Ken Collis | Phenomenal Leaders of the Year | Exeleon Magazine

KEN COLLIS

ROSIE DAVIES SMITH 34

Ken

Collis

TKL Fusion

Building a

Lasting Legacy

CEO & Founder

“Legacy is not leaving something for people, it's leaving something in people – Peter Strople.”

Cultivating a legacy mindset is not limited to leaving generational wealth, it's about creating opportunities that have a sustained impact and positive inluence. It is about contributing to something bigger than yourself.

By continuing the entrepreneurial legacy in his family and impacting the lives of others, Ken Collis today stands out as a pioneering entrepreneur in the marketing world and beyond.

In this Cover Feature, we look into the journey of Ken Collis, CEO & Founder of TLK Fusion, and his family of entrepreneurs.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Looking back at his childhood, Ken refers to it as simply amazing. Growing up as one of the four brothers, Ken mentions “The love and guidance that I received from who I was surrounded by truly had an impact on who I was to become.”

A majority of his family members were ambitious and innovative entrepreneurs. This deined his future goals and shaped his

entrepreneurial mindset.

He remembers, “One of my earliest memories was using the large calculator I had at home as a pretend cash register and by the end of every day having it total one million dollars.”

Ken's father was a senior executive at an aerospace company, while also running a highly successful commercial maintenance business. He looks back with admiration for his father.

“The entrepreneurial spirit was very alive in my family, and I was excited to continue the family legacy.”

A SHARED VISION

In his own words, Ken's family is built on the foundations of the entrepreneurial spirit.

His wife, Mary, is a successful entrepreneur, who shares a common vision in terms of growth and success with Ken. Together, the couple have built a legacy that will transcend and thrive into the future.

Talking about his wife, Ken mentions “I am fortunate to have Mary not only as a strong partner in

life, but also as a strong business partner in everything that we accomplish together.”

Furthermore, both Ken's son and daughter are paving their own entrepreneurial pathway through their various ventures and associations. “I have been blessed that both my son and daughter developed a passion that mirrors mine.”

He adds, “As a parent and a leader, having the opportunity to witness my children coming into their own within the industry and as young business leaders has been one of my single greatest accomplishments.”

BUILDING BRANDS

Ken and his family spearhead multiple business ventures that stand out in their respective industries. Among which, TLK Fusion is a full-service marketing agency that services small to large lifestyle brands and entrepreneurs with marketing solutions that grow their businesses.

The company offers traditional and non-traditional solutions that encompass entry into the retail stores, public relations, inluencer and celebrity marketing, and a full

range of digital services that drive inancial gains and client acquisition.

kendi lux is a home fragrance lifestyle brand that was developed during the pandemic. The brand offers a full line of fragrant candles along with body fragrances and room sprays. The brand has launched to wide success in both the retail and consumer sectors.

THE MARKETING EVOLUTION

During his time studying at Cal State University Northridge, Ken developed a keen interest in the marketing industry. However, his education drove him into the business and inance sector.

Ken left the inance industry in 2004 and joined Clear Channel Communications to seek new challenges. The company represented some of the biggest clients such as Colgate, Ford, and Donate Life California. This experience enabled Ken to eventually form his full-service marketing agency – TLK Fusion.

Explaining his interest for the ield of marketing, Ken asserts “Dissecting what business owners need to succeed as an entrepreneur and the psychology of what drives a consumer to make decisions is not a constant.”

“Each day and trend pose exciting challenges that take great creativity to explore and succeed. Championing creative solutions is what I thrive on,” he adds.

Over the years, Ken has witnessed the evolution of marketing from a

“We work in an industry that is built on promises; however, few deliver commied results. Partnership with the most successful brands is built on the delivery of tangible success.”

close distance. He mentions, “The evolution of marketing mirrors the evolution of the mediums in which we engage with as a society.”

When he started TLK Fusion, television and radio were the most prevalent medium to reach consumers along with print publications. However, with the rise of social media, inluencers and celebrity-driven endorsements have begun driving consumer engagement with products.

He explains, “The Digital Advertising component piggy-backed on the success of social media and became the number one way to reach the masses. Television and radio have been replaced with streaming services.”

Ken further notes that the baseline strategy on what is being delivered to the consumer remains a constant. However, the evolution of the platforms is what drives how we consume advertising.

Talking about the future and the continuous cycle of evolution, Ken mentions “Technological advancement moves at lightning speed, and we will need to continue pivoting and surrounding ourselves with experts in these new technologies to advance at the same pace.”

