February 2020 Digital Business Women

ISSUE NO.12

Digital Business Women

BADA*SS BUSINESS WOMEN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY CELEBRATING 2 YEARS OLD

let's

NOITIDE

21

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0202

YRAURBEF

celebrate

TWO YEARS OLD!!

OUR MISSION

OUR VISION

To empower and nurture digital and tech women in

To

business and life to achieve their true potential and

encouraging platform to accelerate the change

connecting them to create a collaborative and

of the role of women in business and in the

powerful community.

modern society.

create

the

most

collaborative

contact: emma@digitalbusinesswomen.com

and

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WELCOME LADIES! by

Candyce

Costa

We are celebrating two years!

When I decided to amplify my voice and advocate for more gender equality in technology, digital and business, I never though that two years later, I will be here reaching one million engagement - a huge positive impact in so many lifes.

Thank you for accepting my invitation to speak out loud about experiences and all the challenges that you faced in life - THANK YOU! My journey is only starting and I truly believe that we are creating a better place for women in this world! Still so much to do... so join us!

Candyce Costa - Founder and CEO

OUR MISSION

OUR VISION

To empower and nurture digital and tech

To create the most collaborative and encouraging platform to accelerate the change of the role of women in business and in the modern society.

women in business and life to achieve their true potential and connecting them to create a collaborative and powerful community.

People do not decide to become extraordinary.

They decide to accomplish extraordinary things

Quote by Edmund Hillary

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DIGITAL BUSINESS WOMEN eMagazine|

podcast

|

membership

community

SPONSORED EVENTS We are looking for companies and event organizations that are interested in raise their profile within our business community. Interested? Email us!

BUSINESS DIRECTORY We are looking for like minded business who wants to reach to our business community via our magazine, social media and website. Interested? Email us!

BUSINESS COLLABORATIONS We are looking for like minded business who aligned with our mission and community style to built business colaboration, Interested? Email us!

BUSINESS PROGRAM We are looking for like minded business that wants to implement a business program to retain and attract more diversity to their business. Interested? Email us!

Support our magazine EMMA@DIGITALBUSINESSWOMEN.COM

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PEOPLE ARE QUICK TO BELIEVE THE BAD THINGS THEY HEAR ABOUT GOOD PEOPLE MERYL MORRIS

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DIGITAL BUSINESS WOMEN e M a g a z i n e |

I n s i d e

t h i s

p o d c a s t

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m e m b e r s h i p

c o m m u nity

I s s u e

2018 & 2019 INTERVIEWS ANNA MCAFEE AYUMI MOORE AOKI BIANCA CHAPPEL CHANTEL SOUMIS CLARICE LIN CLAUDIA MENDES SILVA DARIA VODOPIANOVA GEORGINA LUPU FLORIAN JUDI FOX

KAMILA HANKIEWICZ LOUISE H REID MARY HENDERSON MICHAELA ALEXIS MUSIDORA JORGENSEN NATALIA TALKOWSKA PEACE MITCHELL SHELLY ELSLIGER UZO IJEWERE

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DIGITAL BUSINESS WOMEN e M a g a z i n e |

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c o m m u nity

ARTICLES AR VR UPTREND AS A NEW MARKETING TOOL - KARINA KOROBOVA BLOCKCHAIN IS THE ANSWER, BUT WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? - SAJIDA ZOUARHI OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: THE 2 MAJOR COMPLAINTS I HEAR AND 6 STRATEGIES TO TAKE IT HEAD ON! - LOUISE H REID NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF YOUR CONTENT - AMBER SMITH EXPERTISE AS A PRODUCTIZED SERVICE - Tijana Momirov HOW TO BE SUPER PRODUCTIVE EVERYDAY - LAURIE WANG 7 WAYS TO EARN AND GIVE RESPECT AT WORK - JENNY GARRET GLOBAL COMPANIES NEED A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ETHICAL AI - MIA DAND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP? CANDYCE COSTA CREATE WITH SIMPLICITY - LAURIE WANG 4 TRUTHS ABOUT DIVERSITY & INCLUSION - ANJU SOLANKI 12 REASONS WHY STARTING YOUR OWN STARTUP IS A GREAT IDEA - GEORGINA LUPU FLORIAN HOW DO I KNOW THAT MY TEAM IS SUCCEEDING? - INDRA BOOKS WHY ZOMBIES KEPT ME AWAKE LAST NIGHT - MARY WILLIAMS 6 REASONS WHY AI ETHICS IN CORPORATIONS IS ALL TALK AND NO ACTION - MIA DAND HOW TO BE A BETTER ENTREPRENEUR? - MARY HENDERSON THE MOST UNDERRATED STRATEGY TO GROW YOUR NETWORK ON LINKEDIN - CLARICE LIN TECHNOLOGY IS OVERTAKING OUR LIVES. - DR. SHINI SOMARA WHO ARE THE CGI INFLUENCERS THAT ARE FOOLING EVERYONE ON INSTAGRAM? CANDYCE COSTA WOMEN IN TECH UNIQUE LITERACY: IS IT POSSIBLE AND RELEVANT THAT WE HAVE OUR OWN? RENATA FRADE 30 WOMEN IN TECH YOU SHOULD KNOW THEIR WORK

Become one of our Guests

ANNA MCAFEE Tell us about your business.

Through consulting work I help businesses and entrepreneurs define their digital strategy and create opportunity through genuine connection and storytelling on LinkedIn. What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

I've always loved both IT and people, and seek to find ways that technology can support our interactions with others. My mission is to help others grow their business by facilitating genuine connection and building community on LinkedIn.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Failure has always taught me that I must never assume I have all the answers and to take responsibility for the failure, so that I could learn from it and grow. Acknowledgement of the problem, moving on and adapting to change and resolve situations differently has been the outcome of failure for me.

What's your productivity secret?

I am passionately driven to do what I do and help others achieve success, so I never tire of all things LinkedIn related! I am also an advocate of switching off from social media on Sundays to maintain focus, make better decisions and be more creative.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes, when I have not had sufficient time to fully devote myself to the project. This has been due to other client commitments in the past.

How do you find inspiration?

By surrounding myself with people who believe in me, have similar goals or mindset, and that lift others up, not bring them down.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

That it really doesn't matter what others think of you. In the end the only person's opinion that truly matter is your own. Be what you want to be, and not what the world wants you to be. You've got to listen to your own heart as its the only one that knows what's right.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Be open to opportunities and new ideas. Build a strong network of people, help others and add value to those around you. Respect and value other people and their time.

Trust the process and know that the path before you may have many twists and turns, but in the end you will learn more by taking a leap of faith into a new role or industry, than never trying in the first place

IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, BUILD A BIGGER TABLE, NOT A TALLER FENCE. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE? ANNA MCAFEE

Ayumi Moore Aoki Women in TechÂŽ Founder and CEO, Social Brain Founder and CEO

AYUMI

MOORE AOKI If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Be clear about what you want and take on a project that has a purpose for you. Believe in it and believe in you. Take actions. Share your goals in a way that you will inspire people to invest in you and in your project.

Start TODAY, never leave it for tomorrow.

How do you find inspiration?

Everywhere! I keep my eyes wide open at all times. My main inspirations come from traveling and meeting passionate people. It makes you open up your mind, step out of your comfort zone and it lets you see things from a different angle. Music & Art are also great getaways that fill up my soul.

What's your productivity secret?

Passion. I truly love what I do, so I put all my energy into it. I think that it's important to work on projects that have a meaning to you. I also carefully choose the people who I collaborate with: they must be positive, open-minded and professional. A solid team who you can count and rely on. To be organized is the final secret. I save time for my family, friends and also for myself.

To what do you attribute your success?

To dreaming BIG. To always believing in me and believing in the higher cause of the project. To having strong human relationships in all spheres of life and having a DREAM TEAM to work with. To never taking no for an answer.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I am glad that I didn't know all the difficulties that you face when building up your business, otherwise, I would never have taken the step :-).

I always followed my intuitions, focusing on my "DREAM", my project, and not on the difficulties that I find on the way.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

My biggest failure was partnering with the wrong person - it's worse than marriage!

It teaches you that human relationships are fundamental in life and in every project that you undertake. You must really take the time to choose the people you want to share and work with.

I also learned that I am stronger than I thought I was and that I must trust myself. Integrity is precious.

THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS, ONLY SOLUTIONS. JOHN LENNON

FAVOURITE QUOTE AYUMI MOORE AOKI

Bianca Chappell BA-Hons-TLLS NLP Life & Business Clarity Coach, for Women & Mumpreneurs.

Founder of The Mumpreneurs| MK Network. .

BIANCA

CHAPPELL

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

We all have the ability to reboot our mindsets for success. It is my mission, to educate women and provide them with the tools, to tap into their inner Coach. Giving them the confidence to approach life challenges, with self-belief and clarity. Some may say this is doing myself out of a job, I say this is me simply doing my job.

That there is always a reason why things didn't work out. As a mindset Coach, I like to reframe situations and ask myself this question. "Was this a failure, or simply an unfinished success?" This deep dive introspective thinking, makes room for lessons to be learnt. Allowing me to see the cause and effect of a situation, and take action from that place. Business is one big learning curve.

That it is lonely at the top. When you follow your entrepreneurial dream and obtain successes along the way.

You will learn that there are two types of people, your well-wishers and your haters. Sadly, sometimes your haters disguise themselves as supporters, this is a natural pathway to success and can often lead to lonely wilderness experience, but.

One that also makes you stronger.

What's your productivity secret?

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

To what do you attribute your success?

To the gift that is motherhood twice over. I have two children who I often refer to as my life's masterpieces.

Without becoming a mother, I never would have become an independent businesswoman.

Motherhood teaches us so much, more than we give it credit for. If we can bring children into the world and raise them up to be good contributions to society, Then we can go for our goals in business.

To simply hand the power back to the client at all times, showing her how to tap into her inner Coach.

To never ever forget, that building a sustainable business is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes patience, tests of your character, tears, and a strong will. But when you stick at it, (even when you don't feel like it anymore), and roll with the punches of entrepreneurial life. You will start to see the beauty and benefits of it all.

IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN, THEN YOU CAN! FAVOURITE QUOTE BIANCA CHAPPELL

Chantel Soumis, Stardust Creative LLC, Founder & Creative Director.

CHANTEL SOUMIS Tell us about you and your business.

Each business is unique and their marketing strategy should be too.

Stardust works with organizations to understand target persona(s) and build a methodical, cohesive marketing strategy for an ultimate lead generation initiative along with optional personal branding coaching and consulting.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Confidence - just dive right in.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

That everything will always work out.

Failure isn't the end of the world, just the beginning of a beautiful learning opportunity.

How do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in every day. Just by To build a stellar brand for your waking up and experiencing the business, highlighting all strengths present brings so much inspiration and differentiators to make the most for creativity and enjoyment of each project. impact.

Have you ever turned down a client?

What's your productivity secret?

Yes. We have turned down clients Scheduling everything and managing that don't match our organization's lists! values.

What is unique about your business?

Our team is passionate about what we do because we all come from backgrounds of different-abilities.

As warriors with various chronic health conditions, we understand the value of loving what we do so that's why the quality of our work is unparalleled.

To what do you attribute your success?

It's definitely been a strong mixture between the most supportive parents in the world (in my opinion) and the adversity I have faced with my physical and mental health. After battling a debilitating relapse of Multiple Sclerosis where I lost my vision, my hearing, and my ability to walk effectively, I developed a newfound strength and desire to dazzle to make the most out of each and every day!

OWNING OUR STORY CAN BE HARD BUT NOT NEARLY AS DIFFICULT AS SPENDING OUR LIVES RUNNING FROM IT. BRENE BROWN

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE? CHANTEL SOUMIS

CLARICE LIN

Tell us about you and your business.

How do you find inspiration?

What is unique about your business?

I help my clients to build successful businesses by creating bespoke marketing and strategy plans.

Learning from inspiring entrepreneurs how they achieved great successes and overcame epic failures.

I don't bullshit like others, even if it hurts. Do you want to get results or comforting words? See...

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

I want to help entrepreneurs to change the world by becoming the best version of themselves.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

A Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy Plan and Content Marketing Workshop via LinkedIn & Medium.

To what success?

do

you

attribute

your

Drive, perseverance, consistently showing up, willingness to put in the work.

Have you ever turned down a client?

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Embrace the fact that your path in life will never be a straight line. Go with the flow and trust that the stream of life will bring you to your destination eventually! :)

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

No matter how much you plan, there are going to be up and downs. Persistence is key What did you learn from your biggest failure?

You have to develop resilience against hearing "no". You are going to hear it a lot. Never give up!.

Yes, I only work with action takers! If you are not willing to do whatever it takes, we won't be a good fit and I wish you the best of luck! :) What's your productivity secret?

Get things done in short, distractionfree power sessions combined with frequent breaks, healthy food, exercise and good sleep.

How do you find inspiration?

Learning from inspiring entrepreneurs how they achieved great successes and overcame epic failures.

TOO MANY OF US ARE NOT LIVING OUR DREAMS BECAUSE WE ARE LIVING OUR FEARS. LES BROWN

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE? CLARICE LINÂ

ClĂĄudia Mendes Silva IT Project Manager at Siemens and WIT Ambassador for Portugal

CLĂ UDIA

MENDES SILVA What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in tech or what you wish to know before started your career?

Looking behing and if it was given the opportunity of change anything, i wouldn't. Even for the less grateful job, the sum of all experiencies made me the professional that i am nowadays. For anyone that considers to embrace a tech career: be curious; be bold; be passionated, be confidant. Women in tech tends to be more cautious and sometimes is confused as lack of confidance.

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business?

Women faced many challenges within the workforce and many have broken down many barriers over the years. Still, it is perceived that exists a lack clear career paths and inequality in pay. Besides that, the struggle to balance work and leadership positions with family life,is still a barrier.

What do you think we should be doing more of to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech?

In your opinion, how could the tech industry be more inclusive for women?

Young girls should be involved in STEM activities since young ages to give them the opportunity to gain confidance in their skills. For that, educational system should be aware of the context and adapt as long as changes in the tech world are being made. As important as that, is the knowledge sharing from women in tech: mentoring, speaking and do activities like bootcamps for young tech girls.

Bring more women to work in tech it becames almost a mantra for every coporation nowadays but, in fact, it is not easy to see the turnover. When you look at C-level leadership, the gap is even bigger. As so, in order to mitigate the gender gap and apply a program that brings diversity in any organization, it should be encourage to have more women in leadership positions.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

In my family and friends. I am blessed to have a large family and so many different groups of friends that support me in all my activities through life. Also, as a mum of three, i am trying to make a change to leave an easier career path in STEM to the new generation, especially for the girls.

To what do you attribute your success?

I think my willingness to take on new challenges and work hard sets me up for success. My friendly personality with my ability to communicate effectively helps me establish relationships and achieve results.

LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY. MAYA ANGELOU FAVOURITE QUOTE CLAUDIA MENDES SILVA

AR VR UPTREND AS A NEW MARKETING TOOL

Virtual reality today is a potential value-adding area for every marketer to focus on.

We are at that point where hardware and software have caught up with each other. The latest generation of phones like Google Pixel 2, Samsung S8, iPhone X is able to create a more immersive marketing experience using AR and VR. Given the fact that we improve those traditional marketing experiences, this will ultimately be able to increase brand loyalty. You’re faced with a great opportunity. Landing this deal could mean a 150% increase in your company’s revenue. You’ve heard it’s down to you and two other firms and you’ve got just one more opportunity to make a winning push. You want this and you’re going to go to great lengths to make it happen.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the economic effect of virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is projected to reach $ 29.5 billion by 2020.

At the end of 2017, the total amount of software and hardware for VR devices made by Sony, Oculus, HTC and other manufacturers reached 5.1 million units. That is 75% more than in 2016. So, there is a classic take-off trend.

Investors are looking to participate and contribute to the development of this technological innovation which is enthusiastically accepted by the market. However, Digi-Capital analysts noted a slowdown in start-ups investments associated with virtual reality. After the peak in the fourth quarter of 2017, there was a noticeable decline in interest in early 2018, then a slight upgrade again.

While in the past VR did not show quantifiable potential or results, it is now being adopted as a marketing tool that shows measurable results. Marketing is an area where the use of virtual and augmented reality technology is most vigorous. With the development of technology, reasonable and easy-to-use solutions that make VR-stories available for business have appeared. There is little surprise among consumers today by the test drive of new cars with the use of VR-glasses or tours of residential apartments, allowing to show the object "live" without even leaving the sales office or directly on the website. In addition, wearing a virtual reality helmet and being inside an apartment or room, gives you an opportunity to change furniture models, colour solutions, and finishing materials in real time.

And then get a quote with a list of goods used in the project. Virtual reality allows you to make it as realistic as possible and it creates the effect of presence. Emotions from “jumping” to another world through VR reduces the consumer’s purchase decision-making time and boosts the ability to handle objections more effectively than anything else.

Companies benefit from applications with AR and VR, allowing to obtain additional information about preferences in products and build the best shopping routes. One of the most successful examples of such promotion and sales is the IKEA application, which, with the help of AR, makes it possible to supplement a real apartment with new virtual goods.

Another example from retail is a VR application that allows to track the visitors’optical focus in a store and change the display of goods accordingly. The banking sector is also adopting the augmented reality. They create applications with AR, allowing the cardholders to accumulate information about promotions and discounts in stores, as well as a possible cashbacks. New technologies allow marketers to obtain analytics of transactional data of their customers to improve targeting accuracy during advertising campaigns. Personalized offers based on the location of the client to the stores and retargeting efforts among the various devices a consumer uses are relevant marketing tactics being adopted today.

An upward trend in the use of VR and AR technologies for marketing in the fashion industry cannot be ignored. First of all, this is due to the fact that more and more purchases are being made online and virtual reality is helping to replace sellers of offline stores. Also, the specifics of the fashion segment are that shopping in most cases goes on an emotional level. Therefore, it is important for an online store or a fashion aggregator to establish emotional contact with a customer. In 2017, Amazon acquired Body Labs, an artificial intelligence platform that uses computer vision to create three-dimensional human movements and shapes in gaming and commercial applications. GAP also invests in virtual reality with its DressingRoom application, which uses avatars to help people understand how they will look in selected items without going into the dressing room.

Why should brands be investing in AR/VR solutions?

