Journey Celebrates International Women's Day 2025
For International Women’s Day 2025, we’re honoring the women who inspire, lead, and shape the future of design, both within Journey and across the industry. From creative pioneers to colleagues who elevate those around them, our team reflects on the women who have influenced their work and daily lives. Their stories highlight the power of mentorship, innovation, and resilience in driving meaningful change.
Olivia Reid, Strategy Lead
Journey is inherently a multidimensional organization, driven forward by the extraordinary women who define its breadth, depth, and versatility in design. I vividly recall a panel discussion at the Fast Co. Innovation Festival, where I had the privilege of sharing the stage with Michelle Schrank Design Director, and Constance Nuttall Project Director at Journey.
As Michelle discussed the TSX Broadway project and Constance the Empire State Building, I remember thinking, "Women are unstoppable." After nearly three years of collaboration, the creativity and tenacity of the women at Journey continue to inspire me. I firmly believe that fostering gender diversity, spotlighting women and non-binary professionals across the board, significantly and positively impacts our ability to deliver industry-leading innovation in human-centric design.
Tyler Blazer, RA, Senior Manager
I deeply admire Madelynn Ringo’s passion and design intellect as a fellow designer. Her ability to transform brand identities into immersive, experiential spaces is nothing short of inspiring. From the iconic Glossier flagship stores to the playful yet functional Bala pop-up, her work consistently pushes the boundaries of retail and spatial storytelling. One of her most striking projects, Contact Sports, showcases her distinctive approach to design—blurring the lines between retail, art, and interactive space.
Her fearless experimentation with form and experience proves that design is not just about aesthetics but about engagement and emotion. Having known Madelynn personally since our college days and through our involvement at the AIAS on a national level, I’ve always been inspired by her creativity, drive, and ability to bring bold visions to life. Watching her redefine modern retail and wellness spaces fills me with admiration, and I will always champion her success in the design world.
Michelle Schrank, Design Director
Kate Baer has perfected the art of turning lemons to lemonade with her erasure poetry style that turns mean-spirited DMs from her inbox into succinct eloquent poems that twist the original author's words into something they hadn't intended. Her work reminds me of the importance of reading between the lines and the power to turn a situation around into something better than what you were handed.
Holly Houghton, Managing Director
My number one will always be Michelle Obama. She is a generational leader who demystifies what leadership actually is and makes it accessible for women. I use her quote "when they go low, we go high" all the time.
Within Journey, Alex Best : for making sure her team runs effortlessly, for doing it with grace and poise and calmness at all times.
Hugo Monsivais, Marketing Coordinator
A woman in Journey that I find really inspiring is Chloe Arenzana Duboys . Chloe has already accomplished so much in her young career, and it's been amazing to see her grow since we first started together at ICRAVE, a Journey studio. Since then, she's moved across the globe several times and has always been able to adapt professionally and culturally. Her design work is also some of the best I've seen. She has amazing taste and a great eye for curation. Here's a photo of her assembling a lighting fixture; that's what we call a multifaceted talent.
Judy K Suh, Creative Director
Erin Sarofsky, the owner and ECD of Sarofsky, a design and animation production studio, has greatly inspired me.
Her studio creates beautiful work, particularly in the category of title sequences for movies and TV shows. Each piece is thoughtfully designed and crafted using a range of styles and techniques, blending 2D and 3D animation and sometimes incorporating live action. She is one of the few women leading a motion studio of this caliber, serving as a shining example of both a successful designer and business owner—all while being a mother.
Erin is also dedicated to mentoring and inspiring younger talent in the industry through workshops and speaking events, which I truly admire. Whenever I need inspiration, I often visit Sarofsky’s website to explore how storytelling is brought to life through motion and visuals in a captivating way.
Constance Nuttall, Project Director
I’d love to highlight our fearless Managing Director, Holly Houghton . She leads by example, combining strength with empathy, offering guidance while fostering independence, and upholding high standards while trusting in execution. Tough and brilliant, like a diamond!
Lamees Almakkawy, Junior Producer
I admire the work of Lebanese artist and designer Adra Kandil. Through a blend of photography, collage, typography, archival materials, and digital art, she creates dreamy, surreal images that celebrate Arab nostalgia. Her approach exemplifies fearless experimentation across mediums, showing how one form can inspire another. Her work also serves as a reminder that it’s okay to romanticize life’s moments and the memories that shape us.
Frances Darwin, Creative
I am inspired by creative minds like Es Devlin, who can transform abstract concepts into immersive, emotional, and multisensory experiences. She views the audience as a "temporary society" that contributes in its own right, a philosophy that greatly influences my interactive and generative work.
This is one of the things I love about immersive design: its incidental dimension, where each person becomes a co-creator of the experience without intending to, and the rolling impact of an audience's collective presence can be felt.
