Door to Success Leaders that We Need Today Womanhood Unlocking the Poten al of Women for Welfare of The World www.insightssuccess.comVOL-02 | ISSUE-24 | 2022 The Most10 Successful Businesswomen to Watch in 2022 A Synonym of Excellence Suze Orman
Editor’s Desk
With a crystal-clear vision of ambitions, women leaders achieve remarkable feats by having a great understanding of the market. They take calculated risks to shift the tides while adapting to the newer methodologies of the business world with their flexible approach. Women leaders understand that the key to success in any field is having a network of people pushing you to achieve your goals; thus, they are focused on cultivating a supportive culture. They promote unity among their team members and celebrate even the slightest success, uplifting morale. It is said that the best leaders are those who create other leaders, resembling the practice that most successful businesswomen imply. They are fantastic guides and magnificent mentors for their colleagues, educating them on the essentials of being a team player. They are setting examples of leadership, inspiring the next generation to gather the courage to pursue their ambitions, encouraging
ender is not a barrier today to success in anyGfield; today, women in business prove their worth by playing a significant role with their valuable contribution. They lead with courage, determination, having a great passion for delivering the most innovative solutions by forming solid and resourceful teams in their organizations. By proving their credibility, women leaders are often good at earning trust and encouraging the foundational core of an organization.
Delivering Excellent Results
them to identify significant market opportunities. In this edition of “The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch, 2022,” Insights Success is celebrating outstanding businesswomen who are most exemplary in their leadership skills and are proving their worth by delivering excellent business Featuringresults. on the cover is Suze Orman, who has been recognized as “America’s Favorite Financial Advisor” by The New York Times and “a force in the world of personal finance,” and a “one-woman financial advice powerhouse” by USA Today. While flipping through pages, have a quick rundown of the articles written by the in-house editorial team and CxOs featuring industry insights. Delve in! sharad@insightssuccess.com Sharad Chitalkar
ARTICLES 28 46 Door to Success Leaders that We Need Today Womanhood Unlocking the POTENTIAL of WOMEN for WELFARE of the WORLD 16Adi Engel Helping SMEs Become Leaders in Digital Space COVER STORY08 CONTENTS Suze Orman A Synonym of Excellence
20 Alexandra Littlejohn Alicia Asín Pérez A Prominent Leader in the Insurance Industry A Proficient Leader with Exceptional Leadership Traits 52Sherry Blinkhorn An Accomplished Real Estate Broker and a Passionate Advocate for the Mentally Ill 34Gowri Tirumurti Training Your Dog to be PAW-SOME 48 Ngaire FuataEnriching the Lives of New Zealanders 42Karina Tiwana 24 Cloé CaronGuiding Leaders to Develop their True Potential30 38 Jillian WestonAn Astute Digital Marketer Leading with Relatability and Empathy An Ardent Legal Professional Exemplifying Passionate Leadership
sales@insightssuccess.com Editor-in-ChiefFebruary,2022SeniorSalesManager BusinessDevelopmentManager MarketingManagerTechnicalHeadTechnicalSpecialist DigitalMarketingManagerResearchAnalyst DatabaseManagement TechnologyConsultant Hitesh Dhamani ManagingEditor Anish Miller ExecutiveEditor Sharad Chitalkar AssistantEditors Jenny Fernandes Kshitij S Peter Collins John Matthew SalesExecutives David, Martin BusinessDevelopmentExecutives Steve, Joe, SaurabhJacobAdityaSmile Marry D'Souza SME-SMOExecutive Amol Wadekar Frank Adams CirculationManager Robert Brown Stella Andrew David Stokes Visualizer David King AssociateDesigner Co-Designer SoniaShyam Sonawane Copyright © 2022 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Follow us on : www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/ www.twitter.com/insightssuccess We are also available on :
Alicia Asin Perez Cloud is the software platform that allows the management of an IoT project from the beginning to the end.
Co-founder and CEO Libelium
libelium.comLibelium The 10 Most Successful to Watch in 2022
Adi Engel CMO vcita is a compact, quick-smart app that keeps you fully connected to your business, whenever and wherever you are working from.vcita.comvcita Alexandra Littlejohn Managing Director Alliant Insurance Services is among the largest and fastestgrowing insurance brokerage and consulting firms in the United States. Alliantalliant.comServicesInsurance Jillian Weston Owner/ Founder Jillian’s Circus is a full-service online marketing agency.Jillian's jillianscircus.comCircus Karina Tiwana ViceLegalPresident infinera.comInfinera Suze Orman Co- Founder Secure makes saving for emergencies easy and helps you navigate the unexpected in life.securesave.comSecuresave Sherry Blinkhorn Broker/Owner Blinkhorn Real Estat implements innovative technologies and offers virtual reality tours and drone videography to enhance the listings services. Blinkhorn Real Estate blinkhornrealestate.comLtd Ngaire Fuata Director Elissa Weimer Owner & Professional Trainer Sunpix sunpixpost.co.nzPost Paw & Order Dog pawandorder.comTraining Sunpix Ltd is a New Zealand based Television & Digital Media Production & Management Company. Paw & Order Dog Training offers certified dog training programs that are tailored to the individual dog and are successful with all breeds, ages, and temperaments. Infinera is a global supplier of innovative networking solutions. DescriptionCompany NameFeatured Person Cloe Caron President & Founder o2coaching strongly believes that any person or organization can acheive its goals by adopting simple fundamental shifts in mindset, attitude and behaviour.o2coaching.cao2Coaching
COVERSTORY Suze Orman Co-founder
A Synonym of Excellence The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch in 2022 We're SecureSavebuildingtobe the benefit and financial solution that we wish we had as employees – and one that we're excited to o er as leaders. Suze Orman
oday, people who are known to be successful orTextraordinary at some point in their past were merely seen as ordinary individuals. They might not even have been picked as 'people who are likely to be successful' in their high schools. Some might not even have had enough resources but still managed to climb the ladder of Fromsuccess.working as a waitress till the age of 30, making $400 a month, to becoming America's most recognized expert on Personal Finance, Suze Orman has come a long way.
Can you walk us through how this is working with early adopters of SecureSave? We have found that most employees sign up and decide to save $25-$50 a paycheck. Most employers choose a small per-paycheck match as a way to help encourage the
SecureSave also makes it easy for employers to launch the program. We will send an email to all employees on behalf of their employer explaining this new benefit, how it works and exactly how much their employer will be matching. That email will include an "invite" link. All an employee needs to do is click on that link that takes them to a page where they tell us how much they want to save each paycheck. That's it!