AR is not a vision for the future. We have already started to see brands waking up to the enormous potential to revitalize a customer experience using Virtual Reality.

There are top 3 reasons why you should incorporate augmented reality into your sales and marketing strategies.

Increased Revenue: with AR your customers experience your products in a whole new way. These interactive 3D experiences increase customer engagement. Thus, you gain a competitive advantage and your revenue opportunity increases.

Shorten Sales Cycle: AR can help you shorten sales cycle in a big way. Product descriptions and images in a brochure cannot tell the full story. VR helps customers see and understand hidden features, workflows and processes. So, they can make purchasing decisions confidently and quickly.

Reduce Costs: Virtual product demonstrations can reduce the costs associated with developing sales support materials. They eliminate the need to create and update printed collateral and product prototypes after each release or enhancement.

Karina Korobova Karina Korobova is a tech-savvy student with a Master in Electronic Commerce and Bachelor Degree in Business Law. Experienced in business development and management; Passionate about cloud computing technologies, business drivers and emerging computing trends. Karina is currently focused on developing an online platform, dedicated to integration of VR in exposure therapy for educational and healthcare sectors as well as working with artificial intelligence for video surveillance.

BLOCKCHAIN IS THE ANSWER, BUT WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? This is no secret for anyone, Blockchain has fully grown up to a social buzz and proudly sits on top of the peak of inflated expectations (i.e. Gartner’s Hype Cycle).

Banks, companies, institutions … none could escape the Blockchain tsunami that has been raging for almost 3 years.

People usually react in two opposite ways: either fear (we are going to be disintermediated !) or excitement (Blockchain is an opportunity, it is going to reduce costs, increase incomes, secure processes, make coffee …)

Though if we take a closer look at the latter — which we can summarize as “let’s put Blockchain everywhere” — things go wrong immediately.

Let’s get back to reality, Blockchain is not a solution for all your problems. In fact, you need to associate it with other technologies to even make it work.

As for making it relevant …

One cannot simply sprinkle Blockchain dust on any use case to make a delicious meal of it.

Thinking as the image above suggests, denotes a misunderstanding of the way Blockchain works, as well as failing to get its full potential. With this vision, if you think about using a Blockchain in your next project, whatever the cost, you are wrong for 2 reasons: 1. Most people are going to see that you didn’t get it 2. You are going to waste time working on false use cases, or even waste your money and your human ressources. But with further thinking, maybe you could come up with a better idea.

Of course if you only mean hype, Blockchain is another word for buzz generator, even if not everyone is fooled.

Now that we have made things clearer, a question raises by itself: “How do I know if Blockchain is relevant in my use case?”

Excellent question, here are some advices …

Understand what is the purpose of the Blockchain.

You don’t need to understand every aspect and all the technical details. You simply have to get the main properties that will be useful to you.

Example of possible descriptions: Blockchain as a tool for traceability, integrity, multi-party transactional architecture.

Examples of what Blockchain won’t do (alone) You can store data with it and be confident that it won’t ever get corrupted. But you have no way to be sure of the veracity of this data.

This is because Blockchain isn’t smart, it doesn’t know the context of use, nor does it know your sector of activity. If no verification is made when an entity brings information to your Blockchain, then it is basically saved whether it is correct or not. But you know it won’t be possible to modify it in the future anyway. :) It is a point to remember when conceiving a use case around assets traceability, like fighting counterfeit for example.

Particularly when dealing with food, drugs, electronics, … wine, jewels, auto components, and so on.

Start from the use case, not from the tech!

You have to ask yourself if you even have a “pain point” in mind. Is it clearly identified? Given your actual understanding of the Blockchain, do you think that it brings any advantage to solve your problem and that it really fulfils your need?

Understand pros and cons of a Blockchain.

At this stage, if you passed the first 2 items, you should take a bit of a step back and list what can be solved directly by a Blockchain and what has to be added to it to solve your problem in a proper, efficient way.

To say it differently, you have to understand where a Blockchain stands better than a traditional counterpart and vice versa. You should identify situations where it would be less performing or even completely unsuitable. Just be honest with yourself.

Use the power of the Blockchain or leave it be, and use something else.

Bitcoin is often referred to as a Blockchain Killer App. This is simply because it uses every main properties of the Blockchain. Be it from a technical, strategical or economical standpoint.

Therefore, Bitcoin profits very well from using Blockchain.

What about your use case? Do you need to store data? To make transactions with other peers? And are these very transactions based on data that is already stored in your Blockchain? Is there some kind of incitement or payoff for the entities of the network?

By using the different aspects of the Blockchain, you both ensure relevance and a certain level of security. Indeed, when the Blockchain “references” itself, you know it’s going to be ok because veracity of this data is already acquired. But what if it comes from an external source in the first place?!

As a general fact, if data comes from an external entity, like oracles, you have to provide proofs and involve a third party, which makes the process less fluid, even though it does work. See Oraclize.

Let’s not dive too much here into the details — that’s not the point of this article — and instead introduce the Blockchain Canvas.

“The canvas below helps you identify the applicability of Blockchain for your use cases. Fill it with your own case” www.theblockchaincanvas.com

Context Problem Simply explain your problem, use short sentences that allow people to quickly catch the context, thus dealing with your need.

Solution Explain your strategy to solve the problem, while using or not the term “Blockchain” Entities Blockchain mandatorily involve several entities since it is meant to emule decentralisation.

If you are the only user of your Blockchain, it’s called a database. In this part, you have to define entities and groups/categories of entities. We often quote the number of nodes as a factor of decentralisation (and better security), I would add diversity of entities here. Indeed, diversity is a key ingredient for your ecosystem as it enhances discrepancy between entities which reduces the risk that they form profitable coalition or alliance. Now try to visualize your ecosystem and fill the canvas.

Where are you standing?

As you can see, there are no figures on this graph, for a good reason!

People often ask: “how many nodes do I need to be sufficiently decentralised?”

It completely depends on several linked factors: the use case, the entities, the required level of security, the profit that an attacker could make. You need to take these factors into account to settle the size of your network.

To make this less of an evasive answer, let’s say that 10 nodes aren’t enough to make a decentralized network. And to provide an example, Bitcoin (launched in 2008, considered the most secured Blockchain as of today 2016) involves a little less than 6000 validation nodes.

As for diversity, 3 or 4 different categories of entities are usually enough to make an interesting use case. Moreover, this dissimilarity is a good point to advocate the use of a Blockchain which is particularly adapted to take care of the inherent complexity of multi-party interactions.

Network Your transactions Here you have to describe the nature of your transactions. Do you need to transfer financial worth, intellectual property, access rights, or to log important events?

The peers of your network Peer = node. An entity may have several peers (or nodes) running on different facilities.

If you chose to use a Blockchain in your application, you are going to need Validators. For example, a transaction is solely registered in a Blockchain with the acceptation of at least the majority of Validators. It is extremely important to decide who will endorse the responsibility of being a Validator as it will have decisive consequences.

Would you decide to use a public Blockchain (Bitcoin, Ethereum, …), you would have no control on the transactions validation system, because the infrastructure already exists and you have no rights on it. But it’s still possible to develop your own validation overlay (decentralised itself).

On the other hand, if you opt for a Consortium Blockchain (or “Private”), for example an application of Hyperledger, you are totally able to constitute your own Validators network. You have to chose wisely how to allocate your validators among entities, since the goal is to ensure a maximum diversity as well as a sufficient multiplicity in your ecosystem.

Of course you could do otherwise, everything is possible, you only have to design your network according to the use case, the aimed level of decentralisation in a Private Blockchain, or the degree of independence from a public Blockchain.

In a similar way, it is totally plausible to give different roles to your peers. Are they all able to read or write data? Do they all possess the “validation power”, namely the right to participate to the consensus to validate an incoming transaction?

Low infrastructure effort = low independence level This is not a surprise since you base your own infrastructure on an existing one, instead of recreating it from scratch, in which case you would have full control.

Naturally, deploying a decentralised infrastructure is costly and oppose a steep learning curve, often needing intervention of externs.

Network dynamism What are the rules to verify and then to validate a transaction?

How does one decide that a transaction is correct?

What kind of consensus are you going to use? (If you decide to use Hyperledger for your Blockchain for example. Note that Bitcoin and Ethereum don’t leave a direct access to this aspect) This is like thinking about the governance of your system which is — by far — one of the trickiest aspects to design in a Blockchain project.

Data and analysis The main idea is to define the data you are going to manipulate. Is it of critical nature? Is it voluminous?

This is important to figure it out, because a Blockchain grow with each registered activity and nothing will ever be deleted. Therefore, it is a lot better to get rid of useless, unworthy information and/or data that use a lot of space and could use some diet plans…

In fact, it is advised not to store any inherently voluminous data in a Blockchain, like high resolution images for example, e.g. medical imaging. Although it is not a bad idea to keep the hash signature only, for checking the integrity of the original file (which is stored in a third database).

There are 2 types of processing in the Canvas. Distributed storage (to store data like a database, which it is after all).

But it is also possible to use it to make calculations (which can also be achieved while being a database at the same time through smart contracts).

With Ethereum, writing a program (smart contract) that verifies rules or conditions (insurance, gambling, communication with connected devices) makes it possible to process information and then output provable results and directly store them in the Blockchain.

For example, if Alice doesn’t trust Bob for a given calculation, Bob can create a smart contract on Ethereum. The smart contract delegates both calculation and storage of the result to the peers of the network (decentralised). This way, Alice can rest assured that the result is trustworthy.

Here Blockchain acts as an intermediate and substitutes the needed confidence between entities Alice and Bob, by the already acquired confidence in the Blockchain itself. This sounds like the problem is solved, especially if we consider that it’s safer to trust a program than a human (wait, programs are coded by humans right? D’oh!)

The base principle is that you do trust the program behind the process even though it has been written by humans. It is easier to trust a program made once, than to trust every decisions, many humans could make, at different moments.

Last but not least …

Value This box of the Canvas is difficult to explain (and to fill as well), because it depends a lot on the use case, to the point that it may be optional in certain occasions.

Let’s use two different examples of use case: Bitcoin and Everledger On the Canvas, you read “Is your system based on (or does it use) a value system making it possible to establish the link between the Blockchain and the real world?”

For Bitcoin, the link between the value of a bitcoin in the real world and its value in the Blockchain is noticeably due to validators work (aka miners), which are investing a lot of money in hardware and electricity bills.

“To mine” bitcoins is not very power efficient and consumes a lot of ressources. Value of a bitcoin can be seen as a result of validators (miners) efforts and investments. This also brings another reason for validators not to mess with their own Blockchain, because they have a lot to lose, and are dependant on the trust of entities (the users).

For Everledger, the problem is completely different, it is to fight against diamond counterfeit, by registering true ones on a Blockchain.

The value, or rather the link between the real world diamond and its asset on the Blockchain have to be strong enough to overcome any threat of destruction or corruption. Otherwise, the whole traceability system would fall through.

They came up with the idea of generating a unique ID and engrave it on the diamond itself. This very ID is naturally registered in the Blockchain and constitutes the link.

The bright side of this idea (joke intended) is that to erase the ID from the diamond would require extremely expensive and hardly obtainable equipment. Thus making of the task a counterproductive one for most criminals, since it would either cost too much or involve the risk of flawing diamonds. Imperfect diamonds lose a lot of value which would make any attempt to fake diamonds not really profitable.

But diamonds obviously have unique properties that Everledger handled very well, resulting in a very effective system, capable of preventing a specific fraud.

All use cases don’t fit that much the Blockchain aspects which doesn’t mean they aren’t made for it. You only need to know what it can do best and what it can’t do at all. Then try to figure out where does your project stand, hopefully somewhere in the middle.

To conclude I hope you have enjoyed this article. If you were wondering whether or not you could make use of a Blockchain, I would really like to know if it helps you decide!

The canvas is a useful tool for BrainStorming. Ideally, it should reveal by itself if a Blockchain is suitable for your use case and ultimately if your project is relevant.

It also is a good specification support, should you wish to go further. It allows to identify needed information, which leads to make choices of technology and architecture.

Still, it’s not self-sustaining, and does need some extra work of reflexion aside. If you feel the need to be guided in this, or to review the specifications of your project, I encourage you to contact me by email or through the website : www.theblockchaincanvas.com

This Canvas may evolve in the future with its users feedback. It has been used in several serious Blockchain projects that are currently in development (see on the website). We also use it in Hackathons (Blockfest) and “Creathon”, where people try to imagine possible future use cases.

Sajida Zouarhi Blockchain architect & hackathon organizer (Le BlockFest) Top 10 Women to Follow in Tech in 2019 (#FrenchTech) • Women in IT Awards Ireland 2018 - Finalist for "FUTURE CIO OF THE YEAR" • Top 6 Women Blockchain Influencers (#FrenchTech) -If you whish to use the canvas for commercial purpose, special events or training, do not hesitate to contact me.

Special thanks to Romain Vincent and Mercedes-Elena Moya for their help on the english version of this article.

[Original article here] Noun project credits : Teacher by Gan Khoon Lay People by useiconic.com

Sajida Zouarhi is a Blockchain Architect @Consensys (formerly R&D engineer in Critical Data management). She was a researcher at Orange Labs & the Computer Science Lab of Grenoble as a PhD student.

She is an advisor on the board of several Healthcare & Blockchain projects and is also President of the eHealth and Blockchain Think Tank.

She has been contacted by the WHO to help preventing Kidney Traffic with Blockchain and she is the founder of the Kidner Project. This project aims at creating a worldwide decentralized matching platform for kidney paired exchange by using blockchain & economic paradigms to improve the effectiveness & fairness of the process. [www.kidner-project.com]

OVERCOMING OVERWHELM: THE 2 MAJOR COMPLAINTS I HEAR AND 6 STRATEGIES TO TAKE IT HEAD ON! My weekly LinkedIn Articles and FaceBook lives are designed to inspire and challenge you to take small, intentional action each week that together over the weeks and months that pass, have the effect of transforming your life.

This week's topic – OVERWHELM! I’ll share with you about the 2 most common complaints related to overwhelm that I hear as a coach and what you can do about it!

“I have lived a long life, most of which never happened.” ~Mark Twain, American Author Those who regularly follow me know I'm a lover of quotes. They make me reflect, they move me, they make me laugh/cry! This Mark Twain quote immediately took me to my work with clients on "overwhelm".

I'll start by sharing a little story.

Not too long ago I made a decision to create an online coaching business. It aligned perfectly with who I wanted to serve and how I wanted to blend my personal and professional life. So what did I do? I enlisted the help of a coach who could get me there. I very excitedly looked at all my materials in front of me, scanned through all the online tools I was going to have to master (many of which I had never heard of previously), and looked the time frame I had to complete it all in. And then it happened.

PANIC! OVERWHELM!

WHAT DID I DO? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was reminded, as I often am, of my dad saying to me during my sister’s long illness and subsequent bone marrow transplant: ONE DAY AT A TIME. My dad asked me back then, can you get through today? (To which I responded yes). Then he told me that was all I had to focus on. During that long and painful time (which thankfully has a good ending!) I learned that the only thing I had and still have complete control over is my mindset. We can't control much of what happens to us but we have 100% control of what we do and how we think when life happens to us.

SO WHAT ARE THE 2 MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS I HEAR RELATED TO OVERWHELM AND WHAT ARE SOME STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME THEM?

Common Complaint #1: There’s not enough time!

We all know that when forced to do something, suddenly the time is there. For example, you don’t have time to fit in a dentist appointment until you have a cracked molar (true story – happened to me 2 weeks ago).

So what can you do? Here are 2 strategies for you to try: i) Decide if the thing you’re saying there’s not enough time for is important or not. If it’s important, fit it in. If you decide it’s not, that’s fine – then it’s not! This could be the dentist, like in my case, friends, working out, cleaning your house, whatever.

I can tell you that when you master this, it frees up a massive amount of space in your brain! ii) Chunk it down – our brain loves chunks!

There’s nothing more overwhelming than looking at giant task list wondering how you’ll get it all done!

Here’s an example – instead of giving yourself a whole day to do something – let’s say write my text for my entire website - chunk it down to one hour chunks. Our brains can handle that! No getting up to use the washroom or get a drink or do something with the kids or flip the laundry. That can wait until the one-hour chunk is done.

Common Complaint #2: There’s too much to do!

My loyal listeners and readers (Paula, Amelia, Roxanne, Cheryl, Tressa, Laurie, Johane) have heard me say this before: ever notice that whenever you ask someone how they are doing, you often hear “I’m good, but really busy.” Those 2 words alone - really busy - were a KEY driver for starting a coaching business for women. It truly pains me that women (and men!) actually say and feel this about their lives. Is this you? If so, I have 4 strategies for you to try: i) Stop talking about how busy you are! Focus on what you enjoy what you do and the spaces in between the doing instead of focusing on the weight of it all.

ii) If you’re so overwhelmed and don’t even know where to start, ask for help! You know the expression “you can’t see the forest for the trees”? We’re all like that. It’s easier to solve someone else’s problems than our own. Ask a friend, find a mentor, or hire a coach. I assure you that you’ll get from point A to point B much faster (and easier)! iii) Get into reality. Look at your to-do list. And ask yourself some questions. o What needs to happen right now? o What can wait? o Put these on 2 different lists. Hide the “wait” list. o What are the big important tasks on the “now” list? o What are the less important ones? o You now have the most important ones clearly articulated. Do these! The little ones – give to someone else OR put them on the wait list NEWS FLASH: YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO GET IT ALL DONE SO STOP STRESSING ABOUT IT! iv) DELEGATE – is that a swear word for you? Lighten the load. Loosen control. I’ve talked about this before how many of us women are “gatekeepers”. We keep tasks to ourselves, even though we are overworked and living in overwhelm, because the people we delegate the task to won’t do it our way. Who said our way was the right way anyway? I’ll quote my mum here and I hate this one, but here you go and you’re welcome “get over yourself”. You have 2 options here – delegate or stay in overwhelm.

“Do what you can in joy, instead of trying to do it all in misery.” ~Jen Sincero So now I’d like to ask you - Which of these do you identify with and which tip are you going to try? If you’d like to get all of this info via email, sign up for my email list and you’ll get 1 email a week for me – awesome content, quotes, inspiration and a challenge.

Louise Reid

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF YOUR CONTENT You do don’t you? Care about your audience that is? You want what is best for them? You want to get to know them?

