Van Lai-DuMone

Van Lai-DuMone is the founder of worksmart Advantage, where she actively works to rewrite the way we apply creativity and curiosity in the workplace, instilling brave thinking in clients who are willing to disrupt traditional learning and development methods.

Van proposes that we are all innately curious and creative, therefore good ideas can come from any level of an organization. And by cultivating idea-sharing in the workplace, everyone has a chance to have their voice heard. And when that happens—company culture, performance, and innovation can skyrocket!

Van brings over 20 years of corporate and start-up experience into designing and implementing learning and development programs for her clients–using her proprietary Creative Integration™ strategies. Van serves as a fractional learning officer to mid-sized high growth organizations curious about developing a creative learning culture. She studied psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and earned her MBA from Pepperdine University.

Watch her TEDx Talk titled What if? The Life Changing Power of Curiosity and Courage. In this talk she share the story of how her mom and 19 other Vietnamese women trail blazed the now 8.3 billion dollar manicure industry in the United States from a refugee integration center in 1975, all because of a chance meeting with Hollywood movie star Tippi Hedren and a curiosity about red nail polish.

Van has a son and three dogs. Currently, she is letting her curiosity find her a way to living on a farm with miniature highland cows and a workshop to create stained-glass art. Stay tuned!