Kathleen Black | 10 Most Transformational CEOs | Exeleon Magazine

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CONTENTS

EMMANUEL SMADJA 40

Embracing the Relentless Mindset

To be relentless is an unfaltering pursuit of your highest potential.

Relentlessness requires a mindset shift that embraces the unknown and moves beyond mediocrity. It's about inding strength in the face of adversity; it's about choosing yourself and your truth above all else.

Being relentless is a commitment to personal growth and excellence.

Meet Kathleen Black, an exemplar of a relentless leader, whose story encapsulates resilience, belief, and transformation.

As North America's leading high-performance business and mindset expert, Kathleen has worked with thousands of highly successful businesses, inluential leaders, and globally iconic brands, establishing an impeccable reputation with her result-

Tdriven approach. After launching her coaching career in 2009, she became CEO and co-owner of Canada's irst niche real estate team coaching company. She went on to form Kathleen Black Inc. in 2015 and has spearheaded 80% of her clients to rank among the top 1% bracket in their industries.

With a mission to guide inluential, powerful leaders to embrace value-centered lives and rise beyond fear to build their own empires, Kathleen is redeining what success feels like in the business realm.

Featuring as the Cover of Exeleon Magazine's Most Transformational CEOs to Follow in 2023, we look into the story of Kathleen Black –the relentless one.

CHOOSING THE PATH OF UNCERTAINTY

Kathleen faced a tumultuous childhood growing up. However, not one to shy away from dificult decisions, she made the bold choice to pursue the life she was born to lead and left home as a young teen.

A deining pinnacle of her youth, this became the framework for many decisions to follow. Kathleen made an unwavering commitment to choose the path of uncertainty and prioritize herself over painful circumstances.

After successfully self-funding her way to university and graduating with a newborn in hand, Kathleen made another life-altering decision for herself and her new family –she decided to enter the real estate market.

Years of real estate investing led her to start her career as a RE/MAX Realtor. As a newly single mother, Kathleen worked her way to the top and established her name within the irst year of her journey. She became a top 1% producer in the largest real estate board in the world, the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Recalling her journey, Kathleen mentions “I was reluctant to become an agent. I was already overworked, undergoing a draining divorce, and inding my footing as a newly single mother. I became a top 1% producer in the world's largest real estate board with two small children in tow. It wasn't easy, and I'm not alone in that struggle.”

THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE METHODS

Following her rapid-paced growth in the irst year of working in real estate, Kathleen made conscious decisions to ind highperformance systems that translated into work-life success.

Kathleen Black CEO

She saw irsthand the impact of long irregular hours on personal well-being and mental health among agents and even the most successful business leaders. Research further proved that over 50% of agents worked more than 40 hours after their irst year, with little to no time for family and their personal life. The need for a shift became starkly apparent the more she worked in top one percent national spaces, where the secret of the world's most successful leaders exposed itself to be a lack of harmony and belief that better is possible.

“That outcome wasn't an option for me. I needed to be able to show up for my children both inancially and as a present, invested mother,” she explains.

Kathleen's high-performance movement to shift from chaos to calm in all aspects of life rose from this very necessity. She asserts, “I don't believe in a work-life balance because it's unattainable. Balance is a myth. Have you ever known someone to achieve it? High performance is about shifting into harmony with your values, your goals, and hyper-prioritizing to realign with what's most important to you.”

Kathleen is a living testament to the business and life that is possible. Her philosophy centers on an unyielding alignment with authenticity and the courage to show up for your highest self. She isn't inspiring thousands of people with mere ideas - she is living them.

A question with an evolving answer sits at the root of high performance: what does your best life look like? For Kathleen, it means having the freedom to unplug and embark on spiritual adventures for six to eight weeks each year. Whether it's an 850km pilgrimage across Spain, summiting the Salkantay pass in Peru, or trekking Mount

Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Kathleen inds fulillment pushing her physical limits to tap into lifealtering spiritual and psychological breakthroughs.

Kathleen's motif is digging deeper into self to pour deeper into others. The life she built on highperformance systems is her company's blueprint for guiding

IMPACT-DRIVEN MISSION

Coaching is only one pillar of Kathleen BlackInc.Kathleenisfocusedonfindingas many avenues as possible to expand her impact and inspire more leaders to take holdoftheirlife'sreigns.

Her training systems have been adapted into bestselling books and headlining keynote experiences. She is currently touring her keynote SHIFT across international conferences as a movement to create profound shockwaves and inspire individuals, teams and leaders to step into a heightened level of consciousness,awarenessandalignment.

“My mission centers on impact, and the way that looks will constantly evolve with me.”

Pioneering a shift in the narrative around keynotes, Kathleen delivers an energetic experience from the stage that sparks a collective movement towards spiritual, empoweredleadershipforoveronemillion ambitiousindividualsannually.

She believes that love is the highest frequency, and for one to operate at a high level, love needs to be infused at the core ofeverythingtheydo.

Kathleen explains, “If you don't love your life,yourbusinessandhowyouspendyour time in both of those spheres, you run into thetrapofburningenergywithoutanyway of refueling. How long can you drive on empty?”

iconic brands and leaders to claim their best life.

THE START OF KATHLEEN BLACK INC.

Kathleen lives by the belief that impacting others to shift into consciousness is her greatest purpose in life. She knew that her success in creating a vibrant

business and personal life was due to the high-performance systems she had developed over the years as an agent.

Recognizing the need for transformational support in the business community, she set out to work on further developing each system, program, and strategy. The result? A robust platform with

training and coaching systems designed to provide ambitious businesses with the tools and guidance to create abundance and build a business that supports personal alignment and freedom.

In 2015, Kathleen formed Kathleen Black Inc. centered on her values of love, truth, and alignment.

UNPARALLELED RESULTS

At Kathleen Black Inc, Kathleen and her team of experts see the core of people as unique individuals who are built to win. For her, tapping into the potential of these individuals is what drives her. “We don't look at business owners and entrepreneurs as machines built to grind and hustle their lives away for an inch more of a proit margin.”

