Sovereign Magazine May 2019 (Issue 17) by Sovereign Magazine

GLOBAL

MAGAZINE

FOR

EXECUTIVES

AND

LEADING

ENTREPRENEURS

SOVEREIGNMAGAZINE.CO.UK MAY 2019 ISSUE 17

Charisma & Leadership Naomi Susan Isaacs

Burnout: Are You At Risk? Uwe Dockhorn

Picturing The Next Move

The Remarkable You Dr Ruby Bakshi Khurdi

Danilo Kekic

Through The Camera Lens Elaine Pringle-Schwitter

STOP Investing in Property Jennifer & Jan-Marc Pickhan

Silvija Popovic p u b l i c a t i o n

NO TAGLINES - JUST QUALITY

W I T H

W E B S I T E S

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M E D I A

Web design thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s out of this world. W W W . M T N M E D I A . C O . U K

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BETWEEN THE HEADLINES I don’t know why but I wake up without an alarm clock. If I am in London or Tokyo or Toronto, my “writing clock” wakes me up around 4 am. I reached out to my laptop to write, and then turned to the online media to check the headlines for some good news- lately in short supply and hard to find… A few hours later, after going through hundreds of online headlines with a toothcomb, looking for some good news and not finding any, became so demoralizing that I had to move to my inbox. Five minutes into reading our latest articles for Sovereign Magazine and everything begins to look so much better! Thanks to our Art Director, Darie Nani, both the digital and the printed editions include media rich features. This innovative step resonates with our readership as brings new options to enjoy the content in more ways than one- you could listen to the content via your smart phone while you are traveling and make meaningful connections with the authors through the unique frequency of their voice or instantly reach their social media page. Finally, I feel a most anticipated joy of sharing the good news! With each story there is more emotional engagement with Solutionary Thinkers and I found that each one of them speaks directly to our readers. In this issue, we stand on the eve of an enormous new perspective of holistic solutions to business success. We interviewed collaborators, associates, executives and entrepreneurs from around the world on how necessity and desperation made them wiser and impacted them to become global influencers and game changers. Silvija Popovic, May’s cover story, shares the remarkable tale of a Croatian who survived the war and emigrated to Germany. Silvija is reconsidering aspects of her own identity as well as the nature of mentoring in business. We can take deep inspiration from this extraordinary business woman who has changed the way she sees herself and how that transformed her world. Through the use of emotional intelligence, she managed to piece together thousands of fragmented experiences as a woman in business, a war survivor, an expat and, more recently, the creator of her unique solution for transformational change, which has been formulating in her own life for decades, just to emerge as the Senior Partner for Business Development at Von Hohenstaufen. There is a continual debate over what is more important, your spirituality or your business success. Most people we asked told us that “Spirituality is at the core of their business success” and few confirmed that “Spirituality is more important than business” or ‘Spirituality is my business”. Each and every story brings us closer to Purposeful Leaders who understand the need for

SOVEREIGN Spiritual discovery. Naomi Susan Isaacs, Founder of the Institute of Charismology takes it to the next level and talks about a new generation of Charismatic Leaders and shares John Travolta’s take on charisma, in her latest interview. “There is no limits to charisma” Travolta says. Our most loyal readers are telling us that they care about authentic thinking, and this is enough justification for us to keep searching for new ideas, inventors, innovators, custodians of progress, but there is another smaller segment of our readership looking to read more about things they are already familiar with. How hard could it be to give yourself permission to accept the differences that makes us authentic human beings? I wish I could say that trends don’t exist, but that won’t be accurate as they point in a certain direction of interest which ultimately serves our international community of Solutionary Thinkers. Some headlines are short lived as they are to be replaced by “the next big thing”, but their span around a number of ideas that impact our daily life, far beyond the 15 minutes of fame. Trends help us keep your fingers on the pulse and change your perception about business decisions in innovative ways, from block-chain, investment and latest digital tools, all the way to emotional intelligence mastery. You are the first to read exclusive interviews with business leaders and influential professionals touching global initiatives and the challenges that their industry faces in 2019 and beyond. While innovators tend to have their own language and develop within their own creative universe, there is also a valuable proposition on offer which indicates what you can do to position yourself within our own industry and what solutions will make your business and your life better in the months to come. Our Sovereigns deliver a wrap-up of what our team has found to be the best business solutions which are heading your way this spring. I hope The Sovereigns in May Edition can inspire you and deliver new ideas for those next steps you need to take into your own consciousness, help you emerge from an undesirable economic winter and make The Good News!

Dr. Marina Nani

Editor-in-chief

Marina Nani5 Sovereign- Global Magazine for Executives and Leading Entrepreneurs

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GLOBAL MAGAZINE Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve coined a new industry to introduce Solutionary Thinkers, Executives and Leading Entrepreneurs who create unique solutions to certain challenges, influence prosperity globally and close the achievement gap.

SOCIAL EDIFICATION We live in a world consumed by challenges and solutions are the metrics of progress by which we measure success.

We only introduce accountable professionals with unique talents who are amongst the top holistic solution creators in the world, passionate trailblazers who are driven by their inner belief that delivering value is not about them but about the people they can help. Close the gap between those who can inspire and those who need inspiration.

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Table of Contents EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: ART DIRECTOR:

34 HOW TO FIND HAPPINESS

Dr. Marina Nani Darie Nani Silvija Popovic

Correspondent, Germany

Elaine Pringle

Photo Correspondent, Switzerland

Tineke Rensen

Correspondent, Netherlands

Maria Pressentin

Correspondent, Singapore

Neslyn Watson-Druee Columnist, United Kingdom

Donia Youssef

Columnist, United Kingdom

John McMenemie Writer, United Kingdom

Laura Amherst

Writer, United Kingdom

Christian Demetriad

Graphic Designer, United Kingdom

Rob McNeil

Guest Contributor, United Kingdom

Danilo Kekic

Guest Contributor, Germany

Let your story fly! ALWAYS FREE TO READ PRINT DIGITAL ONLINE

Do you have a story to tell? We want the world to read it! Get in touch today:

editor@sovereignmagazine.co.uk

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Interview by Dr Marina Nani

Full Potential Intelligence There are people who read books about war, people who wrote books about war and there are people who survived war. After losing everyone and everything, survivors of conflict face an alien-like reality, their only option is to rebuild their life from the ground up. Each must find new ways of living with their memories and at the same time, create a new path into their own present. It is hard to imagine the heart wrenching experiences they each carry along, harrowing and incomprehensible to people like you and me who grew up away from the grasp of armed conflict. Each of their stories is a chance to learn how to conquer your own fears. They must find the strength to overcome their own tarnished perceptions of life, powered by a deep desire to create and deliver a meaningful destiny. One such survivor is Silvija Popovic, now Senior Partner for Business Development at Von Hohenstaufen. A mindset and a business strategist living in Germany, she redefined her destiny and life purpose after surviving a bloody civil war. Her story is a reminder to each of us that no matter your past you can build your own future. “I was deeply affected by the civil war in Croatia, my home country. Having experienced our house being destroyed, losing family members and many other wartime atrocities, I was robbed of a huge chunk of my childhood. All these experiences, however, did not kill the spirit in me. They just made me stronger and an even greater believer that every bad situation contains a seed of good. And I believe that good prevails. I learned that God is more powerful than any attack or any enemy ever can be. With a thankful heart, I can say that I would not change a single day of these painful experiences, as they all helped me become the strong and open-hearted leader that I am today. Thanks to the pain I had to overcome, I now deeply understand the pain of all nations and nationalities that have experienced, and still experience war to this day.“

I went through different spiritual battles, from losing my faith, to new age beliefs, and now I am proud to say that I am a born again Christian. Now I accept and honour every religion in the world, every human being without any judgemental feelings. Having experienced war and losing everything, from being sexually abused as a child, rape, being financially totally broke and hungry, emotionally abused, deep depression, to finding my peace and unconditional love and support in my life and my business, I give all my praise to God and Jesus Christ.” Today Silvija speaks on stages all over the world (Los Angeles, Budapest, Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich, London, Zagreb…) on the topic of “Innovation Mindset”. She uses her own experiences to guide others to a more fulfilling life, both professionally and spiritually. Two things she believes are intrinsically linked although not understood. “I combine the latest scientific research on the human mind-heart connection, and I bring awareness that science and spirituality cannot be separated anymore. Not in life, and not in business. How we think and what we focus on will expand.

The war might have been over but the events that took place had left Silvija deeply scarred. She fought with her own-self as well as her faith as she tried to come to terms with what happened.

I show people that there are universal laws that all successful people throughout history have applied to achieve their success, to make their ideas come alive and to make an impact.”

“My inspiration is in God. Some people call it the Universe; people use different names to express their faith.

Silvija is also the monthly editor for several international magazines and a radio host for “Secrets of Success” on Expat Radio (Germany), she is working with indus-

SOVEREIGN try leaders, helping them to overcome any mindset obstacles that are preventing them from making a meaningful impact. “We all have ideas, and the only thing that separates which idea will actually see the light of day is the mindset behind the idea. Leaders often need practical steps on mindset and business development that will help them understand why their idea is the one that humanity is waiting for. I love expanding and challenging people’s minds and hearts by showing them that no matter how far they have come in life, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they feel that they are, there is always more that can be done. There are always more people to help. There is always more good to be done, more space to expand the mind and heart. Why do so many adults abandon their dreams and ideas in the cave of somebody else’s beliefs, through unconscious patterns inherited from their parents? Through lack of awareness these patterns are then duplicated further onto their own children. Coming from an educational background, I had the chance to personally experience the importance of how you think and how strongly this could influence you in every situation and in every single event in life. We are all born only with two fears: fear of falling and fear of loud noises. Every other fear is learned, duplication of someone from your environment and the root is always in the childhood. I love to help leaders to find the sentences, situations and patterns that are dis-empowering them, sabotaging their success. All fears start in childhood, and through lack of awareness these patterns are then duplicated further onto our own children. It is a complex process but with the right mentor, it can be solved.

Free from fear and limitation A couple of years ago there was an incident that profoundly changed my perspective on this subject. Its actually the reason I am a coach today. At the time I was a teacher and on a particularly hot Friday afternoon, a little boy accidentally locked himself inside his mother’s car. Somehow he took her car keys and it was one of those moments that just happen so fast, no one had time to react. It was boiling hot outside, the car was in direct sunlight and this small child was visibly getting weaker, going limp. There was a mad panic as we realised he really was dying before our eyes! I rushed to this huge 4x4 with the first thing I could reach for to try and smash the window. All I had was the tiniest toy hammer, one that children use for their projects in school. Every time I tried to break the window, it just bounced back. I will never forget the way that little boy looked at me with his big brown eyes.

www.silvijapopovic.com in/silvija-popović-1b581447 /silvijapopovic popovic_silvija @popovic_silvija

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On the third attempt I called out to God and hit again with all my force and finally I shattered that window into a thousand little pieces. The boy’s life was saved! When the firemen arrived, they congratulated me for saving his life but the real fulfilment came from the feeling I had inside my heart. From that moment, I knew in my heart, with every fibre of my being, that I was born to help others. I am here on earth to free the human spirit from fear and limitation. I looked up and said: “No matter what it takes, lead me. Show me the way. Help me to see who it is that I need to become, where it is that I need to go.” Literally two weeks later, I was head hunted by a consultation firm. I took it as the sign I asked for and I after passing my exams I started my own consulting company and achieved business success in a relatively short period of time.

I share my solution with both organisations that want to bring innovative solutions to their teams and strong individual leaders, tired of not reaching their full potential, who want to be recognised in the market place. My role is to bring awareness to a world where we as human beings are now ready to combine spiritual and scientific aspects in business, in order to reach our highest potential, so that innovation can be expressed to a larger extension them ever before in human history…”

Progress through Mindset Innovation “A great coach shows you the way, saves you money and holds you accountable to become your full potential. Investing in myself and coaching is one of the best decisions I have ever made and if you are reading this I highly recommend you to find yourself a good coach who will help you achieve your goals faster.

Since then I have come to realise that companies who invest in developing the full potential of their employees, are the ones who will dominate the market. In a world where automation and AI will be increasingly shrinking the number of jobs available to people we will need to find a better way to perform. Behind people’s wealth and success, there is a hidden spiritual world with laws that are applied in sales, processes, systems, communication and all other aspects of business. And these laws apply whether you know about them or not, whether someone believes in them or not.

Speaking at Business conferences, I became an innovative, motivational and inspirational keynote speaker, I speak on Mind and Heart connections and how it can help leaders and nations create a lasting change to their economy.

Unfortunately, many organisations’ only focus is on improving systems and processes, implementing artificial intelligence in their services, maybe offering workshops for their employees from time to time, without realising that there is a “new” and far more powerful way of doing business. This is actually based on ancient universal law which has been known and implemented by successful people for hundreds and thousands of years.

This experience made me aware, once more, that each one of us receive their natural gift at birth but to live your life with purpose is to master your gift each day.

By working with management teams and offering innovative ways to solving problems, I challenge and break old systems and paradigms in companies.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to share the stage with Steve Wozniak, Hugh Hilton, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson and John Travolta where I delivered a speech on Mindset and Innovation to more than 2500 entrepreneur from 72 countries across the globe.

Finally, I would love to share with the readers a quote by Nikola Tesla that has become my life motto: “The power of the true woman is so great that I believe if a beautiful woman – that is to say, one beautiful in spirit, in manner and in thought, in fact, beautiful in every respect, a sort of goddess – were to appear suddenly on earth, she could command the whole world. Her leadership, I believe, would be universally recognized.

fabulous at fifty plus

Sovereign Magazine takes note of women and their achievements in this summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edition. Time to celebrate the Divine Feminine, big numbers and the joy of being fabulous throughout your entire life. Do you know a fabulous woman? Tell us about her for a chance to be featured in the summer edition of Sovereign Magazine. editor@sovereignmagazine.co.uk

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Naomi Susan Isaacs:

Charisma

& Leadership by Dr Marina Nani

Charisma is often perceived to be something you either have it or you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. Is this natural star power that children display before going to school a silent asset? Are we conditioned to believe that being average is a safe choice? After interviewing many charismatic leaders from around the world, it became obvious that leadership gives you charisma. 95% of the leaders we interviewed in the last two years, admitted that charisma is an asset, just like beauty, brains, or emotional intelligent that each one of us holds in abundance. What makes us decide how much and how often we use Charisma? We reached out to Naomi Susan Isaacs, Charisma Consultant, Founder of the Institute of Charismology, who works with her students to start re-writing their story and authoring their lives. Facilitator and Mentor, jazz singer and TedX Talk, Naomi empowers her clients to reclaim their lives. Her mission is to awaken her mentees to the true value that Charisma can play in their lives. Naomi teaches new skills to help her students explore new opportunities, become confident in making new choices, living their life by choice. In addition, each Workshop offers a group dynamic which often catapults participants to breakthroughs which they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe possible. Known in Germany and internationally as a dynamic and innovative coach and trainer, Naomi supports people from all walks of life in their quest to restore the knowledge of their selfworth, to strengthen their voices and to re-ignite their natural charisma. A dedicated, innovative and highly-qualified educator, she readily shares her profound knowledge and experience with stage performers, business executives, seminar leaders, in short: all whose profession places high demands on voice, authenticity, stage presence and audience connection.

