100 Most Dynamic Leaders of 2021 | Exeleon Magazine by Exeleon Magazine

Embracing Excellence

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Dynamic Leaders OF THE YEAR Becoming a Dynamic Leader 8 essential points of leadership backed some of the biggest names in the world of business.

IN-FOCUS

Vince Papale: Relieve the Journey of one of the Greatest Football Legends

Tai Sunnanon Global Social Entrepreneur and Renaissance Man IN-FOCUS

Mark Murphy: Driving Wealth Creation Strategies through Critical Thinking and Dynamic Vision

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Editor's Note In a recent team building activity, one of our interns raised the question of what is the future of leadership. At irst thought, the question sounded a bit rhetorical to me. However, he went on to explain.

He said that the global system is challenged by a con luence of economic, societal, environmental, political, and legislative forces, prompting executives to seek for or adapt diﬀerent leadership models that re lects this evolving paradigm.

He further stressed that the impact of technologies like robotics and AI, coupled with the unpredictability of the market, is expected to cripple entrepreneurs following the tried and tested route of leadership. To this, someone mentioned the probable solution to be – Dynamic leadership.

I realized that as the global business world continues to become more concentrated, we would need dynamic leadership to be the new norm, instead of being an exception for successful businesses.

The central idea behind dynamic leadership or entrepreneurship is adaptability. Adaptability to situations as well as customers. They promote a sense of inclusivity and lexibility, one which inspires and fosters trust and camaraderie with their employees, thereby resulting in better productivity.

Dynamic leaders work in tandem with their employees to create an operation process for the business. These individuals lead from the front, coach from the side, and elevate, not delegate!

In this year-end special issue of 100 Dynamic Leaders of the Year, Exeleon has curated stories of a list of accomplished and renowned individuals from varying ields and highlighted their pathway towards attaining excellence.

The issue includes an alphabetically ranked list of 100 leaders. This was curated after a thorough examination and stringent perusal from the research team of Exeleon Magazine based on a wide array of factors. The factors diﬀered in some sectors due to the nature of business therein as well as the ongoing trends. We are proud of the work done by our team in completing this issue and making it look and read the way it does. We hope that you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed building this.

Let’s Embrace Excellence! Daryl Yeung Editor-in-Chief

DYN A MIC LEADERS 2021 Scan and visit our web version of the 100 Dynamic Leaders issue.

100 DYNAMIC LEADERS

Alex Leveto

Alicea Davis

Amy Cherry Taylor

Andreas Schenone

VP & COO | Realty Companies

President | Esteem Builders Productions

Realtor | Amy Cherry Taylor & Associates

CEO & President | Swiss Federalism

Andy Phillips

Angela Mustone

Anthony Winston

Ashley Horner

Founder & CEO | Cliq

Founder | High On Love

Owner | Winston Engineering Inc.

Fitness Coach | Ashley Horner Fitness

Avis Yates Rivers

Ben Sadler

Blake Sherwood

Bo Menkiti

CEO & President | TCGi

CEO | Alive and Kicking

VP of Logistics | NixCovid

CEO & Founder | The Menkiti Group

Brad Bennett

Breanna Suden

Brian Arrington

Carol Parker Walsh

Head of Retail Consumer Brand | RealFi

President & Founder | SUDEN PR

Owner & CEO | Paciﬁc Sotheby's International Realty

CEO | Carol Parker Walsh Consulting

Carol-Ann Brown

Charlotte Howard

Christy Whitman

Colleen Joyce

President | Delphi Group

CEO | Wealthy Women Enterprises

CEO & Founder | Christy Whitman International, Inc

President | Lawyer.com

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Dan Mirkin

Dan Rice

Danco Dimkov

David Naylor

CEO & Founder | Trade Ideas

President | Thayer Leadership

Founder & CEO | BizzBee Solution

EVP | 2logical

Debra Dobbs

DJ Viva

Domenic Mangano

Edward Lomena

Founder | Dobbs Group

DJ | Music Producer

Founder | The Jamaica Cottage Shop

Managing Attorney of Personal Injury | McDivitt Law Firm

Ella Jesmajian

Ellie Heber

Erika Ferszt

Esther Poulsen

Co- Founder | Honey & Roses Coffee

CEO | Fill My Lashes

Founder | Moodally

Founder & CEO | Raare Solutions

Evan Nierman

Evan Starkman

Geoff Hamilton

Georgie Asfoura

Founder & CEO | Red Banyan

CEO & President | The Bait Shoppe

CEO & Founder | ZoomGrants

CEO & Founder | Georgette Properties

Heather Altepeter

Ian Jackson

Jacob Rabi

Jeff Harry

CEO | National Merchants Association

CEO | Enshored

Co-Founder & CEO | trufyx

Workplace Play Consultant | Rediscover Your Play

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Jeff LoCastro

Jennie Lok

Jit Warnakulasuriya

John Bazzo

Founder & CEO | Neener Analytics

Real Estate Consultant & Coach | Zen Coast University

Founder | Just In Time

Managing Partner | My Wine Society

Jonathan Ogurchak

Jordan Corcoran

Jordan Kurland

Joseph Edgar

Co-Founder & CEO | STACK

Creator | Listen, Lucy

Founder | Brilliant Corners Artist Management

Founder | TenantCloud

Kate Broddick

Keith Pigues

Kelly Davies

Ken Collis

Realtor | The Kate Broddick Team

Founder & CEO | Luminas Strategy

Realtor | Kelly Davies Homes Team

CEO & Founder | TLK Fusion

Kendra Novak

Kenneth Bond

Kevin Steer

Kimberly Carney

Owner | Novak Realty

CEO | ROOK Connect

Founder & CEO | 121Advisor

CEO & Founder | Fashwire

Kylie Ward

Liane Haynes-Smith

Marc Thalheim

Marisa Elizundia

CEO | Australian College of Nursing

Transfromational Life Coach Dreams Envisions

Founder | Petstablished

CEO | Emotional Salary Barometer

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Mark Murphy

Marryam Chaudhry

Mary Ahrens

Mayank Saxena

CEO | Northeast Private Client Group

CEO & Founder | XR2Lead

Owner | Hair4Good

Founder | Photosyntesis

Mazlan Abbas

Melissa Rodriguez

Melissa Smith

Melonie Kotchey

Co-Founder & CEO | FAVORIOT

Founder | SMR

Founder & CEO | Association of Virtual Assistants

CEO & Founder | Compassionate Certiﬁcation Centers

Michael Gulotta

Michelle Gracie

Mike Atema

Mike Berro

Partner | Gulotta & Gulotta, PLLC

Real Estate Specialist | Rodeo Realty

CEO & President | Altek Supply

Founder & CEO | Qonkur Media

Murshidah Said

Neda Varbanova

Nikita Zhitov

Nikki Clarke

Co-founder | Love & Respect Transforms Holdings

Founder | Healthy With Nedi

Owner | CityPlat

Founder | Nikki Clarke Show

Nina Hudnik

Nishaant Sangaavi

Pam Kurt

Paul Barmes

Co-founder | Roni Nepremičnine

CEO & Founder | EnergyX

Professional Women Life Coach | Best Version of You, LLC

Founder | Barmes Design

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Paul Guenther

Pete Pallares

Raj Grover

Rena McDonald

Founder & CEO | Knowledge Hub Media

CEO | Center for Social Dynamics

CEO | High Tide Inc

Owner | McDonald Law Group

Richard Derrick

Rose Gabler

Rudy Lira Kusuma

Sattie Persaud

CEO & City Manager | City of Henderson

Creative Alignment Specialist | Rose Gabler Strategies

Founder | Your Home Sold Guranteed Realty

Founder | WHCC

Sharon Vinderine

Shobhan K. Mishra

Stephan Thieringer

Steve De Laveaga

Founder & CEO | PTPA Media

Founder | The Ikigai Foundation

Founder & CEO | The Human Innovation Garage

CEO & Founder | Real Intelligent Sales Engagement

Steve Legge

Sukhi Jutla

Sunny Akomu Akhigbe

Susanna Sanita Beatrice

COO | NetNumber

Co-founder & COO | MarketOrders

Founder | Sunny Akomu Akhigbe

Transformational Leader | Sanna Sanita

Tai Sunnanon

Tammy De Long

Vee Escarment

Vince Papale

Founder & CEO | Social Good Industries, LLC

Realtor | REeBroker Group

CEO & President | Generational Wealth through Real Estate

Motivational Speaker | Vince Papale Promotions

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Tai Sunnanon Global Social Entrepreneur and Renaissance Man Founder & CEO | Social Good Industries, LLC & The Life Coach Expert Flight Commander | U.S. Air Force

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Our values shape our actions and behavior. We all have a set of values that guide the way we live our lives. These values decide what we do, what we think, and what we feel.

At times, it can be hard to understand why we behave the way we do or what motivates us, but most often it is because of our underlying value system. And once we identify our said values, it becomes easier to overcome challenges and failures, because we realize what we want to achieve and the actions we need to take in order to reach them. In the same context, having a profound understanding of values over the course of his journey has led Tai Sunnanon to become one of the most dynamic leaders in the world and the face of Exeleon's, 100 Most Dynamic Leaders of the Year.

Since starting his irst business at the age of 16 and establishing his name with seven other ventures over the decades, Tai came to realize that the #1 aspect of leadership that has been the most critical and rewarding for him is values. And learning to live by them. This has empowered him to become a global social entrepreneur and Renaissance man who happens to speak eight languages. THE VALUE IN VALUES

Tai has always been a curious and driven person. Since a young age, he has spent a lot of time iguring out where he stands and where his life is

headed. “Did I want to be a serial entrepreneur, professor, concert violinist, life coach, world traveler? I wasn't always 100% sure,” recalls Tai.

For Tai, 'understanding oneself' was the biggest challenge of his life. “When I wasn't sure where my career or personal life was headed, I felt like I was in limbo.”

After teaching at Harvard University for a few years, Tai returned home to California to igure out the next steps of his professional journey. As months passed by, he realized that his life trajectory was not in tune with his values. He recalls, “I didn't even know

Ever since then, Tai has made sure to share the importance of understanding values at every speaking engagement. He also reevaluates those values every year to see if something has changed in his career, relationships, or himself. “This exercise includes me picking and then ranking ive values for each category. Once I understand my top ive values, lightbulbs went oﬀ in my head. I understood that what was important to me in the past was not as important to me now. And that explains why I was in a rut. Articulating my values could then align the who-I-am with the what-Iwant in life.”

“We’re front-and-center to real, positive change around the world with a desire to heal ourselves, others, and the planet. Social entrepreneurship is a pathway to bringing about this incredible change.” what my values were. All I knew is that I was stuck in life.”

This very moment made him understand how values drive every person on this planet, whether you realize it or not. It was also the moment where identifying his values would go on to become one of his greatest life lessons. Tai notes that, “Examples of values include: family, health, wealth, curiosity, spirituality, teamwork, independence, charity, companionship, love, hard work, etc. You get to decide what is most meaningful to you.”

BECOMING YOUR OWN ROADBLOCK Despite this approach, Tai himself became the biggest roadblock during his journey. According to him, a human mind cannot ful ill its desires despite achieving everything in diﬀerent phases of life.

He recalls his own ideology during his younger years as an example, “It was about achieving status and building my external resume, or the accomplishments that made me look good on paper. And now in my 40s, it's about what makes me happy and

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building my internal resume or the things that I want to live by.”

Thus, the biggest learning for Tai came down to knowing his values and being grounded spiritually. He continues saying, “Our species have the greatest ability to adapt and evolve. If we recognize that in ourselves, it's incredible what we can accomplish. I'm more grounded mentally, physically, and spiritually than I've ever been before because I know what my core values are and how to live by them. And I've also learned that being in nature grounds me spiritually. If we tap into the spiritual aspects of our lives, we experience tremendous freedom.”

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Through each of his organizations, Tai promotes social entrepreneurship, which aims to resolve crucial problems through innovation and a sustained economic business model.

He further mentions that learning from his team to achieve desired results is the secret recipe behind his success. “I'm proud to have mentored each member of my staﬀ and chart a pathway of professional and personal growth for them. You must understand that your company's number one asset is your people.”

Besides leading these organizations, Tai is also serving as an of icer in the U.S. Air Force where he gets to make positive changes at the national level. “Being part of the Air Force allows me to make high-level changes by providing professional development, supporting the underserved, and bringing innovation that supports our mission,” explains Tai.

A RENAISSANCE MAN From starting seven companies to becoming a renowned social entrepreneur, Tai admits to have learned a lot during his journey. He describes those early years to be formidable as he made a lot of mistakes, took lessons from those failures, and found his authentic leadership style through those experiences.

Tai has travelled to over 60 countries, taught at six universities, received national and international awards for his social entrepreneurship work, is an author, speaker, serves on numerous nonpro it boards and is an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party. He still inds time to play the guitar and violin and surf along the Southern California coast.

With all of this learning, Tai embarked on a mission, to help the world become a better place. And he is achieving the same through his two companies and the U.S. Military: Social Good Industries, LLC, a mission-driven products company aimed at addressing some of our most pressing problems; The Life Coach Expert, which provides business and life coaching services; and U.S. Air Force, where he serves as a light commander WORDS TO REMEMBER BY

While everyone prefers to build a name for themselves, achieve success, and grow their brand, Tai wants us to remember that we experience profound change every decade of our lives. What matters now may not matter 10 years from now. Peoples' mindset and values change, and aspiring individuals, while keeping eyes on their goal, must not forget what they want from their life, especially the 'Know Thyself' part.

As such, Tai advises new and seasoned entrepreneurs to stick by their identities more than to their brands or the business. “What kind of personal life do you want to experience?” “What will be said about you during your eulogy? How will others remember you when you're gone?” And that's something Tai wants people to always remember. “I guarantee it won't be about the million-dollar deal you closed or the house you own. It's the life you experienced and the soul you cultivated to do good in this world. It's your internal resume that people will care about and remember you by.” A REALIZED FUTURE

Tai's business journey has never been linear. He has deep gratitude for the same and for what he has been able to do, create, sustain, and live by. And helping others do the same across his companies is his way of paying it forward and giving back.

And today, being in the U.S. Air Force is exactly where Tai imagined himself to be. “I get to bring 25-years of experience to elevate our standards and people and that is an honor.”

To conclude, Tai shares a profound life lesson, “It came from a fortune cookie—from about 15 years ago—that I've since framed on my wall. It reads, 'Love is simple. It is your mind that complicates things.' When we let go of our ego, overthinking and overanalyzing, our minds experience tremendous freedom. Those negative or obstructive thoughts do not bene it us. Living by our internal resume, not the external one, will be a life welllived.”

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When you simply let go and love the work, people and self, it's when life becomes more enjoyable.

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4 Characteristics of Le Over the past 25-years, Tai has been practicing, learning, studying, teaching, and fumbling on the topic of leadership. Here are the four characteristics of leadership that he has come to appreciate and embody over time:

KNOW THYSELF: Leadership takes on many shapes and sizes. I've seen too many leaders try to be someone they are not. I, too, emulated business leaders when I was a young entrepreneur. But I quickly learned that you take the best of what great leaders do and make it your own, rather than be someone you're not.

BE FULLY AUTHENTIC: I used to put on this image that I had all the

answers as a business leader and instructor of practice at Harvard University. But leadership is bestowed upon you by others, not a stage you walk onto. If your steps, spirit, and speech are not aligned, you're not a fully authentic leader. And others know it. It's hard to follow a leader you don't see as authentic. And after my irst year of teaching, I found my authentic voice.

OPERATE IN AMBIGUITY: Leaders don't have all the answers, so let's get that straight right away. Even projecting that you do is a mis ire. Learning to operate in ambiguity is one of the most challenging but rewarding characteristics of leadership. Why? Because neither your business nor personal life follows a straight line. And being

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eadership comfortable with the unknown is important. When the pandemic irst hit, I didn't know for weeks where the economy was headed, and how it was going to aﬀect my business but being able to operate in ambiguity means you can roll with the punches and still thrive.

LEARN FROM YOUR TEAM: When a company asks me to help them improve their business, the irst question I ask is, “What input have you received from your staﬀ?” I truly believe that 80% of business challenges can be answered by the employees. They're in the weeds day in and day out, and can provide useful insights that senior leaders may not be aware of.

Leadership is bestowed upon you by others, not a stage you walk onto. If your steps, spirit, and speech are not aligned, you're not a fully authentic leader. And others know it.”

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VINCE PAPALE One of the Greatest Football Stories Ever Told

reams are often the driving force behind the biggest eﬀorts in our life. It doesn't matter how big or how small your dreams are, what's important is that you believe in them enough to work hard to achieve the same.

This philosophy was the driving force behind Vince Papale's story of overcoming doubt and achieving his dream of playing at the highest levels.

For a sportsperson, entering the 30 year old age bracket is more often than not the beginning sign of a declining athletic capability. However, for Vince Papale, the 30 year mark stood out as the beginning signs of

something incredible; something that one would today look back on and say “Invincible.”

The professional journey of Vince exhibits a story of an unlikely athlete, an ordinary guy with an extraordinary sense of hope and determination. Exeleon proudly looks into the story of this dynamic leader. AN ATHLETIC START

From a young age, Vince was no stranger to sweating out his passion for varying sports on the ield. During his graduation days at Interboro High School in Prospect Park, he excelled in football, basketball, and even track and ield sports. When he

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became a part of the varsity football team, he even won the All-Delaware County Honorable Mention.

As a Track and Field athlete, Vince participated in pole vault, triple leap, and long jump. Later, he would go on to win the District I large-school pole vault title while representing Interboro. And in the state meet, Vince was able to secure the fourth position. As far as the numbers were concerned, Vince managed to wow the audience with a pole vault performance at 12ft 9in. This feat cemented his name as one of the Top all-time PA high school vaulters. 25

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Following these feats, Vince went a step further to gain a scholarship at the Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The stats only became better as he put on a show by performing a 14ft 6in vault at the United States Track and Field Federation (USTFF) college development pole vault competition, thereby claiming the irst prize.

In 1968, Vince said goodbye to Saint Joseph and Track and Field by graduating from the University with a Master's Degree in Marketing/Management Science.

FLAG FOOTBALL AND RETURN TO INTERBORO After his glory days at St. Joseph, Vince went on to play semiprofessional Seaboard Football League team Aston Green Knights. However, those days didn't last long and he returned to Interboro High School and worked as a middle school business teacher, from 1968 to 1974 and even coached a junior varsity football team.

In 1974, Vince decided to come back to the ield after and leave his job. This decision led him to join the Philadelphia Bell in the World Football League (WFL). Therein, he was promoted to the team's main roster and spent the following two seasons cementing his name in the team. However, soon a time came when he had to take the departure from the Philadelphia Bell. This spiraled Vinces' journey back to the ground and eventually led him to work at a bar, participating in rough touch football in bar leagues.

BECOMING A 30-YEAR-OLD ROOKIE Two years after leaving Bell, Vince did something that ordinary people can only dream of. In 1976, the then Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles decided to have an open tryout session for the recruitment of new players into the team. It was also the time when Vince was working as a part-time bartender, and substitute teacher as he was away from teaching at Interboro.

Defying all odds and believing in himself and his dreams, Vince attended the training camp and delivered his best. He clocked back his years, and ran a world-class 4.5 40-yards dash. This impressed Coach Vermeil, and saw Vince Papale at the age of 30 getting a fulltime contract to play for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.

No one thought such an out-ofbounds player would be selected, especially considering his age and his experience of never even playing college football. Despite these odds, Vince made the squad and was determined to make a name for himself among the big names of the sport. The moment became history as Vince gained the honors of becoming the oldest rookie in NFL's history without any previous legitimate experience.

Not to mention, the time at which all of this was happening was nothing short of easy on the nation or the team. The team was going through a dark patch, comprising 11 years of consecutive defeats. On the other hand, America was struggling with the lingering eﬀects of Watergate,

the Vietnam War, and a sweeping energy crisis. Everyone looked out for a win, and it all turned out to be a 30-year old rookie who brought strength to the masses.

Playing for four seasons from 41 to 44 regular-season games, Vince helped the Eagles reclaim their winning ways. In his career with the team, he registered two fumble recoveries and one 15-yard reception. His hard work, strength, and determination to achieve greatness paid oﬀ as he was selected as Team Captain and was named Eagles 'Man of the Year' in 1978. While a shoulder injury ended his playing career in 1979, Vince still stands tall today as an NFL phenomenon.

After leaving the Eagles at the end of the 1979 season, Vince worked as a TV and radio announcer for eight years. Vince then worked in commercial mortgage banking before becoming a Marketing Executive & Special Projects Director for Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student inancial assistance organization.

Thirty years down the line, the incredible story of Vince got in the eyes of Hollywood producers. In 2006, Walt Disney Studio, which was making inspiring sports movies at the time, made Vince Papale's success story into a major ilm 'Invincible' starring Mark Wahlberg. Other than the motion picture, his book "Be Invincible in Changing Times: A Playbook for Winning No Matter What Life Throws at You" portrays his story and of the others winning over adversities by staying strong to their commitments.

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Vince Papale had dreams, but they were small by professional football standards. He dreamed of playing for the Philadelphia Eagles–to get a chance to prove himself at a job that he loved. But his age and his lack of prior experience made it virtually impossible for him to follow through with that dream. No one

would have blamed him if he had given up on his dream. However, if everything you have read so far about Vince is true then you know that he never gave up.

Instead, he followed his belief that big dreams are attainable by just about anyone willing to work hard

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enough to realize them. His story de ines the meaning of following your heart and believing in yourself no matter the situation, circumstances, or what others think. Today, Vince is a symbol of determination and inspiration for dreamers everywhere. 27

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Founder Friends of Reconciliation, Inc

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ALICEA DAVIS Inspiring Inner Healing and Racial Reconciliation

n Alicea Davis' eyes, we are all children of God and have been created in his image, without exception. And there's no reason for us to exist in separation and have discrimination for people's race, feelings, and emotions.

And thus, Alicea has embarked on a mission of racial healing through the use of her understanding, her talents, and skills of writing poems and prose. Through writing, therapy, and the strength of God, Alicea Davis is making a diﬀerence in the world by achieving unity in the biased world. A SYMPATHETIC LEADER

According to Alicia, being a sympathetic leader makes one a

dynamic leader. That's why when she writes, she tries to be as sympathetic through her words as possible. Through her words, Alicea helps people see the 'humanity' part in humans, especially in racial healing, which helps a bunch of people.

By integrating sympathy through her words, Alicea through her poems leads with heartfelt emotions. As per her, these emotions and feelings are the ingredients that form our society. She says, “Feelings are important. They call them soft skills. But it is hard to navigate emotions with racial tension. I lead with healing poetry, so it is helpful.”

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HEALING THROUGH HER POETRY Alicea can trace her leadership years back to when she was merely six years old. She was the secretary over the minutes and on the executive team. She was also a part of delegates at regional conventions at the age of seven and has been handling grown-up topics in church ever since.

And later in her life, a realization acted as the catalyst behind her writing journey. The works of legendary poet and activist, Maya Angelou, made her take action on her dreams and become a poet. “I thought if she can do it, then God can help me do it.” 29

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This realization also helped her overcome the biggest roadblock of her journey - overcoming her past and knowing she could achieve greatness no matter where she comes from.

And, thus, formed the mission of her poetry; for soul wounds to be healed so that people can grow in ways they thought were impossible. Ever since, Alicea has helped people to work hard for that dream job, has made it possible for people to have their dream homes, and become a loving person even amidst their trials and tribulations.

Alicea also inspires people through her book, The Shy is not the Limit. “I learned that fear is an imagination that comes from an evil place. This imagination needs to be cast down with faith, which is a reality that comes from heaven.”

people are opening up about therapy and mental health. It's not a secret so much. It's been a thankless job for the most part, so I appreciate the recognition.”

This is also the reason why Alicea names becoming a poet sooner to be the biggest thing she would change in her life. If it were in her hands, she would have come out as a Christian Poet much earlier. According to her, the ups and downs in life are rarely in the middle, so calling out on this faith sooner would have aligned her with people who were in the need of God, in need of help. “People who pray and need an answer to help them process their pain, I would have reached them sooner.”

While a tremendous role model and her exceptional skills have played a vital role in de ining her professional journey, she is also thankful to the almighty for helping her through the storms of dreaming.

Hence, for people starting out in the business world, Alicea advises to have faith and go with God and their gut. She irmly believes that everyone is created in God's image and he has the ingerprint of every purpose written in his heart. “Only he knows what all you can do. Not the world, not you. Your Creator knows all and wants you to do great things for great people who need you. Your neighborhood, your planet, and the next generation.”

In her words, “People don't want to rehash things like human traf icking tools of renewal, abuse, neglect in relationships. But now more recognition is coming as more

As a nonpro it organization based in Pontiac, Michigan, Friends of Reconciliation, Inc. is a leader in loving and truthful social change in our nation and families. With family and racial reconciliation as its primary goal, the organization believes that personal healing fuels social healing. “If you heal from your wounds in the past, hopefully, you can help America heal from its past

HAVING FAITH HELPS ACHIEVE ANYTHING

As a poet, however, she has been unrecognized for changing lives for so long as the topics she touches upon are deemed to be sensitive and private. As a positive and healthy person, Alicea talks about such subjects when the need arises.

FUELING SOCIAL HEALING

by having hard conversations with dignity and respect that makes history one life at a time, one reconciliation at a time,” elaborates Alicea.

Established in 2019, the organization has been able to pass a local holiday in just two short years. The day later came to be known as a Christian National Holiday — 'March Forth on Each March 4th' — through the National Day Archives in Washington, D.C. She even developed a sister holiday, March First, to motivate the nation to strive for more employment opportunities as racial justice is achieved and maintained. Alicea is grateful for the day and hopes that one day it will become a federal holiday. “We did it as civilians taking the highest honor, we could without making it a federal holiday. Hopefully, it will be federally recognized in the future.” AN UNBIASED FUTURE

Alicea will continue to heal and help people through the power of her words. For the future, she is concentrating on healing events and following up with the audience after guiding them with healing resources. The events can be accessed online alongside the mentioned healing. “We are going up and up from here. The Corona Crisis is basically almost over as far as I'm concerned. We will put on healing events and follow up with the audience by oﬀering healing resources for deeper healing,” concludes Alicea.

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ANTHONY WINSTON III

Delivering Engineering Excellence with a Human Touch

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership? The de inition of “dynamic” is “a force that stimulates change or progress within a system or process”. Being a dynamic leader means being able to see and understand business trends that relate to your industry so you continue to make the business and your team successful. It means listening to the needs of clients and implementing services that the market wants. As the leader of my organization, Winston Engineering Inc, I am constantly listening to the “I wish you guys did [xyz]”. Being a dynamic leader also means listening to the ideas of 32

your team. They are the ones in the trenches so it is critical that you understand their needs and interests to keep the business moving.

Talk to us about your growing up years and your earliest memory as a leader. I was born in Chicago, and I was a really shy kid. I absolutely hated having any attention on me and to a certain degree, I still don't like attention. My irst taste of leadership was on the basketball court. I became team captain in my senior year and I recall it being very awkward. It was confusing that I was made team captain because I was the leading scorer. Looking back on it, the best player on the team does not equate to being the best leader.

It wasn't until college that I was elected for leadership in student organizations. I became President of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc Lambda Xi Chapter, and I was the Vice President of our local NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) chapter. In both roles I was forced to come out of my shell. You can't sit in the back of the room and lead so I had to speak up to get my point across. Those years at Arizona State University were critical in my development as a leader. What led to the formation of Winston Engineering Inc? What is the mission of the company? I have always wanted to start my own business. In every organization I've worked for, I always saw better ways of doing things. Most companies I've EXELEON MAGAZINE

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Owner/Electrical Engineer, Winston Engineering Inc

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worked for were very large and things always seemed to move at a glacial pace. I knew there had to be a better way of doing things while making a good living.

The formation of Winston Engineering Inc came out the need to do things my own way. At the time I was working for an Electrical Contractor and commuting over 3 hours a day. I had a toddler with another on the way. I spent so much time on the road that I started to become irritable. Once I fully understood construction as it relates to Electrical Engineering, I realized there was an amazing opportunity so I started Winston Engineering LLC (later became Winston Engineering Inc).

Being the Owner, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company? I have been very intentional with the building of the team at Winston Engineering Inc. I heard all the time “You want to work on the business, not in the business.” I'm inally at a point where I can focus my attention on the business development side of things. I have such an amazing team. Everything funnels through our Of ice Manager and once the contractual items are worked out, the projects get assigned to our Drafter, Electrical Engineer and Mechanical Engineer. My goal is to create a system that doesn't me there everyday so I can focus on making the machine bigger and better.

What has the journey been like for Anthony Winston over the years? Looking back, what would you have done diﬀerent when starting out?

I would change absolutely nothing about my journey. I literally started this company with just a laptop and an idea. Sure I could have gained experience working for another Engineering irm prior to starting the company but there is beauty in fumbling around in the dark. I think the way we operate is very unique. Had I worked for another MEP irm, I probably would have implemented some of their systems.

What is the process followed by Winston Engineering when offering its services? How do you ensure optimal client satisfaction? The process to offering service isn't really a straight line in what we do. A lot of it is relationship building. There are so many different clients (Architects, General Contractors, Real Estate Developers, etc.) and you have to approach them in very different ways.

Client satisfaction is a weird term. First and foremost, public safety is number one when it comes to providing Engineering services as a licensed professional. Second is the client, third is the irm and fourth is the profession. I'm not making this up. This is the order of importance in the code of ethics for Engineering. Most of our work is right or wrong, is it to code or not. There have been times when a client wants us to do something unethical or against code and we lat out refuse. In those cases, client satisfaction is obviously low.

What would be your advice for young and aspiring business leaders?

they can see blind spots. Also, always make your team your priority. Leaders seem to forget that their team are humans with emotions, feelings, families, friends, etc. They go through life's ups and downs and you have to be there for them. Work is secondary. If your team is doing well, the work will almost always suﬀer.

I'd also recommend reading Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek and Principles by Ray Dalio. What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning?

I don't feel like I've necessarily hit roadblocks. Roadblocks can always be moved with enough determination and grit. My biggest learning is being able to deal with clients. When I irst started out, I put so much pressure on making the customer happy. “Happy” is such a relative term. I've learned to do the job right and customer satisfaction will come, especially once they have built their project.

Winston Engineering Inc. has a really bright future. Every few years we add more and more services. Most recently we added Fire Protection Engineering. We now have our sights on low voltage control design for HVAC systems as well as bringing Structural and Civil Engineering inhouse. So if there is anyone reading this who is a licensed Senior Structural or Civil Engineer, we're looking for you!

I would encourage young leaders to ind a mentor. That is critical because EXELEON MAGAZINE

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CEO Alive and Kicking

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BEN SADLER Empowering Communities Worldwide through Football

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

Dynamic leadership stems from being mission led. With that mission at the forefront of their mind, a dynamic leader will then create an environment for both themselves and their team to thrive without the threat of mission drift.

To create that mission-based environment myself, I aim to secure buy in and ownership across the team. Every team member should be clear on why they are here, what responsibilities they have, and what impact they can make. That

creates the foundation for growth and enables us all to identify challenges, seek solutions to those challenges, and seize opportunities. Talk to us about your growing up years and what prompted your interest in football.

I grew up in Newcastle in the Northeast of England, just a stone's throw from St James Park, the home of Newcastle's football team. That made it pretty much impossible not to get into football. While at University, studying a non-related degree, l played and began to gain my quali ications in football coaching. After University I was then very fortunate to be able to use those coaching quali ications

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to travel, working for sports programmes across North and Central America.

Although I started my career with the intention of moving into professional football coaching, the longer I was in it, the more I began to realize that football and sport could go way beyond the ield of play.

With that in mind, I joined a new Charity that was using football as a tool to deliver sexual reproductive health education. I lived in Zambia and Kenya for four years and travelled between East and Southern African countries building capacity in sports organisations. This for me was a pivotal moment, where I was able to see irst-hand, the 37

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impact that sport and football in particular could make as a development tool.

What led to the formation of Alive and Kicking? What was the idea behind the name of the company? Alive and Kicking was created irst and foremost to enable communities to play the beautiful game. What were kind ball donations from afar, sadly didn't always last very long on the tough football pitches of Nairobi and Lusaka – within weeks they would be sitting on the scrap heap. To ensure high quality balls were available to all, AK set about manufacturing FIFA quality footballs that could last longer, play longer, and make a positive social impact.

balls, we have created 1,097 ethical jobs for adults from vulnerable job groups. 95% of our staﬀ have never had a formal job before and over 46% are living with a disability. Our operations across sub-Saharan Africa have contributed £5,227,858 to the local economy.

Play – Through our community partnerships, we give young people facing disadvantage regular access to sport, play and exercise. Since opening we have donated 185,320 locally made AK balls to community sport projects across the globe, with millions of children having kicked and caught a donated AK ball.

Live – Through our innovative award-winning health education programmes, we give young people, facing disadvantage, access to health education and services, delivered directly through sport. We have upskilled 1,405 youth leaders and teachers to deliver programming to 103,762 young people.

The name Alive and Kicking came about thanks to why the organisation was set up. Everyone around the world, regardless of their background, has the right to play and enjoy sport and simply kicking a ball can give us that opportunity to feel alive.

Being the CEO, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?

Alive and Kicking exist to create happier, healthier, more empowered communities. As the world's only not-for-pro it sports ball manufacturer, we aim to positively impact the lives and livelihoods of people facing disadvantage, by producing a sports ball like no other – creating better access to ethical jobs, play and vital health education. We summarize this as Make. Play. Live.

Linking in with what makes a dynamic leader, my role is to create an environment in which the entire Alive and Kicking team can work together eﬀectively toward our mission. This can involve seeking new opportunities to grow, building relationships with organisations and individuals that connect with our goals, identifying challenges and their solutions on the road to impact and to learn as much as possible, whether that be from within the team or the sector more widely.

What is the mission of the organization? Brief us about the impact of the platform thus far.

Make – Through the production of over 1 million high quality sports 38

What has the journey been like for Ben Sadler over the years?

Looking back, what would you have done diﬀerent when starting out? The journey, like most, has had its ups and downs but I think it's important to celebrate that as a learning curve. One thing I would certainly have done diﬀerently is not to put pressure on my young self to know exactly what I wanted to do as I got older. At 18 I thought I had it all igured out and felt that I had to follow a very speci ic path.

As I experienced new things, understandably my interests began to change but it took a lot of time to realise that it was okay to veer oﬀ that original plan, be it temporarily or eventually permanently.

I have been incredibly lucky to have met lots of diﬀerent people across my career and it is they I must thank for helping to shape exactly what I wanted to do and where I thought I could add value. What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning?

I think my biggest roadblock has ultimately been the feeling of guilt asking for help. We can often feel bad reaching out because we don't want to disturb someone or waste their time. As a result, I think I missed out on a lot of support earlier in my career. I am very thankful to one of my mentors who made me realise that lots of people out there do want to help and if they can't, they will let you know. I hope I can provide the same support to others that they have to me. With learning, one key outcome has

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been the importance of ensuring added value rather that replacement value. Within the international development ield, I think it can be very easy to set something up with the best intentions but ultimately it is replacing existing value already in place. As an example, there might be two organisations in the same location, delivering very similar programmes, essentially in competition with each other. In those cases, it may have been better to have taken a more collaborative approach in the beginning, putting less of a strain on resources and maximizing impact.

Whenever you are setting something up, it is important to consult with key stakeholders, collaboratively identify the need and the intervention and then most importantly, add value. oving forward, what does the M future look like for you and Alive and Kicking?

For Alive and Kicking, long term our aim is to scale up our impact, providing more opportunities for employment, play and access to health support. To do that we need to see more Alive and Kicking balls at the hands and feet of people around the globe.

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Along the way, we would also love to in luence the rest of the sports manufacturing sector – showing them that it is possible to produce sports equipment sustainably while making a positive impact on the communities in which they work. And who knows, World Cup 2026, maybe we'll see an Alive and Kicking ball in the inal!

For myself, I feel I still have so much more to learn, and I hope that I can continue to support those around me to collaboratively reach our goals.

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Carol Parker Walsh, Career Strategist & Executive Coach, Carol Parker Walsh Consulting

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CAROL PARKER WALSH Career and Personal Development Redeﬁned

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership? Self-awareness and stewardship are the cornerstones of dynamic leadership. A self-aware leader is always learning, growing, developing, and seeking ways to be more effective and efﬁcient in their leadership. They also know that being a leader is not solely about themselves but those they lead. While they're keenly aware of their leadership skills, the best leaders understand the personalities and talents of those they lead. As part of their stewardship, they know how to use their talents to draw out, promote and help develop the skills of others. Personally, I try to get to know those on my team, learning their strengths, gifts, personality,

purpose, passions, and especially their goals and aspirations. I then work to create an environment that allows their ambition and desires to align with the vision and mission of my organization and create roles and responsibilities that will enable their strengths and gifts to be spectacularly utilized. By focusing on what they need, it lets me learn, grow and develop as a leader. Their success then becomes a reﬂection of my own. What led to the formation of Carol Parker Walsh Consulting? As a Chief Career Strategist, what role do you play in the dayto-day proceedings of the company? Initially, we started as an image management company. My focus, at the time, was on helping women gain greater conﬁdence by establishing a powerful and authentic branded image. I still

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love that work. However, in doing this work, I found that most of my clients lacked clarity around who they were and lacked direction around their vision for their lives and careers, critical ingredients of a visual brand. That's when I realized that I needed to offer my clients more. After over 25 years in the employment space, ﬁrst as a labor and employment attorney, then HR Director, organizational consultant, executive coach, and then teaching organizational management and leadership as an associate professor before ascending into academic leadership as an associate dean, I couldn't help but bring that wealth of knowledge and experience to my work with the entrepreneurs and high-achieving professional women I had the pleasure to coach and consultant. That's when my company evolved to Carol Parker Walsh Consulting. 41

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While my management team handles the day-to-day operations of my company, I'm the one that works directly with my clients, coaching, training, and educating them to achieve their stated goals and outcomes. I also speak, write, and appear on podcasts and our local morning show, with a monthly career and branding segment. How are you empowering today's women to have a career and life they love? I created the Career Rebel Academy (CRA) and The Career Rebel Incubator (CRI), our two key signature programs. CRA is the only comprehensive 9month concierge experience designed for emerging and senior leaders and executive-level professional women at midlife. Through a deeply supportive community of similarly situated women, the program teaches them how to discover their superpowers, reclaim their voice, conﬁdence, value, worth, and brilliance, position their authority and give them the tools needed to get the career and life they want. It's not a job search or resume writing program. Instead, it's a program designed for women ready to answer the more profound and more important questions of who they are and what they want to offer the world, so they can then learn the tactics necessary to get it. CRA honors each woman's unique expression and the meaningful work they're meant to do in the world. CRI is a membership program designed for those not quite ready to do the deeper dive but still want the tools and support needed to navigate the challenges and obstacles that come when journeying to a career and life you love. What has the journey been like for Carol Parker over the years?

Looking back, what would you have done differently when starting out? It's been a long and winding road, but I must say every twist and turn has been a life lesson that has equipped me to do the work I'm blessed to do today. I understand the struggle my clients experience because I've been there. I, too, followed societal ideas of success and career progression. I, too, believed that career achievement and personal development were two separate things. I also believed that my career persona and personal persona had to be bifurcated. Now we see that this is NOT the path to career fulfillment or success in the future of work. Looking back, I wished someone like me was available to help me listen to my intuition and feel more confident to be more authentic and follow my path. I would have started doing this work probably about 15 years earlier instead of starting on the precipice of my 50th birthday. What is the process followed by the company when offering its services? How do you ensure optimal client satisfaction? Our primary focus is optimal client satisfaction. If we're not delivering results for our clients and ensuring they have the best possible experience doing it, we're doing something wrong. Therefore, we frequently examine and evaluate every process and system from the time a potential client finds us until they've concluded working with us. In addition, we have a rigorous onboarding process to position our clients for success, frequently survey them throughout their time with us, have an off-boarding process, and an evaluative tool after their time with us. We then make immediate changes based on their feedback.

What would be your advice for young and aspiring women leaders or entrepreneurs? Listen to that voice inside your head and your heart that's telling you the path you should take. Trust it. Also, always approach life, situations, and opportunities from a position of learning instead of knowing. It's a dangerous thing to close yourself to new possibilities. The events of the pandemic have taught us that. What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning? That's a tricky question to answer because I ﬁrmly believe that every roadblock has served as my most signiﬁcant learning. Learning to navigate and breakthrough those roadblocks is what got me here today. For example, I was in a near-fatal car accident that required multiple surgeries and left me in a wheelchair for six months. However, out of that experience, my business was born. My old pastor used to tell us that we were either heading into a storm, in the storm, or coming out of a storm. With that belief system, I look for the lessons in the storms to emerge stronger and more prepared for what comes next. Moving forward, what does the future look like for you and for Carol Parker Walsh Consulting? It's incredibly bright! I recently launched a podcast, The Midlife Career Rebel, and am working on a new book that I will publish in 2022. Ultimately, I have a goal of liberating the minds, lives, and careers of one million women, and I'd say that I'm well on my way!

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President Thayer Leadership

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DAN RICE Teaching Leadership Through West Point Style

he forward momentum of any organization is dependent on strong leadership. While there are many complicated concepts that go into good leadership, there is one that can be considered as the key to easy success. Dynamic leaders must create a culture where subordinates are empowered to take prudent risks, while still having their backs when things get dif icult.

Dan Rice steers the leadership training organization, Thayer Leadership, with the same philosophy, and believes in creating leaders of tomorrow who can lead at any level of an organization.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point,

decorated Army combat veteran, and experienced entrepreneur, Dan is utilizing his military education and extensive global experience to transform leadership development in the “West Point Way” across the corporate arena. At Thayer Leadership, he leads a team of retired general of icers, veterans, civilians, and military spouses to create values-driven leaders who cultivate purpose, inspire action and change, and transform teams and organizations into agile learning environments. MILITARY BACKGROUND

Dan grew up in the small town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut with his two siblings. His parents were successful in their careers with his father, Jim, an Army veteran,

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with a 51-year career in the transportation industry and his mother, Bonnie, being an executive assistant to a bank president. Dan's parents encouraged all three children to pursue their dreams and encouraged them to attend college.

Dan stood out from the crowd with varying recognitions to his name, including that of Class President, All-New England High School Soccer Player, and Varsity Soccer Captain. Growing up, Dan was intrigued by the Vietnam War, watching it on TV every night, and having tremendous respect for the soldiers ighting the war. With that inspiration, he decided to serve in the military and was

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honored to be accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984. He graduated from West Point in 1988, and subsequently, from both the Army Airborne and Ranger Schools. He served as an Army of icer in Turkey and was both a participant in, and a witness to, history, serving on the border of the Soviet Union when it collapsed, ending the Cold War. Dan completed his military commitments at Fort Carson, Colorado before venturing out in the corporate world as a civilian. A LIFE-LONG LEARNER

an Iraqi tomato paste factory. That factory helped reinvigorate over 1,000 farms across all of Iraq. He later co-founded, with another West Point Graduate, Keegan Cotton, a solar hybrid company, SunDial, in Afghanistan, to help reduce fuel convoys and, therefore, reduce American casualties. The SunDial team proved that Special Forces teams could reduce or eliminate fuel in remote villages through the use of solar/battery/diesel hybrids, which was a game-changer for our forces. In each of these roles, Dan's focus has always been the marketing and business development, taking complex and sophisticated ideas and helping educate the market, investors and clients.

Dan Rice started in the private sector with a job in sales and marketing for a $500 million medical device manufacturer, irst named McGaw and later acquired by B. Braun. He rose through the ranks from a sales representative to regional sales manager, eventually becoming the Chief Marketing Of icer. At the same time, he pursued an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and then transitioned into inance.

In 2009, with four other West Point graduates – Fred Malek, Bill Murdy, Tim Tyson, and Rick Minicozzi – Dan co-founded Thayer Leadership with the mission to bring the world to West Point and to bring West Point leadership principles to the corporate world. This role would bring together all of the skills he had learned in marketing, education, and leadership.

After returning from Iraq, Dan once again returned to civilian life, and cofounded, along with Andy Eberhart and Wayne Culbreth, a private equity irm, The Marshall Fund, which acquired, renovated, and re-started

The founding of Thayer Leadership started a year earlier, when the same group of graduates irst came together to save The Historic Thayer Hotel at West Point. Built in 1926, the hotel was run by the government until 1999, when it was privatized. By 2009, after the great recession of 2008, the hotel was in disrepair and undercapitalized. A group of graduates, led by Dan's friend, Rick Minicozzi, took over the management of the hotel. As part of the strategy to revitalize the hotel,

Dan's desire to serve the nation after the tragic events of 9/11 led him to join the National Guard and serve in Iraq as an Infantry Of icer working on Civil Aﬀairs and Economic Development throughout the Sunni Triangle. Captain Rice was awarded the Purple Heart medal for wounds received from enemy action, and his Brigade Commander cited him for “courage on the ield of battle”.

TEACHING SELECT U.S. ARMY AND WEST POINT LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

Thayer Leadership was created as a separate business to ill the Thayer Hotel in historically low-peak times during the week and, ultimately, inspire and build leaders of character for the world by oﬀering leadership and ethics education grounded in time-honored military principles and values-based leadership delivered by proven leaders, at the Historic Thayer Hotel at West Point.

