The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

The

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Leadership Redefined Enroute to Success

Innova on- The Key

Innova on Defines Success

Founder CEO

Lending Valley

Çhad Otar

Shifting Tides in FinTech VOL-04 | ISSUE-15 | 2022

www.insightssuccess.com

Editor’s Desk O

ne of the most important lessons of life that you'll learn is 'try everything.' You've got to go the distance and take some risks at least once in your life. This makes human life complete – the curiosity of learning and understanding everything.

Innovative Lessons to Remember

Technology and innovation result from one such curiosity that has brought the transformation into the world. The development of human discovery to build and operate these cutting-edge technologies at their best.

Leadership plays a collaborative role here in the building and enhances the talent pools needed to design, improve and operate facilities. We need innovative leaders at various fronts to encourage and enable the required business talent and strengthen emerging innovative applications. It becomes evident as we enter the 4th period of industrialization – 'Digital Industrialization.' Business leaders can create an environment of innovation in the team, promote risk-taking culture and try new things to explore the best of innovation.

For Leaders, the three core principles of innovation are: Ÿ Ensure Timely Support – The team's trust here is crucial because once the entire team works towards achieving the common goal, the company's aim becomes easy. Ÿ Improve Profitability and Competitiveness – Leaders are responsible for generating competitive advantage by meeting the organizational expectations of investors, customers, and shareholders. Ÿ Reduce Costs – Innovation involves risks, but leaders need to focus on reducing costs for the organization.

Innovation offers a broader way to include IT sources that include everything from strategy consulting, IT roadmap, and help desk services. Both small and large businesses are benefited from technological services. It is meant to be utilized in tandem with internal teams. Still, there is a wrong perception that innovation will take away IT jobs, which simply isn't true. That's because the end goal of

innovation is to complement the skills and deliver the best IT services to the organization and the leaders.

More than anything, leaders are the ones who must build trust and relationships with the clients and the team members. Therefore, leaders have the unbelievable opportunity to move beyond traditional IT support. To thrive in today's competitive business environment, leaders should always evaluate ways to get ahead. It also enables a more efficient and productive workforce.

An innovative leader understands the business's goals and can align the team accordingly to meet these goals. Here, the leader needs to have flexibility and scalability within himself, or else it won't be able to grow the way business leaders might desire. The innovative strategic leader will understand the clients' business and formulate a plan for how technology applications can support the business now and in the future.

Having such a true leader provides great value, support, and able to provide expertise beyond the ability to fix problems as they arise. To anticipate this, Insights Success uncover such innovative leaders through its upcoming project – "The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022," who have raised the bar of innovative leadership with their skills and talents. These leaders know what they are good at and contribute largely to the team, organization, and industry.

This brings us to the end of this editorial note, so make sure you also go through the industry articles written by the in-house editorial team to understand the digital aspect of leading businesses.

Sourabh More

sourabh@insightssuccess.com

C O N T E N T S

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ÇHAD OTAR Shifting Tides in FinTech

C O V E R S TO RY

A RT I C L E S

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Innovation- The Key Innovation Defines Success

Leadership Redefined Enroute to Success

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Brandon Hernandez

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Leading YOU to Choose a Better Future

Derek Anthony

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A Distinct Leader with Innovative Approach

Assisting Clients with Insight-Driven Approach and a Constant Desire to Learn and Improve

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Souad Benkredda

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Petar Reshovski

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Fearless of any Failures in Finance

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JeanineJerkovic

A Proficient with Extensive Work Experience

Ran Rachlin

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Carsten Nygaard Broegger

Creating Thriving Business Environment for the Community with Workforce Development Initiatives

May Yap

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YOUR Trusted Partner for Outsourcing Services in Consumer Products Industry

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Shayne Neuwirth

A Remarkable Instance of Authentic Leadership

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Editor-in-Chief Pooja M Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor Sourabh More

Assistant Editor Jenny Fernandes

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Marketing Manager

Sales Executives David, Martin

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Technical Specialist Amar

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

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Whole Brain Consulting Brandon Hernandez whole-brain-consulting.com Co-founder

vative

Leaders

2022

Brief Whole Brain Consulting experts provide you with optimal solutions in the areas of: quality assurance, supply chain management, operations management and contract manufacturing sourcing.

Chad Otar Founder and CEO

Lending Valley lending valley.com

Lending Valley is provides all small business owners access to the best loans possible for their business.

Carsten Nygaard Brogger Founder and CEO

CasusGrill casusgrill.com

CasusGrill™ is an award-winning Danish innovation company.

Derek Anthony Vice President

Woodmont Company woodmont.com

Woodmont specializes in every aspect of commercial real estate, including development, asset management, tenant representation, brokerage, construction supervision, and investment sales.

Jeanine Jerkovic Economic Development Director

Surprise AZ surpriseaz.gov

May Yap Senior Vice President

Iht iht.com.sg

LHT Holoings is the Transportation, Logistics and Storage.

Petar Reshovski General Manager

Williams & Marshall Strategy wm-strategy.com

Williams & Marshall Strategy is a global full-service market research and consulting company.

Ran Rachlin Co-founder & CEO

Ubertesters ubertesters.com

Ubertesters is a crowd-based, complete mobile apps/web testing solution provider.

Shayne R. Neuwirth, Owner-Operator

Handwrytten srncpa.com

Shayne R. Neuwirth CPA, PLLC provides outstanding tax, accounting, and consulting services to both individual and business clients.

Souad Benkredda Managing Director Head of Financial Markets UAE

Standard Chartered sc.com

Standard Chartered is a leading international banking group, with a presence in more than 60 of the world’s most dynamic markets.

Surprise, Arizona is home to nearly 140,000 residents who enjoy safe neighborhoods and a family-friendly environment.

Cover Story Çhad Otar

Founder CEO

Lending Valley

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Çhad Otar Shifting Tides in FinTech

Providing YOU with a funding program that meets your nancial needs.

B

olstered by a team of fantastic individuals, each with their unique set of skills and experience, resulting in Lending Valley's innovation made waves in the FinTech market, allowing it to become the country's leader funding provider. Led by Çhad Otar, the Founder and CEO, has curated a team of the industry's best underwriters and business development manager who have industry-specific experience and knowledge, giving them the ability to underwrite and fund deals.

Çhad thanks his team's Sharmylla, Clark, Sadman, Danielle, wealth of experience in the industry, as it was crucial to have working relationships to afford the clients the deals and customer service they are searching for. LV's motto, "providing a lending hand for your business," couldn't be more accurate — its white-glove service allowed them to break through into an otherwise crowded market.

Çhad helps small to midsized business owners obtain capital for expansion, hiring, equipment, marketing, infrastructure, working capital, debt consolidation, and much more. He is honored to be included in the 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022 and is excited to share LV's story.

There's no denying that FinTech lenders were borne out of necessity. However, their delivery method of rapid-capital services was an industry game-changer in many ways.

