Gretchen Gscheidle, Mpd2 Email & Phone Number

I am an award-winning design leader focused on the holistic value of design. My commercialized products, including Herman Miller's revolutionary and iconic Aeron® chair, are benchmarks for performance, purposeful design, and lasting value. Broadly, design has ALWAYS been my “Ikigai” – the Japanese concept of whatever gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living. I love diving into how we might do things "better" for all stakeholders: enterprises, society, and Mother Earth. From 2019 - 22, I volunteered, taught, and advised in research-based design with non-profit, startup & SMB Ventures from Portland, OR to Tel Aviv deploying my "whole brain" design thinking + systems thinking "superpower" and SME in an iterative, problem-solving process for impact in innovations, strategies, brand, and experiences. Key projects since July 2020 include helping launch two brands and brokering a strategic partnership between two existing manufacturers. Those executives hired me for:a. CONTEXT - gathering data, clarifying problems, and describing actionable insights/ opportunities b. COMPOSITION - creating narratives, decks, and roadmapsc. AGENCY - finding/ vetting potential partnersBefore that, I enjoyed a strong record of contribution in product development and innovation during my extraordinary 25+ year career at Herman Miller including on-the-ground customer engagements in 50 domestic and 17 international markets, plus 8 years leading the global research and insights function. My legacy there includes Aeron and other commercialized products that together generated >$800M in annual, pre-pandemic revenue; won 52 awards; and represent oodles of intellectual property value. Indeed, I am also a Seating SME.As my first work team leader, Andrew McGregor has known me throughout my career. In 2019, we were telling friends the story of how he had hired me as I was starting my career. He described it as, "One of the best decisions [he] ever made." Andrew recently introduced me to a prospective client, writing, "Without exaggeration, [Gretchen] is a remarkable talent." My last EVP Don Goeman, says:"Gretchen has so many creative insights, great people skills, and positive advocates who want to collaborate with her. She has a vast network with a lot of creative capital and was a key contributor to bringing life to the Innovation Kitchen as leader of the Insight + Exploration team, also developing the cultural experience to help build the sense of community for our team.”