specific sculpture. It’s going to require multiple sources of funding, logistical ingenuity, and plenty of creative flair. And I cannot wait to see it (and smell it) when it’s complete.
“Proving that free will exists!”—that’s the goal of John Girgis, who lives in Scotland and is studying neuroscience. John wants to create sensitive enough imaging techniques to capture memories as they’re being created in the brain, because if he can do that, then he could (cutting a long story short) demonstrate that fate is impossible.
Lori Mazor, in the U.S., is using her deep curiosity with AI to not only vibe-code tools that allow for new forms of musical production, she’s also teaching others to make music—even those with no previous experience. Lori ran a Guest Creative Lab in Act Two (all students are welcome to run Guest Labs) and it was a huge hit with everyone who took part.
Before Kyle McGovern sadly lost his grandpa, he’d spent time interviewing him and thus preserving his life story for his family to savour. Kyle is now developing his “oral history” project in Act Two to include other families in the U.S. and beyond, creating a home on YouTube called Ask Your Elders, to broadcast all of their stories.
U.S.-based entrepreneur, father, and writer, Jeff Giesea, entered Act Two never having used TikTok as a creative tool. Within just a few weeks of experimentation and testing, Jeff had gone viral with his short-form video content—and discovered a whole new medium for sharing his ideas with a new audience.
For years, Cris Valerio saw a lack of specialised overnight care for newborn babies in her mountain town of Truckee, California, causing many parents sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and leaving them no time to recover. In Act Two, Cris was finally able to mobilise. She has launched the website and built strategic relationships with local healthcare providers.
Paudan Jain, an Indian immigrant living in Australia, is building a suite of resources to help newer immigrants and job seekers break into the tough Australian job market. With specific knowledge and tools that have worked for him, he’s creating the “Immigrant Job Launchpad,” producing courses, consulting, and digital services.
And last but certainly not least, UK-based engineer Jack came into Act Two aiming to write about AI safety. A serious topic indeed. But after participating in the cohort, Jack rediscovered a forgotten playfulness that had laid dormant for years, and now he’s taking play more seriously. No joke—Jack has become a Sillyness Consultant.
How incredible are these projects?! I love shouting about them.
And by the way, if you want to read about them in more depth, one of our students, Pranav Gajria, a doctor-turned-creator, is writing Act Two project deep dives.
I mentioned I’m helping build Act Two. But how?
Firstly I’m coaching. Students come to me with problems they want to overcome or ideas they want to explore, and I support them in devising their own solutions for moving forward.
Secondly, with Will Mannon and Dan Sleeman (the co-founders), I’m figuring out how to build a world-class peer support culture, designing principles, rituals, tools, and systems that help students help each other in Act Two.
Do you have an idea you’d like to explore in Act Two?
Here’s some more context:
Act Two is our flagship cohort-based accelerator for developing a passion project of your own. Cohort 2 kicks off in January 2026 Apply here →
Citizens of the Internet is our “always on” creative community that runs alongside Act Two, providing ongoing support between cohorts. Apply here →
You can join Act Two or Citizens or both
You can work on any creative project you like. Projects can be profit-making or not. You don’t need to have started your project to join
If you have more questions, or want to discuss a project you’re thinking about, book 30 mins with me. I would love to hear more.
I’ll wrap this up now. And I’ll keep it simple.
Life is short. You must create things. You are a creative creature with creative needs. And look what happens when you ignore your needs (from the wise and mighty Mary Oliver)!👇:
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
I am sorry for guilt-bombing you with that at this festive time of year but it’s TRUE!
So start that project! Take that step! And for pete’s sake do it with others who are on the same journey as you. Do it at Act Two.
Thanks for reading my posts in 2025. Your engagement means a lot to me.
Speak soon. Have a wonderful christmas and a happy new year.
—Harrison x
⬥
Previous post
Perfect case in point of all the endless possibilities once you tap into the internet. Thank you for the mention Harrison!