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How do you define Charisma? Focusing on the original meaning of the word “Charisma” which is described as “the divinely bestowed or unique gift/core talent” Isaacs often presents guest speakers and coaches whose particular field of expertise contributes to the charismatic growth of her students. In a recent interview Naomi invites John Travolta to share his personal wisdom and how charisma influenced his life. “There is no limits to charisma” John Travolta says.

To be or not to be a Charismatic Leader? “On my 40th birthday I woke up before my husband and the first thought that entered my head was the question „Do I feel any different today?“ Up to now, I had noticed no particular change of mind set on my birthdays. But today was different. A little voice inside me said „You’re now too old to let anyone to tell you what to do – and much too young to die!“ A shock! Was I dying? I was not sick, at least not physically. But secretly I knew that the life I was living was not the one I wanted to live. I was living a life „on default“.

Flashback Growing up in post war London as the daughter of classical musicians, I had experienced a kind of elitism which I hated, so when I discovered American folk music and jazz I immediately took to them. The protest songs of Woodie Guthrie and the discordant sounds of modern jazz resonated within me; they reflected my feeling for life. My family was horrified! To add to this, I held the deep conviction that an academic career does not make a person „more valuable“. In fact I considered many of the academics who visited our house pompous and self-opinionated. I was the dissident in my family and often found myself „alone against the rest of the world“. I successfully avoided classical singing lessons

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and a university education. My whole family was convinced I would be a complete failure and end up in the gutter. Knowing what I DIDN’T want was easy, but I never had the courage to say what I DID want for fear of altogether losing the love of my family who already strongly disapproved of me. So I did what so many people in my situation have done: I became a school teacher. A „default“ decision. As it turned out I loved teaching – but I hated school. The hierarchy, the rules and regulations and the syllabus which often seemed irrelevant. Evenings and weekends found me with my guitar recovering from the week and tanking energy in one of the many folk music clubs in the British Midlands of the 60s. There I gained stage experience which later proved very valuable. As luck would have it, in 1967 I met a charming young English engineer who lured me to Munich/ Germany where, out of necessity, I embarked on my second „default“ career as a typist. During the following 17 years I advanced from „2-finger typist“ to departmental secretary and was fairly happy – until my 40th birthday. It was then that I awoke to the fact that I had lived my whole life „on default“ according to the wishes and values of others.

What’s next? I finally admitted that I was unutterably miserable in every area of my life. After my divorce, the big question was „what now!? Was that all?“ I now realise that there are thousands of women in this very situation. They have arrived at the middle of their life and are confronted with this same question: Is that all there is? I’m too old to be told what to do – and too young to die! After my divorce I recalled the jazz clubs we had visited during our early days in Munich and wondered whether they were still there! They were! The music immediately got under my skin again and it was not long before, aged 43, I dropped my office job to try my luck as a jazz singer. I sang and taught in Europe and USA, founded the New Vocal Centre in Munich and became extremely happy. My family need not have worried about me. My main motivation for dropping my job, however, was not the music; it was my absolute terror of having to admit at the end of my life that I never even tried to live my very own life, but wasted it trying to be as others wanted me to be. Having found my own solution to this pain, it is now my passion to support other women (and men) who find themselves in this emotional predicament and to show them that it’s never too late to start something new.

Inspired to live an adventure Among the many wonderful teachers I have been fortunate to study with over the years, one who stands out is Gordon Stokes (1929-2006), co-founder of the 3-in-1 Concepts Institute of Kinesiology in Los Angeles. The memory of his deep respect for and empathy with his pupils, his compassionate and dignified treatment of all – especially those whose behaviour was “slightly strange” – inspires me to this day. One-on-one coaching allows us to focus exclusively on the client’s most intimate issues which might be more difficult in a group setting. Many revisit their youth and discover that a modified version of their childhood dream is still possible. Some embark on new business ventures, achieving a life of self-determined, fulfilment and financial stability. There are countless inspiring authors too: Napoleon Hill, Viktor Frankl and Eckhard Tolle, to name but three. And often a simple observation by a child can lead me to ask new questions, to search for new revelations and discover new facets of an aspect of life I thought I knew something about.

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industrial Michael Knulst, entrepreneur, international speaker and executive coach, has been in business for more than 30 years, has built multi-million dollar businesses, not once but three times and he knows how success looks like. At present he runs several companies. But not everything flourished in his life. After he made over 75 million dollars on business for the companies he has worked with, he had setbacks, both in life and in business. When the dot.com collapsed in 2001 Michael lost everything…… “Rather than resign to fate, I stood up, picked up the pieces of my life and began all over again. During that period, I re-invented myself and learnt some valuable life lessons. Being in business now for more than 30 years of making people and companies successful, at some point I have come to the realisation that losing has nothing to do with failure or making mistakes. These occurrences are a necessary part of the process of building your character, testing your endurance and persistence on your way to the top, on your way to success. It is important to understand that in business and in life, it is not only about the money, or about you. It’s always about people, about giving the best you have to give. No matter what you do always provide maximum value!” Michael says. Renowned keynote speaker, Michael travels globally, inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to give their best selves in order to have successful businesses and fulfilled lives. “I have been speaking on stages in South Africa, France, Germany, UK, USA, Hungary, Belgium and Amsterdam. I have shared the stage with Billionaires, Millionaires and Business Tycoons such as JT Foxx – World’s Number 1 Wealth & Business Coach, Patrice Motsepe - Africa’s first black billionaire, Property tycoon and Real estate billionaire Hugh Hilton, South African billionaire Jenna Clifford and Ndabe Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson who’s taking care of his grandfather’s legacy.

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revolution Meeting these inspiring people and travelling all over the world, sharing my message have broadened my world’s perspective and enriched my life.” Knulst says. With his vast expertise, Michael realised that a large number of companies operating worldwide are not ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and do not know how to adapt their operations to new technological breakthroughs. “Today, the market is practicing the “winnertake-all” scenario implemented within the artificial intelligence revolution and adaptive platforms. A company aspiring to become a leader needs an intelligent platform, which will enable real-time transfer of the corporate business processes to the block chain platform and introduce artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies into decision-making and corporate management processes. This inspired me and my team to create our proprietary solution, “the Sophiq Leadership 4.0 Platform”. Knulst explains. In a highly competitive world, business leaders are urged to make right and accurate decisions in a fast way. Traditional leadership mind-sets, styles and ways of working within most organizations are simply not suited to coping with the speed, volatility, complexity and ambiguity of this new operating environment. Michael is aware that companies can no longer differentiate themselves through scale-able efficiency and their goal now is to become more innovative, responsive and agile than ever.

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SOVEREIGN “The demand for solutions that enables businesses to make this transition is exponentially growing. And these solutions have one thing in common; they are powered by Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. And this is my world, the world of Sophiq. Our state-ofthe-art Leadership 4.0 Platform enables leaders, teams and networks to make smarter decisions, solve tougher problems and do their jobs better. It empowers firms to transform into self-managed, agile and lean organizations that thrive, engage and contribute to their customers in a better, faster, easier and more cost-effective way, while maximizing the productivity and profitability of their business.” Michael says. Designed for Business leaders, people working in self-managing teams and off course their customers, The Leadership 4.0 Platform of Sophiq is a Data-driven, Industry 4.0 Solution that maximizes Performance and it enables to streamline a business strategy into an easy to understand format. “Sophiq is a Blockchain-based Collaborative Process Control Platform. Our disruptive solution is the first implementation that leverages blockchain for collaborative process execution and monitoring. Sophiq has adopted blockchain technology to address the lack-of-trust problem in collaborative business processes. We have developed an approach to map a business process onto a peer-to-peer execution infrastructure that stores transactions in a blockchain, offering unprecedented benefits.“ Michael Explains Pioneering the new reality of leadership, Michael and his team, took a less travelled road. “ On the one hand, as a challenger we have to compete against the established order of consulting and software companies whose business models are based upon obsolete principles and technologies. They are driven by hourly rates and it is in their benefit to spend as many hours as possible. I prefer the performance model, where as a service provider you get paid for performance. On the other hand we have to break through traditional leadership mind-sets, styles and ways of working where the majority of organizations are still captured in. Our credo is “Less management, more control”. I believe that the traditional management role will become redundant. Not really a message that many people like to hear. So there’s a lot of missionary work to do.” Michael takes inspiration from his faith and biblical leaders. “I am a born again Christian, it is my foundation. The stories in the Bible about great leaders really inspire me. They all have commonalities with the world we are in today; they are people, just like you and me, with dreams, visions, doubts, uncertainties, fears and challenges. But they succeed, sometimes against all odds. Because they pushed through the hardships, they were courageous, persistent and did not ever gave up.” Michael’s success was impacted by working with Mr. JT Foxx, who made all the difference in up scaling his business and delivering his concept to the marketplace. “After more than 30 years of building businesses, having all the successes, I really thought I had seen it all, until I met JT Foxx. He pushed me to step up, to raise my standards, to do more, to give more and be more. He challenges me every day and he follows every step I take. The beauty of working with JT Foxx is that he gives you everything he has; the best of the best

coaches, a great staff who is dedicated to serve you, an international network of like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders to work and partner with. The past 3 years have been amazing; I have made lifelong friendships with JT Foxx students all over the world and last but not least, both my wife and 2 sons are inspired by JT Foxx and have grown so tremendously. That is where my real blessing is.”

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by Dr Marina Nani

The Remarkable You How can you take control of your destiny and emerge as a stronger women in a fast changing world and become remarkable? Where do you start looking for a better paid job, less commuting time, less stress, more quality time with the ones you love? How do you prioritise what makes you happy? Can you create a promising future for your child, a future where technology enhances their quality of life instead of diminishing?

Can you re-invent the Awesome You? Dr Ruby Bakshi Khurdi, an innovative academic from Switzerland, believes that the answer lies in fostering our human values that help us distinguish between right and wrong. “To create a promising future for our children, where technology enhances their quality of life instead of diminishing it, we need to teach them strong values and develop their critical thinking and emotional intelligence. ” As an academician, her teaching focuses on learning through team spirit, leadership development and quality management. She has attended various cultural tours with international group of students to Turkey, Amsterdam, China, France, Prague and within Switzerland. Founder of Indo-Swiss Cultural Network, Ruby promotes healthy cultural integration and helps members of the Indian community living in Switzerland to adapt and adjust with Swiss norms!! She uses this platform to share women’s inspirational stories, rich experiences, job postings, and exchange ideas for community development. A highly successful and inspira-

tional professor, Ruby is teaching courses related to Human Resources, Communication, Business Ethics and Marketing in Business and Hospitality Management Schools. Ruby has given various successful workshops & podcasts on topics related to Effective Communication, Human Values, Women Empowerment & Emotional Intelligence. Ruby does not come across as a regular Academician; due to her personalized approach towards teaching. Sometimes for case studies, she conducts her classes outside in the garden or in the cafeteria where students discuss and talk more freely without any pressure. Her teaching is not just limited within the boundaries of a classroom; it extends even outside. She is always there to give constant support to her students. Ruby is not just teaching Knowledge, she is teaching Wisdom Ruby believes in leading with innovative styles of teaching and learning – her strength is her voice! Her approach has always been different from her colleague instead of following a conservative approach of publishing her articles, writing business papers, she listened to her inner voice! She decided to reach out to her students, help them, spend time with them, mentor them and give them visibility! She has been an inspirational professor to many students from diverse backgrounds – helping them to feel at home and settle comfortably in a foreign country away from their families. She has many inspirational videos to her credit, her talks, her voice is shared across social media and live events. Ruby’s innovative style of teaching has influenced thousands of students globally by her voice; she is regularly invited

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SOVEREIGN to different seminars and conferences across the world to share her ideas and create awareness. The first Indian-Swiss Female Professor in Switzerland who was invited for a TEDx Talk, Ruby has been an inspirational professor to many students from diverse backgrounds – helping them to feel at home and settle comfortably in a foreign country away from their families. Founder of Réseau InterculturELLE des Femmes (RIF) Ruby is reaching out to women, connecting them, sharing their stories, helping them in cultural integration. She received positive support from the local governing authorities – they provided a lovely venue where she organizes monthly themed meetings with women of different cultural & professional backgrounds. Thus providing a strong & lovely support system for each-other. Inspired by Giselle Rufer and her courage to think and do something as unique and exclusive as the Delance Watch for Women Empowerment, Ruby joined “Time for Women” awareness campaign with Delance Swiss watches for India and Switzerland. She proudly wears her watch everyday knowing that time is not just money, but time is life itself… She featured in a special interview by local Swiss Radio Djangoas Ruby Bakshi Khurdi, une Femme engagé where they talked about her life in Switzerland as a successful Professor, her struggle with French language, her role as Cultural leader and her significant voice in the issues of Women Empowerment! Her latest venture RAY Academy Swiss – Re-Invent the Awesome You, is helping women to develop Public speaking skills. It is an initiative to reach out to people to build their communication skills & make speaking fun!! RAY Academy is a platform for women who want to build their confidence, have a voice and create an Impact!! “We have created smart appliances, virtual reality and artificial intelligence to make our private and professional lives better yet sustaining our inner peace and harmony among this digital “noise” is becoming more and more challenging. How do we find a good balance between our reality and developing technologies?” Dr. Ruby’s objective for 2019 is to create more awareness about women’s role in modern society, create a bigger team of happy, enthusiasts volunteers, and provide innovative methods of learning! Ruby’s creative educational sessions are available on her Youtube channel, to help and educate more like-minded people across the world! Women Empowerment Certificate Program is an educational initiative undertaken by her as Global Chair Goodwill Ambassador of Switzerland. As an international speaker she is invited to various forums to speak & inspire other women around the world! Through her free online tutorial, she explains various myths and reality of Women Empowerment.

