The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020 October 2020

Networking and Business A Connected World

Tech Insights Laboratoire Huckert's

10 The

Most Influential

Business Leader of 2020

+

Marko Podgornik Committed to Solve Every Problem in the Experimental Environment of the Laboratory

VOL 10 | ISSUE 09 |2020

Editor’s Desk

T Discover and Implement Solutions that serve Priorities

here is no doubt that the world is facing an unprecedented challenge. In the world of business, leadership now is not just restricted to meeting rooms. Today, business leaders with vision and determination are more visible and reachable than ever before. Leadership will have to navigate, organize, display, and demonstrate optimism in such situations.

Leaders can face problems better, manage operations, and make decisions quickly enough to respond effectively. In such a situation, a leader’s instinct can organize a network of teams. This will solve and execute a common purpose to work together as a single team. Another important part of the leader’s role in a tense environment is promoting psychological safety, this shows the concern for the employees. Leaders need to acknowledge personal and professional challenges that demonstrate empathy and remain attentive to the employees. After all, the employees are the biggest asset of the company.

Leadership is the accomplishment of an aim through the direction of human aides. The person who triumphantly assembles his people to achieve particular ends is a leader. He should invest in his own personal growth as well as stay open to new ideas and challenges. A leader that has the potential to motivate employees, will lead to innovation in the company.

Having one such great leader at the front is something that all investors, consumers, and employees want.

While some moments require immediate action, leaders can cope up better by collecting information and thinking ahead before making further moves. The

ability to focus, prioritize, think strategically out of the box, and taking good decisions resembles the traits of a good leader. An influential leader is one who can do so persistently, year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances. This way they prepare themselves to become an entrepreneur, whereas some entrepreneurs are born. There are innate skills that take an individual on the entrepreneurial path.

Embracing such practices, Insights Success is taking leaders of companies and organizations of every sector in its edition of “The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020”.

Reinforcing such values is Marko Podgornik, Partner and CEO of Mikro+Polo, who is bringing music and dance to the serious laboratory business. In 2006, Marko started working as a CEO. Since then, he developed his leadership in the direction of inclusive, family, employees, and pets-friendly company with a human touch.

Lastly, while flipping pages, do not forget to take a good look at the articles and CXOs written by our in-house editorial team and the industry-experts respectively.

Have a good read!

rohit.chaturvedi@insightssuccess.com

COVER STORY

08

MARKO PODGORNIK

Committed to Solve Every Problem in the Experimental Environment of the Laboratory

Article

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NETWORKING AND BUSINESS A Connected World

30 TECH INSIGHTS Laboratoire Huckert's

16

20

24

Alex Radetich A Leading Name in Healthcare Innovation

Anna Homenko An Inspiring Leader with Proven Track Record

Leigh Rust A Winning Entrepreneur

34

38

46

Louisa Maliako Mojela Empowering Women and Youth in Africa

50

Ran Rachlin A Dedicated, Productive & Natural Leader

Dr. Paul Guenther An Astute Leader Advocating Constant Innovation

Pete Pallares An Active Associate in Autism Awareness and Treatmen

52

Saana Azzam Creating an Enlightened World through Dialogue and Knowledge Transfer

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Rohit Chaturvedi

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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, Maneesh

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Aidan, Prathamesh

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

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sales@insightssuccess.com October, 2020

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The

Most Influential

Business of 2020

Company Name

Brief

Alex Radetich Chief Business Development Officer

Alertgy alertgy.com

Alertgy has recently been founded by a small team of innovators that have collaborated on challenging technical programs over the years, specifically to address the highly desired ability to measure blood sugar levels with an external wearable sensor device.

Anna Homenko Managing Director

Fiduciana Trust (Cyprus) Ltd fiduciana.net

Fiduciana Trust (Cyprus) Limited is a “boutique” Cyprus trustee and fiduciary services company with international coverage.

Leigh Rust Founder & Director

Safetylinejalousie safetylinejalousie. com.au

Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows are well known for challenging and overcoming the design, safety and security limitations of conventional louvre windows.

LOUISA MOJELA Chairman

Halo halocanna.com

Halo is on the vanguard of modern cannabis extraction technique and cannabinoid isolation – possessing proprietary trade secrets and leading-edge technology that is setting the standard in a new and booming industry.

Marko Podgornik CEO

MIKRO+POLO d.o.o. mikro-polo.si

Mikro+Polo is a family company founded by Vojko Podgornik in 1990 in Maribor. During this twenty-year period, it has grown into the largest Slovenian supplier of laboratory accessories, equipment, chemicals, and diagnostics.

Paul Guenther Corporate Strategy & Development

Knowledge Hub Media knowledgehubme dia.Com

Knowledge Hub Media helps business professionals by providing useful insight and analysis on the most current topics within their industry, and across multiple job functions, including: IT, marketing, finance, human resources, mobility, operations, sales and more.

Pete Pallares Founder/Chief Executive Officer

Center for Social Dynamics Autism Services csd.me

CSD uses a family-centric, multidisciplinary, multicultural, and evidence-based approach to treating individuals with autism and other developmental delays.

Ubertesters Inc ubertesters.com

Ubertesters is a mobile application beta testing management software tool that allows mobile development businesses to easily manage all of their beta testing resources in a single environment.

Saana Azzam Chief Inspiration Office

Mena-Speakers mena-speakers.com

The company is a UAE based MCs and Speakers bureau that educates, engages, and empowers by connecting speakers, MCs, and trainers to events, companies, and governments around the World. The company received the Best Speakers’ Bureau award in the Middle East in 2019.

Scott Pritchard Founder

Transplant Transportation Services transplanttransportat ionservices.com

Transplant Transportation Services, Inc. ("TTSI") has been one of the nation's leaders leaders in transplant transportation for well over a decade.

Featured Person

Ran Rachlin Co-founder & CEO

The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020

Marko Podgornik Committed to Solve Every Problem in the Experimental Environment of the Laboratory

“

“Our motto »Your partner in the laboratory« really applies here!

Come and try us out!”

COVER STORY

Marko Podgornik Partner & CEO Mikro+Polo

L

eadership is the achievement of a goal through the direction of human aides. The person who successfully marshals his/her supporters to achieve particular ends is a leader. An influential leader is one who can do so persistently, and year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances. One such business leader is Marko Podgornik, Partner and CEO of Mikro+Polo, who is bringing music and dance to the serious laboratory business.

