The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

VOL 04 | ISSUE 04 | 2020

A VISIONARY LEADER AND INSPIRATION TO MILLIONS

Sharon Morrish The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

Editor’s Desk

E Becoming a Role Model for Others

ntrepreneurship has become a widely recognized method of innovation that mobilizes individuals and resources. This expansion driver is important for economic development and overall growth crucial for everyone, including the entrepreneur. And it is a strong empowerment weapon for women who provide versatile ways to manage career and family commitments.

It is also widely accepted that women tend to climb more mountains in their professional journeys relative to their male equivalents.

Though the situation is less extreme now than the world of the past, women still do experience problems because of gender inequality. The prejudicial social, cultural, and political background tends to offer women a thorny road to go across all realms of existence - be it the arts, sciences, athletics, the military, or entrepreneurship.

Thankfully enough, not only have things changed, but they also continue to change for good. And while there could be several obstacles, women's entrepreneurial journey certainly has benefits. It can be easy to concentrate more on hurdles but recognizing the benefit of moving to entrepreneurship will allow one to become more comfortable and realize the possibilities that businesswomen already have. The exceptional personalities working in this diverse area come from different backgrounds and present an experience for individuals through all spectra of

identification. This spectrum covers ethnicities, socio-economic, social, geographical, and language limits.

And now, more than 11 million female corporations currently operate in the United States alone. Every year, this figure rises significantly. Women's businesses currently expand five times as much as the national average and women's businesses have more than risen since 2007. In general, women entrepreneurs in corporate cultures worldwide are making tremendous strides and leaving an impact.

This is what our latest and exclusive edition, The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020 , is all about. These pioneers are not only revamping the industry with innovative ideas but are also paving the path for aspiring female entrepreneurs. rohit.chaturvedi@insightssuccess.com

CONTENTS

08 COVERSTORY

Article

26

Shepreneurs

Maternity Time to Bring Out Break the Entrepreneur in You

40

Sharon

Morrish A Visionary Leader and Inspiration to Millions

Leader’s Viewpoint Margaret Hirsch A ceaseless legacy

16 Ellen Voie Creating Gender Diverse Culture in the Transportation Industry

44 Marina Tognetti An Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs in Tech

22 Jounna Riley Helping Organizations to Boost Recruiting ROI

50 Marne Martin

32

An Avid Leader Transforming Businesses via Technology

Laura Goodrich Helping Organizations to Have an Innovative Workforce

36 Leann Hackman Visioning to Make World a Better Place

56 Zahara Malik A ProďŹ cient of Impact Investing

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Rohit Chaturvedi

Jenny Fernandes Sourabh More

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Asha Bange

Kartik Balapurkar

Co-designer Kushagra Gupta

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Andy Mitter

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Kevin, Vishnu

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Alan, Anup

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com April, 2020

Follow us on :

www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/

www.twitter.com/insightssuccess

We are also available on : Copyright Š 2020 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success.

Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.

Sharon

Morrish

A Visionary Leader and Inspiration to Millions

“

Dream speciď€ c dreams, think big, be kind and don't be afraid to fall as you will always land in a better place.

Sharo

Surf C

COVERSTORY

on Morrish CEO

City Cranes

I

n November 2014 I had a brain aneurysm. I woke up in ICU on life support not consciously knowing what had happend, but at the same time understanding something major at happened. My husband framed a letter I wrote to my family whilst in the operating theatre, a note to this day I do not remember writing.” This sounds dreadful but behind this suffering and pain, there is a name Sharon Morrish, who is an inspiration for millions, a brave soul and an impeccable business woman.

memories with my husband and children.” She adds “When you work continuously, to have that 24/7 time with your family on a magic holiday is precious time.”

In an interview with Insights Success, Sharon Morrish, CEO of Surf City Cranes emphasizes on her journey to becoming a successful business leader and sharing some key traits of leadership.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

After 3 weeks in ICU, 4 days on life support, one week in the brain ward Sharon came home. As the doctors explained to her; - 5% of people are lucky enough to come out like her. She had no repercussions but it took her about 12 months to fully recover due to tiredness and mental clarity.

Sharon's immediate feeling in hospital and thereafter was extreme love for all. The blessed feeling she had and still has, is something difficult to describe. She asserts “To be alive is the greatest gift. After this our world has included a lot more travel. We made a conscious decision to live and not just work; my goal was and still is to create lifetime

Give a brief overview of your background and your role in Surf City Cranes.

In the late 80's, early 90's I worked on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays in various roles from reception, cashier, reservations, supervisor, special events, secretary, PA and eventually becoming the first female Duty Manager.

From there I moved to Brisbane going from a team environment to very much a male dominated world. At 32 years I became a General Manager of a Leagues Club in

Brisbane. I was the youngest female GM in Clubs in Qld and at the time there was only about 4 of us in the State.

Jon (husband) and I moved to the Coast in 2002 where I became GM of Southport Yacht Club for a period of 5 years.

My skills are definitely in Management and as CEO and coowner of Surf City Cranes Pty Ltd I instil all of my management experience, whereas Jon is very sales, mechanically and crane operationally minded. Our skills complement each other to create a successful, thriving business. As CEO I am responsible for finances, HR, change, systems, operations, growth and marketing.

these traits, whilst maintaining positive, calm and unselfish attitudes remain my role models. I encourage people to disagree with me as this always produces a better result. It does not mean you dislike that person, it encourages you to have a voice. My admiration for people who never give up and people who positively change the world in any small way is high and these are the traits I live by. Keep changing, growing and learning as a leader and as a person and always treat people with respect. Give your team recognition when they deserve it, never take the credit for someone else and always speak the truth. My bluntness, or to the point conversations, can be valued or cursed depending on who you are.

Mention the personality that you consider as your role model and what virtues of him/her do you want to inculcate in your everyday life?

