With the motto of promoting women empowerment and a gender just work environment, in our issue, “The 20 Most Successful Shepreneurs to watch in 2018,” we aim to identify a few such influential women, who’ve marked their presence in the world of science, technology, and a myriad of other disciplines and the entrepreneurial world, who’ve treaded a path of hardships and failures, but emerged victorious by overcoming them.

1. November 2018
www.insightssuccess.com
The 20Most Successful
Shepreneurs
to watch in 2018
Connecting Generations and Communities
Sarah Hoit

4. hat if we were compelled to imagine that Marie Curie hadn’t founded the science of
WRadioactivity, and hadn’t driven ambulances equipped with x-ray machines to the frontline
during the First World War? Similarly, what if Margaret Thatcher, hadn’t taken up the
responsibility of being Britain’s first female prime minister during a time of economic and political unrest?
What if Amelia Earhart never made the record breaking flight of fourteen thousand feet, and never became
the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic? These are just a few notable women and just a few
inevitable questions provoking the curiosity of comprehending a world without powerful women.
Instances where we’ve witnessed women taking the lead are deemed to have incited revolutions. I
personally believe, with no intentions of objectifying anyone, a woman is a museum where priceless
artifacts in the form of knowledge and experiences, narrate tales of self-belief, fortitude, contentment and
compassion are on display, while we are mere visitors, trying to realize and learn from her history and her
present. As men, valuing each woman by being unbiased and uncondescending must become our
responsibility; understanding that a woman is the evident source of our very lives, must become our
devotion; and striving to bring about the extinction of patriarchy, must become our resolution.
Recalling my days of adolescence, my mother, a nurse by profession, played a major role in building my
character, both, as a responsible citizen and a man with values and morals that rebelled against gender
discrimination. Even today, I watch her going to work, with her pride studded on her shoulders, her sense
of purpose being avidly displayed by her smile and the unwavering confidence she conveys through her
conversations, all inspire me to become as composed as her. All throughout my life, I’ve met and
associated with many such remarkable women, who’ve inspired me to be a better human.
Editor’s Note
Suiting up,
Challenging
Stereotypes and
Changing Worlds

5. However, over the past few decades, the considerable ascension in the number of women in STEM
disciplines, exhibits a promising picture of a gender neutral global development. The women of
today’s technological era are achieving this by inciting their intrinsic qualities of democratic
leadership, unwavering grit and ardent commitment towards their passion, which results in
unparalleled success and excellence in one’s filed of expertise.
The point of all this, is that I wish to place the spotlight over those women in uniforms and suits,
who’ve been instrumental in the disruption of the commercial world. Women, who have transformed
industries, aided global ascensions of organizations and managed to do all this by constantly
balancing their work and family. Women, who’ve changed lives, who’ve shouldered the foundations
of the 21st century progressive society, and women who’ve even moved the mountains of a
detrimental society just to make their voice reach out.
With the motto of promoting women empowerment and a gender just work environment, in our
issue, “The 20 Most Successful Shepreneurs to watch in 2018,” we aim to identify a few such
influential women, who’ve marked their presence in the world of science, technology, and a myriad
of other disciplines and the entrepreneurial world, who’ve treaded a path of hardships and failures,
but emerged victorious by overcoming them.
One among this list of highly-empowered and influential women entrepreneurs is Sarah Hoit.
Featuring on our cover, this CEO and Co-founder of Connected Living, is a passionate and prolific
entrepreneur and nothing short of the personification of leadership. She co-founded Connected
Living in 2007 to create a private social network that bridges the ’digital divide’ for millions of
seniors who have been left out of the conversation that connects their families and communities. As a
social entrepreneur, she has focused her whole career on strategies designed to make a positive
impact on the world.
Connected Living is the chef d’oeuvre of Sarah and Chris McWade, her beloved business partner
who she lost to cancer while building their company. Connected Living has achieved what no other
company has, by meaningfully connecting an aging population with family and community. It has
created a whole new market of products and services designed precisely to focus on connecting and
living. The name of the organization emphasizes respecting and enhancing the life and the voices of
seniors, and it also works diligently to combat disrespect and ’ageism.’
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot accomplish your dreams,” is Sarah’s advice to the aspiring
generations of both men and women entrepreneurs. Make sure to read the rest of her story and also
the stories of other such inspiring women, who are an eloquent embodiment of persistence,
prominence and perseverance.
Also, do flip through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CXO viewpoints of some
of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of their sectors.
Bon appetite!
Abhishaj Sajeev

