Rebecca Perez | Empowering Women | Exeleon Magazine

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Rebecca Perez EMPOWERING THE LEADER IN EVERY WOMAN

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CONTENTS

12 REBECCA PEREZ

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22 MARY HARCOURT

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38 MISA CHIEN

Exeleon Magazine Presents

#MyJo

urney

Coming Soon...

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Founder & Editor-in-Chief GOSS Club

Photo Credit: Alvaro Mejia

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Emp o wering

a c c e b e R erez P WOMEN LEADERS OF THE YEAR

Empowering the Leader in Every Woman

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Across the world, women in leadership positions are powerful, transformative, and diverse. As the core tenet of their leadership, they have changed the course of business by mobilizing equal partnership, rede ining success, sharing power, and building relationships, at all levels.

One such empowering leader is Rebecca I Perez. Rebecca is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Goss Club. She has published three bestsellers, is a certi ied private pilot, skydiver, scuba diver, real estate investor, and a phenomenal storyteller.

For this New York-based boss lady, being empowered means “leading from your most authentic voice.”

She says, “It is easy to get lost in what that looks like, and to follow or get in luenced by our environment. Staying true to ourselves requires us to go deeper into our thoughts, into our passions, and into our soul.”

She also believes that shedding the layers that were not integral to her has now allowed her to show her 14

most authentic self. She leads by example, standing with both courage and fear and taking the right action—be it launching a print magazine, when everyone said “print was dead” or investing in real estate when people were scared and selling their assets.

Rebecca trusts her intuition and that has encouraged her to step into a completely different version of herself — fearlessly. “I believe what makes me so relatable to other women, is my genuine curiosity for knowledge. I seek to understand the world and the more I understand myself, the more empathic I become towards others,” she adds.

LEADING, GUIDING, AND CONFIDING IN HERSELF

Since the beginning, Rebecca harbored the mindset of selfreliance. Infact her irst words as a child were “by myself”.

“I was very independent and wanted to learn how to do everything on my own. This has been a characteristic of mine since my early years and permeated into my adult years as well. I have always been led by this inner voice that guided me —almost like a guardian angel,” she fondly recalls.

Her innate con idence was a result of her many talents— from singing and writing to understanding business and communication. “I have always exuded this con idence naturally, without really noticing it until it would be pointed out to me by others,” she adds.

However, her self-con idence and stability dissipated when her parents passed away. “I had the unfortunate event of losing both my parents in my teen years. I lost them to mental illness, and had to igure out my way early on, all by myself.”

Although her upbringing was rough, it forced her to step up to the plate. She realized her responsibility towards her younger sister and resolved to guide her in every way.

This unprecedented chaos ignited a burning drive and ire in her. “I vowed I would never allow my emotions to control me, and that I would always remain inancially independent, and self-suf icient — regardless of who was in my life,” she adds.

With time, and lots of healing, she regained her con idence; except this time, it was con idence that would never leave her again. This time it emerged deep within herself —not from external circumstances, or people.

“I knew that no matter what, and no matter who came in and out of my life, I got me. I don't wish this situation upon anyone, but it forced me to go deep within, and to ind true self-love, and trust in a higher power to guide me and protect me.

This way, I knew I was never alone, and I would be grateful for every relationship that came and left equally,” she says.

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The Dawn of GOSS Movement After graduating from McGill University in Journalism/ PR and Communications, Rebecca was ready to take over the world.

It was her diverse experience working for a renowned lifestyle blog that helped her explore her calling. “With over 1M monthly views, I was able to build an audience and ind my voice as a writer fairly quickly. I would always get rated #1 in my opinion piece, with 100K+ re-shares on my posts.” These positive results reinforced her belief that she was meant to share her views with the world.

Later, all of 23, she launched her own blog, Goss Club, to connect women and inspire each other by being Gossy. “This term-turned-movement has a different de inition to each woman who is touched by our platform. There is no one de inition to #BeGOSSY but to me, it represents self-actualization and becoming the highest version of yourself in this body,” she claims.

Five years later, she has reached hundreds of thousands of women through her print magazine in categories that range from aviation, medicine, legal, architect & design, business, itness, music, and arts distributed all over North America.

Photo Credit: Giovanni De Simone

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“We have an open monthly membership club that brings together experts in these industries through masterclasses, live courses and networking events to digital courses on emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship and money mindset all around the world,” she adds,

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Stop listening to people who haven’t done what you are trying to do.

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ver Story ESTABLISHING A TRADITION OF MASTERY As the Founder of GOSS, Rebecca oversees the content and editorial write-ups as well as the creative side of the Magazine themes as Editor-in-Chief.

“I had taken more of a backseat and let my Editorial team take over when it comes to interviews, and write-ups. We also have a Digital Marketing team that does everything from posting on social media to content creation,” she remarks.

Her talented team includes 22 staff members in 5 different departments and is growing constantly. “My position is to expand the brand with a larger product suite and invest in growing the brand in more markets,” she adds.

