VOL 08 I ISSUE 04 I 2021
10 THE
MOST INSPIRING
BUSINESS
WOMEN
Well-Chosen Way
Making a Difference, 2021
Leading With Organized Approach And Wise Choices
Precious
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mayes
Bringing an Innovative Approach to Healthcare Arena
Editor’s Desk Having the Courage to Inspire
F
rom leading the country to being at the helm of organizations in various sectors, women are making their marks everywhere. It all starts with their endurance and the purpose of bringing a change in other’s lives. Today, the focus of many organizations is on the push to women in leadership roles. And why not? Women have got the required qualities and skills to thrive in any environment. Their quality to strengthen and inspire their team sets the example for everyone. They follow a culture where people can come together, contribute, be challenged, and become the best. Businesswomen believe in nurturing relationships with teamwork, trust, and respect. They want to continue to grow as a leader and lead the team and the company to the new heights. They always try to bring fresh and new ideas to the table. They always come with new strategies and approaches and keeps their teams’ and customers' priority at the top. More importantly, their natural confidence, strength, integrity, and core value stands out in any situation. They are fearless of standing to the ground with their values and priorities. This is especially true when we see examples around us where women are leading the big industries. With the right intent to succeed, there is a new generation of businesswomen committed to inspire and make a difference in the life of others. They are transforming every field with their creativity, taking every industry to new heights. And, the results speak about their performance.
Looking at their breakthroughs and the difference they have brought to the world, their contribution is worth recognizing. Their success stories have become an inspiration to many aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs to follow and shine in the business arena. With an intent to admire and acknowledge businesswomen leading by example, Insights Success has come up with the edition “The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021”. On the cover, we have an exceptional women leader, Precious Mayes. Precious is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacifica Hospital of the Valley (PHV). As a healthcare leader and entrepreneur, the journey of Precious has been very diverse and robust with opportunities and experiences in a variety of industries. Precious brings her experience and business acumen of elevating world-class medical care including the medical staff team to higher levels of personalized healthcare that guarantee a standalone standard of care for all residents in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles County.Since the start of her career, Precious has always explored the impossible with the philosophy of “anything is possible”. In this edition, you will come across many such business stories of women who have transformed the industry with their qualities and novel approaches. Have a Wise Read!
Sourabh More
sourabh@insightssuccess.com
CONTENTS Cover Story
08
Precious Mayes
Bringing an Innovative Approach to Healthcare Arena
28
Article
16
Well-Chosen Way Leading with Organized Approach and Wise Choices
Adriana Arvizo
Leading with Empathy
20
Jeanne Travis Helping Companies Unlock their Potential
24
Judith Virag Challenging Today’s Perceptions of Cleaning
32
Katie Neilson
Driving Investment in Startups by Providing Simplicity, Transparency, and Affordability to Funding Process
36
Marceline Beijer
Leading by Walking the Talk and Delivering Strategic Value to Customers
42
Marisa Elizundia
A Courageous Leader Rede ining Thoughts About Work
46
Natasha E. Feghali Dedicated to Education and Entrepreneurship
50
Phoebe Wasfy Preparing Well-Rounded Leaders of Tomorrow
56
Rada Doytcheva
She has been called “Fearless” – The Woman Architect Changing People’s Lives for the Better
Editor-in-Chief Hitesh Dhamani Managing Editor Anish Miller
Executive Editor Sourabh More
Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes
Visualizer
Art & Design Director
Associate Designer
Co-designer
David King
Priyanka Rajage
Kartik Balapurkar
Shubham Dali
Senior Sales Manager
Business Development Manager
Kshitij S
Peter Collins
Marketing Manager
Sales Executives
John Matthew
David, Martin, Dharmendra
Technical Head
Business Development Executives
Jacob Smile
Steve, Joe, Sagar
Technical Specialist Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst Frank Adams
Database Management Stella Andrew
Circulation Manager Robert Brown
Technology Consultant David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com August, 2021
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Featured Person
Company Name
Brief
Adriana Arvizo External Communications Manager
Comcast comcast.com
Comcast creates incredible technology and entertainment that connects millions of people to the moments and experiences that matter most.
Jeanne Travis President & CEO
J. Robbins Enterprises jrobbins-ent.com
J. Robbins Enterprises, LLC is a business development, marketing, and general consulting firm that strives to establish, highlight, and generate capabilities that set your company and employees above the rest.
Judith Virag Founder
Clean Club Calgary cleanclubcalgary.com
Clean Club Calgary provides residential and commercial cleaning services.
Katie Neilson Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer
Assure assure.co
Assure specializes in Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and Fund Administration for the private investment marketplace.
Marisa Elizundia Creator
Emotional Salary Barometer emotional-salary.com
Emotional salary is the level of awareness of a person to understand, internalize and effectively capitalize on those benefits derived from work that are not associated with financial salary.
Marceline Beijer Global Brand Leader
ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions RPO manpowergroup solutions.com
Talent Solutions combines our leading global offerings RPO, TAPFIN-MSP and Right Management to provide end-to-end, data-driven capabilities across the talent lifecycle.
Natasha E. Feghali Founder
Feghali Group Inc feghaligroupinc.com
FGI is an independently owned and operated rental homes, rental of storage units and holding group.
Phoebe Wasfy Principal
Philopateer Christian College pccnet.ca
Philopateer Christian College is to educate and empower young people, transforming them into individuals in whom spiritual, academic, and physical attributes complement each other.
Precious Mayes President & Chief Executive Officer
PHV Pacifica Hospital pacificahospital.com
Pacifica Hospital intends to create medicines that improve both the quality and duration of patient lives.
Rada Doytcheva Principal & Head of Design
RADA Architects Ltd rada-arch.com
RADA Architects is an award winning Chicago firm for academic, commercial and institutional clients – private and public.
Precious Mayes
President and Chief Executive Officer PHV
COVER STORY
Precious Bringing an Innovative Approach to Healthcare Arena
Mayes “
Pacifica Hospital of the Valley delivers leadingedge patient care by the region’s best doctors.
“
COVER STORY
A
nything is possible if one has got enough nerves. Such is the thought process of exceptional business leaders. Exceptional business leaders trust their abilities and believe that anything can be made possible if they utilize their efforts to the best of their capabilities. They are not driven by mediocrity. Instead, they are driven by delivering results and achieving something substantial no matter what the odds are. Such leaders make a tangible difference in the communities with their will-power and with their complete faith in their abilities. They overcome greatest challenges with their abilities. They explore the impossible and believe that anything is possible with one’s diligent efforts.
One such exceptional business leader is Precious Mayes. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacifica Hospital of the Valley (PHV). Pacifica Hospital provides fast, effective, and affordable immediate care for life and non-life-threatening illnesses. Elevating Personalized Healthcare Services As a healthcare leader and entrepreneur, the journey of Precious has been very diverse and robust with opportunities and experiences in a variety of industries. Precious brings her experience and business acumen of elevating world-class medical care including the medical staff team to higher levels of personalized healthcare that guarantee a standalone standard of care for all residents in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles County. Since the start of her career, Precious has always explored the impossible and with the philosophy of “anything is possible”. She states that another key internal driver is passion and with that personal passion to color outside the lines. Her personal mantra has led her naturally to a path of ongoing creativity and development of business opportunities. She states, “Cultivating a team of people who can lead with the same mantra is key to any success and business growth.”
