Inside the Trailblazer experience: What happens when emerging talent gets recognised
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- 6 min read
Packaging Solutions
Different routes into packaging. Different disciplines. Different ideas about where the industry needs to go next. Five members of the Future Trailblazer Class of 2026 reflect on the work that earned them recognition, what winning gave them and why the next generation should put themselves forward.
There is no obvious route to becoming a packaging Trailblazer.
Jordan Scott fell into the industry ‘completely by mistake’. Jess Morgan-Butler found it through a love of creativity and engineering. Olivia Tomlinson’s curiosity began with a question about the food packaging she encountered during a foundation art diploma: why isn’t this recyclable? Dhruvi Thakkar was attracted by the intersection of engineering, sustainability and real world impact. Then there is Isobel Duignan, whose approach can be condensed into two words: ‘Problem solver.’
Five people, five different routes and five different areas of expertise. What connects them is that, relatively early in their careers, each has found something in packaging they believe can be better and started doing something about it.
That is what brought them together as members of the Future Trailblazer Class of 2026.
Pictured: Olivia, Jordan, Dhruvi, Isobel and Jess.
Now, with the search for the Class of 2027 under way, they have been looking back at what brought them to that moment, what recognition meant and where they want to go next.
For Jess, senior technical designer at Carlton Packaging, the attraction of packaging was the tension between imagination and reality.
‘I have always enjoyed that mix of creativity and engineering,’ she said. ‘I love taking something from an idea into something real, and packaging just naturally fit into that. It is creative, but it also really has to work.’
RapiReturn, the e-commerce packaging solution Jess identifies as the project she is most proud of, demonstrates that thinking in practice. Designed for both the initial shipment and return journey, the solution uses a secure locking mechanism that removes the need for tape, with a glue free configuration available to reduce material use.
‘It really pushed me to think differently about corrugated, bringing reuse into something that’s traditionally only single use,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t just sustainable in theory, it actually worked.’
For Jess, that distinction is critical. ‘You don’t have to compromise functionality or experience to do something more sustainable. I think that is the key if we want real adoption.’
That determination to turn sustainability into something practical appears repeatedly across the Class of 2026.
Olivia, a packaging degree apprentice at Nestlé, traces her interest back to a foundation art diploma, where work around recycling, food waste and packaging prompted her to start asking questions.
‘Why is this not recyclable? Where does it go? Where does it end up?” she remembers wondering. ‘I really wanted to be a part of something that was able to change the behaviours of consumers and the behaviours of companies.’
She already has evidence of what that can mean at scale. The project Olivia is proudest of focused on reducing virgin plastic through changes to sachet size and secondary plastic, resulting in a saving of nearly 20 metric tonnes.
For someone still completing a degree apprenticeship, the number speaks for itself.
Isobel’s ambitions look further ahead. She wants to see packaging become as sustainable as possible over the coming decade, with recyclability becoming the norm. Her description of herself as a ‘problem solver’ is accompanied by an equally straightforward philosophy: keep being yourself, refuse to accept standard ways of working and push for change.
For Jordan Scott, head of marketing at James Cropper, challenging established thinking begins with breaking down the boundaries between different parts of the industry.
Packaging was never part of a carefully mapped career plan. ‘I actually fell into it completely by mistake,’ she said. ‘I fell into it for a love of craft, creativity and storytelling.’
What hooked her was discovering how closely those disciplines are connected to the technical decisions being made much earlier in the packaging process. That experience has also shaped the change she now wants to see.
‘We are all facing shared challenges around sustainability, materials, legislation,’ Jordan said. ‘I personally believe that the way that we are all going to succeed moving forward is through partnerships, collaborations.
‘There is room for everyone to succeed, and collaboration is where that most meaningful innovation happens.’
For Jordan, continuing to work in silos when the challenges are shared simply does not make sense.
Dhruvi Thakkar understands another kind of challenge. She entered the Future Trailblazer Awards in 2025 and did not win.
‘Not winning in 2025 was actually a valuable moment for reflection,’ she said. ‘It pushed me to evaluate what I could improve and how I could grow professionally.’
She could have left it there. Instead, Dhruvi kept learning, refined her work and started her own design agency. Then she entered again.
‘Instead of seeing it as a setback, I saw it as motivation to keep learning, refining my work and continuing to push forward’ she said.
Twelve months after missing out, Dhruvi returned and was recognised as part of the Class of 2026.
‘Returning the following year and being recognised reinforced an important lesson for me,’ she said. ‘Progress in this industry often comes from persistence and continuous improvement.’
Her experience gets close to the reason the Future Trailblazer Awards exist.
The programme is open to people within the first 10 years of their packaging careers. Entrants are not expected to arrive with decades of achievements behind them. What matters is what they are already changing, improving or questioning, and where that momentum might take them next.
Recognition can change how that work is viewed. Sometimes, more importantly, it changes how people view themselves.
For Olivia, winning had an immediate effect. ‘I am extremely proud of the recognition because it makes me feel confident in my ability as a packaging specialist,’ she said.
Jess describes the experience as ‘a bit surreal’. ‘It is a huge honour, especially in an industry with so much talent. But it is also really motivating,’ she said. ‘It reinforces that the ideas that I care about, like reuse and sustainability, are really worth pushing forward.’
Perhaps the most revealing description comes from Jordan.
Winning was ‘incredibly affirming’, particularly because, as she points out, packaging is not always an obvious creative or strategic career path.
Like most people, she spends much of her working life focused on the next decision or project rather than stopping to consider the cumulative impact of what she has already done. The awards ceremony changed that for a moment.
Around Jordan were people she had worked with, project partners and others she hoped to collaborate with in the future. When her name was announced, they cheered her on.
‘It was one of those moments where it was like, okay, maybe I am all right at my job,’ she explained.
The line is lighthearted, but the sentiment behind it is revealing. External recognition can provide something that is difficult to manufacture for yourself early in a career: perspective.
And none of them appears particularly interested in stopping there.
Jess wants to broaden her impact beyond corrugated packaging and explore other materials, machinery and production. Olivia wants to tackle perhaps the hardest variable of all: consumer behaviour. Dhruvi wants faster progress towards genuinely sustainable packaging systems built through greater collaboration between manufacturers, material innovators, retailers and recyclers. Jordan wants those same parts of the value chain to stop operating in isolation.
The award recognises what they have done without pretending the work is finished.
So, what do people who have already been through the experience tell someone contemplating an entry for 2027?
Isobel is characteristically direct: ‘You have got to be in it to win it.’
Olivia sees value even in the process of entering, describing it as an opportunity to ‘look and reflect on what you have been able to do and where you have got to’.
Jess reaches much the same conclusion.
‘Just go for it. Don’t overthink it,’ she said. ‘You don’t need to have everything figured out. You just need to be willing to put yourself out there, put your ideas out there.’
And then there is Dhruvi.
Her experience offers perhaps the most useful answer of all to anyone wondering whether they are ready, whether their work is good enough or whether this will be their year.
She entered. She didn’t win. She kept going. Then she came back.
Could 2027 be your year?
Entries are now open for the Future Trailblazer Class of 2027, celebrating the people already making an impact within the first 10 years of their packaging careers.
Whether you are improving a process, developing a better pack, challenging established thinking, advancing sustainability or bringing a new perspective to the industry, this is your opportunity to put that work forward.
Entries are free and close on 6 November 2026, with the Class of 2027 set to be revealed at Packaging Innovations & Empack on 24 February 2027.
