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Keeping Innovation Moving Forward During Change - an Interview with Bernadette Berger, Director of Innovation at Alaska Airlines

creativity innovation learning practice resilience Jul 15, 2025

In this captivating Fearless Female Leadership interview, I sat down with Bernadette Berger, Director of Innovation at Alaska Airlines, to explore what it truly means to drive innovation in a time of massive change. From her early career rejections to becoming a leader shaping the future of air travel, Bernadette's story is a powerful reminder of the courage it takes to keep showing up—and the vision it takes to build what doesn’t exist yet.

Bernadette's path began in industrial design, not aviation, and after 29 job interview rejections, she finally broke through with Teague—Boeing’s premier aircraft design partner. There, she spent over a decade experimenting, learning new skills, and eventually helping design next-gen aircraft interiors and experiences. Her innovation philosophy? Don’t aim to fix everything at once—ask what would need to be true to solve the problem at hand.

Now at Alaska Airlines, Bernadette leads innovation across the organization, helping unify cross-functional tea...

Podcast Episode #121: "Driving Innovations… From Frontline to Boardroom" - an Interview with Maggie Chan Jones

boardroom creativity fear world-class Oct 02, 2022

Driving Innovations... From Frontline to Boardroom

In case you missed my LIVE interview with the phenomenal Maggie Chan Jones (CEO and Founder at Tenshey), here are a few of the wisdom gems she shared:

If you’re thinking of going for a big opportunity, ask ‘What is the worst that could happen?’ which may help you go for it!
When someone offers you a great opportunity that you’re not sure you can do, just say yes! You can learn how later.
If you have a seat at the table, know you belong and ask yourself ‘What are my unique values/experiences that I bring?
Innovation starts from the outcome.
Take time for yourself to be still to allow innovation to come to you.

Be sure to check out Maggie's new book "Decoding Sponsorship."

To be notified for future interviews be sure to connect with me here on LinkedIn AND to learn more about how to build the mindset and influence for real change, join our community at www.SherylKline.com.

Download a transcript of Sheryl's interview with M...

The Real Secret for Leveraging Mental Toughness to Rock Disruption

courage creativity disruption fear mindset productivity progress recognize release strategize threat transition Mar 22, 2018

(Scroll to the bottom to view the video.)

We all face the threat of someone or something disrupting our status quo.

The mere thought of disruption can be paralyzing or it can be a secret weapon. It’s all in your mindset and what you choose to do with it.

Here’s one tip to leverage Mental Toughness to rock disruption so you can get aggressive today about planning how to rise above the rest tomorrow: Keep this in mind, and you’ll be on your way to using a tool you already have in a way that most people don’t know about.

Here’s how: Use fear to drive progress.

In order to foster creativity, productivity and courage it’s important to use this emotion to your benefit rather than to your detriment. Fear can be paralyzing or it can be a super power. It depends on your mindset, how you perceive it.

Here’s a great sequence for transitioning fear into a super power for you: