The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021 | June 2021.

VOL 06 | ISSUE 03 | 2021

W Omen 1o

The

Most Empowering

in Business 2021

Trait Secrets Traits of Successful Businesswomen

Rachel

Lemos

Leading Intentionally and Leaving an Exceptional Legacy

Editor’s Desk T Leading With Competence to Achieve Ambitious Goals

he current business world is in need of empowering women leaders, who with their inclusive and empathetic approach can do wonders in any organization. Women leaders are believed to be ambitious in their approach. They have ambitious plans, meaningful purposes, and worthy goals. They motivate their teams by creating a aspirational goals. They transform challenges into opportunities. They grab opportunities diligently and make them count to make a difference. They lead with emotional intelligence, empathy, competence, and compassion.

Moreover, empowering women leaders in business are bold and courageous. They understand that it is essential to be bold to thrive in a world with a cut-throat competition.

Empowered women encourage other women to be bold and brave and they never lose the sight of their goals. They empower each other to go against the norm or prejudices and be strong and courageous in the pursuit of their ambitious goals without giving into the opinions of anyone else. They don’t allow themselves to be demoralized by the opinions of negative people. They prepare a strategic plan to implement their novel ideas. They are result-oriented leaders and they judge a thing on its merit. Such women lead from front and set the exemplary standard.

In addition, empowering leaders are proactive in their approach. They are enthusiastic to take on new challenges and deliver a topmost performances. These leaders never become victim of any fear or any mediocrity. There is harmony in their words, thoughts and actions. They are very much aware of their potential and don’t limit themselves anywhere. They know that they can thrive in any field they choose to be in. They are clever at making maximum use of opportunities they have. They are never trapped by dogma, fanaticism, fear, and distractions.

Leadership is a serious responsibility and not a post to enjoy. Empowering leaders utilize all their resourcefulness

to drive the growth of the organization. They give momentum to the growth of the organization. They make a difference in the lives of their employees as well as their clients. They like to walk in the light of creative altruism than walking in the darkness of destructive selfishness. They have great role models in their lives. And they also lead in such a way that they become the role model for future generations.

They are driven by the spirit of contribution for a worthy causes and they do that with utmost grace.

In this edition of “The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021”, we are presenting such empowering women who are leading ambitiously and that are contributing to the most significant and worthy causes.

Featuring as the cover story of this edition is Rachel Lemos, the Director, Corporate Procurement at Canadian Western Bank (CWB). Rachel is a strategic and highly results-oriented procurement leader with over 20 years’ experience in large and international companies specializing in strategic sourcing, public procurement, and supply chain operations management. With a diverse background in both private and public sectors, she has demonstrated ability to deliver a world-class procurement, driving results that directly affect the top and bottom-lines of organizations.

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

Have a look at their exemplary leadership styles and their most worthy contribution!

Sharad Chitalkar sharad@insightssuccess.com

08 Rachel Lemos

Leading Intentionally and Leaving an Exceptional Legacy

30 Trait Secrets

Traits of Successful Businesswomen

16 Adele Spraggon

Helping People Reach Unprecedented Levels of Success

20 Amy Martinez A Committed and Trusted Senior Attorney

24 Christianne Kerns

Ensuring Excellent Legal Service to Clients

32 Donna Loughlin

Delivering Results that Drive Leadership, Momentum and Growth

36 Jennifer Cisneros

Promoting a Culture of Water Innovation

40 Nina Marino A Proficient White-Collar Defense Attorney

44 Summer Kim-Davis

Helping People Achieve their Dreams as Homeowners

48 Taiwing Tian

Leading to Bring Impact Around Her

52 Twanieka Alcindor

Providing Expert Advocacy in Legal Matters

Editor-in-Chief Hitesh Dhamani Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Sharad Chitalkar

Jenny Fernandes Sourabh More

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Asha Bange

Kartik Balapurkar

Co-designer Shubham Dali

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Peter Collins

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Martin, Dharmendra

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Binay

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

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1 e

Th

Most Empowering

WOMEN in Business, 2021

Featured Person

Company Name

Brief

Adele Spraggon Owner

Adele Spraggon adelespraggon.com

Adele Spraggon is an award -winning author, a thought leader, an international trainer and a fearless speaker.

Amy Martinez Senior Attorney

RMO LLP rmolawyers.com

RMO LLP's mission is to provide a sense of relief to its clients and their family. It does that by advocating, handling every facet of client's case efficiently and cost-effectively, and getting the best result for the least amount of legal spend.

Christianne Kerns Managing Partner

Hahn & Hahn LLP hahnlawyers.com

Hahn & Hahn LLP has been an institution in the California business and retains its long traditions of integrity, service, and excellence in the practice of law while looking ahead to the changing needs of its clients as the 21st century advances.

Donna Louglin Founder & President

LMGPR lmgpr.com

The Loughlin/Michaels Group was founded in 2002 by Donna Loughlin Michaels, a PR veteran known for her tenacity and creativity in leading public relations programs for early stage technology innovators taking them from start-up to IPO and often acquisition.

Jennifer Cisneros Vice President of Marketing

BioMicrobics, Inc. biomicrobics.com

BioMicrobics, SeptiTech, and Scienco/FAST manufacture integrated, sustainable, water utilization treatment systems land and sea.

Nina Marino Chief People & Culture Officer

Kaplan Marino kaplanmarino.com

Powerhouse law boutique, Kaplan Marino represents business professionals, executives, entertainers, public figures and other individuals under investigation or targeted by serious allegations of white collar and other criminal matters. .

Rachel Lemos Director Corporate Procurement

CWB Financial Group is a diversified financial services Canadian Western Bank organization providing specialized service in banking, trust and cwbank.com wealth management.

Summer Kim-Davis Founder

IKON Mortgage Inc., ikonmortgage.com

IKON Mortgage Inc. is a residential mortgage company that stands for Integrity, Knowledge of the market and products, Outstanding service, and New and better ways of helping cliental.

Taiwing Tian Co-founder

Switching-Time switching-time.com

Switching-Time is the premier integrated communications agency for Fashion, Beauty, Luxury & lifestyle brands Ever since Switching-Time was founded in November 2012.

Twanieka Alcindor Manager & Consultan

Alcindor Law alcindorlaw.com

At Alcindor Law, the team of experienced and reputable lawyers specialise in providing legal representation in all matters.

Rachel Lemos Director Corporate Procurement

Canadian Western Bank

Cover Story

Rachel

Lemos

Leading Intentionally and Leaving an Exceptional Legacy

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CWB Financial Group is a diversified financial services organization providing specialized services in banking, trust and wealth management for small- and mediumsized companies.

Recognizing Opportunity, Learning and Contributing Rachel was brought to CWB with a mission that seemed absolutely enticing to her: to build a corporate procurement function from the ground up. That meant to lay down the foundations, to bring to life a department that did not exist before, which was, at the same time, intriguing and exciting to her. It was intriguing because CWB is a mature organization with over thirty-five years of existence, which made Rachel ask herself how CWB grew for all these years in a decentralized model and yet doing so well. And it was exciting since she has spent her entire career in supply chain and procurement fixing things up, improving processes, and that was a unique opportunity to ‘customize’.

Nevertheless, it was not an easy decision for her to make.

Accepting that exciting opportunity was going to represent a major shift in her career journey, moving from the public sector (which is where she worked for the previous ten years), as well as learning a new industry. She then did what she loves to do, put all the pros and cons together, which made her realize she had a golden opportunity at hand: to learn something new and to deliver something tailor-made, which would all result in enriching her career and further contributing to the growth of a flourishing organization. Therefore, she made her move and joined the amazing CWB Financial Group – also known as ‘Team Teal’.

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mpactful leadership is one that is able not only to make long-lasting contributions to the organization, but ultimately to its people. A strategic leader must focus on the legacy that they want to leave for their teams, looking at each of them individually and collectively at the same time. It is about seeking to understand the strengths of every individual and the potential gaps that make their teams up. One of the instances of such impactful leadership is Rachel Lemos, Director, Corporate Procurement at Canadian Western Bank (CWB). CWB is a diversified financial services firm that provides expert advice and specialized financial services to business owners.

Rachel is a strategic and highly results-oriented procurement leader with over 20 years’ experience in large and international companies specializing in strategic sourcing, public procurement, and supply chain operations management. With a diverse background in both private and public sectors, she has demonstrated ability to deliver a world-class procurement, driving results that directly affect the top and bottom-lines of organizations.

Being new to the financial industry was great and Rachel humbled herself to learn new things every day. As soon as she joined CWB, she started a deep dive-in into the financial industry standards. The next step was to get a better understanding of the internal processes. She started an analytical exercise into processes, systems, and tools, so that she could come up with recommendations to fill in the gaps and to support the new corporate procurement function at CWB to establish the framework for purchasing, strategic sourcing, and risk management, while establishing and developing the new procurement team.

Delivering Seamless Banking Experience for Business Owners CWB offers all the same products and services that Canada’s big banks do, except the company does it with a focus on business owners. CWB looks to make a seamless banking experience for business owners who obviously have personal banking and wealth management needs as well as financial needs for their business operations.

Creating a Culture of Loyalty and Cohesion Rachel carries her own personal leadership style with her anywhere she goes. It is the kind that looks after people and goes above and beyond the ‘open door policy’. Rachel is a proactive leader who invests in relationships and communicates in a way that says, “let me walk with you, we're in this together”. She leads intentionally and believes in creating a legacy worth following.

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Whether you need expert advice and specialized financial services for your business banking, personal banking or wealth management – CWB has everything you need.

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CWB is a smaller bank than the big 5 or 6, but it is growing quickly. The organization has made several acquisitions in the past year, have numerous partner companies that focus on specialized business sectors like equipment financing, and it just opened its first physical banking center in Ontario last year.

Providing Exceptional Client Experience with an Excellent Team The difference at CWB is how the Bank provides an exceptional client experience. It is known that banks have a traditional reputation for being transactional, but CWB looks at its clients as partners, and they often view CWB as part of their team too. CWB’s people know business, and it is proactive about looking for opportunities where entrepreneurs can grow their businesses. It all starts with its remarkable culture and values. CWB was recently recognized as the 28th Best Workplace in Canada by Great Places to Work.

Recognizing Importance of Procurement Executives Rachel acknowledges that the procurement activity within organizations has significantly changed in the past 20 years, evolving from a transactional purchasing activity that supported the operational functions, to a strategically positioned role. As a result, executive positions for procurement had grown exponentially, giving procurement a voice at the table, and significantly helping to shape and influence organizations’ strategic direction and growth.

Talented procurement executives, with a tailored, wellthough and properly executed procurement strategy has the power to positively affect the competitiveness of any given organization, unlocking significant value. The problem remains that for mid-sized organizations that grow fast, this can remain an invisible factor, resulting in the continuation of managing their processes in a tactical fashion. That is when the executive role becomes even more relevant, with the vital role of demonstrating the ROI of investments in a robust and efficient function, strictly aligned with organizational goals.

Bringing Value of Procurement Function to the Table According to Rachel, working closely together and playing as a trusted advisor is the very first step for a corporate procurement function to succeed, demonstrating its value to internal stakeholders. There is no better way to get trust in place than understanding stakeholders’ dynamics and priorities intrinsically. For example, working closely with marketing or IT teams will lead to a better understanding of their needs and therefore an enhanced ability to capture the benefits that will add value to their business. Those varies over time, in each moment it may be adding flexibility, or avoiding supplier dependency, then it may shift to reducing costs, or it can be various factors altogether.

The second portion of it is maintaining these relationships.

Procurement must act as a strategic partner to business stakeholders beyond completion of a competitive process, or contract executions. It is essential to continuously support their needs that are constantly evolving, whether be in jointly managing contracts, monitoring vendor performance to ensure that negotiated KPIs and SLAs are met, amongst others important enduring activities.

Finally, making the value procurement function bring to the table known! Rachel says, “Do not miss the golden opportunity of selling off the results. Make your contributions visible throughout the organization. Define value, measure, and report it thoroughly.”

These are vital components that cannot be neglected, which also supports the maintenance of a strategic seat at the table.

Keeping Systematic and Forward-Looking Approach There is no one-size-fits-all approach when trying to determine whether reducing costs or risks can best support businesses today and tomorrow. It is our responsibility to

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CWB gets to know you – forming relationships, asking the right questions, understanding your industry – so that it can provide you with the right financial solutions.

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look at the nature of the organization’s maturity level and where it sits at its roadmap. There are lots of considerations that need to be made to figure out this. Is the organization fighting for survival? Or Is it mature and financially stable?

Is the organization in a highly regulated environment? Or is it in a space that it has a lot more of leeway? The answer to these vital questions will lead one’s efforts and dictate priorities. However, Rachel advises to never leave any of these functions unattended or neglected. They may not be equally important, but they are both crucial.

Furthermore, Rachel considers it is important to make sure this is a continuous exercise since the answer to these questions today may very likely change tomorrow.

Inherently, this should be a systematic approach to determine where should one put more efforts and resources to achieve organizations’ strategic goals in each moment, but at the same time, keeping a forward-looking approach on one’s industry potential challenges and one’s organizations’ goals of tomorrow.

Looking Proactively for Solutions Rachel considers it is important to constantly be researching current technological trends, but also shaping the ones of tomorrow. It is not sufficient nowadays to be aligned with newer technologies; there is a need to influence the development of innovative solutions. The only way to make

it happen is by closely working with strategic suppliers, sharing one’s organizations’ bottlenecks and pain points, and proactively looking for solutions, jointly. One area that makes a difference of how competitive organizations are is how they work with their strategic suppliers, and how early one brings them into the solutioning of their challenges.

As Rachel says: “Business that gets their heads down trying to keep the lights on and get ‘too busy’ to look for innovations are left behind. Competitive organizations lead the space, while others follow”. As such, procurement can help its internal stakeholders and influence transformation journeys, continuously acting as a conduit for change.

Being Courageous to Deal with Issues One thing that has served Rachel throughout her career was never accepting any roadblocks as a dead-end, but rather creating alternative ways to proceed, and never accepting a negative without a valid reason to pause or stop anything that she is convinced to be a benefit for the organization.

Rachel states that every businesswoman should have resilience, determination, and boldness, and they should be prepared and courageous to start difficult conversations whenever needed. She says that dealing with any issues must be seen rather as a collaborative effort, ensuring one is paving the road to a better workplace, a better world.

Being Fearless and Determined To any women aspiring to be in leadership positions Rachel’s advice is to be authentic, humble, and determined.

Especially to women who are willing to enter financial industry, she asserts “The financial industry is traditionally a male-dominated workforce, especially at senior leadership levels. If you are considering a field with similar dynamics remove your fear and come with an open mind.

Look at the company’s brand and values, research their commitment and progress toward diversity and inclusion.

These elements will definitely help you to succeed in pretty much any industry you are considering to be a part of.”

& & 20 The

Most

SUCCESSFUL

BUSINESSWOMEN to Watch, 2020

kimberly Khoury

Paving her Way in Sustainability Development

ADELE SPRAGGON

Helping People Reach Unprecedented Levels of Success

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re you intrigued by a good success story? Inspired by a “rags to riches” narrative in which the entrepreneur overcomes the odds and makes it to the finish line? These tales are captivating because they are so rare. The majority of entrepreneurs do not succeed. But what if the lack of success is due to the operating instructions we are taught to follow? What if entrepreneurs are taught to blindly follow the wrong rule book? Meet Adele Spraggon. Adele teaches a proprietary technique called the 4 Step Repatterning Technique that is sweeping the globe because of its impact.

She is an international trainer and speaker, a two-time leadership award recipient, the award-winning author of the book Shift: 4 Steps to Personal Empowerment, and mainly, a guide who helps people to smash through barriers, transform their lives, and reach unprecedented levels of ease and success – from the inside out.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Adele Spraggon: Please brief our readers about your journey as a Thought leader.

When I first started as an entrepreneur, all I knew was one business model. I was told success depended on me determining my ideal client and then creating services that fit this client's needs. This was too confining for me. As a thought leader, I bring my intellectual property to different clients. In my work in behavior change, I work with couples who want to improve their marriages, with entrepreneurs who need personal empowerment, with millennials struggling with anxiety and fears – the same 4-Step Repatterning Technique (same intellectual property) taken to different markets. If a reader is a thought leader at heart, they will be feeling trapped by the standard business model. A thought leader's job is to advance her field. Creation at this level is a matter of cross-pollination. I use findings from all sorts of areas, the ancient arts of meditation and yoga, from philosophy, the arts,

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

literature. The journey of thought leadership is going beyond to a place where you can reinvent the field.

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Start with the question 'does it work', and if it doesn't, have the courage to create from the unknown.

Being an inspirational speaker, what is your opinion regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental state? And what you suggest overcoming this significant challenge?

Every age has its plague, and ours is no different. And, I am not talking about the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's plague is stress and anxiety. Our collective anxiety is skyrocketing inside this stressful modern world, and COVID-19 is merely shining a spotlight on these mental challenges.

When I work with people's behaviour patterns, we start with this question. Does what you are currently doing work? I don't ask them, is it right or wrong, or good or bad, but just does it work? Our current world is not working for far too many of us. Right now, COVID-19 is presenting us with an opportunity that is beyond just fixing a virus – there are much deeper issues that are leading to isolation – problems with wealth distribution, class, gender and race privilege, our divide between humanity and nature. All of this was there before COVID. So along comes COVID, and suddenly, we can no longer ignore these issues. All of us are being called to question who we are being, what we are doing and does what we are doing work or not work for everybody. Now we have a choice, we can use COVID as an opportunity to fix the deep underlying issues, or we can be a victim of our current choices and return to the status quo as soon as this pandemic is over. If we are going to survive our current plague, we need to transform. Perhaps COVID can help us do that.

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

There is a metaphor I can use from white water rafting.

Imagine you are in dangerous rapids – there are obstacles everywhere, rocks and chutes and trees. At first, your attention is riveted to these obstacles. A novice will focus on the rocks and, by lending their attention there, is guaranteed to crash. A master will keep their eye on the through-path. Every woman has her internal rocks. Women, for whatever reason, nature or nurture, are often tripped up by other people's judgements or perceptions; by her inner critic; by her perceived body-image; by situational issues such as money, time, the kids. It is far too common for a woman to silence her voice by listening to these sirens. Be the rapids, be the way-through. I'm not saying ignore these obstacles. I'm saying find a method to flow around them.

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What were the past experiences, achievements or lessons that shaped your journey?

For much of my life, I was full of fear and struggled with anxiety -- social anxiety, panic attacks, and such. I meditated daily, I did daily yoga, I did talk therapy for a decade, and when none of this freed me from the anxiety, I did a deep dive into my own mind to create a method that works for me. That method is what I teach. Every reader has something in their past that is painful. It is there, in that suffering, that her opportunity lies. Turn towards this suffering and go to the areas that you most want to avoid, and the journey becomes a lot more fun.

uncommon for a woman to feel disempowered. We swim in cultural patterns that undermine feminine values. Values such as relationships, emotional connection, being aligned with nature and so on. Women need to understand that their way of leading is different from men's, but that doesn't make the male leadership model correct. Our brain is not shaped hierarchically but heterarchically. Think of a fluid hierarchy in which leadership transfers from one part of your brain to another, depending on the needs of the situation. When women are empowered, this is the leadership model they produce. Feminine values are needed today more than ever, and women can lead the way into a new future by respecting and embracing their way of doing things.

What were some of the primal challenges and roadblocks that you faced during the initial phase of your journey?

What is your advice for emerging women entrepreneurs?

My biggest roadblocks were quitting and people-pleasing. I had a terrible pattern of quitting. It was my go-to when things got tough. This behaviour was predicated on peoplepleasing. Whenever someone had an unfavourable opinion of what I was doing, I would panic and quit. Once I overcame this, it didn't matter what the journey threw at me.

Today, I will always find a way through the problem.

Our current systems are broken, and just because something has been done in a particular way for millennia, it does not mean it works. Women entrepreneurs have the power to reinvent the systems. So be a changemaker, an innovator, a rulebreaker. Find a coach who will help you identify and follow your inner voice. Then go out and make the changes that are so desperately needed today.

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

My proprietary 4 Step Repatterning Technique is all about transforming the brain patterns that disempower us. It is not

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Amy Martinez Senior Attorney RMO LLP

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

Amy Martinez A Committed and Trusted Senior Attorney

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eniors and those with diminished capacity are always at an elevated risk of falling victim to financial abuse.

The problem has been heightened during the recent pandemic, but navigating and helping such clients in litigation with personal one-on-one communication is Amy Martinez – Senior Attorney of RMO LLP. As a senior attorney and leader in the Orange County market, Amy is responsible for developing relationships, supporting the local community, and mentoring and coordinating with team and client satisfaction initiatives.

She has been working for more than a decade now and understands the emotional & financial quarreling clients go through in corporate, business, and probate litigation. She strives to present her experience to maximize and secure economically favorable results for the clients.

An Empathetic Attorney Throughout her tenure, Amy had to come across various hurdles. For her, understanding that clients are often acting and speaking out of emotion, and trying to get them past the emotion so they can ultimately make wise decisions, was a challenge at the beginning of her career. Early on, she also worked tirelessly to build rapport and confidence with clients, especially those who were much older than she was as a young attorney. Additionally, ever-changing laws, rules, and regulations were also there.

In the workplace, Amy made it a priority to create an entrepreneurial mindset to network and grow the business.

She says, “It can be hard to find your place or maintain confidence as a woman in a male-dominated field. I learned early on to stop the mental anguish of comparing myself to more experienced attorneys, which can only lead to frustration and self-doubt.”

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Amy realized a long time ago that her skills are unique and comparing herself to other attorneys provides no value. For example, an attorney may be very aggressive or have some other trait that Amy doesn’t possess, but she has the ability to engage with people on a very human and compassionate level and her clients know she cares about them as people and not just as clients. Amy also tries to acknowledge opposing counsel as individuals she can learn from, and not just as an adversary. That makes the litigation process more enjoyable for her. She tries to make friends instead of enemies because if everyone continues to battle, the clients will never win.

Embracing Technology Amy is of the opinion that law firms have to understand that AI and the use of non-lawyers to perform legal tasks will soon disrupt the need for so many lawyers. Drafting documents and conducting legal research, tasks often performed by junior associates, will soon all be performed by either AI tools or services such as Legal Zoom. Firms that do not embrace technology might become extinct, and certainly, firms that do not train their attorneys to negotiate and advocate (tasks that cannot be performed by AI or nonattorneys) will surely suffer a similar demise.

Response to Pandemic Talking about the pandemic, Amy mentions that working in a service industry, RMO could have struggled greatly during the pandemic. Instead, the company swiftly altered the way business is done by transitioning everyone to work from home and continuing to maintain high levels of communication with clients. It also relied heavily on networking and creating/maintaining relationships with key business partners. RMO overcame this challenge because its attorneys are passionate about protecting their clients, especially elderly clients who were forced into seclusion

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Our vision for the next 5 years at RMO is to con nue to grow into areas where our clientfirst service model can provide value to people in need of probate and trust estate dispute legal services. during the pandemic. The company also focused on bolstering the relationships between those who work at RMO and ensuring the mental health of the employees remains a top priority.

Giving Back to the Community Helping and giving back is at the core of RMO. Amy became an adjunct professor at Chapman University School of Law because she loves supporting students working towards a career in the legal field. She tries to be extremely patient and approachable with them because she wants them to fully understand what they are learning and not be afraid to ask questions. During every class, Amy emphasizes the attorneys’ ethical duties because the biggest mistake an attorney can make is undermining their role as a fiduciary.

“Once you’ve lost your credibility, you might never gain it back,” advises Amy.

If Amy, or one of her siblings, had an idea, her parents would say, “Go for it.” There were no limitations, and nothing would hold them back. If they wanted something, they should “go for it.” “Knowing that nothing can hold you back makes you realize that what some people consider a ‘failure’ is merely a minor delay or bump in the road.

Even when I experience a failure, I know that doesn’t mean I am a failure, it just means I have to take a detour on my road to success.” Amy tries to engrain the same mindset in her son so he is not paralyzed by fear when trying new things or afraid to take a risk. She knows if it doesn’t work out, the next adventure is right around the corner and he certainly will have learned a lot along the way.

