Top 10 Businesswomen to Admire in 2021

ISSUE 05 | VOL 01

2021

TOP

Women and World Doing the Right Thing

BUSINESSWOMEN TO ADMIRE IN

2021

ANNA NAVARRO SCHLEGEL THE GLOBAL RENAISSANCE WOMAN Photo Credit- Isabelle Schlegel

EDITOR’S NOTE From Voicing for Herself to Leading the World

F

rom creating opportunity, breaking down barriers of traditional norms, to paving paths for new generation, women have proved themselves in every arena of the world.

Throughout history, women have achieved many milestones; they have been participating in every big or small movement of change to bring positive and lasting impacts for others as much as men.

Today’s women aren't only businesswomen but founders. They are focused to change their ideas into a reality and spending tremendous amount of time, effort, and money into it. Also, women business leaders of all around the world despite of their field have shown support for other women. Whether its friend or colleague, women leaders are helping each other to get stability during the difficulties; like starting a company, or change their dream into a reality.

Women continue to make significant advances in the business world. They are founders of innovative companies, introducing ground-breaking new ideas and building a path to bring positive work culture and workforce equity.

With an intent to acknowledge their inspiring work and efforts and praising these women leaders who are making both large and small changes every day, CIO Look has curated list of “Top 10 Businesswomen to Admire in 2021”. These business women are exponent of excellent careers and present a great lesson for emerging business leaders.

The cover story features a truly global expert Anna Navarro Schlegel. She is an embodiment of proficient leadership, and believes in lead by example. Her journey to becoming probably one

of the best globalization experts in the world started in 1992, when she was living in San Francisco and founded her first start-up. She had a goal to aid local Silicon Valley companies in their quest to go global.

No doubt, she has achieved it with her visionary thinking and strong commitment towards the goal.

Over the past 30 years, Anna has helped international organizations like Xerox, VeriSign, VMware, and NetApp. She has developed and executed their very first global strategies to enter international markets, hundreds of times. She has also presented for hundreds of institutions, including the Haas Institute at UC Berkeley and the Think Global Forum. She has consulted for Google, Stanford University, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Anna is also one of the Co-Founders of Women in Localization; 2016-2018 president. Women in Localization (W.L.) is the leading professional organization for women and their allies in the localization industry with thousands of members globally.

Delve into more such inspiring stories of such avid women leaders. Lastly, never stop learning with our CXO standpoints written by the industry experts and the creative articles by our in-house editorial team which will help to improve your skillset.

Let’s Start!

Rohit Chaturvedi

COVER STORY

08 Anna Navarro Schlegel The Global Renaissance Woman

ARTICLE

22 Women and World Doing the Right Thing

38 Leadership Insight An Intrinsic Way of Leading

18

Amy Hedrick

Leading with Courage and Confidence

26

Annabel Thomas

Forging One's Own Path by Being Uninhibited by Tradition

30

Hui Wu-Curtis

Delivering Value and Innovation to Clients

34

Judi Wineland

Sharing Passion for Travel with other Adventurers

40

Lisa Jones

C O N T E N

Innovating Without Restrictions

T

44

Megan Capriccio

Using Modern Tech Advancements to Improve Women Healthcare

S

Hitesh Dhamani Editor-in-Chief CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Executive Editors Rohit Chaturvedi Alex Spellman

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Featured Person

Company Name

Brief

Amy Hedrick CEO

Cleanbox Technology cleanboxtech.com

Cleanbox Technology Inc. is a premium, eco-friendly, smart tech hygiene company, specializing in UVC surface decontamination for frequently used products.

Anna Schlegel VP

NetApp netapp.com

NetApp is a leader in hybrid cloud data services. It helps the customers ensure their data and applications are in the right place at the right time with the right characteristics and capabilities in order to achieve new insights and accelerate innovation.

Annabel Thomas CEO

Nc'nean Distillery ncnean.com

Nc'nean Distillery is an independent, organic whisky distillery that exists to create experimental spirits and pioneer sustainable production

Cathleen Kelly Rebar Managing Partner

Rebar Kelly rebarkelly.com

Rebar Kelly was formed upon the principle that long-term relationships flow naturally from recognizing that its clients are its true partners. The organization understands that problems come in all shapes and sizes.

Hui Wu-Curtis President

World Connection worldconnection.com

World Connection is a mid-sized, bi-lingual contact center and BPO with locations in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Boise, Idaho.

Judi Wineland Owner

Thomson Safaris thomsonsafaris.com

After more than 40 years operating in Tanzania, Thomson Safaris name has earned its place as one of the top safari outfitters in the world with awards from National Geographic Adventure, Condé Nast and Travel + Leisure.

Lisa Jones CEO

EyeMail eyemailinc.com

Founded in 2004 by Lisa S. Jones, EyeMail Inc. is a multipatent pending email communications technology company. It is the only company globally, to enable true instant play of full video & audio across all email, webmail, and mobile platforms in less than 15K in size with no download required.

Megan Capriccio Co-Founder

FemTech Collective femtechcollective.com

FemTech Collective offers products and services that help female focused health technology startups overcome barriers to success.

Nicole Heimann CEO

Nicole Heimann nicoleheimann.com

Nicole Heimann & Partners AG is committed to this central question. With high quality coaching, she helps high level individuals (VR, CEO, GL) and their teams to effectively adapt their thinking and actions to the requirements of the digital age.

Bealls beallsflorida.com

Bealls Inc. is a privately held company, rich in tradition, still owned by the founding family. Founded in 1915, Bealls includes over 500 stores and BeallsFlorida.com. Bealls is the destination of choice for casual lifestyle and priced-right apparel and home merchandise.

Trina Gladwell DVP

COVER STORY

ANNA NAVARRO

SCHLEGEL The Global Renaissance Woman

“ The most important thing you can do is to take care of yourself as well as you can. Just like they teach people in airplanes: look after yourself first before trying to assist others! “

who recommended that Cisco Systems approach her to start their first localization team, globalization was not even a word back then. Anna Navarro Schlegel was in her mid-20s and it was a true crash course in product and enterprise globalization. That rotation in strategy teams, product groups, marketing and engineering has made her a sough after leader to consult with for anything related to global innovation.

F

or businesses, going global is no simple feat. It is not only about expanding to international markets; Globalization entails all aspects of any company. To be successful, company executives need to clearly understand their company's global business goals, believes a truly global expert, Anna Navarro Schlegel, who has driven global market growth of many large Fortune companies. She asserts, “Wherever I lead a globalization, a content team or an engineering group, I see it and treat it as a business, with funding, values, goals, an executive team, metrics, trainings and support to drive that global growth we are after.”

An embodiment of proficient leadership, Anna Navarro Schlegel leads by example. Her journey to becoming probably one of the best globalization experts in the world started in 1992, when she was living in San Francisco and founded her first startup. Her goal was to aid local Silicon Valley companies in their quest to go global.

