The Most Successful Entrepreneurs of 2018 by beyond!

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS OF 2018

CULTURE

Issue 16 Winter 2018

10 LEVERAGING EXPERIENCE TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS Isaac Andy CEO & Director iZND Services

How to Transi on From a Corporate Job to Being an Entrepreneur

Happy Entrepreneur, a Myth or Reality?

5 Powerful Insights for Midlife Entrepreneurs P.58

P.44

P.20

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EDITOR’S CORNER

ontrary to popular believe, entrepreneurship is not the most glamorous career as people deem it to be. Entrepreneurship is not about coming up with big ideas; not about thinking or dreaming big; it's not even about striking a new invention or innovation; neither is it about the quest for ﬁnding fame and fortune. At its core, successful entrepreneurship is one which is about execution. No matter your idea, workforce, innovation, or zealous attitude, without proper execution one cannot attain success. Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who’re willing to push the boundaries; and then follow up by ripping it up and engraving new boundaries of execution. We, at Beyond Exclamation, realize the challenges, the obstacles, and the doubts, these entrepreneurs have had to tackle and overcome to attain success. We understand the hours they have committed and the responsibilities they have shouldered to ‘execute’ their idea and vision into a reality. To honor the same and highlight some of the leading entrepreneurs of this year, we have come up with a special issue titled “The Most Successful Entrepreneurs of 2018.” Featuring as the Cover Story, we have Isaac Andy who has leveraged his years of experience and skills to establish a name for his company, iZND Services. His resolute attitude coupled with his desire to succeed has prompted Beyond Exclamation to take notice and feature him as the face of this issue. Aside from Isaac, we have other pioneering entrepreneurs like Anna Cecilia Frellsen, Lisa Druxman, Rupert Steﬀner, Erik Bjontegard, and Todd Gooden. In addition to these, we have some of the most thought-provoking articles from various leading industry experts. Dive into the magazine and start scrolling through the journeys of these inspiring entrepreneurs!

Editor in Chief CHRISTINE [editor@beyondexclamation.com]

Managing Editor JACK [jack@beyondexclamation.com]

Art Director VIJAYKUMAR [design@beyondexclamation.com]

Graphic Artist NICK [nick@beyondexclamation.com]

Project Manager JENNIFER [jennifer@beyondexclamation.com]

Development Manager JUSTIN [info@beyondexclamation.com]

CONNECT!

Jack London www.beyondexclamation.com BeyondExclamation @BeyondEx Beyond Exclamation beyondexclamation

In addition to our print magazine, we also provide relevant industry news and updates, as well as some thoughtprovoking articles and blogs on our website. Make sure to follow the same as we at Beyond Exclamation are looking forward to interact with our readers. Let’s connect on the web!

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inside... Business Boulevard

B E O N 10

Leveraging Experience to Achieve Success

Omniscient Voyage

An Entrepreneur with a Vision to Create Wonders

Happy Entrepreneur, a Myth or Reality?

Excellence Causeway

20 How to Transition From a Corporate Job to Being an Entrepreneur

24 Much More than an Entrepreneur

Newsmakers Locale

50 In conversation with Erik Bjontegard

Younick Corner

Y D

30 Helping Design Healthy Lives

34 To be Honey-badgers

DeďŹ nitive Destination

54 A Serial Entrepreneur on A Mission

58 5 Powerful Insights for Midlife Entrepreneurs

Isaac Andy CEO & Director iZND Services

Leveraging Experience to Achieve Success

or any entrepreneur, the primary characteristic or quality that they must possess is the inherent desire to start a business which they truly believe in. Starting and then running a business is by no means a child’s play; it isn’t meant for the ambivalent, the inadequate, or the faint hearted. In entrepreneurship, it is important for an individual to understand that the road won’t always be a bed full of roses. It will be ﬁlled with obstacles, hurdles, and thorns, yet one needs to keep pushing themselves forward to achieve their desired goal and objectives. Entrepreneurs need to really be their own boss, translate their vision into reality, and plan ahead to market their products or services. Given the sobering ﬁgures and stats on the number of small businesses that start and succumb into the depth of failure, it is imperative for an entrepreneur to have that inherent desire to steer towards success.

One pioneering example of such a driven and motivated entrepreneur is Isaac Andy. The Founder, CEO, and Director of iZND Services leveraged his years of experience and skills to establish a name for his company. His resolute attitude coupled with his desire to succeed has prompted Beyond Exclamation to take notice and feature the inspiring individual amongst “The

Most Successful Entrepreneurs of 2018.” Herein, we highlight the journey of Isaac Andy, his march towards becoming a successful entrepreneur, his portfolio of experience, and the unparalleled services and solutions of his company.

“Understand that there are always obstacles ahead and will continue to remain there, but know that you can get pass through it by addressing and dealing with it.” Experience Matters! To say that Isaac is a versatile and a multi-faceted individual would be an understatement. He holds a bachelor’s degree in BSc (Hons)

Computing, Information Systems from the Staffordshire University as well as a Diploma in Computing, Information Systems from the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU/APIIT). He is eloquent in Chinese, Malay, and English language, and boasts hands-on experience as a Database Administrator, Application Developer, and Project Manager across a wide variety of business applications. Isaac is especially interested in client/server and relational database design by using Oracle, Sybase, and MS-SQL Server. He has always been interested in migration-based projects, and has a close-quartered interaction with database manufacturers. Prior to starting his own company, Isaac worked with a number of reputed companies, thereby further honing his skills and knowledge in the field. After completing his education, he joined Parkson Corporation Sdn Bhd as an MIS Executive Analyst Programmer. He followed that up by working as a Technical Manager at Getronics Solution. His corporate experience continued to expand as he went on to work with IBM as the PSS Desktop Technical Lead. He also worked as the Head, Desktop Management for Malaysia Airlines System and as a Technical Lead of CTS Asia Pacific at IBM Malaysia and Project Manager at Solsis (M) Sdn. Bhd.

The Road towards Entrepreneurial Success After acquiring a pool of diverse experiences across these companies, Isaac realized this to be the ideal time to move forward and start his own company. A company wherein he can provide solutions which he desires and take his own decisions when it comes to instrumenting solutions. He focused on his dreams and built close relations with various vendors. These vendors were the ones with whom he and his team had closely worked with throughout the years, and supported and assisted each other in every step of the way. At the time when Isaac shared his plans to start iZND Services to the vendors, they wholeheartedly supported him and showed belief in his abilities and vision and extended their products and services to Isaac. This went on to be a big boost for Isaac, as he already had these large corporations as partners of his company, helping him to gain the trust and conﬁdence of its clients. Since then, he hasn’t looked back and has continued to ride on the growth wave of his company. Your Perfect IT Outsourcing Partner The company provides a managed service program which features a dedicated team of hardware and

“With us, you can now focus on what you specialize in & pay attention to what is really important for your business.” software professionals. The proficient members of the team specialize in developing services and products that meet the needs and requirements of its customers. iZND Services boasts a broad experience in providing IT-based services, and the company has invested considerable resources to develop a mature Managed IT Services Program, Professional IT Project Delivery, and Cloud Computing Solutions. “At iZND Services we are flexible. Your business gains by reducing costs and complexities, and increasing operational efficiency. We provide our customers with repeatable, proven process that delivers consistent end-results regardless of project scope or client,” mentions Isaac.

