The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders Making Change, 2022

The

10 Most Innovative Business Leaders

Making Change, 2022

Founder, Director, CEO / Sales & Leadership Expert / Facilitator / Author/ International Speaker / Management Consultant Rainmakers Business Solutions

EDITOR’S NOTE

Enabling a Realm of Unending Innovations

In the ever-evolving business arena, a visionary mindset can

enrich business organizations to scale progress with the foresight to become a prominent name in the industry. This isn't rocket science but the outcome of appropriate processes and methods by which businesses achieve major organizational improvements.

It requires a targeted approach that considers both the challenges to change, and the strategies needed to overcome them. And even more so, it requires changing leadership with the right traits to help a business come out on top. It's probably not much of a surprise to learn that change management leaders need to be able to communicate with their teams. But effective communication goes beyond just relaying what needs to get done.

Effective change leaders are able to communicate the purpose behind each step and how various tasks fit into the overall mission. And because communication goes both ways, they are also proficient listeners who value the input of everyone on the team.

While considering the instincts that provocate to furnish the final product, leaders have always come forth with the most prominent structural distinction to enhance the global business arena. Inculcation of such extraordinary factors leads to the formation of next-gen technological changes and transformation, adhering to initiate the pillars of the modern generational pillars that sustain the progression of Universal Renovation.

Adhering to the fundamentals that contribute to the unending quest of enabling transformations that drive innovations and

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders Making Change, 2022

perpetual betterments, CIOLook through its latest edition — " The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders Making Change, 2022 ," spotlights the icons of a change that contributes to the unending innovations of the modern business arena.

Flip through the pages and embrace the journey of these proficient leaders who are upbringing the perpetual enhancements through a distinct but visionary approach and enabling a realm of unending innovations.

Have a Delightful Read!

Abhishek Joshi A b h i s h e k J os h i

Shellie Jones Editor-in-Chief

CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann

Executive Editors Abhishek Joshi DESIGN

Visualizer Dave Bates

Art & Design Director Revati Badkas

Associate Designer Sandeep Tikode SALES

Vice President Operations Kshitij S. Senior Sales Manager Prathamesh Tate Sales Executives Rohit, John

TECHNICAL

Technical Head Amar Sawant

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SME-SMO

Research Analyst Eric Smith

SEO Executive Ravindra Kadam

sales@ciolook.com

Technical Consultant Victor Collins November, 2022

Featured Person

Denise Sangster

Founder and CEO

Brief Company Name

Global Touch, Inc. globaltouch.com

Emma Hernandez CEO

Jackie Rainforth Sales Expert/Speaker/ Author/ Media Host

Joana

McKenna CEO

Jordan Catapano CEO

SCD Corporation scdcorp.org

RAINMAKERS BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

rainmakersgroup.ca

Jane Inc. Jane.com

Girls Walk into Bar hisgirlwalksintoabar.com

Global Touch is a partner-focused data-driven strategy and goto market transformation consulting firm for the hybrid and consumption era.

SCDC has 19 years of community outreach experience and has developed strong partnerships with several hundred schools, churches, nonprofits, businesses, and community leaders.

Rainmakers will elevate you and your team entire team to the next level, helping you to achieve the learning processes, skillsets, and techniques required to make it rain results and grow your business to UNSTOPPABLE.

Jane is a curated marketplace with more than 2,000 shops plus big brands and designer names.

This Girl Walks into A Bar is a bartending service that provides highly trained, polished, professional, friendly bartenders so you get the very best behind the bar.

Kristen Wysocki Owner

Kreative Kustoms is a local collective gift shop & boutique, specializing in custom and personalized keepsakes. Kreative Kustoms Inc. kreativekustoms.net

Kristi McLachlan Director

Robert M. Bruski, Chief Executive Officer

Stuart Long CEO

Hatch LLC hatch.com

Hatch is passionately committed to the pursuit of a better world through positive change.

UPS ups.com

InfoBionic infobionic.com

Tanmay Arora CEO

Unwired India unwiredindia.com

Ctrl V has developed one of the most refined and sophisticated franchise infrastructures in the VR industry.

InfoBionic’s vision is to deliver the first telemetry platform capable of supporting any level of acuity, anywhere virtual care is delivered.

Unwired India is a neurotech-startup that aims at integrating state-of-the-art research and developments in STEM, for catalyzing the transition of Neuroscience to Neurotechnology.

Jackie Rainforth, Founder, Director, CEO / Sales & Leadership Expert / Facilitator / Author/ International Speaker / Management Consultant Rainmakers Business Solutions

Founder and CEO of the nationally acclaimed Rainmakers Business Solutions , Jackie Rainforth, is a global award-winning and much sought-after sales trainer, conference speaker, and management consultant, nationally recognized for her customizable, value-added sales. sales leadership, and business learning programs and presentations. Her proven selling and leadership strategies continue to up-level the performance and productivity of professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, sales teams, and organizations, taking them from stalled to unstoppable.

A Motivated Presence

As a facilitator and management consultant, Jackie provides recommendations to improve overall client results and efficiency by reviewing and advising on methods and systems to improve a client's financial, economic, or technical sales and leadership performance.

Jackie educates, entertains, and empowers audiences with motivating, engaging, and powerful presentations

as an internationally recognized speaker. She offers life experience that extends beyond the corporate and entrepreneurial arenas to help elevate people and organizations to higher levels of confidence and success in sales, business, and life. Jackie knows how to create success in business, but she isn't just teaching it...she knows it, loves it, and lives it.

And she has the awards to prove it. GLOBAL Top 200 Power Voices of Leadership 2022 GLOBAL ThoughtLeader and Influencer to Watch in 2021, RBC Woman of Influence 2021, and Entrepreneur of Canada award nominee, Top 10 Women in Alberta 2020, and more.

