Maggie Nichols is the CEO and President of the Eureka! Ranch and the Innovation Engineering Institute.
Maggie Nichols joined the Eureka! Ranch in 1999 after graduating from Miami University’s Farmer School of Business. After reading an article about the Ranch during an Entrepreneurship class, she decided that the Eureka! Ranch was the place where she was going to work. Months and dozens of pestering visits later, Founder, Doug Hall, finally acquiesced and Maggie’s been part of the ranch ever since.
She started as an Apprentice Inventor working on innovation projects for 100+ company teams including the likes of American Express, P&G, Ford, Schlumberger, Johnson & Johnson, Frito-Lay, and the National Wildlife Federation. After a short stint working on internet strategy at a large corporate bank, she moved to Oxford, England where she supported Eureka!‘s European efforts. In 2005, she returned to the US as Vice President of R&D while also, continuing to oversee innovation projects. In those years she helped to pioneer new innovation methods that transformed the art of innovation into a reproducible and reliable science.
In 2009 Maggie was named Chief Operating Officer - running the day-to-day operations of the growing innovation firm. In 2014 she added “President” to that title and in 2018 was promoted to CEO. She still works directly with clients as she believes in the Deming philosophy that all leaders should remain “close to the work.” Since then she’s personally:
- shut down existing Eureka! businesses because they were just “fine” instead of “fantastic”
- co-hosted a national television program in Canada, Backyard Inventors
- worked with companies, governments and universities on strategies for setting innovation policy
- supported Innovation Engineering licensees through training, consulting and personal coaching
- trained 100s of people in innovation skills
- lead the strategy & development of InnovationEngineeringLabs.com
- helped to build the Innovation Engineering movement
- coached innovation leaders in how to lead innovation inside their organizations.
She also proudly serves on the board for Neal’s Design & Remodel, The Motz Corporation and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.
Maggie is a self reported introvert, but when it comes to Innovation and Innovation Leadership you’ll find she talks fast, furiously and incessantly.