DELIVERING RESULTS

As the Founder and CEO of TLK Fusion, Ken is passionate and driven to be part of the daily proceedings of the company. “I have no desire to remove myself from the process as I both educate and beneit from the evolution of my team”

Ken plays an active role speaking with every individual that comes into the organization. “It is an honor to speak with all of these brilliant entrepreneurs and a joy to see the younger entrepreneurs emerging.”

Furthermore, he makes sure to spend considerable time and effort in employing experts that can deliver optimal results.

Having worked with some of the biggest brands and celebrities for the last 13 years, Ken has emerged with a keen understanding of what drives successful partnerships.

He understands that each brand and individual while seeking common goals, have individual needs. According to him the key to driving results is through an exchange of trust that can only be nurtured by maintaining open lines of candid communication.

“We work in an industry that is built on promises; however, few deliver committed results. Partnership with the most successful brands is built on the delivery of tangible success,” he explains.

THE FUTURE

Ken started TLK Fusion with the vision to create an empire for his children. With his children now developing into powerful young leaders, the future of the organization is being built by their collective efforts.

“Our business expansion is being heralded by my son, Kenny. As the VP of New Client Acquisition and Business Development he has brought a fresh perspective on the new trends in business and has worked very carefully with me in our expansion.”

Under Ken's leadership, TLK Fusion will continue to evolve and create new opportunities in the market. “Our key focus in this growth is the constant reinement of what we offer our clients as we strive to remain on the cutting edge of the emerging trends in the industry,” he concludes.

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Entering the Educaon Market

An Entrepreneur’s Four-Step Guide

– WRITTEN BY VERLAN STEPHENS

More than ever, smart companies are entering or expanding in the education market, many of them in unexpected and proitable ways From creative start-ups to architects to huge tech names such as Dell and Epson, they realize that this multi-billion-dollar market is part of a potentially lucrative future-forward marketing strategy.

In the past 18 months, education as an industry has grown signiicantly with the inlux of additional state and federal funding to meet the new demands created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses are sensing this opportunity, but how and where to start?

As you consider this market, keep in mind both the larger institutions and the premium value of teachers as an individual consumer target audience. In the next year, 85 percent of teachers are planning to make some large purchase decisions, such as a vacation of a week or more (61%), according to an August 2021 survey of teachers from Harris Poll and sponsored by Agile Education Marketing and SheerID. To help with their purchase decisions, nearly all teachers (97%) say they proactively research brands through online reviews (80%) and online searches (71%).

Understanding teachers' interests and spending patterns can give you the insight you need to break into the education market and amp up your revenue.

With that in mind, let's get started:

Step 1: Learn the market.

How do you know if this is the space for you? The world of education is a highly fragmented, everchanging place, unlike any other market out there. The largest segment—and probably the one most impacted by COVID—is Kindergarten through 12th Grade. The K-12 system is the most dependent on government funding, so it's always looking for innovative services and products to serve more than 56.6 million students in public and private schools

Savvy entrepreneurs need to identify key factors:

Ÿ

The speciic purchasing patterns of target school districts or education systems.

Step 2: Understand these key players.

Digging deeper, there are approximately 4.3 million educators and school staff in the U.S. in K-12 alone. Collectively, they account for 3.4 percent of the American working population and represent up to $15.8 billion dollars in spending in key consumer spending categories.

Pay particular attention to their buying persona. Teachers tend to have a higher discretionary spending budget and, on average, have a higher earned income than comparable non-educator households.

Understanding the speciic buyer personas can help you tailor your approach and determine which districts and which job categories you should target.

Speciically, you should keep in mind:

Ÿ

The key decisionmakers and the process for the major purchasing decisions.

Ÿ

The size of the school budgets, broken down by strategic categories.

It's important to remember that virtually all school and district purchasing decisions are made collaboratively by groups of educators. This means that you usually cannot just target one job title. You need to familiarize yourself with the various roles and responsibilities to determine all the key players.

Ÿ

The education market outperforms the general public, government aside, in direct marketing campaigns. They are active, loyal, and highly inluential consumers, especially for companies that provide them discounts. Ÿ They have relative inancial stability and high education levels. Roughly 75 percent are female, and women traditionally hold a considerable portion of household buying power. Ÿ

Teachers are generally well-respected members of the community and are often looked to for advice, both inside and outside the classroom. Ÿ

They are among the irst to identify what resources are needed in schools, even the nontraditional products or services.

Step 3: Provide speciic solutions.

Many companies are inding their way into the education market, including irms not traditionally linked to classrooms, such as food service, transportation, software, local attractions, security, janitorial services, and more.

This means that if you carefully examine all the possibilities, there's probably a spot for your company or product. Using strategic audience segmentation is the key to sharper messaging and higher response rates. The more you align your message to the needs of the person on the other end, the more likely they will listen.

