How the
Market is Pivoting Around a Pandemic
FINDING THE ART IN SUCCESS
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SUMMARY
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A Man on a Mission with Dr. Alan Barnard
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Bimlendra Jha
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Balancing and Unbalanced World
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Thinking Differently to Propel Your Brand
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Technology in Medicine
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Finding the Art in Success
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Katie O’Reilly
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How the Real Estate Market is Pivoting Around a Pandemic
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Peter Leung
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When People Fly‌
Nothing is more Powerful than the Truth. That is the fundamental idea and basis of The Powerful. In today’s modern culture, media has become very one-sided, only wanting to discuss whatever side they are in support of. The Powerful is aimed towards giving you the power to make your own decision and formulate your own opinion and view. At The Powerful, we feel there is no right or wrong, only the power of information that you can arm yourself with. You can check out The Powerful online at ThePowerful.com. There, you can find the stories that are featured here in the magazine and can comment and weigh in on what you think. Sincerely,
Francie Editor
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EDITOR’S NOTE
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Dr. Alan Barnard A man on a mission
to help us evaporate our dark clouds with his Harmony Decision Maker App What do people see when they look at your social media? Your best life or your real life? Most of us share only our best life, the amazing places we’ve visited, and the moments when we look and feel our best. However, that is not our real life. In our real lives, we have to deal with real problems and often make really bad decisions. We often procrastinate making good changes or choices, and sometimes, we over-react and make bad changes or choices - both in our personal lives and at work. Thinking about the thousands of decisions we face every day and how easy it is to make a mistake can be overwhelming. We have to decide what to wear, what to eat, what to say, what career or partner to choose, and how to live up to our own expectations and those of others, among countless other decisions. The good news is that most of the many decisions we face every day are unimportant in the grand scheme of things. However, a few of them are. And getting these decisions right could mean the difference between success and failure. Luckily, our intuition is usually a useful guide for deciding whether a decision is really important or not. The ones that are, often hang over us like dark clouds, blocking out the sunshine. They can feel like a weight on our shoulders we don’t know how to resolve.
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Imagine if there was an app that could help you evaporate these dark clouds, an app that could help you to make better and faster decisions when it really matters. Dr. Alan Barnard, one of the world’s leading Decision Scientists and experts in the Theory of Constraints, has done just that. He has developed an app that can help anyone evaporate their darkest clouds, both those we face in our personal life and at work. He has always been curious about understanding why good people make and often repeat bad decisions and made it his life goal to develop simple but powerful decision support methods and apps to help people make better, faster decisions when it really matters. Dr. Barnard explains his ah-ha moment in this way. ‘Each of the dark clouds that hang over us, really do have a silver lining. If we take the time to analyze why these dark clouds exist, we can discover the limiting belief that is either holding us back from making a good decision or could cause us to over-react and make a bad decision. Overcoming these limiting beliefs can unlock the incredible potential within ourselves or our organizations. Without a way to resolve our dark clouds, we are like Joni Mitchel’s lyrics in Both Sides Now, “So, many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.”’ So, what should we do when clouds get in the way of us achieving our most important goals? Dr. Barnard has a simple answer. As Joni Mitchel sings, we should simply ‘look at clouds from both sides.’ But what does that mean?
Dr. Barnard said his insight was that a dark cloud is formed, not when we face a problem or opportunity, but when this problem or opportunity puts us in a conflict of whether or not to change something in our life or our organization. Decisions turn into dark clouds when each of the options we consider has both unique Pros AND unique Cons. And because we do not know how to resolve such conflicts without at least one major negative, we often procrastinate and then later over-react. For example, our dark cloud might be related to being overweight. Since we don’t want to give up eating the food we love, we initially procrastinate, and then, when we start feeling really bad, we over-react and go on a crash diet, which often triggers a vicious cycle.
And vicious cycles are hard to escape, which is why it is critically important that we learn how to resolve these dark clouds as soon as they appear. In fact, research shows that unresolved decision conflicts are one of the major causes of why people feel demotivated and even depressed. And if those feelings linger for too long, it is easy to slip into thoughts of hopelessness and even self-harm. In 2007, after presenting his insights at an international conference, Dr. Barnard was invited to complete a Ph.D. This allowed him to further develop his insights and decision support method through extensive field testing around the globe, firstly with leadership teams in the private sector, then in the public sector, and finally with individuals.
Dr. Goldratt, a mentor to Dr. Barnard for over 20 years and co-founder of Goldratt Research Labs, was the bestselling author of books such as “The Goal” and the creator of the Theory of Constraints.
The goal of Goldratt Research Labs is to develop simple but powerful methods and apps that can help individuals and management teams make better, faster decisions when it really matters.
Resolve Conflict(s) with 4 win:win options
Define YOUR and “THEIR” Conflicts “THEIR” CONFLICT
Why important for OTHERS?
Step 3
Step 2
Step 1
Define YOUR Problem and why its important The one I blam e for m y problem
OPTION 1 CHANGE++
MY/OUR CONFLICT Why important for OTHERS?
In dealing w ith the Problem
CHANGE + +
Why important for ME?
Why important for ME?
CHANGE
MY/OUR PROBLEM (the dark cloud)
VS
CAUSE DON’T
(NO CHANGE)
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Over the past decade, Dr. Barnard’s revolutionary ProConCloud method and the subsequent Harmony Decision Maker app have been used by thousands of individuals and hundreds of management teams around the globe to develop win: win breakthroughs to difficult decision conflicts they were facing.
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During his award-winning Ph.D. research, Dr. Barnard identified five common decision mistakes we all make that cause us to make and repeat bad decisions. To prevent these five mistakes, he developed a 5-step method called the ProConCloud. It was named after the two methods developed by two giants in decision-making; Benjamin Franklin’s Pro-Con list method and Dr. Goldratt’s Evaporating Cloud method.
MY/OUR PROBLEM (the dark cloud)
CHANGE
VS
DON’T
✗
OPTION 2 NOT CHANGE++
✓
✓
NO CHANGE + +
OPTION 3 WHEN+WHEN NOT
✓ ✓
✓
WHEN + WHENWHEN NOT + WHEN NOT
To prevent common mistakes of
To prevent common mistakes of
Saying “I don’t know what to do” or Jumping to a Solution
Wasting our limited attention by .. Dealing with Unimportant Problems OR Procrastinating on Important Problems
Now Just do it!
Step 5
Managing Experiment as a Project
Design a GOOD Experiment
✗
OPTION 4 ANOTHER CHANGE
✗ ✗ ✗
✓
ANOTHER CHANGE
✗ ✗
To prevent common mistake of
FOCUSING on only ONE resolution or compromising Not realizing there are 4 viable options
Step 4
YES-BUT Planning
Our Experiment Design
NS Not Started
IP In Progress
F Frozen
C Completed
A Achieved
Why?
My/Our Problem & why its important to us
What?
Want ↑Pros ↓Cons
How
Change ++++
YES, BUT…it’s not sufficient YES, AND…how to make it sufficient?
YES, BUT…it has negatives
Why?
YES, AND…how to prevent negatives?
YES, BUT…there are obstacles YES, AND…how to overcome obstacles?
