The definition of leadership is different for different people.
Bill Gates once said, "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."
For Jack Welch, "Before you are a leader, success is all about yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."
For C.I. Bernard, "Leadership is the quality of behavior of the individuals whereby they guide people on their activities in organized efforts."
There are many other definitions of leadership, but none states or defines a leader's gender. In the current competitive world, leadership is influencing a group of people to achieve a particular goal. Only the right leadership can help a company succeed by bringing in new and efficient ideas. Under competent leadership, businesses can reach the pinnacle of success. And under the influence of incompetent leadership, businesses can fail miserably.
In today's world, women leaders are revolutionizing almost every sector with their exemplary leadership skills, creativity, and eye for detail. It has been demonstrated that their skills and distinctive leadership style have been crucial to the success of many businesses worldwide.
There are several instances of female executives who have either successfully managed their businesses or climbed the corporate ladder to achieve their coveted positions.
In this issue of “The 10 Most Successful Business Women to Watch in 2022,” we have curated a list of women leaders who are setting new standards for excellence in their areas.
On the cover, we have Caroline Zimmer, the Managing Director of E.V.A. GmbH, a young company based in the Allgäu region of Germany. E.V.A is a market leader in its segment and develops, produces, and markets purely plant-based cheese alternatives. The organization offers various alternatives to cream cheese, sliced cheese, grated cheese, parmesan, shepherd's cheese, brand-new grill cheese, and curd cheese. E.V.A. GmbH is a part of the Hochland group. Still, it consciously got separated from its parent company to allow the development of new products, some of which were unusual for a dairy company.
So, dive in to read more such stories of the most successful businesswomen and their contributions to the planet.
Caroline Zimmer E.V.A GmbH | Managing Director
Surely each of us has already noticed it in ourselves: We eat differently than a few years ago. Plant-based nutrition is becoming increasingly popular, for very different reasons. The focus is on health, variety, and sustainability, aspects that people associate with plant-based products. Nevertheless, hardly anyone wants to do without one thing: delicious cheese. And that's exactly what no one needs to do without anymore, because delicious plant-based alternatives to cheese are available from E.V.A. GmbH, a young company from the Allgäu region of Germany.
The organization is a market leader in its segment and develops, produces, and markets purely plant-based cheese alternatives. Currently, the company offers various alternatives to cream cheese, sliced cheese, grated cheese, parmesan, shepherd's cheese, brand new grill cheese, and curd cheese.
Even though E.V.A. GmbH is a part of the Hochland group, it consciously got separated from its parent company to allow the development of new products, some of which were unusual for a dairy company.
E.V.A. GmbH is currently led by Managing Director Caroline Zimmer, an ambitious woman who loves challenges and is always curious about new things. Originally from Northern Germany, Caroline has been at home in Allgäu for decades. She has loved cheese and all other dairy
products since her childhood. Even at that point of time, she was fascinated by the fact that a cow eats grass and then turns it into something as good as milk. Caroline states, "Since I'm also interested in natural sciences and find topics like microbiology and process technology exciting, the decision to become a dairy engineer was the right one."
After graduating from college, Caroline wanted to start an apprenticeship. However, companies at that point of time were not interested in hiring women because of the huge and heavy milk cans that one needed to carry.
Caroline says, "I'm still enthusiastic about this craft, which has such a long tradition and to which we owe such wonderful products."
In addition to her degrees as a dairy and industrial engineer, Caroline is a trained alternative practitioner, Qigong teacher, and a devoted follower of Daoism. Her education and training in traditional Chinese medicine have shaped her way of thinking.
Regarding the customers, Caroline and her team focus on two directions; E.V.A. GmbH's primary customers are those retailers who keep the product on their refrigerated shelves. However, the organization makes its products for end customers, so the team convinces both retailers and end customers to buy their products. And for all these, the taste of a product plays a critical role because people only buy a food product when it tastes good.
As the leader of the organization, Caroline takes everyone's needs into account and ensures that E.V.A. introduces products that consumers love and have the potential to perform successfully in the trade. The organization prefers to focus on the class instead of mass.