What does it take to build a Professional life? It looks like a chapter from a high profile career magazine; totally magical!! But magic didn’t happen in a day…

SOVEREIGN Ruby had to struggle a lot to carve a niche for herself in a foreign country! After marriage like a dutiful Indian wife, she left her flourishing career as a Principal of a Secondary school, her adoring parents, her kid sister, her friends to follow her husband in Switzerland. It looked like a dream come true to everyone back home! But she had to start from scratch – the initial few months were very difficult and challenging – language, being a major issue. Cultural shock was evident coming from India; where there are festivities around the year – too many people, traffic, spicy food etc. She had to make lots of adjustments in her way of living. It was not easy, but she did it with consistent support of her loving husband. Professionally, she had to work almost double to be noticed in a male dominated business management teaching industry. She always tried to be innovative in her teaching style, she was the first one in her school to introduce beamers in the classrooms, almost 18 years ago. Her teaching methods were unique, giving her an edge over her peers. Her sincere efforts got noticed and she was appointed as the Academic Dean of prestigious girls boarding school at a very young age! She has many inspirational videos to her credit, her talks, her voice dominates the social media and minds of our Millennials. Today’s generation likes to have role models, they like to follow influencers, they like to be updated with latest trends. Ruby’s innovative style of teaching is exactly that. She has influenced thousands of students globally by her voice; she is regularly invited to different seminars and conferences across the world to share her ideas and create awareness.

Becoming an Inspiration & Role Model Ruby adores her loving parents; they have been her role models throughout life… She took life lessons from their successful careers and failures! Her amazing husband & beautiful kids have been strong pillars of support both personally & professionally! Whenever she is feeling low, her younger sister brings a smile on her face and her adorable kids make her dance in joy! They are constant source of inspiration for her in different situations…

What does it take to emerge a Winner “Education is a continuous mission of life, never stop learning – learn something new every day. Find your own tribe – Empower Girl Child & educate your sons! Support more and more like-minded people – try to inculcate good values, wisdom and cultural sense within yourself and in people around you.” She firmly believes in the institution of Family, if you have wonderful support of your parents, kids and an understanding husband; facing challenges of life becomes easier and you emerge a Winner!

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Picturing The Nex Move by Danilo Kekic

Instant marketing Picture this: What if we gave you the possibility to build a fan base of loyal customers who admire your company so much, they would buy anything you offer?

You would only have to share a new product with your community and, without hesitation, they would buy it - just because they like you and take their time to listen to you. And realize this: only a thousand fans could be enough to lead to financial freedom. But, how big is the actual potential to build your own brand on social media? And what are you going to do with this information? Right now, social media is killing the TV, just as the video killed the radio star (in the words of The Buggles in the 80s). We are witnessing the evolution of self-created entertainment for the future. People are recording their own podcasts, recording YouTube videos, representing themselves on Instagram, and getting connected on Facebook and LinkedIn. In only a few short years, classical media will no longer be needed. And if you consider millennials, our target group, sometimes they are checking five different screens at the same time; there is no easy way left to catch their attention. Even Georg Kofler, MDAX CEO of the biggest German mass media company P7S1, said that his focus is switching more on to social media than on to his eight German free- and pay-tv channels. The great reason why we love to use social media for our clients is that the platform captures important information on how many people watched your stories and posts, and what they did afterwards. This insight is the best way for companies to rate the effectiveness of their social media profile. Compare this with TV or radio spots, where it is virtually impossible to know how many people have seen your product or service. In my opinion, social media is giving us the perfect platform

to catch the attention of every target group, as long as you know to whom you want to advertise. They are mostly seen as annoying and, thanks to the innovations of Spotify and Netflix, you are not going to be interrupted by adverts anymore. People between the ages of 18 and 35 prefer to use Instagram because Facebook “is out.” In other words, our future clients are on this platform and we should introduce ourselves to them to be a brand in the future. Instagram has been a growing social networking service. Today more than 500 million active users share, like and comment on photos and videos. 300 million of them are online daily. Yes, Facebook is way bigger with 2 billion active and 1.3 billion daily users. And even the industry believes in Instagram as one of the best tools for marketing their products. But: Why? Instagram users are following others who they do not know in real life - and therein lies the biggest potential for companies! The “Instagram User” is living a codex: like for likes & follow for following. That means, if you like a post or follow somebody, he or she has to at least check out your profile. There is no similar culture on Facebook or LinkedIn. On Instagram, the algorithm is verifying your posts and if they are liked and commented, they will give you more visibility to users who do not yet follow you - and that is only one of the secrets. E.g., on Facebook, you need to subscribe to a profile to see their posts in your feed - being connected is not enough. At the beginning of Instagram, many users were focused on building a huge amount of followers, just to have their very own community. We call them ‘influencers’. Their audience admires them so much that they would buy nearly anything from them. It is not really a phenomenon when you say it out loud: They trust them because of their authenticity and credibility. They like and even love them and hope to get more attention

SOVEREIGN or individual advice from their idols. Some of them think they are qualifying themselves by being their client or customer. Luckily, it is easy for companies to find the perfect influencer to advertise for their products. Usually, they will contact your company as long you are branded enough or you already have a loyal community - if not, you could need help from experts like us. An Influencer knows he or she can only live their lifestyle if they monetize their account and start advertising for others. By collaborating with companies, influencers receive commissions, e.g. @Bibisbeautypalace with 5.5 million follower earns up to 22.500€ with one post. It goes without saying, if an individual is getting big on social media, they reach celebrity status as well. People ask to take pictures with them and so on. Our clients and most of the influencers are creating their own products for sale over Instagram. The best example here is Kylie Jenner. She has 125 million followers on Instagram and uses her profile to market her products of Kylie Cosmetics. The company was created in 2015. Since 2015, Forbes magazine estimates, she sold products worth $630 million, more or less through Instagram. Clients who handle their social media like a business and who take it seriously and use our feedback are still getting really big on these platforms. Now we know Instagram is great as a marketing tool, but there is so much more. You can create your own brand, start a business and earn money with there. If you are interested in learning more about that, just read along - in one sentence: You only have to create content. Something that helps your community with their individual problem. By the way, there is no need to get yourself an expensive camera; use your smartphone to start instead. Just ensure your profile looks clean and professional. Also, give thought to the desired message of your postings or story. You only have to put in the effort and work to create your own community. And the things you might think are the easiest are actually just the opposite. The next step is to post regularly and maintain the high quality of your content. Stay online to keep in touch with your followers and answer messages - talk to your future clients and treat them like current customers. Instagram is a platform, which no one can ignore in the future. It is the modern way of marketing. There are plenty of strategies and possibilities to ensure every individual can be successful through social media - our job is to consult you on this path or work on a way for your company and make the whole experience easy for you. If you decide not to jump on this train, you will be a future client of the influencers. If you choose to start now, you will be the paid party. S o how do you see this working for you and your business? Tell us at www.keco.tv

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BURNOUT

“

There is a better and more holistic way to practice medicine, or be an executive or entrepreneur, one that keeps your sanity and your vitality intact.”

Are you at risk?

Uwe Dockhorn

by Dr Marina Nani

Anxiety, depression or even feeling overwhelmed can have a big impact on daily life and we commonly feel energy, loss of interest or pleasure, or appetite, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep, and poor concentration. How easy is to change your lifestyle, feel in control of your daily activities and more able to cope with what life throws at you? Many of us feel we have to deal with it alone, or try self-help techniques; keeping a healthy diet, reducing alcohol intake, meditation, breathing exercises and developing holistic ways to think about life challenges differently, are all available for the brave. This is the story of a 28 year old young man who found himself standing on a bridge, desperate enough to jump. “I had reached the end of my rope and saw no solution inside me.” His father died when he was 23, he had become isolated, and separated from friends, lost his job, he was overwhelmed, physical and emotional exhaustion, and felt there was no reason for being in this world.

How do you free yourself from the imminence of burnt out? “I was convinced that I could not feel anything, and the truth was, I didn’t feel anything – I was numb. That’s when I found myself on the edge of that bridge. I remember it was a crystal clear, but bitter cold, winter night. I was watching the stars, breathing the cold air. In and out. I could see my breath. I slowly leaned forward. I let go, but in that moment something happened. While everything else was pitch black inside and out, I saw a tiny little light inside me - then I felt it. Something sitting right under my nose, and because I couldn’t feel it, I couldn’t perceive it. That night, I learned an important lesson, what I now call “Elephant Thinking”, and it took me 20 years of continuous personal development to create The Anti-Burnout-System™, my proprietary work that creates lasting results in people in 8 hours or less.”

Like on the bridge that night, the secret that nobody in the industry of transformation and health is focusing on: Letting go is only 50% of the equation. Without the other half of the equation, letting go leaves you in free fall. What if I tell you, the other 50% after you let go is to feel, perceive, and let in what is already there? It’s like a muscle; letting go and letting in, it’s a 2 part process and it happens at the same time. Always. We are so focused on letting go that we miss the opportunity to consciously bring in what is there in that very moment to help you to get into action and do things differently. For the very first time since my father had died, I felt something inside me on that bridge and it drew me back from jumping. I made myself a promise 25 years ago that I am still keeping today.” Known as the Lifestyle Liberator, Uwe Dockhorn is the founder of the Anti-Burnout-System™, a premium coaching programme, that offers the solution to liberating lifestyles for ambitious and dedicated doctors, dentists, C-Suite executives, and their Very Important Partners (VIPs). He has made it his life purpose to help other professionals to “decipher patterns and translate them into form”. In the beginning, he developed cutting-edge Visual Thinking Training Programs for project managers and consultants in the military and diverse corporate areas, but it was clear that everybody was supposed to leap over a “training wall” to succeed. He found people need more personal time and attention, and two years later Uwe was asked to join an education academy and put in 1:1 situations on a daily basis. The programs thrived and profits increased in the first year by 15%, and in the following by 25%. After over 500 consultations with a full 360° variety of people, and 30,000+ coaching hours, Uwe has successfully helped hundreds of professionals, executives and entrepreneurs to recognize and embody their professional aspirations.

It’s all about mindset… right!? Anyone who has already dealt with Burn-

SOVEREIGN out knows the usual advice: quickly eliminate the problems which create the Burnout. These so-called mindset techniques have existed since the 1990s, however, the figures for Burnout sufferers show that they do not work longterm. Mindset techniques only deal with one half of the solution, new findings show the core of Burnout is in self-created beliefs and pattern. To succeed, you need to crack your personal code of transformation and internally anchor your own freedom against imminent Burnout. The Anti-Burnout-System™, helps liberate your vitality - from getting clarity on what your breakthrough to brilliance looks like, to what is stopping you from protecting your vitality, to the excitement of knowing exactly what to do next. Together you discover the essential building blocks to finally triple your vitality and, therefore, also your income.

Why does Burnout happen to Medical Professionals? Burnout is not new, and it is not rare. Almost everyone experiences it at least once. Everybody knows that you should take more time for yourself and create a life-work balance. However, Medical professionals are 6 times more likely to commit suicide than any other profession. Half the practicing medical professionals and an increasing number of C-Suite executives and entrepreneurs are experiencing Burnout. Their vitality and their businesses are in danger. Not only that, their families are at risk as they are increasingly disconnected from them, missing the moments that matter the most in their children’s lives. There is a ripple effect on their equally ambitious and dedicated partners who feel unsupported, and over time lose their self-esteem and feel abandoned. “It has been shown over and over again that the clarity and the knowledge about one’s own driving force are the keys to maximum effectiveness and joy of life. In an era of imminent Burnout, my clients can protect and upgrade their vitality, their business, and most importantly their family life.” Uwe says. Supporting his clients to have clarity on their own perception and realisations, Uwe’s work has become his daily inspiration; and paying it forward helped him find his own element. As Mark Twain said: “The 2 most important days in your life are when you’re born and the day you find out why!”

www.uwedockhorn.com breakthroughwithcoaching uwedockhorn

@uwedockhorn

uwedockhorn

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Florence Bountsman by Dr Marina Nani

A Bold Move

Real Estate Investor and Expert, Business Strategist, Owner of IMN Stuttgart Florence Bountsman, originally from France, lives now in Stuttgart, Germany, with her husband and her 3 sons. As a child she played chess at a high level and participated to European and World Chess championship. During one of the European tournaments, she met a new chess mate who was a chess grand master and proved to be her true soul mate, Dmitri. Together they moved to Germany, which became her country for the last 18 years. Moving to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language is a bold move. Making a bold move at a young age proved to be the best move, as she discovered aspects of her own identity as well as the nature of her relationship with her own family, a place to call it home. At first, Florence work as a web developer in Stuttgart and that was the first step into understanding a new culture. When the family started to grow, Florence and her husband made a bold move again and decided to invest in real estate. This bold move created a job that gave her the freedom to spent time with her children and upscale the business at the same time. Now an experienced investor and a renowned business strategist, together with her husband, they launched IMN Stuttgart (Intelligent Millionaires Network) and created the team to support the expansion of their business. Together they have built six successful companies and own 19 real estate units in an exclusive part of Germany. They are also always in the lookout for opportunities to invest and Cryptocurrency, which have proved to be an equally lucrative financial achievement. “I met JT Foxx in Autumn 2016, really somebody incredible who speaks the truth, not what you want to hear but what you need to hear to improve. JT Foxx is really someone remarkable! He makes events in the whole world, expanding in new countries, where he brings so much value to business communities. He gives so much for his “family first” group, to all his students. It was really inspiring to see and understand that we all have the possibility to help others in our specific area of expertise. Guided by my coaches, JT Foxx, Silvija Popovic and Julia Bock, I really realized that my knowledge could help other people become successful. Having mentors, you gain confidence and having confidence gives you the competence and the courage to adventure into new business possibilities.”

