Clubhouse Studio: Designing a Culture of Innovation

Building a creative hub that inspired new ways of working across Sam’s Club

A man and a woman are standing on stage at a conference or event, with two large screens behind them displaying the Clubhouse logo, the phrase 'Re:imagine retail,' and other text. The woman is wearing a bright pink blazer and is holding a phone, while the man is wearing a black t-shirt with the Clubhouse logo and is speaking).

IMPACT IN YEAR ONE

Launched Sam’s Club’s first 37,000-square-foot innovation studio. Trained more than 1,000 associates and engaged over 2,000 participants in cross-functional workshops. The space became a catalyst for collaboration, helping teams across the company connect and create in new ways.

The Opportunity

Sam’s Club was ready to rethink how teams collaborate.

The company had invested in digital transformation, but creative capability was not evenly distributed across functions. We needed a space and a culture that made design thinking accessible, practical, and part of everyday work.

My Role

As Studio Director, I led the vision, design, and activation of Clubhouse, reporting to the Senior Director of Research and the Vice President of Design.

I managed a small, multidisciplinary team and partnered with Product Design, Research, Marketing, and Operations to bring the studio to life. My focus was on creative direction, operations, programming, and facilitation that connected design to the broader business.

Group of ten people posing indoors near large blue and white balloon decorations with illuminated letters 'B', standing in front of large windows in a modern office or building.

Leading Clubhouse taught me that creativity scales through empathy. The more we listened, the more people wanted to be part of it.

Leading Clubhouse taught me that creativity scales through empathy. The more we listened, the more people wanted to be part of it.

Approach

Designing a Space for Creativity

The insight was simple: creativity grows through experiences, not presentation.

I guided the visual identity and storytelling for the space, shaping how it communicated purpose. The Inclusion Lab and digital displays highlighted empathy, accessibility, and belonging.

Together, we defined the studio’s foundation so it could evolve as priorities evolved and new challenges emerged.

A large conference room filled with people seated at long tables, engaged in a meeting or workshop. The room features modern decor, with purple acoustic panels on the ceiling, a large window allowing natural light, and a screen displaying a presentation.
Exhibit booth featuring information about a disability inclusion lab. It includes posters with photos of individuals, one in a wheelchair and another holding a phone, and descriptions of their goals, obstacles faced, and technology used. A large screen displays a presentation, and a small table in front holds various tactile and visual demo materials.
Two informational signs for a Disability Inclusion Lab. The sign on the left indicates that more than one in four adults in the United States have some kind of disability and poses a challenge question about making shopping welcoming. The sign on the right invites visitors to explore tools and features used by members and associates to make shopping and work accessible and inclusive.
“Jen embeds design thinking and accessibility into the work. Her facilitation creates safe, collaborative rooms that deliver.”
— Jamila Evilsizor, Staff Design Researcher at Sam's Club

Re:imagine Retail: Launching the Movement

To introduce Clubhouse to the broader organization, I co-led and emceed Re:imagine Retail, an enterprise-wide design sprint and conference that launched the studio.

More than 330 participants and 30 sprint teams from across Sam’s Club and Walmart worked side by side on real business challenges. The event showed what was possible when design, strategy, and operations came together around shared goals.

Re:imagine Retail became the model for future programming and proved that the best way to learn design thinking is by doing it.

A woman with curly blond hair and pink glasses smiling while taking a selfie at a large conference or event. In the background, many people are seated at round tables, with some standing, in a spacious hall with a high ceiling. A digital sign on the table reads 'Ideas to impact'.
A woman giving a presentation on a stage with a large screen behind her displaying an agenda titled 'Day 2' of a conference.
Group of five women standing behind two presentation boards at a conference, with one board showing a sign that says, 'How can we best assist you?' The boards display colorful sticky notes, lists, and diagrams about customer assistance and digital shopping strategies.

30+ innovative retail ideas pitched during conference

Facilitating Enterprise Collaboration

After the conference, I led workshops and innovation sprints that brought Clubhouse principles into daily work.

Teams tackled challenges across the business:

  • Corporate Communications improved campaign strategy

  • Credit & Fuel, Healthcare, and Supply & Demand Planning refined service experiences

  • Member’s Mark Rewards explored experience strategy

  • RFID and Good Jobs teams focused on future-state ideation and workforce design

More than 500 associates took part in these sessions, building collaboration across departments and turning creative ideas into practical outcomes.

People in a modern conference room, sitting at tables, participating in a meeting or workshop, some raising their hands.
A group of people attending a presentation in a modern room with large windows showing trees with fall foliage. A woman is standing and speaking in front of a whiteboard, which contains various notes. The audience is paying attention to her.
“The real value of the Clubhouse is how it takes the ‘me’ out of the conversation. Jen’s facilitation helped our team work collaboratively on the problem, not the people, leading to more productive discussions and breakthroughs where previous efforts had stalled.”
— Mike Schubert, Principal Product Manager at Sam’s Club

Scaling the Model

As momentum grew, I created and led the training programs that formalized Clubhouse’s learning approach.

Design Thinking 101 became part of new-hire onboarding and Global Tech associate development. I facilitated sessions for multiple cohorts, adjusting content to keep it relevant and inclusive. Club Manager Training later expanded these learnings to in-club teams.

Even as leadership and priorities shifted, the demand for creativity stayed strong. Teams continued to ask for new sessions and deeper workshops.

Explore the Program
A conference room with a large Walmart logo on the blue wall. People are seated around tables, and two presenters stand at the front. One presenter is holding a microphone, and a large screen behind them displays the slide 'Present Your Idea.' A projection shows the presenters on a side screen.
A group of five women standing near a whiteboard and a large screen, leading a discussion in a conference room, with several women seated at a table in front of them.
“Jen’s facilitation brought clarity and connection to a complex session, guiding us toward actionable solutions and setting an inspiring tone for the week.”
— Deena Oden, Associate Experience at Walmart

Outcomes

  • More than 2,000 participants joined innovation workshops

  • 1,000+ associates completed design thinking training

  • 330 attendees pitched 30 retail solutions in the Re:imagine Retail design sprint

  • Design thinking became part of onboarding and enterprise learning

  • Clubhouse served as a model for future collaboration hubs across the organization

Reflection

Leading Clubhouse taught me that innovation begins with trust.

Building a studio inside a Fortune 1 company felt like launching a startup within a massive system. Through empathy, storytelling, and intentional design, we proved that creativity can scale when people see their work in a new way.

WORK

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WORK

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