Caroline says, "To get ahead, you undoubtedly need your own drive, and you have to be convinced of what you are doing. But the environment is also very important." In professional terms, she was in very good hands at the parent company of E.V.A. GmbH, Hochland, first in marketing and then as the Head of Business Development/Innovation Management. In this role, her team established an entirely new innovation process based on her holistic approach to thinking and identifying opportunities in various segments, which eventually translated into concrete products. Simply V is one such product; everyone at Hochland recognized its potential very early and gave Caroline and her team the confidence to turn it into something huge.
On the other hand, the technology for manufacturing the product was another challenge. The team at E.V.A. developed their first product, a spreadable cheese by Simply V. After the team was finally satisfied with the recipe, it had to create a new manufacturing process to produce the product on a large scale.
14 November 2022
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Tackling Challenges
Since its inception in 2015, Simply V has won at least one award every year. Last year Simply V Genießerscheiben Herzhaft Nussig received the Vegan Food Award 2021 and the Best Seller of the Year 2021 by the trade magazine Rundschau für den Lebensmittelhandel. Also, the new Simply V Grill & Pfannengenuss Tomato Oregano have recently won the Vegan Food Award 2022 from PETA.
On the other hand, the Simply V Hirtengenuss received the Superior Taste Award 2022 with two stars. While the Simply V Streichgenuss Gurke & Knoblauch ty Tzatziki and the Simply V Grill & Pfannengenuss Mediterrane Kräuter was recognized by the Superior Taste Award 2022, with one star.
Caroline states, "We are the market leader in Germany and want to remain so. At the same time, we know that cheese alternatives are a growth market that has awakened many desires."
Currently, the market is witnessing a lot of movement, but E.V.A. GmbH is confident that it offers retailers an attractive portfolio of products that consumers love. "We are currently working on further product innovations, which I am already very much looking forward to launching."- states Caroline, without revealing anything more.
“Additionally, the organization hopes to grow not only in Germany but also in Europe. Currently, E.V.A. GmbH's products are available in seven European nations intending to expand this further.”
As the Managing Director of E.V.A. GmbH, Caroline states, "You should believe in yourself and be convinced of what you are doing. You need courage, stamina, and healthy self-confidence because it's not always easy to assert yourself in a world still dominated by men. But it's worth it. Be a team player and also rely on the skills of others."
Dr. Mariam Shaikh
Meet Dr. Mariam Shaikh, an eminent professional in the education field based in the UAE with more than three decades of experience and continued success. As a strong, resilient, and futuristic leader, Dr. Mariam’s deep expertise covers Student Recruitment, Academic and Career Counseling, Marketing, Strategic Development, Student Experience, and International Relations. She has held multiple key positions in various reputed and prominent universities in the UAE and has worked religiously to attract aspiring students looking to pursue higher education from all over the world to the UAE.
Her professional journey in the world of education began during the early 80s when she owned a Nursery School, which was inspired by her children. At a later stage, she went on to head a prominent school as a Principal, where she played an instrumental role in the school’s growth.
Following that, she joined the Higher Education sector to help students fulfill their academic and career aspirations. Later in a pioneering move, she sponsored a foreign campus for The University of New Brunswick at Knowledge Village, which eventually encouraged many foreign universities to set up their campuses in UAE. Dr. Mariam has actively contributed to the successful development of these foreign branch campuses. She has held several key positions with The Canadian University of Dubai, Heriot-Watt University, and Amity University in Dubai.
As a lifelong advocate of education, Dr. Mariam works closely with the UNHCR to provide scholarships for displaced students. She firmly believes that regardless of place, children must go to school. She says, “ For Boys and girls forced to flee violence and persecution, an opportunity to study will provide them hope to define their future and realize their potential.”
Recently, Harvard Affiliate Mother Theresa University honored Dr. Mariam with an Honorary Doctorate in Transformational Educational Leadership for her study paper on International Education opportunities for students from all over the world aspiring to develop their career goals from the best the world has to offer.
In 2020, Dr. Mariam founded MS Education Consultants with a vision to support students, Education Institutions, and Innovative Learning Programs to meet the demands of the fast-paced world.