For each potential product or service, remember to drill down deep in considering:

Ÿ

Who has used our product or service before, and how did it work?

Ÿ

How is it going to solve the problem and need of those I'm contacting?

Ÿ

How can schools or individual consumers pay for this?

An expert in data compilation & data analysis, Verlan specializes in making meaning of data – as a Managing Partner at Agile Education Marketing and one of its founders he brings his passion and expertise in data trending and market intelligence to its clients. He holds more than 35 years of experience in creating, developing and managing customer solutions through its entire product lifecycle.

Step 4: Timing is everything.

Connecting with the consumer at the right time is essential, especially in the K-12 sector, where understanding the purchasing cycle is a key component in achieving success. Most schools inalize their budgets during spring to early summer. This means that the start of the calendar year (or maybe even earlier) is the optimal time to be in front of educators. They can't budget for your products if they don't know about them.

Paving the way for a smooth sales process starts with carefully tailoring your marketing communications to provide what educators need at every stage of the decision-making process. With billions lowing into this market, now is the time to assess your potential.

About the Author:

What according to you makes one an empowering woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

For me, an empowering woman is someone who makes me feel compelled to take action, grow beyond where I am today, and makes me believe that I can achieve what I put my mind to. She owns her life experiences and is a role model for learning how to overcome a challenge in her own unique way.

These elements are integrated into my own

thought leadership by talking openly about my own failures and visibility fears that led to the demise of my irst business. By understanding what didn't work in my business the irst time, embracing innovative thinking, and owning the differences that make me unique I've learned how to build and grow my second business differently – my way – and teach women how to do the same with their business.

From facing failure in your irst business to today guiding hundreds of women entrepreneurs, what has been your journey

Danielle Joworski

| Visibility Coach for Women

like?

The journey from failing in my irst business to today is not one that I would want other women to have, which is part of why I'm passionate about the work I do.

Transitioning out of corporate that irst time at 40 was without a plan. I was literally a ish out of water. Gone was the security and the title I'd used to deine who I was and what I could do. Without all of it, I was lost in a world I didn't understand and didn't feel equipped to be in. So, I struggled for 2 ½ years, lacking conidence in who I was and what value or solutions could be offered.

Getting to where I am today has come from making hard decisions and owning my role in that journey. Returning to corporate was done from a place of shame and guilt. Yet, it was done with a strange knowing that one day, I'd step out again. Time and space were needed to create the clarity, self-belief, and conidence required to step out again and succeed. It's deinitely been a journey of resilience and getting back up after falling and failing. Being able to look in the mirror, take accountability for the failures, and commit to learning from them has been key. Those steps from where I was to where I am happened over time. It was work. Studying myself allowed me to gain a greater awareness of who I am, my strengths, value and why I'm passionate about what I do. It's made overcoming challenges much easier and faster. “What is” today is a result of a continual journey and commitment to working on myself, having a clear goal, a supportive

network, an unwavering faith, and an understanding of what makes me different and using that to my advantage.

Looking at this journey, what would you do differently if you were to start again?

There are three things that I would do differently if I were to start this journey again. One, have a greater understanding of myself before making the step out of corporate. This would be from knowing my natural strengths and values, and that a title or salary does not deine me or equate to what I can do. Two, not make such a drastic leap. I understand why I did it at the time, however, the second transition out with a known date, clarity, and a plan made the process, and startup, much smoother and faster. Three, have a better understanding of my inances and cash low. Starting a business requires spending money, and when I irst started, I was spending money when there was no money coming in.

Talk to us about the importance of learning from mistakes and tackling adversities for an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur means that mistakes are going to be made. Learning is continuous and growth means taking actions outside of your comfort zone. It's important to learn from mistakes so that they are not repeated as they can cost entrepreneurs time, money, safety, growth, and reputation. What can be challenging for entrepreneurs is understanding the root cause of the mistake, their role in it, or the full

impact of the mistake. How an entrepreneur approaches and thinks of mistakes and adversities has a direct impact on their personal growth and the growth of their business. Changing the perception of a mistake to a learning opportunity, can switch an entrepreneur from being defensive, inlexible, and not seeing their role in the mistake. This is growth limiting, to a place of service, agility, and embracing an opportunity to innovate and make improvements. This is growth-enhancing.

Brief us about the importance of visibility and for entrepreneurs to put their brand out there.

With the explosion of businesses today, especially online, it's more important than ever for entrepreneurs to be visible and to put their brand out there. It's needed for entrepreneurs to establish their presence, differentiate themselves as an expert, position and promote themselves, and develop relationships with their audience. Being visible is critical to being found and hired.