You want them to understand you? You want them to be loyal to you, your business and brand –– don’t you?

I mean without them – what are we? So how do you make it all about them in your copy and content I hear you ask?

Well, read on and see….

Firstly: Never underestimate the power of emotions We all want to be able to relate to one another. At this point in our online social boom, we have found more than ever that we want to connect with one another. We want to engage. We want to see ourselves in the content we see. We want to be able to visualise ourselves on the page.

We all want to feel understood and we want to be able to relate to one another. So, by getting to know your audience and by using language that speaks to your audience, you can really get to know them. You get to see what they see.

You get to solve their pain points. You get to move them from one emotion to another.

He also goes on to address the well-known book by Robert Cialdini called, ‘Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion’.

In which Cialdini talks of the 6 key principle human behaviours in varying situations; ‘Cialdini mentions the six keys of influence as follows: ⦁ Reciprocity ⦁ Scarcity ⦁ Authority ⦁ Liking ⦁ Consistency ⦁ Consensus

Not manipulation. That’s not what I mean. And that’s a very different thing. But by knowing what worries your customer, what troubles them and what bothers them; you can look to fix it for them. You can be their hero.

These six principles are the key to understanding human behaviour in a range of situations. You as a writer and marketer can use them effectively in your copy to reach your audience in a unique way.’

Neil Patel details the importance of emotions and psychology in an article he wrote and published called, ‘how to incorporate psychology and emotions into your copywriting’. In it he looks at and describes what we look for as buyers and what factors we may think of before we purchase.

So you see, emotions really do play a vital role in understanding your audience. By seeing your customer’s real-life situations and providing a valuable solution; you get to address your audience. You get to offer them insight, inspiration and to create a channel of communication.

Not only can you do this through your product or service, but in the copy and content that you produce too. By having your ear to the ground, you can offer very practical solutions to very real problems that your audience has.

How you make your customer feel, creates a customer experience like no other. Of course, don’t force emotion within your copy and content. Keep it natural and align it to your business and brand.

Secondly: Feedback is like an unpolished diamond Don’t throw it away. This is where the gold lies. It’s like an unpolished diamond. By listening to feedback and absorbing what is said, you have the opportunity to adjust and to make sure you are always adapting to the wants and needs of your audience.

Just as it is described in an article by Vision Critical; you can use feedback to build a better picture of who your audience actually is, ‘rather than make assumptions on your audience based on a loose idea of who your buyer personas are, what if you could ask them directly?

By gathering customer feedback over-time, it becomes easier to separate your readers from your non-readers, and find similarities and differences between the two. By asking them about their content preferences and habits, you can build more accurate audience personas and improve your content marketing efforts as a result.’

Feedback gives you clues about your customer and how you might then be able to relate to them. Feedback gives you insight and it allows you to measure satisfaction, plus it helps you to retain your audience and clients.

Feedback can be left in all manner of places. For instance, it could be within comments on your website, through testimonials, through phone calls, emails and through comments on your social media posts.

You have the sparkling crown jewels within your grasp. You have untapped value in feedback that you can use to speak back to your audience. But also, that speaks to your business too, as it says how aligned you are with being able to meet with your customer’s wants and needs.

Your audience feedback may give you ideas for posts, blogs and videos. Undoubtedly it will give you the language that your audience and clients use. This will give you the ability to truly communicate on a human level with your audience.

Thirdly: Empathy has unknown super-reach According to a Forbes article by Josh Ritchie, ‘Merriam-Webster describes empathy as the, ‘ability to understand and have empathy with others.’ Brené Brown describes it as, ‘feeling with people.’

So, what does that mean to you and why should you care about empathy and its unknown super-reach?

Well…to feel is to empathise. To create empathetic content for your audience, you need to showcase a degree of empathy towards them. You need to understand and share the highs and the lows with your audience. You can do this by putting their pain into words, and by then offering them your solution.

Offer them value, offer them an escape. This enables them to connect to you. They want to have a relationship with you, your business and your brand. the star of the show by offering your audience a pain that is less than what they are feeling. A remedy or a welcome distraction to their thoughts and pains. By empathising, it allows you to truly get underneath the surface and to know how your audience feels.

Naturally with empathetic content you increase your engagement levels with your audience. Which then in time may create customers from your audience. Whilst also widening the reach of your content to new members of your audience.

Think about how you will address your audience with empathy. How does that convert into your content?

Who are you talking to? Be specific. If you’re talking to everyone, then you’re talking to no-one.

Also, think about what your audience is interested in and where do they go? What can you then do with your content that will fit into those things.

Josh Ritchie, CEO/Co-Founder of Column five says, “Decrease the amount of selling in your content and increase the amount of time listening to and thinking about your customers.”

Lastly: Woo-them by telling them a story Did you know that 81.7 million people follow National Geographic on Instagram? They have the strong ability to stop the scroller in their tracks. Why? Not only do they use great and captivating images to stop their audience. But they also have the unique ability to tell a powerful story with the accompanying text.

Now it may not be a part of your strategy to add photos. Perhaps it’s video. Or perhaps you weave a tale with words. National Geographic uses value-based content with purpose. What you want to do is to tell a story to your audience.

Storytelling in business makes it compelling for people to engage with you. It forms trust, it builds rapport and it helps to create valuable relationships with your audience. But it must also contain a focus to retain the attention of the reader.

When storytelling with your copy and content you should be able to understand and identify the following; ⦁ To always know why you’re telling your story? ⦁ Who is telling your story? ⦁ Know why it should be important to your reader? ⦁ Know what challenge is being overcome? ⦁ What message is behind your story?

Storytelling takes your audience on a journey with you. It builds loyalty in following, and it gives an insight into your world and for you to get a glimpse into theirs.

You can make your audience a part of your story by helping them to see themselves on the page, or in your blogs, or on your website and in your videos.

Share your learning with your audience from things that you have achieved, the things that you’ve done and maybe events that you have been to. Use the day to day ordinary things to form a part of your story. Look to choose things that your audience will want to share with others, where they’ll want to comment and where they’re likely to get involved.

Keep the process of storytelling going and make it a part of your content strategy. To increase your chance of success always see it through the eyes of your audience.

Don’t make your copy and content hard to read. Make it an insightful read. Ensure it uses language that your intended audience can and will want to engage with. Make your content accessible for your audience. Make your audience feel like they matter to you.

Are you making it all about your audience? Do you think about your audience when you produce content for them?

Do you make them feel like they can relate to you, your business and your brand?

Let’s summarise; ⦁ Never underestimate the power of emotions when reaching out to your audience. ⦁ Treat feedback like a priceless jewel. ⦁ Know the value of natural empathy in your copy and content. ⦁ Understand the journey you take your audience on with storytelling in business.

Amber Smith If you're short on time why not liaise with and utilise a copywriter that can help your business market itself and progress forward?

You can email me on ambersmith@simplyamberlou.com or visit me on Twitter @simplyamberlou and contact me through LinkedIn @Amber LSmith.

EXPERTISE AS A PRODUCTIZED SERVICE The gig economy as an alternative to a classic career path With the gig economy booming, there is a way to take a path beyond the classic career one, by productizing your expertise, and then developing a business around that product.

I'm a software engineer and I started my career as a Java developer. I was working in an office as an employee in the traditional way for three years, and everything was just fine.

It’s just that just fine was not fine any more when I fell in love with windsurf and kitesurf. I wanted to be able to follow the wind and the sun and move around the best spots in the world. I wanted to wrap my work around my life, instead of the opposite. So here is how I did it, following an alternative path.

Even though remote work and digital nomad lifestyle were barely existing terms back in 2010, I started freelancing, working 100% remotely and living as a full time nomad. When you have a goal and put your mind to it, the progress happens sooner or later. I kept landing projects and working. I was getting more and more experienced in my own field (programming), and also in freelancing itself: communication with clients and team members, selling my services, productivity and self-starting, multi-tasking and juggling projects and time zones, financial planning for the rainy days, investing in courses and always learning.

In addition, I was getting more and more into the startup world, as those were the companies contracting me, rather than the old school 9-5 corporations. Even in 2010, the startup scene, as early adopters, was open to freelancing and remote work, as well as to any kind of experimenting in general.

Soon I found out that many startups, presumably due to the limited budget, didn’t really have proper management in place. Usually a founder would contract just me and one or two other programmers to work on his application. No actual specs, management tools, planning etc. This is where my other skills and experiences came in handy. It happens that I used to do events management when I was in college, and so I knew how to deal with people, timelines, resources. I was pretty good at having the overview at all times, the big picture, the vision, the strategy. On top of that, as a nomad, I was good with people, as I keep meeting new people all the time. And so it turned out that I was the very much needed bridge between the business and the tech side. Plus years of experience with remote teams, while most of the people were just hearing about it for the first time.

I’ve started thinking that I might just have a unique selling point to go with.

Meanwhile, the gig economy was getting stronger. The more serious companies joined, the remote work became a thing and we all started openly advocating it as the future of work. I started getting invited to give talks and share my experience. The coworking spaces started popping up. The networking events were taking place more and more frequently. The nomad hubs were forming in various locations around the world.

And I was working on various projects. And I was talking to various people on all sorts of events. And at one point I was sure there indeed was a gap between the business and the tech side of new ventures. And in entrepreneurship, a gap is a niche, a gap is an opportunity, a gap is business. I was seeing founders with amazing ideas struggling to implement them, wasting a lot of effort trying to assemble and lead a tech team, prepare clear specs and plan releases etc., instead of being out there selling their idea and getting the money in.

A recognized pain point plus a solution - means business. That is how I came up with StartupSetup where I help founders with their journey from the idea, over requirements specs and team recruitment, to introducing remote collab tools and efficient management processes. And finally launching their MVP, of course.

This is exactly what it means to productize the expertise. In my case, that’s management as a productized expert service. And again, expertise is like any other product - you need to have a growth and investment strategy. It’s crucial to be able to balance between client work, networking, branding, learning new skills - upgrading and selling your product essentially.

Here are the 10 crucial points to understand in order to successfully sell your expertise as a service: 1. Your superpower is actually the combination of your standard powers — but a combination unique to you.

Each skill on its’ on may sound as a very common one to have, but combined they make for your unique selling point.

2. A resume is for an employee. As an independent expert, you need to make it clear which kind of problem you are dealing with, what your proposed solution is and, again, what your unique selling point is.

3. A resume is a list of ingredients. Customers buy ready-made products.

4. Think product. It’s a game changer. Everything is a product. Your expertise included.

5. There is work “outside of work”. Network, talk, ask, understand the struggles.

6. Smart businesses already identify their pain points on their own. Listen to them.

7. Expertise as a service (expertise on demand) is the future of work. At least get familiar with the concept.

8. We are all both service providers and consumers. Focus on what you are good at and what you enjoy doing.

9. It’s on you to adjust your services to the market needs. Never stop learning.

10. You are not an employee. As an independent expert, you need to be proactive from the day 0.

More details on each on the points can be found at: https://tijanamomirov.com/how-to-sell-your-expertise-as-a-service/ It’s been an interesting journey, and it still is. And yes, an alternative path does exist :)

About Tijana Momirov Tijana is a software engineer, product manager and founder of StartupSetup where she helps founders start their startups, all in a remote, agile and super lean way leveraging the gig economy.

She’s been a full time nomad since 2010 and loves blogging and giving talks about nomadic lifestyle, managing remote teams, future of work, the gig economy, productized services and more.

HOW TO BE SUPER PRODUCTIVE EVERYDAY We’ve all been there.

With a mountain of work to finish, it feels like you just never have enough time.

You feel busy and overwhelmed by that never-ending ‘to-do list’ and find yourself having to multi-task or getting distracted easily.

With 2 months into 2017, it is inevitable that we want to become a better version of who we are at present, accomplishing and growing more as an individual.

To help get the rest of your 2017 off to an insanely productive start and help you say ‘goodbye’ to endless ‘to-do lists’ and ‘hello’ to more time for yourself, I want to share the following three hacks with you.

1. Block Out Time for Single Tasking We live in an ever distracting world, which steals our attention and focus from that which is most important to us. By giving in to constant distractions and attempting to become a multi-task master, we often end up being busy for busy’s sake. In reality, it’s avoidance of executing on the actual work that needs to be followed through to completion.

Our mind is wired to be innovative on one thing at a time, not on multiple tasks. The latter causes a dilution of attention and means that we are never fully present on the task at hand. We must recognise what happens when we are not consciously in control of our focus.

There are a couple of rules I have for myself when single tasking: 1 ) Know what I want to accomplish for the upcoming single task period (whether that’s the next 30, 60 or 90 minutes) in order to ensure I can measure my progress.

2) Work in a minimalist fashion by only having window s and apps open that are of relevance to the single task at hand. Eliminate all other distractions until the single task period has ended.

3) Make it clear to family, friends and colleagues that you are not to be disturbed during this period unless it’s an absolute emergency. Simply setting your phone to ‘flight mode’ or ‘do not disturb’ usually helps.

LAURIE WANG

2. Begin Your Day with an Energising Morning Routine Did you know that it takes around 30 days of repeatedly doing the same thing on a daily basis to adopt that thing as a new habit?

From the moment you wake up, walk over to the bathroom to brush your teeth, nearly everything you do on a daily basis is habitual and has been developed over many years, if not decades.

If we are able to develop greater self-awareness as to what habits no longer serve us and what new, positive and empowering habits we can embrace, we are able to experience phenomenal increases in our productivity levels and accomplish things faster than we could ever have imagined.

I aim to begin nearly every morning with a refreshing and energising exercise routine involving cardio and weight training. This simple habit has made a dramatic difference to my energy levels and my mindset for whatever challenges may arise throughout the remainder of the day.

On the rest days between workouts, I embrace something I like to call ‘active rest’ in which I meditate using a process called creative visualisation. This allows me to imagine what my day will look like and plan what needs to be accomplished in my head. As Einstein once said, “Imagination is a preview of life’s coming attractions”.

This has had a powerful impact on my focus in accomplishing my key goals for the day. The clarity that comes with a regular meditation practice really needs to be embraced more by society!

3. Build in Regular ‘Renewal Periods’ Into Your Day When was the last time you had your most creative ideas or moment of insights?

If you’re like most people, then chances are it was when you last had a lovely warm bath or shower, on a long holiday away from your day job, or when going for a walk in nature with just your headphones and the music it played for company.

Having regular periods of renewal is just as important as focusing on your most important tasks on a given day, because clarity and insights come more often from a mind that is still than one that is busy. And it’s why employee wellness is becoming an increasingly area of focus for companies if they want to retain and nurture their most talented employees, as well as be continuously innovative.

The ability to combine single tasking with planned renewal or rest periods, can do wonders for how much you accomplish and how much of your innate creativity you are able to access, leverage and apply.

My typical set-up, for example, is to single task for 60–90 minutes and then have 15 minutes break before repeating the process. Studies have shown that the human mind is only able to maintain a high level of focus for up to two hours before it needs to recharge.

I personally believe that when you’re able to cross off your most challenging and important goals for the day, you feel like a superhero and that energy will continue for the rest of the day. Whatever happens, you know you’ve already accomplished something of significance and that you can be proud of.

Laurie Wang LAURIE WANG

7 WAYS TO EARN AND GIVE RESPECT AT WORK

The late Aretha Franklin sang it

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care, TCB A little respect (just a little bit) is what we all want isn’t it? In my experience there are times and places where I have felt highly respected, cared about and valued at work and then times when ‘banter’ has gone too far, and I’ve felt bullied or belittled. You can guess which environment got the best from me.

Perhaps you’ve met those people who seem to throw their weight around because of their job title? It might get things done but it doesn’t earn respect. Demonstrating integrity in your words and in your actions, as well as showing how you make a positive impact is essential to earning respect.

In respectful environments people perform, they follow rules while also calling out poor behaviour, they feel good about being there, feel secure in their work relationships and cared about. The Society for Human Resource Management released a report stating that “respectful treatment of all employees” was the number-one contributor to job satisfaction. And “trust between employees and senior management” was the second.

This means that above all of the perks and management tricks, treating each other like people is what really matters. Whether you’re starting a company or part of growing one, developing a culture of respect and trust should be a priority.

Change makers develop good respectful relationships in the workplace, and with February being the month of love, caring and compassion, here are 7 ways to bring that respect into your work life.

1. Engage with Compassion and Curiosity

Years ago, I looked on in awe at a colleague, Trevor, who could connect with anyone, a fifty plus white male who was just as comfortable speaking to a disaffected working-class black teenager as he was to a senior government official. When I observed him, I noticed that he suspended judgement while taking the time to truly understand other’s behaviour. Understanding the needs, values and beliefs that influence an individual’s behaviour can really change your attitude toward them.

When you truly listen to them, you are able to develop empathy for their position or situation. Trevor was also able to accept facts. This does not mean that he agrees with or approves of other’s choices, it simply means that he was able to acknowledge the facts without any value judgment. This engagement with compassion and curiosity is the type of behaviour that creates an inclusive culture which can help organisations to be more productive and creative in the long run.

2. Address Conflict Positively

There’s always that one person who riles you, who you struggle to communicate with, or perhaps it’s gone as far as you being enemies. How you handle conflict is probably a fair indication of your ability to cope with both your own stress, and the reactions of others to stressful situations. Too often, handling conflict isn’t done respectfully. Instead, we blame, criticize, have angry outbursts or just avoid dealing with the situation.

To communicate with respect, you need to depersonalise difficult situations. It’s likely that if an individual is angry at the situation, it’s not about you personally. Do really listen and allow the other person to speak. If it’s appropriate to apologise, do so and mean it, don't blame others. Be the sort of person that does what you say you will and if it’s in your remit, train your people in how to solve their day-to-day disagreements informally, rather than escalating them to formal grievances.

3. Cooperate and Collaborate

Have you ever felt excluded?

Whether in the playground when everyone played a game, and you weren’t picked, or in a corporate meeting where there is no space for your voice. While not every person can participate in every activity, it is important not to marginalize, exclude or leave any one person out. Find ways to work with others and work as a team, an individualistic approach doesn't garner respect.

You can use people’s ideas to change or improve work, and praise much more frequently than you criticize. This builds exciting and satisfying relationships.

Listening is a big sign of respect.