Imparting Wisdom In her advice to upcoming businesswomen, Amy says, "Be a woman who supports other women; acknowledge their successes, congratulate them on wins. Also, don’t let your ego make decisions for you. If you live by your ego, you will never be living your true passion. Don’t focus on salary, titles, or prestige, but instead, focus on what’s truly important to you. Make a list of non-negotiables for your life and never settle for anything less because you deserve it all.”

Strategic Growth Mindset Amy states that her parents always had this growth mindset.

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Chris anne erns, Managing Partner,

Hahn & Hahn LLP

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

Christianne Kerns Ensuring Excellent Legal Service to Clients

he unprecedented time of pandemic has certainly been challenging for everyone. Most people have experienced things in the past year that we never anticipated. The legal challenges arising in response to the pandemic have been life changing for organizations and many clients have suffered greatly. Dealing with unprecedented times certainly requires lot of creativity, competence and resilience. Hahn & Hahn LLP is proud to have been a resource to clients and partners in the business community.

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Keeping People Happy, Healthy and Engaged

One of the shinning lights of the firm, who stands tall in such critical times, is its leader, Christianne Kerns (Chris), who is the first female Managing Partner in the firm’s 122 year history.

Her people’s wellbeing is always top of mind for Chris.

From sta ffconnectivity with regular remote meetings and social gatherings, to weekly all-attorney meetings by zoom, remote workshops about taking care of one's mental health, referrals for professional help, and just touching base with each other regularly, the firm is doing what it can to keep people happy, healthy, engaged and connected.

Founded in 1899, Hahn & Hahn LLP is one of the oldest law firms in California and one of the largest general practice firms in Southern California's San Gabriel Valley.

Chris has served on its Executive Committee since 2011.

As head of the firm and effectively its CEO, she leads and oversees strategic planning, talent management, partnership matters, branding, business development, finance, accounting, IT, budgeting, risk management, and human resources processes.

Strong Work Ethic Chris reveals the difficult fact that when she was a young lawyer, women had to work harder and be smarter than men, just to be seen as equal. But women were never really equal. That is just the way it was. This instilled a strong work ethic in her, and to this day Chris works long hours to provide excellent legal service for her clients and to further the interests of her firm. Chris believes that a strong work ethic is a major predictor to one’s success.

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Attorneys work long hours, often working from home well into the evening and on weekends to manage a busy practice, so remote working was not entirely new for lawyers. Remote working for staff, however, was a big shift. Although it was challenging for the entire firm to work remotely during pandemic, Hahn & Hahn managed through leveraging technology and increasing communication channels across the firm.

Adapting Flexible Approach Chris reports that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women in the legal industry. Many women have stepped out of the practice of law to take care of family, particularly school aged children who are managing remote learning from home. Chris is hopeful that their paths will bring them back to the law when circumstances change, but this will require support from the legal profession. Building flexibility into firm/organizational cultures will be necessary to keep top talent. A more robust remote work environment can be a good option to help to build flexibility into an organizational culture. As we adapt office space to the post-pandemic world, firms may need less office space and open workspaces will need to be compartmentalized to allow healthy distances and physical barriers to promote safety and good health.

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Making a Difference

Working Hard for Welfare of People Hahn & Hahn lawyers are motivated by their passions; most are serving the community through various charitable causes. They volunteer and advise on a multitude of non-profit boards of directors, including child services organizations, homeless shelters, animal rescue agencies, schools, boys’ and girls’ clubs, hospitals, and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. They are working hard for the good of the community.

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Hahn & Hahn LLP retains its long traditions of integrity, service, and excellence in the practice of law while looking ahead to the changing needs of its clients as the 21st century advances.

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In challenging times, Hahn & Hahn is perfectly positioned to navigate the constantly shifting tides to help businesses survive and thrive! Throughout the pandemic, the firm helped many businesses obtain large amounts of emergency funding, affiliate in partnership with other business organizations, maneuver around forever changing business restrictions and employment regulations, acquire businesses in distress to retain value, and buy and sell companies and properties. Other efforts included litigation and bankruptcy as needs dictate to protect value and assets. And it seemed that everyone needed a new or updated estate plan. Through it all, Hahn & Hahn seeks to makes an impact on its clients by providing excellent, value-added service in collaboration with clients and others.

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From Le to Right: Hahn & Hahn a orneys Rita Diaz, Chris anne Kerns & Susanne Cohen.

Being Prepared to Make Sacrifices Chris's advice to young women and people with diverse backgrounds aspiring to a legal career: be prepared, work hard, and make sacrifices for your future. Pursue the law with gusto and do not let biases, apparent or inherent, stop you. Be open to mentors who can help, guide and lead you, and sponsors who will put you out there for opportunities and recognition for your good work. Look for ways to bring positive attention to yourself and your work – leading to better assignments and higher visibility.

If you are in a situation that does not provide opportunities to succeed or the flexibility you need, don't be afraid to consider other options. Partnership and senior counsel positions exist for women and people with diverse backgrounds, even in the top international firms and companies.

of its partners, the firm is a certified majority women and minority owned firm and strives to improve its diversity so that its professionals better reflect the diversity of the communities it serves.

Commitment to High Quality Service Hahn & Hahn provides optimal solutions to challenges that add value and contribute to clients' and their stakeholders' successes. The firm continues a long commitment to excellence and integrity, delivering highquality representation and sophisticated business and legal services to longstanding clients and the emerging leaders of California, while bringing their minds and hearts to make a meaningful difference in the communities they serve.

Reflecting the Diversity of Community Hahn & Hahn seeks to maintain its independence as a small law firm. With women comprising more than 50%

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constraints while starting up a business or enterprise. So, what are the qualities that make a businesswoman stand out from the crowd? Obviously, the answer is self-confidence, but there are many to count.

What stands strong behind the success of a businesswoman? Many businesswomen today have their family support but some of them have had objections,

Ambition – What if a businessperson is not ambitious and serious with his or her business. What if he or she is not conscious about business and does not have sense of purpose. One may come to a point in life where one squanders everything, comes back to earlier one and doesn’t become a successful one. Many businesswomen are successful today because, they are ambitious at something.

They have charisma to achieve what they dream and where they want to reach.

n this modern age, a woman is not confined to the boundaries of a home. There is a lot of development in the freedom of woman’s life. Today, a woman toils & reaches from rags to riches. There are many examples like Kylie Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, Mary Barra etc. It is seen that in all businesspersons in the world, 36% consists of businesswomen.

Humility & Willingness to Learn – A successful person never give up learning. Be it a successful entrepreneur or an employee. Learning is what keeps them boosted up. They open up anywhere to share the knowledge they have and why not one should do that. It helps at every stage of

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Trait Secrets

human development which leads to a successful businessperson.

Assertiveness – This is what many lack to be even they are confident enough to do her job. Being assertive, facing criticism, answering critics fearlessly and at the same time being cool, calm and considered are very qualities that a businesswoman must possess. This results in a positive response from people around and they respect you for that.

Persistence – Simply starting a business and working sporadically doesn’t work in this real world. One has to be persistent with her duties. If not, they will face a big downfall in business. Sticking to own word and proving self to the world seems to be just a phrase, but it means a lot when you step in a business and interact with this pragmatic world.

We know many famous businesswomen in this world. They are big names to take but there are many female entrepreneurs in this world which account to hold a massive portion of businesses in this world. What percentage of women own businesses and running them successfully? It is nearly equal to men owing businesses. It is 48% of women

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who run businesses in this world. According to a report by American Express, the number of women owned businesses grew by 4.2% each year from 2007 to 2018. Isn’t it an inspirational news? In this competitive world, where most of the businessmen feel it difficult to thrive, in such a situation women hold a good amount of stake in businesses.

This is what motivates other women around the world. A woman has more responsibilities when she runs the household and business together.

Though the businesswomen are successful and continuously manages to be in the position firmly, but it cannot be the same for her every time. There are many challenges, faced by women entrepreneurs today. These might be the family ties, male dominated society, problem of finance. Family holds to be the most important thing to a woman. In this world, where a man is deemed to work and earn bread and butter, and woman to run the households, it is not easy for people to digest the freedom of a woman and allow her to work whether she is an entrepreneur or an employee. This world is by fact, the male-dominated society and no one can deny but still proving self and standing shoulder to shoulder make a successful businesswoman stand out of the box.

