The future belongs to those who look.
Foresight isn’t about peering into crystal balls and making perfect predictions. Rather, it’s about looking up and out at the world, making sense of—and strategizing into—its many potential nexts.
At its most powerful, foresight gives businesses and individuals the ability to open their aperture, glimpse what’s possible and confidently determine the best opportunities to optimize.
It’s a muscle, not just a method. A sixth sense, not just a set of tools. And the ones who develop it will navigate uncertainty and thrive.
Know the unknowns
sooner.
Truth is: trend cycles have never been shorter, sub-cultures have never been flatter, and the far-off future? It’s coming quicker and quicker.
Assessing the landscape to understand emergent forces and their potential implications has never been more challenging, nor more crucial.
VJF has solved for these new dynamics with a unique, proven methodology that draws on decades of thought leadership and applied expertise in trend forecasting and strategic foresight. Our approach spots relevant signals earlier on, allowing you to see the future sooner and plan with ample time to actually activate
We also account for the limited lens often used in futures work. Instead of looking in and downward, we help you see out, unpacking preexisting assumptions, eliminating blind spots and broadening your future view.
Ahead of the curve for 3 decades.
Considered one of the most influential voices in strategic foresight, Valerie Jacobs has worked with hundreds of businesses and leaders in her career, helping them comprehend and capitalize on change to drive growth.
Valerie’s work in futures thinking began in school, first discovering the role of sociocultural trends in the design world. Later founding her own trends studio, she began helping brands and businesses of every sector apply a trend-centric approach to their work, glimpsing future versions of their industries and crafting strategies that both protected against adverse forces and built upon emergent opportunities.
In time, Valerie brought her practice in-house at LPK, a brand and innovation consultancy, where she established and evolved practices focused on insight, innovation, trends and foresight, helping brands track and transform their categories alongside consumer culture.
Through it all, Valerie has been teaching and training, engaging with thousands of students in her two decades as a professor of trends and foresight at the University of Cincinnati and other academic institutions.
Her philosophy and work has been featured in publications, podcasts and panels, including Forbes, Vogue, Inc., Business Courier, DesignIntelligence, IDSA and Entrepreneur, among others.
Today, Valerie is the founder and CEO of Valerie Jacobs Futures, helping businesses understand, anticipate and flourish in the future. Her passion is empowering people to approach tomorrow with optimism and action—both professionally and personally.
Shaping prescient businesses.