This values-based leadership organization, in which leaders are taught by high-ranking retired military of icers, brought muchneeded cash low into the hotel. Fast forward to its 12th year in business, Thayer Leadership has not only helped spur the growth of the Thayer Hotel but also earned the distinction of being named in the Top 40 Leadership Training Companies List for the ifth consecutive year by “Training Industry” magazine, with a Net Promoter Score of 9.4 out of 10, indicating that Thayer's clients are avid supporters and brand ambassadors who will fuel referrals and future growth. Clients are global companies across all industries, such as 7-Eleven, Aspen Technology, Deloitte, EMCOR, Greif, Lord Abbett, Novartis, Microsoft, and Pratt & Whitney. All total, Thayer Leadership has worked with over 400 corporations and 100,000 executives. As the President, Dan leads the Client Relations/Business Development, Marketing, and Legal teams and manages the current business portfolio, driving vision with a long-term time planning horizon, and protecting the company and its assets from competitors. His business partner, Karen Kuhla McClone, Ph.D., leads the educational side of the business. Dan and the

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company have built eﬀective alignment between clients and the Thayer team to ensure client success. Thayer Leadership listens carefully to its clients and has built custom intake and development processes to understand a client's speci ic challenges, culture, leadership development philosophy, goals, gaps, and budget in order to design a customized approach for the client. After the initial goals and constraints discussion, the Thayer team works closely with each client to design a customized leadership learning journey, including leveraging each of the ive prongs unique to the Thayer learning approach, in order to best achieve the client's goals.

Here's what Dan has to say about his experiences relative to the Thayer development approach: “Our Business is in the marketing of

military leadership and learning lessons. As a leader, I try to practice what we preach, and I continue to educate myself in this ever-changing world, as a lifelong learner and have pursued multiple degrees to stay abreast of the constantly changing business environment. As the President of Thayer Leadership, it is my responsibility to our clients, faculty, and team, to be an expert in each of those competencies. I've been very fortunate and privileged to attend top universities in all ive of those disciplines: military (B.S. from West Point), business (M.B.A. from Northwestern/Kellogg), marketing (M.S. from Northwestern/Medill Integrated Marketing), learning (Learning M.S. from UPenn Graduate School of Education), and leadership (I'm completing a Chief Learning Of icer Leadership Doctorate from University of Pennsylvania.

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BECOMING THE BEST This dynamic leader believes Thayer Leadership has the great honor and responsibility to continue to bring the world to West Point and showcase West Point leadership principles to the corporate world. And for the future, to grow Thayer Leadership into the world's premier leadership institute, where the leaders of today will transform into the leaders of tomorrow. On a personal level, he hopes to continue serving the nation in a lifetime of service, lending his support to nonpro it organizations and corporate boards aligned with his values. And as a lifelong learner, he will continue his adventures of learning and traveling.

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Founder Honey & Roses Co ee

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OVER A CUP OF COFFEE Interview with Ella Jesmajian

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership? A dynamic leader, according to me, is someone who works beside his or her staﬀ and co-workers, rather than above them. Further, it is important to create a fun and healthy work environment that promotes and supports everyone's diﬀerent skills and strengths. Far too often, one sees leaders talking down to the people who work for them. Those people are the heart and soul of your company, and they likely know far more about their speci ic job than you do. Thus, it's important to be organized and diligent, while at the same time listening to what they have to say and learning from their skills.

Talk to us about your growing up years and your earliest memory as a leader? I spent a decade working in the

restaurant industry prior to founding Honey & Roses Coﬀee, and I was constantly put into situations where I needed to show leadership. I remember being thrown into a situation where I went from working as a waitress to a manager overnight. With no prior experience in management, I was forced to learn, adapt, and grow on my feet. The pressure of the switch and the challenge ultimately helped me gain a better understanding of what it takes to own and manage a business.

What led to the formation of Honey & Roses Coffee? What was the idea behind the name of the company? Honey and Roses Coffee was founded because my Co-founder and I were both driving over an hour weekly to purchase high quality coffee. At the time, there was a gap in the market for an easier and convenient way to discover new coffee roasters and purchase coffee seamlessly. We also were fond of the idea of

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creating a community-based platform that could oﬀer more of a souk or marketplace-like experience to our customers.

Once we decided on the concept, we struggled to ind a name that we felt worked for the company. Unsurprisingly, almost every single name we came up with was already taken. One afternoon I was sitting in London, drinking a Honey & Roses Latte and I thought this would be the perfect name for a company. My business partner Joe is British, and I am of Armenian descent. We typically use rose water and rose petals in our deserts and Joe always drank his tea with honey. It felt like the perfect homage to our nationalities.

Being the Co-Founder, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company? I run the marketing, social media, content creation, and product development for the company. I am also the brand's photographer 49

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and designer. We have a nice division of labor, as my business partner's strengths lie in operations and inance.

What has the journey been like for Ella Jesmajian over the years? Looking back, what would you have done diﬀerently when starting out?

I de initely would have spent less time trying to make everything perfect. I spent so much time analyzing the content I put out, that I didn't focus on the analytics and data. If people aren't responding to a product or a graphic, it doesn't matter how perfect the design is. There have been many obstacles and challenges that I wish I had handled diﬀerently or known more about prior to facing them. However, those challenges provided avenues for growth and evolution of the company. So, I really don't regret any of the choices that were made in the early stages of starting Honey & Roses Coﬀee.

What is the process followed by Honey & Roses Coﬀee in order to ensure optimal client satisfaction? We have created a personal customer service relationship between our customers and our team. We are responsive, informal, and always receptive to feedback, criticism, and suggestions. This helps us ensure that our customers are satis ied with our company. We tend to lean into a more informal approach to customer service and our customers are very responsive to that.

What would be your advice for young and aspiring leaders or entrepreneurs?

Do something you're passionate about and push through even when you want to give up. For every 5 steps forward, it will feel like 10 steps back. But if you push through those moments, you'll come out the other side with a wealth of knowledge, experience and ful illment. What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning?

Without question, COVID has been a huge challenge for us. Practically overnight, the coﬀee industry moved almost entirely online resulting in the growth of competition and an exponential rise in the cost of advertising. We struggled for months, trying to ind the perfect balance between paid advertising and organic. And ultimately, we had to change our marketing strategy to compete with the bigger corporate entities dominating the online coﬀee

space. Those challenges were unprecedented, but ultimately provided incredible results for the growth of our company.

Moving forward, what does the future look like for you and Honey & Roses Coﬀee? We are so excited to see the company evolve, grow and become a wellknown trusted marketplace for coﬀee, sweets, and homeware. We recently took on a new partner as well, which is changing the landscape of the company drastically. Actor Ryan Hansen joined our company as co-owner and creative director. We have many exciting projects in the works, and we can't wait to share them all with our loyal customers and many new ones as well.

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Founder & CEO, The Bait Shoppe

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EVAN STARKMAN Making Ideas Work

xperiential marketing is at the forefront of modern marketing and advertising eﬀorts. Embraced by traditional, online, and social communities alike, this marketing style allows organizations to forge true connections with customers. It is eﬀective because experiences trigger emotions, memories, and can evoke a wide-array of responses from customers. And, at its core, human beings are sensory beings by nature.

Evan Starkman, Founder and CEO of The Bait Shoppe, also believes strongly in Experiential Marketing and practices the same by leading one of the inest marketing agencies in New York City. His story is the perfect

example of being persistent in what you believe. FINDING THE HOOK

Born in Toronto, Canada, Evan completed his high school at Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, ME, and went on to study at Cornell University later on. Graduating summa cum laude from the University, Evan soon found his feet in the entertainment industry wherein he was seen hosting shows on MTV and NBC.

While Evan was becoming a prominent name in the Canadian entertainment scene, he came to a realization that he wanted to achieve more with his professional life. This prompted

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him to leave the entertainment industry and seek further academic studies.

Evan's hunger to grow landed him in Tel Aviv University, seeking a Master's degree in International Con lict Resolution and Negotiation. Following his graduation and spending over 15 months in the con lict's region, Evan once again realized that it was still not his calling.

Staying true to his trait of being persistent, Evan soon caught the glimpse of a new career path. This path came in the form of a new marketing agency that could deliver meaningful event, experiential, and engagement content. 53

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And after only a few years, Evan successfully introduced The Bait Shoppe to the world in the hopes of building a hybrid creative agency that meets production houses. His business boomed in no time and in one year, the company expanded its footprint in the US, with of ices in New York and later Los Angeles. LEADING BY EXAMPLE

While the journey of this dynamic leader from being a TV personality to an entrepreneur had its own set of struggles, Evan recalls one of his most dif icult phases was the time when he worked as a stonemason. He describes it to be brutal work that mainly involved digging holes and illing wheelbarrows. While those days had their share of shortcomings, Evan never fails to be grateful of the learning he gained through that journey - seeing how big a hole one can dig a day. Fast forward to today, this is the same mantra Evan has kept close to his heart while running his marketing agency. He says, “I approach our business now the same way and am very involved with our day-to-day proceedings – maybe to a fault. I try to lead by example and like to think that no one in our organization 'outworks' me.”

With a crystal clear philosophy set in, Evan perceived an opportunity to better connect brands and brand activations with culture. In his opinion, Experiential marketing historically has been brand-led and created like television spots – agencies would sit in a room and de ine a worthy consumer experience. “I saw an opportunity to use consumer insights to drive ideas 54

and better connect brands with culture. On top of thinking, THE BAIT SHOPPE is just a cool name – it puts a ladder into our idea that connecting with consumers requires the right hook,” explains Evan. THERE IS ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE While Evan founded the agency in 2011, he stood by his quality of outperforming everyone else. He wanted all the work and all of the credit. He was also assured of his hard work and really believed in what he was doing. However, his belief in working alone was shattered soon when he realized the need for help to successfully grow his business.

Evan learned the hard way that an agency cannot and will not run on solo eﬀorts. And looking back to all those years, he only wishes to have asked for help sooner and collaborated with everyone to attain faster results. He says, “As I have matured, we have worked really hard to play well in the sandbox with other agencies and creatives. We now have tremendous partners and friends which has elevated all the work we do. I wish I did a better job of collaborating and realized 'there is enough for everyone'.”

As such, Evan understands that entrepreneurship is a series of challenges, obstacles, and roadblocks. His biggest learning out of his experiences is that the statement 'it never gets easier' is not fully complete, instead, it is the hurdles that just morph and change. To his learning, the ability to stay energized about the business day in and day out is paramount.

And taking on the help of his colleagues and mentors paid oﬀ for Evan and his company. He is quite proud of the fact that The Bait Shoppe has been named the 2021 Experiential Agency of the year by AdAge.

Together with his team,. Evan has been able to create a really thoughtful integrated oﬀering with in-house creative, production, fabrication, and public relations. With the ability to execute and amplify creativity in-house, the irm has taken out a lot of the friction out of the creative production that oﬀers the clients a new level of unmatched transparency. “That said – our biggest focus is always account management. Ultimately – we are in a service business and client satisfaction is paramount!” DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP IN UNPRECEDENTED TIMES

The COVID-19 pandemic and speci ically the hybrid or work-fromhome situation has changed the entire world. Similar to any other leader, these unprecedented times have introduced new variables into Evan's leadership equation too. In this new world, he practices leadership with the following two guiding principles:

Power to the People: People within our organization are the power. We succeed ONLY when our organization understands, nurtures, supports, and empowers our people. With our new hybrid model, we have invested tenfold into understanding the personal goals of every member of our organization and making their success OUTSIDE of our business just as important as successes within it.

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Fearlessness: An eﬀective leader is fearless. Ultimately a successful entrepreneur is de ined by how much risk they can take and still sleep at night. A fearless leader must be courageous in their beliefs and try to articulate the direction of the company clearly. A fearless leader must be humble enough to always hire people smarter than them. A fearless leader must move quickly on from successes and failures. FAIL UPWARDS The professional journey of Evan has been of trials, tribulations, and triumphs. Despite all the struggle, he never once let go of being persistent in the face of hardships. He stood his ground and awaited the sun to rise again and start his journey once again keeping the spirits and momentum of success going. And he wants aspiring and struggling entrepreneurs to do just that. For them, Evan's dictionary carries only two words; Fail Upwards. Evan perceives the future to be full of expansion and growth. On the business end, he has set his eyes on expanding his company's reach to international waters, especially Asia, to oﬀer clients a symmetry of services globally.

On the personal side, as quickly as his business is growing, he believes that his growth rate as an individual needs to be a lot faster than the growth of his company. As such, for the future, Evan holds onto his attitude of staying above everyone else in the room.

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Founder trufyx

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JACOB RABI Revolutionizing the Phone Repair Industry

echnology unlocks possibilities to connect, change, and contribute to the world in impactful ways. Gadgets like smartphones, tablets, and Wi-Fi devices optimize life by pushing ahead global initiatives and wellness within moments. These advancements have heightened the importance of gadgets in our daily lives. However, the ickle nature of technology is such that it can go wrong at any instance, thereby causing time-consumption and hassle in repairing and maintenance. Jacob Rabi, the Founder of trufyx is on a mission to ix this very hassle of phone and tablet repair nationwide.

Being an ambitious leader, dynamic leadership is second nature to Jacob. He believes in encouraging people to discuss their failures openly and not be afraid to fail. He says, “if you're too scared to fail, you'll never try

anything ambitious.”

He feels it's important to celebrate success together and give credit to those who earned it. He adds, “As a company leader, you need to have enough courage and con idence to embrace others and give them as much credit and respect as possible.” Leveraging the very same idea, Jacob Rabi is spearheading trufyx to heights of success.

This experience left a mark in Jacob's mind. He was motivated to help others, light up the way and lead others safely. “I felt like I'm doing what I was born to do,” he recalls.

Later, in one of his positions, he inally let himself dream big; he chose to change how an industry was functioning and make a lasting impression.

BUDDING LEADERSHIP TRAITS

HIS STRONG WILL TO FIX THE REPAIR GAP

During his younger years, Jacob was brought up with the idea to live an ideal life: being employed in a 9-5, providing for your family, and being happy about it. “I tried it, for a while, but I was never really happy,” he says.

When Jacob's phone broke down in the middle of the pandemic, he discovered the inconveniences of getting a phone repaired. “My experience went from bad to worse and messed up my schedule for 2 days,” he recalls.

His irst job was at his college, where he had the opportunity to lead 50 students. He led them through their challenges and hardships and enabled them to cross the inishing line.

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This led him to check the market and the limited options available for a quick ix. He thought postpandemic lifestyle increases the demand for this change, but thus far it was practiced only by

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individual local technicians/labs. This moment made him decide that it's high time to help everyone reach local techs and help those technicians source local repairs without the hefty marketing costs. This, prompted the inception of trufyx.

trufyx as a platform claims to oﬀer quick repair at your location. It doesn't derail your plans to hang out for lunch with friends or reschedule meetings. The trufyx technician reaches out for an on-the-spot repair within no time.

Jacob feels blessed to work with his amazing co-founder who handles the technological aspect of the business, thus enabling him to focus on company growth. He adds, “I was blessed to partner up with a great co-founder, Ruthy, who completes me in many ways. We manage to balance each other with our strengths in diﬀerent ields and push each other through hard moments.”

Jacob's vision — both short-term and long-term — includes building the best team and raising funds that will allow them to grow and improve their customer experience. THE PROMISING BRAND STORY

The idea behind the name of the company is fascinating. The name trufyx - re lects the trust-building aspect with customers along with its true transparent culture. Jacob mentions, “33% of our repairs are referrals or returning customers. We're grateful for our customers and their feedback, and we keep improving every day. That's probably why we have straight 5-star reviews across all platforms, google, yelp, and Facebook.” 58

trufyx's business philosophy runs on three simple yet promising words: transparency, accuracy, and speed. The company eliminates the possibility of any doubt by oﬀering a 90-day warranty for all repairs.