“We are a bespoke Education Services Consulting company with Student Success at the core of all our partnerships. I am delighted to share that MS Education Consultants is the official Middle Strategist for the prestigious University of Guelph, located in Ontario, Canada, to assist students in the Middle East with their admission into the University.”- she says. The University of Guelph is a leading Higher Education Institution in Canada with three majors ranked top 20 in the world, in combination with
Student Satisfaction that is consistently top-ranked in Canada. The University of Guelph is one of Canada’s top comprehensive and research-intensive universities. They are known as Canada’s Food University. Established in 1964, the University enjoys a reputation for innovation and excellence dating back more than 150 years to its founding colleges: Ontario Veterinary College, Ontario Agricultural College, and Macdonald Institute.
The University of Guelph’s commitment to internationalization is reflected in collaboration with Dr. Mariam Shaikh as U of G’s Middle East Strategist. “We are extremely excited about having Dr. Mariam Shaikh onboard to assist us with our student recruitment efforts in the MENA region. We want students to have direct access to our staff members globally, and this is a move in that direction,” says U of G’s Regional Operations Manager for the Middle East and South Asia, Jimmi Hemmenbach.
As an example of its innovative academics, this year, U of G is presenting a new One Health undergraduate major as a response to the ongoing pandemic. Dr. Scott Wease, pathobiology professor at U of G, states that “This pandemic has shown how we need this broad intersector approach to infectious diseases. It cannot just be medicine and veterinary medicine, and it cannot just be science, it [also] has to be social science, it is behavior.”
Known for its beautiful, safe campuses and welcoming, supportive culture, U of G blends historical and modern architecture with cutting-edge technology. Student engagement is fundamental to learning and research at U of G. By focusing on the "whole student," the University of Guelph gives graduates the tools and skills to make a difference in our ever-changing world.
Led by Dr. Mariam, MS Education Consultants presently offer services in University Admissions, Student Recruitment, New Campus Set-up Consultancy, Online Training Programs, and Student Cultural Exchange Programs.
● University Admissions: With its extensive experience with Undergraduate and Graduate applications, MS Education assists students in pursuing higher education in more than 400 Universities spread across UAE, UK, Canada, US, Europe, and Australia.
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● Education Consultancy: The firm promotes UAE as an education hub and encourages the growth of various educational institutions in new markets by advising and consulting on New Campus startups and developing student recruitment plans and outreach strategies locally and internationally. It also helps with effective marketing budget utilization and planning, growth and retention solutions, government accreditation, training, and the development of student recruitment teams to create positive student experiences.
● Online Training Programs: By utilizing its valuable partnerships, MS Education Consultants facilitates various training courses by industry officials to boost the interest, knowledge, and skills of students.
● Student Cultural Exchange Programs: Now, students can reap the benefits of MS Education’s Cultural Exchange Program by visiting the state-of-the-art International Campuses in UAE to experience the learning environment and the available Program & Degree options.
Dr. Mariam’s primary mission is to develop worldwide educational affiliations, which can help students achieve their dreams with the GPS that will be provided by her own company in Dubai named ‘MS Education Consultants.’ Since its inception, the organization has developed a Student Cultural Exchange Program, which helps students from Europe, the US, Canada, Africa, China, and India to spend their time in Dubai, experiencing a day in top international universities of the region along with visits to Expo City Dubai, Museum of the Future and other cultural attractions in UAE.
The primary vision of MS Education Consultants is to assist global students in meeting their academic and career goals. The firm facilitates the establishment and growth of educational institutions and seeks important partnerships with various new innovative learning programs, specialized initiatives in line with the Government’s vision, and corporate collaborations to arm students with the skills needed in this era of innovation and change.
When it comes to the future, Dr. Mariam plans to continue mentoring and empowering students of different backgrounds and nationalities, helping them with their career choices, and encouraging them to pursue their dreams. Under her leadership, MS Education Consultants plans to launch internship opportunities and an innovative learning program for students and teachers.
Dr. Mariam explains, “I am pleased to share our upcoming launches with your readers, such as the Student Cultural and Higher Education Experience Program, for students across the globe to experience UAE culture and heritage and the multinational Higher Education options provided by the leading University Campuses from all over the world based here in Dubai International Academic City. We have already seen very successful visits with student groups from the USA, Europe, and China and look
forward to welcoming students from India, Africa, Malaysia and other parts of the world for the cultural exchange visit!”
