Issuu

Steve Davis

Embracing Excellence

Editor-in-Chief –

Art Director –

Managing Editor -

Creative Director –

Contributing Editors –

Daryl Yeung (Story-Tailor)

Naomi Lam (Design Ninja)

Matt Reis (Wordster)

Adam Waring (Graﬁsta)

Ian O'Shea, Matt Hale, &

John Riggs (Three Musketeers)

Content Curator –

Cathy G. (Explorer)

Sales

Project Manager –

Marketing Manager –

Senior BDM –BDM –

Josh Wilder (Cultivator)

Mike Jackson (Marketeer)

Katherine Price (Sustainer)

Richard Dann (Facilitator)

For any advertising related information, please contact info@exeleonmagazine.com. Submissions as well as contributions to the magazine are welcome.

Take a moment and let us know about our magazine; whether it be about the design or a possible mistake, we would appreciate any feedback from your end. You can reach out to daryl@exeleonmagazine.com.

STEVE DAVIS 12

JENNIFER MYERS

Steve Davis

Empowering freedom through real estate

LLeaders that transform the world are also passionate about constant improvement. They are always looking for faster, more eﬀective, and more eficient ways to enable their people. These leaders are also focused on how they serve people around them — customers and employees alike.

As the CEO of Total Wealth Academy, Mr. Steve Davis leaves no stone unturned to integrate the same thought into his leadership. After working for over 6 years in corporate America, Steve Davis quit his job and started his investing journey in real estate. Now, he is on a mission to empower others to make informed decisions in their personal inance journey through real estate investing.

Steve believes, “Without serving others, you are just a manager. Management is doing things right, and leadership is doing the right things.”

Interestingly, Steve also incorporates empathy and balance into his corporate culture by always 'eating last'. In fact, initially for more than two years since starting Total Wealth Academy, he took no payroll of any type.

He continued to embrace this value even when COVID hit as he did not lay oﬀ any employee. Steve has the ability to make his team feel recharged and energized. “My team knows that I care about them as much as I do myself and they perform better as a result,” he says.

Rising above the tides

Although Steve's early years were economically challenging, he was persistent and optimistic to turn a new leaf.

His irst stint of leadership was during his teen years where he led the Marine Corp JROTC program at his high school. This encouraged him to be creative , while oﬀering support and encouragement to his team members.

Later in his senior year, he won the best program in the US. He trusts and respects his role model Col. A.I Thomas, USMC and internalizes his leadership ideals. Steve believes that he learned the essence of leadership, leading by example, and fostering supportive relationships in the shadow of Col. Thomas.

Such role models deinitely play an important role as the wind beneath the wings to ly higher and farther. These experiences shaped Steve's personality and gave him a clear vision to later help people experience the same passion and motivation to achieve their goals.

REDEFINING THE PATH TOWARDS WEALTH

At 27, Steve was over the moon when he found out that he won a national sales contest along with a trip to Hawaii. But his happiness was shortlived. A rude wake-up call awaited him as he got back home to a $20,000 a year pay cut.

This incident made him realize the cost of relying solely on a single source of income. It later snowballed into bad credit and no money. “I knew I had to make a change. I couldn't sleep after the pay cut so I was up watching late night TV and there were multiple infomercials on real estate investing. This is where I learned that 70% of the millionaires in America use real estate to become so.”

With his last credit cards, he bought every program he could ind. Steve ended up spending nearly $30,000 on books, tapes, videos, bootcamps, and workshops. He was determined to not just earn more money but to earn greater freedom to pursue his aspirations. The knowledge he gained from the investment to educate himself instilled conidence in him to quit his job within two months.

He then started a new chapter in his life by investing in real estate. His journey included wholesaling, lipping, then single-family rentals, and inally investing in over 4000 apartment units.

According to Steve, Success does not come overnight. It is important to set short-term and long-term goals, check your progress, take a step back to reevaluate, be disciplined, work hard and always have lexibility in your approach.

While an additional source of income is a necessity to live a fulilling life, it is not a cakewalk. As the CEO of Total Wealth Academy, Steve uses a step-by-step approach to guide people and build passive streams of income with real estate. His hands-on mentoring and coaching process enables people to seek answers to unlimited questions, apprehensions, and meaningful consultations.

Additionally, Steve walks them through everything — single-family houses, apartments, self-storage, senior living and more. His hard work has created a diverse real estate community for beginner and advanced investors.

With his mission to teach people lead more joyful and balanced life, thus far Steve and his talented team have managed to educate, motivate , and empower people across the US and parts of Canada through his online classes.

TAKING CHARGE OF FINANCIAL LITERACY

Making responsible decisions with your money is integral to your life. It has a material impact beyond yourself and inluences your family, education, expenses, and retirement goals. Hence, inancial literacy is an important skill to learn as it guides you towards inancial growth and success.