The ease of use for everyone is one of the reasons I am so excited to work with SecureSave. This is one of the easiest benefits for any Human Resource Department to deploy and it's why we consistently see over 50% adoption, often within just days of offering the benefit.
Suze has been recognized as "America's Favorite Financial Advisor" by The New York Times and "a force in the world of personal finance" and a "one-woman financial advice powerhouse" by USA Today. Suze has written ten consecutive New York Times Bestselling books and today is best known as the host of the popular "Women & Money" Apodcast.two-time EMMY Award winner, Suze is the single most successful fundraiser in the history of Public Television, having raised over $ 200 million Dollars for PBS. Most recently, Suze has co-founded SecureSave, a revolutionary workplace benefit that helps employees build an emergency savings fund. It was her passion for helping every household take control of its money that led her to team up with Devin Miller and Bassam Saliba in launching SecureSave. SecureSave automates emergency fund savings for employees who choose to sign up. A portion of each paycheck is automatically deposited in an FDIC-insured bank account. Participants also receive a matching contribution from their employer. Employees have instant access to their account through the SecureSave app. Inspired by her vision for SecureSave, we at Insights Success had a conversation with Suze to learn more about how she is helping people feel and be secure and save for emergencies through SecureSave. Below are the excerpts from the interview: Suze, you have said that SecureSave is the most important thing you have ever done. Given all your accomplishments, that is saying a lot! Why are you so passionate about SecureSave? So much of my work—books, podcasts, my television show—are me telling people what they should do to be secure. But this is different. It isn't just advice; it is a system for doing exactly what I think is the foundation of financial security: building an emergency savings fund. SecureSave automates the intention everyone has to build emergency savings into action. I truly believe this can change the savings rate in the United States for all. Why did you name it SecureSave? I have always said, the goal of money is for you to be secure. And the first step on the road to attaining true financial security is to have an emergency savings account. But most people do not have one. So what happens if they get sick and can't work, lose their job, their car breaks down, or their refrigerator stops working? What are they going to do? The easiest way to be financially secure is for you to start to save. It's that simple…hence the name SecureSave. So how does it actually work for the employer and the employee? We have created a highly automated program that is easy for employers to offer as a benefit (an HR dream) that runs on state-of-the-art technology. Once the employer launches SecureSave, there is very little management required from that point on. We make saving as easy and as automatic as possible by running SecureSave through an employer's payroll system. Employees who sign up tell us how much of each paycheck to save for them in an FDIC-insured account. That's all they need to do. It is a set-it-and-forget-it benefit.
With feelemployeesSecureSave,canpreparedforlife'sunexpectedmoments.
We believe that emergency savings is the foundation for financial wellness and to makeultimately,youfeelsecure.RoyceMarc:byPhotography
SecureSave is a company whose sole intention is to help people save in the easiest and most cost-effective way possible. Our entire focus is emergency savings accounts.
SecureSave's goal is to give employees a savings account they can access when they need money in an emergency, so that they can just leave their retirement money alone to grow until they retire.
Our goal is to become the go-to company worldwide to help people save money for emergencies and the unexpected in life. We want every single person to be and feel secure, and the best way to do that financially is by having emergency Forsavings.more information about SecureSave go to www.securesave.com or email info@securesave.com
What we know happens all too often is that people without emergency savings will often take out a loan on their 401(k) savings, or request a hardship withdrawal. Neither is a good choice as it impacts their retirement security.
I am proud to say that, on average, we have an adoption rate of more than 50%. Most participants sign up within the first few weeks of employees being invited to save. This happens because we make it so simple. It takes an employee less than two minutes to set up their account and start We'resaving.seeing that most participants check their balances a few times a week, but very few have withdrawn any money. That makes me so happy. They are committed to saving and want to watch their account grow, but they are also leaving the money there for emergencies.
What is your main goal for SecureSave?
In what way will the employer benefit from offering SecureSave? The more financially secure an employee is, the better employee they are, it's just that simple.
No, no, no. I think that over time we may see that SecureSave participants will even increase their rate of retirement saving. Once they see they have an emergency savings cushion they can tap easily (and cost-free) on an asneeded basis, I think it will make it easier for them to save more in a 401(k), knowing they won't need that money for future emergencies.
You mentioned an impressive adoption rate, can you tell us more about that?
What's important for employees and employers to understand is that because this is a post-tax benefit, SecureSave is not held to the rules and regulations for many other workplace benefits, such as retirement accounts. So, the employee can access their money anytime they want without any penalties or additional taxes.
Most employer-sponsored plans, like a 401K, have strict guidelines making it difficult for an employee to easily access their money immediately. What happens when the employee wants to access their money from SecureSave? All employees have instant access to their savings, with no penalties or taxes. They can access their money immediately through the SecureSave website, or a workplace app. I think this is a crucial reason why employees are so eager to participate.
What happens if the employee leaves that employer? They take the account with them, just that easy. All money, including all the matches from their employer, is theirs. They can continue to access their funds using their SecureSave account or their money can be deposited into their personal account at their bank or credit union.
A strong benefits package makes an employer's business more-competitive when it comes to attracting and keeping talent. But the one benefit that most employees need and want more than any other benefit is an Emergency Saving Account. And currently, for most corporations, it is the one benefit they are not offering. When you offer benefits that support your workers' true needs, such as SecureSave, you are helping them remove one of the major financial stress points in their lives. And we all know that can make them more engaged employees.
employee to save. Some employers choose to also give a sign-up bonus when the employee enrolls. Our technology allows each employer to personalize this program to meet their needs. Most employers contribute around $8-10 per month for participants.
Do you think that employees will stop contributing to their employer's retirement account if SecureSave is offered?
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Earlier, women were hardly seen as potential leaders in the insurance industry. But that scenario has changed. Many women have worked their fingers to the bone to climb the corporate ladder and make their mark in the insurance sector. One such woman is Alexandra (Alex) Littlejohn. Alex is the Managing Director of Alliant Insurance Services, one of the nation’s leading distributors of diversified insurance products and services. She holds over 34 years of specialized expertise in broking and solving complex client problems. Let us shed some light on her journey as a business leader in the insurance industry.
In addition to Alex’s North American role, her role entailed building out the broking platform in Latin America and Asia from 2001 to 2004. In 2005, Alex took on the role of Chief Operation Officer for North American Specialties.