Delivering Exceptional Medical Care Pacifica Hospital serves the underserved community in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles county. It holds the privilege of being one of LA’s first choice hospitals. As Sun Valley’s choice medical center, Pacifica is a vital component of the community that is leading the next generation of health care. It combines exceptional medical care, the latest advances, and novel education to create an innovative approach to healthcare. The hospital is made up of more than 100 physicians who are highly trained specialists focused on providing state-of-the-art medical care. From diagnosis to treatment and follow-up, physicians work in tandem to deliver care that is personalized to each patient. Given that its primary funding is Medi-Cal, that does not limit the quality and level of service lines it provides to its patients. Pacifica Hospital’s goal is to provide the “mayo clinic” type of care to the underserved community. Additionally, its staff has been a part of Pacifica Hospital on average more than 10 years which has cultivated a personal VIP touch to caring for its patients. Dealing with Unprecedented Time in Unprecedented Way At the start of the pandemic in January 2020, Precious immediately prepared for what potentially could worsen. As a result, PPE inventory was ordered to prepare for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients so Pacifica Hospital staff would be protected in providing care and infection control policies were implemented. Sustaining operations during a time of increased expenses related to COVID-19 and decreased patient admissions of traditional medical needs, Precious accelerated developing new contractual relationships with physician/insurance groups who gave access to larger population of members. Additionally, another strategy implemented was developing new service lines. For example, in the middle of the pandemic over the last year, a new program was developed to serve the acute
“PHV Holds the Privilage of Being One of LA's First Choice Hospitals.”
care needs for Medical/Behavioral health issues as well as COVID-19. This program opened in January 2021 after two years of development with the Department of Mental Health. Another strategy that continues to be effective during challenging times, is developing and maintaining relationships with the highest level of state/federal legislation and local officials to voice the needs of healthcare providers and constituents as well as asking for their support in time of need. One of key elements of Precious is to never be afraid to ask for help. During the pandemic, Precious quickly responded to the governor’s call to action to hospital providers in expanding bed availability to care for surges in COVID-19 patients. Pacifica Hospital was able to transition 61 beds to COVID19 ICU, telemetry, and acute care units. As a result, Pacifica Hospital was identified by the state as a Regional COVID-19 Surge Site to help decompress other hospitals in southern CA. Pacifica Hospital also opened a vaccine clinic and vaccinated over 2,000 in the community and continue to collaborate with the county to vaccinate homebound, homeless, and school based programs. During the pandemic PHV delivered lunch to nearby residents, especially the elderly population. Managing Financials Pacifica Hospital of the Valley is a safety net hospital. With that being said, it is constantly at the mercy of state funding. This hospital is situated in north San Fernando Valley and provides service to patients as far as 400+ miles away. The need in its immediate and distant communities is high, so it has been able to manage through its financial limitations by diversifying the type of IPA, Managed Care organizations. With the pandemic experience since February of this year, Precious decided to pivot Pacifica Hospital’s available beds that were in the midst of relicensing to new service lines to transitioning these available beds/units to care for acute and subacute level COVID-19 patients. Upholding the Team with Essential Leadership Skills Through her experience of leading different levels of leadership teams, Precious has found common thread of elements that are essential to uphold within the team. For example, providing the tools necessary on an individual and as a team. These tools can range from leadership development training to systems to enable successful results.
Precious states that communication is another key element. Style and method of communication are essential to ensure team collaboration. Additionally, learning from pitfalls, owning mistakes and celebrating successes are important as a leader. Standing One’s Ground and Upholding Values and Priorities According to Precious, a businesswoman in this progressive time should naturally portray confidence, strength, integrity, and core values. Taking risks when making tough decisions in any situation, can also build upon any opportunity. Another vital trait for businesswomen is to not be fearful of standing their own ground while upholding their core values and priorities. This is especially important to have the confidence even if one is the last or only voice left in the room. Being Flexible, Taking Risks and Envisioning Impossible The healthcare industry continues to evolve and with increased reimbursement limitations, increased costs of care, new technology and growing competition. With that being said, Precious says that it is critical for aspiring business leaders who want to enter into the healthcare industry to be flexible, adaptable, take risks and envision the impossible as Precious believes, anything is possible. Expanding the Scope of Services Precious is very proud of Pacifica Hospital of the Valley, as she mentions it truly is a “diamond in the rough” in a significant underserved community. One of the goals of Precious for PHV is to expand its services and open new inner city community hospitals to provide the same level of “mayo” type care and services. Another growing need is specialized services for mental health and providing the continuum of care and support that population to succeed in the community. Precious believes that the leadership team is critical to obtaining this vision.
& & 20 The
Most
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESSWOMEN to Watch, 2020
kimberly Khoury
Paving her Way in Sustainability Development
Adriana Arvizo
External Communications Manager, Comcast
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Adriana Arvizo Leading with Empathy
I
n the current business world, where employees are navigating their personal and professional challenges occurred due to pandemic, empathy is a powerful tool to forge long-lasting relationships with them. Leaders who practice empathy aim at developing a compassionate and helpful workplace atmosphere where all employees thrive. Adriana Arvizo is one such leader who likes to contribute positively to her organization by leading with empathy and compassion. As External Communications Manager at Comcast, Adriana is responsible for conceptualizing and executing public relations campaigns designed to maintain a favorable public image for the company. Adriana supports growth of Comcast business and residential products through strategic partnerships, media relations, and social media campaigns. She also helps create awareness of Comcast’s community impact efforts through storytelling and by developing relationships with key stakeholders. Lastly, she often serves as a spokesperson in the California region for English and Spanish-speaking audiences. An Award Winning Journalist Named one of the Top Women in Public Relations by PR News, Adriana is a former award-winning journalist and current communication strategist with extensive experience in multicultural audiences. She has over 13 years of public relations and media relations experience. Before joining Comcast, she served as Director of Communications for the Pennsylvania Department of State. Prior to that, she served as Public Relations Manager for Visit Philadelphia, the official marketing organization for the greater Philadelphia region. In addition, she was a Reporter and Managing Editor at AL DIA News, one of the highest circulation newspapers in the nation covering Latinx issues.
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Striving to Be Better and Being Open to Other Views Adriana is an immigrant. She was born in Mexico and moved to the United States at the age of 18 to pursue a better life and a degree in Communications. That experience always influences her perspective and the way she conducts herself as a leader. She always strives to do and be better, and to be open to other views. There are two books that she always finds herself going back to: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, and The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brené Brown. The phrase “bring your whole self to work,” and The Gifts of Imperfection gave her the tools to achieve that. Stepping in Times of Crisis Every year, since Adriana joined the organization five years ago, has brought new challenges and unimaginable scenarios for her that have helped her grow as a communications professional and leader. During this time, California experienced the deadliest and most devastating wildfires in its history. Like many other businesses, services and infrastructure of Comcast were impacted. The scariest thing was knowing that some of its customers and colleagues were evacuated and, in some cases, impacted. It was a terrifying and stressful time, but Adriana couldn’t be prouder about how her team and Comcast responded. Every time there is a fire, its team of technicians and engineers are the first ones on the scene, along with critical emergency services, bringing the Cal Fire emergency locations online. That is something Comcast has done for every massive fire. Adriana remembers feeling very proud when in 2017, Comcast donated $300,000 to Santa Rosa City Schools
August 2021 | 17
“
Comcast puts a lot of emphasis and resources into developing leaders.
“
(SRCS) for the development of a new facility to serve communities impacted by the North Bay wildfires. The Santa Rosa Integrated Wellness Center still supports families who lost their homes or suffered in other ways during the fires. That is just one example of the way Comcast steps in during times of crisis. Putting Emphasis and Resources into Developing Leaders Adriana has never worked for an organization, big or small, with better work culture than Comcast. It feels like a family-owned small business inside a Fortune 50 company. When Comcast says that family is first, they mean it. Adriana has gone through many life events with Comcast — pregnancy, birth, the loss of a family member, and a global pandemic. Through it all, she always felt supported and valued. Also, Comcast puts a lot of emphasis and resources into developing leaders. It has a program called LEAD Live, where leaders meet once a month to learn and grow as people leaders. It also has the employee net promoter system, a monthly survey in which employees have the opportunity to express their feelings about their job and the organization.