To prevent common mistake of
Either Procrastinating, getting distracted or multitasking …that often results in avoidable FAILED Experiments
The ProConCloud Method has taken our team’s creative problem solving and decisionmaking skills to a completely new level. – Tamio Ishibashi, CTO, Daiwa House (Japan)
To prevent common mistake of
Failing to learn from experience by doing BAD Experiments when communicating or implementing changes
To prevent common mistakes of
Ignoring valid reservations (Yes, buts) OR Using Yes, buts as excuses not to act
When it comes to making decisions about changes in our life, we do become emotional, especially when we are under some kind of time constraint. And in those emotional states, our brains cannot function with rational clarity. This ProConCloud method and the Harmony Decision Maker App can get us out of that emotional state into a more logical, rational state to enable us to make better decisions. That is why I am recommending it to my clients. Daniella Princi, Psychologist (Australia)
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I’ve recently been privileged to meet Dr. Alan Barnard and have been totally and absolutely mesmerized and thrilled by the man’s mammoth mind. His work on Constraint Theory, his decision support app, and his supply chain digital twin simulation models grab you with their amazing power and elegant simplicity. I recommend him, and his apps to any business facing a difficult strategic or tactical decision or for whom rapid and sustainable improvement is critical. - Jay Abraham, President, The Abraham Group (USA)
‘Sometimes, I am truly impressed at what others can accomplish when they simply do all the right things and put in the work. Dr. Alan Barnard is one of the most intelligent individuals I have ever met. Sometimes highly intelligent people aren’t the best at business because they are almost too smart for their own good, but this is not the case with Dr. Barnard. He is the perfect balance of intelligence and action. He is someone who you need to watch out for as he is not stopping anytime soon. - JT Foxx, investor, serial entrepreneur, and the world’s #1 wealth coach
I have known Alan for 15 years and can confirm the incredible potential that can be unlocked, not just in business performance, but also in someone’s personal life when using the methods and apps he has created. For example, I used his ProConCloud method to resolve a dilemma most leaders face. It allowed me to identify those few critical situations when I should make decisions in an autocratic way instead of following a Socratic approach. This was a breakthrough for me. - Bimlendra Jha, the former CEO of Tata Steel UK,
To see if the free Harmony Decision Maker app can help you evaporate a dark cloud you may be facing in your personal or professional life, you can download it from your app store. Just search ‘Harmony Decision Maker’ or go to www.harmonyapps.com
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Apart from his role as Founder and CEO of Goldratt Research Labs, Dr. Alan Barnard also serves on the boards of several for-profit and non-profit organizations. He is on the advisory board of BHP (the world’s largest mining company), Throughput Inc. (a Silicon Valley start-up that uses big data and AI for identifying and eliminating bottlenecks within organizations and supply chains), and the World Women’s Conference and Awards Organization. Dr. Barnard also has a podcast series called “Impossible Unless” and his own YouTube Channel that contains hundreds of keynotes, lectures, and insights he has shared over the past few decades.
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And the Harmony Decision Maker is not the only App Dr. Barnard, and his passionate team at Goldratt Research Labs have developed. Dr. Barnard was also the chief architect of the awardwinning Harmony Change Maker and Harmony Change Simulator suite of apps.
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Eli’s contention was that a goal oriented system has fewer constraints due to interconnected nature of levers that can impact the system’s goal. This could economize time and effort to bring about substantial progress towards individual or organizational goals.
Bimlendra Jha Former CEO of Tata Steel UK and Ambuja Cement 1) How do you know Dr. Alan Barnard and what do you think about the work he is doing?
2) What led to your decision in using Dr. Alan Barnard’s Decision-Making support methods and apps?
I know Dr. Alan Barnard since 2004 when he conducted a one day workshop o n Th e o r y o f Co n s t ra i n t s ( TO C ) fundamentals for the senior executives and aspiring TOC facilitators of Tata Steel India as part of the Viable Vision program launched under the guidance of Dr. Eliyahu M Goldratt.
I think Alan wouldn’t even call his one day workshop on TOC fundamentals as a Decision Support Method, but that is what precisely I used extensively in the early days of my TOC learning for clarifying my own thoughts, coaching my team and training the facilitators.
Alan immediately struck me as someone who not only had deep personal understanding of the TOC concepts, he was someone who could listen well and communicate back to his audience in an easy to understand language. His work on Odyssey program was something very inspiring and meaningful to me and to many others who wanted to apply the TOC principles to their personal lives. Alan’s insatiable desire to learn and invent new solutions for topical issues are all the things that encouraged me to keep in touch with him for more than 15 years. We have mutually benefited from the projects we have done together and the engaging conversations we have had.
It may be worth articulating the essence of TOC for those who may not be familiar with the concept. Dr Eliyahu Goldratt articulated TOC as an improvement philosophy that focuses attention and effort on those few things in a system (individual or organizations) that can influence the entire system. He called the(se) focal point(s), the system’s constraint(s) or some people prefer the term bottleneck. A bottleneck is any resource where the demand from the system, exceeds the available capacity of that resource. Our constraint or bottleneck, the resource that limits us from making progress on the goals important to us, is not our limited time, or money or knowledge, but rather our limited attention. Why? Simply because the number of things demanding our attention or that could benefit from our attention, will always exceed our available attention. That means we have to decide what to FOCUS on - what and who to pay attention to - and as importantly, what and who not to pay attention to.
Alan and his colleagues at GRL have dedicated their efforts in making TOC accessible to the practitioners. They developed Harmony software for building strategy and tactic tree for businesses and also used the same concept for crashing the time required in an Odyssey program. I have experienced these first hand and have benefitted from the S&T trees made freely available on the Harmony platform for the users. They are pedagogical and informative at the same time. Alan and I started discussing the potential usage of Artificial Intelligence and simulation models for complex processes more than a decade ago. I could see the benefit of using simulations as a safe way to test our intervention hypothesis and study its impact without having to learn it the hard way from making mistakes. It acted as a good tool to build conviction amongst the naysayers and give courage to early adapters. 3) Give an example of how you improved any of your businesses or processes using any of his methods or apps. I was one of the early users to see the potential of simulation modeling that Alan brought to my attention. Using a 3D simulation in Anylogic, in a complex steel melting shop that was also the constraint of Long Products business in Tata Steel India, I could see the impact of moving bottlenecks and changed the subordination rules to exploit the relevant constraint of the hour or the day. We got quick unprecedented improvement in Throughput. Years later, I could get Goldratt Research Labs to develop four more such simulation models in the UK covering the entire supply chain as well as individual bottleneck units to develop insights. That is when I popped the idea of using these simulators as Digital Twins for running the complex operations as well as supply chains for GRL’s clients. Alan is now taking the concept of Digital Twins to even greater heights for his other clients.
Apart from all these improvement techniques, what has really helped me is the crucibles of learning experience provided by Tata Steel in different functions and geographies. Finally it was the Challenge of Leadership program at INSEAD campuses in Fontainebleau and Singapore that I learnt the art of becoming a reflective leader under the tutelage of Manfred Kets de Vries. I can, however, say with confidence that the scientific temper and success achieved with the application of TOC concepts in my career have been the quickest, largest in value terms and most sustainable.
I spend a majority of my corporate life at the middle management level in Tata Steel India. It was in January 2002 that the then Managing Director of Tata Steel asked me to head a transformation program that could make Tata Steel EVA positive and remain so. The company was 95 years old and based only in India. It had never made a loss in its history but profits did not cover the cost of capital either on any more than 4-5 occasions, making it EVA negative. It wasn’t just a problem of Tata Steel, it was the case with most steel companies across the world! Under a 3 year program with McKinsey & Co, the company had already become the lowest variable cost producer of Steel in the world by the turn of the millennium. The company was also scoring the highest within the Tata Group on a business excellence model shaped on the Malcolm Baldrige criteria. What was clear to me that cost reduction was not the answer to the question. I was yet to learn the concept of building a Decisive Competitive Edge (DCE), but I knew that we were missing some crucial insights from the customers. As a first step, therefore, we designed a win-win concept, together with McKinsey&Co to gain insights from the industrial and retail customers and their influencers to reshape our offerings. We called it a TOP in Marketing Program with Customer Value Management, Retail Value Management and Customer Product Optimization as the three legs of the Program. Within a year we could also launch a more comprehensive improvement toolkit that amalgamated the best practices from Six Sigma/ TQM, Lean/ TPM, EVA Driver tree analysis and Benchmarking. It took another year before we could come across the Viable Vision Process promoted by Eli Goldratt that educated us to focus our efforts on the system’s constraints, build the DCE and the win-win formula of selling these concepts to customers and suppliers for mutual financial gains.