It is smart move to outsource ones’ core and intricate IT requirements to iZND as it is very easy to lose track of ones’ priorities and spend focus on a particular area itself. It usually starts with issues concerning which servers to buy and what firewalls to install. Following this, the OS breaks down, the security gets breached, and network disruptions become a mundane problem. iZND provides you with a one-stop solution that provides all the necessary hardware or software according to the specifications identified based on a client’s requirements. Most recently, the company became an official participant in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s leading voluntary corporate social responsibility initiative. Define your Goals Isaac believes it to be extremely important to define ones’ goals for the target they desire to achieve. According to him, obstacles and hurdles will always remain ahead but one can get past the same by addressing, facing, and dealing with it. This will ensure that the next time the challenge comesforward, it’ll no longer be an obstacle, rather it will be a pathway that you’re more than capable of going through. He mentions aspiring entrepreneurs to take notice of these issues and ensure that each and every one in an organization are clear on the

“We provide our customers with processes that need to be conducted or run. This would make sure that any recurring issues would no longer cause any huge problem. “With all issues out of the way, it will give you & your organization more time & resources to focus on building & improving the necessaries to achieve the longterm goals that you have deﬁned,” claims Isaac. An All-in-One Approach iZND’s services focus on oﬀering one-stop solutions as the company understands that eradicating confusion when it comes to support tools is highly important behind the success of reducing the downtime encountered by an organization.

repeatable, proven process that delivers consistent end-results regardless of project scope or client.” Having all of your collateral aligned to a one-stop solution and support provider streamlines the entire process for distributors to get everything that you’d need. The company promises to manage it all for you; whether it is hardware, software, network, security and backup. Anything and everything can be conﬁgured in accordance to your needs at iZND

Services. The company has a 24/7 automated helpdesk system, which helps monitor your IT infrastructure to ensure that it runs precisely and to the best of its capabilities. The company and Isaac advertise itself by saying “We will be your IT partner to consistently improve eﬃciencies & increase the productivity of your organization through our collaboration & mobility tools which will allow the client to strategically align your organization to move towards a more competitive in your industry. With these necessities in our care, you can now focus on what you specialize in & pay attention to what is really important for your business.”

Carlos Gil CEO & Founder Gil Media Co.

How to Transition from a Corporate Job to Being an Entrepreneur

tarting a new business isn’t easy and it, of course, has its share of ups and downs.

Some months are outstanding (ﬁnancially), while others aren’t. Some months you’re in “pitch mode” to land new business and others you’re delegating work to be performed, hiring new team members, ﬁring ones who aren’t working out and doing all the “things” that nobody on social media will ever know, hear or see.

your terms while having the security blanket of a paycheck can be rewarding. However, the thought of not having that direct deposit hit one’s bank account every 15th and 30th of the month can also be terriﬁed to the point of paralysis by analysis. “How will I pay my rent?” “How will I make my mortgage next month?” “How will I sustain my lifestyle?”

For a person who’s historically been a “corporate intrapreneur” -otherwise referred to as someone who acts entrepreneurial yet is paid a salary as an employee of a company -- to have full autonomy to show up and do your work on

“How will I be able to aﬀord expensive dinners and vacations?” These are all questions that run through the minds of corporate intrepreneurs -- who have an

entrepreneurial mindset -- and lead them to stay put more times than none. It’s fear. It’s self-doubt. And, it’s real. On Oct. 1, 2018, when my LinkedIn inbox became flooded with “Congrats on your work anniversary!” messages, I took a moment to reflect on what it took for me to walk away from a job that previously paid me over $150,000 per year. For beginners, working a full-time job with a salary and benefits isn’t a bad thing if you look at it from the perspective of you’re being paid to learn new tasks and gain experience(s) which will you take with you for the rest of your career. Experience which someday you can charge large sums of money for. Post-recession, circa 2012, I had to temporarily step away from being self-employed and go work for corporations to rebuild my credit and save up money, which had been nonexistent in the previous fouryear period. One of those jobs led me to start social media for Winn-Dixie, one of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S.; the other was working at LinkedIn, which relocated my family and me to San Francisco and opened up a new world of opportunities which previously didn’t exist.

However, there comes the point when the paycheck, company logo or work culture does not fulﬁll your needs, and you have to assess whether your purpose and passion are more important than a paycheck. If you’ve been contemplating ditching your 9-to-5 for selfemployment, here are ﬁve things that will make your transition easier in the long-term: 1. Have a bigger objective in mind outside of your day job. If you cannot answer that you love your job, then you’re in the wrong position. I often will meet gainfully employed professionals who dislike their boss or the company that they work for but feel that staying put outweighs the risk of going elsewhere -- including on their own. If you have years of experience and don’t think that your value is recognized within your organization and are being held down, perhaps think about freelance consulting on the side to get a feel for what it’s like cutting your invoices, sending out proposals and doing work independently. 2. Start building an identity outside of your current job title. As soon as you get the “itch” to work for yourself, make your priority not what you will do but

how you will do it. Begin with building a professional identity outside of your job title or company logo. Many working professionals are known as “James at X Company” or “Susan from Y Company” because they’ve built their entire legacy around being an employee of a high-profile organization -- which is fine, but there comes the point where you need to create your own identity independent of that employer. Begin writing for publications in your industry as your name only -unaffiliated with your employer or current job title. Start speaking more at industry conferences. Participate in online groups on Facebook and LinkedIn to grow your identity and thought leadership but also to network.

3. Secretly network within your network. For two years before I exited my corporate job to start my social media marketing agency Gil Media Co., I met privately with close colleagues to share with them my vision for “next steps,” either at industry conferences or by phone. While you don’t want to share your intentions publicly with the world just yet, what you do want is for your closest colleagues to act as informal advisors who may have a job for you (on a freelance basis) or can introduce you to someone that might be looking for your expertise. You’d be surprised at

exactly how many major corporations are looking for consultants or freelancers with your skill set and expertise. 4. Don’t quit without paying clients. Unless you’re ﬁred or laid oﬀ from your job, do not quit unless you have a paying client or two. Not having guaranteed income will bring you stress which will make it harder for you to focus on the basics of getting a business up and running. Therefore, it is critical that you have income coming in from other sources before you become self-employed (by choice). You should also have at least six months of salary in liquid cash saved up to help you bridge the period between

going out on your own to bringing in consistent business. In my case, a year before leaving my corporate job I picked up a client (ironically from a free speaking gig) which afforded me the ability to save cash that would eventually buy me a runway. 5. Document the process. Sharing your story is a competitive advantage. Why? Because it’s your story. Strangers will be more inclined to help you when they see someone who’s sharing their vulnerabilities. As I share in the video and short documentary above titled “Chasing Opportunity,” a layoff in the financial services industry in 2008 led me to discover

social media as a gateway to rebuilding and rebranding myself, which led me down a new career path to where I ﬁnd myself today. While my story is unique to me, it’s also real and relatable. As you’re growing a new business document the process of growth -and sometimes failure -- through daily stories on Instagram or Facebook. Leverage mediums like YouTube and LinkedIn, too, to amplify awareness around whatever your “hustle” is. You will ﬁnd that there’s a world of opportunity waiting for you outside of your city or state if you see it. However, sharing who you are, what you do and what you want to accomplish is critical to unlocking it.