It's a known fact that customers don't like staying in a void. This is why the automated system noti ies the customer of every step of the repair request: a con irmation through technician outreach and updates for any changes, if needed.

To top it all, customers can communicate directly with the technician, not through a representative. Hence, when the phone or tablet is repaired, quick and accurate answers are promptly delivered. HIS PERTINENT LESSONS

When you visualize a big idea and it's all on paper with no proof of concept, no team, and no funds, it's very dif icult to cross the irst bridge. Jacob recollects that “every step in the irst segment can be considered a roadblock.” One of his biggest learnings for him was to surround himself with a great team that he can trust and lean on.

His humble advice for young entrepreneurs rings loud and clear “Dream big and work hard to achieve it.” Jacob emphasizes on not paying heed to people who turn you down. Moreover, he insists on looking up to those who failed multiple times until they made it. “If you don't let yourself fail, you will never reach success,” he suggests.

“don't be afraid to dream big and work on your awesome vision, and don't be ashamed to get help from friends and connections to take you to the next level.”

He also believes that meeting the right people has a long-lasting impact in your life. “I met so many good people on my journey, who were willing to help with time, advice and connection. Utilize it and don't take it for granted.”

A BRIGHTER AND BIGGER FUTURE trufyx's vision is to oﬀer a one-stopshop for phone owners, with big plans for consumers and businesses. The website even has a DIY hub for self-troubleshooting, a helpful blog with tips and tricks, and even a free calculator to check if a repair is worth the investment based on the current market value and repair cost.

Currently, trufyx is operating in the NYC greater area - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, and Nassau County. “We're working on our irst out-ofstate expansion out to NJ in the beginning of 2022, and planning on enlarging that service area more and more in the coming months.”.

Lastly, Jacob and his team are working on a business platform to create a one-stop-shop for phone care with special features for businesses. “We're working with many partners to educate consumers about the new option for phone repair (some of them simply can't believe it could be this easy!) and increase our reach,” he concludes.

If he could look back and point out on what to do diﬀerently, Jacob says,

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Workplace Play Consultant Rediscover Your Play

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JEFF HARRY Transforming Lives Through Play and Positive Psychology

ynamic leaders have the ability to ind what is special about each individual they lead and help each other tap into their own strengths, as they try to accomplish a shared goal. Strong leaders also are able to balance both masculine and feminine leadership styles; being decisive, clear, and driven, while also being empathetic, collaborative, and playful.

Jeﬀ Harry incorporates these traits into his leadership in a way that he is constantly aware of how he can bring the best of his abilities. Jeﬀ believes that we do our best work when we can show up as ourselves and do the work that matters to us.

Jeﬀ Harry helps companies and individuals to make their work more ful illing, rediscover their joyful purpose, and all the while removing the obstacles in their way of success. Through Positive Psychology Play, this dynamic leader creates a safe space for teams and individuals to have those dif icult conversations and address uncomfortable challenges in a play-oriented way. A PROGRESSIVE LEADER

Jeﬀ's earliest memory of being a leader is from his teenage years, where he would create games in his basement. All the kids in the neighborhood knew that his house was where they could be

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the best part of themselves; be play-oriented, have fun, and stay true to their own personality. Jeﬀ still practices the same method today in his positive psychology play work, wherein he provides a psychological space for employees to show up as how they truly are, even if just for a brief period of time.

As a child, Jeﬀ was inspired by the movie 'Big' where Tom Hanks gets paid to play with toys for a living. He started writing to toy companies in the 5th grade and received a response during his sophomore year of high school telling him to pursue Mechanical Engineering. “Eventually, I got into the toy industry only to be disappointed 61

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as there was no play, no fun, no high ives, no time to play with toys, and no kids,” he recalled.

Becoming disillusioned, Jeﬀ left his dream industry feeling lost and moved from New York to Oakland. He found a LEGO-Inspired STEM Education job with 7 employees paying $150.00/week. He helped the business grow through a playoriented perspective where they just experimented, made things up as they went along, embraced failures, and followed their curiosity.

Through this method, Jeﬀ has today grown the organization to 400 employees over 16 years, introduced engineering to over 1 Million kids, and became the largest LEGO-inspired STEM Organization in the U.S.

Further, he led team building events for some of the top tech companies in the world for a decade and found that even though they spoke about innovation, disruption, and agility, they weren't actually creating psychologically safe spaces for their staﬀ to take risks and play.

This is what inspired him to create 'Rediscover Your Play' to tackle those hard conversations and address those major trust issues at work by using positive psychology and play. The mission of Rediscover Your Play is to help teams and organizations build psychologically safe workspaces using positive psychology and play by bringing shared humanity, empathy, and emotional intelligence back into the work world.

AN INSPIRING JOURNEY

ADVICE FOR YOUNG LEADERS

For Jeﬀ, the journey has been a rollercoaster of trial and error. Looking back, he recognized that he needed to experience all of the failures in order to appreciate the successes. Thus, he doesn't have many regrets, as in his opinion, pain and joy go hand in hand.

Jeﬀ wants to remind young leaders and entrepreneurs that no one knows what they are doing. We are all making it up as we go along. Many people claim afterwards that their way is “the” way, but when they irst started out, they were just as scared and as lost as you. They may have gotten lucky, or their way may have worked for them, but it may not be your path.

The only thing Jeff points out that he would have done differently is to start earlier. He helped grow an organization for someone else, building up their wealth, when he could have invested more into his own. “I didn't think I was ready,” he explains. Jeff says that his biggest roadblock has been himself. 80% of running a successful business is your mindset, blocking out that inner critic, and being your own biggest fan. “My biggest lesson is that the amount I charge has nothing to do with whether it is the right amount or not, but more so if I believe I deserve to be paid that much,” he added.

He further reminds us that none of us are really ready, so just go for it and see what happens. “Each of my failures led to me making bolder decisions that brought me some of my greatest successes.”

The worst that can happen is you fail, which in many ways is a blessing because you then realize how resilient you are and what you are actually capable of.

He advises to pave your own way, especially in this new and uncertain world. What worked pre-pandemic, may not work post-pandemic. He mentions that sure you can have mentors to learn from their mistakes, but don't follow their script if it doesn't feel right to you. You are your own expert in how you want to run your business. UPCOMING ENDEAVOURS

Jeﬀ assures that the future looks bright, productive, and busy. Much of his work is around building psychological safety within organizations, addressing toxicity at work, assisting staﬀ in navigating dif icult conversations, and helping companies igure out how to navigate the Great Resignation. All of these problems aren't going away anytime soon and are likely to stay with a majority of industries. He is glad to be at the frontline helping in bringing shared humanity, empathy, and compassion through play back into the workplace so people can enjoy going back to work.

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CEO & Co-Founder STACK

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JONATHAN OGURCHAK Helping Pharmacy to Evolve with Right Technology

chieving any level of success requires taking risks, or at least taking on challenges to overcome them. As such they come to be a crucial part of our lives. Taking chances and risks can be scary, but they result in the most rewarding experiences of our lives.

Jonathan Ogurchak is also familiar with this feeling. After irst looking at architecture as a career path, he got into pharmacy by chance, took a risk upon himself to deliver a service, and embarked on a journey to improve the profession.

Exeleon looks into this dynamic leader's professional journey.

DISCOVERING PHARMACY

Jonathan brie ly remembers his family friend owning an independent pharmacy, wherein he used to work as a cashier during his school years. At the time, Jonathan was no way near in his mind to join pharmacy. Instead, his mind was wired towards the creative side seeking a career in the engineering and architecture ield. However, that interest vanished as he shadowed the area under a senior project. In his subconscious mind, he realized that he was not it for that particular ield.

And just in a single working night, Jonathan's mind went to research pharmacy more closely and fell deeply into its concepts

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to make a career in it. “Honestly, I fell into the pharmacy by chance,” shares Jonathan. TRANSFORMING THE INDUSTRY

Since taking his irst step in pharmacy, Jonathan has walked a lot in the industry. He has been involved in pharmacy operations throughout his entire career. At the same time, he has also seen how technology is bene icial to improve ef iciencies. His extensive experience in the industry has also led him to spot gaps daily ef iciencies of companies. He shares, “While many solutions companies are technically-savvy, they lack the day-to-day understanding of how to integrate into a work low of an 65

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organization.”

That's why Jonathan came up with STACK, a curated software platform designed to help organizations keep up with ef iciencies through irsthand knowledge of what pharmacies truly need. Since its establishment, the platform's capabilities only increased and expanded into professional associations, higher education, certi ication programs basically in numerous areas that require some form of curated ef iciency.

Jonathan also tells an exciting story behind naming the platform STACK. In one of his previous jobs, he held responsibilities for on-site audit and accreditation survey preparation. “We'd print out papers that we knew would be requested, and 'stack' them on our desk to prepare to hand them over for review.” However, as the surveys were conducted on papers, they would slowly outgrow themselves, becoming irrelevant to sharing up-to-date knowledge. On the contrary, digital solutions provided the correct version of every business asset in a digital 'stack' that allows for real-time data sharing in multiple locations. THE RIGHT MODEL

According to Jonathan, long-term contracts are pretty much common with health care software which leads to clients being left dissatis ied. Hence, he has put in a short-term model which forces Jonathan and STACK to stay up to date with the clients and industry and innovate constantly. The innovation part translates to the team taking feedback and putting it right into the next development cycle to improve the platform. “We continually push ourselves to do better by our

customers – and challenge ourselves to never be in the position to lose customers along the way,” elaborates Jonathan.

And since the company is in its early stages, most decisions come across Jonathan's desk on a daily basis, including technical direction of the products to new partnerships and opportunities to social media posts and marketing. However, the company is growing rapidly by taking new employees for a new product line and Jonathan has taken the responsibility of organizational development to have appropriate policies and procedures to help the business grow. BIGGEST LEARNINGS

The professional journey of Jonathan has been a sequential one, from graduation from pharmacy school, changing his mind about where he wanted to practice, falling into the industry by chance to building innovative solutions, joining a startup pharmacy, and co-owning it, to taking risks by selling his equity and taking a chance on his idea to improve the profession.

Not to mention, Jonathan started the company in the pandemic, which isn't for the faint of heart. However, he pays gratitude to the hardship that the pandemic brought as it only strengthened his will to innovate and diversify into new areas.

In all of his journey, Jonathan's biggest learning has been his transition from clinician to vendor/salesperson. This transition brought forth the diﬀerence in front of Jonathan between consulting a patient and convincing someone to buy the product.

A GROWING FUTURE As a dynamic leader, Jonathan believes that leadership means leading by action and not by the title. In his dictionary, leadership also means rolling up sleeves and doing the work, advocating for the team's personal and professional growth; and having fun while doing so. This approach has served Jonathan throughout his career where he continued to learn and re ine to the EXELEON MAGAZINE

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best possible leader he can be.

And for the future, Jonathan will continue to do the same while learning and growing more to improve his strengths to be an overall vendor. Although he has already expanded from the initial pharmacy market into professional associations, he is excited to see how the company grows in those complicated areas. The irm is also geared up to launch solutions in the

medical higher education space starting in 2022 and is also launching its irst credentialing partner in January.

Outside of the STACK platform as a product, Jonathan is using the patented framework to build other meaningful technologies for healthcare. Next year will witness the company launching new products rede ining how healthcare can eﬀectively use the technology

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rather than utilizing the best options present at hand. On a personal level, Jonathan is excited to continue expanding his presence in education, working on new coursework, writing, and programs to expand his role as a subject matter expert in the healthcare industry.

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CEO Northeast Private Client Group

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MARK MURPHY

A Critical Thinker Driving Wealth Creation Strategies

here are no two ways about it that earning money and creating wealth are two diﬀerent yet necessary skill sets. But sorting out inances to budget, save, spend, and invest involves complex jargons and concepts. There is a pressing need for relevant inancial awareness to give direction to your goals, desires, and ambition.

This is where Mark Murphy and his dynamic vision stands out. As a true visionary with over 35 years of experience in the inancial services industry, his only aim is to help and guide people. With this as his priority, he founded Northeast Private Client Group, where he has the client — and only the client — in mind.

Mark is the author of two books The Win-Win Outcome - The Dealmaker's Guide to Buying and Selling Dental Practices, which he co-wrote with, the CEO of Fortune Management, Bernie Stoltz, and Extraordinary Wealth - The Guide to Financial Freedom & an Amazing Life. Mark is presently working on his third book, Entrepreneurial Mindset - How To

Go From Business Owner to CEO. His irm, Northeast Private Client Group is a national inancial planning and wealth management irm. Unlike other inancial planning irms, Mark and his team focus on the process by which clients use inancial products rather than the products themselves.

Subsequently, Mark believes in integrating his thought leadership and business decisions with humility. “I don't have 28 people who work for me, I have 28 people whom I serve,” he humbly remarks. AMBITIOUS PURSUITS IN FINANCE

As a young and keen child, Mark was vigilant and emphatic to his surroundings. “Growing up, my family always lived paycheck to paycheck,” he recalls. This did not give him much choice with his school and education. But his perseverance and positive mindset encouraged him to pursue something bigger and meaningful.

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Mark graduated with a degree in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He wanted to ensure that other people do not have dearth of opportunities while making smart inancial decisions. He says, “I always ask my clients what is important to them and that becomes our business starting point.”

Mr. Murphy also holds the Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®) and Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) professional designations of the American College as well as the NFLPA Registered Player Financial Advisor designation – all of which require rigorous training and testing. His continued commitment to education ensures that he is invested in the latest inancial planning news, information, and trends. GIFTING VALUE THROUGH ABUNDANCE

Mark believes that building anything, especially abundance is deeply psychological. He emphasizes the need to be

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resilient with your emotional itness while making wealth creation strategies.

For over 35 years, Northeast Private Client group has been his vehicle to make other people's lives better. The one frontier that makes his irm stand out from others is the consistent organic growth. “The business has grown organically through client referrals and that has been immensely gratifying,” he comments.

According to Mr. Murphy, successful professionals have one major roadblock from living their dream life — their self-limiting beliefs. Mark works with entrepreneurs, mid-size companies, celebrities, athletes, hedge fund managers, doctors, dentists, and other high net worth individuals to shift their mindset towards a growth perspective. This has a compounding eﬀect on not just their money but also the quality of their life. He puts together a comprehensive plan of action by actively listening to the wants and needs of his clients and charting out diﬀerent strategies to create real wealth. “With this plan, you can live comfortably today, and reap the rewards of capital, or what I like to call “paychecks” so that you can enjoy well into your retirement years,” he asserts.

As a leader, Mark strives to be the type of leader that he would want to work for. He says, “ I consider everyone my colleagues and value all opinions.”

BUILDING STRENGTH IN OBSTACLES

As a key business strategist, Mark aims to simplify complex terms and concepts and provide the right

direction, creativity, and companionship from a holistic perspective. This vision also holds true to his team members where each and every individual is a critical thinker and business strategist before a inancial advisor.