My role models initially were my parents. Never did they swear in front of us, they always showed love, kindness and old fashioned manners. Integrity, honesty and kindness were expected of us. In a business sense people who have

We all know you are a mother of three. So, how do you the daunting task of balancing between your professional & personal life?

Never did I doubt, I would have children and having met my husband at 36 meant starting a family later in life. My first child was born 4 days after my 40th birthday, second child at 42 years and my third was born one day after my

45th birthday. Having healthy, retired parents is a blessing as they helped care for my children from the time they were 6 weeks old. My husband initially was the casual worker, stay at home Dad, but we had just bought a new house, were renovating, I was managing a Yacht Club fulltime and we were thinking about starting Surf City Cranes. It was still tough even with all the help.

Support is crucial, from the workplace environment, to the home environment. As a General Manager it is not feasible to take 12 months maternity leave. We were in the middle of upgrading/renovating the club and building our first superyacht berths. To be honest looking back I wonder how we did it. Up early, through the night, preparing meals, renovating at work and home, I think you just go into zombie mode. If there was a Board meeting I would start work at 7am, finish at midnight, come home, prepare lunches for the next day and start again. Our children were always in our bed with us, as this was the time that I cherished. We read stories, cuddled and enjoyed that quality time. Sundays were family day. My parents gave plenty of love and help and those first 5 years we valued and needed this. Although the guilt is always there, I knew my children were receiving the ultimate love and this is what is important.

When we started our own business it was again late nights, early mornings and weekend work. I created the business plans, did cashflow projections, set up the company whilst my husband sourced our first crane, sourced clients, allocated and did numerous cold calls. He is exceptional at what he does. We built it together and remain a strong partnership today. It was 18 months into the business that I could concentrate on one business and not two and work full time from home.

Now many years on, we still do a lot of work late at night when the kids are in bed. We work around the family in the afternoons from around 3.30pm and work again from around 7pm. It is the norm for my children to see us tapping away on our computers. Having this internal drive to continually grow, source better ways of doing things is something we both thrive on.

How do you deal with dynamics of market?

Constant research of where you think the market will be, adapt where necessary but always try to sell your value and not sell just on price. Although we get frustrated with price driven clients we still believe that value will win long term.

This is where we differentiate. Each year a balanced score card is created and we try and incorporate something new

The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

and improve a section of our business. We are ISO accredited, have a sustainability plan, have our success proďŹ les for our team and keep on changing.

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

Nothing is more important than respect, kindness and caring toward your team. Good communication is crucial, it means listening, caring and talking. Being calm in stressful situations is also a necessity as your team looks to you for guidance, stability and reassurance. Always keep searching for a better way to do things, constant change is necessary and keeps it exciting.

Always give credit to your team and always admit your mistakes. We have an awesome team. Taking ownership for all things instils trust, makes you human and encourages others to be honest and not afraid.

How necessary is it to align business with technology and what are its outcomes?

Technology streamlines processes and although there are numerous programs out there, we have been unable to ďŹ nd the right one for us. Our own app is being developed for internal use, in order that we function more eďŹƒciently, save time and give our team real time resources. Immediate communication can occur and our ROI will improve.

What advice would you like to give to the emerging entrepreneurs?

I've learnt so much over the years, it is important to always help others, never tread on someone else to achieve your success, never be intimidated by what you don't know.

Always ask someone smarter, never let age deter you from anything in life, always be grateful for what you have.

Being an emerging entrepreneur can be frustrating but you must have the patience and everyday just do one small thing toward your dream. At the end of a month, or even a week, you can look back and see how many roadblocks you have already conquered.

Ellen Voie Founder Women In Trucking Association, Inc.

16 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

“

S

tarting a non-profit association is extremely difficult.

To make matters worse, I started Women In Trucking in 2007, just before the recession hit the industry. To overcome this, I had to prove that gender diversity was an urgent and important goal,” says Ellen Voie. She is the founder of the non-profit organization, Women In Trucking Association, Inc. and envisions a more genderdiverse culture in the transportation industry.

According to Ellen, in the beginning, she would stand in front of trucking company executives, and they would tell her that gender diversity wasn’t an issue. Age, ethnicity, or gender didn’t pose any roadblocks in hiring professional drivers. However, once she started showing them the benefits women bring to the industry, they started listening.

She said, “Women have been proven to be safer commercial drivers because they take fewer risks. Women are often better with paperwork, customers, and in taking care of equipment.” Women value their relationship with their carrier more than men, so this made trucking companies start to ask the organization to provide more information on attracting and retaining women as drivers. “We knew we

www.insightssuccess.com

had to provide the data and so we have focused on research to understand female commercial drivers better. Once we had hard data to offer the industry, we became the experts, and more importantly, the resource,” She added.

Below are highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Ellen Voie: Kindly take us through your journey to becoming a proficient leader.

The key to being a great leader is to listen. I listen to our members when they express their concerns or frustrations related to being a woman in the trucking industry. Our members range from CEOs to drivers and technicians, but regardless of their role, they are still a minority when it comes to working in the area of the supply chain. When a driver tells me she has a problem reaching the pedals or seeing over the dash of the truck, we listen. When a CEO says to me she feels marginalized in the boardroom filled with male colleagues, we empathize. Listening to our members is crucial to our success.

April 2020

| 17

“we’re the only organization with the mission to support both drivers and management in the trucking industry”

How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to entice the target audience?

What are the vital traits that every businesswoman should possess?

In addition to listening to our members’ concerns, we look at ways to make their jobs less challenging and more rewarding. We also look at ways we can reach beyond our industry and share our message with those who might not understand the transportation industry. For example, we created the Girl Scout patch so girls can learn about the supply chain and how it pertains to them personally. We added an activity book that shows how the grain in the field is shipped to the baker on a truck, from the baker to the packager on a truck, and so on. We also created a truck driver doll so children can play with a toy that might lead them into a career as a driver.