The annual down time of bottleneck units could be reduced using the concepts of critical chain project management (CCPM). Indeed the business results followed suit and even the crisis of 200809 left the company with minor bruises. By the time I went to UK in 2013, I had the advantage of experience of implementing the TOC concepts in supply chain, solution for sales and CCPM. As a first step I put the ongoing Supply Chain Transformation program (SCT) in Tata Steel UK on CCPM way of managing projects and embedded the concepts of supply chain modes of Made to Availability, Made to Order and Finish to Order in the design of SCT. By 2015, however, the Long Products Business in UK and France was in deep trouble and on the verge of closure as the talks over 2 years with a potential buyer were moving nowhere in the light of constantly declining performance and serious losses. That is when I volunteered to try and salvage the business. My motivation was to try and save tens of thousands of jobs in the company and its supply chain. There was no time, money or existing solutions available for decision making. That is when we had to fall back on the fundamental thinking processes of TOC to invent new solutions that could really work quicker than the Board’s patience! It was within 50 days that the solutions were found to some of the intractable issues and public announcements were made. Within days of those announcements, new bidders emerged, suppliers and employees took voluntary cuts in their remuneration and within five months the business returned to profits and stayed that way for three months before the business was transferred to the new owners and re-christened as British Steel.
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That ’s a n i n te re s ti n g que s t i o n. I have actually built my improvement understanding, toolkit and programs by integrating the light provided by the ancient philosophers such as Patanjali (the propounder of Yoga for articulation of obstacles and their antidote), Gautam Buddha (for articulating the structure of undesired effects, causality and eightfold intervention mechanisms), and modern theorists such as Deming, Juran, Dr Kano of the TQM pedigree, Taiichi Ohno, Shigeo Shingo as originators of Lean, and Eli Goldratt along with many of his associates who contributed to the TOC body of knowledge. That list certainly includes Alan. I have also adapted the concept of war rooms and impact centers for program design, tracking and implementation from the likes of McKinsey and BCG. These are complementary models and tools for application in diverse business situations. I am quite agnostic about what I use as the situation really determines what could be effective.
5) It seems like you are brought in as CEO because you are a leader with a record of turning things around. When you were at Tata Steel UK and Tata Steel India, what was your first plan of action that you did right away to start getting things heading in the right direction?
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4) Is there somebody you try to model your business philosophies after? Why?
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6) After seeing all of the notes from your employees on the positive impact you have had on their lives, what do you think is the most important aspect of the CEO/employee relationship? I think envisioning, enabling, empowering and empathizing are the main jobs of a CEO. Having open and honest conversations are the key to understanding and bringing the organization on the same page. At the same time, it is important to recognize the value of resistance to change. If there is no resistance, it’s not a great sign. It may mean that either the changes are too insipid or there is complete lack of understanding and intuition amongst the change targets. For a CEO, it is important that his employees feel comfortable raising objections and contributing ideas without fear of ridicule or reprisals. Giving employees freedom to experiment and try out new things while making it obligatory to document and share learnings from such experiments and failures is a must for high performance culture. This is the real freedom to fail. Promoting collaboration for global optima over local optima is extremely important to prevent corrosive negative energy. I have often found stretch targets to be a useful way of eliminating missynchronization in large organizations. Such targets eliminate choices and make cooperation a necessary condition of success. Targets alone are, however, insufficient to enable people to make the necessary changes. Training them and constantly coaching them is also the role of CEO and his immediate reports. Finally celebrating success publicly is very important to encourage the employees to do more and feel valued. It is important to share the financial gains of the company equitably. In times of crisis, the perception of fairness matters the most for people to make the necessary sacrifices. 7) Your motto is “I challenge, I change, I champion”, how do continue to stay in line with that through business and personal endeavors? This is a motto I have tried to promote as a personal value of every employee. Organizations are neurotic expressions of their CEOs. It is, therefore, necessary for the CEO to role model the behavior expected from the employees.
I never accept a status quo or a deterioration in performance or personal goals due to externalities. I push myself and encourage my teams to reassess the situation and look for options and discuss the changes necessary including their positive and negative ramifications. I also try to conduct experiments to learn and contain the damage if there was any. Using simulation models is one of the ways to conduct experiments without taking any real risks. Once convinced about the course of action, I conduct regular reviews and have a structure to understand the causal link between the outcomes and the interventions. Once the causality is established well, I solicit the support of new champions to take the ideas elsewhere, within and outside the company. 8) Recently you left Ambuja Cement to explore opportunities to contribute to greater causes in line with that motto, do you have any plans for what’s next yet? Sharing and learning from experience and new situations is what I enjoy the most. I have decided to dedicate about 25% of my time to inspire and experiment with people and organizations. I have formed a company called IgnitingMinds Guru as a vehicle to pursue my passion in this regard. I also find it difficult to accept that business organizations in financial distress end up destroying the economic engines created by the founders and disengage masses from economic activity. This causes deep stress in the societies with poor social security systems and stresses the exchequer where governments do step in to support. I have decided to deal squarely with such distressed assets in any form I can. This ranges from providing managerial support to the existing owners; financial restructuring; or even acquiring assets and turning them around. The vehicle I have created for this work is called Mechi Enterprises. 9) If you could offer one piece of business advice to any tech entrepreneur or higher ed student, what would it be? Focus on the significant unmet needs of a sizable population as a subject of your business or research. Breakthrough is just a scientific derivative of insights derived from this focus, experimentation and learning from those experiments.
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Balancing Unbalanced World
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an
with Katharina Plange
H
ow many CEOs, entrepreneurs, coaches and business gurus alike, are really having a great and balanced life ? Looking at it in terms of business and family life. How many? Take your time, I’ll wait. From what we have seen, only a few conveniently fit into this description. And that’s where you find Katharina Plange. Katharina, for the record, is and has for a long time, been a business/wealth coach, trainer, and speaker with international recognition. What a lot of people struggle with though was the balance between this hardworking business motivated career and a perfect family life. With no room to to waiver on either side. She is the founder of “Erfolgreich Erfullt”, but also busy raising a family in Vienna, Austria. She’s amassed nothing less than twice a decade of experience in interpersonal relationships from both sides of a company which means time spent away from her other career as a companion and mother.
However, she decided to let go of the business life to step into greater heights. Then it became clearer to her that most people, not exempting her, are really not stepping up to the level they should. With this, she discovered the pathway into stepping up into living a balanced life. Both in the private and corporate worlds it is possible to be glad, strong, blooming, making cool cash and earn the right kind of relationship. All in a balanced mix. She’s the go-to coach when it comes to you finding the right cords to connect everything. To predict the actual factor or limiting elements to deal with, she’s the answer. Katharina quite literally serves as a life-support for individuals to design the kind of life they desire both in their corporate and private life. Further, she walks people through the process to come out of their cocoon of past tales and glories that have kept them locked and stuck for far too long. Making them realize that old glories and stories should be kept in the past and to forge ahead for fresh ones. Katharina gives a helping hand to get hold of the next phase by putting back in place the cognitive, bodily and spiritual life. She readily creates seminars, personal meetings and even lectures to motivate people to step up to the actual life they crave for and utterly deserve.
1. Coming to the consciousness that she had to instill more power and effort in her entirety; growth and life. This had to precede and others follow suit. 2. Going head on with her worst fears and breaking them to get freedom 3. Understanding the fact that she can actually cause a significant difference in people’s lives by coaching them. Thus, they become bigger and better versions of themselves. With all of these, she was able to overcome her weaknesses like: — Practically shutting herself away from who she truly was hence, she never trusted herself — Not taking full authority and honor for her actions and inactions — Parallel signals as regards to her inward self and outer expressions. They just didn’t match. Majorly, as a result of her background, pedagogy and past ordeals. She was utterly living what others wanted her to live. Hiding behind several success accolades just to let others have a sense of feeling that she had it all. To prove she was not lacking anything. — Never came to the full insight that training or coaching had immense impact on people’s lifestyle. But now, that has all changed! Moving forward with her life she chose to help others with what she struggled with for so long by becoming a coach, trainer and speaker to help as many as she can.
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Just like every other person she has had weaknesses and things she has struggled with. What exactly are those things that transformed Katharina’s life?
