Great leaders are often defined by the moments when vision meets purpose. For Douglas Hellström, those moments come not just in boardrooms, but through life experiences that reshaped how he sees leadership and impact. Having faced personal challenges of illness and loss, he carries a deep conviction that life is too short to spend on work that doesn’t truly matter. Today, as CEO of NOAQ Flood Protection, that conviction fuels every decision he makes. Under his guidance, NOAQ is no longer just producing barriers against flood water, it is building resilience, hope, and empowerment for communities on the frontlines of climate change.
“Our vision is to create a more flood resilient society… to become the benchmark for mobile flood protection and build the world’s most complete flood fighting system.”
Stepping into Leadership
When Douglas took on the role of CEO at NOAQ Flood Protection, it was more than just a career move, it was the kind of opportunity that comes along once in a lifetime. Transitioning from sales manager to leading the organization was no small leap, but for Douglas, stepping outside his comfort zone has always been the surest path to growth.
What attracted him most was not only the potential of the business but also the chance to connect deeply with meaningful, purpose-driven work. Having navigated personal challenges in recent years, including illness and family loss, he came to a powerful realization: life is too short to dedicate to anything you’re not proud of.
Under his leadership, the company is driving towards an ambitious vision, creating a more flood-resilient society. NOAQ has been shaping the mobile flood protection industry since the early 1990s, and Douglas is determined to take it to the next level. The strategy is clear: build the world’s most complete flood-fighting system while growing revenue fivefold by 2030. Already, results are evident, with revenues tripling in the first half of the year and a strengthened management team ready to carry the company into its next chapter.
A Mission That Matches Personal Values
NOAQ’s mission is simple yet powerful, change the way the world fights floods and reduce their devastating social and economic impact. The company creates innovative, fast, and reliable mobile protection systems that transform vulnerable communities into empowered ones.
This mission could not be more aligned with Douglas own philosophy of leadership. “It has never been about power or money,” he says. His drive comes from wanting to make a difference, to wake up each morning proud of his contribution. That’s why NOAQ feels like a natural fit.
For Douglas some of the most rewarding moments are when distributors send photos and videos from around the world, showing businesses, homes and communities saved because of NOAQ’s systems. “That’s the receipt for what we do,” he says, and it fuels his determination to keep pushing forward.
A Day in the Life of a Scaling CEO
Today, NOAQ is in a scale-up phase, a stage Douglas describes as the most thrilling place to be as a leader. The company has a proven business model, a global market, new partnerships, and additional production facilities underway across the world. Revenues are rising, the team is expanding, and the foundation for long-term growth is being set.
Douglas sees that this is the sweet spot of leadership. He doesn’t see himself as a caretaker or someone who preserves the status quo. He thrives on creation and innovation, and scaling a young company, even one with decades of product innovation, offers endless opportunities to shape the future.
Yet, with this excitement comes the balancing act between strategy and operations. Laying down systems, processes, and investments while staying focused on the bigger picture can be demanding. Still, he views these challenges as part of the adventure. NOAQ may have been pioneering mobile flood protection since the 1990s, but in many ways, the company is still experiencing its “firsts.” That makes every day dynamic, unpredictable, and ultimately rewarding.
“Growth comes from focus. Don’t scatter like a shotgun, aim like a sniper.”
Early Lessons in Leadership
When Douglas moved from sales to the CEO’s chair at NOAQ Flood Protection, he quickly discovered that leadership meant more than just managing details. One of his earliest challenges was resisting the instinct to dive into every operational decision. Instead, he had to learn to step back, set direction, and trust the team’s expertise.
That shift in mindset became a cornerstone of his leadership style, empowering people closest to the knowledge to make decisions, while focusing his own efforts on vision and strategy. “My job is to remove obstacles so others can perform at their best,” he reflects.
Another defining lesson came in learning to filter opportunities. A growing company is flooded with exciting prospects, but not all of them deserve attention. Douglas realized that saying no was just as important as saying yes. This discipline set the tone for NOAQ’s early growth and continues to guide its strategic focus today.
“People often praise CEOs, but I see my role as simple: point out where we’re going and make sure nothing stands in the way. The real expertise is in the team — my job is to create the environment for them to succeed.”
The Natural Evolution of Innovation
Innovation is the heartbeat of NOAQ, and Douglas fosters it as second nature. The company was born from a spirit of challenging assumptions, and that same spirit continues to drive its growth. “The real challenge isn’t sparking innovation,” he explains, “it’s knowing when to invent something new and when to build on what already exists.”
This mindset has helped the company expand its scope, particularly as it explores the integration of digital FloodTech solutions with its physical products. It’s a new frontier requiring different skills, new management styles, and fresh ways of working. Yet, Douglas sees this as a natural evolution of NOAQ’s pioneering DNA.
Sustainability at the Core
If there’s one principle that underpins every decision at NOAQ, it’s sustainability. As Douglas describes it, the company operates with three overarching goals: growth, profitability, and world improvement. Each holds equal weight, and none is pursued at the expense of the others.