SOVEREIGN But real estate and Cryptocurrency are not their main focus. Florence loves to help others become financially free. Creating a community of like- minded people, people who, just like her, know there is more to life than struggles. “If you are stuck somewhere when you want to improve your life, you need more knowledge, search for new partners to do business with, and invest in others. The IMN Stuttgart members who joined us, learn about their own industry, met great business people and got a lot of personal help. Regardless of their industry, they learn everything they need to know to become successful, from the latest news on management, investment and tax, and how to set up a new business, to how to increase self-confidence and how to stay agile and keep their fingers on the business pulse. What it really gives us all is a great advantage as a community, making meaningful connections with like minded people and helping each other. Our community is not so old but we are growing together. We would love to invite more people to join us. We have many success stories and all members understand that we created a place of all possibilities simply because we are a strong team and we help one another.” Since it’s launch, Intelligent Millionaires Network Stuttgart, scaled up into an exclusive network for entrepreneurs and individuals who want to be more successful in life, create new projects and invest in real estate. With years of investing in the German market, especially in Stuttgart, where good deals are classed as ‘Mission impossible’, Florence developed an eye for very profitable investments opportunities. Every single project proved to be profitable and Florence’s portfolio is expanding under the bliss of their family life. Parenting three children or finding “impossible” deals are bold moves but having great mentors is the best moved they could ever make. “Inspired by my coach Silvija Popovic who is always here when I have a question and who guides me while navigating through the next level of my success, I am confident in helping others to make the right move, and change their life for good. I am aware that most difficulties in day to day reality, are mindset based. I help the people who are ready to change, to grow a positive mindset and of course give them adequate tools and solutions when they need help.”

www.imnstuttgart.com florence.bountsman | IMNStuttgart fbountsman florence-bountsman

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Through The Camera Lens Expats come in all forms Event Photography Stories by Elaine Pringle-Schwitter The Expat Expo in Switzerland is the brainchild of Ed and Melanie McGaugh. They are in their 14th year of this trade show and it is run 4 times a year in 4 different cities, namely Zurich, Zug, Geneva and Basel. It is an English-speaking expo and the aim, as the name suggests, is to help expats with the process of settling into a new country and all that it entails. For the last three and half years I have been the event’s official photographer and my brief is to capture the mood of the exhibitors, the ambiance of the venue and the general traffic flow of the visitors. It is a great day out for expats in the areas. The Exhibitors range from large corporate financial institutions to a small family business that make organic skin care products. Every expat from all over the globe that can converse in English will flock to this expo to find the latest products and/or services that will fit their needs. There is even the faithful bouncy castle for the children of the expats. This allows them to have a 10-minute coffee and just soak up the atmosphere. The bouncy castle has been a permanent fixture at these expos, and it is run by a fabulous children’s party organisation that manages to keep themselves busy for the rest of the time running birthday parties for the expat community as well as the Swiss. This is not an exclusive ‘only expats are welcome’ event. On the contrary, Ed and Mel embrace Swiss visitors, Swiss exhibitors and Swiss sponsors. In fact, often on my rounds during my shoots I meet many of the Swiss attendees and tend to engage on the current topics of the day. Usually that is local news, but in this current climate, all anyone wants to talk about is Brexit and what is going on there. I’ll leave that to the politicians to answer. The most recent expat expo was in Zug Lorzensaal, Cham. This tends to be the smallest of the expos and expectations are managed as such. However, this time it was a very different expose to the norm. There was a certain buzz in the air and a rejuvenated feeling amongst the Exhibitors and visitors. Zug 2019 was the launch of the Swiss Edition of the Sovereign Magazine and unbeknownst to many of the exhibitors, there was a wicker basket for them to drop their business cards, with the chance of winning a featured article in the next edition of the magazine. When the exhibitors became knowledgeable about this potential win, they flocked to Sovereign Magazine section of the expo in search of this wicker basket. What amused me was the enthusiasm of the exhibitors to displace their business cards into the basket. I even observed a couple businesses putting more than one business card in, presumably to increase their chance of this fabulous win. Who wouldn’t?

pringle_stuff

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Back to the expat expo and this recent Zug 2019 show. For those who want to soak up the ambiance of the expos, with a view to visit the next one, please take a look at the YouTube video created of the show Sovereignâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first edition of Swiss Magazine featured Ed and Mel as The Trailblazers, one of the most remarkable expat stories ever told. If you want to obtain a copy of the edition mentioned in the YouTube video, contact the Sovereign team on the channels given in the video. At this show, there were many of the regulars that would exhibit year on year and there were new and up and coming businesses that were there for the first time. The old guards were the insurance and financial management companies, the corporate event tour companies, the general holiday companies and international schools. Some of the new exhibitors were companies like Legends the pie company, handmade jewellery and soap companies or those who provide bespoke services for your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development. That is just a handful of organisations mentioned. There were many more, in fact there were over 80 exhibitors. We were lucky in the Zug 2019 expo. The visitors and other Exhibitors were entertained throughout the day by Steven Knight from Swiss Prime International with his bagpipe! Steven has played for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo as well as for the Royal family at Buckingham Palace, Palace of Holyrood House, Balmoral Castle and International tattoos in Basel Switzerland, Kuala Lumpur and many others. Steven is a great addition to the expos and I have seen him play there a few times now. Always capturing those moments to share thereafter. All in all the expos are a great day out to see what is out there for the expats in terms of services, products and even social activities. Ed and Mel have created a community that gets more and more vital as we see the many changes around us. They were and are the originators of such expos in Switzerland. Others have since tried to replicate their model, some have been successful with the niches they have created and others have fallen by the wayside due to their lack of gravitas, professionalism and commercial pull that is still the preserve of Ed and Mel and the Expat Expo. More and more expats are being created and as a result more needs are being generated and businesses, organisations, social bodies and even governments will have to fill that need. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an opportunity and is clearly how things are slowly changing. I look forward to the many tales and stories that will be written in the Sovereign Magazine from the expat community about their businesses, their transition, their advice to others, their triumphs or even just their journey. We look forward to being lost in the page-turner of their struggles and opportunities seized. How individuals, businesses and even families mange throughout this change, giving hope to those who are contemplating this transition from where ever they may be across the globe. So it is a vibrant time for us all and stay tuned into Sovereign as they cover many of these stories that we all can relate to. Sovereign is on a journey of its own and becoming an expat as well. Take that journey with us.

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A New Approach To Business Excellence by Marina Nani

Dr Werner Krings, LinkedIn’s EMEA Social Selling #1 Award winner 2017, supports global companies in various industries to optimize their digital strategy. Enhancing Business Development/Sales by applying a relevant set of media and tailoring content to specific B2B decision-makers results in agility, flexibility and recurring revenues streams. An accomplished multilingual communicator, closing deals at C-level, securing high-value accounts with clients including Automotive, Aerospace, Executive Education and Software industries. Dr Krings is as a business consultant and educator, he has advised clients including a leading Strategy Consulting Firm, German Federal and State Institution among many others. Sovereign team invited Dr Werner to share his grand vision with our readers in an exclusive interview for the Expat-Expo Edition. “I remembered my childhood dream was to embark on the journey to a better world which was symbolized by the longing to become American. My vision became global instead of local, today I would change it to ‘glocal’. Since my childhood I developed a passion for connecting the right people at the right time. Currently, I leverage the power of Social Networks to accelerate my clients’ business and improve their branding by providing access whether in B2B/B2C or D2B. Secondly, my company, Digital Business Intelligence, accelerates Business Development opportunities by matching suitable stakeholders and providing access to key decision-makers. By leveraging Social Media, which was evidenced by my doctoral studies at Henley Business School, I regularly exceeded the outcome of traditionally working executives in B2B Business Development, Marketing and Sales whether it was in the USA or the DACH region. Since Business Relationships are very much like personal relationships, they are built on credibility and trust and involve more than a mere business conversation, it requires, besides of gathering and applying relevant information, in-depth knowledge of various cultural, regional and industrial spheres to establish rapport and create a unique differentiator. My company offers B2B training of excellence for Expatriates with effective strategies and tools in Cultural Adjustment, Sales,

SOVEREIGN Relationship-building, branding and digital strategies. Fourthly, the executive coaching combines various coaching methodologies with solid business knowledge to understand the various facets of C-Level and Mid-Management level. This also involves reaching personal objectives like extending their philanthropic or academic impact by connecting to relevant institutions or mentoring them to be admitted to Business Schools of their choice. By applying the approach of ExcellenceTM, we enable and empower our clients to reach their objectives. This is done by focusing on the outcome rather than temporary challengesâ&#x20AC;?

The Next Generation of Academics in Digital Excellence â&#x20AC;&#x153;Growing up in an entrepreneurial family with one of the largest companies in the beverage market, I originally prepared to take over the family business after my graduate school (University of Passau). After an internship with a leading German Bank in DĂźsseldorf and New York, I supported my father on the Management Board and early on applied corporate law and some of the models which were relevant in the US at the time. Though the imminent generation conflict was quite painful for me, I realized that this route was obsolete and that my purpose was far greater than this. Having mapped out everything, I lost my plan overnight, sort of preparation for the agile VUCA world we face nowadays. So, I decided instead to go into wealth management and consulting with cross-sector experiences at boutique and two of the Big Four Companies. Since I like to consult various industries and several subject matters from business, interactive design, social media and coaching, I was able to relate easily to a variety of C-Level contacts since I understand their drivers, their language, the challenges they face and know what is relevant to them. Of course, my family background and the experiences whether for good or bad helped me to be empathetic and were the key motivators to develop a focus on excellence rather mediocrity. Providing access to the best of two worlds, the business and academic, involves multiple other layers. Especially, in the Anglo-American culture, top academics are characterized by applying their research in the business arena as well. For example, I teach Entrepreneurship, Digitalization and Business Development for Master of Science Students in FinTech at the oldest French School of Management at their Oxford campus in England. I accepted this invitation be-

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cause I have gained academic research and solid practitioner experiences in these areas. My teaching approach is very practitioner-oriented, and my vision is to create the next generation of entrepreneurs using my solid academic background and leveraging my experiences to deal with various cultures as a former Expatriate in the US and collaborating with people from all major regions. At the same time I pursue academic rigour with the energy and enthusiasm to impart encouragement to the younger generation to take off any limitations hindering them to become the best in life. Our consultants are known as trusted advisers having gained rich experienced in boutique advisory firms and various Big Four firms mainly in the DACH, Western European and North American region in both management and leadership roles. If you just want to tweak your business processes go to the big consulting firms, if you aim for sustainable results collaborate with us! Our portfolio includes cross-sector industry projects with reputed Fortune-500/DAX-100 companies. When I look at companies in consulting and training or at individuals in coaching or mentoring, my focus is on their strengths and performance rather than their weaknesses. I am not providing services by creating confusion and fear in organisations, there are lots of companies out there which do this. I don’t believe in the approach that many companies pursue to eliminate in order to gain, this is a lack mentality creating a negative atmosphere. I consider a company like a doctor considers a patient, meaning that I adjust so that enhancement and healing is reached without killing the patient, i.e. the career of successful employees within the company. It is not difficult to just cut costs; the big consulting firms are known for this. In contrast, we seek to develop the approach of excellence throughout my clients’ organisation. Today the most critical benchmark is customer experience, and this starts with impacting the mind-set and mentality of each employee of various generations of the organisation. I suggest ‘selective digitalisation’ by placing the human being in the centre instead of giving into the temptation to just radically change the entire organisation by eliminating jobs. Research has shown that even the millennials are not just digitising every function, with the exception of highly operative ones, but that personal relationships still remain key. Consequently, I suggest combining the best of traditional and digital methods. At the end, human ingenuity remains preferable over any interactions via robots exclusively.

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DIGITAL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (DBI) The DigitacceleratorTM of Business Development & Performance

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Think Like A Grandmaster “Chess helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules and take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment.” Garry Kasparov Dmitri Bountsman is a chess Grandmaster, software architect and entrepreneur based in Stuttgart, Germany. Born in the ex-Soviet Union, his family moved to Germany when he was 9 years old. Learning chess helped him overcome language barriers and becoming an International Grand Master opened a new perspective on what is possible, forever changing his own perception on success. He participated to World and European Chess Championship. He was ranked 97th in world chess ranking and 3rd in Germany, aged 17. Two years later he decided to study IT and worked as a software developer and software architect. Dmitri led the entire software architecture in a project which required 960,000 man-hours to complete, creating a viable ecosystem and the solutions which allowed the organization operates and thrive. IT is his main passion and his strategic thinking opens new opportunities for other businesses he runs together with his wife, Florence, a chess champion too! In the last decade they invested in real estate in an exclusive part of Germany, in Stuttgart, and developed a rental property portfolio that they manage. A strategic mind, Dmitri opened is also the head of IMN Stuttgart, were they help to connect like minded business owners and entrepreneurs with a growing international community. What inspired you to create your business?

What problems are you solving?

From my point of view, for successful development of a piece of software, IT people have to understand the business they are working in and consult other departments of the same project. Successful business decisions of senior management need to be supported by control of own IT.

I solve the problems of high IT-costs and especially slow IT-implementations of necessary business changes. After my work is done, my client will have the control over its own IT system. The IT department (or whatever the structure is) will be able to consult on business changes and give correct estimation for time and schedule of any change.

All these years I worked as an IT architect, in any company I worked with, same problems are always present. I speak about companies where IT is not the primary business. There are of course technical issues but there are also communications and mindset problems,on different levels. Often the IT is seen at a kind of “necessary evil” and software developers as coders. I decided to help companies gain control over IT, keep it, save a lot of money and accelerate their business growth. My goal is to change IT from “necessary evil” to a strength that makes the difference.

How does it work? I come into my client’s organization as part of the team, and depending on organization size, I spent between 3 and 15 days to analyse the situation and find out what can be improved and where the problems are. Then, I offer to the company three different packages: •The first is where I come in for a project, resolve the problems, make workshops and finally give the results over. •The second is like the first plus at instead of leaving I stay and consult for

SOVEREIGN a period of time until the organization found necessary staff to replace me. •The third is like the first plus I search for my replacement myself. That can be that the necessary people are already at the company but it can be that I will have to search on the market. Most likely it will be the mix of both. Finally I train my replacement before I leave.

Who are the people who could benefit? I work with companies that do not see IT as their primary business,but have minimum 100 employees. Both the company and its employees benefit in more ways than one. The senior management will get control of IT costs and schedule of changes of future development. The specialist departments will finally see results instead of hearing “that’s not possible”. The software development will have more fun developing new feature instead of being upset about never ending meetings without results.

