The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business, 2020

11 SHEPRENEUR

Maternity time to bring out break the entrepreneur in you

EXPERT’S VIEW

What will the world of commerce be like after the covid 19 crisis?

The Most Admired

WOMEN LEADERS in Business

2020

PRECIOUS

MAYES The People's Leader in Healthcare

Editor’s Desk

W Women Entrepreneurs Transforming the Industry

e are living in an era of fast and drastic changes in technology, the volatility of the market, and talent development. This influences the role of an entrepreneur, man, or woman.

However, the tech world is still male dominated with only five percent of tech start-ups owned by women.

Men admire women who flourish in their environment. But there are also men who fear women who do the same job, although those voices seem louder, they are often in the minority. Women in maledominated environments can and do show their peers what they are capable of.

Leadership, honesty, professionalism, and vision are vital traits that every businesswoman should possess.

A businesswoman must have a strong perception to set the direction, anticipate, and navigate challenges. She needs to ’Think out of the box’, adapt, and change to keep the business successful. She must not be afraid of taking risks in order to anticipate trends and steer the organization through turbulent waters. Last, but not the least, she must be able to build a company that is also brisk.

The ability to achieve results and work with all sorts of people is of supreme importance. Women in business need to transform themselves even more in order to maximize recognition and opportunities for being promoted. Hard work, flexibility, and creativity to find solutions in resilient or complicated times are also important traits.

Lastly, we need organizations that enable women to gain these skills and competencies required to earn an

equal return for their skill, talent, and work efforts. Whether they are drivers, technicians, safety managers, CEOs, or directors, we must offer information and resources to help them identify and overcome diversity challenges.

One such brave soul and an impeccable businesswoman is Precious Mayes, an avid and decisive healthcare leader who impeccably contributed to the evolution in this sector. She is President, and CEO of Pacifica Hospital of the Valley and her unique ideology and methods have helped her to meet countless personal milestones as well as her company’s pathway.

Hence, Insights Success emphasizes her journey with its exciting edition “The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business”.

Also, while flipping the pages, do not forget to run through the articles and CXOs written by our in-house editorial team and the industry experts respectively.

Have a Good Read!

rohit.chaturvedi@insightssuccess.com

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COVER STORY

PRECIOUS MAYES

The People’s Leader in Healthcare

28

article

40

Expert’s View

Shepreneur

What will the world of commerce be like after the covid 19 crisis?

Maternity time to bring out break the entrepreneur in you

Cydni Tetro

Redefinng the customary way of doing business

22

Dr. Giovanna Brasfield

You may call her “A Woman on the Rise”

Jennifer Breen Making home happen through temporary housing services

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Karin Lohitnavy A Passion Driven Leader

Margaret Graziano

Creating a High-Performance Organizational Culture to Boost Businesses

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18

Tracy Hernandez Exemplifying Collaborative Leadership

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Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Rohit Chaturvedi

Jenny Fernandes

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Asha Bange

Sanket Zirpe

Co-designer Kushagra Gupta

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Peter Collins

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Martin, Sagar

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Aidan, Sanket

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com November, 2020

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Featured Person

Company Name

Brief

Cydni Tetro CEO

FORGEDX forgedx.com

IdeaCloud software and services brings complex technology to life from a single cloud-based platform.

Giovanna Brasfield Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion

Flatiron Construction Corp flatironcorp.com

Flatiron develops innovative solutions to build critical infrastructure and landmark projects.

Jennifer Breen President and Founder

Suite Home Corporate Housing suitehomechicago.com

The company strives everyday to provide a high-quality housing experience and has always been to set up beautiful apartments in fantastic buildings that are both comfortable and functional.

Karin Lohitnavy Founder & CEO

Midas PR midaspr.co.uk

Midas is an award-winning communications agency working at the heart of the arts, culture, and heritage sectors. We transform brands with brilliantly bold ideas.

Margaret Graziano CEO

KeenAlignment keenalignment.com

KeenAlignment is a collaborative group of highly successful Management Consulting Professionals with a collective commitment to transform and elevate all that is possible for a world at work.

Precious Velvet Mayes CEO

PHV Pacifica Hospital pacificahospital.com

Pacifica Hospital of the Valley is a safety net hospital. The hospital is situated in north San Fernando Valley and provides service to patients as far as 400+ miles away.

Sarah Richson CEO

Richemele International Consultants richemeleinternati onal.com

Richemele is an International Consulting Firm which creates delightful, non-obtrusive, business and personal growth solutions.

Stephanie Zullig CEO

MindScale GmbH mindscale.ch

MindScale was founded to shape a successful future for companies in the digital age and to create sustainable added value.

Sudha Mahajan Product leadership

Microsoft microsoft.com

Designed to help companies/people achieve more with innovative Office apps, intelligent cloud services, and worldclass security.

Tracy Hernandez Founding CEO

BizFed bizfed.org

BizFed is helping to create a robust economy that grows jobs.

