Women's Empowerment - KAREN KORPONAI

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

KAREN KORPONAI Founder and CEO of Konscious Konsulting LLC

Interview by Jules Lavallee

You have over 20-years of experience working with global brands including managing celebrity brands. What advice would you give for brands during this pandemic?

The coronavirus is affecting many businesses. Air travel, sports, and entertainment activities and events are being canceled worldwide. Restaurants and retail shops have to adjust to a “new norm”. In the midst of any crisis, it is challenging to stay optimistic and calm. The good news is that for the most part, business leaders and entrepreneurs know that staying calm under pressure is ultimately part of the job description.

And, as they say, in every crisis there is always an opportunity. I would recommend businesses check in with their customers. At the end of the day, a satisfied and happy customer means business revenue. You have to identify the new pain points and challenges your customers are facing given the coronavirus and then get creative and pivot your business to accommodate your customers.

For example, I was on full lockdown in Bolivia where you were only allowed out one morning a week. Only those with a special permit could drive. I had to walk 30 to 45 minutes to the grocery store with a backpack and suitcase on wheels. Grocery vendors adapted to their customers. “Mobile” fruit and vegetables stands soon appeared in every neighborhood. Vendors pulled up in their personal vehicles and displayed their goods for sale. In other markets, on-line commerce and delivery services became the norm.

How is Konscious Konsulting guiding conscious companies in their quest to turn visions into reality?

The first step to advising any company is establishing a clear vision. Once the vision is clear, it is about finding the right strategic partners and building a team to accelerate and evolve the vision into reality. Clarity is power.

For example, while overseeing the marketing and branding for the House of Marley company, I interviewed over 10 branding agencies to find the right fit. Together, we identified key messages in Bob Marley’s music and then translated them into brand values and products that would spread his message across multiple platforms. The mission was to spread Bob Marley’s vision through high-quality, earth-friendly audio products while maintaining a commitment to charitable causes.

You have to be able to tell the story before you can sell the story and in three years, we launched the House of Marley brand in over 20 countries.

Share recent client success stories.

Recently, Konscious Konsulting supported the World Identity Network (WIN), a Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) observing member. The objective was to match WIN with a celebrity to elevate awareness on the right of every individual to have an identity. Over 1.1 billion people in the world are unable to prove their identity and therefore lack access to vital services such as healthcare, education, finances, and social protection.

We began the journey by creating a list of celebrities that aligned with this cause and selected a venue, the United Nations General Assembly, to curate an event to elevate WIN and their mission. Though my passion and ability to create strategic partnerships, I introduced WIN to the #Togetherband campaign, the Global Citizen Forum (also a GBBC observing member), and a few others which led to a connection with actress and humanitarian Amber Heard. As a result, WIN held a press conference during the United Nations General Assembly in New York bringing together these partners to announce Amber Heard and the CEO and Founder of WIN, Marianna Dahan, as official #Togetherband campaign Ambassadors for the Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

“Karen has an incredible ability to engage anyone in conversation and inspire them with the vision she is promoting. Karen genuinely cares about people and is highly effective in building support.” Cameron Saul, CEO, and founder of BottleTop and the #Togetherband Campaign

What will people notice about working with you?

I believe the Konscious Konsultant clients and the people around me will notice my insatiable drive to guide people, companies, or foundations to reach their goals of changing the world efficiently and with maximum impact. I have a passion for promoting the business paradigm that focuses on people, planet, purpose, and prosperity.

I believe that everything we do should align with our values and vision while leaving positive footsteps with our clients and their end-users. My business colleagues joke that I challenge them to “konsult their own konscious” before making decisions. Ultimately, it’s about people and relationships. I genuinely care about people and I make an effort to understand their needs and add value whenever possible. For this reason, I have developed many long term business relationships. I am a super-connector and it gives me much joy to connect the right strategic partners and then watch the magic unfold before my eyes.