Since its inception, Kathleen Black Inc. has been responsible for billions of dollars in sales growth annually.

The company emphasizes the importance of energy and momentum to ensure consistent sales growth for its clients. To harness this energy, Kathleen Black's Elite Performance Coaches work one-to-one with their community using a holistic, comprehensive toolbox of certiications and techniques to develop inner clarity and conidence.

She explains, “Our irst priority is guiding them to gain a tangible grasp on their vision. Once they know with clarity what inspires them into action, we align them with targets that will get them as close as possible to that outcome.”

Moreover, Kathleen stresses the importance of helping clients

achieve their desired outcomes by understanding their value proposition. She mentions “Every top team or agent we have ever worked with, who multiplied their business, have all worked with this speciic approach in order to get the ultimate results.”

According to her, when one combines personal wellness with best-in-class, data-driven systems, the outcomes are unparalleled.

COLLABORATIVE TEAM

At Kathleen Black Inc, Kathleen has inculcated a culture of

Achieving a team like this has taken considerable time and effort from Kathleen as well as the senior members of her company. As the CEO, she is responsible for understanding at ground level all the moving parts of the business.

Her role is to build training, keynote, and book content to further expand the reach and impact of the company's mission. However, what's really important is that Kathleen spends intentional time connecting with her team to understand how to support them personally, professionally, and honor their unique genius.

She clariies, “Building a passionate team starts with being passionate about them as people, their strengths and their personal goals.”

collaboration and accountability. Each of the team members embodies an entrepreneurial leadership style while taking ownership of their individual roles.

Talking about her team, she mentions “We thrive because we work with a team of passionate leaders who are willingly accountable for their leg of the business.”

She adds, “I'm grateful for their support, and because of that, I don't have to enforce a directorlike delegation or micro-manage.”

Kathleen oversees the company at a high level to support the team towards achieving their goals, hitting their targets, and developing their direction.

THE RELENTLESS ONE

Kathleen's second bestselling book Relentless to Rise recounts the pains, adventures and triumphs that bloomed from her tumultuous upbringing. However, her story unfolds as a testament to the boundless potential that lies within us all, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.

” ”

From tragedy to triumph, Kathleen's relentless pursuit of alignment, truth, and purpose transformed her experiences into a best-selling book that resonated deeply with readers around the world. This literary success soon took on a new form, with the release of the internationally acclaimed documentary, "The Relentless One."

The two-time Emmy nominated documentary has moved audiences touring international ilm festivals, garnering praise and winning over 17 ilm awards. The overwhelming success of the ilm

relects the impact and inspiration sewn into the story, and its ability to harness hope in viewers who struggle with similar traumatic experiences.

When asked what being relentless means to Kathleen, she shared “'Relentless' sounds like a cold word, but that's not how I see it. Being relentless means choosing yourself and your truth above all else. It's about getting up so many times it becomes muscle memory.”

Kathleen's journey serves as a powerful reminder of the fact that abundance can emerge from even

the most challenging circumstances and that even the best can become better.

For Kathleen Black, being relentless is not merely a matter of perseverance; it is the act of transforming potential into tangible creations. It involves harnessing the power of pain and using it as fuel to propel oneself forward.

We Embrace Excellence!

Exeleon Magazine features some of the leading players in business and shares their journey of excellence to inspire aspiring leaders across the globe.

The CEO’s Playbook

A Conversation with of Jonathan AzouriCatchCorner

Navigating the dynamic

journey of a CEO requires a unique set of qualities for one to lead their companies towards success.

In this exclusive interview with Jonathan Azouri, the Co-Founder of CatchCorner by Sports Illustrated, we explore the key attributes that make a successful CEO and gain valuable insights into the platform's exceptional growth and unique approach in the market.

In your experience, what are some of the essential qualities a successful CEO should possess?

As a CEO, the entrepreneurship journey is always changing with the challenges and successes of the company. When I think about the essential qualities for this dynamic role, several attributes come to the forefront: leadership, delegation, adaptability, a pragmatic mindset, and above all, very decisive action. Knowing when to stay the course, when to

pivot, how to approach tough situations - these are all qualities acquired by experience of being a CEO.

As well, the role of a CEO is to lead by example in creating a positive, supportive environment. This journey can come with many disappointments and growing pains, but remaining on an even keel is vital for the success of the company and the conidence of those around you. In my case, this oftentimes requires reminding myself of the initial vision we had for our company, CatchCorner by Sports Illustrated, by noticing how far we have come and the amazing things in store for the future.

What sets CatchCorner apart from other similar platforms in the market? How does the app provide a unique and valuable experience for users?

CatchCorner by Sports Illustrated is the irst of its kind platform for renting sport facility venues. Our

aggregate hub has modernized the booking experience and allows users to select from a diverse portfolio of facilities. We offer something for everyone. Together with our partners at Sport Illustrated, our company approach is focused on user experience, product customization and scalability.

As a CEO, what leadership strategies or principles do you attribute to CatchCorner's success in processing over $20 million in bookings and gaining a signiicant user base within a relatively short period?

We launched in 2019, and not even ive years (and a global pandemic) later, I am in awe of the incredible growth we have witnessed. We irst saw success in the Toronto market, we then replicated and reined our formula across other cities in North America, and we now have over 350,000 listings available for rent. Our unwavering focus on quality is what has allowed us to scale. We center our efforts on delivering an exceptional product, partnering exclusively with top-north facilities and collaborating with impactful brands. We are proud to work alongside the most trusted name in sports - Sports Illustrated - to maintain our commitment to the quality of the CatchCorner experience.

Along with your sister and co-founder, Maya Azouri and Ryan Mintz, how do you foster a collaborative and motivated team environment within CatchCorner?