Supporting Vulnerable People and Reducing Digital Divide Two initiatives that Comcast started are very near and dear to Adriana’s heart. Comcast RISE is a new program that provides marketing support, technology services, and grant funding to small businesses owned by People of Color. It was born out of the circumstances that Comcast found themselves in about a year ago with the pandemic, social unrest, and the economic and technological disparities that they see in communities of color. They know that Comcast alone can’t remedy these complex and systemic issues. But they are deeply committed to playing a role in driving change, and Adriana is proud to work for a company whose values align with her. On a different note, too many children have been left behind in their education for not having internet at home. The pandemic shed light on the digital divide and brought this subject to the forefront. However, Comcast has been working on this issue for many years. Internet Essentials from Comcast is the largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program for qualifying families, and it allows them to get internet service at home for $9.95 a month. Since 2011, Comcast has connected more than 8 million low-income people to the internet at home through its Internet Essentials program. Implementing Unique and Creative Ideas to Drive Business Growth Adriana wants to continue growing as a leader and lead a big team. Throughout her career, she has had the pleasure of leading small and medium teams. She really enjoys this, especially when she gets to work with less experienced colleagues and contribute to their growth. She looks forward to implementing unique and creative ideas that drive growth to Comcast business. In her advice to emerging women leaders, she says, “Bring fresh and new ideas to the table because your ideas are your currency. The industry, the business landscape, and the consumer base are changing, and we need bold women leaders with new ideas and perspectives. Make sure that your strategy has a customer-first approach. Sometimes we get so caught up in the business objective that we forget to think about what the customer wants.”
Adriana contributes to a positive culture at Comcast by leading with empathy and compassion.“The days of hiding who we are at the workplace is gone, and the new generation of leaders are not afraid of being vulnerable and showing their humanity,” she says.
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Jeanne Travis
President & CEO J. Robbins Enterprises
20 | August 2021
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Jeanne Travis Helping Companies Unlock their Potential
I
f we are smart enough to recognize opportunities, then there are plenty of ways to make a significant difference. To thrive in the world of business, you need to see the world with an abundance mentality and think in terms of win-win solutions. It is beneficial to think about unlimited possibilities for success instead of thinking in terms of scarcity mentality. Inspiring business leaders see the world with an abundance mindset and build opportunities for others to thrive. Jeanne Travis is one such inspiring business leader who sees the world with an abundance mindset and plays a huge role in helping companies unlock their full potential and achieve success. Jeanne is an award-winning entrepreneur and leader, founded J. Robbins Enterprises in 2020, and serves as the President and CEO. Jeanne brings diverse experience in education, accounting, business development, industrial security, information technology, and entrepreneurship, offering an extraordinary approach of success to her clients. She graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA Tech) in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and minors in Psychology and Education. Promoting Success of Other Companies After 11 years as a co-founder and leader of an industrial security company, Jeanne decided to start her own company that focuses on promoting other companies. Jeanne finds true joy in examining business models, identifying geniuses, and capturing accolades on their behalf. Over eight years, Jeanne devoted herself to building her former company and found true delight in marketing and business development. She worked with multiple marketing
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companies to create a strategy, develop content, gain exposure, and acquire accolades. She discovered it to be more “fun” rather than “work” to celebrate and acknowledge the accomplishments of the successes of the employees and her company. Having Objectivity, Clarity, and Confidence Jeanne has been inspired by the mantra given by her parents “Never stop learning; searching, and discovering; it gives you objectivity, clarity, and confidence.” She has instilled this mantra throughout her career. She also encourages people around her to identify their unique talents, understand what they bring to the work environment to best enable success, and make sure their voice is heard. She states, “Speak up, speak out, and contribute.” Offering Affordable Ways to Promote Success of Companies According to Jeanne, Business Development and Marketing are everything these days. If your business is successful enough to hire an expensive firm, that’s great. But it can take years of hard work and a great deal of revenue for most companies to get to that point. J. Robbins Enterprises offers affordable ways to promote companies to increase their sales, exposure, recruiting, and attract capital. J. Robbins Enterprises is a business development, marketing, and general consulting firm that strives to establish, highlight, and generate capabilities that set your company and employees above the rest. Its team of diverse and bold thinking professionals passionately believes that it can help companies excel by bringing exceptional analysis and a positive attitude. Each day they explore, inspire, and produce new ways to serve better and feature the success of their clients.
August 2021 | 21
CMMC, National Security Threats, and Industrial Security Software. The impact of COVID-19 has slashed Marketing & Advertising budgets; J. Robbins Enterprises finds low-cost opportunities that take advantage of social media avenues to produce exposure. This has shown positivity with an increase in revenue at an average of 9% monthly, 59 % quarterly, with expected growth of 20% in the second quarter of 2021. At the same time, the clientele has grown by 30%. The largest client showed an increase of 10% in customers and 40% in employees. Clients include large to small businesses, where the most notable include Cisco and Guidehouse (formally PWC). Enriching Lives of People with Charity We become successful by what we get, but we become happy by what we give. The belief is that volunteering and donating are essential to the success of the community and enriching people’s lives. Jeanne and J. Robbins Enterprises’ community and charitable contributions include JDRF My Ride to Cure Diabetes, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Medstar National Rehabilitation Hospital, CodeVA, Herndon Cares, No Kid Hungry, Optimist Club of Herndon, and Herndon High School’s Golf Classic to name a few.
Moreover, J. Robbins Enterprises researches its clients to create a strategy, develop content, gain exposure, and acquire accolades, as the competition requires the client to provide the substance of their organization. Seeing Opportunities Even in Unprecedented Times The global pandemic has changed how companies do business indefinitely. This shift has created one of the greatest opportunities for companies to ignite growth, reduce overhead, and be more competitive. Jeanne is willing to participate in any project to provide guidance to increase funding, revenue, clientele, products, service, and networks.
Thinking More than Success and Money While success and money are all nice end goals, Jeanne has something a little bigger in mind. For the next five years, her vision for J. Robbins Enterprises involves her commitment to social responsibility and inclusive workplace and education equality. Her emphasis offering crucial help to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community. This starts with engaging with teens to do better in school, during college admissions, and in their adult lives and ends with inspiring budding entrepreneurs the chance to secure business deals that could make them successful. Acting from Inner Strengths and Relying on Emotional Intelligence Jeanne urges all women leaders to stay true, act from their innate strengths, be creative, collaborate, break outdated paradigms, and rely on their emotional intelligence in order to create a style of work best suited to their personalities.
Since its inception, J. Robbins Enterprises has earned six awards for its clientele and provided services in a variety of Information Technology positions to include Policies/Procedures, Scrum Master, Requirements Analysis, and Software Testing. Categories include FedRAMP,
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J. Robbins Enterprises offers affordable ways to promote your Company to increase your sales, exposure, recruiting, and attract capital.
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www.insightssuccess.com
August 2021 | 23
Judith Virag Challenging Today’s Perceptions of Cleaning
C
leanliness is prerequisite for all goodness, as it is one of the most fundamental aspects in ensuring good health of everyone. The Covid-19 pandemic has especially highlighted the importance of cleanliness even more. Evidently, cleanliness is the foundational pillar of any place. While cleaning can be time-consuming, people get less time to spend living or doing the things that are important to them. Judith Virag and her team at Clean Club Calgary understand this dilemma and thus, are offering an enriching experience in quality cleaning. Judith is certified house cleaning technician and has been in the cleaning industry for over 12 years now. She was raised by a very meticulous mother who succeeded to raise a clean person from a tomboy. Born and raised in Hungary, she and her family were refugees and immigrated to Canada in 1989. Canada has provided so many opportunities for them over the years, as both her parents owned their own businesses. With entrepreneurship in her blood – both her parents and grandparents were entrepreneurs – she knew the traditional career route wasn’t for her. Driven by the passion for cleaning, she founded Clean Club Calgary in January 2019.