COVER STORY

S E Y A M

S U O I C r E e d R a P e L le’s p o e e r P a e c h Th t l a e H in

"Strategize, Plan it with Collaboration Communicate it - Execute it

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nsights Success admires such leaders and takes pride in featuring Precious in its special edition, “The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020.” The issue focuses on some outstanding women, who have attained a greater stature in their respective sectors.

Journey behind Precious’s Success As a healthcare leader and entrepreneur, Precious’s journey has been very diverse and robust with opportunities and experiences in a variety of industries. Since the start of her career, she has always explored the impossible and with the philosophy of anything is possible. She states that another key internal driver is passion and with that personal passion to color outside the lines. Her personal mantra has led her naturally to a path of ongoing creativity and development of business opportunities. “Cultivating a team of people who can lead with the same mantra is key to any success and business growth” says Precious.

While expanding the business, Precious states selecting the right people and organizations to partner with is critical to any business relationship and success. Precious has experienced that the best business you do is the business you don’t do. Having a mutual understanding of expectations and deliverables along with the consistency of communication solidifies progression and growth.

Below are the highlights of the interview between Precious and Insights Success How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

The foundation of strategizing is obtaining data on the different elements within the market. With this data, a market analysis is turnkey for developing a strategic marketing plan to promote growth with referral sources, community relations/outreach and strategizing to raise the bar within the market. Leading a team with action planning to drive results is the force to positive outcomes. How you

choose to strategize your growth and longevity can plan a vital role in your success as an organization.

What are the vital traits that every business women should possess?

Through my experience and observations, a businesswoman in this progressive time should naturally portray confidence, strength, integrity, and core values. Taking risks when making tough decisions in any situation, can also build upon any opportunity. Another vital trait for businesswomen is to not be fearful of standing your ground while upholding your core values and priorities. It’s important to remain confident and poised even if you are the last or only voice left in the room.

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

Pacifica Hospital of the Valley is a safety net hospital. With that being said, we face challenges with timely funding by the state. Our hospital is in north San Fernando Valley and provides service to patients as far as 400+ miles away. The need in our immediate and distant communities is high, so we have been able to manage through our financial limitations by adding new service lines and diversifying our portfolio with the various Managed Care Organizations and IPA groups. With the pandemic experience since February of this year, in response to the Governor’s call to action during the initial COVID-19 surge, I decided to pivot our available beds and transitioning these available beds/units to care for intensive care, acute and subacute level COVID19 patients. Additionally, we added new service lines to support the needs of the community.

Another strategy that is still effective during challenging times, is developing and maintaining relationships with the highest level of state/federal legislation and local officials to voice the needs of healthcare providers and constituents as well as asking for their support in time of need. One of my key elements is to never be afraid to ask for help.

Meet Precious Mayes, President, and CEO of Pacifica Hospital of the Valley, an avid and decisive healthcare leader who impeccably contributed to the evolution in this sector. Her unique ideology and methods have helped her to meet countless personal milestones as well as her company’s pathway.

The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

Overcoming obstacles are not considered obstacles, but more as challenges to be managed through. As mentioned previously, anything impossible is possible.

Have you in any ways contributed towards the cause of women empowerment.

As a leader in various industry settings, I have always offered mentorship and coaching to women in the business world. My ministry and mission is to empower as many women from diverse cultures and backgrounds. My passion is to offer support and mentorship by investing in women who have a drive and passion who may not have the resources/expertise to grow their business. As the owner of different businesses, I have selected women of need and growth to join our teams. I consider this type of businesswoman a future SheMogul.

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

Technology can be a legitimate and powerful way to advance your personal development and growth.

However it needs to be done right.

Most people gravitate towards trends in technology without understanding what the final outcome will bring them.

Technology is a tool , most people miss the end goal and result of what that might be. Building a bridge between your goals and the technology landscape can support personal growth in an everchanging environment . Ask yourself these questions , What are you trying to achieve, what are some of the positive habits you are trying to maintain , that could be optimized . What is the most empowering way you could use technology right now ?. Make sure it promotes your personal and professional growth . Technology can advance your personal development in phenomenal ways if you use it strategical to enhance and enable positive habits.

“Every day is a “Gift”, you are not guaranteed tomorrow.”

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

Future plans include continued mentoring of aspiring women in business and to grow the existing business and create a deep-rooted healthcare system that cares for the inner city and the Medi-Cal population to deliver “MAYO” or “Stanford” level of care for the Inner cities and vulnerable populations. This includes opening additional inner-city hospital services in southern California.

20 The

Most

SUCCESSFUL

BUSINESSWOMEN to Watch, 2020

kimberly Khoury

Paving her Way in Sustainability Development

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The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

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Dr. GIOVANNA BRASFIELD You may call her “A Woman on the Rise”

Dr. Giovanna Braseld Vice President

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The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

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eet Dr. Giovanna Brasfield a.k.a. Dr. G, the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion for Flatiron Construction and LINXS JV Inclusivity Manager. “Dr. G” serves as the Senior Supplier Diversity and Community Inclusion Officer for Flatiron Construction as the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion and also serves as the Inclusivity Manager for LINXS JV on the Los Angeles World Airport's Automated People Mover (APM) project.