Marko started working at the company Mikro+Polo, owned and directed by his uncle – first, as a child, later as a student and employee. But he wanted to prove himself elsewhere first, so he went to work at IKEA Graz Austria and took over the re-organization of their sale to B2B customers. In a year, he introduced the same model to all IKEA Austria and was consequently offered a position at IKEA Vienna. At the same time his uncle asked him to take over the family company due to his health problems and he agreed.

In 2006, Marko started working as a CEO (at 32 years).

Since then he developed his leadership in the direction of inclusive, family, employees, and pets-friendly company with human touch. He strongly agrees with Richard Branson: if the company takes good care of its employees, they will take excellent care of company's customers.

“I myself as a leader developed with every step the company successfully implemented. I started being a 'classical' white collar manager, but I today operate at a completely different level, being able to combine my personal lifestyle and wellbeing with being a leader.” says Marko.

The company has more than 100 employees who make sure that the link between more than 4000 buyers on the one hand and 300 suppliers on the other hand is a successful one. A high level of professional competence is achieved by employing 25 sales agents, each of them having a university degree in various fields: chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, health care, pharmacy, etc., who make over 9000 sales visits per year. The product line contains more than 500,000 products; most of them are represented and made available in the first Slovenian online application (market.mikro-polo.si).

Marko asserts “We take particular pride in our own brand of laboratory furniture LAB INTERIOR with which we have equipped 1000 laboratories in Slovenia and other countries around the globe.”

“At MIKRO+POLO, we have been following and realizing our mission of solving every problem our customer might encounter in the experimental environment of their laboratory for 30 years now.”

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Marko: Introduce us to your company and its solutions which address the needs of your customers and make you a prominent market player.

In the last 14 years under my leadership Mikro+Polo developed into No 1 wholesaler for everything needed in laboratory environment with 30 % market share in Slovenia and 100+ employees. Our slogan is Your Partner for Laboratory.

We established a daughter company in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2009, introduced our own label of laboratory furniture Lab Interior in 2015, which is sold globally to more than 20 countries, and in 2018 we invested in new production line. In 2008 we implemented SAP ERP, which almost completely automatized our sales process document flow from order to delivery and shortened our delivery time.

In 2011 we developed own online store – Mikro Polo Market, a sales channel which today represents 40 % of our sales.

In 2012, we introduced a CRM System. We keep doing things our own way and are a leader in innovative practices and original business initiatives with a strong company culture of commitment, self-initiative, fault tolerance and responsibility by every employee. We also nurture relaxed working climate and openness to all kinds of diversity. In 2016 we presented our “behind the scenes” practices to our customers with a promo video. It went viral (300.000+ views) and since then we do not have problems with

recruiting new employees. We regularly present our good practices at different business events.

In 2019, we won European Business Award for the development of workplace and employees. We are a holder of AAA Gold Credit Rating for a second year in a row, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17025 certified, a certified Family Friendly Company, LGBT and seniors friendly company.

Provide us with a little insight into your philosophy of impactful leadership and how you implement that philosophy within your organization.

In my opinion an impactful leadership means understanding people you work with, giving them voice, but also knowing your priorities, being able to focus on them and remain strategic-oriented. A leader should always be aware that the needs of the company come first. If not, company cannot take care of its employees and their well-being. That includes personal needs of CEO, who has to remain humble and in touch with people (s) he works with.

What are some of the vital attributes, in your opinion, that every leader should possess?

Ability to focus, to prioritize, to think strategically and out of the box, to take good decisions based on incomplete data, to remain authentic and above all – to remain human.

As a business leader, what challenges have you faced with an unforeseen pandemic? And how do you envision on sustaining your organization's competency post the pandemic?

Our company has so far had “sweet worries” in terms of dealing with the pandemic. We operate in the sector that has

enlarged needs – health system, laboratories, etc. Our main challenge was how to organize work to be able to fulfill these needs during the time of lock-down. Over the weekend 70% of the employees started to work from home.

It was a big test and we passed it with excellence.

Nevertheless, it is possible that the recession which would most probably follow the pandemic, will affect our customers and consequently our company as well. I believe that the good work during the lock-down and the constant investment in our people, their skills and personal growth will support our existence and development under these circumstances as well.

What would be your advice to the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders?

First and foremost – be human, stay human and bear in mind that the employees are the biggest asset of the company – their knowledge, their skills and their attitude.

Treat them just, and they will be loyal, committed and take good care of your customers. Invest in your own personal growth, stay open to new ideas and challenges. Do not be afraid to stay loyal to yourself and your personal values.

What are your company's future aspirations? What strategies are you undertaking to achieve those goals?

Our vision is to become our customers' first choice and remain a leading player in the Slovenian market. In the field of laboratory furniture, we want to be one of TOP 5 players in the global market. In order to achieve that we invest in ICT and people's skills, we develop top services to our customers at all levels and we plan to build new production facilities to be able to address larger demand.

COVER STORY

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“Our vision is to become our customers' first choice and remain a leading player in the Slovenian market”

T

here is no doubt that the world is facing an unprecedented challenge. In the world of business, leadership is now not just limited to conference rooms. Today, business leaders with vision and determination are more visible and reachable than ever before.

Insights Success in its upcoming edition The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020, is bringing stories of such leaders, and Alex Radetich the Chief Business Development Officer of Alertgy is one of them. Alex is known for his persistence and drive to achieve goals and consistency in delivering high impact results for his customers and colleagues.

Being the Chief Business Development Officer and an early investor, Alex is in charge of company’s strategic development efforts, including managing industry partner relationships across a variety of medical device manufactures, clinical facilities, healthcare organizations and investment sources and also serves on the company’s Board of Directors. Prior to Alertgy, he successfully founded, developed, and exited several companies in the data marketing space.

An Improvement with Advancement Unlike existing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) companies that use chemical reactions to measure glucose, Alertgy is patenting dielectric spectroscopy as a way to measure blood glucose levels up to 3 times a minute, without needles, patches, discomfort, and constant fear. The final product will be in the form of a wristband, wearable device the size of a women’s iWatch.

Current CGMs use patch sensors that are attached to/and puncture the skin to measure glucose just under the skin. Because of the skin barrier and the time of glucose molecule travel to the readings are delayed, and leading to what is called “interstitial lag.” Conversely, Alertgy’s radio frequency wave tech measures glucose in the actual blood, real time.

Thriving with Young Talents Alertgy is an SMB, integrated across multiple locations and 100% entrepreneurial in everything it does from technology innovation, business development, and critical thinking.

The company is attracting world-class engineering talent whose ability to think of out the box has allowed it to grow significantly over the last 3 years and break new barriers.