Judith Virag Founder Clean Club Calgary
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Professional cleaning by the team at Clean Club Calgary helps free up time of customers to spend with family and friends. Or give them much needed quiet time”.
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Besides, Judith has an extensive administrative background and was an executive assistant for 15 years before her cleaning career, and she believes this has helped her immensely on setting up the systems and how to deal with customers every day. What cleaning industry lacking is good customer service. Judith and the team at Clean Club Calgary strive to do better every day. Striving For Sustainable Relationship with Clients Clean Club Calgary provides residential and commercial cleaning services. The factor that sets the company apart is how it responds to its customers. Not one request, complaint or positive feedback goes unanswered. The team at Clean Club Calgary communicate to their customers that there will be mistakes as they are not robots but human. Once a mistake or damage occurs they deal with it right
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
away. They strive for long term relationship with their clients. They return all calls and follow up on all estimates received. They are serious about working. Being a Better Business Leader by Learning from Great People and Books Judith had a lot of influence and impact of her parents on her life. She states that her parents are the hardest working people she knows, and they have instilled this drive and work ethic in her that has made her who she is today. Judith also works with a business coach Vince Fowler. He has been instrumental in helping her grow and be a better business leader. Besides, Judith loves listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Some of her favorites are ‘How I Built This’ by Guy Raz and she is a huge fan of Brene Brown. She has taken her ‘Dare to Lead’ training, which was an extremely eyeopening experience for her. She listens to a lot of books, but one that stands out is ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight.
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Being Driven by Teamwork, Trust and Respect When it comes to building a positive work culture, Judith believes that it is like a relationship that needs constant nurturing. What was clear to her when she started Clean Club Calgary is that she wanted to be different and wanted to provide a safe and comfortable work environment to her team. She opines that cleaning can get very hard not only on the body but mentally as well and thus, a leader needs to stand behind his or her team and support them. Moreover, Judith has developed the company’s internal core values on which they hire. They have seven core values, but they have narrowed them down to three that encompasses all the seven viz. Teamwork, Trust and Respect. Clean Club Calgary always refer back to these. The people at the company provide instant feedback – which is crucial in their industry as they do not want their team members making the same mistake over and over. They use Slack to communicate and share their before and after pictures. They also share all of their positive reviews with the team.
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Impact of Pandemic on the Cleaning Industry The pandemic has certainly impacted most of the sectors. “I feel at this time running a business is being a teenager all over again. One minute I cry the next I laugh as there are so many frequent changes,” Judith asserts. For Clean Club Calgary, the pandemic has been beneficial in many ways. Judith thinks the general public is being more educated on what cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting is. This is crucial as a “quick dusting” doesn’t cut it anymore. Clean Club Calgary’s business has been up and down along with the frequent restrictions of its province, but in general it has been growing at a steady pace. One thing that Judith noticed that at this time in the cleaning industry, the pandemic is setting the competition apart. Some of the solo cleaners are folding in as they don’t have the structure and the funds for advertising and also a lot of other cleaning companies are struggling because they are not invested in proper training. Being Charitable and Bridging the Communication Gap Talking about giving back to the community, Judith shares that Clean Club Calgary supports various local charities. It has volunteered at Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids. Also, every Christmas the company sponsors a family and provides free cleaning to cancer patients through Cleaning for a Reason. Judith thinks she would like to eliminate this “not talking to each other”. She is one of the council members of the Canadian Residential Cleaners Committee. The committee started regular monthly “Coffee Talks” where they hop on a zoom call and answer any questions their peers have. It has been a great success and Judith believes that if they all work together as an industry it is better service all around for customers and employees. Building the Best Team Possible In the next five years, Judith would like to continue building the best team possible. She would definitely like to triple in size. She does have a dream of providing work to newcomers and to strive for the opportunity to help new immigrants.
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LEADING with ORGANIZED APPROACH and WISE CHOICES
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Well-Chosen Way
e live in a world filled with tremendous distractions at every moment. There are distractions in the form of diversions from our most cherished goals. These diversions or distractions can be due to distracting people or distracting information. We should make sure that we are always choosing positive and uplifting associations around us. It is very important, especially for business leaders, to maintain a safe distance from envious and insecure people who do not support their goals.
W
Science is organized knowledge, and wisdom is organized life. Organized life and having an organized approach in business is praiseworthy, and it helps you in making wise choices. Having well-organized systems that deliver consistent results is also essential for the sustainable growth of the business. Those leaders who create organized systems in their businesses are able to ensure sustainable success in their businesses. An organized approach is many times pleasing to the clients, and it becomes an important factor in the growth of the business.
There is also a huge overload of information in the world. Having access to only the necessary information is an important part that helps in making clever business decisions. It is essential to filter out all the available information and make sure that we refer to the most authorized and essential information.
The most important attribute of organized business leaders is their ability to take the right decisions based on the authorized information and inputs from intelligent advisors in the business. The organized business leaders are never haphazard or irrational in their approach. They know that an instinctive or irrational approach is detrimental. They believe in taking logical, analytical, rational, and calculative decisions. Such decisions lead to the most constructive actions and constructive results. They take decisions based on the cognitive-intensive thought process. They prefer thinking deliberately and acting on the conclusion of most logical thought. That is the most precise, clever, and pragmatic approach to decision-making.
The world is filled with a massive amount of data; therefore, it is absolutely important to know what to read and what not to read. The information does not have to be always new to be helpful but what matters is having timely access to the most important information. It matters that we are selective in choosing everything carefully in this world. There is absolutely no point in wasting time with people who deplete our precious energy and willpower. We should not waste our time fighting wrong battles. If we waste time in fighting the wrong battles, we will be left with very little energy for our most important battles or goals. We need to utilize our time and fighting spirit for our most important goals or battles. To accomplish anything substantial in this world, we need to pay the price of our sincere efforts and commitment. Nothing is more dangerous in this world than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Sincere ignorance of not knowing what is right and what is wrong is not at all helpful in making informed and clever decisions. Conscientious stupidity based on emotional or instinctive, or irrational approach towards decision making is fatal. The weight of regret is heavier than paying the price of sincere efforts. Right association and access to the right information help us to take brilliant decisions. We should not make any room for regrets by being haphazard or inconsistent approach. Minding our own resolutions to be successful in this world is more important than anything else.
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An organized approach and wise choices help leaders to be able to run their business in the right direction and with the right approach. This way, they are able to take the business to great heights.. The organized business leaders are not complacent in their approach. They lead with calmness and alertness of mind. They try their level best to lead with discipline, consistency, and with the right mindset. They make sure that they are not giving in to negative distractions. They never get bewildered by the illusory or destructive opinions of others or wrong information. These leaders plan their actions well and execute with utmost perfection. They promote the right culture in their team members and build the team with adequate talents, skills, abilities, and resourcefulness. They have the courage to lead by taking calculative risks and execute grace even under pressure situations or tough times. The organized business leaders are decisive and lead with pragmatism and presence of mind. This approach helps them to drive the sustainable growth of their businesses.
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Katie Neilson
Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer Assure
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Katie Neilson Driving Investment in Startups by Providing Simplicity, Transparency, and Affordability to Funding Process
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oday, women-led businesses are seeing significant breakthroughs in the corporate world. With their unconventional approaches, women are continuing to be the shining light in the current market. There are many examples of women making a difference who have overcome various odds to reach where they are today. One such woman is Katie Neilson, the Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Assure, the leading provider of outsourced administrative and transaction services for the private investment marketplace.