Much More than an Entrepreneur

aternal mortality is one of the greatest health inequalities in the world. 99 % of the 800 women, who die every day of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, live in low and middle-income countries. In addition, 14000 babies also lose their lives before, during or soon after birth. However, this global tragedy of maternal and newborn mortality can actually - in the vast majority of cases - be prevented. And it is not necessarily just about medical equipment and building big hospitals. The key to preventing maternal mortality is simple: The woman has a skilled birth attendant by her side when she gives birth. With the vision of “no woman should die giving life,” Maternity Foundation focuses on training midwives and other skilled birth attendants on how to handle life-threatening complications. Led by Anna Cecilia Frellsen, CEO of the company, Maternity Foundation aims to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in low-and middle income countries. A long Road Anna joined Maternity Foundation in 2013, and her main focus has been on expanding Maternity Foundation’s global reach and impact by using innovation and technology as a driving force. It has been a transition from a more traditional NGO working on the ground in Ethiopia to a global digital program across sub Saharan Africa and SE Asia. Anna believes that their greatest challenge - which is probably also their greatest achievement - is finding the right model for Maternity Foundation in terms of how to bring their programmatic know-how to scale. “Our focus is on how to most effectively implement digital maternal and newborn health tools such as our Safe Delivery App into existing health programs. We work primarily through partners rather than setting up offices with our own staff in each of our priority countries - and this makes us exponentially able to reach many more skilled birth attendants with our trainings. So in many ways we have disrupted the traditional NGO way of operating,” Anna said. She also thinks working with multiple partners - including large NGOs, ministries of health, universities, the UN etc. - in almost 20 different countries can obviously be challenging at times, for example in terms of striking the right balance between standardizing their services on a global level and adapting to the national guidelines and needs in their partner countries.

Anna Cecilia Frellse CEO Maternity Foundation

With every problem that anyone battles and wins, comes the achievement moment to cherish. For Anna, her greatest organizational achievement is probably building a strong team of almost 40 colleagues in Denmark, Ethiopia, India and the US. Also, she is proud of how they have established Maternity Foundation as a global player within the maternal and newborn health field. “This has been quite a journey! The first time we went to the UN General Assembly in New York five

years ago we had to knock on many doors to get ourselves invited to meetings and events. This year, we were asked to present at UNFPA’s campaign event,” she added. Focusing on Capacity Building “While nearly every country and region have improved maternal and newborn health over the last two decades, girls and women particularly in developing countries continue to face signiﬁcant risks during pregnancy and childbirth.

Giving childbirth should NEVER be with the risk of losing your own life. That is a basic human right. That is why Maternity Foundation aims to ensure that no women and their newborns should risk their lives during pregnancy and childbirth regardless of where in the world they are,” shared Anna on the mission of Maternity Foundation. Maternity Foundation’s approach is to focus on capacity building of health workers and midwives in

how to use the mobile revolution to reach even more skilled birth attendants - even in the most remote areas. It is Anna’s experience that at many health centers across low- and middle-income countries, there may not be electricity or running water, but the health worker will often have a mobile phone in his or her hand. “Hence, building on our programmatic expertise, we developed the Safe Delivery App in partnership with Copenhagen University and University of Southern Denmark. The Safe Delivery App includes simple, intuitive animated instructions that guide the health worker in how to handle childbirth emergencies. It includes quizzes, a description of practical procedures and drug lists that midwives and health workers can always refer to – either on the job, in their spare time or as part of their training,” Anna further added.

developing countries – and to use innovative approaches and technologies to have the strongest possible outreach and impact. It has been working in Ethiopia for more than 10 years, building capacity of health workers and midwives and empowering women and their communities to seek skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth. Implementing digital health tools About ﬁve years ago, the Maternity Foundation team started exploring

Today, the app has been downloaded over 55,000 times and is being used in more than 40 diﬀerent countries, with Ethiopia, India, Ghana, Laos and Myanmar being some of Maternity Foundation’s focus countries. The team has also started working in emergency and refugee settings, currently in Ethiopia and Somalia. Working Towards a Goal Anna has a business background with an MBA from IESE, seven years as a consultant at Mckinsey & Company as well as the CEO of a startup. Anna’s competencies are broad and strategic rather than within a speciﬁc area of expertise. However, her team of Maternity Foundation is made of a group of very smart specialists -

within medical and clinical areas, global health, development programs, communication and IT. Her role is to make sure that all these different areas of expertise work together to contribute to the same goal, which is to ensure a safer childbirth for mothers and newborns. When asked how she manages to balance between professional and personal life, Anna answered, “That is always a tough one that I think most of us struggle with. For me the most important criteria is flexibility and that I get more energy out of my work than vice versa. In many ways my work place is global. Many meetings are Skype and I travel quite a bit, but when I am home, I prioritize to work from home at least one day a week and take many calls from home. This flexibility reflects the working culture at Maternity, where many of us have families and smaller children.” Digital Learning will be the Key! Going into next year, Anna believes digital learning holds a lot for the future in terms of tapping into the next generation of digital innovations, including VR, AR, AI etc. Furthermore, she considers herself proud to be a part of Maternity Foundation. Anna concluded by saying, “we have a huge potential in changing the way that health workers are training and how they can become better at handling emergencies during childbirth.”