Additionally, Mark realizes that building relationships is key to longlasting impact. It is the people dynamics that upholds and promotes the reputation, and image of any company, especially a client-centric organization. He has also formed his company's core values on the exceptional value that he brings to his clients. Mark is honored to have earned the trust of both his clients and other advisors. Amidst the testing hardships, tough lessons and rewarding results, he built himself as a strong pioneer in the inancial services industry. One powerful lesson that he learnt during these adventurous decades was “learning to say no.” He feels being a yes-man can do more harm than good and one must recognize their boundaries and also make them clear to others.

Mark is a frequent guest speaker on topics ranging from leadership, practice merger/acquisition strategies, estate planning, charitable giving, and strategies to create multi-generational wealth. Invariably, the numerous awards and recognition is a true testament to how he and his team continue to perform remarkably in the wealth management practice.

As an inspiring leader, he continues to focus on achieving predictable and permanent results. “Everything I do in my business is focused on delivering a superior experience and delivering abundance to each and

every client,” he concludes.

HIS LIFE-AFFIRMING ADVICE Mark's business ethics, commitment and humility makes him a perfect role model for young and aspiring leaders in the inance and wealth industry. Throughout his journey, he consistently invested his time, knowledge, and eﬀorts in himself that has now made him unbeatable in his niche.

He reiterates the same school of thought for the future entrepreneurs who look up to him — “the best investment you can make is to invest in yourself.” As in any investment, it takes tremendous patience to reap the bene its and it is surprising to see them unfold in an unexpected and powerful way.

Mark also suggests to never underestimate the value of time and encourages everyone to make each minute count. “There is always untapped opportunity somewhere but not enough hours in the day,” he says.

LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS THE FUTURE

Mr. Murphy is thrilled about the expansion and goals of Northeast Private Client Group. “We are growing!” he remarks. Since he and his team recently moved to a space that's much bigger and better than their previous location, his vision is also supercharged to make the most out of this move.

“Our goal is to create a bigger, better future and improve the lives of all the people we touch,” he concludes with conviction. EXELEON MAGAZINE

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Realtor, The Kelly Davies Homes Team

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KELLY DAVIES Driven by Learning. Committed to Growth

he path of a leader is one that is constantly changing and evolving, as leaders themselves grow and learn. The idea of learning as a lifelong journey has unique application in the leadership space. A leader who embraces the concept of learning in leadership, as a continuous process, sees learning not just as a periodic experience for certain stages of their journey but as an eﬀort they need to commit to on a daily basis.

Leaders who understand the said importance of learning in leadership, and see it as a primary, daily commitment to making themselves, inspire growth and development for not

just their teams but those around them. They create the growth that is stimulated in their culture, instead of allowing their culture to control growth.

Kelly Davies is among the leaders who believe that continuous learning and growing is one of the secret mantras to success. As a Realtor & Team Leader Of The Kelly Davies Homes Team, she makes sure to oﬀer an adequate learning environment to the team members while delivering the best of real estate services. THE FIRST LOVE

Kelly enjoyed looking at home and design work for as long as she can remember. And as her

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teen years came through, she could see herself owning and managing her own real estate business. To her, the idea always grew and never faded into the back of her mind. Taking the irst steps towards her dreams, Kelly pursued a degree in business administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago. From thereon, she kept her core focus in residential real estate as she loves the freedom real estate provides and the ability to oﬀer exceptional service to many people throughout the community. EVERYONE NEEDS HELP

When Kelly founded The Kelly 75

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Davies Homes Team around four years ago, she was quite proud of the hard work she had put in. In her words, “I always say I was lucky enough, blessed enough, and worked hard enough to get to a point where I could no longer be an independent agent.”

However, Kelly was putting in around 80-90 work weeks with two young children. Soon, she realized she needed help to manage her personal and professional life alongside oﬀering the best of her abilities to the clients. So, she started by hiring an Assistant and a Buyer Agent. And today, the number of The Kelly Davies Homes Team stands tall with 12 agents and employees collaborating together to help people make sound decisions when it comes to real estate investment.

Kelly also needed help in understanding the need to spend out money on growth prospects and investments. However, it was something that she learned on her own. She calls it the biggest hurdle in her professional journey that is spending money without a real plan in place and not having enough funds early on to really run the business as she always wanted. As hardworking as she has always been, Kelly came up with the solution to the problem herself. She states, “I just continued to work really hard & invest a lot of my income back into my business which is how I am now able to have the business that I do & help many other agents grow in their careers.” A HELPING HAND

As the team leader, Kelly oversees all of the daily operations, and everything from talking with new 76

potential clients, providing market analysis reports, to reviewing all paperwork & oﬀers before they are present, and also handling the marketing aspects of the business. However, besides having an amazing team, Kelly also appreciates the helping hand that the technology brings to the table. She couples the hardworking team with the technology to ensure optimal client satisfaction by having smart systems in place.

This helping hand from technology allows the Buyers & Sellers to use the industry-leading tools and ind a new home or sell their current one. She says, “We oﬀer the inest in cutting-edge technology, and because we are a larger team we also are able to oﬀer 24/7 services to our clients. And to accomplish the same, I have a fantastic team of employees in place that put everything into action.” GROWING LEARNING MINDSET

Kelly believes that a dynamic leader is highly self-aware, therefore always learning and growing. She integrates the same thought into her leadership by ensuring her team grows and learns on a continuous basis. To achieve the same, she has placed numerous training opportunities throughout the year for her as well as the team. Consequently, the team performs consistently due to the said lifelong learning attitude and also innovates novel ways to best serve the clients. And to start building that learning mindset, for young and aspiring leaders, Kelly advises getting a head start by hiring a mentor in place as soon as they can. For her, it was her broker who would help Kelly

whenever she needed help with anything or had any questions. “Having a leader is crucial as there is no way anyone can predict or navigate all the variables that will arise in your real estate career,” states Kelly. A FUTURE OF GROWTH

Kelly perceives the future of her team and the business to be poised for enormous growth. She is quite content with the progress they have made and would like to see The Kelly Davies Homes Team continue to prosper and grow. “I would like to continue to responsibly be able to 'feed' everyone that is currently a team member with plenty of business opportunities while growing enough to allow for more agents to join the team,” she concludes.

The journey of leadership brings a lot of learning and growth with it. No one becomes a leader without having a lot of experience and learning along the way. This is both by design and also by necessity. The idea of being able to authoritatively lead organizations is something that requires enormous amounts of time, eﬀort, and energy on the part of anyone who can manage to get to the top. And people succeed as leaders because they have a mindset they can learn by emulating, and applying what they do. Kelly Davies is a prime example of a dynamic leader from whom a lifelong learning attitude can be learned.

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CEO & Co-founder FAVORIOT

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MAZLAN ABBAS On a Journey of IOTising Businesses

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader?

In the era of fourth industrial revolution, whereby, digital disruption is happening all the time, a dynamic leader should be able to agile enough to respond to the technological and business landscape. A person that willing to unlearn and relearn new things. What led to the formation of FAVORIOT?

It was in the year 2016, when I visited Silicon Valley on a business trip with several Malaysian business delegation. The exposure and the meetings with several big companies and

Startups opened the mindset of “anything is possible if we have a great vision.” FAVORIOT was of icially formed in 2017 with the vision to help Senior Citizens who's ageing at home to be monitored closely using wearable devices (IoT) and mobile applications.

What has the journey been like for Mazlan Abbas over the years? Looking back, what would you have done diﬀerent when starting out? Most of the times, technology is not the main obstacle to the adoption of the solution. It takes time for people to understand how technology like IoT can transform the way they conduct business or run their operations. FAVORIOT is one of the earliest

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IoT Startups in the country. We have tried building several solutions internally, but the effort is huge to cater for different customer needs. Finally, we realized that our strength is the IoT platform that we built which we have now offered to other ecosystem players. We could have captured the education market sector much earlier before we moved up the value chain to business or corporate customers.

What is the process followed by the company to ensure optimal client satisfaction?

Education through training and webinars will open the eyes and minds of the customers. We encouraged the customers to think big but start small to get

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the buy-in from their C-suite levels. Understanding their business case and pain problems are critical in the early stage to ensure no wastage of eﬀort later. It will be followed up with integration to their legacy systems before scaling up the deployment. In the inal stage, they will use enough data collected to create either new revenue streams, saves costs, create new business models, or gather better insights regarding their business.

What would be your advice for young and aspiring leaders or entrepreneurs?

Test your ideas early. Get feedback regarding your product and iterate until you get the product-market it. 80

Don't be ashamed if the original ideas failed or not accepted.

What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning? The biggest roadblock is getting the irst few customers that trust your product and solutions. What we feel about our product might not be the same as what the customer sees. The biggest learning is all about getting the product-market it as fast as possible.

Moving forward, what does the future look like for you and FAVORIOT?

The users of the FAVORIOT IoT platform started from less than 3 countries in 2017 and now has grown to 115 countries in 2021. We see the market for IoT has started to grow faster in the last 3 years due to the awareness and fusion of many technologies such as Arti icial Intelligence, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, Robotics and Drones. In all IoT deployments, it will require some form of an IoT platform, and this is where FAVORIOT would like to excel – To IoTise all Businesses.

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Founder & CEO Association of Virtual Assistants

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MELISSA SMITH Creating a World of Ideal Virtual Assistants

he online business world is truly fascinating. There are many ways to make money and build your own pro itable empire. Several internet entrepreneurs and small businesses prefer being highly organized and lexible while working remotely. This is where becoming a Virtual Assistant is the perfect solution to capitalize on the technology and work with like-minded people.

One innovator who took the plunge and quit her full-time job to create a safe, empowering, and honest space for the VA industry is Melissa Smith. Melissa is the Founder and CEO of the Association of Virtual Assistants (AVA) and has two best-selling books to her name.

As a dynamic leader she focuses on remaining positive through constant change. She also believes that it is the ultimate mark of any good leader to create more leaders. “I've had many people under my leadership who have gone on to do bigger and greater things for themselves than they

were doing for me and while I'm no longer leading them, I do actively support them all,” she mentions.

The mission of the Association of Virtual Assistants is to be the most trusted source of information in the VA industry. “We promote a high standard of excellence within our Association, which not only bene its current and future virtual assistants but those we serve – the client.” HER FIRST ENCOUNTERS

Melissa grew up in a time when virtual assistants didn't exist. She found inspiration in her mother —an executive assistant. “When I would visit her in the of ice, everyone knew who she was. All her bosses would tell me how they couldn't run the of ice without my mom,” she recalls. Melissa was also moved by the stories of her mother's kindness and gratitude. This helped her decide to be an assistant like her mother.

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Moreover, her dad also played an important role in her life. As a single parent raising three kids, he had three jobs to pay the bills. “I learned very early on that life is too short to have a job you don't love,” she adds. As an assistant, Melissa had a knack for identifying talent that was overlooked. She was directly involved in recruiting and would also be asked to join several hiring boards along with her supervisors. “I often predicted how long someone would remain with the company or who would be a good it for a role they didn't even apply for.”

IGNITING THE SPARK OF INNOVATION

Melissa's intention behind forming the Association of Virtual Assistants (AVA) was to create an active association dedicated to virtual assistants. As a Virtual Assistant, she missed peer interactions and the limited scope of personal and professional development. She says, “I knew immediately I wanted to create

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the AVA. I just didn't know how I was going to do so.”

After plugging away on her vision board, in December 2018 she sent out a short and cryptic message to her email list. It had one simple question — “Who wants to change the virtual assistant industry with me?” and that opened doors for AVA in March 2019.

Like most journeys, Melissa's was nothing like she planned. The beginning of Melissa's career was smooth sailing. But, in September 2012, everything changed when her husband committed suicide. “I was three days into a new job and the struggle was real. I was very fortunate to have a great boss and co-workers,” she says. She ended up staying there for a year before moving back to her home state, California.

In California, she quickly landed another job that she dearly loved. Living in the Bay Area also gave her an opportunity to immerse herself into the world of startups. However, this change wasn't too favorable for her daughter who was heading into her senior year of high school. Melissa knew she had to move back to Georgia and when she discussed her resignation with her boss, he agreed to let her work virtually as an assistant. She became the company's irst remote employee in 2014.

After a few months, new contracts started to pour in, and Melissa thought of kickstarting her own VA business. Starting her own VA business began a ripple eﬀect of great things. On this new journey, she wrote two bestsellers, traveled the world, started the AVA, and created the premier VA matchmaking business in the

industry. “It has provided me opportunities to speak and consult in the ield of remote working as well. None of this I could have ever imagined when I irst began my journey,” she says.

As the Founder and CEO of the AVA, Melissa stays very close to the dayto-day operations as it pertains to connecting with her members. She asserts, “I am constantly trying to learn what they want but don't know how to ask for.” Her dedication to provide them with answers, anticipating their needs, and making the membership experience better makes it a rewarding process for her.

FINDING FREEDOM IN CHALLENGES

Building a business isn't a linear process. Opportunity doesn't always show up with neon lashing lights. Throughout her journey, Melissa found herself to be her biggest roadblock. “I'm the kind of person (like most assistants) who has a clear checklist and maps out things very clearly,” she says. She had to learn and grow a business out of order, consistently.

Further, when something is easy, our value is often taken for granted and we take ourselves down a harder path. But it's not meant to be hard. “We all love a good challenge, but steer clear of the hard path,” Melissa suggests. SHARING HER CHAPTERS OF WISDOM

We often gravitate towards people who share our perceptions and ideas; so, it is important to ask the community, association or tribe about their conclusions while listening to the same thing.

Melissa's advice for young business leaders is “Practice active listening before you come to a conclusion.”

As a leader, she points, “you don't have the luxury of never having your ideas and perceptions challenged.” She believes it's not important to agree with everyone. One needs to learn to address it properly without being defensive. “Every leader will have to have a dif icult conversation at some point and seeing someone else's perception will be critical,” she says. STEPPING UP THE AMBITION OF AVA

Moving forward, Melissa is very excited for the future of the Association of Virtual Assistants. COVID has positively disrupted the market and created a great demand for more VAs. She believes the next two years are pivotal as the industry will strive to create more quali ied VAs to meet the client demand.

“The AVA will de initely be pushing for more data to arm VAs within our VA State of the Industry Report,” she assures. After providing a comprehensive 30-day mindset course to her members last year, she will also be working towards more meaningful connections and focus on mindfulness.

Consequently, AVA is on its way to become the most trusted source of information in the VA industry. “We have more trainings planned and expanding our Member Portal library which already boasts over 80 trainings is always a high priority,” she declares.

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Founder & CEO Photosyntesis

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MAYANK SAXENA Making Brands Better With Strategic Marketing

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

Leadership is always about continuous improvement and to be change ready. Learn>Unlearn->Relearn->Adapt, help us keep up with the wants, needs, and desires of customers. One aspect that de ine leadership is that the leader should inculcate the habit being the good listener. Listening helps me form an idea about the situation, ind the perfect response and then act accordingly.

What led you to establish Photosyntesis Branding Solutions LLP? As the Founder & CEO, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?

There was a missing link between what the companies oﬀered and what research should be conducted for devising a plan. I noticed the gap and undertook an initiative to rectify it.

All marketing agencies oﬀered top-notch services, but the question was, how? The agency paid no heed towards the background research for the brand to achieve its objectives. This is the point where Photosyntesis Branding Solutions was born in my brain. People often say that marketing produces early results, but early results don't have vital research to support them. An organic approach has to be followed, where you have to be a little patient because it will reap the harvest for you in the long term. My role as Founder & CEO in dayto-day proceedings is Business

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Development, Strategy Formulation, Team building, setting up clear objectives for the company and the clientele and inancial aspect of the company. How are you empowering startups and SMEs to reach out to their potential audiences?