Most often, there's a strong focus on the where, how, and when with respect to visibility. The problem with this type of focus is that it's looking at visibility from external outputs. This can cause entrepreneurs to implement strategies and processes that don't feel good or provide them with the results they think they should get.

When becoming more visible, entrepreneurs need to also look at their presence from an internal perspective – what and why. What

does visibility mean and look like to them? Why is being visible on a speciic platform or strategy important? By asking these additional questions, a clear visibility plan that includes actions and strategies that feel aligned with the entrepreneur and their brand can be created. When entrepreneurs implement aligned strategies there's greater consistency and conidence when it comes to the where, how, and when.

How are you helping women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more conident in presenting themselves?

I help women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more conident with their presence by starting with redeining what visibility is and means to them and why. Instead of looking externally for answers and what others are doing, I work with women to look internally to create the results they want to see externally. This requires creating a safe space where women feel supported to create their own vision and deinition for what they'd like to see. How I'm different in supporting women entrepreneurs to be more visible is by combining mindset methods with visibility strategies. This results in having the tools to overcome the doubts, worries and fears that often hold women back from being visible, and implementing strategies that feel good which helps to boost conidence.

What would be your advice for women leaders struggling to take that leap of faith in starting their business?

For women struggling to take that leap of faith, understand what fears, doubts, and worries are holding you back. Clarity will help to identify what knowledge, skill, awareness, or support can be sought out in order to create the belief needed to take the leap or close the gaps so that smaller steps can be taken with more conidence. Find women entrepreneurs to speak to who have walked the path already, and ask questions focused on what worked and didn't work for them when they took the leap and started their businesses.

Finally, what does the future look like for you and your brand? What are you most excited about?

That future vision for myself and my brand is focused on three

elements; one, increasing awareness of the issues facing midlife women entrepreneurs growing their business in an online world, two, teaching and supporting women on how to grow their conidence while becoming more visible as the face and voice of their business, and three, elevating women's voices and presence by providing larger platforms for them to speak on. I'm most excited about returning to one of the core reasons why I focus on visibility; leading conversations with women that showcase them as the expert they are by being seen and heard so they get found and hired.

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF PR

Rosie Davies Smith is a

pioneering leader in the PR landscape and the founder of PR Dispatch and LFA. With clarity in her vision, purpose, and intentions, she embraced several challenges and drove her team relentlessly, especially when COVID-19 ravaged her irst venture, LFA.

She continued to persevere and worked on her then-side-hustle and now-business, PR Dispatch. PR Dispatch is the UK's irst affordable PR platform which supports productbased businesses to pitch to the press

Rosie Davies Smith

and build awareness through press coverage from £54/mo in just 90 minutes a week.

Rosie has also worked with some of the best product-based businesses in the UK including Estella Bartlett, Bedfolk and Beija London gaining them thousands of pieces of quality coverage.

In this Exclusive Interview, Rosie talks with Exeleon Magazine about her journey as the founder of a leading PR platform.

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

When I think of a pioneering leader, the irst person who always comes to mind is

Sharmadean Reid. She is inspirational at running a business and I've watched her pivot and drive a team through the hardest times for the past decade. I've endeavoured to do the same in my leadership, especially after losing 80% of LFA's revenue overnight when COVID-19 hit. I founded my irst business LFA in 2013 and PR Dispatch in 2017 as a side hustle. LFA was always the main business, a PR agency that fed information to PR Dispatch.

When Covid hit, I was determined to keep my team in jobs and jump at the opportunity. I pivoted the agency team on to PR Dispatch. As an affordable PR solution for small businesses, PR Dispatch had the opportunity to step out of the shadow of LFA and thrive. With a 3week-old baby in a sling, I taught the LFA team the ins and outs of PR Dispatch via videos. While LFA closed in January 2021, PR Dispatch has continued to support hundreds of businesses and scaled signiicantly during a dificult time. I see PR Dispatch as the future of PR.

Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as a leader that you can remember?

From a young age I was always creating, marketing, and selling. My earliest memory as a leader that I can remember was my irst business of making Girl Guide outits for teddy bears at the age of 6.

From then on, I always wanted ownership over an area. That's why after University I decided to do my own thing rather than go down the traditional employment route. Even when I was cleaning houses to make money alongside starting my own business, it was still an area that I owned and could make a difference in.

What sparked your interest and subsequently your foray into the PR and Marketing industry?

I moved to London in 2009 from the Northwest to study an MA in Textile design. I began an internship

with independent brand Lowie, where I was hoping that I could learn the ins and outs of running a brand and then start my own.