6. Sarah Hoit:
Connecting Generations and Communities
Cover Story
10

7. Industry Intel
Rethinking the
Products of Today
for a Better Tomorrow
Tech-Know Insights
What a Tech
CEO can Teach
Your Business
about Digital
Expert's Outlook
The Fuss about AI
Articles
Industry Lessons Editor’s Pick
The Glass Ceiling Effect:
Another Perspective on
Women and Leadership
42 66
Shepreneur of the Month
Connie Pheiff:
A Symbol of Exemplary Entrepreneurship
CONTENTS
Stellar's Vision
Balancing the Needs
of Business
Role of Laboratory Information
Management System in
Manufacturing Sectors
30
38
58
72
80
Shepreneur of the Year
Rasha Oudeh:
Power Lies Not Only in the Wallet,
Power Lies in Competence
22

8. Abi Wright
Moulding Perceptions
and Redening Wellness
Connie Linder
Outclassing the Standards
of Entrepreneurship
Elena Kyriacou
The Millennial Shepreneur
Ellen Voie
Bringing Gender Diversity in
the Transportation Sector
Fatima Al Shirawi
Dening Supremacy
with Expertise
Florine Eppe Beauloye
Pushing the Boundaries of Perfection
Ishveen Anand
Revolutionizing the Sports
Sponsorship Pattern
24
26
34
36
46
48
50

9. Dr. Nithinart
Sinthudeacha Telan
Reforming Benchmarks
in Management
Consultancy Sector
Janthana Kaenprakhamroy
A Business Tycoon Advancing
The Insurance Industry
Jennifer Farris
A Leader with a Human Touch
Joelle Mardinian
The Jewel in the
Crown of “Joelle Group”
Julia Hell
Personifying Creativity
& Humility
Marina Tognetti
Stepping Up with
Resilience
Vannessa Lee
Changing Perspectives through
Healthy and Tasty Food
54
56
62
64
70
76
78

11. sales@insightssuccess.com
Corporate Ofces:
November, 2018
Database Management Stella Andrew
Technology Consultant David Stokes
Circulation Managers Robert, Tanaji
Research Analyst Patrick James
Steve, Avdhut, Alan, Vishnu
Anish MillerManaging Editor
Art & Design Director Amol Kamble
Associate Designer Tejas Kulkarni
Visualiser David King
Senior Sales Manager Passi D.
Business Development Executives
Marketing Manager John Matthew
Jenny FernandesAssistant Editors
Ishan Mittal
Art & Picture Editors BelinPaul
Co-designer Shweta Shinde
KhannaJayant
Peter CollinsBusiness Development Manager
Sales Executives
David, Kevin, Mark, Avinash
SME-SMO Executives
Prashant Chevale, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Prasad
Online Marketing Strategists
Alina Sege, Shubham, Vishal
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza
Technical Specialists Amar, Pratiksha
Technical Head Jacob Smile
Copyright © 2018 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success.
Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.
Follow us on : www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/ www.twitter.com/insightssuccess
We are also available on :
Insights Success Media Tech LLC
555 Metro Place North, Suite 100,
Dublin, OH 43017, United States
Phone - (614)-602-1754
Email: info@insightssuccess.com
For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com
Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Off. No. 513 & 510, 5th Flr., Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk,
Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017
Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85
Email: info@insightssuccess.in
For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in
Executive Editor
Contributing Editors
Abhishaj Sajeev
Sharad Chitalkar
Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal
Kedar Kulkarni

12. Sarah Hoit
CEO & Co-founder
Connected Living

13. Cover Story
Sarah Hoit:Connecting Generations and Communities
The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
My vision of success is about
creating lasting change.