She assists the Southwest District Manager and the Division Manager in meeting contractual requirements on current projects and upcoming project pursuits that engage women, diverse businesses, local workforce, and youth engagement.

Dr. Brasfield is a true advocate, leader, and change agent within construction who is passionate about inclusion of others within construction and construction-related trades.

Dr. Brasfield has been named the 2020 Mujer del Ano by the Regional Hispanic Institute as part of the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, by construction industry bloggers as one of the “2020, and also the 2019 Top 50 Construction Influencers” across the United States, by the Los Angeles Business Journal as a finalist for the Rising Star Award, by DemoChicks as an “Epic Women”, CNBC's Workforce Executive Council Member, the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of California's Diversity and Inclusivity's Expert Task Force, and by Diversity Professional Magazine as a “Game Changer”.

Moreover, she has an extensive background and experience in marketing, research, business development, and community involvement through her engagement in educational issues, program management, capacity building, construction & transportation concerns, economic development and social issues. Her unique ideas and

methods has helped her to achieve many milestones for her as well as for the organization.

Insights Success admire such leaders takes pride in featuring such leader in its special edition, “The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020” Into the Shoes of Leader Dr. G states that for her, becoming proficient leader in the construction industry for diversity and inclusion has required focused, hard work over many years. “It's not been easy, but it's been rewarding,” says her. In her journey, she has sought to constantly develop herself within the maledominated industry of construction. She also states that she has always focused on understanding the role of diversity and inclusion to help aid awareness, remove barriers for the traditionally underserved and build a foundation for internal and external program development.

“Perspective is everything,” quotes Dr. G. She doesn't see roadblocks or challenges as hindrances, but as obstacles to overcome and to learn from. In business, as well as in construction, she has overcame many challenging situations and has learned that success comes from having the right perspective, understanding policies, remaining open to differences in thought and being able to take feedback from others. When dealing with an obstacle, she does not consider it as the end of the road, but states that more so as an opportunity to create her own new opportunity whenever possible.

Moreover, Dr. G states that there are few women in the construction industry. But through diversity and inclusion initiatives, she has been able to mentor other women and

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collaborate with organizations that focus on women empowerment and equality. At Flatiron's LINXS joint venture project, Dr. G has created an employee resource group called the LINXS Women's Leadership Network. She is also focusing on inclusion initiatives as part of Flatiron's growth model an essential component of its business resource group for Flatiron's Diversity & Inclusion Growth Group.

Solutions to Rely On To strengthen Flatiron's diversity and inclusion offerings, Dr. G seeks to listen, engage, include, and assess. “With programs such as these, success requires involvement from

everyone. Diversity and inclusion is most effective in a collaborative, team environment where the focus is an allinclusive model.” This generates positive results for everyone; especially in the areas of contract commitments and compliance.”, she states. Dr. G is honored to serve as a diversity and inclusion executive for Flatiron, and to work with company's Diversity & Inclusivity Growth Group, project teams, clients and community resources to strategically implement, monitor and oversee inclusion programs. A key goal for Dr. G is to maximize inclusion drawn from the communities surrounding a project for youth, workforce and local firms. In her position, Dr. G works with teams to serve as a conduit of change, to ensure multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives are implemented and aligned with Flatiron's mission and core values, as well as create a long term impacts for internal and external stakeholders.

Whereas, in the case of its LINXS Joint Venture (JV) project at Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA), Dr. G works with the team to interpret contract commitments, implement the Inclusivity & Workforce Development Plan, assess potential points of noncompliance, resolve issues and ensure a diversification of Flatiron's and LINXS JV's offerings. This requires ongoing relationships with multiple people with expertise in areas such as contracts, construction, designing, quality and labor compliance.

When asked about the competition, she states that like Flatiron, other companies are reinforcing their commitments to diversity and inclusion—and it's critical and essential. In her case, the company is developing a multi-faceted plan that it believes will engage employees, clients, stakeholders, communities and youth. She has come to realize that it is important to be proactive and to achieve even marginal gains. So, she spends time in important initial steps by listening, brainstorming, looking at data and applying what she has learn. Then she tries to align multiple teams within the organization that will be impacted by the outcome to ensure overall buy-in to the effort.