Any businesswoman, especially women in male-dominated careers, needs to possess a thick skin. We need to forge ahead with the attitude that we know what we’re doing, and we’re not going to let anyone stop us. On the positive side, once we’ve proven ourselves, we are not only accepted, we are appreciated. Women in male-dominated environments can and do, show our peers that we are capable.

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

Our membership consists of anyone who believes in our mission. To that point, nearly anyone can join the association. However, we want to attract people who believe in the benefits of gender diversity. We really don’t have any competition in the association arena, as most of the trucking associations are segregated by types of transport (tankers, flatbeds, rigging, etc.) or geography (state associations) or even the size of the company (owneroperators, small carriers or large carriers.) Our focus is gender diversity, and we're the only organization with the mission to support both drivers and management in the trucking industry.

18 | April 2020

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

Our entire mission is to empower women. Whether they are drivers, technicians, safety managers, CEOs, or directors, we offer information and resources to help them identify and overcome diversity challenges. Every presentation I give to women (and men) to identify and understand unconscious bias in hiring, promoting, and recognizing potential is another step in addressing and, more importantly, stopping hiring and promoting practices that inhibit the advancement of women.

What are your insights on “The myth of meritocracy”?

And how it could bring a change in today's business arena?

In my experience, women who work in male-dominated careers have a harder time proving themselves. Many female drivers have been told to go back home and bake

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

bread or take care of babies. However, once you have confirmed that you can do the job, you gain the respect of your male peers. Men admire women who succeed in their environment, for the most part. There are always men who are intimidated by women who do the same job, but although those voices seem louder, they are often in the minority. Men with integrity respect women who can do the same job.

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

Technology is only a tool. Once you recognize that this tool is something to be used as needed, you can control your “submission” to it. I don’t allow it to rule my time, and the silence button is often used. On the flip side, knowing what

www.insightssuccess.com

applications benefit your productivity can enhance your personal growth. I have apps that track my steps and my calorie intake as well as apps to help me in my extensive travel schedule, but I don’t use apps that distract me from doing my job.

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

I anticipate the Women In Trucking Association to grow in both geographic regions as well as in our North American presence. We are currently creating chapters to continue our work in regional and local areas. We have also created a driver ambassador who will take a tractor-trailer to trade shows, schools, and other events to give people a hands-on experience in learning about the trucking industry.

April 2020

| 19

Rile

The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

E

ntrepreneur, advocate, and mentor for diversity in technology are just a few of Joanna's titles. The most important, however, is CEO and co-founder of Censia, an AI-powered talent acquisition software. Censia allows talent teams to add AI to their existing recruiting process to instantly predict which person is most likely to succeed in any given role and then discovers them among applicants or the global talent pool. On average, it helps recruiters reduce the time spent on manual tasks by 90%.

Many factors influenced how Joanna became a leader, one of which was coming from a family of entrepreneurs. She grew up witnessing the process of creating things, the struggles of being a change agent, and she can't imagine any other way to live.

During her early career, she had the opportunity to work abroad and meet with business leaders and government officials around the world. No matter where she went and who she spoke to, everyone shared the same concern: they felt they couldn't hire enough capable talent for their companies. Joanna found this shocking and started researching the topic, only to discover that the talent was there all along, but that there was no good way to analyze it and that unconscious hiring bias was keeping a lot of people out of the right jobs. This is where the idea for Censia was born.

ey

Factors that had Huge Impact Two factors that had a significant impact on Joanna were that she had dyslexia growing up and that she was a rower. Being dyslexic made her become more resourceful and learn the value of communicating well and being personable at a very young age. It also made her realize just how important it is to focus on what people can bring to the table and what they can't. Knowing that people have different strengths and that diversity of talent makes a company stronger from a young age is a concept that lies at the core of what Censia does.

Rowing, on the other hand, taught Joanna that one needs to bring strong people into one's team and align them. If even one person is rowing in another direction, the boat goes nowhere, and it is the same with a company: if people don't align on the mission and goals, the company can't grow. But if everyone is working towards the same goals, the desired growth becomes exponential.

An Obsessively Customer-Centric Organization One thing that motivates all of Censia's business decisions is that the company is obsessively customer-centric. Therefore, Censia designs all of its offerings and optimizations to meet their customer's needs.

Censia designed its software to be easy to use as a cloud solution or to integrate into existing systems with the simple of giving talent teams access to the most cutting-edge AI-powered talent intelligence without any cumbersome migrations, coding experience, or extensive training. The company wanted to make finding the best talent for its clients as simple as using Google.

Joanna chose this model because most enterprises have invested heavily in implementing, setting up, migrating to, and training their staff in enterprise solutions.

These solutions are complex and efficient, so rather than changing and migrating, Censia gave them the option to extend and enhance what they have.

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 23

Joanna Riley Co-founder & CEO Censia

24 | April 2020

“ www.insightssuccess.com

Listening is the Key According to Joanna, all leaders need to take a step back, take an honest look at their company's results, and listen to what their customers are saying. That is the most important thing.

Embracing Vulnerability What Joanna has found is that women are often afraid to talk about what they aren't good at, but understanding what one is good at and isn't good at is the key to being successful. Only when a leader knows her strengths and weaknesses can she strategically hire others to fill in the

“Hire the smartest people you can and align them so that everyone is pursuing the same goal. Focus on your customer's pain points and help them solve their problems in the most e ective way

gaps. Many leaders feel as though they can or should do everything themselves, but Joanna believes this prevents them from scaling in the long run.

Tackling Roadblocks Joanna has spent most of my time working as an entrepreneur, so she has much more experience facing challenges in that field than she does incorporate business.