14. An inspirational leader needs
unfathomable patience, sheer
perseverance, unfaltering
faith and endless compassion. When
a woman holds the scepter of
leadership, no boundaries are left
uncrossed, no voyages cast adrift,
and no doors are left unopened. If
you walk a mile in the shoes of a
woman at a leadership position, you
will learn that the road is arduous and
the destination unwelcoming. Yet, we
have seen that women have built and
shouldered the very foundation of
empires, from scratch to exceptional
glory.
Sarah Hoit, the CEO and Co-
founder of Connected Living, is
one such passionate and prolific
shepreneur and nothing short of the
personification of leadership. She is a
social entrepreneur who co-founded
Connected Living in 2007 to create a
private social network that bridges
the ‘digital divide’ for the millions of
seniors who have been left out of the
conversation that connects their
families and communities.
Sarah was previously the Founder
and CEO of Explore, Inc., an
education company that operated
programs which met the academic
and social needs of every student
through the integration of
experiential learning, homework,
physical education, and community
service. She holds a BA with Honors
from Dartmouth College and an
MBA from Harvard Business School
(HBS), where she was awarded a
public service fellowship.
Raised in a family where giving back
to others was a part of the fabric, as a
social entrepreneur, Sarah has
focused her whole career on
strategies designed to make a
positive impact on the world. While
applying to Harvard, she wrote in her
application about wanting to use the
capital markets for channeling funds
to solve problems in both public and
private sectors. Even before finishing
HBS, Sarah was writing the business
plan for AmeriCorps, the domestic
Peace Corps; her first large start up!
She also served as the Deputy
Director in the Corporation for
National Service in the Clinton/Gore
Administration which has enabled
over 1 million youth to serve the
country over the last 25 years.
Reforming Human Connectivity
Connected Living has achieved what
no other company has by
meaningfully connecting an aging
population with family and
community. It has created a whole
new market of products and services
designed precisely to focus on
connecting and living. The name of
the organization emphasizes
respecting and enhancing the life and
the voices of seniors, and it also
works diligently to combat disrespect
and ‘ageism.’
Connected Living provides the most
innovative and comprehensive suite
of technology to all its constituents,
and supports customers both
remotely and in-person if and when
needed. Its strategy privately
connects family members to each
other and the community and
provides access to support, as well as
goods and services such as 24/7
global concierge services,
transportation and other essentials.
The organization’s innovative in-
house mobile and web development
team has built a Mobile App for IOS
and Android and connected ‘voice
capabilities’ with the Amazon Alexa
device to serve as an additional and
very powerful communication tool.
Connected Living has a full suite of
technology that can reach every
constituent in communities
including, digital signs, in-room TV,
calendar/newsletters, life-long
Women gain
strength and
courage from
each other.

15. The definition of a good day
is a day when people's lives
are better for us being here.

16. Connected Living is leading the voice
revolution as we continue to empower
seniors to control their lives and
connect to the people they love.

17. learning content, as well as all the
mobile, concierge, transportation and
‘home connect’ packages for the
many seniors aging at home.
The organization also believes that
finding partners who share its vision
is very important, and that they are
stronger together in solving national
and global problems. It values the
strategic partnerships with
Companies like Sodexo, Lyft,
Circles, Amazon Alexa Group, Four
Winds and others who are on the
same journey. Connected Living
believes that by finding Partners with
a similar vision, the opportunity to
diversify and strengthen one’s
offering is even stronger.
Having worked for a decade on
sharing and bringing to light seniors’
stories, Connected Living is set to
release a ‘Time Capsule’ offering that
allows the senior to answer essential
questions about who they are and
what is important to them, and to tell
their story. The organization’s
primary target audience is the family
member who is often the one
acquiring the technology or the
service and connecting the
generations. It has recently rolled out
an exciting new ‘Employee Benefit’
offering for companies in every
industry, which are offering the
Connected Living app and Concierge
Services through global partner
circles to employees as a way to
support staff and honor work/life
balance that is a prime challenge for
many employees.
An Enlightening Journey
Sarah expresses her feelings of
gratitude and feels that she was
blessed to have come from a family
which has always supported her and
inspired her with a long tradition of
service to community and the
country. She comes from a long line
of strong women who have founded
universities, been entrepreneurs,
served their country and raised
families that stayed close to each
other.
Sarah’s father has always let her
know she could do anything or be
anyone she wanted to. “Both
professionally and personally, I have
faced significant and unexpected
loss. I know profoundly that ‘Every
Day Matters’and you can’t wait for
later in life to follow your path or
passion,” Sarah says.
Sarah expresses her grief in losing
her beloved business partner, Chris
McWade, to cancer five years ago in
the midst of building their company.
“We work every day with many
people who are fighting Alzheimer’s,
dementia and other conditions that I
also face in my own family and it
sheds a spotlight on being present
here and now. The definition of a
good day is a day when people’s lives
are better for us being here.”
Defining Roles
Sarah believes that passion,
determination and dedication, risk
taking, communication skills, and
leadership are the most vital
attributes that build an entrepreneur’s
position and influence over his/her
organization and subordinates.
She elucidates these attributes as
possessing passion for what one is
trying to accomplish and desire to
create real change; exhibiting
determination and dedication while
treading the road which is never
straight and being able to take a hit
or experiencing failure and getting
right back up, or changing course
when market shows the way; a
willingness to take risks and not
following conventional wisdom;
possessing essential communication
skills at all levels; and demonstrating
efficient leadership by always
‘showing up’ and leading from the
front.
The Blueprints of Excellence
“Innovate! Stay ahead! Provide great
customer service,” is Sarah’s mantra
to a successful entrepreneurial career.
Sarah asserts that Connected Living
worries less about what others are
doing, since it is forging new
territories, and it listens more to what
the customers, families, and seniors
want. The organization tries to
envision a future that is better, more
connected, more respectful and
engaging. It also focuses on
innovation and customer service
ahead of marketing so that it truly
has the highest quality product in the
marketplace. “We think this is the
way to stay ahead of competition,”
states Sarah.
Connected Living is in a moment of
groundbreaking innovation with the
‘voice revolution.’ The program
involves integrating Amazon Echo
devices with Connected Living’s
content management systems so that
senior living residents can gain
information with just their voices.
They will receive inspirations of the
day, share music with family, or ask
As a nation, we are facing
an epidemic affecting
many of our seniors who
are aging in isolation.
Seniors do want to connect
and when they do
everyone’s life is more
enriched with their voice,
wisdom, purpose and it
also brings incredible
‘peace of mind’ and
enriched life to the family.
Cover Story