Embracing Technology Dr. Giovanna learned to adapt, be flexible and be open to using evolving technology and thereby enhance her personal growth. This has been especially important in the current challenging pandemic environment. Life as she knew it has changed, but her responsibilities and commitments remains. Like so many others in business, she has become proficient in streaming meeting platforms like Zoom, GoToMeetings, WebEx and other technologies to

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conduct day-to-day business with subcontractors, project teams and employees. In addition, she states that currently she relies heavily on electronic newsletters, project websites, emails, LinkedIn and Instagram to share project milestones and critical information with external stakeholders. “How we conduct business is changing daily, and I am reminded that we must be open to new innovations. As an industry, we have created a new normal that, I believe, will boost personal growth for all,” says Dr. Giovanna.

driving action; ways in which inclusion can make and be the difference. With the current state of the world, the role of diversity leaders is essential to help create cohesion and solidarity with creating equity. She sees herself as being among those at the forefront of helping Flatiron lead change, implement actions, strengthen internal and external equity and enhance inclusion throughout the business.

A Glimpse into the Future She states that there is a lot of opportunity and potential for change related to removing barriers, creating equality and

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The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

JENNIFER

Breen

Making Home Happen Through Temporary Housing Services

“Do not overthink it. Gather the facts and put together a business plan, and when ready, go for it,” says Jennifer Breen on advising emerging women entrepreneurs. She states “I was nervous to sign that first lease, but the moment it was done, my anxiety over starting Suite Home was over, and my excitement over establishing my brand began. Jennifer started Suite Home with an exit strategy in place, which she did not do with her first firm.

She opines “If you have that exit strategy in place, it gives you a goal to work towards, even though you may divert from that original plan. Women are planners, and looking ahead is in our bones. Do not think of it as negative, and embrace having an exit strategy as a positive approach to your future.”

Jennifer Breen opened Suite Home Chicago in 2005 after years of being a vendor for the temporary housing industry. She set up a company bank account and her first apartment in the popular River North neighborhood of downtown Chicago, and the company was born.

Having an operations background, the set up and design of the apartments was incredibly important. She asserts “we have always strived to provide a more homelike, rather than corporate, feeling when you stay with Suite Home.” The customer response to the company’s initial apartments was phenomenal and within the first year, it was operating about 50 apartments. In the past 15 years,

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the company has continued to grow into the Chicago suburbs and into Wisconsin, operating up to 700+ apartments during its peak seasons. Suite Home Chicago also expanded and began to assist its Chicago-based clients with their domestic and global needs, and began the rebrand to “Suite Home” this past year to widen its reach.

Services as per Requirement Suite Home’s clients’ needs drive its decisions on where the company establishes apartment inventory or maybe secure exclusive relationships with apartment communities. The company maintains close relationships with property management companies and prides itself in its close partnerships which allow securing inventory when needed for the clientele.

Suite Home offers temporary housing in high-rises downtown, and apartment complexes throughout the suburbs and Wisconsin, and it has even been known to rent private homes or AirBnBs to accommodate its guests, and ensures a positive service. The company believes “It is that concierge, solve-it-all relationships that our clients want, and we strive to meet.” Suite Home also has strong partner relationships with vetted corporate housing companies throughout the world that

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Suite Home wants to be your most trusted resource for temporary housing, with solutions for our clientele throughout the world.

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operate similar to the company, where it can rent their apartments and provide a streamlined experience to the guest in those markets outside the Midwest.

Lead with Compassion and Commitment Jennifer looks to fellow businesswomen within and outside her industry on a regular basis for inspiration and strength. She finds that the most successful businesswomen are passionate and resilient with an innate work ethic that allows them to forge through any situation. They are willing to listen to others, reflect, and adapt to challenges or opportunities in front of them, and she often finds that once they are ready for change, they boldly charge towards it without looking back. She states “I am inspired by their never give up attitude, and their commitment to compassionate leadership.”

Understanding the Emotion Jennifer was actually relocated several times as a child due to her dad’s job. The family caters to the relocation and moving industry, and she thinks she is well positioned to empathize and understand Suite Home’s client needs as they move between cities or travel for extended periods of time. She also thinks that is why she is so firmly planted herself in Chicago.

Jennifer has lived here 20 years now, and originally named her company “Suite Home Chicago” after her beloved city. She says “I love having firm roots now and all five of my children were born and have been raised here. When you are moved to new locales, you have to learn to adapt and thrive in a new environment. I use those skills now to embrace change and try new things, even if it is to start a new business venture.”

Challenges in Housing Industry The hardest part of starting Suite Home was hands down the amount of capital and cash flow it takes to operate a corporate housing company. Downtown rents are not cheap, and one is often on the hook for 12 month leases, even though the client leases are month-to-month. If one does not carefully manage the exposure and vacancy, one can easily end up in the red. To sign leases, one also needs business credit which can take 2-3 years to establish. Jennifer had to personally co-sign leases to get Suite Home started and that is daunting to know that her personal

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financial credit is impacted as she started the company. The temporary housing industry is considered to be a very risky business, so Jennifer was unable to secure a line of credit when she started, and the entire financial backing of the company was on her.