Katie launched Assure with her husband Jeremy Neilson in 2012 with one basic principle: ‘Say yes’. Nine years later, Assure has grown from a small back-office transaction services company to an industry-leading platform with more than $7 billion in assets under management. Assure is in the top third of the 2019 Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America, and is the third-largest U.S. fund administrator, as reported by Convergence in 2020.
Technology is the Key According to Katie, traditional financial service businesses are prime for tech disruption. Assure is an example of this, initially founded as a back-office administration services company, and through technology has become a global platform that has driven demand for what is now one of the most popular and fastest-growing investment structures in the private marketplace. The venture capital industry, in general, has been slightly slower to adopt technological developments despite being centered on funding the most forward-thinking innovations. As a financial business, if you don’t find a way to adapt and find your place in the new picture, you will be left behind. The new ecosystem is technologically integrated. Users are expecting smart, fast, and efficient processes. Understanding how you operate and interact with your stakeholders via technology has become a necessary core competency.
Saying “yes” has enabled Assure to imagine an innovative, tech-enabled process for syndicated investing that has given rise to the Assure Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) - a faster, easier, and more cost-effective way to structure deals. Assure SPVs simplify the deal process and fund administration so you can focus on what you do best: finding deals and building relationships. As CRO at Assure, saying “yes” allows Katie to think more expansively about her clients' goals. Having decreased the cost of SPVs by 90% and completing over 6,500 SPV initial funding events, Assure helps its clients drive investment in startups that are pushing the boundaries of innovation and making a difference.
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Providing a Private Investing Platform that Eases Funding Process There are three pillars of focus that make Assure stand out above the competition: Client Happiness, End-to-End Service, and Technology. It truly wants to delight its clients, and its team goes to all lengths to help them achieve their goals. Assure is the only SPV provider that handles your SPV from the formation of the entity to exit. With over 7,000 entities created, it is the only provider that handles all asset types, raise sizes, and structures. Assure also knows that technology is the future, and it has worked towards providing a private investment platform that offers simplicity, transparency, and affordability to the funding process. Enhancing Unity by Treating People with Dignity and Respect Culture is central at Assure on a daily basis. It has a quote on its new hire slide deck that says: “Whether planned or not, all companies have a culture. A culture will form one way or another — the one they want, or the one that develops by default.”
Unlocking Funding for Underrepresented Founders Katie mentions that the pandemic accelerated the existing trends, and now there is no going back. A positive trend that they talk about at Assure is the unlocking of funding for underrepresented founders, including women, people of color, veterans, and those in the LGBTQ+ community. They are seeing barriers crumble through innovation and technology spark growth in these areas for two reasons. First, it has become easier for founders to access investors through virtual events and meeting platforms such as Zoom. The pandemic lockdowns have eliminated the requirement to be physically based in traditional VC hubs, like Silicon Valley. Second, Assure’s SPV product has made it possible for a broader range of investors to now participate in supporting these businesses. Today, founders can affordably find investors that have similar passions to their own and nothing is standing in the way of turning those passions into investment capital.
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Assure attracts people who embody similar philosophies; they want to make a change, want to grow something, and have a personal fundamental drive to excel and perform. One of the things the company picked up on quickly was that these types of people want to work with others who share these qualities. So, several years ago, it established a set of core cultural values in an Assure Culture Deck, which outlines the attributes new team members should have in order to contribute to — and strengthen — its culture. At the beginning of its team meetings, it selects and discusses one of these values; what it means, why it’s important, and what recent examples it has seen in action. Personally, Katie has a note on her desk that says, “Unity is enhanced when people are treated with dignity and respect.” This is a daily reminder to her of how she should treat team members. Katie and her co-founder work to create a culture where people want to come, contribute, be challenged, and be their best selves. Assisting Founders to Become Educated, Mentored, and Eventually Funded When it comes to giving back to the community, Assure contributes in a variety of ways. First, its core Assure SPV
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product is making it possible for previously overlooked founders to raise capital because Assure has decreased the structuring and administration fees by over 90%. Additionally, Assure acquired and now leads BoomStartup, an accelerator program that assists founders to become educated, mentored, and eventually funded. Finally, it also has Assure Syndicates that works closely with the founder ecosystem providing free-of-charge mentorship and fundraising assistance for founders that are prepared to raise capital from institutional investors and venture capital firms. Adapting to Ever-Evolving Private Investing Landscape Assure is built to adapt to an ever-evolving private investing landscape. At its core, it is innovative. Katie mentions that it will also increasingly benefit from economies of scale, network effects, and improved
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Assure SPVs simplify the deal process and fund administration so you can focus on what you do best: finding deals and building relationships.
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technology to consistently improve its offering to the ecosystem. Lastly, and most importantly, it comes down to happy clients. This is a tough problem to solve, but when it works, it fundamentally changes the way its clients do business. Advice to Future Entrepreneurs Katie advises emerging entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the technology and venture capital industry to be adaptable. She says, “As a startup, nothing really goes smoothly. When you are pushing the boundaries of what is known, forging into the frontiers of industry, you will make mistakes. You will need to pivot. As soon as you’ve figured something out, it will no longer be relevant, and you’ll have to start over and figure it out again. To be an innovator and grow a business, you have to be adaptable, resilient and gritty.”
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Marceline Beijer
Global Brand Leader ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions RPO
36 | August 2021
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Marceline Beijer Leading by Walking the Talk and Delivering Strategic Value to Customers
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xemplary leaders set the standards for everyone else through their attitude, behavior, talents, and skills. They demonstrate excellence in all that they do. They lead with authenticity. There is harmony in their thoughts, words, and actions. They walk the talk and talk the walk. This helps them become a trustworthy and reliable leader.
Marceline Beijer embodies these ideals by leading by example. She believes that positivity and change starts with oneself and therefore, her mantra is to walk the talk. Marceline is the Global Brand Leader of ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions RPO. By driving innovation, thought leadership and the development of people, her ambition is to deliver strategic value to customers, and strong growth for Talent Solutions. In an interview with Insights Success, Marceline Beijer shares her journey and discusses her contribution to ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions as a Global Brand Leader.
When we launched Talent Solutions, we used butterfly wings on our branding as a symbol of the transformative effect that is possible when human potential is unleashed in an organization. This transformational journey connecting the specific skills and capabilities of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Provider (TAPFIN) and Right Management is an exciting and compelling development I really enjoy participating in and being able to influence. What were the challenges you came across as a Global Brand Leader? In my Global RPO Brand Leader role, I have been given a head start by the great work started in North America in the field of technology under the leadership of Sarah Peiker, Senior Vice President, RPO North America, and Wayne Crowley, VP Global Business Innovation and Intelligence. Following the launch in North America of PowerSuite™, our best of breed tech ecosystem, as well as the fully digitized Rapid Recruit, it was a rewarding project to be able to expand our offering across all regions throughout 2020.
Below are the Highlights of the Interview: Please brief our readers about your leadership position at Talent Solutions. Within ManpowerGroup, I am the Global Brand Leader for Talent Solutions RPO and Vice President for Talent Solutions RPO and TAPFIN-MSP in Europe. The Talent Solutions brand was launched in January 2020, and I have been fortunate to be part of the design and definition of this new brand and the industry-leading capabilities behind it. In my career, and as a leader, I have always been a ‘builder’, which is at the core of how Talent Solutions works with clients to help them transform their workforce.