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The 10 Most Inuential Business Leader of 2020

Alex Radetich A Leading Name in Healthcare Innovation

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What Clients Say “As a data provider, Alex and his company have played a crucial role in the List Brokerage group at Merkle for several years. Alex has always been hands-on with any business we do with Take 5 and has never been anything but professional, responsive, and extremely easy to work with. He is one of the top vendors we turn to with complicated data requests. With his knowledge of data and the industry, he always has a creative solution for us” - Kacey Moore

Alertgy believes in ’paying it forward’ and investing its resources in young local talent and supporting local businesses, such as its clinical partners on the Space Coast. During these challenging times it is working with NIH and other healthcare organizations on pivoting its technology to provide breakthrough solutions for maskcontained Covid 19 sensors.

Future Aspirations Alex asserts “Our mission is to improve diabetes management for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.” He further added that while Type 1 diabetes is life threatening, the real danger lies with Type 2 diabetics and pre-diabetics, who often fail to heed the signs. These groups represent 95% of the diabetic population worldwide, growing by millions each month.

By allowing them to monitor their glucose levels easily and painlessly, Alertgy hopes to improve their quality of life.

In addition, the company is funding a grant with Florida Atlantic University to research and develop Covid 19 monitoring and tracking technology, using common masks. Just like with diabetes, our goal is to provide an easily manageable solution for Covid 19 tracing and contact management.

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“Improving

Diabetic HEALTH

Through

“

Additionally, the advisory and directors board is made up of industry leaders with expertise in engineering, technology, materials, military, healthcare, business, law, ethics, and medicine.

“Alex is a superior partner and a great direct marketer.

In working with him and his company, we received superior customer service -- in essence, he made us look like heroes to our clients. In addition, Alex has the ability to think outside-of-the-box. When faced with some of our most challenging customer needs, he would always take the time to brainstorm with us to ensure that we were able to provide the best solutions to our valued clients.

Sometimes this meant proposing other solutions along with his own. He makes it his business to be an expert in all areas of direct marketing so that he can assist his clients with full solutions. Alex is a great business partner and I highly recommend him -- you’ll be delighted with the level of creativity and integrity that you’ll experience when working with him” - Nancy Arter, Senior Vice President at Escalent

INNOVATION. www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020

Anna Homenko An Inspiring Leader with Proven Track Record

A

s the Founder and Managing Director of Fiduciana Trust (Cyprus) Limited, Anna Homenko has brought her 20 years of experience, knowledge and resources to the table. Well known and respected in the industry, Anna leads by example, taking a hands-on approach and inspiring her teams to utilize all that they learn, create and believe in. She is solution oriented and believes there is never a problem that cannot be resolved. Her approach is to take responsibility and focus on the desired outcomes rather than any obstacles that may get in the way.

“Trust,

Anna has cemented her reputation in Cyprus and abroad as one of the most knowledgeable people in the administrative services industry. Her passion for her work and for striving for excellence in all that she does, has made her the inspirational leader she is today.

integrity

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Anna Homenko:

and a

What led to an inception of the company?

It is often the case that service providers lose that personal touch with their clients. The increased workloads often result in larger teams and less day to day contact with the people they are actually working for. From my vantage point within these large international entities, I could see a real gap in the industry and a true need for a more hands-on approach. This is where the concept for my boutique company was born – offering high level services with a commitment to building long lasting and truthful relationships with all our clients. Clients want to feel that their service providers are a part of their 'internal' teams and this is what we strive for.

Could you throw some light on your mission and vision statement?

dedicated commitment to success.”

Our mission is to become our client's one and only port of call for all their corporate, tax, legal and administrative needs. By ensuring our services are of the highest standard, our team of experts is well equipped to handle even the most complex of international transactions. We combine our legal knowledge, fiduciary experience and business sense to ensure the best possible outcome for our clients.

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Anna Homenko Founder & Managing Director Fiduciana Trust (Cyprus) Limited

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Our vision is to create long lasting relationships and conscious corporate and fiduciary services built on transparency, efficiency and excellence.

departments. This teams focus on working together to get things done – to supporting each other and stepping up to take responsibility whenever we can, really drives us all forward.

Describe your company and its cutting-edge (domain of the respective project) solutions which addresses all the needs of your customers.

What is your idea of Corporate Social Responsibility?

Fiduciana Trust (Cyrus) Limited is a “boutique” administrative and fiduciary services company established in Cyprus, July of 2009. By using the very best of our collective knowledge, experience and abilities, we keep evolving, enriching our services, expanding our operations and strengthening our presence.

Corporate Social Responsibility goes beyond a yearly donation to a charity of choice. At Fiduciana, we look at the concept of CSR as encompassing the transparent nature of the work we do, the ethical nature of our clients' businesses and how we can support our community and fill the needs that arise outside our doorstep. We support many community initiatives by providing resources, funding and time wherever we can so that we give back, with gratitude.

At Fiduciana, we focus on offering the highest level of personalized corporate and accounting services and solutions to our clients, operating as their own home office.

The boutique nature of our business ensures that our clients' affairs are kept strictly confidential whilst our teams are highly responsive when offering a personalized approach in the handling of all matters Our teams consist of chartered accountants, lawyers and paralegal administrators - high caliber professionals, carefully recruited and suitably trained. For each client we create their own dedicated team of professionals who undertake the administration and management of their corporate needs locally as well as internationally. We lead the field in providing added value to our clients.

Describe in detail about the work culture and the values that drive your company.

Fiduciana is very much focused on the creation of a conscious working environment, focusing on and investing in the wellbeing of our employees together with their professional development and training. We balance our client needs with the needs of our own teams and ensure that the culture is open, compassionate, honest and reliable.

We love what we do and this shows through, not only in our work, but also in that our working environment has cultivated friendships and real camaraderie within all

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In this way we lead by example – not only through our day to day work, but as an active and involved member of our community. A corporation can only be socially responsible when it takes responsibility for its own actions also – caring for our people, our planet and raising awareness whenever we can.

What are your company's future aspirations? What strategies are you undertaking to achieve those goals?

Fiduciana has grown rapidly during its first 10 years of operations. We are striving to continue this growth as we become the leaders in the provision of top quality corporate and business services through promotion of holistic business, conscious management and investment in our people.

To do this we continue to work through our growth strategy but with flexibility and adaptability at the forefront.

Current events have shown us that every business has to be resilient, flexible and quick to pivot. This makes the difference between moving forward during any crises or losing ground. We are future focused but comfortable in letting go whatever no longer serves us and our clients, to ensure that we all keep moving forward.