Along with this, Rebecca is also a published author of three books that are all set to launch in 2023 under different publishing houses: 101 Ways to BeGossy, Cash is Queen™ and BE — An Autobiography.

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To all the aspiring women entrepreneurs, Rebecca recommends, “Stop listening to people who haven't done what you are trying to do. Listen to your gut and go all in on your vision. Trust me, you can do it.”

She unfailingly believes that your “why” is your biggest asset.

It is integral to scream it often to yourself and to your market, so they remember why they are buying from you, and not your competitors.

“Get people to work in your wax — so you can stay in your lame. Don't worry too much about the inish line — just enjoy the road, enjoy your life!”

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Her irst book, 101 Ways To BeGossy is a pragmatic business bible for women. It has 101 tips, alongside illustrations that are simple yet precise and timeless.

She strongly believes every woman going into business, and life, should have this handbook available to them.

Cash is Queen™, her second book, is for money mavens. It includes all the pragmatic tools to change your mindset regarding money.

Rebecca has an interesting take on earning wealth where she equates money to energy. “It holds a very speci ic frequency,” she says. This book is all about getting you close to the magnetic force of reaching that frequency so you can align it with “cash”.

The third book, BE — An Autobiography, is a heartfelt memoir where she takes the reader through the arduous and painful journey of growing in an abusive household.

She shares several memories from her past, embraces the life lessons, and weaves her success through breakdowns, especially the ones that helped her build her eminent business. Each book is personally signed by Rebecca and includes unparalleled snippets from her childhood.

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#BEGOS

I N S P I R E . E M P OW E

Photo Credit: Alvaro Mejia

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ver Story FLOURISHING UNDER CHALLENGES All these years, Rebecca has earned an excellent reputation among the community of leaders, and readers. However, her journey was not lawless.

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For her, the biggest challenge has been to trust herself and to stop doing everything alone.

“In my younger days, I was more open to the ideas and in luence of my friends and family, who although had my best interest at heart, were not aware of my vision. I made some decisions that could have been avoided, by listening to my inner voice instead,” she recollects.

She also used to think that she had to do everything alone and didn't actively seek help in business and life. But, hiring the right business mentor, money coach, therapist have changed her life. “Today, I understand the importance of hiring employees and surrounding yourself with people who can help you grow,” she adds.

When asked if she would have done anything differently when starting out, she quickly says, “Every mistake, every decision, and every emotion that she faced brought me here, which was all that I needed— Building a multi-million-dollar brand and becoming a better version of myself.”

them all part of Goss in some way. “Our movement is much bigger than mine. It is about women everywhere — from South Africa, India, Australia, to China.”

She is a trailblazer and believes in building a brand-new world — A world where all women thrive, where men support and empower their partners to ind their voice.

“Our world is a perfect synergy in harmony which will only happen if we conquer ourselves irst and choose to be the light in the darkness,” she adds enthusiastically.

On a business note, Goss Magazine is on the road to becoming an 8- igure business, diversifying in real estate development, aviation and so many more industries.

“We're just getting louder and better month after month, year after year,” she says.

She also hopes to launch GOSS Foundation—a non-pro it side of her brand that will educate women in third-world countries and fund women-owned businesses in multiple sectors by 2023.

With relentless drive and abundant passion in her heart, she promises to always inspire, empower, and lead in all that she and her team does.

STARTLING FUTURE OF GOSS

Rebecca's uni ied vision is to inspire women to create multi-million-dollar brands all around the world.

She aims to reach 3 billion women and have

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In– Focus

Glowing up Lives What according to you makes one an empowering woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

An empowered woman is con ident and feels in control of her life. It's a beautiful thing to live a con ident life that you are proud of. I integrate this in leadership by allowing my team to have a voice, in fact, it's required. If there is a team member that is not contributing their opinion on the matter, I will ask why they should be a part of the team.

Multiple ideas are better than a single idea.

You are encouraged to see the problem from many different angles and piece together different solutions to arrive at the best solution.

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Mary Harcourt Founder & CEO | CosmoGlo

How did the idea of CosmoGlo come about?

I had boots on the ground already. I was a service provider in the industry that was ighting with not having a great lighting solution to light up my workspace when I worked on my clients. The beauty industry is exploding and it's only going to grow bigger. I thought to myself, 'How has no one created the perfect lighting solution for service-based providers?' If I could do this, I could change an entire industry. I invented and launched a light that is changing the game for many industries. All because I was going through the pain myself and created a solution.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the beauty and tech space?

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In– Focus that are the ones that will be bringing the product to life.

I was told the concept was too hard to create and that I should change the design to be easier to produce. The changes took away everything that made it special, which I did not allow or agree to as a client. I was very irm on the design and requested they igure it out. This is what makes the item so special and innovative.

Lighting in a curve shape had never existed before in the beauty industry and I was not going to take no for an answer. With my irmness and the great minds of engineers, we were able to develop what we now know as CosmoGlo.

As the CEO of CosmoGlo, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?