Paving the Path

Jackie started her sales training business in 2016 after surviving a tragic, near-fatal scuba-diving incident where she could not breathe 45' under the water. Literally faced with death and living to tell the tale, a new passion for helping others find confidence and success in life and business became her new path. She knew it was the time to share her personal selling system and her experience as she began her journey as the successful entrepreneurial force she is today.

Jackie rose to the top of the male-dominated construction industry. However, when she first started out in sales, she, like many, thought having 'personality and charm' and 'winging it' would be enough to succeed in selling – it wasn't. Then she tried following traditional, structured and scripted sales practices that were the status quo in the sales training industry, but they didn't work either. Too complicated, she knew there had to be a simpler way.

Trusting her instincts, she developed her own unique way of selling, focusing on how she could enhance the customer experience with a 'simple' genuinely authentic customer service approach.

The inventive strategy paid off For over 25 years, Jackie's sales figures catapulted her as a top performer at every company she worked for. Over time these 'simple, repeatable processes' became the foundation for her highly effective and extremely popular 'SELLING MADE SIMPLE Sales Success System', which is now elevating the incomes, revenues, results, and profitability of professionals, entrepreneurs, and organizations. The demand for her management consulting services as well as sales training and

speaking has skyrocketed, and she has become a notable innovator in the Sales Training Industry.

Leading From the Front

The concept of 'Selling Made Simple' is based on simple, repetitive processes that are easy to learn, retain, and more importantly, implement out in the field. Selling without a plan is like driving a car without a roadmap. Not a very practical or successful way to get to your final destination.

Top Sales people are always planned, prepared and practiced with their their organizational goals, strategy, conversation and focus predetermined. But most importantly, they are laser focused on the steps of the selling process. "Selling Made Simple' is a system of simple processes that allows you to create a mental map so you what to say and when to say it, so you can be that confident and authoritative expert that customers trust, respect and want to buy from. Statistics show those who use formal process earn 28% more than those who do not (HBR)

It comes down to neuroscience and the brain. When you lack confidence and competence, your brain shifts from the analytic-left side to the emotional-right side, and due to this, a 'fight-flight-freeze' response kicks in. This may lead to you missing important steps in the sales cycle and commit classic mistakes in selling.

Jackie emphasizes on building the fundamental hard skills required in selling is crucial to laying a solid foundation, but technical skill is no longer enough. The 'Selling Made Simple' programs utilize a unique, modern, and holistic approach, which is why RAINMAKERS are largely successful in achieving outstanding results for clients.

Jackie has set high standards from her decades of award-winning, record-breaking personal achievements, as a sales representative, regional manager, executive sales leader, and Founder and CEO running her own extremely lucrative sales agency representing a global brand. Highly certified, she has incorporated many exclusive elements and methodologies into her programs to ensure the maximum success rate and return on investment dollar for her clients. Her training and management are unique because of her innovative focus on improving confidence, soft skills and emotional intelligence which

cannot be overlooked as they enable employees to work and interact effectively and perform optimally.

Harvard Business Review reports that today's organizations prioritize social skills above technical know-how, as the demand for emotional intelligence and soft skills will continue to grow.

RAINMAKERS is ahead of this curve, leading the change in the sales and business training industries.

‘Personality to Profit' is a part of the program created by Jackie. This is a powerful, proven technique to easily identify a client's personality type, purchasing triggers, and communication style. The motives and appeals that lure the prospects allow you to clearly deliver your message in a way that effectively influences and aligns the idea with your client to maximize sales and optimize your business.

With prospecting being such an essential proponent of selling, RAINMAKERS include 'Powerful Telephone Skills' and 'Generating Leads & Finding New Customers' to hone the real-life skills that companies, salespeople, and business owners require today.

'Selling Made Simple' is also distinctive in that it offers coaching sessions, role-play, and focuses on incremental and accountability learning, creating a fully inclusive training or consulting package.

Elevate your sales, revenues, & profitability to a higher level of success.

By the People

Here are some testimonials that describe Jackie's work “Jackie's training is beyond exceptional! She makes selling simple! My selling excelled beyond my wildest dreams! I was able to increase sales by 77% with my top customer!”

-Brittney Wilson, Account Manager

“Jackie Rainforth is an exceptional sales trainer and consultant. Her knowledge, professionalism, and enthusiasm are second to none. Her insight is leading edge, creating custom sales tools that enable our sales associates to excel. Our team was able to apply what they learned and increased sales by 20%.”

-Rose-Ann Normandeau, CEO

“I was struggling to secure new customers and generate sales. Jackie changed my life. She helped me re-work all aspects of my sales prospecting and pipeline process. The result…my sales tripled in less than a month, and my confidence drastically improved. I am lucky that Jackie was there for me with the guidance I needed – She is the reason for my success.”

-Robert Chmielinski, Sales

Jackie is a strategic thinker which allows her to adapt her training techniques to all levels of employees – from Entry Level to Executive Management.

Her modern, yet simple approach to selling, ensures everyone who completes the 'Selling Made Simple' course gains structure and confidence in the face of the customer.

Not only does Jackie have a wide variety of pre-set courses to choose from but can also customize to the company and/or individuals needs.

Jackie also provides a thorough summary at the completion of each training, along with recommendations to assist management with continually growing their employees' skill sets. I would highly recommend her to any company, big or small, who is looking to increase the efficiency and productivity of their team."

-Jared Bonnett Partner, Equipco Ltd.

Bequeathing Brilliance

Regardless of where you are in your career, or what your sales or leadership goals are, we have the customized training, speaking, and business management consulting solutions to meet your needs. We help MAKE IT RAIN RESULTS as you take your business to UNSTOPPABLE!

Jackie signs ....

Jackie signed her highly acclaimed book The Badass Guide to Superstar Selling with words she lives by Dream Big – Push Through Fear and Be Badass in All You Do!