Maya, our third Co-Founder Ryan Mintz, and I take great pride in working with an

incredible team of hardworking individuals, each fueled by the same company goal. Our company thrives on collaboration and motivation, cultivated naturally because of carefully selecting to work with like-minded and determined people. By assembling a team of all-stars, the dynamics low well because the foundation of our interactions is based on trusting each other's abilities. The part that requires work is ensuring that there are proper communication channels in place between the correct departments, so that each link can uphold the strength of our entire chain.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for CatchCorner? What are you most excited about?

We are incredibly excited to continue to partner with a variety of facilities across North America. Speciically, we just launched in eight new cities and have very exciting upcoming partnerships to launch, both in Canada and the US. We work closely with each of our esteemed afiliate partners and are always ecstatic to witness the massive revenue increase our platform helps with. It is the incredible people behind these awesome local facilities that makes everything we do worthwhile and fulilling.

At the Heart of Human Experience

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the data and analytics space?

I've been lucky to be in the data space from the irst day of my career. I was hired as an analyst at a fast-growing consulting company out of school and was given the opportunity to work directly for the founder. At an early age, my work mattered. It turned out I was pretty good at building spreadsheets, models, and plans. I remember when I got my irst complex excel macro working at scale, it was like in those movie scenes where angels are singing. From there I had a 20+ year career in the data and analytics space.

Data has to be understood, and not in the sense

that 'you have to understand the data'. It's important to comprehend how data works with other data, how structures are built, and how they connect and relate to one another.

To make it real, consider the data in nature. Mother Nature is the biggest data project in history. As an example, the way clouds are formed, how and when they release rain, how they stay collected in the sky is a system of interdependent data. Nature does it effortlessly because of the system, relationships & cause & effects in place.

When humans invent systems, like a sales process, driving a car, or a better cup of coffee, we want to invent similar causes and effects similar to the way they exist in nature. We want

them to be effortless, reliable, and work without intervention. We design versus wait for things to evolve.

In the human world we are inventing and building upon data more than ever. When we depend on analytics, and decision systems. All of this removes the work that we don't want to do, or are not great at, and lets us do the things we're awesome at.

So, what keeps me driving about data and analytics is that the data we're creating and consuming is growing by googles (a google is a number), and the type of data that is emerging is fascinating and overwhelmingly human.

I orient on the ive senses: hearing, seeing, touching, smelling and tasting.

Our data for years was hearing type data, numbers, words, etc. Now, we see data with video, pictures, and depth. We have some touch with haptics, but it's really primitive. It will be amazing to see how we digitize taste and smell. That is how human our data is. Data is about humans. We have to think about humans irst.

It's hard to believe, but our data world today is tiny compared to where we'll be in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years.

Talk to us about IrisCX and what was the pain point that led to its inception in 2018.

Guillermo Salazar

In 2018, my car was locked in my garage because the door wouldn't work. 3 days later the expert came out and banged the door with a hammer & said; “I see this all the time. if I could have seen it, I could have shown you how to do it”, then he charged me $300. My garage door has been working since.

In an instant, I felt the problem, urgency, and cost in one transaction. I brought it to my co-founder the next day, and we started building IrisCX.

As a CEO, what are the most signiicant challenges you face on a day-to-day basis, and how do you overcome them?

Being a CEO is a system job. Your job is to know or ind out from your people, what needs to get done, by when. It's top and bottom at the exact same time; you have to be strategic and close gaps that other people are unwilling or unable to do, while supporting your people so they are best set up to be successful. Zig Ziegler was right, build the people, the people build the company.

There is a point in a company size where you are leading and doing at the same time, and that is really hard. You need to have people around you that are inspired by the company's mission and purpose because it isn't always a picnic in the park. I'm actively working on getting better at trusting the incredible people around me to do their job - as a founder CEO, that is really hard, but if you don't give people the air to breathe, everyone will suffer, and the company won't grow.

The clock is also ticking in real time. It's a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly growth. Pressure is a privilege. Leading is a privilege.

It's a great question because I'm working hard on my transition. It's not always natural, and I'm lucky to have an incredible team that is patient with me!

With the emergence of AI and its rapid-paced advancement, how do you think it will impact the CX space in the coming years?

We are at an amazing point in history. All the conditions that need to exist for innovation to thrive. We've gone from dial-up to iber optics in a short period of time and it's available to everyone!

CX has been strangled by legacy assumptions, processes, and tech for the last 10 years. How can the world be happy with a system that is expensive, full of work, and has unhappy people delivering and receiving service? There is a lot of pain and suffering in the system right now. It costs customers happiness, and it costs brands billions.

The consumer suffering from a problem is a pain point, and the customer isn't qualiied to solve their problem. The queue for consumer questions is a oneway door. So, we don't know how serious or urgent consumer problems are. This is because we don't know how to ask questions about our problems, know what question was important, or what the answer means.

For the irst time, AI is now able to understand and create based on our language and how we explain things. This is the unlock. Recognize that the data AI is working on right now is largely verbal type data; numbers, words. IrisCX is solving the next problem, which is the visual context compounded with the verbal data. It's going to change the world. (And then the world will change again!).

What advice would you give an emerging CEO on running a business?

Know your problem and the people you solve it for. Your solution is just a temporary market solution.

Understand the problems that people seek to solve. “Interesting” isn't good enough to choose to change.

If you are lucky, you'll survive, and you are going to learn more than you've ever imagined & work with some of the best people on the planet.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for IrisCX? What are you most excited about

We're going to take out the effort, pain and confusion that creates unhappy brand experiences.

We are creating happiness for front line experts by empowering them with human connection that is centered on our humanness.

For consumers, we're going to remove the work and effort that is assumed for brand engagement, so people can be happy with their purchase or service choices and be thrilled with the brands we partner with, because happy customers spend more, more often!

Anna Stella Founder, BBSA

eyond arketing

The world of marketing has undergone a signiicant transformation over the past few decades, driven primarily by advancements in technology and shifts in consumer behavior.