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Inuential Business Leader of 2020

Leigh Rust

A Winning Entrepreneur 24 | October 2020

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t Present, offices, schools, restaurants and even hospitals are not built for the post-COVID-19 world. People are now demanding for spaces designed for health and safety over aesthetics and value.

This includes incorporating smart ventilation into buildings and having flora as a major feature in the city buildings.

How do we design and build?

With the same perception, Safetyline Jalousie Louvre Windows are built for top performance even in extreme conditions and designed for sustainability. Leigh Rust Founder and Director manufactures the most versatile, highest performing, Australian made louvre window systems on the market.

A Passionate Advocate for Australian goods Leigh Rust is a huge believer of dedicating time to personal development and he does a lot of work around mindset and overcoming challenges. Leigh does not like to take no for an answer, he firmly believes there is always another path and he encourages everyone within his company to approach their own roadblocks with the same attitude.

The Driving-Force Family values, along with the company values and standards have been paramount for shaping the team's culture over the past 10-years.

Leigh Rust is proud to say he still has a number of staff members who have been with SJLW since day one - which he believes is a testament in itself.

When it comes to team culture, it has been a challenge keeping everyone 'together' during this time with staff isolated in Brisbane, Melbourne and Malaysian offices where, he has been making more of a conscious effort to include them in decisions about the future of the business and check in with them regularly on video calls.

An Open and Honest Individual Leigh Rust believes, we must all play out part in ensuring the social welfare of others. It's why 'Social Impact' is one of the underpinning pillars of his business.

In terms of Leigh's influence on the industry, it is something he is more determined to focus on now that he has things under control with the business since the pandemic broke out.

Beyond the innovative work that the organization does developing performance louvre windows to improve social outcomes, it also gets behind a number of causes and community fundraisers including the recent CEO Dare Cure event for childhood cancer research.

With borders shutting down all over the world, the founder saw an opportunity to step up and create some noise important for Australian Manufacturing within the construction sector.

During the devastating Australian Wildfires, SJLW adopted several Koalas at the local Koala hospital and throughout the year, it tried to take part in events to help raise awareness for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research.

What started with standing up for 1500 small businesses in window fabrication, ended up coinciding with announcement of the Federal Governments $5 million, “Go Local First' campaign in July 2020.

The company has also worked with the Tiny Homes Project in the past to help find solutions for homelessness and may have something more to announce to work it hopes to do to assist with homelessness in the future.

Since then, Leigh has employed the services of a number of specialist consultants to help him devise a plan to lobby government and raise the profile of the importance of this cause in the media.

Always Looking for Ways to Grow

It has definitely been his most outstanding work yet, he is thankful for the opportunity, even though it was born out of such a terrible situation, where so many lives have been lost.

Leigh now sees the potential impact he can have as a leader in this space and he plans to continue making noise for this cause as part of a longer-term goal to keep money on-shore to make sure his kids, and other kids have the opportunity to live and work in this great country.

www.insightssuccess.com

After successfully partnering with government in the past to supply over 400 schools with its performance louvre windows, SJLW is now working on expanding out into other areas of government like social housing, aged-care, and defence.

In recently months, Leigh Rust spearheaded a proposal for governments in Australia to coincide with a $17.6 billion building and construction stimulus. Leigh's work lobbying government is ongoing, and he has personally met, and will continue to meet with politicians and government representatives to create mutually beneficial relationships to create these opportunities.

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Prior to Covid, SJLW was about to expand operations into New Zealand, so as soon as the company can, it will get that rolling again too and it is also looking into its exporting capability for 2021 and beyond.

regulations and expectations, but after a decade in business, and then the pandemic, Leigh Rust realized it was time to review the core values which will carry the company into the future.

The pandemic has seen a re-evaluation of the functionality of space and a call for increased emphasis on physical safety and health through well-designed buildings. It is anticipated that high quality ventilation will be key in creating safer buildings and that automation will play a big part in post-pandemic architecture where the development and use of no-touch technology is expected to be the norm.

The company now has a new code to stand by and the entire team can feel proud of their involvement in a business that seeks to do more than just produce high performance louvre windows for sale.

So, in addition to its lobbying efforts, Leigh is really optimistic about SmartAir's potential to provide a pandemic friendly ventilation solution for the built environment.

Core Values for the Future

The code is built from the following four pillars: Social Impact: Better outcomes for the health and wellbeing of building occupants Ÿ Environment Preservation: It supports the United Nations global sustainable development goals Ÿ Sustainability: It is the market leader delivering building products for ongoing energy efficiency Ÿ Stronger Economy: It supports local job growth and Australian manufacturing Ÿ

SJLW has always been big on performance and exceeding

“

“We're a family business producing Australian made louvre windows that improve natural ventilation and reduce energy costs, consumption and carbon emissions”

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Leigh Rust Co-founder & Director Safetyline Jalousie Louvre Windows

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H

istorically, pandemics have marked the course of history. They are an integral part of the life and evolution of every civilization. They are the symbol of the development of our societies.

They are also the triggers of technical and scientific prowess and life-saving innovations.

Each obstacle leads to reflection and it is in adversity that man grows and develops innovations that see their usefulness put to the benefit of humanity.

The year 2020 will remain engraved in the collective memory as a black year. A difficult year, a year of mourning, of fear for loved ones and for oneself. Nations that had been at peace for decades had to face this microscopic virus, which disrupted our independence.

2020 will have been a year of deprivation, a year that will have robbed us of our freedoms and brought us back to a sometimes traumatic reality : we are all vulnerable in this pandemic. Each individual has become aware that the threat is not always visible, and that it is therefore essential to have good hygiene. 80% of contaminations are made by manual contact, so it is imperative that our civilization is attentive, applying barrier gestures to protect itself and thus avoid the spread of numerous contaminations.

It is against this invisible threat that we fight every day at LABORATOIRE HUCKERT'S. Fighting what cannot be seen with the naked eye is not an easy task because we must convince people of a risk that is not perceived in the same way by everyone.

Our approach is often informative, because we tend to forget that our environment is populated by microorganisms that are sometimes dangerous.

We have developed high-level disinfectant solutions based on fine chemistry. Our different ranges of disinfection products respond to the different problems linked to our customers sectors of activity. Whether it is a sensitive environment, an imposed process, or a technical need for example food contact, we meet the needs by offering adapted products completely safe for humans, equipment, and the environment.