Helping Design Healthy Lives

ithout a true sense of idea concerning the purpose that guides us in our lives, we are bound to fall into an empty vacuum of mindless pursuit of business. This prompts the need for aspiring individual leaders to follow and decipher the question of ‘Why’ before jumping to a conclusion. Taking a page out of Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, Lisa Druxman had set out on a journey 15 years back. 15 years later, the journey has led her to build an empire around healthy motherhood. Recognized as a thought leader and expert in the fitness space, Lisa is the Founder of FIT4MOM, which is the nation’s leading prenatal and postnatal fitness program that provides fitness classes and a network of moms to support every stage of motherhood. The company has been instrumental in inspiring women of all ages, especially mothers, to focus on fitness and lead a healthy lifestyle. Featuring in this issue as a Successful Entrepreneur, Beyond Exclamation looks at the inspiring journey, the rise, and the story of Lisa Druxman. A spark that enlightened a Lightbulb You know when you hear about those lightbulb moments? That’s what Lisa had. She recalls her experience, “I was on a stroller walk with my new baby and I was filled with the following thoughts... “This is the best hour of my day. All moms should workout with their stroller.” “I don’t know any mom who is happy with her body. I bet I could help them” “I have so many questions about motherhood. Where am I going to get the answers? “I so don’t want to leave Jacob to go back to work.” And then the lightbulb lit! “I could start a stroller fitness workout. I can help moms get back in shape and they can help me with everything I need to know about being a mom. I even named it on that walk. Stroller Strides.” And that’s what Lisa did. She started a stroller strides workout down in her neighborhood. Initially, she just had a handful of moms but it quickly became her own village. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one looking for a village as the concept took off.

Lisa Druxman Founder FIT4MOM

“I hired local ﬁtness instructors to teach more classes in San Diego. I didn’t have to go back to my old work after all. By the end of the ﬁrst year, we had 1,000 moms taking Stroller Strides classes. Within just a few months, we started getting calls from around the country; women were looking to join or start Stroller Strides. I didn’t know how I was going to do it but knew that I wanted all moms to get the support and strength we got from these classes. And I loved the idea of giving other women the career opportunity that I

had in running Stroller Strides. So we decided to franchise the business.” Today, FIT4MOM has nearly 2,000 class locations nationwide. And as her kids grew, so did the business. The company even added other programs like FIT4BABY, Stroller Barre, Body Back and even a run club for moms. For Lisa, the last 15 years have been an incredible and story along the way. But as with any other business, irrespective of their size and industry,

there is nothing like overnight success. “We have fallen down many a time and the lessons learned have often been hard ones. But when you have a passion and a purpose for what you do, you ﬁnd a way around, over or under any obstacle that comes your way.” Speaking about the impact of WHY in her life, Lisa points out “We are big fans of Simon Sinek’s Start With Why. Our why is to give women the strength for motherhood. This isn’t just about sets and reps. This is about

strength in motherhood. FIT4MOM offers fitness classes for every stage of motherhood including FIT4BABY, a prenatal program, stroller strides and stroller barre, the postnatal programs, Body Back, the transformational HIIT workout. The company also has a new program called Strides360 and a new digital pre / postnatal program called Mama Well. All of its programs focus on the physical and emotional needs of a mom, and Lisa & Co. are proud to bring a community of moms together nationwide. Speaking about the rise of the Fitness world, Lisa exclaimed “I love seeing the rise of boutique fitness. People really can find what they love. I think we are seeing community be a much bigger part of fitness. We all want, all need more connection and will have better exercise adherence if we have a village that we are a part of.”

helping moms get out of overwhelm and in to a life that they love. All of our programs help moms achieve health and happiness at every stage of motherhood.” Fitness for All Lisa got into the ﬁtness industry as it was a great way to make money in college. She loved leading group exercises and inspiring people to improve their health. She translated that love into a vision and then into reality; a reality that has helped pave the pathway for women to ﬁnd the

Make Failure Not Even an Option Lisa is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, businesswoman, and a mother, yet she is able to balance between her professional and personal live and be successful in both areas. She mentions “It took a long time to figure it out. I reverse engineered what I wanted my life to look like. I figured out what was missing and put those things in first. I make sure to fill a "minimum effective dose" of self-care every day. I am now a master of blocking time; making sure there is time set aside for work, for parenting, for my marriage and myself and in order to do all of those things, I say no to a lot more!” Lisa is proud on her journey and achievements as an entrepreneur, she believes to have barely scratched the surface of what she wants to do. “I continue to stay driven because I

want to create a massive impact. There will never be enough time to get done all that I dream of doing,” she explains. For Lisa, the most critical skill of an entrepreneur is to dream and to innovate as one can always hire people who know how to create the strategy or how to operate but one needs to be the ideal person themselves. She continues “You need to keep getting up when you get knocked down and figure out how to get around obstacles. You need to love what you do so much that failure is not an option.” She advises aspiring entrepreneurs, by saying “Figure out your why. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Why is it important? Your why will keep you going when things get hard. Keep learning and look for a peer group to support you along the way.” A Period of Evolution For the first two decades of her business, Lisa did all the things that were possible. She figured it all out from the marketing process to the operations. However, now, she mentions “I am now at a point where i can truly focus on what I love and what I think is my gift. I can focus more on being a thought leader, speaker, writer, and podcaster. I am evolving from being a fitness professional by trade to helping people design their best life. I want to be known more for helping people find the joy of living than their lives with six pack.”

To be honey-badgers

ntrepreneur First is a one-of-akind accelerator program which you join as a skilled individual and leave with a company. Having started in London it has now expanded to 6 locations, running two cohorts a year. It has brought together a bunch of ambitious individuals and created an extraordinary community. As a member of the 3rd and 4th cohorts in Singapore, here are my two cents based on the experience I had. Applying to EF If you are ready for an emotionally challenging yet exciting entrepreneurial journey, but do not have a concrete idea, team or a plan, then EF is a place for you. The only requirement is you must be ambitious and possess unique skills. On the EF platform you can ﬁnd your co-founder and your idea. Together you chart a course to build a billion dollar company (at least that is the expectation). I left my academic career earlier this year as i was frustrated that, often, our research work never gets out of the labs and reaches the people. I joined EF in January (3rd cohort in Singapore) and continued the journey with the 4th cohort.

Co-founder Vs Idea are you confused? To me it the co-founder always comes first. Yes, that limits areas that I would like to work on, but for a successful team it is the co-founder dynamics that matters. For example, in my case, I limited my areas of interest but not the idea that i want to work on. Then i started looking for possible co-founders in the respective areas and once in a team we together explore ideas. Initially my focus is on understanding the person rather than the idea he/she wants to work on. When to start? Every EF cohort has Kick Off Weekend (KOWE) and kick off week (KOW) to officially start the entrepreneurial journey. When you are accepted into the program, you will have a profile on a dashboard exclusive to your cohort. This dashboard is where you do your homework. As a first step, go to the program dashboard and see who are the interesting people you want to talk to. Check which areas/ideas he/she has mentioned in the dashboard profile. If you have couple of ideas, do work on those, Do some secondary research.