As a multi award-winning professional, Anna Stella is no stranger to the changing faces of the marketing world. For Anna, marketing is one of those rare few ields that allows for

In your experience, what are some of the essential qualities a successful CEO should possess?

The role of a CEO is demanding and challenging, and it needs a diverse set of skills and qualities. A successful CEO effectively leads an organization with a vision and purpose while handling obstacles and challenges that emerge along the way.

To attain this, I believe that a CEO must be adaptable, quickly adapt changes, and lead teams through new circumstances that come along the way. Adaptability requires a sense of quick decision-making in times of uncertainty.

creativity and experimentation.

Since starting her marketing company in 2012 – BBSA – Anna Stella has made sure to bridge the gap in the industry by delivering a full range of services. Read this exclusive interview to understand her journey, vision, and her thoughts on marketing.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the marketing space?

One exciting thing about digital marketing and its greatest advantage is that it allows for creativity and experimentation. No ixed, unshakeable rules exist for creating an effective campaign because every business and its target audience is unique. I love marketing because it is ideal for people with diverse skills and interests, and I want to apply it all in one profession. Marketing is a job you love–one undeniable truth is that it is never boring.

Talk to us about BBSA. What was the pain point that led you to start this agency?

Every day, businesses and marketers work tirelessly to discover distinctive selling points for their businesses/brands, products, and services. However, all USPs have an expiration date. BBSA was established in 2012 after identifying a market gap with a clear USP.

Small businesses have distinctive challenges. Although small businesses make up 98% of companies and play a crucial role in building the economy, they only employ an average of 5 employees. Most of these small businesses lack the resources to hire in-house marketing expertise, hindering their ability to capitalize on domestic and international opportunities. The lack of marketing skills and expertise can surely impede their growth and progression.

Marketing agencies have yet to discover a method to fully cater to this market. Currently, they offer niche services in a fragmented way rather than comprehensive marketing solutions. BBSA ills this marketing gap and has the vision of providing every small business with access to a team of competent marketing experts whenever required.

Our tagline, "Outsource your marketing," captures our approach perfectly. We handle your marketing with the same dedication and care as if it was our very own company. Our clients have seen the tangible differences we make for them.

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

As an entrepreneur, getting caught up in handling everything yourself is easy. Having started the business, you have a profound understanding and a clear vision of where you want it to go. However, attempting everything independently can be counterproductive and ultimately affect your business's growth. Therefore, I embrace the role of CEO and not chief of everything . Some of my roles as CEO include:

Ÿ Finding new clients

Ÿ Deining the business's overall vision, values, and mission and setting the general direction

Ÿ Creating and developing a high-level business strategy that aligns with the long-term objectives.

Ÿ Balancing current capacity and future growth.

Having worked with some of the top organizations in Europe and beyond, you have seen the marketing space evolve continuously. What do you think is the future of marketing with the emergence of AI?

AI and Marketing. Marketing and AI. In 5 years, it will be everywhere. Maybe it will also have its name, as we have seen for "e-marketing" and "Digital marketing." Perhaps it will be called AI-Marketing? Marketing is one of the areas of business operations where AI will drive total change. And frankly, it was about time. A McKinsey study showed that marketing and sales are the single business function that will have the most inancial impact. So basically, you're already dead if you're a marketer and not using AI. The mantra goes that AI won't replace

you–if you let it help you.

All industries with a lot of data and a need for heavy personalization and intelligent automation of their operations have been doing AI for probably the last decade - healthcare and inancial services - but doing it within their business's operations, not marketing and sales. However, it's my experience that many business professionals still see AI as abstract. The number one challenge I see is complacency and a reluctance to change how things are done in the marketing processes.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for BBSA? What are you most excited about?

We recently opened up a new ofice in Hong Kong, and it's surely not the last international expansion project.

As the saying goes, if you are not succeeding in one geography, do not expect to kill competition in another. That is why we focus on strategic internal growth opportunities and keep the big picture in mind. To scale effectively, a compelling value proposition that aligns with the target country and, more speciically, our target clients is essential, and we're thrilled about taking on this new challenge.

Co-Founder & CEO

MPOWER

Emmanuel Smadja

Empowering Students Across the Globe

The world of entrepreneurship has

witnessed countless success stories, each driven by unique visions and compelling motivations.

Emmanuel Smadja's story as the Co-Founder and CEO of MPOWER Financing is no exception.

An accidental entrepreneur, Emmanuel's journey has been deined by resilience, compassion, and a fervent desire to empower international students pursuing higher education abroad.

Alongside co-founder Mike Davis, Smadja has built MPOWER Financing, a revolutionary inancial solution for international students.

In this exclusive interview, Emmanuel Smadja shares what led to the start of MPOWER, his vision for the company, and much more

In your experience, what are some of the essential qualities a successful CEO should possess?

I think the job requires several skills, some of which might seem contradictory. First, there's a need for undying optimism, bordering on delusion. Startups face ups-and-downs, and CEOs need to guide their team through good times and tough times alike. This requires an ability to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to embrace challenges, and turn these into opportunities. At the same time, there's a need for constant hunger and dissatisfaction with the status quo; the company can always do better and grow faster.

Separately, CEOs need to be able to articulate an inspiring vision, and share that vision constantly with prospective employees, shareholders, partners, and their board. This aspect is essential to the CEO's job of “Chief Resource Oficer”, meaning ensuring the

company has the funding and people talent needed to drive results. Now, beyond the optimism and evangelism a CEO actually needs to be a good manager of the executive team and needs to be able to absorb massive amounts of data in order to stay grounded in the reality of the business. Short of these qualities, the CEO would remain more of a igurehead, president, or evangelist for the company.

What inspired you and your co-founder, Mike Davis, to start MPOWER Financing?

I am an “accidental entrepreneur” in that I was happily on the partner path at the consulting irm McKinsey & Co and never really intended to become an entrepreneur. I was driven to found MPOWER due to my own personal experience as an international student, and a “lightbulb moment” I had about a decade ago.