Both of her parents were entrepreneurs, and she knew from a young age that this path will be full of both successes and failures, but that ultimately, one person can create amazing things. Joanna's mom used to produce some of the greatest movies, and seeing one person orchestrate all that magic made Joanna realize how powerful one individual can be, and how much one has to take on in other to accomplish this. As a child, Joanna's father read Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" to her at bedtime, and she always felt as though this describes what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

Joanna also believes that women are more influential than they realize, and need to own how much influence they have on the world, even when they are not in a position of power. When Joanna spoke at the G20 summit, she asked everyone she met why they wanted to lead a country, and so many of them said it was because they had a mother or an aunt in their lives who overcame great adversity.

Future Ready Joanna and all her team are actively pursuing Censia's mission to transform the way people find, hire and nurture talent by making AI-powered talent intelligence accessible to companies of all sizes, and to eliminate unconscious hiring bias for good.

In addition to this, the company has launched ReadyToHire.

This initiative uses artificial intelligence to instantly match people who have lost their jobs to open roles at companies with hiring needs. To date, Censia has helped more than 2 million people whose jobs have been lost or are in danger of being lost connect with companies who are expanding.

possible. If you can do this, your company will always succeed."

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 25

26 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

Shepreneurs

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 27

28 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 29

“My passion is to empower as many leaders as possible and truly make a difference.”

challenges faced by leaders, teams, and organizations in a change-dynamic environment. Everything can be done virtually, which includes assessments, team and leader coaching, micro learning, and accountability tools to track behavior metrics on an interactive technology platform.

The processes are entirely focused on mind-set, preparing for the future of work, transformation, and leading teams remotely. All of this is dependent on the company's research and keen observations of human behaviour.

There is a lot that needs to be fixed and one can't possibly get to all of it. She advises to upcoming businesswomen “Be realistic about what you can do. I'd also recommend playing to your strengths and partner with those who can compensate for where you fall short. Once you've figured out your area of focus and have found a good team, be ready to work harder and longer than you've ever imagined.

But despite the pain and difficulty, you should be finding deep meaning in your work. That's what gets you through.”

First in the Market For GWT Next, there weren't many toe-to-toe competitors in the marketplace when the company started. That may sound great, but as being one of the first ones to show up, it had to do quite a bit of heavy lifting. Things were like this for quite some time. As a result, the company had to create high-quality processes and products from scratch without many points of reference.

Overcoming Challenges Laura asserts “We were very early to market and found significant challenges in finding the right market and a fit for our products.” The tipping point was the convergence of these five things: improved digital platforms, adoption of those platforms, the right partners, and the arrival of new, virtual solutions and the necessity of remote work worldwide that revealed new opportunities for the company.

She further adds “All of these things allowed me to make good on my passion to empower as many leaders as possible and truly make a difference.”

“But we're proud of what we've done so far” says Laura.

The company's disciplined approach to researching emerging technologies, global connectedness, demographic shifts, and the changing expectations of employees has allowed it to truly distinguish itself. The goal, from the getgo, has been to empower leaders and employees to transform the underlying assumptions of the workplace and stoke the flames of innovation.

Be Real and Focused According to Laura, focus on real, solvable challenges.

34 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

Leann Hackman-Carty Visioning to Make World a Better Place

L

eadership, integrity, professionalism and vision are vital traits that every business women should possess” says Leann Hackman-Carty, Founder and Principal of HackmanCarty & Associates. She believes we can save lives and livelihoods, and is “passionate about creating a sustainable, disaster-resilient world for everyone.” As a social entrepreneur, she desires to make a meaningful global impact.

Leann also a Chief Creative Officer and Channel host of MYD Global, a YouTube channel dedicated to "all things disaster-related", and author of the “Master Your Disaster” series of preparedness, response and recovery guidebooks.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights success and Leann Hackman-Carty: Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a proficient leader.

I have had the privilege of having great leadership role models during my career. Starting early as a child- my parents always encouraged me to be involved at school, as a volunteer, as a leader. I also had an amazing university professor who challenged me to better understand my values/background and how they affected my world view. My first “real” job after university was working for an Alderman, who then became Mayor of Calgary. I worked with him for over a decade, and learned a significant amount

36 | April 2020

about civic leadership. Since then, I have continued to seek out leadership roles in both the private and non-profit sectors. To me, leadership is about having a big vision on where you want to go- but also understanding the tactics that it will take to get there.

It is also about being able to inspire others to join you on the journey, and recognizing that together you can achieve more.

How do you diversify your organization's offerings to entice the target audience?

Understanding who your target audience is, and what problem you are solving is where it all starts. Instead of developing a product, and then trying to find a market for it, a business person should spend the time clearly defining what the problem is, and then determining how your solution will help solve the problem. Don't sell a solution looking for a problem.

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

To be honest, while it is always good to understand who your external competition is and what they are doing; I find it much more energizing and productive to focus internally on refining my products and services. I don't actually spend a lot of time looking at what others are doing. I want to be the best at what I do, and sometimes that means paving the way, not looking at what others are doing.

www.insightssuccess.com

Leann Hackman-Carty Founder & Principal HackmanCarty & Associates

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 37

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

We all have challenges we need to overcome. Whether we are young and people don't' take us seriously; or a woman overlooked or dismissed when her male colleague is in the room, we all need to be mindful of how we are perceived by others, and look to either enhance our assets or mitigate our liabilities. To me, my response has been to work that much harder to ensure I know as much as I can, and am as prepared as I can be. Some things are in our control, others aren't. Focus on what you can control.

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

I had very strong female role models. From my grandmothers, to my mother, my mother-in law, my aunts, my sister, my friends, and many of my colleagues. There were only two girls in our immediate family growing up.

We were both encouraged to pursue our dreams. I never felt that I was inferior. It was never an issue for me. I just felt I needed to work hard, be prepared and I would succeed. However, I know that isn't the case for every woman. I guess I have always gravitated towards organizations and causes that help support and further women's empowerment. “To those that are given much, much is expected”. Guess I took that seriously.

