Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in_ 2021

VOL 04 I issue 05 I 2021

TOP

Visionary Leadership

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

1

PIONEERING

BUSINESS LEADERS

TO FOLLOW IN

2021 John Foresi, CEO and Co-Founder of Venterra Realty

JOHN FORESI

LEADING WITH VALUES AND CONTINUAL INNOVATION

Editor’s Desk Soar Above the Storm

M

ost of the people we meet in our day-to-day lives don’t have the recognition or something is lacking in them. The thing that makes a leader different from them is the risk-taking quality with the exploration of the human mind into ideas and opportunities.

At the end, our choices affect our life, but to choose whether to take a shelter or fly above when the storm hits, like an eagle is in our hands. And, this is what makes the leaders stand out from the rest.

Providing both professional and personal support to others establishes the culture of leadership. The more leaders accomplish the knowledge the more they grow with experiences and insights. For leaders, embracing the fact that they are more than these skills, brings greatness in the team as well. Business Leaders do not worry about the things they can influence, as it is difficult to control everything. But the very fact that makes the leader think about bringing a change makes them an influential leader.

Being a business leader, he/she plays with the strengths and knowledge to travel in the industry. As leadership is personal and leaders need to know themselves before other leadership styles. The basic idea of business leaders is to act on the purpose and vision aligned to the objectives of the business.

The future of business leaders will be based on the successful collaboration involving industry partners with new skills and perspectives which will add further value to the client relationships. For many business leaders pursuing this strategy brings confidence and tends to grow quicker in difficult conditions. Investing time and resources in understanding these complex circumstances brings the best out of business leaders. They are open to sharing their ideas across borders maintaining an optimistic perspective on overcoming challenges.

While there are many such principles, fundamentals, and qualities of a good leader, it is all about the power to channel the efforts into action. So, this leaves the business leaders with the same choice of the storm, whether to wait and take the shelter, or fly above the clouds and be unique by turning challenges into opportunities.

Hence, we feel passionate to focus on such unique business leaders with the same traits mentioned above in our upcoming edition of Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in 2021.

The cover story of this edition captures the exciting journey of John Foresi, CEO and Co-Founder of Venterra Realty. Venterra Realty is a rapidly growing owner/operator of Multifamily rental communities with more than 60 properties across 11 major US cities. John founded the company based on 7 Core Values. For John, Honesty & Integrity, Humility, a Never-Ending Pursuit of Excellence, Candor & Openness, Unparalleled Service Excellence, comes first. John incorporates Candor and Openness in everything he does and encourages those with whom he does business to follow.

Well, that’s not all, you will explore more of such inspiring journeys of business leaders in this edition along with the CXO standpoints which will shed light on the industry happenings. Also, make sure to read the creative articles written by the in-house editorial team as well.

Time to explore!

Sourabh More sourabh@insightssuccess.com

C O N T E N T S

COVER STORY

08 John Foresi Leading With Values and Continual Innovation

ARTICLE Visionary Leadership With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

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32

40

Leader’s Viewpoint

Expert’s Insight

Leadership and Success

Advertising and Promoting of Cocktails in the Food and Drink Industry

48

Better World The Better Future of Crisis

Amy Hedrick An Inspiring Business Leader With Admirable Work Experience

22

Gideon Galloway Doing Insurance Differently

Jim Ratcliff Let's Improve Overall Health With better Oral Health

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18

28

Paul Marcantonio Leading by Example and Remaining Humble

Taryn Andersen Bridging the Gap Between Female Tech Entrepreneurs and Investors

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Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Sourabh More

Jenny Fernandes

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

David King

Asha Bange

Associate Designer Kartik Balapurkar

Co-designer Shubham Dali

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Peter Collins

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Martin, Akash

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Aidan, Binay

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com April, 2021

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pioneering Business

TOP

Leaders to Follow in

2021

Featured Person

Company Name

Brief

Amy Hedrick CEO

Cleanbox cleanboxtech.com

Cleanbox Technology Inc. is a premium, eco-friendly, smart tech hygiene company, specializing in UVC surface decontamination for frequently used products.

Gerald Neher CEO

ComFin Software comfinsoftware.com

ComFin Software has been providing trading and risk management solutions to customers in the global oil and gas sector since 1997.

Gideon Galloway CEO

King Price Insurance kingprice.co.za

Determined to keep #MakingADifference in the lives of the people of Mzansi, the king of insurance introduced more coinsaving products like R1 insurance, pay-as-you-drive cover, agri insurance, and much more.

Jim Ratclif CEO

Rowpar Pharmaceuticals rowpar.com

Rowpar is a purpose driven organization that makes and markets specialty oral care products.

John Foresi CEO

Venterra Realty venterra.com

Founded in 2001, Venterra Realty owns and manages more than 60 apartment communities in 11 major US cities that provide housing to over 35,000 people and 11,000 pets.

Paul Marcantonio Executive Director

ECOMMPAY ecommpay.com

ECOMMPAY is more than an online payment service provider, e-payments platform or payment company—we’re your reliable payment partner.

Reggie Aggarwal CEO

Cvent cvent.com

Consistently recognized as a Top Workplace by both The Washington Post and Washington Business Journal, Cvent employees worldwide are encouraged to think and act like entrepreneurs to drive business and innovation.

Rob Pinataro CEO

PaySpan payspan.com

PaySpan's vision is to simplify the complicated world of healthcare payments by providing financial solutions that empower health plans and providers to solve their biggest challenges – high costs associated with paper checks and remittances, member-patient engagement and value-based care.

Taryn Andersen CEO

Impulse4women impulse4women.org

In 2017 Impulse4women was born out of a desire to increase the probability of fundraising for women tech entrepreneurs and social enterprises.

doeLEGAL doelegal.com

doeLEGAL provides advanced information management tools and elevated support designed to provide corporate legal departments and law firms with anytime, anywhere control of cases and costs to help inform decision making and drive successful outcomes.

Thomas Russo CEO

CEO and Co-Founder, Venterra Realty

Leading With Values and Continual Innovation

“

We are passionate about building a business that is uniquely focused on the long-term that positively impacts Venterra's stakeholders, employees, and residents.

“

COVER STORY

JOHN FORESI

G

reat business leaders are driven by core values, and when those values are embraced entirely by an organization, great results are achieved. John Foresi, CEO and Co-Founder of Venterra Realty, a rapidly growing owner/operator of Multifamily rental communities with more than 60 properties across 11 major US cities, founded the company based on 7 Core Values.

For John, those include Honesty & Integrity, Humility, a Never-Ending Pursuit of Excellence, Candor & Openness, Unparalleled Service Excellence, Team First, and Prudent Cost Management.

Honesty and Integrity are at the heart of Venterra Realty's business decisions, ultimately leading to accountability and trust with its employees, residents, and investors. John incorporates Candor and Openness in everything he does and encourages those with whom he does business to follow. Venterra constantly strives to improve and lead the industry, resulting in numerous awards and recognitions evidence of its commitment to its values, people, customers, and investors alike.

These values are the foundation on which Venterra has been built and are still significant in the company as John says, “It is ok if you do not believe in these 7 Core Values, but if you don't, you just can't work at Venterra.”