My experience mirrors that of MPOWER students. I moved to the U.S. as an international student from France to study engineering at the University of Virginia. During my time there, I struggled to pay for my education -- eventually earning enough money by tutoring math, physics, computer science, French, and refereeing indoor soccer. But it always bugged me that it was dificult for international students to inance their education abroad.

I later completed an MBA from INSEAD and worked at McKinsey, where I focused on global inancial inclusion.

Then, about 10 years ago, a student reached out to me for support, it was really an eye-opening moment for me. He was the irst in his family to go to college, had just 3 semesters left to graduate, and was going to drop out for only a small amount of money. After speaking with him I sent him the funds, but I felt pulled in to solve this problem on a larger scale. That's what motivated me to co-found MPOWER Financing.

When looking for a co-founder, I reached out to my INSEAD classmate Mike Davis. Mike is a serial entrepreneur, who was running three successful startups from an ofice in Manhattan before he decided to pursue his MBA. His family led the Iranian revolution and Mike grew up on welfare in Indiana. But he was a sharp student and graduated Purdue University at age 19. To call him an overachiever is an understatement.

As the CEO, what are some of the key challenges that

you have faced while building and growing MPOWER Financing, and how have you overcome them?

2020 was a perfect storm for us. Covid created challenges for international students trying to come into North America or head home, while the past U.S. administration was effectively waging war on immigrants. Our team turned into a hotline helping students. Via partnerships, we started offering temporary housing for students stuck in North America, health insurance that would cover Covid, and immigration guidance.

Covid also represented an opportunity for MPOWER. Our credit data had been phenomenal for the irst 6 years of our existence, but some loan capital providers objected that we'd never seen a inancial shock. Well, March-June 2020 provided just that, and what the data allowed us to show is that MPOWER students performed exceptionally well relative to U.S. private student lenders and other consumer loan providers during inancial shocks. In short, not only did we have better credit performance than the market generally, but the performance was also far less volatile during market shocks. This was a critical proof point for our business and yet another arrow in our quiver as we raised over $150 million in equity and venture debt in 2021.

MPOWER Financing works with over 400 top universities across the U.S. and Canada. How do you establish and maintain these partnerships, and what beneits do they bring to the students and universities involved?

The American and Canadian higher education institutions that host MPOWER students beneit both directly and indirectly from the no-cosigner loan model that enables a larger number and diversity of aspiring students to study abroad, while also allowing universities to prosper and internationalize.

MPOWER students come from over 160 countries, and about 80% are from the Global South. Over 90% of our students say that an MPOWER loan was imperative to their ability to complete their education. As a result, MPOWER loans have not only helped to fulill these students' educational dreams, but our inancing has enabled these institutions to diversify their international student body and to meet their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals -- not to mention their inancial and enrollment goals.

International students contribute in immeasurable ways to the internationalization and global appeal of American and Canadian campuses. Their presence and perspectives are especially valuable to those domestic students who might not have the opportunity to study or travel abroad, and for whom international students offer a window into other worlds and cultures. Increasing access to international students who want to study in the U.S. or Canada is therefore beneicial to both those students and their domestic peers.

The recent $150 million inance deal with Goldman Sachs is a signiicant milestone for MPOWER Financing. How do you plan to utilize this funding to further support and expand your services for international students?

In May, we announced that MPOWER raised a $150 million dollar warehouse inancing facility with Goldman Sachs. We are thrilled that Goldman Sachs is

supporting the MPOWER team as we contribute to the important mission of making higher education and socioeconomic mobility accessible to the millions of international students in North America.

The funding will be used to expand MPOWER's rapidly growing portfolio of student loans issued to international and DACA students across the U.S. and Canada. Both countries saw record levels of international enrolment in 2022 and look poised to exceed this in 2023. Our partnerships with leading inancial services irms like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and others ensures that more deserving students than ever are able to fulill their educational dreams.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for MPOWER? What are you most excited about?

Higher education is key to socioeconomic mobility but, unfortunately, millions of students struggle to get into or

through school due to inancial constraints. At MPOWER Financing, our mission is to break down the inancial barriers to education.

It is overwhelming, but incredibly satisfying, to see your mission come to fruition and to help support the educational dreams of so many promising students from around the world. In feedback from our students, the word that stands out is “dream.” Almost daily, our students tell us that MPOWER makes their dreams come true by enabling their educational pursuits. This is what I ind most exciting about my job and about working at MPOWER. As one MPOWER student recently wrote, “Many brilliant students can see their dreams of studying abroad become a reality thanks to [MPOWER's] support.”

Our long-term vision is to be a one-stop shop for the global diaspora: this includes educational loans, but also a host of other products and services that students and migrants need to set themselves up for success in their adopted countries.

MPOWER graduates are contributing signiicantly to the economy and civil society: they're advocating for causes, co-founding companies, registering patents, and serving as elected oficials. As our world grapples with wars, climate change, and the challenges of an aging population, we're honored to have a small part to play in alleviating some of these challenges and fostering a more diverse, equitable world where the brightest minds are able to reach their full potential..

TO MANAGE OTHERS, MANAGE YOURSELF FIRST

I II

f you expect to be an effective leader who creates positive results, you can't do it alone. You need a team of followers willing to be lexible in accomplishing the mission and goals you want to achieve with their help. In many cases, engaging your team in support of positive goals will mean helping your followers change their behavior. You may need to encourage them to do more of some things, less of other things, and in some cases, adopt completely new behaviors.

The catch is that you can't make people do anything. The only person whose behavior you can control is your own. Therefore, any change in others' behavior needs to begin with you, the leader, changing your own. You need to manage yourself. If you are not getting the results you'd like from others, you must make different choices. Only when your behavior as a leader begins to change can you inluence others to change their behavior. That's the essence of the leadership logic chain.

