Pernille Spiers-Lopez

   Pernille Spiers-Lopez was President for IKEA North America and she had been a member of The Executive Management Team of the IKEA Group for 10 years. Pernille decided to leave IKEA in 2011 after 2.5 years of commuting between Chicago and Europe and 21 years with the company.

   During her tenure as President of IKEA North America (2001-2009), Pernille lead the fastest expansion ever within IKEA. IKEA US grew from a small 'niche' retailer with 15 stores to a nationally recognized 'major player' with 38 stores. She brought with her a wealth of experience in home furnishings retail, human resources and leadership. This experience was grounded in and enhanced by her commitment to the IKEA culture and values that are at the heart of the company and its success.

   IKEA is the leading home furnishings company in the world and is recognized for offering well- designed, functional home furnishings products at low prices, for being a good company to work for and for a clear commitment to a sustainable social and environmental agenda.

   Most recently Pernille Spiers-Lopez was the Global HR Manager for the IKEA Group and its 135,000 employees. With her extensive business experience, she has developed and implemented a new business focused HR Strategy empowering the organization, its leaders and co-workers to grow business and people together.

 Throughout her career she has been dedicated to advancing Gender Intelligence, Cultural Inclusiveness and empowering individuals to achieve their highest aspirations while remaining true to themselves. It is through that lens she approaches her work as a business leader, coach and mentor.

  A native of Denmark with a Masters in Journalism, Pernille Spiers-Lopez has lived in the United States for over 30 years. Prior to joining IKEA, Pernille was an entrepreneur with a Scandinavian design business and she held several leadership positions for different retail companies in Florida and California.

   She has had numerous speaking engagements both in the US and internationally on topics focusing on global retailing, leadership, diversity and sustainability. Among some of the places she has spoken are: The Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania, the MBA program at Columbia University in New York City, Women's Leadership Exchange conference in California, International Women's Forum in Miami and Boersen's Executive Club in Copenhagen Denmark.

Good Life Designed:

    Pernille is together with her daughter the co-founder of Good Life Designed and the author of Design Your Life. "Design Your Life" has become the platform for her to effectively share, coach and mentor the many people who are committed to pursuing their fullest potential and design their best life. It is her belief that together, people grow at a more exponential rate feeding off of new perspectives and collecting new opportunities. Pernille provides events, retreats, and workshops to bring people together so that life designers may find or fuel the sense of direction they need to design their best life.

Author: 

    Pernille is the author of 2014's book, Design Your Life: Former IKEA Executive Shares Her Tools for Personal Success. It covers personal leadership and taking responsibility for our own life and success. " Don't make it the most important thing in your life to find the right job, make it the most important job to find the right life".

Corporate & Non-Profit Director: 

   In addition to her work with Good Life Designed she is a Corporate and Non-Profit Director in both US and Europe with a focus on Retail, Leadership, Strategy, Competence development, Succession and Compensation. She is currently on the board of directors for Meijer Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Coop DK, Copenhagen, Denmark and Save The Children US and International.