Few names in sustainable innovation carry the depth of experience and creative foresight that define Joanne Jørgensen. From shaping Nike’s groundbreaking FlyKnit technology to redefining team culture through her leadership at TeamGlue, Joanne has spent her career driving the intersection of design, ethics and business transformation.
Her work exemplifies how creativity, sustainability and commercial success can coexist — and why the future of business depends on rethinking how we make, lead and consume.
Having advised global brands and inspired leaders worldwide, Joanne continues to champion a more responsible and regenerative approach to innovation.
In this exclusive interview with the Sustainability Speakers Agency, she reflects on the lessons behind her career, the importance of white space in creative thinking, and the power of not having all the answers.
Q: You’ve worked with some of the world’s biggest brands from early in your career. What first opened your eyes to the importance of ethical design and sustainability in business?
Joanne Jørgensen: “So I think first and foremost was being lucky enough early in my career to work for very large global brands and travel to factories.
“I mean, I’m talking the ’90s, travel to factories in Asia and really seeing the process at a global scale and the end-to-end process. And I think when you see that, for me as a curious person, there were more questions than answers.
“I think one of the big things that I found really challenging to get my head around was creating product to just fill a store or minimum order quantities with the hope that it would sell, which for me created a lot more questions than answers.
“I was probably that annoying early years designer that just was constantly curious, but that’s where I was like, surely we can do things better than this. So it started from the very beginning to be.”
Q: During your time at Nike, you were involved in developing FlyKnit — a technology that revolutionised footwear design. From that experience, what do you believe companies should understand about innovation and risk-taking?
Joanne Jørgensen: “To be honest, I think first and foremost it’s the importance of investment in R&D or innovation hubs. And when I say innovation hubs, I don’t mean an innovation team that is sort of dragged into the day-to-day.
“I really mean something that is separated off, that isn’t stuck in constant meeting cycles and is able to experiment and pilot and roll out processes for the business or products.
“I think this is really key in where we’re at today because we’re in a space where so many businesses are struggling, but when you look under the hood, they’re doing the same old thing expecting different results. I would say the same for a lot of leadership courses as well. So we are in a space where we need a different approach to leadership, but also a different approach to team structure.
“That would be the number one thing. And when we look at Nike themselves, I would say, you know, they had obviously a big history designing trainers and a successful history in doing that in one way. But a traditional trainer has like 40 plus components cut out of rolled goods.
“The waste at scale for these companies is incredible. But what they did was take a risk on a completely new method of make through having innovation hubs, through having R&D that is zero waste.
“And I really believe that just taking that approach of taking people out of the day-to-day to answer the difficult questions—yes, we’re successful at doing this one way, but we’re damaging our planet—how can we create a different way? And yeah, I think there’s a lot to be learned for many companies with that.
“I think we’ve got into a habit of being always on, and that could be back-to-back Zoom meetings. I see this a lot as an executive coach. Often, the problem that a lot of executives, leaders, founders come to me with is they say a lack of time, and that can be often time to get to know their team, time to do specific projects.
“What I find interesting about that is white space is where our ideas come—when we are calm and able to not be on the hamster wheel. It’s where our brain connects everything, and there’s no happenstance that people say, “Oh, I get ideas when I go for a run or napping.”
“And I feel like, again, when you have that space for R&D away from the hamster wheel, that is where the eureka and the most important strategies for your business can come from.”
Q: Many businesses are trying to become more sustainable, but often don’t know where to start. From your perspective, what practical steps should they take to make sustainability part of their core strategy?
Joanne Jørgensen: “Yeah, I think the main thing I often say is this is not a band-aid solution. It’s not just hiring one ESG expert or someone with sustainability in the title. It should be absolutely something foundational that goes throughout your company and your organisation and sits in everybody’s strategies and everybody’s KPIs.
“Because the problem is with a siloed approach—if it’s the ESG or sustainability team—it’s just seen as something that everyone doesn’t need to worry about. And you know, I think as humans, we do in general not like change. And you can really see that with things such as legislation coming in for sustainability.
“You know, the EU, for example, are very clear on the legislation and when it’s coming in. For example, digital product passports—and these are showing the ingredients of everything that is in a product. It is not new news that this is coming in 2027, but if I could tell you how many brands haven’t even started looking at this, it is insane.
“So I really think if it’s everybody’s priority to work to this, you will have a strategy. You won’t be scrambling, and you ultimately won’t be fined for not adhering to these things or end up hurting your bottom line. So it is really important that it is everybody’s strategy and everybody’s foundational approach.”
Q: You often speak about creativity, leadership and responsible innovation. What lasting message do you hope audiences take away from your talks?
Joanne Jørgensen: “First and foremost, I want to inspire both leaders and teams to embrace new ways of working to create positive, inspiring, creative team cultures.
“And with this paradigm shift in how we work, but also in how we make, I really do believe we can make better for all and move away from burnout culture or this damaging product creation cycle that we actually are in.
“Really going away with the feeling that as humans we should slow down to speed up, take stock and be comfortable with the unknown—almost the antidote to blank paper syndrome. The power of not having all the answers and embracing risk to create the future that we all need.”
This exclusive interview with Joanne Jørgensen was conducted by Jack Hayes of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