The best way to make the leadership logic chain come alive in your pursuit of leadership effectiveness is to follow this four-step process:

Ÿ Develop awareness of your effectiveness as a leader

Ÿ Decide to adopt new behaviors

Ÿ Demonstrate new behaviors

Ÿ Give those you inluence a chance to change their behavior in response

Step 1: Develop awareness of your effectiveness as a leader

Being a successful leader begins with paying attention to what you're doing, that is, being consistently aware of what's working and not working in your thoughts and actions as a leader.

Self-awareness is not just a crucial component of the leadership logic chain. It is fundamental to leadership intelligence. And you'll discover in Chapter 4, “Get to Know Your Real Self,” paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, and behavior is vital. For now, try to spot triggers for unproductive behavior, such as times of the day or certain kinds of people. One leader we know became irritable like clockwork every day around 3:00 PM. If her team met around that time, they could count on her being sarcastic and unreceptive to their ideas. Her employees coped by making jokes about “the three o'clock monster.” It wasn't until a brave colleague approached her about her mid-afternoon drop in civility that she learned to avoid scheduling meetings at that time and to take a 10-minute break for some deep breathing and a healthy snack.

Noticing patterns is another form of self-awareness and one of the most powerful ways to gather information about your leadership effectiveness. Patterns are thoughts, feelings, or actions that you repeat over and over, as if on “autopilot,” in response to certain situations. Some patterns may work well for you as a leader; for example, when interviewing job candidates, you always make a point of sharing your values and asking about theirs. Including a discussion of mutual

values during each selection process gives you essential information about whether a prospective employee is a good it for you and your team. When your values and those of a promising candidate are aligned, you also get a jump start on emotional bonding with a likely new team member.

When you're aware of successful patterns, you can expand their use to other situations where they may have even more impact. For example, you could use awareness of the beneits of discussing values with job candidates to expand this practice to others, thus enhancing your inluence with peers, clients, family members, and friends.

Other patterns don't work so well. None of us is perfect. We all get trapped in unproductive patterns at some point in our lives. Certain patterns may once have been positive, helping you accomplish important goals earlier in your life or leadership roles. But as you grew and developed, they became negative or limiting.

Negative patterns often persist precisely because they served as success strategies in the past. We were rewarded for following those patterns and in the absence of selfawareness, continued them out of habit, even when they no longer produced successful results. That was the case with Randy, CEO of a large inancial services business. Randy was a superstar who rose quickly in his career thanks to his smarts and strong work ethic. But Randy was somewhat of a “Lone Ranger,” conscientious to a fault, expecting far more of himself than others. Eventually, the very conscientiousness that had propelled him to the top took its toll

on him. As Chuck coached Randy, he opened up about how overwhelmed he had felt with all that was going on in his irm. “I just feel like I have 15 balls in the air all the time, and I can't let any of them drop,' he explained. 'I don't know how much longer I can go at this pace. Maybe I'll hang in there for another ive years, then retire because I'll be all out of gas by then.” Chuck sensed that Randy was about to burn out. So, Chuck suggested, “What if you shared some of those responsibilities with your executive team?” 'But these are my responsibilities,' Randy countered. “I can't just ofload my job on them.” Chuck was empathetic. “I can

appreciate where you're coming from,” he said. “You don't want to overwhelm your team. But have you ever thought about who might want your job someday? Empowering them to do some of what you do now could be a great development opportunity. Sharing your CEO responsibilities might also inspire them to create development opportunities for their own teams.”

Randy sat quietly for a few moments. Then he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and replied, “It never occurred to me that I might be denying them growth opportunities, that they might want to step up and demonstrate that

they could handle more.” Randy saw that he didn't need to stay stuck in a negative pattern. He could improve his own life and, at the same time, create opportunities for others on his team. Randy immediately started talking about what projects he could share and with whom. Then Chuck asked, 'Ok, let's say you've done that. What would you do with your new free time?' “I've always wanted to learn how to ly,” Randy said with a big grin. True to form, Randy didn't waste any time. He enrolled in lying lessons, and within a year earned his pilot's license, got his instrument rating, and bought his own plane. Empowering others allowed Randy to renew his energy for life outside of work while providing leadership development opportunities for his executive team. Win-win.

Randy's story is just one example of the need to recognize patterns that become less effective as you mature, and your team or organization grows. When you're a leader, everything around you is constantly changing. That's why self-awareness is so central to your success. Some behavior patterns that helped you when you led a team of ive people don't work when you're leading an organization of 500. Patterns you relied on when leading a group of experienced professionals may not cut it when leading a group of rookies. When what you've been doing no longer seems to be working, consider how and why your previously successful behaviors aren't working for you anymore.

Read the rest of the book from here: https://a.co/d/gMDGCdR

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

DOUG LENNICK

Co-author of DON'T WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO FIX IT , is the founding CEO of think2perform, a high performance leadership development irm serving small and large organizations in a variety of industries. He has been in leadership roles for nearly 40 years and is widely recognized as an expert in the science of human behavior.

CHUCK WACHENDORFER

Co-author of DON'T WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO FIX IT , is President of Distribution at think2perform. He is a renowned leadership development professional and has worked with clients including American Express, Wells Fargo, Comerica Bank, TD Wealth of Canada, Charles Schwab, and others. His insights on leadership have been featured extensively in media such as CNN Money, Forbes, Fortune, and The Denver Post.

Excerpted with permission from the publisher, Wiley, from Don't Wait for Someone Else to Fix It by Doug Lennick and Chuck Wachendorfer. Copyright © 2023 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Arif Bhalwani

CEO MANAGING DIRECTOR

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

AArif Bhalwani is an investor and entrepreneur who is making access to capital easierfor companies that have historically been overlooked by large banks. In 2005 hefounded Toronto-based Third Eye Capital, an alternative capital provider whichhas been a valuable resource for Canadian businesses undergoing change ortransition.

Here, he talks with Exeleon Magazineabout his company’s beginnings and the future.

Q: What led to the formation of Third Eye Capital? What was the pain point you wanted to address?

