Business Fit Magazine November 2020

Nov/Dec 2020

Stop Being Too Nice - It’s Bad for You The Future of Work

Post Covid-19 Property Development

can be

Eco-friendly

www.businessfitmagazine.com

g n o W i d i D

illionaires M e m o c e B s r Entrepreneu y it r o in M g in Help

Dear Business Fit readers, I have mixed emotions of this year 2020, for all that is happening globally.

perhaps some effort, to obtain the reward of having achieved our goals.

I would like to tell you why I feel this way. As many of you know I am the founder of this wonderful Magazine supported by an amazing team, but as well I am the founder of SHE (Society for Hispanic Entrepreneurs). I would like to talk about that a bit more in this issue’s letter, as it helps explain my mixed feelings.

I also feel joy, having manifested, through actions driven by my daring, what I have always thought - that whoever does not risk, does not win. Who does not move, rusts. We would not learn without that movement and, every minute, we would die from the fear of change.

I close my eyes and reminisce about the Seminar for Hispanic Entrepreneurs which we have shared, remembering the joy, the illusions and intentions which together we created over the past few years.

It fills me with a nostalgia which envelopes me, moves me, makes me feel the tears running down my face.

“Nostalgia (from the classical Greek νόστος [nostalgia], ‘return’, and ἄλγος [algos], ‘pain’) is described as a feeling of longing for a past moment, situation or event. Nostalgia is commonly referred to as a feeling which anyone can go through at any biological stage.”

Through personal development, I have learned to know myself and feel each of the emotions and allow them to run through my body. For me, feeling represents the fact of being alive and aware of who I AM. We tend to avoid talking about pain, sadness and nostalgia, because many of us believe you have to be hyper positive and smiling all the time. We have programmed ourselves not to appreciate all those emotions which make us human.

And there is nothing further from reality.

Vulnerability is one of the main characteristics of the human being. I see pain and sadness as the art which allows us to transform, after

I think that most human beings do not manifest and reach their fullness out of fear. That fear of what they will say and not being enough.

Since 2018, SHE became the Society for Hispanic Entrepreneurs and I was able to hold an event in Amsterdam with more than 130 women. I will not lie to you, I was afraid to face this challenge alone, but I was not alone, thanks to all those friendly hands who collaborated, so that SHE became what it is today.

I stopped being afraid of what they would say and I understood that the women who knew how to appreciate all the effort being made and the wonderful intention this organisation carries, would not allow me to hear negative comments. And those who did make negative comments, had only attended in order to make them.

And that was how I began to enjoy each conference and each moment, as well as the food, the dances, the laughter and, why not, the tears... Each micro-moment in SHE would go down in memory for those who will honour my work.

Today I embrace and celebrate the greatness of an event which moves hearts and unites us internationally.

SHE not only brings together wonderful women, but also men who want a different world, open to change, to work as a team, to inspire and to

From left to right: Laura, Verónica’s daughter, Verónica Sosa, Ismael Carla and Dave Cleiren, Verónica’s husband

practice ethical leadership. It does not matter who you were before, because your past is what will help you to become better every day.

women entrepreneurs travelling the world, carrying a valuable message - change and growth.

Remember that progress can always be made and that we must celebrate, in style, what we achieve every minute of our day.

The magic of co-creation is possible, because TOGETHER IS BETTER, always.

This year, we will have our 6th Seminar, on December 11. We are informing you so you can experience a beautiful meeting of wonderful

Verónica Sosa Publisher www.businessfitmagazine.com

FIT FEATURES

Pashion Fasion - p16 Fashion Designer and Prisoner Mentor Winky Singh Spice it Up - p50 Cook Vegan Farah Shammas

From too nice to kickass!

Barbara Roux-Levrat p12 Do you know your purpose?

Barbara Dalle Pezze p30 Mental Fortitude Ona Miller p46

Marketing

A Multimillion Dollar Lesson from WWE Wrestlers Alex Kei p41

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Didi Wong p32

Organic Resilience Viola Edward p60

The impact of Pandemic Accelerating and Reimagining the Future of Work Samia Qamar p10 Let´s TAKE OFF with your business Malish p20 Caring Economy Laura Giadorou-Koch p38

Publisher & Founder Verónica Sosa Business Fit International Advisory Board Viola Edward Vikki Thomas

REACH OUT For information on advertising or placing an article in Business Fit Contact us: Email: editorbfm@gmail.com Phone: +32 472 134 230

Contributors Adrian Baker Alex Kei Barbara Dalle Pezze Barbara Roux-Levrat Didi Wong Farah Shammas Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu Laura Giadorou-Koch Malish Ona Miller Samia Qamar Tania Arrayales Rodriguez Viola Edward Winky Singh General Editorial Coordinator Claire Morley

Can you be with yourself Adrian Baker p26

An Eco-Conscious Approach to Property Development Tania Arrayales Rodriguez p54

Environment

Train your flow between body and mind Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu P6

Art and Design Director Leo Collier-Bett Graphic Designer Adverts Javier Sanchez

Copyright © 2020 by Verónica Sosa.

All rights reserved.

This Magazine or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.

M-20318-2017

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Spirituality

Train your flow between

body, feelings and mind

Specialist in Intercultural Communication Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu, talks about the need to distinguish between what is “real” and what was/is our emotional reaction to situations in order to remain calm during these challenging times.

Our body never lies. It is just a mirror of our inner energy which is a whole set composed of different patterns, beliefs, behaviours and convictions. Our feelings are also influenced by that set. They help us to detect it.

When we feel we are stressed, this is not due to the circumstances themselves, but to our perception and emotional reaction of what we consider being the “reality”. Let’s look at an example: in these “C-Times” we have to handle new challenges in our business and families –

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like teach our children, manage online-meetings, home office, and our daily life, in a new way etc.

We may feel pressured by what has overcome us so suddenly without having the time to organise ourselves appropriately.

These new challenges affect particularly (business) women. They are used to being organised in a rather strict way; now they need to be more flexible, make even more rapid decisions, check what has to be arranged quickly etc. – and do this while keeping cool. In addition, the requirement to spend more time than usual all together as a family or with a partner may lead to misunderstandings, even conflicts. The unfortunate spiral of heated emotions adds pressure to an already tense situation and can lead to an overloaded stressful situation.

Our capacity to deescalate conflicts is one of our more important tools

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Spirituality

Ladies, our capacity to deescalate conflicts is one of our more important tools and we have to apply it right now. “No violent communication” starts by being able to:

1. Observe with a cool mind, without being influenced by perturbing emotions and confusing reactions.

2. Feel our emotions in a clear way 3. Understand our fundamental needs – like

peace, harmony and wellbeing

4. Find and express a solution in order to implement these fundamental needs.

It does, of course, take a lot of training to get fit in applying this very useful method. For the time being, let’s concentrate on step 1 and 2; it seems to be easy, yes, but it is not at all simple.

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Your mindset depends upon your emotional messages

By observing yourself, you will discover we usually immediately judge what we have perceived, seen, listened etc. Even our body reacts. Step 1 requires us to describe in a neutral way what has happened; step 2 identifies our automatically associated emotions and judgments.

You need to be able to distinguish between what is “real” and what was/is your emotional reaction.

Your mindset depends upon your emotional messages; when you put into action this exercise with other people and interchange your experiences with them, you will be surprised.

Each person has his/her own viewpoint. We construct “reality”, and it is very important to keep that in mind. Concrete experiments provide help so our emotional body can also understand it.

Step 3 and 4 invite us to be clear about what we really need in order to manage challenges.

Step 4 refers to the ability to express it in the right words by making a concrete suggestion.

This invites a constructive dialogue, maybe like a negotiation: we want to reach an agreement as a win-win-solution. I am sure that it is particularly up to women to initiate and lead this type of creative communication…..

In order to do so, we need the ability to harmonise our feelings and mind. What we train – thanks to the method of “no violent communication” or other methods - is not to re-act, but to act. What is the difference? When we re-act, the other person or the circumstances activate our patterns. We are not free to observe with a certain coolness what’s going on before giving an answer. We may decide not to act, doing nothing. We are the master of what we deem is appropriate.

The question is how to reach this “coolness” creating a distance from the first impulsive reaction we feel in our body; anger produces heat, fear the contrary, etc. This is why our body is a precious indicator of what is going on at a level of impulses and feelings. We may even discover sub-conscious elements.

To create a distance to these reactions does not mean to become a person without emotions, not at all. On the contrary: the more sensitive we are, the more we perceive. This allows us to increase the range of possible solutions as appropriate answers to all kind of challenges. Our creativity can develop its full power – yes, dear Business Women!

We need to find a point of “inner calm” by creating a distance to turbulence. Let’s imagine how the water of a stormy sea becomes clear and moves less. The best way to reach this point of inner calm is a double strategy: to breathe deeply in order to have the necessary time to transform impulses of re-action into a harmonised action, and second to imagine a calm, sunny lake. This is the method I always apply: deep breathing in combination with powerful inner “Imagineering”.

Our mind is perfectly able to use this distance for analysing, detecting, guiding in harmony with our calmed emotions. This enables us to find answers to some questions such as:

What caused my reaction?

What activated these impulses, feelings, emotions, re-actions?

Do I already know them, do I constantly repeat them? Why? Etc. How can I find, initiate and guide a creative, solution-oriented proposal?

As you can see, you may start a whole inner journey. It becomes more and more like a pure adventure trip. Liberate your full creativity!

The joy you feel liberates you. It enhances a good cooperation between body, feelings and mind. Challenges can be transformed into play situations we handle with hope, pleasure and confidence. Just discover it actively, dear Business Women!

Prof. Dr. Irmela Neu, from the University of Applied Sciences, Munich/

Germany, specialised in Intercultural Communication in Spain and Latin America and has been published in this field. She has worked with UNESCO in the field of Education. She focuses on seminars in Mindful Communication and in body-based teachings to open our heart, combined with Mindful Communication. She holds a Black belt in the Korean martial art of Taekwondo.

Her message: Life is lovely. www.Irmela-neu.de

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Business

The impact of Pandemic Accelerating and Reimagining the Future of Work

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Country Head HR for S&P Global, Samia Qamar, looks at how COVID-19 has accelerated the change in our working environment with more flexible work arrangements and a better understanding of how work and family life can be juggled.

In 2020, the COVID19 pandemic unfolded new ways of working to manage crisis in the short term and continue driving business results. As companies are recognising this crisis will last more than a few months, they are shifting their focus to define the long-term approach for people.