Photosyntesis believes in the core value of nurturing our clients and the employees alike. Similar to the process of photosynthesis gets a plant going, I want to play the same role for brands. Photosynthesis is an integral part of the plant's growth. Similarly, I want Photosyntesis Branding Solutions to be an integral part of a brand's growth. Photosyntesis caters to the 'how' element of marketing & 'why' element of the big marketing question. We ensure that every marketing

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strategy doesn't rip oﬀ a sizeable amount from the client. Our value addition lies in the approach we follow, we research the company and analyze our clients' objectives before. Based on our research of their objectives, we devise a marketing plan for them.

What has the journey been like for Mayank Saxena over the years? Looking back, what would you have done diﬀerently when starting out? The journey has been beautiful over the period of four years. Because I believe as an entrepreneur the struggle will always be there because the goals change from year 1 to till now. But this what is makes it worthy enough to keep moving ahead. Each day comes with new challenges and help me keep learning a thing about life, about entrepreneurship, enhancing my skill set, etc. as I have mentioned earlier a continuous improvement. Looking back, I would have done nothing diﬀerently when starting out.

What is the process followed by the company when oﬀering its services? How do you ensure optimal client satisfaction?

Customization is the key factor while oﬀering services. We believe in building relationships and long-term clients. Services are oﬀered based on the requirements or objectives that clients are looking to achieve in a certain time frame. Optimal client satisfaction is achieved by ensuring a transparent and clear communication with clientele on day-to-day basis. Creating checkpoints to ensure smooth working and correct deliverable being delivered to clientele.

What would be your advice for young and aspiring leaders or entrepreneurs? Be change ready and Learn>Unlearn->Relearn->Adapt

What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning? Biggest roadblock during the journey was one of the key decisions of business, whether to hire the resource irst and then get a client or get a client irst and then resource, this was during initial days of business and it was conscious decision to hire the resource irst and then get a client and by Hard work, some luck both things happened at the parallel level, we got the resource and in 2 days we got the client who had the requirement that the resource we hired can ful ill it. . My biggest learning is stay healthy & conscious about your surroundings,

if you are healthy & conscious everything else can be achieved.

Moving forward, what does the future look like for Mayank Saxena and for Photosyntesis Branding Solutions LLP? Future is wonderful, new technologies coming up like AI, ML. My core belief is that full service independent agency should be technology driven also and not just digital marketing, because going ahead the technology will de ine many things, it will be the technology that will transform, innovate, and execute. We in photosyntesis believe in this and also work on the projects that are technology driven. And as far I am concerned, on a deep and personal level, my future is wonderful and looking forward to it and ready to embrace with open hands and take on life as it comes.

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Founder Healthy With Nedi

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NEDA VARBANOVA Driving Happiness Through Her Nutritious Mantra

n today's world, our lives have become a blur due to rapid progress and development, all thanks to the information age. However, it has also tossed our health adversely, and has led to discomfort and unease. Consequently, this has nudged many individuals to embrace “eating healthy” as their new anthem in life.

One of the pioneers in making healthy meet happy is Neda Varbanova, creator of one of the inest healthy lifestyle brands -Healthy with Nedi. Her primary goal of endorsing healthy food is to create happier lives in all aspects -- body, mind, and soul. As a certi ied health coach, Nedi also embraces the qualities of a dynamic leader with aplomb.

According to her, a deep-rooted passion for work, integrity, and a clear vision goes a long way. She is an optimist who supports

those around her and practices empathy at every instance. “It is important to recognize and respond to the emotions of other people,” she af irms as this is one important way to inspire and in luence the people around her.

HISTORY OF HEALTHY DESTINATION

As a young girl, Neda moved from Bulgaria to the United States. This transition was not smooth for a 11-year-old as she had to accept new surroundings, resulting in a cultural shock. One such incident that stands out in her memory is the numerous fast-food joints in the US. She recollects, “I had never seen so many fast-food joints… they were on every corner.”

After a few years, this led her to start the irst health club in high school. This decision stemmed from her mother and

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grandmother's homemade fresh meals as she was hell bent to make a change in the community.

Neda then went on to improve the cafeteria lunch menu and add healthier options to the salad bar. She also incorporated pre-order lunch choices for students which included diﬀerent vegetables. “I felt so passionate and proud to create a healthier environment in our school,” she recollects. DEALING WITH DOWNTURNS

Neda believes that healthy eating, itness, and a positive outlook are the keys to realizing true health. After founding Healthy with Nedi in 2015, her blog has evolved into a lifestyle brand where you can go to ind healthy recipes, nutritional advice, itness tips, beauty tips, restaurant and travel guides, and detox eBooks. 91

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However, this wasn't a convenient journey. She jumped on the chance to study business and marketing after being in luenced by her friends even though she was keenly interested in studying nutrition. But there's a silver lining here. She says, “I should have followed my passion for nutrition but, in a way, I am glad I got the experience of studying business and marketing which has come in handy with my company now.” Her intention and purpose only got irmer after her bachelor's degree, and this motivated her to continue her education. She became a certi ied health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and bagged her Master's in food studies from NYU. ELEVATION IN LIFE

Neda always knew in her bones that she wanted to write her own cookbook. Her hard work, perseverance, and grit to keep going made this dream possible a few months ago. “I had a clear vision of what I wanted for my book, and I am so glad I turned down oﬀers that didn't support my idea.” Neda listened to her heart and kept searching for the right it to come along. “This book is a labor of love and has so much meaning to me and my family,” she adds.

As an entrepreneur in the health space, Neda dons diﬀerent hats gracefully. She says every day is diﬀerent, and she loves that she is fortunate enough to create her own schedule. “I need variety in my days, and I create that!” Once in a while, she also schedules 92

one-on-one client calls where she focuses on their nutrition and improving their diet. Neda also spends a good chunk of her time for recipe testing, recipe writing, blog editing, shooting content and zoom work calls. “I like to balance it out like that so I can create my own schedule and it things in wherever I am,” she adds. EXPLORING HEALTHY ANSWERS

Taking charge of new challenges, Neda had her share of voices in her own head and the looming fear of failure. Despite it all, “I always give 100% of myself”, she says emphasizing on her Virgo trait of being a perfectionist. While bringing plans to fruition, Neda feels that she can let over-analysis get the best of her.

Looking back, Neda's advice to her younger self is resounding and clear - to get out of your comfort zone. Her desire in being challenged constantly and trying something new, especially something uncomfortable, is the catalyst to her growth. “Follow that dream and make it happen because if you wait around for the right moment, you may miss the chance,” she concludes.

However, with the mistakes and roadblocks, she believes that they are the “steppingstones to success.” She also stresses on the need to be self-aware and “recognize your weaknesses and work on improving them.” Neda's lived experiences have resulted in beautiful symphonies of good eating habits for her clients. Her one true piece of advice for someone aiming to lead a healthy

lifestyle is this - “Know that these things take time, and a massive change won't happen overnight.”

She is a big believer in taking small steps towards progress, instead of focusing on perfection. “Embracing a positive and open mind is also important,” Neda attests. She also encourages people to not forget to have moments of fun in the kitchen and let their creativity low to create new recipes.

To avoid binge-eating, Neda proposes healthier alternatives to her clients. “This way I can show them that nothing is oﬀ limits. It's about making small and smart swaps that lead to long term success,” she adds. GLEAMING OPPORTUNITIES

Neda and her initiative to make healthier lives a reality for countless people de ines its success. Her cookbook based on the Mediterranean diet will be published in the fall of 2022. “I am super excited for everyone to get their hands on it and cook up a storm”, she says con idently. Moreover, she plans on opening a health food café or starting a meal delivery service in the upcoming years. Her love for delivering healthy food is palpable in her vision.

Neda is certain of one thing -- “to never stop working and keep growing. After one project is done, start something new and really enjoy the ride. We have one life to live, make the best of it!”

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NIKKI CLARKE Helping People Grow Through Stories

torytelling is a crucial part of human life. We use stories for education, politics, entertainment, and for many other aspects. However, the most important purpose of it all is to make us better people, and we do it by learning from the experiences of others. This is how we have been able to build this strong and powerful civilization that we live in today.

Nikki Clarke also came to such an understanding in the year 2008, when she understood the power of storytelling. With the power of words and stories at her hands, she established a platform where people from all walks of life share stories from their heart and achieve growth collectively.

AN ADAPTIVE PERSONALITY Nikki was born in Jamaica and moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada when she was only three years old. At a young age, this transition meant growing-up in a French-Canadian neighborhood and quickly adapting to the new culture and language. It was there Nikki grasped the power to be adaptive and lexible.

Her parents encouraged her from the age of ive to take part in community-driven activities. Her active participation, including volunteering in school and church activities, further solidi ied Nikki's passion for forming connections. She excelled in school with such a forward-driven approach and remembers taking on leadership roles in early school life. "I

excelled in school and my teachers would often put me in leadership roles like the class monitor. I remember as a Girl Guide I was a pack leader. My parents taught me that I had to work hard, be strong, and show excellence in everything I did," recalls Nikki. ADVANCING WITH PASSION

Nikki's passion for connections led her to set three milestones in three consecutive years.

In 2006, she established Bead 4 health, wherein she designed handcrafted organic jewelry for men and women. The year 2007 marked her joining the team of Ethnic Umbrella, Canada's most diverse community newspaper as a columnist and public relations manager. Later, Nikki founded the internet tv/radio show AND THE EXELEON MAGAZINE

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Founder Nikki Clarke Show

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BEAT GOES ON in 2008, and in the same year she started her Publicity/Public Relations Company, Nikki Clarke Inc. And four years later, The Nikki Clarke Show was launched. Today, the show has become a platform for people of all walks of life to share what makes them human, consequently building relationships within the community. THE NIKKI CLARKE SHOW

With the show on the air, Nikki has been helping people heal from the power of storytelling. She has provided people with a platform where they can share their stories without any judgement. Consequently, when people share their true selves, they experience a cathartic release of their emotions. Here's how Nikki explains it, “I dared my guests to remove their masks and to share from their authentic selves on a safe, nonjudgemental platform. The storyteller gets healed by disclosing how they overcome their challenges and the audience gets healed in knowing that they were not in isolation if they were experiencing a similar challenge.”

This approach is further echoed in the tagline of the show 'Transforming Lives, One Story at a Time.' The Nikki Clarke Show which started as an online hobby for the dynamic leader, today stands tall with distribution on ive cable TV channels in Canada and on Radio out of New York City. OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

Today, Nikki wears many hats in the production of her show to keep performing at the topmost level. She 96

works with her team to book and coach guests for the interviews. She is also involved with writing and producing the show alongside overseeing the video production to ensure stellar and professional interviews. However, the same wasn't true when she started the show.

The journey of her show has been of trials and triumph. The past ive years were very challenging for Nikki and the team in building up the show and securing the funding to sustain it. Another thing that became very clear to Nikki in the entertainment business is that video production only accounts for 5% glamour, and the rest 95% accounts for hard work and sacri ice. She explains, “I am really happy I didn't give up. I realized that there were so many destinies tied to me through the show.”

Nikki talks about not giving up on the show as she describes fear as the biggest roadblock of her life. Once she was able to overcome fear, she took on the challenges and risks to move out of her comfort zone. She saw a whole new world beyond her fears. And once the talk show started to gain momentum, she never looked back. She also learned from her mistakes, forgave herself, and kept moving forward.

And now in its 13th year,The Nikki Clarke Show is loved by the masses, it has won multiple awards, and is growing exponentially in terms of viewership and scale.

Nikki has tapped the potential in human emotions and storytelling to showcase the guests' unique qualities with the right production.

She elaborates, “I take the time to coach them and build up their con idence in front of the audience. I also work with my video team to ensure the production quality is excellent and the content is credible and captivating.” KEEPING UP WITH ‘CONNECTION’

The need for feeling a connection with the community, with the world, led Nikki to establish a global platform. And to this day, she hasn't let go of her passion. She gets up early in the morning, says her prayers, steps out, goes to the of ice, and plans her day. She connects with people by responding to calls and emails and by creating creative content. After her business commitments, Nikki carves out time in the evening for herself, recharging through exercising, reading, listening to music, and spending time with her family and close friends. A BRIGHT FUTURE

As Nikki loves to plan her days, she sets her intentions every day for success and joy in life. She looks forward to meeting new guests and transforming lives with truer, heartful life experiences.

For the future, Nikki hopes to record more shows in diﬀerent cities around the world. While she has recorded her shows in Montreal, New York City, Toronto and Jamaica, she would love to add European cities, South America, Asia, and Africa to the list in the forthcoming years.

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PAUL GUENTHER Delivering a Healthy Dose of Demand Generation

aul Guenther is the Founder and CEO of Knowledge Hub Media, a company that specializes in B2B advertising and marketing services. Other than that, Knowledge Hub Media takes pleasure in educating its users through relevant business articles, case studies, marketing research to help them increase their knowledge and everyday productivity.

LEADING WITH EXCELLENCE

Being a Founder and CEO has always been an interesting journey for Paul. His clients have a speci ic solution, or group of products, that is targeted to a very speci ic audience. For example, enterprise software solutions used by IT people, 98

marketers, sales teams, HR professionals or inance professionals. The targeting gets a lot more granular than that, of course. And then, not only are the job roles unique, but the types of companies targeted are also unique to each client. Being at the helm is always interesting for Paul because he is faced with a new challenge almost every day. Not just from a standpoint of sales (managing clients), but also marketing (to their user base), operations, inance and handling their technology infrastructure. “There is truly never a dull moment,” says Paul.

Before Paul founded Knowledge Hub Media, he used to work for a similar company that oﬀered lead

generation services. It was there, he learned the whole process that runs behind all the segments of this industry. Soon, he gave up the job and started his own company based on the experiences he had gained. According to him, his initial motivation was just to ind one steady client to be the seed to embark on his long-awaited journey.

KNOWLEDGE HUB MEDIA

Knowledge Hub Media oﬀers diverse solutions as their very nature. Their core competencies fall in the areas of demand generation and content syndication. They promote their client's white papers and webinars to generate and deliver highly targeted, highly quali ied b2b sales leads. As each of their EXELEON MAGAZINE

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Founder & CEO Knowledge Hub Media

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client's have diﬀerent products, solutions, and services, they each target diﬀerent segments of people (and companies).

The offerings are customized, fullytailored to target people within the right job roles – at the right companies – who are typically already in the buying cycle for their client's solutions. Generally speaking, the leads that they generate originate from companies that are, at the very least, currently researching the solutions offered by their clients. In most cases, though, they are in the process of evaluating vendors and getting ready to make a purchase decision. This is where Knowledge Hub Media comes in. By promoting to very targeted groups of people, they line their clients up with the perfect buyers, at the perfect time. That is, companies that not only have a need and budget for the products and services that their clients offer, but that are also ready to pull the trigger and make a purchase decision. BATTLING COVID

Similar to most companies, the COVID-19 pandemic was a roadblock in Paul's journey. He believes that the pandemic certainly impacted their industry a bit though to a much lesser extent than many other industries. Sectors like retail, hospitality and travel have really taken a beating over the last couple of years. Paul considers himself to be very fortunate to be where they are today.