Arif Bhalwani: As an entrepreneur who has experienced irsthand the challenges of trying to secure inancing in Canada, I can say that it can be a frustrating and discouraging process. Even with a track record of building successful businesses or having a clear plan for growth, entrepreneurs still ind that many banks remain reluctant to lend. This is due in part to the high degree of concentration, stringent regulatory requirements, and conservative lending practices of Canadian banks, which typically prioritize low-risk borrowers with established histories of proitability and ample collateral. Without access to funding, entrepreneurs may be forced to delay or scale back their plans or abandon them altogether. This can prevent new ideas from being brought to

market and limit the growth potential of existing businesses, ultimately slowing economic growth and sifting innovation.

Given the stability and soundness of our banks, it is embarrassing to see other countries have more lexible or supportive lending environments. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, even emerging market countries such as Estonia, China, and Malaysia rank higher than Canada in terms of access to inancing.

The concentration of banking in Canada can be seen clearly by the numbers: the top six banks control three quarters of market share in consumer banking, small business loans, commercial lending and wholesale banking. In wealth management, the market concentration is 80 percent.

The situation is different in the U.S. when it comes to bank lending. Institutional investors and private funds south of our border provide the bulk of capital that irms rely upon. Increasingly, banks in Canada are generating more of their income from fees instead of interest so there is little motivation to disturb this lower risk means of generating proits. Banks here have become very comfortable with this arrangement, so much so that many often do not view lending as one of their core businesses. Extending credit to companies in complex situations or that are facing temporary and challenging setbacks is seen as too risky, time consuming, and a poor return on investment.

In Canada, loans today represent a smaller proportion of the assets of large banks than at any time in the past 100 years. There are easier ways for banks to make money, as a result of deregulation. These banks can generate money with a few clicks of a mouse, simply by moving cash around on a screen. There’s much less risk and effort involved in that.

We at Third Eye Capital are in the business of taking on risks that banks perceive as being too high and we are willing to invest the time and rigorous work to understand those risks. In fact, it’s one of the most exciting parts of the job — discovering hidden opportunities, sparking ideas with talented entrepreneurs, and being part of something new and special, something that contributes to the overall economy and society.

Canada needs policies to grow the muchneeded market segment of alternative lenders. What we advocate is greater sources of capital that will open up new inancing opportunities for Canadian businesses, while raising the standard of living for all Canadians.

Q: Brief us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as an entrepreneur that you can remember?

Arif Bhalwani: My childhood memories often center on struggle and privation. My family was expelled from Uganda in the 1970s, as a result of the dictatorship that had taken hold of the country. We spent years in an Austrian refugee camp before coming to Canada.

This is probably how I developed the courage and resiliency to become an entrepreneur. I started running my own businesses at a very young age, irst out of necessity but later because it was fun and never feels like work. My irst “real” business that actually impacted my livelihood was a personal computer services company that I started and sold when I was in highschool. By the time I was in my mid-20s I had already helped found and manage eight different businesses. That exposed me to all sorts of demands and disciplines that can’t be taught in a classroom, and energetically focused me on solving real problems and adding value to my customers' lives.

Q: Finally, what does the future look like for Third Eye Capital?

Arif Bhalwani: We believe it is an incredible time to be an alternative provider of capital in credit markets today. The stigma that used to be associated with not being able to secure a loan from a chartered bank is decreasing as irms like ours become more widely accepted and recognized as a valueadded capital solutions provider. This is at a time when banks are reining in risk, reducing lending, and shoring up reserves due to tighter inancial conditions and greater economic uncertainty in the market. There are a lot of credit gaps being faced by businesses and we hope to ill some of them.

Dean Hallett

President - Hallett Leadership

Empowering Transformative Leadership

In a world illed with constant change and

challenges, there are rare journeys that remind us of the power of leadership and the impact it can have on people, organizations, and even entire work cultures.

These journeys nestle into our hearts and minds; captivating us unlike anything else. They become vibrant threads that weave through the fabric of our existence, breathing life into our experiences, emotions, and aspirations.

Within these stories, we discover solace, inspiration, and a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. And among the rich mosaic of leadership stories, one igure stands out: Dean Hallett, an LAbased transformational leader.

His unique journey delivers guideposts, encouraging us to tap into our hidden reserves of strength through creativity and to navigate the ever-changing tides of life with resilience.

As we delve into his narrative, we witness a multifaceted individual—a trainer, entrepreneur, high-performing executive, author, speaker, and more—who embodies the essence of inspiring leadership.

In fact, his journey resonates with the universal longing for purpose, growth, and meaningful connections.

BREAKING WALLS, BUILDING BRIDGES

For Dean, his introduction to coaching has been deeply transformative, exploring the why & how of what holds executives back.

As he relects on his own past, Dean acknowledges that while his childhood wasn't marked by adversity, he developed limiting beliefs that hindered his recognition of self-worth. His elder brother who bullied him instilled the belief that it was better to be seen and not heard, perhaps even better to be invisible.

With conviction, he asserts, "I constructed formidable walls and convinced myself that I could navigate life solely on the strength of my intellect. How mistaken I was!”

Fortune smiled upon him when he encountered emotional intelligence training in his early twenties. It was then that he realized the vast expanse of life he had been missing.

He reconnected with forgotten parts of himself, honing attributes that enabled him to bring out the best in those around him. The revelation of his personal power and the ability to create profound connections with people pushed him forward on his journey.

Once Dean tapped into the human connection he had been longing for, there was no turning back. While emotional intelligence training was the catalyst for self-discovery, his journey of growth has continued throughout his life.

As he ventured into the business world, he built upon his ability to connect with others, helping them

unlock their full potential. “I created work environments that were based on trust and mutual respect, which in turn allowed me to build teams that truly thrived.”

th

While at 20 Century Fox, Dean launched and led accelerated leadership initiatives, and the studio went on to achieve eight record years in a row, and nine record years in a 10-year span.