Many companies have shifted from office space to virtual arrangements to replace inperson meetings as a coping mechanism. The new normal has allowed children to pop into meetings which was quite embarrassing in the past. Professionals are now used to working from couches, sofas, comfy chairs with an elimination of commute time.

There’s a lot of forward-looking approaches being adopted by investors, shareholders, employees, community partners, managers, and board members on how to transform ways of working to allow sustainable, scalable and profitable business.

Working in an office space may be a perk:

Following the pandemic, it’s likely companies will invest in real estate and office décor in order to provide office space for multiple companies earning profit through this business. As a result, there’s a likelihood office space could be offered as a perk to the critical talent responsible for driving the success of the organisation.

Additionally, this may bring the critical talent of various companies under one space, boosting brand awareness, replicating best industry practices, and overall influence in the market.

Standard working shifts will be seen as an orthodox approach:

It had been an ongoing debate for Gen Z regarding their preferences and working patterns in support of family needs. This pandemic has

simplified how work and family life can be juggled.

As a matter of fact, many companies are offering flexi work arrangements and have eased rules regarding start and end time due to blurred lines between work and personal life. It’s not about eliminating all work policies and procedures.

Instead, it’s about creating new policies and setting expectations while being flexible and focusing on tangible outcomes instead of being time bound.

New benefit offerings: Companies may innovate by offering their people allowances to cover electricity/internet/ home office set up/IT equipment costs. This shift will facilitate employees to adapt to flexi work arrangements effectively due to provision of infrastructure.

Workplace inclusion and culture:

A more flexible work culture may create gender balance hiring as both men and women will be able to spend time with their families while managing work related responsibilities.

Though a wider variety of work options won’t solve all of our gender inequality business problem, it is probable it will create a more gender-balanced culture.

“If we strengthen the number of women in the labour force, it’ll add $5.87 trillion to the global market cap”. (Source: S&P Global)

Travel opportunities:

Companies will learn that some business travel is unnecessary and can be replaced with virtual meetings. Organisations may attempt to recover their pandemic-related losses through travel budget cuts.

My personal view is that companies and enterprises will need to adopt a very flexible approach post pandemic because it has already accelerated the pace of change which was unimaginable before COVID-19. Going back to the old normal may not help businesses sustainability and therefore, it’s an acceptable statement to make that the Future is already there.

Samia Qamar-SHRM-SCP has a rich experience of more than 14 years

in HR. She is currently working as Country Head HR for S&P Global. She’s an award-winning speaker and Global Goodwill Ambassador for Pakistan. She is associated with Stanford GSB. Her purpose is nurturing workplaces by guiding leaders to engage, lead, drive cultural transformations, and develop a leadership pipeline to deliver sustainable profits.

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Mindset & Emotion

From too nice

to kick-ass!

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Europe’s #1 expert in teaching women to become kick-ass, Barbara Roux-Levrat, gives our readers her seven steps to help you learn to value yourself and get the life you really want I used to be “too nice”. Also known as a “peoplepleaser”. Also known as someone who “takes a lot of crap from other people”. I took a lot of crap from my husband. I ran after him, even after he had rejected and criticised me. I didn’t dare to speak up for myself or say “no”, all in an attempt to “keep the peace”.

Professionally, I had a hard time charging for my work because I didn’t believe enough in myself. I was suffering from the addiction to please… the compulsion to be liked. I lived like that for most of my life. Until one day, after an ugly fight with my husband, it dawned on me that I needed to change. If I continued like that, I was never going to have all the things I wanted for my life.

So I went on a journey of getting to know myself, uncovering my childhood traumas and healing them. I worked with a coach and discovered my worth, my values, and desires…. I found myself again! And when I did, everything changed!

I walked away from my toxic marriage and three months later manifested the love of my life! I transformed the relationship with my kids - from one of fights and drama - to one of respect and love! And finally, I became a powerful coach earning five figures per month.

Since then, it has been my privilege, honour, purpose and passion to help other women break free from the prison of being “too nice” and become kick-ass in every area of their lives!

These are my 7 steps to the new kick-ass you!

1. Uncover and heal your hidden traumas

People-pleasing is the result of trauma. When you were little - even a baby - any emotional situation you found overwhelming had the possibility of becoming a trauma.

A client of mine had a deep abandonment trauma as a result of her mother going off to work when she was little. Another remembered being left to cry alone in her crib. A male client had a father who never showed affection to him.

Whatever it is, to move beyond your traumas you must work with someone who helps you identify and heal them.

This is the most important step to your recovery.

2. Discover your worth

You have spent your life putting other people before you. You have paid attention to their wishes, acquiesced to their requests, bent yourself backwards to accommodate them, admired them and beheld them as superior to you.

Enough of that! If you want people to value, respect, and admire you, you have to start with yourself.

Take back the reins of your life!

Take an objective look at your life. Discover yourself. Make an inventory of your strengths, talents, achievements, qualities, physical attributes...

The more valuable, capable, intelligent and beautiful you see yourself, the less dependent you will be on the opinion of others, and the less crap you will accept from them!

3. Get rid of toxic people in your life

The biggest roadblock to your recovery will be the toxic people you have accumulated in your life. Toxic people are those who treat you poorly, are disrespectful of you, and constantly erode your self-esteem.

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Mindset & Emotion Toxic people in your life are usually a partner, a parent, a child, a boss, a “friend”. Whoever it is, take as much distance as you need so as not to be affected by their negative behaviour.

Taking distance can be saying to someone: “as long as you don’t respect me, we cannot have a relationship.”

Being with you, enjoying your presence, listening to your voice, and being your friend, are privileges reserved to those who respect you, value you, and honour you.

If it’s a boss who doesn’t respect you, then it is time to leave that job.

4. Don’t throw your pearls to the pigs

Your pearls could be anything you are giving which is precious to you - whether it is your time or your money or your attention or your compliments or going the extra mile at work.

Whatever you give that is not appreciated will make you feel empty, used, disappointed, and rejected. This is exactly how we end up with burnout.

Actually, what may be pearls to you, might be a nuisance to others. They might resent you for them or just take you for granted. Continuing to give them your pearls will only lessen their respect for you… and your self-esteem will plummet.

Sometimes we find ourselves trying to shove our pearls down someone’s throat! Instead of that, find others who not only appreciate your pearls, but actually treasure them. These are the people who are aligned to you!

5. Don’t sacrifice yourself, negotiate solutions.

The automatic reaction of a people-pleaser when asked for something is to agree without even thinking about it. We are so focused on making the other person feel good, we don’t think about ourselves, even for a second. And if we do, we dismiss it immediately, we brush it off. We are so good to others, and so little good to ourselves.

There’s a line in the Bible which helped me a lot.

It says something like this: “Don’t try to be good.

Be fair.” To me, this translates to: “find a win-win solution”.

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So, next time someone asks something of you, instead of rushing to say “yes!”, say you need to think about it and make sure that it makes sense for you. Dare to negotiate - make it a give and take. Don’t do it at your detriment - do it for the benefit of all, yourself included!

6. Believe unapologetically in yourself

Do you know what the difference is between someone who is heard and one who isn’t? The conviction they carry in their voice.

You could actually be saying something much more important than anyone else in the room, but if you are doubting yourself, it will show… and nobody will buy into it.

In life, we have been taught that we need to “see to believe”. In fact, the opposite is true: believing comes before seeing. Henry Ford said it many years ago: “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Jesus Christ said it even earlier: “As you believe, it shall be done.”

What if your friends don’t like the new you?

What if your family doesn’t approve of your new choices? That’s exactly where you need to grow up! It’s the little girl inside you who needs their approval 24/7. The healed you understands that being mature means not everyone will like you and that is perfectly OK. You DON’T need their approval to live your life and the world will not end because of it. As a little girl, it felt like the world would end - and rightly so - because your very life depended on them.

However, you only depend on yourself and the Universe now... and the Universe ALWAYS has your back!

So, go ahead, get in touch with your heart, find out what makes you come alive and pursue that with a vengeance! That’s what it’s called taking the reins of your own life! That’s what it’s called being kick-ass!

Believe in yourself, no matter what! Squash your doubts and perfectionism and as soon as you do, people will be paying attention to you!

7. Follow your heart and be courageous

As a people-pleaser, we learned in infancy to ignore our own wishes, desires and needs… to the point where many of us have ended up completely disconnected from our hearts.

I actually had a client who would throw up on arriving at work on Monday morning. Through our session, she uncovered that she didn’t want to pursue a career, but was actually longing for a family. Her body had been trying to tell her all along.

Many women who are “too nice” end up suffering from auto-immune diseases

What is in your heart? What would fill you with passion? What do you really love doing? What makes you excited? What turns you on? If anything and everything was possible, what would you choose?

Find out… because this is how we become alive!

And once you do, develop the courage to follow it!

Barbara is Europe’s #1 expert in teaching women who are “too nice” how to become kick-ass! She was herself “too nice”, until she finally broke free and designed the life she always wanted. Since then, it is her passion and purpose in life to help other women break free as well.... because we all deserve an amazing life! You can contact her at barbara@emotional-strength.com www.emotional-strength.com - www.noblemanhattan.ch

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Pashion Fashion

Winky Singh fashion designer and prisoner mentor

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Founder of the NGO Charity on Wheels, Winky Singh, has had an interesting journey from the small Indian town of Jalalabad to international fashion designer and mentor to prison inmates, we take a look at her story.

Winky grew up in a small town called Jalalabad, in the Fazilka district in a rural area of the state of Punjab in India. Growing up, she led an extremely simple life with minimal involvement in Fashion but big dreams in her eyes. She often dreamed of giving birth to girls, simply so she could doll them up and give them the life she had been restrained from living. She belonged to an orthodox household where love and education was provided in abundance, but where wearing western clothing was considered ‘breaking the rules’.

When she turned twenty, local culture required that she be married off. The selected man lived in New Delhi, a relatively larger and more cosmopolitan Indian city. Her new life as a married woman revolved mostly around doing daily household chores, maintaining a family and cooking.

By the mid 90s, she had been blessed with two daughters just as she had wished and spent most of her 20s nurturing, dolling and also experimenting with their dressing styles. Winky was fascinated and awed by the approach people had towards dressing in the metropolitan cities.

She was constantly curious as to where and how she could buy clothes which transformed how people looked. Her urge to dress well would often lead her to go knocking on the door of her neighbours, to acquire information about their clothing such as the cost, the fabric and place of purchase.

It was 10 years into being married when, one night, she realised she enjoyed the process of putting garments together, recognising at the same time, she possessed the skillsets and the imagination required to design and create. It then became clear to her that she was meant to be doing more than she was. That thought, along with her fondness for uplifting women, is what motivated her to start her own line of clothing.