Future After the Pandemic Suite Home had its strongest year in 2019, and it was looking to an even better year in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed all of that. Much of the business & entertainment travel has stopped, and the company is working on managing its vacancy to reduce the losses. The company will have this momentary blip and work on its rebrand and marketing so that Suite Home emerges as a leader in its industry when it overcomes this setback. The company states “We are using this time to firmly distinguish our apartments and service versus all of the aggregators and vacation rentals out there, such as Booking.com or AirBnB.” There is no need to use these middleman services and corporate and individual clientele should look for reputable temporary housing companies that can ensure a streamlined experience, stringent cleaning standards and strict security guidelines for their apartments.

“I am determined to grown our brand’s reach,” says Jennifer.

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Karin Lohitnavy Founder

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The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

Karin Lohitnavy A Passion Driven Leader

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ith the abundance of high-quality organizations, it is paramount to make yours stand out. Public relations (PR) strategies effectively communicate your business model as well as its credibility to the public. With over 15 years of public relations experience, you could call Karin Lohitnavy, Founder of Midas PR Group an expert in the field. Whatever the industry, or niche audience, Midas PR always has a unique plan for you. Under Karin’s leadership, a team of enthusiastic executives leave their long-lasting Midas Touch on the brand they work beside.

Preceding Wisdom, Succeeding Journey Karin attributes her quick-wit and proactive mindset to her plethora of experiences over many countries. Holding a degree in Social and Political Sciences from the prestigious University of Strasbourg, and having worked in Luxembourg the founder of Midas PR synergises her theoretical and valuable experience which, then helped lay a foundation in Thailand. Throughout her experience, Karin understood that in comparison to other business communication strategies, the Return of Investment (ROI) on Public Relations activities were more ambiguous. Thus, in 2007, Karin’s vision of a PR company that delivers measurable results came true in the form of Midas PR. With an almost clairvoyant understanding of trends, Karin actively works to understand the social and political atmosphere as well. Though already fluent in 8 languages, the polyglot did not yet speak Thai upon arrival in Thailand.

However, Karin rose to and succeeded at the challenge of building business and personal relations in a new country and a different language. Being receptive to foreign cultures www.insightssuccess.com

and customs helped Karin develop meaningful relationships with colleagues and clients from all nations. She also met her husband Tony, who is Thai. Together, they navigated through the obstacles that non-BOI companies faced. He always had her back and further supported Karin by positioning her at the forefront of Midas PR, and himself as the Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Variegating Solutions Midas PR’s success over the past 13 years shows a consistent winning streak. The storytelling approach that Karin’s team applies to help their clients maximize media coverage and raise awareness through public relations always deliver tangible results. She always thinks out of the box to create unique communication strategies, and encourages her team to do the same. She has solutions for almost everything from corporate positioning or keeping the buzz going around your brand.

Chearanee Chittasevi, former editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine and Callum Laing, with whom she co-founded Bangkok Young Professionals, inspired her and helped her build a strong network. People call Karin a Master Connector because of her vast contact base and her ability to use her international panache. For those who have met Karin, it would not be a surprise that such a positive, confident and passionate individual runs a successful PR agency.

Word of Advice for Women Entrepreneurs Karin always approaches life with a quote from Hannibal in mind, “Aut inveniam viam aut faciam”, which translates to “I shall either find a way or make one.” In addition to November 2020 | 37

having goals, it is vital to create a productive and plausible plan to achieve them. Karin intends to expand her company on a large scale, meaning a bigger team and more clients.

To ensure that the Midas PR team stays fully equipped to provide clients with the best work, Karin encourages them to attend relevant workshops. She also makes sure to do this, herself.

Karin heartily wants to tell all the women entrepreneurs that believe in themselves and not compromise on their value.

Success comes from within you. Find a support system of like-minded people who will push you to be the best version of yourself. Following and doing what you love is paramount when setting up a new business--it demands your passion and lots of energy. So, prioritize your health and maintain a balanced life. Never forget that a healthy mind lives in a healthy body.

“

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fullled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

“

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Maternity Break Time to bring out the Entrepreneur in You M

otherhood! It isn’t easy to define this word. Many believe that it is a latent emotion, a part of being a woman, that blossoms when a female conceives. For most of the women around the globe, motherhood means love, bliss, an extension of their personality, and a commitment towards a life that is a part of their identity. However, more often than not, it also means a period to their professional ambitions.

How many times have you seen a young, ambitious, fiercely competitive woman give up all of it just so she can concentrate on her little bundle of joy? Truth is that this has become so common that its often taken as the most natural way to move forward for women and dubbed as an unwritten social norm.

But there are a few things above social norms like change and a woman’s will power. So with time, women themselves have changed, and delicately balancing their personal and professional life, they are changing the social norms. And if you are wondering where do they draw this strength to transform into super-women, the answer lies in them being a mother.

Writers, philosophers, even religious scriptures speak about the strength and capacity of a mother – how they discover their hidden virtues while making a human being that will contribute to society in years to come. These qualities are akin to entrepreneurs who seek to add value to society through a new idea, service, or product. It took time, but women have finally realized that they are not just sitting at home during maternity break and raising a child, but also nurturing their inner entrepreneur. And when the time is ripe, they emerge out of their break as Mompreneurs.