Leveraging Diverse Industry Experience Prior to co-founding Venterra Realty in 2001 with his business partner, Andrew Stewart, John spent time in consumer-packaged goods, a boutique investment bank focusing on M&A, the logistics/supply chain industry, and software companies. Before Andrew and John founded Venterra, both worked for and led companies running the gamut of ownership and financing structures. Both have worked for large multi-nationals, small private firms, venture capital-backed companies, family owned/managed businesses, and public and private companies. Similarly, both have been employees, minority, and majority owners.

In the 1990's, Andrew and John exited the software industry with a liquidity event prior to the Dot.com implosion, with

Gateway North Apartments, Clearwater, Florida

several motivating factors for starting Venterra. They knew they enjoyed working together and they were too young to retire (late 30's). As much as they projected and believed in the long-term potential of the software industry, they also saw the downside of “swinging for the fences”, so with their liquidity event, their focus shifted to finding a way to invest capital and earn “singles and doubles” with less volatility.

Real estate in general intrigued them because of its durability through economic cycles. Multifamily interested them in particular because of its necessity of life characteristics. Even though they both are Canadians, they decided to focus exclusively on Southern U.S. markets because they believed that select Southern markets exhibited the ideal combination of both natural endowments and policies to ensure long-term economic prosperity. To this day, Andrew and John have not been disappointed.

Additionally, they chose Multifamily because it is a complex asset class to manage, where being a great operator makes a difference – and they knew they could leverage their software backgrounds to bring industryleading automation to the sector. This has been the on-going strategy for Venterra.

In founding Venterra, Andrew and John wanted not only to leverage their diversity of industry experience, but they also wanted to use their personal experiences to draw on what they believed to be the best way to organizationally structure -and fund- Venterra to maximize the probability for long-term success for all stakeholders.

An important driver of the innovation at Venterra is the varied industry backgrounds of both leaders and their desire to bring the best-practices they learned from working in other industries and adapt them to fit into the Multifamily

sector. John believes this to be one of the top strengths at Venterra: that its leaders have a diversity of industry experience outside of the real estate industry.

Choosing a Value-Driven and Talented Team The 7 Core Values are the foundation on which Venterra has been built and it has been blessed to have people throughout the company who passionately espouse these 7 values and practice them every day for the benefit of all employees who work at Venterra and for the tens and thousands of residents who live at its properties.

Venterra's 7 Core Values and its people are the key ingredients to making the company stand out in the industry. Venterra is a real estate firm offering a comprehensive suite of services for its residents, but at the foundation are its people. Honesty and Candor permeate its interactions. Whether it is a prospective resident looking to rent an apartment or someone investing substantial capital in one of its properties, Venterra has created an environment where people depend on and trust it more than they trust Venterra's competitors.

Over the years, John learned that it is truly people that make the difference. The challenge for anyone in a leadership role is to attract and keep the most talented, capable individuals who want to be part of a team. Eventually, the best teams always win over the best collection of individuals. Venterra is fortunate to have incredibly talented employees who genuinely want to be part of a team.

Prioritizing Health and Safety in a Pandemic Protecting Venterra's employees and residents has been a major part of its strategy to sustain operations during the

pandemic. The company is using contact tracing to proactively manage its response to exposures and send any exposed front-line employee home with pay for the CDC recommended quarantine period. All employees and guests in Venterra community offices are required to wear masks and social distance. Floor markers are in place to serve as a constant reminder, and residents are asked screening questions before maintenance teams enter residents' apartments.

To help protect Venterra's customers, self-guided and video chat tour technologies are being used to facilitate contactless apartment tours and leasing activities. To help ensure a safe move, its newest residents are greeted with a home that has been treated with L.A.S.T.TM, a hospital-grade EPA registered product that kills and prevents the spread of Covid-19.

believes that companies that can remain focused on the long-term will prosper. Venterra therefore constantly makes the kinds of infrastructure investments it thinks are required for the company's long-term success, which is why Venterra has not gone public nor accepted venture capital backing.

Venterra has a solid grasp of the macroeconomic and demographic trends that drive its economy and business.

Venterra is well established and does not need to complete acquisitions to be profitable, so it only buys when the right opportunity arises. Through this acquisition strategy, it has and will continue to obtain well purchased assets and turn them into well operated assets for its investors.

Driving Value to Renters and Customers

Venterra Realty is not in a hurry to make any changes as of now and is dedicated to focusing on the health and safety of its employees and residents.

Innovation permeates Venterra's strategy. One of Venterra's Core Values is the Never-Ending Pursuit of Excellence, which encompasses its infinite search for innovation and paths to success and has proven to position Venterra as a market-leading real estate management operation. Whether it is investing in and developing industry-leading technologies, modernizing and centralizing operational procedures, or simply identifying new ways to drive value to renters and provide them with an excellent customer experience, all efforts are defined by its focus on innovation.

Investing in Long Term Success

Unparalleled Standards of Service

Ensuring those employed at Venterra and its property investors succeed in the long-term is something Venterra spends a lot of effort on and believes is fundamental to its ongoing success. For Venterra, this means orienting the company's business strategy to focus on the long-term. John

Venterra takes great pride in maintaining a vertically integrated company backed by a culture of continual innovation. It is focused on delivering an unparalleled standard of service through sensible value-based decisions.

In turn, this has generated an industry-leading customer

In Venterra's corporate offices, all employees have been encouraged to work from home, and travel has been greatly restricted. Microsoft Teams has kept its communication efforts at the highest level possible, allowing for quick connections across two countries and the organization.

Venterra Leadership Conference, 2019

Links at Windsor Parke Apartments, Jacksonville, Florida

John Foresi, CEO and Co-Founder Venterra Realty Glassdoor Top CEO 2018

“

Venterra Realty is committed to improving the lives of its residents by delivering an industry-leading customer experience.

“

experience for residents and a portfolio of Multifamily real estate assets that deliver superior cash flow for investors.

Driving Growth and Operational Success In ten and twenty years, Venterra's plan is to be the same company today in terms of culture and values; only bigger.

If markets cooperate by continuing to produce attractive investment opportunities, it expects to have more than 40,000 apartment units by 2030 and be more geographically diverse with increased capacity for new apartment development.

Venterra will achieve scalability and create a Mobile Enterprise by transforming its operational processes, by building a stronger, more empowered workforce and creating a more enabled customer base. It will ensure

employees and customers have the infrastructure and tools necessary to be productive from anywhere and at any time.

Renters will be empowered to do more of what they want, when they want through DIY access. Also, employees will be empowered to be productive from anywhere, working from home, while traveling, or while out on property.

Venterra will engage renters and support employees in context (in the exact moment) by leveraging tracking and data collection efforts to extract new value in every interaction which prepares Venterra well to take advantage of AI and automation opportunities and scale for the next decade of growth and operational success. A mobile strategy is not its own silo or specific technology.

More simply stated, Venterra will pursue solutions that provide value to its employees and customers as they move through their days.

The Park on Wurzbach Apartments, San Antonio, Texas

Amy Hedrick CEO and Co-founder Cleanbox Technology

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www.insightssuccess.com

Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in 2021

AMY An Inspiring Business Leader With Admirable Work Experience

W

hen it comes to building the skills and habits of leadership, one must draw upon a lifetime of their own unique experience. As an aspiring leader, it is critical that one takes the time to reflect upon and assess their own goals, capabilities, and habits. Amy Hedrick is one such business leader, whose journey demonstrates how to overcome difficulty, build great teams, and come up with innovative ideas and radical solutions in challenging situations.