Communication is at the core of human relationships, and it should be no different with your colleagues. Open a dialogue by listening and making people feel comfortable sharing. This is an ongoing process that should go beyond a single engagement survey each year. Collect regular, ongoing employee feedback. Send surveys, host focus groups, plan one-on-one meetings and participate in conversations around the office whenever possible. Sometimes the best feedback happens in these casual settings, when formal barriers are not in place.

4. Offer Help

I belong to a Women in Business Group, the dynamic and go-getting host mentioned recently that people rarely ask her how she is, they assume that all is going well with her and that she is strong and resilient.Think of the last time you were struggling. Maybe you were swamped and overwhelmed, or perhaps you were stuck on a challenging project?

Wouldn't it have been nice if someone had provided some advice? Or even offered to take something off your plate?

Absolutely. So, why not do that same thing for a colleague? When you see someone who's stressed or confused, just ask: Is there anything I can do to help?

Even if your colleague doesn't actually take you up on your offer, just the fact that you recognised the challenge and wanted to do something about it goes a long way in fostering a more empathetic culture..

5. Provide Recognition

Everybody loves to get a pat on the back for a job well done - that's universal. But gratitude and adequate recognition can easily fall by the wayside when we're wrapped up in the stress and busyness of life.

Step up and be that colleague who always applauds the hard work of your team members. Maybe that involves sending a quick message to let her know how much you enjoyed her presentation.

Or, perhaps it means highlighting your colleagues’ contributions when your boss commends you for your own hard work on a recent project.

6. Show Colleagues that you care

Little acts of kindness won't go unnoticed - particularly at work. So, when's the last time you did something nice just because you felt like it?

1. Pack an extra snack. Not all acts of kindness need to be grand gestures. You can just share a snack with one colleague on a day they seems out of sorts. Pack an extra one in your lunch or keep a few in your drawer for such an occasion.

2. Buy coffee for everyone on the team. If you can splurge, then pick a random day to swing by the local coffee shop and surprise your colleagues by bringing everyone their favourite drink.

3. Mentor a new colleague. Think back to your first few months on the job. Chances are, you felt like a fish out of water.

Anyone new to the office probably feels the same. Take a recent hire under your wing and show him the ropes.

7. Be A Mensch

The term “Mensch” has become fairly common in American English and is often understood as meaning “a good person.”

This Yiddish term also goes much deeper. In fact, it is steeped with Jewish concepts of what it means to be an individual of integrity. Ultimately to gain respect, you would do well to embrace these mensch qualities of ‘doing the right thing in the right way’ and ‘striving to be the best you’, as well as the six qualities that I’ve already mentioned.

Remember: Respect is something you have to earn - you need to work for it!

Further Resources: PODCAST: How to Build or Rebuild Trust https://michaelhyatt.com/051-how-to-build-or-rebuild-trust-podcast/ [35 mins] BOOK: Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Compassion-Work-Elevates-Organizations/dp/1626564450 VIDEO: Kindness is the Cure - A Call for Kindness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3P1U37Avs E-BOOK: Download our free e-book - The 12 Essential qualities of good leaders. https://www.jennygarrett.global/the-12-essential-qualities-of-good-leaders/ Jenny Garrett is an Award Winning Executive Career Coach, Author, TEDx, Speaker, TV Expert. Inclusion|Gender Balance|Youth|Leadership

Jenny Garrett

Daria Vodopianova Daria Vodopianova Consulting & Training, Personal Branding & LinkedIn Strategist, TEDx Speaker, Keynote Speaker & Author

DARIA

VODOPIANOVA What did you learn from your biggest failure?

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

I can’t think of one specific failure as it’s all about trial and error. Most certainly, things don’t always go my way. But I would like to talk a bit more about rejection and what’s really behind the success. As I work with many thought leaders and their branding, I work with people who are highly successful. But to get there, it’s hard work and many times, also rejection. It's part of it.

I believe the future of work is highly related to the human touch, the personalized approach online. My goal is to help more individuals to really be able to work with what they are good at, and getting well paid for it. It’s about offering another way to scale their business, which is built around your skills, where you don’t lose the connection with your clients.

To what do you attribute your success?

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

I have always been disciplined and focused in my work, knowing where I am going and trusting my gut feeling. So I would say that my success comes from having a mission in my work and truly believing that my capacities and my drive will take me there. Mixing it with structured and committed work, taking actions every day, has taken me far.

I can’t think of one specific failure as it’s all about trial and error. Most certainly, things don’t always go my way. But I would like to talk a bit more about rejection and what’s really behind the success. As I work with many thought leaders and their branding, I work with people who are highly successful. But to get there, it’s hard work and many times, also rejection. It's part of it.

How do you find inspiration?

I love traveling and going to different places. As I work a professional keynote speaker in conferences and give training internationally, I tend to travel quite often. Every time I give a talk/training, I try to stay a couple of days to soak in that cities culture and get to know local people. It always inspires me, and keep me motivated throughout the year!

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

The importance of group dynamics. I met my first mentor when I was seventeen but it’s only the last three years I have truly tapped into the power of the group and how we can rethink who we work and spend time together. Some examples of what I am referring to: skill-sharing, mentoring, mastermind groups and accountability groups. My breakthrough came when I understood the power of the group.

IF YOU CAN DREAM, YOU CAN DO. FAVORITE QUOTE DARIA VODOPIANOVA

Georgina Lupu-Florian CEO and Founder of Wolfpack Digital

GEORGINA

LUPU-FLORIAN

It’s no secret that many women in tech have felt their gender affected the way that they are perceived/treated. Have you ever been in a situation like that? How did you handle it?

It happens that I enter certain new groups or events where there are few or no other women, and I feel that I need to prove myself more before my expertise is taken into consideration. Overall, I strive to look at things positively and enter a constructive mindset where this is in fact a growth opportunity: a higher standard means I get to become better at my job.

To what do you attribute success?

your

It's difficult to define success and identify its sources. I would say I attribute my current position in life and career to staying true to my values, to not giving up, and to giving my best wherever I can.

What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in tech or what you wish to know before started your career?

I would advise any woman looking to pursue a career in tech to be courageous and just do it. We must embrace that we can be part of meaningful change and innovation, and take on the challenge joyfully.

These are, after all, the best times to be a woman in modern history. Also, it's important to always remain authentic in your professional life.

In your opinion, how could the tech industry be more inclusive for women?

Both moderate affirmative action, and simply seeing equal opportunities as a natural state of mind can be combined to offer a better climate for women in tech, along with education.

How do you find inspiration in your life?

I always find inspiration by connecting with human experiences, either by talking to people, or by reading creative materials with a personal edge. I believe creativity is the greatest bottomless resource we have in nowadays society, as it allows us to solve almost any kind of problem and add value to our environment.

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business?

Probably the biggest obstacle is the existing mental bias towards women which is, in the end, a logical consequence of our history.

Fortunately, this is changing for the best and many things are being done in this direction. I actually believe the next generation of women in tech will have to face much less bias than the current one.

WHO LOOKS OUTSIDE DREAMS. WHO LOOKS INSIDE AWAKES CARL JUNG

FAVOURITE QUOTE GEORGINA LUPU-FLORIAN

Judi Fox #FoxRocks LinkedIn Profile & Content Strategist Women in Sales Speaker Approachable & Hilarious.

JUDI

FOX

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

To what do you attribute your success?

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Can I share two pieces of advice that I hold inside my mind at the same time…

That I feel finally like I am uncaged bird and I am flying with joy and freedom to truly embrace and hug who I really am inside.

To ask for help and build a community first and if you can’t figure out what to create, just create the next right thing in your heart that is pulling at you to create without thinking about it too much.

Being frozen in “have to do this” mode doesn’t free you up to take action.

1 - Clarity comes through Action 2 - Progress not Perfection Rinse and Repeat 1 and 2, as many times as you need! If you keep taking actions that align with your soul, you will get clearer on the next action, and don’t slow down for perfection.

What's your productivity secret?

Taking action. I sometimes put my sights on the next right rock to step on. If I think too many steps ahead or try to predict the future, I just personally don’t operate that way. It is great for other people, but for me to accomplish my goals, I have to know them inside my soul and take the actions that I know I need to take without worrying about things that aren’t critical in the moment.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

That it’s not the end of the world. I also learned that getting curious about what happened. I also am still learning to not be too hard on myself. And I learned that I personally thrive when I can freely experience the full range of emotions in life. We all have them and I think judge emotions too much.

I think the more I get curious about my emotions, the more I am learning how to navigate difficult situations.

What's your productivity secret?

Taking action. I sometimes put my sights on the next right rock to step on. If I think too many steps ahead or try to predict the future, I just personally don’t operate that way. It is great for other people, but for me to accomplish my goals, I have to know them inside my soul and take the actions that I know I need to take without worrying about things that aren’t critical in the moment.

MY MISSION IN LIFE IS NOT MERELY TO SURVIVE, BUT TO THRIVE; AND TO DO SO WITH SOME PASSION, SOME COMPASSION, SOME HUMOR, AND SOME STYLE. MAYA ANGELO

FAVOURITE QUOTE JUDI FOX

Kamila Hankiewicz Managing Director Untrite & MD Girls in Tech London.

KAMILA

HANKIEWICZ In your opinion, how could the tech industry be more inclusive for women?

What do you think we should be doing more of to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech?

It's all about starting early. Many little girls do not think that they can become tech scientists or doctors.

We need to engage the younger generations in the equality process.

The tech community needs also to be more outspoken about dismantling ideas which are responsible for the disparity between men and women.

Men and women should offer their help as mentors - few moments a month spent on giving advice could be a breakthrough for some girls who are just starting their career.

Also, we women should support each other instead of seeing each other as a potential competition.

New generation of women entering workforce needs as much help and role modelling as we did.

What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in tech or what you wish to know before started your career?

Find yourself a role model. Approach anybody who you admire career wise and ask them to mentor you. Join groups like Girls in Tech and network A LOT. People are everything, in any business. And most important share your knowledge in the field you want to work in (even if you feel like you know next to nothing).

Blogging / vlogging is the easiest way to establishing yourself as an expert.

To what do you attribute your success?

I believe my strong, positive personality, openness and charisma help me immensely in surrounding myself with ambitious, brilliant people. I think my vulnerability and openness re: failure are my strength I even write about it on my blog hankka.com.

And I find entrepreneurship the best way to create yourself - to choose projects I want to work on and grow professionally.

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business?

Our own self.

As cheesy as it sounds, if you believe you can succeed in the career you have chosen for yourself - you will find the way to make it happen. It may take longer or shorter, but there is no point on dwelling on unfairness. Do your best job and be fearful. If you disagree with something - say it. Finally, people will start listening and noticing your work.

In your opinion, how could the tech industry be more inclusive for women?

It's all about starting early. Many little girls do not think that they can become tech scientists or doctors. We need to engage the younger generations in the equality process.

The tech community needs also to be more outspoken about dismantling ideas which are responsible for the disparity between men and women.

SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY TO STAY SANE IS TO GO A LITTLE CRAZY SUSANNA KAYSEN FROM GIRL, INTERRUPTED. FAVOURITE QUOTE KAMILA HANKIEWICZ

Louise H Reid, CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer) Coach & Podcaster.

LOUISE H REID

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

What a juicy, wonderful question!

I wish I knew...that I wasn't going to be for everyone and that's ok...that I don't have to do everything myself and asking for help is a strength not a weakness...to stay in my own lane and not get distracted by the amazing things others are doing...that "the riches are in the niches".

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

1. Know your "why" and what success looks like to you. It doesn't matter the answer just as long as YOU know it. 2.

Stay in your own lane. You'll get distracted by other things, people and ideas. Only pay attention to these if they make you/your product/service better. 3. Believe in yourself more than anything. 4. Surround yourself with amazing, positive people who will help you kickass!

What's your productivity secret?

How do you find inspiration?

My morning routine! I truly believe this determines the outcome of your day. When my days start like this, it's a masterpiece every time: exercise, manifesting or meditation, walk with my hubby, a good morning cuddle from my boys, positive affirmations...and COFFEE!

I find inspiration everywhere!

More specifically in nature (the wood are food for my soul), the laughter of my children (they lovingly bring me to the present and I revel in their joy if only for a moment), my partner (who I met later in life and keeps me inspired everyday), in quotes (they ground me and inspire me to be more of who I am), and in other high-vibing kickass women in business!

To what do you attribute your success?

To people who have been there for me while I have navigated life. Here's the short list! My parents-they taught me to always believe in myself and to play to my strengths.

A few special teachers and coaches who supported and bring out my confidence and passion.

My therapist whose humour and kind honesty changed the trajectory of my life. My kids, and my husbandalways my soft place to land.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

My mission is to empower and inspire women around the world to CHOOSE happiness & to live it; a life of freedom, fulfilment, passion and connection. Life's too short to be worried about silly things. Have fun, love hard, work hard, believe in yourself, laugh lots, live without regret, and don't let people bring you down.

I LEARNED I'M STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT. I LEARNED I AM ENOUGH. WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR BIGGEST FAILURE? LOUISE REID

GLOBAL COMPANIES NEED A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ETHICAL AI It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”

No matter how you choose to describe our current age, there’s little doubt we are living in very consequential times and nowhere is it more apparent than in the rapid proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), AI will be around for a while and it’s a worthwhile long-term investment.

“In our view AI will become a permanent aspect of the business landscape and AI capabilities need to be sustainable over time in order to develop and support potential new business models and capabilities.”

Experts in AI don’t agree on much but many are unanimous on the potential dangers of unchecked AI and that the decisions we make related to AI today may very well decide the future fate of humanity.

For consumers who are faced with insidious pervasiveness of discriminatory AI algorithms and autonomous “killer” robots looming on the horizon, there is an urgent need for an open discussion and immediate action to address the perils of unchecked AI. And yet, one after another, we’ve seen leading tech companies falling all over each other trying to get it right. Many of their efforts are thinly veiled PR attempts at damage control while others are resorting to knee-jerk attempts to quash any dissent. There’s been a steady stream of high-profile councils, boards but without a clear mission and mandate, some have floundered and failed.

There is some glimmer of hope as the EU recently published their first comprehensive ethical AI guidelines, global organizations like IEEE introduced their guidance for Ethically Aligned Design, and forward-thinking corporations like Salesforce made Ethical AI their central focus.

Despite the steady progress, it’s becoming increasingly clear that ethical AI initiatives can’t match the pace and big budgets of AI innovation through tactics and small gestures. Big problems demand bold action and for global organizations this means launching a Center of Excellence for Ethical AI.

What is a Center of Excellence?

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Center of Excellence (COE) is not a new concept. It is a central group that typically sits at the core of a hub & spoke model in a large global organization and coordinates efforts across all the different spokes ie. divisions/business units.

As the HBR article goes on to say, “The idea of establishing a CC (Competence Center) or COE (Center of Excellence) in AI is not particularly radical. In one recent survey of U.S. executives from large firms using AI, 37% said they had already established such an organization.”

To accelerate the adoption of ethical AI, global companies need a centralized approach. COEs are especially effective during times of significant (technological) changes in the industry or when there’s a sustained need to coordinate diverse time-critical activities across a global landscape.

Why do companies need a COE for Ethical AI? While companies are setting up centralized organizations to rapidly scale their AI innovation, there needs to be a similar emphasis on providing ethical guidance for those initiatives through a dedicated COE focused on that mission.

In addition to keeping up with AI innovation, there are many other strategic reasons for setting up a COE for ethical AI. Ethical AI requires a broader lens.

There is a misguided tendency to force-fit ethical AI into the data/analytics world or IT/engineering functions because AI has primarily been the domain of the technologists. That is slowly changing as the significant impact of AI on nontechnical functions is slowly becoming apparent. Ethical AI is no longer limited to development of ML learning models but also non-technical domains such as customer experience because of new AI-powered engagement channels and HR/training which have to deal with jobs displacement due to automation. It’'s especially critical that focus of ethics is not just the bottom line but is also aligned with the company’s broader ethical, governance, and Corporate Social Responsibility mission.

Ethics needs more bridges not moats.

The ethical AI debate has become the battleground for “us (ethicists, social scientists, other non-technical functions) vs. them (AI/ML developers, data scientists, engineers). Time and again, I’ve heard from data scientists and engineers working on AI/ML projects about the disconnect between ethical requirements and business goals they’re responsible for. According to many, their only goal is to deliver the project on time while ethics is someone else’s problem. A COE can help build bridges between diverse groups making it easier to communicate and succeed in their roles through a shared objective rather than create new hurdles for them to overcome.

Staying on top of a rapidly changing ethical landscape.

AI landscape is constantly evolving and it’s challenging for global organizations to stay on top of all the constant changes in AI developments, let alone manage the ethical and regulatory implications. Over a decade back during the nascent days of social/digital media, I joined HP’s web COE. Building their first centralized social media organization gave me a deep appreciation for COEs and why they are critical for staying on top of a rapidly changing regulatory and ethical landscape. A COE will allow organizations to gather, organize, analyze emerging ethical research trends/threats and respond efficiently, responsibly, and consistently with one voice.

Sharing information quickly and efficiently.

Information hoarding is a big challenge in traditionally bottle-necked organizations especially, when there aren’t many incentives or easy processes to share information. Even companies who sell efficiency in the form of automation themselves are not immune to the struggles of managing ethical considerations of AI as Facebook has demonstrated many times over. COEs boost productivity by empowering employees with best practices, consistent standards for ethics and integrated processes so it’s not just an after-thought or a superficial PR exercise.

COEs have a mixed track record Despite their advantages, some COEs fail and this is not surprising to anyone who understands how large companies operate and is familiar with the challenges of setting up a new organization.

Cultural shift.

Organizationally, companies cycle through periods of centralization followed by decentralization. COEs in decentralized companies need a massive cultural change and buy-in from all levels of the management to be successful. It can take a long time to get folks comfortable with the idea of pooling resources and talent for benefit of the entire organization. COEs are especially a hard sell in overachieving cultures where control over budgets, teams and resources are highly coveted. Change management should be part of the planning process for any COE and included as part of the broader effort to make ethics an integral part of the organizational DNA. Lack of diversity.

When organizations fail, it’s because of failure in leadership rather than lack of talent. It’s a manifestation of a harmful tendency among management teams to hire folks just like themselves. The lack of diversity among the faculty members of the recently launched institute of Stanford Human Centered AI (HAI) serves as an ironic example of an organization that doesn’t reflect the values it promotes, namely diversity. Having a competent and diverse leadership team can go a long way toward ensuring credibility and building a strong organization with few racial/gender/expertise blind spots.