One of Anna Navarro Schlegel’s first clients needed translations and technical reviews of their products before they were able to enter the Brazilian and Russian markets. Another client was Silicon Graphics,

Since then, Anna Navarro Schlegel has helped Xerox, VeriSign, VMware, and NetApp develop and execute their very first global strategies to enter international markets, hundreds of times! Over the past 30 years, she has presented for hundreds of institutions, including the Haas Institute at UC Berkeley and the Think Global Forum. She has consulted for Google, Stanford University, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Anna Navarro Schlegel has contributed to countless books and courses on the subject and even helped develop the industry-standard Localization Certificate. She has also spent time testing speech technologies and training some of the first Machine Learning tools for translation. Anna is a member of the Global Council for Common Sense Advisory and is one of the 3 founders of Women in Localization. The list could go on.

It is this unique combination of experience that has enabled Anna Navarro Schlegel to become both a businesswoman and one of the world's leading executives in the globalization field. When you ask her colleagues, who comes to mind when you need a globalizer, Anna Navarro Schlegel name comes up, all the time.

CIO Look recently caught up with Anna Navarro Schlegel to discuss her entrepreneurial journey and her book, Truly Global.

Below are a few highlights from the interview: What are your thoughts on the necessity of a positive work culture? How do you implement it at your organization?

A positive work culture is everything.

I have hired organizational psychologists, corporate strategists, and a number of professional firms to advise me on all kinds of strengths and gaps. One of the main components was teaching me how to become a valuesbased leader. And always go back to how I grew up in Olot, and Girona in Catalunya, and what I owe to my

COVER STORY

parents and my family. My strategy is to take it from the top before moving down into the organization. As a leader you must work to create the environment you want.

In any venture or organization, I have founded, we have always spent time up front thinking about the values we want to live by. We never start with our goals. Instead, we start with who we want to be, what we will and will not allow, and how we will work together.

It's not enough just to set your values, print them out, and stick them on the wall. You have to put in the hard work. Make time periodically to review your values and to understand how you're upholding them. Without doing so, it is impossible to progress.

A key value for me is trust, which isn't something that comes easily. Spend time listening, understanding, and collaborating. I try to celebrate big achievements and small progress alike.

We need to make it a priority to lift each other up and to stay mentally healthy. In order to do that, we must rethink the way we work. For example, my team does not schedule meetings on Fridays. I am a huge believer of having a day to read, do research, respond to emails, clean up your inbox, and work on long-term projects.

Having a “quiet day” enables my team to catch up.

Another way to promote a positive work culture is to engage in mentoring. I see more people doing this now than ever. My own calendar is filled with people who just want me to listen to them. They don't really want my opinion, they just want me to feel their pain, or mirror their ideas, and from there we dialogue if that is what they need.

Folks feel positive when they know they are growing, can speak openly, take time off when they need it, and feel that they are contributing to the success of the organization. Positivity, transparency, trust, clarity, and open-door policies are key to healthy teams. Take the time to celebrate and elevate people. Schedule meetings to check in on people's personal lives or thoughts. Take 5 minutes to ask somehow how they are before diving into work.

Anyone can lead with this mentality inside a positive work environment. It's not only up to the managers or leaders. We are all in this together!

How do you focus on global growth to reach higher global revenues by adapting products?

In order to focus on global growth, you need executive alignment starting at the very top of an organization.

Having agreement between Product, Sales, and Finance leaders is key and is the very first step to achieving higher global revenue. For example, you cannot create a product and then fail to train the sales team. To succeed, all company leaders must be working together.

It is a team sport. Companies or product teams who understand that win big!

Once you have clarity and alignment, the real work can begin. It is often helpful for companies to have multiple transparent models to follow that will indicate the level of corporate involvement as the process of going global and earning international revenue requires everyone to be on board. For example, a company can't have a Product Manager who wants to take their product global and fails to localize the product's user interface.

That happens often, as many product managers who are not globally savvy will not be “global customer” obsessed. Globalization requires seamless orchestration. Every department in an organization must understand which products will be sold where in order to support that roadmap to the best of their abilities.

What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological

“Tune out the noise. Don't listen to idle gossip or naysayers, that only serves to derail your purpose. Wait it out and hold onto your dreams.”

-Anna Navarro Schlegel

COVER STORY

developments, especially when it comes Digital Transformation?

My experience is largely in the world of high-tech, so I cannot speak on behalf of other industries. However, I can tell you that if you want to engage with a Fortune 500 company then you need to have a rock-solid digital platform, alignment among content teams, a shared vison, and constant communication. When you talk about digital transformation you must consider concepts like data capacity, product simplification, enterprise content strategy, and the simplification of the buyer's journey. Customers do not have a long attention span, nor the time to guess how to interact with your services, solutions, or offerings, especially for products that are not necessarily something that brings them joy!

Businesses also need an impeccable digital presentation of their offerings and services. You do not want to simply satisfy the customer; you want to delight the customer with anticipated moves to make it easy for them. You want to simplify the experience, and at the same time you need to give that customer trust that your site will not go down, or that a confirmation email will indeed make it into their inbox. Or you will

confirm the service via text or resolve their potential issue overnight. My advice is to always think backwards, to start by creating a customer empathy map. Find out who your customer is and what they want, where is this person? Why are they coming to your site? How can you give them the best experience possible?

How do you bring Information Management in establishing strategic direction and delivering results globally?

Information Management is key. I like to call it “Enterprise Content Strategy”. Companies produce daily vast amounts of content, from tag lines to demand generation campaigns, support websites, training materials, emails, SEO strategies, online help, upgrade guides, data sheets, the list goes on and on. This proliferation of content needs to be proactively managed. To do so, companies need a team or a guiding coalition to administrate and align all their content.

Without one it is impossible to provide a simplified experience for the customer. A complex experience will cause customers to drop out mid-cycle and the company will end up losing revenue.

I encourage any organization that I consult with to create a steering committee to decide some very basic frameworks. Ask yourselves: How many websites do we really need? How do we train all the content authors inside our organization to align on authoring and brand? What languages are we going to be localizing into? How will we go about making old content obsolete? What are the typical paths our customer will go through, etc.

A great information management team will know what to promote, where to apply search engines, how to get old content out the way, and how to launch all that information around the world on the very same day.

Another way to think about information management is by mapping potential customer scenarios. Take a look at what that customer may need in various situations. Do they want to return the product? Where does this client go to report a product defect, or to get a new quote?

Always begin from the customer's perspective. I am not into “customer delight” or “customer centric”; I am into customer obsessed. To be the best you must start from the global customer's perspective. If it doesn't answer to what the customer needs, it has to go!

In what ways have you contributed to the community?

If given a chance, what change would you bring in providing growth opportunities to women?

When I was a young girl living in Catalunya, my father founded his first non-profit. His goal was to unite 1,000 community members once a month to go and clean up rivers, mountain areas, and marginalized areas of the city. Giving back to the community was a huge part of how I was raised and is something I try to instill in my own children. And he met his goal… it was so fun!