Amy is the Co-founder and CEO of Cleanbox Technology Inc. Her background as a content creator and thought leader in the application of immersive technologies as industry disruptors provided the building blocks for Cleanbox Technology as a business. Over the past decade, Amy has led multiple teams from project inception and funding, to planning and execution.

“I'm very proud of the hard work, quality product and customer services my company and team delivered, and personally feel satisfaction that we were able to provide jobs and real-world product solutions during a global pandemic,” says Amy. She states, any honest business owner can always look back and identify efforts they plan to improve.

Cleanbox Technology Inc. is a premium, eco-friendly, smart tech hygiene company, specializing in UVC surface decontamination for frequently used or shared products. The company's proprietary engineering of UVC light in an LED provides safe, healthcare level hygiene, killing 99.999% of contagions without the use of chemicals, heat, or liquids. www.insightssuccess.com

The more you accomplish and experience throughout the course of your life, the more you will want your knowledge and insight to live beyond you.

April 2021 | 19

“Due to COVID-19, immersive technologies have become even more important for many industries and observing their growth in business applications, we have been able to identify pain points we can solve and we build out new product lines to address different,” says Amy.

She opines “I think that the more you accomplish and experience throughout the course of your life, the more you will want your knowledge and insight to live beyond you.

Providing work and mentorship opportunities is a great way to do that.”

Independence to Work Freely With Better Career Opportunities

Trust in Yourself

According to Amy, a positive work culture is important for a growing business. Cultivating, building and maintaining a positive work environment and sustainable culture is critical for individual fulfillment, since the average worker spends the majority of their life working for someone else.

Cleanbox Technology offers its employees the opportunity to work remotely and the independence to hone their strongest skills.

Travelling Around the World Amy admires high velocity risk takers as well as leaders who quietly work to impact the world around them. Most of the people who have influenced her life don't have name recognition. The biggest thing she credits for opening up her mind and exploring new ideas and opportunities is travel.

Amy started traveling around the world at age 15 and never looked back. She asserts “I'm not talking about vacations.

My life choices were absolutely impacted by sleeping on dirt floors in Uganda, making friends in the mountains of Northern India, being taken care of by strangers after I'd sliced my arm open in the Philippines, learning to sing in Swahili, visiting summer camps in Russia, observing traditions of multiple faiths—and yes, having drinks at the Ritz in Hong Kong.” She believes feeling fear, sensing danger, watching happiness, traveling alone, observing human responses conditioned by their social and economic situations are her greatest influences and her ongoing inspiration.

Amy's advice for emerging female leaders is “embrace the fact that you're a woman—then move past that and lean into the skills you've honed that make you a good leader who can build a successful business.” She believes an empowered woman can bring greatness to the team around her.

Expanding with Every Passing Day “We're planning to continue to support businesses and their employees on their path toward reopening, and to make the Cleanbox brand a household name when it comes to trustworthy, eco-friendly and intelligent decontamination,” says Amy. She further adds, once things return “to normal,” the public will very much have the potential risk of new contagions on their minds.

Maintaining business and consumer safety will continue to be prioritized .

Cleanbox Technology has already expanded its product lines to meet business needs outside of VR, AR and MR space. Cleanbox is currently in 40 countries, and Amy anticipates that number will double as the Cleanbox team grows, and increases the number of products it offers.

Supporting is Essential for Leadership Amy feels fortunate to engage with a number of multitalented, accomplished women who are making waves in their respective areas of technology. She believes that providing both professional and personal support to other women in leadership is key to opening doors for other women and establishing a leadership culture that doesn't keep women at the bottom.

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Gideon Galloway, CEO King Price Insurance

22 | April 2021

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Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in 2021

Gideon Galloway DOING INSURANCE DIFFERENTLY

F

or businesses across the globe, 2020 demanded new ways of thinking about, and doing, many things. In this difficult year, Gideon Galloway – CEO at King Price Insurance – stayed committed to finding sustainable solutions for their clients, partners and investors. So, not much different to previous years, really.

Gideon launched King Price nine years ago with a strong team that’s grown as the business has grown. In 2012, they were a ZAR100 million start-up; by the end of their eighth financial year, they were worth ZAR5.3 billion. Similarly, the tiny original start-up team now has more than 1,100 engaged, purpose-driven employees – all of whom pull together to make their insurance products easier to understand, manage, engage with, and claim for.

Although they’re known as the ‘maverick’ of the South African insurance market, King Price’s valuation approach and methodology are actually very conservative when compared to other South African insurers and listed financial services companies, as well as when compared with international markets. Even so, their last financial year added another 28% to their value.

Gideon says that, while that’s beyond big, they’re by no means close to being done. The secret to this success is something he shares freely: “Follow your dreams. Push through. Don’t let capital be a hurdle.”

We spoke to Gideon about how he plans to grow King Price even more. Here are some highlights: Take our readers through your role at King Price and your journey so far with the company.

It’s been almost a decade since we launched. We’ve moved past our start-up years but our vision is still the same: Lower premiums: Higher purpose. We want to change the insurance landscape in SA and make an impact all over the world.

www.insightssuccess.com

Two years ago, we took our first leap towards substantial expansion by buying a South African life business and acquiring a stake in a holding company with insurance interests in Europe, which will run on our business model.

We’re super excited about the future and look forward to continuing to grow at 30+% annually – in a sector and economy that are barely growing at all.

What roadblocks or challenges did you face as a corporate business? And how did you overcome them?

It’s never NOT been a challenge! Working in the heavily regulated FS landscape; governance; solvency requirements; rating models; capital and the deployment thereof: gaining ground in a fiercely competitive market; scaling: all challenges.

We overcame these – and other – challenges through passion and vision, and by getting the right crew on board as we built our business. You could say that we built the ship while we were already sailing, and we’ve weathered storms as well as calm seas.

Three things in particular have contributed to our success: Ÿ

Marketing: Industry figures show that we spend around 2% of what the bigger local insurers spend on marketing. Everything we do aims to break through the clutter and position our company as a customer-centric, April 2021 | 23

Hard times create a character, and uncertainty creates opportunities. With risks come rewards. Execution is key.

These all sound like clichés, and talk is cheap. Until you actually go out in the hard times, take the risks, and make the most of the opportunities.

Like we did.

forward-thinking innovator. If we can’t do it differently, we don’t do it! Ÿ IT: We don’t run off legacy systems. Instead, we built world-class systems in-house that enable us to be agile, fast and innovative. Like everything we do, our IT systems put our clients at the heart of all transactions and interactions. Ÿ Our unique culture: We make sure that we bring the right people on board and retain them. When people are happy at work, they’re more invested in the company’s goals and aspirations, get things done faster, and take ownership of their decisions. We encourage our employees to come up with new ways of doing things and to have fun while they’re doing it.

How do you make sure that your team works towards offering easier, faster, and more cost-effective insurance?