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Donna Loughlin

Founder and President LMGPR

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

Donna Loughlin Delivering Results that Drive Leadership, Momentum and Growth

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he importance of news industry has everlasting impact on the lives of people. This medium has the power to make a tangible impact on larger sections of society through the stories it can tell. To deliver efficient public services having good platform is important. In 2001, Donna Loughlin formed LMGPR to provide strategic public relations (PR) services to emerging tech companies.

Donna is a PR veteran known for her tenacity and creativity in leading public relations programs for early-stage technology innovators taking them from start-up to IPO and often acquisition.

Being Exposed to Media from Young Age Donna’s biggest influence was growing up in the pre-digital age in the newspaper industry. At a young age she was exposed to news reporting, publishing, and the print process, mostly from her father and his brothers. By the time she was a teenager she had experience working for a community paper, then book publishing. She also worked on a local radio station doing advertising writing and audio recordings. These experiences and her non-stop curiosity about how things work ultimately led her to getting a degree in communications and journalism.

Making the Impossible Possible The pivot in Donna’s career was when she went from publishing to the technology sector and her senses were ignited. The tech industry is always advancing and how things work and impact everyone’s lives fascinates Donna.

She is inspired by influencing change in how one can work and live with the advancement of technology one story at a time. Making the impossible possible intrigues her the most about working with visionaries and futurists.

Creating Real Business Results LMGPR means — Leadership, Momentum and Growth.

LMGPR is a platform of great storytellers, influencers, and markets shapers. The platform is formed on a belief that the right story and the right audience leads to real business results. Donna believes that creating a great story starts with a journey of discovery, research and being relevant. She is an award-winning storyteller and PR influencer working www.insightssuccess.com

with visionaries changing how people live in the future. She is also known for her results-oriented PR programs, dedication to her clients, and constant enthusiasm for new innovation.

Innovative PR Approach With LMGPR, Donna has secured more than a dozen personal and agency awards from global organizations.

LMGPR has received numerous industry awards based on its continuous PR leadership, creativity, media relations and innovative PR approach. Donna believes that client engagement is about listening and learning, and not just a transaction. She is highly skilled in every aspect of public relations and delivers high impact results that drive Leadership, Momentum and Growth.

Delivering High-Impact Results Prior to establishing LMGPR, Donna worked with several tech companies and started her career in publishing as a reporter/editor working on science and math publications.

She spent a decade working in corporate public relations positions taking companies from stealth to IPO in a variety of B2B and B2C technology markets. At the time, there were a lot of big and mid-sized agencies in the market, but none providing a strategic approach to launching companies in less than 6 months, let alone 90 days. These are the phases that its clients engage with it in and how it quickly accelerates its business model. As a result, LMGPR is able to deliver high-impact results that match its business goals over and over. At this point, it has launched over 500 companies and secured more than a million articles.

Moving Beyond Traditional Press Release LMGPR works with visionaries and futurists that are often working from labs and think tanks well before products go to market. Sometimes these conversations start with napkin conversations or a series of white board talks. Then it starts crafting the story board and apply the story to the science to make it tangible. Once it creates a story, it determines the medium in which to tell the story, often moving beyond the traditional press release.

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Video is one medium for good storytelling that can take a customer on a unique experience. LMGPR often ties video with other interactive digital assets like a short podcast series or byline series. Then they make a digital press kit which becomes a key knowledge center repository of all digital assets for educating both the media and consumers and giving them a hands-on experience.

Inculcating Creative Process in Telling the Story No two customers have the same needs as they are at different phases of their business. It starts with the company and product vision, then LMGPR stands back and looks at the market need, challenges, and business goals. Once it has all this information collected, it can start the creative process in telling the story. Since it works with emerging markets, the first phase after story creation is often market analyst briefings. The market analyst is important as it is the pulse of the industry and know who other players that are might be in stealth also.

Paving the Future with Implementation of Advanced Technologies LMGPR has continuously evolved with the emerging tech markets. The last few years it has amplified its transportation, AI, robotics, and sustainability product portfolio, bringing some of the most amazing products to market. The convergence of technology has happened quite rapidly. The intelligence once in cars is now in smart tractors, motorcycles, and one’s home.

Additionally, there is an advancement of AI and deep learning in post COVID-19 wellness and environmental products. Bringing these products to market requires a lot of education and LMGPR is delighted to work with companies

LMGPR’s goal is to create a strategic partnership with its clients where public relations and communications become key tools for helping clients achieve their business objectives.

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paving the future. Donna is also hosting a podcast series, “Before It Happened,” which is an up-close and personal series on visionaries and the future they imagine. These are the idea makers shaping their life and work, and they get a glimpse into their world before they created their big idea.

Being Informed, Fearless, Agile and Relevant Donna tries to strive by the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” outlined in Stephen R Covey’s book and “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.

These books have been great coaching tools during Donna’s career. She considers it is important to be fearless, agile and relevant. She learned the latter on the job with some amazing mentors.

Seeing Diversity in PR 69 percent of the PR industry professionals are women, making it a great career choice for the next generation.

Donna says to entrepreneurs that not only this career offer choices in working for corporate, agency or freelance, it’s also very kind to those wanting families. There are certain sectors such as technology that the client base is 80 percent male, making it an interesting dynamic. Donna would like to see more diversity in PR industry and the college degrees that enter the field. She states that the College internships are a great place to start exploring career option.

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Jennifer Cisneros Vice President of Marke ng

BioMicrobics, Inc.

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business 2021

Jennifer Cisneros Promoting a Culture of Water Innovation

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ffective leaders see their daily activities as opportunities to grow in their personal and professional life. On a larger scale, effective leaders see agency-wide projects as doors through which they can get a glimpse on how the organization is doing and what is required to help the company grow.

One such transformational and empowering leader is Jennifer Cisneros. She is the Vice President of Marketing at BioMicrobics, Inc. She promotes a culture of Water Innovation. Jennifer is excited to share her personal experiences, provide tips for career advancement, and lists three behaviors that have helped her in her current role. Lastly, she lists some tips, which can help women pursue a similar career path. The article includes a short snapshot on her employer’s social media landscape. Her experience makes her a top thought leader in her industry.

Exemplifying Proficiency While it has been a challenge to market to multiple customer segments around the globe in 80+ countries, Jennifer is eager to support the 120+ BioMicrobics distributors and help communicate the company's mission.

“Water touches on everything we do on this planet,” Jennifer shares. “Water is the thing people cannot live without and seem to value the least.” Jennifer is always eager to address questions people may have about water.

She brings a strong, technical voice to customer and inhouse conversations. She quickly learned that we needed to educate our communities about our current technologies, industry regulations, and the environmental risks that have a direct impact on our water supply.

In addition to serving as Vice-President of Marketing for BioMicrobics, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Jennifer manages her employer’s communications, websites (including Distributor sites through a DBA Program), 350-plus online profiles, social media, and tradeshows/corporate event planning. Behind the scenes, BioMicrobics markets in 17 different languages. She works with international

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distributors who assist in translating her material for each of their markets. In tandem, Jennifer works with Technical Practices Committees (TPC) composed of scientists and water process engineers with different skillsets and levels of expertise for technical documents. She submits highpriority, technical/environmental management research questions to Organizations and Innovation Programs. For 6 years, she served as the Marketing Chair of the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA).

Her efforts were paramount to achieving recognition for BioMicrobics as unveiled by the following awards: Kansas Exporter of the Year in 2011, President’s “E”[Excellence in Exports] in 2012, “E Star” in 2016, Top 10 Wastewater Management Solutions Provider in 2019, and Global Water & Wastewater Company of the Year in 2020.

Jennifer has been contacted by nationwide manufacturing organizations that promote and recognize women who exemplify leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Production. In this regard, Jennifer received The Manufacturing Institute’s STEP Ahead Award in 2017 and, in 2019, the Empowering Women in Industry Award for Leadership in Manufacturing. Recently, Jennifer was interviewed as a “Woman in Ballast Water” for her contributions to one of the company’s most recent acquisitions. The article described Jennifer as “no stranger to leading the way and not just in gender equality.”

Carved her Own Path With regard to her engineering and technical background, Jennifer confides, “I originally pursued a degree in architecture/environmental design but changed to marketing as communications became my passion.” Most of Jennifer’s operational experience was obtained by working ‘in the trenches’ at engineering and art departments on projects with competing priorities and aggressive deadlines.

