Creativity Knows No Boundaries
From founding top-level design collectives led by women to creating timeless and highly functional household items to fighting malaria in developing countries, Yvonne Lin has a background and portfolio that is as amazing as her boundless creative energy. Along with her husband, Boris Itin, who holds a PhD in physical chemistry, this dynamic duo moved to Contra Costa County from New York and are now poised to open the largest Urban Air amusement park in the country in the former Fry’s Electronics building in Concord.
Hello! First up, as a long-time resident I’d like to welcome you to Concord and ask if you’d like to introduce yourselves to our community and tell us a little about yourselves.
“I’m Yvonne and I’m a designer, artist, and crafty person. I’ve designed a lot of products and experiences for big companies and people who could benefit from what I do. I’ve designed cars for Nissan and looked at how to improve vaccinations in Tanzania – so yeah, a pretty wide gamut of stuff! When this space became available a few years ago we said to ourselves: ‘Wow, it’s got 40 foot ceilings and it’s really freaking big!’ So we got to thinking, what could we do with a space like this? And since we have two kids and we like to take them to places where they can run around, jump and play, and use up some of their energy, we decided that this location would be perfect for a kids indoor amusement park.”
“I’m Boris and I have a cartoonish Russian accent even though I’ve lived in the U.S. for over thirty years. I have a PhD in physical chemistry and worked as a biophysicist for many years in New York until I got bored and thought maybe it’s a midlife crisis so what else can I do with my life? And so I said ‘Hey – let’s open an adventure and trampoline park!’ and here we are – we found this space and now we’re working day and night to get the construction done and get this place open.”
Yvonne - I heard through the grapevine that you’re very much into design. You’re a founding member of the 4B Collective and Femme Den. Can you share what led you to this field and maybe a few highlights and accomplishments that you are especially proud of?
“I work with a lot of designers like me and we all have similar backgrounds, which is like – you know you’re artsy as a kid, but somehow doing fine art isn’t your thing and maybe it’s not impactful enough or too insular, but you know you’re good with your hands and love building things, but being an engineer seems really boring and you know that you want to have an impact in some way so you sort of fumble through school making weird projects, which is what I was,” Yvonne replied. “Then when I turned 16 I opened an i-D Magazine and there was a woman runner who was a double amputee and I thought to myself ‘I want to make stuff like that!’ I wanted to be a person who makes everyday things stronger and better and last longer and be more enjoyable. It’s a combo of making things and being artistic and this is what led me to Brown University’s school of design where I started taking any class where I could make something. Then I ended up working at an excellent consultancy called Smart Design, and after I had started the only other female designer left and she handed me a Smurf t-shirt and said to me ‘Now you’re the Smurfette!’ because there were no other females in the entire company – other than in admin positions – and it was pretty big! I came to realize pretty quickly that this was the state of affairs in the design field and when I looked into some stats six years ago I saw that 89% of physical product designers are male. So that’s why I was pretty much the only female working on a team and working in male-centric ways, and you don’t think about it too much because that’s the status quo, except when you realize that almost 80% of goods and services are bought by women – and that includes even power tools and gear that are bought by more women than men.
“By now I was 35 and I got to thinking about what I wanted to do with my life and I decided that what I wanted was the freedom to do my own projects but also make a living in some way.”
“After looking at this discrepancy, a group of us – I was no longer the only Smurfette – started this group called Femme Den to design and build things better for women. We designed everything from sports bras for Under Armour to early pregnancy tests. By now I was 35 and I got to thinking about what I wanted to do with my life and I decided that what I wanted was the freedom to do my own projects but also make a living in some way. Which is hard to do in a consultancy because you’re on client projects all the time. So that’s how I formed the 4B Collective – which consists of a group of us and we work on select projects. I split my time in thirds; working on well-paid projects like the PepsiCo’s of the world for one third, another goes to projects where I see they could really use my help or for an organization like UNICEF or non-profits and healthcare – I’ve done a fair amount of work in Africa and Asia – and the other third goes to my own projects like my Instagram page, Eat Your Monsters, where I do a fair bit of artsy food stuff and make costumes and weird stuff. I also like to do a lot of workshops in the library and worked on a kids’ book. But of course all of that has changed in the last six months, so now I spend 150% of my time here!”
