The 10 Leading Businesswoman Moving Beyond Excellence

THE 10 LEADING BUSINESSWOMAN MOVING BEYOND EXCELLENCE

CULTURE

Issue 14 Winter 2018

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The Sponsorship Series: Sponsors vs. Mentors P.20

Charu Raheja CEO TriageLogic

3 Ways Women Can Turn their Fear of Failure into Fearless Ac on

A Leader Commi ed to Her Vision P.48

P.38

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EDITOR’S CORNER

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eading a business towards success is by no means an easy feat to achieve, irrespective of the leader’s gender. Over the years, innovative thinking coupled with an inherent drive to succeed has given women in business an edge of their opposite sex. Today, businesswomen from all around the globe are changing the business landscape to move beyond excellence across any and every sector. In this cut-throat environment, succeeding and standing out from the crowd as a leader can be a massive difficulty, but women leaders are emerging into the industry thick and fast to establish a name for themselves. Here at Beyond Exclamation, we understand the influence and importance of women in business and, through our upcoming magazine titled “10 Leading Businesswomen Moving Beyond Excellence,” we aim to celebrate the incredible journeys of such individuals.

Editor in Chief CHRISTINE [editor@beyondexclamation.com]

Managing Editor JACK Featuring as the Cover Story of this issue, we have Charu Raheja, who had a vision of saving lives by making healthcare easy and affordable and had started her journey as a leader and an entrepreneur to attain unmatched success.

Aside from this, we have featured Anjana Arora, Lina Ramos, Karen Boers, Monica Gupta, Sharon W. Reynolds, Michelle Lanter Smith, and Kim Vogel, who have time and again attained excellence through their innovative approach and bend of mind. In addition to these, we have some of the most thought-provoking articles from various leading industry experts.

[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]

Dive into the magazine and start scrolling through the journeys of these inspiring businesswomen!

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!

What’s Inside...

Business Boulevard

B E O N 10

A Leader Committed to Her Vision

Omniscient Voyage

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3 Ways Women Can Turn their Fear of Failure into Fearless Action

42

Translating Experience into Success

Excellence Causeway

20 The Sponsorship Series: Sponsors vs. Mentors

22 Creating a Beehive of Success

Newsmakers Locale

48 A Leader Committed to Her Vision

Younick Corner

Y D

28 Paving the Path towards Success

32 A Leader Driven by the thought of Moving Forward

Definitive Destination

56 A Leader with Solutions

60 “Doing what I do in the service of something larger than myself”

Charu Raheja CEO TriageLogic

A Leader Committed T

to Her Vision

he healthcare world is changing at a rapid pace and this is creating an imperative emphasis on improving the quality of patient care and curbing down the general cost. Amidst all the challenges and complexities of the sector, bringing forward a transformation into the industry, no matter how small or big, can lead to tremendous opportunities for everyone.

With a vision of saving lives by making healthcare easy and aordable, Charu Raheja had started her journey as a leader and an entrepreneur to attain

unmatched success. Beyond Exclamation sheds light on the journey of this inspiring businesswoman who has remained committed to her vision to move beyond excellence.

Emotional Setbacks that Sparked the Journey During a visit to her family back in Brazil in 2009, Charu saw her father complain about a persistent stomach ache. But her father did not seek immediate care because he thought it to be of nothing serious. The following day, he died from a sudden heart attack. “While traumatic, I learned of

many stories where people overlooked severe illness symptoms,” she mentions.

A year later from that incident, Charu left her successful academic career, where she was getting tenure, to run a company named TriageLogic that would provide people with easy and affordable, 24/7 access to trained health providers to assess the seriousness of their symptoms.

She wanted to start with nurses to evaluate the symptoms because nurses are traditionally the first line of care and people are comfortable speaking to nurses even when they don’t think that they have a serious symptom.

Fast forward to 2014, Charu suffered from a hemorrhagic

stroke while on vacation. It was the protocols used by the company’s nurses that determined her need to go to the ER. “The stroke left me with a temporary devastating outcome: I lost memory, had trouble with language and walking, and suffered from migraines and depression. I also became introverted. Still, I persisted. I retrained and pushed myself to get back to baseline and developed new skills to help me grow,” Charu recalls.

Professionally, Charu strengthened her commitment to ensure that everyone has access to a health professional and health resources. In 2017, she expanded the scope of her business to

develop a mobile application in health and wellness. The new app allowed any company or organization to consolidate all their employee resources into one single mobile app with free 24/7 access to live health ambassadors embedded into the app. The company continues to innovate and develop new ways to save lives by making healthcare more affordable and accessible.

The success of Charu in overcoming adversities and using it to create products that would address those issues and create value for the society. Even though the company had minimum resources to start with, TriageLogic has remained 100% self-funded.

Thought-provoking Ideology Charu believes it to be highly critical in life to listen to others, ask questions, and adapt to their needs. She mentions “We all view life from our own lenses. To be successful we have to see through the other person’s lenses and speak their language based on what they are looking for. As a leader and colleague, for example, I look for what drives the people that work for us. What do they care about? Why are they passionate about well-being?”

Internally, she has created a culture to empower key managers by giving them independence and mentorship to grow into confident leaders. The core staff are

incredibly loyal and feel that TriageLogic has been responsible for their professional growth while providing a work-life balance. A concrete example is two of the company’s clinical call center managers. They were triage nurses, with relatively little management experience. Charu hired them as assistant managers and mentored them. In a short period of time, they were both promoted to become director of nursing and full nurse manager.

With proper guidance and training, they have built an effective and efficient nursing unit where they are respected by their team of nurses.

Action and Adaptability Creates Opportunities

According to Charu, one of her key strengths is adaptability. She uses that to run her company as well as her personal life.

Like many working mothers, Charu has to combine both family and work sometimes. She explains “When my kids were younger, I would play and have dinner with them, and then I work after they went to bed. As they grew up, we also started to do our “homework” together on nights and weekends. Spending time working together has given my kids a sense of responsibility and understanding that we all continue learning and growing no matter our age. And of course, like other working parents, I get as much help as I can from family, friends,

and professionals who can help me run my life smoothly.�

On the professional side, adaptability has also been an integral part of her company. She believes that one of

She adds on to this by saying, “There are many nurses, for example, who would like to work but they cannot work the long shifts that are required in a medical setting. I considered the needs of working mothers when we first developed our company model. We allowed nurses to choose their shifts and work from home. We had to develop technology that would enable people to work from home. Most thought that this was impossible and expensive. Today, most medical nurse call centers are moving towards remote nursing.

We lead in the area technology and remote company culture.”

A New Era of Women Leaders She believes businesswomen and leaders to be an inspiration for change and fresh ideas. She asserts “Women often bring a leadership style that is collaborative and adaptive. This is in part attributed to many women of today having to juggle multiple responsibilities, including expectations from society. Those who are able to draw from their experiences in their leadership are helping us learn new ideas such as managing people, encouraging creativity, and creating collaborative work environments.” the biggest shortcomings of the early century right now is the inability of companies to adapt to the shifting needs and demands of the people.