Lack of right skill set.

Building and leading global COEs requires an unique skill set which includes building, collaborating, negotiating, influencing and managing expectations across global boundaries. The right leader will successfully manage development of efficient processes for gathering emerging trends in ethical AI, understand the ethical implications, translate those into meaningful insights and communicate/implement best practices across the global organization.

That all said, the concept of a centralized organization may seem alien to organizations that are still trying to figure out how to get started in AI and understand the ethical implications of their project but setting up the right structure is essential for the long-term success of any strategic technology especially one as critical as AI, which as the experts concur is here to stay.

Author: Mia Dand is a strategic digital marketing leader and passionate diversity in tech advocate with extensive experience in building customer-centric programs at global companies like Google, HP, eBay, Symantec and others. As the CEO of Lighthouse3, an emerging tech research and advisory firm based in Oakland, California, Mia excels at identifying key industry trends and guiding F5000 companies on the responsible adoption of new & emerging technologies like AI for successful business outcomes. Mia is also the author of “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics”, a definitive guide to help global organizations recruit more talented women in this space. She is the organizer for SF AI, Berkeley AI, & SF AR/VR meetup groups with over 3.5K members in the San Francisco Bay Area and hosts monthly AI Ethics chats on Twitter (@MiaD)

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

by Candyce Costa

Empowering other women around you!

As women, we have a difficult and massive task in business and in life: To be able to find the right balance in our family life and career/business, and on top of everything - be happy.

To be successful in both, is hard work and we need to find as much support as we can - not only from our family and friends but from the whole community.

Have you heard the saying “it takes a village to raise a child”? To be able to empower women around the world we need to think of it like in a village, taking small steps to make a revolution in our neighborhoods and help raise the girls of the next generation.

My 10 personal tips to help 1. Be Yourself Remember: YOU are the most important woman in your life.

Recognize your qualities and strengths and inspire other women by sharing your opinion, collaborating and encouraging.

2. Praise Praising and cherishing other women abilities is an amazing way of expressing what you really mean when you say that she is fabulous. Praise is a one of the most empowering way to remind people of their qualities and value in the society.

3. Take Initiative in a Women Group We’ve seen more and more onlywomen groups as a safe place where we can develop a conversation about female power and to not be evaluated from a male point of view. Find one nearby you and get involved!

4. Become a Mentor Share your knowledge and guide people through your experience.

Look for projects, organizations or companies where mentoring is accessible and sign it up.

5. Engage with Clever Women.

Don’t be afraid!

Thinking that you are not good enough is not real. Get around with women that you think are smarter than you. Why? To learn from their experience. Ask questions, learn and share your own journey.

6. Find a Cause Empowering women is also empowering a cause. Be a role model because the world needs people who believe in changing the word for better and want to make a difference.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP?

by Candyce Costa

7. Help Women Get Connected with other Women Do not hesitate in introducing women in your network to each other and to make this link between them for potential collaboration. The more you offer, the more you get!

8. Encourage Young Women One of the biggest reasons a lot of girls won’t follow their dreams of being a coder, an engineer, an astronaut or a politician is due to the lack of encouragement. It is our job to reassure that going to the moon or studying how to build a bridge is definitely a “girl thing".

9. Start at Home Look around your family and friends to find girls who need your strength. They are the first who need your reassurance and stimulation and as a role model, value these women to recognize the value that they have.

10. Collaborate Surround yourself with people that has the same values and believe in collaboration.

What are you doing to support women around you?

Do you still think that as women, we have achieved equality?

If not, please share your thoughts with us and let’s start a conversation.

We are gathering outstanding women around the world that are accountable for making changes and support the next generation of girls to have a future that we contemplate as “equal” sharing not only responsibilities on the workplace but at home as well with family household tasks.

Create with Simplicity We live today in a very different world than we were just a decade ago. Technological innovation has resulted in benefits such as websites being able to be launched in under 24 hours, the ability to reach millions of people through social media and access to over 30 million songs through a single app.

All of which comes for free, or at worst, less than the price of two cups of coffee per month. It’s therefore unsurprising to see how many entrepreneurial ideas are being discussed, executed and brought to life around us.

The downside of all this however, is a world that is increasingly messy with consumers often overwhelmed by the number of choices that face them. On the app stores for both Apple and Android customers, there are over 2 million apps available for download.

This is why simple, clean and easy-to-use products and services can be a powerful breath of fresh air in the marketplace.

Paul Graham once noted in a tweet that: “In a time of bad design, building something simple is a revolutionary act.”

In a study conducted by Google in 2012, researchers concluded that visually complex websites were rated as less loved by their simpler counterparts. Looking at the California-based technology firm’s search page, it is clear that they have embraced this since their inception in 1998.

Embracing the notion of simplicity and good design is thus critical and even more so in a world where people’s attention spans are getting ever shorter.

I’ve read from a number of sources that our average attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish!

“Make your designs distinctively simple or be extinct.”

Achieving this however is harder than it looks. Simplicity is not just about the visuals and how minimalist something looks. It’s also very much about how it works and why it is being built in the first place.

Jonathan Ives, Chief Design Officer at Apple, noted that ‘you have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential’.

If your users are engaging with 20% of the features you offer 80% of the time, surely it makes sense to spend 80% of your time on the most important 20% of the product?

Building with simplicity at the heart of everything is particularly evident in the growth of Apple as a company. Their philosophy and approach triggered a design revolution and has inspired countless other companies to learn from their approach.

One of the fundamental drivers for this companyhas been to ensure that all of their products are intuitive to use no matter your background, knowledge of computers, or age.

In striving for simplicity, this must be balanced with keeping things human so as not to alienate users (think back to the Nokia 7280 handset released in 2005).

This concept of less is more is universal and has been widely discussed. Jason Fried, author of Rework, argues that the focus of all businesses must be on the epicentre of their products. He employs the simple analogy of a hot dog stand to help illustrate his thoughts: “If you’re opening a hot dog stand, you could worry about the condiments, the cart, the name, the decoration. But the first thing you should worry about is the hot dog. The hot dogs are the epicentre. Everything else is secondary.”

Ideas that are executed with the above in mind, end up delivering exactly what is promised through having empathy with the end user and the way they will interact with what is offered.

Slack for example, is increasingly becoming one of the main forms of communication between employees at companies that have embraced the application.

It has simplified the way internal teams communicate.

Despite all of the additional features of custom Emojis and Giphy integration, it is at its core a well-designed messaging system. It delivers a solid user experience on a consistent basis by encouraging collaborative office environments seamlessly across a variety of digital devices.

From the perspective of a consumer, simplicity in today’s society means that we can be more efficient with our time. With more and more clutter and information coming into our lives, digital devices, and desks, consumers seek refuge in things that help them be more productive.

The website zenpen.io appealed to me because of this and is what I used in putting this article together.

It is a writing tool that is as simple as the Google search homepage and with a focus on just one thing: getting your writing done without getting distracted.

Once you open the site, you can maximise the page to fill your screen. You are then presented with a blank canvas where you begin converting your thoughts to words. The result? I’ve found that I can accomplish more writing in half the time it took me before!

While I’ve discussed simplicity from the way we experience a product or service, I believe it is important that businesses also embrace this.

As Simon Sinek, TED speaker and author of Start with Why states: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.

Instead of asking ‘WHAT should we do to compete?’ first, it would be wiser to begin with the question of ‘WHY do we exist?’

The bigger the why, the easier the how.

In addition to everyone being able to rally behind an inspiring vision, a company’s ability to succeed in the marketplace can also be determined by its willingness to strip away layers of bureaucracy, red tape and complex structures.

Building with simplicity should be an iterative process — a journey to refine and remove the non-essentials, while discovering better ways of doing thing along the way.

In your journey towards building your product and executing your ideas, take the wireframes and mockups further by applying the concept of simplicity and aspects of design thinking to ensure that the result is something that users can truly benefit from.

Every great vision requires an effective plan and execution strategy. By focusing on why you exist, what you do best, stripping out the unnecessary, you will be well on your way to creating a product that your customers will fall in love with.

Laurie Wang is Award-Winning Digital Marketing Consultant & Public Speaker Social Media & Content Marketing https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriewang/

Laurie Wang

4 TRUTHS ABOUT DIVERSITY & INCLUSION It has been over a year since I set up MEA, a company designed to raise awareness and drive change to achieve gender balance and inclusion.

It has been 36 years in which I have personally experienced being a minority (this is not all derived from being Asian female, but for various differences including personality traits and characteristics) and it was previously 12 years which I spent working within Investment Banking, a short time of which as a mother.

I was deeply out of tune with the fire in me burning towards driving change. I previously held myself unaccountable for gender inequality, and a little moan of the injustice over a coffee was enough to reset the clock, go back to work and enjoy my nice monthly income.

I believe it was my time returning back to work as a mother (of a lovely daughter) that this fire could not be suppressed with a moan over a coffee. There were deep-rooted systemic challenges which women faced, and there were cultural and societal expectations drowning in biases towards women. It was also clear there was a dominating and very singular path to workplace success. I realised I was not alone and saw this reflected amongst my friends in different industries, my network, clients and acquaintances.

As I reflect on my time at MEA, my work with various industries, and own personal experiences, I’ve come to the realisation of 4 key challenges in the bid for gender balance and inclusion:

1) Diversity is still primarily perceived as charity work.

A common theme I see, is that d&i work is a '7th performance KPI' for employees in the business (e.g. to get involved in the women’s network, promote diversity events etc). The overarching feedback is this is a non-promotable task. There is no reward for employees who do this well, and at times there are in fact penalties when there is ‘too much focus’ which is perceived detracting from mainstream business work.

D&I budgets are undeniably small and have not grown at the pace at which companies are outwardly vocalising their commitment to drive change.

Ultimately, businesses need to question how they truly perceive diversity. Is this merely a moral imperative or a business strategy which leads to increased representation of the customer base, diversity of perspectives, innovation and profitability? If it is the latter, it is time to be explicit on the capital investment put aside to achieve these results.

2) There needs to be a structural reorganisation if we want to see a shift in business culture.

I remember my time in Banking - working on the trading floor, compliance was a core part of the business. We needed constant advice on trades we did with clients. In the banks I worked for, we had front office compliance which sat with us. They were visible, accessible, we built solid relationships, respect and trust with them. I strongly believe we need exactly the same for D&I. We need experts who are sat with and integrated into each business area, who have full visibility into individual business culture, the ability to build solid relationships, trust and more importantly, accessibility to ALL employees in that business area.

When I say experts, what do I mean?

I mean Inclusion Coaches. For those of you who have watched Billions, you get a snippet (albeit a distorted and slighlty warped version) into the power of coaching.

Why inclusion? Well, it allows us to find best practises to capitalise on differences, coping mechanisms to deal with challenges, and a forum to vocalise our deep biases in a safe space.

What is the impact of that? Better relationships at work, better ways of working, ultimately higher engagement with clients. I strongly believe in the power of inclusion and direct impact on employees, teams and therefore business performance, and ultimately profitability.

3) People are scared to speak up and I’m not surprised.

If you are reading this article, I’m sure you have encountered the saying ‘let’s get comfortable with being uncomfortable’. I use this saying in my workshops, my consulting work and events I host. It’s true right? We don’t know what we don’t know. We won’t know what we don’t know if we don’t ask.

Why are we scared to speak up? Is it because the chances of us being pulled up on unintentionally offending, the focus on our shortcomings and the risk of damaging our professional reputations continue to dominate the progress we might make if we do speak up? I think so.

guidance over criticism. I had a prospective client recently talking about ethnicity and he was so unsure if to call me Asian, Indian, a woman of colour or brown. It became very apparent and I told him I actually just see myself as British so whatever works personally for me (except brown!). He immediately settled having clarity on how best to be guided.

I am on the similar journey myself with pronouns and how to address this with others (she/her, he/him, they/them). I have most probably addressed that wrong already. It is very new to me, as is my work with gender fluidity and I really want to learn - I had encountered some very kind people who have provided me guidance and it is helping me more than sole criticism when being incorrect.

4) Diversity is a meaningless word.

It really is. I ask you to send me a visual image of the perfect picture of diversity. Is it a team, picture with 2 people of each BAME, non BAME background, of all genders, LGBT and disabilities? But what about the short man in that picture? Or the woman with ginger hair? What if you are missing the employee with the strong regional accent or different dress sense? There will ALWAYS be a minority in any group of people.

A man in a room of women will be the minority. A straight woman at an LGBT event will be. So let's focus less on diversity and MORE on inclusion. Inclusion welcomes and embraces difference, and will ultimately remove barriers for anyone from difference and create the natural workplace dynamic.

Despite how this article might read, I do believe change is coming. Not fully in my career lifetime but hopefully in time for my daughter's generation. We are seeing positive strides in the bid for gender balance and I must acknowledge that. Men are being involved in the challenge, media are pledging to increase representation on peak time tv (which we know deeply feeds our biases), minority networks are getting sponsored from dominant groups, and gender pay gap reporting is forcing the conversation.

For example, it is apparent many males employees advocate for change but there is a common fear around stigmatisation, being inappropriately perceived with female colleagues and afraid to ask questions and even vocalise this fear in case they offend.

The ironic thing is, there tends as much criticism as there is praise for well-intentioned work to drive change.

How do we change this? Promote authenticity.

Create a culture which allows people to speak up and is forgiving to those who make mistakes. Provide a framework to employees in how to be open, honest whilst creating a safe space. Be constructive. When or if we are offending or making mistakes, provide

About Anju Solanki Founder at MEA Consulting Group Gender Balance | Changing Culture

12 REASONS WHY STARTING YOUR OWN STARTUP IS A GREAT IDEA As the Founder and CEO of Wolfpack Digital, I’ve had the opportunity to work with more than 40 international startups so far, with most of them coming from the tech world. We have advised them with their product strategy, built and helped them grow their award-winning web and mobile products.

As of last year, we started building our own digital products, and these products are turning into independent and profitable businesses. Therefore, it’s fair to say I am a huge fan of what one can learn from the experience of founding a company or a product, especially if done right. There is no singular right or wrong way to do it, though.

After working with many different kinds of start-ups and many founders, after a while it becomes quite easy to observe certain patterns. There are many articles and books out there explaining why one shouldn’t start their own business. Well, I say it’s time to look at all the pros instead, as long as you know what you’re getting into. All these pros are independent of whether the startup is successful or not.

Here is why you should start your own business or startup: 1. You learn to be more efficient: Starting your own business usually means there is only this much you can do with the given resources. By being in a startup or starting your own business, you learn to prioritize better, which is an excellent skill to have and use in your personal and professional life.

2. Your skills diversify: In the very beginning it is probably just you and perhaps the other 1-2 co-founders, having to do everything, from sales and production to team management and all the way to doing paperwork and to repairing the coffee machine. This is the perfect opportunity to find out what works best for you. You are going to be put into situations where you simply have to improve on a certain skill so as to make things work, which means you will have the chance to study and practice more. Trust that all this diverse knowledge will be very useful later, especially if integrated creatively.

3. You build and expand a powerful network: You get to meet many people as you are looking for investors, mentors, team members or co-founders. The power of one’s network is an essential asset in your personal and professional life, therefore even though it may not bring immediate results, it will pay off in the long-term. You will also be pushed towards improving your social and presentation skills, helping greatly in the area of selfconfidence.

4. You learn self-discipline: Although talent, knowledge and flair matter, nothing beats self-discipline when it comes down to getting the job done. Being in a startup helps you become more responsible by making you accountable for your own actions and promises, as you get to feel every single burn and achievement directly and vividly. And yes, this can be absolutely wonderful!

5. You open up to opportunity: This is a very good time to be a founder, as we live in a highly-connected and diverse world where innovation can still make a great impact. There are more and more funding and mentoring opportunities available. Although you may not end up where you imagined yourself at the beginning of your startup journey, be sure all the places you will be visiting are interesting, and the final one may be even better than expected.

6. You become more flexible: You will most likely have a few falls which will teach you in practice that being adaptable is not only a crucial survival skill but also can spice things up in your life and career by opening you to creativity and pivoting, which generally help with having a smoother ride. Being too rigid in a startup is not going to work, so if you are looking into ways of becoming more flexible, consider that a startup may help.

7. You speed up your evolution: Nothing beats a startup in terms of how fast you can learn new skills and accumulate valuable practical and theoretical knowledge.

Getting your hands dirty on so many different levels will help you on your shortcut to successful professional evolution and will help you later in your career, whether this is in your own company, another small company, or a huge corporation.

8. You open up to diversity: A startup opens you to many different opportunities, including diverse events, cultures, ideas, and people. It shows you the world in a different way and teaches you the importance of diversity, as we are all striving to obtain better solutions. These solutions often stem out of difficult, yet essential conversations between people with very different backgrounds and views.

Need help with building a mobile or web app?

Contact the Wolfpack Digital team

9. You learn the importance of balance: As the amount of work you can do is virtually endless (after all, there is no one there this time saying “this is enough”), after a certain amount of time you learn how to combine your activities in a sustainable way, so that both yourself and the business with all its sides can function.

10. You get better self-control: You get to experience a wide range of emotions, from fear to excitement, from confidence to deep disappointment. You learn (sometimes the hard way) to be less dependent on the approval of others and to master your emotions better so as to function and perform well.

11. You really get to know yourself better: Having your own business puts you constantly in new situations, sometimes way out of your comfort zone, and often testing your boundaries. Through this intense exploration, you find out a lot about who you are and what you are capable of, what you like and don’t like.

12. You build great memories: Even if everything crashes and burns after your attempt at starting your own business, you will always have some great memories to look back to and some engaging stories to tell, and for sure many laughs to remember from late nights where your only fuel working on your startup was pure excitement. One thing’s for sure: it’s not going to be boring!

This is it! Definitely go for your own startup and start with medium involvement, while keeping your feet downto-earth. Not to say there aren’t many challenges and potential sacrifices to consider. At the end of the day, you must look at things from all angles. Regardless of what happens, what matters is the way you choose to see it and what you make out of it. The worst that can happen given a constructive attitude is that you gain some experience and learn more about yourself!

Georgina Lupu-Florian (She-Wolf) Georgina Lupu-Florian (or, as friends call her, simply Gina) is the CEO and founder of Wolfpack Digital, a 4-year-old versatile digital agency from ClujNapoca, Transylvania, Romania, with a team of 45+ people. She is super passionate about digital products, as this is where she feels she can bring together her experience in technology, psychology and business management.