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Sometime ago, on the hierarchical scale, she was just about three points away from being the Chief Executive Officer of a company in the telecommunication business. Topnotch when it came to performance in all areas. She had everything a successful executive would have up her sleeves. In fact, she was superb on the outside, with everything to her beck and call. But on the inside there was not too much to write home about. Broke is a good definition! On a balancing scale, she weighed more to her work life and little or nothing to other facets of life, family in particular.
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COACH Being a coach; she enjoys helping others to their desired growth level. She’s always ready to be there for her clients. With the several years of deep experience she wields, Katharina knows better than most, the actual importance a coach can play in changing somebody’s life. When it comes down to coaching people, she’s amazing as she really focuses her energy to a point source- supporting individuals in designing their choice kind of world or life. She can definitely usher you into the right pathway to become the best version of yourself. In terms of confidence, success and many other whatnots.
Katharina’s basic aim is to raise individuals to ball at the real peak or height they crave for both on a private scale and corporate level. She believes that to be successful is an option you have to select. It’s very much required of you to thrash whatever is pulling you back from climbing the success ladder. As you need to push forward and sync both your innate feelings and outer manifestation.
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Being a trainer, Katharina charms and encourages. She gets this done through her mastery and skills, verismo, charismatic flawlessness and positive vibes. With all of these, it becomes relatively simple for her to work well with all sorts of individuals. She learns most everything about said individuals so that they are able to fully manifest and use their talents on both a personal and business level.
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TRAINER
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“think different, act different, feel different”
SPEAKER Having gained international recognition as a speaker, she instills a burning momentum and motivates people to meditate more on both their now and future. In easy to read text, present-day and future. Having worked the stage in world-class corporate events with notable stars from different walks of life, on more than one occasion, she sits in a convenient spot as one of the top international orators the world has ever witnessed. Most of the time, these platforms house several thousand people from all around the world. Typically, no less than two thousand and five-hundred people. Let me provide you with an example. In one of the most popular areas in South Africa, Johannesburg, to be exact, Katharina actually worked the “all eyes on me” stage with one of Mandela’s descendants- Ndaba Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson.
As one of the best wisdom coaches, Vikas Malkani was also with the duo to form an amazing triplet codon. She, as a result, has been able to encourage far more than a 1500 lives to model a triumphant and balanced life. To add more juice to the mix, she has been called upon for interviews, times without number. Both on a local and international scale, involving magazines and newspapers. More so, a person, community or establishment can’t and shouldn’t be taken seriously if there’s no clear-cut vision, mission, work ethics and why statement. Katharina has all these in store.
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“I crave for my clients to become more successful, accumulate more cash, feel more comfortable and be filled with positive vibes. Simply, my mission is to transform lives, and my slogan has always been to “think different, act different and feel different.” My clients are richer and happier than they were before we worked together,” Plange says.
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Some time ago, Katharina’s eyes were opened to just how successful her life could be. Plus, the unforgettable experience you get when your innate feelings tally with your outer manifestations. It became a remarkable experience that couldn’t be ignored as she continued reminiscing on it. Afterward, her life was transformed and she stepped up into living a healthier and more balanced life. With this remarkable and unforgettable experience, it’s become her full-blown purpose to make other individuals come into this light as well. Hence, making people come to the knowledge of the necessary synchronization between your innate feelings and your ability to manifest outwardly. As a result, everyone can have a well-balanced life in all avenues. Giving it a critical look, Katharina Plange, is a one of a kind personality. Her multi-phased abilities have set her on an edge few people will get to. For more info, please visit: www.katharinaplange.com hello@katharinaplange.com
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Thinking D to Propel Y
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Differently Your Powerful Magazine Volume 4
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Success in today’s world requires excellence. Just doing well is no longer enough. You must be the best performer you can be, the best person for the job. In every aspect of your life, think “more boldly, creatively, tactically, and strategically”. Strive for pinnacle moments that inspire, encourage, and support excellence. Basic qualities define winning companies. They occupy a sweet spot in the market, and possess agility, discipline and focus. Residing in a prime slot means offering valuable products that are not easy to imitate or replace. It isn’t easy. You need to define and defend your niche, because once you find it and fill it, competitors will find you. Being a big winner means carrying out a well-executed niche strategy that achieves a balance between agility, discipline, focus, and constant way to think better.
Many people believe that the ability to think is innate, but that is not true. Anyone can, and should, learn to think better every day. The economy is shifting. No longer is it based on things; it is based on information. Your business’ greatest asset is its ability to understand and manipulate information and ideas. Within your business, the first step to improve your thinking, is you must realize you probably do not think as much as you assume you do. No one does. They put things into “categories” or groups, within their mind, and create assumptions on a solution. Reproductive thinking doesn’t help you solve new problems. Productive thinking is difficult. Especially when you are in known territory, your reproductive thinking habits will provide immediate answers to problems and questions. To become genuinely productive, stay in “question”. Keep asking. It will be uncomfortable but is very necessary to avoid coming up with the same old answers you already know. Brainstorming has three steps. The first is to generate ideas in a way where you won’t feel judged. Dig deeper to turn those ideas into a bit stranger idea, and then go even stranger. To eventually you end up with ideas that just seem a bit crazy. Productive thinking requires one to take their time and not be rushed, to keep asking new questions even when answers seem so black and white. It is about asking “what else”. Brainstorming is often about finding a problem, picking a solution, and acting on that solution. It really shouldn’t be that way.
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Thinking is not an innate talent. It is a skill you develop over time. Unfortunately, most people avoid thinking as much as they can. They fall into a habit that is “good enough” to get by and live that way for the rest of their lives. Businesses cannot survive that way. Reproductive thinking repeats past patterns. Productive thinking generates brand-new ideas. Productive thinking combines the critical and creative thinking skills needed to create and propel a brand for a lifetime. To think productively, start by asking what’s wrong with the current situation. Continue to ask questions until you get to the core. When people brainstorm, they often stop too soon. The best ideas come well into the process, when you get far enough from the familiar to form wild ideas.
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People come equipped with mental filters that affect the way they think. These filters are essentially subconscious, social, or survival related. In today’s fast-paced, continually changing business world, you need powerful thinking skills to make decisions quickly and effectively. The key to constant innovation is to try a variety of methods to get results. There are two types of thinkers every business must have; adaptive and innovative. Adaptive thinkers help innovative thinkers see the reality of the situation, while innovative thinkers help adaptive thinkers see beyond the individual steps of a process or strategy. You don’t need complex concepts or abstract algorithms to make smart business decisions to keep your business ahead of the curve, you just need constant practice.
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Changing your thinking is the most important thing you can do to change the results of your actions. Successful people think differently than other people. To develop focused, positive thinking skills, spend time with other successful thinkers. Learn to question everything. Do not just go with the flow, learn to think for yourself. Embrace challenges and problems as opportunities. Use them as catalysts to think of better methods or to create something new. Learn to appreciate other people’s way of thinking and brainstorm with them to capitalize on their creativity, new possibilities, and the power of collective and shared thinking. Learn from other great thinkers, study their lives, their experiences, and what they learned from their mistakes; then apply it to your life and your business situation. Some people are better at idealistic thinking and others are best at realistic thinking. Idealists dream of the future and the hopes and dreams. Realistic thinkers look at things as they exist, whether it is good or bad. Realistic thinking in a business helps you minimize negative consequences by anticipating what could happen and making contingency plans. It makes you strategize and develop options. It helps you recognize the need to change so you can produce better results. They say, “only the paranoid survive”. On your business team, it is important to have both a visionary and realist to turn dreams into a reality. To develop your thinking skills and grow your business, drop any preconceived ideas. Experience new things explore the unknown and do something out of the ordinary. Don’t accept limitations. Break situations into small fragments to understand them, dig deeper, tackle issues not the symptoms. Don’t let yourself or your thinking get boxed in. Schedule time regularly to be alone so you can think. Eliminate any interruptions and distractions that deter you from reaching the goals that matter most to you. Multitasking does not work, focus on one thing and break it down. Start living on purpose, and not by habit. Be a deliberate person.