This health crisis will reveal us to others, calling us to order, and awakening us to our way of life : individualism has no place in a society.

We are all connected to each other, we must relearn to be a nation, it is together that we are stronger. Solidarity, altruism and the values of human mutual aid are the key, and these have emerged stronger than ever.

During this most complex period, LABORATOIRE HUCKERT'S has increased its efforts to respond to the many calls for help from around the world. Since our grandfather's founding in 1957, we have maintained the idea of a circular economy.

Globalization must not make one nation dependent on another. For too long, our countries have favored economic development at the expense of losing their know-how. Today, Europe has become too dependent on certain countries. Developing countries where the price of labor flirts with the most attractive profitability devaluing our local labor force and thus having a considerable impact on our economy (reduced jobs, lower purchasing power, loss of our know-how, etc.).

As entrepreneurs we also have a role to play in our economies. As a family business, we are committed to the development of renewable energies, such as the introduction of major innovations in our manufacturing processes with packaging made entirely of green PE; we are advocates of "nothing is thrown away, everything is created". For the good of

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our planet and humanity, it is important to introduce our customers to this responsible purchasing.

We believe in the power of nature, we strive to use the most natural ingredients without altering the effectiveness of our products.

Within LABORATOIRE HUCKERT'S, our production unit is exclusively based in Belgium. We actively participate in the development of our country and Europe by selecting our partners according to their location and the geographical location of their manufacturing units. It is important that we share the same values. What we do, we want to do it well. The opposite would not make sense. It is fundamental for us to convince our customers of this ethic and the leitmotif that drives us every day.

Many actors have taken advantage of this health crisis to set up their own companies offering hand sanitizer and disinfectant products that have not norms and not validated by the national public health agency. But beware, we are not talking here about a lucrative economic activity, but about a vital need that saves lives. We must therefore be aware that our customers need safety and reliability. When buying disinfectant solutions to protect against viruses, diseases, we must ensure a flawless efficiency and a completely safe product for our customers and their environment. Using toxic, carcinogenic or abrasive products or products that you must protect yourself from when using them with protection (gloves, masks, glasses) makes no sense to us. Our products are completely safe, we validate all standards and the

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effectiveness is regularly tested on new strains of viruses, bacteria etc..

"Don't replace a biological risk by a chemical hazard" is the leitmotif of our father, Etienne HUCKERT, who for more than 35 years developed and oriented the company's core business towards niche markets such as high-risk infectious sectors in the hospital and pharmaceutical sectors. It is obvious that a company must find its way to make its know-how benefit.

Differentiation is the only way to stand out from technical and qualitative competition.

ISO 13485 certified, medical devices, LABORATOIRE HUCKERT'S solutions are used in more than thirty countries.

This year, in order to meet all demands and future requirements, LABORATOIRE HUCKERT'S are investing more than €2,500,000 in new automated production lines and an expansion of a unit by more than 1000m2.

Our team has given 200% to help all the actors on the front line, this war effort is not over but this year allows us to highlight our role, the importance of our actions, and the importance of good disinfection, because every day we save lives.

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020

Louisa Maliako Mojela

Empowering Women & Youth in Africa

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great leader has the capability to motivate employees, help others see and believe in an idea, and lead innovation in the company. Having a great leader at the front is something that all investors, consumers, and employees want. In its upcoming edition “The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020,” Insights Success is bringing success stories of such leaders who are influential business leaders that are changing the world.

Meet Louisa Maliako Mojela Founder of Bophelo Bio-Science & Wellness Pty Ltd, an avid woman business leader, and South Africa’s most accomplished black women leaders in business. She asserts “Our mission is to leverage the natural purity of the Kingdom of Lesotho’s Lowlands and climate to produce medicinal cannabis of the highest quality.” Her vision is to become producer of medicinal cannabis products in the continent of Africa. The company’s values are integrity, community upliftment and good citizenship, common purpose, team spirit and harmony. She wants Bophelo to be a company that is committed to the empowerment and upliftment specifically of women and the youth residing near where the company operations are.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Louisa Maliako Mojela: What led to an inception of the company?

The opportunity arose following the legalization of medicinal cannabis by the Government of Lesotho and its being proven that cannabis if properly used for medical purposes has many benefits that can save lives, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Furthermore it is estimated that the cannabis industry is poised to grow around $57 billion by 2027 according to various market researchers.

Describe your company and its cutting-edge (domain of the respective project) solutions which addresses all the needs of your customers.

We hope to create an economically sustainable company with upstream and downstream value chain, become a leading medicinal cannabis cultivator, manufacturer and exporter in the region, maintain international standard especially the Good Agricultural Collection Practices (GACP), create the much needed jobs to communities especially the youth, contribute to skills and enterprise development above all maintaining the quality of our products.

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Give a detailed description of the featured person’s influence over the company and the industry.

As the founder of the company first and foremost I have to ensure the company is successful and achieves its stated objectives. The policies of the company must be attractive to make the company the best employer and the employer of choice. I must also attract and retain young professionals and talent to ensure the sustainability and continuity of the company in the foreseeable future. More importantly we must identify credible partners with expertise, track record in the cannabis industry as we did by partnering with Halo Labs which is a leader in cannabis growing, cultivation, manufacturing and distributing as well as extraction and processing of oils and concentrate.

Describe in detail about the work culture and the values that drive your company.

Our culture is based on equal employment opportunity in order to provide equal employment and opportunities to all individuals based on merit, qualifications and individual abilities without discriminating race, gender, religion, or any characteristic prohibited by law. Our goal is to attract formidable team of professionals and reputable institutions in the industry. We strive for honesty and respect in our dealings and accountable to all our stakeholders. Lastly we strive to be good corporate citizens by giving back to communities.

What are your company’s future aspirations?

Our future aspirations are to become a leading producer and exporter of quality medicinal cannabis products that comply with international standards and becoming a trailblazer to other women to venture in the cannabis industry. Maintain the wellbeing of our employees and investing in social projects and projects that can bring about meaningful change to those in need.

What is your idea of Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility is part of our culture and values. The success of the company must be measured by the development of the community around it. It can’t be that communities are left impoverished whilst companies are thriving at the exclusion of communities especially the youth as they are the future.

What strategies are you undertaking to achieve those goals?

The first goal is to become a successful and profitable company and thus enable us to meaningfully have a social, transformative and impactful contribution to the greater communities and creating wealth for stakeholders.

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“

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“It is my wish and that of the company that this ground breaking opportunity created by the Government of Lesotho by legalizing the growing and cultivation of medicinal cannabis will bring meaningful change to the communities and contribute to the economy of the country.”

