Laura Gelder-Robertson

Director, Glow Innovation

I help people grow (in work or life) through lighting new ways to innovation. I collaborate with anyone from solopreneurs to social enterprises to large multinationals to inspire new ways to develop products, services & experiences (in shops, airports, hospitals and online) as well as the social, human design thinking that underpins all of these.

Member since November 2015

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07740061703

www.glowinnovation.com

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My Approach

I start from a human perspective: what’s the positive shift in behaviour you want to see? Is it personal to you or something you wish to inspire in others? And does the world truly need this new idea? My mantra is: making stuff people love beats making people love stuff. The WHY is as important as the whole journey of collaboration, nurturing and daring greatly that follows. Innovation is about empathy, flexibility and, above all, the ability to embrace failure. There is real joy in the moment an idea finally sees the light of day.

Latest News

  • Is your business ready to glow?

    Posted Tuesday 14th June, 2016

    It’s been a busy and deliciously varied year at Glow in 2015. We’ve helped businesses grow by…
    • partnering with large-scale industrial print teams to reimagine patient journeys for chronic conditions
    • collaborating with Award-winning Social Enterprise, Do Something Different (www.dsd.me), to develop an Innovation Programme accessible to anyone to support positive behaviour change towards being more innovative in work & life (***newsflash coming in the New Year once the final software tweaks from testing are done to launch!***)
    • inspiring a radical new approach to tackling racial discrimination in the nursing & mental healthcare profession in the UK
    I count myself extremely lucky to work alongside a truly world class team of innovators, designers, OD consultants, strategy specialists, photographers, storytellers and artists. We wish you a wonderful festive period.

  • Illuminating the World

    Posted Tuesday 14th June, 2016

    Rather than send christmas cards this year I decided to donate 1% of profits to the astonishing Kickstarter “Solarpuff” innovation project – an ex MIT professor who has pioneered a low cost, sustainable, solar-powered light for people in crisis zones across the world – from Haiti to Nepal and now Syria. The United Nations recently recognised their work towards lighting the lives of 18% of the world’s population who live without electric light. For a cracking example of rapid prototyping, design thinking and frugal innovation watch this: https://vimeo.com/109985896

    Here is the website if you wish to find out more and perhaps make a donation too: http://www.solight-design.com/our-story/.

How can I help?

How I help clients & organisations grow…

  • Creating a learning experience that enables you (or a team) to BE more innovative
  • Designing inspirational Away Days and Workshops for having ideas, collaborating, rapid prototyping and so on
  • Looking in places your competition can’t or won’t look to developing inspiration & stimulus to catalyse design thinking?
  • Facilitating you (or a team) to identify and break the rules in your field, to create disruptive new products & experiences?
  • Facilitating conferences with diverse groups of people on complex issues in a supportive, compassionate and non judgmental way

Creativity, inspiration and empathy lie at the heart of everything we do. If you, or your team, think you might benefit from new ways to grow your people, products or experiences, then give me a call on +44(0) 7740061703.

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http://www.glowinnovation.com

Qualifications

  • MSc in International Marketing, UMIST (with distinction) - 2000 - 2001

  • BA in Modern European Languages (French, German, Spanish) from Durham University - 1995 - 1999

  • CTI Coaching Fundamentals Practitioner - 2010

  • Part II Tennis Coach, LTA

Testimonials

  • I have worked with Laura on a number of projects and found her to be creative, inspiring and strategic. She's a terrific facilitator, pours her entire heart and mind into projects and her thoughtful consideration of the details allows us to focus on the big picture. She's a great motivator.

    Donna Gray, Director, Global Patient Adherence

  • I love working with Laura. She's a fantastic coach and facilitator and is so creative. She always enables me to see challenges in a totally new way and spot opportunities I might have never seen without her. Laura makes a powerful, lasting impact on the people, teams & organisations she works with.

    Emily Cantrell, Water Industry Partnerships Team Leader, Wateraid

  • Laura is a creative energy bomb who brings incredible drive and insight to innovation, marketing and brand projects. I've worked with Laura on a variety of client interventions and been incredibly impressed with the vast range of creative resources, stimuli and provocation that she brings.

    Dr Steve Marshall, Programme Director: Ashridge Doctorate in Organisational Change

Experience

  • Director, Glow Innovation 2009 - current

  • Inventor, What If Innovation - 2004 - 2008

  • Innovation Team Member, WHSmiths Innovation - 2001 - 2004

  • Associate, Ovens & Co Strategy & Innovation Consultancy - 2011 - 2014

  • Associate, Hidden Gorilla Retail Innovation consultancy - 2010 - 2014

  • IDEO Insights for Innovation training (Online)- 2015

  • Graduate, Hoffman Process - May 2014

  • Brene Brown's Vulnerability & Shame workshop (School of Life) - 2015