I knew if I had an idea, and I could bring it into a reality, it could bene it so many others. That launched me into the process of seeing if it was even possible. From the sketch of the light starting on a napkin to getting iles created to show the light in 3d and then having a metal shop create our irst prototype, it was a process of making it happen.

What was the thought behind the name?

This is a light used in the Cosmetology industry. That industry covers many different things such as skin care, permanent makeup, nails, eyelash extensions. I didn't want to be limited to speci ically a lash light. I wanted to leave the option available to have an entire line of products in the future. Using the Cosmetology industry as an umbrella, it was natural to use Cosmo and Glo as it was a light that would be lighting up a client's face, and the workspace for the technician providing the service.

Therefore, CosmoGlo became the name of our light.

I am very active in my company on a daily basis. I closely work with my teams to develop new product ideas, strategize for sales goals, form campaigns for our social media accounts, maintain incredible customer service for my customers, and withhold our patents we have in 30 countries.

What would be your advice for entrepreneurs of a product-based start-up company?

When you're doing something new and innovative, you have to remember that this has never existed before.

Trust yourself, your idea, and your mind to bring it to life. Be careful taking advice from others, they only know what is already in existence. Do not let them water down your idea or passion based on what's already out there.

I only take advice from three people. People that I deeply respect or admire, people that have already done what i am trying to do, or people I am willing to trade places with them in their lives. If they are not one of those three people, I do not accept their advice. They are not trying to do what you are doing, and you must stay true to yourself to pull off innovation.

Talk to us about the product designing process and the innovation that went behind it.

Looking back at your journey, what would you have done differently when starting out?

Product designing is quite a wild ride. You take a single idea from a brain that has never been a part of the manufacturing industry and marry it with engineers

I am so happy with how my idea became a reality. It was a scalable progression that was manageable. I am selffunded. I grew it from very little into what it is now. We

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One Book Entrepreneurs uust read: The E-Myth One Productivity Tool that everyone should use: Monday.com for your workplace.

One Mobile App that you use the most: Instagram One Movie / Show that you would recommend: Shark Tank One Quote that Motivates you the Most: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. - Vivienne Green One Investment Advice that you Follow: Get rid of bad debt. Life gets much easier when you can get out and stay out of bad debt.

are about to be a globally distributed product and I take great pride in that. I think so many people thing you have to start big or have funding. To me, I feel as though our success was because we were neither large or wellfunded. The lessons you learn are the same in either scenario. However, they are much easier to learn and grow from on a smaller scale with less funds to recover when things don't go as planned. I believe my success has been because of how the company was started. I am not sure I would change a single thing.

What does the future look like for CosmoGlo? How do you plan on scaling the brand?

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The future is very 'bright' for CosmoGlo! We are increasing our production to keep up with the demand.

We have had to switch manufacturers to get us to the next level. It was a very challenging move, however, it is behind us now. We control all of our American-based manufacturing. From here we grow internationally. I ind when scaling a company, it is very important to have software that increases automation and decreases the need for brain power. Letting the software programs do the heavy lifting allows the team to focus on more planning and strategizing which is important for any company regardless of size.

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In– Focus

FINDING

Ursula Eysin

CEO | Red Swan Vienna

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here is nothing certain, but the uncertain. Ursula Eysin is no stranger to uncertainty herself.

However, perseverance and willingness to learn has steered her to overcome these uncertainties, and eventually leverage them into an advantage.

Ursula mentions, “Uncertainty is at the very core of human beingness as this very uncertainty gives us free will and choice. The choice to give our life a unique meaning.”

Identifying this, Ursula founded Red Swan Vienna, a platform that helps businesses and other organizations by uncertainty into a competitive advantage and to actively create their desired future.

In this Interview, Ursula talks about this scenario thinking approach, her journey,

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and her beliefs about women entrepreneurship that questions conventional thinking.

What according to you makes one a powerful woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

As a technology consultant, I was often the only woman on the team, and I always perceived that as an advantage. I think it is very important to not try to beat men at being men, but really tap into our full female potential. That means being softer, not harder.

Water is a very powerful force, and nobody would call it weak because it's not a rock, right? I step into my female power with every decision by trying to be softer, not harder. By trying to be the water instead of the rock.

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In– Focus Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as an entrepreneur that you remember?

Trying to protect my younger brothers in our narcissistic household, I had to take on a lot of responsibility from an early age.

That gave me a lot of leadership qualities which I now use to my advantage. On the other hand, it made me hyper-responsible.

Meaning, I illed every responsibility gap I could ind. That wasn't sustainable. I had to work on that in order to survive in my own business, otherwise, it would have destroyed me.

What prompted the start of Red Swan Vienna? What was the pain point that you wanted to address through this platform?

Having grown up in a kind of an emotional and psychological mine ield, I know what uncertainty feels like and how to deal with it. I want to make uncertainty suck less for people and companies.

I help companies, international and governmental organizations, startuppers, and even individuals to turn uncertainty into an advantage. I know that people hate uncertainty and I validate that. But Uncertainty is at the very core of human beingness because this very uncertainty gives us free will and choice. The choice to give our life a unique meaning.