“

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

go, source as many

While I believe it is important to focus on personal growth, to be honest, I don't spend a lot of time doing that right now. Maybe it is because I have teenagers, run my own business, run a non-profit, chair a women's peer advisory board, host a YouTube channel, and try to keep sane while doing all of that. I just don't have a lot of time right now to sit back and engage in “personal growth”. I consider getting up every day, and trying to make an impact that day, as my personal growth plan.

quality materials and

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

resources as you can and

I want to make a difference in the world. I have always had a bigger vision for what I wanted to do. I am going to continue to build on my disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resiliency work as I believe that is where I can make a significant difference there. I am also always looking for unique commercial opportunities that I can get involved in that have the potential to disrupt industries.

“Know where you want to

then pave your own unique path.”

38 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

MARGARET HIRSCH A ceaseless legacy

H

irsch’s is a truly South African family business.

Founded 41 years ago by Allan who is the Chairman, it is the largest independently owned Appliance and Electronics retail outlet in South Africa. Margaret is Executive Director of the company, son Richard is CEO and daughter Luci – Brand Manager.

Hirsch’s was not created overnight. When Margaret lost her job as a receptionist and pregnant with her first

40 | April 2020

Margaret Executive Director

www.insightssuccess.com

Leader’s Viewpoint

child, she and Allan needed to plan for survival. Allan had been working as a refrigeration repairman, but this would not have been sufficient to provide for the family. Allan suggested they start their own business. It started off as a refrigeration and air conditioning repairs shop and eventually, they were opening one store after the other.

Today you will find Hirsch’s stores scattered around the country. In Gauteng (11), KwaZulu-Natal (6) and Western Cape (2).

Margaret regards herself as a “jack of all trades”. She has done selling, invoicing, demonstrating, deliveries, installing, and generally taking care of almost everything at Hirsch’s for the past 41 years.

She doesn’t have an office at any of the 19 branches. But before the pandemic, she visited each of them every week – joining the staff on the floor to get involved with customer queries, and enjoying every minute of it. “Keeping our customers happy and providing them with a unique, hands-on service has helped our business grow and we are continuously finding ways to improve our service to them.” She says. She is itching to get back on the floor to join her customers and staff when the time is right.

Her knack for empowering everyone involved with the company is inspiring. In 1994 Hirsch’s decided to empower their drivers. The company sold its trucks to the drivers at a low price over an extended period. The ripple effect of this was that more than 20 delivery businesses have started up over the past 21 years, and these delivery businesses now employ more than 800 people.

With more than 2 000 people in their employ, Hirsch’s mostly invests in

www.insightssuccess.com

turning their staff into motivated employees with sound goals. Objectives that are encouraged, including investing in their own homes to live comfortably. Values that are embedded with the staff are honesty, integrity, and loyalty.

As far as a recipe for success goes, there are intriguing points of difference in this family operation. The company has honed the concept of customer care to a unique level. It starts with building customer loyalty that made Hirsch’s a household name. The approach being that Hirsch’s is not just about shopping. They aim to add value to the shopping experience by hosting functions and demonstrations in-store that revolve around the product. This is driven by embracing 21st-century technology and social media platforms.

Customers are drawn to follow Margaret on their website and social media. On the website she provides entertaining and lifestyle sections on motivation, content for businesswomen, a sound cloud, and blogs on recipes, decor, and fashion. These sections are not trying to sell anything.

They merely add value with a wealth of useful content to be enjoyed by followers.

Before Covid-19, Hirsch’s stores ran active community involvement projects like networking sessions for local entrepreneurs, training sessions for domestic workers and regular cookoffs by children in-store, or Margaret teaming up with celebrities for fun culinary experiences.

The networking programmes facilitate businesswomen and men to connect, share knowledge, and support each other. Successful business people in the community or Margaret herself regularly do a talk on their business

model, providing motivation and business tips useful to the audience.

During Lockdown, Margaret has held these networking sessions in a virtual setting, and the response has been exceptional.

During networking sessions, wannabe entrepreneurs often ask Margaret about borrowing capital to start their business. She believes entrepreneurs should never borrow money to start a business. She says, eventually they would need to pay back the money with interest. “Start slowly, use the money you have. Get what money you can, sell everything. And every cent you make, you plow back into the business.”

In the day-to-day business operations, Margaret savours customer interaction.

“What I love in our industry, is seeing two and sometimes three generations from the same family coming through to furnish their homes with us.”

There is also no short supply in social responsibility drives by this brand.

Margaret has been involved in promoting the Girls With Dignity project to support young girls throughout the country who used to be absent from school while menstruating.

Following extensive talks at schools, motivating girls to attend school, attendance has increased from 40% to 80% and their marks have also improved dramatically.

Another initiative is the Margaret Hirsch Women in Business Achiever of the Year Award. Businesswomen in each of the areas where Hirsch’s operate are recognised for their achievements in the workplace.

Margaret established the competition after she saw how well her business did and how winning many awards herself – gave her an edge over her

April 2020

| 41

competitors. “Winning these awards has been wonderful – both for Hirsch’s and for me personally, and I would like to see this happening to other women in business.”

Empowering women and helping them to realise their true wealth is something that she thrives on.

An example is Anna Mhlanga, an aspiring baker who she met at her Meadowdale store several years ago.

Margaret told us the story.

“Anna is the wife of a preacher and she needed to find something that would help boost the family income.

When she came to see me at the Hirsch Meadowdale branch, it was to get ideas on how to start a baking business. It was something that she was passionate about but didn’t know how to go about building a business around it.

I suggested that she start out making something she was comfortable with and selling. She started with cupcakes and before long she was getting large orders. She was also approached to make speciality cakes – wedding cakes in particular. She put herself on an icing course and then set out to make and sell the cakes. Before long she was tripling her profit and the orders kept coming in.

At one of our meetings she explained how much she enjoyed baking and had thought about starting up her own baking school. I agreed that it would be an excellent idea and together we put together a programme where she would hold lessons at one of the Hirsch

42 | April 2020

branches that had a kitchen. This was in Centurion.

