17 minute read
Marisa Elizundia
The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
A Courageous Leader Redefining Thoughts About Work
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Numerous 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. 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.
Marisa Elizundia
Creator
Emoonal Salary Barometer
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. 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.
Redefining the way we think about work.
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.
Ÿ They allow space for creativity to flourish. Ÿ 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.
Natasha E. Feghali
Founder
Feghali Group Inc
The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen Making a Difference, 2021
N a t a s h a E . F e g h a l i
Dedicated to Education and Entrepreneurship
There’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.
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.
Striving to Make Remote Learning Equitable forAll
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.
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.
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.
Phoebe Wasfy
Principal at Philopateer Christian College
Youths 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.
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
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. 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
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.
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
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
“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. 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.