In the process, both the parties are losing out.

As a businesswoman herself, Charu believes to have only scratched the surface of what she

can do. Technology is changing the delivery of medicine and there are a lot of problems currently when it comes to access to healthcare. As an example, Charu envisions TriageLogic to be working with governments and non-for-profits to expand care, access, and knowledge to the most remote locations around the world.

She advises aspiring woman leaders by adding, “Find your passion and pursue it with persistence. Develop relationships and don’t be afraid to ask for help. I think that we are in an exciting place for women today because women are starting to find their voice and ask for what they need. I see young women not being afraid to be in charge and speak their mind. We still have a long way to go concerning building good role models, senior mentors, and senior sponsors but we are building a momentum and it is time to ride it.”

Riding the Shifting Waves of the Industry There is a lot of growth and opportunity for companies like TriageLogic and especially those which have a disruptive technology like improving how people live. The 2016 Progress Report for the HERO Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard found a correlation between companies with “best

practices” wellbeing programs and their stock market performance. Analysts studied the top 45 publicly traded companies and found that the stock of those 45 companies that invested in comprehensive, best practice wellness programs appreciated at 235% compared to 159% for the S&P 500.

Speaking about the shifting changes in the market, she exclaims “For example, I see a shift today in the insurance and wellness space with employers taking a more significant role in the health of their employees. I am observing a shift in the insurance market because so many employers are becoming self-insured today. It has been a very positive impact for us. The corporate environment and healthcare industry are both facing pressure to keep their patients and employees engaged, healthier, and happy, all the while decreasing productivity loss and healthcare costs. Our products focus on convenience, communication, health, and wellness which has created a tremendous opportunity for us. It is a combination of the right time, but also seeing a need and building innovative products to meet those needs.”

Clarele Mortimer Senior Analytics Professional

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The Sponsorship Series: Sponsors vs. Mentors

S

ome professionals use the terms “mentor” and “sponsor” interchangeably, but they are actually two very different roles that impact careers in different ways.

Your relationship with a mentor is generally casual. A good mentor is a sounding board who offers advice and guidance when you need it.

A sponsor, on the other hand, is more fully invested in their protégés, believing in them to the point that they become an advocate on their behalf. Because sponsors put their reputation on the line, they expect loyalty and consistently outstanding performance from those they sponsor.

Sponsorship is a two-way street that benefits both parties involved.

The protégé has access to greater opportunities, and the sponsor can essentially train them to step up and add value to the organization.

Do You Need Both?

Many professionals find that having both sponsors and mentors gives them a solid support system, setting

them up for the greatest career success.

A mentor can provide you with career advice that can ultimately help you perform better and make important decisions about your career path. However, mentorship isn’t enough if you’re working your way to the top. Studies have shown that this is especially true for women and people of color.

Sponsorship is key for any professionals trying to break through the glass ceiling to rise in the ranks. A sponsor will be an influential voice in your field or office who advocates for your skills and ability. A mentor typically doesn’t have that kind of influence.

Why Isn’t Mentorship Enough?

A mentor’s words of encouragement and support only go so far. Meaningful action is needed for anyone trying to advance in their field.

The relationship with a mentor can be beneficial on both a personal and professional level, but it’s not enough to advance your career in a timely fashion. Mentors can

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provide valuable career advice that points you in the right direction for success, but it’s extremely beneficial to have a trusted senior take you under their wing as a protégé.

To put it one way, a mentor would give you a list of conferences you should attend to learn information and network in your field, but a sponsor would invite you to go with them and introduce you to the most influential people in the room.

The approach of a sponsor varies, but sponsors generally work with their protégés in a way that facilitates meaningful progress.

In short, the relationship with a sponsor is proven to catapult your career forward in ways a mentorship can’t. Both are valuable for different aspects of your career, but sponsorship is key for career advancement.

Research shows that sponsorship is as beneficial for sponsors and organizations as it is for protégés.

In my next Sponsorship Series blog, I’ll delve deeper into that topic. Stay tuned!

Monica Gupta Director Interactive Bees Pvt. Ltd.

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Creating a Beehive of Success 23

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s a child she always wanted to something different in her life; something unique that you’d be remembered for. She struggled with reading, writing, and expressing herself when she was a kid, yet she conquered her mental blocks and rose above her challenges. She spent over a decade working at various driving positions and gained appreciation for her work. Following this, she chose the oblivious path of starting her own company. Amidst all the struggles and doubts, she established a named for her and shouldered her company towards success. Meet Monica Gupta, a leading businesswoman who has gained excellence through her unwavering attitude and relentless hard work.

The Initial Years Monica was born in a family of doctors, with her elder sibling being a doctor as well. She was a dyslexic child who struggled with her studies. However, her life started to change when she learnt meditation, the art of empowering self by connecting with the supreme soul or in other words started talking to god the almighty father.

She says “I had a deep realization that I am the energy within who is driving this costume, I am the eternal, immortal, and imperishable being of pure and positive energy.

This really helped me overcoming my mental blocks and my concentration started improving tremendously. They say it’s all in your mind, and hence a nonperformer slowly started performing, because no more I had any mental blocks. I had a creative and logical bent of the mind which I started putting in my studies and later in my profession.”

Soon her hard work was replaced with smart and consistent work, which lead to the natural progression of her career, one leading to another. For the next decade or so, she worked across in the industry at various driving positions delivering solutions and services to her customers successfully by innovating and outsmarting every time her own set standards. “Clients had developed a liking and appreciation for my work and they started moving with us wherever I moved in the industry,” she recalls.

The Big Decision She was having a fruitful career as an employee, however, her goals and aspirations were big. The time had come to take a call, on whether to keep working for someone or to work for her own self and establish a company where people actually enjoy working.

“It was tough decision to make because position and power was something that I had always enjoyed but the bigger learning and attainment was in letting it go and

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creating a new drawing all together on a fresh canvas.”

The Inception th On 17 December, 2008, Interactive Bees was formed! A company which strives to make a difference. It offered a complete range of brand communication solutions to its customers. A group of professionals who are passionate about their work, came together from either traditional or digital media and were totally game for delivering integrated solutions to the customers.

Interactive Bees is a complete brand communication agency, providing all sorts of marketing communication solutions for its clients. From Offline (Brand identity creation, Communication style and design creation, print designs, Films) to BTL (events, designs, etc.) to Digital Marketing (own media to earned media to bought media).

Speaking about interacting and engaging with her team, Monica mentions “I enjoy spending quality time with my people interacting and empowering them and also deliver talks on stress-management, self-management, work life balance, easy meditation for busy professionals, digital detoxification etc., with various groups in the society at large whenever possible.

I firmly believe that where ever your attention goes the energy flows, wherever the energy goes the

life grows and hence for me it started working positively.”

The Hard Way of Learning Speaking about challenges during her journey as a leader, Monica exclaims “Well I have always learnt the things the hard way, but then the process has made me strong every time and helped me shape my future much better.”