She started by designing and fabricating Indian wear clothing at home and selling the pieces off at minimal prices to friends, family members and neighbours at most. Within a few months of starting this new activity, she organised her first personal exhibition. Single-handed, she had designed each outfit and, along with the help of

a tailor, transformed her designs into reality. It was during one of these first exhibitions that an English buyer from the UK noticed her talented work and expressed an interest in collaborating with her, which she delightedly accepted. This fortunate alliance not only gave her more exposure in the market, increasing viability and

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Pashion Fashion

The process was a journey full of different emotions

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financial means, but also opened doors for opportunities she never had imagined she could obtain.

In September 2013, Winky and her daughter, Rashima, started their Fashion label ‘Ministry of Design’ – a women’s wear fashion brand based in New Delhi, India. Their new venture flourished.

The mother daughter duo continued adorning women across the globe.

In 2018, Winky was offered the job of designing outfits for an upcoming Bollywood film “Mark sheet” to be shot later that year. The offer sounded extremely appealing to her, but it came with a bit of a twist. As a social cause, the director of the film wanted to have inmates from a prison based in New Delhi (Tihar Jail) to be employed to do the outfit design for the film instead of the people who regularly did the job. The first time in the history of cinema such a concept had been used.

Winky’s fondness to train and empower women inevitably led her to become a part of the journey and soon this journey turned into a movement which eventually became her soul purpose. She felt very at ease mentoring the women in the prison. She did not look at them as convicts or inmates; she simply looked at them as women who had aspirations to do something creative and come alive again. She could see the hope in their eyes. Each time she worked with a woman and made a difference in her life, she felt closer to her goal.

Earlier last year, she founded Charity on Wheels a self-funding NGO to empower and uplift women.

This is when she knew her life was no more about simply beautifying women and their attire; it was about inspiriting their souls. Destiny played its cards very well with Winky; when she met Viola Edward - Honorary president, of Charity On Wheels. Viola not only contributed largely to empowering her, but also always believed in her and the work she did. Over the past year, together they have created a global awareness for their work in the field of social empowerment and Viola has been an integral part of the journey, nominating Winky for several awards, all of which Winky has won, amongst them, the one

most treasured in her heart is the “International Mentor” at the National mentoring awards in UK. Under the guidance of Winky, the inmates of Tihar have created their first collection. The process was a journey full of different emotions.

There was satisfaction, hunger, contentment and unending happiness. The collection was recently showcased at two Fashion shows in the UK (Oct and Nov 2019). One of the events was the Women Economic Forum-WEF, in London. In January 2020 - they collaborated with the Indian Embassy in Cyprus and put together a fashion show on Republic day of India. The collection was designed and curated by the inmates in India. In June 2020, Winky was made National president of WICCI - Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI). In September 2020, she was honoured with the Female Civility Award by Prof. Ona C. Miller, PhD, EdD. Winky’s organisation also supports the inmates in other ways. Between 2018 and 2019, a number of women have been funded, guided and supported through the process of fighting their convictions and obtaining their release and others are currently involved in similar actions.

Winky’s mission in life now, is to bring back a sense of dignity to the inmates, to restore their hope, to rehabilitate their beliefs. She wants to shine a ray of hope. She is dedicated to helping them to rebuild their self-belief and become confident enough, within themselves, to believe in the saying ‘Every woman in herself is an entrepreneur’.

Every woman in herself is an entrepreneur

Winky Singh started her journey back in 2000, on a small scale, making custom-made gowns and ethnic wear for her near and dear ones. She would hold exhibitions every now and then and soon ended up finding International recognition. Today she is the CEO of Ministry of Design – Women’s wear brand as well as Charity on Wheels (NGO dedicated towards ‘Fashion for a cause’) winkysingh19@gmail.com - www.ministryofdesign.in

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Business

Let´s

TAKE OFF with your business

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In this, the last of their current series of articles, Maike Benner and Lilli Rohde of MaLish Consulting, talk about the HOW of your business and ways to reach your marketplace and expand your network.

Get ready – make the final checks and adaption – as we are about to TAKE OFF with your business.

New heights are waiting for you. If you’ve missed the BOARDING phase, check out our last article in September’s issue of Business Fit Magazine.

Are you slightly confused at this point and wondering where we are heading (especially during a time when no one seems to travel)? If you are not familiar with our series of entrepreneurial pieces for the Business Fit Magazine, let us enlighten you what the travel metaphors have to do with business.

We, the authors of this article (and eight others since November 2018) are Maike Benner and Lilli Rohde – business consultants and coaches. With our joint company MaL!sh we help companies and individuals with topics as wide as strategy, structure, tools and systems, Marketing and Branding or internationalisation.

After writing for Business Fit Magazine about internationalisation, teams, LinkedIn, Business success stories etc. we developed a longer series for 2020 which comprises of three articles explaining our coaching philosophy and Signature Programme Compagneur.

Compagneur is our own creation of the word COMPany and entrepreNEUR and helps employees to apply an entrepreneurial mindset at work and in their career (like courage, networking, passion) and it reminds entrepreneurs to leverage corporate success factors (like deadlines, structure, accountability).

With our Compagneur Signature programme we help entrepreneurs start their own business or build on it (e.g. when entering a new market, developing new products, using Social Media for the first time). Signature means we have collected all our years of experience in the corporate world and in entrepreneurship and have developed a standardised and formal coaching plan which we and our clients can use to reproduce consistent results.

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Business As we do not only love travelling the world but also see parallels in preparing your business and exploring new countries, we have named our three phases (with four steps each): I. CHECK-IN (Business Fit Magazine Issue July 2020) II. BOARDING (Business Fit Magazine Issue September 2020) III. TAKE-OFF So here we are: at the final stage of preparing your business and thus taking off.

Let’s TAKE-OFF

After you’ve defined your WHY in the CHECK-IN phase and learned who your customers are and what product/service you’ll offer to them, it is time now to have a look on the HOW of your business.

This means how to reach the marketplace, how to build and expand your network, how to follow up correctly and how to use cooperations for expanding and scaling.

We will dive deeper into the above mentioned topics below. To be successful with your business you have to commit to your mission, to your goals and make use of momentum. You are the only person responsible for your actions, you are the pilot, and whether your business will take-off or not is in your hands.

To keep yourself accountable and master the HOW, you have to measure your actions. If you don’t measure, you can’t do it. Define KPI’s from the start, so you’ll be able to see your development and growth. You can start with monitoring your contact data base, opening rates of your newsletter, calls done in a week.

Ideally you grow your KPI’s with the development of your business.

How to reach your marketplace

But let’s have a look now on how you can reach your marketplace. We have talked about your dream customers, the “place” where to find them and what product/service to offer in the CHECKIN phase. Now you have to get real and invest in marketing and become omnipresent. Make use of Social Media – it has never been as easy as it is now to brand and market yourself. The main tool is your smartphone. Hire someone who is an expert in placing ads, establish a newsletter, build your professional network on LinkedIn, commit to consistent postings and presence. Become a celebrity in your space, the go-to-person for

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your niche. Respond to all Social Media likes and comments. This helps you to build your credibility and community.

A powerful tool to reach your marketplace is Storytelling, which you can use in all aspects of your communication. Let your customers or partners tell potential customers how it is to work with you, use your product/service. Never underestimate a good testimonial. Another powerful tool to reach your marketplace is to use other people’s stages. This can be you being a guest in a podcast, radio show, YouTube show or talk, write an article for a magazine, attend a conference (virtual or offline) as a panel speaker, give a workshop, seminar, product presentation for a specific organisation and there are many more opportunities.

How to build and expand your network

Your network is your net worth. So you should always keep in mind when deciding whether or not: • • •

To go to a networking event, To take your business cards with you, To accept the LinkedIn invitation

One contact can change your life and have an immense impact on your business. Look constantly for ways to build your network and keep your pipelines full. There are many ways to build and expand your network – online and offline. Due to the current world situation let’s focus on online. Your smartphone is your weapon, and you should make use of it. From our point of view the best tool to network online is LinkedIn. But of course, depending on your industry and customers you can add other platforms to your toolbox. It does not matter where you look for your contacts there’s a simple rule to follow to be successful in building and expanding your online network:

One contact can change your life and have an immense impact on your business

1. Deliver value, for example - connect people from your network who could profit from each other 2. Show you care, always connect with a personal message 3. Do not try to sell After you made a connection you have to nurture your network. It is advisable to categorise your network regularly and define steps on how you will nurture them. One category needs a phone

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Business call every now and then, others would appreciate to receive news and updates of your industry, and still others want to have an invitation for an event to meet you personally. You should see that your network is a very important part of your (business) life. Take your time to become clear on which people you want to surround yourself with and plan ahead to nurture your network.

How to follow-up correctly

Follow up means to maintain contact with (a person) to monitor the effects of earlier activities or actions and to establish what future actions may be required. It is also on opportunity to increase the effectiveness of previous activities, with a second or subsequent letter, phone call, or visit. Sounds impressive and powerful, doesn’t it?

But why do 48% of sales people never bother to follow up on prospects and 65% of all companies don’t nurture leads which they paid to get. Did you know that 80% of all sales are made after the 5th to 12th contact and only 2% on the first contact? Speed is key and vital to your business.

35% - 50% of all sales go to the first company who follows up first. We highly recommend being committed and following up consistently, be disciplined and reserve a slot in your calendar daily to do so. A CRM System is a helpful tool here. If you are just starting out, then an excel file might do as well. Follow up calls make the sales roll and you can foster your relationship with your customers and prospects and find out what’s on their mind.

Follow up is not only a call it is also: • a text message • a video message • an e-mail • a personal visit • a post card

Growing your business is vital for survival. Do you know the saying that a business based on referrals is not a business? 2020, where people voluntarily or not stayed at home has shown that growth and new technologies are the key to survival. A great way to grow and expand your reach is to work with cooperation partners.

Cooperations can be many fold which is why we like them so much.

It could be a barter deal where you give something in return for a thing, e.g. you teach storytelling and receive LinkedIn Training. Also, you could recommend your partner in a field which is complementary to yours and work on a commission base. You could use the audience (e.g. mailing list) of someone who is bigger. You could plan an event and share the stage with others.

Thus, independent of whether you are just starting out or have been in business for years or decades, cooperations are not only saving time and money but also have the potential to move you to a higher position with your business.

However, something we also point out or analyse together in our coaching: don’t rush into things.

Carefully analyse and get to know one another first before you enter into an agreement.