Steve also believes in addressing inancial literacy as it is one of the biggest concerns in the modern world. He feels that the increasing gap between the rich and the poor is because of the diﬀerences in their approach. “Our formal education system — high school and college — teach nothing about building wealth or getting rich. They just teach you how to get a job,” he adds.

Many people lack the basics of managing money, whether it's budgeting, investing, or building emergency funds. This encouraged Steve to teach his son and daughter to build a second stream of income at the mere age of 8. As a result, his son graduated college with $4000 a month as his second stream of income from his 11 rental houses. His daughter, on the other hand, has an even larger second stream of income.

I don’t just teach people how to build wealth, I teach them how to do it while maintaining their ﬁtness, family, romance, charity, and all the other parts of a balanced life. The “Total” in our name is representative of that philosophy.

Remember that management is doing things right, and leadership is doing the right things.

AN INSPIRING FUTURE

Steve holds the future of Total Wealth Academy close to his heart. He has true passion to inspire people and instinctively inds ways to nurture it. He also believes that the 'principles of wealth' have been around for thousands of years and haven't changed.

As Steve continues to expand across the US and Canada, he aims to make the educational platform more digital as time goes by. “Some of my best students have never even been to Houston where our home ofice is. Our goal is to have members in all 50 states by the end of 2025,” he concludes.

While he believes that his kids are brilliant and hardworking, he also believes that each and every person can change their fate. “The diﬀerence is that they were told the right things to do. Most people have never even heard of a second stream of income,” he says.

LEADING A HEALTHY BALANCED LIFE

Steve believes that proper guidance towards money management and wealth creation is a gateway for collective growth. This is why it's important to manage your time and create a healthy lifestyle.

His ideal day starts at the gym where he spends ample amount of time training. He then follows up with his

scheduled consultations, his daily radio show and ends the day by winding down with his family.

This is also one of the core aspects of Total Wealth Academy. He says, “I don't just teach people how to build wealth, I teach them how to do it while maintaining their itness, family, romance, charity, and all the other parts of a balanced life. The “Total” in our name is representative of that philosophy.”

BEING UNDENIABLY SELF-AWARE

Entrepreneurship assumes swimming in unchartered waters and navigating through them. Steve put a lot of faith in himself and paved a lane for others in the real estate industry. While he was alone in his

ambition, he persevered and came out winning.

As a pioneer in real estate investing and consulting, his sage advice for young and aspiring entrepreneurs is to be in touch with reality through books and experiences. It's important to pursue your career and keep pushing through moments of adversities to inally breakthrough.

“We have been through this many times in the past. There are many books out there on this and their advice can help greatly.” He also recommends staying focused on the philosophy of “how” — for yourself, your company and the people you serve.

Cr ea t i ng a Moment of Fo re v e r

ART S HAIKH

Innovation and technology have, in a broad sense, united and in a lot of ways divided

people with its advancements. However, Art Shaikh chose to leverage the power of innovation and technology to bring families closer, redeine relationships, and preserve legacy.

® CircleIt is a Generational Platform that allows you to chat, build your family tree , and send cards to your loved ones for free. The technology enables you to send messages into the future and thereby build a family tree.

Art Shaikh is an innovative entrepreneur in every right, and through this interview he shares about his journey, the world of technology, and much more.

What according to you makes one an innovative leader? How do you in tegrate the same thought into your leadership?

Innovation in leadership, to me, is characterized by the ability to pivot changing conditions, following through on commitments, and helping the team to unlock their hidden potential.

These are core ideas of how I have built CircleIt.

As a tech startup, change is constant and inevitable. Being nimble and helping the team to be nimble is something that has given us the ability to keep ourselves moving forward despite the sharp changes in the market conditions.

Brief us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as a entrepreneur that you can remember?

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. When I was a young boy growing up in Pakistan, I had an electric bike (most kids in my neighborhood did not). I started my

own neighborhood taxi service, shuttling the neighborhood kids around. Eventually their parents found out and weren't too pleased, but it was the irst time I had tried to forge a business.

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

I got the opportunity to work at Salesforce, which is the Mecca of tech companies. I had worked in inance, but technology was where I always felt most at home.

One major thing I have observed is the use of data and how irresponsibly it has been managed by the bigger tech companies. This is

something I seek to change. The more I learned from my career at Salesforce, the more I wanted to be ingrained in the tech culture.

Talk to us about the inluence of your father and how it led to the start of CircleIt.

My father was always a forward thinker. In 2011, he gave me a box illed with handmade cards and a list of instructions. These were gifts to be delivered on his behalf once he had passed away. At that time, he was healthy, and this just seemed like a normal move for him, to be prepared for the future.

However, he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in 2012. Since

then, I have delivered countless cards on his behalf. I have, per his wishes, ensured that my mother received lowers on their anniversary.