Denise

Sangster Founder and CEO Global Touch Inc

We help our clients stay a step ahead of market trends and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

Denise Sangster

Unleashing Power of Partner Ecosystems, and Accelerating IT Company-partner Success

Starting a business is not an easy road to take as

you are faced with different challenges, including but not limited to reputation, network, funding, and much more. Starting a global business as a woman thirty years ago was met with once in a life time opportunity and a few bumps in the road.

For Denise Sangster , President and CEO of Global Touch, Inc., she thrived in her global journey in spite of two initial challenges: the lack of a broad or global reputation beyond the database world and being an American female working globally, both of which she turned into assets.

For over 30 years, Denise has been a frequent speaker at IT companies, partners, and Wall Street events worldwide. She has advised the world’s most innovative technology companies. She helped and inspired them to build cutting-edge disruption through next-generation partner ecosystems that generate predictable and sustainable revenue, growth, and profitability aligned with required customer business outcomes.

Along the way, Denise developed a global expertise for ‘unleashing’ the power of partners and their ecosystems. She also created triangular success for her clients by transforming their competitive advantage through 360° of alignment and disruptive innovation between IT companies, partners, and customers.

Providing Competitive Advantage to Clients & Innovative Outcomes

Denise believes most technology companies continue to utilize methods, investments, and subsidies that were first created more than 15 years ago, often resulting in their (selling, consulting, and services) partners suffering from profit underperformance, translating into an IT company’s underperformance of their growth and revenue potential. She is a strong proponent of a fresh approach based on data and metrics, as well as other tools to help shorten and maximize sales cycles and the continuous customer lifecycle.

Balancing Current Performance with Need to Transform

All of the work Global Touch does for its clients is about balancing current performance with the need to transform to be ready for future opportunities and threats. This means the company is looking at the best ways to bring products to market, which includes leveraging emerging routes to market (i.e., marketplaces, managed services, etc.) and embracing traditional (distribution, resale, etc.) and atypical routes (i.e., OEM, white labeling, etc.).

Evaluating Impactful Opportunities to Create Unique Value

Global Touch is always evaluating impactful opportunities to generate unique value for its clients, partnerships, and mutual customers. It continually asks itself how it can “up” its services and make its partners

even more successful. It is working on a few ideas that should be ready in the second half of 2022, but it can’t talk about them until then.

Sharing Wisdom for Tomorrow’s Leaders

Denise is a big believer that we need to help those who will follow as next generation leaders. She offers six recommendations for those who will stand on our shoulders.

Ø Always be exceptionally well prepared for every meeting and discussion, and dazzle peers, superiors, and clients with strategic thinking and readiness for anything that will move the company or client forward.

Ø Make a memorable first impression! You must be prepared with the correct business knowledge, social manners, and appropriate etiquette, plus

realize the value of a solid handshake or cultural greeting for both women and men.

Ø Treat customers as customers for life, and devise ways to interact with them, even when they don’t have the budget to make short-term purchases.

Ø Women leaders of tomorrow must upgrade their self-talk, turn off their inner critic, and, instead, turn on their inner coach.

Ø Celebrate small daily successes with your team.

Ø Nurture your network around the world.

Denise considers herself lucky that many in her worldwide network have turned into personal friendships and has enjoyed watching their children grow up, seeing many join the IT industry.

How is Social Media Platforms Emerging as Enhanced Communication tools in the Modern Era of Innovations?

Rapid change is occurring on the internet. Between 1995 and 2014, there were over 30 million escalations in the number of internet consumers. According to Lenhart et al. (2010), users use social media more and more. Since the advent of social media platforms, teens and young people prefer using the internet above other technologies because they swiftly adopt new technologies. Most use social media to set up personal profiles, share their daily activities, add photos and communicate with friends and family. Essentially, social media emergence brought about innovation which continues to positively impact society in various situations, as this essay depicts.

One of the major innovative insights in social media is the creation of a professional network to forge and solidify connections in the corporate world. The most recent online communication technology is social networking sites, which let users build networks with either public or private profiles and communicate with others in those networks (Osorio, & Papagiannidis, 2022). Examples of social media include wikis, media blogs (including photos and videos), distribution tools, interacting services, and internet-connected worlds. These tools are responsible for facilitating communication and sharing ideas worldwide so that people can remain in the comfort of their houses and receive quality information. Urista et al. (2009) further depicted that through virtual contact, social media platforms satisfy various requirements and interests. It is a practical way of communicating that enables individuals to remain connected with family and allies at their own pace and on their terms.

Since social media is one of several means of communication that let users quickly and broadly share information, it is incredibly effective. Research by Duggan and Brenner (2012) shows that 83% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 use social networking sites to spread information. Social media enhances student participation outside the classroom and fosters the development of new, creative learning methods (Ivala & Gachago, 2012; Bynum, 2011).

Essentially, applications like Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn are frequently mentioned while exploring social media. Greenwood and Gopal (2015) argued that these user-generated content-driven applications significantly impact various contexts, including business practices, political issues, and the promotion of capitalism.

Essentially, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter remain some of the most innovative social media platforms. Businesses have realized their potential and accepted to maximally use them in their marketing agendas. Unlike traditional mass media, these social media platforms have wide coverage and more innovations in terms of visual presentations, such as images and videos where a company can advertise its products and services. The innovativeness has increased the airtime for businesses to advertise their products at a reduced cost as opposed to the traditional media, which are extremely expensive for most organizations. In addition to marketing, social media provides innovative resources and makes it easy for buyers to order their favorite products efficiently without physically visiting

Author

the various outlets. Sellers then deliver the products and services to wherever their customers are after connecting through social media (. Yao et al., 2019)

Another significant social media innovative component is user evaluations, which raise questions about information quality, validity, and authenticity. Virtual groups have largely remained fruitful in uniting people who share happiness and objectives, making the idea of microblogging very well-liked. While reports on current events or personal status updates dominate social media communication, other posts are support-seeking, where users ask for help and support. According to Maier et al. (2015), Kapoor et al. (2018) depicted that social networking and other forms of social media are persuasive and compelling. The phenomenon of specialization, which has affected every previous media form, appears to be occurring with social media stages. These platforms are becoming increasingly specialized to cater to particular target markets. The evolution of social networking sites may follow this pattern.