A Proven Leader Specifically, with property broking, Alex has tackled various complex solutions involving a multitude of crises. In 1992, Alex dealt with the hard market reaction to Hurricane Iniki, Northridge earthquake, and after-effects of Loma Prieta. She had to think swiftly to manage and drive placements in the hardening market. In 2012, after joining
A Prominent Leader in the Insurance Industry
A native of San Francisco, Alex joined the insurance industry in 1988, spending 23 years of her career at Marsh. During her time there, she climbed the ladder swiftly to where she was promoted to Managing Director at the young age of 33. Alex is a trailblazer who paves the way for women in the industry. She was one of the only women to be promoted to many of the roles she took on over the years, showcasing her expertise and ability to be a strong leader. Most notably, she was the first woman to lead a region for property broking in the mid-90s tackling the hard market reaction to Hurricane Iniki, the Northridge earthquake, and the aftereffects of Loma Prieta. Recognized as a highly-skilled broker, Alex was then promoted to lead the continental European market for property and excess casualty and relocated to Zurich, Switzerland. When returning from Switzerland and moving back to New York in 2001, Alex led the crisis and volunteer center post 9/11 terrorist attack as Marsh had suffered a significant loss of life. Additionally, she was responsible for leading broking operations for middle markets, large and complex casualties for North America, and resided on the executive committee, another role in which she was the first woman to hold.
Exhibiting Expertise and Ability to Be a Strong Leader
Alex was then asked to lead the Strategic Business Solutions team in her role as SBS leader. She was essentially responsible for the business transformation postglobal broking era, including identification of roles and responsibilities within the NA offices, development of MART, which helped transform the business post the Global Broking era. To top it off, Alex served on the North American Executive Committee and IT Governance Committee, two very influential positions where she in part made decisions on behalf of the behemoth of the organizaIntion.2012, Alex left Marsh and joined Willis Tower Watson as she wanted to get back into broking. As EVP, she was responsible for leading the Northeast region broking and service teams where she led highly productive and technical teams, solved complex client issues, and battled another huge crisis, Superstorm Sandy. Five years later, she was promoted to West Region CRB leader and came full circle back to San Francisco. She was also the only woman to ever be promoted as a regional leader for the Corporate Risk and Broking business.
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Our solution-focused commitment to meeting the unique needs of our clients assures the delivery of the most innovative insurance products, services, and thinking in the industry.
Managing Director, Specialty Broking Leader Alliant Insurance Services The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch 2022 February 2022 | 21 | insightssuccess.com
Alexandra Littlejohn,
Continuing to Provide Best Coverage and Service to Clients Alex had many options for the next step in her career; she chose to join Alliant because she saw that Alliant emphasized the importance of having women and minorities as leaders. Aside from her broking responsibilities, Alex goes above and beyond when it comes to ensuring inclusivity in the industry. She advanced the cause for women and minorities within the insurance industry by participating on various panels, mentoring, promoting women in leadership positions, and joining an all-female group of senior leaders across industry and geography called Chief. In her current position, one of Alex’s main goals is to impart as much influence and knowledge as she can on initiatives around the insurance industry, specifically around the advancement of women and minorities.
Willis for only a month, she was thrown into another major crisis, superstorm Sandy. As the leader of the Northeast region, Alex looked for proactive measures to ensure that as much capacity available was deployed to Willis clients, her clients would be covered in the event of another natural disaster, and the market would respond with terms, conditions, and much-needed capacity. This was achieved by evaluating the portfolio of clients, engaged engineering and risk differentiation, complex modeling, and redesigning current structures to take advantage of available capacity at the best price.
In 1999, Alex relocated to Zurich, Switzerland, and became Marsh’s leader for the continental European market, serving U.S. domiciled risks that needed global capacity. The capacity offered in the market was not yet available in the U.S. and only the largest of Fortune 500 companies were buying global re-insurance; therefore, she worked on securing capacity for the largest of her Fortune 500 clients.
Despite her March 2021 appointment at Alliant, Alex has already garnered attention as the co-host of her own podcast, Alex and Al: Coast to Coast, on the Alliant Specialty Podcast channel, where she speaks on current events, trends in the industry, and interviews top leaders in the insurance community. In addition, Alex has been instrumental in bringing teams and markets together to help solve coverage and capacity problems as she organizes the markets and creates solutions on behalf of Alliant and our clients.
Beyond continuing to provide the best possible coverage and service to her clients, Alex's future goal is to ensure that she makes an impact. She concludes, “When I think about my legacy, it is to have made an impact. It might not be as great as we would want it to be, as we have a long way to go, but I am dedicated to continuing to have those uncomfortable conversations with management to make sure that we’re continuing to invest in women. So that is my mantra, and I came to Alliant because I felt we have the best platform to allow me to do that.”
Talking about the Alliant, Alex states that the business of managing risk is getting more complex, and Alliant is meeting this complexity head-on, not with more layers of management, but with more creativity and agility. “Alliant is changing the way its clients approach risk management and benefits, so they can capitalize on new opportunities to grow and protect their organizations,” she puts.
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At the time, the only access to European capacity was through Zurich and London; however, by having this specialized group located in Zurich, Alex was able to best differentiate client risks and maximize capacity alongside unique structures. And, in most cases utilizing the insured captives to the front for the much-needed capacity.
Managing Business Risks with Creativity and Agility
In her current role, Alex works with clients spanning the Alliant Specialty platform, including real estate and hospitality, construction, technology, and public entity. She is engaged in expanding Alliant’s service platform, increasing the analytics platform, and building solutions for clients by engaging specialists and insurance markets.
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Before you extend your compassion and authentic care for people, you must first practice self-care. Why? Because you can never give what you do not Belowhave. are things that can help you in practicing selfcare: Ÿ Start your day doing things you love the most and boost your mood.
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Itworld.isonly
There appears an absence of self-care. Taking care of yourself can be overlooked against all the professional pressures of our life. But it is important to take time to care about your physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health.
Ÿ Be grateful for things you have, no matter how small or big it might be.
There are much more things that you can discover yourself to practice self-care. After following all the things, you will appreciate your life, even more, resulting in a healthy work-life balance. With peace of mind, you will achieve your life goals. You will know yourself better – see a better version of yourself and attract positivity in your life.
L ife is a struggle that revolves around personal and professional challenges. And, when you are struggling, seeking advice from genuine friends always helps you. But instead of following people and their advice, create your own opportunities that help you find your own path. Because fate is by far the greatest mystery of all, and you can never know where it will take you. But the real question is there an alternative to all of this? While everyone speaks about these complicated things, let’s discuss the solution through this article.