When I was 24 years old, I joined my very first Board, which was for the Northern California Translators Association. It has been one organization after the other ever since!

One of the organizations that I am most proud of is NetApp's Women in Technology (WIT) association. I was trusted to restructure the organization at a key moment in its development and went on to serve as Chair for over 5 years and add about 1000 new members. I continue to be an active member of several WIT organizations and I am a proud to act as the organization's Global Executive Sponsor.

Several years ago, I co-founded a non-profit called STEM Mentors Silicon Valley to support underrepresented kids in the Bay Area by exposing them to STEM. In order to do so, we put together yearly events with doctors, scientists, dentists, and various high-tech corporations to show them what they could be when they grow up. It was wonderful to see so many people giving back to our community during the events.

We are hoping to continue the program after the pandemic. I co-founded that organization with Karl Welch, Lori Silverman and Duaine Pryor.

My real pride and joy is Women in Localization, an organization that I co-founded with Silvia Avary Silveira and Eva Klaudinyova. Our mission is to serve as a global community for the advancement of women and the localization industry. Growing this organization has been a been a daily project for the 3 of us for the past 13 years. Today, we are proud to have over 6,000 members worldwide across 30 sites. It is also the largest platform of content around all aspects of globalization and its full orchestration. If you would like to learn more, please go to www.womeninlocalization.com My latest adventure is serving as the President of the Advisory Board for Aula Magna Business School. Aula Magna is Catalan company that offers executive

training programs for professionally active women to companies that believe in diversity as a strategic line to meet their objectives. Many women stop learning after college, but in order to remain competitive you need to keep educating yourself! Taking classes also enables you to network and form your own support community.

Every single one of the organizations I have founded or joined have focused on supporting women and children.

One of the major issues that I see in large corporations is the lack of diversity, especially at the top. The organizations that I am part of are working to address this inequality through models, frameworks, and strategies that women and underrepresented children can use for upward mobility.

I encourage everyone to get involved in a cause that is important to them. Imagine the impact we could have if everyone were committed to at least one cause! I am very proud to have spent the past four decades of my life in service and look forward to continuing to do so. I do have to spend a good amount of my day saying no to wonderful opportunities, not enough hours in the day and my family is a huge priority!

As an established global business leader, what would

COVER STORY

be your advice to the budding women entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into IT & Services Industry?

You need to remain healthy, centered, and rested.

Especially if you are a mom! Prioritize sleeping and finding time to exercise. Take time to be out in nature. If you need to rest, rest. If you are not feeling your best, talk to your health care provider. Never place your health in the backseat.

Take the time to make an informed decision about which industry you want to join. Interview people who already work in industries that interest you. Do you see yourself there for days, months or even years? Do you feel the passion?

Making the decision to work your way up inside a Fortune 500 company is tough for everyone, men and women included. However, women tend to bear the majority of the household and childcare responsibilities, we take care of our parents in higher percentages, we have miscarriages, we go through fertility treatments, we give birth, we fall behind our work if we decide to stay home to raise our kids when they are so young. It's so very important to sit down and talk to your partner about equity, how are the two of you going to be a team? The further you progress in your career the more support you will need inside your partnership. Whether you are single or in a relationship, you will need support from friends and family, or any help you can get! There are no supersheroes.

Choose a few great leaders to follow and work for a long time, that is precious. Interview your boss and take the time to understand who they are. Ask around to ensure you are entering a high-functioning, collaborative team where you can be your best and they will respect you.

Continue to develop your skills and never stop learning!

In the world of high-tech, the landscape is constantly changing. Create a learning map to help guide yourself, and your team. Another thing you can do is to become a savvy business reader. Read The Economist, HBR, you get the gist!

Tell us more about your book, Truly Global. Why did you write it?

I published the first edition of Truly Global: The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets in 2016, and the second edition just released in April 2021 with more chapters and learnings. When I

decided to write the book, I had already led globalization teams at multiple companies and continued to learn more and more about the practice with each subsequent move to a new enterprise.

However, I could not find a book that adequately explained the globalization profession. Most executives have the title “global' in their title, yet there is no book to make you think how to prepare your org to go global.

This is not for globalizers. This is for any leader who has the title international or global.

I was approached literally weekly to speak on panels and give keynotes explaining all aspects of the field, but I would google “globalization”, and all sorts of different explanations would pop up. I decided to simplify the profession and provide people with all of the content a great globalizer needs to know in one place.

You can learn more about the book at my website: www.trulyglobalbusiness.com A few words about Truly Global: We know that today's economy is increasingly borderless. Every company that seeks to grow beyond its national boundaries needs a globalization team to help develop, translate, adapt, and promote products to international markets.

This team is vital to ensuring that customers receive product information and support in their own language in a personalized and seamless way. From a company's website to product interfaces and documentation, to telephone and online support, providing this culturally specific experience is essential to building a brand across international borders with a solid enterprise approach.

Ideal for global corporate leaders, board members, employees, and senior managers, Truly Global provides an insider's look at how large companies move into international markets to successfully deliver their product to customers across different cultures and languages. It covers everything you need to know, to globalize your company from start to finish, including who to recruit as members of a globalization team, how to integrate globalization in each department, and how to use the team's research to build your brand's presence in new markets.

This book will help your company succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy and lay the foundation for your growth from national company to international household brand. If your title has the word “global” in it, this book is for you!

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Amy Hedrick Co-Founder and CEO Cleanbox Technology, Inc. 18

| May 2021 |

Amy Hedrick Leading with Courage and Confidence

W

omen entrepreneurs should not hide their talents in the name of modesty and grace.

They can lead with awesome combination of courage and grace. It is essential for women entrepreneurs to be bold, be confident and not back down even in a male dominated field. Those women who have blazed their path till now have made their path by being bold, courageous and proving that it is not just a man’s world but a woman’s world, too. Amy Hedrick is one such female leader who states that one can be bold, confident, skilled, and that combination inspires admiration, respect and confidence from men and women alike. Amy loves that women benefit from the efforts of other women. She considers it is important to remember what women are bringing to the table and should be admired for that.

opportunities to women. Amy believes that women are both great leaders and great strategists, and generally have unique skill sets. Cleanbox works hard to keep women front and center from its executive team to its regional staff.

Valuing Positive Work Culture Amy considers it is critically important to have a positive work culture. The average worker spends the majority of their life working for someone else.

Cultivating, building, and maintaining a positive work environment and sustainable culture is critical for individual fulfillment, which in turn has a butterfly effect on the entire business model. While this is more apparent in smaller companies that cannot absorb “negative” influences that may be inevitable in a larger work force, Amy believes that a company’s culture plays strongly into their overall brand trust and value.

Amy is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cleanbox Technology Inc. Amy’s background as a content creator and thought leader in the application of new technologies as industry disruptors provided the building blocks for Cleanbox as a business. Over the past decade, she has led multiple teams from project inception and funding, to planning and execution.