Accept complete responsibility for the successes and failures in your life. Once you get to a certain level or performance in your business, you may be tempted to stop getting better. That is a self-imposed barrier. Breaking down the person and business records is an excellent way to overcome any self-imposed barriers. A bad habit can become so strong that it can actually be mistaken for destiny, as it is meant to be a certain way. Don’t limit the potential for your business or yourself. A barrier is any place in your business or your life where you stopped growing. Whether you are at a low, medium, or high level of productivity, you must always be aware of the barriers. Learn to motivate yourself. To grow your business, people beyond management need to be involved. All employees are creative in some way. Free your employees from the chaos of running the ship and give them time to think. Forget the exercises that envision a better future but generate honest discussion by having your teams pretend to represent a ruthless competitor bent on killing your business. Have the employees tell you what the rival will do to crush your business. Make it a habit to ask tough questions, attach sacred things, and challenge convention. Promote the traits necessary to thrive such as courage, toughness, curiosity, and collaboration. When your culture is good, innovation is ongoing, but when it is bad, management has to acknowledge that something has to change. Innovation thrives in businesses where leaders lead, where managers have the freedom to think and experiment, and everyone is expected to be a visionary.
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Your moment to moment thoughts shape your worldview, thus your life, and the life of your business. Learn to identify the barriers between you and where you want your business to be, and then push those barriers even further. Never settle for the end goal. When you get to a goal push on and set a new one, repeat that even when you are the best in the world. Mental images of who you want your business to be are powerful. Be aware of any limitations or restrictions you are putting on yourself. You can acquire all of the tools and knowledge you will ever need to not only succeed, but to be the best. Never become complacent, work to avoid ignorance, and expect nothing but the best. Every person has the same 18 billion brain cells, which means every person has the same potential to acquire and retain information to become a genius. The choice to be one is yours. Choose wisely for yourself, and the success of your business.
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Remember, your mental mode is the product of your education, experience, and imagination. If you are always the smartest person in the room, or even every now and then, you are limiting yourself. Continue to stretch your mind and think better every day by surrounding yourself with people who are better. Go to bed every night knowing you learned at least one thing new that day to make you and your business better. What you see in any situation depends very much in part to what you bring to the table. You want to transform your business? You better be hanging around people and reading things that transform the world. People self-sabotage themselves, they overthink, and get stuck. Stay positive about yourself and your inner dialogue will reflect how you and your business will grow.
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Technology Medicine in
What is the balance?
E
with Michael Jordan
very day the all-consuming topic on any television, website, or news outlet is health; it wasn’t always the main focus but due to recent events it has become the star at the center of the show. Literally overnight, and out of nowhere our focus has become on the spreading of viruses and how to prevent, cure, and screen for it. The big
question has become, why don’t we have more answers, and why aren’t we getting them as fast as we want them? Medicine has always been in a very unique dichotomy where people want solutions, change, and answers, but yet are reluctant to trust new technology or something outside what is traditional. We want advancement, but there is often reluctance to accept advancement if it doesn’t come from a big pharma company. So what is, and where do we find, the balance in this ever changing and evolving industry?
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The medical industry has been making big
help and guidance that you seek can be found, and
shifts and changes for a long time, the prio-
might not be as challenging as you think.
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rity has become volume instead of quality of care. More and more doctors are coming
Professor and medical professional, Dr. Michael
out of school with a focus on seeing as many
Jordan (and no not the basketball player) is a very
patients as quickly as possible. We have all
passionate doctor who is looking for the best pos-
experienced sitting in a waiting room at any
sible treatments and care for his patients, which
variety of doctors’ offices, and those waits just
has always been his goal. Dr. Jordan is someone
seem to get longer and longer. Technology
who has always strived to be on the cutting edge
is being integrated in appointment settings
of treatment and care, and a major part of that is
online, calling ahead to emergency rooms to
studying, working with, and developing the most
get on the waitlist, but where is the advance-
cutting-edge technology with the patient in mind.
ment in care? More often than not, a patient is
Extracorporeal Magnetic Innervation or more com-
told expensive drugs, highly invasive surgery,
monly referred to as EXMI Technology is used for
and options that make the doctor or hospital
the strengthening of the pelvic muscles. Weake-
money while breaking the bank of the patient.
ning of the pelvic muscles contributes to a variety of common issues that many people face as they age.
Inverse to this are doctors who are looking for
In almost anyone, it’s very common as you age to ex-
different methods to treat patients, looking for
perience a weakening of muscles across the body, it
the root cause, or creating new technologies
just so happens that the pelvic muscles cause some
to better patients’ results with less side effec-
issues that not only need to be medically treated,
ts. Superficially this sounds like it makes more
but can be somewhat embarrassing such as erectile
sense and would be better for the patient, yet
dysfunction or incontinence.
a lot of people become hesitant to seek out these doctors. But why? That is the deeper
When it comes to technology and medicine, most
unresolved issue at hand here. If a doctor
people expect a new drug to make a splash on the
could solve your problem, yes the problem
market, or a new invasive procedure. So why do
not the symptoms, that have occurred that
people tend to throw more skepticism at a non-in-
sounds like a win. However, the medical field
vasive option? Often when things are new, people
looks at some of these solutions and speaks
cast doubt on them because it’s something diffe-
poorly on them because they aren’t as expen-
rent, it’s an alternative, and people aren’t always rea-
sive, thus making them less money. What are
dy to accept something that is new even when it can
you, the patient, supposed to do, who do you
be something that is better. The problem with many
trust, and where do you go to get better? The
medications and pills is that they don’t really solve the route problem or cause, but instead they work to only tame the symptoms. Then the symptoms go away or are dulled to a minimum, but do the side effects from the medication make it worth it?
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Here is typically how things work, you go to the doc-
How does EXMI Technology work?
tor and they ask you what is wrong. Once you run through your list they give you some medications to
If you are a patient looking to get better using this
fix it. Oftentimes the doctors don’t actually spend
method you would go in for a session that would last
the time to go all the way to pinpoint what the issue
about 20 minutes. Typically, you would see impro-
is and fix that issue. That wasn’t the type of doctor
vement in 6-8 sessions and would reach a maximum
that Dr. Michael Jordan wanted to be, he had the
outcome in 20-25 sessions that can occur every
goal and strived to be the doctor that would always
other day. That sounds great, but what happens
be in search of the way to solve the problem of the
during a session… that is the most important ques-
patient. As an accomplished doctor in many stu-
tion. One of the most common questions from any
dies, his most recent focus has been on the use of
patient is, how much is this going to hurt? Here is
the EXMI technology that was mentioned earlier.
the exciting news; with this technology it’s completely painless. When you go in for a session, you will
Dr. Jordan has worked with patients who suffer
go into the room and be able to remain completely
from multiple medical conditions that are usually as
clothed during the entire treatment session. All that
a result of a weakened set of pelvic muscles. Not
you have to do for the 20 minute session is sit in a
always, but often impacting adults as they age, whi-
comfortable chair. While seated in the chair for the
ch usually is also coming at a stage in your life where
session, you will know it’s working because you will
more and more medications can prove to be more
feel a small vibration or tapping. That is the EXMI
troublesome, and recovery from surgery is not as
technology going to work to help you strengthen
easy as when you are younger. The treatments offe-
your pelvic muscles. While receiving treatment you
red with the use of EXMI technology are something
may even feel the pelvic floor muscles contracting.
most patients are relieved to hear, even if they think it sounds too good to be true. If you are someone who suffers from one of these weakened pelvic muscle issues like incontinence or erectile dysfunction your answer could be here.
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So what is really happening while you sit there,
This seems like a very effective and efficient way
and how is it helping you?
to solve a lot of medical issues, yet it’s challenging to find doctors who are using this method. This is
The EXMI technology is producing highly focused
a point we find somewhat troubling, as research
time varying magnetic fields which penetrate deep
shows it’s effectiveness so why aren’t more doctors
into the perineum, to activate the pelvic floor mus-
adopting this technology on a mass scale? We think
cles by stimulating all branches of the pudendal and
that doctors are supposed to be the most cutting
splanchnic nerves. These magnetic pulses pass ri-
edge, but yet a lot of the time they are the slowest to
ght through clothing, bone and tissue which is why
adopt new technology. Could this be an insurance
the patient can just sit in a chair with their clothes
play, or simply where more income is made… we
on. As a result of this treatment some patients expe-
aren’t sure, but it is semi puzzling to us.
rience a full recovery, and others do require going through treatments periodically to maintain muscle control.