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“For me, a conservative approach to business builds a better company. I equate starting and growing my company to a stone building…The old Ddr. Paul Guenther, DBA President & CEO

Knowledge Hub Media

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stone building that's been standing for 500 years.” www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020

Dr. Paul Guenther An Astute Leader Advocating Constant Innovation ome people prepare themselves to become an entrepreneur, whereas some entrepreneurs are born. There are innate skills that take an individual towards the entrepreneurial path. The story of Dr. Paul Guenther, the Founder & CEO of Knowledge Hub Media, aptly exemplifies the above statement.

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Prior to founding Knowledge Hub, he was working for a company that was in the B2B Advertising industry. He had successfully taken on and worked in several different roles within the company, more specifically, in sales, client services and client marketing. While working there, he felt that he had a rather good grip on most of the moving parts.

Paul has always innately been an entrepreneur.

He started his first eCommerce website when he was 14 and paid his way through college via another ecommerce website that he started back in 2002.

So, in 2009, he quit his job, and started his own B2B Advertising Technology Company. Back then, it was called 'IT Knowledge Hub' – as IT Professionals and IT Decision Makers were its general target market in terms of visitors and email subscribers. Most of the challenges he faced during the time of inception included fulfilling campaigns with a limited audience.

He had to spend a large amount of money on marketing in the beginning to get his name out there and keep the registrations coming in.

Paul graduated from Penn State University with his bachelor's degree in the Spring of 2006.

Between 2006 and 2009, he had seven different jobs, but he didn't like any of them too much.

He was always bouncing around to new opportunities, chasing a higher paycheck. He was never truly fulfilled career wise until he started Knowledge Hub Media.

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Later on, Paul went on to receive his MBA from Wilmington University in 2010.

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Eventually, he also earned his Doctorate in Business Administration, from Wilmington University, in 2019.

Built from Scratch Paul built Knowledge Hub Media from the ground up with the help of a few key employees: Anthony DiFilippo, James Pastuf, and his brother, Chris Guenther. Today, it has been a leader in delivering breaking news, expert blog articles, and the newest and most relevant white papers, webinars, and case studies across all industry verticals. It provides B2B demand generation (or lead generation) services via white paper and content syndication.

The company utilizes its customer's white papers, webcasts, eBooks, and other assets to generate highly qualified sales leads; based on the specific software and/or service-based solution(s) offered by each of its clients. Each client's internal salesforce then contacts the leads that the company has generated to (1) gauge their interest in the solution that they are offering/selling, (2) get them into the automation platform and/or sales pipeline, and (3) ultimately close the deal. The company runs many different types of specialized lead generation campaigns, as well. These include BANT Campaigns, where four qualifying questions are asked to ensure the contact has the authority, the budget, the buying timeframe, and the need for the solution being promoted.

Additionally, it also runs SQL/SRL lead campaigns, where the leads indicate that they want to be contacted and receive more information about a client's solution. These are remarkably high quality, sales ready leads. The company has recently developed the ability to provide intent data to its clients.

So, in addition to run standard Account-Based marketing (ABM) campaigns, it can also build customized ABM lists for clients. These lists are made up of companies who are already showing intent to buy their solution. The intent is measured by the types and amounts of content they are consuming on a number of different B2B technology related topics.

A Balance is Important Maintaining a steady balance between professional life and personal life is difficult. Paul is a passionate entrepreneur, but he never let his professional and personal life clash. He works hard all week, but never works on weekend. He starts his day at 8am early in the morning and works till 3am, the next day.

Dr. Paul Guenther Founder & CEO Knowledge Hub Media

“I do take breaks and hang out with my family in between all of this, of course! But I NEVER work on the weekend.

This is a promise that I made to my wife before we got married; a promise that I made to myself before I even started the company. I do not want to be tied to work 24/7 and being a fairly sociable person. I also like doing things with friends and family on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays. And most importantly spend as much time as possible with my beautiful wife Allison and three year old son. Pledging to never work on the weekend ever has afforded me the ability to do all of this,” states Paul.

Some Glorious Awards & Recognition Paul has come so far with his company. Recognized three

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years running as an Inc. 5000 List Company (Inc. Magazine), and named one of Entrepreneur Magazine's “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America” in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (Entrepreneur 360), Knowledge Hub Media separates itself as one of the finest and most trusted technology and business information resources online today.

In 2018, Knowledge Hub Media was also recognized by CV Magazine, receiving a “Corporate Excellence Award” for B2B Advertising & Research. In 2019, The CEO Views named Knowledge Hub Media one of the “Top 10 Emerging Companies of the Year.”

www.insightssuccess.com

Constantly Innovating Speaking about the vision, Paul aims to continue to add new team members, create new products, and innovate new technologies to offer its clients a true edge over their competition. He is also striving to build revenue year over year and reach $10 million in annual sales by the end of next year. Paul doesn't believe in forecasting growth with any assumed trajectory. Instead, he believes in learning the industry, ramping things up the right way, and constantly innovating.

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A Connected

World

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Networking and Business

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rom speedy access to the internet to the ability to instantly get in touch with almost anyone anywhere in the world by dialling just a few digits, the contemporary technology-oriented world has changed the way we connect and communicate. With smart devices, people have also become smarter.

Though the processes of connecting have become simpler, there is a need for effective communication and service between users, applications, services, devices and so forth. This is where network infrastructure comes into the picture.

Let’s consider the current situation.

COVID-19 has compelled IT businesses to close their workplace and made their employees work remotely.

As employees working from a different location on enterprise networks consists of traffic and thus, centralizing traffic could have been a challenge for business. To address this challenge, there arises a need for a suitable network infrastructure.

Along with the employee's performance and excellent equipment, the agility and productivity of organizations also depend on the robust and secured network infrastructure. In today’s digital age, businesses cannot afford to have poor user experience and security issues that can impact employee productivity and thus, are realizing the importance of adopting comprehensive network infrastructure.

With sound networking solutions, businesses can ensure optimum

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efficiency and excellence in their operations.

Even though enterprises have understood the importance of network infrastructure, choosing the right networking services partner is another challenge. Businesses are in search of partners with integrated networking solutions and a team that possesses the required skill-set and industry rich expertise. They are on the lookout for a solution provider which they can trust and rely on.

Taking this need into consideration, many networking solution providers have come forward with cutting edge solutions and are ensuring the smooth running of the enterprises without any performance issue. The changes start with migration to 5G technology. It is built to increase the network speed and reduce latency. It will assist in the mobilization of employees allowing them to work from any part of the world.