Anna started with a small group of women and gradually the group grew.

She passed on her knowledge of baking and icing and charged the women a flat rate to attend the lessons.

Although she continued to make speciality cakes, she found that she got some much pleasure out of teaching that she asked if she could do lessons at one of our other branches.

When the ladies who attended the Centurion branch baking lessons graduated I attended the graduation and was delighted to see that they had brought their children along to watch the ceremony and applaud their mothers for their achievements. It was also clear to me that they would all have a good grounding for becoming entrepreneurs themselves. The women who attended the course have all ended up with successful baking businesses of their own.

Anna took her baking business to our Brakpan store where she continued to teach baking skills to the local community. These women also graduated and have ended up running their own baking businesses. One, Abigail, holds regular classes at our Brakpan branch and has regular orders for her wedding cakes.

make the most of their lessons and become breadwinners for their families. They have all done extremely well with their baking businesses and some have gone on to teach baking skills themselves. Others have gone the health route and devised healthy menus for families on a shoestring. Once again it has been hugely gratifying to see the reaction from the children of these women. All have seen how hard their mothers have worked and are on a path to achieve goals of being equally hard-working and successful.

Margaret has become a leading example to businesswomen in Southern Africa – coming from a humble background to co-founding and running the family’s multi-million rand appliance and electronic retail operation. She has been recognised with a multitude of business awards, including two Lifetime Achievement Awards in business and entrepreneurship.

This leading businesswoman believes that entrepreneurs could make a difference in the future of the country.

“I am passionate about business. I am passionate about South Africa and I think we as a country need to be strong. We as South Africans have to be entrepreneurs.”

Anna’s husband was transferred to Somerset West three years ago and we agreed that she continue with her lessons there. She had an influx of Zimbabwean women coming through for lessons, many of whom were destitute and had to support their families. They were determined to

www.insightssuccess.com

44 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

MARINA

Tognetti An Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs in Tech

T

he passion for entrepreneurship came later on in my career” said Marina as she built first a successful career by large multinationals, Procter & Gamble, Philips, Sara Lee, The Boston Consulting Group and eBay; and got an MBA from INSEAD. Marina Tognetti a tech entrepreneur, who is the founder and CEO of mYngle.com, a global language training platform.

She asserts “It was when working as consultant on a project on internet strategy that I first saw the potential of internet to disrupt entire industries and change forever the way we buy/sell/interact. I had to be part of that! That was the driver to start an innovative company as mYngle.”

Combining Excellence and Advancement According to Marina, in mYngle, the company nurture an obsession for customer satisfaction, and this is also one of its key strengths. It looks to continuously improve its service. The company does so by constantly listening to users’ feedback and improving accordingly, as well as leveraging new technologies at its advantage.

This is also reflected in mYngle’s internal evaluation systems and how it assess job. It constantly monitor its users’ reactions and try to adjust accordingly, using adapted versions of NPS (Net Promoter Score), which defines that only excellence counts. The organization’s average lessons’ scores are 4.9/5.0. Results speak for themselves!

Understanding User’s Needs

“BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.” www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 45

46 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

Marina strongly believes that the key to success is not constantly comparing with competition, but aligning with what customers want. Constant focus on customers and their needs is one of mYngle’s pillars and key strengths.

This is particularly important when one is in an industry like online education, is in a transition or evolution phase, where the main challenge is not competition but the unawareness or inexperience of customers.

Education was (and in large part still is) operating in the old traditional way, offering learners what is available, not what they need. But “One size does not fit all.” Marina says “By understanding the customer and diversifying our offer in terms of teacher- content- frequency, we can match each specific need.”

Vital Traits for a Business Woman “We are living in an era of fast and drastic changestechnology, volatility of the market, talent development,” says Marina. This affects the role of a leader, man or woman, which must be able not only to adapt but also to ride the positive trends.

For Marina, a business woman must have a strong ’Vision’ to set the direction and anticipate and navigate challengeswhich also means being able to ’Think out of the box’, adapt and change to keep the business successful. Marina further said “she must not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks in order to anticipate trends and steer the company also in turbulent waters. Last, but not least, she must be able to build an organization that is also agile. That requires developing people that think and not only do “jobs’’, employees that are entrepreneurs, fostering a culture of experimentation.”

Learning through Experience The main challenges were when the company had to ’pivot’ from the initial business model to a completely different one. Marina says “We had launched mYngle as a marketplace, something I knew very well from my previous eBay experience. We thought we got it all: funding, lots of Awards and PR, a very motivated team. But something in the business model was not functioning as we expected. We listened to our customers and they gave us the new direction, and they gave us the new direction, from an open marketplace to a quality global online school, from B2C to B2B. That is the mYngle that you see now.”

that we all have but few want to share”. She added “A strong leader is not the one without faults, as we all have faults, but that which is so self-confident to be able to show her vulnerabilities without being scared that it would impact her strength.”

Marina regularly presents at international conferences on the topics of female leadership and entrepreneurship, and won numerous awards for her role of woman in technology such as 50 most inspiring women tech leaders in Europe, 50 most inspiring women in Dutch technology sector, Iconic Women Creating a Better World for All and many others.

Truth and Myth of Meritocracy Although the tech world might seem to perfectly fit the meritocracy idea, it is actually not the case when one compares chances for men and women. For jobs at leading tech start-ups, most outreach and recruitment take place through word-of-mouth, alumni referrals and personal networks, which are predominantly composed of males.

Also, women entrepreneurs are not getting venture-capital funding at the same rate as men. This despite the fact that data on returns show venture-backed tech start-ups with women at the helm outperforms those led by men.

Technological Advancement Technology should be seen as an opportunity, as it opens directions that only a few decades ago seemed unattainable.

It allows new businesses that can disrupt entire industries. ’CHANGE is GOOD’ as it forces improvements and continuous developments. “I am a business person,” Marina says “so do not need to be an expert in its implementation, but I must understand its implication for a business: how it impacts a company, the customers, the value chain.”