On the second day, I was given the task of PR. I had no experience, but the director put a pile of magazines in front of me and asked if I could call and email each one and pitch their products. I was sold. A few weeks later, the brand started to receive coverage, and I convinced them to pay me freelance one day per week and they became my irst client.

I fell into PR completely by accident, but I knew there was an opportunity to make PR more accessible and to get more small businesses in the press.

A few years on and I had enough clients to start an agency. Having no PR experience meant I had no experience of how an agency should be run so I did what felt right and brands liked our way of working. This included being the irst agency in the UK to be completely transparent on pricing, expected results and offering a friendly honest service where we built long term partnerships with clients. I scaled the agency quickly to a six-igure-turnover and won a number of awards including Creative Industries GBEA 2016, PR week's 30 under 30 and we were included in the start-ups 100 list 2017.

What led to the formation of PR Dispatch? What was the pain point that you wanted to address in the market?

All was great but while I was building LFA I was starting to get the problem-solving itch. I was coming across great brands via LFA that the press would love to feature who didn't have the budget to spend thousands with an agency. I saw that there was a gap in the market for a service that supported small businesses and taught them how to do their own PR.

In 2017 I launched a separate limited company, PR Dispatch, the UK's irst affordable PR platform which supports product-based businesses to pitch to the press and build awareness through press coverage from £54/mo in just 90 mins a week. Our online PR learning & advice, step-by-step support by a team of PR experts, email pitch templates and regularly updated press databases mean you have access to everything you need to get your business noticed by

the press.

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

As a female-founder, wife and mother, my days are often taken up with more than running the business. My eldest, Sloane, is two, and my youngest, Isla, will be one at the end of March. My husband and I moved to Devon during the pandemic far away from all of our family and friends who would be the irst point of call for support. We are lucky enough to be able to pay for nursery during the week and share the childcare between us so that we can both focus on our work.

Day-day however, my schedule is always lexible as the girls are often home from nursery leaving us both to multitask! And since the birth of my second child, I've been struggling with postpartum insomnia which has made working productively each day a lot harder.

During the pandemic, I realised how easy it was to run my business remotely. We still have our ofice in South London but the team and I all work remotely and lexibly. Working remotely allows me to remove the morning commute from my schedule and have lexible working hours around childcare. Day-day I join meetings with the team, work on managerial and accounting tasks, brainstorm future development plans for PR Dispatch and at the moment I've been busy creating a new website! I couldn't do it all without my team, who I can always rely on to perform and do a fantastic job.

Running a small business while being a mother means no day is the same, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

What has the journey been like for Rosie DaviesSmith over the years? Looking back, what would you have done differently?

My journey in PR has been full of surprises, success and setbacks. Looking back, I would have reviewed our long mission, short team goals and customer proile & their pain points every 3 months. It would have ensured we were all focused on the same thing at the same time. It's a non-urgent but really important business task and without it, you are never going to be as eficient in driving the business forwards.

What would be your advice for aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs in the PR industry?

My biggest piece of advice to aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs in the PR Industry is always: don't be all things to all people. It is so important to niche yourself and become an expert in your ield. You don't want to make your offering too diverse as it dilutes your messaging and is confusing for the customer. You end up doing lots of things 'okay' when it is more important to do one thing really well. Don't just say yes for a cheque and it's good to say no to business opportunities that aren't right.

Secondly, to invest in the right team. You have to hire the people with the right skills and experience. This involves monetary investing but also time and development courses for the team so that they are a part of the company culture. Years ago, I learnt that without the right company culture and team you will stunt your growth as you'll spend more time correcting work and doing things yourself without scaling the company. It is important to make sure people are performing, developing and happy in their role.

Finally, what does the future look like for you and PR Dispatch?

I deinitely see the future for PR Dispatch as a remote company. I believe this is the future of working and it works great for us as a business and team. I hope to reach many more small businesses and continue to improve our service to ensure we are giving our members everything they need to succeed in doing their own PR.

Meet the Film Festival Doctor

For Rebekah Louisa Smith confronting herself about her passion for academia led her to a life-changing realization.

She realized that she didn't really have the emotional connection with the ield. Neither did she felt excited about it. “I knew I did not want to do it for the rest of my life,” she recalls.

This was the moment that facilitated the journey of Rebekah Louisa Smith – an inspiring entrepreneur, award-winning ilm festival strategist, producer, published author, speaker, and more.

Rebekah is the Founder of The Film Festival Doctor, a company that helps ilmmakers get their work seen by audiences around the world.

An Inluential Women in all regards, read this exclusive interview of Rebekah Louisa Smith where she discusses her journey, her book, and much more.