Next up is harnessing the prowess of Artificial Intelligence(AI) and Machine Learning(ML) in solving business problems in real-time. Right from hiring the most suitable candidate to process transformation and enriching customer experience, AI and ML can deliver solutions to help business flourish.

seamlessly deliver services proving that physical distances can’t dampen the innovative spirits. Digital experiences supported by Cloud have found new takers during the pandemic and the technology is poised for steady growth.

With so much dependence on networks, it is bound to grow complex. To reduce and manage its complexity and shift creation of network rules and its maintenance, Intent-based networking is one solution to look-out for. The idea is to put a network controller(deploying AI/ML) that can regularly monitor the network, suggest best paths and continuously adjust the network performance for maximum output.

And while we are at it, how can we not mention Internet of Things(IoT). From empowering manufacturing, providing enhanced tracking to logistics, to helping the healthcare sector in remote monitoring and more, IoT is redefining the way industries work and behave.

As connectivity grows, so does IoT’s application.

Networking is evolving and with each new step that it takes, it presents a new opportunity for businesses to digitally transform and scale their services.

Cloud Solutions are seen as the way forward to maintain business continuity and resilience and are being proven effective in today’s crisis. It has helped teams stay connected over work and

www.insightssuccess.com

Pete Pallares An Active Associate in Autism Awareness and Treatment

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s a parent or caregiver, you may be wondering how to keep your child’s development on track through school closures and other COVID-19 precautions. During this time, when social distancing might be necessary, you and your child can continue behavioral health treatment through Telehealth. Center for Social Dynamics (CSD) is a company that offers specialized assessments, evaluations and treatment as woll as diagnostic services to meet the developmental needs of the child with his/her particular way to learn. The company’s multidisciplinary team, incorporating behavior analysis, occupational and psychological therapies, is committed to providing individualized and cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment services. One such team member is Pete Pallares providing unparalleled support for your child and your family.

Devoted towards Specialization Pete Pallares is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Social Dynamics. Active in the field of autism and developmental disabilities for over 25 years, Pete has devoted much of his time working in research, diagnosis, and the treatment of autism across our communities, cultures and languages.

As CEO, Pete oversees a team of highly qualified clinicians and administrators develop and implement individualized treatment programs for children and families diagnosed with autism utilizing the principles of applied behavior analysis and the cultural and linguistic context within their geographical location. Pete has provided intervention programs for a wide range of patients from highfunctioning children to very challenging individuals. His specialization includes unpacking and analyzing cultural dynamics within a setting, an environment, or an individual.

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Pete has also a foundation, The Pedro Pallares Autism Foundation, and his leadership and work on social equality and diversity has received national recognition.

Originally from Barcelona, Spain, he spends time in his native country and the Bay Area helping families affected with autism. Pete is currently an active member and presenter for different organizations that focus on Autism treatment and awareness and has also been an associate to important autism research studies conducted by the Department of Public Health and Kaiser Permanente. Pete has also received recognition from Inc5000 and SFBT as one of the US fastest growing companies in the last 5 years and has been a recipient of the EY entrepreneur of the year award.

Treatment through Telehealth Telehealth through the pandemic has taken over the industry. Telehealth - delivering health care services, health education/coaching and treatment through a live video call.

It primarily facilitates patient self-management and caregiver support for patients through real-time training, consultation, and delivery of services. Simply the convergence of technology, its digitalization, and security will have a huge impact on the patient experience...and that is why and what Pete Pallares is here for. Also, the ability to simplify through innovative ideas the day of a clinician is key in what the Center for Social Dynamics does – It is a constant.

Pete’s Foundation The Pedro Pallares Autism Foundation was created in 2017 to help individuals and families impacted by Autism nationally and internationally. “This is the job I want when I grow up!!” says Pete. www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Inuential Business Leader of 2020

Pete Pallares Founder & CEO

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to embark on an inner journey of self-growth, tolerance, and patience to achieve results for his families and the organization he wanted. Both CSD and The Pedro Pallares Autism Foundation require a different view but a similar type of character and personality.

Continuous Support The world of healthcare is a frantic one in the US! Pete Pallares hopes to continue helping families and creating high-level administrators in five years. In terms of the foundation, in five years hopefully, the Pedro Pallares Autism Foundation has strong branding around Pete’s space and it continues to support and fund organizations and practitioners. Pete is very focused on growing CSD and having his foundation active and operating to the best of his ability. The Founder always tries to focus on things he can control, so his team gets most of the attention.

Diversity and multi-culturalism are the principles and foundation of why Pete Pallares started organizations that provide care for others. Both CSD and the PPAF are built on the core components that diversity, equality, and a multidiverse population make the society stronger and the world better in all aspects. So, from day one the team has been always very active about what they believe in. Only recently those core values are making headlines and political campaigns. The team has always been a diverse community at CSD and the PPAF. It will always be.

From the Leader The term leader has different meanings for people but what Pete Pallares clearly knows is that leadership is a hard, daunting job of passion and emotions. “For most of us, it takes much more than learning the latest theories of operations and management and operate from a manual; it is about transforming ourselves, shares the leader. Pete had

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“

It is incredible what you can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit

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Pete Pallares feels that the team is finally becoming a proper foundation. Pete is getting much better at fundraising and the ideology behind it. The Foundation is constantly supporting organizations and causes that have a great impact on people’s lives. Next for Autism is one of the organizations it collaborates with. Also, the support it provides to communities in terms of awareness and advice is big as well as the attention to minorities and how they access services in the healthcare industry are important for the company.

www.insightssuccess.com

Ran Rachlin A Dedicated, Produc ve & Natural Leader

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rowd-tes ng is currently becoming one of the leading and most resource-eďŹƒcient ways to test various types of digital products. But how can you measure the ROI of Crowdtes ng? Is it possible to calculate the eďŹƒciency of Crowd-tes ng?

An interview with Ran Rachlin, Co-founder & CEO - Ubertesters Inc. by Insights Success answer these ques ons and much more.

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The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020

What led to the inception of the company?

I founded the company back in 2013, following a true need for a different type of software testing that I had in my previous company. In my former company, we developed a mobile app, and because of the diversity of the mobile world, we needed global testers to test for us with different devices, different languages, and carriers. We could not find a flexible and affordable solution. So, we came up with the concept of “Crowd testing” – a large community of global freelance testers that are ready to test any product for the client and provide a list of defects. The beauty of it was that the tester can do the testing during his/her free time and make extra money while testing.