Kasun Sanjeewa Perera Entrepreneur

Talk to a few people around you to get a sense of your ideas and how other people perceive those ideas. Do set up meetings with fellow cohort members that you want to work with. Try to understand them. If you have time, then try to work with them one or two days a week. Even a few hours is ok. Who wants to be the CEO? CEO vs CTO Vs CXO In my case, I did not want to be CEO. I knew where my skills lay and how I could add value to the company. So I was clear my cofounder would play the role of the CEO and I looked for a person with CEO qualities. Essentially, a domain edge person (EF classifies every member into three edges, Domain, Tech and Catalyst). Usually a domain edge person becomes CEO. You need to understand that the CEO is the face of the company. It is not just knowing the domain, the required qualities are much more than that to be a strong CEO. Do look for that in your CEO if you do not intend to be CEO. But if you want to be the CEO then be sure you carry the heavy burden in the first couple of weeks and continue to be the face of the company. Pick your co-founder In SG3, I picked my first cofounder because of the idea. We both had interests in the same idea so we decided to work in a team.

But obviously it wasn’t a good fit as we moved forward. We pivoted from original idea and within two weeks we found we were not the right team. So with lessons learned from SG3, I approached SG4 differently. I knew where my skills lay and I knew what skills would complement mine. From the moment I was on the dashboard, I scanned through all the profiles and listed which persons I should have a conversation with. Try to meet them in person if they are in Singapore, if not have a Skype call. Understand their motives, skills and expectations. Then work with 3 persons for few days to see if you can work together. Finally pick one whom you feel most comfortable with. Most importantly you need to feel the multiplicative factor, the energy, the throughput. You need to feel energized with your co founder. If you have that feeling with your potential co-founder then just go for it. On the other hand you will not know the person A-Z so don’t wait until you are fully comfortable. Go, commit and then find the person. Not every team last long I did have breakups. My first breakup was emotionally hard. I fixated on the idea we wanted to work on. When the team broke up it felt like abandoning your baby that you loved so much. But you should realize, sometimes the idea is great but your team is not the right team to do it. It is better to realize that

earlier. With that break-up, subsequent break-ups were easy. If I felt, we as a team were not motivated enough, not committed enough, then I am ready to break the team. Be ready for that emotional journey. You will realize your breakups are for your own good. Secret sauce for a lasting team The most important things are the communication, respect and trust. Since you both are strangers to one another and just met within EF program, It is the communication that builds lasting dynamics. Make it a point to discuss even small things with your co-founder. If you don’t like the slightest thing, say it to your co-founder. All those small things cumulatively results in an unhealthy team. It is better to discuss things early on. Have very open conversations. If you can’t have an open conversation with your co-founder, then you may not be in the right team. One other thing, you need to trust and respect the other person from the beginning. Some may not agree with you and argue. They are of the opinion that respect and trust have to be earned. But there is no time during the EF process for anyone to earn that trust and THEN form a lasting team. So start by trusting and respecting one another. But if things go south, and you don’t trust or respect the person anymore, then break up the team.

An Entrepreneur with a Vision to Create Wonders

or any entrepreneur, finding and giving time to ponder upon the future can mean the very difference between successfully building your company or watching it dissolve into ashes. With a cumulative experience of over two decades, Rupert Steffner is one pioneering entrepreneur who had the willingness to make something massive for the future and incepted an AI company named Wunder. In an exclusive interview with Beyond Exclamation, Rupert Steffner shares his journey as an entrepreneur, the story behind his company’s foundation, and his vision of creating a wonders.

What prompted the inception of this idea of bridging the gap between offline and online commerce experiences? It’s a story about infection and incubation. During my marketing studies, I became passionate about why customers buy, and I always felt that technology could help us one day to solve the problem. Spending many years in technology since then, we have recently seen major advance in artificial intelligence. But what we still miss is a type of machines that better interacts with humans. These are grounded on things like digital empathy, reasoning, and interaction intelligence, i.e. skills we know from the human brain. Transferred to the world of commerce, these are the skills of talented sellers that need to be digitized. And this is the time we can be successful to create mind machines that are emotional, interactive and meaningful. Brief us about your journey as an entrepreneur. What have been the biggest challenges and achievements thus far for you? Developing new technology and bringing it down to earth to build a new breed of consumer-facing applications requires both knowledge in technology and business. The lesson learned is that there is an easy and a hard way to product-market fit. The easy and highly tempting way is to adapt the product to current requirements. The hard way is to keep the product aligned with future market needs and to find the right customers - and we have decided on this path. We had to accept that if you come to market with really new things, there are only a small number of companies that understand your solution. We learned that Roger’s adoption cycle with few innovators and early adopters is true,

Rupert Steï¬&#x20AC;ner Founder WUNDER (wunder.ai)

and not the marketing buzz of all the companies that claim they are innovative. So we had to achieve to ﬁnd these forward-thinking companies, and to get them on board as our ﬁrst customers. What are the most critical skills of an entrepreneur? How do you impart the same upon your colleagues, employees and children? Vision, creativity and perseverance. A far reaching vision is a prerequisite

for ﬁnding one’s place against today’s dominant digital companies. Creativity is needed once to develop a genuine business story that opens the door to the board rooms. Second, to achieve sophistication in digital engineering to make your solutions defendable. Perseverance is the survival technique when you are the only one left who believes in your mission. Teaching these skills and values happens through living by example. More music, less talk.

How does WUNDER leverage the power of AI technology to its advantage? What are the solutions and services of the company? WUNDER leverages the power of AI technology by building explainable and trustful AI through an engineering approach. This whitebox approach goes along with hybrid AI learning to combine human reasoning and symbol grounding with pattern recognition from machine learning. Moreover, we are well aware that we able to engineer

to qualify customer’s purchase intent. These are ‘Product Discovery’ (a serendipitous discovery combining psychographic questions with soft product recommendations), ‘Matching Stories’ (explaining consumers why this is a good product match), ‘Social Match’ (transforming lifestyle and social data into product preferences on the ﬂy) and ‘Shopping Party’ (allowing joint decision-making of several shoppers). What is the thought behind the name of the company - WUNDER? ‘WUNDER’ is a German verb, and it means wonder. As a small company, we have been working hard to create something surprising and massive that even big companies did not succeed to build to date. So the name is quite programmatic in the sense of creating a little wonder.

our solution towards a more generic artificial intelligence (AGI) being one of the first of its kind. WUNDER builds Customer Engagement Machines to help brands manage their customers’ purchase intent in real-time. This is achieved by creating Digital Customer Twins that mimic consumer decisionmaking with cognitive artificial intelligence. Customer Engagement Machines provide a series of contextual engagement applications

Amidst all your responsibilities and roles, how do you manage to balance between professional and personal life? When you’re on a mission, there is a ﬂoating line between work and leisure. I have found that it is better not to ﬁght your addiction to discover new land. You need this drive, and living at the heights of the work amplitude can be very satisfying. But in the long run you need some tricks to achieve a quick but deep recovery. For me it is the look at bright faces to give my heart an inner smile, and I embrace trees to get extra strength from my second best friends. Do you believe to have achieved all that you have desired? What keeps you driven and determined

towards work? Along my education and work experience, I deeply dived into several domains like cognitive psychology, real-time application development and business intelligence before starting WUNDER. These experiences helped to become quite good in getting out the assumed maximum of what can be built. But the discovery of new things is like a march through the swamp. With every essential step, new goals become visible that keep you going. For years you have helped inspire individuals to take innovative actions and surge ahead towards success. What is your advice for emerging and budding entrepreneurs? Building credibility that you are the right person to fly to mars! There is justified criticism that founders produce innovations that are too small and incremental. Think big. Dream. Explore. Discover. And then build something massive. What does the future hold for Rupert Steffner and WUNDER? With cognitive AI we have only scratched the surface so far. AI is in the maturity stage of a two-year-old child, and my personal goal is to help raise artificial intelligence to a human maturity stage of 8 years. This will be a long way with building blocks like better reasoning, causality, biologically inspired learning methods and so on. My future goals are to still better integrate insights from cognitive psychology and neuroscience to make cognitive systems more empathic and relevant.