We hope that with our series of three articles we have inspired and shown you how to get moving with your business – whether it is still an idea, founded or older.

You must use them all in a diversified order.

Surprise your customer/prospect. You could also use testimonials as a way for a follow up.

Keep in mind that a follow up is not only to get a sale, you should also follow up after your customer has placed an order, you should follow up on your cooperation partners and also after complaints. Follow up strategies are an amazing topic and within our Signature Coaching we are diving very deep into it.

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How to use cooperation’s for expanding and scaling

Please share your thoughts with us and contact us on LinkedIn at Maike Benner and Lilli Rohde.

To be successful with your business you have to commit to your mission

Maike Benner and Lilli Rohde founders of MaLish Consulting, an international business consultancy and coaching company. Combining their experiences and strengths in people management, financials, tools and system, communication and leadership MaLish offers a variety of services for companies and individuals. www.compagneur.com - malish.global/about/malish-business/

Spirituality

yourself?

Can you be with

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It’s imperative to set aside time for mental fitness

Mindfulness meditation teacher, Adrian Baker, explains to our readers the importance of learning to be alone with ourselves for our mental well-being, especially in these technologically influenced times and with the current pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has an uncomfortable truth that few of us would like to concede: we don’t know how to be alone with ourselves. The French philosopher Blasie Pascal once claimed: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s ability to sit quietly in his own chambers.” While this has always been a feature of the human condition, it is all the more true in today’s fast paced, technologically driven, consumer culture.

For most of us, to learn to be alone with ourselves, content and at ease, we must learn to train our minds. Training the mind has many benefits: from increased concentration, to enhanced emotional well-being, to lower levels of stress and better sleep.

Increasingly, successful people are recognising that just as it’s essential to allocate time for physical fitness, it’s also imperative to set aside time for mental fitness as well. In reflecting on his bestselling book Tools of Titans, author Tim Ferris noted that the number one common denominator among the most successful people he interviewed was that they had a consistent meditation practice.

While trends are moving in the right direction, there is still an imbalance between the way people value their physical and their mental health. When we reflect on this disparity, the

imbalance of our investment becomes obvious.

It’s all the more strange when you consider the fact that long after your physical health has eroded, you will be stuck with your mind, until your very last breath. Or when you can’t go to the gym during a pandemic.

Let’s all concede a fact which is true for all of us: our actions reflect our priorities. If you want to see what people value, observe what they do, not what they say. As a mindfulness meditation coach I’ve heard people mention countless times that they’d love to meditate but don’t have the time.

When I reflect back upon my behaviour I can laugh at my litany of excuses, whether it was going to the gym or sitting on the meditation cushion. Usually, and unfortunately, people come to meditation practice because they’re already burned out. This was also the case for myself.

After graduating from university, I worked at an investment bank on Wall Street, then graduate school, then political work in DC. The stress from my job combined with a culture of networking and prior history of alcohol abuse and the result was that I chose very poor coping strategies to manage that stress. I quit my job not knowing what I wanted to do. I moved to Thailand, encountered Buddhism and started practicing meditation and yoga. Within a couple of months I gave up drinking and put myself on a path of physical and mental well-being which I’m still on today.

Over the years, as I deepened into my meditation practice, I came to see how many problems boiled down to an inability to be present with whatever was happening in my immediate experience.

After some period of achievement and fulfilment, boredom and restlessness would eventually set in and I’d seek my fix doing something else.

I spent several years trying a variety of contemplative practices. I came to see how this boredom and restlessness was showing up in my spiritual searching. This is a problem some schools of self-help can inadvertently perpetuate: it feeds the cycle of chasing things outside of yourself, of trying to “fix” yourself.

Don’t get me wrong: nearly all of us do need to heal on some level and that has to be addressed in the right way with a skilful guide, such as a psychotherapist. But the feeling there is something inherently lacking in our life, this

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Spirituality

feeling that life is not quite enough as it is, is simply a part of the human condition. Positive psychologists refers to this phenomenon as the “hedonic treadmill.”

If you don’t learn to recognise and work with these transient feelings and thoughts for what they are, you will continue to be unconsciously identified with these emotions and entranced by them. Most people spend their lives chasing the next thing they think will make them happy: the next accomplishment, the next relationship, the next adventure, only to return to that same basic feeling of dissatisfaction. I like to call this “The Trance of Never Enough.”

Fortunately, contemplative traditions give us a remarkable toolkit for training our minds in a rational, scientific and secular way. One key skill we’re really lacking is this ability to be alone with ourselves, to simply be present with what’s happening right now. Sometimes when I notice that the mind is lost in reverie about the past or fantasies about the future: I ask myself the question: “What is it I’m seeking that isn’t already here and now?”

This isn’t a question I try to answer with another thought. Thoughts may well pop up and that’s fine: I just watch them arise and pass away. But this form of meditation practice is like dropping a pebble into a pond: you just allow it to drop down into your body. You feel your way into the question. You sense your way into the silence.

Of the silver linings we can try to find in this incredibly difficult collective moment, this Great Pause, I hope more people will not only find a way to stay connected and maintain healthy relationships despite the demands of social distancing, but to recognise the importance of having a healthy relationship with oneself.

Your mind is the lens through which you will experience everything which happens in your waking life: wouldn’t it be wise to learn to polish the glass so that you can see clearly?

Most people spend their lives chasing the next thing they think will make them happy

Adrian Baker, is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher, trained by Jack

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Kornfield and Tara Brach. In 2010, he moved from the US to Thailand, where he discovered Buddhism and meditation. A restless explorer by nature, Adrian enjoys helping others discover that which they are seeking most can only be found within. www.adrianbakermeditation.com adrianbakermeditation@gmail.com

+32 472 134 230

Mindset & Emotion

Do you know your

PURPOSE

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In the last of her series of articles for Business Fit Magazine, Barbara Dalle Pezze explores the need for us to find our purpose to help us get through and thrive in these challenging times.

We are in the last quarter of this unique year and so much has happened which we did not expect and we were not prepared for.

We have changed our daily routines, we have moved our offices from work to home, we have experienced our professional life intertwined in a different way with our personal life. The relationship with our kids’ world has merged with ours in ways we never experienced before.

We had to go through a process of setting new boundaries between ourselves and the world we inhabit in order to function in the midst of this COVID crisis. This has been hard work and to overcome the challenges we have tapped into resources we did not even realise we had: resilience, determination, trust and belief in positive outcomes despite all odds.

Our natural instinct to survive has led us to a point of safety for ourselves and our family. But how do we continue to tap into our powerful resources?

How do we keep finding our motivation once we know this challenging situation might last longer than we expected and we are running out of steam?

Our motivation is fuelled by our purpose, the “why” that moves us.

To keep our motivation strong and to keep moving forward in the midst of this unusual and for some people extremely difficult time, we need to be clear about our “why.”

Being it the need of taking care of our family, the desire to move up in our career, the longing to contribute to a cause bigger than ourselves, the desire to buy that beautiful home in the countryside, whatever our purpose is, we need to make sure to find it, keep it alive and believe it is possible despite what is going on around us and in our life.

We need to cultivate a possibility mindset, a way of thinking which makes us believe that what we want and where we are going is in fact possible.

As J.C Maxwell states, “People who embrace possibility thinking are capable of accomplishing tasks which seem impossible because they believe in solutions.”

Let’s think for a moment about the extraordinary experience of the American film director and producer George Lucas. He was determined to create a sci-fi movie at a time where what he was proposing was literally an ‘alien’ thought and his idea was rejected by major production companies.

He did not give up. His purpose was clear: “the reason I’m making Star Wars” Lucas said in an interview, “is that I want to give young people some sort of faraway exotic environment for their imaginations to run around in […] I have a strong feeling about interesting kids in space exploration. I want them to want it [...] And the only way it’s going to happen is to have some dumb kid fantasise about it — to get his ray gun, jump in his ship and run off with this Wookie into outer space. It’s our only hope in a way.”

Having a clear purpose, cultivating a possibility mindset and taking action in the direction of our dream, is what will help us move through these turbulent times.

Do you know what is your purpose? Why do you do what you do? What moves you? What motivates you?

If you have never asked yourself those questions, this is the time to explore them and refine your answers, because finding our purpose is the most powerful engine and motivation to help us move through and thrive even in the midst of these turbulent times.

Barbara Dalle Pezze, Ph.D. is an internationally established Coach and leadership development expert, with over 18 years of global experience.

Barbara believes there are rarely solutions to problems which do not begin in the hearts and minds of people, hence she focuses her work on the inner work of leadership.

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Interview

Didi

Wong Creating positive impact through her words and energy

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In our last issue for the very turbulent year of 2020, we feature Didi Wong, serial entrepreneur, mother, wife, TV producer and Angel Investor, working to inspire and motivate others to be their best.

Who are you?

Born in Hong Kong, raised in England and living in Los Angeles, I have many titles which describe who I am but the one nearest and dearest to my heart is being a mother of four under the age of nine including a set of identical twin girls. As an international award-winning keynote speaker, I feel it is my duty and God given calling to use the stage as my megaphone to inspire the world. I love entertainment especially TV and movies, which is why I have become an Executive Producer to two current shows on Amazon Prime Video called “SpeakUP” and “In case You Didn’t Know with Nick Nanton” featuring Robert Kiyosaki. I feel that TV is still one of the most powerful mediums for people to source their information and be entertained because it is thoroughly important to have fun in life.

The thing about staying balanced with motherhood, wifehood (I include this word because so many put their marriage behind their work and children and it is in my solid marriage which I find grounding and gives me the energy to handle all my projects) and all my businesses, boils down to integrity, knowing when to say “No” and most importantly, knowing how to articulate well.

What is the single best piece of business advice which helped shape who you are now and Why?

The single best piece of advice which applies to both business and personal lives, came from my father. He repeatedly gave and reminded me, from the age of 9 to 18 years old, while travelling from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom (which was almost every three months as I was leaving home and returning to boarding school) is to “yau sau may”. This is the Cantonese way of saying (though not literal translation) simply, when you take out something, put it back. For example, when I take out my passport for immigration checks, put it back right away so it doesn’t get lost. And nowadays, when I take out my phone, have a dedicated place in my handbag to put it

back so you will always go to that same place to find it. You may think this is interesting as THE single best piece of advice. Well, it is because it saves me time. I almost never waste time trying to find a pen, trying to find tissues, or trying to find my phone or keys or anything like that because I am organised and have a place where things should belong. This in the long run, gains me more time to do what I need to do and adds up to hours which I can save to work on my goals or to connect with someone. It keeps me punctual, organised and prepared. And I have been teaching this to all four of my children!