Give a detailed description of your influence over the company and the industry.

When I started Ubertesters I decided that there will be three pillars to our success. The three most important things for me were a solid vision, good execution, and exceptional service. In the early days, I set up a clear vision of where we want to be and how we could get there. The next stage was to build a team of very talented, hardworking individuals that had a true desire to execute the vision well.

Finally, once we started selling the service, there was no compromise on excellent and superior customer service.

The best evidence is the large number of loyal customers that are using our services for several years and are extremely happy with us.

Further, I also take upon myself the role of leading the sales team. Because of my sales background and the fact that I know the product best – I can lead the sales team and make sure we sign up the client.

What do you consider to be your biggest professional achievement?

The main achievement with Ubertesters was 'creating something from nothing'. It all started with an idea based on a true “pain” I had, and a few years later, that dream became a reality with hundreds of clients, many employees, and a profitable company.

What is your idea of Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is extremely important to me personally, and I strongly believe that it can improve the employee's performance and morale.

However, as we are not a large corporation, it is more difficult for us to engage in significant CSR activities. Our CSR activities are divided between several aspects such as community-related activities or environmental-related practices.

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I also believe that CSR is not only about the environment. It is also about integrating CSR issues with your employees and customers. Therefore, we make sure our employees' wage structure is fair and equitable, we provide our employees with ongoing training, and we encourage our employees to seek a good balance between life/work.

Describe in detail the work culture and the values that drive your company.

We believe that our core values shape our work culture and inspire our employees to do more for our customers and as a result, are better motivated. The core values of Ubertesters are: - We believe in customer-focus and treating our customers with respect and faith.

- We integrate honesty, integrity, transparency, and business ethics into all aspects of our business functioning - We care about our employee's satisfaction and personal growth.

Our work culture puts the customer and superior customer service at the true center. This is our DNA as a company, and it starts with me as the CEO. Further, we believe in accountability and recognition. All employees must be accountable for achieving their goals and the company goals. As the leader, I follow their work and either hold them accountable when underperforming or recognize a job well done.

We also build a culture that is based on “make it fun”.

People work better when they love what they do, and they cannot perform strict tasks all-day without fun.

Lastly, we provide our employees with “room to grow” and make sure they are presented with interesting new roles and responsibilities.

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Our crowd tes ng service includes thousands of remote, professional testers in more than 120 countries to test any digital product and ensures it works as expected.

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Below are the highlights of the interview:

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The 10 Most Influential Business Leader of 2020

Saana Azzam

Creating an Enlightened World through Dialogue and Knowledge Transfer

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uccess is about elevating others. If I can do that with great health, compassion, and some humour then that's a job well done,” asserts Saana Azzam, whose expertise lies in the art of high-powered public speaking. Currently, Saana is the Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of the leading speaker's bureau in the Middle East called MENA Speakers.

MENA Speakers: Empowering & Educating MENA Speakers is a UAE based MCs and Speakers Bureau that educates, engages, and empowers by connecting speakers, MCs, and trainers to events, companies, and governments around the world. The company received the Best Speakers' Bureau award in the Middle East in 2019.

Behind the Journey Saana pursued her Master's in Economics from the esteemed Stockholm School of Economics.

Her adept skills and knowledge in market analysis, investments, research, and finance has earned her the prestigious title of 'Female Economist of the Year'. She undertook public speaking assignments in Europe on leadership and leading Generation Y and was listed as one of Sweden's 101 'Supertalents' in 2012 and recognized as a Top 30 Under 30 influencers in

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2015. Besides, Saana is a certified NLP Practitioner and incorporates this skill set in her trainings. Her speaking engagements have covered audience sizes from five up to 1000 persons and she has presented in Europe and the Middle East with clients such as Ericsson, Spotify, official functions and more.

Saana took over the responsibilities as Financial Sales Executive of Saxo Bank Middle East since November 2013 and pursued a banking career till 2016. Prior to Saxo Bank, Saana worked in the precious metals industry for the Swiss based company MKS/Pamp in a Business Development role covering institutional clients including Central Banks in the Middle East. She has played a key role as Business Developer in American Express and has also gained market research experience while serving at Barclays Capital as Summer Analyst FX Sales.

Besides, Saana is a fellow at The Vital Voices GROW, a leading business program under the founding leadership of Hilary Clinton and Madeleine Albright. She is the author of the book Leading Speakers and a contributing author of two books titled Voices of the 21st Century and Your Dose of Motivation.

www.insightssuccess.com

Saana Azzam Founder & Chief Inspiration OfďŹ cer MENA Speakers

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“

I have a dream that we get more global speakers from the Middle East and that we showcase the renaissance movement that is happening here.

Initiative on Track At every job, Saana would get invited to speak at different conferences. A seed was planted already in 2010 when she found herself being quite often the “unique” person at conferences in Europe. She was often the only female, the youngest and the only Arab speaker. She got headhunted by speaking agencies quite early on in her career.

“My hope is to have improved some lives by giving them the knowledge to independently lead compassionate and successful lives. I also have a dream that we get more global speakers from the Middle East and that we showcase the renaissance movement that is happening here. If that also happens to be female voices, then I would truly have lived a life worth living,” says Saana.

Inspiration is All Around

However, when she moved to Dubai there was no traditional speaker agency and she decided to set it up. It was new to the Middle East, as people were not even familiar with the expression “speakers' bureau”. She knew that she had signed up for a real challenge and she was not so sure if her cashflow would allow for that. In her first start-up month only, she received a call from South Africa and was requested to organize an event for HE President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa in Dubai with a few days' notice.

It was a beautiful milestone in her life and hosting a humble visionary such as His Excellency was marvelous achievement. That event single-handedly lifted her spirit and she felt like it was an omen that she was on the right path. Since then, Saana has made her mission and life purpose to improve the state of the world through great dialogue.

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Saana finds inspiration in every human being.

She believes that by having an authentic conversation with a person one will get to hear the most beautiful and powerful stories. Generally, she draws inspiration from people that challenge status quo like Oprah Winfrey, Jean D'Arc, Muna AbuSulayman, Frida Kahlo and so on.

According to Saana, lot of people visit the industry because they had a lucky break in a panel or similar and then dropout when they realize how hard it is to be a professional speaker. Yet, those that make it to the top reap some amazing benefits. In her advice to aspiring women leaders, who wish to break into public speaking industry, she says “Get an agent, get organized, treat your speaking career as if you were a corporation.”

www.insightssuccess.com