Happy Entrepreneur, a myth or a reality?

ntrepreneurs come in diﬀerent shades and by that I mean if we were to translate their moods into colours every entrepreneur would look like a triple rainbow. A day in the life of an entrepreneur ﬂuctuates from grey bringing in the sad news to a glossy pink when a winning deal has been cracked. However, no matter what the day brings, an entrepreneur must endeavour to average out on a decent bubbly yellow, i.e. neutral and not get disturbed as events unfold.

happily. It becomes essential for a person running a business to create a balance in their work and personal life. Initially, it is very thrilling to get busy with the long and exciting process of establishing a business, and perhaps you struck gold with a ﬁrst deal, a lucky break of sorts, but it becomes a matter of anxiety after a certain point of time if the balance is not maintained. However, if you are anything like me, a perfectionist, a workaholic, obsessed with creating a diﬀerence in your chosen industry, then it’s very easy to oscillate between stress and being overworked. The choice for me is a tough one because it’s easy for me to choose between the two but it’s a tough call to make. Reason being, they don’t walk hand in hand at all. Sometimes I wonder if choosing happiness means keeping negative forces at bay – which usually means people.

Let us start by deﬁning who an entrepreneur is. First of all, if you have just opened a business, you are not an entrepreneur. If you are taking your family business ahead, you again are not an entrepreneur. If you are a college student who wants to launch your brand, you are yet not an entrepreneur. And if you are a tech wizard who works for a multinational company and has launched a side business, sorry to say, you do not qualify to be labelled as an entrepreneur.

So, if you qualify as an Entrepreneur, you are well versed with the stresses that come with the job. However, within this incredible journey, let’s see few ways to keep that incredible happy journey intact.

Entrepreneurship is a game of risks. It is the start of business with real potential and multi-fold targets rather than just trade of goods and services. It is employment with a purpose. Wikipedia defines Entrepreneurship as the “capacity and willingness to develop, organise and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit”. Every definition of entrepreneurship typically focuses on the launching and running of businesses. But, due to the high risks involved in launching a start-up, a significant proportion of start-up businesses have to close due to "lack of funding, bad business decisions, an economic crisis, lack of market demand—or a combination of all of these. But starting your own business is not always filled with rainbows and glitters. The entrepreneurial job is demanding, frustrating, and overwhelming, creating stress too often. But one needs to survive the haul of the business and survive

Stop Comparing: Never compare yourself with others in any aspect of your life. Nobody’s journey is similar. Every man-jack starts off differently and brings different aspects to the table, showcasing different strengths and weaknesses. Don’t try to compare yourself to other entrepreneurs and aspire to become like them or better than them. Focus on becoming the better version of your own self. You are what defines your business, and that’s all should matter. The comparison is a waste of time for you as well as for everyone else. The end goal is to be a happy colour, remember that always.

Keep expectations, but be realistic: Ask yourself, if your happy colour matches the

Sherina Kapany Founder sunSTRATEGIC

expectations you have and try to tune your frequency in work to match your happy space. How to do so? The answer is simple – Keep your expectations in the tone of reality. They should be reasonable and should match the wavelength of your real life. Expectations are good because putting all your hard work into something and expecting good results out of it is a basic human tendency. But don’t have fairy-tale expectations! Know your market and surroundings and expect results accordingly. Reason being, if the real-life results match your expectations, you will feel a sense of contentment. But if you received more than your expectations, then it will be a pleasant surprise. 3.

Say NO to overcommitment: Being overburdened to me looks like a muddy brown. Don’t know about you but that colour surely doesn’t make me smile. Undoubtedly, every entrepreneur wants their business to reach great heights – and fast! Not unusually though, in today’s fast pacing world, everyone wants success instantly. This is where one takes a wrong turn. I can preach all I want, but a lot of eﬀort goes into being slow and steady. You don’t necessarily have to take big and several projects all at once. Take smaller chunks of orders and deliver the best quality. As an entrepreneur, your team will also need to be focused. Over committing will not only bring you to a breaking point but your team as well. Hence, the quality of the work will be compromised, and you may face failure. Grow your business gracefully by giving

out the best results for the few small projects that you have. Let’s aim for a happy green instead, shall we! 4.

Empathize and trust your employees: It is very important to have a supportive staff in any business. But you cannot earn your employees support out of the blue. Here’s a colour I love – Blue! It has that calming effect, in fact, I have dedicated a whole wall in the office with a pretty Tiffany Blue paint! It is done to simply bring peaceful vibes to the office. You need to create and maintain a constructive and supportive relationship with all of them. Empathize with your employees. Understand them and their requirements and keep a positive attitude towards them. Hire employees who share your values and are on the same level of frequency as you. Train your key employees and put them in charge of making small but important decisions for the business. This will relieve you of some stress and give you peace of mind. Perhaps a feeling like a nice fluorescent blue, anyone?

Step into the work-free world: Spending time with loved ones is always a pastel shade for me. All of them are so pretty and bring about a feelgood aspect. I literally can image the most beautiful colours when I feel loved by my near and dear ones. Take time oﬀ your work once a while and spend time with

your family as often as possible. Keep your work life and personal life balanced. Your family should be equally important to you as your business. This will not only

help you relieve your stress but helps you maintain a healthy relationship with everyone around. It will be a challenging task to do, but an essential one. The colours you identify happiness with are important, and it is equally important for you to have those around. The reason I stress so much on colour therapy, for lack of a better term, is that through the years I have

come to identify my moods, the hurdles and happiness of entrepreneurship with happy and sad colours. You will have good days and bad days, but it’s your attitude that makes the whole diﬀerence. Try to aim for feeling like a ‘violet’ or a ‘dark red’ or a fancy ‘emerald’. You’re an entrepreneur, you and your business deserve to be celebrated for its achievements, however big and small. Remember! Your happiness and

satisfaction from your entrepreneurial journey are in your control. Make all the necessary and required changes; nothing can stop you from being a happy entrepreneur except your willingness to change. Is a happy entrepreneur a myth? I think not.