What according to you makes one a powerful woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

A powerful woman integrates diplomacy and kindness into their leadership while asking for help when needed. Admitting you need help as a leader does not mean that you've failed; instead, it opens the door to new solutions and possibilities that help you grow as a person and as a CEO. As soon as I asked for help and showed my vulnerability, I didn't feel like I was stuck anymore. I felt strong.

Rek Louisa Smith

Diplomacy also makes a powerful woman shine. I work with creative types who can become emotionally attached to their ilm and have dificulty taking criticism. Instead of responding with anger to their challenges, I respond with patience. I explain to these clients how prioritizing a growth mindset can help their ilmmaking and offer them constructive criticism. I gently encourage them to view the feedback as a gift to gain new skills which can help them become more successful in their careers.

What is your earliest memory as a leader/entrepreneur that you remember?

I will never forget April 17th, 2011; I submitted my Ph.D. thesis at 9 am and had the plan to build my business and live the life I created for myself in England.

Building my business was quite a dificult time in my life. I was lonely as I was trying to build up a business from scratch with no previous business experience and create something very niche and new. However, after eight months of building up my social media presence and attending networking events, people in my industry began to notice me and trust my brand. At this point, a community that wanted to help me grow my business and work with me formed, and I felt supported.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the ilm and media space?

This is what I call the 'Ah–Ha' moment! While I was writing my Ph.D., I could tell I was not waking up every morning excited to work

on it and only somewhat enjoyed writing it. I then got asked to coproduce a Film Festival; I realized I was in my element and felt much more alive and inspired.

Suddenly, this made me question whether academia was my passion. After consideration, I realized that, deep down, I did not love the world of academia; I had no emotional connection to it, nor did it excite me. I knew I did not want to do it for the rest of my life. I'm grateful for the Ph.D. process, it strengthened my project management skills, and I would never have known how to create award-winning ilm festival strategies for my clients if I hadn't irst started down the path of academia.

What was the idea that led you to start The Film Festival Doctor? What was your vision through this platform?

I caught the ilm festival bug while co-producing the 2009 Abertoir Horror Festival in Aberystwyth, Wales, where I was living and studying for my Ph.D. As mentioned, I realized my career ambitions were not in the world of academia but within the ilm industry, and my specialist niche area was ilm festivals.

The skills I learned and developed while writing my Ph.D. helped me identify a gap within the ilm industry. A common problem for ilmmakers was that they needed help getting their ilms seen at festivals; they didn't know how to do it, how to create a festival strategy, or whom to turn to for help resolving the problem.

At that time, USA-based Film Festival Secrets was the only company actively providing a ilm festival strategy service and had an internet presence. I knew I could also help my target market resolve this pain. While working behindthe-scenes co-producing a ilm festival, I traveled around Europe and met with festival programmers to learn how they curated their festivals. I discovered which type of ilms ilm festival programmers wanted to screen. There was a global market of ilmmakers who needed help, and I needed to turn my knowledge into a thriving business, so I learned what a festival strategy looked like and how to create one.

Talk to us about your book – Born to Do It – and how it can help emerging entrepreneurs take the leap of faith.

Unexpectedly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I became very inspired to write. An Indian publishing company was compiling a book called "Unique: Positive Stories to Inspire You," they approached me and wanted to include my story. When the Unique book went live and was available to buy internationally, a publishing company called Butterly House approached me about writing my own book to inspire others. After having a long hard think, I knew that writing a book was exactly what I wanted to do. I was thrilled that people had engaged with my story and resonated with it. I received feedback from business owners who now felt motivated to keep going and no longer feel alone.

I was not interested in writing a dry "how to start your irst business" book that was very formulaic and had been done to death a million times. Instead, I wanted to write a book that showed people how to launch their irst business using essential business practices that draw upon spiritual techniques

which would help them discover their soul purpose and teach them how to co-create with the Universe.

My book is designed to help others pondering the leap into entrepreneurship or are already on the journey but yearning for more success and proitability.

What does a day in the life of Rebekah Louisa Smith look like? How do you ensure work-life balance?

I am at my most creative and feel most inspired in the mornings. I get up at 6:30 am, do ive minutes of meditation and stretching, put the kettle on, and make my hot water and lemon. Then I respond to all my emails, text messages, Facebook, and What's App messages. There tends to be a lot upon waking as I am six hours behind the UK. I have a large client base in the UK, and several of my staff are based there too.

After breakfast, at around 8 am, I dig into more creative stuff, which includes creating festival strategies & Zoom meetings. Around 11 am, I'll be able to get up and get showered. After that, I get back to more emails until lunch, then back at it until I begin to wind down for the day. I always take an hour off for a long walk to detox from my iPhone.