For Monica, her biggest strength lies in her approach of taking every problem as a stepping stone in her life and, according to her, it really proved to teach her lot and help her become a better person.

She transformed her inability to communicate into creative expressions, which she then extrapolated professionally in marketing communication.

“So the lesson I had learnt growing up is that, “There really isn’t any mountain, that’s too high to scale” all you need to have is the zeal and enthusiasm,” a sound advice indeed.

The Success “Vision has to be straight and focused then the success comes automatically to you, that’s what I experienced. We have been around for a decade now, our efforts are getting recognized and appreciated, as is evident by the many awards that have been coming our way.”

The company won the title of ’India 5000 Best MSME Awards

2017’, for its quality excellence and the ‘Red Herring Top 100 Award for Asia’s most exciting companies’ for providing disrupting solutions in the industry and gaining substantive traction in 2016.

Interactive Bees’ was also listed in the “Top 10 Best Startups in Website Development Companies in India" by Silicon India Magazine and "Consultants of the Year 2016: Digital Marketing,” by Industry decision makers at CIO Review Magazine.

Most recently, two of its digital campaigns got recognized by the industry and the company won; Drivers of Digital Awards 2018, for a Special Mention for Content in a Video Marketing Campaign and Outstanding Campaign of the Month by 91 Mobiles.

However, what truly makes Monica happy is when she, alongside her company, can bring about a positive change in the lives of people and the organizations associated with it. “When I see that our customers become a spokesperson for us, the whole effort gets repaid and is the most satisfying. At the end of the day, that’s what really makes me think that I am playing my role well and mission is thus accomplished.”

The Future Ahead “We have been around for 10 years, growing and evolving the whole while, though slow but sturdy, we are here to stay and will make it big

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and unique in the corporate world. I vision Interactive Bees as an agency of choice for the brands. I want to keep it an exciting workplace, a beehive that is buzzing with novel ideas every day.

Managing stress in the corporate world is quite a challenge. I want IBees to maintain this equilibrium where there is just enough stress that pushes us to expand our boundaries to allow each person to perform their best, not that its required, but because they are all performers willfully. A place where they want to be in everyday, an organization with a difference!”

Personally, Monica, believes in celebrating life and for that one has to have a heart full of love, peace and joy for everyone, the one who is pure and un-affected by the ups and downs of the society, each day moving towards empowering herself and her team mentally as that’s the need of the hour – to face these turbulent times strongly!

“I donot like when youngsters are unable to perform, succumbing under the situations and finding an easy escape of quitting the job!

Powerful personalities who can think and deliver in all kinds of situations; is my vision of them and that’s how I see Interactive Bees, the company with a difference,” concludes Monica.

Anjana Arora Senior Vice President InďŹ nite Computer Solutions

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Paving the Path towards Success 29

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ith a motto of making a difference and embracing different opportunities, Anjana Arora had set out on a journey. Today, the pioneering businesswoman is the Senior Vice President of Infinite Computer Solutions and is responsible for the company’s burgeoning growth in the market.

Herein, Beyond Exclamation proudly highlights the inspiring journey of Anjana Arora and her road towards achieving business excellence.

Everything Happens for a Reason Growing up, the goal of Anjana was to have a meaningful impact on those around her. She realized early that both personal and professional success come from the positive effect we have on our surroundings.

“I have always known that my life was going to be led on this desire for positive change. As a person that always interested in Science and Math, so I did not necessarily see myself in a Market Strategy function. However, I believe my technical background gives me a good edge is a very measurable industry. I believe everything happens for a reason and that I am exactly where I was always supposed to be. I found my dream job even though I was not looking for it.” exclaims Anjana.

Smallest Decisions have Big Impacts For Anjana, the best part of her journey has been working with the many different teams that she has been able to be a part of, both in small and big businesses. She

mentions “By going through this journey and experiencing new things, I was able to find the best fit for myself.”

Starting off her journey with GE and then moving to PWC really gave her confidence at a young age to talk to executives and get them to take action. It also expanded her view of the world. She explains “Being able to travel and see the world from a different perspective has shown me that there is still so much to learn and so much more work that can be done.”

However, just like any other individual, the road hasn’t always been a bed of roses. The toughest part of Anjana’s journey thus far has been making the decisions that she has had to make to get to where she stands now. “There are no small decisions in life - even the smallest decisions have big impacts.

Deciding to come back to work after six years, for example, was a tough decision that left me feeling insecure and scared about what I was getting myself into. However, that decision brought me to where I am now. Not only has that decision affected my life, but it has helped me understand where the younger members of my team are coming from and really help them prepare for their future,” Anjana recalls.

A Brief Career Overlook Anjana boasts a pool of responsibilities at Infinite Computer Solutions, including public relations, analyst/advisory relations, partnership agreements, content creation, event organization and, digital presence management.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of NY at

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Binghamton. She is also a graduate of the GE MMP program.

Over the last 20 years, Anjana has held cross-functional leadership positions with companies such as GE, PwC and Booz Allen. Prior to being promoted to SVP-Market Strategy, she was the VP of Marketing at Infinite and at Infinite Convergence Solutions. Anjana and her team build awareness regarding Infinite’s core competencies and opening new markets while supporting the technology and technical teams in delivering their customer commitments. Anjana’s marketing expertise includes the following industries: Telecom, Healthcare, Manufacturing and IT Services.

Working with many teams and companies early on in her career gave her the chance to evolve into the position that was the best fit for her. Coming from a technology background, Anjana was initially hesitant concerning her marketing abilities. However, with additional training and the confidence showed by the Infinite leadership team upon her, she was able to take on this marketing role with absolute precision.

“Before working for Infinite, I led a happy and fulfilling life. Adding Infinite to that equation has only expanded that happiness. Of course, the support of my family and colleagues allows me to pursue my passions and keep growing” A Company with Infinite Promises According to Anjana, companies should turn towards Infinite due to the company’s strong domain knowledge in its chosen verticals.

The verticals include Healthcare,

Banking & Finance, Telecom, Media & Publishing, and Federal Enterprise.

With its innovative technologies, Infinite is enabling its customers to stay ahead of the dynamic marketplace. Infinite’s core competencies in the area of Platformization enable us to use analytics, process automation, and cost optimization. The company supports its customers in their ability to engage their end-users faster, better, cheaper.

Here are some of the key features and promises of Infinite Computer Solutions: · Support 2M veterans’ healthcare through an automated Medical Disability Evaluation process. ·

Enable 149M mobile subscribers with its telecom solutions.

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Process 1 trillion messages with its telecom solutions.

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Touch 100M consumer lives through its global Sis.

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Make efficient patient care accessible to 80M patients through its healthcare payer offerings.

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Enables comfortable commuting experience to 2M travelers through its digital transportation solutions.

A Continuous Journey of Expansion and Growth Anjana firmly believes her job will grow and change as her company

goes on evolving and expanding.

Looking forward, her plan is to continue to grow as a leader, not only for Infinite but also for her personal family. “Being a role model for my children has inspired me to not only show them that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to but also to empower women everywhere. With a little push and encouragement, people can accomplish anything.”