Cleanbox Technology is focused on providing the tools businesses need to operate safely and give customers peace of mind. Its biggest motivation is to provide products that actually work, as public safety and business health is always top of mind.

Integrating Technology with Business Goals Amy loves cutting edge technology, and those on the inside know the value of the tech they are introducing to marketplaces. She says that business decision makers must first create a balance of understanding the range of what the tech can offer, while thinking about it in ways its integration will bring value to a company.

Amy states that successful execution of new tech means that a business has not just added “Tech for tech value”, but has first spent the energy to determine all the ways the new technology will benefit their business, and has a plan on how to implement it broadly across the company.

Providing Opportunities for Women One thing that brings Amy great fulfillment is that Cleanbox has in its mission statement, a goal to provide

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‘‘

Daily immersion in business, technology and global news events allows her have insights into future opportunities that will reform and drive her vision. The same vision will determine the strategies she builds to execute on the opportunities. The understanding of collective value addition of the company to the world will form goals, benchmarks, and timeline to meet those strategies; and Amy’s success will be determined by how capable she and her executive team are at providing Cleanbox Technology’s staff a clear path to those goals.

Cleanbox Technology is uniquely positioned as a company in terms of its ability to quickly pivot and respond to current market needs.

‘‘

Serving the Underprivileged When it comes to the community, Cleanbox has made a point to set aside certain products that can be made available to non-profit organizations and underserved communities. For example, the company worked with the St. Francis Dental Clinic, a non-profit driven to improve dental healthcare across their state and tribal land, which offers services for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe as well as other local South Dakotans. Cleanbox is proud to have donated a CleanDefense to help them continue their important mission safely.

Meeting Real Business Needs Across Industries

Expanding Market on a Global Scale

The people at Cleanbox Technology are innovators at heart. The company anticipates tomorrow’s needs while they plan for today. The company seeks to understand real business pain points and solve them in a meaningful, complete way. Amy sees Cleanbox Technology continuing to grow as it integrates its proprietary technology into multiple form factors to meet real business needs across a plethora of industries. And it will take that same technology to the home market.

2020 introduced Cleanbox Technology to new markets and industries by escalating the timeline of certain products it already had in development, so that it could meet the immediate needs of businesses. In 2020, Cleanbox grew from one product line with clients in 10 countries to 3 product lines in over 36 countries and 41 states in the US. Cleanbox also expanded its domestic and international sales team and offers products to any size business across healthcare, education, government, entertainment, and enterprise.

Being Conscious of Value Added Products Amy in her role as a CEO considers that it’s important that she understands broadly the opportunities of global markets and how those opportunities are impacted by daily local and global events. Concurrently, she thinks that she must also be deeply ingrained in the collective “value add” her company, team and products can bring both right now, in a year, and in five years.

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DOING THE

RIGHT THING T

he ongoing pandemic outbreak is devastating, as it has severely impacted our lives and businesses worldwide. To give a thought, if only this virus would’ve come 15-20 years ago, when we just entered the digital age, the results would have been much more heartbreaking, as we did not have much more relevance on the digital and IT world than compare with today.

vision and strategic belief across the industries, ultimately reaching the company goal.

In such unforeseen situations, businesswomen have accelerated the digital transformation. Their experiences and understanding of the leadership have recognized the requirements of the current situation.

They have quickly adapted to this, which is the most important thing for a leader. Taking time to understand and act upon it sets the priority for the team.

Businesswomen have this quality to reflect on themselves, and it allows to see how there are growing as a leader and to bring the best out of themselves.

Anyways, thanks to the IT and the leadership of such people with whom we are able to connect worldwide even in these turbulent times. Today, we live in a world wherein these technological developments and innovations are part of our day-to-day lives. Technology has found innovative ways to enter into our lives. For businesswomen, it is much more than that.

The Butterfly Effect

Raising the Bar

As they say, it is about the journey, not about the destination and one has to enjoy the experience. In the same way, women in business learn from their mistakes and do not give up when it gets hard. One thing that businesswomen bring in their mission to leadership is to support and provide opportunities to other women.

There can be many leaders out there with great strategies, but only those who are leading along with others stay ahead of the curve.

Over the years women in businesses have built a culture of commitment towards the clients, customers, employees, and in every industry wherever they go.

They are well aware that motivated people are the key to the success in the organization. The positivity women leaders bring into the team makes it possible to have a pleasant working environment. The opportunity technologies are bringing, has helped to uplift the business and businesswomen as well. Their quality of building a personal connection creates the shared

Just like the butterfly effect, where every small beginning leads to a big change – the same is the

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Women and World

journey of the businesswomen. The majority of their life is spent cultivating, building, and maintaining a positive work environment for others. In the same way, they create a culture of trust and value in the overall working of the business.

businesswomen is they are always willing to share their lessons learned and help others to be successful.

Stay Focused and Stay Together The future roadmap will redefine the businesswomen, as they are the one to take the human species to the next level with their continuing efforts in the professional and personal life.

Changes in the Women Leadership Businesswomen are evolving and looking ahead, as the market and the clients are constantly changing as well.

That’s the way to stay ahead of the competition – knowing how and where to bring value.

We all are together in the covid situation. We need to lift each other up and stay mentally healthy. For businesswomen, they have to rethink the way of work by promoting a positive work culture and engaging in communication. Sometimes, just by listening to people, employees feel positive and can contribute to the success of the organization.

Besides, these cutting-edge technologies are being introduced more and more into the market. But there needs to be a balance between the technology and the integration of its processes. The ultimate goal is to benefit the business and the people. Women in business are innovators at heart. They have a strong sense of perception and consider other ways to achieve the same goal.

For example, if you do not feel your employees' pain, you would fail to increase sales. Because, be it companies or leaders, they can only make it big if all are working together. This clarity helps the businesswomen to evolve everyone from local to global.

Businesswomen are great listeners to the stories of the people or to attend conferences that can spark a new idea in them. One of the great things about

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Annabel Thomas Forging One's Own Path by Being Uninhibited by Tradition

‘‘

Nc'nean Distillery uses organic Scottish Barley in a distillery

powered by renewable energy and recycle 99.97% of its waste thereby contributing to Sustainable Production.

‘‘ 26

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G

reat leaders don't yield to the degrading impotence of giving into the opinions and prejudices of the people. They forge their own path by going beyond traditional norms. Great leaders destroy the prejudices of people and change their wrong perceptions. That makes them admirable.

Annabel Thomas is one such admirable leader who started Nc'nean Distillery to change the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland. She is the CEO and Founder of Nc'nean Distillery. Her mission was to create a whisky which would exist in harmony with this planet we call home.

Scotland. Nc'nean Distillery has been distilling since 2017 and it has just launched its first ever whisky.

Sustainability runs in Nc'nean Distillery's veins.

Nc'nean Distillery believes in responsible and sustainable production.