Our lives are connected to technology and social media, as they play a key role in today’s modern world. As business leaders, we have to accept the fact that the vision to bring change in the lives of the people and transform the world is possible with technology. But, promoting compassion and wellbeing among the people is also equally important. Understandably, everyone wants to create their identity and influence the world. But developing leaders just for the sake of business output and profits will degrade the quality of the leadership. And, we don’t want such leaders, especially in tough times like leaders who can get the best out of their team, which is possible only without the fear of judgment. It is a great way to lead, discuss, guide, and help each other in crucial times. A ray of hope is all people need, and leaders can bring that hope through these sources. For example, if any employee knows that he/she does not have to face the issues alone and there is someone to talk about it, it gives hope to that Yes,person.that’s the alternative for a leader – to connect - to help those who feel down and try to bring the best out of them. That’s what the leader should be recognized for, and this is the shift leaders need to bring currently. As an organization and as people, we should develop compassion and ethics that reflect our outlook on the with this approach we can make it possible to sustain and impact lives for longer, creating a better world for all. This is a much-needed alternative in today’s pandemic situation – promoting compassion and well-being among the people. Now that we have got the alternative solution for the leaders. The next question is, how do you recognize that you need help? Most of us today are too busy making a living. We exist only within our daily routine, as we are preoccupied with massive responsibilities in many aspects of our lives, like academic, financial, career, household chores, etc. And due to this, it becomes too late to realize that you are already struggling –emotionally and mentally. We no longer listen to our body & mind, and finally, we do not appreciate our actual/real life.
Ÿ Have sufficient sleep, healthy food, and exercise regularly Ÿ Do activities and interactions add value to your life
Wetoday.want
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I joined the military right out of High School. Being a Military Policewoman led me to the path I am on now. During college, I acquired a paid internship with the Attorney General’s office and later with the Federal Bureau of Investigations on their Violent Drug and Gang squad in Philadelphia, PA. After two years of interning there, I applied for a Special Agent position, but quickly realized that just was not what I genuinely wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to help people and wanted people to be excited when they saw me arrive at their homes—a different feeling than seeing an agent or police officer at your door. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I did not know where to start. I spent a long time figuring out what I was good at and realized I am good at teaching people. I just had to decide what I would be excited to teach! I realized that I love animals and that they had the power of making people feel good in so many ways. I realized that so many people have dogs, so I decided to shadow many other dog trainers and attended a ton of schools to learn as many techniques as possible to help people ENJOY their dogs. To this day, I continue to learn and better myself and my team of trainers to help as many people as possible. We not only continue our education with behavioral problems, but also
Elissa is the Owner of Paw & Order Dog Training and is a Professional Trainer, with numerous certifications to her name. Through Paw & Order, she offers professional, balanced, dog training and behavioral problem solving throughout the Pittsburgh area. Paw & Order recently expanded its reach to Southwest Florida, Houston, TX, and Central Ohio through franchising. Insights Success caught up with Elissa in our endeavor to find “The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch 2022” and talked about how she is instilling pride in dog owners, as well as making dogs safer in the community as a whole! Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Paw & Order Dog Training. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
Training Your Dog to be PAW-SOME f you are a pet owner, you may understand that theI bond between a dog and owner is impeccable. You might have come across several videos on social media where a dog is happy, carrying out his shenanigans, spreading smiles on millions of faces. However, many efforts go into training these dogs, considered as an essential part of canine companionship. Elissa Weimer takes dog training to her heart to deepen the bond between the owner and the dog to widen their smile.
Elissa Weimer
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future Paw & Order Dog Training goals? We recently started opening new locations nationwide and want to continue doing so. We strive for the QUALITY of our trainers instead of quantity. Paw & Order is my “baby,” and we will only expand with individuals that match our integrity and motivation to work hard, be proud of what they are doing, and continue to improve the quality of the business.
“We pride ourselves on solving behavior problems and teaching good behaviors for the long term, not just for the moment. We will investigate and solve your dog's behavior problems.”
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Paw & Order’s mission is to improve the lives of as many families as we can by providing quality and effective individualized dog training. Our vision is to continue spreading Paw & Order nationwide and have an amazing training program to ensure that the quality of our local Pittsburgh market is mirrored in every major city in the United States. We train our trainers to the highest standards and treat our employees like family. All our trainers are extremely valuable to us, and we make sure that they are well taken care of. It builds their loyalty to our brand, making them want to work even harder to ensure that our clients are happy and excited to refer us to their family and friends. Enlighten us on how you have impacted the training niche through your expertise in the market. Our training is unique to each dog and family. We have also made training simple and effective for families and dogs. So often, we hear that “my dog will only listen if I am holding treats or the leash/some other piece of training equipment.”
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
with other areas of dog training such as trick training, Therapy Dog Training, Canine Good Citizen, agility training, large field socialization classes, and K9 Detection training (my Belgian Malinois and I won 1st Place Narcotics at last year’s Police K9 Competition in Kentucky). We realized how much we have to offer and how unique our company is that we decided it was time to franchise in 2019!
Or a client will say that their dog knows all basic commands (sit, down, come, stay) but will not do it when there are other distractions around or the environment does not look the same every time for the dog. Dogs do not generalize things well and need hundreds of repetitions in as many situations as possible to reliably understand what you are asking them to do. We have mastered our communication with dogs and their owners to train SIMPLE. We have found that overloading our clients with a bunch of training jargon that means nothing to them is not helpful. Dog owners want their dog to be a good family dog they can trust and be proud of! They are not competing in shows with their dog where they need to learn fancy tricks and unrealistic positions to their family situation (there is nothing wrong with competitions, but most pet owners do not care about that). Most people do not have perfect timing when it comes to communicating with their dog, so we use methods that allow a delay between rewards and consequences once their behavior, like/dislike, has been identified. This helps tremendously so that their dog will listen even if their owner does not have food or a leash in their hand. We pride ourselves on solving behavior problems and teaching good behaviors for the long term, not just for the moment. Our clients have lifetime access to our trainers and they have access to a free private adventure group after their training is complete to make sure that they continue to be successful. It introduces them to an amazing community of other dogs and owners to experience fun things with. At least once a week, we meet up at trails, parks, stores, lakes, bars, etc., and go hiking, camping, kayaking, or just enjoy a nice day outside with our dogs and a drink! We want people to experience how life-changing our dog training programs are. Once your dog is well trained, your world becomes more fulfilling and exciting!