What are the challenges to make the public aware of your work? The most common challenges are concerning the mindset and the limiting belief that it is not possible to have a control over IT and it’s cost. Here are some common indicators that show that my service is required: •Managers think that it is better not to change too much in IT, because every change is a risk -“do not change the running system”. Well, who does not evolve will not survive •Managers fell into a common trap of “saving money” off shore instead of investing in the company. •Adjusting to Frameworks and systems even when they are not a good fit. •Having to many meetings without result •Having huge performance problems •Takeover of competitors and merging two different systems •Trying to solve problems with different development processes like SCRUM It can be frustrating see that most companies and organizations have the same issues and no one seems to know that these problems even exist. What I really want is to help these companies take back control of their IT and make it the difference over their competition. My goal is to streamline your organisation’s IT infrastructure so that you are able to change your processes depending on your needs, rather than changing your needs to fit your processes and who knows with my help you may be taking over competitors (without having to spend years merging your 2 infrastructures together). The organizations should be able to change their processes depending on business requirements and not because that’s the IT limitation. Being inspired by Garry Kasparov, Dmitri looks at life with an open mind and focus on problem solving. Connect with him to find best solution for your challenges.

www.imnstuttgart.com /dmitri.bountsman | IMNStuttgart bountsman

dmitri-bountsman

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How To Find

by Dr Marina Nani

After Climbing The Ladder of Success Success means different things to different people. Climbing the ladder of success starts long before launching a dream job. Ultimate success in life cannot be predicted but subtle emotional experiences are critical to the final destiny. Do you remember how big a table seemed to be when you were still crawling? Learning to walk is a process that we experience at least twice in a lifetime: the first time as a baby and second as you become an adult. The second time round involves all the imaginable and unimaginable setbacks and struggles to achieve success and put a roof above your dreams and aspirations. Those dreams and aspirations, eventually grow to become a new reality and the process of putting your name on success is known as “Climbing the ladder of success”. What happens after climbing the ladder of success? Are high achievers happy after becoming successful? We came across hundreds of stories from around the world and today we choose to share the very first extraordinary story from the series “Happiness Vs. Success”. Gabriella Laszinger is a philanthropist, a Life Strategist, Keynote Speaker, coach and author who started her “ journey into oneself ” two decades ago. After climbing the ladder of success in Switzerland, Gabriella left her corporate life behind and founded two orphanages in Nepal. In the last two decades she parented over 200 children, freed them from poverty, hopelessness, child labour and modern slavery. Her work has been recognized by the German President and honoured in 2010 with the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (Germany’s highest civilian honour). Gabriella organizes trips to Nepal for high achievers who, just like her two decades beforehand, are seeking life changing experiences, to find a way back to their true self, after climbing up the ladder of success. Born in former Yugoslavia in the 60s, Gabriella’ s family immigrated to Germany but the little shy girl had big dreams of making a better life for herself and others. Her grandmother’s generosity was hard to understand, as she was giving away her last meal to homeless people who often turned up on

SOVEREIGN her doorstep. One day her grandmother told her: “Ella, your life means nothing without helping others”. As an ambition child, this was her first real lesson about success. “At first, I did not want to understand that generosity makes you abundant; all I wanted was to achieve success and become wealthy. At that time I had no idea what type of wealth I would have one day. Definitively not the one I imagined at that time. My path to success was covered with stones. As a teenager I became pregnant: first love, first intimacy and my dream came to an abrupt end. My parents dispelled me and in order to be able to finish my college, I had to work to get money for food and nappies. While this being the darkest part of my young life, I learned resilience and how to never give up. Later, after my university studies and a successful career in Switzerland as a coach and trainer, I pretty much had a good life. I was well known and my services well sought after. I was on holiday, sitting in a café in Italy and while sipping my tea, wearing an expensive red dress I just bought from a splendid boutique, I started to wonder: “ Is this it? Is this really all there is to be? The success and happiness I wanted? Surely, not! It cannot be!” The thought depressed me. I had to find the answer and set out for India, which at the time I believed was the most spiritual country I could go to seek out answers. Surely, I would find what I was searching for here, but what was it that I was even searching for? My happiness? My soul? When I arrived to Varanasi at the Ganges, I found it to be an awesome and interesting destination. But the cultural shock and all the people constantly trying to grab me was disturbing. I wanted to feel the peace and tranquillity at the Ganges in the morning, at sunrise, but all I had were beggars and hawkers around me. It was an adventure and I hated it. I felt so empty and disappointed…. The mysticism, the holy men, ascetics, Buddha-feeling, monks and religious rituals, spirituality, the radiant colours – all was in front of me, but I had not found what I was looking for. What was I actually looking for? I was so desperate and so anxious because all the beggars and people touching me constantly, that I ran to the first travel agency to book first flight anywhere, just to be out of there! This first trip outside my comfort zone made me embark on a pursuit of happiness, going into a deeper search of my true self. Before reaching my next destination, a small country this time, I could see from the airplane all these small houses, like shoe boxes. I was now in Nepal! Helping people is the most natural thing in the world. Working for lasting change is however pos-

www.happy-children.org happychildrennepal

Gabi Laszinger

gabisuper7

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SOVEREIGN sibly even though, it is the most challenging work in the world. The seeds of my true story were sown back in 1999, when I landed in Nepal. Again it was a breathtaking experience: meditating with monks up in the hills, chanting with ascetics with their long dreadlocks covered in white ashes and painted faces, even participating in mysterious shamanistic ceremonies with holy men. But once more, the feeling I was looking for, the connection I was craving for, did not reach my heart. I almost gave up and decided that I had to go back to my life; I already travelled to the two most spiritual countries, where should I go next? To the moon? With all these questions in my mind, I lost my way and ended up in the slums in Kathmandu. There suddenly, something magical happened: I saw three starving boys and realized in that very moment, I am here to do something! I could not fly home just thinking: “Well, I cannot do anything. I am going back home” but do what ? I was not even able to find myself so how could I possibly impact the life of others, so far away from home, in a completely different culture? And then...I got a whole lot more than I bargained for, in every way imaginable. You see, the thing is, local children’s dreams are quite different to the ones I had as a child. Here they dream of a handful of plain white rice to put in their mouth and try to imagine how wonderful it would smell and taste. Nepal is enchanting but there is a lot more from close up. Amidst all the vibrant colours, sounds and smells in this beautiful but one of the poorest countries, there’s also an undercurrent of desperate misery and poverty. You simply can’t overlook it and remain true to yourself at the same time. I could not turn my back on these three children, forget I ever seen them, I could not let them die. When I’ve met Ashik, seven years old, Ashok , five years old, and Abinash, a one year old baby boy, that moment changed my life and changed their lives too. I did not just want to talk about making an impact but make the impact in these innocent children’s lives! Near the slums in Kathmandu I found these three little boys who touched my heart to the core. Hundreds of people were

passing by. Nobody even cared to look at them. They were clearly outcasts. Not for me! The boys were lying on the street in the blazing heat. Their big, sad eyes and their stony faces were quietly screaming for a drop of water and a spoon of rice. They were lying on the ground, almost naked, only covered by small vests. Completely undernourished they could hardly move and it was impossible to guess their actual age. Maybe other people could justify their misery and despair simply with the word ‘Karma’, but I couldn’t. There is a point where you know that you must do something. Most people hesitate to help because they don’t know WHAT to do. I saw their suffering and the fear on their little faces. I was suffering for them. Somehow there was a bond between us. Somehow they weren’t just any three little boys in despair in Kathmandu. I wanted to give these children a chance! My soul gave me no other choice. There was no more hesitation. “Somebody who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist.” I believed in miracles that very moment. The two children’s homes I founded are home to 200 children and many more get support outside our homes. As a backpacker searching for my own happiness and sense in life, I did not plan on starting a grand social project to care for the children in Nepal! However, my entire life changed fundamentally in a blink of an eye. A dream came true. 200 children are no longer forgotten by the world, they don’t live on the street anymore and they have learned to smile. Now they have a future. This started with an urge to help, a single drop which became a river. Out of a holiday a passionate life mission was born. Let us never wake up from this dream. Let’s change the world, one child at a time.”

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Setting yourself free from programs stored in your Subconscious Interview with Bettina Patricia Peter By Dr Marina Nani

After two decades of working as an intuitive coach and Stress Transformer, Bettina Patricia Peter has helped many clients suffering from stress. Bettina combines several tools intuitively in the quantum space. Her approach is to support people which are allowing to change, transform or heal. You left a successful carrier in fashion behind and enter a total different industry, helping people to transform their lives. What inspired you to become an intuitive coach? After 13 years in fashion business I got married and when my first daughter was born, my life changed. I started to see more of behavioural patterns I repeated, my husband repeated and more and more I could see the family patterns and what we were unconsciously passing on to our daughters. After a while I started to study systemic work, healing and aura reading. I would go to silent retreats to experience and listen to my own programming and began to redesign my destiny. A very long journey of learning began. From the shallow world of fashion I started to dive deep into the human psyche and how we are embedded in the cycles of nature. When we realise that we do things we actually never wanted to do, we get frustrated or even freeze. We can fall in a pause mode. But this is not life affirming because pause mode is static, and life is the endless continuum of change and expansion. Through our experiences and especially the challenging ones, the ones that seem painful we grow the most and expand our understanding and consciousness. My work gives people the opportunity to get out of their pause mode or freeze mode, through a systemic perspective, their view expands and if they dare to feel the charge that is still held on cellular level, the STUCK energy leaves and healing is possible.

Where do you take your inspiration from? Today we know from the latest research in neuroscience that in stressful situations our subconscious takes over. These impulses are stored like data on a hard disc where everything we have experienced in the first 7 years of our lives. Every child soaks everything up during this time, unfiltered and unconditioned, these emotions are stored in the subconscious. Every person has a different program regarding to his or her first 7 years. Our life with all our experiences, joy, pain or trauma, all the beliefs, behaviour patterns and preferences of the people surrounding us are stored in our subconscious and they shape the persons we are today. All my life I trusted my intuition and it got very skilled in my early years to define the mood of the people surrounding me. As a creative and

SOVEREIGN visionary person intuition was the main skill on which I relied the most during my years designing fashion for big brands. Through the new perspective a deep knowledge arises and the understanding gives the ability to drop a backpack that has been passed on through the ancestry over generations. Also, all of a the sudden people can develop an empathy as they gain a deep insight on why people could not behave differently. This is an energetic work and we simply hack the information from the family energy field, part of the ONE energy field everything is part of. We live in a time where people open up more, yet too many of us still treat yourself superficially. Today we know that body symptoms have an emotional story behind them and it is also the time to grow beyond the expired behaviour and beliefs that we inherited from our parents and ancestors.

You love travelling and you guide small groups into beautiful destinations. What is the connection between travel and being an intuitive coach? I love traveling to high energetic places, such as places of ancient civilizations because these travels can also bring a shift in consciousness , an expansion, to see the world with a fresh pair of eyes, access the bigger picture. Each travel is the journey of a lifetime. Its a perfect balance between adventure and luxury as well as discovering ancient power places and pure nature. The beauty of nature, the cycles of nature, the simplicity and brilliant genius of nature and the Quantum physics inspire me as well as art, architecture or the sound of my singing bowls... I help people connect with energy fields, balance them, realign them, clear what is possible and provide sound healing. Anyone who experiences stress, struggles with private or business relationships can use the opportunity to drop a â&#x20AC;&#x153;luggageâ&#x20AC;&#x153; that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t belong to them. Parents will benefit clearing their issues and doing so they break cycles for their kids a s well! Usually my clients have a shift in consciousness. They gain a deeper understanding and often, they have compassion for what has happened.

How to you define success? The real success is becoming yourself more and more instead of living expired programs stored in your subconscious. It is an opportunity, a door, for a process to become more yourself, the one you always were longing for. My personal reward is when people trust me, open up and share their stories and when I see in peoples eyes a door opened, the new perspective arises, and they drop in this understanding. Life has taught me, through my own sometimes very painful traumatic experience that all ups and downs in life are a chance to learn something new. My scars have shaped me and I see them as a gift, they are my wings. Underneath all your stories, scars and fears is your inner peace, that is always available.

www.bettinapeter.com /Stresstransforme

2bmiracle

@BettinaNow

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STOP INVESTING

IN REAL ESTATE U N L E S S Y O U WANT TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Darie Nani

Investing in real estate can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to the industry. Where should you start and how can you tell if you are really getting a good deal? In such a highly competitive market, good decisions based on sound advice and expertise can make or break your dreams of building your very own property empire. So where should you start and who should you trust for guidance? We met with the co founders of Legacy Builders Global, Jennifer and JanMarc Pickhan from Germany and asked them why they are so passionate in helping people invest in Real Estate. Jennifer: First, we love Real Estate and we know the benefits it provides but also the challenges people have - getting started and growing their portfolios. Jan-Marc: Yes; we know from our own experience because we have been there too. Getting started is the hardest; as always in life, your first steps are the most difficult, after that it gets easier. Just like learning how to walk, somebody helped you till you could do it by yourself. Jennifer: As a mother I know from my own experience how it feels. But I’m there for our little boy, to catch him when necessary, to explain to what he must pay attention, to help him to get up and make sure he tries again and again. It’s no different with our investors.

You dedicate a lot of your time to teaching others how to invest, some may wonder if it wouldn’t be easier (and more profitable) to simply focus on your own portfolio instead of helping others build their. Jennifer: Maybe it would, maybe not – I don’t know. I must tell you a story, so you and the readers understand why I do what I do: A couple of years ago, I believe it was 2013, I just finished my real estate appraiser certification. I was approached by a young couple, they had a young child and they just bought their first home off plan. The property was never finished, the construction company stopped the work after digging the hole, and they were forced to move in with the parents, took on debts and a lawsuit. I had to help them, and so I did, and they avoided bankruptcy and are on their way to recovery, but it took precious years from their lives.

Truly amazing work, I can see why you would feel a great sense of accomplishment and meaningfulness in what you do. At the same time, I suppose it also highlights that things can go very wrong with property investment. Would you say this can be a dangerous field to get into? Jan-Marc: I neither agree, nor disagree. It is as dangerous if you jump out of an airplane with a parachute for the first time without prior training or an instructor. We did it last summer and since we know investing, but have zero experience with parachuting, we made sure the one doing it with us knows what he was doing.

SOVEREIGN Jennifer: That’s right, and the story I mentioned wasn’t about investing in real estate. They bought their home which is a different matter entirely! People tend to buy their home with their heart and not their head. It’s all about how you feel inside, in the neighbourhood. Can you imagine raising your kids there – is it an escape from the outside world, a cosy place, is it representative, what will your friends say and on and on. If you invest, you ask different questions: What will the area develop into? What’s the monthly cash flow? How much rent can I charge and will it increase? Do I have to renovate or is it OK to rent out like it is? Will the value increase and by how much? With this in mind, you can look at the same piece of real estate and see two very different outcomes. Jan-Marc: Another important aspect is who is paying for the loan on the property; and there lies another important difference. If the loan is serviced by the tenant you, the investor, have money left over to use as residual income or to invest in your next acquisition and this is just the start. For example, we purchased an apartment for 73,000 Euros and increased its value to £126,000. Now the smart part is that we raised the finance from investors, meaning the property was purchased with no money down and this is what we teach others to do. Its a win-win situation for everyone. The investor gets a great return, you earn and build a growing portfolio and at the other end renters have access to more properties. Jennifer: I know what your readers will think at this point “It is not possible!” “If this would be possible, then everybody would be doing it!”

Do you find that many people have this reaction and by extension is your biggest challenge to change their mindset? Jennifer: It’s a mindset people have and the way most of us were raised and educated. If you can not imagine that it is possible you will never ever try. Look at the bumblebee – it’s the perfect example… Jan-Marc: Physics says it is not possible for the bumblebee to fly and yet it does! The bumble bee doesn’t ask if its possible or not, it simply does. Mindset is key if you want to be successful in life – and it’s the same in property investing. Jennifer: That’s why we open the mind of our investors. Regardless if people invest with us or if we coach them so they can do it on their own. There is an African proverb that says: “If you want to go fast - go alone. If you want to go far – go together.” And we want our investors go as far as they can imagine, and even further.

