We were lucky to catch up with Gueston Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gueston, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

Thank you for having me! I’m grateful to be able to share my story. & This is a good question.

The current model of cramming students into generic classrooms with the outdated educational system is failing our youth especially in predominantly Black communities. We need learning environments that ignite curiosity, creativity, and innovation.

My school experience felt more like an assembly line than a nurturing place for self growth. We weren’t encouraged to harness our strengths and unique potential to see how we can provide value to community nor are we given the right resources in predominantly Black & impoverished communities. I’m grateful that my natural curiosity led me to seek experience, wisdom and life skills beyond what I’ve been accustomed to. Many students see their creativity and talents stifled in rigid, outdated systems. The world has changed, yet education models remain stuck under the outdated paradigm of the industrial age evaluated by how well children can regurgitate information, how obedient they are and how well they can follow directions in a setting unnatural to the child’s expressive needs. At the time, the decision drastically improved literacy, which is amazing but we live in a different time with more complex circumstances. Maybe we should focus less on productivity / output and more on helping each student unlock their true selves. That happens when learning is hands-on, engaging, & personalized. Lets teach critical life skills like mindfulness, mental models, financial literacy, resourcefulness, gardening, trade skills and emotional intelligence.

That’s why Guesscreative decided to create a solution to design both mobile classrooms (sits 10 – 16+ students comfortably) optimized for imagination-centered, project-based learning & interactive shipping container play spaces. A mobile classroom is a portable, self-contained space that can be used for teaching and learning. This setup offers many benefits, including the power to bring education to students who may not have access to a traditional classroom. These interactive spaces spark curiosity through technology, adaptive furniture, and flexibility that empowers teachers. Education should be fulfilling, as opposed to leaving students feeling like they are learning things that will not help them in life.

I have a few ideas to change the education system to make it more student-centered and innovative:

• Personalize learning: Tailor instruction to each student’s individual learning style and needs.
• Incite Enthusiasm in Teachers: Empower teachers to be creative and innovative (professional development opportunities, incentives, resources, and autonomy)
• Use project-based learning: Give students the opportunity to learn by doing, working on real-world problems.
• Integrate technology: Use the latest technology to engage students and make learning more interactive.
• Focus on critical thinking: Teach students how to think critically and solve problems.
• Exposure: Show students more of what the world has to offer.

• Offer a Feeling of Autonomy: Give students more choice and control over their learning.
• Emphasize creativity: Encourage students to be creative and express themselves.
• Promote collaboration: Give students opportunities to collaborate with each other and actively learn from each other.
• Build character: Teach students about important life skills, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.

The resources exist to nurture young minds. What’s needed is the will to put people first, to create environments where their innate abilities flourish, not fade. With some creativity and passion, we can start the revolution education desperately needs. Our youth deserve nothing less. You can find some of our creative spatial solutions to change the education system on www.guesscreative.com.

Gueston, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sure, I would love to. 

Hello,

For those who don’t know me yet, My name is Gueston Smith. My personality is just as unique and explorative as my name. I am an architectural designer by trade, mostly creating luxury shipping container / modular homes for a design build company called Kubed Living. Although I don’t believe that we should be defined by our jobs / careers, I am grateful that I get to design for a living. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I am a person who experienced a lot of life and loss early on. Born & raised in Fort Worth, Texas, my environment was full of opportunities to explore, to be empathetic, to love, to stay centered and to stay active. 

My life’s mission is to create – crafting designs that empower and inspire. I developed Guesscreative through a vision to design a better place for people. My creative journey began with my mother asking me to design an accessible home for her and my younger sister, Talyia, who was born with cerebral palsy. I made a promise to myself that I would design accessible homes for others in inspiration / memory of my angel of a baby sister. Though she’s transitioned, her love motivates me to this day. I kept that vision as I planned my next moves and got accepted into the USC school of Architecture in Los Angeles.  After graduating architecture school at the University of Southern California & working in the design / construction field at a corporate company, I started Guesscreative to initially to design logos and empower those seeking the same freedom that I longed for. I’m driven to provide a fresh perspective on spaces, the mind, and community through human-centered design, designing for people not profits. Beyond architecture, I am also a Jeet Kune Do martial arts instructor. I work to cultivate the discipline and inner realization to connect my mind with my body and manifest my goals.