Anjana believes that she has not achieved everything she has set out to do, nor will she accomplish them anytime soon because there are always new goals to go further than you initially imagined. She asserts “This is what gives me the fuel and drive to get up every day and finish what I have started. Life is a long

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journey full of up and downs, which is what makes goals and dreams so important; however, those aspirations won’t amount to anything without hard work behind them. Being able to see Infinite transform from an IT services company to a front-facing product/Platformization™ company has truly been an amazing experience. Seeing the company grow and gain market recognition showed me that my hard work paid off in the end. “Infinite is on the cusp of its next growth phase, which is an exciting phase for both Anjana and her team. The company has been growing exponentially and there is still so much more work that can be done. “This is just the start of much more to come,” she concludes saying.

Michelle Lanter Smith Chief Marketing OďŹƒcer EPAY Systems

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A Leader Driven by the thought of Moving Forward

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ver the last seven years, Michelle Lanter Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of EPAY Systems, has helped her company grow from a niche time and attendance software provider to a cutting-edge HR tech provider that serves some of the world’s largest enterprises.

And EPAY isn’t the only thing that’s growing. Over this period, Lanter Smith’s responsibilities have expanded from managing a two-person marketing team to leading a 60-person organization that includes customer service, training and product management. Recently, she assumed responsibility for the retention and revenue growth of EPAY’s customer base.

In addition, she reinvented EPAY’s B2B sales process, building a powerful marketing engine that drives more than three-fourths of the company’s new revenues. She also led EPAY’s venture into the human capital management space—launching a new tech solution that, less than three years later, accounts for more than 60% of sales.

Along the way, she’s acquired some impressive accolades, getting named to such key lists of movers and shakers as NAWBO’s Influential Women in Business, Diversity MBA Magazine’s Top 100 Under 50 and the 300+ Women in HR Technology Worth Watching.

She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Elmhurst College, a four-year liberal arts college.

From the Family Farm…to IBM As an only child born on a farm, Lanter Smith was raised with a killer work ethic.

Always a hard worker, she first recognized her desire to lead in high school. It wasn’t enough to belong to the choir and National Honor Society—she needed to lead them. The pattern continued at Marquette University, where she not only became active in various activities, but quickly assumed leadership roles in them.

Her first job out of college was as a Marketing Representative for IBM. Excelling in sales, she advanced to Marketing Strategist, and from there was promoted to Marketing Manager. In that role, she would pioneer a process that would soon become part of the emerging field of Integrated Marketing.

Although we take this marketing process for granted today, what she did at the time was breakthrough: executing campaigns that extended beyond advertising to embrace value-based tactics, then using them to cultivate sales leads. Her work was not only recognized by Northwestern University’s School of Medill, but ultimately integrated into its curriculum. That led to guest lecturing gigs at Northwestern, which she relished.

For this, she received IBM’s Golden Circle Award, its highest employee honor. During that time, she earned her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

But if you ask her, she’s just getting started.

“When I’m not moving forward,” she says, “I feel like a bird with clipped wings.”

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Taking a Detour for Motherhood Embracing motherhood with the same zeal she embraces business, Lanter Smith took a six-year break to have three children. During that time, she

volunteered for a not-for-profit that funds local women’s and children’s charities. True to form, she became president—and her fundraising campaigns broke all records.

“The volunteers either loved or hated my all-out approach,” she laughs. “I was a little too intense for some.

Somebody actually told me, ‘girl, it’s time to go back to work’.”

In 2006, she formed Hi-Impact Marketing & Sales Solutions, an agency that offered customized sales training and marketing support services. One of her key projects was creating The Business Accelerator Program for American Family Insurance. Thousands of entrepreneurs have successfully completed the program, which is still in use today.

Words of Wisdom for Women on the Way Up One of the things Lanter Smith enjoys most about her role at EPAY is coaching and teaching her everexpanding team. Here’s her best advice for women who crave leadership roles: ·

·

·

· But in 2012, EPAY came calling—and Lanter Smith found herself eager to return to her roots of digital B2B marketing. Things were starting to boom in the marketing tech world, and she wanted to be part of it.

In addition, Lanter Smith encourages them to work on these essential skills: ·

Balancing Work and Family Like many women executives, Lanter Smith has devoted great thought to finding a balance that works for her family. Her husband, also a software development executive, has a big job, too.

From the beginning, they vowed to make family time a priority and always made decisions from that point of view.

Because she and her husband both have demanding careers, they’ve learned that, from time to time, one needs to man the home front when the other pursues something big.

Says Lanter Smith, “I know I’m lucky to have a spouse who’s willing to trade off on roles.”

Continue Your Education Get an advanced degree from the best school you can. No one can take your education or credentials away from you.

Embrace Networking – Many women don’t enjoy it, but learn to love it. Take pains to nurture your business relationships and contacts.

Market Yourself – Women are taught to be self-effacing, but find a way to be comfortable communicating your wins.

Keep Your Promises – Deliver on everything you promise, and it will become part of your professional persona.

·

·

EQ/Listening Skills – Don’t just hear what others are saying, but what they’re saying ‘between the words.’

Creative Thinking – True leaders approach problem solving from unexpected angles. Give yourself permission to entertain crazy ideas—every great idea gets its start somewhere.

Risk Taking –You can’t get far if fear of making a bad move paralyzes you. Be willing to possibly flop.

While the average growth rate of EPAY’s markets averages about 10% per year, the company has been growing steadily at 20% per year.

Lanter Smith is fierce about nurturing that growth and has a host of new marketing tools and strategies she’s eager to implement.

EPAY enjoys a steady 97% customer retention rate—largely due to a comprehensive customer service revamp Lanter Smith initiated four years ago. When customer satisfaction scores weren’t quite where EPAY wanted them to be, she employed a sweeping talent development strategy to elevate the team’s performance.

That included working individually with staff to identify and develop skills, putting performance measurements in place, and plotting career paths that sent motivation soaring. Customers started raving about EPAY’s service—now part of the company’s secret sauce.

One of Lanter Smith’s current goals is converting long-term time-andattendance customers to EPAY’s fullsuite HCM platform—and EPAY’s exemplary service is a big part of her pitch.

Says client Phil Gaudy, Executive VP of Interstate Cleaning Corp., a leading building services company, “We were always happy with EPAY’s time and attendance software. But because of our standout experience with their enhanced service, we moved to their complete HR platform—after 31 years with ADP payroll.”

“And Michelle was the driving force.”

Positioned for the Future Today, EPAY services half a million users spread over five continents and processes half a billion in payroll each year. It’s one of the very few HR and payroll solution for employers with a distributed, hourly workforce.

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From solving tricky problems to opening up new products and markets, Lanter Smith continues to seek out new challenges to conquer. The girl who was raised on a farm still loves to roll up her sleeves and tackle whatever needs to get done.