The inspiration for Nc'nean Distillery's name is from Neachneohaoin who was an ancient Gaelic Goddess.

She was known as the Queen of Spirits and a fierce protector of nature. She was strong and independent; she was never afraid to walk her own path. Annabel tries to follow her ethos in everything she does at Nc'nean Distillery.

What were the challenges you came across prior launching the organization in 2017?

In an interview with CIO Look, Annabel Thomas shares her journey and about her contribution through Nc'nean Distillery.

Below are the highlights of the interview between Annabel Thomas and CIO Look:

2017 was our first year of distilling, but before that we had two years of fundraising and two years of building the distillery from the ground up. These were definitely the most challenging years so far! Fundraising was tough because we need to raise £7.5million from a piece of paper and building was equally hard because we had this complex build project (old buildings, high tech equipment) in a very remote location.

After leaving her job in London in 2013, Annabel spent four years raising funds and building the Nc'nean Distillery from the ground up on the west coast of

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Annabel Thomas CEO and Founder Nc'nean Distillery

Being an experienced business leader, what is your opinion regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Food & Beverages Industry? And how has Nc'nean managed to overcome this significant challenge?

to work? There are lots of different elements to this I think – it ranges from having fun on a day-to-day basis, to making sure everyone feels supported in what they are doing, to trying to get as much socializing and fun in as we can (not something we've achieved much in Covid, it must be said).

I think it is hard to generalize as the impact has been very varied depending on your type of business – from catastrophic in hospitality, to transformative if you sell in supermarkets. We have been pretty lucky, and whilst many of our original plans were thrown up in the air, by being adaptable, focusing on digital and routes to market that continued to operate, we've had a hugely successful 'first year of whisky' launch.

What Truth everyone needs to know about organic barley, experimenting with different yeasts and longer mashing times?

Organic barley is part of our sustainability strategy.

Creating a distillery (and a whisky) that was really pioneering in its approach to sustainability has always been at the core of my mission, and we aim to not only hold ourselves to the highest standards but lead the industry at the same time. As for experimentation, it's in our DNA and it is fun! There is not enough attention paid to yeast in whisky distilling, and exploring these flavours continues to be one of my favourite periods of the year.

What is your thought on the necessity of a positive work culture? In what ways do you implement it at your organization?

I think it's absolutely essential, I really want my team to be happy at work. Without that, why would you come

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In what ways have you or Nc'nean contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring in sustainable and imaginative approach to distilling?

hearted and you need to be both clear in your mission and with a lot of perseverance to succeed and enjoy it!

At Nc'nean we have run an internship for women to understand more about the distilling industry (which is perceived to be very male dominated). Whilst we were unable to run it in 2020, or likely in 2021, it is something I would like to continue when the world can operate a little more freely again!

We aim to support our very local community as much as possible, by providing investment and jobs and supporting local charities where we can (we raised nearly £20k for the local community trust through auctioning our first 10 bottles in 2020).

What is your vision for the company for the next five years?

What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging women entrepreneurs in the Food & Beverages Industry? Have you in any ways contributed towards the cause of women empowerment?

Well really, we are only just beginning as our single malt launched just last year. Over the next five years I'd like to see the number of people who have tried and love Nc'nean to continue to grow, for more people's eyes to be opened to Scotch whisky and for the industry as a whole to undergo a sustainable transformation.

I think my advice would be go for it! But go for it having done your research and with your eyes open – entrepreneurship in any industry is not for the faint

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| May 2021 |

Hui Wu-Curtis CEO World Connection

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here have been numerous studies and articles published on how a positive workplace culture improves teamwork, raises morale, increases productivity and efficiency, and enhances retention of the workforce. Job satisfaction, collaboration, and work performance are all enhanced and, most importantly, a positive workplace environment reduces stress in employees. Leaders that promote the positive work culture are admirable. Hui Wu-Curtis is one such admirable business leader who believes that a positive work culture is not only a necessity, but imperative to organization's continued growth. She is currently the CEO at World Connection. She truly believes that everything begins and ends with people. She says, “The talent that you attract to your organization, the talent that you grow within your organization, and the talent that you retain — all add to your overall success.”

Leading Successfully Even Through Tough Times Hui joined World Connection in January 2020 as the President/COO to provide leadership, management, and vision to help grow and evolve the organization.

Shortly after she joined, COVID hit, and the world changed dramatically. Like everyone else, the pandemic forced World Connection to pivot quickly in this environment but, being a business process outsourcing company (BPO) that handles the customer service, sales, technical, and back-office support for other organizations, it was imperative that it paid special attention to the needs of its employees, as they represent other company brands. World Connection worked quickly as a team to get all its employees working from home at both its Guatemala City, Guatemala and Boise, Idaho contact centers before either of the governments created mandates. The

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Hui Wu-Curtis Delivering Value and Innovation to Clients

‘‘

Leadership is about

organization was fortunate to have had the infrastructure in place to move over 700 people home in a matter of three days. The biggest achievement in all this shuffle was that Hui's leadership team managed to do all of it with little to no impact on its clients' business.

making others

better as a result of

your presence and

As many industries were hard hit by the pandemic, World Connection was diversified enough to have fared well during this turbulent and uncharted time. At the end of 2020, though World Connection lost some clients due to COVID's negative impact on their industries, the company still managed to grow compared to the prior year. The company had a strong 2020 with many achievements and, in March 2021, the board of directors made the unanimous decision to promote Hui into the CEO role for World Connection.

making sure that

impact lasts in your

absence.

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Creating Positive Work Culture

activities, and many others, that World Connection promotes its positive work culture. Hui strongly believes that — regardless of your position in the organization — each person matters, every person deserves respect and equal opportunity to grow and learn. It takes every person rowing in the same direction for all of us to succeed.

In its culture at World Connection, the company ensures that there is a strong alignment with its core values of empowering its employees, creating a safe environment to fail and learn, and providing a judgement-free zone. Hui is often involved in many elements of the operations, so it is not uncommon for her to be a part of meetings at all levels, whether it be listening and learning or providing feedback and support. She also observes her leadership team to ensure that they are promoting a positive work culture.

Exceeding Expectations of Clients Hui is very operations-focused, and she works closely with her leadership team to ensure that their approaches to and management of their clients meet and exceed their expectations. “Meet and exceed” has become a soundbite, and may sound a bit trite, but knowing what she wanted when she WAS the client, she proactively works with her leadership team to deliver value and innovation for their clients.

World Connection partners with Human Resources, Marketing and Communications, and Talent Development/Training to showcase accomplishments, promote health and well-being for its employees, and review/change its policies and procedures to ensure that it is employee-centric, and it always looks for ways to evolve as a company. It also conducts surveys and focus groups at all levels of the organization, in addition to doing regular Q&A sessions with the executive team, and thus, provides open channels of communication and transparency. It is through all these elements and

Another aspect of management skill of Hui is to keep abreast of what is happening in the business, verticals, and markets of their clients. By learning and truly understanding their business, she develops stronger business acumen amongst her leadership team. World

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Connection mentors and coaches its leaders, not only to consistently perform, but to understand the business so they can run their operations like it is their business.

continue to develop business-savvy leaders at all levels and build upon its bench strength of talent. World Connection will also continue to be creative, innovate, agile, and forward-thinking in its space. She often tells her leadership team that you don't have to belong to a large corporation to come up with good ideas.