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Jillian Weston Owner/Founder Jillian's Circus
Jillian believes that as the owner of a digital marketing agency, it is important to create a strong foundation with the right pricing and service offering, hire motivated people with positive attitudes and natural skills, teach them how to do their specific job, and finally continue to teach, check-in and motivate each person in her company. On-going encouragement and education keep her employees current with their clients’ needs.
Jillian states, “That’s all part of business- sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down and must find a way to adapt.”
Everyone can agree that the Spring of 2020 was a difficult time for everyone due to the pandemic. However, it forced many businesses to realize that their business needs to adapt to this digital era. Jillian opines that if entrepreneurs did not know before, the pandemic showed them that they needed to energetically sell their goods and services online. In any disaster, some industries suffer, and others benefit. Jillian’s Circus adapted by having employees work from home/ remotely and working with current and new clients on getting their business online as quickly as possible.
For example, a boutique might spend $10,000 on their online website, but that isn’t even close to what they would spend on rent, utilities, and staffing in just one year at a brick and motor location. And their website will last at least 3-5 Anotheryears.example she gives is of coaching. A coach can put their lessons online as videos or host them virtually, allowing more people to view/ attend each lesson and raising the amount of money they could earn. Scheduling individual appointments or having a physical classroom limits both your time and the number of people who attend each Jillianlessonstates,
An Astute Digital Marketer Leading with Relatability and Empathy
Jillian Weston
Being Adaptable in Unprecedented Times
“Even if you cannot sell your products/ services online, it must be said that maintaining a solid online presence is still relevant. The presence alone increases your opportunity to gain new business, increases customer loyalty, repeat business, and referrals; and allows you to stay competitive. Few business owners achieve success without a digital marketing strategy.”
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Being Competitive by Maintaining Solid Online Presence Talking about the significance of digital marketing, Jillian mentions that it is impossible to reach your company’s full potential without digital marketing. The return on investment is insane. Digital marketing saves an incredible amount of time and money because the internet provides a place for people to do business anywhere in the world at any time without the expense of an office, staff, etc.
The effectiveness of the leaders is mainly figured out by their ability to cooperatively work with their team and lead that team effectively to deliver great results. Learning how to teach and motivate people who have different values, goals, and motivations than you do, is tough. Leaders need to deal with a variety of people in the team. They need to have good soft skills to relate with all the people in the team. They need to empathize with people and bring out the best in them to drive organizational Leaderssuccess. who relate to the people in their team deliver remarkable results for the organizations as well as their clients. One such leader who has cultivated the art of relating to the people is Jillian Weston. Understanding people and becoming more empathetic has made her a better leader. She is the Owner/Founder of Jillian's Circus . The company’s finely-honed balancing act identifies its clients’ goals and achieves them utilizing a wide array of online marketing tools.
Inspiring Employees to Meet Needs of the Clients
Besides, Jillian expresses, “If there is even one negative Ned/Nancy in your office- get them out!!! Like right nowstop reading and fire them. If you’re the person who is negative, then you need to stop because it’s killing your business.”
One Desired Change If given a chance, one change that Jillian would bring in the way brands and people connect is to remove people's skepticism when it comes to sales. She states, “Every business is in business because it fills a need. If there is something you need or want, and you hear about someone who has or can do it, then book a meeting with them to see if what they offer makes sense. If it does, move forward. If it doesn’t, let them know and thank them for their time.”
Celebrating Success of Each Other
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When it comes to driving an organization’s success, maintaining a positive work culture is essential. Jillian’s Circus strives for a positive work environment. Its training manual goes beyond basic skills/rules. It stresses interoffice relationships and collaborative strategies by encouraging a non-competitive environment, offering ongoing training/team meetings, and hosting several parties every year for all employees and clients. Jillian’s Circus celebrates one another’s successes and provides incentives to reward excellence.
Creating Authority in Digital Marketing Space and Growing Like a Wildfire
Over the next 5 years, Jillian’s vision is to establish Jillian’s Circus as an authority in the digital marketing space, work on digital advocacy, and grow like wildfire.
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“Jillian’s Circus is a full-service online marketing agency that regularly makes magic happen for clients.” |
Creating Strong Base and Building on that Jillian advises aspiring businesswomen to start by creating a strong base. She instructs, “Think about your client’s journey from hearing about your business to working with you for 10 years. Think about what they will see, what they will hear, what they will receive, etc. when they interact with your business and employees. Will they see a professional website? When they call how does someone answer? What does follow-up look like? If they walk into your office, is it comfortable? Then create a consistent, professional, branded flow every customer will experience.”
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Aftertoday.spending
What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes to Digital Transformation? I think that when it comes to digital transformation, businesses that align their offerings to advances in technology further drive the evolution. Technology
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Reflecting on the experience, Tiwana recognizes she’s grateful for the men and women along her path that buoyed her up when she felt she might be drowning. Helping a new company be born is a daunting task. The Enterprise Business Division, turned Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, contains a close-knit group with many employees boasting long tenures with the company.
Karina Tiwana
An Ardent Legal Professional
Exemplifying Passionate Leadership
almost 15 years at Alcatel-Lucent, first as a Contract Manager for five years, Tiwana moved up through the ranks of the legal department, where she landed a corporate counsel position supporting the most innovative business divisions of the company. Eventually, became a primary legal resource to one of these divisions, the Enterprise division, in 2006. Thereafter, she was tapped to support one of the highest revenue-producing divisions in the company. She did that up until 2014 when she was invited to support the planned divestiture of the Enterprise division as General Counsel in the United States. Tiwana would be charged with building a department to support all the legal needs of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, the new stand-alone company, in North America. This was no small feat but, she said, “many talented and professional people carried my torch.”
t takes dedication and laser focus to find success, notI to mention rolled-up sleeves and dirt under your finger nails”, states an ardent leader, Karina Tiwana . As the General Counsel, Vice President and Corporate Secretary of ALE USA – the U.S. entity name of AlcatelLucent Enterprise - Tiwana has been an integral part of the success of the company. Her passion for the business side of law and sheer dedication has led Tiwana to where she is
Let’s know more about Tiwana and her contribution to the industry through an interview conducted between her and Insights Success.