Who do you work with, is there a criteria for taking on new investors or students? Jennifer: We are working with people who want to start investing in real estate or grow their portfolio. A lot of people who want it, don’t have the time to get started or too much to do to focus on it properly. That’s were we help our investors. Jan-Marc: Also, not only do we train people to invest, but we also source deals which we offer to our investors and as Jennifer said, we are on their side and make sure they understand every step in the process for as long as they need us - we love to see people succeed. Together we can all achieve much more. Download the free e-book “Why you should invest in Germany” and book a free 30 min call to get you started as a special bonus only for Sovereign Magazine Readers. Visit www.legacybuildersglobal.com

www.legacybuildersglobal.com @_LBGlobal /legacybuildersglobal/ legacybuildersglobal

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Migrants and the media:

what shapes the narratives on immigration in different countries Rob McNeil

Researcher, Centre on Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS), Deputy Director, Migration Observatory, University of Oxford

If you want to spoil a movie for yourself, wait for a nice dramatic moment and then imagine what it was like to shoot it: the cameras, sound and lighting crews all around; the portable toilets round the back; the half-finished bowl of crisps on the catering table. If a film is to succeed, it needs us to suspend our disbelief and not think about the process. But when we consume news media, we need to do the opposite – and think carefully about how and why these products were made. When it comes to reporting on polarising and contentious issues such as migration, what happens behind the scenes in media organisations can affect not only how we think about the issue, but even policy itself. Our team of researchers from the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), the Budapest Business School and the European Journalism Centre based at Maastricht in the Netherlands, has been working to turn the camera around on news production in Europe. Our objective was to understand why different themes and narratives about migration have taken hold in different countries – and what factors contributed to the people creating these stories operating so differently. We interviewed more than 200 journalists and key media sources (such as government migration spokespeople, NGOs and think tanks) in nine EU countries, looking at their personal reasons for working the way they did and the institutional, social and political norms that shaped their outputs. For example – compare this Swedish newspaper reporter who is very positive about the role of journalism: “I enjoy great respect. People listen to what I say and want to hear my opinion”, with this UK newspaper journalist: “Even my own friends hate the fact that I work here and think I’m a disgrace, but I’ve just learned to ignore it and I just get on with my work.” The same two journalists articulate very different ways of reporting migration. The Swedish journalist describes their approach to reporting on non-EU migrants who are not fleeing persecution or seeking asylum: “Globalisation is a positive force. We rarely write something negative. Labour force migration is positive.” Contrast with this the UK journalist’s explanation of how they would use the term “migrant”, in general: “To be brutally honest, it’s more likely to be people who are a burden on society than those who are a benefit to society, because there is more newsworthiness in a foreign criminal or a teenager

SOVEREIGN who’s being looked after by the council than, say, a brilliant academic who’s come here to further their career … so from our perspective it’s more newsworthy if people are abusing the system or exploiting loopholes or abusing the hospitality being extended to them by British society … because that triggers a reaction in readers.” Both reporters work for newspapers and both cover the issue of migration, but they describe very differently both the place they occupy in society, and the subject they report on.

more nebulous and indirect ways in some countries where the ideal of press freedom was highly prized. Personal connections between politicians and powerful individuals within media organisations are known and understood by reporters, who consider this when they choose how to report issues. One UK newspaper journalist said the owner of the paper was always in their mind when reporting on a story: “There is an awareness of the owner’s circle of friends – he knows lots of influential people – and [awareness of] his enemies.”

Matter of perception

Perhaps the most important takeaway is that journalists both shape – and are shaped by – their national policy discourse on migration. Reporters consider, of course, the factual question of “what has happened?”, but other variables also shape the world in which they operate: including what their audiences expect, how the story has been reported by other media, what may get the reporter into trouble, what the editor thinks of the issue and what sells.

Reporting is a fundamentally human process – ideas, data, and anecdotes all pass through reporters, whose perceptions of the world, areas of interest and biases are all affected by various national, social, institutional and political factors. Some are obvious and affect their immediate working experience – such as what they imagine their proprietor or editor might want to read or see. Others are more abstract – such as their sense of responsibility to help people, or to “tell it like it is, warts and all”. This can have a big impact on the reporting of a sensitive issue such as immigration. These sometimes competing pressures affect everything from what a reporter perceives will actually constitute a valid story, to the words they will use to tell that story. For example, here is a Hungarian broadcast journalist talking about the importance of terminology to the immigration debate: “We prefer to use the term ‘refugee’, as the word ‘migrant’ might sound correct in English, but in Hungarian a ‘migrant’ is an enemy who will kill us. Therefore, we call them ‘refugees’ … We could use the term ‘migrant’, but it is a delicate one as it is widely used by pro-government propaganda.” This national context is critical. Different media traditions are contingent on national history: experiences of migration differ from country to country and even norms of the role of journalism can be fundamentally different. In Spain and Italy we found it common for reporters to highlight the expectation that they should make an emotional connection with the reader. In Germany and Sweden there was more focus on technical reporting. In some states with a recent history of autocratic government – such as Hungary – there was a more obvious effort by governments to try to influence reporting than in more established democracies. But government influence was also felt in

Press culture The way different national media report migration both emerges from cultural practices within media organisations, but also reinforces them. This can have profound impacts on policy outcomes. For example, the culture within UK media – particularly within newspapers – is particularly focused on winning political victories. Would the Brexit referendum result have been the same if it was more moderate? German journalists, on the other hand, were particularly focused on moderation and social justice. The country may have reacted differently to receiving a million asylum seekers if the nation’s media had been less homogeneous in this approach. Finally, Hungary has developed a “patron and client” model of government relations with media. Would the administration of Victor Orban, the prime minister, have been able to implement its radical anti-immigration policies if the media were less dependent on government and had a greater degree of editorial freedom? These questions are hypothetical, of course. But by drawing attention to the process of media production, rather than just content, we highlight the need for thoughtful scrutiny of media practices, that may, in turn help lead to better understanding of media and its role within policy-making in the future.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

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Gaining Momentum To Improve & Advance Your Business by Silvija Popovic

omentum Consulting Group® was founded on the principle that, with the proper foundation and appropriate allocation of resources, an organization can execute their vision and achieve their market dominance. We profile this Dallas, Texas firm, as we look to further explore the secrets behind its ongoing global success. Full of experience and knowledge, the Momentum team is comprised of highly experienced business professionals from many different business disciplines making available to clients’ organizations nearly 175 years’ worth of expertise and knowledge in the healthcare, legal, private, commercial, public and federal sales sectors, as well as non-profit entities. Alongside its vertical market expertise; Momentum has extensive core competencies in: Sales Optimization, Training and Development, Sustainability, Business Intelligence, Process Improvement, Project Management, Operations, Data Analytics as well as Supply Chain Management. Showcasing its success as a company, the consultants at Momentum have a proven track record of success; as they have worked in a vast array of companies in all sorts of sizes and complexities, all whilst delivering results for corporations of over $7B in sales worldwide. Maintaining a global presence, the firm has clients in 39 countries on 6 different continents. Relating back to the success of Momentum, the team has been able to transform businesses to achieve unprecedented revenue growth, and this stems from a keen understanding that implementing an effective sales strategy goes well beyond the sales force. The firm offers a personal touch and it is vital that a business reforms itself from top to bottom, something Momentum helps its clients to do. As with all successful companies, the entire team and staff must all be pulling in the same direction, working towards achieving the same goals and having similar aspirations. Alignment between vision, goals and strategy, results in effective and deliverable value propositions, as is the belief of Momentum. Including all aspects of clients’ wishes and demands, the approach of the company helps clients to develop, design and deliver program alignment throughout all functional areas of their organization in an assortment of areas. These areas include marketing, e-commerce, training, distribution and customer service, and this unlocks the clients’ ability to maximize their market opportunity. The firm sees a high rate of return business, which is testament to its ability of providing excellent customer service and satisfying clients. Momentum collaborate with clients on coming up with the best solu-

SOVEREIGN tion to match the needs and demands of each customer, and strives to become an integrated partner with its clients, serving as an extension of management and professional teams. Moreover, the team is able to deliver pragmatic and realizable solutions, applying experience to focus quickly on core opportunities, adding the highest return and develop innovative, pragmatic solutions, all of which are implemented and produce sustainable results. Significantly, the company acts independently, focusing on client advisory services. As an independent advisor, Momentum are unbiased and are solely focused on its clients’ returns. Adding a personal touch to proceedings, the firm is a people business, and its client service philosophy recognizes that world-class advisory is delivered by talented and world-class professionals. Along with its clients, its people are its greatest asset. Placing an emphasis on world-class solutions, as a member of The Momentum Group, the company’s solutions are supported by empirical research of world-class companies and associated best practices. Essentially, serving leading companies across multiple segments; Momentum’s expertise focuses on the major challenges influencing companies today in achieving significant revenue growth. Its business strategy works with a diverse portfolio of clients on their growth initiatives and improving their total enterprise value. The team work collaboratively, bringing innovative thinking, strong facilitation skills, and proven strategic blueprints. Many corporations neglect the crucial element of aligning their goals, mission statement and value proposition. Vital to its ongoing success is the firm’s ability to satisfy its clients, both in the short term and the long term. Momentum can help formulate your vision and mission statements, developing your own unique value proposition. This alignment will then be carried throughout all functional areas of an organization, including Marketing, eCommerce, Training, Supply Chain and Customer Service. All these areas working congruently, to ultimately build a powerful, results-driven organization. Each client has their own unique value-proposition. The key to success, is forming a cohesive, well defined and superbly trained organization, unlocking and maximizing your company’s potential. Ultimately, Momentum Consulting builds national or global programs customized to its client’s business and its strategy. Whatever a client can imagine, the firm can create a strategy together so your organization may experience a whole new approach to successfully growing its revenue.

We spoke to Kevin E France, Managing Director and Founder of Momentum, to find out more about their company, and how thy consistently achieve results for their clients. From our perspective, effective performance improvement is paramount for any business. Areas such as process management, performance management and data analytics are three critical areas that any company expecting to thrive in challenging economic climates need to address and have a congruent, executable plan instilled throughout their organization. As a company, we are incredibly results driven. In order to achieve this, it is vital that our clients are part of the entire process. We work closely with them as we progress through our client discovery (understanding) phase, right through to the development of their blueprint and proprietary implementation plans. We ensure that when we complete our engagement, and that the client is already on a sustainable, measurable, successful trajectory of improvement. Another fundamental factor of achieving the best results is that our team come from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. Combined, we have numerous pedigrees and certifications that keep our consultants current in today’s constant changing workplace. In addition, we pride ourselves on continuing education and self- improvement to ensure our relevancy. When advising businesses, we strongly encourage them to have a business plan and follow it. They also need to have annual strategic planning meetings with their top stakeholders to ensure their company is focused and following its vision. It is also vital that they communicate that vision throughout the organization and measure and reward success at all levels of the company. Moreover, it is also important to know who your ideal customer is and “listen” to what they are telling you. Lastly, but certainly not least, business leaders need to be decisive, as it’s all about the speed of implementation. Perhaps the best example that demonstrates the results we achieve was with two clients we worked with recently. The two clients I personally engaged with both had an international footprint and wanted to be the market leader in their respective healthcare space. Our strategy was to put people, processes and measurements in place that created exponential growth. One company went from the #3 market position with sales of $84M to #1 market position to sales in excess of $655M. The second, creating a sales division from zero to where in two years sales exceeded over $50M. We focus on delivering and developing “World-

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SOVEREIGN Class”, so what sets world class organizations apart from the rest? Sales is one of, if not the most, competitive fields one can aspire to work in. Landing a job in sales in whatever industry is not for the faint of heart. As an individual, you have to have strong will and patience. But as a part of a team, you’re going to be up against higher stakes. All sales job requires a handful of skills that can be improved through coaching and feedback. Down the line, sales representatives find their groove and make everything flow easier with their leads. This will reflect very well on the team, which will eventually set everyone - and the company - up for success. Successful sales teams are established through shared traits between like-minded people who get things done. Working in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment sets these teams apart from other departments of their company. It involves a lot of time management, collaboration, and problem solving. Some sales teams fare better than others. Companies tend to underestimate the importance of having a true skilled leader to train the pack. A competent sales manager will understand how important it is to instil the value of maximizing opportunities and building relationships with clients. It’s crucial for companies to develop a strong sales arm that can funnel profits into the business in an effective and systematic way. Our work at Momentum Consulting Group involves optimizing sales teams to help companies gear up for success. We believe that businesses should stay aligned with their sales teams to provide the right support and product knowledge that they would need. For the most part, these sales teams are pretty much all on their own. What makes a sales team outstanding? There are four key performance areas from which this can be derived. These are: • Creating and prioritizing sales opportunities • Managing opportunities with effective sales processes • Forming and managing strategic relationships • Efficient performance management systems There were four findings on what set “world class” sales organizations apart from average ones.

Alignment

In world class sales organizations, the selling business activities and metrics were clearly aligned with the business goals and achieving revenue objectives. They focused their selling resources on the clients and prospects that had the highest likelihood of converting. World class sales organizations did not panic or implement excessive discounting strategies. Sales teams know how to push their products and services based on their value and benefits. They also understand how important it is to not to get short-changed for the sake of selling in order to bring the company closer to its business and profit goals. How do sales teams stay aligned? First of all, holding regular meetings is important. Find out how everyone is keeping up with their quotas and goals. See what other areas need support and what can be improved with the help of other departments of the company. Learn about the strides other team members are making as they try to sign new clients and ask others for input if one member encounters a roadblock in the process of converting a prospect. Second, meeting sales managers is just as valuable to teams. A lot of

SOVEREIGN important metrics and results rest on their shoulders. If anything needs to be analysed or processed within the team, sales managers will do well with trying to provide insight regarding service level agreements and other client servicing inquiries. Another thing worth considering establishing alignment in sales teams is meeting with the company’s marketing department. This will definitely contribute to sales activities as the team members get the support they need from another knowledgeable department. In fact, sales and marketing teams ought to be working together closely in order to maximize sales opportunities. The marketing team will do well with helping sales staff with finding leads and provide them with talking points to help these leads be converted. Data-driven and relevant quotes about current industry trends and statistics will help salespeople communicate with their clients better, too. Marketing teams can help with that. At Momentum, our clients come to us with the intention of improving processes between departments. We help them define areas where collaboration between different teams is possible to help the company achieve its goals. When sales team members are all on the same page and working towards the same goals, it’s easier to achieve more for the business. Through sufficient product knowledge, proper lead engagement, and outstanding client servicing, a sales team can move forward as a unit that can help any company reach greater heights. Executive Engagement In 94% of world class sales organizations, senior executives were actively involved in the execution of the sales strategy. They often engaged directly with senior executives at their client’s locations, to assist and support the sales process. This tactic helped strengthen client relationships and increased the executives’ understanding of client needs. It also leaves a good impression on clients. When executives are able to engage them and take the time to understand their needs, it will show clients that the sales team actually has their best interests in mind. When the senior executive is connected to the client’s leadership team, it shows that the company is truly committed to building a relationship that is focused on the client’s needs. With the involvement of executives, change is more likely to occur, and the client’s demands are going to be dealt with pro actively by the account manager and the rest of the company. How can you make this happen? Let your senior executives meet your clients face to face as often as it requires. Customers have a high regard for these kinds of interactions and are likely to make it a priority. This will help them address their concerns better, since they know that they are meeting someone who can truly make a decision on behalf of the company. These meetings will allow executives to cascade the message to all concerned departments, who have a hand in delivering the client’s demands. More importantly, this executive will be able to relay the client’s concern to the company’s top management. If any one of the departments are lacking in some way, the top executives can definitely decide on making changes in order for the sales team to answer the client’s needs. For example, if your company’s product keeps failing to pass the client’s quality assurance tests, and you know that your company can do something about it - whether by acquiring new tools or hiring more experts an executive can help address this situation to top management who can sign off on these new requirements.

