Skip links

Speaker Bio

Thea Peterson is a Creative Technologist with a degree in design engineering, and 10 years experience in the creative industries. In her role as Creative Director in the SAP UKI innovation labs she has a particular focus on bringing design and technology together utilising gamification, AR/VR, Unity, Unreal Engine, and AI to deliver cutting edge experiences and prototypes. She has worked with numerous global brands including Coca-Cola, Unilever, RedBull, Rolls-Royce, and Burberry. She was a selected participant in the Ellen MacArthur from Linear to Circular fellowship program in 2019, and she continues to be passionate about sustainability and the circular economy.

Thea has a BFA from Miami University, and an MA/MSc in Global Innovation Design from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College, London. She is a champion of culturally sensitive design having honed her skills to work not only across disciplines but across cultural boundaries, creating design solutions in collaboration with local designers in China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Europe, and the United States.

Sessions

Work-Life Balance

Day 2 - 28 Feb, 2024

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM / GMT

What's Your Profession? What's Your Passion?

“Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life” sounds great, but it may be a recipe for burnout. Thea Peterson talks about her personal experience with building a professional career around her passions and the pitfalls that come with it. When passions and a professional life become too intimately intermingled, things that would normally bring joy can begin to feel like just more work, especially in times of high stress. Women with nontraditional domestic lives may be especially vulnerable to believing that work-life balance is not an issue.

In this talk, Thea shares her personal journey back from burnout to find new balance in work and life and describes lessons that can be learned from her experiences.

  • Passion drives productivity, how to make time to nurture it
  • Protect your 'unicorn space' make time for the things that recharge you don't let them become consumed by work.
  • What does work-life balance mean for professional women leading non-traditional domestic lifestyles.
  • Advice on burnout and learning to recharge

Panel

Discussion

Day 2 - 28 Feb, 2024

1:05 PM - 1:45 PM / GMT

Shaping the Future: Women at the Forefront of Leadership and Innovation

Moderator:
Dr. Najat Benchiba-Savenius, Chief of Staff - TONOMUS.NEOM

Panelists:
Lisa Payne, Global Director UX Research - Condé Nast
Sandrine Desbarbieux-Lloyd, Formerly UK Group Director - Meta
Thea Peterson, Creative Director, UKI Innovation Labs - SAP