18. questions such as “what’s for dinner?,” and “what time
is yoga?” and much more.
The hub of the smart senior residence is the Amazon
Echo Show. With a large screen and powerful speakers,
the Show is an assistive device for the vision impaired or
hard of hearing. Other voice-controlled smart devices
will be installed to provide a completely unique
experience. A senior can control the lights, heating and
cooling, ambient music and can even view who is at the
front door, all with just a voice command. “Every day we
increase seniors’ ability to control their lives and connect
to the people they love,” Sarah explains.
Advocating for Women Entrepreneurs
While advising fellow Shepreneurs, Sarah states, “We
need to keep leading from the front and realize there are
still many barriers to break down for women in all
fields.”
Sarah understands that today in the US the numbers are
still very low for women CEOs; only 4% in the Fortune
500. While women are 50% of the workforce, only 10%
are entrepreneurs. “I think we women have a powerful
ability to change our culture and to build organizations
that thrive. Together with our male colleagues we can
lead organizations that are family friendly and that
promote women and men equally with equal pay
opportunities,” explains Sarah.
“It is difficult to ignore the numbers or odds for women,
and yet I never looked at it that way and I am very
hopeful that my daughter and her generation will be in a
different place from the landscape we had coming into
the business world 30 years ago,” she adds, hoping for a
gender-bias free future.
Surpassing Adversities
Raising capital and identifying those resources were a
critical challenge/decision initially for Sarah. She had
significant student loans when she started her first
company, so she had to move very quickly in order to
keep paying the bills. “It was a very big risk to go from a
steady income to a blank piece of paper on which you
write your business plan,” Sarah recollects.
“Classic roadblocks are people telling you that you can’t
start a new business and that 60% of new businesses fail,

19. and all the friends and colleagues
who correctly weigh the risks you
face and counsel you to let go of your
dream,” adds Sarah with a pinch of
non-offensive sarcasm.
Envisioning a Connected World
Sarah enjoys being with a team that
is hardworking, passionate and
creating positive change every day.
For the near future, she hopes she is
fortunate enough to continue to lead
this team and help form strategic
partnerships that will allow
Connected Living to have a national
and global impact on the aging crisis
and provide families a meaningful
place to have ’peace of mind,’
connect, share stories and access
goods and services they need.
Sarah also values enormously the
opportunity to be active in the
community; she serves on a number
of non-profit boards including
Dementia Friendly America Board
fighting the dreadful epidemic that
affects innumerable families all over
the world, including her own.
“Always, I value time with my family,
parents and amazing children,
Wesley and Samantha. No matter
what I do in life, nothing is more
important than being their mother,”
says Sarah affectionately.
Bequeathing the Keys to Success
Sarah’s advice to the aspiring lot of
entrepreneurs is, “Don’t let anyone
tell you that you cannot accomplish
your dreams. So many will try to
dissuade you, warning you of the
risks, the expense, and the slim odds
of success, stay strong and believe in
yourself.”
Sarah cites a favorite quote of her by
Steve Jobs, “The people who are
crazy enough to think they can
change the world are the ones who
do.” Sarah takes pride in having so
many dear friends from the different
chapters of her life, and she cherishes
her strong women friends who have
walked a similar path, fought similar
battles and successfully balanced
motherhood and work. “We gain
strength and courage from each
other.”
As an English Literature major, Sarah
cannot help herself in often finding
that the quote which most
encapsulates her path is from Robert
Frost’s, The Road Not Taken, and it
says,
“Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Cover Story