What was your motivation to achieve what you have?

I will be honest, in the early stages of life, the motivation was always to make money. Being a Chinese girl from Hong Kong, all I remember was hearing conversations about the good life like travelling here, travelling there, going to top restaurants, best hotels, eating abalone, Shark’s fin soup or Bird’s Nest. Seeing Rolls Royces, Porshes or Cartier jewellery as the norm with the wealthy friends or clients of my parents.

The lifestyle I experienced was of privilege and luxury. But then as I settled down in America in my early 20s after graduating from Boston University, I started meeting more people from all walks of life. In a city like New York, where you can have a homeless person next to a billionaire on the subway, interacting with colleagues and internationally cultured friends, going to many personal development conferences, seminars and workshops and becoming an entrepreneur, I began to see the other side of life. I grew to realise that life is not just about money, it’s about giving back and helping others. The more I give, the more I receive. So I do not lead by my desire

It’s about the journey, not the destination

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Interview

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for making money anymore (though that is still vitally important), I lead by making a difference and how I can impact others, even if it is just one person at a time.

I am fortunate, as being a Keynote speaker gives me a platform to impact many lives at a time and now with more and more Virtual Summits, I have no doubt tripled the amount of lives I have been able to inspire and motivate. With all the thank you texts messages, emails and social media communication I get from people who have been impacted positively because of my words or my energy, I know I can continue to go out there to change people’s lives. And truly, I feel it deeply within my soul without even hearing the acknowledgements that I know, in my spiritual belief, as long as I feel congruent with who I am and what I am doing, I know I am walking down the right path. It’s about the journey, not the destination.

Does “Balance” in life exist for you? If so how do you achieve it?

This is really the MOST common question I get when being interviewed. How do I balance my life as a mother and serial entrepreneur? And in this case, the question is even better positioned: Does “balance” in life exist? Well, to me, the answer is “No”, there is no balance. There will be times when my life is more focused on family and there will be times when my life is busier with work. There is no such thing as measuring by hours or minutes to equal out work and personal life. I measure it by my own heart and feelings.

When I detect I have not connected with my husband enough, I will make sure that I plan to make that happen immediately and more often.

When I feel I have been working longer hours than usual, I will focus back on quality time with my children.

For me personally, I am very in tune with my intuition. It truly guides me to know when it’s time to plan a much needed vacation, or a much needed massage and it guides me to know when to take the opportunities for work and can level me up as an entrepreneur. You have to FEEL it and balance it in YOUR way. Some people may be okay to leave their children for five days to take time for themselves because to them it is mentally healthy, some people cannot even stand going away for one night. As long as you have a radar to know you have not gone wayyyy too far with either work or play and you are aware of exercise and nutrition to balance your emotions,

you can strive to be more balanced. But striving to achieve the stereotyped understanding on being balanced will only trip you or disappoint you so don’t strive for balance. Strive for quality connection, focused hours on work even if it is just two hours you can spend and focus on your well-being. If it makes you feel more refreshed taking a two-week vacation, then do so, even if some people may bat an eye on such a situation.

Or if you feel you are in your flow and want to work 11 hours to feel better at getting stuff done, do that. You are your own gauge. Strive to feel YOUR BALANCED!

If you were in the jungle what kind of animal would you be?

I am going to bend the rules a bit with this answer…I know there aren’t any dragons in the jungle, though in my imagination, there would be! So I would pick a dragon to represent me as it is actually my Chinese Zodiac sign and I am quite connected to it. I pick it because it has the powers and confidence that many other animals don’t have, it is mysterious and unpredictable, yet it can be tame and agreeable. It can fly when it wants to and it can use those powers to rescue and help others. But don’t mess with a dragon!

It will spit fire if irritated!

Who has supported and influenced you on your life journey?

My father is the one person who has supported and influenced me on my life journey. I did have to do some proving of myself to him to let me “fly” when I was younger. There are times when I know I did not follow his suggestions, yet through an unspoken love and respect for one another, he continued to support me. My relationship with my father is a unique one where words are not used much to communicate yet there is a depth of understanding and connection that I have and will always have with him. I miss him so much because he lives in Hong Kong. Without my father, I would not be the woman I am today.

And by the way, if I had a second choice, it would be my mother!

Tell us about your feature documentary movie ‘IMPACT’

“IMPACT” is a movie about three people’s journeys in finding their superpowers and how body language and microfacial expressions are important to recognise when conversing with others. It follows my journey as a speaker. They

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Interview

captured me when I was so green and never stepped on a stage before to when I spoke at the United Nations. You will see me being coached and my progress in finding myself and my relationship with my mother too. We won three awards for Best Film in three festivals already including New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas!

So proud!

How did it feel to be awarded Women Economic Forum’s “Women of the Decade for Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital”?

It is for sure one of the highlights of my life not just because this award has such a beautiful title and it was such a surprise when I received the email, but because I was invited to New Delhi, India to receive it at the Headquarters of the Women Economic Forum. More importantly, it was because my parents and my younger sister were in attendance.

All my life, the biggest goal I had, was to make my parents proud of me. Since I did many things which didn’t go the way they expected - like choosing to live in America and not go back to Hong Kong; like marrying a non-Chinese man; like choosing a profession not in line with the traditional lawyer, doctor or accountant, or even having a job when I could be a housewife or a homemaker, I was always striving to do something to make them proud of me. In the Chinese culture, it is not really something usual to hear praises out loud. But after I received the award, it was quite apparent they approved of what just happened and they treated me in a way which was so satisfying. I will never forget those moments and I will forever be grateful to Dr. Harbeen Arora for recognising me.

What inspired your course The Perfect Elevator Pitch?

First of all, I just love teaching. I was invited to be a judge on a digital TV show called “Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch” which is now in its sixth season.

And because of that show, I became an Angel Investor. When I was listening to all these entrepreneurs pitch, I was disappointed with the fact they had this one big opportunity to acquire tens of thousands of dollars for their companies, but they were not able to convey their messages and their Elevator Pitch was just not up to par.

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So I decided to open up The Yes Academy, which is an Entrepreneurial school to help entrepreneurs in many different aspects of their businesses. Making that first great impression is truly important and I see my students’ transformations in just four weeks, it’s incredible.

I don’t just talk about the words you use, I talk about body language, intention, confidence, specific vocabulary NOT to use, energy and much much more.

What TV shows have you been involved with as an Executive Producer?

I am currently really excited about a few shows.

Two of which are on Amazon Prime Video called “SpeakUP” and “InCase You Didn’t Know with Nick Nanton.” The first one is really my passion project to highlight speakers from all walks of life and give them a platform to share their messages.

We really believe in the power of TV and how it can magnify and convey some serious messages to the world in short amounts of time as most people’s attention spans have decreased due to social media and short form TV. We want to make an impact and move the audience. You will find so many different topics covered. More importantly, it is delivered to you with top notch production value which will make your eyes happy! The second show “In Case You Didn’t Know With Nick Nanton” is a beautifully shot show I had the opportunity to executive produce, alongside Mr. Larry King and it is an interview style show with an amazing documentary feel, spotlighting Robert Kiyosaki and his legendary life work. Aside from these, I am developing two other shows called “American Icon” with big name celebrities who will discuss mental health and the icons of our time, starting with Marilyn Monroe. Last but not least, a new Hop Hop Shark Tank-like show called “Money Moves” is in the works to continue the path of helping minority entrepreneurs become millionaires. Exciting stuff!

The more I give, the more I receive

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Business

What is Normal?

Are we REALLY shifting to a more

Caring Economy?

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Founder and Chief Engagement Officer of Women4Solutions, Inc., Laura Giadorou Koch, looks at how caring has been considered unnecessary for a “productive” economy and how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated our understanding of this harsh reality.

COVID has proved to be a great lens, showing us the importance of healthcare, education, caretaker’s workers (care work), as well as the urgent need to transform our economic values and current systems.

The Caring Economy is an economic system which promotes the wellness and development of people regardless of sex, class, race, or ability, while respecting and taking responsibility for the planet. In its essence, the goals of a Caring Economy align with most written Democratic Constitutions — so why are we still searching for these values and results?

Is it normal that in today’s world…

• 1 in 3 women experience domestic violence during their lifetime?

• Every year more than 50% of children suffer from violence and 20% die from that violence?

• More than 700 million people, majority women and children live in extreme poverty?

• According to the WEF2020 Gender Parity Report, we need 257 years to reach gender equality?

In the last few decades, we have seen massive increases in deforestation, CO2 production, chemical pollution, and the destruction of biodiversity. Is all this normal? Also, why has conventional economics been so slow to offer compelling solutions to these issues?

COVID showed us the importance of healthcare workers

Since its theoretical beginnings, capitalism (and even socialism and communism) consider “care work“—for the young, the elderly, the sick— unnecessary for a “productive” economy, and therefore even today, these at-risk groups are not valued and continue to be effectively invisible to our culture and economic metrics. Consider today’s wide spectrum of politico-economic systems, and ask yourself: do these different systems provide authentic wellness and care for citizens and their environment? The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated our understanding of the harsh reality that we need to shift to a new economic system which is respectful of all people’s work and the planet.

So, how did the Caring Economy begin? The anthropologist Margaret Mead gives a clear example when a person survived a broken femur bone thanks to the care of others. Basically, civilization began to form with the protection and caring of one individual for another. Without the help and support system of others, the subject of Mead’s excavations would not have survived.

Consequently, Mead asserted that the act of caring was the first building block of human civilization.

Inspired by four decades of research and activism work by Riane Eisler, we see the key pillars of the Caring Economy are the following:

1. To Value and Make Visible Caring for the Environment

As late as 2009, leaders worldwide could not resolve to fight climate change and the Copenhagen Climate Summit turned out to be an absolute failure. Fast forward six years, and we have finally seen some progress. At the 2015 Paris Climate Summit, many nations for the first time in the history of our civilisation agreed to pursue collective climate action as the only avenue to deal with this issue.

Today COVID-19 has shown us that for public health reasons, governments can take quick, sweeping actions. So, why have governments worldwide still not taken real action against climate change? Also, the global pandemic has shown us the companies who were more environmentally and socially responsible - the ones who cared for their employees and environment - did relatively better. This gives us hope with the accelerated transformation from traditional business values of purely profit-oriented goals to more sustainable and stakeholder ones in the coming years.

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Business

2. To Value and Make Visible the “Care Work”

COVID showed us the importance of healthcare workers, 75% of whom are women worldwide, whose pay does not match their dedication and the risks they take. In addition, research shows that American women do seven more years of free care work than their male counterparts.