In conversation with Erik Bjontegard

esigned to deliver compelling relevant content within a unique localized experience to the user, while capturing appurtenant user-behavior data for platform stakeholders, former Qualcomm executive and NASA rocket scientist, Erik Bjontegard founded Total Communicator Inc., along with a team of industry experts. Its technology providers and partners range from ATOS Global, Qualcomm and Samsung to CGI, Panasonic and CISCO. In an exclusive interview with Beyond Exclamation, Erik Bjontegard shares his journey towards being a successful entrepreneur and beyond!

14s in San Diego and the girls where pretty, the beaches gorgeous – and I had a “need for speed” – so I decided to go to San Diego and try my luck. I arrived with 2 suitcases, didn’t know anyone, and booked a motel on Mission Beach San Diego. Shortly thereafter, I was working at a large aerospace company testing and certifying critical aircraft parts for commercial aircrafts from A320s to the new MD11 and A340s – and my favorite F-14s and the SPACE SHUTTLE! Dreams do come through! You have had a successful career at prestigious companies. What seeded the vision to venture on your own?

What was your thought when you decided pack your suitcase and leave for the US? What inspired you to take this leap?

The desire to make a difference and get things done, the manic urge and “need” – can often been stifled in large corporations – this is natural in any large enterprise. I had a vision that was hard to put numbers on – it was new and untested. So – we had to do elements of it and break it down. The solution and concept I sold to one to the large corporations I worked for, has launched many ideas and concepts internally, which is a great satisfaction, even though it’s not recognized or widely known. After a while, and understanding when and how to get buy-in, I recognized I could get more done for the company if I were on the outside – so I told them what I wanted to build, and got their endorsement and well wishes – they even offered to introduce me to their partners, and urged me to use all their technologies as I was building my new solution.

Growing up in Norway, I had always been intrigued by USA, how innovative and industrious Americans are and seen that it really is the place where you can make dreams come through. I studied mechanical engineering in England because I one day hoped to work on my favorite plane, the F-14 Tomcat – or perhaps someday work on the Space Shuttle. However, I started working on another cool aspect, subsea engineering and submarines for the oil industry in Norway, my dad was head of a large oil company that deployed amazing engineering wonders – oil platforms in the harsh North Sea. After I got stuck in a 2 man submarine in the waters oﬀ Bergen, I started to think more about USA and researched where to go. Then, Top Gun came out, Tom Cruise was ﬂying F-

Erik Bjontegard Founder Total Communicator Inc.

What was your life like before Total Communicator Inc? What changes the company has brought in your personal life? I am what some people think of as a “work alcoholic.” Simply putting, I work nonstop. The difference now, is that while I was working for someone else, it was indeed “work”. Now that I “work” for myself to build a company around my invention and the technology I have had my team build, I am not “working” – this is my life. The ultimate “job” is the one you never retire from, the one where you do something that you dreamt about, and the way you want to live your life. Yes, it is stress full, and it is a burden on my family those times when I needed to scramble to pay rent, was out of gas on a business trip or when locked out of a hotel because all the cards where maxed out and I needed to find a way to clean up before going to make the presentation to the billion dollar company in a room with 20 executives, but that is what builds “true grit”. It’s still a roller coaster, but fully committed to make my goal a reality; I will leave this place better than when I arrived by intelligent use of technology – and I want everyone that is in contact with me to have benefitted. And, with that goal, success will come. What have been the best parts and toughest parts of your journey? Brief us about the marvelous journey. If possible,

kindly help us with statistical insights as an overview of the organization’s achievements.

when things are bleak and appears to be over. The best is when it all works out in the end.

Having the guts to do what your guts says – when it turns out your guts was right, which it always is! The satisfaction of knowing that doing the right thing is always right, even when hard. The hardest is to not be give up when people lie, take advantage or steal, borrow or otherwise claim as theirs what is yours, and otherwise keep the faith

Have you achieved all that you had desired? Tell us about the moment when you realized that your hard work has ﬁnally paidoﬀ.

I will never be ﬁnished, nor achieve all I desire – if I did, then I didn’t aim high enough! Growing and being focused on a goal – that is

others in our quests rather than trying to compete and overcome. As we expand on our platform, my goal is to continue to use technology to create better outcomes. Our technology should help with this. Help humans, not replace. Make humans better, live longer, happier and healthier. Make the World a Better place – we will do this by providing enhanced and better distribution of knowledge, help humans make better decisions. I call this Augmented Intelligence. It’s not artiﬁcial. It’s not intended to replace, it is intended to help, support and enhance the human knowledge. We are thereby still in control. That is what we will do.

life – when anything stops, then it dies. The important aspect is to know that life is a journey and to make the journey fun, exciting and rewarding while living with a purpose – that should be the goal. I knew that I am succeeding when I heard my son say to his friends he looks up to me and they came to me for guidance and said they admired me – that is part of the most rewarding and highest success we can have. My end goal is the make the world a better place and

never have a dull moment as I venture forward in my journey to make it so. With digital advancements coming around, what are your future expectations from your organization? Also, what your individual plans going ahead? We are a small company, global and mobile ﬁrst. We leverage relationships and collaborations to create better outcomes. We include

My own goal is to be able to focus on making my vision a reality. I am good at getting others to see the vision, to encourage and engage with others, I entertain and encourage others and have a give to motivate others to excel. That is what I will continue to do. And with technology that provides augmented intelligence, I will be able to reach more and more across the globe. Securing data and enable actions on data that drives better outcomes will be the next frontier – and we are starting to create the networks to enable us all to beneﬁt from our own data – that is the next level – everyone will be able to use their data for better outcomes – creating better outcomes for us all. Extremely exciting times!

A Serial Entrepreneur on A Mission

ntrepreneurs need a strong vision as there are a lot of risks. Sometimes you lose, but if you can imagine where things are going you can make fewer mistakes. Some of it is instinct, and that is hard to teach. Some of it is opportunity, and that is impossible to impart. Working hard, and working smart — like seeking wisdom and using 80/20 and other natural laws like that — that you can teach. And entrepreneurs do their best to live it so others can see it in them. Advising on the same line is Todd Gooden, the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Solutions Team. The Beginning In 2007, while managing a routine Disaster Recovery implementation for a major corporation in Central Mississippi, Todd explored outsourcing several key components in an effort to minimize the company’s infrastructure expenses. His inability to find a provider of the services he needed led to the founding of The Solutions Team. Talking about foundation of the company, Todd says, “There are tall fences in the business-to-business world. Not only do you have to have great products and services to be successful, you must also have relationships. Business owners and managers are overwhelmed with sales people calling on them and pitching. Often, one or two trusted advisors have to make a recommendation that a new company is worth considering before the gates to the tall fences are opened. In my first business, a systems integration company we were introduced to Higher Education clients by a trusted advisor. People who wouldn’t take my call months earlier were glad to do business with us when we got a recommendation from someone they trusted.” The Journey A year later, The Solutions Team started specializing in “Cloud” technology – designing Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud Solutions for

Todd Gooden Co-founder & Chief Executive Oï¬&#x192;cer The Solutions Team

emerging and mid-sized companies seeking to protect critical server data (ﬁnancials, e-mail messages, databases, etc.), while diminishing operational costs in server backup and recovery. Fast forward to 2018, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, The Solutions Team is a leading cloud-services company – serving businesses nationwide (37 states). The Solutions Team has emerged as the go-to provider for companies looking to outsource

their entire IT department or simply deploy key portions of their system to the ‘cloud’. The company oﬀers proven expertise on a variety of cloud-based managed services and solutions, including Cloud-Hosted Email. Managed Email On-Site, Virtual IT Support, Managed Networks, Cloud Data Backup/Disaster Recovery and Data Breach Response.