Finding Success from Adversity As a first-generation American and a three-time cancer survivor, Çhad always wanted to make something of himself. His main aim was turning adversity into accomplishments, which he fortunately achieved. Çhad's career began in 2007 while studying at Columbia, finding himself in the sales division at American Allied Funding and staying there until 2012 until he became a senior funding specialist at Capital Stack.

After a year, Çhad became CEO of Excel Capital Management and increased its revenue by 430% over four years. But it wasn't until 2019 that he decided it was time to create Lending Valley and build the incredible team it has today.

Making an Impact Since 2019

Çhad shares, "Firstly, we understood the gap in the market.

Back in 2019, the funding world needed another player. It seemed to stand stagnant — the current lenders found a workable solution and stuck with it. Of course, there's no problem there; after all, the saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," exists for a reason. But we knew our years of industry knowledge and our diverse team could offer something extra." Çhad continues, "Secondly, we took a unique approach to credit. Traditional lenders value borrowers with nearperfect credit scores. But we recognized that many adversities faced by business owners were completely out of their control, making it unjust to judge them solely from the current credit score. Thus, we created a platform that won't ever penalize our clients for less-than-perfect credit, no collateral, zero credit, or any other financial hardship. Life throws us curveballs as it is; we're not here to throw more."

Lending Valley's goal is to offer every small business owner the best financing at phenomenal rates within the same day and or in 24 hours.

At last, he erased the ever-present convolution in the finance industry. Having been an active participant in the finance space for many years, Çhad completely understood business owners' apprehension when considering capital acquisition options. Financial jargon and legal terms are abundant with all sorts of loans and lending deals. So, he removed it and focused instead on LV's customer service.

Çhad notes, "Sadly, the finance industry is littered with high-cost financing and unattractive interest percentages.

So, our primary mission is to act as a safe haven for smalland medium-sized business owners to obtain the money they need as quickly as possible.”

Lending Valley offers individual attention and care to every one of its clients. Çhad's team does everything from the paperwork to taking risks to get their customers where they want to be. He adds, "We don't grow if our glorious clients don't grow alongside us."

Lending Valley: Our Missions and Visions

Value-Driven Toward Success Lending Valley promotes a familial atmosphere which has proven to be one of its major success factors. Çhad is aware of the financial sector's impersonal criticism and has broken away from that mold. He ensures a heartwarming work-life balance for all the teams and strives to create a home-fromhome atmosphere for our staff and customers alike.

LV treats its customers as family, and the results have been astounding. Çhad mentions, "Of course, we can't forget about our 24-hour turnaround time when discussing the factors propelling us to success. Emergencies don't wait for you, so we don't make you wait for financing. Many of our customers are fraught with stress when searching for capital. We never add to that by introducing further obstacles; that's the beauty of FinTech companies like us — fast and reliable capital solutions."

Lending Valley, Inc. Leveraging The Ever-Changing Technological Landscape LV has always leaned into brand-new, innovative technology to expand its slice of the market's pie. But 2022 is set to be one of the most exciting for technological advancements, and the Lending Valley team is more than ready to leverage it all.

It looks to make its underwriting team faster by further automating parts of its process. It plans to make the most out of everything Big Data and advanced machine learning offer. Çhad expresses, "In that aspect, we're eons ahead of the traditional lending curve. We aren't nervous about making significant automation changes to power quicker funding distributions and higher customer satisfaction results. Plus, the more technology progresses, the lower the risk of default — a win-win for everybody involved."

Additionally, LV is continuing its migration to cloud technology. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most FinTech companies and other financial services moved to the cloud.

However, the chaos caused by coronavirus accelerated everybody's efforts. Cloud technology makes it easier for

Providing YOU with multiple options in real-time

them to tailor packages and provide a better service based on technological progress like blockchain and AI. Essentially, harnessing the improvements is the only way Lending Valley can continue moving forward in the fastpaced micro-lending sector.

The Changes LV Hopes to Make The world and the financial sector, in particular, have changed a lot since we started in June 2019. From the pandemic accelerating the trajectory of cloud-based solutions to customers looking for rapid capital, the finance market is entirely different from a few years ago. There are a couple of changes the company hopes to inspire in the sector over the following years.

Number one is to help the small business industry get back on track by continuously providing capital to those who need it. Coronavirus has disrupted the industry, causing many never to reopen their doors.

LV wants to be a part of that change and offer the money they need to come out of this stronger. Çhad is proud to be in a position where our bespoke solutions and technology have allowed many small- and medium-sized businesses to continue operating.

The Future Is Lending Valley Lending Valley's goals are to keep growing and continue sticking to our motto, "providing a lending hand for your business." The constant industry improvements allow Lending Valley to be on the top, offering white-glove service to current and future clients.

At Lending Valley, we believe our customers deserve the best!

Additionally, Çhad would like to encourage more entrepreneurs to break into the finance world, hoping to inspire others who faced challenges at young ages to find success in an otherwise impersonal industry. Çhad states that LV's familial atmosphere has driven it to the dizzying heights of success, and there's no better change than helping others obtain that feeling.

Finance Industry Changes: The Predictions In Çhad's opinion, the next big change in the finance industry is the application of artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and machine learning (ML). AI and ML in the finance world have continued to grow over the years. They're always improving their algorithms, data analysis process, and pattern recognition to ensure better interpretation of financial information.

As for RPA, the possibilities are endless! The industry is sure to experience increased automation and gain more time to tap into the strategies behind their processes. It's undoubtedly an enjoyable time to be part of the industry.

LV is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve its services. Çhad notes, "Complacency isn't in our vocabulary.

Our team is always striving for the next level to maintain our fantastic track record of catering to merchants who would otherwise be left without working capital. Lending Valley is certainly here for the long haul, and we're excited to continue helping small businesses in need."

Breaking Into the Finance Industry: The Advice The finance sector can be a daunting market to venture into.

So, Çhad's primary piece of advice is to embrace fear and also a leader is as only as good as the people around him.

He says, "You're bound to be scared starting on your own, but fear is a motivator like no other. Using it to your advantage might be the best decision you ever make. As long as you have the knowledge to back up your endeavors, you're bound to make it with a lot of hard work and perseverance." Çhad also suggests finding a mentor as you feel less lonely, but they'll teach you valuable lessons they've undoubtedly had to learn the hard way.

Thank You, For Everything Expressing his gratitude for his success, Çhad says, "I'd like to take a moment to thank my mother, brother, and everyone who doubted me."

"To my mom, who taught me more about strength and sacrifice than I could've imagined, thank you. To my brother, who gave me the encouragement and support I needed to venture into the financial world, thank you. And to everybody who doubted me, you lit the fire inside me that said, "keep going," so thank you. Great things are on their way!" Çhad concludes.

Mark r Tuman Founder & CEO

Arc Vehicle

14 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

W

ith a mission to provide the highest level of outsourced operations focusing on QA/QC, supply chain, co-man sourcing, R&D, and private equity operational due diligence, Brandon Hernandezco-founded Whole Brain Consulting.