From a village to a boardroom, whatever the scenario, I believe, the people around me will remember me for jumping in with passion, optimism, and creativity to find the best ways to impact communities and lives globally.

Konscious Konsulting is well-known for fostering strategic partnerships. Please give a few examples.

The ability of Konscious Konsulting to create strategic partnerships has directly led to Akon Lighting Africa and Sunna Design collaborating and building the first African-made solar street light assembly plant in Mali. The partnership with Sunna eventually led to expanding the Akon Lighting Africa initiative outside of Africa for the first time.

Through these trusted and long term relationships, I successfully convinced the founders of Akon Lighting Africa and of Sunna Design to donate solar street lights to the Emirates Red Crescent and the United Arab Emirates Royal family initiative to support Syrian refugees in the Mrajeeb Al Fhood Camp in Jordan. Together the partners brought solar lights, books, and built a playground, providing hope and inspiration to the refugee children.

Building trust and long term relationships will always create an opening for collaboration in the future. Several years later, these relationships have led to the creation of Akon Global LLC, a company focused on identifying strategic partnerships for special technology projects and smart cities initiatives. The goal is to identify strategic partners and “game changer” technological solutions to accelerate the development of Akon’s Smart city initiative in Africa. I was asked to be a managing partner in Akon Global LLC and to be the Director of Sustainability and Social Impact for the Skopje Technology Park in North Macedonia. Through these strategic partnerships, I will be creating bridges and sister city partnerships across technology parks and smart regions globally.

Tell us about the House of Marley.

The House of Marley business has been my favorite Konscious Konsulting project. I am a huge fan of Bob Marley, his music and it was a true honor to carry on his legacy through the House of Marley. The House of Marley’s mission is to create a better world and spread Bob Marley’s vision through earth-friendly audio products. The company is built on the principles of superior quality, sustainability, and a commitment to charitable causes. Driven to enhance lives through great product experiences as well as using proceeds from product sales to support global reforestation.

As the first hire and proud founding member of the House of Marley leadership team, I strategically supported the global launch of the brand. As the right-hand person to the founder and investor in the business, I initially helped build the team and drove all aspects of the business. This included identifying strategic factories in China and vetting and hiring brand, product design, communications, and event marketing agencies to support the rapid launch and growth across multiple countries. It was an incredible experience to take this business from a concept on paper to reality.

During this time, I had the unique privilege and pleasure of collaborating closely with Cedella and Rohan Marley. “Karen was patient, optimistic, and was always spreading her positive vibes whether it was at 6:00 AM, preparing me for a live interview, or after a long day at the Consumer Electronics Show. Karen became a trusted advisor and the team and I could always count on her. We worked closely together during the creation and launch of the earth-friendly audio products.” [Rohan Marley, Son of Reggae Artist Bob Marley, Jamaican Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Marley Coffee, Spokesperson for The House of Marley and Former Gridiron Football Player.]

Share your work in the non-profit sector.

Through Konscious Konsulting, I have supported numerous non-profit organizations with strategic partnerships, business strategy, fundraising, and event planning. Given my passion for youth and sports, I was excited to create a strategic partnership with Sports and Education for

Economic Development (SEED), NBA Africa, and the Akon Lighting Africa solar energy solutions initiative.

SEED is an international NGO that uses education and sport to empower the next generation of African leaders. They have impacted thousands of youths by ensuring they have access to quality education, high-performance sports training and facilities, and the leadership tools to make big dreams come true.

As a result of this strategic partnership, several outdoor basketball courts were built with solar street lights at schools in West Africa. This allowed for increased safety and longer playtimes into the evening. I encourage everyone to get involved, wherever they are, to continue to empower youth worldwide. The youth are our future.

I have also donated my time and energy to the Tony Robbins Global Youth Leadership Summit. Through the Korponai KIDS foundation, which was created in honor of my twin brother, we have sent almost 100 teenagers from Africa, South America, and the U.S.A to the annual Global Youth Leadership Summit in San Diego.

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