Social media enables the relationships development across users from diverse settings, generating a robust social configuration. Sohn and Choi (2019) stated that numerous information is given out as a significant outcome of the given social system, offering users a significant service value suggestion. However, a concern with this information surplus is that users occasionally scuffle to realize trustworthy material that assists them with their demands. Sohn and Choi (2019) further deliberated that social media platforms are already so ingrained in individuals' daily lives whereby they depend on them for almost all their demands, such as social connection, entertainment, illustrating goods through adverts and work management. People also use social media to get key updates on current trends. The connection aspects using social media are very innovative such that people can use live videos, texts and images, all of which increase the efficiency of the message received and sent.

For entertainment, people can watch free videos, which relieves them from the effort required to access mainstream channels which may not always offer them the good variety of media they require. YouTube has become very popularly for video creation and sharing. Besides entertainment, social media channels such as YouTube have offered tutor a good platform for innovative tutoring and sharing other educative content. A key illustration of this was during the Covid-

19 lockdowns when many tutors took advantage of social media to share illustrative videos for lectures (Wijayaa et al., 2021). By sharing the links with their students, they continued with an engagement that reflected similar insights to those in the classroom environment.

It is fascinating that social media endorse the development of online information societies and selfhelp systems. Businesses realize that social media is a crucial indicator of equity rate that not only boosts performance over the near term but also increases productivity over the long term. Luo et al. (2013) research imply that integrating social media into businesses boosts meta-knowledge (who is who in a company and what they do), preventing knowledge duplication and encouraging innovative methods of job management. Active social media management has been found to be more successful when internal employees rather than external ones are involved.

Leonardi (2014) research focused on the content shared in online communities, and many of them discuss the effects of some of this content being utilized as a channel for public awareness during important events and disasters. Furthermore, Miller and Tucker (2013) concentrated on investigating the use of social media as a podium for offering and getting help or support, as well as its integration into the sphere of healthcare and public administration, which has produced some interesting discoveries regarding its assistance in communication competency.

In terms of business meetings and conferences, social media has provided innovative resources such as webinars and tagboards, which offer an opportunity to share functions across various jurisdictions. Webinars are online seminars where a presentation is transformed into real-time communication between various parties sharing information. As a result, people do not need to move to a certain place to meet but are connected wherever they are. This innovativeness saves time, money and space as the major resources required for these special events (Rubinger et al., 2020). Consequently, as many people as possible can be accommodated through social media engagement for meetings and related occasions.

In conclusion, social media sites have significantly altered how people choose to work and interact.

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Greenwood, B. N., & Gopal, A. (2015). Research note—Tigerblood: Newspapers, blogs, and the founding of informaon echnology firms. Informaon Systems Research , 26 (4), 812-828.

Ismagilova, E., Dwivedi, Y. K., Slade, E., & Williams, M. D. (2017). Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in the markeng ontext: A state of the art analysis and future direcons . Cham: Springer Internaonal Publishing.

Kallinikos, J., & Tempini, N. (2014). Paet data as medical facts: Social media prracces as aoundadaoor medical knowledge creareaon. Informaon Systems Research , 25 (4), 817-833.

Kapoor, K. K., Tamilmani, K., Rana, N. P., Pal, ., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Nerur, S. (2018). Advances in social media research: Past, present and future. Informaon Systems Froner , 20 (3), 531-558.

Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., & Zickuhr, K. (2010). Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults. Millennials. Pew internet & American life project

Leonardi, P. M. (2014). Social media, knowledge sharing, and innovaon: oward a theory of communicaaon visibili. Informaon ystems research , 25 (4), 796-816.

Luo, L., Wang, Y., & Han, L. (2013). Markeng via social media: a ase study. Library Hi Tech , 31 (3), 455-466.

Maier, C., Laumer, S., Weinert, C., & Weitzel, T. (2015). The effects of technostress and switching stress on disconnnued use of social neorking services: a study of Facebook use. Informaon ystems Journal , 25 (3), 275-308.

Miller, A. R., & Tucker, C. (2013). Ace social media management: the case of health care. Informaon ystems Research , 24 (1), 52-70.

O'Connor, K. W., Schmidt, G. B., & Drouin, M. (2016). Suspended because of social media? Students' knowledge and opinions of university social media policies and pracces. Computers in Human Behavior , 65 , 619-626.

Osorio, C. A., & Papagiannidis, S. (2022). A study of networking and informaon xchange factorrs influencing user parcipaon in Niche social orking sites. In Research Anthology on Usage, Ident, and Impact of Social Media on Society and Culture (pp. 239-262). IGI Global.

Rubinger, L., Gazendam, A., Ekhari, S., Nucci, N., ayne, A., Johal, H., ... & Bhandari, M. (2020). Maaximizing virtual meengs andonferences: a review of best pracces. Internaonal orthopaedic , 44 (8), 1461-1466.

Sohn, D., & Choi, S. (2019). Social embeddedness of persuasion: effects of ccognite social structures on informamaonedibility assessment and sharing in social media. Internaonal Journal of Adversi , 38 (6), 824-844.