It’s in our name: King Price. We continuously innovate so as to be more cost-effective than the competition. As an example, we’re the first insurer in the world to offer comprehensive car premiums that decrease monthly as the cars depreciate in value. We just don’t think it makes sense to only ever pay more to insure something that’s only ever worth less!

We also listened to our clients when lockdown hit South Africa in March 2020. They were driving less and so

24 | April 2021

wanted to pay less for their insurance. Rightly so. But the ‘discounts’ being offered by other insurers weren’t sustainable. So, we designed, built and brought to market a new product called chilli, which can save clients up to 70% on their car insurance every month.

Tell us about the culture at King Price?

‘Culture’ is a broad term. For us it means that, as a collective group, if we enjoy what we do, we’ll excel and be more productive. So, we try to align all our business principles to benefit our employees, clients, suppliers, business partners, shareholders and communities.

We attract the best people to give us the edge and then we make sure they’re fulfilled, challenged, appreciated and rewarded. Nine years down the line, most of the core group that we launched with are still with us, and I think that says a lot. Basically, we’re a team that has a purpose, works fast, and has fun.

We launched with 7 ‘family values’ that have guided us well, but we’ve just re-looked them and distilled them down to 4 core sentiments that guide everything we do. I’m so proud that our values aren’t just posters on the wall. We live them every day, and we make values-based decisions.

Everyone benefits.

www.insightssuccess.com

Probably everyone’s favourite value is ‘fun with a little madness’. Our office may look like a circus, but everything is measured. We take what we do very seriously… But ourselves, not so much!

Why do your clients take out policies with King Price?

Look, insurance is a grudge purchase and pretty much a commodity. No one wakes up in the morning all excited about buying insurance. But we do everything we can to inject some humour and humanity into the process – starting with our brand tonality, which is approachable and casual throughout the client journey.

We have many unique client-centric products, including our decreasing premium model, our new ‘pay per k’ chilli cover, and charging our comprehensive car clients just ZAR1 per month to insure their golf clubs and bicycles.

We make it easy for our clients to understand what they’re buying and to engage with us on the platform of their choice. We always view our business from our clients’ point of view and are constantly refining our processes to make every touch-point smoother, simpler and more convenient.

Another of our values is ‘customer is king’. This underlines everything we do.

How has King Price contributed to the community?

King Price was founded on the principle that we want to make a difference, in South Africa and across the world.

35% of our profit goes into foundations that support grassroots organisations and enable charities in southern Africa. It’s core to what we do.

In addition, our decreasing premium model has saved our clients over ZAR200 million and counting. We also make a difference in our clients’ lives by offering them products they need and giving them sound financial advice.

What’s your vision for sustaining King Price’s competency in the cut-throat and volatile world of business? Where do you see yourselves in the next five years?

It’s been cut-throat since we launched, so we’ll keep on keeping on. We aim to continue to grow at the same pace.

In five to 10 years, we’ll be in 20+ countries but still maintaining our lean, fast-moving business ethos.

The world is changing and insurance needs are changing with it, which means business models have to change. My children probably won’t even own cars. And if they do, they’ll be self-driving. Just these two future realities mean that insurance companies will have to change fundamentally in order to remain relevant and solvent.

We’re already planning different products for different needs.

Mostly, though, it boils down to staying humble and never taking anything for granted.

We’re changing the world, one decreasing premium at a time.

www.insightssuccess.com

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26 | April 2021

www.insightssuccess.com

Visionary Leadership

With Great

POWER Comes Great RESPONSIBILITY A

lot of things are being spoken and written about the leader and leadership qualities all over the world. But what makes a ‘leader great’ rather than a ‘great leader’ is the topic which needs to be focused. A true leader is not concerned about publicity, money, or reputation. They are only concerned with doing the right thing. He/she fights for injustice, for others, and for what is right. That’s the real quality of the leader on social, business, or any other platform.

Get the Best of Tech Speaking of business, we have come a long way till the fourth industrial revolution – the digital revolution. It is the age of exploring the human purpose with the technological changes like AR, VR, AI, Cloud, and Robotics. We are set on exploring the potential within us.

With the expansion of such innovative tools, leaders are responsible for the understanding of the business and customers. Leaders will have to go through these cuttingedge technologies and solve problems for the company and the team. It is their dedication to their work that gets the job done. He/she gets along with everyone around him and brings a positive atmosphere in the company.

Today we see companies moving more into Digital Marketing as it is such an exciting place for business. Due to the pandemic situation, more and more businesses are involved into virtual marketing in several other industries, and educational fields.

To Grab the Opportunities Getting to the point - today business leaders are centered on Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Mobile Marketing, and Content Marketing. This is the change which is playing the part of futurist leadership.

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Businesses have just started to explore, and the potential that the technology brings along with it is highly massive.

Combining all this – an innovative leader will increase the number of innovative teams, companies, and industries globally. He/she will ultimately be developing and introducing the innovations to the team and customers. So, the opportunities of the dream leadership journey lie in diving deep into these innovative fields.

Spot On This change of traditional leadership to a digital transformative leadership is seen for quite a few years. The old and traditional leadership used to consume a lot of time in getting things done. Business Leaders see this as an opportunity to take high-end decisions. Most firms want such business leaders with all the acquired skills and more often these leaders are into their own start-ups.

This is a revolutionary and futurist concept that all business leaders need to transform. The old and traditional ones will have to adapt to stay in the competition. However, disruption is taking place not only in industries but also in leadership roles. Leaders will have to cash into this exciting journey of immense digital industries. It is not just leaders but the expansion of the people and the world as a whole.

Irrespective of everything above, the questions we all need to ask is - How will it change our lives and how can we make it into a good thing for humanity? Because no matter how good the technology is or for that matter the leadership is, it will only be considered good only if it is used for the good of humanity. As leadership and human growth tend to grow hand-in-hand.

April 2021 | 27

Jim Ratcliff Let's Improve Overall Health With better Oral Health

D

entistry and medicine have grown as separate branches of healthcare, and it is essential for the two to now integrate fully. Dentists and hygienists can be on the frontlines of detecting disease, be it COVID or diabetes. To do so, health and dental records need integration to optimize healthcare. Oral health is window to our overall health. The mouth is the primary entry way to our respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems. Since 2000, Jim Ratcliff, Chairman and CEO of Rowpar Pharmaceuticals, has been stiving to optimize the integrated healthcare by focusing on ways improved oral care can lead to improved overall health. In investigating the many links between oral and systemic health, Jim finds opportunities abound! His passion is to leave the world a better place for having been here.

Driving the Consistent Growth of Organization Jim Ratcliff was one of the seven individuals who founded Rowpar under the leadership of his father, Perry A. Ratcliff, D.D.S., dental researcher, academic leader, and inventor of the original formulas of ClōSYS®. Initially, the Company's products were sold only to dentists who would recommend them to their patients. While active on the Board since inception, Jim became executive leader of the Company in 2000. In the ensuing 20 years of his service, Rowpar has moved from a family firm to one characterized by a professional management team and a professional board, with the members of each having strong experience, knowledge, and skills in the key areas of the business. Also, company has moved from a boutique company selling only through dentists to a fast-moving consumer goods company selling nationally and internationally, through major pharmacy, retail, and grocery chains as well as dental and medical supply companies.

