Innovation

Through various methods such as conferences, group cohorts, retreats, and even one-on-one coaching, Joan Ball is able to connect with people that have an interest in societal impact and work with them to help clarify the meaningful work they wish to accomplish. She has utilized the Sustainable Development Goals to help people truly understand what matters to them and how to go about making social changes in the world.

Her efforts have resulted in a variety of outcomes for the people she provides services to. Thanks to her assistance, many people are able to re-imagine career trajectories, build upon leadership roles, start several businesses, and smoothly transition their careers at various points in their life—all while attempting to make the world better through their various fields.

Inspiration

“The deep desire to inspire, equip, and encourage people who are trying to do good work in the world is at the center of everything that I do.” – Joan Ball

Joan Ball recognized that there are people in the world who are attempting to "move the needle" in their fields of work. She wanted to offer knowledge and support to those people who wanted to make a difference.

Most of the people who come to WOMB Service Design Lab to strengthen the social aspects of their work do not have access to the same resources as others. She explained that most people launching businesses are able to do so successfully due to wealth, and the people who seek services from her are not always so lucky. With Joan's services, the playing field begins to even out, allowing more entrepreneurs and hard workers to accomplish the meaningful work they wish to do for the world.

Overall impact

Not only has WOMB Service Design Lab aided different entrepreneurs in both launching and growing a business, but it has also seen women rise to the top of various companies and helped many re-imagine and become more creative in the roles in which they are employed. Joan brings together creative minds through different conferences and meetups, allowing business professionals from different fields to brainstorm and create new innovative ideas to bring back to their home companies and further enhance the business world.

“A central theme of WOMB is 'how do I create a business model that allows me to have both a for-profit business but provides a service for people with very little to no money to contribute?'” said Joan Ball.

Because WOMB is an easily accessible resource, clients are able to find more connections through WOMB, enhancing their own business. Through the success of the clients, WOMB Service Design Lab impacts the business world and will continue to output successful companies and individuals.

Business benefit

Through the various ways in which Joan interacts with her clients—whether it be conferences, one-on-one coaching, retreats, or other personalized collaboration—she offers a service in which entrepreneurs in the working world can succeed in starting a company and “build something they actually wanted to have, instead of creating scaling for scale’s sake, and creating something they perhaps didn’t want to have,” said Joan Ball.

She has seen many companies succeed, because the clientele is aspiring to accomplish a goal they truly live to work for, benefiting the business as a whole. Joan’s focus on the SDGs ensures that she is helping those who are all in, in turn boosting the outcome of business operations and successful entrepreneurs.

Similarly, Joan sees a person’s potential and pushes them to envision a place they wish to be in their careers.

“When I help people understand why they wanted to leave, I help them reimagine their existing positions,” she said.

Because Joan takes such a hands-on approach to each client, she guides them to the place they feel confident they are meant to be. This keeps many people, especially women—as she focuses on gender equality—stay in their workplace and make strides toward the top of their companies.

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Social and environmental benefit

This company, WOMB, has several benefits to our society. The company itself is based off of the interest in having societal impacts in order to encourage and connect with people with the same interests. Some of the ways that Joan Ball has helped by offering support and knowledge are through one-on-one coaching, which gives people the individual opportunity to speak with her and receive information on how to continue to do good work in the world. Another way Joan offers support is through group cohorts, conferences, and unstructured retreats, which allow people to connect with others and support one another, therefore impacting society in a positive way. Sharing knowledge and experience has benefited society in several positive ways.

Joan Ball also helps many people to imagine and re-imagine their career trajectories at any given point in their life, which helps to boost morale, inspire others to always do what they love and believe in, and make the world a better place. Helping to encourage taking leadership roles and starting businesses has shown to improve society and help people to transition into new careers that benefit them and the people around them. Service design has helped people to understand what they want to accomplish, how to stay on track, and what matters to them while allowing them to re-imagine and keep imagining the different things they can do to get through the difficulties with starting up new businesses or changing career paths. Continuing on her success to encouraging and supporting people and businesses, Joan Ball has a very positive impact on society by influencing others to do great things for the world and helping others to be successful in their start-up businesses or their career transition.

Interview

Joan Ball, Founder