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Wijayaa, O., Sulisanib, S., Pudjowaac,., Kurniasih, N., & Purwanto, A. (2021). The role of social media markrket, entertainment, customizaizaon, trendiness, interacon and ord-of-mouth on purchase intennon: An empiral study from Indonesian smartphone consumers. Internaonal Journal of Data and Network Science , 5 (3), 231-238.

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Wysocki , Founder Kreative Kustoms

Kristen

of Companionate Artistry Kristen

A

Story

Wysocki

Most passions just remain hobbies because

people rarely take the latter seriously or let their self-doubts win over and choose to compromise instead. But the few who gather courage and take the leap often find that there is not only success but fulfilment, satisfaction, and happiness beyond. This is demonstrated clearly in the story of Kristen Wysocki , the Founder of Kreative Kustoms .

As a young child, Kristen loved to create and craft, which she made into a successful side hustle as an adult. She made customized gifts and one-of-a-kind merchandise and ran a successful business from her home office in Sherwood Park.

But then came the pandemic, and like many others, Kristen's life also took a turn. She decided to jump into her business with both feet and opened her own gift shop featuring not only her own personal merch but also products from other local artisans. To her great surprise and delight, in just a few months, Kristen went from worrying about having enough wares to fill up the shelves to knocking down walls to make space for more.

Today, Kreative Kustoms is Sherwood Park's distinguished gift shop that brings to people a onestop-shop experience with a touch of charming exuberance. It features wares from about 100+ local artisans from across Canada, providing a broad collective of handmade goods and custom merchandise for customers.

Wysocki shares a

Kristen, brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Kreative Kustoms. What challenges did you have to overcome to reach where you are today?

My love for creating started at a very young age. I was always planning, crafting or organizing in some way, shape or form. In 2015 I purchased a printer and plotter to take my crafting to the next level and soon became obsessed with creating party decorations and custom gifts. Thanks to family and friends, my hobby soon grew into a small homebased business out of my basement in Sherwood Park, AB.

As the years went on, I started to outgrow my little home office and dreamed of something bigger and better. I had considered opening a store front for several years, but the vision seemed out of reach for many reasons; self-doubt mainly! Even though COVID had hit in 2019, the timing on a personal level just seemed to work more than ever, and I decided to start looking into retail spaces.

Not only did I want to create and showcase my own items, but I wanted to help other small business owners feature their creations without having the overhead cost and risk of their own space. Once I found a space, I put the call out for local vendors to join me and quite

Kristen

story of her artistic personality in an interview with CIOLook:

Kreative

quickly had an overwhelming response of interest. I remember getting the keys to the store and worrying that I would never be able to fill the space, and in less than a year, I knocked out a wall to expand for even more space.

I opened my doors in November 2020, and a few months later, I left my full-time job and haven't looked back. It's been an adventure, to say the least, but I believe the hurdles are what continue to help me grow.

In the past year, Kreative Kustoms grew from 30 vendors to over 100, won Sherwood Park's 2021 New Entrepreneur Award , was voted Sherwood Park's 2021 Best Boutique and Best Home Décor Awards and was voted Edmonton's 2022 Best Boutique, Best Home Décor and Best Gift Shop .

There have been challenges upon challenges to reach

where I am today, but I would say the biggest hurdle for me has been finding balance. Being an entrepreneur requires you to wear many hats, hats that you may not have even considered, and the hours and dedication wear on even the most passionate individuals.

Business burnout is a real thing, which I, unfortunately, learned the hard way, and it's extremely important to do everything in your power to take preventative measures to avoid the fatigue and feelings of defeat that can so easily creep up. COVID has also been a major challenge economically for all types of industries, and I believe we will continue to face the consequences it has had on our economy for quite some time.

Tell us something more about Kreative Kustoms, its mission and vision.

Kreative Kustoms is a local collective one-stop gift shop

I believe in uniqueness in products, and

that your

is one-of-a-kind.

and boutique specializing in custom and personalized gifts and keepsakes. Our goal is to encourage supporting local in a welcoming and inclusive marketlike atmosphere, where shopping is made easy and convenient.

Our mission is to simplify the process of shopping local by showcasing a large variety of unique handmade items from over 110+ local Canadian artisans in onestop. We take pride in supporting our community by putting together fundraisers to help those in need and by supporting other local fundraisers and community sports teams.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

At Kreative Kustoms, we are leveraging technology by harnessing the power of social media. I believe having an interactive and eye pleasing social media presence has helped us grow as a business. Many of our valued customers have discovered us on social media prior to coming into the store, and it's also allowed our shoppers to get a better understanding of who we are and what we stand for.

We love to give back and raise money for causes bigger than ourselves. People catch on and share our fundraiser posts, which leads to a greater audience, and the more people we reach, the more we can donate! There was a time where creating an online store took the skills of an IT professional, but with technology advancements, and a little research, I was able to create a website for online shopping.

This was an important investment over the past year during COVID lockdowns and restrictions since many times we were not able to venture out to shop. This also allowed us to offer no contact pick-up and delivery to ensure safety throughout the pandemic.

Technology is definitely a handy tool to have as a business owner, and I genuinely look forward to seeing more advancements in the future.

If given a chance, what change would you like to bring to the Home Decor industry?

I would love to see a change in where and how we buy

our home décor. I believe in uniqueness in products, and a big box store can save you some money, perhaps, but what you're missing is character. When supporting local artisans, it's almost guaranteed that your item is oneof-a-kind and the chances of that piece being an exact duplicate is a rarity. Do you honestly know where the items you buy from a big box store are made, or who made them? Shopping local gives you piece of mind that your handmade item is unique and that you're supporting a small business in your community!

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Kreative Kustoms?

My future goals for Kreative Kustoms are to continue pursuing growth by increasing brand awareness and productivity. In the next year or so, I would love to expand to a bigger location so I'm able to offer space to more vendors and host community workshops. I would love to add to my team when the time is right, and I will continue to offer community support to local initiatives.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the social enterprise sector?