“When we started this project we sort of hoped that I would be able to handle most of the project myself and I’d need Yvonne for only a bit with the creative stuff,” Boris added. “But as we moved forward and got closer to opening day there was so much grinding work to do and I got overwhelmed and I started dumping more work on Yvonne and now we both work 50 to 60 hour weeks just to stay on top of things.”
“As for work that I’ve done that I’m proud of, well, early in my career I did a lot of work for OXO – the household goods company,” Yvonne said. “And I mean a lot of projects – like close to 100. From spatulas to cookie makers, and while it was cool at the time, here I am 20 years later still using some of the things I designed, like our set of mixing bowls which are the best mixing bowls I’ve ever used and my kids use them every day.
“I’ve also worked on projects in China and Indonesia where currently the go-to mosquito control is a burning coil, which is essentially pesticides mixed in with whatever gets swept up off the floor then shaped into a coil that is placed next to the bed and burned. And it’s really not great – burning a coil is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes. I spent a couple of months in these countries trying to find a way to control mosquitoes that is safer, healthier, and affordable – being as how most of these people are living on less than a dollar a day. And so far it looks like the work I did is having a positive effect on reducing malaria rates.”
“I’ve worked with a lot of non-profits, but this is the one institution that makes me feel good about the state of humanity. It is incredibly inspiring and it makes your heart quiver and gives you all the good feels.”
You also intersect with the arts in a big way. What is the driving force behind your passion for the arts? And can you tell us more about YoungArts and what that is all about?
“It’s not really a choice like it is for a lot of other people,” Yvonne replied. “If you feel you are artistic, well you most likely are artistic. It’s part of my sanity – I have to make things. I could be sitting here making PowerPoints all day, but then I’m going to go home and crochet a pizza rat or something. It’s just one of those things – arts have always been a part of my life. And the line between design and art has always been fuzzy and that’s why art is always going to be part of my life. That’s just how it is!”
“YoungArts is a non-profit organization that has been around for 40 years – and I’ve worked with a lot of non-profits, but this is the one institution that makes me feel good about the state of humanity. It is incredibly inspiring and it makes your heart quiver and gives you all the good feels. The program is completely portfolio-based and covers everything from dance to music, the visual arts, and theatre – basically all ten disciplines of the arts. The programs are for high school kids who are encouraged to apply and they are chosen based on different tiers. If they are chosen to be a YoungArts alumni they are flown out to Miami for a week where we will then provide them with the most inspiring week we can come up with – and that includes master classes taught by some of the top people in their field. We’ve had Baryshnikov teach dance. Salman Rushdie was teaching writing. Zaha Hadid taught art and design – so basically we have incredible teachers who really care and I’m the chair for design along with two other panelists.”
“Some of the kids that come through are from rural areas where they’ve had little to no support or anyone who cared about what they were doing or what they care about. For them especially it’s a life-changing week and it’s incredible to witness. Every night there’s a showcase so every kid there will get to see their peers perform during the week. Oh and it’s also the only way for young people to get a Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award which means they get scholarships and get to visit the White House. And it’s not just the one week – once you’re in, you’re in, and you get support the rest of your life and can tap into hundreds of microgrants. The program has had amazing alumni come through – people like Timothy Chalamet and Amanda Gorman – who then come back and have taught at YoungArts. I always encourage talented high schoolers to apply as it will literally change your life.”
Yvonne – I love your Instagram page @eatyourmonsters. Can you tell us a little about the glorious mayhem going on there?
“Well, we have two little girls and I was more than a little annoyed during bedtime readings that there were very few female characters – especially about five years ago,” Yvonne recalled. “There were lots of male characters and genderless characters – like crayons. But the number of female characters in children’s books was and still is shockingly low. So five years ago I created a feminist kid’s book called The A to Z of Wonder Women. And then Random House asked me to do a graphic novel – which I really didn’t want to do as I wanted to do a kid’s cookbook – but as publishing stands currently you have to either be a celebrity or an Instagram influencer. So they asked me to do that first and I said ok – because I weirdly enjoy taking on projects at which I’m going to fail gloriously! So that’s where my Instagram page got started, but over time the filters got more fuzzy-wuzzy and now it’s all about whatever. But what I find interesting is that the connections with people I follow and who follow me have led to some very interesting collaborations.”
As a resident of Concord I’ve often wondered like many others whatever might become of the old Fry’s building and well, here we are! Tell us why Concord, why this location works, and what is Urban Air all about?