Innovative Oral Health Solutions Located in Scottsdale, AZ, since 1991, Rowpar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. provides innovative oral health solutions to dental and medical professionals and to the

28 | April 2021

general consumer, helping people get well and stay well in the USA, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, India, Korea, Russia and South Africa. Its ClōSYS® brand is recommended by leading dentists, hygienists, doctors, nurses and fitness experts. ClōSYS® toothpastes, oral rinses and oral sprays are top selling oral care products in U.S. retailers such as Albertsons, CVS, H-E-B, Kroger, Meijer, Target, Walgreens, Walmart and is an Amazon Preferred Product.

Leading from the Front Rowpar Pharmaceuticals has always been a mission-driven company. It's vision of helping people get well and stay well through improved oral health has only been amplified by the pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 infects largely through the eyes, nose, and mouth. Rowpar has positioned itself on the frontline of this battle.

Central to any organization is its people, and Rowpar Pharmaceuticals has a wonderful team. As with many other firms, Rowpar quickly established work-at-home capabilities (computers, phones, etc.). Company extended its liberal leave policies so that individuals could take whatever measures were required to get well, should they get sick. It reduced headcount in office to 25% and to essential workers to enable social distancing, but also to mitigate risk employees face in making a daily commute to work. Special dispensation was made for those who are immune compromised.

Focus of Innovation in Oral Care Optimum oral care necessarily focuses on the twin pandemics of the mouth: gum disease and dental caries.

Both affect two-thirds or more of the population, both are growing rapidly, and both significantly impact systemic health. Persons with gum disease, for example, have higher risk of adverse pregnancy, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and gum disease makes it more difficult to manage diabetes or COPD.

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Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in 2021

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April 2021 | 29

Innovation in oral care begins with the oral mirobiome, viewing it as an ecology that individuals carry with them.

When that ecology is disrupted, disease happens. Disease often occurs within biofilms which protect pathogens from the oral care products designed to limit their overgrowth within the oral ecology. While many people are concerned about "bad breath" for example, the proper focus should be on the disease causing the bad breath.

Being Solution Oriented Rowpar Pharmaceuticals wants to provide perfect solutions for people's oral care needs. While competitors focus on product attributes (such as whitening), ClōSYS products align with people's lifestyle desires, how they redound to their oral health, and how company can be helpful. So, if one has an oral sore and one uses its products, and the oral sore disappears after a week or so of use, then Company's products have been a solution to one's oral care needs.

Same can be said of oral malodor or sensitivity or tooth decay. Rowpar 's ClōSYS products are for people who seek improved oral health first.

Jim Ratcliff

Partership Between Dentists and Individuals The Rowpar approach to oral health relies on a partnership between dental professionals and individual patients.

Individuals cannot fully remove oral biofilms (and pathogens within) by home oral hygiene alone. Periodic cleaning of the teeth by a dental profession is required to prevent overgrowth of pathogens. Similarly, the work of dental professions is compromised when the regular home oral care does not sustain the cleaning, doesn't inhibit the regrowth of dental biofilms, and doesn't strengthen tooth enamel.

‘‘

Rowpar Pharmaceuticals makes and markets ClōSYS®, a premium oral care range, offering

‘‘

superior efficacy in addressing two oral diseases now at epidemic proportions- gum disease and dental caries.

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Chairman & CEO

Rowpar Pharmaceu cals Leadership in Oral Care Products Rowpar's partnership with dental professionals occurs in the office as well; with COVID, even more so. Currently Dentists and hygienists are using ClōSYS® products to rinse patients' mouths prior to dental procedures and to sanitize dental devices, such as ultrasonic scalers, to reduce microbial aerosols generated from their use. Rowpar continues to provide leadership in oral care through the introduction of new products to meet the needs of dentists and health-conscious consumers.

Helping People to Get Well and Stay Well Rowpar is mission-driven to help people get well as stay well. Right now, it is engaged in research into how oral care products may help mitigate the COVID risk. Recent independent laboratory testing shows that its ClōSYS products reduced SARS-CoV-2 viral load (the virus that causes COVID-19 disease) by up to 98.4% and reduced Influenza-A (a co-morbidity factor with COVID-19) by 99.99%. While lab tests are encouraging, clinical trials are necessary. ClōSYS products are being used in clinical trials at 3 major research universities to determine efficacy with healthy and infected humans.

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Karen Mc Dermo

,

Director & Founder

Serenity Press

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Leader’s Viewpoint

Leadership and Success

S

uccess is a mindset! When things happen in our environment it can affect how we think and therefore it can affect our outcomes. The key to success is nurturing our mindset, keeping it strong and ensuring that we create a secure foundation so that we can thrive.

With the year that was many businesses choose to close their doors. I absolutely get how they could not see a future or maybe they were already struggling and that was the final straw. As an entrepreneur I am used to the highs and lows of business, the passion for what I do fuels me through the lows to get innovative about new ways to produce cashflow. This keeps business interesting and me on my toes as a business owner. Setting the intention always brings results. It is when the passion goes that the cash flow dissipates. I am drawn to remember some advice I received that struck a chord with me during one of my less fruitful periods.

“It’s the loss of passion to create new streams of cash flow that is the reason businesses fail”

1. Think outside of the box. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems, there is always a solution.

2. Take a break, go for a walk, step back from the situation and you will see a solution more clearly.

3. Leverage your connections.

As much as 2020 was tough for some, my business along with many others thrived. The drawn-out time in quarantine meant that business owners and aspiring authors took the time to tick the box of writing their books. There were also more people reading books. It is a publisher’s dream.

The beginning of 2021 came with the new phenomenon of Clubhouse, which at first, I did not quite get it but then I soon seen the potential for building strong and valuable connections and to become more visible in social circles I may not have ever encountered otherwise. As a natural born giver who shows up authentically in every arena, I loved

Yes, it is important that there is a demand for our products but ultimately businesses fail because the person who is passionate about it gives up. I absolutely get it, there have been many times when I have wanted to step back, and I adore what I do but generating cashflow to fund growth and keep things moving along can feel heavy. However, it all works out somehow and I end up on an upward trajectory.

One thing I have noticed is that when the well dries up, it is usually for a reason that entails taking another route to the destination. The energy that fuels the endeavour is waning.

I soon realise that I have been missing something and this will help me shift onto the right track and then it is full steam ahead again. A shift in perspective and quite often a break or time out, so that I see the solution more clearly, is a secret remedy to most slumps.

My top 3 tips for business who feel like they are failing are:

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the opportunity to give value to others through my words but also appreciated the insights and introductions I received from like-minded people who were on the platform for the same reasons I was.

I don’t see Clubhouse going away anytime soon, it is genius and with the amount of high-profiles showing up to contribute and connect it is a high value platform.

I have observed Clubhouse filling up the days of many and am curiously watching the benefits stack up in their favour.

I do hope that this is the best thing ever for those who are investing time in the platform.

Where we focus our energy is what will flourish in life and business. It is important to be mindful of this but not to deprive ourselves of the things we enjoy doing just because there is work to be done. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that if you are not doing a job that makes you heart sing then maybe you should take a moment to check in with

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your life to see if you are aligned with your hopes, dreams, or goals for your life. If the answer is no to feeling that balance, then maybe the following tips will help: 1. Identify something positive that you can add or detract from your life right now that will enhance your experience of life. It can be as little as finishing 30 mins early!