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

One thing I learned over the years was that many CEOs aren't accessible to their team, and many lose sight over the day-to-day operations. Out of necessity and love of what I am building, I learned the diﬀerent skills I needed prior to

I can't think of anything I would do diﬀerently. There are certain things you don't know when getting into a new venture. I may have not outsourced as much work as I did early on, but at the time, those were the options I had available to me. Everything you run into along the way is an opportunity to learn.

What would be your advice for young and aspiring leaders in today's tech-driven world?

The best piece of advice I can give is to gain experience irst. Many times, younger people jump into the tech

Finally, what does the future look like for CircleIt? On a personal front, where do you see yourself standing in the coming years?

The future is a lot of what we are all about. Because of our technology's ability to send messages into the future, we are always forward thinking. In the coming months, we are releasing 3 major features for the platform, and also plan to double the size of our team.

I see us as a necessity in the lives of millions as we are the premier technology to preserve their legacies

Be There. Forever.

seeking out help. Because of that, I am able to be more than just a leader, but also assist the team and help them grow.

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

startup world with an idea, but no real experience. I feel that because I was in my 40's when we started, I had more experience in the business world, which gave me more of an idea of not just the product and services we oﬀer, but also the path I would need to take in order to get to where I want to be.

and memories. It is the private and secure alternative to social media, a place where everyone can be family.

THE ROLE OF LIVE STREAMING:

Influencers and Brand arketing

The core fundamentals of marketing

have never changed, but global brands should appreciate the ever-growing signiicance of inluencers in today's technology-driven society, particularly on live streaming platforms, and engage with the right inluencers in the right way.

With this vast industry growth, however, we should recognise both the inherent positives this brings with it, but also the changing regulatory frameworks designed to protect consumers.

The world of live streaming has grown exponentially, and is now a market valued at over $20 billion according to Bloomberg. Global brands are continuing to pay close attention to this growth and thus are actively engaging in marketing strategies comprising global inluencers for their products.

Encapsulating a community-irst approach when it comes to modernised marketing, platforms such as Twitch and YouTube continue to go from strength to strength in

terms of audiences and streamers.

An inluencer well known in a particular space (for instance gaming or music) is often best placed to advertise one's brand or product as a leading voice in the industry. In the same way, consumers themselves might be more inclined to like or support the product if their inluencer of choice is promoting it in a respectable manner.

As someone well-versed in the online realm from my college days of playing Runescape with friends, I am part of the generation beneiting the most from technological advances in the world of gaming. Technology has made it possible to connect and play with others at any time of the day no matter their geographical location.

This same technology enables people's favourites content producers to stream to audiences (in some cases larger than football stadiums) and to directly engage with viewers via live chat features. This is something that I love to do every weekend on my own live

stream where I discuss latest marketplace trends when it comes to gaming and gambling with viewers.

Live streaming thus features heavily for myself and my business, Stake.com. On the personal level, I use live streams to engage with fans and customers on a weekly basis. This engagement often brings to light key marketplace issues for us to consider and is also somewhere I can share my direct thoughts on issues of importance.

On the business side of things, it is no secret that at Stake we actively harness the power of inluencer marketing via live streaming, but only when we have established that consumers will beneit from it. Putting our customers and their interests irst remains at the core of everything we do, and this is something we will never venture from.

As true market leaders in the world of online crypto gambling, we are uniquely positioned at Stake to have a wealth of inluencers who have used our product for months or longer. This means that we actively seek inluencers who have used our product and truly value it. These organic, real partnerships enable maximum transparency for viewers tuning in to watch content.

Moreover, I can assure everyone that despite certain widespread notions of odds being rigged in some people's favours or money not being real, we have no direct control of the odds of any of our games as these are controlled by a third-party. Odds are the same for all players regardless of their sponsorship status and money spent by promoters is very real.

Real odds, real money, real players– These are things I believe should be the industry norm when it comes to inluencer marketing.

Recently, we partnered with one of the world's largest music stars, Drake, hosting him on Stake's oficial Twitch channel where

he played for hours and gave away over $1 million worth of Bitcoin to viewers from across the world. The fact that Drake already had played on the platform for six months made him an ideal partner for promotions as someone genuinely supportive of our mission.

Given Drake's hundreds of millions of combined followers on social media alone, this of course is a partnership that makes commercial sense, but more crucially to us is the fact that he is an avid gaming and cryptocurrency supporter. Indeed, the very mission of what we are doing at Stake aligns with Drake's thinking when it comes to technology-driven gaming.

Actively seeking inluencers passionate for the industry is therefore a central component of what we do, as engaging with those clearly disinterested in the industry or product adds nothing to the conversation we are having and fails to beneit customers.

Other inluencers we engage with such as former Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero also share our philosophy of direct audience engagement via live streaming and harnessing the potential of technology.