Innovation and creativity comes in all different shapes and sizes.

Creating Growth Opportunities for Women World Connection loves to coordinate volunteer events and give back to the communities in which its people work and live. Since the pandemic has (mostly) halted those efforts, it has had to be more creative in terms of its sponsorship and contributions to the community.

World Connection is a sponsor of the CCWomen MeetUp series through CCWDigital, and Hui provides support in these types of panel discussion or meet-ups, with both women and men, to discuss topics such as gender and race in the workplace. Hui sees hearing and sharing stories in this CCWomen network as a way to give back to the professional community.

Invaluable Advice In her advice to upcoming women entrepreneurs, she says “Find yourself mentors upon whom you can call for advice, brainstorm with, or use as a sounding board. That personal coaching, and gleaning off their knowledge and experience, is invaluable for one's own learning and development. And never stop learning!”

She adds, “Don't be afraid to fail. Just fail fast and move on.

Be concise in your communication. Be genuine and transparent. Have the courage and grit to do the right things. The right things are never the easiest, but the rewards will follow. Lastly, surround yourself with people smarter than yourself and strong leaders who compliment you. Collectively, as a team, you can make anything possible, and do some pretty amazing things along the way.”

In terms of providing growth opportunities for women, under tenure of Hui Wu-Curtis, this has become a key initiative for World Connection, as she has always been a huge advocate. For this year, she is partnering with various support departments to build a comprehensive approach to creating these opportunities through support and preparation. This includes bringing to light education on unconscious bias, barriers for women, perceptions, and the importance of mentorship and coaching. World Connection will measure the results versus baseline as each initiative is rolled out and in progress. Hui feels it is important that one should come full circle on growth opportunities for women, first by understanding the movement of women in one's organization. What positions are they are moving into?

Is there a lack of movement in certain positions and, if so, why? With these insights, one can craft programs to lessen the gaps that are identified and measured before/after for overall effectiveness.

Continuing Trajectory for Smart Growth Hui Wu-Curtis believes that World Connection has a unique opportunity to continue to develop its differentiation and find its niche. She is incredibly competitive and love doing what most people think is impossible, so she looks forward to this adventure with her team at World Connection.

In the next five years, World Connection will continue its trajectory for smart growth and expand the diversity of its portfolio. Internally, World Connection will

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Judi Wineland

Judi Wineland, Co-Founder and Board Member, Wineland-Thomson Adventures

Sharing Passion for Travel with Other Adventurers 34

| May 2021 |

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ife without adventures is pretty much like a monotonous routine. The adventurous moments are creative, experimental, and joyous. When traveling, we get to see how big the world is along with all of its diversity and variety. New experiences help us realize how tiny our problems are. It makes us more compassionate, more mature, and more knowledgeable people with amazing experiences. In this way, what makes life more interesting is an opportunity to live adventurously and help others to live it more adventurously by traveling the world.

Providing Personalized Services Technological developments and digital transformation are part of the nature of the world we live in. WinelandThomson Adventures fully embraces these changes. It has found that staying agile keeps it sharp and adaptable for periods of uncertainty. In many ways, it also allows Wineland-Thomson Adventures to provide more personalized service to its guests.

Uplifting and Positive Business Environment

At the age of 28, Judi Wineland became the world’s first woman to found an adventure travel company in the US, when she launched Overseas Adventure Travel back in 1978. Since then, she has spent her career making space for women in a male-dominated industry.

In 1981, with her husband Rick Thomson, she started Thomson Safaris, offering luxury safaris in Tanzania. In the 40 years since, they have founded nine successful adventure travel companies and organizations, all of which operate globally, including Thomson Family Adventures, Thomson Treks and Thomson Collections.

Over the years, Wineland-Thomson Adventures has built a culture where its commitment to its guests, staff, and each other is central to what it does. Engaged and motivated staff is key to its success. The company is committed to making it possible for all staff to have a pleasant work/life balance. They also believe that work can and should be fun! They regularly share meals and make memories together in person (when and where it is responsible to do so) and online. The opportunity to forge lasting friendships while working is a testament to the uplifting and positive business environment Wineland-Thomson Adventures shares.

Over the years the company grew; today WinelandThomson Adventures runs both Thomson Safaris and Thomson Family Adventures, a company devoted exclusively to hand-crafting extraordinary travel experiences for families. In 2017, Judi and her two daughters acquired AdventureWomen, a company offering adventure travel as a medium for transformative journeys throughout the world. Judi finds that it is gratifying to have the opportunity to share her passion for travel with other adventurers.

Sustainability, cultural enrichment, quality adventuring, and a belief that travel is transformational have always been important to Judi. It is her foundation for good travel and good living.

Valuing Collaboration and Transparency As an international company, it is critical to align one’s vision across countries and culture. Wineland-Thomson Adventures believes personal connection provides the opportunity to create a shared vision and strategic direction. The staff believe that transparent and clear communication results in collaboration, ultimately reaching the organization’s goals.

Recognizing the Potential of Technology The pandemic has proven the irrevocable relevance of the digital economy in the modern world and how much everyone relies on those who work in IT and the Services Industry. Technology’s ability to connect an individual to the people he or she works with around the world makes IT a fixture at the heart of WinelandThomson Adventures’ business model.

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‘‘

From the beginning, local employment and advocacy have been absolutely central to the way Wineland-Thomson Adventures was built.

‘‘

Empowering Women with Opportunities

create relationships with people who have something to teach them. She suggests to never, ever, stop growing and learning.

As a Co-Founder and Board Member, Judi is committed to providing opportunities to women through Wineland-Thomson Adventures’ philanthropic organization, Focus on Tanzanian Communities (FoTZC). FoTZC is dedicated to women’s empowerment, education, community, and health in remote Northern Tanzania where women have limited educational and economic opportunities. For example, in one of Tanzania’s most remote Maasai communities, only five of the 270 women had a primary school education.

Remaining Committed to Values Wineland-Thomson Adventures will continue to grow by remaining committed to the values it has had since its beginnings: a commitment to excellence, respect, and community. The staff values its guests, each other, and the world equally. The company is agile and able to transform as the world and the market transform, so it can provide consistently outstanding experiences for its guests.

Wineland-Thomson Adventures has also provided professional opportunities such as beekeeping programs and job training for these women. With staff, the organization coaches women to grow and assume managerial responsibilities. The executive team of Wineland-Thomson Adventures is female, and it has a solid family plan in place so women may take of their families without jeopardizing their professional lives.