The evenings will be staying in and relaxing, or if I am going out, it will be seeing friends or attending the opening of a ilm festival. The good thing about the time differences between the UK and USA is that after 5 pm in Dallas, the East coast is winding down, and over in the UK, they are asleep, which gives me a nice bit of space to ind that balance as it is very peaceful to catch up on some me time.

Looking back at your journey, what would you have done differently when starting out?

Looking back, I would have hired a business coach in the beginning. I

wish someone had told me to work with a coach before I launched my business, as it would have saved a lot of migraines and loneliness!

When I began working with my business coach Gerlanda, she immediately identiied what was missing from my company: an infrastructure. She helped me to create a sales forecast, pipeline, and monthly key performance indicators. I thought I was doing well when closing deals, but as it turned out, I needed to reine my sales pitch to work with more clients. And it's thanks to her expertise that I now have this knowledge.

Finally, what would be your advice for women entrepreneurs and leaders in today's business environment?

My advice to women entrepreneurs and leaders is to ignore the imposter syndrome and adopt a perpetual positive mindset.

Keeping a positive mental attitude is very important; by adopting this mindset, you can let your enthusiasm, self-belief, and passion for your business, clients, and industry shine through. Having the right mental state will help you igure out how to position yourself, as it is critical to present yourself as an expert in your ield, even when you are starting out. Always remember that you know you have the knowledge and skills and are good at what you do.

MARTIN MOBARAK

Founder | Frida.NFT

KEEPING THE LEGEND OF

he legacy of an artist can often be determined by the impact and inluence their art holds across generations, across communities, and across geographical boundaries.

Renowned as Mexico's most popular painter – Frida Kahlo was an example of excellence whose artistry continues to have an impact in our lives and in our society.

Her artistic legacy molds into the form of an incredible biographical narrative in which, using drama and rich symbolism, Frida shares the story of her intimate experiences, her despair, her beliefs, and her values.

Growing up in Mexican City, Martin Mobarak was someone who was introduced to the works of Frida at an early age. He was fascinated with her paintings and the cultural impact Frida had in extending the history of Mexico.

As Martin grew up, his

understanding of art expanded and simultaneously his appreciation for Frida's work and her life beyond.

Today, Martin Mobarak, a global entrepreneur and visionary, aims to immortalize the legacy of Frida Kahlo with Frida.NFT, a pioneering innovative blockchain technology reforming the charity industry to increase transparency, donation frequency, and donor incentive.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Martin grew up in a Lebanese/Mexican household with a strong inluence of Lebanese culture.

For him, the food, the music, and art were a different world altogether. He discovered Mexican culture as he started his high school years.

Through his school trips to cultural sites, Martin grasped more understanding of the country's rich history.

– FRIDA KAHLO

He recalls his irst visit to the Museum of Frida and getting introduced to her artworks. “It was a very typical ield trip on every school in Mexico. But to me it was extraordinary as I was immediately fascinated with her paintings, like love at irst sight, even though I visited the museum several times during my school years, each time was like a irst time.”

Martin's involvement with arts increased during his high school years, when he signed up for artistic shop classes and plastic arts school.

“One of my best friends was a prominent painter, and a teacher in Mexico City in the school of Plastic Arts, which is how I got more serious with art and education myself in the school.”

Martin eventually moved to a different state, pursued college, and started his professional journey. However, he brought his love for admiring and collecting art with him in this journey.

As a Mexican Native, Martin's vision is to bring the work of Frida Kahlo into the metaverse and bring together a communityofcollectors,creators,andlovers.

Frida had an impactful presence in Martin's growing up years. As he learned more about her life of pain and suffering, it impacted him to take notice of her struggles and how she conveyed these emotions through her paintings. Martin mentions, “Frida Kahlo lived a tumultuouslifetosaytheleast,fromPolio,tobeingtoldshe would never walk again after a terrible bus accident, to

marrying a notorious womanizer Diego Rivera, Frida paintedheremotionsandlifeuntilherpainfuldeath.”

He adds, “I share her feelings of pain in this material world, and yet, still not giving up helping the needy and try to ix the broken system. In my case it is the health system and thepeoplethatsufferfromit.“

Through Frida.NFT, Martin hopes to share the artworks of Frida with the world, instead of holding it in his possession whilemakingaglobalimpact.

FASCINATION WITH TECHNOLOGY

Throughout his professional journey as an entrepreneur and business leader, Martin has been a passionate visionary of technology.