2. Mindfully make an effort to spend some extra time with someone you enjoy the company of.

3. Know that we move through seasons in life and it is ok to adapt your life to accommodate a renewed direction.

Life is for living and we should get to know what a successful life means to us. For me it is fulfilling my ambitions whilst not compromising my core values. That ensures that all my wins feel like a celebration and not a compromise.

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Paul Marcantonio Executive Director UK and Western Europe ECOMMPAY

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Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in 2021

PAUL

MARCANTONIO Leading by Example and Remaining Humble

L

eaders need to lead from the front to be exemplary. They need to demonstrate the high degree of competence and strong character to gain the trust of others. This in turn helps them to create the best team to achieve the organizational goals. Paul Marcantonio is one such inspiring business leader who strives to lead by example, demonstrate integrity, support others, and at all times he tries to remain humble. He is Executive Director - UK and Western Europe at ECOMMPAY. Paul lives by his own personal values and there are great synergies with the values of ECOMMPAY. That's why he wanted to join this company.

Being Persistent and Goal-oriented As for his style of leadership, he thinks it is important to give people the chance to grow, and he expects them to take this opportunity, to evolve not only as professionals but also as individuals. Also, he aims to empower people and build team spirit.

The latter is extremely important for him. He believes a team is like a family, to him this is impactful leadership. His style of leadership is to focus on results and work hard to achieve them. Yes, some of them might take more time than others, but he is persistent and goal oriented. He leads change and learn from feedback. He believes that learning from feedback is the only way to improve. Of course, constructive, and honest feedback is key.

‘‘

There is no single

formula for success, but my vision is to

empower people to

have the condence to at least try.

Building a Reputable Payment Brand When Paul joined ECOMMPAY, the company was expanding and planning to enter new business verticals and markets, such as travel

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and hospitality, online education, etc. There was a focus to attract more clients in the online retail industry. Therefore, ECOMMPAY started building brand awareness and credibility in these areas. Building trust is a difficult process, people were looking under the hood trying to understand ECOMMPAY's reputation and how reliable it was, but they didn't know much about ECOMMPAY so company had to work even harder to build its authority. At that time, the payments market started to grow becoming more competitive; as a result, building a reputable brand was extremely important.

Meeting Requirements of End Users Consumers want to have a wide variety of payment methods, to choose the most convenient for them, and to feel safe and secure when purchasing goods and services.

The financial landscape is changing all the time. Paul says that both online businesses and fintech companies have to focus on the buying behaviour and preferences of endusers, adapt to them and anticipate any changes. COVID-19 reality is shaping payment habits, creating new payment trends (like payments via messengers) and making eWallets a must-have. Finally, Brexit also affects the industry; for instance, both MasterCard and Visa increase their fees in the UK when trading with the EU. ECOMMPAY understands very clearly that each business is unique and their end users have varying needs and requirements. This is why ECOMMPAY offers tailored solutions to its

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merchants' needs. At ECOMMPAY it treats its clients as partners, helping them grow, adapt, and scale their businesses.

Promoting Financial Empowerment and Responsible Buying Paul believes that ECOMMPAY's learning platform ECOMMTALKS contributes a lot to the fintech community.

It is a community itself, which unites fintech experts and people working in eCommerce. The fintech industry is constantly changing, along with consumer behaviour and expectations; so, the key goal of this platform is to educate on industry trends, new products, and market changes, as well as to share experience and facilitate networking.

ECOMMTALKS has become especially useful in light of the global pandemic when socialisation and education opportunities are restricted to computers and other gadgets.

There are many mental health problems in society today that are derived from financial issues and financial insecurity. Paul would like to see that people from all walks of life can make safe, secure, and compliant payments, make it easier for people to keep track of their financial lives, expenses, income, and investments in a single connected environment. All in all, he would like to help people take more control of their financial well-being and health, to promote financial empowerment and responsible buying. www.insightssuccess.com

Being Open to Innovations and Challenges Paul thinks ECOMPANY just has to continue doing what it does; its corporate values and a culture that has helped it reach the stage that it has so far. ECOMPANY knows that the following formula works, it is not just a business, it is a family; it not only supports each other, but it also provides constant support and takes an individual approach to its merchants; and finally, it is open to innovations and new challenges.

Forecasting Successful and Sustained Growth Paul says that Fintech industry is a very cutthroat industry but as long as ECOMMPAY continues to evolve and move with the times, without changing the very core of who it is as an organisation, he is confident that it will continue to attract further success. In the next 5 years, Paul forecasts successful and sustained growth, exploring new industries, penetrating new markets, and bringing best-in-class payment technologies and customer support.

Being Open to Learn from Others Talking about influential people, Paul views Elon Musk as a true visionary and he is overwhelmingly belligerent in his quest to make the world and even the universe smaller and more accessible to everyone. He continues to push the boundaries, bringing new concepts and ideas to life, Elon Musk makes Paul excited about the future of travel.

Paul adds that the book by Mark Manson has helped him put his work-life balance into a better all-round perspective.

He says that like many other books, it helps one to understand the true meaning of controlling what one can be in control of and realise what is truly important in life. Paul likes the idea that one should only worry about the things one can influence; it's impossible to control everything, and there is no need to strive for it.

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Raissa de Haas, Co-Founder,

Double Dutch Ltd

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Expert’s Insight

Advertising and Promoting of Cocktails in the

Food

and

Drink

Industry

D

utch twins Raissa & Joyce de Haas, started Double Dutch drinks in 2015 with a belief that drinking could be more flavourful and that premium spirits deserved better mixers to make every drink delicious. With flavours such as Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil, the mixer & tonic water brand has won more awards than any other mixer brand including Best Tonic for your Gin, Bartenders choice of tonic as well as a spot on the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 list. With the growing rise in cocktails, which has been accelerated by the Covid- 19 pandemic as consumers seek a convenient way to enjoy on-trade drinks at home, we speak with Joyce and Raissa about how companies are promoting cocktails further and how they are becoming more mainstream.

The growth in foodie culture and focus on food pairing on social media has driven the desire to have a truly ‘Instagram-worthy’ shot and cocktails are the perfect opportunity to achieve this. Cocktails can be as complicated as a Michelin standard meal, with molecular gastronomy and a focus on flavour pairing mean you can really take

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someone on a flavour journey. On the other hand, they can equally be sufficiently simple; with the growth in the category, cocktails have become even more accessible at home with flavoured mixers such as Double Dutch’ Bloody Mary soda or Cucumber Margarita. This shift has allowed consumers to become a bit more experimental, layering flavour profiles to maximise their drinking pleasure.

Consumers are actively looking for engaging brands who offer inspiration to make the most of their consumption occasions. From glassware to garnish it is about more than just the liquid. A great looking cocktail can evoke an immediate emotional connection and appetite appeal to create awareness and trial which makes them the perfect tool to drive experimentation and reaching new audiences.

The growing shift towards more moderate drinking habits means lower abv cocktails are gaining popularity which has accelerated the use of more exotic and herbal ingredients in cocktails like basil and rhubarb. This shift in consumer attitudes means flavourful and fulfilling drinking experience

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is more important than ever and cocktails or ‘mocktails’ are a great tool as the desire for low alcohol options increases, they provide the perfect opportunity to elevate your standard ‘No and Low’ beverage.