Frank Ruffolo CEO

Michelle Lanter Smith CMO

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Doug Olds CFO

Jay Kalantar COO

Felena Hanson Founder @HeraHub

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“

3 Ways Women can Turn their Fear of Failure into Fearless Action

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rue fearlessness is not the absence of fear but rather the embracing of fear and harnessing it with grace, grit and love.” Vanessa Elle Wilde I have to admit that I was initially shocked by the following two statistics highlighted the 2017 American Express Open report on the state of women owned businesses in the U.S. Close to 90% have zero full-time employees Ÿ Only 3% of female founders ever break the million-dollar mark in annual sales

Ÿ

Given the fact that women are taking the entrepreneurial plunge at twice the rate of men, it surprised me that most of them are not scaling. Are they afraid of the risks associated? Is it out outright fear failure? For many women, the idea of being responsible for both their own livelihood as well as that of others can be daunting.

And most of the time it takes

employees to be able to scale a business over the million-dollar mark.

I believe the answers to these questions partially stems from how we are raised. Girls are often encouraged to be harmonious, to be nice, and get to along with everyone.

This can easily manifest into people pleasing from a very young age. We want everyone to like us. Because of this, and the media’s portrayal of women, girls are prone to an external locus of control. We learn from a very young age that all eyes are on us; to be very careful in all we do and how we do it.

As a result, women tend to strive for perfection in all things. We often take criticism very personally — we internalize it and marinade on it. We learn to not draw too much attention to ourselves, for fear of what others will think of us. Boys, on the other hand, were encouraged to fall, fail, and flounder, for the sake of learning.

Now I watch hundreds of aspiring female entrepreneurs inch forward

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very slowly, waiting to reveal what we’re working on until it’s totally ready… until it’s perfect. And in some cases, they never even launch.

We must teach girls that their locus of control is “internal” and encourage them to embrace the mantra, “done is better than perfect”.

I, like most girls, was never taught to think big. I watched my mother (my primary role model) focus her energy on guarding and protecting her family; rightfully so, this was her priority. Most everything was done in order to give me and my siblings better opportunities. Women business owners with children at home often define risks in terms of family finances, personal time, and personal reputation. Up until 20 years ago, women had virtually no high net worth female entrepreneurial role models; this is slowly changing.

And finally, women are taught we need to do it all to have it all. Within my community, I often see women juggling every aspect of their business… reluctant to even delegate

basic admin tasks or outsource aspects of their business which are outside their core expertise. They will fiddle, struggle, and procrastinate before they will invest in an outside resource. For many there is a limiting belief or even an outright scarcity mindset, which is obviously compromising their business growth potential.

So how do we step out of the shadow of public opinion and the need for perfection? We embrace fearlessness, which we can develop by practicing making decisions outside of our comfort zone. We can start by finding examples to emulate, owning our achievements/resilience, and confidently pushing ourselves.

need most and work on developing them. Just make sure you aren’t being too hard on yourself because there are likely plenty of times you’ve been resilient in the face of great odds and persevered. Your inexperience in these new areas could be your greatest strength.

Ones Who Count, she says about human nature: “We’re so selfcritical, and…. there is an ideal of what you’re supposed to be. And what a lot of us end up doing is we orphan the parts of ourselves that don’t fit with that ideal of who we’re supposed to be.”

In her 2015 Harvard Commencement speech, Natalie Portman talks about trusting yourself:

Oftentimes embracing those banished parts of ourselves gives us the opportunity to maximize our courage and strength, and a deepen our perspective. Self-inventory can do wonders to remind us what our true strengths are, strengths we may have forgotten about when fear got in the way.

“Sometimes your insecurities and your inexperience may lead you to embrace other people’s expectations, standards, or values, but you can harness that inexperience to carve out your own path.”

3. Trust Your Talents Enough to Push Yourself. There’s a reason why fewer than 3% of all women entrepreneurs get to $1M in revenue, despite the fact that for past decade, women owned businesses have grown faster than the national average.

The common fear of taking calculated risks is often at the heart of it, especially financial risks.

1. Find inspiring women to emulate. Yes, statistically speaking, women at the very top of their fields are harder to find than men (only three of the 25 wealthiest Americans are women and the percentage of women Fortune 500 CEOs is less than 5%). But they are out there, and finding them is well worth your effort, as it will increase your chances for success

2. Recognize your achievements and resilience. Perspective truly is everything, so what’s yours? Celebrating your milestones along the way is one effective method of honoring your accomplishments. Another is to put yourself out there time and again, understanding that fear is a natural response to pursuing what is worthwhile.

When you do find them, be sure to check yourself about the intimidation factor. Yes, you can get there too!

Remember, even Tina Fey, Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, and more talk about self-doubt and imposter syndrome, so you know you’re not alone.

It’s not required that you don’t have fear (because we all do around vulnerability), you’re simply urged to do it anyway. You must take risks from a place of purpose so strong that you’re willing to be uncomfortable as you grow. It also means we must face our own biggest critic, ourselves.

We have to surround ourselves with people who will challenge us to take our businesses to the next level.

People who are willing to check us when they hear us talk about the lack of skills or resources. There are significant resources and infinite possibilities in the world. We have to believe we are good enough to not only claim them but to also run after them.

Make a list of the qualities they have that make them successful that you

In a keynote speech by Brené Brown titled, Why Your Critics Aren’t The

We women often have the advantage of heightened intuition, that quieter

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voice within that already knows what your next best move is. Act on it fearlessly and watch your business take off.

Most importantly, don’t listen to naysayers. Brené Brown has a great

counter to any haters from her keynote speech mentioned above: “If you are going to go in the arena and spend any time in there, whatsoever, especially if you have committed to creating in your life, you’re going to get your a** kicked… [so to critics]

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if you’re not in the arena (also getting your a** kicked), I’m not interested in your feedback. Period.”

Remember, you have all it takes to take the “less” and turn it into fearless!

Kim Vogel President & Co-founder BaseVenture

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Translating Experience into Success 43

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t its core, attaining success as an entrepreneur is about the willingness to take risks.

It’s more than just about pushing the boundaries of your destiny; instead, it is about engraving new boundaries. It is about the passion and conviction behind your envisioned idea. It’s about refusing to stay down when you make mistakes and having the resilience to transform them into learning opportunities. And it’s also about experience!

Meet Kim Vogel. A serial technology entrepreneur boasting more than 25 years of experience in helping companies finance, grow, and monetize their businesses. Beyond Exclamation recognizes her pioneering experience and delves into her story as a leading businesswoman striving for excellence.

Where it Began Kim’s journey began when she worked as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) at KPMG. During that time, she earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School, which then lead to securing a position as Vice President at Montgomery Securities. Her venture into entrepreneurship and innovation, however, began much earlier. During the late 90s, she was the CEO of Semaphore Partners which was one of the first digital marketing agencies around at the time. Kim was one of the original members of the executive team that grew the company into a global powerhouse, attaining clients like General Motors, Orbitz, and more.

Innovation was at the core of Semaphore Partners and Kim, along with her cohorts, designed many of the first websites and intranets for their clients.

When Semaphore Partners was sold to a marketing conglomerate, Kim had little time to decide her next step.