After earning his degree in Biology from Colorado State University, Brandon began his career in food safety, supply chain, R&D, and general plant operations management starting at Zateca Foods now Teasdale Latin Foods. He spent several years working his way through the operational, research and development, supply chain, and quality assurance aspects of food manufacturing and now plans to use those skills in the Boulder/CPG communities.

give comes from a place, of what we believe, is in the clients' best interest."

Outsourcing Experts Whole Brain Consulting takes a complex large industry machine and makes it understandable to even it's most novice clientele. Brandon feels logistics and supply chain can feel daunting to anyone, and even more so to a novice, so we use our experience to flatten the learning curve for our clients.

Embarking Excellence Brandon started the company from scratch, enduring several challenges ranging from non-payment, disagreements, expanding the brick-and-mortar aspect of the business while gaining traction in a highly competitive industry. However, he overcame these hurdles and demanding the best f\rom his team.

Brandon's journey has been a constant roller-coaster,but he always manages to change the tides building strong relationships and imprinting his mark on the industry. He shares, "Gaining the respect of people in the industry was just as rewarding as building a prosperous company.

Sometimes visions align, and sometimes they don't, but I would hope that everyone would recognize the guidance we

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to microbiological analysis, AI will start to shape the way we understand our processing environments.

At Whole Brain, we simply continue to monitor those advances and adapt our consulting accordingly."

Going Beyond Brandon's future goal for WBC is to learn from the industry and start applying them to other sectors/categories.

Ultimately, he wants WBC to fulfill its goal as a business and trusted industry partner, leveraging into the philanthropicspace ensuring a better world for those coming behind us.

A Piece of Advice

By integrating across multiple platforms, Whole Brain Consulting differentiates itself from the rest by cultivating and maintaining friendships with members of the logistics/supply chain communities.We have found that it doesn't matter what type of technology you have, ifyou don't know how to use it.

Brandon advises aspiring entrepreneurs venturing into the supply chain industry to never stop learning. "The supply chain world will continue to change and evolve, and I think that will only accelerate as blockchain and other technologies make their way into the sector and technological advances continue." Brandon concludes.

Ready, Set, Initiate According to Brandon, the advent of AI techniques and analyses will be pivotal for the manufacturing environment.

He believes that AI will undoubtedly make its logical way into manufacturing. Outside of operational efficiency, QA is the next logical place for AI to advance processing. He notes, "From intelligent foreign material detection devices

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Carsten Nygaard Broegger Founder and CEO CasusGrill ApS

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The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Carsten Nygaard Broegger Leading YOU to Choose a Better Future

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nnovative ideas are the predicament of the leaders that took a different approach and took valid actions to make them a reality. It makes them unique, and a sought-out leader keen on driving change can inspire, cultivate, and ignite meaningful changes in the world. Akin to such innovative leadership skills is Carsten Nygaard Broegger.

As the Founder and CEO of CasusGrill, Carsten aims to become a role model for the market in disposable barbecue and inspire others to become healthier and environmentally conscious about the products they may encounter.

CasusGrill™ is an award-winning Danish innovation company with a green DNA and passion for making a difference for the planet earth. It aims to combine sustainability and smart, functional design to re-design and make a green transformation of existing products, which we use every day.

what he is today. He says, "My wife often expresses her dissatisfaction when we shop because I do not look at the products, but more how things change. It can be anything from store decor, customer behavior, trends, and compositions or how things are simply made!”

Carsten knows that being an entrepreneur is not just rosy!

Getting a good idea presents many challenges and

A Persistent Journey Born and raised in a family that has a long history in the furniture industry, Carsten's upbringing was highly influenced by life lessons and challenges that came with it.

He reminisced that the conversations at dinner were often about how they could change and innovate while perceiving how new tomorrow will be!

Creativity and development have always been the essential things in Carsten's life that helped him shape to become

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pondering questions. How should your new idea be made?

How do you fund your idea? How to create success with the idea? How do you protect your idea? Speaking from experience, Carsten asserts, "I have made my mistakes and fallen into many "stupid" fall groups. One thing is for sure if you do not dare to think differently and change things, the road to success is much longer.”

Carsten states that everything may sound extremely simple, but persistence is one of the essential cornerstones of success. He knows that most people give up just before the finish line! Carsten's mottos is when a door closes, three new doors open – it is always a matter of finding them in time!

If you are not constantly evolving, then you are in liquidation.

The Inception Carsten asserts that the idea behind CasusGrill arose on an RV trip in the French mountains back in 2009, where he had the experience of using disposable aluminum grills. The first did not start, and the second took a long time before it

got hot, and the heat was uneven and tough to cook on. He says, "Our son was eight years old and very curious. By accident, he touched the aluminum tray and got a small blister. But it was not just that - the discarded aluminum trays from the disposable grills lay left around in fields, in bushes with burn marks after use. A really bad experience!”

Thus, CASUSGRILL was born!

The DNA of CasusGrill is to combine sustainability and smart, functional design in re-design and green transformation of existing products people use in daily life at an affordable price.

CasusGrill is an innovative and green company. It wants to become a role model for the market for sustainable products and inspire others to become healthier and environmentally conscious about their products.

Effective Impact Carsten expresses that the barbecue and accessories market has always been conservative. The lack of focus on sustainability and green transformation has been a hallmark

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of the industry. The bigger and more masculine the grill can get - the better!

CasusGrill has an entirely different approach and point of view, where sustainability plays a crucial role in the product being convenient and solving the challenges of the existing disposable aluminum grill. It has made a green transformation of one of the essential things in human existence - cooking, however, with a minimum footprint in nature compared to the existing product on the market!

Sustaining Environment In Carsten's view, technology is many things. However, CasusGrill is only made of sustainable materials like cardboard, bamboo, lava stone, and bamboo briquettes. All biodegradable materials, except the lava stone insulation, are inorganic and neutral products, without any risk of rotting or transforming. It can be recycled, and there is no need for a landfill; it can easily be returned to nature or even used as soil improvement and 100% pure cultivation for plants.

To do this, you'll need fire and cardboard. The key is to use and put together different materials in a new way - in a specific relationship and a particular design.

Carsten notes, "What may not be possible today will be possible tomorrow - the sky is the limit, or you set the limit!”

The Preparation for META Universe According to Carsten, Virtual Shopping will be the next big thing in the META universe combined with artificial intelligence. One can virtually walk around a local supermarket, hardware store, or shop. He notes that one can talk to the clerk and receive guidance in the buying process, demonstration of products if desired.

Carsten says, "CasusGrill will be ready and a part of this META universe when it becomes a reality. CasusGrill must be able to be bought, experienced, and enjoyed with family or friends in a virtual way anywhere in the world.”

“

CasusGrill is here to make its green print on our planet.

A Long Way Ahead In Carsten's view, CasusGrill is just the beginning of a long journey that never ends. "There will always be products where green transformation will be relevant. One day it will be relevant to make a green transformation of green products that already exist - due to technology evolving at a rapid pace and making the impossible possible today."