The growth of the live streaming industry should be managed carefully, with any promotional content clearly signposted to viewers as they have a right to know if content is ultimately sponsored. Moreover, it should be the norm that leading brands actively seek those genuinely interested in their products and do so in the right way, never manipulating their audiences.

Marketing in the right way, with the right methods and right people. This should be normalised and democratised across not just this industry, but indeed others utilising live streaming inluencers. The reality is that such marketing methods are only set to increase, and viewers have the right to know that the content they are viewing is genuine and transparent.

Ed Craven is the Co-Founder and CEO of Stake.com , one of the world's largest online crypto casinos. A pioneering leader in online gaming, Ed has leveraged technological advancements and evolving marketing techniques to catapult his brand as a leader in online casino space. By building a bridge between live streaming and inluencer marketing, Ed is creating a community that is genuinely interested in the content and, subsequently, the brand.

A ‘Truly Rare’ Entrepreneur

Trystanne Cunningham CEO | TrooRa Magazine

or Trystanne F Cunningham, her journey has been nothing but a roller coaster of emotions, challenges, self-realizations, and growth.

She has carved for herself a unique pathway that is not only inspirational but also empowering for other entrepreneurs. With TooRa Magazine, Trystanne is on a mission of giving a voice to people who often go unheard and unseen.

Her inluence in designing and fashion has helped her build a magazine that is not only creative but also noteworthy in terms of its content. In this

Exclusive Interview, the global leader talks about her journey, her magazine, and much more.

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

A powerful woman is one who can handle day-to-day challenges, along with adversity. When someone says she can't do something, she becomes determined to prove she can. She strives for continuous growth and recognizes the role both rejection and discouragement have in her evolution. She is a woman who has no regrets.

As a small business owner, if you want to succeed you have to be powerful. It isn't easy. We try to do everything right, look for investors and put ourselves out there. Sometimes we get shut down and our conidence takes a hit, but ultimately, it all builds us up to become the women we are or aspire to be.

There are times I get discouraged and I have to take a step back and look at how far I've come. I've learned that there is always room for growth, and it is always going to get better. I think it is also important to realize that even people who have been doing something for 20 or 30 years go through the same thing. You don't see what

goes wrong for them, but it still happens. I relect on those moments, then I take a deep breath and charge ahead. I'm thankful to also have really great people in my life that help me see what I've accomplished.

Talk to us about your growing up years, your shift from the Caribbean to the US, and the cultural challenges that you faced.

I was born and spent part of my childhood in Haiti. I remember spending a lot of time with my grandmothers who were very strong women; I didn't realize it at the time, but now I think about it a lot. I don't have a lot of family and friends left in Haiti, but I do still have some. It's a beautiful country, and it is my country - it is the place where I'm from. I love it and I always will.

My mom said we were moving to California so we could go to school, and I was so excited. I'd been watching all these TV shows and it looked so glamorous. When I got to the US, I barely knew English, so I went to an English as a Second Language class the summer before school started. I was able to skip 7th and 8th grade and go straight into high school. There was still so much I didn't understand, like “OJ” — a couple of years later I realized “oh my God that means orange juice.”

It was challenging but I got to this point in my life where I feel like I have a purpose to serve others. TrooRa is a way for me to do that because I am able to give them a platform to tell their stories and

share their gifts with the world.

What sparked your interest and prompted the idea of forming a digital magazine – TrooRa Magazine?

I've always loved creating things from scratch. I loved interior design, event planning, and making beautiful things from nothing. I didn't realize that would ever come together in the form of a magazine but growing up I always loved them too.

To this day, when I travel the irst thing I do when I get to the airport is to go to the newsstand to pick up a bunch of magazines. Flipping through them is so gratifying for me. I'm always learning about diﬀerent cultures, diﬀerent places, new tricks whether it's fashion, design, a new way of dry freezing a piece of fruit — whatever it is, I'm always being educated. Then just feeling a magazine or smelling it, is always very satisfying. I was able to work for a magazine for a short period of time and that showed me what I wanted to do. I researched to see what was lacking in the publishing world and found that there wasn't a magazine that really focused on up-and-coming brands, talent, and entrepreneurs.

I wanted to give them a platform to showcase their work in a way that is beautiful and luxurious. That is how TrooRa was born. The name stems from “truly rare.” Every time we put a new issue out, I'm like, “It's the best one yet.” I always try to supersede the last one so we can continue to give amazing undiscovered people a voice.

Talk to us about the content of TrooRa Magazine and what it aims to highlight through its platform?

Our content spans several categories because I wanted the magazine to be really comprehensive; I wanted to create this robust coﬀee table book that you can keep going back to. We cover home design, culinary art, music, ilm, fashion, travel, health, technology, science, wellness and itness.

Our team conducts research of all of these categories to ind hidden gems and cultivate incredible stories. Our goal is to create a global community for these brands and entrepreneurs so they can truly thrive.