Thoughtful ideas bubbled up, but she

kept coming back to a childhood dream of being a professor, something she often considered through the years.

Shortly thereafter, Kim landed a position teaching finance and business at St. Mary’s College of California.

Little did she know at the time that within a few years, she would be turning the corner and stepping into another venture.

The Band is Back Together Teaching and interacting with college students was very rewarding, but Kim could not pass up a suggestion from one of her colleagues from Semaphore to ‘bring the band back together’. She shifted her expertise in teaching to become one of the initial executives at a pioneering mobile banking and payments technology company called mFoundry.

A key innovator in the space, mFoundry helped to redefine the way people bank by introducing the thencrazy notion of banking on the phone. mFoundry was one of the first to introduce mobile check deposit technology and among the first companies to submit a mobile banking application to the Apple App Store.

Under the watchful guidance of Kim as the CFO, mFoundry went on to become the largest provider in North America. The company was later sold to FIS in 2013. Shortly thereafter, Kim and John Pizzi co-founded BaseVenture and started to build their amazing team.

platform, FundManager.io, empowers private funds and other buy-side firms by offering a modern digital experience to satiate investor demand for transparency, automate their operations, and unleash their data. By providing users with data intelligence, digital reporting, and process automation, FundManager.io radically simplifies the process of investment management and provides a platform that is intelligent, scalable, affordable, and secure.

The Vision Behind FundManager.io Although capital has steadily flowed into the industry ever since the financial crisis of 2008, the alternatives space has continued to rely on manual processes and antiquated technology.

To solve operational woes and meet client demands for transparency, managers and their administrators are forced to rely on expensive, outmoded technology products, or add to their overall headcount. But as Kim asserts, “Neither approach is effective, and both reduce margins. Making matters worse, firms often rely on Excel to inform them of key portfolio information like exposure and risk metrics.”

Amid this crisis, FundManager.io was created to offer a better solution. With the platform, private funds and their administrators can rely on a system that automates their operations, improves their level of service, and helps them quickly gain crucial portfolio insights to enable smarter investment decision-making.

The Rise of BaseVenture Since its founding in 2014, BaseVenture has become an innovative force in the alternative and traditional investment industries. The cloud-based software company develops cuttingedge solutions in the areas of financial reporting, data visualization, and process management.

BaseVenture’s award-winning

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The Challenges and the Rewards According to Kim, one of the most challenging parts of being an entrepreneur and building a startup is fundraising. “We have always been very successful at it, but it’s certainly an arduous process. You hear “No” too many times to count.” She adds, “It involves meeting after meeting where

everyone politely smiles, tries to ask difficult questions and wants to understand if you really have what it takes to become one of the few companies that can generate a substantial return on their investment.

It has always turned out very well for us, but it is certainly a long slog up a steep mountain. Luckily, we have always reached the top where we get the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful view, while looking forward to another couple of years before we start the process all over again.”

Looking past the challenges, the best part of Kim’s journey has been the chance to build and nurture great teams. Kim mentions, “I love being surrounded by really, really smart people. Working with high caliber performers forces me to make sure that I constantly bring my ‘A game’ to the table. They spark new interests in me and introduce me to new ideas, concepts, and opportunities that I would have never otherwise come up with on my own. Building great companies is truly a team sport and it is not something one can do very successfully when working in isolation. I love constantly trying to create my own ‘dream team’. It is not only a ton of fun, but I believe it’s what it takes to make a company truly successful.”

When the most appealing option presented itself, Kim went for it. It was just that simple.

A Look Behind Kim realizes how much she benefited early in her career from the dot-com boom and bust. She was ready to move on from investment banking and work at a private company. Since technology was her area of focus in banking, it made perfect sense to look for a finance role at a tech company.

Geography also played a key part in Kim’s story. She was looking for opportunities in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley where there were plenty of impressive market opportunities.

“I wish I had the story that I was so passionate about technology that I stayed up all night programming or hacking for fun like so many of my engineering colleagues did, but I was a finance person,” she says with a smile.

For Kim, it was always about efficiency. She loved the advancing pace of technology and automation and was one of the early users of Quickbooks, bill.com and many other early accounting and finance-related platforms that transformed back offices

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on a global scale. “In many ways, that passion is exactly what BaseVenture is all about. We empower users to do things more efficiently with a platform that is simple, faster, and more effective.”

A Work in Progress Kim believes that she is far from achieving all that she desires. The dreamer expresses, “I truly believe we get out of life what we put into it, and we are all co-creators of our own respective destinies. That being said, there is still a lot of work to do. My life journey continues to be a work in progress, and I feel there is so much yet to see, experience, and accomplish.”

Image Credit: Shannon Fontaine

Sharon W. Reynolds President & CEO DevMar Products, LLC

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A Leader Committed to Her Vision 49

ith an inherent entrepreneuri al spirit and a committed attitude toward excellence, Sharon Reynolds set out on a journey. A journey toward achieving excellence as a leading businesswoman and inspiring fellow women business owners.

In an exclusive interview with Beyond Exclamation, Sharon shares her journey as a leader and a businesswoman. She dives into her inspiration, her vision, and her distinctive traits that separates her from the crowd.

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and I channel the power of YES from my late Aunt Gloria Snell who helped shape my leadership.

I learned early on the value of hard work, respect and giving back to the community. I was raised with these values and a commitment to excellence was instilled in me at a very young age. There were small business owners in my family and I always had an entrepreneurial spirit and applied that to a career in real estate and founding my own company. Now I’m applying those principles to inspire other women business owners and help them succeed.

make an impact and help preserve the environment for generations to come. I participated in supplier diversity programs with Fortune 500s and the federal government who wanted to partner with women-owned businesses. I became nationally certified through WBENC and gained exposure to corporations who wanted to source products with women-owned businesses. I won a major contract with Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority and was the first African-American woman to be awarded the contract in the organization’s 75-year history.

What are your first thoughts when you hear words like leader and businesswoman? What prompted you to move beyond excellence initially as a leader?

Give a brief account of your journey as a leader and as an inspiring individual? What seeded the vision to start a company that distributes environmentally-friendly products?

What were some of the key achievements and highlights during your journey?

When I hear those words, I immediately think about strong women leaders who have been a powerful influence in my life beginning with my grandmother who was a professor at Fisk University. She helped me see that women can lead, provide for their families and not have any limit on their abilities because they are a woman or a minority.

I’m a proud fifth generation Nashvillian and my father was one of the first Black firemen in the city while his father was a very successful entrepreneur during the late 1950s. My mother is my rock and greatest supporter,

When the economic downturn hit I had to reinvent as a former real estate broker and helped my husband’s company, Reynolds & Reynolds Facility Services, Inc., by selling the firm janitorial and cleaning supplies. I noticed a trend toward environmentallysustainable cleaning products and began looking at chemicals that aren’t harmful to landfills, people and the environment. I formed DevMar Products, named after our two sons, Devin and DeMarco, to distribute sustainable cleaning and safety products to

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There are so many company milestones for DevMar Products.