Todd believes cloud-based services have the advantage of going everywhere. Not every city in the country has an IT company that specializes in healthcare, or in backup technology that will protect their business if disaster strikes. “We provide a number of services that optimize local networks, including workstation support, backup, and antivirus, enterprise grade WiFi, ﬁrewall monitoring and network support and security.

22. There have been awards and recognition along the way, but the thing Todd is most proud of is knowing that today his team is indirectly involved in providing healthcare to 2,500,000 people a year. Touching that many lives is incredibly rewarding according to him. Under his leadership, since forming in 2007, the company has already amassed a sizeable portfolio of emerging to mid-sized business clientele from across the United States. His responsibilities include developing and implementing the ﬁrm’s strategic vision, while working closely with business partners and resellers to ensure customer needs are thoroughly met.

This combination of services is perfect for physicians, dentists, veterinarians and small business owners who just want their computers to work so they can focus on whatever it is that they do,” Todd asserts. Driving the Real Change Till date, Todd has owned or been a part-owner in three companies. The ﬁrst one started when he was only

Todd brings more than 22 years of professional engineering and technology consulting experience to the firm. In 1995, he founded Consultrix Technologies, a full service technology services firm in Jackson, Mississippi. As the President and Chief Executive Officer, he served as the driving force behind the company’s vision and growth, ultimately reaching annual revenue heights of $9 Million before its sale in December 2006. For five straight years, from 2002 – 2006, the company was named to the KPMG, LLC, and Mississippi Business Journal’s list of Mississippi’s “40 Fastest Growing Businesses.” Only companies increasing their annual revenue over the previous year are eligible for consideration. At the

age of 24, Todd received the Mississippi Business Journal’s “Top 40 under 40” distinction – awarded annually to rising business leaders throughout the state. At that time, he was the youngest person to ever receive the award. Success in itself is a Journey Todd says that it’s hard to balance life. So, when he is working, he works hard, often traveling 100+ days per year. But when he is with family, they are his focus. Todd also believes he hasn’t achieved everything he wanted and hopes that he never achieves all of his dreams. Because, life isn’t life without the uncertainty along the way and the challenges life bring with it. Therefore, every day, he looks ahead at what he needs to do to keep growing. Success is a journey, and he hopes it never ends. Going ahead, Todd has a goal of helping 25,000,000 individuals by 2025. That’s a strong goal, 10x from where The Solutions Team is right now. But he believes, the team can do it and that’s what his goal is.

5 Powerful Insights for Midlife Entrepreneurs Vaibhav Datar Mid-life Coach & Author Bestseller Simplify your Life

mid-life person, who in and around his 40s, starts having a feeling of pain and distress for he has nothing to show as an achievement, while half of his life has already gone. It is similar to an entrepreneur, who in his mid-life, faces an uphill task of making his dream come true against all odds. Age is not in his favour right now. Health is not improving but has to burn the midnight oil to make things happen for his entrepreneurial pursuit.

others. But the biggest fear is "fear of failure" and "fear of rejection". Listing down 5 powerful insights which could really change the game for a mid-life entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs who successfully apply these skills to their daily life are more likely to be successful than their counterparts. So letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s look at each of them Just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a vision. But go further, have a Smart Vision Board (SVB). An SVB is like putting all your experiences, your goals and your future together in one big picture. Just having a vision or a beautifully crafted vision statement is of no use. It needs to be backed by a compelling vision board, good enough to attract the right set of customers, clients, employees and opportunities to you. Share your vision board with the world. Make them a part of your mission. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind even if they make fun of it, remember, you have

The pain is not so much about how less he is contributing but more so about what people will say if he fails in his pursuit. After all, he has been a white collared employee with a tag of "General Manager" in his past. As if, the entrepreneurial knowledge is bestowed upon him with the role. He is a little better than the college-going grad turned entrepreneur, for the fact that people believe his product a bit more than

to be 100per cent committed to your vision and leave no stone unturned for attaining the same. Drop Your Beliefs: Be careful to not keep it aside. My point is to drop every belief. Yes, drop it completely. No more believing that business life needs to be in a certain way. Successful entrepreneurs drop the very beliefs that are stopping them from moving ahead. It may sound diﬃcult to start with. But then just go ahead and do it. Don’t drop all your beliefs, but only those which are not helping you move ahead. Just drop them and all the related experiences which strengthened this belief for you. They may have served you in the past, but not any longer. Change Your Writing: It is said that handwriting is brain writing. So whatever you feel within becomes a dominating thought. This thought becomes thought verbalised and you start saying it often. These words then transform into action. Actions turn into habits and habits become characters. Hence characteristics of a person can be easily determined by the characters he writes. So as Graphologist, we are trained to look at the handwriting of a person and determine the personality. It works in a reverse way as well. If you change the way you write characters, you can, in turn, change the thought process and feelings of

a person. So if you are feeling low, a visit to a local Graphologist could come in handy. Make Friends with SPIME: SPIME is an acronym for the Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Mental and Emotional side of you. Spend at least an hour each with each aspect of yours. So meditate, chant or breathe for an hour (spiritual), go out and do your exercises (physical), read a good informative book (intellectual), have the right mental attitude and thoughts throughout the day (mental) and be emotionally ﬁt by being happy and cheerful (emotional). Once you relate with your spine, your days would end up being more joyful and you would start worrying less about your worries. Ignite the Passion: Take a fulllength mirror and ﬁx it in your bathroom. Just watch yourself. Be a little obsessed, little more loving.

Pat on your back. Sing yourself a song. Maybe dance a little. Show yourself the moves. Soothe yourself. Speak to your inner child. Be brave and shed some tears over spilt milk and again pick yourself up. Ask yourself tough questions, express gratitude and ﬁnally feel happy that you have come this far and there is so much that can potentially happen. Successful people have certain aura and conﬁdence about themselves. Because, they have known to live life in adversities, taking up if not all, at least a few things from the list above. Be blessed and you too could be one of them.

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