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SOVEREIGN Similarly, the client’s senior executive can allow for some adjustments on their end. From timelines to quantities, they will be able to set more manageable expectations on your company. If this mutually beneficial relationship is established between two senior executives, an easier workflow and an enduring partnership is possible. To help executives reach their maximum potential, our clients at Momentum Consulting Group go through executive coaching programs in order to fulfil their roles more effectively. Senior executives will do well with having mentors that will guide them to foster better working relations with fellow executives.

Leadership

Managers in world class sales organizations spend significantly more time coaching their team members. They also identified the unique practices of their top salespeople and shared these best practices with all team members. An organization that doesn’t value sales coaching will lose out not just on clients, but team members with a lot of potential as well. A company that is only bent on making profit and closing deals will definitely find it hard to sustain the business in the long run. Why? Talented sales people who find themselves unfulfilled and not supported or trained well in any company will eventually leave. You will end up wasting more of your resources hiring and onboarding new team members instead of letting your staff grow along with your business. A poor company culture will manifest itself in situations like this. That’s why beyond sales manager coaching, it’s important to establish a positive company culture that shows employees that they are valued in the business. A company that values integrity will invest in their employees, most especially their sales teams. When top management only thinks of sales managers as people in positions who have to bring numbers in for the business, everything will unravel soon enough. These employees need support and mentoring in order to perform their job well. If you’re encountering problems with meeting quotas, managing client expectations, or just overall incompetence, you might want to consider spearheading a sales manager coaching program. More than higher conversions, this can also help you retain skilled salespeople. How can you start introducing a sales manager coaching initiative? First, find out where your sales representatives could use help with. Use this data to determine how you will engage the manager. Whether it’s engaging clients, closing deals, or delivering demands on time, learn more about what difficulties they are facing and how they can handle it better. Another technique to try is to give them small but relevant challenges that they can try to troubleshoot and overcome. For instance, if they are struggling to make customers understand your product’s value proposition, ask them how they will pitch it in a simple way. This will help them focus on key areas and allow them to achieve their desired results for the good of the team and the company. You can also find out what drives each member of the sales team. This will enable to you engage them effectively. At Momentum Consulting Group, our executive coaching programs help companies develop their employees’ skills with mentoring across different positions. It covers personal and group performance as well as leadership and communication skills, among others.

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Client Centric

97% of world class sales organizations have intimate knowledge of why their clients buy from them and 90% have a solid understanding of their clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs. They leverage this information to adapt and align their selling strategies and activities. Showing your clients that your business strategy is aligned with theirs will help you forge long lasting relationships. In order to sell to them, show them that you can help them sell their products, too. How can you make your sales processes customer-focused? To start, you should instil the value of constantly researching each client to every member of your sales team. Make a habit out of gathering information about their business. Learn more about their needs and goals. It will help you understand the company better, which will help you sell to them the right way. The objectives of the partnership must also be agreed upon by the sales manager and the customer. Ask the client about their goals and let the sales team find ways to manage their expectations. Also provide support in order to deliver the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs, which will help them achieve their objective. Another way to establish a customer-focused relationship is to mesh your strategy along with theirs. This will allow your company to forge a more meaningful partnership with your client. Show them that what they get from you is something that will not only help your company grow, but more importantly, theirs, too. This way, you will be able to create a lasting relationship that allows both of your businesses to achieve its goals. An important technique is to emphasize the importance of customer retention to the team. This will make it easier for everyone involved. Your sales managers will have no problem selling to existing clients. Gaining their trust will also help them fulfil their objectives easier. Your customers will also help you close more deals by referring you to their contemporaries, too. World class sales organizations understand the values of strong corporate culture, sales training, and customer relationship. Establishing sales processes that work, setting up internal controls that will allow for improved delivery, and mentoring that allows managers to grow are crucial in achieving this coveted status. Our work at Momentum Consulting Group is to help businesses achieve more by honing their employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; potential and improving systems that will help the company fulfil their objectives. Only a company with aligned internal goals can stand out in a sea of hundreds of thousands of businesses. These are the companies that are able to change the landscapes of their industries, setting the standards for others. Sales teams must be built around the right culture, so that they can elevate the business to a game changer status.

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by Laura Amherst

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Getting Into The Spirit: with

Meet Daniella Davis-Taylor, the founder of Lifeforce WORLD, a company with a truly deep and meaningful purpose. “Our aim is to work closely with people’s awareness, helping them to incorporate a wide range of health related practices. We focus on mindfulness, meditation ,yoga and health related education that enables ones own ability to develop inner strength, grow in self understanding and enhance an all round healthier lifestyle We create and facilitate courses, specialist retreats, and public speaking events all over the world” Daniella is a passionate teacher and has a wealth of experience; from her faraway travels to the guidance she has received from some of the world’s most renowned and influential leaders in the field. She has infused a sea of knowledge into her unique teaching programs, where she shares a wide range of self development strategies with her Life Force Family. Excitingly, she has recently been taken under the wing of the world class public speaker Andy Harrington, to learn more about perfecting her mass audience teaching abilities, and how to step onto a live stage and share her passion. Her first book, “Through The Eyes of A Wounded Soul“ is out this summer, her most exciting and personal project to date.

SOVEREIGN “The inspiration for my business came from my own experiences. From as young as six years old, I can remember being deeply affected by the suffering of others. I would always try to reach out to help people, and would find myself crying over the news and the misfortunes in the world. I found myself becoming more and more intrigued about the human mind, and the way it helps us to view, create and act out the game of life. For the last 22 years I have been making this my life work, sharing my ideas with the world. There are record high levels of depression in society, and mindfulness strategies are a top priority. In order for us to combat these mental health issues, we need to learn ways to observe the mind, as this is where the real problems reside. I teach simple techniques of meditation and body movement, with the aim of developing the positive mindset needed to face the flow of life. This can be done on a one to one basis, in a workshop or classroom setting or on a specialised retreat” As Daniella delves deeper into the effects of stress on the mind and body, it’s very clear just how effectively she connects with her clients. She really expresses the importance that developing a positive mindset towards ourselves is the key to creating inner peace and true happiness, and from this steadfast inner viewpoint our outer world will begin to transform and line up with our true potential and purpose. Happiness comes from within! She tells me that she could not have achieved what she has so far without the help of her mentors. “There are a good number of inspirational people in my life. An amazing Indian Guru called Yogi Ashokonanda is somewhat of an extraordinary human being, and he has a spectacular way of aligning me up in times of need. Osho is another great inspiration for me, I adore his words of wisdom. Both of these men inspire me so much, because of their beautiful, kind, gentle nature, and they have a natural desire to serve humanity with love and wisdom. I also deeply admire and have been influenced by Bob Marley. His whole life from the age of 17 was devoted to helping humanity evolve through the power of music! The words in his songs still have a huge impact on the minds of people today! He radiated pure love, peace and gratitude for the world and he was passionate until his last breath at the age of 36! An amazing soul, a legend” I am totally enthused by her warmth and passion. Daniella’s vision is clear and it’s exciting to see her journey evolving, we are sure she is going to touch so many more people’s lives going forward.

www.lifeforceworld.com /lifeforceclarity

lifeforceworld

@lifeforcespace

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By Laura Amherst

The Bright Lady Meet Sandra Deakin, the transformational leader, TV presenter and writer committed to sharing her light with the world. Through her Radio and TV work, her books and seminars, and her personal coaching sessions, Sandra helps people to create more conscious joyful lives. She offers powerful practical tools to the people she works with, sharing her relatable experiences and words of encouragement to deliver real value and inspiration. As Sandra sits across the table from me, I can sense her intuitive nature and confident optimism. “I am happy that what I do feels so meaningful and inspiring. I love to connect to people deep within their hearts; seeing them light up and become alive! I empower my clients to become the true leaders of their paths. I help them to balance and release their emotions, and create more liberating, happier thoughts. This enables them to leave their victim mentalities behind them, and to start thinking about and creating their lives with a higher level of positivity, possibility and productivity” Sandra has a wonderful career; creating and delivering content for multiple organizations . She works freelance on a national radio show in Belgium and has been a Television presenter for fifteen years. She also works as a freelance journalist for various Radio and TV shows and written press. She has co authored the book “Transformational lessons: how to manifest your best life”, a book created by a number of transformational leaders in Europe, where they share their powerful insights and tools to help us create the lives we deserve. She beams as she tells me that she is currently writing a book about her own transformation process called “Bright

spots” and she is also creating an online channel under the same name which will offer people a platform to access the best practical advice on topics such as mindfulness and meditation, yoga, diet choices, fashion awareness, and general lifestyle. Sandra draws her passion and purpose from her personal experiences, and has gone through a major transformative period over the last seven years. We discuss how this has involved her becoming more aware of herself and her experience, and how she works through her old stored emotions by using the process of feeling through them and identifying and changing her thoughts. She tells me how she listens to her body now and makes better life choices. “I had to go through layers and layers of fears, including some unresolved issues originating from my ancestors. I had to accept where I had been so far and where I was at that moment, which was a person with low self worth; but with dedication and love, I transformed the unhelpful patterns inside of me and I continue to create the life I have always wanted” Sandra adores the people she works with, delighting in watching them make huge transformations in their personal and professional lives. She gives public speeches and seminars and also offers one to one coaching in Antwerp, and online through Skype, where she shares how to become more present and mindful, how to structure mind patterns, and how to resolve and move on from issues that are blocking and no longer serving us. She works through issues such as anxiety and depression. A focus is also on relationship issues such as betrayal, and a lack of understanding and ap-

SOVEREIGN preciation. She empowers the people she works with to align to loving and valuing themselves, by working and releasing their fears and making decisions that are more in alignment with who they really are. She achieves this by working with them closely, diving deeply into their minds, hearts and souls, to provide understanding and relief; to help them achieve psychological freedom. She has worked closely with women on how to deal with their fears simply by being connected more to their womb. What a powerful practice! “The people that will benefit the most are the ones that are feeling stuck in life, and who are committed and ready to make the necessary changes from within...” advising us, “they will have to do the work, I am only giving them tools and guiding them through their unique experiences and processes” She understands there are some challenges for individuals engaging in this work. In her experience, she has noticed, also in herself, that it can be easier at times for people to complain and feel like a victim rather than take effective action, which means feeling the uncomfortable or confusing emotions in their lives, changing their thought patterns, and making real concrete changes towards what they want. She appreciates change can be scary but also notes that people usually want quick fixes to their issues, and this prevents them from finding the ways that will most positively impact their lives over the long term. “Once you have made the changes from the inside, the outside world will adapt to your new vibration and life vision” What an exciting message. She draws a lot of her inspiration from her husband Luc, who is a grounded, compassionate, happy man. She also particularly admires Michelle Obama as she is deeply emotionally affected by what she has to say. She loves her presence and authenticity, and she feels she is a person who loves life, and who is committed to living to her highest potential. She relates with her in a way; she knows that it is not easy to stand as a woman next to a powerful man in society, as her husband is a leader and a charismatic person. It took her years of inner work to feel equal and stand empowered next to him. She also constantly looks to people who are living their truth. “Dirk Oellibrandt is one of my teachers who taught me about the wisdom of our bodies; how to be more present in our consciousness, and how to connect in a truthful way with mother earth to help her to heal us. Another important teacher of mine is Roland Verschaeve, he taught me how to raise my energy levels by awakening my light body, and he taught me how to see the bigger picture in life” Through her work, she aims to make the transformative process of inner healing easier for us, so as we can go on to live a happier and more fulfilled life aligned to our heart, our truth, our passion and our potential.

www.brightspots.be /sandra.deakin.75

brightspotsbysandra

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By Laura Amherst

In the age of intuition and emotional intelligence, Julie Anne Hart empowers us to excel

Julie Anne Hart is an Intuitive consultant who works with high-level entrepreneurs to align themselves to their inner wisdom, so they can operate fully in their purpose, both personal and professional. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Accessing our power from a stance of raw uniqueness is the mark of the new paradigm shift in leadership. My work is centred around liberating and inspiring people by helping them to appreciate the value of their experiences, emotions and opinions, and their right to be respected. I believe we all deserve the freedom to feel good about our lives, and enjoying the journey is the bliss of our existence. Striving to fit into a main stream way of being, thinking and acting that is against our values is simply not worth it. When a person embraces their unique story of faith and fear, understanding how it shapes them through their challenging and beautiful experiences, they can be guided by their innate intuition through their journey of self, and they are free to align themselves to their higher purpose. Love, inner beauty and authenticity are the qualities that I like to celebrate with my clients. I give them the confidence to express themselves freely in a safe nurturing space, and working with the mystery of our consciousness, I act as a channel, receiving high dimensional insights to move people forward in the challenges of their personal and professional livesâ&#x20AC;? Julie tells me that her personal experiences with stress in the workplace inspired her to take a leap of faith and seek out holistic approaches and spiritual teachings. After travelling extensively and making changes in her life she received breakthrough after breakthrough and has learnt to follow her intuition whole heartedly. She does not regard her business as a business, but a divinely given purpose that she fulfils in the lives of her clients. Using integrated therapies such as guided meditation, and time out in nature, she guides her clients into deep introspection, helping them to increase their productivity and their skills in innovation. She helps clients advance their personal relationships, eliminating crisis and conflict to reach higher levels of emotional and spiritual intelligence; and in the process deepening their relationship with themselves. What would it feel like for you to receive the wisdom and guidance that opens the gateway to what you are here to know, learn and achieve?