As part of an industry that is driven mainly by technology. When the world stopped in March of 2020 and everyone started working from 100

home, companies had to step up their technology infrastructure. They had to take meetings virtual, manage remote workforces, and transition conventions almost overnight in many cases. For this reason, B2B technology didn't take too much of a hit during the pandemic. As a trickle down eﬀect of this, companies like Knowledge Hub Media – that promote B2B technologies – were also spared the brunt of the storm.

While advertising and marketing spend are the irst things that some companies cut in recessionary environments, they were fortunate enough to work with clients that saw the bigger picture. They also bene ited in that they were already largely remote before the lockdowns started. Only physically being at the of ice a few days per week, for a few hours per day. “We have always had a very lexible, appealing “work life balance” at Knowledge Hub Media. For that reason, the sudden transition from “mostly remote” to “fully remote” was rather seamless for us,” added Paul. ADVICE FOR YOUNG LEADERS

“If you are going to run an eﬀective company, you probably have to work longer and harder than everyone else,” states Paul. He further added that you really do not want to be in a position where you are relying on anybody. Even if you think you can (and hopefully you can). Failure cannot be an excuse – because you never actually fail at anything until you decide yourself that you've failed. If you can't get things done one way, you try doing them a diﬀerent way.

Paul suggests taking responsibility for everything, auditing your time, and treating everyone with respect. “Treat your employees the same way that you would treat your clients. Treat your vendors the same way that you would treat your employees. Everyone plays an important role in the business, and everyone deserves the same level of respect, politeness and encouragement.”

LOOKING FORWARD

While talking about the future, Paul explained that he doesn't make any attempt to forecast the future or assume any speci ic type of growth trajectory. “Our industry is inherently based in technology, and as such, it is always changing. For this reason, we too, are always changing and innovating,” he mentions.

Knowledge Hub Media has experienced annual revenue growth – year over year – in 12 of their 13 years in business. But Paul's vision for the future is never revenue- or sales-based. He likes to think that in ive years, they will be at least “ ive years more advanced” than they are now as a company – just as technology advances each and every year. Optimistically, though, he likes to think that they will be closer to 10 years more advanced in ive years - Staying ahead of the curve, just as they have been since inception.

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CEO, High Tide Inc

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RAJ GROVER Teaching the Art of Business

he statistics aren't that great when it comes to comparing the number of businesses that saw the day of light and those that faded into the emptiness of dark nights. However, your business has a higher chance of surviving if you have a sound business background coupled with your courage of leading it from the front and making changes to it as per the evolving market. The entrepreneurial journey of Raj Grover, CEO of High Tide, exhibits just that.

Beginning from a small store with only two employees a decade ago, Raj has multiplied the growth of his company to become one of Canada's largest cannabis retailers. Today, his business stands tall with over 1,000 team members with business verticals spanning across North America and Europe.

Let's see how Raj climbed the consecutive steps of the ladder of success in this inspiring story.

STRONG FAMILY ROOTS Hailing originally from India, Raj got early exposure to his father's import and export business. His father built the business from scratch and used to export Southeast Asian food products to North America and Europe. The many summers that he spent with his father's business instilled the primary fundamentals in him on how to grow a business. His mother, on the other hand, also came as an important formative in luence and taught him to never give up and supported his competitive spirit in school and sports.

The family business spirit soon caught up with Raj where he saw himself moving to Ontario when he was 20 years old. He opened his irst business there and commenced importing merchandise from countries like India, China, and Indonesia. Alongside, Raj ventured out to establish a restaurant, a convenience store and invest in real estate. Soon, the time came when Raj had to move on and sell these ventures, moving to

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Alberta. But it would not be long before he founded Smoker's Corner, the precursor to High Tide. CLIMBING THE LADDER

Moving out to Alberta, Raj opened his irst retail store, Smoker's Corner in the year 2009. It was an investment of $48,000 within a 500 square feet area accompanied by two employees. The store carried a range of consumption accessories including water pipes, vaporizers, and more. With sound fundamentals in his business notebook, the store was destined to be successful and ended up organically expanding to 19 locations. However, Raj saw another branch coming out of the setup that could potentially lead up to building an ecosystem.

In 2011, Raj capitalized on the equation and expanded by founding RGR Canada, known as Valiant Distribution today, as a wholesale distributor. He envisioned another branch coming out and expanding by cofounding Famous Brandz in 2016

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working with celebrities and studios to produce and distribute licensed consumption accessories. And when the legalization came through in Canada, Raj expanded his vision even more and converted Smoker's Corner into a main bricksand-mortar retail cannabis brand, Canna Cabana. Afterward, he brought Canna Cabana, Valiant Distribution, and Famous Brandz together under the High Tide Umbrella. SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES

In the good books of Raj, a dynamic leader empowers his team and urges the team members to always win. The same leader is not afraid to take calculated risks and capitalize on opportunities. Additionally, a dynamic leader must understand all the aspects of the verticals in the ecosystem and make decisions that are aligned with the future goals of the business.

Likewise, as the CEO of High Tide, Raj plays a key role in growing all the diﬀerent segments of his business. He is a business strategist who has mastered the ability to grow a company through Mergers and Acquisitions. This is something that he is at the forefront, and what he does on a daily basis. He is also seen playing a crucial role in upholding the company culture, maintaining a positive motivational, and supportive culture internally for continuous growth and success. And when it comes to his business, he understands that the team working behind High Tide is nothing without its customers. He says, “Ensuring that we achieve and maintain optimal client satisfaction is a key focus of mine. We do

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whatever it takes to ensure customer satisfaction and try to deliver an incredible experience for our customers across our platforms.” Moreover, Raj always stands on his toes while delivering the best of services. He welcomes all kinds of responses from his customers suggesting to implement changes based on the received feedback. SPILLING THE SECRETS

Raj has had an incredible entrepreneurial journey. He is among the fortunate ones who have de ied the odds of leading a business that survived the irst two years in the industry. Although he tasted the sweet nature of success early in his life, he jumped into the unknown public markets with High Tide with no prior experience. His knowledge about handling a business and his courage to innovate have helped him grow his business in the emerging cannabis market globally.

This is the same advice that Raj disseminates to aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders. He also advises to be proactive and uses the phrase 'a stitch in time saves nine, so take action' to teach the underlying chain reactions that can lead to a ripple eﬀect. “If you are passionate about what you do and you identify opportunities in your ield, capitalize on them by taking the plunge and leading from the front, and this is how you can ind success,” remarks Raj. Raj also touches upon the truth that every leader experiences in their entrepreneurial journey. He says, “Any journey is bound to have roadblocks, but the leaders who shine at the end of the day are those who can turn roadblocks into

stepping stones, seeing the challenges as an integral part of the entrepreneurial journey and experience.”

As such, his biggest learning in the business world has been to be nimble and adapt to diﬀerent life and business circumstances as they arrive. The learning has especially been awakening for Raj while working in the cannabis industry. “As everything can change day-by-day and if you are not nimble, it becomes much more dif icult to succeed.” FUTURE HIGH TIDES

Another important lesson to learn from Raj's successful professional journey is not to dwell on the past and keep taking on forward steps. He cites having no regret or anything negative he has experienced in life. He sees his past as his teachers and everything he has gone through as a life lesson. Additionally, he takes notes from those lessons to shape his journey going forward. As such, Raj has kept his keen eyes on moving forward with his personal as well as professional life. He is also fully invested in High Tide, which makes his and his business's future intertwined.

Citing the future to be exciting, Raj perceives High Tide to grow at an impressive pace even outside of Canada with respect to the global cannabis business opportunities. “We are making strategic moves domestically and internationally to make High Tide a global cannabis retail powerhouse as we grow across the cannabis ecosystem. We are in it to win it,” concludes Raj.

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Co-founder & COO MarketOrders

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SUKHI JUTLA Connecting the World Digitally

Success comes to those who persist when things look grim and failure comes to those who simply quit, who don't try. The diﬀerence is all in the mindset, the frame of mind you have, and your attitude as you look at a challenge.

In Sukhi Jutla's dynamic entrepreneurial journey, persistence played an important part wherein she took a step back from a collapsing business and brought it to life again with the infusion of technology.

Exeleon interviews Sukhi Jutla, Co-founder and COO of MarketOrders, to ind out more about her journey.

What according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership? For me, a dynamic leader is one who can adapt to changing circumstances and market conditions. As a leader, I integrate this thought process into my leadership style by being as open and lexible in mind and thought. This allows me to change course or make diﬀerent decisions when required. This is a key point for being a dynamic leader because if you are too ixated on one set of plans you may be missing out on other options that may be better suited for the business. If you are too in lexible and not willing to change course when it's

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required, this can limit your progress. Humans by nature don't like change as it can be unsettling, but leadership is a process not just a position and it's important to know that this process in itself is dynamic and that changes will always be there - it's how well you adapt and respond to them that makes you a dynamic leader.

Ÿ What led to the formation of MarketOrders? As a Cofounder and COO, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company? My co-founder and I ran a previous business as international jewelry wholesalers on a part-time basis for a few years. This is how I

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started to learn about the gold and diamonds jewelry trade business. However, we struggled to scale the business and were self-funding everything, and couldn't get it pro itable in a sustainable way. That is when we discovered that by introducing digital technology in our business we could achieve greater economies of scale, reach more customers and run the business operations with greater levels of ef iciency and that is how MarketOrders was born. We created a basic website to test the market and make sales. Once we knew we had a valid business model we raised our irst round of seed funding via equity crowdfunding in 2019. My role as Chief Operating Of icer involves taking care of all things operational - from marketing to

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technology, I pretty much oversee all aspects of the business in how it runs and operates. As a co-founder, I help to develop the vision and strategy of the business making key decisions. Ÿ How are you empowering independent retail jewelers to have a successful collaboration with international suppliers?

Most independent retail jewelers have struggled in recent years to keep up with changing consumer demands as commerce moves online and digital. Our aim at MarketOrders is to help retailers access the products they need easier online and for suppliers to ind new retailers rather than just relying on word of mouth which is what currently

happens.

Ÿ What has the journey been like for Sukhi Jutla over the years? Looking back, what would you have done differently when starting out? I started out as a corporate professional in the world of inance and banking for over a decade before taking the leap into becoming a fulltime entrepreneur and business owner 5 years ago. The journey to this point has been exciting and illed with new learnings. The only thing I would have done differently was to have the courage to jump into entrepreneurship sooner! Ÿ What is the process followed by the company when offering its

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Ÿ services? How do you ensure optimal client satisfaction? We aim to oﬀer a fully end-to-end digital transformational experience for our customers. From ordering online to the safe delivery of highvalue goods we are building our marketplace with the customer at its core to ensure they can source the best products at the best prices all delivered at a time that is convenient for them. Along with every point in the development process, we ask our customers to provide feedback and incorporate their requirements into the customer experience journey.

Ÿ What would be your advice for young and aspiring women leaders or entrepreneurs?

Don't overthink it - just go for it! My only regret is not doing it sooner. Today there are so many programs and support available for young and aspiring women leaders and entrepreneurs. Join and network with entrepreneurial groups in person or online, ask questions, seek our mentors, test out your ideas on a small scale and you will learn all you need with each step you take. Ÿ What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning?

There have been many challenges along the way but this in itself was my biggest learning - that challenges will always be there. It's inherent in any business. The key is to never give

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up and keep moving forward to ind a solution because there is always a way to make positive progress as long as you have an open, dynamic, and creative mindset. Ÿ Moving forward, what does the future look like for you and for MarketOrders?

I am feeling very con ident about the future of MarketOrders. We are still very much at the start of our journey, and we have a lot of ideas we want to implement to help our industry and customers, so watch this space!

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In Conversation with a Creative Alignment Specialist –

ROSE GABLER W

hat according to you makes one a dynamic leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

I believe a dynamic leader is someone who is proactive, positive, and curious. These three components in a dynamic leader empower their teams to progress and experiment in similar manners. An environment like this allows for creativity to lourish, and creativity is one of the most unique and in luential strengths in a company.

Creativity is so much more than artistic expression. It is a human survival mechanism. And it exists in all areas of our lives, including our professional experiences.

My personal de inition for creativity is your unique ability to produce new results. I believe this allows for creative solutions to lourish, instead of being limited by our minds, beliefs, and societal understandings. Creative growth is one of my main motivators when working with my teams to help us all remain curious, excited, and optimistic. 110

Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as a leader/entrepreneur? I remember for one of my grandfather's largest art exhibitions in Chicago he needed a team of individuals to help with logistics and organization, along with a few waiters and waitresses. Being in high school, I gathered a group of my friends together and we got to work. After delegating responsibilities and schedules, we collaborated on how to best approach this event in a manner that would re lect professionalism, kindness, and excitement. It came together perfectly, and we all enjoyed ourselves while working that evening! I actually got my irst job oﬀer because of that experience! What does a Creative Alignment Specialist mean? How do you bring about transformations through this role?

As a Creative Alignment Specialist, I help entrepreneurs align their professional goals with their personal values through creative development. Creativity is a very personal process that requires

vulnerability, which many people are fearful of experiencing. However, by going through a creative development process, and allowing yourself to be vulnerable and genuine, you can ind clarity in your understanding of yourself and the world around you. It is a very empowering and healing experience, which then ignites creativity and inspires progressive sparks in other areas of your life.

What is the process followed by you when oﬀering your services in order to ensure optimal client satisfaction? Through my research, I have observed that there are ive universal factors to creative development, which include: Life experience, Expertise, Environment, Flexibility, and Grit. Each of these aspects play a huge role in developing your unique creative skills over time. Therefore, by delving into creative notions across these ive areas, and understanding their in luence on your unique creativity overall, you will essentially design a roadmap depicting how to empower your creative skills daily and begin to live a life that is mindfully creating a life that is purpose ful illing.

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Creative Alignment Specialist Rose Gabler Strategies

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What has the journey been like for Rose Gabler over the years? Looking back, what would you have done different when starting out? Nothing. I wouldn't have done anything different, which took me a long time to accept. Every challenge I faced, every hurdle I overcame, every loss I suffered, and every failure I experienced led me to becoming the globe-trotting impactful writer, with horribly dry, sarcastic humor that I am today, empowering creativity across the world to make the world a better place. Yep, I'm good.

What would be your advice for leaders or entrepreneurs trying to ind their footing in the world of business? Be curious. No matter how much knowledge you have on a certain topic, the more curious you become, the more knowledge and experience you gain. Through those curiosities, your creativity will be stimulated, and possibilities will become endless. The world is always changing, and the ability to adapt will continue to be one of the most sought-after skills in business. And in life. Feed your curiosities, and revel in your creativity. What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning?

My biggest roadblock during this journey was overcoming fear. That fear of vulnerability I mentioned earlier was rock solid in my core for many years because of those negative experiences throughout my life. 112

However, when I was able to recognize that those experiences weren't intended to hold me back, but empower me, was when I had my biggest epiphany. And when I began to write about those unique experiences, both journaling and in blogs, was exactly what ended up cultivating deep connections with my communities. It propelled my personal and professional growth immensely. Fear is a friend, not an enemy.

Moving forward, what does the future look like for you, both personally and professionally? Moving forward professionally I am excited to help entrepreneurs ind

their authentic voices and share their experiences to further empower their communities. Whether it is through writing, business development, marketing, or storytelling, we each have messages that can help make the world a better place.

Personally, I am so excited to announce that I am pregnant with my irst child! My husband, Stephen and I are over the moon to welcome this bundle of joy into our lives and begin a new journey of creative development and growth across the next generations, to continue to make a positive impact on the world around us.

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