CasusGrill will always strive to be one of the leaders in its segment.

Ideas to Reality Carsten advises budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the consumer goods sector to take even the most impossible dreams and make them come true. He believes that this is where the best ideas emerge! He continues, "Never take a NO for an answer, even if it looks bad and you thought all options are exhausted. There is always a solution to everything - it's just about finding the right solution. Never be greedy as it can end your days as an entrepreneur.”

Carsten adds that going to a store and getting inspired - the task is simple - just do it better than your competitors and keep it as simple as possible.

Always choose the path to a better future!

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The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Derek Anthony A Distinct Leader with Innovative Approach

N

o work is too small or too big; if one does their work with passionate determination, one will eventually climb the ladder of success. Having such strong determination, Derek Anthony, worked at 22 jobs in his professional journey learning a valuable lesson in hindsight. Each of these lessons molded Derek into becoming the Vice President of Real Estate at The Woodmont Company. His tremendous corporate background in sales, marketing, operations, P&L, and negotiation skills are unlike anyone in the real estate business.

Woodmont specializes in every aspect of commercial real estate, including development, asset management, tenant representation, brokerage, construction supervision, and investment sales.

A Distinct Journey Grown up in North County of St. Louis suburbs, from cutting grass, to lifeguarding in high school, to stringing rackets in college, to help pay for bills, to buy an engagement ring, and then graduate from Missouri State in Marketing, Derek wasn’t sure what he wanted to pursue.

Derek took his first job out of college at Woods Wire Products, Inc., which got him on the right foot having a wonderful friend and mentor, John Wiesehan Jr. John had 15 years with GE and a corporate structure background in Sales & Marketing and patiently got Derek to break out of his shell. Since then, Derek has taken every opportunity that knocked on his door utilizing his ability to put deals together, which has been with him even after the Woods Wire days.

brands. Derek traveled the world, visited factories, learned about different cultures professionally, took his strengths of direct reports, and incorporated those traits into how he manages and leads his team today.

Speaking about his journey, Derek says, “Given all my experiences from operations, P&L’s, people skills, emotional intelligence, and how to read a room, makes commercial real estate no different. It just comes down to deal-making and figuring out how to get to the closing table and being sensitive to both sides views and having an open mind, while making the soft ask.”

Crossing the Hurdles Derek has come across many challenges in his journey. He remembers one company he worked for was dealing with a lawsuit of $64,000,000 for not paying royalties and the company was shutdown. Derek had to sign up as an Uber driver to take care of his two kids and wife, even though he had the highest-earning period of his life and a mortgage.

What gets measured gets improved.

Over the next 17 years, Derek managed, sold, and marketed Consumer Electronic products to big retailers and distributors throughout the United States with Coby, Uniden, X-10, Fulfillment Plus, GPX, and many more

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Derek Anthony

Vice President The Woodmont Company

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He also applied for a warehouse job at Amazon and was offered the job, and a day later, The Woodmont Company called.

For the first two years, he worked fingers to the bone for 12 hours a day through cold calling and networking, getting every lead he could until he was satisfied with the prospect list. He notes, “Singles and Doubles are good starting points to get to the home runs, eventually. For the last four years, I still am still doubling my business year over year.”

Technological Impact Derek mentions that today’s real estate industry makes decisions driven by data, as much as financial. Data in terms of mobile tracking, demos, sales figures, and data at our fingertips helps the company make more of a finite decision. It can now track visitors and pull them for yesterday, last quarter, or last year, and compare the rankings of that same operator elsewhere in the market, city, town, or US. Desired Change Derek states that CRM’s are all over the place, and the biggest challenge in the real estate world is the schedule, follow-up, and staying on track on every deal. However, prospecting Landlords and Tenants there are several avenues to go down on each of side of the table. Derek wants to create a business plan and stay on track. He notes, “Google Earth and Google maps have been a savior for the CRE world and amazing tools that are free to help us with our job. There are smarter folks than me that will create the next best thing, but I look forward to embracing it and learning about it!”

Prepared for Changes Derek believes that touring a space with virtual reality could be the next disruptor; however, it all comes down to who pays for it. Woodmont is vetting new software partners all the time, only if the technology is efficient, productive, and cost-effective. Currently, Woodmont partners with CoStar, LoopNet, Placer AI, Retail Trac, and Site Seer for commercial real estate vetting and analysis.

Moving Forward Derek envisions himself conducting deals, making new friends, and growing his team to a more prominent national footprint in Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Denver, and others in the next ten years. He also expects organic growth or acquisition to always be on the table.

Lessons over the Years Derek advises aspiring entrepreneurs not to get too excited or too down; if you are doing the tedious, mediocre tasks to get you a deal, that is what it takes. He says, “No deal is ever done until it’s done, and the commission has been paid, and tenant is open. There will be uncontrollable substances or decisions made in the process, and you cannot let it get to you.”

Concluding his thoughts, Derek asserts, “It’s not that hard; you have to be disciplined in your everyday tasks and don’t get distracted. Remember, attitude is a choice. What gets measured gets improved.”

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Innovation- The Key

E

very day there is a new product that brings disruption to the market and becomes innovative.

In the business world, innovators are the ones who look at problems differently and find solutions others may not see. Not following traditional methods and looking for new ways is the way to success.

Being innovative is the most crucial aspect to thrive in today’s competitive business world, and without it, one may survive but will not get successful.

What Numbers Say? In 2015, the Deloitte Innovation Survey found out that many companies approx. sixty-six percent believed that innovation is the key to business growth. Innovation allows businesses to increase their reach, merge with new partners, and scale up to more human force. Adding innovation also puts the organization at a positive front end and attracts more investors towards it.

Why Innovation Matters?

When an organization comes up with innovation, no matter its size, growth is guaranteed. Top leading companies in the world with different sectors like Tesla, Apple, Google, and Microsoft are known for their innovation. Apple is the leading smartphone company but it generates 1/3 revenue from its accessories; Apple’s AirPods' revenue is more than Adobe, Spotify, and Twitter. The reason behind this enormous success is the innovation and the focus towards the problems which can only be solved by making an innovative approach.

What’s the Catch?

We all have encountered people in our life who are different than others and even being alone is not becoming a hurdle to their success. The logic is simple, thinking different or out of the box is also a part of innovation where one wants to explore new things beyond its declared boundaries.

Thinking EV cars as the future of automation looked like a dream but Tesla made this possible. The company did not choose the easy path, but explore the possibilities with futuristic batteries, and enhance the durability. Now, this is what any company can do which is what we call advancement. What Tesla did differently is they just did not advance

their EV cars but transform them into futuristic ones by adding automation. They introduced the concept of cars without human interaction. It was combining the idea of renewable energy and making driving safer than ever before. Today, Tesla is one of the leading Fortune 500 companies that has doubled its revenue in a very short period.