Below are the highlights of the interview: As a business leader, what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the telecommunications industry? The pandemic’s impact on people, in some cases, has been horrifying and deadly. I will in no way minimize my feelings of empathy toward families that have lost loved ones and those who have fallen ill from the virus. And, of course, to parents trying to cope with both at-home working and at-home teaching of children ripped from schools and their friends. This at-home working and teaching has created an increase in the need for tools like the AlcatelLucent Enterprise Rainbow Unified Communication Platform, as well as infrastructure solutions, such as the company’s OmniAccess Stellar wireless LAN and the OmniSwitch network switches that make everything connect to support the increased communication needs spawned by the crisis. In this way, many telecom industry segments are reaping the benefits of the “new normal”. It’s a shift from in-office to home working and from in-person school to home school. Even events and what used to be live entertainment have gone online as we all try to cope with the restrictions required to keep all of us safe through the pandemic. I hear through news reports that many companies will continue the work-from-home options in some form or other so, it looks like the need for telecom industry tools, solutions and infrastructure is going to continue to grow.
I am very lucky to have been given the chance at AlcatelLucent Enterprise to effect real change in my role as General Counsel at ALE USA. I hired student interns in 2014 as a creative way to augment my staff. We showed so much success with training and utilizing student interns in our legal department that it inspired the company to adopt an Internship Program and now, many departments are hiring student interns. In fact, a recent hire is going to supplement our global CSR endeavors. She will be graduating from college soon with a degree in Ethnic Studies. I think these internship programs are vital to creating opportunities and success for everyone, especially fromandStep-upleadthefront.
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continues to be instrumental in our lives and the growth of business. In particular, I think, as a strategy, aligning business infrastructure with Cloud technology builds a mindset that pushes innovation, agility and problemsolving. Our company’s Cloud technology products and services have helped our customers push beyond digital transformation plans and overcome the challenges of working through a pandemic. It’s clear to me that Cloud delivers the benefit of scale and adapts to opportunities, while being reliable and secure. It just makes sense to me how flexible technology enables businesses to adapt the work environment, ensure efficient operations and manage costs. How do you bring your General Counsel skills in establishing strategic direction and delivering results globally? I do this in many ways, but one of my greatest pleasures in the recent past has been contributing legal advice to our team of women and men that have created the Diversity and Inclusion Employee Resource Group (ESG) under our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program With the executive sponsorship of Rukmini Glanard, our Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Services and Marketing, the ESG hosted our second global online summit to highlight that diversity and equality are life issues and, definitely, a business issue impacting financial results. An equal world in business results in an enabled and better world for business. We need all of our minds and all of our hands, as a company, to compete and succeed. Diversity and inclusion – across gender, ethnicity, age, religion, etc. – enable a better, balanced environment for economies and communities to thrive. In what ways have you contributed to the community? In my community, as a woman Veteran, I am very active in our American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary. This “American Legion Family” provides support to local Veterans, their families and the general community where Veterans live and work. One example of a recent project in 2020, we recognized the needs of so many children in our community around Christmas time. We sponsored, locally, Toys for Tots supported by the United States Marine Corps Reserve. We served over 300 children and all of them received gifts and a food donation for their families. Supporting this kind of “all-volunteer” community event brings me great joy because I saw the power of giving in action. College students, home for the holidays, stood alongside their Parents, Grandmothers and Grandfathers to participate in the toy and food distribution portion of the event. I strongly believe in the empowerment provided by serving a cause much greater than yourself. I get this empowerment through working within our American Legion Family. I currently serve on the Executive Board as Sergeant-at-Arms and have served in the past as Post Commander. At the time I served as Commander, I was the very first woman everto serve as Commander in the Post’s 77-year history.Today, I’m proud to say, as other notable “first women” leaders are saying more and more, “I may have been the first, but I won’t be the last.”
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If given a chance, what change would you bring in providing growth opportunities to Women?
for women. In my case, all of my interns moved on to become practicing lawyers and have secured positions in law firms. I’m very proud of all of them.
Karina Tiwana, General Counsel, Vice President, and Corporate Secretary, ALE USA Inc. |
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As an established business leader, what would be your advice for the budding women entrepreneurs? Make sure you know a good lawyer! Not a shameless plug. No, seriously, it’s very important to build a strong network of diversely talented individuals that can be asked for the help you need along the way. Be yourself because your authentic self is your best face. Have a clear picture of what your authentic self is. Remember, there will be roadblocks on your journey to success and some may be related to your gender, your age or any number of things but the roadblocks are just hills to climb and there are plenty of people to give you a helpful push so you can keep going.
Leverage your mentors and allies. These are your friends, your classmates, your teachers, your family, your colleagues, and your professional network. They will help you navigate. But, above all, do what you love. Do it a lot. If you do what you love and you do it a lot, you will get really good at it. If you get good at it, you will likely make money at it and you will be wealthy. Wealth is not money alone. Wealth includes not only professional success but also self-fulfillment and realizing your dreams.
UnlockingtheWOMENWELFAREforPOTENTIALofoftheWORLD February 2022 | 46 | insightssuccess.com
Educating and empowering a girl child creates a ripple effect and it creates a positive influence in the community. Empowered women invest time and energy in creating the stronger next generations. The future leaders of tomorrow can be more talented, dynamic, and competent to deliver maximum contribution for the welfare of the world if they are raised by the empowered women. Empowering women is beneficial in so many ways and their contribution play a
Empowering women is essential for the sustainable development of the world. Empowered women become great asset for businesses, families, societies, communities, nations, and that is ultimately beneficial for whole world.
There is a tremendous amount of potential in every living entity. Untapped potential should be trapped for the welfare of the world. Where women are empowered that place flourishes in abundance. Empowered women leads to the prosperity of families, societies, nations and the world. Deep down, every person likes to live with dignity by contributing something to the world according to one’s capabilities and potential. Therefore, that potential should be nurtured in everyone and especially in the girls and women. Nothing can dim the light in every person that shines from within. All girls and women has to do is to be aware of their own inner potential and they can contribute to any field of their choice.
very important role in creating the genuinely exemplary future Genderleaders.equality is beneficial for the whole world.
The empowered women have the potential to significantly improve livelihoods, productivity, economic outputs, and the overall human life itself. The basic longing to live with dignity, the fundamental desire to have control of one’s lives and one’s future and to be part of determining the course of our communities and our nations are very much universal in the empowered women. These longings burn in the women and girls, and with these longings they can be a great dynamic force in the world to be an agent of change and make a significant contribution for the welfare of the world with their talents, skills, and abilities and that will lead to the ultimate welfare of the world.
