Welcome to the latest “WIN Spotlight,” our ongoing series that celebrates inspirational women in our community. Each interview features a member of WIN who is championing innovation at her organization or across the industry. We dig into the diverse perspectives, influencers, missions, drivers, and dreams of these leaders, and of course, share practical tips.

We’re excited to feature Hattie Camp, Senior Brand and Innovation Consultant, self-employed and WIN Ambassador. Enjoy!

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi, I’m Hattie! I’m a brand strategist and innovation consultant. I help my clients understand the future that they are going to have and help them understand what they need to do in order to succeed in a world that is crowded, competitive and, for a lot of brands, undifferentiated.

What moments have most influenced you to seek a career in innovation?

I fell into brand strategy straight after university. I had done an innovation module at university and became instantly intrigued, so much so that I wrote my dissertation on my university brand and the impact it had on its students. Beyond that, I knew very little at the start of my career and I still feel like I am learning each and every day! Over the past 10 years, I’ve worked in multiple sectors and consulted on diverse client challenges; from developing new experience strategies for the world's largest hotel brand through to helping one of the UK’s biggest charities figure out how to make £10m. I’ve always worked in relatively small consultancies but I have recently made the transition to freelancing as I am heading off on a 6-month career break to explore South and Central America.

What’s the best part of your job?

There is a lot but if I had to narrow it down, there are two parts that I love the most. The first is being a guide for my clients and having the ability to take them on an exciting, often quite nerve-wracking, journey. I always show them The Design Squiggle at the start of every project to help them understand just how the innovation process feels. It can be an intense experience (especially when on a sprint) but for me, it is about embracing the ambiguity in order to explore and create truly innovative ideas.

The second is the sheer variety of what I get to do. Not just on a project by project basis, but each day. The innovation process allows me to put my hand to so many different types of work and activities. One day I’m in front of consumers, in their homes, talking to them in-depth about their lives and then the next day I’m facilitating 20 clients through a creative workshop. I love the ability to switch my brain and use different skills constantly.

What is your favourite quotation?

“Insight is the knowledge, but innovation is the action”

Talk us through the highlights of your career - which moments have you been most proud of?

My proudest project moment was when I was working on a new breakfast concept for a large self-service hotel brand and it was a very intense project! We were involved from insight to innovation to design to pilot but a pivotal point of the process was when we were showcasing it at ALIS (the American Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles). I had to fly to LA from London and go straight from the flight to spending all night and day building the showcase, I’ve never been so tired! When it opened, not only did we have the CEO tasting the product and saying how delicious it was but the feedback from the investors was incredible. Being part of the team that made that happen was so rewarding.

What makes this project so memorable is that it really pushed me as a consultant. It is the most that I have ever been tested in my career. At the time a lot of it was stressful and I was so scared of failing. I was having to wear many different hats and it really forced me to step outside of my comfort zone. Being able to get through that has shown me that I should trust myself and my gut and that has been invaluable.

What is the best advice someone has given you about your career?

It wasn’t necessarily given to me as advice but I remember one of my old bosses when they first said to me ‘people buy people’. That might sound strange, but I spent so many years at the start of my career trying to be what I thought was the ‘perfect’ consultant but actually now I believe in bringing your whole self to work and bringing that authenticity to every situation makes a world of difference to you as an individual but also the people you are working with.

What drives you to work innovation?

The desire to give people unique experiences. We are all different as human beings, we all have needs and desires and being able to tap into those to create something that people truly want, is really exciting. The bit that drives me in every project is ‘the doing’ - getting to an endpoint where you have created something that other people can experience, something they can touch, see, feel, smell, taste.

What unique perspective do women in innovation bring?

I’m reading this incredible book called Invisible Women at the moment which exposes the gender bias in data and design practices, meaning most things in the world have been designed for (and by) men. It’s fascinating and so frustrating to read. Not only does a woman's perspective not always seem to matter, but the world is incompatible for us. This kind of frustration bonds us as women and nurtures our ability to be empathetic. Innovation is grounded in empathy; being able to understand how someone else feels, not just at the surface level, but deep down to create something that taps into those raw needs, and desires. While not exclusive to women, I think the impact of being a woman in this world has heightened our ability to truly understand and see the needs of others.

What unique challenges does the innovation industry in London face specifically?

To me, we are very Western-centric in how we behave (in work and outside). There is so much uniqueness and innovation coming out of the East, I love to look there for inspiration, even when it feels alien.

However, I think as an industry we are also very siloed. Having worked in both the private and the commercial sectors I have worked with organisations that are trying to solve bigger societal issues. There is no way that these issues can be solved by one person, one consultancy or one organisation. That old saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ has never been more relevant. Only by working together in new collaborations, with diverse brains will innovation truly have an impact on wider society. Cognitive diversity is crucial in innovation and I don’t think as an industry we prioritise this enough. I’ve just finished reading Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed and it highlights so many case studies where cognitive diversity could have played a defining role, the first one is about 9/11 and the role of the CIA. It’s a great read!

What product, service, or industry do you think is most ripe for innovation?

The third sector. Charities, NGOs and government departments who behave in quite a traditional way and are constrained by regulations, hierarchy and lack of funds. The only way that these organisations are going to have a true impact is by behaving in a more innovative way but they need support. If the commercial sector would work together with the third sector, and not just to pay lip service to their CSR programme, then I think we would really start to see change impacted across the UK (and beyond).

Photos by Juan Lozano

Interview by Meera Pathak

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WIN Spotlight: Hattie Camp