Inside propelland: Tracey Lin

We spoke to propeller Tracey Lin to learn about her creative background and hear what it's like to be a strategist at propelland for our "Inside propelland" series.

Name: Tracey Lin

Region: North America

Role at propelland: Senior Strategist

When you started working here: September 2020

Tell us more about your career path. What led you into the design field?

TL: I've always had a creative spirit. My mom was a music major in college. Dad can't carry a note though. My upbringing was highly influenced by entrepreneurs. Both my parents have owned various businesses in a wide range of industries. You name it, they've done it. They taught me to be scrappy and have a go-getter attitude from early on. For my undergrad, I went to Parsons the New School for Design to study design strategy, which was a fairly new concept for the time. I picked that program because even though I was always creative, I knew I didn't necessarily want to get into traditional design. Because of my family’s influence, I was looking for a space where design and market application met. You see a lot of institutions offering multidisciplinary degrees today, but Parsons was definitely one of the firsts of its time. As a result, I still had to think about how I was going to apply this knowledge after college. Other than IDEO, there weren't a whole lot of companies at the time that took a multidisciplinary approach to their application in the field.

I ended up landing in a marketing role at a designer lifestyle and furnishing company called Christopher Guy. It was a really fun first job, filled with glamour and Hollywood flare. Now reflecting back, the key learning for me was how to embrace a hacker’s mindset because, while the production always looked like a million dollars, the team behind it was lean. My team was often fewer than five people, so we learned to be quick on our feet to create something that looked beautiful and enticing. The other draw for me was being part of a company that was ahead of its time in its industry. Their innovation was reflected in the vertically integrated business model, meaning they own both their supply and distribution channels. From there I became more drawn to disruptor companies that are bold enough to rethink and challenge how we do things.?

After a few years, I decided to go back to school and found another multidisciplinary program at Presidio Graduate School based in San Francisco. This program really spoke to me because it was still in my wheelhouse of strategy and business design, but now instilled a layer of sustainability. This came during the time when I started to feel strongly about building a career with purpose and it was important that I would be upskilling myself in a way that helped me contribute to solving the most complex challenges we face today. I took away powerful engagement and leadership tools, with a renewed lens of strategy from my dual degree (MBA + MPA) in sustainability management. The pandemic hit shortly after I graduated, and in a time of emergency where company values could easily face compromise, I felt lucky to have found propelland – a place where my passion, skills, and values finally align.

Have there been any favorite projects you’ve gotten to work on since joining propelland?

TL: My first project is one of the most memorable ones – the client was Pernod Ricard, one of the biggest spirit manufacturing companies in the world. The brief was to design new service concepts for high-net-worth individuals. To give you a sense of the complexity, the project was led by our EMEA studio and supported by me in North America, and we were designing for end consumers in the Asian market for clients based in Hong Kong and Europe. This global setup became the most interesting and valuable aspect – figuring out how to work with different cultures both internally and with our client. I am proud that we were able to build and leverage these cultural bridges towards more insightful solutions. It also speaks to our global platform of talent that we can tap into to achieve higher quality of work.?

The other project that comes to mind is the Converse Test and Learn project that we’ve been working on for probably two years now. It’s an example of how we help our clients to create renewable services through new business models, and develop products in ways that capture eco-efficiencies. We get it, sustainability in general is challenging. Not only is it complicated, but it requires a change of mindset from both our clients and their customers. And at the end of the day, people do not like change. That said, there are clients we’ve developed a unique relationship with over time – clients who trust us to help them create a strategic vision and roadmap to get alignment internally, in addition to the production of external-facing initiatives. They understand that transformation needs to be a holistic approach. For Converse, we’re at a point in the project where we’re able to put things in the market and test it with actual customers to see how we might encourage more conscious purchasing behaviors. It's really exciting to see how we could influence more organizations to prioritize sustainability as a business strategy.?

How would you describe your role as a strategist at propelland?

TL: The most straightforward way to think about strategy is that it provides the “why” for our work. Not every project is driven by the strategy discipline, but every project needs to have clarity around the “why.” For projects that I lead, I provide strategic guidance to our team – sometimes to create alignment, other times to facilitate production. It often means helping to bring clarity to the team so that they are empowered to do what each of them does best. The highest quality of work for us illustrates collaboration at its best. On the other hand, I am also thinking about what’s next so that we always stay ahead of expectations. For our internal initiatives, I co-lead one of our extension units,? propel.org, where we are always fueling new ways of approaching business and sustainable development frameworks into our DNA as a company.

What has you feeling most excited about the future for propelland and the entire industry?

TL: Because we are an innovation consulting company first and foremost, much of our work is about the future. To be at the forefront of technology is huge, but to have an impact on what the future looks like for all of us through our client work is even more exciting.?

I recently had this revelation when I was with friends who were complaining about work and they saw me silent. They're like, “Hey, how are you doing lately?” I didn't say anything because I just realized I can no longer contribute to the “I hate my job” conversations because I love my job and the people that I work with. It’s a bit of a new territory that I want to hang out with people that I see online all the time. We're just a bunch of geeks that love nerding out together. The fact that we're growing our nerd base is also exciting because it means that I get to learn from more people with fascinating and diverse backgrounds. It’s exciting to help define how we approach complex problems, and in a global, multidisciplinary context at that. That’s really how we need to view our work, in a complex ecosystem where everything has an impact on everything else. I’m looking forward to bringing in this nature-inspired lens so that we can do a better job of bringing more value to people and the planet.

Do you have any advice you would like to give to people interested in pursuing design strategy as a career?

TL: I’d encourage them to apply the test and learn mindset to their personal lives. I can definitely be that person that gets stuck in my own head because I like to organize and plan out every detail. Sometimes that stops you from doing something. The hacker mindset really is the “Dream Big” mentality. Nothing is impossible, and especially when things seem impossible, that’s when you should be going for it. For people who are just starting out, you have even less to lose because you have the time and the energy to be able to try new things. Do that fast. Try it in small ways. It doesn’t have to be a full master’s degree. Maybe it’s a small course or short internship or project. Just go for it and try. Try as many things as you can to get inspired. Really build a network of people that continue to inspire you and that you want to learn from. At a certain point, a lot of those things will become subconscious and something will form for you. I’m a big believer in the universe providing things for you when you’re ready, and that’s how you get ready.