Understand the Market Innovation is also the key to ruling the market. The modern world is not waiting for anyone, as the customers' demands bar have risen very high. From advanced communication, digital platforms to globalization, everything from anywhere is reachable now without any boundaries. We already have seen that if anything that has the capacity to bring global impact can be monitored by the whole world in few seconds. An idea that has the potential to transform people’s lives to some extent or can fill the consumers' demand that has not noticed before, is innovation. People constantly change their choices and want something amazing, and new with upgrades, and that makes the market unpredictable.

Innovators have to predict change and understand the demand of consumers, so that there will be a solution even before the customer needs it. Determination and appetite for constant growth is the real quality of innovators and successful business leaders.

Idea Check, Market Availability Check, Then What is Next?

Transforming an innovative idea into a successful venture is a long journey. If you are capable enough, you can finance the idea, but if you are not then there you need stockholders (angel investors) who will provide the fund. But arranging the funds and establishing the operations is only half success. It is people who brings an idea into reality, and then lead it to success: people with the same mindset, people who are able to see and modify the perspective.

Finding and adding talented people to the team is essential.

And people with talent and vision also love to work with innovative ideas and in a vision that comprises success. For an innovator, the challenge is the thrill they are starving for and is the way to keep them encouraged. So lead with talent, align vision with investors, and most significantly innovate; an idea, a dream, or something that can bring change.

28 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

INNOVATION DEFINES

SUCCESS

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Jeanine

Jerkovic

E

conomic development of any region is the central pillar of growth in all areas and its sustainable growth depends on good leadership. City of Surprise is a striking instance of the above mentioned notion, as it is thriving under the leadership of Jeanine Jerkvoic.

Throughout her tenure at City of Surprise, Jeanine has enjoyed creating initiatives to change perceptions about the city! Inspired by her visionary approach, we at Insights Success caught up with Jeanine to learn more about her journey and her contribution to the dynamic economic development industry.

A management professional, Jeanine serves as the Economic Development Director at City of Surprise. Her 15 years of enriching experience in the economic development industry reflects her passion for economic development. She believes that the most important skillset to build is learning to embrace change and practices the same in her approach.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Surprise. What challenges did you overcome to reach where you are today?

I grew up in the Greater Phoenix West Valley in Glendale, Arizona and then graduated from Arizona State University (ASU). Early in my career, I had the great fortunate of completing a college internship for former US Senator John McCain and then working for a political action committee (PAC) called Campaign America. After graduating from ASU, I attended the London School of Economics in the UK to get a master’s degree. While in the UK, I interned with the US Embassy in London and soon after got a job with the designated UK-based European contractor for the Arizona Department of Commerce. It was there that I was exposed to the commercial trade and economic development profession and learned about it as a career option. I moved back to Arizona soon after and worked in the International Trade and Investment Division for the

30 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

Jeanine Jerkovic

Economic Development Director City of Surprise Economic Development Department

“The Surprise Economic Development team is committed to the constant pursuit of attracting quality jobs and business to Surprise and the Greater Phoenix Area.”

Arizona Department of Commerce, but it was only when I accepted a position at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), where I worked for four years, that I can say I truly fell in love with the economic development profession.

I left GPEC in 2006 to work where I live today in the City of Surprise! I was the Economic Development Manager in Surprise for over four years but left for an exciting opportunity with the Canadian Consulate in Phoenix.

Shortly after landing there, the Canadian government began to shutter several US trade and consular locations, and unfortunately, our office was one of them. I landed at the City of Glendale, Arizona – my hometown – but ultimately, I returned to the place I love and still call home, the City of Surprise! I have served as the Surprise Economic Development Director for more than seven years!

The economic development profession is faced with constant economic, political and social changes, and while I have found this to be the greatest challenge, it is the greatest opportunity!

Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.

The mission of the City of Surprise Economic Development Department is: to accelerate an enhanced quality of life and a thriving business environment for the community through the facilitation of new employment opportunities and workforce development initiatives; the attraction of retail amenities; the promotion of entrepreneurship and small business growth; and the retention and expansion of local businesses.

Until recently, the Surprise Economic Development Department has been primarily focused on strategic industry and business attraction in four key general sector areas: advanced manufacturing, innovation, medical excellence, and signature retail. Business retention, small business assistance, workforce development and infrastructure, while important, have generally been secondary for us until 2021. This focus will change a lot in 2022!

Moving ahead, it will be essential to pivot quickly and execute effective workforce development and infrastructure support programs that allow us to accommodate the current surge of commercial and residential growth.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

I am a huge believer in servant leadership, and the City of Surprise has a culture that reflects and supports this. It is important to build a culture where people connect, relate to one another, and build one another up. As I mentioned before, economic development is a dynamic industry, and there can be considerable pressure to meet – or even exceed – expectations. This makes it critical to hire talented, likeable individuals who aren’t afraid to leave egos at the door, and I am lucky to work with the best team in the world.

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

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Technology has made us all more virtually accessible, and the Surprise Economic Development Department is no exception. Our marketing has become more creative, especially as we have had to adapt and create meetings, events and even community tours of Surprise in a virtual format! During 2020, we had a prospective company unable to visit due to restrictions, and we were able to produce a custom virtual tour video for them, which impressed them!

Additionally, we hosted a first-ever virtual Spring Training VIP event with over 200 businesses and development professionals online – and as a result, we now have a signature restaurant negotiating in our market after attending that!

What, according to you, could be the next big change in Economic Development? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

The next tidal wave in the economic development profession is the workforce development issue. It will be everyone’s greatest challenge – and greatest opportunity.

Over the next several months, we are aligning our workforce and industry partnerships with certifications and resources to help accelerate opportunities for dislocated workers, youth and remote professionals. Workforce development will become our primary focus in 2022.

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

The City of Surprise has incredible economic assets that are any economic development professional’s dream: a successful business incubator; an emerging downtown with a residential university – Ottawa University Arizona - as well as an award-winning Spring Training stadium; developable land; highway accessibility – and even rail! My future goals are to lead initiatives to create a thriving downtown, to ignite our untapped workforce potential, to support new infrastructure solutions, such as broadband development, and to attract more commercial and employment opportunities to our future growth area in North Surprise!

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Economic Development sector?

I am a big believer in just putting yourself out there and talking to people! My advice would be to reach out to a local economic developer like myself, have a virtual chat or a cup of coffee, and learn more about economic development as a career path.

A Proficient with Extensive Work Experience

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The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

W

“

e must know the market well, identify our competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Build rapport with customers, find out what matters to customers, provide solutions, and solve their matters,” says May Yap. She is the Managing Director, and CEO of LHT Holdings Limted and accountable for strategic IT management and smooth day to day operations across operating sites in Asia and US. May has Extensive Management Consulting Experience advising clients on business transformation initiatives; familiar with operations in Manufacturing, Government, pharmaceutical, Bank and Insurance, Telco, FMCG, Airlines and Logistics sectors.

In an interview with Insights Success, May Yap highlights the importance of customer service and understanding the market one wants to grow in.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a young and proficient shepreneur.