Creating a Supportive Community Judi advises to aspiring business leaders to pursue their dream with passion. She advises them to create a community that can support them, and always look to

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Leadership Insight

AN INTRINSIC WAY OF LEADING By- Charikleia G. Stouka, Founder of ALMA Real Estate Hellas

"I Could, Should and Ought To Succeed; I Simply Had To!"

whenever I cook, I still tackle the most difficult task first—and I've always taken the same approach with my work. When I was starting out, I took on the most difficult tasks first, and once I had successfully tackled those, I could do anything. Everything is easy if you know how to do it.

Leadership is all about navigating and overcoming the various challenges on the journey to success. It is about knowing when to be prudent and when to be bold, it's about putting in the work needed to really understand what you're dealing with in each situation, and it's about respect—earning it and showing it alike. Indeed, one of the biggest challenges—and virtues—in leadership is composure, and it's practically impossible to overstress the importance of having the respect of your customers, the industry and the community you operate in.

Of course, quite often, the challenge is not the task in front of you but the mental state that keeps you from going for it. So alongside undertaking all kinds of entrepreneurial responsibilities and dealing with the daily challenges of running a business, you have to also consciously do the work of confronting yourself and overcoming the obstacles within. There's no way around it. Self-reflection and self-knowledge are both essential and inevitable.

As straightforward as this all sounds, it can often be challenging to put into effect—and that's why I'm writing this, as an extra bit of support for aspiring leaders on their way to success.

To paraphrase Pythagoras's Golden Verses, you should never go to sleep before you have reflected on your actions of the day: Before you go to bed, consider what you have done wrong, so that you may correct it or avoid it in the future; consider what you have accomplished and how, so that you may continue to do so; and consider what you ought to have done but didn't, and make sure that you take care of it tomorrow.

“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” - U.S. Navy Admiral William McRaven At the beginning of my journey, it occurred to me that there was no reason why the “impossible” should be impossible—why couldn't I make it possible? So I decided that I had to maintain that state of mind and follow it through with my actions.

This process of using reflection and understanding in order to move forward and grow as a leader also applies to developing and growing your business. To effectively deal with any challenge or obstacle that you find in your way, you must first seek to understand its nature, to understand what it is, what factors into it, and what it affects and how. The key to this is twofold: research and knowledge.

I started with cooking and decided to tackle some intimidating basics, such as properly cutting a pomegranate or pineapple. It may sound simple, even funny, but it can actually take quite a long time to get rid of the fear and decide that you can accomplish a task if you just find the right technique and learn how to do it. I long ago mastered exotic fruit, but to this day,

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Charikleia G. Stouka Founder of "ALMA Real Estate Hellas”

Flexibility, adaptability and innovation are also essential throughout it all. The way to success is strewn with wins as well as losses, and at each step, you have to be ready to use all the knowledge you have acquired along the way to weigh the pros and cons and be pragmatic about the situation and about your position in it. It's important to neither underestimate nor overestimate the sense of your potential.

better at managing your professional life and, with every step, brings you closer to your goals. There is something to gain from every challenge, and you should stay alert and open to identifying the benefit in any scenario and every situation.

That said, to be successful and meaningfully so, you also need to ensure that you give back as well. For me, that was my motivation from day one. I chose to not just be good at my work but to also add value to the work to the best of my ability and to leave the community better than I found it. Because when it comes to succeeding in business and leadership, you have to ask yourself: What is the purpose of doing what everybody else is already doing? Why should customers and clients choose me if I'm not willing to go above and beyond?

What is the point of doing whatever we do if we do not add value to it and strive to always leave things better than we found them? This brings us back full circle to the importance of learning and doing and pushing yourself, always, to excel. So give yourself the gift of lifelong learning and dare to adapt and innovate. And read, read, read! I read voraciously, from novels to treatises to the writing on restaurant napkins. You never know where you'll find the spark that answers that thought you've had on your mind all day or inspires you to come up with something useful.

“Good things are acquired through toil.” - Aristotle Reaching the top takes a lot of hard and smart work over the course of many years. You must maintain your focus on your goals (both short- and longterm) and have patience, perseverance and dedication. You have to be willing to put in the work, and you have to be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices that come with building a successful business from the ground up, which can include gruelling working hours, being on the alert 24/7, sleepless nights, missing out on fun times with friends, and giving up some of the freedom that others your age might be enjoying. None of this should be constant or permanent, but all of it will happen, and you have to be prepared. And while the work may be hard and demanding, every day is a next step, a new journey and new inspiration to keep going. The discipline required, the discipline you learn as you progress on your path, allows you to become ever

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| May 2021 |

Lisa Jones, Founder and CEO

EyeMail Inc.

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Lisa Jones Innovating without Restrictions

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reat leaders have the courage to believe what they can imagine can also become a reality.

Great leaders are audacious to pursue their goals no matter what. Great business leaders go beyond their comfort zone and refuse to stay on the sidelines. Great leaders are aware that innovative technology can be leveraged to support a change for the better, and digital transformation can change what we are today, to become something more tomorrow.

with no downloads or clicks to external websites to view the full video. There is no limit to the value of using EyeMail through internal and external communications or event planning and execution, every interaction with another person is an opportunity to use EyeMail.

Facilitating Positive Work Culture EyeMail’s culture is founded on its innovative creativity and the development of a multi-patent pending technology. Innovation is not restricted to a specific age group or level within the company, the youngest team member is 23 years and the most senior team member is 75 years of age. This wide range of age and the global diversity of its team members, better equips EyeMail to foster the exchange of new ideas. Creating this natural collaborative community and knowledge sharing is how everyone at EyeMail stays motivated and engaged.

Lisa S. Jones, the Founder and Chief EyeMail Officer of EyeMail Inc., chose not to agree with those who told her ‘there is nothing wrong with email so why change it’.

She developed multiple patent-pending technologies because she envisioned a better way to engage with each other using email.

Lisa’s journey has certainly not been a direct path to where she is today. She made the decision early to selffund her company and while that allowed her the flexibility to truly innovate without restrictions, educating the market on a technology that didn’t exist before, and finding resources with the right skills to support a future technological vision.

Building a Team with Varying Expertise Lisa’s multi-cultural team has varying degrees of expertise across different fields. Lisa learned very quickly, her strengths versus opportunities for improvements. She kept that in mind when building her team because she doesn’t need three more Lisa’s with her same skillsets. While collaboration is a key to success, Lisa also has strong sense of her brand and vision. If a decision was going to alter the perception of the brand in an inconsistent or negative way, she would ask the team to dig in deeper, talk through it, and consider other ways to be achieve the same goals.

Bringing Emails to Life The first electronic message was established in 1965 and the first email was sent in 1971. The foundational concepts of Email have not really changed in the last 50 years.

EyeMail technology is looking to break that cycle through the next generation of email engagement.

Founded in 2004, EyeMail enables automatic play of a 60+ seconds High-Definition video and audio across all email, webmail, and mobile platforms in 15k in size,

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‘

Greatness can be born from anywhere in the world and Significance is not geographically defined.