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

For some people, work-life balance is saying “I don't take any calls after a certain time, or I don't do work on a certain day.” But if you're someone who hasn't had a lot of opportunities and something presents itself, you will push yourself and give it your all.

We just inished a huge event for the launch of our Summer 2022 Color Issue. I felt it was incredibly important and I wanted to pull out all the stops. It was our irst event with a new partner, and I wanted to show them what we are capable of. I worked day and night and had very little sleep over four or ive weeks. Sometimes my work-life balance is making sure I do get that four hours of sleep and keeping up

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

At the point where I am right now, I feel so lucky to have been able to grow that I don't have regrets. I've learned that everything happens for a reason. I am where I am meant to be.

Recently I attended an event that featured a designer I've adored for decades. I had the chance to ask her for a photo, but for whatever reason, when my husband tried to take one on my phone, they kept turning out blurry or too dark. She had to go do something else, and I realized I wasn't going to get the picture. After leaving, my husband and I got into an argument because I

my little routines on a daily basis. I have a podcast I listen to every morning; I try to meditate, even if it is ive or 10 minutes. I focus on my mindset and try to stay positive.

As a black, immigrant, female entrepreneur, what would be your advice for aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs who are facing similar challenges like you?

You have to be ready to grow up in order to grow. You will eventually ind your place in the world and become the person you want to be. There are going to be struggles and challenges. There are going to be times when you think, “It's just not going to happen.”

Don't beat yourself up because

couldn't believe he couldn't get my phone to work. Then he said, “I can't believe you had one opportunity to tell her about your magazine and you didn't.”

He was right. We got ready for the events' After Party and when we walked in, she was standing right there. I decided that I was going to say something, and if something came out of it, great and if not, at least I took the opportunity. The photo didn't work out, but the result was a chance to share my passion with someone I admire.

there is something you think you should have done diﬀerently. A little girl that I know once said to me, “mistakes are magic,” and that really struck me. You may think you should have made a left turn instead of making a right one, but there is a reason why it happened that way. That's very hard to accept. I really believe that if when you focus on where you're going and you let the universe, or God, or whatever you believe in make life happen, you won't have regrets. Things are always what they are meant to be; there's always a reason why. Mistakes become magic when you learn from them.

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

I'm building an empire, and the magazine is just a part of that. Along with our current and future feature partners, we have labels we're beginning to promote including TrooRa La Marqq. Having my own fashion line has been a dream for a long time and we were able to introduce the irst piece in the collection, gorgeous, a luxury handbag, in July. We're working on our app and our Shop TrooRa live shopping platform. There are so many things we want to do, TrooRa Magazine is only the beginning.

Innovate & Improve RYAN WALICKI

Co-founder at Relish

t was while working at a summer job, Ryan Walicki found his focus I and pathway into the tech space. He found clarity in the tangled wires of a server room, and he hasn't looked back ever since.

With the simple thought of not accepting mediocrity, Ryan and his partners created Relish, a platform that Strategically extends enterprise applications to maximize investment.

In this interview, Ryan shares his ideas related to team success, learnings, his journey, and more.

What according to you makes one an innovative leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?

I have always believed in a lat operational model that creates space for any team member to provide thought leadership which often manifests as innovation. Innovative leaders recognize their team – the whole team, has great ideas and given the space to be creative, often yields an array of ideas, thoughts, and concepts that can help shape where a company is, where they want to be and how to get there.

To complement that, it is important innovative leaders are tuned into the market at large – spending time with customers, partners and even competitors – asking insightful questions and really listening will

provide a broader lens into the art of possible.

For me personally, it is having that lat operational structure, where every role is an important one for team success. Soliciting and creating spaces for everyone to participate and oﬀer their thoughts, concepts, and ideas. Beyond that, with great intent, spending time building external relationships across several personas to ensure I have the big picture view to test others' ideas, our own ideas to point the compass in a well thought out direction.

Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as a leader that you can remember?

I am Canadian originally, so naturally hockey is my earliest memory. At age 15 I moved away from home to play Jr. Hockey which entails living with a billet family. I still today have fond memories of all the billet families I lived with. So here you are at 15 on your own essentially. Motivate yourself to go to school, get to practice and take care of yourself to perform athletically at a serious level.

While I had my learnings in this phase of life, it taught me important lessons, which I apply to business today;

1.Take care of yourself irst – if you are in a good place and you are taking care of what is your responsibility, others will take note and follow your lead.

2.Care about others – build strong relationships and understand people not only professionally but personally as well.

3.Thrive on being responsible and accountable.

4.Intentional success is so much more rewarding than accidental success.

5.It's a team sport. The name on the front is more important than the name on the back.

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

I was fortunate enough to have a summer internship during high school, where I was supporting my brother-in-law, who was then an IT Director at a large scaling tech irm.

My summer job was to literally crawl under every desk in the building, and map all the land lines back to the server room – so literally, ground loor tracing wires to wires all over the building. I loved it.

