With an interactive arts firm founded with several other artists, former Meow Wolf CEO Vince Kadlubek made a career out of creativity. Now he's back with a new venture — one with imagination in mind.
It's called The Imagination Pill, and Kadlubek founded the startup with three other people. The startup offers a supplement meant to boost creative thinking.
The idea for the product was born out of trying to think of things to put in Meow Wolf's Omega Mart artistic exhibit in Las Vegas. The exhibit in Las Vegas opened last year and features a fantastical grocery store from a fictional corporation named Dramcorp.
"We give attention to muscles, we give attention to our skin, we give attention to our hair, we give attention to all these parts of ourself ... [But] we don't give much space for the ability to imagine something," Kadlubek said. "That's like the underlying thing for me out of it all is wanting to just bring the imagination to the forefront for people on a daily basis."
While the idea behind Omega Mart is planted in the realm of fiction, the idea for a creative supplement has roots in real life. The Imagination Pill was formed in October, and the supplement uses a concoction of ingredients already on the market including caffeine, lion's mane and L-Theanine, according to Kadlubek. He said he used to take a "stack of supplements" and has been taking the Imagination Pill for months.
Alongside Kadlubek, who confirmed that the Imagination Pill is not being sold or on display at Omega Mart, are cofounders Nathan Thompson, Lauren Taylor and David Heyman.
Kadlubek's first business venture was Meow Wolf, which became a hotspot locally with its House of Eternal Return attraction in Santa Fe. It then expanded to Las Vegas and Denver with permanent exhibits while earning national recognition on the way.
In 2019, Kadlubek stepped down from the CEO role at Meow Wolf, which eventually named former ViacomCBS exec Jose Tolosa to the role.
"Some of these smaller projects like Imagination Pill ... all those are like opportunities for me to really learn where my blind spots are and learn what I need to get better at," Kadlubek said.
On that note, the Albuquerque Journal recently reported that Kadlubek also has another business, a restaurant, in the works. It's called Escondido, Spanish for "hidden," and was developed by Kadlubek alongside chef Fernando Ruiz.