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Shepreneur

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UNDERSTANDING A MOM AND AN ENTREPRENEUR

flourish. Welcome to Motherhood!

Starting a family is one of the biggest decisions one can take and so is starting a business venture on their own. Both the decisions require one to be ready for the unknown that lies ahead. Yes, many self-help books tell you what pregnancy, parenthood, and entrepreneurship are like. But the best way to understand them is to be one and experience it yourself. For, nothing can beat the joy of listening to your own child’s cry or laugh and watching your business grow.

MOM-SKILLS THAT WILL SEE YOU THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

THE MIRRORED FEELINGS Be it motherhood or entrepreneurship, it all starts with an idea. In the first case, the idea is to procreate a life and in the other, the idea is to bring to life a service or product – something they can call their own.

Once the idea or child is conceived, it is followed by a period of anxiety, and a whole lot of preparation. In both cases,

you first have to ready yourself mentally and physically. There will be endless sleepless nights, feeling of I can’t do this, advice from all corners, a juggling of your daily routine, and your new-found object of concentration, with each day, springing a new surprise.

As you progress further in pregnancy and entrepreneurship, there settles an ease with your new status.

You are now more comfortable in your skin of being pregnant with a child or an idea. You now feel more in control of your thought process and things around you. You are now sure about the people that are going to be with you on the journey ahead. You now have a plan on how to bring the child or the idea to life.

Then arrives the day when the preparation transforms into fruition. You now lay your hands on the life or product you have created. And then starts a new kind of struggle altogether. Now starts the phase when your child or business must be taken care of, at all moments, for it to

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By now you know how closely knit motherhood and entrepreneurship are. Now when you enter the next phase, you need some basic skills that will help you keep going towards the end goal. You must have read in several books and heard from many successful entrepreneurs about key attributes or skills that an entrepreneur must possess to be called a successful one. Being a mother naturally enhances those skills in you and that’s how you emerge as a mompreneur.

Here are the skills that will help to see you through:

Patience – A lot of patience!

Raising a kid or company requires patience. They don’t grow to their potential in a day, it takes years. And those years are filled with days of joy, sorrow, rewards, guilts and almost every other emotion one can think of.

Patience is what sees us through in all those days.

Multitasking – As a mother or the head of the company you have to wear multiple hats. A

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internet, and their daily needs keep parents on their toes at all the time. At work too, an entrepreneur has to deal with different kinds of people all the time. The workforce comprises of people who are at different levels of people spectrum and you, as their leader, have to make sure that they work together smoothly, for the company’s greater goals. mother also plays the role of a teacher, chef, doctor, friend, etc. all embodied into one human.

The same is with a business owner. You start your company as a one-woman army, slowly bringing in people on board as you delegate the jobs you were handling all alone. Even when there are enough people to run the company, you still need to be there for the company and everyone else, because after all, it’s your baby and no one can take care of it better than you do.

People Management – Have you ever tried arguing with a toddler? If yes, you know what I mean by people management. If no, well, it’s time you took up the challenge! Managing a child’s mood swings, and demands fuelled by friends and the

Time Management – Time here is money in true sense.

Mothers prefer being an entrepreneur rather than an change, etc. are all a part of the journey for both, a mother and an entrepreneur.

EMBRACING THE MATERNITY BREAK

employee because they can work in tandem with their child's routine. As an entrepreneur, one knows how crucial it is to deliver the promises to the clients and so is with motherhood. Every deliverable needs to be on time whether that be a parentteacher meet or signing off a deal with a client.

The past decade has seen a surge in the number of Entrepreneurs. Women today are uncompromising when it comes to their personal(maternal) as well as professional life. They know they can do what they have set their heart on. All they need is an opportunity and a positive outlook. So, the next time you hear someone going on a maternity break, chances are it won’t be just a baby they are making!

Several other skills like finance management, efficient communication, balancing

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Margaret Graziano

Creating a High-Performance Organizational Culture to Boost Businesses

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Contributing to social good through aligning people with business purpose and strategy while shaping intentional, healthy and highperformance workplace culture.

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The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

R

esiliency, Review, Re-calibrate are the three R(s) required in leadership. Resiliency to manage the hurdles of being a business leader, the ability to review - to regularly check in with yourself and evaluate how you’re doing and finally, to recalibrate - to shift when needed. Leading with these leadership traits Margaret Graziano asserts “I take myself through this process on a small scale weekly and then on a major scale annually so that I’m clear on what I want to say yes to in the coming year and that I’m operating in alignment with my values.”

She is the Founder of KeenAlignment, a company which empowers mission-driven organizations to accomplish their vision through aligning people, purpose and strategy.

organization’s constraints and our solutions are modularized so different components can be arranged according to each organization’s unique strengths, values and strategic objectives. By the end of our time together, our customer’s mission is alive and actionable throughout the organization.