The greater number of women in every field is a sign of growth and evolved culture. The empowered women are boon to the world. That is the reason ‘Gender Equality’ is one of the most important sustainable development goals.
Promoting gender equality is not just responsibility of women leaders or women issue but it is a societal issue and everyone should support in promoting the purpose of gender equality. United nations is again and again promoting the empowerment of women. That’s very crucial.
There are plenty of fields where women have opportunities and they can contribute immensely. The world is in desperate need of genuinely exemplary women leaders to make a difference through businesses, science, research, technology etc. Women can become the leaders in the field of businesses, science, research, technology and in any choice of their field if they are willing to be bold and courageous enough to pursue their career in such fields relentlessly. They have the potential to make a difference in the choice of field they go and therefore women should not shy away from utilizing their best capabilities and they should deny the world of their valuable contribution.
The world is currently going through the unprecedented times due to the ongoing pandemic. This is certainly challenging time for many people but some exceptional women leaders see the positive opportunity even in such unprecedented time and actually that is the hallmark of good women leadership. Exceptional women leaders are always aware and they understand that the unprecedented times always call for unprecedented actions, innovative, thoughtful, and win-win solutions. The world may be filled with lot of negativity due to inevitable challenges and causes, but exceptional women leaders call upon their inner light and they use such unprecedented time to develop and nourish their skillsets so that they can be an instrument of positive contribution to the world in the coming times. Now more than ever, women and girls need to call on their inner light to utilize the toughest times to tune into their conscience, learn new things by using virtual platforms and make themselves competent. In the difficult times of pandemic it is essential for women leaders to be detached from the negativity around themselves. Unless and until one is detached from the negativity, it is very difficult to focus on the positive and to make the most out of that positive. Exceptional women leaders prefer to be courageous to confront issues more diligently and deal with people with empathy and due consideration. Exceptional women leaders choose to think deliberately and act on the conclusion of logical, rational, analytical, systematic, and cognitive-intensive thought process. That is really the most important part of exceptional women leadership. Leaders are supposed to think deliberately and act on the basis of logical conclusion for delivering the efficient results.
Empowered women are the secret weapon of creating a positive change in the society and the world at large. Empowering and enhancing women and investing in them unlocks a tremendous potential for the world. Empowered women are the most important weapon and resource in the fight against the global poverty. The untapped resource of women has the tremendous potential and that should be recognized by the people in the world especially by the people who have the opportunity to create awareness related to this.
Womanhood February 2022 | 47 | insightssuccess.com
Ngaire Fuata Director
the post-production facility of SunPix has played a role in filming and editing the Covid-19 Pacific Language messaging (10 languages) over the last couple of years. We are experienced at producing broadcast-quality content at a high level which can be used across multiple platforms.
Let us shed some light on her journey as a business leader.
The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch 2022 February 2022 | 49 | insightssuccess.com
After nearly 26 years working for Television New Zealand (TVNZ, a media company), the department (Māori & Pacific Programmes) in which Ngaire was working, was outsourced. For most of that time, Ngaire and her team had worked on Tagata Pasifika, the Pacific Islands news and current affairs show. TVNZ was looking at existing production companies to bid for the show. This was the impetus for Ngaire Fuata and her business partners to create SunPix Ltd and put in a proposal as an external company to make the program. While they had years of experience producing and delivering the program, they had no business Betweenexperience.her business partners, Taualeo'o Stephen Stehlin, John Utanga, and Ngaire herself, they had a range of skills, a good track record of delivery and production experience, and very strong connections with the Pacific Islands communities. This made the collaboration solid, and while there were a few hoops to jump through, they were successful in getting the contract.
A Profound Impact Talking about creating the impact on the television industry, Ngaire says, "We've made an impact in our television niche through our people. Our team has close connections with their island communities, and we cover all sorts of things that mainstream programs wouldn't do. We are proud to say that we have earned the trust and confidence of our communities. While the landscape is changing now, and the major broadcasters and even advertisers are seeing the value and contribution of the Pacific Islands people, our experience over the years has meant that we are leaders in this field."
Ngaire mentions that SunPix is a group of companies with its primary focus on Pacific Islands stories in Aotearoa, New Zealand and the Pacific region. It produces TVNZ's flagship Tagata Pasifika television program and has an online platform TP+ tpplus.co.nz to engage Pacific communities through high-quality and relevant storytelling.
rom being a presenter, producer, chart-topping singerFto fitness instructor, Ngaire Fuata has come a long way in her career. She holds more than 30 years of experience in the television production industry. Having produced award-winning short films Ma and Liliu, Ngaire is now is one of the founding Directors and Producer at SunPix , the leader in the Pasifika representation on mainstream television.
The Inception Story
Ngaire asserts, "One of the most difficult aspects was being a new company, a new brand, new name, and the lack of name awareness and confidence from the funders. The Pacific Sports Awards show, which was scheduled, didn't go ahead, so we decided to create our own awards show to celebrate the unsung heroes in the Pacific community. We just called it SunPix Pacific Peoples Awards. It was a good way of connecting with our audience and building the brand. SunPix is now into its 8th year and has grown from not only a production company with its own online platform to now having a post-production company as well."
Enriching the Lives of New Zealanders
Engaging Pacific Communities
The most recent example of close and trusted links of SunPix is that it managed to get through to Tonga after the volcanic eruptions and tsunami when nobody else could, and its interview was used again by news outlets around the Besides,world.
"Our ability to be agile is how we prepare for this constant evolutionary process. Our great desire is to engage the younger generation because their stories and they matter in this changing and sometimes polarising world," says Ngaire.
Further, she also reveals that SunPix is making an independent feature film this year called "Mysterious Ways", and it has some budding filmmakers and hopes to be able to support more projects like this in the future.
Ngaire adds "Our company values are respect, cooperation and loyalty. We are a trusted brand and sometimes people will talk to us before they will talk to mainstream media. We celebrate our languages and use pacific languages where and when possible. This keeps our audience culturally connected to their homelands.
We asked Ngaire what change she would like to bring to the digital media industry, to which she answers, "Although we are a small company, we take our roles seriously and try to encourage Pasifika youth to tell their own stories. We have done this with an attitude of never saying no to opportunities. Our dream is to provide Pasifika youth a surer pipeline into the industry as well as more stability. This may mean a challenging change to the gig economy which has led to a lack of diversity. So the change we would like to see is the creation of opportunity with the result being a more diverse Digital Media industry enriching the lives of all New Zealanders."