Double Dutch flavours are created with molecular gastronomy by using flavour pairing techniques. This allows them to find unique and well-balanced flavour combinations that bring the best out of the spirits that they are mixed with and make cocktails more easily.

There are some drawbacks when using cocktails as an advertising tool, platforms like Instagram & Facebook can make it difficult to advertise effectively because of restrictions on alcohol. However, I agree it is important to be responsible and advertise the kind of consumption that is also reflecting consumers lives – moderate, choiceful and tasteful. Focusing messaging on why your brand is relevant therefore is even more important to create a distinctive message that can resonate with consumers, whatever platform you are reaching them on.

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Taryn Andersen, CEO & Co-Founder

Impulse4women

44 | April 2021

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Top 10 Pioneering Business Leaders to Follow in 2021

Taryn Andersen Bridging the Gap Between Female Tech Entrepreneurs and Investors

T

he Covid -19 pandemic has caused an evolution in the technology sector, the world was probably in an era of digital transformation but what was going to translate into an evolution of eight to ten years has been carried out in one year. “We can speak that we are in a technological revolution, many new technological tools have arrived to solve a transitory situation, but they have created new habits of life and interaction with the consumer,” says Taryn Andersen. She is the CEO & CoFounder of Impulse4women.

Taryn believes that the lockdown has caused many consumers to explore new tech applications that will make their life easier. All this has as a result that sectors such as health, gaming, delivery, financial, education etc, become more important than before the Covid-19 for new consumers as well as for investors who already invested in technology. She opines “As an NPO we have seen how Covid-19 has made people aware of more ethical and moral values and remind us that we are a society where we must support each other, that we are all vulnerable to disease and to the pain of losing loved ones. This positive part has helped organizations that were supporting in a humanitarian way to receive more funds to positively impact those projects aimed at both humans and our ecosystem.”

Impulse4women is positioned in the technological world since 2017th, since then the company offered an online service where investors can find projects that are looking for financing. As per Taryn, if Covid19 has brought something positive, it is an increase in demand for online tools, providing users with services and products in a simple way. This new situation has shown that her online connection model has made it easier for investors to access a market niche at an international level.

All this added to the new habits generated by the global lockdown, has given more value to the company’s model.

Story Behind the Impulse4women For a year, things have changed a bit. Before, Taryn was traveling continuously, participating in technology events, closing agreements with public and private organizations in different cities to increase the presence of women- led entrepreneurs in technology. Since March 2020, the team has been working worldwide as well but online. The team has pivoted its offline events into a 100% online model. It has started a new adventure that until recently they were unaware. The team has had to transform digitally in order to continue creating a position in the market and offer a service to investors, connecting them with start-ups with social impact and those led by women entrepreneurs in technology.

It has been a challenge to stay in a new environment trying to offer quality and service without testing if it would give good results, in a time of uncertainty. Changing and incorporating new work processes and tools to coordinate ourselves from different parts of the world.

Taryn asserts “We have a team that goes from Hong Kong to UK, Spain.” She further adds, what has not changed is since Impulse4women NPO was born in 2017th, the team has been building community, communicating through its social networks, and the purpose of connecting and increasing investment in women entrepreneurs who are leaders in technology and also for those who are social impact projects as well. To create this ecosystem, the company has invested an average of two hours a day in contacting them and explaining the project. At the same

Impulse4women has also noticed an increase in the number of women who have joined to undertake their own project.

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time, it has carried out the same action with investors and companies, offering them access to these wonderful projects from different sectors, maturity, location and thus being able to learn more investment opportunities.

“To summarize our day to day is to increase our ecosystem and develop new online events such as #PitchingSessions, #MentoringSessions, Podcast, #Webinars in order to support and join efforts. Every day is a new experience for us,” says Taryn.

Initial Challenges According to Taryn, at first the team detected that the relationship that existed between women entrepreneurs and investors was different compared to men. To change this situation, Impulse4women NPO was created. It was about connecting them with investors and increasing investment.

“Our objective was to start in Spain but we didn´t have enough female entrepreneurs that is why we had to move to Europe, analysing the market of women entrepreneurs in technology, social impact projects and investors. The next market step was supposedly to go to US and Canada, for the maturity of the start-ups and for the relationship between the venture Capital in which I am as director of investor relations. The fund has been investing in this market since 2008th in early-stage start-ups,” says Taryn.

Collaborating with international entities Impulse4women could grow in other cities and develop the ecosystem for social impact projects and for women -led entrepreneurs in technology.

This is when the team decided to incorporate into any international project that came from other cities; thanks to the support of the ambassadors and to collaborate with large public and private entities.

The second challenge was to start dealing with software developers, finding someone who understood the requirements. The services, team wants to offer initially seemed easy, but the team has gone through several meetings to be able to define its need and translate it into what it wanted.

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‘‘

The most important thing about our work is

‘‘

The first challenge was that the team began to close agreements with public and private international organizations that wanted to increase the quota of women led entrepreneurs and made a connection by contributing as a third party. Start-ups could make themselves known, entities could raise the female presence on the stage and investors could have access to female entrepreneurs.

to offer the possibility that entrepreneurs can grow, jump barriers, be successful and for sure be invested.

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The third challenge was when Taryn started Impulse4women there were not so many associations supporting women-led tech entrepreneurs or those projects with social impact. “Today there are much more organizations supporting women in general and duty is to differentiate ourselves by communicating our objective; increase investment in women-led entrepreneurs in the technology ecosystem,” says Taryn.

models for others, in communicating the awards that they can find depending on their allocation, maturity, sector etc.

Creating online events with different purposes as; the company’s Podcast start-ups can listen to the successful experiences and not so attractive stories of other start-ups.

The main objective is to help other start-ups through the experiences of entrepreneurs that have go through the same before.

A Stage for Women Entrepreneurs

“We also offer webinars; we want to cover them offering pills on different topics that may be important for the entrepreneurs depending on their maturity. We cover all stages of maturity, from the beginning until the exit,” states Taryn.

Starting from the base that Impulse4women is an international platform. The company is considering itself as a great defender of diversity, the integration of different cultures, religions, mindset, etc. All this provides added value to any team. The team says, “We should also remark that there is data that shows how a work team gives better results and is more effective when the teams are mixed.”

The way to approach a situation from a woman´s or a man´s point of view is different, nor better not worse just different.

That´s the good point!

In general terms, women are more holistic, and the team at Impulse4women thinks more in the long term; the community is an important point in their decision-making.

Man is much more focused on one goal; he is more competitive and accepts risk in a different way. All this generates a wealth in the team that in the medium term, translates into benefits for the company.

From Impulse4women, the team gives all the necessary tools so an entrepreneur woman who wants to develop a project can meet other females who are going through the same situation, experiences, joys and frustrations. Of course, the company’s support is aimed at female entrepreneurs.

“Since Impulse4women was founded we have been growing the ecosystem seeing where we could offer more support and little by little, we are expanding that coverage,” says the company.

“The most important thing about our work is to offer the possibility that entrepreneurs can grow, jump barriers, be successful and for sure be invested!”

