ABOUT GEMMA

For the best part of 22 years, I held Continuous Improvement roles within different Manufacturing industries, including Pharmaceutical, Dairy, FMCG, Food, and Medical Devices. I have been a CI Manager numerous times and an Operations Manager running a factory of over 500 people.

I've been on both sides of that particular fence, and understand the challenges of both perspectives.

I completed a 5 year Masters in Mechanical Engineering, graduating with a first class degree. I am a creative yet logical systems thinker, who loves to work with teams to break things down, figure them out and rebuild them better than ever.

I am hugely passionate about helping people make positive change. I get such a kick out of coaching and facilitating, especially when I see the lightbulb switch on in someone's head – when they solve a problem; when they realise they have the power to change; or when they get excited about all the improvements they could make.

I started SPARK Improvement in 2019. My mission is to help people to be the very best they can be, by helping them learn to think more clearly, to overcome obstacles, and to embrace change.

My focus is largely Kata coaching and training people to be Kata Coaches.

I believe Kata is THE BEST way to learn to think and behave in a more effective way, and by effective, I mean methodical, logical, based in facts and evidence. We call that SCIENTIFIC thinking.

(But you don't have to be a scientist to be able to think scientifically, in fact ANYONE can learn to do this.)

In 2020 I co-founded the Kata Girl Geeks, a global group of incredible women who come together multiple times a week to learn more about the practice of Kata.

I am also a trained Mental Health First Aider, and am passionate about the area of suicide prevention. I've lost friends to suicide, and the more I learn about it, the more passionate I am about helping to prevent this happening. I believe there is a HUGE opportunity for leaders and Continuous Improvement practitioners to help  the people in their organisations, as well as improving their processes and systems.

Learn more about my journey here.