Building Sustainable Business and Creating Healthier Industry
Ngaire adds, "We're able to commission other programmes for our TP+( tpplus.co.nz) platform and support these new producers to get funding, so we're not only creating content, we're commissioning content for our platform. We have also taken the lead in acting as commissioners for MFAT's Pasifika TV (PCBL Ltd) and we are mentoring regional broadcasters on their behalf. We are rock solidly behind the kaupapa (principle) of local stories made by local people.”
Engaging Younger Generation Positively
Encouraging Youths to Tell their Stories
SunPix's legacy show Tagata Pasifika turns 35 this year and is still the only Pacific Islands news and current affairs television show. Its archive is extensive. It's funded by the Public Interest Journalism fund through NZ On Air, its broadcasting funding agency.
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In the upcoming years, SunPix aims to build a sustainable business with capacity that maintains a place for Pacific Islands storytelling by Pacific people. Ngaire believes that there's enough room for more Pacific Islands production companies, and SunPix has helped and mentored some new ones coming through. She notes, "Collaboration, cooperation, and mutual respect is key and more capacity creates a healthier industry."
When asked about the next big change in the Production & Management industry, Ngaire states that the industry is constantly changing, and there are so many formats and platforms to entertain people. While SunPix moves with this, the one thing that stays constant is the story.
Sherry Blinkhorn Broker/Owner Blinkhorn Real Estate Ltd
Plunging forward in her path of success, she says the learning process never stops. Sherry holds a diploma in adult psychology, social work, and counselling skills. Being amply trained in the mental health field, she understands how stressful it can be to buy or sell a house.
Adding Different Ingredients to the Recipe of Success
Sherry has fostered an environment where she puts people first and encourages her colleagues to do the same. She’s created a caring and natural positive atmosphere in her workspace. She knows how crucial it is and is humbled to be part of the most significant transaction of one's life and is overjoyed to help it to become a reality. “We don’t see ourselves as good salespeople – we are good Realtors; there is a big difference,” says Sherry.
Subsequently, embarking on the success, Sherry's adaptability to change led her to the quest of incepting her independent real estate firm, in 2005, Blinkhorn Real Estate Ltd., and she has never looked backed since. She sowed the seeds of efforts and dedication, forming a team with likeminded colleagues that reaped her and her firm the fruit of gaining a solid reputation for providing exceptional services and supporting many non-profit charitable organizations.
Blinkhorn
Sherry began her professional journey as a commercial and residential property manager in her initial years then in 1998 she pursued getting her salesperson’s license. She began to achieve one milestone after the other by utilizing her extensive knowledge and experience to accumulate record-breaking sales. It resulted in her receiving national recognition in 2002 and 2003 and in 2004 she received the 'Platinum Award' for her sales achievement, placing her in the top 5% in Canada's total sales volume with Royal LePage National Franchise.
t is easy to say be the change you want, but it is quiteI difficult to really understand the struggle one goes through to change oneself. We hear stories about people who have achieved success and paved their way to the top of their field, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Numerous factors drive one to make desired changes to be the change they want.
In our search to find such a persona, driven to adapt to change, we came across Sherry Blinkhorn, who perfectly fits the definition of 'be the change you want.' Currently, Sherry passionately leads her venture, Blinkhorn Real Estate Ltd. , with her dedication to being the best of the best. The Thorns and The Roses Sherry's journey hasn’t been an easy one. She came up through the foster care system and went through many challenges in her life, but she made some conscious decisions that would change her life for the good after her children were born.
Sherry has focused her work approach around her buyers and sellers making them the utmost priority. It was vital to
An Accomplished Real Estate Broker and a Passionate Advocate for the Mentally Ill
Sherry
Top 10 Pioneering Women in Business, 2022 February 2022 | 53 | insightssuccess.com
Blinkhorn Real Estate is dedicated to selling your home or nding you that dream home creating the best possible experience throughout the entire real estate Professionallytransaction.weserve,personallywecare! ‘‘
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Above and Beyond for the Community
her to create a familial workspace which gives a feeling of comfort and smoothens the work process. She truly cares about her clients and understands their real estate needs, which is why she implies a friendly and professional atmosphere in her unique way. She has sculpted a valuedriven team that strives and implements effective marketing strategies with honesty and hard work.
Cherishing The Victories
Leveraging Technology to Provide Upscale Services
At Blinkhorn Real Estate, Sherry has created a work culture driven by values to make client's lives easier and delivers high-quality products. The company implements innovative technologies and offers virtual reality tours and drone videography to enhance the listings services. They do their best to ensure that clients get the best prices for buyers and sellers by through their experience and expertise.
The amount of hard work and dedication Sherry puts in her work is commendable in itself. Her work ethic has set an example, and her efforts have been acknowledged with numerous awards, including the ‘Community Mentor Award’ from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pictou County. She also received the prestigious ‘Business Leader of the Year award at the Pictou County Chamber of Commerce Gala in 2012. Sherry is the first female to receive this honor since its inception in 1991. Her achievements don’t stop there and go further; in 2018, Sherry received the ‘Volunteer Vision Award’ from the Nova Scotia Mental Health Foundation. The following year she was also recognized with the ‘Women in Business Award’ at the Chamber Business Achievements Gala. Aside from awards, Sherry was featured in 2020 in the International ‘Top Agent Magazine’ and her life story in the Nova Scotia ‘At Home Magazine’.
The Guiding Flame Unfolding the pages of Sherry's life, it is crystal clear that despite hurdles she’s faced, she always has come out on top. She always empowers, inspires, and encourages a TEAM environment at her work. She ensures an ambiance of professionalism, integrity, and superior client service. She leads with a positive attitude, high ethical values, and hard work and says she will persist in doing the same into the Lastfuture.but not least, Sherry has asserted herself in a firm spot being a leader in the field of real estate. She is an inspiration to numerous people and continues to change many lives. Her compassion, dedication, and her drive to change have made her a successful businesswoman. She is truly an example of taking charge of her own life and being the change, she wants.
The journey that Sherry embarked on has been a challenge in itself, she’s worked hard to forge her path to be at the position she is today. Her experiences have all contributed to finding transparency in her life. She has been a passionate advocate for the mentally ill for years. She was also the public relations director for the Canadian Cancer Society, Pictou, volunteered for years on the Palliative Care unit and made it part of her life to give back to her Sherrycommunity.hasbuilt Blinkhorn Real Estate from the ground up and contributed to many community organizations in various ways along the way including sponsoring sports teams and is routinely involved with multiple non-profits and other organizations across the county.
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