Episode 4

full
Published on:

5th Feb 2025

Lessons from War Zones to Dyson: Tom Parsons' Journey to Founding Aetha Design

Guest: Tom Parsons, Founder of Aetha Design

Host: Chris Whyte, Founder of Kodu

Sign up for Why Design? events: https://teamkodu.com/events

From designing surveillance systems for superyachts to navigating a live war zone in Peru and leading projects at Dyson, Tom Parsonsโ€™ journey through product design is nothing short of extraordinary. Now the founder of Aetha Design, Tom shares invaluable lessons on designing under pressure, building trust with clients, and balancing creativity with commercial realities.

In this episode, Tom discusses:

  • How his early work in high-stakes military projects shaped his engineering mindset.
  • The shift from bespoke high-end tech to mass-market production at Dyson.
  • The realities of running a design consultancyโ€”from navigating tough product launches to fostering meaningful partnerships.
  • Why "people buy from people" is the philosophy behind Aethaโ€™s approach to business.
  • His hands-on approach to understanding clients' challenges, including launching a Kickstarter for sunglasses.

Whether you're a designer, entrepreneur, or just love hearing about the adventures behind innovation, this episode is packed with candid insights and career-defining moments.


Key Takeaways

๐Ÿ”น Extreme Environments = Extreme Growth โ€“ Tomโ€™s experience in a live conflict zone taught him resilience, adaptability, and how to design for unpredictable conditions.

๐Ÿ”น From Low-Volume Luxury to High-Volume Production โ€“ Moving from bespoke surveillance systems to mass-market consumer products at Dyson broadened Tomโ€™s design approach and prepared him for consultancy.

๐Ÿ”น Why Trust Matters in Design โ€“ Building a design consultancy isnโ€™t just about great products; itโ€™s about understanding clientsโ€™ needs, mitigating risks, and creating long-term relationships.

๐Ÿ”น The Reality of Running a Consultancy โ€“ The business of design is more than just creativityโ€”Tom shares the behind-the-scenes of managing client expectations, handling setbacks, and keeping projects on track.

๐Ÿ”น A Designer Who Walks the Walk โ€“ Tom doesnโ€™t just design productsโ€”heโ€™s been through the process himself, even launching a Kickstarter to understand the challenges his clients face firsthand.


Links & Resources

Visit Aetha Design: https://aethadesign.com

Connect with Tom Parsons on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-parsons-aetha

Connect with Chris Whyte on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrchriswhyte/

Sign up for Why Design? events: https://teamkodu.com/events

Learn more about Kodu recruitment: https://teamkodu.com

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About the Podcast

WHY DESIGN?
For people interested in physical product design and development
Why Design is a podcast exploring the stories behind hardware and physical product development. Hosted by Chris Whyte, founder of Kodu, the show dives into the journeys of founders, senior design leaders, and engineers shaping people and planet-friendly products.

Formerly "The Design Journeys Podcast", each episode uncovers pivotal career moments, lessons learned, and behind-the-scenes insights from industry experts. Whether youโ€™re a designer, engineer, or simply curious about how great hardware products come to life, Why Design offers real stories, actionable advice, and inspiration for anyone passionate about design and innovation.

Join us as we listen, learn, and connect through the stories that define the world of physical product development.

About your host

Profile picture for Chris Whyte

Chris Whyte

Hi, I'm your host of Why Design? (Formerly "The Design Journeys Podcast")

I'm also the founder of Kodu - a specialist recruitment consultancy focused exclusively on physical product development. It's the people who I've met in my years in the industry that inspired me to start this podcast.

When I'm not hosting the podcast, I help physical product brands, start-ups and design consultancies identify, attract and hire the best product design & engineering talent ahead of their competitors, across the USA, UK and Europe ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ

I focus exclusively on ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ ๐๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ (๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ด!)

๐ƒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง & ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐‹๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ:
โœ… Do you have high growth plans for your physical product development and engineering division?
โœ… Would you like to engage with and source those hard-to-find Design Engineers and Industrial Designers?
โœ… Are you spending too much time in the hiring process only to find that the talent doesn't match your expectations?

๐ƒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐„๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐Œ๐ž๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐„๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ:
โœ… Are you interested in joining an exciting start-up, design consultancy or technology brand?
โœ… Interested in honest, transparent advice as to which companies would be the best fit for you?

If you agree with any of the above, I know how you feel as I deal with people just like you every day.

I have successfully placed hundreds of design engineers, industrial designers, managers and directors into some of the world's most exciting technology brands, start-ups and consultancies.

My clients tell me they work with me because:

โญ I focus on long-term relationship building, not transactions
โญ I speak their language and understand their businesses and job roles
โญ Iโ€™m professional, yet friendly and very approachable
โญ My robust process significantly reduces time-to-hire

Iโ€™ve worked within consumer electronics, homewares, kitchen appliances, e-bikes, medical devices, gaming controllers, furniture, life-sciences, audio-equipment, vacuum cleaners and more!

Typically, I recruit the following roles:
๐Ÿ’ก VP Engineering
๐Ÿ’ก Engineering Director
๐Ÿ’ก Design Manager
๐Ÿ’ก Industrial Designer
๐Ÿ’ก Product Designer (products not apps!)
๐Ÿ’ก Product Design Engineer
๐Ÿ’ก Mechanical Design Engineer
๐Ÿ’ก Mechanical Engineer

Outside of work, I'm a wannabe rock star and a father to two teenagers. I support Manchester United and I'm terrible at FIFA/FC24 ๐Ÿค“

If you want to talk about my work or anything else, message me on here and I'll respond as soon as I can. Or you can reach me via:

chris@teamkodu.com

UK: +44 7538 928 518
US: +1 862 298 5088