20. Address :
Country :City : State : Zip :
Global Subscription
Date :Name :
Telephone :
Email :
READ
IT
FIRST
Never Miss an Issue
Yes I would like to subscribe to Insights uccess Magazine., S
SUBSCRIBE
T O D A Y
Che should be drawn in favor of:ck INSIGHTS SUCCESS MEDIA TECH LLC
Insights Success Media Tech LLC
555 Metro Place North, Suite 100,
Dublin, OH 43017, United States
Phone (614)-602-1754,(302)-319-9947:
Email: info@insightssuccess.com
For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com
CORPORATE OFFICE

21. Management BriefCompany Name
Content Design London
moonshotdigital.com
Sarah Richards
CEO
Sarah Hoit
CEO & Co-founder
Elemed
womenintrucking.org
Higher Steaks
opensponsorship.com
Intengine.com
tapoly.com
Joelle Group
myngle.com
Julia Hell Grafik
squadley.com
Stephanie Wallis
Co-founder
Connie Linder
Founder & President
Julia Hell
Freelance Graphic
Designer & Art Director
mOOnshot digital
Intengine.com
Florine Eppe Beauloye
Co-founder & CEO
Elena Kyriacou
founder
A Poke Theory
connectedliving.com
Connected living
beryl8.com
Vannessa Lee
Co-founder
Rasha Oudeh
CEO
CEDEM AG
cedemag.com
CEDEM AG is a manufacturer and supplier of healthcare and
pharmaceutical products.
Connected Living is the only global technology company that
inspires an aging population to connect, contribute, and live a
healthier life.
Content Design London run bespoke training courses and
consultancy for businesses and organisations.
Elemed is a niche executive search company, for Regulatory and
quality in the Medical Device world.
HigherSteaks provides juicy, tender and delicious meat you
love but without harming our health, planet and animals.
Intengine aims to be the leading information source, database
and global marketplace for healthier procurement.
Joelle Group is a leading beauty business in the Arab
world
Julia Hell Grafik creates visual landmarks while making
web interesting.
mOOnshot digital is a creative and digital marketing agency for
premium and luxury brands.
A Poke Theory is a fast food-first concept serving up fresh
Hawaiian poke bowls, superfood smoothie bowls, cold pressed
juice & healthy snacks.
Joelle Mardinian
Founder & CEO
The

22. Management BriefCompany Name
Pheiff Group, Inc
elemed.eu
Connie Pheiff
CEO & Founder
Ishveen Anand
CEO & Founder
Spabreaks
highersteaks.com
Squadley
thegraciousf.com
Starcount
joelle.com
Tapoly
pheiffgroup.com
Jennifer Farris
Co-founder & CEO
Edwina Dunn
CEO
Women In Trucking
contentdesign.london
Ellen Voie
President & CEO
Abi Wright
Managing Director
&Co-founder
Myngle
spabreaks.com
OpenSponsorship
apoketheory.com
Marina Tognetti
Founder & CEO
Nithinart Sinthudeacha
Co-founder
N-able Plus
julia-hell.com
N-able Plus offers the best in class Organization and Human
Capital Management Consulting globally.
OpenSponsorship is a two-sided marketplace for sports
sponsorship. We are making sponsorship accessible, efficient
and data-driven.
The Pheiff Group provides expert strategies to escape your 9-5,
make an impact on your community
Spabreaks.com aims to open up the world of spa by
empowering, advising and educating consumers, while offering
unrivalled customer service and striving to break down barriers
by making spas more accessible for all.
Squadley is an intuitive yet powerful planning and performance
platform that meets the challenges of managing today’s
distributed workforce.
Starcount is tailored Big Data and Data Science Services to transform
business performance, drive customer engagement and
boost sales growth.
Tapoly provides on-demand insurance for self employed
freelancers, sole traders, contractors, and small businesses.
The Women In Trucking Association is a non-profit organization
with the mission to encourage the employment of women in the
trucking industry, promote their accomplishments, and minimize
obstacles faced by women working in the industry.
mYngle is an online language learning service provider for
business professionals. Based in The Netherlands they provide
one to one lessons through an online virtual classroom.
Janthana Kaenprakhamroy
CEO & Founder
The
The Gracious F
wandr.studio
Fatima E. Al Shirawi
Founder
The Gracious F is the leading Aesthetics Consultant in the
Middle East, established with a vision to assist both
individuals and corporates in achieving their goals,
and fulfilling their objectives.