For most of Jennifer’s career, she worked in high-paced work environments, which required her to manage her own workflow. She mentioned she did not have a formal career

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mentor. “Fortunately,” Jennifer added, “informal mentors abound when I stopped to take a look at the people I worked with and served.”

divided into manageable, actionable items, we must see these items as flexible constructs, which must be reassessed and adapted periodically.

Within her chain of command and every layer in her employer’s organizational structure, she has found people who exemplify the leadership traits she feels compelled to model after. From the President to the Warehouse Staff, the BioMicrobics Team cultivates an atmosphere of camaraderie and inclusiveness.

On this topic, Jennifer shares, “we can’t fixate our minds on a rigid execution plan when we know life will bring us surprises.” An agile, flexible mindset effectively flows through the issues and can achieve wide-ranging objectives.

Finding your Passion in your Current Role Jennifer asserts that any role can lead to finding one’s passion as long as we take the time to reflect on what the company stands for and how we want to serve our customers.

She adds, “Working at BioMicrobics, I found out I have a passion for talking about the environment. By contributing to the distribution of clean technologies, I can help solve world water problems.”

TIP #1: Be Agile Jennifer believes a key trait of a good leader is to be agile.

While it is common knowledge that projects must be

TIP #2: Speak Up Get your voice heard with your ideas and let people know where you stand. Speaking up as soon as risks are identified is essential to the day-to-day management of a firm’s operations. When company leaders fosters a safe work culture (e.g. respect of everyone’s ideas and open feedback), creative ideas flourish which, in turn, brings forth a healthy dose of risk-taking, new possibilities and previously overlooked opportunities.

While safety and risk-taking appear to be two ends of the spectrum, Jennifer feels both are tied at the hip. Within her organization, Jennifer states, “Without trust, there is no safety; without safety, there is no space for newer team members to speak up and contribute.

With safety, you create an environment for people’s ideas to flourish, even if those ideas may become highly disruptive.

Even if the idea fails, the experience gained will help in the future. Asking: What went wrong? What could I do better next time? What can I learn from this?

Undesirable outcomes can open doors for unexpected opportunities and even valuable life lessons.

At BioMicrobics, there is considerable exposure to political risks, cultural misunderstandings, economic fluctuations, and other entanglements. Jennifer said she is fortunate to work for BioMicrobics whose approach to remain open, driven and flexible speaks to its heavy emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and company growth.

Next to her Communications Studies Leadership Award in her office, she has a small brass plaque that says, “QUALITY…never an accident; Quality is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”

TIP #3: Participate Participate in or, if not available, set up cross-knowledge transfer sessions with your team. These activities are

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meet like-minded people and sometimes can make life-long friends to connect with on social media.

Bringing the Water Industry in Limelight Jennifer expressed her assurance and dedication to the company’s tag line: ‘Better Water. Better World.’ and the technologies to aid in efficient water management.

BioMicrobics has spent a quarter of a century in the water and wastewater treatment industry, manufacturing wastewater, greywater, recycling and water reuse treatment systems to provide solutions for small communities, commercial properties and decentralized homes. For the past 14 years, she continues to prove vital to the company’s growth by integrating Biomicrobics’ marketing efforts.

effective at building a team that works effectively together, as each participant has a better understanding of how everyone plays a role in the team and organization. Jennifer promotes a cross-team mindset by training coworkers on the same skills and tasks that she is responsible for. Doing so provides employees with promotion potential and advancement opportunities. She wouldn't ask someone to do something that she herself wouldn't do.

She is excited to come to work every day, as she feels she learns something new every day and she wants others to feel the same excitement she feels. Thanks to the vision of BioMicrobics’ founder, the company has expanded its operations, support programs, and product offerings all over the world. Her willingness to participate in international travel has afforded Jennifer many opportunities to grow on a personal level and in her career. Not only has visited 18 countries (thus far), she has gained a greater understanding of her distributors’ markets and able to support them better.

Through her travels, she has met the most amazing people in the Water industry. Many colleagues within the BioMicrobics network often visit her workplace for training and participate in corporate events. She states that while everyone comes from different backgrounds, the interaction creates unique perspectives. A big plus is that you often

It is paramount that the company effectively communicates and educates to acquire a new target audience, the conscious consumer. This audience is highly active in social media and will engage to most with BioMicrobics Social Media presence by retweeting and sharing posts about BioMicrobics’ environmentally-focused content. Jennifer has helped develop a loyal fan base for the company on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and even Pinterest (she is in the beginning stages of Tik Tok) transforming BioMicrobics into a transparent company.

Enlightening Upcoming Businesswomen Advice she gives to emerging businesswomen, “Be patient when setting and working on your career goals; always assess where you want to contribute. Do not rush or stress over the details as this is where mistakes happen and deadlines are missed.”

Have a chance to sharpen yourself for the long term through clear intention and integrity, taking the time to reflect on the lessons learned and lending a helping hand along the way.

Doing so will help support the organization and customers with confidence and a clear purpose.

Her final thoughts leaves us ready to reach new heights: “Besides being agile, speaking up, and participating, be committed to delivering excellence on every task you handle; even the early morning emails we send is a reflection of who we are and what we stand for. This same reflection is also shared through every daily interaction.”

“Lastly, find your passion, delegate, empathize, develop boundaries, exercise and drink plenty of water!

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Nina Marino

Co-founder Kaplan Marino

40 | June 2021

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

Nina Marino A Proficient White-Collar Defense Attorney

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eing a white-collar defense attorney is a weighty responsibility because someone’s future is dependent on your strategy and ability to execute. A lawyer’s work involves advising clients on all parts of the law and presenting their best case both in and out of court.

As the business environment continues to be competitive, an adviser should be well informed, prompt, and attentive.

Leading with all these skills, Nina Marino is an internationally recognized, white-collar criminal defense attorney.

A co-founder of her firm, Kaplan Marino, Nina represents business professionals, executives, public figures, and other individuals who are under investigation or targeted by serious allegations of white collar and other criminal matters.

In an interview with Insights Success, Nina sheds light on leadership, women’s participation in the legal profession and life factors that inspired her.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

Please brief our readers about your leadership position at Kaplan Marino.

I founded Kaplan Marino in 1996 with my husband and law partner, Richard Kaplan. Since then, we have shared responsibility for the growth of the firm and the expansion of the practice. Today, Kaplan Marino is recognized globally as a white-collar criminal defense law firm.

Being an experienced leader, what are your thoughts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal profession? And how has Kaplan Marino managed to overcome this significant challenge?

The impact of COVID-19 on the legal profession has been quite interesting. Whereas previously “everyday” meant an “office day,” and every meeting was in person, today we work on a flexible office/work-from-home schedule and

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video calls are the new norm. That is certainly not to diminish the value of person-to-person working environments. I think what has made COVID-19 a success for Kaplan Marino is our ability to adapt and thrive in a virtual environment. It is balancing working virtually and in the office that has served to grow the firm in 2021.

In what ways do you contribute to the community?

I founded and chaired the Criminal Law Section of Women Lawyers of Los Angeles for more than 20 years. When I retired my post, Jennifer Lieser, a member of my firm, took over as Chair. My partner, Richard Kaplan, was the President of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. I founded and chaired the Women in White Collar Subcommittee of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section White Collar Committee. I also founded and currently chair the Los Angeles Chapter of the Women White Collar Defense Association. I am also on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Section Council of the American Bar Association, sit by appointment on the Standards Committee, and chair the Continuing Legal Education Committee. To say the least, our firm’s culture encourages giving back to the legal profession and everyone at Kaplan Marino actively contributes.

If given a chance, what change would you bring to mitigate risks for companies in cybercrime or money laundering?

Companies operating in the financial sector must be familiar with know your customer policies and have anti money laundering protocols in place. Due diligence is a must! We work with companies to establish needed processes and procedures that protect them from would be bad actors as well as running afoul of government June 2021 | 41

regulatory oversight. To protect company data from cybercrime breaches, we recommend regular training of employees.

What would be your advice for aspiring women entrepreneurs in law?

Have a vison. Decide who and what you want to be and make it so. I started out practicing criminal defense law straight out of law school. After seven years of practice, I decided I wanted to be a white-collar lawyer. This was and has always been an exclusive industry. Believe it and it will happen!