Her biggest interest is always finding what is Optimal. She is proud of being a “Jack-of-all-trades” and a master of cats.

HOW DO I KNOW THAT MY TEAM IS SUCCEEDING? I am often asked to define success for teams. Imagine the shocked looks when I say that success is defined by failure, or rather how failure is handled. For the better part of my career, I have worked in the technology industry. In particular, software developers have a presumably deserved reputation for wanting to work on their own. Headset on, servers in the basement (or now in the cloud), the more isolated the better.

What happens then when you ask individuals to work as a team? To define their daily existence based on what others on the team are doing or need? Can it be done?

We hear a lot of talk about psychological safety in the Agile community. It is like any other buzzword tossed around in a classroom and carried over to the staff meeting. However, it really does have to be implemented, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

First, the teams may have to learn a new framework for how they are going to manage their work. Out go the old project management plans that allowed developers to work in a vacuum until a deadline was near. In comes this crazy notion of a daily standup where everyone has to talk, not mumble, to share their status, and admit when they need help.

Then there is a process where there is a backlog of work for a defined, short amount of time, and nobody is going to tell them straight up which task is theirs. They have to decide and then share the tasks they will take up. And at the very end, there is a Review, with developers doing this thing called “Show and tell” – not unlike that done in primary school - where you tote out your most prized possession and share it. Then there is the added pressure, potentially, of this being a leadership mandate to improve performance.

They need to know that their voice is heard; that others will listen and take what they are saying on board.

In comes the coach. Trust has to be built. The team has to trust the coach to guide them through the quagmire of not just talking to their colleagues, but working side by side in this crazy thing called pair programming or work share. They need to know that their voice is heard; that others will listen and take what they are saying on board. They will grow toward self-management, and that growth comes with a lot of pitfalls and roadblocks along the way.

So again, how will we know that the team is successful? Is it when they can execute the Sprints with perfection by perfectly estimating their stories and completing all of them over and over again? No, it will be defined with how quickly they recognise failure, how they respond to it, and how they handle the next event.

I tell people that watching a team truly fail together is like watching all of the pins at the bowling alley fall down.

I tell people that watching a team truly fail together is like watching all of the pins at the bowling alley fall down (a strike). It is an amazing thing to watch them all act in concert in response to an action (the bowling ball coming down the lane), but the truly mesmerising act is watching what happens next. In the case of a team failure, is there an automatic pin reset machine, or will they wait from someone to come and stand then back up one by one? A truly successful team has had enough time to build trust in each other and as such will have an automatic pin reset machine where after they all fall down, they are lifted back up again into place and keep going. THIS is success.

About Indra Books FOUNDER AND CHIEF TRANSFORMATION OFFICER With 25 years of award-winning coaching and leadership experience, Indra has a passion for working with organisations, teams, and individuals to effect meaningful, goal-oriented change grounded in Agile principles. She currently works from Spain to sustainably grow Agile practices around the globe for small to medium sized businesses that want to make value-based change and see results with high-performing teams.

Indra is regularly invited to lead workshops and talks on Agility, and continues to shift the focus from short-term process concerns to long-term investments in company culture, people, and mindset.

WHY ZOMBIES KEPT ME AWAKE LAST NIGHT I hesitated to write this because on the surface it’s hilarious and humiliating, but if by being vulnerable I can help you have a giggle and learn something, it’s a fair swap. On one level this is very funny, it’s just that at 3.45am when you are tired… it’s not.

A bit of background. I don’t like horror films, or in fact any film where anything scary happens, I think my fear reflex is probably around a PG, pushing to a 12A and a 15 is a challenge! However, I love cinema and have one of those monthly card things, so I see a lot of films that I probably wouldn’t ‘pay’ to see. I’m also trying to challenge myself if I think the film is worth seeing. For example, I really wanted to see ‘Flatliners’ as I thought the original was brilliant. The new one is terrifying, especially for those of you with a slight culturally inherited shower curtain fear.

On Friday night I trundled off to Cambridge town to see ‘Maze Runner’ – the third film. I’ve watched the others and they were fine, including the standard weird creature trying to kill them. I can just about manage ‘The Hunger Games’ and it’s the same level… or so I thought. This last film portrays the earth having succumbed to a virus which not only kills you horribly but leaves you as a zombie. (I’m never sure of the virus/zombie link, why can’t people just die, why do they have to ‘turn’ and while I’m at it,why do they have to hide and jump out, surely the element of surprise is that you are a zombie, not that your ability to hide well has returned to that of a small child?)

I digress, over the course of the film we realise that one of the main characters has been bitten and is slowly dying. Of course, there’s a possible antidote and they race to save him and the world. The problem is (spoiler alert), they don’t save him, slowly his eyes turn black and he starts spitting black blood and trying to kill his friend.

So here is my issue, my rational brain knows full well it’s not real, zombies do not exist, it’s great make up and he is in fact the actor who played the cute little boy in ‘Love Actually’. So why does it completely terrify me?! Full credit to the makeup people, it’s realistic enough to spark off my genuine fear response. The problem is that the brain can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy so while I ‘know’ it’s not real, part of my brain thinks it is and after 2 hours of having zombies jump out at me through the screen, my fear response can’t switch off just because I’ve left the cinema. Which for my partner isn’t great as it means I trail behind him room to room because I don’t want to be alone, I refuse to turn off the bedroom light and want to read into the night to try to settle myself – this is not good because I’m actually reading quite a dramatic book at the moment (aimed at 10 year olds!) so it’s not relaxing.

My brain’s protective spirit has come out in force and ignoring all the sensible REAL signs (!), is thinking…well, that zombie thing killed all those people didn’t it, so let’s stay on full paranoid alert to protect you. This is part of what happens with PTSD as well.

It’s also the basis for anxiety reactions. It’s in fact the underlying basis of most of the things in your life that keep you stuck, even those emotional ones you think have nothing to do with fear.The night after the zombie film I’m better – it’s daylight and they don’t often attack in daylight unless you go into dark creepy places and we’ve all watched enough films to recognise those - I drop my plan to clear out the loft. This weekend is poor timing in that no one apart from me is in the house, given that I live with 3 other adults and 2 young teens this is UNHEARD of and something I was really looking forward to…until the zombie film. I’m joking with my partner that I might go stay Saturday night with a friend, he laughs but underneath I’m frantically skimming my mental fileofax of friends to see, a) who has a spare bed, b), who will not strike me off their sane friend list when I ask if I can stay so I can avoid being attacked by a zombie, c) what excuse can I come up with to not admit to b? However, my pride and rational voice tells me to pull myself together, I’m 45 this year after all.

On Saturday I had a great day alone, catching up on work, music playing, doing all the things I tell my kids not to do; leaving plates lying around, eating in the living room, generally not tidying up after myself and that was all good… until I wanted to go to bed. Then zombie fear pops up because it’s dark and I’m having to turn off the TV and it’s very quiet where I live. I’ve already stayed up to 1.30am so I’m really tired. I contemplate sleeping on the sofa but pride (and my incredibly comfortable bed) wins and I go to bed – I don’t read the book for 10-year olds in case it scares me more. I do all the normal things and then lie there, is that the sound of screaming in the distance or just my stomach reacting to me eating a whole bowl of jelly before bed?

I’m going through all the reasons that a zombie can’t get in – I mean, all the doors are locked just like normal, if a zombie was inside it would have eaten me already right?

Or do they prefer to jump out and then eat you – are you tastier scared? Finally, I shut my eyes – light turned down but still on, not brave enough for complete darkness and just fall asleep. I surface several times in the night (probably due to the light, not zombies) and thankfully it’s light when I properly wake up. I survived the zombie apocalypse – I feel I’ve earned a t-shirt.

We can all laugh – I’m fine today, although I definitely have a slight jumpiness still! The problem is that this fear reaction isn’t funny if it’s taking over your life. If you have a phobia, a behaviour or even a belief that stops you, it’s because your mind thinks it’s protecting you from death – it’s very simple your brain, life or death is its main concern and it muddles abstract emotions with concrete physical threat and produces a response to ‘protect’ you.

In my case, hypervigilance. It’s also not helped by the fact that in our family, jumping out at each other has become an art form, get it right and you are rewarded with a ‘well done, that was a good one’. I don’t know where this started except that I am also guilty of doing it, so I can’t complain. The best one was when my partner, waiting until I had my back to the door in our bathroom and just as I was pulling the shower curtain back, jumped out screaming from behind me. That scare is in mythical legend in our family as the time Andrew made Mum pee her pants and cry for half an hour. All true I’m afraid.

So back to the brain, it’s seen something that has scared it, it also has historic reasons for not feeling entirely safe in the house (on the issue of things jumping out anyway) and so it puts itself on full alert to save me. Now, in this case, not too much damage done, I’m okay, if a bit tired and I know that reflex will disappear quickly, but what if it didn’t? It would really start to affect my decisions, my ability to go away alone, be alone, it would limit my life experiences. This is what has happened with my coaching clients, just probably not around zombies! If you have something that affects you on a more than funny level, then don’t put up with it, get some help to clear it. It’s a matter of getting your unconscious mind to stand down and realise that behaviour isn’t working for you. It’s completely achievable. Until then, watch out…for the zombies!

To clear your zombie fears and to discuss how coaching can help you, do ge in touch for a conversation.

MARI WILLIAMS

Mary Henderson Mary Henderson Coaching, Founder & Director.

MARY

HENDERSON What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before started your career/ business?

I truly believe that in today's economy being a specialist is critical and that requires knowledge + wisdom. I stand by the 10,000 rule because I think in todays fast paced economy, systems & methodologies are crucial to solving complex problems. Also, patience is a key ingredient.

Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to persue your dreams as a woman?

How did you handle it?

Yes. Many times. In fact, at the height of my career, my Managing Director was such a tyrant but my attitude is what got me to the end destination. I could see beyond the now and I knew how to use my imagination. I believe that was my secret weapon to this day.

What did you learn from your biggest In your opinion, what is the failure? biggest obstacle to women succeed in the I learned that sometimes failure is your workplace/business? greatest gift. I learned to look inside, belief.

I like to take ask big questions and take time to self Self responsibility for my actions.

I also reflect because on the other side of believe that anyone who is walking darkness is light. an uphill battle in any area of their life should ask "is this right for me" In your opinion, how could the and "Am I in my natural state of workplace/business environment being" . Anything this is "hard" in do to be more inclusive for women? my eyes needs to be questioned.

I think it all comes down to leadership. I don't believe in the concept of us and them. I believe in collaboration and I believe that every human is unique. Job titles are redundant and we need to humanise people, regardless of gender, age, race.

To what do you attribute your success?

My greek heritage. I have learned so much through my heritage... and it has not been an easy ride.

I have had to breakthrough antiquated paradigms that don't work in a modern world, I have had How do you find inspiration to walk the road less travelled and in your life? be ridiculed...but I stood by my own I read books, books, books. Not SELF values and am so glad I did HELP books. I read books on because throughout the pain, I found huge pleasure. philosophy and how to free my self from what is often referred to as the so called human condition.

MAN. KNOW THYSELF. FAVOURITE QUOTE MARY HENDERSON

Michaela Alexis Millenial Linkedin Master, Keynote Speakers, Co-Author of "Think Video" and Trainer

MICHAELA

ALEXIS

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

The universe is indifferent to you, even when it feels like everything is working against you. Nothing will change until you take that fisrt stop.

It is not you against the world, it's you against yesterday's self.

How do you find inspiration?

By looking outside my industry and bubble. I read about 2-3 books a week, and listen to podcasts daily.

Travel has been my muse from the beginning, as well as having honest, deep conversations with my community, both online and offline.

To what do you attribute your success?

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Making tons of mistakes early on, competing against myself, and surrounding myself with people that make me feel unstoppable.

Protect yourself. It's so easy to get excited about new opportunities and be fearful about being too strict about your boundaries. People will take advantage of that, and it's heartbreaking every time. Get a lawyer, get a solid contract, and stand your ground from the beginning. People will respect you for it!

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Open up about it as soon as you're ready. So many people carry around their failures like a backpack full of bricks. We all screw up, we're human.

The sooner you can share your experience and what you've learned from it, the sooner you'll realize that you aren't alone in your battle.

What's your productivity secret?

Prioritizing deep work. If I have to focus, I go to my local library. It's shocking how much you can accomplish with minimal distractions and having the right environment to get into flow.

IN ANY MOMENT OF DECISION, THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS THE RIGHT THING, THE NEST BEST THING IS THE WRONG THING, AND THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS NOTHING. THEODORE ROOSEVELT

FAVOURITE QUOTE MICHAELA ALEXIS

Musidora Jorgensen, Regional Vice President at Salesforce

MUSIDORA

JORGENSEN

In your opinion, how could the tech industry be more inclusive for women?

What do you think we should be doing more of to encourage more girls to consider a career in tech?

I’'d love to see more business leaders take a strong stance on equality - it is a role all businesses can and should play. Through collaboration and partnership, there is a great opportunity for private and public sectors to shape a fairer society and a more inclusive workplace.

At Salesforce, our culture is built around four core values; trust, customer success, innovation and equality.

The equality value and the culture of inclusivity are some of the main reasons why I joined the business. I think the steps which have been taken within our company, such as the gender pay gap actions our CoCEO Marc Benioff took in 2018, are heading in the right direction, but more does need to be done throughout the wider industry

I often say "you can't be what you can't see". It can be hard to break stereotypes and during their formative years, girls don’t see and hear enough from women in tech and STEM at all career and life stages.

They need more role models. We need to encourage female employees at all levels across the industry to be active mentors for the next generation as they evaluate career choices.

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/ business?

Women, more so than our male counterparts, in my opinion, suffer much more with Imposter Syndrome, and not pushing ourselves for the next career move until we have 100% of the pre-requisites. I know that I've suffered from it myself (and still do at times!) and it’s a huge part of what I spend time coaching my mentees on.

It’s no secret that many women in tech have felt their gender affected the way that they are perceived/treated. Have you ever been in a situation like that? How did you handle it?

Not at all, in fact, I’ve found that my gender has always been a great advantage to me in my career in technology, in bringing different perspectives, energy and insights to my customers. I’ve also been lucky to be surrounded by really great people and inspiring mentors.

To what do you attribute your success?

Hard work, a willingness to learn and maintaining a positive attitude.

LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.

BY NEALE DONALD WALSCH FAVOURITE QUOTE MUSIDORA JORGENSEN

Peace Mitchell cofounder of The Women's Business School l

PEACE

MITCHELL If you had one piece of advice What's your productivity secret? to someone just starting out, what would it be?

The secret to my productivity is self care. It may seem counter intuitive Be prepared to learn. Starting a that going to bed early and not business is fun and exciting but it is working weekends would be good challenging too, you will have for an entrepreneur. But I know for setbacks, you will want to quit, you sure that I work at my my most will ugly cry in the bathroom, but if creative best when I'm inspired, you're opne to looking for the creative happy, and able to work in flow. possibilities, if you're adaptable, if you Noone produces good work, when surrounding yourself with good they're exhausted, stressed or people and you're committed to cranky. The 80/20 rule of prioritising investing in yourself as much as you what's important also helps. can, you will suceed.

How do you find inspiration?

I'm constantly inspired by the women around me. My word for this year is magic and because of this I'm looking for signs of magic in my every day environment, noticing when things happen by coincidence and leaving room for magic. It's been a great lesson in recognising that there is magic all around us if we simply take the time to notice it. This has helped me come up with some of my best ideas!

To what do you attribute your success?

Success is an interesting word for me. I read Arianna Huffington's book Thrive a number of years ago and I was inspired to redefine my definition of success. For me success is living a life that you love, it's not about fame or fortune. By this definition I am successful because I have created an amazing business that allows me to live the life that I want and spend so much time with my family.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Don't let your fear, self doubt and insecurity hold you back from shining your light! Fear is a constant companion for anyone doing something new. Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of criticism, fear of overwhelm. It appears in so many forms and I've seen it hold women back. You have to step up, believe in what you're doing and just start, it doesn't have to be perfect, just go for it.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

The biggest lesson I've learnt is to listen to my intuition. When I slow down and get quiet my intuition always knows the right thing to do.

It's when I don't listen to this inner wisdom and I go for something that seems 'to good to be true' yet know that it's not right for me, is when I get into trouble.

INVESTING IN WOMEN IS THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO CHANGE THE WORLD. JENSINE LARSEN

FAVOURITE QUOTE PEACE MITCHELL

Shelly Elsliger Globally Recognized LinkedIn Trainer |Career Specialist|LinkedIn Learning Liaison| Confidence Coach: #BeSociallyFearless

SHELLY ELSLIGER

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Open up about it and learn from it.

True success comes from failure.

Many people don't like to open up about their failures because they fear negative judgement but we all makes mistakes. There was a time that I was scared to let my guard down.

However, luckily I realized that being "emotionally vulnerable" helped me to connect even more with people because we are all imperfectly perfect.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I wish I knew, and believed that I could do anything. I came from a family of pretty conservative folk; from a small village called Jacquet River, NB. They expected me to go into teaching and I did because I thought that is what I had to do. But, later I learned that it just wasn’t enough. I wasn’t fulfilled.

So, I learned everything I needed to learn and found mentors who gave me the “push” I needed.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out,what would it be?

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

My biggest piece of advice is that every expert was once a beginner.

So many people suffer from “Imposter Syndrome”: doubting their accomplishments and knowledge and feeling that there is someone else who can do the job better, has more knowledge, and is more believable and worthy! I say, push through that fear and do it anyway! We all, including some very famous people, experience Imposter Syndrome at one time or another.

Internalize your successes, share and write them down, take risks, and don't "This too Shall Pass!"

I wish I knew, and believed that I could do anything. I came from a family of pretty conservative folk; from a small village called Jacquet River, NB. They expected me to go into teaching and I did because I thought that is what I had to do. But, later I learned that it just wasn’t enough. I wasn’t fulfilled.

So, I learned everything I needed to learn and found mentors who gave me the “push” I needed.

To what do you attribute your success?

I attribute my success to a few things: I am a connector. I love connecting people, helping people, and seeing others rise. Secondly, I have found personal and professional mentors who have been there for me through thick and thin; giving me tough love, advice, suggestions, and an abundance of support. And finally, decluttering my life from negativity in all its forms. I surround myself with positive people, both on and offline.