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The main challenge I see is the future of RPO: In a world where by 2025, humans and machines will split workrelated tasks 50-50, I believe AI and automated processes thrive when they are coupled with human intelligence, but what should the human role in a world leaning towards seamless digital recruitment be? In such an unpredictable world still grappling with the current health and social crisis, where it is difficult to create continuous algorithms and business roles, understanding human intelligence and the role for the human touch will be the key for success. At the same time, candidate experience, which also requires intense human interaction, is becoming even more
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important. To deliver the kind of experiences candidates expect, we need to re-think the way that we manage candidate interaction throughout the recruitment process. Leveraging the power of Talent Solutions by creating solutions that enable crossover of the different workforce solutions we offer has also been a great positive challenge. We see the expertise from RPO being used while building Direct Sourcing solutions for MSPs; we are able to utilize great career building and upskilling solutions such as RightCoach™ and RightMap™ which help unleash the full potential of employees after they are hired via an RPO solution. It is great to see how our different workforce solutions all work together towards strengthening our clients’ employer brand, candidate experience and engagement across the different stages of the recruitment lifecycle. My passion as a ‘techie’ leads me to drive my team to challenge themselves and strive to get to the next level: supporting Talent Acquisition with further developments in the field of AI such as bias free psychometric assessments
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and authentic collaboration in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion. Being an experienced business leader, what is your opinion regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Staffing & Recruiting industry? And how has Talent Solutions managed to overcome this significant challenge? Starting in this role as a Global leader and not being able to travel due to the pandemic to meet and engage with the regional teams has been a challenge, although this has been mitigated by the excellent virtual tools and capabilities of our teams. Remote working has proven to be not just possible, but also valuable in building true relationships. During the pandemic, the real challenge has been the reluctance of companies to hire for permanent roles, which has given us the opportunity to further develop, diversify and innovate our portfolio and services. An interesting example has been the expansion of our extensive data intelligence capabilities: we have been working with our clients to analyze and understand the impact of the
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pandemic on their workforce, providing solutions to mitigate risk in supply chain management as well as exploring location strategies as technology and remote working have untethered talent from location. I believe the recruitment industry should also take responsibility in equalizing the growing gap between the Have’s and the Have Not’s as unfortunately it has been the jobs in the informal economy and lower incomes which have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. As the world economy recovers and skills needs change with wider demand for jobs in AI and the Green and Care industries, the recruitment industry needs to continue to support training, learning, upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all their workers. In what ways have you or Talent Solutions contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring to help other RPOs? It is in ManpowerGroup’s DNA to be a very ethical company, we have in fact been recognized by Ethisphere as a World's Most Ethical Company for eleven years; we are a true partner in social and sustainable ways of working, and it is an incredibly important value in the world of Talent and Recruitment.
The value we bring as a company is our vision that meaningful, sustainable employment has the power to change the world, which I highly value. And, as I continue in my new role, I hope to be able to contribute to the RPO Community by promoting workforce flexibility and talent sustainability, focusing on the benefits of hybrid working and the importance of continuous learning. What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging women entrepreneurs? Just keep going, stay your authentic self and enjoy the journey! What according to you is the one takeaway/lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic? Change happens more quickly with a real need. Look at how valued remote working is now, and how many organizations will adopt flexible working arrangements moving forward! ManpowerGroup’s What Workers Want research shows workers do not want to lose that flexibility they have gained in the past year, now preferring 2-3 days a week in the workplace. That was unthinkable few years ago and look at what we have achieved in just few days / weeks across Q1 2020.
“Combining more than 40 years of expertise, ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions offers end to end talent lifecycle solutions by leveraging its consulting and analytics capabilities to help organizations more effectively source, manage and develop talent at scale.”
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Marisa Elizundia
A Courageous Leader Redefining Thoughts About Work
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umerous individuals in recent times tend to give their best at their workplace to get successful results, but often it isn't the case; at times, the efforts aren't enough. It can affect individuals, leaders and organizations on many levels; it becomes essential to maintain and strengthen personal and professional development. However, industry professionals never treated these problems as necessary, but one entrepreneur who understood that there are more benefits to the job than financial is Marisa Elizundia. The idea behind her venture is to spread awareness to understand, internalize and effectively capitalize on those non-financial benefits derived from work. Marisa is the Creator of the Emotional Salary Barometer. This online tool helps one know and understand their emotional salary to obtain clarity on designing and shaping their desired career. She introduced a concept that no one had taken the time or interest to research in-depth. This interest comes from her vast experience working in this area and from the observation and realization that when she looked at demotivation, lack of productivity, commitment, cooperation, etc. there were other reasons, often more or equally important than the financial aspect of work. This led her to research the following question: when we take money out of the work equation, why do we work? As a result of this the Emotional Salary Barometer was born, which proved that the impact Emotional Salary has on people's health, wellbeing, motivation, and productivity is more than we think.
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The groundbreaking idea is to use the time one spends at work not only to earn money at the end of the month but also as a platform to help one grow personally, professionally, socially, and even transcendentally. The Voyage Filled with Storms For the past 25 years, Marisa has worked in the people development business in multinational organizations, previously as an employee and currently as an entrepreneur. Throughout that time, she has always been passionate about people and the impact that work has on their lives. She has seen firsthand that apart from the financial benefits you get from work there are other factors that have nothing to do with money or financial value and, have an enormous impact on overall satisfaction, health, motivation, wellbeing, and productivity. These aspects, which could be seen as vague or unclear or may not result in an immediate impact, need constant involvement and shared responsibility from the organization, its leaders, and the individuals themselves. It is why it's very common that People Development Strategies receive the least budget. This means that the policies and strategies implemented are poor, inefficient, or that a lot of money is spent on activities that do not solve the problem at hand or give good results. Marisa expresses that her biggest challenge was introducing the new concept to the market (Emotional Salary) that is different (but complementary) to what is common in the Human Resources areas, such as Employee Engagement Strategies, Employee Experience, Employee Satisfaction, and more.
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Marisa Elizundia Creator
Emo onal Salary Barometer
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Marisa and her team saw the importance of introducing strategies and policies based on Emotional Salary as something that was going to be seen as absolutely necessary, something obvious, and that the leaders of the organizations would recognize its usefulness, importance, and necessity immediately. They realized early on that this was not the case. In HR, it can be difficult to introduce something new and innovative, and it is much less risky to stick with the status quo of what is known or what has been done for a long time. Yet ESB's research demonstrated time and again the fundamental importance of taking Emotional Salary into account. When it comes to individual workers, Marisa and her team have faced two challenges. The first is the lack of responsibility to take action to increase one's own Emotional Salary. There is still an expectation that the company or the leaders are solely responsible for employees' Emotional Salary, and this is not the case. It is a shared responsibility, and if the individual does not do their part, an essential part is missing.
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Redefining the way we think about work.
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The other challenge is that many people believe that Emotional Salary is intended to justify a lower financial salary, and nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, what Marisa and her team advocate and push for is that it complements a fair and reasonable financial salary, which will have many and very important benefits for everyone: employees, leaders, and the organization. The Soaring Influence Marisa realized how much her job meant to her after she had to leave for familial reasons. She realized what she appreciated and loved about her work and it rose far beyond the financial aspect. In her journey, Marisa has been supported and accompanied by several women entrepreneurs. Especially Clodagh Beaty, her business partner, has been a constant support and has been crucial for the project to keep growing steadily. Marisa believes that Martin Seligman's research on character strengths has permeated all of her work. Value-Driven Work Culture Emotional Salary Barometer leads with a culture that aligns with what it wants to see in all organizations. Below are the few values that Marisa and her team imply at the organization. Ÿ They communicate openly and honestly. Ÿ They risk making mistakes.
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They allow space for creativity to flourish. They celebrate in a big way when things go well, and when things go wrong, the team supports each other in a big way, without blame.