Our customers experience reduced operating expenses, increased employee retention, improved employee contribution and performance, improved customer experience, revenue growth, and more.

Describe some of the vital attributes that every businesswoman should possess. Ÿ

Know your “why.” Why are you in the role as a woman leader? What’s important to you? What difference are you making? It’s crucial to be deeply connected to what your values are, who you are in life, and what you’re committed to.

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Connection - understand your team, what they need, what’s important to them and how they contribute to your business. I call this “systems thinking.” It’s the ability to see what needs to be accomplished in each role to move your business forward.

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Relationship management - Women don’t give themselves enough opportunities to build and nurture relationships with other professional women and we need to do a better job of this. It’s vital to spend time with people at the same level of commitment in the world and who share your values. When that happens, we’re all going to accomplish much more, faster.

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Self-care - Self-care is directly related to neuroplasticity.

And the five elements of neuroplasticity are sleep, exercise, nutrition, novelty and mindfulness. Tending to these elements boosts your energy, stamina and resilience, which are critical to success.

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The three R’s - Resiliency, Review, Recalibrate.

Resiliency to manage hurdles, to regularly review and evaluate how you’re doing and finally, to recalibrate or shift when needed. I take myself through this process on a small scale weekly and then on a major scale annually so that I’m clear on what I want to say yes to in the coming year and that I’m operating in alignment with my values.

Below are highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Margaret Graziano: Give a brief overview of your background and your role in KeenAlignment.

I began my career as a single mom, with a high school education, working in a straight commission recruiting role.

After rising to a top performer in the company, I started my own recruiting business and sold it in 2008. Throughout this time period, I dedicated 20 hours per week to volunteer opportunities in the human potential industry and after ten years, I knew that helping people live extraordinary lives by transforming the world of work was my calling.

Unfortunately, my own limited thinking kept me from believing I could actually pursue that passion. So, when I entered into a business relationship with someone who was not in alignment with my values, it came as no shock that the business fell apart.

At rock bottom, I no longer had anything to lose by pursuing my dream. Today, I work with business leaders to create intentional cultures that even they are inspired to be a part of. We help them articulate the difference they’re committed to making and define the values they want to operate by. As a result, we’ve enabled more than 50 businesses and over 350 leaders to become conscious stewards of their teams and their organization’s mission.

How do you diversify your solutions that appeal to your target audience?

Our cultural transformation model is based on the

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What were the past experiences, achievements or lessons that shaped Margaret's journey?

Making and learning from my mistakes is a theme weaved through all of my life experiences - from marrying someone to please my mother and staying in that unhealthy marriage for longer than I should have, to not holding people accountable and tolerating a lack of performance in my recruiting firm, to partnering with a person who was philosophically misaligned with how I wanted to operate my company - those adversities and challenges where I didn’t honor my intuition and wisdom, forced me to build resilience, learn from my mistakes and reshape how I moved forward in my life.

react to that thinking, and therefore treat each other. My future is about the integration of people, business priorities and liberating structures that shape a constructive, intentional culture and enable people to experience fulfillment through their work. I see myself shaping KeenAlignment as a company for social good, meaning that we exist to serve the world in being a better place.

We enable and empower business leaders to integrate people, culture and strategy and we promise to do it though living and modeling Conscious Capitalism business practices. I plan to catalyze this by staying on track, working with a powerhouse coach and a team of folks that are strong in everything that I am not.

What is your advice for emerging women entrepreneurs?

Connect to your “why” at a visceral level. Define your values - what you value as a woman leader and what that looks like in the day to day. Find a mentor who’s been where you want to go; a mentor who can give you advice and counsel or sit and quietly listen and support. Hire a coach for a specific time period who operates in an abundance paradigm, has a track record for enabling others to accomplish results, has a specific coaching model, is a great questioner and inspires you to tap into your internal genius.

What were some of the primal challenges and roadblocks that Margaret Graziano faced during the initial phase of her journey?

My primal challenges are deeply rooted in questions like: “Am I good enough? Do I have what it takes?” It has quieted down through my own personal development work, however early on, it dominated my thinking. I spent far too much time, money and effort trying not to be who I was. Now, I accept my strengths, weaknesses, and lessons and continue moving forward grounded in who I am and what I am committed to contributing in this world.

Where does Margaret Graziano see herself in the near future and how will you catalyze the change?

I see myself leading an organization for social good. I see myself continuing to enroll and train people in the power of transforming workplace culture by shifting how humans think,

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The Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2020

TRACY HERNANDEZ Exemplifying Collaborative Leadership

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s they say it’s never too late, similarly it’s never too early to start as well. Tracy Hernandez aptly exemplifies this statement. Tracy is the Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed). But, this is not how it all started.