Dr. Mariam feels pleased to support and be affiliated with Ladies in Business Global Community Group, International Women Entrepreneurs Group, Indian Women in Dubai, the UAE Africa Education Initiative, and World Education Community. Additionally, she has also joined IIT E-Cell Mumbai as the Youth Empowerment Mentor and the Youth United Council of India as an International Advisor. She supports UNHCR in providing scholarships for their displaced students. Dr. Mariam also runs and operates an orphanage in Mumbai, India.
Mary Radenkovic
Founder and Designer | Lavishly Appointed
Meet Mary Radenkovic, the founder and designer of London-based women's luxury brand Lavishly Appointed Hailing from the Mediterranean, Mary's connection to the sea and nature, coupled with her love for fashion, inspired her to create her own brand that celebrates femininity, style, and luxury with sustainable practices at the forefront of the process. The brand was created for like-minded women seeking unique and eye-catching dynamic pieces that can take them from day through night.
Launched in 2016 in London, Lavishly Appointed offers essential costumes, bikinis, loungewear, innovative body adornments, and dresses that are designed and developed by Mary.
Following its philosophy, 'buy less, buy better,' the luxury resort brand creates several unique, multifunctional, and timeless pieces with a razor-sharp focus on craftsmanship. Most of the products made by the brand are artisanally handmade by women for women.
Mary says, "The company values are all about sustainability. The swimsuits are made out of recycled plastic. Resortwear is 90% handmade - in that way, we are helping artisan women." The brand's garments are made of exclusive, premium, sustainable materials. The brand doesn't believe in only practicing sustainability. Instead, it strives to create a movement to spread awareness. In
order to bring change and awareness, Lavishly Appointed has started the 'Save the Fish campaign,' encouraging its clientele to participate in the change. When clients buy any products bearing the brand's Goldfish logo, 20% of the profit goes to several non-profit organizations working on ocean wildlife preservation and the reduction of plastic pollution.
However, when it comes to practicing sustainability, Lavishly Appointed's manufacturing process uses solar energy to power its warehouse. Additionally, it is also fighting for equal pay for the workers. Mary and her team at the company want to show that they are not only selling fashion products but are also selling a lifestyle and a message.
In addition to its environmental awareness, Lavishly Appointed takes great pride in handling the production process. The human aspect is also cherished in every step of the production process, taking into account the human rights of every artisan by providing a nourishing environment for their creative process. As a firm supporter of women and children's rights, Mary makes sure that Lavishly Appointed's female employees have equal status with its male workforce.
Although Mary is friends with many successful entrepreneurs willing to share their words of wisdom, she only considers her late grandfather as her true mentor. Also, a fashion designer, Mary's
late grandfather helped her develop a genuine passion for fashion at a very young age that has been with her.
Mary made sketches for her first collection at the age of 12 and started working in the fashion world at 15. Initially, she worked as a model for beachwear, make-up, and hair products and became a face for multiple European brands.
Mary suggests that entrepreneurs must love what they do. She says, "You can only be your own and enjoy your own success if you have fought for it, failed several times, and eventually achieved it yourself. I think it is when you turn behind and reflect on everything that happened, and you realise that despite all the difficulties, you managed to get your idea and your dream to come true."
Mary's goal is to go back to the days of handmade production, just to bring back individuality and uniqueness. So, every design from Lavishly Appointed is entirely handmade by some of the finest artisans in the business.
When it comes to the future, the brand is hoping to have its own fashion show at the Miami Fashion Week. Mary states, "Opening our first branch store would be the next challenge and the next step, but we have not yet decided on the details."
PC : Dysan Stevic
ince its appearance in the 1960s and its progression with the rise of micro-computing, video games have regularly benefited from the advances of the digital world to become an art form in its own right and a globalized and intergenerational leisure activity.
As streaming (or Cloud Gaming) reshuffles the cards in the video game industry and 5G promises to accelerate its democratization, let’s take a closer look at its contributions in terms of convergence, uses and business models, and why we think it will be the video game medium of tomorrow.