Brief us about 'scenario thinking' and the approach you follow to provide scenario success solutions.

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Scenario thinking is a process developed for strategic planning by the U.S Air Force in the 1940s and was famously adapted for business usage by Royal Dutch Shell in the 1960s. With great success. Shell was already prepared for an oilshock scenario when others didn't even dare to think about it. I had the great opportunity to learn it directly from the source: former Shell Chief Strategist, Karl Rose, taught me this great technique in 2010, and ever since I've been using it to turn uncertainty into an advantage. First, we frame the challenge: What decision do you need to make? Then we gather the driving forces for this question.

These driving forces are then analyzed in an Impact-UncertaintyMatrix to determine which are certain trends - things we cannot change now or in the future - and which are critical future uncertainties - things we can still in luence and use to co-create a different now and future. Then we choose 2 of the critical uncertainties of the future to form a scenario cross to get 4 different scenarios. Then we rehearse the future by acting out the different scenarios out and use the indings to take inspired action steps.

What does a day in the life of Ursula Eysin look like? How do you ensure work-life balance?

I don't have a routine, so every day looks different in new creative ways. That keeps my creative juices lowing. I also don't compartmentalize my life into work and life. Are we not living when we work? I live life to the fullest in every moment and in everything I do. That's very intense but I love it.

Looking back at your journey, what would you have done differently when starting out?

I am a very open person, which is a huge advantage in communication and networking, but I tended to trust people too early. I learned to irst check if I can trust them to capitalize on my best interests - and their own best interests as well.

And then dive deep into a trustworthy business relationship. I had to learn to set healthy boundaries and not ill every responsibility gap I can ind. I observed myself doing that again

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Water is a very powerful force, and nobody would call it weak because it's not a rock, right? I step into my female power with every decision by trying to be softer, not harder. By trying to be the water instead of the rock.

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and again and started to work on this pattern of hyper responsibility and successfully changed it.

What would be your advice for women entrepreneurs and leaders trying to stand out in their market?

Don't try to be hard like a man.

Bring the female softness into the world of business, as it is desperately needed. It shouldn't be a ight of “men against women”.

Let's co-create a better future and a new way of doing business together.

Finally, what does the future look

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like for you and Red Swan Vienna?

It might sound funny but for a while, I tried to keep Red Swan small for reasons of taxes and expenses in Austria, but now I am at the point where I want to grow it as big as possible. I want to build a business I would want to come back to in my next life. The mission is to make uncertainty suck less for as many people and businesses as possible and to co-create a better future together. Among the most uncertain things we see in all the future scenarios we develop is human behavior. This means

relationships are among these uncertainties as well. For me, better communication means better relationships, and better human relationships mean a better life and a better business. Thus, I would like to contribute to improving communication, human connection, and human relationships.

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Danielle Joworski | Visibility Coach for Women What according to you makes one an empowering woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

For me, an empowering woman is someone who makes me feel compelled to take action, grow beyond where I am today, and makes me believe that I can achieve what I put my mind to. She owns her life experiences and is a role model for learning how to overcome a challenge in her own unique way.

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thought leadership by talking openly about my own failures and visibility fears that led to the demise of my irst business. By understanding what didn't work in my business the irst time, embracing innovative thinking, and owning the differences that make me unique I've learned how to build and grow my second business differently – my way – and teach women how to do the same with their business.

From facing failure in your irst business to today guiding hundreds of women entrepreneurs, what has been your journey

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In– Focus like?

The journey from failing in my irst business to today is not one that I would want other women to have, which is part of why I'm passionate about the work I do.

Transitioning out of corporate that irst time at 40 was without a plan. I was literally a ish out of water.

Gone was the security and the title I'd used to de ine who I was and what I could do. Without all of it, I was lost in a world I didn't understand and didn't feel equipped to be in. So, I struggled for 2 ½ years, lacking con idence in who I was and what value or solutions could be offered.

Getting to where I am today has come from making hard decisions and owning my role in that journey.

Returning to corporate was done from a place of shame and guilt. Yet, it was done with a strange knowing that one day, I'd step out again.

Time and space were needed to create the clarity, self-belief, and con idence required to step out again and succeed. It's de initely been a journey of resilience and getting back up after falling and failing. Being able to look in the mirror, take accountability for the failures, and commit to learning from them has been key. Those steps from where I was to where I am happened over time. It was work. Studying myself allowed me to gain a greater awareness of who I am, my strengths, value and why I'm passionate about what I do. It's made overcoming challenges much easier and faster. “What is” today is a result of a continual journey and commitment to working on myself, having a clear goal, a supportive

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network, an unwavering faith, and an understanding of what makes me different and using that to my advantage.

Looking at this journey, what would you do differently if you were to start again?

There are three things that I would do differently if I were to start this journey again. One, have a greater understanding of myself before making the step out of corporate.

This would be from knowing my natural strengths and values, and that a title or salary does not de ine me or equate to what I can do. Two, not make such a drastic leap. I understand why I did it at the time, however, the second transition out with a known date, clarity, and a plan made the process, and startup, much smoother and faster.