The work of care is invaluable to a functioning society, and a necessity capitalist, socialist, and communist countries take for granted.

Many studies show that the Status of Women Predicts the Quality of Life of everybody around them. However, in today’s world If women are discriminated against in the workplace and their home, and if women do most of the care work for free in their families and work for underpaid wages in the market, a nation’s overall quality of life is negatively affected. Have you considered that our massive economic inequalities exist because currently we fail to fully value care work?

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3. To Invest in the Development of early childhood education: our most important asset.

COVID has shown us that all humans, more than ever before need to collaborate, be resilient, flexible. To employ those skills at work and home, research shows it largely hinges on the quality of care and education people receive in their early years. In addition, there is a plethora of research showing how early childhood experiences directly impact our brain development, and therefore how later on those adults think, feel, act, even how they work and vote! Also, at early age, children learn what is “normal”, moral, even inevitable.

What is worrisome is that in some cultures, children learn “one kind of human is more valued than another”, which explains why preserving or returning to rigidly male-dominated, “traditional” families is a priority for authoritarian regimes and religious fundamentalist leaders.

Children in these social conditions also learn another daunting lesson: by fitting in to a

domination/hierarchical system makes it is very difficult for them to “question” orders (authority), no matter how unjust. This is one of the reasons why totalitarian regimes survive, especially because there is tolerance for violence and fear.

4. To Pursue Transparency and Metrics in the Caring Economy: changing our measures of economic health.

We measure what we want to grow and improve. The most widely recognised measure of economic health is GDP, which was created over a hundred years ago. Mass production and technology have changed since and these metrics also need to adapt to our new reality, reflecting an authentic measure of quality of life. One of the GDP failures is it includes as “productive” many activities which actually harm and even take lives (e.g.: sale of cigarettes or fast food and the resulting medical bills all added to the plus side of GDP). Another example of the failure of GDP metrics is it does not subtract “externalities” (e.g.: the cost of natural disasters caused by climate change or company’s disregard of nature) which are considered as positives.

Not only does GDP put negatives in as positives, but it also fails to include as “productive” the “care work” in households despite studies showing that if this work were included it would represent between 20 to 50% of GDP. Not included is the social and community caring work which most of the time is for free and gives value to society.

Riane Eisler’s Social Wealth Economic Indicators is a good alternative to authentically evaluate a nation’s prosperity.

Yet none of these suggestions to add to the GDP metrics are taken into consideration in conventional economic government, as well it is not taught in schools and universities. It is up to us to create awareness and action for this change.

environmental problems. Let’s take a look at our current reality: it takes just one infected person to unleash chaos and country-wide shutdowns— the “butterfly effect” of mathematical chaos theory: “that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world” becomes a reality.

COVID reinforces the fact that our planet has become a “village” and technology is rapidly scaling our interconnected world in a massive way. In addition, it is now clear climate action can only be accomplished if all nations collaborate together with global parameters.

Thus, we have clear proof we cannot any longer act in isolation. With a sense of urgency, we need to transform our economic values and systems into something we all as humans have in common from the beginning: caring for each other!

Learn more about the Caring Economy and do something every day to take care of our planet and people!

We need to transform our economic values and systems

According to some, COVID is shrinking the economic globalisation, however, it is still creating more gaps between the have-and have-nots worldwide, as well as very serious

Laura Giadorou Koch is the Founder & Chief Engagement Officer of Women 4 Solutions, a global network of women entrepreneurs advocating for inclusive and regenerative business and governmental policies, working towards a Caring Economy. Laura is also a changemaker, impact investor, system social entrepreneur, philanthropist and lawyer For over two decades focused on microfinance, innovation technologies, education and gender issues. Founder of Women 4 Solutions

41

Marketing

A Multimillion Dollar Lesson from

WWE Wrestlers

Marketing strategist and International speaker, Alex Kei, tells us what we can learn from WWE wrestlers to help us in business, and the power of developing our own persona and catch phrase for our customers to remember us by.

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43

Marketing

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) broadcasts to 145 countries in 30 different languages. According to its website, its revenue in 2019 was US$960.4 million. For some people, wrestling is a very entertaining spectacle; for others, it is a very low form of entertainment.

Whatever your opinion, it is unarguably a great business worth modelling. No, I am not suggesting you should learn how to fight or to set up a ring, but I will share here some of the techniques you can apply on your own (without having either to gain muscle or wear a spandex singlet).

Depending on the type of business you run, it is very probable that some (or most) of your clients live a pretty normal life, with a nine-to-five job, significant other, kids and a mortgage – and they will gladly give their hard-earned money and time to people they admire and derive inspiration from. They want to be amazed; they want to feel inspired. It is incredible to think that when exalted with lights, music, announcers and more, one struggling human being (the wrestler, in this case) can become a point of captivating interest for thousands of others.

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But that’s exactly what an audience wants: conflict, spectacle and victory to forget about its own struggles for a while.

Creating a spectacle of daily life, and one to which every ‘average Joe’ can relate, is the key to providing a captivating experience which will pull in an audience. The WWE has succeeded at this for decades, appealing to each individual spectator and enticing them to relate, not just offering blood-and-gore brutality.

With any successful business, the goal is also to persuade the individual to pay attention, and in doing so, we offer them something they can relate to on a personal level. When a person forms an emotional bond with another human being based on want (wanting what they have or wanting to be who they are), the connection is more profound than any monetary or material transaction.

WWE may get a lot of flak for being inauthentic and unoriginal, but it preys on our innate tendency to dream, to be stronger than life, and to succeed when others only put us down. Our

ability to relate to the characters and to see a little bit of ourselves in their struggle – to root for that reflection and see it prevail – is one of the things which makes the WWE so profitable.

On the other hand, WWE wrestlers are so popular because they are iconic characters.

They are easily recognisable from their look, words and moves. Every wrestler has his own catchphrase(s), his own signature move(s), and a distinctive look. And those three elements should also be features of your personal brand.

Don’t fall into the trap of self-sabotage and say “I am not a circus clown. I am a professional. I won’t act like a WWE wrestler”. For your own sake, silence your inner cynic for a while and try to learn the lesson behind wrestlers’ popularity.

One of the prime examples of success in wrestling has to be Dwayne Johnson, AKA The Rock. He arguably has more fans, and WWE-related catchphrases, than any other wrestler in the industry. One of the most notable catchphrases of his, “The Rock will take you down!” is strongly linked to his persona. One of his signature moves, “Rock Bottom”, even alludes to the low point of any struggle and the rise back to the top. We all dare to dream, and dreaming takes us to the places in our mind where we would rather be. To dream of being strong, superior and able to “take you down” and follow through, annihilating the competition and coming out on top, is something every average Joe dreams of. It is no wonder that so many people are captivated by icons such as The Rock.

Say your name several times during a speech so people remember it

You must identify your own catchphrases and signature moves so that people can recognise them and associate them with you.

Of course, WWE wrestlers are not the only ones who have catchphrases and signature moves.

Suze Orman, the financial advisor, always says at the end of her TV show, “People first, then money, then things”. The chef Michael Smith always says, “It’s all about flavour!” The comedian Dave Coulier says, “Cut it out!” and while he says that, he makes his signature move with his hand – a scissors movement – then points his index finger to one side and moves his thumb in the opposite direction.

Talking of signature moves, see Michael Jackson’s moonwalk step, or “Elvis the pelvis” movements.

And what about Tony Robbins’s (weird) hand clapping? That’s one of his signature moves.

Another thing you should emulate from WWE wrestlers: say your name several times during a speech so people remember it. There are many rappers, salsa bands and other musicians who repeat their names several times in the lyrics of their songs. Even those who are already famous do it. Many personalities neglect this. They (sometimes) say their name at the beginning of a presentation and then don’t say it again. It is not advisable to over-say it, but at least twice would be perfect.

I strongly advise you to have your own catchphrases and signature moves. This will give you more elements for recognition in front of your audience and it will make you a more unique and tangible character. If you want to know whether or not you have established strong signature moves and catchphrases, ask your friends, family or colleagues to impersonate you. If they can’t impersonate you, or they don’t recognise any specific gestures, moves or phrases you say, you still need to work on your character.

It isn’t an accident that so many professional impersonators choose the same celebrities to impersonate again and again (Elvis, Madonna, Michael Jackson, etc.) It is because those celebrities have very strong traits. Make sure you have them too.

Alex Kei is a marketing strategist and International speaker who helps consultants, authors and executives to make more money via better brand positioning and authority status. You can find more about him at www.alexkei.com

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Mindset & Emotion

MENTAL

Fortitude

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Female Civility Expert and Female Advocate, Prof. Ona C. Miller, asks us to concentrate on the health and wealth of our mental capacity and provides us with some guidelines on how we can eliminate the internal barriers we have control over.

Many of the barriers we face, as females, play a detrimental role in our mindset and emotions.

According to Miller (2016), in a qualitative, Prof. Ona C. Miller outlines the most prevalent internal barriers women face in non-profit organisations (Miller, 2016, p.237). The internal barriers identified were intimidation, insecurity, fear, rejection, defeat, discourage, belittled, weary, and forsaken. The participants described external barriers as things that seemingly are beyond self-control.

We must carefully concentrate on the health and wealth of our mental capacity. It is our mental intellect which drives the relationship between our verbal and non-verbal behaviours. At some point during our lives, activities, schedules, routines, rituals, and practices, we must be vigilant about assessing our thought patterns.

When we find ourselves off-kilter or in a place of imbalance, this is when we know it is time for some mental nutrients and supplements.

Society and the medical definition often look at mental health as a selective dimming light which only affects a particular group. The truth of the matter is we are all responsible for stabilising and increasing our mental status. As female leaders, the same efforts we vigorously place in our economic, social, and political position, should be equally delved out for our mental status.

We are all responsible for stabilising and increasing our mental status

Health and wealth are two states almost everyone seeks. We all desire to be healthy, fit, whole, happy and feeling accomplished. We want wealth financially, relationally, organisationally, practically, and spiritually. But, wouldn’t it be great for everyone to be able to effectually engage in both Health and Wealth without reserve.

Wouldn’t that meet all our desires, hopes, and dreams? It is tedious; however, we can do it.

So, how do we stay mentally healthy and wealthy?

Being mentally healthy is a balanced, consistent flow of positive thoughts which birth creativity, innovation, and connectivity to enhance behaviour. Being mentally wealthy is an inclusive exchange of thinking which produces the action of substance, liberty.