On Future Endeavours The future challenge for mYngle will be in keeping innovating and being ahead while the market moves from early stage to more mature.

For Marina personally, it will also be time for the idealistic voice inside to speak, the voice that believes in giving something back for a better world. She walked this path and learned a lot. That brought her in a privileged position, where she can act and implement new ideas that can make a difference. She can now use her skills to make the world just a little bit better.

Empowering Women Marina opines “The tech world is still particularly male dominated: only 5% of tech start-ups are owned by women.

That is why I aim to be a role model for other women in tech, but an accessible one, trying to give a genuine picture of what it takes to be an entrepreneur, the ups and downs

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 47

Marne Martin An Avid Leader Transforming Businesses via Technology

n an interview with Insights Success, Marne Martin—President Service Management Global of IFS, emphasizes on her impeccable journey and her contribution in the evolution of IT sector. Her unique ideology and methods have helped her to achieve many milestones in her pathway, creating a better roadmap for her company to prevail.

I

regardless if one is naturally talented or not. I have grown a great deal over the decades, and feel that I am only part way along the journey. For example, technology skills are equally critical to being an effective leader, and in how we partner with businesses embracing digital transformation.

Technology is continually evolving, and we must also evolve with it on a personal and operational level.

Insights Success admire such personalities and takes pride in featuring Marne in its special edition, “The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020”.

How do you diversify your organization's offerings to entice the target audience?

First step is agreeing what is the target audience, as that may not be the audience that you have today or that you think you want. If you look through history, you find examples of companies that were innovative in their time, but then the market changed and they didn't. Likewise, consumers change generationally and with societal change.

Therefore, a company has to be nimble and adapt to their target audience not only in the short and long term, but also move quickly along the way in case that audience does shifts due to size, distinction, or profitability.

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

Growing up on a ranch and being captain of sports teams were both great training in my early years. I was very fortunate in my employment out of college to be able to lead teams, learn from mentors, and work internationally over the decades to hone my skills. Working in other cultures and countries around the world was supremely enriching to continue guiding the journey of becoming an effective leader.

Leadership and management skills don't happen in a vacuum. It is with experience and peer review that we grow,

50 | April 2020

The second step is assessing whether you have the cash and talent to diversify. Diversifying is easier if a company has already executed on a focused strategy and has talent that is scalable, e.g. a foundation already laid with the existing product or services that can be positioned into a new business model, sales motion or market. Diversification can

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

Marne Martin President Service Management Global IFS www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 51

“Hard work, resiliency, creativity and most importantly, the ability to manage your talent empathetically to get the best out of people, are the keys to success.” be expensive though, which is why many cash limited or startup companies are better off focusing on a single product or service that is excellent and then as momentum, investment and/or profits allow, diversifying through organic means or an acquisition.

To diversify an organization's offerings, look to whether the company is best served by adding another product or service, going into a new or different market or geography, and / or add a new sales motion. All of these are forms of diversification where the best one or combination needs to be mapped to what generates the most business value for your target audience, and the greatest profits or momentum for the company. Diversification is successful when you can use it to maximize the returns on the talent, products or services that you have to sell aligned with a go to market strategy that is tailored to the customer segment, pricing, delivery, packaging, sales motion, etc. that can be executed on. A diversification strategy therefore has to fundamentally tie into the business plan and strategy you have as a company, and what your exit strategy is (if applicable).

Diversifying by organic development versus acquisition also acquire differing degrees of time and money, as well as risk. I have seen businesses that had great talent and also a great product simply run out of cash if they tried to diversify without adequate funding and got over-stretched, as well as companies that stayed single product / single customer segment too long and got caught behind the market.

Diversification is important to the long-term success of most businesses, but it can't be done “randomly” where a company doesn't understand the market, the target audience or how to grow profitably. While there are very successful companies valued highly on the stock market or by their PE owners that aren't profitable and continue to find access to cash, that is always a riskier proposition, especially in times of fluctuating consumer or business demand and availability of capital.”

52 | April 2020

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

Momentum, talent, and customer focus are all key to being competitive and continuing to win. A successful strategy has to focus on the customer first. Then, the talent that is necessary to be successful and differentiate the company from its peers. Finally, the momentum that can create an avalanche of demand where customer acquisition and retention becomes ideally cheaper over time in order to be able to redeploy funds into ongoing innovation and differentiation. Without that momentum, cost of customer acquisition and retention can become very costly and eliminate the ability to earn profits.

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

The ability to achieve results and work with all sorts of people is paramount. In these two areas, women in business need to differentiate themselves even more than their peers in order to maximize recognition and opportunities of being promoted. Hard work, resiliency and creativity to find solutions in tough or complicated times are also critical traits. Lastly, one needs to be not only a good coach, but also be coachable.

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

To some degree, I probably had more challenge launching my career in the international business scene coming from a small town in Wyoming than the fact that I am a woman.

Networking and being in the right place at the right is key regardless of gender. If those connections don't from from family or alumni, it can be even more challenging.

For women specifically, there is the balancing act of demonstrating toughness, leadership, drive and ambition to levels where you maintain your team's respect and support for initiatives you're leading. Along with these traits, having a high degree of emotional intelligence is what has benefitted me, and I suspect every woman that has either broken the glass ceiling or found a way around it is the

www.insightssuccess.com

same. Men may at times be successful without a high degree of emotional intelligence, but I have personally never found that to be the case with women who reach the highest levels of their organizations.

Persistence is also key. One needs to recognize that every day is a new opportunity to not only prove oneself, but also enrich and improve those around you. The most successful leaders are ones that act as “multipliers” in their organizations. Managers also in many cases need to lean in and continue advancing the careers of women who want to raise families or have other care obligations. I chose to travel and work internationally at times in lieu of child care or other care obligations, but many women wouldn't have made the same choice, and frankly, we need to get to a point where woman don't have to make the choice. Times are changing, but there is still change to be made.