He mentions “I owned one of the irst ISP providers in anchorage Alaska. I was involved in the development of the Internet between 1993 - 1998. I've always been involved in technology.”

Moreover, when Martin was introduced to the burgeoning blockchain technology and Bitcoin in 2009, he became obsessed with the potential of the industry. The led him to start his own cryptocurrency AGCoin, which is a silver-backed crypto.

“AGCoin is the irst crypto platform to invest in Silver, and it's the next generation precious metal tokenization model with continuous access to liquidity and availability. Creating a silver-backed tokenomy while tokenizing vault deposits, we have attempted to produce innovative solutions that address customers' needs but also provides consistent support. “

Martin learned about blockchain through various different conferences in Dubai and the US, while in the last year, he has learnt all about NFTs.

FRIDA.NFT

Martin realized the potential of the NFT market and how the technology can be leveraged to bring forth a change in the charity

space. This prompted him to introduce Frida.NFT.

Frida.NFT's vision is to create the bridge between the traditional art world and the expanding potential of Web 3.0. This community-driven initiative has a vision to introduce Frida's work into the metaverse and leverage her powerful likeness to bring together a community of collectors, creators, and art lovers on a mission to merge the traditional art world with the digital art world's expanding potential and immortalize humanities story.

“Like a Phoenix rising from its ashes, this collection of 10,000 NFT's represents the rebirth & immortality of a timeless piece by Frida Kahlo “Fantasmones Siniestros or “Massive Sinister Ghosts.”. This piece will be transformed to live eternally in the digital realm.”

Valued over $10,000,000, Martin has decided to take this to be the irst perpetual royalty charity initiative.

The mission for Martin and team is to create a consistent donation stream to charities, while rewarding the ones who are willing to be a part of this journey.

He mentions, “Each Fantasmones Siniestros NFT grants the holder membership to our exclusive artdriven charity foundation along with a host of ever-evolving beneits including, but not limited to, access to luxurious amenities, unique experiences, and exclusive events around the globe.”

NFTS AND CHARITY

According to Martin, NFT holds the key in revolutionizing the entire charity industry!

He elaborates, “Blockchain technologies are the answer, if managed correctly to raise capitals for many industries, why not charitable ventures? It's a very viable solution for possible perpetual pipeline of funds, transparent and secure.”

Over the last decade, Martin has collected timeless pieces of history. “As the current owner of the paintings, I have a vision of creating perpetual donations to multiple organizations for the needy with royalties from the NFT sale and collection.”

Martin's goal is to make an impact by providing donors full transparency of foundation funds, increasing donation frequency through perpetual donations, and dramatically increasing a much larger incentive for the community to donate.

The charity industry has struggled to keep up with the advancements in technology and digitalization, thereby prompting the public to take notice. “Ineficient bookkeeping, unpleasant user experiences, and distrusting donors make for an industry that is quickly losing public interest.”

Owing to scandals surrounding mismanagement of donors' gifts and general lack of transparency, public conidence in charity leaders has seen a sharp decline in the last

decade.

According to the Give.org Donor Trust Report, 32 percent of respondents trust charities less today than they did ive years ago.

GIVING BACK

For Martin, giving back to the society is an integral part of his value system. Moreover, his personal experiences with his daughter have given him this unique perspective “It is bigger than, me, you, and Frida would have understood it if she was alive.”

During his early years living in Alaska, Martin's irst daughter was diagnosed with a rare congenital disease and due to this he had spent countless sleepless nights in the hospital, broken and helpless. This was 30 years ago. And that changed him completely.

“I was myself in need of a place to

stay, and these inancial and logistical dificulties, as well as the broken health system in this country, made me want to take things into my own hands, just like Frida had done. Years later, when I became wealthy, I helped countless patients, their parents whenever I was in the hospitals, this time for my second daughter Elektra (now 11 years old) who was diagnosed with Crouzon Syndrome. Anytime, I see a person in need in the broken health system I had to interfere. Therefore, the proceeds from the sale of all the NFTs will go to the Charities that are dear and near to my heart and very important for my family,” he recalls.

Similar to him, Martin saw a number of other families who were facing this struggle to afford the care they needed. He tried to help them in whatever capacity he possibly could. Along with his daughter's battle, Martin prepared himself to combat the broken

healthcare system of the country.

“While my daughter had surgery after surgery (21 surgeries in total) and recovery of 3 months each time….it was dificult, but I managed, I got help from a loving family and other giving people. There are many families in need of help all the time and not enough resources.”

This impacted Martin to make a bigger difference and impact. Through Frida.NFT Martin is dedicated to bringing forth a disruption that contributes to the overall welfare of the industry and the society at large.