We deliberately make sure we do not obligate ourselves to things, people, situations, circumstances, and platforms which we do not desire or will not benefit our purpose. If you think back, there have been many times we have sacrificed ourselves for the sake of others or for the sake of not offending. If we are going to stay healthy and wealthy mentally, we will have to remove the forced guilt of obligation.

• • • • •

Do not hide who you are.

Do not hide in the background.

Know your position here on earth.

Let your voice be heard.

Never stop creating.

We intentionally make sure we make better decisions about our connections, partnerships, and relationships. If you evaluate past experiences, you will realise you faced many dysfunctional situations because of a decision which was not well planned or thought through before execution. We had the signs, smoke screens, and warnings, but we did not pay attention or disregarded them altogether. By the time everything was all over, we were depleted, exhausted, and confused about our identity.

• • • • •

Remove residue from previous connections.

Be sensitive but do not be emotional.

Never choose fear, always choose faith.

Do not abandon or abort your assignment.

Guard and protect your mind, imagination, and thoughts.

We purposefully ensure we disseminate our limited time where it will yield the most valuable

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Mindset & Emotion

return to our lives. We can’t forget that our time is something we will never get back, and it is a much sought after commodity. We can’t just give it away freely or without careful consideration.

• • • • •

Protect your ear, eye, and noise gates.

Watch your environment and circle.

Don’t coward down when challenged.

Excellence and quality Always have a strategy

We provokingly make sure we indulge in selfdevelopment which allows us to grow, develop, and focus on expanding our lives and visions.

When we increase our learning and knowledge, we can also enhance and advance the many lives attached to us and those lives around us.

• • • • •

Stay pure in heart. Your motives and intentions must be pure.

Reach the next generation. Teach, guide, and be an example to the next generation.

We are not in competition with man. Male or Female.

We do not compete.

We activate and mobilise our dreams, vision, passion, and purpose.

Most importantly, we must be faithful and vigilant in making a vow to ourselves for mental health and wealth. It is our responsibility to eliminate the internal barriers we do have control over.

1. Make a VOW to start building, restoring, and supporting one another.

2. Make a VOW to be for one another and not against each other.

3. Make a VOW not to talk down or be hostile towards each other.

4. Make a VOW to stop allowing things, people, and relationships to come between us.

5. Make a VOW to start genuinely listening and learning from each other.

6. Make a VOW to embrace one another instead of pushing each other away.

7. Make a VOW to start sharing our stories and not frown at our stories.

8. Make a VOW not to look down on each other but look at each other in the eye to understand.

9. Make a VOW to have each other’s best interests at heart void of schemes, plots, and sabotage.

10. Make a VOW to not stare at each other, but engage with one another.

11. Make a VOW to stop blaming each other and be accountable for one another.

12. Make a VOW to start loving each other and stop hating each other.

Being mentally healthy is a balanced, consistent flow of positive thoughts

13. Make a VOW not intrude on each other’s relationships and respect one another’s covenants.

14. Make a VOW to start or continue to better ourselves so that we ALL look good as a unit.

15. Make a VOW to start loving ourselves more as individuals, to love one another.

Bio photo credit: Nathan Paul

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Prof. Ona C. Miller is a Female Civility Expert, Female Advocate, Global Educator, Leadership Advisor, Panelist, Speaker and Author. She has dedicated her life to breaking barriers and building bridges for females globally. Her mission is to build a legacy that all females can embrace and experience. www.onacmiller.com - onacmiller@onacmiller.com.

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Spice it Up

COOK

VEGAN 50

Founder of ‘Cook Vegan’ Facebook Group, Farah Shammas, tells our readers how she hopes to inspire more people to try vegan cooking through posting recipes on her Facebook page and though her YouTube videos.

As a vegan, I constantly get asked about what I cook, how I make sure I get all my nutrients and what my kids eat. So during lockdown, when researching new marketing techniques, I decided to play around and start a new Facebook group entitled ‘Cook Vegan’. My original thoughts were to share some recipes and ideas of healthy living with friends and anyone else who may be interested, but within two day’s I had over 1000 members, and the numbers kept on growing at an exponential rate. Now at nearly 5000 members, my aim is very clear : to inspire as many people as possible to try healthy plant based meals, for them to see how easy some of these recipes can be, that you don’t have to be fully vegan or the best cook in the world to try to live a healthier life, and to change the perception that many have of ‘pushy’ vegans. The group is not about judging anyone. The world does not need a handful of perfect vegans! It needs millions and billions of people all trying to do their best; for themselves, the environment and animals.

Most people become vegan for one of these three reasons, but in the end they are so intertwined that they can all become equally as important to many vegans. It’s natural for people to get excited about their mission and the knowledge they have about the way animal farming works, and they want to spread this information. Unfortunately, many people don’t know how, and hence vegans can have a reputation for being know it alls and extremists.

In my videos and through my recipes, my aim is to educate all members and viewers on how they can eat really nutritious and delicious food, that’s quick and easy to make. Some of the recipes take a little longer, but you can see that even busy business people and parents, like I am, can plan and make nutrient packed meals that all the family can enjoy.

This year has been quite an eye opener for many, and a lot of people are now trying vegan foods or healthier ways of living. The pandemic of Covid 19 has definitely left its mark.

as Instagram. My recipes are not always photographed ‘insta-worthy’ but that is the attraction of Cook Vegan... it’s real food, for real people, whether you are vegan or not. So please do join us for more fun, yummy and healthy recipes.

Recipes from the Facebook page set up by Farah Courgette soup Ingredients: 4 large courgettes 1 big bunch of Spinach 6 cups of Vegetable stock 1 large Onion 5 cloves of Garlic Salt and pepper to taste Method: • Sauté onion and garlic • Add courgettes and spinach and cook for further five minutes • Pour over vegetable stock • Bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes • Add salt and pepper • Serve hot

my aim is to educate all members and viewers on how they can eat really nutritious and delicious food

The goal of Cook Vegan now is to expand to YouTube in the coming months as well

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Spice it Up

Lentil Burgers Ingredients: 2 cups of cooked green lentils 1 large carrot finely chopped 1 large chopped onion 3 cloves of garlic minced 1/2 cup of pecan nuts 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds 1/2 cup of wholemeal flour 1 cup of whole grain breadcrumbs 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds mixed with 2 tablespoons of warm water) 1 tablespoon of dried thyme 1 tablespoon of dried oregano 1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt 1 tablespoon of olive oil Method: • Mix onion, carrots, pecans, garlic and sunflower seed in a food processor.

• Add lentils and blend again • Add all seasonings and the breadcrumbs and blend for a further 30 seconds depending on your mixer. The mix should not be too smooth and still be nicely textured.

• Make into patties • Brush patties with a little olive oil • Cook in the oven at 160 degrees for 15 minutes

Farah Shammas is the founder of ‘Cook Vegan’ Facebook Group, and

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has also opened Cyprus’ first Vegan Hotel and Beach Restaurant, Seashells Healthy Living. She is the Managing Director of the award winning five star St Raphael Resort and Marina in Limassol, Cyprus. She is married and is the mother of three young children.

53

Environment

An Eco-Conscious Approach to

Property Development

54

Eco-design architect, Tania Arrayales Rodriguez, talks about the importance of sustainable, green architecture in order to preserve and regenerate the land and the environment and to add balance to the interaction between man-woman-planet.

Tania Arrayales Rodriguez was born in a small town near the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, which influenced her taste for archaeology and the arts, and inspired a profession in architecture. For as long as she can remember, she always knew she wanted to participate in sustainability initiatives and explore the cultures and wonders of the world’s indigenous peoples. As a volunteer, she designed practices for the dignification of families through housing and cultural programs in the Americas and promoted cultural exchanges with women from different countries around the world including Jordan, Egypt, Peru, the United States, and countries of Europe, celebrating diversity in humanity and respect for ecosystems.

While travelling the world, Tania has convened with community and business leaders who share an affinity for her vision of preservation of the land, as well as economic practices required for the sustainability of any positive impact as a form of investment, thus adding balance to the interaction between man-woman-planet. This informs her mission of creating sustainable, green architecture with designs which respect ancestral knowledge and the environment while

simultaneously protecting species in various ecosystems, be it the jungle, the seas, or the mountains.

Tania states, “The protection of our planet and restoration of areas devastated by human negligence depends on the education and community efforts of independent groups around the world, composed of leaders without personal agenda other than to harmonise the Human-Earth relationship and adopt the sustainable practices necessary to stop the degradation.

“The collectives necessary for the conservation of the planet are those designed with a type of structure where everyone creates awareness and assumes the importance and responsibility in each action, in order to maintain the natural, social, economic, political order, etc. We can benefit and dignify people, remembering that the practices we adopt now will be the inheritance of coming generations who could instinctively adopt a way of life in harmony with the ecosystems. Or, not having these ethical principles and universal values, we will deviate to the systematic and institutionalised acts already known in past decades of exploitation of resources for private interests without global or long-term benefits.

“Cognitive acts are required, and the first one is to assume responsibility for our own choices and actions, knowing that we co-exist with millions of species which require our support. From whatever profession, from any family situation,

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Environment

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and with all the various platforms we have at hand, it is through our collective momentum we will bring about the necessary and permanent change.”

Tania’s current actions are focused on inaugurating Vita Tulum, the first sustainable space she has designed (opening in Tulum, Autumn 2020), built through her company Green Habitat, which is dedicated to green development and sustainable construction, implementing principles such as Bioconstruction and Permaculture and expanding eco-technologies and green architecture practices as tools for the preservation of the Mayan Jungle of the Mexican Caribbean.

“What is incredible about Vita Tulum is how nature is found everywhere. The boundaries between being inside and outside are blurred in most everyday spaces. These spaces and the trees have a powerful connection with that natural environment, creating an atmosphere where the cares of the world may just drift away.”

Tania observes, “To live on this planet means to create a balance between consumption and restoration.”

In all of its projects, Green Habitat works in collaboration with biologists, archaeologists and geologists in a multidisciplinary effort to preserve

and regenerate the land and the environment before, during and after their Green Habitat developments. Respecting the original terrain and using local trees in the region as a sun barriers, as well as a source of food for birds, ensures that the development can significantly decrease any negative impacts on the environment and livelihood of local fauna and flora. Through replanting, relocating, preserving and protecting trees, balance with the environment has been designed in and careful attention to detail has had to be employed.

Additional technologies and methods built into Vita Tulum include chemical-free pool water in the rooftop infinity pool, water reuse (at least 3x), solar water heating, hybrid power systems, and passive cooling and rooftop organic gardening, for example.