The best advice I can give is to listen, learn, and surround yourself with people that believe in you. Self-doubt, aka imposters syndrome, can really wreak havoc on your mental health, so most importantly, believe and trust in yourself. Listening to feedback is essential if you want to grow in your business, and sometimes criticism is the best way to identify issues and to be able to act on them accordingly.

Another important piece of advice I can offer is to connect with other business owners from various types of industries and listen to their perspectives on similar struggles. Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help! No matter the industry, many entrepreneurs deal with the same challenges in some form and reaching out for help could potentially offer you relief and guidance.

Robert Bruski Co-Founder and CEO

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I move mountains. I make things happen. When I feel like I can't go any further, I dig deeper, try harder, and be more awesome… true story.

Robert Bruski

Copying Imagination, Pasting Virtual Reality

Fuelled by an innate sense of creativity and ingenuity, Robert Bruski is leveraging it to build a wonderful world of entrepreneurship and innovation. He embodies outstanding performance driven by high-energy, intellectual curiosity, and project ownership, all while striving for relentless high-quality results and first-class relationships.

As the CEO and Co-founder at Ctrl V, Robert is displaying an immaculate way of experiencing virtual reality. The company brings virtual reality to the masses with North America's first and the world's largest Virtual reality arcade. Ctrl V is helping entrepreneurs and small businesses, bringing them top-of-the-line equipment and a library of experiences that suit every desire and genre.

Let's learn more about Robert, his history, and his vision for the coming years;

Copying the Information to the Cursor

Robert's journey in business started quite young. It began from small entrepreneurial initiatives as a child to studying economics and business in school and even working in investment management. Robert learned that the difference between good and great businesses was always about growth and innovation. However, he reached a point where learning and experiencing business wasn't enough. Leadership in the business world was the next step. So, having left the corporate world to try out a few ideas of his own, Robert was able to start the process of building a business and leading a team along the way. After a myriad of attempts, the

opportunity to start Ctrl V alongside other business partners was presented. Robert shares, "From there, the rest is history, but not without the greatest challenge of all, which most entrepreneurs face, venturing into uncharted territory with the resilience to carry the risk on one's shoulders."

Impact in any niche is made through leadership. Robert explains, "You can funnel as much money, time, and resources into whatever you're passionate about, but if you aren't the one leading the way, then the resources may go to waste. Leadership in fashion can come from many different places and be disguised in many different ways. However, I believe that true fashion leadership is being able to live what you believe. What is critical to my impact on a fashion niche is being able to select something to wear that fits my tastes and styles and wearing it proudly and tastefully." He adds, "This goes much further in terms of the impact that conveying ideas through fashion shows, advertisements, and impractical shows of spectacle. It's simple, I know. But it works."

Pasting it to Create a Useful Product

Ctrl V's entire nature is to leverage virtual reality technology to solve problems. This may be something as simple as selling happiness through VR by providing compelling entertainment. But, the technology can also be used to teach school/educational programs, train professionals, alleviate health ailments, and even propel creativity. The goal at Ctrl V is to use the technology of virtual reality to contribute to the advancements of a variety of different industries.

Ctrl V became North America's first and the world's most extensive franchise system of virtual reality arcades. Robert shares, "Customers can visit our brick and mortar locations and experience the wonders of virtual reality together." With a mission to bring virtual reality and immersive technology to the mass market, the company's vision is to immerse as many people in the metaverse and get the population rolling forward in using virtual reality for a variety of other purposes outside of just entertainment.

The Future of Ctrl V

Robert shares that the most critical change that is needed in the virtual reality, augmented reality and technology industry is an increased focus on the enduser or the customer. Too many companies are focusing on innovation to create the next coolest thing or advance the industry forward from their perspective of where it needs to go. As technology innovators and

pioneers, he focuses on the need to focus more heavily on the end-user, their needs, their wants, and their unsure areas. Robert says, "Otherwise, our energy will continue to go towards innovating for the sake of innovating only."

Robert contemplates that the next massive change to the immersion industry will be the wider adoption of the metaverse. Web 3.0 will start playing a larger and larger part in people's lives, and the most immersive way to access the metaverse and interact with Web 3.0 is through virtual reality. Ctrl V has several ideas that are being cooked up and tested to ride this wave.

Sharing his Learnings for the Younger Generation "The Long Run" is a very subjective and challenging timeframe to describe and predict. But Robert shares his ideas, "And unfortunately, history of the most successful entrepreneurs has shown us that focusing on long-term goals, not only is futile in many cases, but it actually stunts innovation – if you're going towards one larger long term goal, you miss the opportunity to innovate and create amazing things along the way. So as it stands, our goals as a team align with our individual professional goals, making immersive technology, like virtual reality, accessible to everyone by enabling people to become entrepreneurs and get into business for themselves through opening their own Ctrl V Virtual Reality Arcade."

Regardless of which sector you're venturing into, Robert advises the young generation to be prepared for the fact that real life doesn't resemble the life in media, movies, and online influencers. He concludes, "The road isn't filled with successes, accolades, and financial freedom. It may eventually get there, but the process is difficult, tough, and depends on resilience, grit, & moxie like you've never experienced before. It isn't for the faint of heart and requires you to really love the journey more than the destination.”

Stuart Pavin Pat for Virtua Telemetr

Experiencing the transformative shifts of rapidly scaling technology in the medical device industry, Stuart Long considers himself fortunate to have worked directly with cutting-edge products in his career. Today, as the CEO of InfoBionic, he emphasizes the company's commitment to widespread market adoption of its transformative wireless remote patient monitoring platform for chronic disease management.

From witnessing the shift away from video cassettes to digital video clips in cardiology, from floppy disk to cardiac DICOM images, then the switch from radiology film to PACS, from client-server network systems (in healthcare) to fully web-based, rom paper base insulin dosing to AI-driven dosing, Stuart was a part of all.