What is your vision for Kaplan Marino for the next five years?

Kaplan Marino is on the move, literally! We will be moving to new space later this year that will display our unique boutique vibe. I expect in the next five years our global reputation as a white-collar criminal defense law firm will be furthered by this new space which will reflect our success, our commitment to our clients, and the results we get.

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Have a vison, decide who and what you want to be and make it so

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What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?

My parents were entrepreneurs in law, and they instilled in me that belief that “you can do it!” Over my career there have been several people that have shaped who I am as a lawyer. Based on those relationships I remind myself every day that the most important asset I have is my integrity and credibility. I will never risk that for anything. As far as books go, I love to read, so frequently, the last book I read is my current favorite!

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Summer Kim-Davis, Founder,

IKON Mortgage, Inc.

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

Summer Kim-Davis Helping People Achieve their Dreams as Homeowners

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omen don’t have to be like men to achieve gender equality. All we have to do is embrace our own femininity and grace, by doing so we will offer the greatest contribution to the world. Courage is grace under pressure. With our natural grace, women can confront any pressure and crossover any challenges that may come. It is important for women to be authentic and courageous to lead in the business world with cut-throat competition. Summer Kim-Davis is one such empowered woman who also encourages other women to be authentic and courageous, asking never to lose the grace being a woman. She advises women to go against the grain and be bold, and courageous in the pursuit of their goals without giving into the opinions of anyone else. She is the Founder of IKON Mortgage, Inc. In an interview with Insights Success, Summer Kim-Davis shares her journey and her contribution through IKON Mortgage, Inc.

fact, I majored in Arts and Fashion in college. I was not interested in math or science when I was growing up although I was always good with numbers.

I believe my creative background helps me to think outside the box and finding solutions to unique situations when others may overlook. About 10 years into my mortgage lending career, I had a burning desire to create a platform to serve my clients better, but I could not find a company that shared my vision. After much thought and planning, I built the courage for the business adventure. It was not an easy decision to start a company becoming an entrepreneur because I always loved the security and benefits that comes with working in the corporate world. After many sleepless nights, I finally took courage to pull the trigger. I decided to go all-in with my vision and willing to take the risk because I would rather try and fail, than regret later.

What were the challenges you came across founding the organization?

Below are the highlights of the interview: Take our readers through your journey being at the helm of IKON Mortgage, Inc. IKON Mortgage, Inc was founded in 2016 out of pure passion for excellence and outstanding customer service experience for my clients. I started my career as a mortgage consultant back in 2006 living in Honolulu, Hawaii, before I moved to Dallas, TX in 2010, where I realized my client’s best interests were not in the vision of Corporate America, motivating the founding of IKON Mortgage, Inc. in 2016.

Most people think that I have a finance background, but in www.insightssuccess.com

The biggest challenge was adjusting to a new role as an entrepreneur because I always liked being an employee having security of income, benefits, and resources from the company. When I first started IKON Mortgage, Inc., I had no mentor or role model, so it was a challenging transition because I had no one to turn to or anywhere to find resources that I needed when I first had challenges. A few lessons I had to learn the hard way, but I was determined to learn as quickly as I could and embrace my new role as an entrepreneur. I figured out how to set up a company, acquiring licenses to become a mortgage broker and now a corresponding lender. In order to establish structure from June 2021 | 45

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IKON Mortgage strives to keep the mortgage experience simple, efficient, and enjoyable for its clients.

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the ground up I wore many hats… a mortgage advisor, running marketing, sales, processing, loan origination, closing, post-closing, customer service, and CRM management and the list goes on and on. You name it. I had to do them all by myself in the beginning and wear many hats to get the company started and operating.

leadership is leading by example. Go explore places first, or testing the waters, so to speak, before I take and lead my team there. My leadership style is influencing, encouraging, empowering them to be the best version of themselves, perform at their best level, be the best they can be. I encourage excellence.

what is your idea of impactful leadership? What style of leadership do you personally prefer and have implemented at IKON Mortgage?

Taking into consideration, the current pandemic, and its impact on global economies, how are you driving the company to sustain operations and ensuring safety of your associates and employees at the same time?

I started reading intensely after I started IKON Mortgage, Inc. mainly because I needed to self-educate and improve in order to grow the team and company. I believe impactful

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I strive to lead my team in humility and practice the lean business model. We choose quality over quantity. We have a

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small team with high-quality individuals and run a highly efficient and structured system. We were able to sustain growth while not taking on any additional liabilities, so we can compensate our valuable employees and bring better pricing to our clients to keep them happy. Also, our lean business model helps us to leverage and pivot the down market as needed during global pandemic.

According to you, what essential traits should an entrepreneur posse to thrive in the present-day cutthroat business ecosystem?

In contrary to the stereotype, I believe humility is an essential trait to overcome and thrive in cutthroat business ecosystems. You can’t run a lean business if you have a huge ego and desire to have all bells and whistles. Good reputation within the competitors helps and we believe there are always more for everyone and we trust our clients and their ability to make wise decisions for themselves. We never have to trash talk our competitors to win the clients.

We believe that our job is to educate our clients so they can make informed decisions whether it is with us, or someone else.

In what ways have you or the company contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring in Home Mortgage financing & Conventional Home Mortgage for Individuals, Institutional clients, and Corporate Issuers?

Our dream and vision to raise the standard in mortgage lending industry, be an example for outstanding customer experience.

What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?

I am a Christian and God is the biggest influencer in my life. Besides that, I love John Maxwell’s leadership books, Dale Carnage, Daniel Pink, Patrick Lencioni, Brene Brown, Joyce Myers, and Simon Sinek books.

What would be your advice to the up-and-coming women entrepreneurs aspiring to enter the Financial Services Industry?

I would like to encourage all women to be authentic and courageous, never lose the grace being a woman. We do not have to demand our seat in male dominated industry. We do not have to be loud and aggressive to earn the seat. We can earn the seat with our works, excellence, and reputation.

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Never doubt and let others to doubt who you are, and do not compromise your values because that’s the norm. Go against the grain and be willing to try and fail. Rise up to try again. Be strong, courageous, and be true to yourself.

Embrace your femininity because we are only strong when we can be vulnerable. My personal motto is “Be You. Go All In. Be Transformed”. (inspired by Brene Brown books between Gift of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, and Rising Strong)

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Taiwing Tian

Co-founder Switching-Time

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

TAIWING TIAN Leading to Bring Impact Around Her

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truly impactful leadership has dual focus where it moves a team towards the goal while also nurturing their individual growth. It’s an impressive act. Leaders, who make an impact, recognize and prioritize their team members’ growth as much as their end goal. Let’s read about the story of one such business personality who believes in such kind of leadership and making an actual impact through it. “I think an impactful leadership is a combination of courage, humility, resilience, commitment, strength, hardworking, and with a warm heart,” says Taiwing Tian. She is the Co-founder of Switching-Time and recognized to have a triumphed career at a young age. She further adds “I personally prefer a leadership that is to listen, to inspire, to empower and to support. That’s the direction and style we try to shape our key leaders at the agency.”

kind, strong and humble. She recalls one of her dad’s hobby tai chi, a graceful form of exercise in China, as she used to watch him practicing tai chi since she was little. This inspires her to practice the combination of soft and hard, to stay calm, and focus on inner strength and resilience.

A Visionary Approach Taiwing Tian co-founded Switching-Time with her partner back in 2012 with the vision to create unique and impactful communications agency in China that focuses on Fashion, Beauty, Luxury and Lifestyle. It has been 9 years, the business and team had a very healthy and significant growth. They have developed a large client pool of wellknown international brands, won multi awards at key international awards programs by providing world-class work for their clients. Taiwing asserts “For the past 3 years, we have won 3 times in GOLD at Campaign Greater China Award. Setting it not only on par with 4A agencies, but ahead of them. This was a big recognization for our agency and our team.”

Sustaining Growth through Novel Working Approaches After 9 years of healthy growth and achievements, Taiwing now finds it challenging to take Switching-Time to another

Positive Work Environment is Essential Taiwing believes a positive work culture is very important for their agency. As a communications agency, people are the most valuable assets to them. She considers humility, respect, trust and courage has been always important part of the company’s culture at Switching-Time. “We work as a team, support each other as a family, back up each other, like a family culture,” says Taiwing. She opines “We are here to make sure we inspire, encourage each other daily, maintain positive energy and stay true to who we are.”