Guesscreative LLC is a multidisciplinary design agency. We study prolific figures such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Elijah McCoy, George Washington Carver, Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Buckminster Fuller, Virgil Abloh, and Bjarke Ingels to name a few. Guesscreative looks to extend that essence of design in our work as we design everything from shipping container homes to sports electric ATVs, applying imagination and purpose to each project. Looking ahead, Guesscreative is focused on expanding our multidisciplinary services to create emotional connections through social and cultural building / product design. I believe that when we reflect our authentic selves, we become vessels for growth. This philosophy will be expressed through the design of spaces and will even be the inspiration for our design collections. From branding to environments, my passion is empowering others to realize their full potential. To find freedom in creation. In the future, I envision spaces as vessels for growth and human potential. Homes that adapt to our needs, not vice versa. Cities built for connection.  I believe creativity and imagination are the keys to overcoming humanity’s challenges – if we have the courage to rethink what’s possible. The status quo only changes when we challenge it. When we turn constraints into opportunities for ingenuity. My life’s work is sparking that creative problem solving every day.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Life is full of pivots because change is inevitable. It’s the only thing that’s constant in this life journey we all share. The one that comes to mind is when I decided to shift my career. After I graduated from USC, I worked as a facilities engineer at a large corporate company for a couple of years. It was a vital experience for my career’s trajectory. I met great people, developed professional experience and understood the kind of work environment that I didn’t need to be in. But I started to understand why the caged bird sings. I was young and had so many ideas that I wanted to explore. I discovered that I had bigger dreams & I needed autonomy in my life in order to go after them. I wanted control of my life experience and most importantly, my time. I researched and read articles everyday about how to take control of my life and not feel stuck to any job or decision that I had made in my early 20s. I realized that in order to get to where you want to go, you have to do the work that needs to be done. For me, it was determining how much savings I’d need to survive for 6 months without working. To get that money, I needed a side hustle. I needed another stream of income that would allow me to make decisions based on my future and not the current circumstances. I looked back at all that I’ve learned over the years, both personally and in college to realize that I had the skills to do graphic design. I decided to create logos to help those who understood what I was going through. I wanted to help businesses brand themselves authentically, professionally and creatively. In my free time, I studied the psychology of branding, good design and the current trends in order to start putting myself out there as a designer. I started getting small projects here and there which really helped me start to save funds, build a savings and ultimately confidence for the small wins. Once I saved up 6 months of rent /expenses, It was time for me to pivot in my career and pursue my personal journey of self development and creative services. That was about the time that I found my interest in prefab architecture & shipping containers.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Artificial Intelligence for sure. But to give something more relatable…definitely the mind.

During my creative journey, I discovered that the strongest resource I have is my consciousness, which gives me the ability to critically think & discern. Consciousness is the awareness of self and your environment. With awareness, one can respond timely, effectively and appropriately. Consciousness for me was trusting my intuition, gaining knowledge of self and building my confidence through a series of small wins. I wish that I had realized that we all have untapped potential that is much greater than anything we have been taught. This realization took time, patience and solitude. But my journey has allowed me to truly start to understand who I am and what I’m building towards. I had to limit my distractions and pursue the right knowledge & wisdom both in my field and in myself. I wish I understood earlier how powerful doing nothing intentionally can actually be. It is in that nothingness that we truly see the thoughts, ideas and visions that come to us naturally. In order to tap into our strongest resource, we have to make sure we take care of ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. A healthy mind and body opens up the opportunity for exponential growth. My creative journey has been extremely rewarding already. I look forward to what is to come in the future. I hope that something I said sparked a few interests in some of you. If anyone wants to chat, feel free to reach out to any of my contact methods below. Take care of yourselves and what you intake daily. Let’s keep growing & flowing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.guesscreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guesscreative
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guestonsmith/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@guesscreative