Computers have never been able to do without video games. Proof of this is the 1960s and 1970s, which saw the appearance of the first so-called popular games such as Spacewar in 1962, Pong in 1972 (a very basic tennis game) and Space Invaders, which were often accessible primarily on desktop machines, the ancestors of our current microcomputers.
With the miniaturization of the computer will come the time of the consoles connected to the television set and which will propel the game in the domestic universe. The video games leave the closed framework of the game rooms to invite themselves in the heart of the living rooms and families.
The video games devices will also see many changes in the field of fixed consoles (e.g. PlayStation, Xbox, GameCube, Wii®) or transportable consoles (e.g. Game Boy, DS and PSP). In addition to wireless joysticks, there are gyroscopes that detect the position of players’ movements in space.
Futhermore, virtual reality is becoming more and more present (for example, immersive interactive simulation: visual, sound, haptic). In addition to technological advances and thanks to the emergence of social networks, the world of video games has become more social and cultural.
Pokémon GO and World of Warcraft have become social phenomena and confirm what everyone has already understood.
Video games have now become a key sector in the entertainment industry and a multi-billion dollar industry.
Indeed, the world of video games is populated by characters that have become famous such as Pokémon, Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, Rayman or even Lara Croft, which will give rise to as many franchises and animated or cinematographic adaptations.
With the arrival of Cloud Gaming technologies, video games are on the verge of a third revolution marked by:
– Ultra availability: This is the possibility for everyone, everywhere and all the time to indulge in the joys and pleasures of video gaming. This promise is about to be fulfilled thanks to the deployment of 5G, among other things, but also to the ability of Cloud Gaming solutions to adapt to bandwidth constraints, particularly in emerging countries where economic barriers and low bandwidth have long restricted access to video games.
– Ultra pricing: It is characterized by a variety of business models: unit purchase, unlimited subscription, introduction of a digital currency NFT to obtain virtual objects, freemium, more or less immersive and personalized advertising spaces and which all correspond to as many user profiles. They will cautiously but surely relegate to the background the ecosystems associated with console-type media and the closed ecosystems symbolized by the Apple App Store.
– Ultra playability: Servers managing sophisticated games in agnostic mode, strong involvement of players from game creation to participation in metavers, disappearance of social, demographic and geographic boundaries.
– Ultra-convergence: Video games inspire and aspire other art forms and converge with other disciplines such as medicine, which have integrated them into the therapeutic field (neurology, autism, cancer…).
One of the most striking examples of this convergence, born during containment, is the development of virtual concerts. The most recent example of experimentation in this field is certainly the concert of the rapper Travis Scott which took place on Epic Games’ license: Fortnite. By launching a game, players were able to enjoy a creatively staged virtual concert, in which they could move freely around the star’s avatar in a performance realized through motion capture techniques.
In another turn of events, the video game world, after having plundered the musical heritage to provide soundtracks like the GTA franchise for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Authority, sees this same publisher investing directly in the discovery and production of talent, with the objective of having original music directly available and appreciated by its community, while playing the game of distribution via music streaming platforms.
Generation Z had adopted YouTube as the single screen for their video explorations, overtaking their parents’ television and platforms like Twitch.
Generation Alpha will probably be the one of the Metaverse, a concept at the crossroads of virtual reality and social networks using video games and their uses.
Microsoft’s recent acquisition of the giant Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion will accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse”as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed.
Of course, the virtual world is not in its infancy. Gaming, in particular, has been investing it for several years. Second Life, a virtual world that created a buzz among some 30 million users in the early 2000s, is a good example. Since then, the gaming industry has been offering its own virtual worlds, with increasingly elaborate and interactive content, like the virtual mini-concerts of the game Fortnite and their 12 million spectators.
But these universes remain limited to their own game, whereas the metaverse intends to sign the advent of an interconnected virtual world and draw the contours of a future Web 3.0.
Everything will then be a question of the virtual experience’s quality. A few milliseconds too much delay in an interaction, the expression of a face (the metaverse promises to reach this level of detail) or worse, an interruption of service, and these new virtual offers will disappoint.
So, metavers and other virtual worlds will only take off, if they can rely on storage, connectivity and network infrastructures that are up to the challenges that Cloud Gaming is currently facing.