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If the technology is there, and can help solve something, like EXMI can, why not be the one to use it? Dr. Michael Jordan is using it and wants as many others to be using it as possible to better their lives. Contact Dr. Michael Jordan: info@kitalpha-med.de
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36
Finding
A Su
in
with Steve Ek Ever wonder how wildly successful people accumulate their fortunes? Were they just fortunate to be born into it or was there something they created that appealed to the masses? What traits, abilities or assets do they possess that set them apart from everyone else? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then this story about a now-millionaire serial entrepreneur is for you!
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Art uccess
37
the
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Steve Ek grew up living in a lower income
Steve talks briefly about the first three jobs
household. He didn’t have much as a young
that he landed as a young man and how each
boy and was used to his family having less
of these occupations taught him valuable
than most. He recounts stories seeing his
lessons that he would later use to create his
father swap the license plates from one beat
own success story. The first was at a towel
up car to another, whichever one was running
factory making $3.25 an hour. Hardly minimum
at the time. They never had a new car in the
wage at the time. His everyday tasks were
driveway and they didn’t live the “Norman
mundane and included very literally folding,
Rockwell painting life.” As Steve entered into
taping and packing boxes to be filled with
his adolescence, school became harder and
towels and sent out to vendors. It didn’t take
his learning disability became more evident.
long for Steve to realize that he was worthy of
He struggled with grammar and reading
so much more. This couldn’t be all that his life
and writing. Unfortunately, as many young
or future would amount to. Despite the advice
adults do, Steve also began using drugs
of his father, he quit this job in hopes that he
and alcohol recreationally to deal with the
could put his passions towards something
hardships. As a result of all of these things,
bigger, brighter. He knew that if he didn’t take
he just knew that his successes would be
charge and make different decisions that he
short lived and apparently his own father
may very well end up disappointed in the end.
agreed, oftentimes calling him “Skid Row.”
The second job that he took on was at a fuel
So, what sets Steve Ek apart from the millions of others that have experienced similar childhoods? What products or services could he offer to others that would create a name, a brand and an image that breathes hard work and a tenacity that is more creative and driven than most? In his own words, “being poor and having nothing created a fear of also losing nothing” and gave him the confidence he would need to set himself apart from all the rest.
station pumping gas.
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The man that ran this service station was a hard-
The unique part about this story though is who
working, Hungarian immigrant who was tough
Steve Ek really is, to the core. He began using
as nails. He gave Steve the discipline that he
these potential set-backs as avenues to success.
had always needed and even paid for him to
He was determined to be different, to be better,
attend night school to further his knowledge on
to not only be competitive but to be creative.
vehicles. Over the four years that Steve spent
He developed a laser focus and a keen sense of
there he went from pumping fuel to becoming
observance to others and their achievements.
one of the lead mechanics in the garage. He
Everywhere he went he decided that he would
learned generosity, ethics, discipline and focus-
evaluate people and how they act and react to
all things that he uses every day in his own
each other. Before and after visiting businesses’
business dealings.
he began researching said company’s successes,
After this chapter of Steve’s life came to an abrupt end with the retirement of the shop’s owner, he took his knowledge to yet another fuel/service center. Finally, an interest and career path that seemed to have had a lasting impression. The
failures and even times when they seemed to plateau. All of this in hopes that he would gain the knowledge necessary to become more successful than he could’ve ever dreamed of being.
pay was great, Steve possessed the knowledge
After renting a space for a year, Ek Automotive
and experience to create and complete deals,
opened it’s doors on October 1, 1991. Steve Ek
what could go wrong for this seemingly perfect
had finally made it! He created a space of his own
opportunity? Unfortunately, this venture was
where he could offer quality service to his clients
short lived but provided valuable tips and tricks
and set himself apart from all of the rest of the
for Steve to one day open a business of his very
competition. His shop would also offer a unique
own. He refused to allow all of the set-backs that
spin including local art, rock and roll music and
he had faced thus far to keep him from taking a
efficient, reliable and affordable car maintenance.
chance.
national business awards, be featured in
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His company would go on to win many
Steve even appeared in a WGN news story on “Someone You Should Know”. His accomplishments were tremendous and seen even by those in his hometown, where he was inducted into his very own high schools, Hall of Fame. Steve didn’t stop there though. He continued with his knowledge of the business world by attending conferences and events on how to run successful companies. He even went on to being coached in business from a coaching company in Los Angeles, California. All of these endeavors opening doors for a more successful future.
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business publications all over the world and
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“Are you ready to turn your dreams into your reality? Did you start a business, become an entrepreneur with goals and visions but are struggling to reach them? I can get you there - Steve Ek
Steve Ek through all of his accomplishments
Steve has become a highly successful
and failures has always stayed true to himself
business coach that does not just take ones
and perhaps that is the beauty in this story. If
business to the next level, he catapults it like
you were to see him on the street, perhaps you
no other. He has shared the same stage as
wouldn’t think that he would have the story to tell
the World’s Number One Wealth Coach,
that he does? He speaks about his dreadlocks
JT Foxx and many other big names such as
and how often times that leads people to have
Jillian Michaels, Vince Vaughn, Russell Peters
preconceived notions about who he may be or
and many more. He has even written a book
what he has to offer. He speaks about how the
to be released this Spring called, “You
world can perceive you and what they can think
Become the Story You Tell.”
of you but that staying true to you and what is important is well worth it. Steve is now focusing on his coaching business. After meeting JT FOXX, Steve was asked a question that planted the seed that started it all ““why do you start a coaching business? To help others to get where you are?” This spoke to his soul so he wanted to do just that.
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In closing, Steve Ek is an American success
All in all, this story proves that you can have
story through and through and offers
whatever you set your mind to, the sky is the
himself to the community in many ways.
limit and you are the only thing stopping
His automotive shop provides a space
yourself. Steve Ek has set the bar high and
for people to come and have their cars
is a business guru that has set a prime
serviced, while viewing beautiful art in the
example for what running a successful and
separate gallery space that is open to artists
truly beneficial business can look like!
in the community to portray their work. He has created a website which enables entrylevel entrepreneurs to gain access to useful tips and events in which he or others speak.
Links to his websites are listed below: https://www.ekautomotive.com/ Â _ Repair Shop https://www.saltairgallery.com/ _Art Gallery www.steveek.com _ Coaching Business www.steveek30day.com _ Entrepreneurs
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Name Katie O’Reilly Business Katie O’s Food Carnival Length in this particular field 27 years Reason for starting out in this field I was born and raised in Chicago. Creating food has always been a deep passion of mine, I love people and parties. When deciding on a career path, I targeted jobs that would nurture all of these “likes”. I landed a dream job, straight out of college, at The Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Special Events. I was designing menus and planning events for visiting foreign dignitaries and large corporate sponsors. I soon developed my own Special Events Department for The School of The Art Institute, in total I was there for 19 years. Incredible!! How did you meet Steve? Steve has created an incredible art gallery space called “Salt Air Gallery”. One of my artist friends was participating in a show and asked my to do some catering. She told me a bit about Steve and said I’d love his creative energy. I reached out to Steve in advance, just through texting could tell I related to him. When we finally met in person, we could not stop sharing ideas. He’s amazing and always creating. We could talk and brainstorm ideas for hours.
How would you describe Steve? He’s just an absolutely kind person, supports and builds up all those close to him. He’s unique in every way possible. He’s truly one of a kind. If you were talking to someone who was considering doing business with Steve, what would you say to them? You could not choose a better, more motivated and qualified person to do business with. What ever he is doing, he cares about it 100%. What is your Biggest accomplishment, personal and business related: This might sound predictable, but I have four kids ages 16-9 that I’m raising on my own. They’re spiritually, intellectually and over all great humans. They have deep compassion and are dedicated to making a difference in the world. Business success was launching off with my catering team, whom have all been with me fifteen years, and full developing Katie Os Food Carnival brand. A recent goal you set yourself for the new year: Through more celebrity chef teaching and tasting events, becoming a household name. I am becoming a brand people want to enjoy.
