Gretchen Lopez is on a never-ending quest to improve society's trajectory in the world, and she believes listening and learning about people is the first step to making that happen. As Head of Brand Strategy + Operations for Lowe's Innovation Labs, she has helped the team develop a point of view about what the future of home improvement retail will be so the Labs can be deliberate in making that vision a reality. Gretchen began her career in crisis communications, where she quickly learned the importance of listening first. Prior to joining Lowe’s, Gretchen worked at NASCAR, where she focused on understanding young audiences to build the fan base of the future and evaluating social media engagement and conversation to best engage fans. She has also worked in consumer insights and strategy development at marketing agencies for clients in a broad range of industries, including finance, insurance, CPG, pharma and spirits.