Seeing how digital information is stored, shared, distributed, secured was my irst real world exposure to the power of tech. From that point forward, it was my focus.

What was the idea that led to the start of Relish? What was the pain point that you wanted to address?

For the previous 15 years, I was an Enterprise Software consultant –selling and delivering enterprise software services. Across the hundreds of projects, I was involved in, there was a simple outcome –enterprise software almost never delivers the beneits anticipated at the beginning. To make matters worse, people just got used to accepting that.

Accepting that mediocre was good. Seeing these challenges and being a part of them really always left me dissatisied. As a group of us started to distill where those challenges live, we came to the realization that we could build complimentary solutions to solve these problems. Our mission is to enable customers to realize 100% of the value they expected from their enterprise software investments.

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

What role don't I play! In the day-today I frame it into 4 buckets, which guides my agenda.

1.Nuts and Bolts – invoices, payments, expenses, cash position, forecasting, KPI review. This is my pre-dawn (or some days post dawn!) exercise, just checking into the heartbeat of the company.

2.Talking to Teammates – in sales, product, dev ops, marketing. Connecting with the team either on a particular topic or just to have a chat.

3.Participate. In prospect meetings, internal discussions, external discussions.

4.Sales. Whether tip of the spear (where are we going) or working my own list of prospects and partners, a good portion of my day is spent on growth and GTM.

Bottomline, my goal daily is to reunderstand the business, contribute to the immediate team, and ind time to think about and make progress on

Finally, what does the future look like for Relish? On a personal front, where do you see yourself standing in the coming years?

Relish will continue to innovate on providing solutions for our enterprise software partners with the goal of maximizing end user value.

We will continue to add new and innovative capabilities, while building a platform to enable others to leverage our building blocks to deliver exponential solutions to the market. Relish will be the most used extension platform in enterprise software.

Personally, I want to be right here – in the thick of it. Succeeding on intent measured not by revenue but our impact on our partners and customers.

the journey further out.

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

Focus. While this was a priority and reminder early – we spent many cycles on things that, as I relect back, were not the best use of time. I do appreciate those cycles however –inding that boundary of where does focus live and where does chasing squirrels start is hard for any company to deine, until you experience and feel it. And it is part of our story.

You learn so much – it is funny, when you stop to relect on what your beliefs were 6-12 months ago, against what you know today, you realize how 'uninformed' you were just months ago. We try to remember that in the moment today, that 'hey in six months, what will my future self, think of this idea or concept?'

What would be your advice for young and aspiring leaders in today's tech-driven world?

It takes a team.

The '97 Detroit Red Wings had 16 to be Hall of Famers on their team.

They won the Stanley Cup – not because of that talent level but because they all parked egos and accepted roles that enabled them to achieve a common purpose – win the Stanley Cup!

Know what your Stanley Cup is. Surround yourself by people that share that purpose. From there, it is a self-fulilling prophecy.

The Woman

CHRISTIAN ROSS

Real Estate Advisor

Majority of any form of leadership is gaining experiences and

learning through it. Christian Ross, a pioneering broker in Atlanta, leveraged her experiences working with varying clients to create her unique identity and reputation in the market.

Today, the top-selling broker is making inroads in the market as an inluential leader. In this Exclusive Interview, Christian Ross talks about her journey and the real estate market.

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

A powerful woman is one that genuinely cares. She cares about herself, her community, and is always seeing where she can create bridges. A powerful woman is always respectful of diﬀerent views and separates herself from ego. Every day I make intentional eﬀorts to be impactful and be a relection of all the incredible women that have poured into me.

Talk to us about your growing up years. What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the real estate space?

I was out of college and working a corporate role with radio stations in the top 10 markets. My interest came from my neighbor at my irst apartment out of college. He had a friend that owned a commercial development irm and said he was looking for an assistant.

After I interviewed to ind out more and saw the developments they were working on, I was in. I had my corporate AmEx card, 401k and my mom said, you have a job, this doesn’t sound smart. I told her if I don’t do it now, when would I do it? I put my two weeks in and started my journey into real estate. To this day my mother says, “I’m glad you didn’t listen to me.”

What has been the approach followed by you to ensure optimal buying and selling experience for your clients?

My approach is client centered every step of the way. I want my clients to have the best experience and feel educated through the process. I have a team that helps me sweat the details, so we manage their transaction with knowledge of the market and sensitivity that this is a large inancial transaction. In addition to real estate investments, my husband and I have purchased 8 homes together.

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

Every single day is diﬀerent. I ensure work-life balance by taking breaks throughout the day. Most days I have client check ins, follow up, 1- 3 virtual and in person events, marketing reviews, negotiations, as well as speaking or hosting.