‘

Lisa also listens to those she meets at conferences (i.e. onsite or virtual). She listens to the stories people tell and sometimes she will hear something that sparks a new idea. Two years ago, she met someone at a conference who said, ‘if you can fix this particular problem that my life would be easier’. Lisa happened to agree with him, and that conversation led to a product EyeMail will roll out later in 2021.

7. Talk less and listen more 8. Stay true to your vision 9. Increase your network 10. Find your inspiration Remaining Relevant by Delivering Value EyeMail is as a company that is always evolving and looking ahead, as the team knows their clients are constantly changing in how they best support their customers. Remaining relevant is knowing how and where to bring value. Lisa and the team recognize the value EyeMail brought to a client last year, may not the be same value its clients need this year.

Sharing Lessons and Helping Each Other One of the great things about networking with women, is women are all very much willing to share their lessons learned and help others be successful. Lisa’s top 10 lessons that keep her going as a female entrepreneur are: 1. When things get lonely, connect with images or videos that motivate you.

2. Understand that every day will not be sunshine and rainbows 3. Set aside time to celebrate all successes, even the small ones.

4. Own it, and realize you are enough & deserve success 5. Seek mentorship from multiple and diverse sources 6. Tweak it, until you peak it

What is on the future roadmap for EyeMail? By 2022, EyeMail will redefine the industry standard for videoin-email. In two to three years, EyeMail will be a globally recognized brand, market leader, and perhaps even in the oxford dictionary. In three years, EyeMail will have successfully infused artificial intelligence with its current technology to create something even more magnificent, taking the everyday human interaction to the next level and continuing to bring your email to life!

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Megan

Capriccio Using Modern Tech Advancements to Improve Women Healthcare

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egan Capriccio is the CEO & Co-Founder at FemTech Collective. As an entrepreneur, product manager, and business strategist, she has dedicated her career to ensure that women have more control over their realities i.e. health, education, and career.

Megan's various roles have helped gain her recognition as a champion for positive change for women. After her first company' success that supports women's careers and education in the wine and spirits industry, she wanted to dive further into researching women's roles on the international horizon. She went on to complete Masters of International Relations with a focus in Feminist Theory from the University of Sydney where she became frustrated with the conclusion that women's health can never be a substantial priority in a world where most countries and companies are led by men. Despite the shortcomings of healthcare systems and governments, Megan turned to technology as a solution for women's empowerment and equity.

In 2020, Nicole Dahlstrom brought Megan as a Co-Founder of FemTech Collective to commercialize the business and develop the FemTech industry on a global scale. Through FemTech Collective, she is currently working with and consulting for FemTech companies, investors, and partners to grow the global ecosystem, offer additional support for women to manage their health with the help of technology, and re-educate the public on how healthy women create a healthy society.

FemTech Collective is the world's largest network for entrepreneurs, innovators, and professionals in women's health technology. “Our mission is to catalyze quality innovation by providing strategic opportunities for the FemTech ecosystem and amplifying the acceleration of products and services for women's health,” says the company.

In an interview with CIO Look, Megan Capriccio shared her vision for improving women health globally through advance tech innovations and what steps she is taking to bring this cause into a reality.

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“

At FemTech Collective, we foster a positive environment by being flexible and understanding with staff, engaging often, and encouraging innovative thinking and ideas. Our team is committed to our vision and supporting the members to help them achieve their successes.

Learn from your victories and mistakes and do not give up when it gets hard.

What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes to Digital Transformation?

The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, and we are seeing that in healthcare from digital appointments, to at home prescription delivery, to personal monitoring and tracking applications and devices. It's unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic that make digital transformation in healthcare all the more necessary.

Below are the highlights of the interview: As a business leader, what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the IT & Services Industry and Digital Economy in general?

Newer technologies are always interesting to see and exciting to evaluate. However, new developments will greatly depend on the audience to which they are targeting, the acceptance, and the level of market saturation. Before the pandemic, patients were quite wary to receive care in a digital environment, but when it's the only medium possible, they quickly adapted.

Because of this, digital healthcare is going to be a major component of the new norm.

The pandemic has accelerated the digital economy, which in many cases is a positive move towards a more flexible workforce encouraging work/life balance, especially for women. As a society, we have learned that a remote workforce, of course depending on the industry, can be successful.

How do you bring your management skills in establishing strategic direction and delivering results globally?

In the healthcare space, we've seen significant improvements and acceleration that allow patients to access their providers digitally. We may not have seen these improvements as quickly without a pandemic.

My achievements and experiences have shaped my leadership style just as much as my failures have; it's important to recognize this in your team as well. I think the most important thing a leader can do is take the time to understand how their team ticks and to learn what a priority is for them. This has become an easier skill for me to develop; the more I understand myself and my own priorities.

In the case of FemTech Collective, we are a fully remote team, with staff around the world and yet we remain tightly connected through digital means. We have seen FemTech as an industry creating more accessible products and services for women, and users quickly becoming adopters of the technology because it offers the support that otherwise wouldn't be available.

The more I took the time to reflect on myself, the more enthusiastic I became for the things I decided to devote my time to. Great leaders are able to do this for themselves and also take the time to understand it in others. It allows you to see your team or community for the humans they are while allowing them to bring their full selves and potential to work.

What is your thought on the necessity of a positive work culture? In what ways do you implement it at your organization?

A positive work culture breads innovative thinking, encouragement, support, confidence, empathy which leads to a happy staff, and ultimately greater production.

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Thus, from there, it is just finding a team that shares your enthusiasm and motivation for the work ahead.

In what ways have you contributed to the community?

If given a chance, what change would you bring in providing growth opportunities to Women.

The ethos of FemTech Collective is such that we want to amplify the success of innovators and founders in the women's health technology industry. As a predominately, female led ecosystem, we see it's our responsibility to support the unique needs of leaders in the space. May that be through strategic partnerships, mentorship opportunities, coaching sessions, or otherwise, we take our cues from the community itself.

We provide career development opportunities through our internal roles, and provide company accelerating programs to strategically support the global industry more broadly.

As an established business leader, what would be your advice to the budding women entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into IT & Services Industry?

My advice to anyone, women and men, looking to venture into IT and the Services Industry is: do your homework, do the research, know your audience, connect with other entrepreneurs to learn from their journeys, learn from your victories and mistakes and do not give up when it gets hard. This is a journey, enjoy the experience.

How do you envision on sustaining your company's competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of business? Where do you see your company in the next five years?

In the future, I see FemTech Collective as the leading business support service and strategic global network for entrepreneurs, innovators, and professionals in female health. There's so much room for new technologies, and we're still highlighting the gaps where innovation is lacking to support women's health journeys. FemTech Collective is creating the foundation for the next generation of entrepreneurs in this space, and catalyzing innovation to ensure personalization and further accessibility in women's healthcare products.

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