SOVEREIGN â&#x20AC;&#x153;I encourage stillness and self-awareness; they are crucial in uncovering the unlimited possibilities of our infinite potential. Change makers are the people that can benefit the most from my services as I assist them in receiving the flow of the divine order of opportunities that are aligned to their unique purpose and particular field, in order for them to go out and create and empower. Working for good in a humanistic way, requires a person to work from their soul in order to eliminate the ego. This can only happen through advancing the discovery of the true raw authentic self. Authority and power will have to be built on truth. The truth is only found through a profound connection to a healthier relationship with self. The attributes of a change maker include a higher emotional consciousness that is able to connect, communicate and collaborate free from the constraints of conflict and control. Control is a fear based energy and no longer has a place in leadership. Emotional consciousness is the key to be able to end the separation we are experiencing with ourselves and each other and leading from love energy creates opportunities for all. I guide my clients to access the deep faith within themselves and I use the power of prayer and asking the universe for assistance to allow them to relax into the mindset that fear is indeed an illusion and that competition is not an issue for them. There are no challenges, only opportunities, when you are aligned to your higher purpose.â&#x20AC;? Julie explains how she has been influenced by inspirational people such as Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer, and that all the skills she has developed and the insight she has received through her own journey constantly adds new dimensions to her practice. But she describes to me something extremely profound and relatable when she tells me that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until her mother died that she deeply reflected on her qualities as a person and a mother, and the teachings she shared with her. Using the power of amazing intuitive ability, Julie is helping us connect to our higher consciousness to enable us to achieve powerful purpose and influence.

www.julieannehart.com /JulieAnneHartCom

@JulieAHart

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By Dr Marina Nani

Finance analyst becomes a Balloon Artist and transitions to a whole new world

Each year, the balloon industry requires 16 million trees which take up over 363 million kilograms of CO2 gases from the Earth’s atmosphere. Worth just under €800m the balloon market contributes to the governments revenues and employs over 7,000 people in Europe. Thousands of people are able to make a better living harvesting latex, instead of deforesting land to raise cattle. Made of natural rubber, latex (tapped from rubber tree Hevea Brasiliensis which produces milky sap) is a natural substance not to be confused with plastic. Rubber threes are supporting the ecosystem, as they grow in plantations, not in natural rainforest, which makes the rubber production industry is recognised as a ‘green industry’. If you are concerned with the way people discard their balloons after celebrations, 84% of consumers do not release balloons into the atmosphere but add them to household waste. We learned about the balloon market from Tanja Ochsner, Founder of Ochsner Balloons from Switzerland who created stunning

balloon arrangements and decorations for Expat Expo in Zug. An expat herself, Tanja grew up in Moscow, Russia, graduating from the Finance University, and working for a few years in the financial sector and subsequently moved to Stockholm, Sweden where she lived for 15 years. Now she resides in Zug, Switzerland, where is runs her own company Ochsner Balloons. “We focus on design and quality, with the highest attention to detail, and strive to approach every project as uniquely as possible. Our designs and creations provide the “wow factor” for our customers, delighting them and their guests.” Tanja says. While balloons transform any event venue into something spectacular and extraordinary, there is a lot going on behind the scenes to create a desirable atmosphere that brings joy and happiness into a room or a venue . “Our customers often come to us wanting to add something truly unique and special to their occasion or event, and we are able to come up with ideas and solutions that deliver exactly that.”

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Tanja’s story

While it is rare that people attempt to start their own business in an area which is totally different to the one in which they are formally educated, trained and experienced, I decided to be one of those few exceptions to the rule. Back in 2010, while I was on maternity leave with my second child, I visited a party where I saw what I thought at the time, were amazing balloon decorations. I felt inspired to decorate my little boy’s 1st birthday party with some advanced balloon creations of my own. I did some Internet research and found the ideas and examples of what I would like to do, and bought the necessary tools and accessories. I found the supplier of the best quality balloons (Qualatex, which I still use in my work today), and I was confident that I would be able to produce everything exactly as planned. After all, these were “just balloons”. Needless to say, not everything turned out as planned, and when I look back now at what I produced, I can see just how far my professional skills and creations have progressed since then! I demand the highest standards of myself. I became a professional qualification for balloon professionals, Certified Balloon Artist (CBA). I started practicing with balloons, learning the techniques and basics of design etc. and then, at the end of 2010, I passed a tough test, written, oral and practical exams leading to my CBA qualification and designation. All that I did just to prove to myself that I could learn to do the basics of balloon décor to a professional standard. At that point I started to think that I could use my new skills to generate additional income, and so I created a company, whilst still employed at PwC in Stockholm. In 2013 our family moved to Zug in Switzerland, planning to stay for one year, while I took a yearlong sabbatical from PwC, aiming to return to Stockholm afterwards. I started working with balloons here to keep myself busy, and a year later it transpired that we decided to remain in Switzerland. At that point I decided to run my own business instead of going back into the financial sector, where I was desk-bound working for someone else, and this is how Ochsner Balloons was born! The biggest challenge was certainly to start everything from scratch in a new country (new friends, new routines, new language, things working differently to how I was used to in Sweden etc.). Not to mention, at the same time launching a start-up business – creating awareness of the business and our offerings, and educating the market about the concept of balloon décor (which back in 2014 was pretty much an unknown concept here, and I do not mean simple helium filled balloons or classical balloon décor like garlands that one often sees at Migos / Coop).

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SOVEREIGN By Dr Marina Nani

The voice of an invisible victim: Surviving the tabloid press When a crime hits the headlines, a light is shone on the perpetrator and their victim. The motivations of the criminal, the suffering of their accuser, the reactions of neighbours and community leaders: these all receive publicity ensuring the world knows their story. What isn’t so readily known is how all that publicity affects the perpetrator’s family, and the forgotten victims of crime that it creates. Michelle Raymond is known for her generosity of spirit and her talent is recognised internationally, but it was a time when she was crucified by mainstream media for a crime she did not commit. She had to find the strength to survive a massive injustice and now she is The Voice of other invisible survivors , teaching how to be led by compassion. “I was married to a man who was accused and later arrested for the most heinous crimes imaginable against children. This shuttered my world like nothing else could. Following newspaper headline and TV news depicting my husband’s story in front of the world and almost having my daughter taken away from me, I fell into depression. After some time, well some years, I had a wake-up call. Michelle, after being crucified by mainstream media, you gave yourself permission to forget the past and make a fresh start, living the past behind. What gave you the courage to survive such a traumatic experience? “I decided to forget the past and make something of myself for me and for my daughter. I was already really keen on running my own business from the time I was made redundant but knowing that my daughter needed a least one decent role model, I was energised and motivated to do this alone.”

The Invisible Victims “It was my dream to provide justice to employees who had been mistreated at work. However, I found that it made more sense to change the system rather than those affected,

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and I started providing a service to employers and businesses to ensure that they were fair, that their procedures and processes were legally compliant and that they developed a great organisation and culture where talent thrived.” You graced our stage at The Authors Awards at BAFTA’s and instead of sharing your story like the other authors, you sang…the audience went quiet, mesmerized by your voice. I remember everybody asking me “WHO IS THE VOICE?” What else don’t we know about you, Michelle? I am a backing vocalist and have sang around the world for artists such as James Brown, Rod Stewart and Madonna. I was in a movie called Ragtime at the age of 4 years old. I was on a UK show with my family called ‘Family Fortunes’ in 2013 under the name The Williams-Silvera and we won! I am married to Taiwanese man, I’ve a brother from Vietnam and a sister from Eretria. I won The

Voice of the Sea in 2017 whilst holidaying in Dubai and became a mini celebrity in Italy. Michelle, your story reminds me of Phoenix, and just like Phoenix, you are born again, arising from your own ashes. Where do you take your inspiration from? From a young age my mother was my role model and she didn’t just show me the love a mother feels for her child but helped me understand how to invest in assets that make money. Thanks to her, I already own two properties and one now is a multi-home occupancy. My mother is a true self leader and a visionary entrepreneur and I hope to make her proud.

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SOVEREIGN

By Dr Marina Nani

A Matter of Healing Nicola Hok BTAA BA(UK) was among the first to study the Bowen Technique in the UK, learning from world authorities Ossie & Elaine Rentsch in 1993. She has a life-long interest in complementary medicine and a background in reflexology, massage and shiatsu. Nicola uses the Bowen Technique in preference to the other disciplines she has studied ‘ It’s all about effectiveness. Why make someone come to me with a frozen shoulder for weeks on end when one or two sessions with Bowen will probably solve the problem?’ Tom Bowen’s procedures have been seen to provide long term and often immediate resolution of many conditions. Nicola started using Bowen’s Technique inspired by her mother and decades later she continues to have a huge impact on so many lives. Many of the apparently unrelated musculoskeletal and other problems her clients experienced could be traced to the body’s connective tissue and fascia, lying just under the skin and affecting muscles, tendons and nerves. Nicola’s story is not just another story, but a matter of healing.

Nicola, what can you tell us about the Bowen technique and how exactly did you end up practicing it? I have been in health and wellness industry for almost 30 years and it wasn’t by choice – really I got in by mistake! In 1986 my mother decided to do a reflexology course and thought it would be fun if we did it together. This we duly did and she went on to be an extremely successful and gifted reflexologist - working for the Association of Reflexologists accrediting schools for many years. She has always been interested in healing and she first found out about Bowen and was on the first course in the UK. A week later I was on the second UK course so it is almost entirely her fault that I am where I am today! When Bowen first came to the UK you already had to be qualified in another modality in order to attend the course. I was part-way through a shiatsu course (which I decided to study as when I went for a treatment, I found that what I had been doing intuitively was actually a therapy!) and even though I wasn’t yet qualified I was persuaded by Mum to attend and to my surprise I was accepted. On the first day I thought it was a load of twaddle to be honest. However, on

SOVEREIGN the second day I got up, picked my clothes up from where I had hung them neatly on the floor in a heap and the top five or six vertebrae in my upper back and neck all went ‘pop- pop- pop’. Walking to the course that morning, for the first time since I’d had a car crash at the age of 17, my left shoulder didn’t go numb. I thought this was really extraordinary, so I sat up and took notice and the rest, as they say, is history. My business has grown organically since. I find the human body utterly fascinating and have been privileged to do three six-day dissection courses. You can learn so much more through looking at a body rather than at pictures in the book. It is also utterly beautiful I have now been practising Bowen for over 25 years and teaching it for 20. In 1997 I was invited to become an instructor by Ossie Rentsch (who was one of six men who were privileged to learn from Tom Bowen himself). Bowen is extraordinary, and even after 25 years I am still excited, surprised and sometimes left speechless by it! Essentially it is small rolling movements over muscles and tendons in very specific locations to give the body the information to take it back to its original blueprint as best it can. It is painless, non-invasive and extremely affective. Because it gives the body the information and the body prioritises, a huge variety of conditions have been seen to respond from musculoskeletal pain and injuries such as backs, necks, “frozen“ shoulders, knees, hips etc. right through to organic conditions such as bed wetting in children, conception problems, digestive issues, anxiety, grief and anything in between! Add to that the fact that the majority of people will usually respond within 2 to 3 sessions and it’s a winwin for everyone. It also saved my life. Back in 1997 I didn’t feel terribly well but couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. For some reason I checked my breasts three times in one week but found nothing. On the Friday night, it suddenly occurred to me to do the Bowen chest procedure and on Saturday morning I woke up with a 2 cm lump under my hand in my left breast. The body prioritises with Bowen and I believe that my body bundled the “bad“ cells up in order for me to be able to find them – rather like when you throw a piece of paper away first of all you screw it up into a ball. These bad cells were indeed cancerous, and I had surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy over the course of that year. I truly believe that had I not done the chest procedure then I would not be here

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SOVEREIGN today. I count myself extraordinarily lucky and I am grateful every day.

What would you say are the main challenges in your business? All of the things I do are relatively new and therefore unheard-of! People have these days heard of reflexology but that has been around for over 5000 years. All the techniques I use/practice are less than 50 years old and are somewhat unusual which also makes it more difficult to make people aware of what I do but I love the fact that I work on so many different levels – not just the physical but also the spiritual, emotional and etheric. I also work with some supplements too as they help bring the body back into nutritional balance and have had a profound effect on me. The majority of people come by word of mouth - and often as a last resort - but I am so blessed in that what I do helps them and their body to make the corrections it needs to.

It’s clear your business gives you a lot of fulfilment, what else keeps you going and on track? I also love being in nature. Walking, swimming in the sea or sitting listening to the gentle lapping or crashing waves and, in the autumn, looking at the leaves to see all the different shades of green, yellow, brown, orange and red as they turn. Add some sunshine glinting off them and it is truly mesmerising. Drinking this in is great for stress, grounding oneself and clearing the mind.

What exactly is the Bowen Technique? Born in Australia, Tom Bowen (1916-1982) began developing his technique in the 1950s. He became interested in ways to alleviate human suffering and began to notice that certain moves on the body had particular effects. This led him into pioneering a unique set of moves associated with different sequences and timing intervals. Adjusting tension levels this way in the muscles and fascia helps balance the whole body and gives the treatment its unique ‘pause’ feature. Tom Bowen developed his technique without having previous formal training in any modality or discipline and always maintained it was “a gift from God”. Tom Bowen passed away in 1982 and the first course in the world was taught in 1986 in Perth, Australia.

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Nikolina Balenovic Knez “I am honoured that my knowledge, my insights and my experience is of help to others. I have always been smiling, I loved being with people, I have always been sociable and I’ve always loved to have fun, but before I was not a happy person on the inside. So, my happiness was determined by the outside circumstances and it took me MANY years to change that, to find happiness from within and to love myself and my life. I have learned over many years how to create my own happy life from within and today I love being able to help others do the same, to encourage them to create their authentic happy life in a much shorter period then it has taken me, so that they don’t need years of struggle like I did. To have a happy life is a process and an everyday decision that you make. With love, Niki” Nikolina’s greatest passion is to work with people on their deep personal transformation of self-love through a spiritual approach and to empower others to be the authentically best version of themselves. She is a talented and powerful intuitive counsellor. She sees deeply and accurately into people’s lives and can provide powerful guidance and insights. She is gifted at giving her clients energy and support to change their lives in the most profound ways. She is from Croatia and has a Bachelor of Economics degree and is a co-author of an amazing book “Transformation lessons“. Her Motto is “Love yourself and accept others” Her services include: Spiritual teacher Soul coach and mentor for self-love Intuitive reader Vibrational healer Feng shui consultant

www.beautifulspirit.net /beautifulspirit.net

nikolinabalenovicknez

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Sovereign Magazine May 2019 (Issue 17)

Articles inside

Think Like A Grandmaster

A New Approach to Business Excellence

Through The Camera Lens: Expats come in all forms

A Bold Move

Burnout: Are you at risk?

Picturing the next move

The Remarkable You

The 4th Industrial Revolution

Charisma & Leadership

Full Potential Inlligence

Editor's Letter