Left No Stones Unturned A native of Twin Falls, Idaho, Tracy began her career while still in high school at the Times- News. She had drawn her inspiration from her parents. Her dad was an entrepreneur and a college instructor, and her mom was a nurse and a civic- and community-active woman. They both were leaders and believed in giving back to the community. Tracy’s dad always taught her that she should be trained into diverse career paths, so that in case the economy fell out of one side or the other, she could pivot quickly with training to another way of earning a living. This made Tracy, at a young age in high school, take classes and pursue career in advertising and

journalism and architecture.

While being on the high school newspaper, she secured a job at her local daily newspaper, the Times-News. She started at the very bottom in the job that was available in the advertising department and was involved in photography and designing ad layout. This became a life-changing career path for Tracy as she realized that she loved the newspaper business. She loved the immediacy of every single night going to press with a brand new product that was created from scratch.

Thereon, she proceeded to take on every possible job she could do in the newspaper business. She applied for job openings that came up, whether she was qualified or not to expand her knowledge and expertise that she could learn quickly while she finished her high school. She went to college in the same town, College of Southern Idaho to study architecture. At the same time, she was getting promoted at the newspaper, doing several different jobs that gave her creative, technical, sales and people leadership skills. When she came to that crossroad to pivot-- to transfer to university to finish a degree in architecture, she got offered a management job at the newspaper. In this crossroad of choosing one path, she chose the newspaper path.

Achieving Glorious Milestones

Tracy Hernandez enjoying time with her family

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Being a very young woman in the newspaper business was unique and dynamic for Tracy. She kept on applying skills to learn, to train, to observe, to implement, to be relentless, to pursue excellence and achieve goals no matter what it took. She even became a manager and ad director at a very young age for a group of business newspapers that published in Salt Lake, Phoenix, and San Francisco. At the age of 23, she was running a newspaper company at St. Louis. At the ripe old age of 26, she became the first CEO of 5 different newspapers

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Tracy Hernandez, Founding Chief Executive Officer BizFed

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Tracy Hernandez advocates for a strong economy with California Governor Newsom

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Tracy Hernandez leads LA County business and elected official leaders in celebrating BizFed’s 10th Anniversary

and earned a president’s role in suburban Philadelphia.

Later on, she along with her team took one private, closed corporation to a public entity.

In 2003, Tracy served as the first female publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News in the paper’s nearly 100-year history. As a 20-year veteran of the newspaper business, she has held chief executive positions in a variety of major markets across the country, including over a decade with the Journal Register Company of Trenton, New Jersey, where she served as Publisher and CEO of four award-winning newspapers in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. She also formerly owned and operated a group of newspapers and websites in Walla Walla, Washington.

An Industry Veteran Currently, she founded and is running a Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed LA) and the first

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franchise style expansion unit, the Central Valley Business Federation (BizFed CV). It is a nonprofit, massive grassroots alliance of 200 top business networks that counts among its more than 450,000 employers from a diverse demographic, industry sector, and geographic array of small and large companies with over 4 million employees in Southern California.

The bold action, timely intelligence sharing, and massive power in numbers is changing the way business owners get civically active. Getting those who naturally compete with one another for market share, brand, customers and income does not come easily. It’s through diligent grassroots empowerment through the organizing of existing chambers of commerce, trade groups, ethnic business associations, and business improvement districts that creates a force multiplier effect. In turn the voice of business tis strengthened to intersect with government at every level to advance a shared agenda critical for economic vitality.

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BizFed works to advocate for positive public policy, legislation, manageable regulations, taxes and fees, and foster business owner civic and community engagement so our economy thrives for all. To round out it’s opportunity for impact she also founded a charitable arm, BizFed Institute and political action arm, BizFed PAC. All aspects of knowledge gathering from disparate partners with a loud voice to break through the clutter, combined with supporting candidates with jobs creation as their focus, the policy and law making world is transformed.

In addition, Tracy is also serving as the President of IMPOWER Group, Inc., a business advisory company specializing in startups or strategic transition utilizing unlikely partnerships to achieve greater impact. Along with being an entrepreneur, she also wears the hats of a mother and a wife.

Giving back to the Community Tracy is consistently striving to make a difference in her family, her community, and the economy. To bring a change, she deals with the job creators and the government elected officials that have tremendous

amount of impact on how our economy works. Her alliance is working on providing more jobs, so that people can excel, and support their own families, and their communities can thrive. It works a lot in antipoverty and equity engagement so that it can lift all those that are homeless and poor. In a nutshell, she will always look to make a difference on a big scale.

Enlightening Businesswomen According to Tracy, every businesswoman should have determination, creativity, a quick learning approach, ability to articulate their vision clearly, and should inspire those around to achieve the plan. Secondly, every businesswoman needs to be competitive and understand the conditions around them and then have skills to create ideas, to lead people, and to achieve goals.

On overcoming roadblocks, she advises that “Whatever the roadblocks are, whatever the negative voices are, just don’t give them too much credence. Don’t worry about it.

Just go on. Keep doing what you know is the right thing to get done.”

Tracy Hernandez stands for job creation and transportation solutions with Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti

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