Finnair, Lead Service & Designer - New Business & Innovation
January 2019 - PRESENT
The main objective of my role is to create new products and services that generate revenue and attract new customers for the airline. My main achievements include:
Creating an Executive Board approved strategy for the New Business & Innovation function
Created the Service Design function within Finnair that helps and assist teams in becoming more user-centric
Created a new online service for the Finnair Plus loyalty program which was validated and now in early stage development
Lead the global user research project for the Cargo business which has informed the company's five year strategy
Lead and conducted the global loyalty research and designed the new service and product offering which is currently in production
Helped conduct user research, prototyping, testing and launch activities for the Now/here travel experience booking platform aimed at independent Asian travellers
Building a user research and customer-centric design competency program to roll out across the company
Teaching three of ten modules on user research and design thinking at the Yle & Finnair Agile Culture course.
Kiuas, Startup Mentor
March 2019 - PRESENT
Kiuas is a startup accelerator run out of Startup Sauna at Aalto University that runs three programs a year, helping over 50 companies a year in their journey to first revenue. I volunteer my time to help startups with go-to-market strategies with a focus on UX, Service Design and research.
Lendlease, Senior Innovation Manager
April 2014 - January 2019
The main objective of my role is to lead and manage Lendlease’s innovation program and lab which focuses on the development and incubation of new services and products for customers. Achievements include:
Successfully launching Lendlease’s Innovation program which led to the company placing in the top 20 most innovative company awards in 2017
Growing the global innovation team across Australia, Asia, America and Europe.
Partnering with Stanford University to run a corporate accelerator
Opening the Innovation Lab to incubate ideas design for concept testing and experimenting
Running Lendlease’s first hackathon, IdeaHack, which was focused on developing solutions for the affordable housing crisis
Successfully developing and launching multiple products and services
Participating in and managing the CoVentured partnership to create and foster an ecosystem of startups, founders and other corporates
Creating an online platform for people to develop ideas independently
100% success rate in pitching ideas which received funding from our internal venture capital fund
Built organizational awareness through communication initiatives, like the speaker series called Ideas@Lendlease.
Destination Outpost, Co-founder
March 2018 - PRESENT
My team and I are creating a (soon-to-be-launched) hotel aggregator that focuses on venues that are affordable, well designed, and most importantly encourage interaction through communal space and programming. My responsibilities include:
Conducting user research to uncover the gap in the market and understanding the needs, frustrations and emotions of our market
Sourcing, managing and editing the work of contributors
Running A/B testing to validate and iterate the concept
Creating product specification documents and briefs
Working with creatives, agencies, and writers to develop a compelling online presence for our users.
Tales & Trails, Editor & Writer
February 2011 - PRESENT
Tales & Trails is a personal travel blog which has transformed into a profitable business through freelancing and brand collaborations. Businesses I have worked with include Australia’s largest airlines, Qantas and Virgin Australia and collaborated with global brands like Belmond, Shangri-la and Culture Trip.
CSIRO ON Program, Accelerator Mentor
May 2017 - PRESENT
Helping teams of scientists and academics in the ON Prime accelerator program to validate their research through design thinking, UX, building entrepreneurial capacity and commercializing opportunities.
My achievements include:
Coaching my team to do effective UX research that validated their idea within several key target market groups
Mentored the team through the design thinking process to evolve their product through prototyping and iterative design.
Co-creating an effective go-to-market strategy which secured them a spot in second stage accelerator program
Helping the team launch CareGiVR, that allows users to learn and practice necessary health procedures using AR and VR.
Lendlease, Communications & Marketing Manager
December 2012 - April 2014
In this national role, I worked with my international counterparts to promote Lendlease internally and externally. Successes included creating a bi-annual national roadshow program that increased employee engagement by 20% within one year and creating a working on winning bids.
Happy Haus, Marketing Manager
June 2012 - November 2012
I helped the startup redesign their user-experience, marketing. and online presence during a time of growth by setting up the CRM, creating marketing collateral and dealing with media inquiries.
Urban Land Development Authority, Communications & Marketing Executive
August 2010 - May 2012
I was responsible for a large scale waterfront project. Successes included developing a precinct brand and securing high profile events on site including Cirque du Soleil, Eat Street Markets and the Brisbane International Film Festival.
Rowland, PR Consultant
August 2008 – June 2010
As a consultant, I secured media coverage for clients across different industries and was awarded a highly commended award at the Annual Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) Awards in 2010.