Several challenges Stuart overcame mainly centered around the change in clinician workflow and changing hearts and minds about how to do something innovatively. Convincing clinicians it is better for how they deliver care and the patients who receive it is probably the most challenging thing one can try to do in delivering novel technologies and solutions to the healthcare arena. He shares, "Over time, I've worked with some extremely talented people who have solved some big clinical challenges that have plagued the industry for decades. Think of it like snail mail, floppy disks, and fax machines compared to Dropbox, Netflix, Amazon, and instant or on-demand digital delivery. Imagine what it will look like in another ten years!"

Committed to Transformation

InfoBionic streams 'full disclosure' data, meaning 100% of the heartbeats 100% of the time, utilizing curated AI

to continuously improve the cloud-based processing for arrhythmia and assist in the organization and presentation of data.

The company's mission is to put the control of monitoring patients back into the hands of the providers, as for a long time, most remote cardiac monitoring has been outsourced to vendors. Its model is to intermediate the 'middleman' and give clinicians control over the direct care of their patients and, more importantly, total control and access to all their patient's data.

InfoBionic has made significant progress and has substantiated that the cardiology clinical community prefers this new opportunity to improve the ability to diagnose patients with efficient workflow and increase clinically rich data.

A bold new model for virtual telemetry, from the remote cardiac arrhythmia detection company you know and trust.

Stuart Long CEO

Differentiated by Quality

InfoBionic has proved a dramatic decrease in time to diagnose the problem leading to faster treatment and intervention, dramatically improving the quality of care and patient experience while simultaneously reducing cost by gaining speed to access, review, diagnose and treat patients.

On numerous occasions, lives have been saved by the quick intervention of their cardiologist using InfoBionic's solutions. Further, it has developed a relationship with the Mayo Clinic, which acts as the technology platform for the initiative to provide remote cardiac monitoring services for non-Mayo Clinic facilities. They are the first clinical provider to enter the market as a remote cardiac monitoring service and demonstrate the shift to providing clinical care versus the traditional vendor-provided services.

The Technical Leverage

Stuart states that, as with any technology that can sustain itself for longevity, it is either adapted or faded away. He mentions, "If the last few years have taught us one thing, it is that healthcare is changing. Care models are transforming, and providers are doing more in a virtual setting than ever. Reimbursement paradigms are shifting to put value first. And clinicians are challenged to navigate all this without losing focus on the patient. To support this new world of healthcare, telemetry must also adapt."

Fortunately, technological advances in cloud computing infrastructure, cellular-based communication achieving 'land-line' speeds, and broader inside facility coverage with cellular distributed antennae systems, device component miniaturization, and low energy power consumption exists. Many new and novel avenues exist today that didn't exist just five short years ago.

InfoBionic reimagined accepted norms for cardiac arrhythmia detection with a full disclosure model built upon the principles of unwavering quality and continual innovation. Carrying the legacy forward, the company is making another bold foray into the future of virtual healthcare, leveraging the previous innovation introduced to the market and capitalizing on today's new and improved technologies. It evolves from proven, tried, and accurate methods and systems vs. starting from scratch.

The company is introducing new technology ensuring all acuity levels can be monitored in a virtual care environment with the first continuous virtual telemetry platform: The MoMe™ ARC Platform. Built with the same standards of quality and innovation that have earned them the trust of cardiology leaders, the MoMe™ ARC Platform hands power back to clinicians while enabling them to step confidently into the future of virtual care.

Setting Up for the Future

Stuart expresses that the next significant change is still in its infancy. Yet, with CMS's support and hospital-at-home initiatives, the shift from clinical care to virtual care establishes its foundation and foothold. He adds that one factor cannot be denied about this horrendous COVID-19 pandemic: It has changed healthcare for the better—an increase of 6,000% in telehealth visits and a pivotal shift toward hospital-at-home care, among other changes. Innovative technology—especially in remote cardiac telemetry—has surged with these developments.

Stuart mentions that the idea of traditional reimbursement and economic models that are decades old and could or would apply to current and future monitoring technologies doesn't make logical sense. No different does technology need to adapt to new and improved care models, as do the economic models. "A shift to value-based care where we do away with the existing 'lines in the sand' and implement models that align all constituents (payers, providers, and patients). The idea that up to 4 different kinds of diagnostic remote cardiac monitoring models, each with their own set of complex rules and reimbursement, is outdated and almost prohibits moving forward to value-based care. The idea that a single system can start in the hospital and move to the home or virtual care environment and provide 'one kind' of monitoring that comes with a single economic model that can align all the constituents is… well… exactly what the doctor ordered," he explains.

Bequeathing Brilliance

Stuart shares a piece of advice for entrepreneurs. He says, "A great product is nothing without the people who can solve the problem – solving a problem and finding the right people are the most important things you need to start. Yet never forget, you can't do it without people. First

and foremost, focus on your people. When the company's mission becomes the employee's mission… they stop showing up to work and start showing up to be part of your movement. 10 extremely engaged teammates are substantially more productive and way more fun to work with than 50 moderately engaged employees."

He also adds a few pointers:

• Cash is king… expense should follow revenue

• When precision is required, slow down

• Do not stagnate — else, you get left behind. Always keep a beginner's mindset, no matter how much you master. You're always at the beginning of the next level, no matter your level

• Have fun — stay optimistic — if you're not laughing and having fun, it is not your passion.

• Fail often and fail fast — treat failure as a goal. Learn how to pivot or persevere. The road to success is littered with failure. Embrace and learn from it, and then do not repeat it.

