I Spy With My Little Eye …

By Loralyn Mears PhD Loralyn Mears PhD has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team
Published on July 12, 2021

Meet Lynn Wood, Chief Idea Spy and founder of IdeaSpies. Her platform is all about sharing ideas that do good. “We’re all attracted to negative news so we’re breaking through with a positive formula,” she said. Indeed, the world needs a lift. Her inspiration source? A casual exchange with a fellow passenger on a ferry in Vancouver. He said to Wood, “Promote what you love rather than bash what you hate.” That’s how it all began about six years ago.

Grit Daily News caught up with Wood to hear about the inspiration behind the platform. Was Wood a spy earlier in her career? She was not. But that never stopped her insatiable curiosity on the quest to find ideas that have a positive impact on climate, social change, and more. She explained, “What we’re seeing is more and more ideas around preventive healthcare, and AI.” However, if you spy a good opportunity and want to share it, keep it brief! “Every word counts – your company descriptions can’t include a lot of puffery. We limit descriptions to 100 words,” said Wood. The concept of “No Puffery” or a “Puffery-Free Zone” in itself has appeal as an idea …

Spy School

What makes for a good idea spy? For starters, age doesn’t matter. “We’ve just introduced a new category, “Uprising,” going into schools so that students can post their ideas and get feedback,” stated Wood, who is very excited about the potential of her platform to be accessible to schools. It’s a Spy School of sorts where students post their ideas and mentors offer constructive feedback.

As a society, we’ve had to move from competition, to cooperation to collaboration – and that’s all about trust – which is often missing in the world. To get people to work with you on a volunteer basis is not easy. It’s a very hard thing to do. My advice for others? Have confidence in your abilities. Put your hands up to say you can do something – even if you can’t – because you can learn.

Lynn Wood

Want to learn more? Tune into the Grit Daily Like a Boss podcast on Spotify or anywhere that content is streamed.

By Loralyn Mears PhD Loralyn Mears PhD has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team

Journalist verified by Muck Rack verified

Dr. Loralyn Mears is a Columnist at Grit Daily and a podcast host (The Grit Files, which aims to shine the spotlight on female founders). She is a content marketer, founder of the WORKtech startup, STEERus, specializing in personal and professional development to address gaps in soft skills - communication in particular. In her consultancy practice, she helps clients with content and strategy. Loralyn spent over a decade playing with mosquito DNA, got her PhD, decided she would rather market science than be at the bench and has never looked back. Along the way, she’s wined and dined her way around the globe. She's authored two books, including the 2018 Gold Medal Indie Book award-winning, One Sip At a Time: a Memoir and the hard science thriller, "The Battle for Humanity: How Science Saved Us." 

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