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

This is a multifaceted question. Do I believe and advocate that women should be valued and encouraged to be whatever they want to be – yes. Do I model success and encourage, hire and promote other women in the workplace - yes. Could I do more? Most definitely, and that is something we as women should continue to work towards supporting each other.

We need more metrics and alignment all around the world to focus on what matters. Education and earnings are of course essential as empowerment is theoretical without metrics that matter. Empowerment first comes from within related to confidence and psychology. However, there also has to be a supportive ecosystem from society, family, partners, colleagues and those who invest in initiatives. We need companies that enable women to gain the skills and competencies required to earn commensurate return for their skill, talent, and work efforts.

What are your insights on “The myth of meritocracy”?

And how it could bring a change in today's business arena?

Diversity in the workforce is critical to driving unique success in a business, and diversity can only be achieved if we look first at meritocracy. Meritocracy has to be the driving force or else some of your most talented people will either be left on the sidelines or underutilized. If the person can add value to your business, your customers, and be multiplier, you want them! Don't let a lack of meritocracy in your organization hold you back, because it will.

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

One has to keep their eye on the results that matter, as that www.insightssuccess.com

is the “through line” when you look to align technology trends with continued career and personal progression. I love to read and learn new things. I have always felt that opportunities present themselves to not only myself, but anyone who never stops learning and looking for new challenges. It is also much easier to advocate and encourage digital transformation to customers and peers when one is also always looking to learn and embrace new things oneself.

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

I find great satisfaction in supporting the growth and success of people and businesses alike. In the near future, I see myself continuing to lead companies and business units as my focus, with also the opportunity to sit on more boards. Also, motivating more women to achieve their dreams and be successful in STEM careers is near and dear to my heart.

April 2020

| 53

ZAHARA MALIK

A Proficient of Impact Investing

I

have always seen my challenges as a learning curve to really develop and grow. Both communication and diplomacy are imperative in order to overcome any challenges,” says Zahara. Zahara Malik is the CEO & CoFounder at Grosvenor Capital, an independent business services company. She is an experienced investment professional with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry with a focus on Impact Investing, Deal Origination, Emerging Markets, Sustainable Development, Value Based Investing, and Government Relations.

She asserts “my career has never been a simple straight road (as with many of us) and therefore it was important for me to ensure I had some professional mentors and soundboards to help me navigate through any roadblocks. Even to this day, since we launched the company, I believe in mentorship more so than ever and I am extremely grateful to those who continue to support me in my journey.”

Below are highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Zahara Malik: Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a proficient leader.

I started my journey with Mosaic, which is a part of HRH Prince of Wales, Princes Trust which focused on the

56 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

importance of mentorship for the youth across the UK. Having started within the charity sector, purpose and impact has been at the forefront of my journey, and throughout my career I was forever searching for ways that purpose and profit could align beyond philanthropy. Philanthropy still plays a pivotal role in my journey, however I was looking for models where global issues went beyond a campaign, a time of year or to solve a single problem. This is where Impact Investing bridges people, the planet and profit. My biggest turning point was in 2012 where I studied my masters at UCL, London and I ran a campaign with my colleagues where we built a school in Chittagong, Bangladesh for Jaago Foundation. Following this I went into understanding the commercial fundraising world where my focus had primarily been Africa centric in which I was fortunate to have some great mentors who taught me the many layers within the investment world.

How do you diversify your organization's offerings to entice the target audience?

We are determined to bridge the gap and shape the impact investing narrative across the GCC. Impact Investing is a term that is fairly new to the region but the concept of impact is embedded in regions principles, we work to build and define an organisation's or the investors' purpose in their investment mandate and ensure that we support their journey as they focus on purpose driven investments that do not compromise their returns.

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

I believe in collaborating and joining forces as and where possible, particularly in the unprecedented times we are facing now. I don't believe that competition should be feared but especially in the Impact Investing space we are all driven by creating impact and to support people and the planet, so where we can come together to simply share thoughts and work together for the wider purpose we should remain to do so. My game plan is therefore to support anyone who is on the mission to drive impact investing.

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

I would expect it to be the same as a business man, we should all encompass integrity, professionalism and to have a strong work ethic.

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

I have also been fortunate to be a part of projects including Girls do Good, A global EdTech movement & social impact product changing the way children learn highlighting some www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 57

incredible female role models around the world. Most recently I also joined the Football for Peace Steering Committee which is focused on harnessing the power of football globally through peace and diplomacy. Kash Siddiqi the co-founder of Football for Peace, alongside FIFA legend Elias Figueroa at the UN with the late Kofi Annan established the organisation to really drive the movement of women and football, I am fortunate to now work with the wider team to continue to grow this globally.

As your previous question alluded too unfortunately there is still a differentiation between genders in the professional world. I am a strong believer in women supporting women, I have been grateful to have men support me throughout my professional life and I am determined to ensure we all work together to create a level playing field that is equal and diverse across the board.

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

“The world of Impact Investing is still growing and therefore the more that we unite together to achieve

I believe we should embrace technology in every way that we can, with the growth of tech and digitization during the global pandemic it has become evident that we need to be able to connect, communicate and sustain both our business models and professional development using technology.

social and

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

environmental

I have a long way to go and as we are only a year into the journey, for me at the moment its important to try and continue to shape the narrative for Impact Investing across the GCC region.

Thought leadership is imperative for our journey and one of my favourite quotes is, “Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become.” Heraclitus, Philosopher (c. 535 B.C. - 475 B.C.) We hope to stay on the road of impact investing where we can continue to bridge the world of value-based investing and to add directly to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I am determined to continue to work with partners and peers into to achieve this global mission.

prosperity we will be able to leave a long and lasting impact for our future generations.”

58 | April 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

Zahara Malik CEO & Co-Founder Grosvenor Capital

www.insightssuccess.com

April 2020

| 59