World improvement, in his view, is a broad mission. It includes delivering solutions that build more flood-resilient societies, but it also extends to how the company itself functions, from reducing its CO₂ footprint to creating a workplace where people can thrive. Ambitious targets, like growing revenue fivefold by 2030, sit alongside equally important goals of lowering emissions and ensuring employees feel valued and inspired.
Douglas makes the balance crystal clear. Success isn’t defined by financial results alone; it’s measured by the positive impact NOAQ leaves on communities, the environment, and the people inside the company.
“We have three overall goals at NOAQ — growth, profit, and world improvement. None of them rank above the others; they must be treated with the same respect and care.”
Staying Agile in an Unpredictable World
In an industry shaped by the chaos of climate change, Douglas believes agility is non-negotiable. He often explains the distinction between two branches of climate action. Most companies focus on climate mitigation, reducing emissions and accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy. NOAQ, however, works in climate adaptation thought flood mitigation. Its mission is not to stop climate change, but to help societies withstand the increasing threat from floods as a result of climate change.
The company’s answer to unpredictability lies in simplicity and scalability. NOAQ’s barriers are designed so that almost anyone can deploy them quickly and easy, without tools or special training, making them practical across different geographies and scenarios.
Douglas envisions all of this coming together in what he calls a complete FloodTech ecosystem, physical barriers that hold back water, services that accelerate response, and digital tools that strengthen preparedness. Together, they form the NOAQ Flood Fighting System, the most comprehensive approach to mobile flood protection on the market.
“We stay closely connected to our distributors and end-users, learning from real flood Situations worldwide to continuously improve our solutions.”
Strength in Shared Decisions
When asked what achievement he is most proud of, Douglas doesn’t point to revenue growth or market expansion. Instead, he talks about mindset. Early in his tenure, he made it clear that his role as CEO was not to have all the answers but to ensure the organization knew where it was going and had the freedom to get there.
The real expertise, he believes, lies with the people closest to the work. By distributing decision-making throughout the company and reducing dependency on the CEO, NOAQ has become faster, more resilient, and more innovative. “The less the organization relies on me for day-to-day decisions, the stronger it becomes,” he says. This shift has allowed him to focus on long-term strategy, while empowering the team to own the present.
“The less dependent the company is on me for decisions, the stronger we become. Leadership is about trust, clarity, and enabling others to act.”
Principles That Guide High-Stakes Decisions
In the fast-paced world of scale-ups, distractions are everywhere. New ideas, side projects, and shiny opportunities can easily pull a company off course. Douglas considers that the guiding principle is deceptively simple: is this part of our core focus, or is it shiny stuff?
It’s a question he uses constantly, but the real validation came when his team began using it too. In one meeting, as he weighed a potential path forward, a colleague challenged him: “But Douglas, is this really part of our core focus? It seems more like shiny stuff.” At that moment, he knew the discipline of focus had spread beyond him to the broader culture of the company.
Douglas often likens growth to marksmanship: a shotgun spreads effort everywhere, but a sniper is precise and deliberate. NOAQ, he insists, must always be the sniper. That focus is how results are achieved, not by chasing every opportunity, but by aligning relentlessly around the mission.
Changing the Global Mindset
If he could shape one global policy or mindset around flood protection, Douglas knows exactly what it would be: shift the narrative from victimhood to empowerment. “We need to stop seeing people as passive victims of flooding and instead equip them with the tools to act,” he says.
To him, flood preparedness should sit at the very top of the climate adaptation agenda, treated as a first line of defense rather than an afterthought. He believes governments and municipalities must balance investment in large-scale, long-term infrastructure with mobile, flexible systems that can be deployed quickly at the community level.
Technology has a role, early-warning systems powered by AI, for example, can save time. But in Douglas’s view, time alone doesn’t protect homes. “Warnings save time, but barriers save lives and livelihoods,” he says.
Laying Foundations That Last
Looking ahead over the next decade, Douglas sees NOAQ not just as a company, but as the benchmark for an industry in transition. While sandbags remain the most widely used tool in flood defense today, he is convinced their days are numbered. Once people experience the simplicity and efficiency of NOAQ’s mobile flood barriers, the traditional methods will feel outdated.
The real challenge in this growing market, he says, is not demand, it’s staying ahead of the competition. “Greater potential always brings greater competition,” Douglas reflects. “Our role is to remain the benchmark, the global leader in mobile flood protection.” To achieve that, he and his team are building far more than products. The NOAQ Flood Fighting System is a complete solution, one that enables better planning, stronger preparedness, faster responses, and wider access. His job is to lay the foundation and processes so that this vision doesn’t just scale, but lasts.
Lessons for the Next Generation
To young entrepreneurs and engineers dreaming of making an impact, Douglas offers straightforward advice: focus. In a world brimming with distractions, clarity and persistence are more valuable than chasing every opportunity. Knowing who you are and what you want is the foundation of meaningful progress.
He also reminds aspiring leaders that brilliance is not the most important trait. Openness, humility, and kindness create stronger connections and more opportunities. “People remember how you make them feel,” he says, and in leadership, that memory often lasts longer than any business result.