They take a real interest in what others have to say. For Marisa, the most significant thing is that she stays in touch with her team even when they don't get to see each other for a long time. Counting the Days Marisa's vision is to redefine work and see it as something more than the purely transactional aspect it has been seen as until now. In order for this to happen, companies need to implement People Development strategies that take into account the importance of Emotional Salary. By using the Emotional Salary Barometer, which is based on in-depth research with high levels of reliability and validity, organizations can get a clear roadmap of exactly what needs to be done and how to do it. Marisa is very proud of the research and its impact worldwide. Sailing Through the Winds Marisa advises budding entrepreneurs venturing into the People Development industry to have a lot of patience. She says, "One of my biggest surprises is that I thought my product was so good that I would have queues of customers. And obviously, it didn't.” "A lot of work, patience, flexibility, openness. And above all, to take into account that the emotional cost of being an entrepreneur is high because of the ups and downs that one is a victim of in just one day," concludes Marisa.
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Natasha E. Feghali
Founder
Feghali Group Inc
46 | August 2021
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Natasha E. Feghali Dedicated to Education and Entrepreneurship
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here’s no doubt in how women have made the remarkable progress in heading the companies in every sector. With their exemplary leadership skills, they have brought a drastic transformation in the business world at regional, national, and global levels. When it comes to education sector, women have excelled phenomenally in delivering quality education to everyone. One such women who is significantly contributing to the upliftment of the education ecosystem is Natasha E. Feghali. She believes education is a moldable industry and as society evolves and takes on a new shape post-covid in a new era of the 21st century, education sector will change and grow to suit the needs of the learners globally. An Avid Educator Natasha is an award winning Canadian for her philanthropy in community and strong dedication to education. She is the recipient of the 40 Under 40 United Way/ Leadership Windsor-Essex Award 2018 as well as numerous awards and recognitions; most notably the Sovereign Canadian Medal in 2015 for her dedication to education and the future of entrepreneurship and youth. Natasha is an international educator working overseas throughout her career while giving workshops, seminars and conferences Nationally and Internationally. She has taught in China, France, Kuwait and Ontario for 10 yrs. She is International Language Specialist Educator.
Striving to Make Remote Learning Equitable for All Access to online learning becomes more important especially in the times like pandemic. Pivoting to online learning has really been a new undertaking for Natasha and she has found that the students have really embraced the change. She states that as a society, online learning can offer a platform for students all over the world who may not have equity in education access to a classroom. The one thing that Natasha would like to change is the access to a stable internet connection to ensure remote learning is equitable for all. In 2014, Natasha had met a mentor while volunteering who was already in the Real Estate arena. He advised her that she would need to make more money, grow her passive income and create generational impact for herself and her family. The next month she purchased her first property and 6 years later, she and family are doing well! Today, besides being a proud educator, Natasha is also the Founder of Feghali Group Inc (FGI). FGI is an independently owned and operated rental homes, rental of storage units and venture partnership. It has a strong portfolio of homes in the Windsor-Essex County Region and works with local and international investors as well. Planning on International and Lending Ventures At FGI, Natasha is planning on international and lending ventures as the housing market will soften in the few years.
Natasha is also a distinguished media personality acting as MC in her community events, hosting events in the GCC as well as a journalist since 2012 and has written for magazines such as Bazaar Kuwait and City Pages Middle East. Most recently she has received the Odyssey Award from the University of Windsor and has been published in a book on Women and Leadership in Ontario with the Elementary Teachers Federation. Natasha is a 2x graduate from the University of Windsor with extensive expertise in Second Language Education. She has worked in 3 continents mastering their educational laws and systems. She has travelled across the world giving presentations and working with educational personal for success of students. www.insightssuccess.com
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FGI prides itself on giving the best quality care and expertise when it comes to rental homes as well as the community at large.
The company has decided to change its model and make it work for them as investors to continue to cashflow despite the market fluctuations. FGI prides itself on giving the best quality care and expertise when it comes to rental homes as well as the community at large. Diversifying Portfolio by Opening New Doors of Opportunity So far FGI has been holding through the tide and has moved forward despite a few setbacks. The company has been digital for a long time, and it has not been hard for them to pivot as it was already prepared for a shift to a fully digital model.
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Natasha is already taking the business in a new direction and asset class. The company is slowly moving into the International Arena as well as Mortgage lending. Through this, it will diversify the portfolio even more and open new doors of opportunity. Being Open to change Natasha states that the best way to deal with today’s and tomorrow’s challenges is learning to pivot and change as the times change. She adds, “Not every lesson will be perfect and not every child will learn the same way.” Helping People to Leap Forward Natasha advises industry leaders aspiring to venture in the education industry to go for it. She is having a great career and she could not be happier! She states that those who enjoy a vivacious career with a lot of change and are selfmotivated; then she would council them to take the leap forward in any direction.
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Phoebe Wasfy
Principal at Philopateer Christian College
50 | August 2021
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Phoebe Wasfy Preparing Well-Rounded Leaders of Tomorrow
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ouths of today are the future of tomorrow. It is of utmost importance to inculcate good values in the youths of today to create responsible citizens or leaders of tomorrow. Education that imbibes good values in students and prepares them with sufficient talents, skills, abilities and resourcefulness to face the challenges of the future is most essential in the lives of youth today. It is absolutely necessary to have qualified and caring teachers that educate youths of today in the right direction. Mrs. Phoebe A. Wasfy is one such educational leader who as a Principal of Philopateer Christian College (PCC) is working with her team of qualified teachers to educate and empower young people, transforming them into individuals in whom spiritual, academic, and physical attributes complement each other.
Through every step of the way, learning was a big part of her journey. She firmly believes that in order for one to truly succeed and excel in what they are tasked with, one must be empowered through education. From having additional qualification courses in the pedagogy of all age groups to a specialist in literacy and history, to two-part principal qualification courses, to a Master’s degree in Education and most recently a Certificate of Higher Education from Harvard; all these steps led Phoebe from teacher to head teacher to Assistant Administrator to Assistant Vice principal to Vice Principal and finally in 2014 when she took on the role of Principalship of Philopateer Christian College. Learning from Family Members and Honorary People
PCC cares for its students spiritually, academically, physically and mentors them to serve their families, and the community. Cherishing family relationships, friends, and respect towards adults and each other, are part of its school values. At Philopateer Christian College, they prepare their students to become well-rounded leaders of tomorrow. Being Empowered through Education
Many things play a role in shaping and impacting one’s life. For Phoebe, there were key people who impacted her and continue to impact her. Her decision of getting into teaching was inspired by her grandmother who was a great educator in the 60’s and 70’s in Egypt. Her grandmother’s students, who are now grandparents themselves, have never forgotten the great lady who touched their lives as a teacher.
Philopateer Christian College is a Pre-K to grade 12 school that began in Mississauga by the Egyptian Coptic Community in 1999 with around 40 students in a basement of the Canadian Coptic Centre. Phoebe began her journey in the school in 2005 as a grade 3 teacher, followed by a position as a middle school teacher and in 2008, she was part of the team that began the high school division with three grade 9 students. Step by step, PCC moved into its current location in its tenth anniversary with 280 students. At that time, Phoebe was chosen by the principal to be the head teacher and leading a group of teachers who took on different leadership roles in the school.