INSTEAD OF WAITING TO BE NOTICED FIRST, BE A LEADER IN YOUR SPACE LEAN IN, LISTEN IN AND LINK IN! FAVORITE QUOTE SHELLY ELSLIGER

Natalia Talkowska Founder of Natalka Design, Creative Strategist, Communications Specialist, Visual Storyteller, Guest Lecturer at UAL CSM

What's your productivity secret?

NATALIA TALKOWSKA

Tell us about business

you

and

your

Natalia, I run Natalka Design creative agency specialising in visual storytelling helping you to engage, pitch, sell, promote, strategize better and stronger + Doodleledo social fun events for anyone who says ‚I can’t draw!’ both for public and companies, in 20 countries now.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Help people remember, retain and recall information easier, communicate their messages in a creative, easy to grasp way thus (what follows) help them pitch better, sell, promote, engage and strategize better and more powerful.

Drawing people’s attention for you, that’s what we do.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

Visual storytelling in all its shape and form (animation, visuals, brand work, scribing etc), training (visual storytelling training, Doodleledo), consulting and problem solving.

What is unique about your business?

Our visual style (people recognise it, often send us pictures: saw your work here - knew it was you! ) of delivery and how we handle each project as it’s our first one.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yep. Especially being an established business now we get to choose who we work with, not always the other way around.

What's your favourite quote?

Shut up and deal with it.

If you find yourself in a funk - leave what you’re doing now - do something completely different come back to it after. Way more productive than sitting and procrastinating over it.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Buckle up kid - it’s going to be one hell of a ride!

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

It’s normal. As Aaliyah sings: ‘Dust yourself off and try again’.

How do you find inspiration?

Everywhere everyday through talking to people, being on my own, music, art, movie, starring into the sky, walking, you never know when it hits, that’s the beauty of it.

To what do you attribute your success?

Hard work, no whining, knowing I bring value since day 1, my mum being nr #1 support, Darren Robson - my guardian angel who believed in me before I did that I can do it.

NEVER GIVE UP, ASK QUESTIONS, SAY YES, LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, BE STELLAR AT WHAT IT IS YOU DO, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, NOT EVERYONE WILL BUY FROM YOU THAT’S OK. YOUR PIECE OF ADVISE NATALIA TALKOWSKA

Uzo Ijewere Helping Senior Mgmt HR and L&D deliver outstanding results by powering the performance of your people. Coach &Speaker

UZO

IJEWERE Tell us about you and your business?

Augment Results is a business coaching and consulting practise.

We are focused on delivering business transformation by impacting and augmenting the people within it. In a nutshell, we reengineer you and your people to improve results. The word Augment means to "make something greater by adding to it". Therefore, by inference, it means the 'thing' is already good. At Augment, we work with good people who want to be better, in order to provide a consistently excellent service to their clients.

What's unique business?

about

your

We have a few differentiators: ·We do not offer cookie cutter solutions - even in our group mentoring programme where we work with different businesses at the same time.

We take a top down approach – by impacting the executives and senior leadership, change is driven quickly and more permanently through the organisation.

Emotional intelligence training is a key pillar in all our solutions.

What is your mission / your company's goal?

To play a part in disrupting the way of working in large organisations.

To help small businesses adopt more strategic approaches earlier in their development.

To create workplaces where the leaders are communicative and emotionally intelligent, and the people are empowered and trusted to deliver their best work.

Have you turned down a client?

Yes.

What did you learn from your greatest failure?

To forgive myself and keep going.

There is no time to look back.

How do you find your inspiration?

In my faith, in my family, in my relationships – business and personal.

What's your productivity secret?

I learned that multi-tasking is a lie. I focus on accomplishing one task at a time.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Take the time to design your business. It may take a day, or it may take six months.

Give yourself the space to understand what you do and don’t want, and figure out how you will build it.

ANTICIPATE RESISTANCE FAVORITE QUOTE UZO IJEWERE

6 REASONS WHY AI ETHICS IN CORPORATIONS IS ALL TALK AND NO ACTION Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated every industry ranging from financeto automotive and even fashion.

The fear of terrifying human-like sentient machines perpetuated by Hollywood combined with dire warnings from experts has led to a flurry of well-deserved buzz around the ethics of AI. The corporate world has responded with a slow trickle of announcements touting their brand-new AI ethical codes and guidelines. But a recent interview with Neil Raden, the founder of Hired Brains, highlighted that having AI ethics on the discussion agenda is a good start but getting companies to adopt them in any meaningful way continues to be a challenge.

So let’s take a closer look at why concrete action on AI ethics still lags far behind all the talk.

6 REASONS AI ETHICS IN CORPORATIONS IS (MOSTLY) ALL TALK & NO ACTION 1) Ethics is not sexy.

Let’s get real. In the corporate world, new bright shiny objects and initiatives with a direct link to revenue generation are more likely to get visibility and funding. Ethics is neither glamorous or sexy. No one gets an award or promotion because they saved the company (and possibly the human race) from a potential ethical crisis many decades into the future. AI ethics discussions are typically relegated to some “expert committee” that meets semi-regularly. It’s anyone’s guess as to how much of their input and feedback is considered for implementation.

2) Speed to market is everything.

As a newbie employee at a leading tech company, the first piece of advice I received from a top leader was to “Run as fast as you can.” The corporate world is very darwinian and there are no consolation prizes for slowing down or being fastidious in a highly competitive market. Unless ethics are integrated into the company’s processes or are required, most employees will choose the path of least resistance and skip right past them.

3) AI may be forever but most CEOs are not.

According to a recent study, CEO turnover has risen over the past years and their median tenure at large-cap companies is 5yrs. In this short time period, CEOs are typically focused on keeping Wall Street happy, which makes it challenging to get their attention for issues that don’t contribute to the bottom-line. Also, any questionable practices that may cause issues for their successor in the future is not likely to get prioritized because of this short-term focus.

4) Oversimplification vs. paranoia.When it comes to AI, there seem to be two extreme schools of thought. On one side, we have those who believe all AI issues can be solved by well-intentioned technologists. On the other side, we have over-hyping of risks to such an extent that no solution is good enough. The challenge is convincing companies to take a more balanced approach that considers all benefits and risks, while keeping humans at the center of this very important discussion.

5) Carrots or sticks.

To convince human beings (CEOs included) to change behavior, there needs to be an incentive or consequence.

Today, the primary incentive to drive adoption of AI ethics is the warm, fuzzy feeling of doing the right thing.

Government/regulatory agencies can be effective in “nudging” companies to adopt ethical policies and some like the U.K. have stepped up. However, in the current political climate, ethics have become a matter of opinion and vary wildly based on political affiliation so any meaningful regulation is unlikely to garner bipartisan support.

6) Talk is easy, action is hard.

In a global executive survey on AI adoption, Rumman Chowdhury, lead for Responsible AI at Accenture, shared that AI ethics codes in many companies “are more directional than prescriptive.” Even in companies with the right leadership, there is a huge gap in skills and expertise to fully understand all the risks of AI, let alone figuring out how to address them.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? Keeping the hand-wringing and navel-gazing aside, let’s look at some ways that can effectively increase the adoption of AI ethics in corporate world.

Influence at the top.

A recent SAS survey shows that majority of companies with successful AI implementations have an AI Ethics training program in place. Organizations with an enlightened leadership that believes in the importance of AI ethics are already set up for success. For others, an executive level briefing is a good way to get the management familiar with risks/implications of AI. New doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel.

Companies don’t need to start from scratch or create their principles for AI in a vacuum. Existing values and mission statement are a great starting point for any AI ethics code/principles as long as they include these 3 core areas at the minimum — Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency.

Start at the beginning.

Irina Raicu, Director of Internet Ethics at Markkula Center for Applied Ethicsrecommends including training on AI ethics in your new employee on-boarding process. Early indoctrination will help set the right tone for employees and ensure ethics are tightly integrated into the company culture.

Integrate checks and balances.

Regular training and feedback loops are essential so that ethics don’t become an afterthought. A leading financial institution has adopted protocols such that testing/checking of AI algorithms is done by a different team than the one building them. This allows the organization to eliminate any unconscious bias introduced into the algorithms by the developers.

Include diverse perspectives.

AI has traditionally been the realm of technologists but it requires a more collaborative and inclusive approach.

Ethicists, philosophers, privacy advocates and end users should be included in any AI Ethics discussion to make sure solutions/outcomes are human-centric and not purely technology-centric.

Support the good cause.

Last but not the least, Here is a list of top 12+ noteworthy organizationsdedicated to tackling the dark side of AI and who are actively shaping the future of responsible AI. Learn from them, support their work and implement their expert recommendations, wherever possible.

About Mia Dand Mia Dand is the CEO of Lighthouse3.com, a Strategic Research & Advisory firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mia is an experienced marketing leader who helps F5000 companies innovate at scale with digital and emerging technologies. She has built and led new emerging technology programs for global brands including Google, Symantec, HP, eBay and others. Mia is a strong champion for diversity & inclusion in tech. You can reach her on Twitter @MiaD

HOW TO BE A BETTER ENTREPRENEUR?

The entrepreneur is a creative, innovative person, marked by the ability to set and achieve goals.

An entrepreneur is someone that develops ideas, using them to detect business opportunities and make moderately risky decisions. Entrepreneurs also create a new business knowing the risk and the uncertainty of the future, with the purpose of achieving profit and growth through market opportunities.

Before starting a business, it is important that the entrepreneurs carry out a self-assessment, reflecting on aspects of their personality. Whatever is the business, you need to have an ever-present force: self-motivation.

In addition to being motivated, it is necessary to develop some characteristics to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Ability to take risks: Risks are part of any activity and we must learn to manage them. Risk means having the courage to face challenges, to dare to run a new venture and choose the best paths consciously.

Know the business sector: The more you master the field where you want to start your business, the greater the chances of success. It’s great if you already have experience. If you don’t have experience, you need to invest in training courses, books, etc…

Be organized: An entrepreneur must have a sense of organization and ability to use up the resources in a logical and rational way. The organization facilitates the work and saves time and money.

Ability to make decisions: The entrepreneur must be able to make correct decisions at the right moment, to be well informed, to coldly analyze the situation and discuss alternatives in order to choose the most appropriate solution. This quality requires the will to overcome obstacles, an initiative to act objectively and confidence.

Be a leader: The entrepreneur must learn to set goals, guide the execution of tasks, combining practical methods and procedures to encourage people in the direction of defined goals and produce a balanced relationship between the working conditions of staff around the enterprise. Good leaders tend to be people who are always adding something to solve a problem.

Have talent: The entrepreneur must have talent and a certain amount of dissatisfaction in the face of routine activities to transform simple ideas into actual businesses.

Be competitive: For the entrepreneurs become competitive in the foreground they have to be open to changes that take place around the world and they also have to review paradigms.

Have confidence: Self-confidence is an important factor in the entrepreneur’s business, you can make the difference between your success and your failure.

Possess learning ability: Disagreements and conflicts are necessary and even desirable. Without this, there will be no understanding, and without understanding you can only make bad decisions.

Be sensitive to others.

Be assertive and aggressive in relation to business when necessary.

Have a tendency to trust people.

Search continuous profitability.

And be enthusiastic about your business.

About Mary Henderson Mary is an internationally recognised Personal Branding & Online Social Selling Specialist.

Mary helps Service Based Entrepreneurs, Startups, Business Owners and Corporate Executives commercialise their Personal Brand into industry experts.

Mary has 18 years experience building 7 & 8 figure businesses & building high performance sales teams in the IT sector and 13 years delivering online solutions for large and small businesses.

She has been featured in many publications and is regarded a thought leader in the digital sector.

THE MOST UNDERRATED STRATEGY TO GROW YOUR NETWORK ON LINKEDIN LinkedIn is officially a virtual networking platform where you can easily connect to and reach out to people that you would have problems getting in touch with previously.

In one of my previous posts, I've also covered on how to utilize the "new LinkedIn" to amplify your career and business opportunities.

If you haven’t tapped into the power of virtual networking, read on to learn about the most underrated strategy to grow a valuable professional network on LinkedIn.

Ways to connect on LinkedIn Similar to other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, LinkedIn IS a social media platform.

The difference between LinkedIn and the other networks is — this platform is targeted specifically at professionals.

Working professionals and business owners and students.

In the old days, we typically connect with these three main groups of people Recruiters People we work with — current and ex-colleagues, customers/suppliers People we used to go to school or college with Aside from that, it’s considered random to connect with other unknown professionals on the platform. And people think twice about accepting an invitation from a stranger on LinkedIn. Stranger being - someone they've never met face to face in their entire life and they have no real life mutual connections.

The preferred ways to connect with someone — to do a search by their job role or company name and add them to your network presumably for potential business purposes. Or if you know someone from your previous company, it’s normal to add them on LinkedIn too (maybe after you left ;) ).

Of course, that also included accepting an invite from a recruiter especially if you are an employee looking out for future opportunities.

The LinkedIn Platform Today It’s about conversations. Being social.

Socially acceptable to connect with someone you’ve never spoken to beforehand nor met before.

As a professional virtual networking platform, LinkedIn encourages communication between the members.

Publishing articles and videos becomes the spark for discussions and (polite) disagreements. Or as I like to call it — exchanging ideas! Encouraging learning and growth through content and comments. If you are ready to expand your network yet NOT ready to write a post or article yet, this is what you should do: Start writing long comments!

Instead of lurking in the shadows or tapping only on the like button, share your thoughts. Begin a dialogue!!

Why do longer comments help you to grow your connections? ✔You voice your thoughts and exchange ideas with others.

It creates a conversation. And conversation is the starting point of a connection & leads to a relationship.

★Communication is the foundation of relationships★

When you only tap on the like button or don’t elaborate on why you agree or disagree, people don’t get to know what goes on in your head. They don’t feel connected to you.

It’s not just me. When I posed this question to my LinkedIn network, do you comment actively on LinkedIn? If not, why? What are your thoughts about the commenting strategy? I received over 500 likes and over 200 people responded with their thoughts about meaningful comments on LinkedIn. The Golden Result of Longer Comments

When everyone adds in their perspective and illustrates with a personal experience on a post topic, it becomes a goldmine.

A repository of great ideas on top of the opportunity to network.

Let’s look at this scenario: When you leave a thoughtful comment on A’s post updates or article and catches the attention of A’s connection, Z. When Z (who is not connected to you!) replies to your comment, you get the chance of Z’s connections reading your comments and getting to know you too!

That’s the incredible power of commenting!

As an added bonus, after you’ve written a long comment, you can repurpose it for your own source material as an article, post update or even a video!!

The next time you comment, keep this in mind, each comment is the building block of a relationship

Clarice Lin, Marketing Strategist and Founder os BaselinesLabs working with LinkedIn Marketing, Growth marketing and Social Selling.

CLARICE LIN

TECHNOLOGY IS OVERTAKING OUR LIVES.

Technology is overtaking our lives. Artificial Intelligence, for instance, will have a huge impact on our futures; changing the way we cook, shop, pay for things, date, vote, travel and recruit. Globally, 25% of all STEM* graduates are women. And a disproportionally high number of men are determining how this intelligence is programmed. The gender misrepresentation of today is being instilled in the machines of tomorrow. Put simply, the world needs more women in STEM. STEM women are courageous. They should be celebrated for having smashed through outdated stereotypes.

They tussle with unconscious bias; work excessively hard and have the tenacity to push through failures. STEM women are strong, determined, and passionate about their work. I know, because I hear from many women in STEM thanks to a podcast I launched almost a year ago, on International Women in Engineering Day, called Scilence.

Regardless of gender, STEM careers are not easy. If you ever meet a woman in STEM, know that she’s likely to have her own opinions; cares about the wellbeing of others and wants to make a difference in the world. They are not driven by external recognition and validation, but an inner calling.

STEM skills are not necessarily hereditary, although that is my own story. My guests on Scilence open up about their childhoods; from drug-addicted parents to Nobel-prize winning relatives. I keep our conversations anonymous by disguising their voices, which cultivates a safe space for my guests to get raw and honest about their experiences. Most of them describe role models and/or mentors; key people in their lives who either led by example, or believed in them, until they learned to believe in themselves.

A ‘Leaky pipeline’ is a metaphor often used to describe how women drop-out of their STEM aspirations, the further they climb in academia and industry.

For example, there are far less female postgraduates compared to undergraduate level. But, this situation is not hopeless. ’Leaks’ can be fixed with encouragement and support, which is most needed at the very beginning and very end of this pipeline.

I became a mechanical engineer, thanks to my father. As an engineer himself, he always welcomed inquisitiveness, and so my two sisters and I, questioned everything. We had such a hunger to learn and understand, and unsurprisingly, we became sisters in STEM: an engineer, architect and veterinarian.

Curiosity can spark STEM interest in a child's mind, more than expertise. Having a sincere curiosity and appreciation for the world around us and beyond, is infectious, and can enthuse anybody into wanting to find out more.

For me, travelling along the STEM pipeline was gruelling because mathematics and physics were never my forte. I hardly noticed that only 7% of my university class were female. I was laser-focused on qualifying, and cocooned myself in an academic bubble. Baggy clothing, no make-up and a die-hard competitive spirit helped me reach my end goal, but this rather reclusive existence, was never going to fly in industry.

I got my first job as a research engineer at the age of 20. I was the only women amongst 45 engineers (2%) and I faced a cocktail of attitudinal evils. The patriarchal system, conscious and unconscious bias, racism, insecurity, gender discrimination, cultural differences, ego, objectification, I experienced it all. It’s ok, it made me stronger and I’m grateful for that today. I was an easy target at such a vulnerable and tender age, with my brown skin further outnumbering me. I was a minority, within a minority.

Thankfully, despite feeling like an imposter, I did become a Doctor of Engineering in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), a branch of mechanical engineering that uses complex mathematics and algorithms to simulate how gases and liquids flow - an essential tool for designing aircraft wings, Formula1 cars and ironically, more efficient pipes.

It is relatively easy to hide from the reality of being female within the comfort of academia, but we inevitably come face to face with it again at the end of the STEM pipeline. Women have to figure out how to balance competitive jobs with relationships, family, and motherhood. It can be a worrying time, leaving us little choice but to seek more agreeable career options. This was my story. I gravitated towards science communication on TV and digital platforms. Media allowed me, the flexibility to be ‘different’, without being shamed.