Three, have a better understanding of my inances and cash low.

Starting a business requires spending money, and when I irst started, I was spending money when there was no money coming in.

Talk to us about the importance of learning from mistakes and tackling adversities for an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur means that mistakes are going to be made.

Learning is continuous and growth means taking actions outside of your comfort zone. It's important to learn from mistakes so that they are not repeated as they can cost entrepreneurs time, money, safety, growth, and reputation. What can be challenging for entrepreneurs is understanding the root cause of the mistake, their role in it, or the full

impact of the mistake. How an entrepreneur approaches and thinks of mistakes and adversities has a direct impact on their personal growth and the growth of their business. Changing the perception of a mistake to a learning opportunity, can switch an entrepreneur from being defensive, in lexible, and not seeing their role in the mistake. This is growth limiting, to a place of service, agility, and embracing an opportunity to innovate and make improvements.

This is growth-enhancing.

Brief us about the importance of visibility and for entrepreneurs to put their brand out there.

With the explosion of businesses today, especially online, it's more important than ever for entrepreneurs to be visible and to put their brand out there. It's needed for entrepreneurs to establish their presence, differentiate themselves as an expert, position and promote themselves, and develop relationships with their audience.

Being visible is critical to being found and hired.

Most often, there's a strong focus on the where, how, and when with respect to visibility. The problem with this type of focus is that it's looking at visibility from external outputs. This can cause entrepreneurs to implement strategies and processes that don't feel good or provide them with the results they think they should get.

When becoming more visible, entrepreneurs need to also look at their presence from an internal perspective – what and why. What

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In– Focus does visibility mean and look like to them? Why is being visible on a speci ic platform or strategy important? By asking these additional questions, a clear visibility plan that includes actions and strategies that feel aligned with the entrepreneur and their brand can be created. When entrepreneurs implement aligned strategies there's greater consistency and con idence when it comes to the where, how, and when.

How are you helping women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more con ident in presenting themselves?

I help women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more con ident with their presence by starting with rede ining what visibility is and means to them and why. Instead of looking externally for answers and what others are doing, I work with women to look internally to create the results they want to see externally. This requires creating a safe space where women feel supported to create their own vision and de inition for what they'd like to see. How I'm different in supporting women entrepreneurs to be more visible is by combining mindset methods with visibility strategies. This results in having the tools to overcome the doubts, worries and fears that often hold women back from being visible, and implementing strategies that feel good which helps to boost con idence.

What would be your advice for women leaders struggling to take that leap of faith in starting their business?

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For women struggling to take that leap of faith, understand what fears, doubts, and worries are holding you back. Clarity will help to identify what knowledge, skill, awareness, or support can be sought out in order to create the belief needed to take the leap or close the gaps so that smaller steps can be taken with more con idence. Find women entrepreneurs to speak to who have walked the path already, and ask questions focused on what worked and didn't work for them when they took the leap and started their businesses.

Finally, what does the future look like for you and your brand?

What are you most excited about?

elements; one, increasing awareness of the issues facing midlife women entrepreneurs growing their business in an online world, two, teaching and supporting women on how to grow their con idence while becoming more visible as the face and voice of their business, and three, elevating women's voices and presence by providing larger platforms for them to speak on. I'm most excited about returning to one of the core reasons why I focus on visibility; leading conversations with women that showcase them as the expert they are by being seen and heard so they get found and hired.

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s i M CEO & Co-founder Autopilot Reviews

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n e i h sa C A

t the age of eight, a young and determined Misa Chien set out on her entrepreneurial quest.

A quest that began by selling rocks! A quest that has today propelled her as an empowering entrepreneur.

Misa Chien is the Co-Founder of Autopilot Reviews, a one-of-a-kind

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software platform built with the intention of showing frontline agents' positive feedback about themselves.

In this interview, the model turned tech leader shares about her journey, her failures, achievements, and the importance of mental health.

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In– Focus What according to you makes one an empowering woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

An empowering woman is someone who is open to grow, self-re lect, and continues to put herself out there. I continue to experience fear of failure and imposter syndrome, but despite that, still want to continue to be uncomfortable with being uncomfortable and pushing the envelope.

Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as an entrepreneur that you remember?

When you want to be an entrepreneur, you need to start somewhere. For my sister and me, it was selling rocks. Yep, that's right, rocks! It wasn't a very successful business. If I remember correctly, we didn't have many customers. In fact, I think it was only our mom and maybe a neighbor who pitied us.

We had no market and no demand, but it did teach us one thing—

How important it is to put yourself out there. If you don't put yourself out there, you will never take the irst step. You'll never start your own business or launch your own ideas. You'll always wonder "what if" and dream of what could be. In the end, selling rocks was not the right business for me. It was the irst of my many business failure stories. But at only eight years old, it was a great irst step.

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I got to learn how to sell and be an entrepreneur. Today, I'm cofounding a software business.

Luckily that has a much better pro it margin than rocks! My sister, on the other hand, has still managed to sell rocks. But now, she's doing it as a popular jewelry designer. So, I guess it is a happy ending.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the tech space?

