From Moon Dust to Market: Julie Strickland on Innovation, Patents, and Turning Ideas Into Income

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Meet Julie N. Strickland

Host Christian Brim talks with Julie N. Strickland about how she took a nontraditional path into engineering, graduating at 32 and diving into innovation at Raytheon, then moving through oil and gas, advanced radar, Northrop Grumman, and the space industry in Houston. She worked on the Next Generation Spacesuit and later taught innovation inside Collins Aerospace, where her internal program increased patent applications by about 10 percent within her business unit. Those after hours lessons became the foundation for her book, A Practical Guide for Innovators: Navigating the Corporate Landscape.

The Strawberry Framework for Innovation

Julie uses the strawberry as a metaphor for how real innovation happens.

• Stem: Ideas grow from prior research and lived experience. Inspiration does not arrive in a vacuum.
• Seeds: What look like flaws in the world are actually starting points for ideas.
• Curve: Progress is rarely linear. Expect pivots as you learn.
• Ripeness: Timing matters. Too early and no one wants it, too late and the market has moved on.

Failure Is Data

Julie champions failing fast and learning faster. One favorite example was the Ionic Shower concept for removing lunar dust. Lab tests revealed that the dust’s charge dissipates instantly in atmosphere. That insight killed the project and saved significant future spend, which freed the team to pursue better solutions like Renegade Regolith, a closed loop, car wash style concept with an outgoing protective coating similar to wax.

The lesson: treat experiments as information gathering. Kill what does not work and reallocate time and money to what does.

The Real Problem: Lunar Dust

Why remove lunar dust at all? It is jagged, talc fine, and highly abrasive. In Apollo it defeated Velcro and wore down bearings. It also poses health risks if inhaled. Old fixes like vacuuming are too slow for modern missions. New solutions must balance speed, safety, and suit integrity.

Patents 101 for Creatives

Many creatives delay thinking about IP until there is a crisis. Julie’s plain-language guide:

1. Trade secret vs patent
   • Trade secrets keep the recipe private and never expire, like Coca-Cola’s formula.
   • Patents require disclosure and expire, but they give you the right to enforce.
2. Provisional patent
   • Inexpensive and quick, buys you one year to test and refine.
   • Useful because the United States is first to file. Whoever files first wins, not whoever thought of it first.
3. Enforcement reality
   • A patent is a piece of paper. Its power comes from your ability to enforce it. Large companies carry legal muscle, which is why many employee-invented patents are owned by the company per employment IP agreements.
4. What is patentable
   • Mechanical and electromechanical inventions are common.
   • Software can be patentable, but claims focus on algorithms and specific implementations.
   • Processes can be patented, yet they are often harder to detect and enforce.
5. Novelty test in practice
   • Examiners and attorneys probe until claims capture the real idea. Example: a zipper connector claim fell to prior art, but the electromagnetic interference cover around it was novel and became the patent.

Corporate vs Startup IP Strategy

• Enterprises often file one system level patent and may be asked to divide claims later.
• Startups may deliberately assemble many focused patents to signal innovation and attract investors. More filings cost more, but they can support fundraising and partnerships.

Turning Expertise Into Income

Julie is building Strawberry Innovation as a platform that informs, inspires, and eventually monetizes through:

• Paid talks and one-on-one coaching
• A book and companion workbook
• Workshops and cohorts that lead teams through real problem solving
• A software framework that powers interactive exercises and branching scenarios, with potential to sell modules on app stores

Practical Takeaways for Creatives

• Start with a problem worth solving and do the research before falling in love with a solution.
• Build diverse teams so quiet voices are invited in. Hidden ideas often win.
• Use a provisional patent to secure first to file while you validate.
• Think through enforcement before you spend. If you cannot detect infringement, reconsider your approach.
• Document, sketch, and iterate. The faster you learn, the faster you ship value.

Where to Find Julie’s Work

Search for Strawberry Innovation and Julie N. Strickland for her book and workshops.

Now, Do This!

Want the complete story, all the nuance, and Julie’s field tested prompts for better ideas?
Listen to this episode of The Profitable Creative: https://www.coregroupus.com/the-profitable-creative

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