What are some of the strategies you have put in place to take on 2020: Working with Steve to get to the next level. Actively participating in networking events. I’m being hired and highlighted as a speaker chef at many large scale events. Also maintaining the relationships I have with my current clients. I become their “go to” for everything. We become friends.
How is what you do important to you: The passion I have for what I do comes from a place deep within my soul. People, artful food and just cooking and creating constantly keeps me centered. I love all aspects of what I do. Favorite thing about your business: Watching people eat my food and say it’s the best thing they’ve eaten. It’s beautiful, delicious and tasty! Just putting a smile on someone’s face when they know their event will be wonderful because great food makes people happy and they enjoy their experience.
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With over 25 years of experience, spreading the great news that I am not “new” to the industry but my brand is fresh and exciting and we bring our incredible talent and food artistry to everything we create.
You are a woman in business, what would you say to a young won wanting to start out as an entrepreneur? Connect with other entrepreneurs. Surround yourself with other strong successful women (and men) who will build you up and not let you stay down when life knocks you down. There can be some tough days, just keep going and doing what you love. If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?: Sting, yes the musician! He’s always been a favorite musical artist, since I was young. But more importantly, despite his early and incredible success, he seems to stay balanced and grounded. Spiritual fitness is essential in this life to achieve true inner peace, it’s something I spend time on daily. Bad habit, if any: In a weak moment, I’ll crave and indulge in puffy Cheetos! Luckily not too often. Dream vacation: Did you ever see the movie “couples retreat?” They’re in the Indian Ocean, so clear blue and pure with only the freshest ingredients life has to offer. Staying in a bungalow over the water.
Least favorite thing about your business:
Favorite thing to do in your spare time:
Accounting...
I love running, early in the morning before the world wakes up. Anything to do with learning about food and cooking, meeting with other chefs to hear about what’s speaking to them, cooking shows, magazines. I love to travel and experience new foods.
What does cooking mean to you? Cooking is the outward expression of my inner feelings of love, respect and appreciation of all life offers. Fresh unprocessed ingredients are nature’s greatest gifts. It’s my blank canvas.
Worst fear: I’ve overcome quite a bit in my life. From all life has shown me, I have nothing to fear. A quote or a motto that you live by: “Life is not a problem to be solve, life is a mystery to be lived.”
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What was your biggest challenge last year:
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How the
Real Estate Market
is Pivoting Around a Pandemic
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Markets are always changing. Through any market, the one thing that is always known, besides death and taxes, is the sustainability of real estate. In the words of Franklin D Roosevelt, “Real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world.� If you recall, FDR was President of the United States during the Great Depression. The worst economic downturn in the history of the United States. Today, we are living in a pandemic that is scary, it is something none of us have ever known or even dreamed of. FDR held these beliefs back then, and they do hold true still today. People are always going to need a place to live. Our economy is strong, our financial institutions are well intact, and home ownership is very much still a possibility. During this time of Covid-19, the market is changing. Anyone in real estate knows there are markets within the markets to watch. They know that the changes we are seeing now, will result in specific and unique changes for the real estate market we see today.
In uncertain times, people look for leadership to help guide them. The support offered by local and federal governments has assisted many in easing their fears. Homeowners who have been impacted by this emergency are able to renegotiate with their mortgage servicer, they are eligible for a forbearance plan to reduce their mortgage payments for up to 12 months. Homeowners in a forbearance plan will not incur late fees. Despite high unemployment, and a second wave of this pandemic, the overall sustainability of real estate is eerie to sum but surprisingly overall a confirmation of how sustainable the real estate market truly is. There is currently explosive growth right now in home ownership. You are seeing areas all over that are getting not just one offer, but multiple offers on homes as soon as they get listed. The things driving demand right now are incredibly low mortgage rates, affordability, and people’s desire to invest in vacation homes. You do have people who are not sure what is going to happen in the next 5 to 12 months, and they are choosing to hunker down and stay in their home. That is perfectly ok. People need to do what they feel is the best for their families. As a result, overall real estate inventory is low. There are buyers still out there, and that is why, along with the previously mentioned reasons, many homes are getting picked up as fast as they are.
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What is even more exciting about the market right now, is how much technology has assisted in the overall growth during the pandemic. In a time where human interaction is advised against, it was questionable how the real estate market would survive. An industry that revolves around relationships and personal interaction had to adjust and pivot. And it has, successfully. It is reported that nearly half of recently surveyed homebuyers made an offer on a home without ever seeing it in person. In fact, because of technology, you can literally have a client who purchases a home and never once meet them in person. From the moment a client starts working with a Real Estate Broker, the client can go on to see homes from the comfort of their own home via virtual showings or their agent can go to the home and either record a video for them or have a showing via FaceTime. When the offer is submitted electronically, contingencies can be placed to secure the client’s overall well-being in the investment such as placing inspections. When the attorneys give a “clear to close”, title companies are holding either “email closings” or “curbside closings”.
In an email closing, all parties await direction from emails sent to them at a particular time. Many times, any notarized documents can be done now online or at the attorneys’ office. In a curbside closing, the parties wait in their car at the title office to sign paperwork. The overall closing process is between 30-45 minutes and the keys are either mailed to the title company prior or the agent picks them up. For any clients who are not technology savvy, they have seen their agents step up to the plate to help them in every part of the purchasing process. The community overall has come together to help each other during this time.
Besides homeowners, the group of individuals who are seeing the positives of the Real Estate market right now are investors. They are looking at markets all over the world to find the pockets where the best deals are being made at the local levels. In real estate, you have many different markets. When someone says, “Oh wow, the market is great right now!”, the person who is educated in real estate would reply back, “Which market are you referring to?”. You of course have your buyers’ market, your sellers’ market, and a balanced market… but you have your luxury market, your commercial market, your residential market, etc. In one city, you may have 10 to 30 different markets to track.
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Different neighborhoods create different markets as well. An investor at this time is looking for the markets within the overall market that are hot. For example, in Chicago right now, the sweet spot for real estate are residential homes that sell anywhere between 200-300k. These homes are flying off the market as soon as they get listed. This is great for homeowners, but also a great insight for investors who can go in, flip them, and know the price point in which it will sell right now. Investors are studying the markets all over the world for deals like that. Every location is different, but there are opportunities to buy everywhere. If you are just getting into real estate and see how this is a great time to invest but do not know where to start, reach out to a local real estate broker in your community and start asking them questions. What are they seeing at the local level? What is moving, what is not moving?
Break down your local city, identify the different markets around you. Educate yourself on how your community is pivoting around this pandemic, because I can guarantee while the media is making it out to look like doomsday, you’ll find those particular areas that show massive success and potential. In a matter of months, our lives have changed. Change can hurt but it forces us to be better, to see things differently and pivot to create success in new ways. This new way of life, a life of face masks and social distancing won’t last forever, but since we don’t see a clear endpoint to this pandemic just yet, continue to educate yourself. Education reduces fear. Research proves that the human mind is naturally wired to think negatively. Don’t let the media or you get in the way of pivoting during this pandemic. FDR was correct, real estate will sustain it all. Continue to educate yourself on how the markets are changing because of this pandemic and see all the potential that comes with it.
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Summary of your business: We are a property investment company in which we invest in properties globally, tenanting International and Nationwide brands while providing a safe, consistent yet high return for our investors through add value strategies and appreciation. Years spent in this Field/at company: 10 years in the field of Real Estate Investments with 5 years of Financial and Tax Planning background. Reason for Starting: Properties have created more Millionaires than any other industry. I knew passionately that Real Estate was a proven tested vehicle that would build a solid financial legacy for families. Real Estate would allow me and many families to establish financial freedom and abundance and so I followed that passion. Biggest Career Related Accomplishment: My biggest Career Accomplishment was to have had founded and exited multiple businesses that have continued to go on to grow and expand. It was this accomplishment that I have gained invaluable experience and knowledge through assembling a focused team that repeat the successes time and time again making some of my Investors and team members multi-millionaires.