I used to work most weekends for years and now I work maybe one weekend day a month with clients, but I am still working on my laptop or making calls. My husband is my biggest supporter. We have been married for 16 years and it is important that I invest my attention

to him like I do for my clients. When I irst started my career, I sacriiced a lot of that instead of creating boundaries up front with clients.

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

If I were to start again, I would not hop from CRM to CRM. Your customer relationship management tool is your pipeline and your reminder system. You don’t want to break the links that are directly tied to you remaining top of mind and creating income.

What has been the biggest challenges you have faced during this journey?

The biggest challenge was the downturn of the real estate market during the Great Recession. I had nine clients in my pipeline to close and overnight, one person qualiied. Home values plummeted and we were doing the same amount of work at minimum wage but with way higher expenses like gas, marketing, etc. It created an

opportunity for me to work with international investors and with that I started selling real estate to clients from over 27 countries. No matter what challenge comes your way, think your way through it and execute.

What would be your advice for emerging and aspiring women leaders in the industry?

Understand your superpowers and delegate. Delegating allows you to leverage your time to create the life that you want. Do not aspire to some

Instagram “reality.” Understand the income and goals that you want and create a plan for that. Work your numbers backwards, include all of your expenses and always add 1520% on top of any number you think you require to live your lifestyle.

Finally, what does the future look like for you, both professionally and personally?

I will continue to invest in real estate and hand-oﬀ more opportunities to my team with a commitment to our same service level.

Personally, I will have extended periods abroad and work on expanding my business, Happy Talks, that was born from my experience in real estate, but is not real estate related.

STANDING OUT WITH

STUART PAGE, CEO

Stuart Page

is a modern-day business leader and proliic entrepreneur, a true gentleman with values from the older days of chivalry. Growing up in Australia, he discovered how you must value nature and exploring the diversity of Australia's landscape and its heritage and its original owners of the land. Not endeared to the typical university-directed path that most youth pursue; Stuart joined the military where he began a career as a soldier.

As a soldier, deployed to some of the most challenging regions in the world, Stuart built a deep understanding of the value of people in dificult situations - people who struggle to build a life living in circumstances they themselves did nothing to create, carrying out his duties, but infusing an empathy and tolerance that would distinguish him well as a

leader. Spending time in challenging environments around the world with the intelligence service that helped Stuart build and reine problem-solving skills, ultimately allowing him to enter the diplomatic corps.

THE ROOTS

Through his experiences as both a soldier, intelligence oficer and a Diplomat, Stuart cultivated the mindset that who we are doesn't deine us, rather, it's who we want to be and the eﬀort and conviction that we attach to this goal, hence Stuart decided to attend University, going to night school while in the Army to cultivate the ability to understand business and formulate solutions in order to be able to make an impact around the world. To this day, as a business leader, he espouses that the successful business of

the future must now have a conscience.

One of many extraordinary experiences playing a role in the development of Stuart's mindset for leadership occurred when he was in the Army going to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, where there had been a civil war raging this beautiful, resource-rich island for over a decade, with estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people dead. He arrived as a part of peacekeeping force, allowing the island to begin to take the steps toward recovery after years of devastation and death.

Stuart spent many days visiting villages, appreciating the resiliency of the people and their positive outlook for the unity of their nation. The positive mindset of the people who had lived through so much tragedy inspired. After the impacts of World War II on their island, followed by a decade of civil war, Stuart was humbled by the endurance and spirit of the peopletheir strength the generosity, hospitality and kindness they extended to him, left an indelible mark Stuart. He admits that at times, he wasn't sure what he was eating, unwilling to question or ask our of concern for oﬀending their generosity, but the sheer camaraderie of the experience, the stories they shared, and their mutual hope for a better future, allowed them to form a bond of friendship and mutual respect. They were/are wonderful people with little money, but big hearts, unwavering pride and great strength.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Stuart worked in the Department of Defence and served in the Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet working under Prime Minister John Howard and even as expert for the British Foreign Commonwealth Ofice. A renowned expert in global intelligence, international affairs and security, diplomatic security, military service (Australia and British Army), and the United Nations, Stuart's many positions have taken him to places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, China, Libya, and Africa, to name a few. These experiences have afforded him a good understanding of the art of teamwork, the need to be lexible and resilient, and the importance of being able to make decisions under pressure.

THE GROWTH

During his time as a Senior Executive (Assistant Secretary) Diplomat in the

Another moment helping to deine Stuart's business ethos happened while he was working at the Prime Minister and Cabinet for the Prime

Minister John Howard. Hosting a gathering of world leaders in Sydney for APEC, one of the largest gatherings with world leaders on signiicant global topics such as economics and international relations, he learned the importance of being fully present in the moment. Being charged with arranging and overseeing all details for the occasion, he was reminded that occasionally, you are thrown a curve ball. A signiicant curve ball. Early in the morning, Stuart got a call from the USA delegation that the President of USA (George W. Bush) had a special request. President Bush wanted to go mountain biking in the Australian bush.