I saw a lot of opportunity to make a large, positive impact on the world, through tech. You can scale very quickly (for example we only have a team of 5 people, but we positively impact millions of employees/customers per year).

It's a very dif icult industry to break into, unless you both understand marketing, sales as well as engineering. However, I was lucky, because my husband is the CTO of the company, and I have a great understanding and forte in sales/marketing, so we've found the recipe to be able to scale and grow the company in a dif icult market/industry.

What led you to start Autopilot Reviews? What was the pain point that you wanted to address in the market?

As a front-line employee, your life is usually a path of putting out ires, and hearing negative feedback.

In my 20s, I worked as both a frontline employee and manager for my food truck business, Nom Nom Truck, and I was always trying to please the unhappy customers,

making sure everyone was happy.

When you're on the front line, you don't usually have time to get a pat on the back from customers. You don't have time to stop and be recognized for your good customer service. You don't have time but to get to that next customer in line, or ful il that next order.

So, when Nom Nom Truck failed, and I had the opportunity to build another business, I re lected back on my time at this business and realized I wanted to build something to help others, i.e., frontline employees.

And so I did. Just like all frontline employees, frontline agents at call centers never get to see much positive feedback about themselves.

For the software tool we built— Autopilot Reviews, we decided to build a platform to show frontline agents' positive feedback about themselves.

And what was the result? Increase in customer retention. Increase in employee retention. And a survey tool and customer experience platform that everyone loves with almost 0% client churn.

What is the approach followed by you and your team to ensure optimal client satisfaction?

We've built an awesome software product for leaders in the customer service industry because we've listened to our customers. It's extremely important to listen to your customers, without them, you will be out of business. There's a reason we have almost 0% churn despite there being a recession; it's

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In– Focus because we have built a great product, that customer experience leaders need and want.

One Book Entrepreneurs must read: The Charisma Myth by Olivia Cabane

One Productivity Tool that everyone should use: Slack

One Mobile App that you use the most: LinkedIn

One Movie / Show that you would recommend: WeCrash- It shows the dark side of startups, and what you don't want to do

One Quote that Motivates you the Most: “Just because you failed, does not mean you're a failure.”

One Investment Advice that you Follow: Traction Trumps Everything.

What would be your advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs struggling to take that leap of faith?

A lot of people – advisors, the media, society in general—often highlights the negative statistics of being a woman. It's important to ignore the statistics, and don't let them scare you. It's easy to not even try, when you feel that you have a whole mountain to climb. But just remember, if we all never tried, we would never break that ceiling, and there would not even be female entrepreneurs in existence. We all need to start somewhere, and the irst step is taking the irst leap of faith.

Looking back at your journey, what would you have done different when starting out?

I wish I had addressed my mental health in my 20s sooner. When I was on TV and in the spotlight for my previous business, Nom Nom Truck, I didn't realize how unhealthy my lifestyle was. I should have found an executive coach as well as a therapist right away to help me through the tough times. Instead, I did not ind a therapist until after I had a falling out with my business partner, and I had hit rock bottom. It's important to prioritize mental health, even if you don't feel you have the time.

What does the future look like for Autopilot Reviews? What are you most excited about?

I am most excited about helping others. That could be everywhere from helping frontline employees staying motivated and driven through positive customer feedback on my software, or it could be from being a headlined speaker at a conference and helping others through that talk. It's drives me to get up every morning, knowing I am making a positive impact on the world, that's what I feel I've been brought on earth to do.

www.misachien.com

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In– Focus

The Truly Beautiful

Entrepreneur Lynn Power | CEO | Masami

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uilding a brand depends on various key parameters. However, it is imperative for the brand to inculcate a culture of leadership that echoes authenticity.

Lynn Power along with her CoFounder James Hammett have integrated the same values to build their haircare brand – MASAMI. MASAMI is a premium hair care line that was designed for

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superior hydration, texture, and shine. In this Exclusive Interview, Lynn Power talks about building her brand and her journey as an entrepreneur.

What according to you makes one a powerful woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

Self-con idence is powerful, but it can be elusive for many women. It really is about trusting your own instincts and

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In– Focus eliminating any thoughts of “imposter syndrome”. I know that's easier said than done, but many woman already possess incredible leadership skills like communication, empathy, collaboration – they just need to embrace these skills and get comfortable with a different de inition of power. One that's based on vulnerability, resourcefulness, and integrity, not based on the traditionally masculine and aggressive de inition of power. I got to a point in my career where I decided to embrace my own style, despite the fact that there were very few leaders like me. I think people respond to authenticity and it's ok to be different.

Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as an entrepreneur that you remember?

My parents were both small business owners and entrepreneurs, so I have always been surrounded by a strong work ethic along with a sense of freedom, responsibility, and determination.

It's not easy being an entrepreneur and I saw irst-hand that it can be a 24/7 job. There were years where my parents struggled more than others. And years where business was great. It de initely gave me a sense that entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. And that it's a long game, it's not a sprint.