Museums, theatres, Olympic ceremonies, arenas, large-scale installations, pavilions, and opera houses have all been sites of her work. She has an incredible ability to draw people into the visual universe she designs for each concept. Some of her creations are mind-bending, while others are deeply emotive and contemplative. Regardless of the design, her work challenges our sense of perspective. It is pure visual spectacle and speaks to the power of multidisciplinary art, design, and collective experience in creative spaces.
Marisa Dervish, Producer
Eleanor Suggett is an incredible line manager with an equally incredible mind. I admire how she always thinks outside the box and approaches complex problems from all angles. She has taught me how to navigate tricky subjects with clients and how to be a better human being, both at work and outside of it. Her endless positivity and support are truly wonderful, and working with her brings me joy every day. She genuinely wants the best for everyone.
I must also mention Sophie Smith, the queen of production. Sophie always has the best guidance and solutions for any problem. She is deeply dedicated to ensuring her work delivers the best results for all involved, including those around her, even if she isn’t working with them directly. I admire how she handles difficult situations with the perfect balance of firmness without being harsh. I often find myself asking, "What would Sophie do?"—the best way to pause and consider my next move.
Sophie Smith, Lead Producer
Céline Sciamma is a queer screenwriter and director who has always been unapologetic about centering women's and specifically queer women's stories on screen. She asserts the validity of women's voices and narratives in mainstream cinema and explored queer representation before it became more widely accepted in Western cultures.
Her storytelling has true emotional impact, often in quietly devastating ways, and her visual style unfolds in films where each frame could be its own oil painting.
In an industry where everyone is trying to "disrupt" and make a louder impact than everyone else, Sciamma reminds me of the power of pauses, reprieve, silence, and restraint. We don’t always need to shout louder.
Harry Wood, Business Development Associate
Alex Best is one of the most organized and knowledgeable people I have had the pleasure of working with. She has a deep understanding of the creative process, which is reflected in both her work and her candor. She has brought me and the wider BD team together professionally and also fosters connections outside of work—occasionally over a drink!
Rachael Bonnington, Managing Director
Alessandra Lariu and Laura Jordan Bambach are the founders of SheSays, a pioneering members' and mentorship organization for the creative media space. Dedicated to uplifting women and non-binary professionals, they run events, workshops, and thought leadership initiatives designed to foster community and career growth.
Their list of achievements is nothing short of groundbreaking: The first, and largest, global network for creative women and non-binary people. The first representation of women creatives in the White House and 10 Downing Street. The first Women Entrepreneurs Meet Creatives conference. The first women-only hackathon. The first Women's Directors Festival at Cannes
I was fortunate to be paired with a wonderful mentor through SheSays nearly a decade ago, just as I was returning to work after having a baby. Since then, the organization has grown into an enormous network of incredible people driving real impact in the creative industries.
SheSays is a powerful reminder of the importance of mentorship, community, and advocacy. It also reminds me to give back, get involved again, and help amplify their message because their work continues to change lives.
Ina Pancheva, Visual Director
Immersive media thrives at the intersection of technology and storytelling, demanding not just technical skill but vision, emotion, and the courage to challenge conventions.
Some of my greatest influences in this space come from women across literature, music, visual arts, and leadership, figures who transformed adversity into groundbreaking work.
One great example is Tove Jansson, known for the Moomins, who built entire worlds that blended whimsy with melancholy, fantasy with deep emotional truth. Her work proves that simplicity does not mean a lack of depth, and that the best visual storytelling often carries layers of meaning beneath the surface.
Her ability to create immersive, emotionally rich worlds translates directly into the principles of digital experience design. Tove always reminds me that immersive media is not just about technology but about crafting beautiful experiences that challenge, inspire, and endure.
Alice Britton, Project Director
I love the work of Laure Prouvost, who engages her audience in immersive narratives that are beautifully poetic and surreal. Her work blends non-linear film with sculptural installations, natural elements, and found objects, incorporating ethereal textures like smoke or sea spray to create magical worlds where reality and fantasy merge. As audiences move through her reimagined spaces, they become part of the story.
Her work often explores themes of womanhood and motherhood within a broader collaborative context, created alongside friends, artists, and family. Always witty and celebratory, she inspires me with new ways to connect to the poignant and joyful stories of our world.
Jem Stevens, HR Manager
Lisa Sopher, my manager and our Chief People Officer, leads the HR and Talent functions with integrity and compassion. She brings a wealth of experience and takes a thoughtful approach to every challenge we face. I truly appreciate how invested she is in our personal well-being and professional growth, fostering a culture of openness and support across the organization.
Lisa Sopher, Chief People Officer
It could never be just one. I am inspired by every woman whose path I have crossed, their curiosity, dedication, and generosity continue to motivate me. Their impact stays with me, pushing me to pass it forward and uplift others in the same way.
Who’s a woman in design that inspires you? Let us know in the comments below.