“Why Concord? Honestly – it’s all about getting access to this building,” Yvonne replied. “It’s really the perfect building for what we had in mind and the only thing left to consider was whether we went at it alone or franchised with a group.”
“I originally wanted to do a rock climbing gym because I’m a rock climber,” Boris chimed in. “But the demographics in Concord are not ideal for a rock climbing gym, but they are perfect for an amusement park because there are lots of families with kids. The building was accessible, the demos were good, and we have been members of Urban Air since our daughter was one – so why not open a trampoline and amusement park? So we looked at options and turned to a franchise because it’s the sweet spot between owning your own business and operating inside a known framework. Urban Air stood out because they have the most interesting features and programs - so we joined them.”
Describe an Urban Air experience for us - as if you were a kid going there with some friends who hadn’t been before.
“As the main person taking our kids to Urban Air I can explain,” said Boris. “‘Oh wow, look a trampoline – let’s go jump!’ and then a half hour later ‘Let’s get some ice cream!’ and then of course ‘I’m hungry – I want pizza!’ and as soon as we’re done ‘Let’s do the air course together!’ ‘This is fun – let’s bring my friends!’ ‘More pizza!’ ‘Let’s do the climbing wall and then play laser tag!’ and this goes on until someone runs out of energy – and then we get to do it all again next weekend – with friends!”
“We’re looking at making an incredible first impression when kids and their parents walk through the double doors for the first time,” Yvonne said. “The first thing you’ll see is the biggest jungle gym you’ve ever seen in your life. Then as you look up you see the huge fluorescent yellow zipline, and the ropes course, and the lights of the laser tag arena. It’s going to be a full sensory and auditory experience and our default color is ‘highlighter seen from space yellow!’”
Let’s talk a little about community. What are some of the ‘ingredients’ you think are most essential for creating that secret sauce that brings people together? And how does Urban Air and your background (and as parents of 2 young people) specifically factor into this recipe?
“I want to have creative spaces,” Yvonne replied. “And another thing that I’m going to be heavily involved in besides the employee handbook is Easter and Halloween – oh yeah, it’s going to be good! We’re going to have the biggest Easter egg hunt you’ve ever seen in your life and be as creative as possible. And we’ve told everyone we’ve hired so far that we’re not going to say no to anything if you can make it creative, fun, and safe. We’re going to do the Halloween parade inside on a runway and I’m finally going to have a place for my 12 foot tall skeleton! I’m definitely going to put it somewhere on the warrior course. Basically we want to make this a fun and creative place to be, with lots of special events – we’re going to do adult hours, homeschool hours, sensory hours – and have it be a great blend of business and creativity.”
“Just like Fry’s Electronics back in their heyday, they created a really fun business model, so we’re just going to take that freedom to continue in that tradition,” Boris underscored.
What would you say to a young person with a head full of ideas and dreams who might want to pursue a career in design and/or the arts?
“Find your tribe. Find other people like you, and it doesn’t have to be in person – it can be remote,” Yvonne said. “Find the people who inspire you because there will always be people who will want or try to shut you down, so you have to be resilient. But you also have to be good, it’s not enough to have loads of enthusiasm and just be excited – you have to be excited AND good and work on your craft. One of the things I like about art and design is that to a large extent it’s a meritocracy. No one cares what school you went to – no one cares if you went to college or not. If you have a portfolio and you’re good at what you do, you will be accepted and people will want to work with you. Find out what you’re good at, what you care about, what you love, and also what you will need to survive on.”
“But here’s the thing and a conversation I’ve had with a lot of parents; their kid will say ‘I’m into art!’ and the parents will say ‘Well then you need to get into software design.’ Then the kid will reply ‘I don’t want to get into software design…’ ‘But you’ll need a job!’ and this is when I say you can definitely make a living at art and design – you just have to be good at it. So find the people and the environments where you can learn stuff. I tell young people that if they want to be a designer and build stuff then take shop class, learn metalworking, take the courses that will help you on that path and help you develop your skills.”
Thank you both so much for sharing your insights and knowledge! In closing is there anything else you’d like to add or share with us?
“Well, if there’s anyone out there once we’re open who has ideas or suggestions we will be happy to entertain them and host cool things,” Yvonne replied.
“Also – because amusement parks are always packed on weekends and pretty busy on Fridays, we’re open to new ideas for things to add during the week – basically we’re looking to be as supportive and enthusiastic as possible,” Boris added.