Sharing Stories, Success, and Challenges

Initiatives for Women Empowerment Since 2017th, www.impulse4women.org has contributed to offering an ecosystem to those women who wanted or were starting up. The company has an advisory board of 71 persons, including investors ranging from Business Angels to Private Equity and ambassadors. All of them from the technological ecosystem, where they support women entrepreneurs in technology and social impact projects with their time and knowledge. “Thanks to them we have been able to grow internationally and support start-ups,” says Taryn.

Inspiration and Learning Taryn believes her father is the role model who helped her to get this far. “I have come this far, thanks to my Father, he has always trusted me and respected me in my decisions, allowing me to make mistakes on several occasions, and then come to help me,” says Taryn. When Taryn started her professional career in Private Banking, she had her first mentor, who was also her boss from she really wanted to learn, and who always explained the behaviour of the stock markets, how to act and proceed. Later Taryn changed jobs and had another boss who taught her that there was nothing that was priceless and effortless. The challenge was to open a branch for a Multi Family Office in times of crisis.

According to Taryn, the books that have impressed her have been many, some of them are “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, “Goddesses in Everywoman” by Shinoda Bolen, “In the name of Identity” by Amin Maalouf. One book that she considers helped her a lot professionally was “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie.

The principal contribution is bringing investors closer to women entrepreneurs in raising those women who are role

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Photo Credit: Simon Klein-Knudsen / People´s.

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Be er World

The Better Future of Crisis -Susanne Skov Diemer A Positive Crisis Impact From a crisis management perspective, COVID-19 has in many ways had a positive impact, as governments, companies' & people´s understanding of the importance of crisis prevention and preparedness has increased. As a whole, we are now better prepared and equipped to prevent, prepare for and manage future crises.

Now, there is a general understanding of crisis and crisis management and a new awareness and interest that I hope that we take advantage of and take the lessons learned from and prepare ourselves – families, societies & businesses– and prevent & prepare for the next crisis – in whatever shape, size or form it comes.

Prevention is always the best – and cheapest – option. That is the premise. As business leaders, it is our duty of care to emerge in a better – and safer – place post-crisis and allocate budget to crisis management before the next crisis hits.

We can Emerge from this Crisis, Preventing Future Crisis As a security specialist, my duty is to voice the inconvenient truth. That is the nature of the security, intelligence and surveillance world and my role. I did my duty in the Danish media in early February 2020, warning against a virus and later a pandemic hitting Denmark. When we don´t prevent a crisis, it hits harder. That is a reality whether we want to face it or not. A virus can turn into a pandemic, a risk into an emergency. I work with risks and they are constantly changing, while new are arising. In my industry, we do surveillance, intelligence and crisis management. We work with surveillance and prevention to avoid a pandemic, crisis and breakdown. We do this in order to contribute to a safer business environment and to save lives.

Crisis Guide After a long career working with security, I felt it was my duty to democratise and share my knowledge and

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recommendations, not only with governments, companies and other clients, but with the general population. Last year, I published my first book that had been in the back of my mind for years - 'Prepare yourself best for the worst’. It is he first Danish crisis guide and a modern, urban survival guide for you and your nearest and dearest to prepare for a crisis, emergency or disaster – a cyber or terror attack, national catastrophe or something as simple as a power failure.

The keys – as business leaders and citizens - are prevention, preparedness and awareness. The purpose of my book and work is that people gain a crucial awareness of potential threats and an understanding of what we can all do to prepare ourselves, and why and how we can take responsibility in order to better get through current and future crisis together.

This guide does not ask you to go into the wilderness or build a taller fence around your home or office, but rather to take matters into your own hand with simple steps in case the authorities are not able to assist you. It is essential that we as citizens and leaders are prepared for a crisis on all levels and all aspects.

I have now written an international version of my book, which is released this summer.

Mental Health: Strengthening Our Response Mental health is increasingly mentioned when it comes to crisis management and leadership. It is of great importance, as stress and fear can cause irrational and damaging behaviour for yourself, and the people around you both personally and professionally, and filter into society.

The COVID-19 crisis has shown how citizens and employees have reacted to different phases of this global crisis and how differently we have handled the recommendations and restrictions from authorities and leaders across borders and sectors.

In crisis management, public awareness, transparency and openness are key. When we as citizens have an understanding of threats, we react in a more constructive and responsible manner.

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The same goes with crowd management at big events. It is easier to guide a crowd who is informed and understands the risks and consequences. This is a key area in PACTESUR, where I am on the expert Advisory Committee. The aim is to empower cities and local actors in the field of security of urban public spaces facing threats, such as terrorist attacks. PACTESUR federates local decision makers, security forces, urban security experts, urban planners, IT developers, trainers, front-line practitioners, designers and others in order to shape new European local policies to secure public spaces against threats.

Competitive Parameter and Risk Radar In my world, a risk is a risk. It has no gender, but it does have a colour - red, yellow or green. I meet very few female business owners like myself within the security sector globally, but we do see an increase in female analysts and 'supporting roles' within the industry. But the reality is that crisis doesn't care about gender, plans or deadlines.

In an age of pandemic, terror, cyber threats, fraud etc. a crisis is not a question of if, but of when. And the best time to prepare for the next crisis is now.

To me as a business leader and security specialist, it is not about withstanding a crisis or getting through it. It is about going beyond crisis preparedness. It is about thriving and rising.

About the Author Susanne Skov Diemer has an extensive career dedicated to security, intelligence, crisis- and risk management, a security specialist and expert on advisory boards and consultant for global companies, CEO of Praesidio Group – a global intelligence and security company headquartered in Denmark, the author of a modern survival and security guide and a keynote speaker.

During a crisis, we reassess physical, strategic, and financial vulnerabilities and out of the box thinking is crucial.

Having spent important parts of her career under the radar in England and the U.S., she is recipient of various U.S. Government awards for her work with the U.S. Department of State – Diplomatic Security and has received special training as a first responder within Weapons of mass destruction and pandemics by U.S. Department of State – Diplomatic Security.

We are seeing how crisis management has taken on new urgency in these recent unsettled times with terror and hacker attacks, natural disasters and pandemics.

We might develop vaccines and have crisis plans, but no one is immune to this new reality of constantly changing threats. Step one is to accept that a crisis is inevitable. The other keys are preparation, implementation, mitigation, lessons learned evaluation & recovery.

She serves as a security and intelligence expert within the private, public and cooperative sector, organisations and communities. Among others, she is an expert on the Advisory Committee for the European Forum for Urban Security - the only European network of local and regional authorities dedicated to urban security, bringing together 250 cities and regions from 16 countries. She also services as advisor for a global philanthropic charitable organization focusing on global virus and pandemic.

There is a growing interest in having threat protection as part of a business development plan. Businesses are increasingly using this as a competitive parameter in running their business. We also see how companies are increasingly spending resources on risk assessment – I call it 'The Risk Radar' – in order to truly understand what risks, they are potentially facing, how they can prioritize and mitigate them.

As an event and crisis advisor, she, and her team, has participated in protection, security management & coordination for state visits, Denmark's Presidency of the Council of the EU, NATO Head of State Summit, COP15, International Olympic Committee Meeting, among others.

50 | April 2021

Links: Praesidiogroup.com Susanneskovdiemer.com

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