Not one to question and understanding very well why the President would want to see the majesty of the bush, Stuart arranged a police and security detail of Australian policemen who were it enough to keep up. President Bush enjoyed the ride, was immensely

THE Highlight

Today he is the CEO/Founder of Enigma-Alliance, a U.K., Europe and Africabased infrastructure development, clean water construction, technology, investment and consulting irm - a true man of the world, leading a company whose impact spans the world. Leading from the heart, recognizing that an eﬀective leader in this transformational century, must be globally-minded, innovative, ethical and altruistic, Stuart has a background as diverse as a New York City subway at rush hour. Believing that businesses of today must have a conscience, all of Stuart's project around the world are measured for sustainability and impact, rather than simply just for proit.

With a passion for sport, Stuart is a stakeholder in Bath City Football Club. But it is also this passion which led him to be an outspoken and wellregarded advocate for integrity in sports, which is too often tainted by transactions driven by hidden agendas and questionable moral compasses. To this end, Stuart, together with partner and dear friend, Professor Michael (Mike) McNamee, worked to bring to life the world's irst the Masters in Sports Integrity (MAiSI) with scholarships for students from around the world. Stuart and Mike strategized the program for a considerable amount of time, sharing that it was a very long road to success.

They were knocked back by many organizations for funding and support for all the wrong reasons, namely, by people's ill-informed opinions or lack of insight and understanding. They experienced many failures to launch. Stuart and Mike began to discuss if they should even continue, given how many setbacks they faced. They sat together for a couple of hours and decided that they had an obligation to keep going because sport, community and values needed this program for sports integrity more than any other time, and if they didn't pioneer this program, nobody would. So, once again they tried again, facing continued knockbacks, until they eventually got a break, receiving funding for about 4 million euros.

Today, the Masters in Sports Integrity (MAiSI) is the leading sports integrity education course in the world, expanding rapidly. As a leading expert in sports integrity, Stuart strongly believes that this is a crucial time to address sports policy, governance and ethics/integrity issues. With sports being the common denominator around the world – a multi-billiondollar global industry, integrity must be one of the key pillars. The sustainability of the MAiSI program and the future of integrity in the world of sports organizations are essential in keeping the program cemented into sporting culture and actions for the sustainability of the clean and fair sport.

grateful for the eﬀorts involved in the coordination and showed everyone who participated that even as a world leader, he was personable, humble and human – traits sometimes rare in high oficials. He appreciated the magnitude of the opportunity to take a quiet, early morning bike ride, and was both kind and thankful to those who made it possible.

A few days later, Stuart was looking for a quiet exit from the many meetings and events of APEC, so taking a short cut out of the event, he ran into President Putin, and speaking with him realized that he, too, was both polite and courteous. Two presidents – leaders of two of the most signiicant nations on the planet, and both leaders proved to be unexpectedly human, reminding Stuart that we should not always believe everything we are taught to think. We all represent one global community, one collective humanity and ultimately, one earth. We can agree to disagree, but we should at least be able to be courteous and talk about our ideas – and diﬀerences at one table, as it is only by coming together that we can ind the solutions to our greatest challenges.

THE HOPE

As an ethical and altruistic leader, Stuart proudly serves as Vice-Chair of the International Advisory Board for MAiSI, and supports several philanthropic

foundations, from PTSD to a street kids' charity in Tanzania. With corporate social responsibility and 'giving back' a primary mandate in all of his business ventures, Stuart serves as long-time board member of the Cheka Sana Foundation, which supports vulnerable and impoverished children in Mwanza, Tanzania, including access to a sports academy.

One of his most cherished experiences has been going to Manzana in Tanzania and seeing hundreds of street children coming onto the makeshift ield created by Cheka Sana Foundation for a mini soccer tournament. The irst thing they had to do was to make sure the ield, which is just a dry piece of land, was clear of rubbish and more importantly, animals. Water buﬀalo

and occasionally other wildlife like snakes, would venture onto this makeshift ield. The kids were so happy to participate in this occasion, happily playing, even though most of the youth lived without much of which we take for granted, such as shoes. Many of the kids played barefoot. Even without proper attire, the joy on the faces of these young athletes was priceless. They want to play, remaining on the ield all day until the sun sets. Even with very little equipment and lot of enthusiasm, these young people were given a day of happiness and a glimpse at opportunity and hope. It's the simple gestures and help that give hope to people which return the greatest dividends to the giver.

Stuart is a proliic reader and enjoys delving into new technologies, ideas

and developments in innovation across the board. In all of his roles, Stuart has been able to bring ethics and integrity to the table and see these principles applied in practical terms. Prioritizing impact in Africa, Stuart is shaping the future and changing lives, which makes him more than simply a top CEO…it makes him an outstanding global citizen. He believes every day to give something away to help in whatever form it takes. “It's not about I, it's about the community.”