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF DEAN'S COACHING

Enter Hallett Leadership —a beacon of transformation in leadership development. Led by Dean, Hallett Leadership offers

executive coaching and the highly acclaimed Accelerated Leadership Program (ALP).

Executive Coaching runs for typically six months with the focus on “expanding the executives' selfawareness and developing leadership skills for building an engaged and aligned workforce.”

Here, by challenging limiting beliefs and behaviors, Dean helps these leaders uncover the underlying sources of their potential, encouraging a meaningful shift in their approach to leadership.

The ALP Program, on the other hand, offers a nine-month

UNVEILING THE LEADERSHIP GAP

Dean believes that many companies overlook the importance of investing in leadership development until it's too late.

They assume that leadership skills either come innately or are acquired through osmosis. Surprisingly, research from Harvard Business Review reveals that the average age at which managers receive their irst leadership training is at a staggering 42 years old, while they assume managerial roles at just 30 years old. This has left most managers fumbling in the dark for over a decade!

Dean shares that when individuals are encouraged to step into leadership positions, they often succumb to the belief that they must possess all the answers and project an image of lawlessness. Consequently, they hesitate to seek input and feedback, making uninformed decisions

that stile team engagement and creativity.

Moreover, as individuals ascend to lead teams, many remain ixated on their own performance, neglecting to share vital information with their colleagues. This act of withholding casts a shadow upon the team, thus derailing collective growth.

These disruptive behaviors are relected in a Gallup Poll which found that 85% of the overall workforce is unengaged or actively disengaged, and many are actively subverting an organization's efforts. Disengagement comes at a price: the annual US economic cost for disengaged and under-engaged employees exceeds $550 billion. Moreover, turnover increases 18% to 43% in lowengagement teams.

immersive experience for a cohort of up to 25 individuals who continue performing in their existing roles.

This program takes a holistic approach to leadership development, encouraging growth in individual leadership, team leadership, and overall organizational leadership.

From authentic leadership to maximizing proitability, from promoting trust and mutual respect to driving collaboration and high performance, the ALP Program equips leaders with a rich toolkit to thrive in today's dynamic business landscape.

These transformative offerings provide individuals and organizations with the right tools and support needed to achieve exceptional levels of performance across all levels of the company.

Dean and his team have built a robust talent pipeline, shaping the most trusted leaders of tomorrow. In fact, he proudly highlights his company's success in nurturing a bench of future leaders, as well as their track record of coaching senior executives to secure their irst CEO positions.

At the heart of Hallett Leadership lies the belief that every individual, at any level of a company, has the power to create a lasting impact.

EMPOWERED LEADERSHIP, TRANSFORMED FUTURE

Dean has witnessed irsthand the powerful transformations that his coaching programs can unfold.

It is often the simplest moments that hold the greatest power. By offering feedback to address behaviors that disrupt team dynamics, relationships can undergo remarkable changes. These subtle shifts have a ripple effect, reshaping the culture of organizations as a whole.

Moreover, by investing in leadership development through Hallett Leadership, client companies embrace a culture of collaboration and alignment,

resulting in engaged, highperformance teams that drive sustainable success. A recent study by LSA Global found that highly aligned companies increase revenue 58% faster than their less aligned peers and are 72% more proitable. How much money is your company leaving on the table?

In a nutshell, Dean's offerings stand apart from the competition for two key reasons.

Firstly, the programs hold the philosophy of transformation close to their heart. It embraces the power of personal choice, empowering every individual to consciously present themselves as their best selves.

His coaching philosophy transcends supericial change, exploring core beliefs and behaviors that inluence the actions of leaders.

Secondly, his decades of experience in the trenches set Hallett

Leadership apart from other career academics and consultants.

With a successful 25-year tenure in the challenging entertainment industry, including leadership roles as CFO for two major studios, he brings real-world insights and "war stories" to the table.

This practical experience allows clients to grasp the tangible application of leadership in diverse circumstances, solidifying Hallett Leadership as a trusted partner in driving meaningful change.

THE DELICATE ART OF WORKLIFE

Dean's inluence extends far beyond coaching and leadership development.

As an entrepreneur, coach, speaker, and trainer, he leads a rich and multifaceted life driven by a deep passion for family, work, and personal pursuits.

Moreover, he has mastered the art of work-life balance, skillfully tending to each aspect with care and dedication.

By cherishing what truly matters, he inds fulillment both in the warmth of personal connections and the accomplishments of his professional journey.

THE LIMITLESS ROAD AHEAD

As Hallett Leadership sets its gaze upon the future, the path ahead shines bright with promise. Word of mouth continues to spread about the transformational work he and his team deliver.

Executives who have gone through Hallett Leadership programs consistently express the tremendous value gained, not only in their professional lives but also in their personal relationships.

With a focus on conscious leadership and the ability to inspire greatness in others, Hallett Leadership is poised to revolutionize leadership development on a global scale.

Dean's unshakable commitment to empowering leaders and creating high-performance cultures will shape the landscape of organizations for years to come.

With a future illed with limitless potential, Hallett Leadership is set to redeine the boundaries of what is possible in the world of leadership and workplace culture.

MOST TRANSFORMATIONAL

CEOs

OF THE YEAR

Transformational CEOs are visionary leaders who redefine industries, challenge the status quo, and drive meaningful change within their organizations. They possess a unique ability to envision a future that is both innovative and impactful, and inspire their teams to achieve extraordinary results.

Exeleon Magazine recognizes some of these Transformational CEOs in this issue and highlights their unique stories.

Kathleen Black Kathleen Black, Inc.

Jonathan Azouri CatchCorner by SI

Guillermo Salazar IrisCX

Emmanuel Smadja MPOWER Financing

Antonio McBroom

Primo Partners

Arif Bhalwani

Third Eye Capital Group

Anna Stella BBSA

Kent Rockwell URA

Dean Hallett Hallett Leadership

Keri Murphy Inspired Living