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Phoebe’s leadership, many say, is inherited from her father, who is one of the senior priests of the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church in North America. The third person who has recently influenced Phoebe is the Egyptian Minister of Emigration and Expatiates, Minister Nabila Makram. She has had the honour of being part of numerous initiatives with her excellency and learned how to lead and reach her goals with her team. Adapting to New Norms With Keen Responsibility While the whole world shut down due to the pandemic, Phoebe and her team were seizing the opportunity to create a complete virtual high school program and recruiting students from all over the world. As an educational leader, she quickly realized that there are parts of education that have changed and changed forever. Students have sat behind a computer screen for a whole year and this, Phoebe believes, impacted their attention span as well as social interaction. PCC has moved away from paper and pen exams and has invested in virtual proctoring exams portals, and this is now the new norm. Educating Students with Strong Educational Foundation As students come in and go out of PCC, one common sentence is said: “Teachers here care!” Its foundation lies in its successful educational methods and prioritizing students above and beyond any other thing. It believes that
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“Philopateer Christian College cares for its students spiritually, academically, physically and mentor them to serve their families, their community and their country.” knowing and respecting the learning styles of the students while encouraging and empowering them to reach their goals through their strong educational foundation will help them excel. PCC has three key words that are central to the foundation of it. The three keys as they refer to them are: “Education, Spirituality and Discipline.” Phoebe always tell the students they can get education from any school, and it all depends on if they like the teacher or if their teacher is strong, but without God in the center of everything that they do, and without discipline, education has no roots. Using Prestigious Profession to Impact the World
In every opportunity, PCC teaches its students that the world is very reachable through the acts of kindness they do. Continuing to Make a Difference in the World of Education In five years from now, PCC as a school envisions to reach many more students worldwide, through both its virtual platform and maybe even offshore campuses. Its vision is also to positively impact the world one student at a time through the professions they choose in their postsecondary education. Its vision is continuing to make a real difference in the world of education as a whole.
“Dream Big! Think Big! Believe Big” has become the best advice and motto for Phoebe as an educational leader. Over the years, Phoebe has learned that if one doesn’t dream, think and believe big, one will remain stagnant and won’t grow in or love what they do. Education is the foundation upon which every other profession is built. It has many challenges but it is a vocation of one’s heart. For any aspiring leader in education, Phoebe also says that educators must respect this prestigious profession and use it to impact the world in a positive way. Reaching the World through Acts of Kindness As a school, PCC is involved in many charitable acts both here in Canada and internationally. As it is written in the Bible: “In giving we receive.” This is something that the school instills in its students and staff in every chance they get. For example, for Christmas, PCC’s Christmas Tree is not decorated with ornaments, instead school uses this time to once collect mittens and scarves for the homeless, turkey dinners for those served by its local foodbanks or items that it takes on its school’s annual mission trips.
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Rada Doytcheva Principal/Head of Design
RADA Architects Ltd.
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The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
Rada Doytcheva She has been called “Fearless” – The Woman Architect Changing People’s Lives for the Better
W
omen are seen to be conquering every field, architecture industry being one of them. With their keen sense of creativity and design, women are transforming the industry and taking it to the new heights. Amongst those women, Rada Doytcheva, PhD, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, the Principal/Head of Design of RADA Architects, is serving as an inspiration to many young female architects, not only with her work and tenacity to succeed, but also with her relentless advocacy for giving opportunity to others. We, at Insights Success, caught up with Rada to unveil her inspiring journey and her contribution to the field of architecture through RADA Architects. Leading on Multiple Fronts Rada started the company 25 years ago and she is still the engine that moves projects, people and ideas to execution. At RADA Architects she leads in design for all projects; in calibrating daily and strategic management, in finding new clients and partners in success, in taking the message about equality in design and procurement to conferences and conventions as well as to government and corporate institutions. With strong convictions and tremendous energy, she doesn’t only “preach” but also acts on the issues. All of this she does in the difficult business environment for small and midsize firms, the environment of the women-owned architecture firms - mostly. Never has this exceptionally busy and challenging reality prevented her from mentoring aspiring young women and other professionals - with a life-long impact on their careers. Promoting Rational Sustainability RADA Architects professional credo is for resolving individual client needs with creativity yet with rationality and without excess. Designs that serve people’s needs and expose them to new experience are in the center of the firm’s work. Creating transformative environment, new identity, multi-use enhanced functions – all of them go hand in hand with promoting sustainability. In crossing the line from architect to developer, RADA created the first Silver LEED project in Chicago Cabrini Green – setting the
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Rada is leading the firm with a mission of creating “Better Lives, by Design” doing what is right, socially responsible and sustainable.
standard for revitalization of a former “projects area” and doing it to higher - “green” sustainable building standards. Overcoming Challenges With Exceptional Endurance The challenges were enormous as Rada started the organization all by herself, with no capital, no clients, still as a newcomer to this country, and soon with a young child on her hands – all by herself. Prior to starting her own business, she was employed with a large male dominated firm. The work she performed for higher education, hospitals and international commercial projects was exceptionally well received by clients. However, the moment she pursued working with the same clients as a new firm – they were unsure how to treat her. The male ownership of her previous employment fought unethically to bring her down. The mistrust and suspicion to a new, small woman-owned firm was the norm. There was only a handful of women-owned architecture firms in the Chicago area at the time. This was a start only working for the “fearless”. August 2021 | 57
Now, 25 years later, Rada feels that the biggest challenge to start and grow an architecture firm is to secure commissions and revenue. She says, “One cannot grow a company without getting commissions. You need to grow people and talent – architecture is no sole venture, you need to build the experience, benefits and good salaries to be able to retain people, and all of this starts with having a flow of good sized projects and revenue.” Rada continues to elaborate how growing a firm was a long and tough road of survival, in an environment that prefers larger and established firms. She adds, “It takes exceptional endurance and sacrifice of one’s personal life – in the above circumstances – to keep going so that one can ultimately lead a firm that can sustain people working there, and even better – a firm that can function for the purpose of making other people’s lives better.” Being Fearless, Magnanimous and Strong came about through growing up with a Great Mentor It is Rada’s father, Dr. Kiril Doytchev, an architect still living and working at 98, who has been her role model, inspiration and mentor. In his own career he was able, in spite of political turmoil in Easter Europe, to lead the profession and set his mark on the health care design throughout Europe and Asia. The American Institute of Architects recognized his achievements as an Honorary Fellow of the Institute – 30 years ago. He has not only been Rada’s mentor since her early time in the profession, but also unstoppable to this very day in encouraging her to be fearless, magnanimous and strong.
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Chicago Park District McGuane Park Fieldhouse
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Illinois Medical District Pedestrian Bridge Concept, Chicago, IL Securing Strong Lines of Communication and Positive Work Culture
Advocate and “Game Changer” for Women-Led Architectural Firms
The pandemic was a challenging situation for businesses. RADA Architects’ way to survive the difficulties of working remotely was to secure constant communication between team members, to hold regular meetings for status as well as for fun talk. The firm also provided the necessary technology and software to all to be able to work from home.
The biggest impact that Rada has personally sought to have is the empowerment of women and minority architectural firms – for equal opportunities in project procurement, for women to be able to thrive in a level playing field. In the last year, Rada put together and led three “all women architects and consultants” teams for major Chicago area projects, two of them successfully underway now. In her advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs in the architecture industry, Rada says, “Build your body of knowledge and skills, add a good amount of confidence and trust in yourself and in others - and launch them to achieve the unthinkable.”
Rada says that positive work culture is “the name of the game of today”. Even with everything else working well, if it is missing from the workplace – a firm could be headed for disaster, losing valuable workforce. The definition of a positive workplace is constantly changing – and the bar is constantly being raised. Raising a New Generation of Young Architects RADA Architects is intent on raising a new generation of architects, planting the seed of responsibility and knowledge. The firm is committed to continuing education, individual mentorships, and extensive internship program, including bringing high school students as well. The system of award and encouragement goes beyond compensation. The firm has given yearly for the last 15 years an architectural Travel Award to firm individuals and teams, who travelled around the globe – to places like China, Germany, Great Britain and many other.
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Redefining the Architecture Profession Rada believes that the Architecture and Design Industry, as a whole, needs to restore the faith in the architect as a leader, and the architects need to be assertive and more responsible with the work they do, and the values they foster. In conclusion, Rada mentions that RADA Architects will remain a leader showing how women-owned firms can do as good of a work as large firms – redefining a model for the profession, a model from which all can benefit in the long run.
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