As a child, I remember going into my parents' of ice on the weekends and cleaning. They instilled a sense of responsibility in me and my brothers at an early age. As I got

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old, I took over the bookkeeping for them. While not sexy, those skills are helpful in knowing how to manage the basics of business.

What prompted the start of MASAMI? What was the market gap that you wanted to address?

MASAMI is all about clean premium haircare that delivers weightless hydration for every hair type and texture. I met my co-founder, James, in 2018 and he had been working on our formulas for almost 10 years. It's really hard to make haircare that's super high performing but also doesn't have parabens, phthalates, or sulfates.

We use Mekabu powder to create formulas which are massively hydrating but also weightless. The inspiration for Mekabu came from James' husband, Masa, who is also our muse (we named our brand after him – and it also means truly beautiful in Japanese). Luckily, our consumers love our products. We have really high repeat purchase and that makes us happy.

As the Co-Founder and CEO, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?

I am involved in everything! We are still very small, so we don't have the resources to bring in a dedicated team. My background is in marketing and advertising, which comes in very handy. I not only manage the business operationally, but we are constantly testing out new tactics to see what works. We dabble in livestreaming, social selling, content creation, and more.

It's our belief that you have to be

where the customer is, so that means being active in many channels.

Having worked with some of the biggest brands and agencies, what was the biggest challenge and advantage when you started your own venture?

The good news is that I have an open mind and healthy perspective on learning and iguring out what works (I've seen lots of models, some better than others). I recognize that there are many paths to achieve our goal and we're willing to experiment. But I am used to having many more resources available to me than I currently have. While I don't mind getting my hands dirty (some days I even like it), it can be lonely and dif icult not having many other experts to bounce things off of. Cash low is also an on-going challenge as a CPG brand. Inventory is expensive and we are always juggling expenses, trying to grow the business without overextending.

Looking back at your journey, what would you have done different when starting out?

We launched in February 2020, so we really had no idea what was coming. That is both good and bad.

We also had some people on the team who were not really as capable in certain areas as we had hoped. So, I would have shored up the capabilities early on and scrapped the plans to get into salons since that was really a lost cause for a year anyhow.

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What would be your advice for women entrepreneurs and leaders trying to stand out in their market?

Know your brand values and make sure everything you do pays them off. It's easy to become enamored with a product but that can lead you astray if you're not careful. Also, build a team with people who you trust. Being an entrepreneur is hard

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so it's important to surround yourself with people you can count on. Finally, don't feel you have to be an expert in everything. There are so many ways to tap into capabilities so that you can be leading, not just executing.

Finally, what does the future look like for you and MASAMI?

clean beauty, build our community of founders through the Conscious Beauty Collective, and hopefully launch more products that people love. We are passionate about giving back to the ocean so we would love to be in a position to leave the world a little better than we found it.

We are continuing to champion

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In– Focus

INTERVIEW WITH

Mila Alishaev OWNER & FOUNDER OF MANHATTAN L ASER SPA

According to you, what makes one an empowering woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

The word empowering above all means enabling one to contribute to a common goal, while proportionately rewarding such contribution.

I have found – through my own work experience and trial and error of sorts – that a proper reward is the best motivator for a team member, and I hope I adhere to these values at Manhattan Laser Spa.

What is your earliest memory as a leader that you can remember?

My earliest memory of a leader would be my mom. I was the oldest of four children

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in a single mother family. We have had the unfortunate privilege to witness the demise of the Soviet Union, accomplished by a total collapse of any sort of social safety net along with vanished job security, so satisfying even our very basic needs such as food and clothing would have to become a creative act, usually involving short term “gig” type jobs.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the beauty and cosmetics industry?

Having spent my early teenage years in the United States, I have noticed that what works for me works for others at times, and so the idea was to provide services to others that I would myself want, which lead to my career as a business owner within the beauty and cosmetic industry.

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In– Focus When looking at my journey, a couple of things I would do differently are tactical moves to avoid certain pitfalls on things like lease language, equipment maintenance contracts and so on.

Strategically, I think I'd do the same, but manage timing better.

What would be your advice for women entrepreneurs and leaders struggling to take that leap of faith?

I don't believe in taking a leap of faith. At least in my experience, building an enterprise is a slow and methodical process coupled with a great degree of uncertainty.

Believing in own ability isn't enough – the idea must be accompanied by a veri iable plan including the back-up plan - and only then luck kicks in.

What is the approach followed by Manhattan Laser Spa to ensure optimal client satisfaction?

Manhattan Laser Spa's mission is to provide the most advanced minimally invasive results-oriented laser aesthetic treatments and cosmetic services in a safe yet luxurious environment with an exceptional level of customer service. We ensure that we are providing clients with an unparalleled level of personalized care every time they step through our doors.

What does a day in your life look like? How do you ensure work-

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life balance?

Wake up shortly after sunrise, get oxygen going on a 1/2hr run, prep the breakfast for my boys and after a little “me-time” attend to the business matters. Fortunately, we are not in the early bird business, so I can really enjoy the mornings.