Inspiring from Elder Taiwing considers her father as her inspiration. She keeps going back to her childhood, specifically growing up with her dad and gets inspired by him, who has always been very

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With its team leaders, Switching-Time launched the CEO strategy: C stands for Current Client Focus, E for Education and Learning, and O for Operational Excellence. Taiwing is of the opinion that the agency should grow through focus on current clients or their referrals. This would positively impact team balance, as well as guarantee the quality of work, as no time would be wasted chasing “maybe” revenue.

She believes that education means putting great emphasis on team capability development, and thus, the company launched student program (学堂), an academy for all team members, by support from external training resources, to make sure people work not harder but smarter.

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level to keep a sustainable growth. She mentions that in agency industry, where the pressure is extremely high, the common challenge is high staff turnover, and thus, quality of work gets affected and leads to client turnover. Thus, she believes in the golden triangle that reflects Growth, Probability and Happy team. She believes in keeping team motivated to keep the quality.

Our Motto at Switching-Time is Be Bold, Work Hard, Stay Humble which represent our core values.

The team at Switching-Time loves to support local start up brands and using its expertise and services to help them to grow. In the next five years, Taiwing wants Switching-Time to reinforce its status of leading integrated communications agency in China, continue to be the expert in Fashion, Beauty, luxury & lifestyle and keep growing current team to become the future business leaders…

Believe in Yourself At Switching-Time, 90% of the team members are women, and Taiwing sees them as the future business leaders of China. On advising emerging businesswomen leaders, she opines “Believe in yourself, be bold & open, give 200% of energy and very important stay humble no matter at what stage. This will always lead you to somewhere.”

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Twanieka Alcindor, Manager and Consultant Barrister

Alcindor Law

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The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2021

Twanieka Alcindor Providing Expert Advocacy in Legal Matters

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egal actions can sometimes be overwhelming for many. Having expert, empathetic, professional, and relatable legal consultant to assist one in the legal proceedings is the need of many people. Twanieka Alcindor is one such reputed and relatable legal consultant who assists people in their legal proceedings with her expert skills, empathy, and professionalism. Twanieka is the Manager and Consultant Barrister of the Franchise Law Firm Alcindor Law, as a part of Tuckers Solicitors.

Her position involves managing a small team of solicitors, barristers, and paralegals in a busy high street firm in Brixton, London. Alcindor Law specializes in Criminal defense litigation, family law, and conveyancing, and it also assists in cross-jurisdictional matters in the Commonwealth Island of Jamaica.

Alcindor Law assists hundreds of clients each year providing high-quality legal representation and expert advocacy in a variety of legal matters. Twanieka is responsible for the training, professional development, and supervision of all fee-earners in the firm and personally supervise the case management of every single case that the firm is instructed in. Twanieka further appears as the instructed advocate in the court proceedings.

Besides, Twanieka is the Winner of Women in Law awards 2020 - Rising Star - Legal Services Innovator of the Year.

She is the Nominee of Inspirational Women in Law Awards in the Inspirational Woman of the Year, Under 35 Lawyer of the Year category 2019. She is the Founder of Pro-bono law clinic ‘Lawyers in the Soup Kitchen’ since 2014 which provides free legal advice and assistance to those without access to legal resources at its weekly advice clinic.

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Incorporating Remote Working in Legal Practice During the pandemic Alcindor Law has experienced several challenges in providing legal expertise to its clients. Firstly, the key challenge was facilitating contact with its clients who are currently on remand in custody. Many of the prisons were ill-equipped to cope with the sudden increase in requests for remote video links to the court for clients to attend court remotely. Coupled with this came the prioritising of the available remote video slots being reserved only for court attendances in several prisons which meant that even where there was availability for a video conference with the client’s legal representatives these were not permitted. To add, many prisons simply did not have the facilities or closed the prison to all legal visits.

These challenges meant that for many months we were unable to see our clients in custody. They were unable to be properly advised in time for their hearings and Alcinder had to depend on telephone calls and sending hundreds of letters and copies of case papers to be able to take its client’s instructions and advise them.

The other challenge that the company continues to experience is that due to the high population of prisoners in the UK prisons there have been significant additional delays in case progression as many clients are not being produced at court for their hearings either in person or remotely as they are required to isolate if they display Covid-19 symptoms or anyone on their prison wing does. This means that even if a client has not himself displayed symptoms, he is unable to attend court or have a video conference with his legal representatives until the entire wing or those on his floor have isolated and returned negative COVID-19 tests.

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This has particularly caused difficulties for Alcinder’s vulnerable clients and those who have been remanded in custody for the very first time. The company has sought to overcome some of these challenges by making better use of written correspondence, email to a prisoner and securing bail for its remand clients in their absence.

Ensuring Justice to Disadvantaged People As a firm and as part of its wider community, Alcindor Law provides free pro-bono legal assistance at weekly walking/ remote sessions at the Brixton Soup Kitchen. Its pro-bono initiative contributes significantly to its community by providing legal assistance and guidance to those of limited legal resources in a variety of legal matters.

The recent legal aid cuts have resulted in an increased amount of people no longer being eligible for legal aid which both prevents and deters many from having access to justice or legal recourse. Alcindor Law attempts at not only providing legal assistance, but it also takes efforts at equipping those to whom the justice system is alien with the skills and knowledge required to help themselves with their legal problems and thereby contributes to the general legal knowledge of its community.

holding the police accountable when excessive or unnecessary force is used against a detainee.

Fighting Against Odds to Achieve Desired Results The book that impacted Twanieka recently is ‘In your defense’ by Sarah Langford. Twanieka states that it is a book that inspired hope, determination and reinforced her decision to tirelessly fight against injustice. Additionally, Twanieka is influenced and impacted by her deceased Great-Grandmother ‘Rachel Alcindor’. Twanieka’s GreatGrandmother’s motto that ‘with hard work and determination one can achieve anything one puts one’s mind to’ was something that kept her motivated throughout her studies and continues to motivate her throughout her career.

The firm is named after Twanieka’s Great-Grandmother as it represents its efforts to fight against the odds to achieve the desired results. Twanieka states that it is a constant reminder that no matter where one starts in life, one can determine where one ultimately would end up. Evidence to this is Twanieka’s own personal journey from ‘Brixton to the Bar’ as a young child from a Brixton counsel estate and a single parent home who aspired to achieve, and did so, paving the way for those who were to come.

Alcindor Law’s community homes many socially disadvantaged people who generally view the law with a negative light due to their lack of knowledge or exposure.

Through the pro-bono project Lawyers in the Soup Kitchen’s youth crime initiative, You-tube film ‘Brixton on Trial’ became the first mock-trial to be filmed in the Royal Courts of Justice and saw 30 students from the local area sit as a jury in a real-life murder trial to educate them on the impact and consequences of knife crime and further provide them access to legal professionals from backgrounds similar to their own.

Addressing the Issues of Vulnerable People If Alcindor Law were able to bring about change for civil liberties with police actions, it would encourage the creation of a task force separate to the Independent Office for Police Conduct to address the disparity in the types of complaints against the police made by BAME individuals.

Twanieka believes with statistics so high and the amount of BAME individuals that do not proceed with actions against the police due to their mistrust of the system and processes being unfair, a separate task force should be created to address these issues. This task force would go a long way to

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Slow and steady wins the race.

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Alcindor Law’s reputation as a diverse and relatable team of lawyers is something that it is very proud of. Its team consists of 80% women and 100% of its team members are from non-traditional diverse backgrounds including members of the BAME community and further those who are the first generation in their family to attend university.

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Maintaining High Levels of Diversity by Being Inclusive

Twanieka’s vision for the firm is that in the next five years, it will continue to develop its reputation for maintaining high levels of diversity throughout the firm. This will go towards changing the diversity of the profession as a whole and ensuring that the company continues to promote access to justice and careers in law to the wider society.

Alcindor Law wishes to tackle racial disparity in the criminal justice system at all levels as was highlighted by the Lammy Review (2020) which detailed that the Jury system is the only element of the Criminal justice system where defendants are treated fairly in terms of race.

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