Green Habitat believes in the protection and empowerment of indigenous cultures as a part of the old knowledge which must be preserved and shared with new generations.

Through My Green Habitat, the sister non-profit organisation to Green Habitat, various initiatives to elevate and support local Maya communities throughout Quintana Roo and the Yucatan have been developed. Recently, My Green Habitat launched the “COVID-19 Relief Fund” to benefit Maya communities who were left without their

57

Environment main source of income, due to the pandemic.

The fund is being used to install vertical orchards in communities, provide support for Maya midwives, boost children’s education initiatives, and promote new economic models for indigenous men and women.

My Green Habitat has other initiatives which are aimed at intervening, protecting, and safely relocating various turtle species native to Tulum including the loggerhead turtle and green turtle which are both in danger of extinction. Preservation of the Melipona bee species is another effort My Green Habitat leads. Melipona bees do not have sting and play a very important role in the conservation of forests, low forests, and mangroves, because it is the natural pollinator of numerous plants and trees, whose survival depends on this small insect; however, the excessive deforestation of the jungles and even the passage of hurricanes in the last decades have placed the bee Melipona in danger of extinction.

Through all of her efforts, Tania hopes to inspire more developers to engage in an eco-centred approach to their design and building initiatives. “Tropical forests can be protected and to do so we must be aware of how connected we are to them and recognise the wider benefits of trees. It is part of our mission to conserve the ecosystem.�

The practices we adopt now will be the inheritance of coming generations

Tania Arrayales Rodriguez is a sought-after thought leader, eco-design

58

architect, eco-developer, entrepreneur, and mother of a beautiful daughter, Maya Luna Rodriguez. She founded Green Habitat to offer an eco-conscious approach to property development. She is also an international speaker and an advocate for Hispanic immigration rights and is passionate about supporting women throughout the world.

59

Mindset & Emotion

Organic Resilience Breathwork therapy expert, multi-awarded Mentor and member of Business Fit Magazine advisory board, Viola Edward, talks to our readers about resilience and how we adapt to situations and change to overcome adversity.

It is said resilience is the reunion with happiness and indeed, the motto is “count on you, count on me” and that resilience is an essential component of the existence of nature, that is, of all life.

The term resilience comes from the Latin ‘Resilio - Resiliere’, meaning ‘to return, to jump back’. In English, resilience is “the ability of a material to regain its original form and nature after being subjected to high stress or pressure”.

In 1970, the English child psychiatrist Michael Rutter and the French neurologist, psychiatrist and ethologist Boris Cyrulnik, were inspired by this physical concept. They introduced the term into psychology to denote “the ability of people to overcome tragedies or strongly traumatic events”. Cyrulnik, whose Jewish parents were murdered by the Nazis, studied the resilience of concentration camp survivors and children raised in orphanages.

In 1973, a Canadian ecologist, Crawford Holling, first spoke about resilience in ecology while seeking to understand how ecosystems selfsustain and persist in the face of disturbances and changes. The term appeared as a concept which encompasses resistance, learning, transformation, adaptation and renewal.

According to Holling, in nature there are two main characteristics which define the resilience of an ecosystem:

60

1) The changes or transformations it can withstand without losing its structure and functions. That is, without losing its essence.

2) The ability to self-organise, develop and increase their ability to learn, innovate and adapt.

To be able to achieve this, nature developed magnificent and functional communication systems. Today, it is known that the plant kingdom creates communication networks or roots which cover the entire planet. In this way, in the case of fire for example, plants communicate with each other to warn of adversity and achieve the best possible adaptation.

Other researchers on the subject consider resilience as a complex function, or property, of the psychosocial-biological-spiritual systems of living beings, from molecular and cellular levels to the social level of environmental adaptation and beliefs. When a new situation causes damage or alteration, resilience allows the body to adapt to the situation and changes. Homeostasis of the main biological functions is maintained, making it possible for the system to return to a previous state of physiological and adaptive functioning.

From a biological point of view, we can say that each cell in our body is a living system whose function is to grow, mature and prevent its death.

To achieve this, each cell is constantly changing to adapt to favourable or threatening situations.

This means our cellular system is in constant search of positive emotions, strong immune defences, harmonious release of hormones, an open and active mind in constant learning and a constant flow of vital energy.

From this point of view, we could say we have a biopsychosocial-spiritual nature prone to

resilience and infer that resilience is an innate or acquired capacity to prevent threatening situations from deteriorating our biopsychosocialspiritual functioning. The resilient individual emerges re-strengthened from any crisis, because the crisis reinforces their homeostatic mechanisms to face new adverse situations.

From the social point of view, we could say that we continuously develop resilience throughout our lives, because from the moment we are born, we overcome many challenges, acquiring at each stage the capacity to overcome adversity, learning versatility and adaptation without losing our essence. Thus we create and expand our skills, attitudes and strengths. This process is continuous because we are evolving beings, not completed beings.

This attitude of confidence and drive to improve can be both personal and social. The latter is known as the “Social Resilience Process�. This is the one which appears when the adversity involves a considerable number of people who, through their individual transformations, from micro to macro, have managed to overcome the obstacles successfully as a Team, with drive and determination, without considering defeat, despite the fact that the situation is apparently against them. They constitute movements where the victims become indispensable actors in the creation of change. From that feeling of strength, a process begins which grows and is reinforced by the quantity of others also affected.

If we were to introspect our lives and the resilient characteristics of nature itself (with us as an indivisible part of nature), we could say that, in the face of any degree of difficulty, from the mildest to the most disastrous, we intrinsically have the power of resilience to regain the desire to continue living well, nourished by the experience and gaining in both maturity and wisdom.

That is why it is so important to be aware of the abilities and natural resources which are our greatest capital. When I speak of Together is Better, I include first, Being Together with the Self and from there develop compassion and inspiration towards the other person or people.

Then, balance is possible as we learn to Breathe Organic Resilience for sustainable success with personal, social and planetary purpose.

We are all responsible for stabilising and increasing our mental status

Viola Edward, is a Breathwork therapy expert, and multi-awarded Mentor.

Pioneer of Breathwork and mental health fitness in the workplace since 1993, she is convinced that the practice of Conscious Breathing is at the core of every person’s wellbeing. Co-owner of Kayana Breathwork and GRIT Academy, Author Breathing the Rhythm of Success and Who Makes the Bed?, co-author of eight more books. @the.viola.edward

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Goes Global Businesses, individuals and mentors across the world celebrated in an overwhelming response to this year’s National Mentoring Day (27th October.) The initiative aims to make mentoring accessible to everyone, regardless of age, background, or ethnicity and has Lord Young as the Patron.

Support came in far and wide from Government, UNHCR, (the United Nations Refugee Agency) the BBC, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, British Army, US Air Force, Princes Trust, Google, FSB, IOD, Stephen Kelly (TechNation), Dame Kelly Hoppen, Lord Hastings CBE, Sherry Coutu CBE, leading philosopher Professor Dr Ervin Laszlo alongside hundreds of businesses, charities and organisations who joined in.

National Mentoring Day, a global initiative, was founded by Chelsey Baker, a prominent business mentor to educate, connect, inspire and support all forms of mentoring. Chelsey says, “We urgently need to embrace mentoring for all. Everyone has life skills and experience to share as a mentor.

One word, one hour can be all that’s needed to effect a positive change in someone.”

Praise poured in on the hashtag #nationalmentoringday thanking mentors for making a difference. This year saw a huge increase in businesses and organisations giving back. Companies from all over the world created mentoring initiatives on the day. In the U.S. ProMazo launched a free app to connect 100,000 students with 100,000 mentors to support those being left behind during the pandemic. The Pentagon awarded $3 million to the University of Illinois Chicago to create an undergraduate STEM mentoring program.

In the UK, over 100 Members of Parliament and Peers pledged to ‘Give an Hour’ of their time to mentor a young person through The Diana Award charity. Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO of The Diana Award says: “We are delighted with the overwhelming response from MP’s to support youth mentoring.” A further virtual National Mentoring Day All Party Parliamentary Group meeting and national celebration event took place in partnership with the Diana Award.

Speakers included Lord Dr Michael Hastings, Tessy Ojo CBE, David Shapiro, Chelsey Baker, Charlotte Kirby and actress Chizzy Akudolu.

On the day NatWest in partnership with Be the Business launched a free mentoring service in response to findings that show female business owners are at a disadvantage. Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee teamed up with Ronel Lehmann CEO of Finito to launch their #LegUp” mentoring campaign which asks those who are in employment to help mentor one person back into work.

Google in partnership with Digital Boost, committed to providing 10,000 hours of free mentoring to small business owners and charities in the UK. Ronan Harris, Managing Director, Google UK, comments: “Local businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. Like millions up and down the country, we want to help small businesses both survive and thrive. That’s why in partnership with Digital Boost, we’ve committed to providing 10,000 hours of free mentoring for small business owners, charities and individuals to help people upskill and adapt to operating in the ever-changing current climate. Despite the ongoing uncertainty, we want to show that having an online presence can have a transformative impact on offline businesses”.

Other worldwide events organised in partnership with Viola Edward, CEO and co-founder of Grit Academy (Cyprus) included webinars in English, Spanish and Arabic. Chelsey Baker (CEO National Mentoring Day) shared her mentoring

mission, passion and insight to encourage global participation in mentoring as a way to make society more inclusive and to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Countries joined in to highlight the benefits of mentoring, discuss best practices and connect mentors and mentoring initiatives around the world. Viola Edward says, we organised this so, “No one is left behind, everybody can have a mentor.” Top leaders from education, sustainability, leadership and the caring economy including Saskia Harkema (Holland), Laura Giadorou Koch(USA), Harpreet Kang (India), Jessica J. Lockhart (Panama), Saadet Ozdemir, (Turkey), Amal Daraghmeh Masri (Palestine), Ghada Hammouda(Egypt), Shirin Elias Ghanadry, Miriam J. Senft (USA), Dr Haidi Badawi, (Australia), Prof. Ona C. Miller, (USA), Winky Singh, (India), D Munish Jindal (India), Dr Nancy Juneja, (India), Teresa Egana (Venezuela), Paqui Garcia, (Spain) and Laura Garcia (Argentina).

Chelsey says, “The impact of National Mentoring Day is a significant boost towards us reaching our goal of making mentoring accessible to everyone.

Mentoring means ‘making a difference. We want this initiative to carry on throughout the year, we all need help in this world. Mentoring gives a sense of purpose to both parties, it’s not only good for business but also good for the soul!”

Join in the conversation on #nationalmentoringday

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