Cloud Gaming technologies, which are omnipresent among telecom operators, are now at the heart of the development strategies of console manufacturers and video game publishers, and are on the way to converting almost all gamers, thanks to an increasing improvement in performance in terms of accessibility, playability and graphic quality.
They still have to find the right balance between economic models and creativity, mass consumption and inclusiveness, openness and respect for ethical rules.
ovid – 19 was a shock to mankind, but a grace to Mother Earth. Humanity collapsed, and nature rose…Mankind was forced to stay indoors after going through decades of globalisation, commercialisation and more. The shock and the fear resulting from the pandemic shook the earth, unprecedented in the history of mankind. Yet the ‘Phoenix’ was preparing to rise…
Businesses collapsed, industries shut and millions lost their jobs. In the middle of all this, the e-commerce sector rose like a ‘Phoenix’. The pandemic created a huge demand in the market, that was being catered to by the e-commerce sector. According to a study, the Indian e-commerce sector is set to grow at least 80% in the next 4 years, the impact brought on by Covid-19.
E-commerce sector was flourishing even before the pandemic, however there is a need to relook at the business strategies for the sector after covid-19. The tectonic shift in this sector has also called for some major changes in the way businesses operate. Some of the strategies, that are in line with sustainability that need to be adopted are mentioned below:
1. Sustainability the big way – There is a need to ‘introduce ‘sustainability’ as a business strategy by all firms irrespective of their industry. E-commerce firms definitely need to focus on ‘sustainable’ products. Any product/service that is in alignment with nature would be the need of the hour. Sustainability, in all forms – business models to packaging products has become increasingly important after the pandemic has hit almost every family living on earth. Promoting and selling ecological products will nourish Mother Earth and go a long way! Consumers’ approach towards health and wellness will lead to them preferring sustainable products over others.
2. Leaders as ‘Compassionate Mothers’ – Taking cues from Mother Earth who always nurtures its people, leaders also need to reshape their personalities, and play the role of compassionate mothers in the lives of their teams/ people. The leaders must create a ‘trusting & transparent’ environment, ensuring there is trust amongst teams. Trust, during these times can be one of the ‘winning’ strategies. In times of uncertainty it’s very obvious for ‘people’ to feel lost and unmotivated. Along with this, if the organisation doesn’t trust them their mental health and immunity can be compromised.
3. Empathy as a strategy – 90% of those who are working from home are doing it for the first time. While the leaders/ bosses may get insecure about their ‘people’ it is not the right time to display such insecurity. They are struggling with the ‘perfect’ phone/ internet connection (*pun intended). Or they may be trying to help their mothers/ wives in wrapping up a household which has mounted a double fold in the absence of the household help or they may be trying to soothe a restless child who is frustrated being home. Organisations need to ensure an ‘empathetic’ view towards the employees. The more empathy that’s shown towards ‘people’ at this stage will ensure they stay performing in these times. Isn’t ‘performance’ that one thing the organisation is expecting from its people?
4. Dynamic & Sturdy Logistics – While e-commerce is progressing at the speed of lightning, those cardboard boxes and plastic packaging are creating tons of waste that end up in landfills worldwide annually. The e-commerce firms need to revamp their logistics system, making it dynamic, sturdy and eco-friendly. Organisations need to give their packaging a complete makeover, and source sustainable and ecological packaging materials.
5. Eco-friendly approaches in the supply chain – Organisations need to adopt eco-friendly approaches in all areas of business, including supply chain. Using materials that are recyclable, implementing processes that are sustainable will help the organisations contribute to a happy and healthy planet.
6. Make shipping environment friendly – Developing an environment friendly shipping solution for transporting goods will help the firms stand for ‘environment’. Firms must educate and convince the consumers to even pay extra for environment friendly shipping cost.
7. Optimisation of Waste Management – E-commerce firms need to optimise their waste management, and eliminate the packaging waste. ‘ Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ mantra needs to be followed by one and all.
Our planet needs our attention and care, since today’s world is dominated by businesses they can be the change makers! Changing the way business operates, the way employees are treated, the way nature is preserved. E-commerce, the Phoenix, has disrupted the way people shop, eat, travel and live. Am sure, it can also change the way our planet feels.