Tanmay Arora

When we were kids, whatever we did, we put our heart and soul into every single little or grand pursuit we embarked upon, trying our best to move the gears and turn it into something beautiful. Years later, very little did we know about unforeseen situations in our careers and life. While it is not easy to keep up with our talents and values, very few people keep that spark alive to actually make a difference.

A true example of this is Tanmay Arora , who challenges himself by putting an extreme amount of effort into everything he does. What makes Tanmay unique is his passion, discipline, and belief in his ideas which took him on his entrepreneurial journey to create - Unwired India , Co - found – Bully the Bears , and lead as the Managing Director at Weaving Waves .

Tanmay is now set on the path of innovative leadership and creating a strategic impact through his work. He truly cares about making the world a better place through evolving next-gen technologies.

The Journey of a True Entrepreneur: Spearheading 3 Startups from the Ground-Up

Tanmay's journey as an entrepreneur started about five years ago. Having worked at a couple of premier research and academic institutions, he decided to employ his academic knowledge in the business domain and spearhead three startups. From neurotech

(Unwired India) to Fintech (Bully the Bears) and Fashion (Weaving Waves), he has traversed across multiple domains to find how the same transferable skillsets are the key factors that lead to success across most new avenues that one may choose to embark upon.

Through this process, Tanmay overcame several personal and professional challenges. A critical obstacle that he had to resolve in the process involved leveraging his time efficiently and effectively, particularly the barter between time and money, to manage his several entrepreneurial and personal pursuits. He realized how true growth lies in embodying one's true authentic self, owning up to one's unique identity—taking complete ownership & accountability of every aspect of people's lives by choosing the path of most resistance & practicing unmitigated monk-like discipline in all things.

Learnings, reflections & realizations have driven Tanmay's entire journey he found along the way. He realized how the hardest thing to do is almost always the right thing to do and how true growth lies in things we do not want to do.

Traversing Domains: A Journey of Innovations & Intersections

As a Neuro-technology startup, innovation is at the heart of Tanmay's businesses. The team combines technology and consumerism to bring the latest scientific developments to the homes and lives of the people. Research and Development driven by science and technology are fundamental to the functioning here at Unwired India, allowing us to identify potential roadblocks at a fairly early stage and stay at the forefront of technological development and innovation.

At Unwired India, the organization believes in a userdriven approach, as it aims to make personalized, consumer-centric Indian innovations the primary objective. The company believes in utilizing the efforts of traditional Indian artisans, cultivators, and farmers to pay back to society. It gives due recognition to the contribution of the traditional artisans as 'co-creators' in manufacturing the products. By integrating knowledge and long-established skills with the modern

approach and resources, the organization aims to boost its social-economic development and drive its expertise beyond borders.

Globally Trusted, Accessible, and Affordable Tech Solutions

Unwired India is on a mission to make the mind and brain-tech solutions accessible and affordable for everyone. Members of the community can now create a personalized profile from anywhere globally and become certified community members to directly access, connect, and collaborate with pioneering neuroscientists, leading researchers, eminent scientists, technicians, entrepreneurs & community members! Each member's unique profile is a one-stop solution to all their challenges, questions, issues, and problems associated with their brain, mind, and life!

This personalized solution allows the members to make the most out of their experience and access the company's different products, services, member forums, and communities as it grows together and evolves by sharing the journeys with the community. Founded in 2020, Tanmay and his team like to believe it is bringing joy to New Delhi, and it's something it hopes to be scaling for years to come.

Impacting Lives, One Mind at a Time: Unwired India's mission to empower 600 million lives by 2030

One year, 9 Teams, 6 Corporate Partners, 8 Global Chapters & 7 International Awards. The company now operates and engages with the community of changemakers through six primary verticals/projects:

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The Hope Project: Scaling awareness against stigma, fear, and apprehensions associated with Neurodisorders; 1,00,000+ readers.

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Complementary/Alternative Therapy and Peer Support for Mental Dysfunction Alleviation & Mental Function Enhancement.

The Aryabhatta Shankara Neurotech Society is the voice of Unwired India, representing global scientists, students & leaders.

Strategic Impact Through Work: Integrating the Head, Heart, Mind, Soul and Chip

Tanmay is currently engaged in the pursuit to impact lives by helping transform traditional Neuroscience into Neurotechnology & Personalized Neuro-medicine through 'Unwired India,' which Microsoft now backs for Startups & the Y-Combinator Startup School. With all the community support & backing- the organization is now on a mission to impact 600 million lives by 2030.

He is on a personal journey to help inspire, educate, elevate & accelerate opportunities for empowerment within the framework of the neurotech domain. Its partners happen to provide a platform wherein He can foster collaborations & embrace patterns, paradigms & paradoxes for impact.

Words of Inspiration

Sharing his thoughts to the budding entrepreneurs, Tanmay says, "The universe will ask you who you are; if you don't have an answer to that, the world will tell you exactly who you are & what you're destined for to be. It will make you settle for whatever restrictive definition they've concocted for your existence. Don't let somebody else tell you who you are, how you're supposed to feel, or how you're supposed to be.

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Project Perceptron: Bridging AI & Brain Science: Brain-Computer Interfaces, Neuro-Augmentation, Neuro-Stimulation, Implants, AR/VR

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The Brainbow Alliance: Collaborative platform to increase visibility & opportunity of underrepresented communities (BIPOC/LGBT/Women) in STEAM

Own every little aspect of your identity and life with a sense of extreme accountability, self-discipline, & ownership. Consistency & Longevity are the key factors that will completely transform your personal and professional life if you let them. Be willing to suffer along the process and relentlessly strive to actualize what you were always destined to do. Reflect. Re-engage. Realize."

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The Plastic Brains: Nurturing Neuroplasticity: Empowering life-long structural & functional enhances, rewiring minds through modules & courses.

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NEXUS (Connecting Minds & Brains): Affordable & Accessible Neuro/Psycho-therapy, Counselling,