One I’m most proud of is the development of a product called Clean Up™ Biohazard Absorbent that makes a difference in the lives of people. Clean Up eradicates Norovirus and Cdifficile infections commonly acquired in nursing homes, cruise ships, restaurants, and hospitals.

We are in the process of seeking EPA registration and the majority patent is owned by DevMar Products with our research partner Morehouse School of Medicine.

Another highlight is we were able to expand nationally with CoreCivic and our products are in more than 100 facilities in 30

states. Our partnership with Marriott International helped us grow our footprint worldwide into 6800 hotels and hospitality groups. Another product, PreventX 24/7™, is EPA registered and FDA cleared for food contact surfaces to keep our restaurants, hotels and schools safe from harmful bacteria, and pathogens.

Amidst all your responsibilities and roles at DevMar Products, how do you manage to balance between professional and personal life?

My proudest community service initiative is to serve on nonprofit boards including Second Harvest Food Bank. I was recently named the WBE Star for WBEC-South for 2019 that allows me to represent the organization nationally to support womenowned businesses. It is a labor of love and I have learned so much about being a part of these organizations and giving back to the community. My husband and I both own our businesses and share office space. Although we work together, we are challenged to find downtime together. We recently celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to Mexico with family and close friends. It was a trip of a lifetime and the memories are worth every penny to share special moments and experiences with others. We enjoy time with our family and

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especially our granddaughter. She is a light in our lives that keeps us focused on what matters in life.

Do you believe to have achieved all that you have desired? What keeps you driven and determined toward work?

I see my professional journey as having no end—it simply evolves over time. I recently earned my Executive MBA from Tennessee State University and I am a lifelong learner. That innate curiosity about the world drives me to be a better leader and continually look for ways to be more efficient and drive innovation at DevMar Products. I have launched plans to pursue my Doctoral degree in 2020.

For years you have helped inspire individuals to take innovative actions and surge ahead toward success. What is your advice for emerging and budding women leaders?

It’s important to know who you are and what your values are when you’re developing your career or thinking about starting a company. I advise women business owners to pursue their passion and don’t listen to those who tell you no. Keep going until you find a “yes”. I think young women today are living in an incredible time in history with so many resources available to help them grow businesses and

connect with others. You have to create your own opportunity and have an unwavering belief in yourself to achieve your dreams.

We recently sponsored an event at a local high school to promote STEM and STEAM careers for girls called the Young Enterprising Women Mentoring Forum in partnership with the Enterprising Women Foundation.

It was so inspiring to match girls with women entrepreneurs who shared their stories and words of wisdom. It was really powerful to see their eyes light up when given an opportunity to meet women leaders who overcame many obstacles in their lives to reach their goals.

What are the most critical skills of a leader? How do you impart the same upon your colleagues, employees and children?

Listening is one of the most critical skills in a leader. You really need to listen to what’s said and unsaid with your clients, partners and employees to understand their needs and what you can do to help solve a problem. Sometimes they just need to commiserate but that’s how you form strong relationships to achieve great things together.

In addition to listening and problem solving, I think articulating a vision and inspiring a team to work toward a shared goal are highly valued skills in a leader. Collaboration is also high

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on my list. When I meet with fellow CEOs, we always bring solutions to the table or a connection or resource that’s needed. It’s about what we can bring to the table to benefit others—not what we can get from it.

What does the future hold for you and DevMar Products?

We have been on a roll this year reaching new levels of success.

Our pipeline is extremely strong and we anticipate growing 200% in revenue in 2019. We’re

planning a few major product announcements that will reshape the jan-san industry and we’re looking to continue our expansion with strategic new hires and growing our federal contracting.

We’re seeking funding and looking to grow internationally in

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China and recently had a trip to Shanghai to lay the groundwork.

In addition, our plan includes partnering with one of the largest companies in the world in a collaborative effort that aligns with our core values to improve lives around the world.

Karen Boers Co-founder & MD Startups.be

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A Leader with Solutions 57

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tarting out with an inherent desire to help people and solve their problems, Karen Boers is one inspiring leader and entrepreneur who has paved her way towards success through sheer passion and dedication.

Karen jumped into the sea of entrepreneurship as she found solutions to be not available in the market as of yet and she couldn’t stand by and let other entrepreneurs suffer from a lack of information and support. She wanted to connect them with relevant resources and mentors, who were already out there in the sea. But, in between all these, she failed to realize her own transformation into an entrepreneur. Karen only got a sense of the same when she ran out of money, as she forgot to inquire the willingness of people to pay for the solutions she had provided.

Ever since then, she has been balancing between providing solutions and making a living for herself and her team. Speaking of which, Karen mentions “The societal purpose it what drives me, but I’ve learned to combine that with a healthy economical perspective.”

Changing the way entrepreneurship is perceived Karen along with her team of professionals have changed the way how Belgium and its policy makers perceive entrepreneurship. She has ensured the same through the implementation of many of the solutions proposed in the Belgium Startup Manifesto, but also through campaigns like Failing Forward, gathering dozens of testimonials from successful entrepreneurs and other role models about the mistakes that they have made in their lives, and chipping away at the taboo that is associated with failure in Belgium and in Europe, in general.

She claims “Stories like that have become common in the general media

now, allowing entrepreneurs to feel a little less lonely during their struggles and anybody else to be less inclined to point fingers when the going gets tough.”

The Belgium startup DNA comprises of a clear B2B focus, with a number of industries of historical strength: healthcare, media & entertainment, business solutions, and creative-based industries. “Our multi-cultural and multi-lingual perspective on life is a big bonus in a global market as their solutions are built to scale.”

A leader with impact When asked about her impression of being a women leader or an entrepreneur, Karen retaliated saying that she never considered her gender to be an aspect or a role-player in her entrepreneurial journey. “I just try to do the very best I can as a leader and an entrepreneur. I’m very impactdriven, so I will always consider how I can best spend my energy and resources to help those around me to thrive. In entrepreneurship, that translates into customer-focus and an obsession for efficiency & effectiveness.”

For Karen, a true leader inspires by reaching beyond the easily achievable, nurtures to grow and outperform, understands that failure is an inherent part of learning, and cares about others’ well-being more than their own, while safeguarding boundaries. “I hope all my children and employees dare to dream, trust to try, and care for one another while doing so!”

The intertwined life Karen is the Co-founder and MD of Startups.be, the President of European Startup Network, the Co-founder and CEO of BeCode.org and the Cofounder and Board Member of BeCentral, just to name a few! Yet after boasting such an extensive professional portfolio, Karen balances between both her private and personal life with absolute precision.

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She believes her work and private life to be intertwined. Giving a brief overview of her daily life, Karen mentions “Often I start working early, to pick up the kids from school and spend time with them to get back at it after dinner. I’m friends with many of my co-founders and team members – almost all have met our kids. My partner and I have a blended family with 5 kids between 10 and 14 years old, but we also share a business and can discuss any professional challenge we encounter. Time management is more about how I can spend every single minute as useful as possible, from handling e-mails while I’m waiting for the kids to come out of music school up to arranging phone conferences at 7am with people I know are equally stuck in traffic at that time.”