It all started in December 1977, after completed my secondary school, I joined former Lian Hup Timber Trading Co before it was retitled to LHT Holdings Limited as a multi-tasking clerk which handles accounts, administration, operations, and housekeeping. At that time, the firm had around 20 employees and on leasing land size of less than 1000 sqm situated in a remote area in the north region of Singapore.

During my 40 years of services at LHT, I have climbed the corporate ladder through rank-and-file from an admin clerk to a chairwoman. I have witnessed the changing landscape from a traditional company to an environmentally friendly company.

As time went by, wood pallets became prominent as many foreign MNCs invested massively in Singapore that required these pallets as export goods. And inevitably, LHT followed the same wind too. At that time, Singapore was on its journey toward development and the firm grew so tremendously that we had to pursue bigger land in Sungei Kadut.

Moving the factory two times, in 1988, the firm acquired a 35,680 sqm land, and the company staff strength went up to 168 employees, and with the right timing, the group renamed to LHT Holdings Limited when listed in the mainboard in 1999.

During this time, I was Sales Director-in charge of all sales and marketing functions. Perceiving the opportunity to be an Executive Director, I became one of the major shareholders during the company’s reconstruction.

I was appointed as the acting Managing Director in 2016 due to my MD had health issues. In 2017, followed by the retirement of my founder MD, I was re-designation as the chairwoman, Managing Director, and CEO. How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to entice the target audience?

Wood pallets have been traditional for more than 60 years since world war two, to entice our target audience we need to provide a competitive one-stop solution.

Besides selling wood and plastic pallets, we have technology pallets known as system pallets that cooperate with the RFID system. We also manufacture

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of confidence and trust to be built over the team or management working with.

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges were faced by you in a corporate business? And how did you overcome them?

Nobody knows that the Covid-19 will hit and disrupt that hard in all kinds of business and make changes to the way we do business. As a pallet manufacturer, we are lucky to be considered as essential services as we provide logistic support to the supply chain. Without pallets, goods cannot be transported and stored in the warehouses. As for us, we remain status quo, except the reshuffle of our workforce to cope with the high demand from some sectors due to customers’ stop work.

Have you in any way contributed towards the cause of women empowerment?

environmentally-friendly pallets that make from recycling wood waste. By 2013 we took over a big plant at Johor, Malaysia for Green innovative Gpac moulded pallet production, and became a multi diversity of wide ranges of ECO Green pallet leadership to distribute all kinds of Wood packaging and Champion the green journey and made company with more effective business model and longevity sustainable for success.

What are the vital traits that every businesswoman should possess?

A successful entrepreneur is focused on the business and its goals. At this digital transformation era, and Covid-19 had changed the way we do business. Creativity and flexibility, we need to embrace that changed and go back to the drawing board and restart, reorganize, relook on what is the better ways at the current situation, brainstorm, and amend accordingly. As a businesswoman, she shall have a charismatic character that possesses good knowledge in that field, a high level

In Singapore, I do not see any gender discrimination as long as you can do the job. This day, I do see many women are leaving their home as a housewife to join the society and many women are now holding the high ranking post. I could only post and set an example that a female clerk that it is possible comes one day she can be the top management.

How do you cope up with capricious technological trends to boost your personal growth?

Yes, we need to embrace the change and adapt the appropriate one. Firstly, we must understand the purpose of adopting the technology, which is to provide convenience or to make things simpler and not complicated and should be users friendly too.

What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?

The Covid-19 pandemic is a testament that proof the company is sustainable over the majority of companies that were shut down due to the lockdown period and we were the few companies that provide the essential service to the community as well as the society.

36 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

Petar Reshovski Assisting Clients with Insight-Driven Approach and a Constant Desire to Learn and Improve

Petar Reshovski General Manager

Williams & Marshall Strategy 38 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

T

he beginning of all knowledge is the desire to constantly learn, improve and grow and strive today to be better than yesterday. When applied to business, constant desire to learn and improve can imbibe better expertise and understanding, helping one view the business from different perspectives.

Gaining insights into businesses and industries, tapping into the vast array of knowledge with insights to guide clients in making better business decisions is Petar Reshovski. As the General Manager at Williams & Marshall Strategy, Peter strategizes various business tactics to help their clients understand the markets and industries better, improve on their business performance and stay ahead of the competition.

In an interview with Insights Success, Petar Reshovski shares his journey and contribution to the business consulting industry through Williams & Marshall Strategy.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Williams & Marshall Strategy. What challenges do you have to overcome to reach where you are today?

Unfortunately, the challenges I have overcome are far too many to list in a few sentences. Since I started WMStrategy about eight years ago, I have made almost all possible mistakes – wrong pricing, bad people decisions, wrong strategy, etc. But analyzing the results and changing the strategy as we go made me learn a lot and grow – both personally and as a professional and a leader. This showed me that regardless of the current state, there will always be challenges ahead (both internal and external). So we always have to stay humble and keep looking for them, analyzing the situation in the right way, and then taking measures to improve on them – the sooner, the better.

Tell us something more about WMStrategy, its mission, and its vision.

Williams & Marshall Strategy is a full-service market research and business consulting company. We help our clients understand the market(s) they are interested in, how they are moving, and the reasons behind those moves. We provide intelligence that helps our clients make informed commercial planning and strategic decisions and so timely

tackle the complex challenges and maximize the opportunities that impact their businesses. We provide intelligence that drives the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies and helps our clients be always a step ahead of the competition.

Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Consulting niche through your expertise in the market.

Our impact lies in our unique methodology, processes, and the thinking we apply in collecting and analyzing the data we have. Also, we are one of the very few companies that analyze certain developing countries and specific market segments in them, some of which had never been covered by any company before. We are also working on a few novelty projects we have never seen anywhere and will be more than happy to tell you more once they are operational.

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

Technology is an ever-developing field, and the speed with which it grows and innovates is just fascinating and not comparable to anything else. So, we are always interested in new technologies that can help us increase our efficiency and provide a better service to our clients. One recent example is in a script that we have built internally, which is used to automate calculating thousands of different points of raw data, writing hundreds of pages of texts, along with putting the right tables and graphs in it. We have implemented different technological advancements in the processes of recruiting market experts and analyzing the insights from the market expert interviews, building and presenting our reports, and many more. This allows us to spend less time on things that are not of first necessity and provide more value to our clients where we can do best.

If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the Business consulting industry?

I think we all have a chance to change both our industries and our private universes every day. As for the consulting industry – I believe it is misunderstood by many (especially those who have never crossed paths with it), and many people have a very wrong idea about it. The business consulting industry is here to create value and help clients understand the world better so that they can make better decisions, improve their business operations and thus serve

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We provide intelligence that helps our clients make informed commercial planning and strategic business decisions.

their clients better. This is what we are working on every day, and I am happy to say that we are changing that as we speak – one person and company at a time.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in Market research? How is WMStrategy preparing to be a part of that change?