The lip side is that we stay open late – past 8pm, so quiet often I must be withdrawn from the family evening routines.

Finally, what does the future look like for you and your brand?

What are you most excited about?

We just opened a new location in Miami – a new state and new market for us, so my future looks pretty split between New York and Miami for the observable future. My main goal for the brand is consistency – any client walking through Manhattan Laser Spa doors should not know the difference in the quality and availability of services whichever city they ind themselves in on that day.

Looking at your journey, what would you do differently if you were to start again?

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ABOUT

Mila Alishaev Mila Alishaev is the owner of Manhattan Laser Spa, a renowned medical spa that boasts years of experience serving New York City in Manhattan, the Upper East Side and Brooklyn as well as Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. The spa specializes in a variety of services, including medical aesthetics, IV therapy, fillers, body contouring, micro-needling, cosmetic injectables, and more.

After coming to the United States from Israel in 2000, Mila graduated with her bachelor's degree in business administration. Mila and her mom became interested in the beauty industry and began to build

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Manhattan Laser Spa in 2005 to what it is today, as two female entrepreneurs. It started with only laser services, and now they have grown the brand exponentially into a medical spa that offers a variety of services to clients including CoolSculpting, IV Therapy, Injectables and much more.

Throughout all the work Mila has done in her career, she continues to stay consistent and always strives for more. She is constantly looking for new services to offer at the medical spa and is always looking for the next potential location to open.

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In– Focus

Sharon Brand CREATING MAGIC WITH BRANDS What according to you makes one a powerful woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

A powerful human to me is recognizing your strengths, and your weaknesses and letting vulnerability come through in your professional life. As the leader of a small business, knowing when to ask for help is uneasy, but so necessary and important.

This is something I implemented in Brand's Media Group's company values, one of them being: Help one another.

I think that the more we put our guard down, the more we can lead in peace and with dignity.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the fashion

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and marketing space?

I've found that both Communication and Fashion are two spaces that inally reunite a way of expressing yourself — publicly and personally. What I wear on a day to day is a choice I make and what I decide to showcase on Instagram to an audience too.

After studying both ields for my bachelor's and master's degrees, I decided to combine both these passions of mine to help small businesses in the fashion world lead the way and increase their community online.

What led you to start Brand's Media Group? What was the pain point you wanted to address through this platform?

Brand's Media Group is a space that

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In– Focus

FOUNDER BRAND’S MEDIA GROUP

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In– Focus

Noemie Nercessian, Sharon Brand, and Alanna Moore

reunited small to medium-sized businesses in the Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty world. We help business owners stay true to whom they are, using their voice and brand identity, to create magic. Whether it is a product, a public igure, or other agencies, our creativity is limitless and being able to enhance their visibility, brand awareness and their products are the ultimate goals.

When it comes to marketing and branding, what is the approach followed by you and your team to

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ensure optimal client satisfaction?

Understanding whom you are speaking to is one of the biggest important marketing and branding factors. Ask yourself: who is my audience, who will be reading my post, who will share this post, and who will want more? Strategy and branding come together. Each color, font, typography, content creation and template we are creating the need to speak for itself and tell a story. My team and I reunited mostly once a week, aside from our

day-to-day meetings, to discuss strategy for each of our clients.

What would be your advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs struggling to take that leap of faith?

I think that we women have a very strong gut feeling and instinct that shouldn't be ignored. If you feel something deep inside of you, listen to it. Even if it scares you, even if it the idea of it seems crazy. Whatever seems uncomfortable will be the best decision you have taken. I can E X E L E O N M AG A Z I N E

In– Focus One Book Entrepreneurs must read: The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo

One Productivity Tool that everyone should use: Slack

One Mobile App that you use the most: Instagram… guilty!

One Movie / Show that you would recommend: Gilmore Girls — so you don't forget to have your big cup of coffee in the morning One Quote that describes you:

One life, just one. Why are we not running – like we are on ire – towards our wildest dream?

proudly say I don't regret anything in life because I have taken that leap of faith and dived right into what sounded or seemed scary at the time. The only really frightening thing in life is not doing what you are meant to be doing. Trust the process.

Looking back at your journey, what would you have done different when starting out?

I wouldn't have changed anything from how I started because I went in being a business owner W W W. E X E L E O N M AG A Z I N E . C O M

completely naıv̈e and with no idea that 3 years later, I wouldn't be doing social media work myself but managing an entire business. What I suggest though, is to read books on entrepreneurship (Creativity Inc

by Ed Catmull is a great one) and just be more aware of all the challenges that will come your way.

It's not always easy and it takes a strong mindset to continue. You will have ups and downs but what matters is looking at it in the long term.

What does the future look like for Brand's Media Group? What are you most excited about?

I'm so excited to grow our team and ind more inspiring, talented, and motivated women who want to work in this industry and leave something behind. Social Media sounds like such a broad topic but the difference we make for our clients who really truly need us is so special. We also have a podcast launching in 2023 which is our next big, exciting project.

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