A look into the journey After helming a degree in German Philology, Karen began her career with View Interim, now called Synergie Interim. She went from being an interim consultant to becoming the office manager and HR consultant.

2005 saw her making the transition towards iMinds and she became the Marketing & Communications Manager in the following year.

Fast forward seven years, Karen became fully self-employed as she joined hands with Dirk Peusens. Her role of specializing in team dynamics and organizational development prompted her to be actively involved with Startups.be. She along with her cohorts have developed this NGO into a one of a kind platform, which enables tech beginners to meet and interact

with coaches, investors, and industry experts who can propel their business into success.

Keeping the ship on course Being an avid sports lover and a former soccer player, Karen understood how a team can and should be more than the sum of their individual capacities. She is always on the lookout for partners and coworkers that have complementary skills to her and those that she can rely upon without looking over their shoulders.

Speaking about her functioning style and approach as a leader, Karen asserts “I provide a lot of room to operate which has backfired a few times already too – but allows me to focus on the areas where I can add most value.

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As long as everyone keeps focus on the joint goals and how each of them can contribute to getting there, things will figure themselves out. I did have to learn to trust my instincts when things go wrong and dare to take snap-shot decisions and not looking for too many second opinions. Leadership is about keeping the ship on course, not about being everybody’s best friend.”

A true entrepreneur at heart, Karen waits for more interesting challenges in the future, one which will lie beyond the next curve in the road. She hopes to see her kids grow up and develop their full potential as “I lost my own mom at a very young age, and I’m trying to enjoy every day with them and take decisions I would not regret if tomorrow would be my last,” concludes Karen.

Lina Ramos Chief Business OďŹƒce Source Intelligence

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“Doing what I do in the service of something larger than myself.�

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avigating any journey for her is best defined by the people that share the experience with her. As a leader, Lina Ramos constantly seeks to find ways to give voice and empowers those who work with her. She believes that the best success stories are not the ones built alone, but are rather those that are built on the collective contributions of an excellent team.

The toughest parts of the journey for her are the hard - but necessary - decisions. She firmly believes that tough decisions must be made and she doesn’t regret them because a good business leader is committed to shifting from “opportunistic” to “scalability”. It’s only then that global impact can come into focus.

Today, she is honored and privileged to be a part of the founding executive team at Source Intelligence and, working together with her day-to-day, she has what she calls “mini CEO’s” who diligently assess a situation and make business building decisions consistently.

Lina earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and has served as a Mentor for the Toyota Women in Supply Chain Mentoring Program sponsored by the Toyota Foundation and The Peter F. Drucker Center for Supply Chain & Logistics. Besides enjoying the Southern California lifestyle with her husband and 3 children, Lina has and, for 5 consecutive years, earned the “Women’s Champion” title for Shadow Tour Century Ride (100 miles) where she holds the course record as well as competed in 26 Ironman events including 5 Championship venues.

Building, Mentoring, Living with Passion Lina brings more than 28 years of P&L responsibility at Fortune 500 companies and privately held ventures, both domestic and abroad. Expert at building technology-driven companies into profitable, high-growth businesses that are positioned for market leadership, Lina directs all

Life-long Passion for Environmental Sustainability Lina has also been involved with “green technology” since 1992, fueling a life-long passion for environmental sustainability.

Scientific evidence supports that a global commitment to sustainability is critical or we will continue to experience climate change and potentially catastrophic

expansion, partnership, demand generation, and sales strategies at Source Intelligence. Prior to dedicating herself to venture backed companies, she worked at P&G (USA & Intl.), Booz Allen Sales Estimating System, and Monsanto, where she reported directly to the CEO.

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repercussions of that change. She believes the efforts to ensure environmental sustainability are not the responsibility of one organization, political party, or NGO group. Rather, it is the responsibility of every individual on the planet to contribute. As individuals, we roll into organizations and political parties and groups. However, ownership at the individual level, according to her, will lead to more commitment and impact at the macro level.

Feeling a sense of Satisfaction as her Change comes into Reality Lina feels her life’s work will never be “done”, and hence she doesn’t believe to have achieved all that she has desired. “In fact, I recently went to a graduate school reunion and a consistent theme which I felt passionately about was on reinvention. What do we commit ourselves to for the next 10 years?

Having said that, I have felt a sense of satisfaction when the change I seek to make does come to reality.

An example of that is when some of our Fortune 500 clients top the list as “Most Sustainable” or having the “Best Corporate Social Responsibility” program. It’s personal victory to read the report and know, Source Intelligence was entrusted to play a role in their success,” Lina mentioned to Beyond Exclamation.

Delivering Advanced, Costeffective Technology Source Intelligence is a leading

provider of regulatory compliance, environmental health & safety (EHS), sustainability and corporate responsibility data services and solutions. The company brings value to over 500,000 users of its platform by delivering an advanced, cost-effective technology. The company’s supply chain expertise and data services are designed to help companies comply with the law, minimize operational and brand risk, and improve efficiency.

The company centralizes over 60 GRC programs onto a single platform that is fully reportable and auditable. Recognized for its supply chain data management, risk management and advanced analytics and visualization, Source Intelligence serves many of the Fortune 500 and Global 2000.

Founded in 2009 by career experts in environmental solutions and analytics, Source Intelligence is headquartered in Carlsbad, California and boasts global operations. SI has received multiple awards, including the “GRC Innovation Award”, “Product of the Year” and most recently, “Best Performing Supply Chain Solution Provider, 2018” A Global Citizen at Work!

Lina believes that the one thing that has changed in her life is the magnitude of the impact she can make as an individual and as a leader. As a privately held company, there’s always more

opportunity to develop than there are time or resources, thus she finds herself optimizing everything! Her work time, meeting times, and team resources are constantly being refined based on the learnings and new best practices.

Moreover, she has always considered herself as a global citizen; meaning, she does what she does in the service of something larger than herself. At Source Intelligence, their GRC programs help the world’s largest brands eradicate forced labor, prevent corruption, and comply with compliance programs like the California Proposition 65 “as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. Simplifying Data Management and Support Strategic Decisions As technology continues to disrupt, traditional legacy approaches to supply chain management and data collection, hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into the industry. Source Intelligence was fortunate to be the first-to-market and best-in-class as a recognized leader in centralized supply chain management solutions. “Our

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programs help companies costeffectively ensure legal and ethical supply chains. The court of law has implemented regulations, but the court of public opinion has spoken with their dollar. The world’s largest brands no longer see supply chain management as a cost-center focused on risk mitigation, the most innovative companies see it as an investment in a competitive strategic advantage in brand confidence from investors, customers, consumers and employees. To cost-efficiently ensure responsible supply chains that thrive, technology is central to that success,” Lina added.

These forces make it a thrilling time at Source Intelligence.

“Because the platform is easily configurable we can create customizable solutions that simplify data management and support strategic decisions. On the horizon: artificial intelligence of particular interest is working to use known variables to conduct predictive analytics for supplier risk,” she concluded.

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