By changing perspectives and attitudes towards diversity and inclusivity in STEM, companies can do so much more to retain STEM qualified people; not least because it makes good business sense. It is well researched that innovation has a much stronger global edge when teams can incorporate a wide variety of cultural variations. Differences should be respected instead of judged and prejudices could be obliterated by equalising how men and women are recognised in the workplace.

Identical paternity / maternity leave, is one of the many ways that parental responsibilities are levelled and traditional gender roles are rebalanced. Productivity is increased when companies trust their employees enough to offer flexible and remote working options.

More women, and hence more role models, will enter and stay in STEM careers if their talents are appreciated and nurtured, but we will need to feel wanted and accepted on all levels, before this is achieved. A healthier gender balance is crucial for our future, since technology will continue to have a major impact on our lifestyles. With that in mind, it is essential that the perspectives of women and and other minorities are not overlooked.

Biography Dr. Shini Somara translates cutting-edge science into warm-hearted and engaging television. Her work can be seen on a variety of television networks including BBC World News, BBC America, Sky and Discovery, BBC UK and PBS Digital Studios.

Shini is now based in London, where she hosts and produces an innovation show for CGTN. Most of her broadcasting experience was gained in the USA, hosting TechKnow for Al Jazeera America from Los Angeles.

Shini's fascination for innovation is insatiable and diverse. She has reported on subjects including climate change, food, health, renewable energy, 5G and the IoT. She began her career as a mechanical engineer at Brunel University (London), completing a Bachelors of Engineering (BEng(Hons)) and then an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Fluid Dynamics.

Shini hosted Crash Course: Physics (2016) and Crash Course: Engineering (2018) for PBS Digital. She is passionate about using social media to improve STEM educations for all, believing that knowledge is crucial in helping people help themselves. During her speech at the United Nations in February 2017 for ‘Women and Girls in Science’ day, Shini highlighted the importance of role-model. In June 2018, Shini launched a weekly podcast called Scilence, which features female scientists she has met throughout her TV career.

Scilence provides a safe place for women to share their experiences and wisdom on surviving and thriving in traditionally male-dominated environments and is available iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. *STEM - Science, technology, engineering and mathematics

WOMEN IN TECH UNIQUE LITERACY: IS IT POSSIBLE AND RELEVANT THAT WE HAVE OUR OWN? Hello, empowered and amazing readers!

First of all, I would like to thank so many wonderful comments in my LinkedIn profile and sent by email about my last Digital Business Women article. What a great start in this e-magazine sharing ideas with you, people who are rocking projects which are changing the world. In this issue I would like to invite you thinking about something that has become one of the greatest concerns in my PhD research. We are living a fast and revolutionary gender equality change in technology. After participating in so many women in tech events (online and in person) and having interviewed international references, among other methods of investigation, I came to a question that I consider fundamental to all of us: Will women in technology ever develop unique female ways of working, researching and thinking about IT from a literacy that is perhaps being formed in this revolution?

I´ll make things clear. To start this discussion, I need to put this subject in historical, sociological, technological and business perspectives. Technology was always produced and consumed by men. There were very few female developers. STEAM careers and Academia were a very distant dream for young women, not options.

Computing software and tech devices became close to women since the World Wide Web release, between the end of 90´s and the beginning of this century. Manuel Castells, University of Southern California professor, pointed out how minorities - especially feminist groups and women in general - benefited from the Web to access technological artefacts which provided access to the experience of technology in personal and professional routine. In The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture trilogy, the researcher contextualizes how the emergence of digital platforms, virtual connections between people and the flow of information increase around the world allowed individual immersion for topics of interest.

What came next was an immense awareness among women about new personal, academical and professional opportunities in STEAM careers. This magazine can be considered one of its results. Technology also became a domain where women not only had developed skills but also form new gender and identity relations. It means women started a social, political, economical, sexual empowerment from and through this biggest patriarch field. Here we are talking about our IT achievements, sharing business cases and experiences. Aren’t we doing it in a masculine way and perspective, reproducing old models which are living inside ourselves? Are we prepared to teach next women generations how to perform in technology from a female business and scientific canon and perspectives?

Developing female IT business models, coding, teaching and lead teams might seem awkward but Science has been proving that we have different and special skills. The results of a GitHub study were published in The Guardian two years ago: “Women considered better coders – but only if they hide their gender” 1 . “The researchers examined several different factors, such as whether women were making smaller changes to code (they were not) or whether women were outperforming men in only certain kinds of code (they were not). ´Women’s acceptance rates dominate over men’s for every programming language in the top 10, to various degrees, the researchers found”.

Literacy happens after achieving technical and procedural masteries dealing with electronic devices and computing programmes. It occurs when we interiorize specific IT skills and become able not only to deal with them but also to share and teach them to other people. Is it possible to work, teach and study technology in a specific female cognitive path and literacy? How long will we take to have our own voice, manners, procedures being women in tech? As I said before we are living in the middle of a revolutionary transition.

Now we are occupying and owing tech companies and academic researches. I leave you a suggestion: start paying attention in your daily relation to technology in personal and professional perspectives. See what you needed to learn with woman and man and what you discovered by yourself. Make a list of it and be disruptive: develop your tech model and discuss it with other women. I think it might be a really good start having you in this conversation. Send me your ideas, perhaps they can turn to be a continuation article about women in tech literacy. I´m really looking forward to hearing from you.

About me: I’m a PhD candidate in Doctoral Information and Communication in Digital Platforms Universidade de Aveiro and Universidade do Porto programme. I´m also a Portuguese and Brazilian entrepreneur who have been working, researching, developing and teaching Communication, Transmedia, Digital Marketing and Technology in the last 16 years in Brazil, USA and Europe. I've been working with NGO institutions as a volunteer and consultant since 2004, such as Girls in Tech.

My PhD thesis is a new, disruptive and unprecedented research: building a organizational, communicational and transmedia of empowering and entrepreneurism model to help women in tech become more representative with equal social and economic rights.

Contact me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renatafrade/ frade.renata@gmail.com @renatafrade

RENATA FRADE

WHO ARE THE CGI INFLUENCERS THAT ARE FOOLING EVERYONE ON INSTAGRAM? To start let's explain what is a CGI (in my own words and I am NOT an expert).Basically is a computergenerated imagery created using computer software and special visual effects - it could be still or animated visual content and its used to produce images for visual art, advertising, engineering, anatomical modeling, video games and special effects and could includes Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications.

Have you heard about Lil Miquela or Shudu?

Yeah, they are some of the new influencers in our social media, specially Instagram.Because all of them are models! And insta is the right place to be if you are planning in becoming a model or a superstar...

But they are - besides being models - a CGI Computer-Generated Influencer.

That's it. Miquela, Bermuda, Blawko and Shunu are a computer-generated (CG) character. They are here to disrupt the fashion and lifestyle scene and it is already fooling some of us. They are so convincing that 42% of people who followed them did NOT realizes that they are NOT real, NOT humans (according recent study by the media company Fullscreen).

The Digital Influencer market is set to reach $2 billion in the next two years, according to CBS, so there is a very lucrative niche in this high competitive market. Don't forget that Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Giselle Bundchen and Rosie Huntington-Whitely earn millions per year based on their looks, attitude, yoga poses, iced match tea, makeup, selfies while travelling around the world...they have a life that most of us envy!Wait a minute! CGI also have a life...yeah for real...on Instagram, Twitter!

Meet Lil Miquela - 1.5 million followers Lil Miquela, or Miquela Sousa, is a 19-year-old Brazilian-American model from Los Angeles, California.

She is also a singer and Instagram Influencer with 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and has worked for Chanel, Proenza Schouler, Supreme and Prada.She has released her third single and stars in the pages of American Vogue’'s, V and Paper.

Miquela has her birthday wishes, was spotted buying some old fashion books and people are following her sometimes even not knowing what she is. A robot? A dool?

Meet Bermuda - 133k followers

Bermuda is the most controversial and a little bit of a radical "person"! She is an ex-Trump supporter, ex Blawko girlfriend, a "robot supremacist" and she hacked Miquela's page to give her an ultimatum: tell people the truth (that shes is a CGI).Now both are friends hanging out, going together to have lunch, drinking mocha, travelling around the world and living "life"Having a normal life! Exercising and eating healthy lunch.

Meet Blawko, 135k followers

His name is Ronald, he is 22 yo and loves video games, doesn't clean his room and apparently is in a love triangle (between him, Miquela, and Bermuda).

He is a super model, digital influencer and wear designer clothes all the time and it became a digital influencer!

Meet Shudu, 172k followers

Shudu is the first world's digital supermodel and it is a creation of beauty photographer Cameron James Wilson as an art project. She is a digital influencer and took part at Rihannas's Fenty Beauty Instagram page.Shudu doesn't have a "life" - her instagram doesn't have eating, drinking, exercising... maybe because she is 100% focused on her model career...

Fascinates me that people interact as they are real!

They share their love, their hate, they wish meet them, touch them to say hello, and they are confused if they are real, a robot...I love the comments a part of the abusive ones - don't be a bully even if they do not have real feelings...

Meet Saya - animated CGI

This is Saya and in my opnion, the best CGI at this moment. Why? Because I can see a "human" that I can relate - the way she blinks, her hair boucing, the sweet smile...

The team have added human emotions to Saya like joy, surprise, sadness and fear and next steps is to Saya have autonomous behaviour and a natural voice (scared or excited?)Saya is a project started in 2015 and it's created by Telyuka - Japanese artists Teruyuki Ishikawa & Yuka Ishikawa. They have been improving Saya since them...

Watch Saya Hollywood has been working with CGI for a long time as well, the gaming industry. So to be honest, we are experiencing this technology for a while. I am sure you recognize Avatar, Gollum, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Funny though that when a CGI imitates a human, we feel a little bit ... nervous! Maybe we are a little bit scared of engaging with a "human" that is not a human at all and we cannot recognize this. And most of us feel scare when in front of something that is unknown. A digital person that is interacting and engaging (maybe in the future even having their own opinion about stuff). Right now, as CGI are taking the world by storm...even when we are not aware of that.

click here Candyce Costa Digital Marketing and Social Media Expert , Speaker and Founder and Chief Editor of Digital Business Women

CANDYCE COSTA

30 WOMEN IN TECH YOU SHOULD KNOW THEIR WORK IF YOU’RE NOT FOLLOWING THESE AMAZING WOMEN IN TECH, YOU’RE MISSING OUT! The following 30 women are leaders in their fields (and I am so proud to know and call some of them, friends!).

They are a bunch of knowledgeable and very passionate women who are masters in their industries causing a strong impact wherever they are - follow their work to learn from them and to be inspired.

So without further ado, I want to introduce to you some of my favorite women to follow and the reason to why follow them will inspire you (in alphabetical order).

Aceil Halaby Who is she? Co-Founder and COO, BloomerHealthTech Why should I follow her? Bloomer Tech is integrating advanced fabrics technology and machine learning to turn everyday clothes, such as a women's bra into lifestyle medical and healthcare devices..

Amali de Alwis Who is she? Managing Director, Microsoft for Startups UK at Microsoft. (she was the CEO of Code First: Girls).

Why should I follow her? Amali is one of the biggest advocate and supporter of women in to the tech industry. She is also a mentor and advisory board member of several organizations.

Angela Yu Who is she? NHS doctor; founder and managing director, London App Brewery.

Why should I follow her? Angela finds time to be a doctor at NHS and manage London App Brewery with a mission of eeaching 250,000 students how to code.

Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon Who is she? CEO, Stemettes.

Why should I follow her? Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE is a British computing, mathematics and language child prodigy. She is one of the youngest to pass two GCSEs in two different subjects while in primary school. Imafidon founded and became CEO of Stemettes in 2013, a social enterprise promoting women in STEM careers

Bethany Koby Who is she? CEO and co-founder, Technology Will Save Us. Why should I follow her?

Her company educates and enables people to make and experiment creatively with technology.

Charlotte Robertson Who is she? MD and co-founder, Digital Awareness UK. Why should I follow her? Digital Awareness UK is a leading online safety events and content company, with an innovative approach to tackling the most critical online safety issues impacting young people today, from sexting to social media addition to grooming.

Dr. Christyl Johnson Who is she? Deputy Center Director for Technology and Research Investments at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Why should I follow her? Dr. Johnson works for Nasa and it has been responsible for the R&D portfolio for Goddard Space Flight Center. Oversee Engineering, technology development, strategic science objectives and new business opportunities

Fei-Fei Li Who is she? Director, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. Why should I follow her?

Li is one of the top minds in Artificial Intelligence. She co-create ImageNet, a visual object recognition database which presage the beginning of the deep learning revolution. She also cofounder AI4ALL, a nonprofit dedicated boosting diversity and inclusion in AI education, research, development and policy.

Jacky Wright Who is she? Chief digital and information officer, HMRC and Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Microsoft.

Why should I follow her? Jackie is a great leader, champion and, advocate of women in technology.

Jasmine Anteunis Who is she? VP Product and Cofounder, Recast.AI. Why should I follow her? She founded the artificially intelligent chatbot company Recast.AI in 2015. It was this year acquired by software giant SAP. Recast.AI serves more than 20 high-profile customers including telecoms company SFR, construction group Bouygues and French rail firm SNCF.

Dr. Jess Wade Who is she? Physicist at Imperial College London.

Why should I follow her? She's a physicist at Imperial College London studying organic light emitting diodes and has authored at least 400 pages on Wikipedia and, in late 2018, raised more than ÂŁ20,000 to get a copy of "Inferior," a book about how women are ignored by science, into every UK state school.

Joy Buolamwini Who is she? Founder, Algorithmic Justice League.

Why should I follow her? Joy is a Ghanaian-American computer scientist and digital activist based at the MIT Media Lab. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League, an organisation that looks to challenge bias in decision making software.

June Angelides Who is she? Founder, Mums in Technology; investor, Samos Investments; founding ambassador, Fifty Fifty Pledge.

Why should I follow her? She is the founder of Mums in Technology, which she set up in 2015 while in maternity leave from Silicon valley Bank. Mums in Technology encourages new mothers to take their children to school with them while they learn to code.

Kriti Sharma Who is she? Founder, AI for Good.

Why should I follow her? She is an AI technologist and the Founder of AI for Good, an organization that builds technical solutions for social good.

Lisa Falzone Who is she? CEO & Co-Founder, Athena Security.

Why should I follow her? Lisa create Athena Security, a threat detection platform to help prevent crime. Their mission is to save lives, and that includes all children.

Marita Cheng Who is she? Founder & CEO, 2Mar Robotics Why should I follow her? She founded Aubot, a telepresence robot designed for kids with cancer to virtually attend school, and people with a disability to attend work. Cheng also cofounded Airpoly, an app that recognizes and relays objects in real-time for the visually impaired and Robogals, an international student-run organization for young women pursuing education and careers in engineering which has taught over 70,000 robotics workshops around the world.

Marta Krupinska Who is she? Head of Google for Startups UK, Google; founder, Astarte Ventures.

Why should I follow her?

Co-founder of Azimo, global FinTech leader, working with entrepreneurs in technology and sustainability and fostering opportunities in GovTech.

Martha Lane Fox Who is she? Founder and Executive Chair, Doteveryone.org.uk Why should I follow her? She is the founder of one Think tank championining responsible technology for a fairer future.

Melanie Perkins Who is she? CEO and co-founder, Canva.

Why should I follow her? She is one of the youngest female CEO to be leading a tech startup valued at over a billion dollars. At 32, she is one of the world's youngest female founder of an unicorn.

Mursal Hedayat Who is she? Co-founder and CEO, Chatterbox.

Why should I follow her? She is one of the founders of Chatterbox, language learning service employing refugees to teach their skills to people who want to learn.

Priya Lakhani Who is she? Founder and CEO, Century Tech.

Why should I follow her? She is the founderof Century Tech, a company working with artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain in education, learning and development..

Roberta (Beta) Lucca Who is she? Co-founder, chief brand officer and board director, Bossa Studios and creative director and host, Beta Lucca YouTube Channel.

Why should I follow her? Check her YouTube channel! (BAFTAwinning Super Indie Games developer and publisher).

Samantha Payne Who is she? Co-founder and COO, Open Bionics.

Why should I follow her? Co-Founder of Open Bionics; an award-winning startup developing low-cost bionic hands that look and feel good, for amputees or those born without a hand.

Now part of the Disney Accelerator, powered by Techstars!

Sheree Atcheson Who is she? Global ambassador, Women Who Code; consulting inclusion lead, Deloitte UK. Why should I follow her? She is a global Diversity & Inclusion leader and a passionate advocate for gaining/retaining women in the tech industry, she launched & led the award-winning U.K. expansion of Women Who Code since 2013.

Rana el Kaliouby Who is she? CEO and cofounder, Affectiva Why should I follow her? She cofounded Affectiva, a facial and vocal recognition software that spun out of MIT Media Lab. El Kaliouby lends her expertise as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a co-host of PBS NOVA Wonders series.

Prof Sue Black Who is she? Professor of Computer Science and Technology Evangelist, UK Government Strategic Advisor, Women’s Equality Party candidate for London Mayor 2020.

Why should I follow her?

She is the founder of Techmums, a charity which empowers mothers in tech basis, is a government advisor and mentor at Google. .

Suki Fuller Who is she? Founder, Miribure and Venture Capital and FiftyFiftyPledge Why should I follow her?

She is the founder of Miribure a strategic & competitive Intelligence company that tells the story of data by taking you on the journey from data gathering, organizing and analyzing to a point of understanding your next potential chapter..

Tabitha Goldstaub Who is she? Co Founder, CognitionX & Chair of the UK Government's AI Council.

Why should I follow her? CognitionX’s mission is to bring clarity to, and accelerate adoption of, AI across all organisations from global enterprises to startups, and help ensure a safe and responsible transition to an AI-driven society.

Tania Boler Who is she? Founder and CEO, Elive..

Why should I follow her? She is the founder of Elvie, a pioneering female-first innnovation in tech to improve the lives of women around the world.

Wendy Tan White Who is she? VP of X – Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory; board trustee, Alan Turing Institute; member, Digital Economy Council.

Why should I follow her? She is a technology innovator, entrepreneur and investor. She is Vice President at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory. X is a diverse group of inventors and entrepreneurs who build and launch technologies and companies that aim to improve the lives of billions of people. It’s goal to 10x impact on the world’s most intractable problems.

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