In the last few years, the changes in many service-related industries came mostly from technology. The developing new technologies allowed the whole industry to streamline many processes and cut down on costs and timing while increasing effectiveness and efficiency. However, in that long technological marathon, we sometimes put people in second place, and I believe this will be one of the biggest changes for the short-to-medium term. Everybody should understand that people always come first, and only those who can attract and keep the best talent can get a significant competitive edge. As for the next big change, I personally believe there will be a lot of new developments in the market research industry, connected with the different metaverse platforms that are currently being developed and the amount of attention and users they are going to receive.

next 1-3 and how what we do in them helps us grow even more. The immediate plans for the short term include growing our business further by attracting new talent to the team and also expanding our current portfolio. We are already covering tens of thousands of markets in more than 150 countries globally, but we are soon adding some new industry verticals and titles none of our competitors currently offers. We are also working on our internal software, streamlining a few of our working processes, and on a completely new way of analyzing and presenting informational insights.

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

I know it might sound cliché, but to believe in themselves and never give up on their dreams. And I can say that as a person who has seen that working in real life – at times, I have felt very successful but also have been very close to the other end of the spectrum not once. Talent is great, but nothing beats hard work and an open mind. So, if they are ready to put in the work and be attentive and analytical to the results – then everything is possible. Another important piece of advice I can give – be consistent and patient – the overnight success does not exist and usually takes lots of years to build behind the scenes. Last but not least - it is always about the people. So, regardless of the business niche you have chosen – make sure you learn how to attract the best talent and keep them motivated all the time. Only then can you strive for real success!

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

The long run might be too far away, so I personally always keep a vision for the next 5-10 years, but try to focus on the

40 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

Leadership Redened

T

he greatness of a person or leader has to be estimated by his or her ability to thrive even in the most provoking or challenging situations. It is in the tough times that one’s mettle is tested. And it is at the same time one has the opportunity to prove one’s mettle. It is said that patience is bitter, but its fruits are sweet. The more one is able to hold one’s nerves even in the challenging times and continue to fight for success, the more one will be able to crossover even the toughest challenges. Life rewards those who put in sincere hard work and strive for achievements. “As we sow, so shall we reap.”

Success is not the cakewalk, but it is about repeated efforts day in and day out.

There is no free lunch in this business-minded world. One has to be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for accomplishing something worthwhile in this world, especially in the world of business. One has to accomplish something in this world to earn the trust of people and thereby to be the well-wisher of people. One can contribute a lot to others when he or she has gained worthwhile accomplishments to create his or her credibility. The reliability of leaders increases in great proportion when they deliver results more than expected by others. The reliability or credibility of leaders is directly proportional to the expansion of the businesses.

Morality is the Foundation for Victory Great business leaders are aware that it is important to lead with morality. They consider it is very important to keep the morale of everyone in their organization very high. High morale helps in taking the most courageous decisions. They understand that it is essential to deliver what is expected by clients or even beyond thinking well ahead of the clients.

This is where the innovativeness in leaders plays a big role.

That is the reason they keep it on high priority to be well updated with the latest technologies and they are keen to implement those technologies in their businesses.

Determination, Dedication, and Discipline Determination, Dedication, and Discipline form a big part of success. There is a huge significance of resolute determination to succeed in the world of business. The world is filled with cut-throat competition. To sustain one’s competency in the business world, one has to keep on improving oneself and everyone in the organization to create massive success. The journey sometimes can be filled with a lot of challenges, but if one has a determination to persist then one can achieve one’s goals in due course of time. Dedication gives life to one’s purpose and goals. It is very much synonymous with leading with purposefulness.

The stronger the purpose the greater can be the dedication

to achieve it. And Discipline is the bridge between success and failure. Without discipline, nothing substantial can ever be accomplished in life. One has to pay the price of resolute determination, absolute dedication, and high discipline to be successful in the world of business.

What Not to Do? As much as it is important to know what to do, it is also equally important to know what not to do. Doing what is favorable for success and avoiding what is harmful for success should be avoided at any cost. For business leaders to succeed in the business world, they should be well aware not to waste their precious resources after bad money or bad deals. They should not throw their good money behind bad money via negative deals. They should be calculative and should take calculative decisions related to where to invest and where not to.

Having a Right Mentor is the Key Having a good mentor goes a long way in making highvalue decisions. One should choose that person as one’s mentor who has demonstrated one’s character and competence in one’s chosen field. Great leaders are not just interested in being great leader themselves only, but they would like to create more great leaders. By choosing a capable leader as one’s mentor, one will be able to attain great heights in life in a short span of time. One good mentor is worth more than all the books in the library.

Books also play a huge role in the lives of great leaders, but the help of a mentor is priceless as one will be able to develop oneself more quickly with the help of a good mentor and avoid the mistakes that previous leaders have done. Great leaders become great because they don’t shy at accepting good mentors in life. They are open to learning from all. They know that they don’t have all the time in the world to commit all mistakes and then learn and then apply.

Therefore, they prefer to avoid mistakes on the journey by having a good mentor in life.

It is a mark of great leaders to do justice to their roles, routines, relationships, and responsibilities. They also build such a type of culture in their fellow teammates and employees and staff in the organization. This helps them to achieve greatness in their business by building an organization with responsible and competent people. They lead by example and with resolute determination and with a goal to deliver more than needed. They thrive on their purpose and necessary actions. They do what needs to be done with due diligence and they set the standards for everyone else to follow and that is the reason they become admirable.

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The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Ran Rachlin The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

T

he growing significance of Crowdsourced is becoming more reliable to get constructive feedback and insights to develop an utterly bug-free product before launch. The amount of flexibility that these tests provide is helpful in numerous applications, permutating various scenarios as a part of quality improvement. To contribute to making digital products bugfree, Ran Rachlin co-founded Ubertesters. He leads the company as the CEO implying his extensive global experience in various industries to offer unmatched crowd testing services.

Ubertesters is a crowd-based, complete mobile apps/web testing solution provider. The company offers a crowd of global, professional testers for hire with devices that can test any digital product and provide feedback to clients.

The Lead-Up Ran trained himself to become an effective leader from a very young age having a global view. When he took his first job in sales in a Hi-Tech Israeli Company that sold products globally, his goal was to gain cross-cultural experience.

Later, he moved to the USA to complete his MBA and make a living in the center of where things happen. He advanced in his roles, climbing up the ladder, holding several high-profile management positions, conducting business across six continents in different industries. Ran decided to leave the safety of corporate life in 2013 to cofound Ubertesters - a startup in the field of software testing.

Crowdsourced testing is the most flexible, fast, easy, and

cost-effective way to scale your QA testing just when

needed. Anytime! Anywhere!

One of Ran's main challenges is how to keep the team inspired and motivated. He firmly believes that success should come from teamwork, allowing team members to speak their minds to provide or suggest how to improve things. He understands that when an employee feels valued, the motivation level is significantly increased. He also tries to provide clear goals to avoid micromanagement by completely trusting his team and asking them to be responsible and accountable for their actions. He says, "When they make a mistake or fail, I don't punish them. I use this as a trigger to learn a valuable lesson and what to do next time to avoid this mistake. I believe that these guidelines allow me to keep my team motivated and inspired."