Biggest thing that sets you apart from your competition: We invest our own capital alongside with our investor’s capital, aligning the groups interest first. Investors value our business design by mitigating risk first while providing a consistent, safe and tax effective return to them. Management fees, holding fees, acquisitions fees are non-existent, we make money by providing great capital and income returns for our investor. We also invest globally vs others which may be geographically concentrated with currency, political and social risks. Investors are at ease when they have capital invested with us, we take this responsibility very seriously. Is there somebody you try and model your business philosophies after? Why? We model our business after family offices where they invest not for the immediate returns but for consistency and risk adjusted returns. We also like them know each of our investors and not a number.
Our business in investing in the highest quality of properties allow us to be fully scalable, highly adaptable and risk adverse referencing the investment philosophies of Warren Buffett and value investing. Speculation is not in our DNA. It is not about timing the market but time in the market.
Recent goal you set for yourself in your business: 1. To make available our Real Estate Quarterly Return Yield Fund in 2021 to the public. 2. To incorporate Artificial Intelligence technology to our investment due diligence process. 3. To establish a fund of fund that would provide consistent wealth accumulation to Investors. Do you have a motto you live and do business by? REAL ESTATE IS NOT GET RICH QUICK, IT IS GET RICH FOR SURE!
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When People Fly… Taking advantage of those airline “loyalty” programs and reward cards, for when you want to travel again When you were picking the right credit card for yourself you had to weigh the options; earning rewards, fees, your spending habits, etc. It was a hard process that you had to spend time researching to figure out which was best for you, so why should your choice for a frequent flyer program be any different?
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FREQUENT FLIER PROGRAMS Airline loyalty programs can seem enticing for the thrill of earning free flights to exotic destinations.
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But they can also be bewildering, given the intricate airline rules for collecting and redeeming miles. If you lack a clear vision with your frequent-flyer strat-
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egy, it can be really difficult to accumulate enough miles to redeem for anything. I recommend focusing on a program that aligns with your travel goals, so you’re more likely to reap valuable rewards.
Here are some quick things to think about when looking at each loyalty program: — Decide what your goal is: upgrades, lounge access, free flights — Don’t automatically go for the “home” airline: Most of the time you should only do this if you are going after a specific perk with that airline — Don’t just choose one: Most programs are free, but that doesn’t mean you should join every airline. But consider joining at least one program for each alliance; Star Alliance, OneWorld and SkyTeam — Optional: Teaming it up with an Airline Credit Card
When choosing, take into account your travel habits, what types of fares you purchase and what trips you want to take, and each program’s strengths and weaknesses. The important thing to keep in mind is that there is no one “best”
frequent
flyer
program—but
there may be one that is best for you. Here are a few pros and cons for loyalty programs of some major airlines:
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Mileageplus (United Airlines) – Star Alliance
SkyMiles (Delta Airlines) – SkyTeam
Pros
Pros
• United and its partners fly to more than
• Miles don’t expire
1,100 destinations around the globe • You can earn and redeem miles on a number of participating airlines • Award miles can be used for flights, shopping, hotel stays, car rentals and more • Top tier elite members get 6 upgrades each year Cons • Miles expire after 18 consecutive months of account inactivity • The number of seats available for award travel is limited • Program is revenue based so achieving elite status requires flying and spending a lot
• Can learn elite status without flying by using a Delta branded credit card • Top tier elite members get upgrade certificates and 25,000 bonus miles • Miles can be earned and used with more than 20 participating airlines • Can also earn miles on Lyft rides and hotel/Airbnb stays Cons • Program is fairly complicated • Limited seating available for award travel • Costs more SkyMiles to fly with a partner than with Delta flights originating in the US • Must fly and spend a lot to reach elite status
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Executive Club (British Airways) – OneWorld
KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines) – Star Alliance
Pros
Pros
• Offers several flights at bargain rates
• Access to various lounges when flying
• Elite members can bring a guest into the airport lounges
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• Program is not currently revenue based • You can pool earned Avios in a family account to maximize earnings Cons
Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Star Alliance, Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic and Vistara • Promotions every 2 months to earn more miles • Earn miles faster when you fly, but can
• Very high surcharges for award flights
earn miles through shopping, hotel stays
• Distance based award chart
and more; over 200 non-airline partners
• Must pay for all seat assignments • Inability to cancel some awards online,
• Able to mix miles and cash to redeem flights and upgrades
which in return cause very long call cen-
Cons
ter hold times
• Miles expire after 3 years for Basic, Silver and Gold Elites • KrisFlyer elite status is only valid for 12
SkyPass (Korean Air) – Sky Team Pros
months after earning the status • The more expensive your flight and class the more miles you receive
• Create a family account • Book award flights with all SkyTeam members online • Great award availability • Program has many non-SkyTeam partners like Alaska Airlines, Emirates, Japan Airlines and more Cons • High fuel charges • Entry level for elite status requires huge amount of miles
AAdvantage (American Airlines) – OneWorld Pros • Earn miles with more than 1,000 partners • Many non-One World partners including Etihad Airways, Fiji Airways, Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska Airlines, Westjet, Hawaiian Airlines • Many promotions to earn extra miles • Top-tier members receive 4 annual upgrades on American Airlines Cons • Revenue based • Mileage credit will be forfeited if account is inactive for 18 months
CREDIT CARD REWARDS
airline miles, hotel points, cardholder perks and more. The best way to earn travel points it to open a card with a signing bonus, not actually take a flight. You can rack up points by charging groceries, gas, hotel stays, rental cars and more. You do these sorts of things most every day, so if you can just pay it off instantly why not earn while you are doing it. But should you look for an airline specific card or one that isn’t even co-branded with an airline?
Here are some things to consider when choosing a credit card for the purpose of earning miles — Take into consideration where you live and what airlines are accessible to you — Make sure you are earning enough rewards points to offset the annual fees for your card — Foreign transaction fees and card acceptance — Cardholder perks like lounges, special events may give one card an edge over another — Sign up bonuses all differ so make sure to check
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you can earn big benefits in cash back,
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When using credit cards responsibly
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Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Discover it Miles
Highlights
• UNLIMITED BONUS: Discover will match ALL
Highlights
• one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you
the Miles you’ve earned at the end of your first
spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months
year, automatically. For example, if you earn
from account opening, equal to $500 in trav-
35,000 Miles, you get 70,000 Miles. That’s
el
$700 towards travel! The more you earn, the
• Earn 2X miles on every purchase, every day.
more you get.
Plus earn 10X miles on thousands of hotels,
• Earn unlimited 1.5x Miles for every dollar
through January 2020; learn more at hotels.
spent on all purchases - with no annual fee.
com/venture • Receive up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔
• No Blackout Dates. Simply pay for travel purchases like airlines, hotels, rental cars, and more with your Discover it® Miles card.
• Fly any airline, stay at any hotel, anytime; no
• Miles Pay You Back. Easily redeem Miles as a
blackout dates. Plus transfer your miles to
statement credit for travel purchases. Or get
over 12 leading travel loyalty programs
cash.
• Miles won’t expire for the life of the account
• Freeze your account in seconds with an on/off
and there’s no limit to how many you can
switch either on the mobile app or website to
earn
prevent new purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Highlights • Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards • $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year • 3X points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 3X points on dining at restaurants & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. $0 foreign transaction fees • Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 50,000 points are worth $750 toward travel • 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
When it comes to loyalty programs and rewards card you need to pick the right ones for you. If you are a frequent flyer and take a lot of business trips or luxury trips, then you would be able to take advantage of loyalty programs. With more and more airlines switching to revenue-based earning, the frequent flyer programs really are only going to benefit… well VERY frequent flyers. If you are a “normal” traveler looking to score a deal and some perks, then start looking into rewards credit cards. As long as you have good financial standing and a good credit score, you’ll be able to do your regular shopping while paying off your card to earn those rewards. By doing your research, figuring out what’s best for you will be a breeze that you can travel on all the way to your next destination!
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