The Testing Excellence Ran mentions that he was excited when companies such as 'Uber,' 'AirBNB,' 'Lime,' and Zipcar came to the world.

"The "sharing economy" (or gig economy) term blew my mind. It allows companies to use available resources to benefit clients while allowing the resources to earn money. I helped implement this within the software testing segment."

One of the significant changes Ubertesters does is providing the opportunity for young, inexperienced QA people who completed their QA education to gain experience in the QA and testing world. It works with many QA schools worldwide and allows recent graduates to get their first testing experience by working for us as freelance testers. It enables them to earn money during their free time. More importantly, it allows them to gain the needed testing experience and put this job experience in their resume while looking for their first job opportunity in the IT world.

A Reliable Partner Ubertesters offers a complete software testing solution for digital products to help organizations beta test their digital products before launching. It provides two complementary services: 1) A crowd testing service of global, professional freelance testers for hire with devices (part of the "sharing economy"

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Ran Rachlin

Co-founder & CEO

model) for the most flexible and cost-effective global testing under real-life conditions.

2) Offshore outsourcing services of remote QA experts on a full-time basis based in the company's East European facilities.

continues to grow as mobile devices are increasingly more intelligent and capable.

Ran notes that Ubertesters has a clear vision "to provide cost-effective, innovative, and quality testing services that exceed the expectations of its esteemed customers." Its mission statement can be summarized as "help digital organizations launch better, well-tested, bug-free products by enhancing natural best testing practices while providing exceptional customer services."

Mobile test automation must be a part of the software development life cycle to fully support 'time-to-market' and the fact that mobile apps are becoming more complicated.

However, the current utilization of mobile test automation is very low, partly due to the lack of methods and tools and the multitude of devices, and the fragmentation of operating systems. He strongly believes that automated testing for the mobile app will continue to increase. This trend is driven by the need to shorten time-to-market and more advanced methods and tools for mobile test automation.

Ubertester aims to help digital consumers (the end-user) get a tremendous bug-free product from its business customers for a better, faster, simpler, and no-frustration digital experience.

Ubertesters is working hard to be part of the future alternatives for mobile test automation. Its development roadmap includes a solution to allow its clients to use the Ubertesters platform to perform mobile test automation.

A Fast Paced Platform Ran understands that technology and human touch are the main values Ubertester provides. It had to develop its proprietary QA management platform to allow easy bug reporting. The platform enables the testers to easily submit bugs and issues (including video recordings and screenshots) while providing the client with an easy-to-use and precise tool to review the bugs/crashes. Technology allowed us to simplify the bug reproduction process for the client. Thus, allowing the client a much faster 'time-tomarket.'

Personally, Ran sees himself developing Ubertester, ensuring it continues to grow in the next few years. He hopes to build a new company to find a product that will help humanity by improving the quality of life and life longevity.

What the Future Holds Ran states that Ubertesters aspires to become the #1 global player in the field of crowdsourced testing within the next three years period. It will achieve this by growing through creativity, invention, and innovation.

Empathetic Approach "Take Care of Your Team" is the most valuable advice Ran implies in his work. He says, "Trust your team and let them shine but also be prepared to accept responsibility when things don't go as planned. Help your employees advance their careers and always respect them. As a leader, maintain the 'personal touch and often speak to your team.

Lastly, stay humble. Humility is not a weakness; it's a strength.”

According to Ran, the following significant change in the professional app testing industry is Mobile Test Automation. The trend of mobile app development

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Shayne R. Neuwirth

Owner-Operator, Certified Public Accountant

Shayne R. Neuwirth CPA, PLLC

The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2022

Fearless of any Failures in Finance

S

tarting your business comes with several different aspects, and finance is one of the major ones. If you plan to run any business, there are concerns about personal exposure to lawsuits and debts. That's where a tax accountant can help advise you and manage the financial security of your business. Shayne R. Neuwirth is a Certified Public Accountant who provides outstanding tax, accounting, and consulting services to individual and business clients. She is the Owner-Operator at the Shayne R. Neuwirth CPA, PLLC. Shayne has a high knowledge of individual and small business income taxes, the loan process, and building professional careers for others. When it comes to building customer trust, she is at the pinnacle of her professional ability to deliver the best services for clients. Having such a brilliant financial leader around is a true blessing. We at Insights Success are proud to interview her and get to know more about the Tax, Accounting, Consulting industry.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Tell us something more about your company, its mission and vision.

Our mission is to provide the highest level of professional services for our clients. We aim to be our clients' resource for tax and accounting services. Our firm's core values are extremely knowledgeable, ultra-responsive, and very approachable. We want our clients to feel comfortable with us so that the tax process does not have to be complicated and daunting.

The mistakes you learn today will be your case law for the future.

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Enlighten us on how you have made an impact on financial services through your expertise in the market.

If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the financial services industry?

We are a full-service CPA firm for small businesses and individuals. We offer various services so that different departments in our firm handle everything. One of our specialties is working with single-member S Corporations and helping them mitigate taxes. We are able to establish their entity, set up payroll, and provide monthly accounting services. Clients can also schedule consulting appointments throughout the year through our simple online scheduling system. We have also found that as a women-owned and operated business, other women are drawn to working with our firm because of our unique approachability.

I want to create an opportunity for more women to run their own businesses and have financial independence by doing so. I can be a strategic partner for them to build their business and have my firm handle accounting and taxes so that they can focus on operating and growing their business.

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

Our firm uses multiple services to help improve the process for our clients. Clients can schedule video appointments.

The CPAS will often share their screen, so it's like the client is sitting right at their desk.

We have a secure portal for each client where clients can safely upload documents to our firm, and we can also send them documents securely. Clients are notified immediately when documents are uploaded. We offer digital signatures for engagements and e-filing. All staff is set up with a remote computer set up so they can work from home. We have a few remote employees who work exclusively at home. We also work in QuickBooks Online for accounting clients, so clients have access to their accounting information on the cloud. Clients can schedule their appointments online at any hour of the day with our online booking software. Our typical client really enjoys having the ability to do things remotely and on their own terms.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in financial services? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?

Technology will drive accounting and financial services for clients. More robust programs and software that integrate with businesses. We are flexible and tech-savvy, and very quick at adapting to new technologies and helping clients to implement them into their business.

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

Over the next 5 years, I will continue to grow the firm; we have experienced substantial growth over the last few years and don't see that changing. More and more people are venturing out and starting their own businesses and need assistance from CPAs that are reliable and responsive. I hope to expand the practice and develop a plan to add partners. I want to continue to have great relationships with clients and continue to provide outstanding service.

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

I would recommend setting up your business today how you want it to be in the future. Find the best tools so that you can work smartly. Work with people who make you better and who teach you. Use the early stages of your business to learn and make mistakes.

50 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

53 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com

54 | March 2022 | insightssuccess.com