24. Rasha
Oudeh Power Lies Not Only in the Wallet,
Power Lies in Competence
asha Oudeh from Jordan was
Rone of the keynote speakers in
Berlin's major economic
forum, Global Female Leaders'
Summit 2018, who told her story of
becoming a leader in a speech that has
received a standing ovation by a crowd
of executives, entrepreneurs,
prominent academics, and leaders from
all over the globe. By watching the
video of Rasha's speech in the summit,
one can tell that she is one such
proficient and prolific entrepreneur.
When she first started as a trader in
2007, she provided a variety of
services in pharmaceutical field to earn
money, services that included:
pharmaceutical trading (finished and
API's), registration support, market
research, assigning agents, writing
studies, selling machinery and selling
medical equipment's. It was a journey
full of struggle which helped Rasha to
gain insights into pharma industry &
exceptional experience.
Rasha wondered why there no such
service providing companies in Europe
these services in MENA and why there
is no company with a portfolio that fits
the MENA region, the answer was:
difficult business culture &
environment; regulations differ from
country to country, and on top of that:
the language.
At the end of 2015, Rasha sold all of
her business to start again by acquiring
CEDEM AG whose financials made it
look like a startup co., but the spectrum
of the clients which CEDEM has built
over the last three years utilizing the
last 9 years' experience speaks for
itself. To expand further, Rasha has
collaborated with four prominent
investors/partners; two of them
experienced experts in the same field
from multinational companies. She
built a team of skilled professionals/
consultants in the Middle East who can
run the business in Switzerland,
Germany, and UK from Amman,
Jordan.
Despite difficulties and high expenses,
Rasha continued to operate a business
from Switzerland, as she believed that
all big businesses started with one
entrepreneur who had the commitment,
dedication and never say die attitude to
do business with STYLE.
Nevertheless, Rasha shared that she
could not have built the brand equity of
Cedem that quickly without the people
working with her, acknowledging that
sometimes she might come off as
demanding, still she is giving them in
return her whole experience. Rasha
expressed her sense of proudness when
she sees them achieving and doing well
even if they are in other jobs.
Rasha shared her dream of establishing
the first sizeable Swiss-German
company that is focused on the MENA
region and which can be a partner of
choice for big pharmaceutical players
in the MENA region, and the idea
behind CEDEM comes from this niche.
Her journey has proven that influence
in doing business lies not only in the
wallet, but in the mastering of business
competencies
Exemplary Leadership
Rasha encourages entrepreneurs to
follow their own path, she expresses
that one should not be afraid to pursue
what one believes in. She also advises
having sustainable human relations
because she believes that it helps one
to function adequately. She believes
that focus plays the most important
part in success. She advises to enjoy
giving back one's experience and
competence and whatever one has
gained throughout their journey. Rasha
believes in non-traditional ideas. She
believes that leadership is a learned
mindset that can be fostered with
education and coaching.
Introducing a New Profession
Today, CEDEM aims at becoming the
Middle East's first private label service
provider. Given the fact that this
industry represents less than 1%
compared to the rest of the world, with
Germany and Switzerland accounting
for around 45% and 38%, respectively.
With Rasha's continued efforts and
perseverance, she introduced a new
profession to the Middle East, namely
the private labeling manufacturing
through an entire business process
cycle. Considering that the region lacks
such expertise, Rasha takes pride to
have built such a capable team to serve
this field. Rasha's extensive years of
Entrepreneur of the Year
22 November 2018

25. expertise were filled with difficulties
and pressures, yet she was able to
succeed.
Social Responsibility
As a Jordanian living abroad, Rasha is
deeply committed to share her insights,
expertise, and knowledge with fellow
Jordanians, and to keep engaged in
Jordan's economy. Amal, the dead sea
project, is aimed to become part of
Jordan's efforts to combat poverty and
unemployment, it is a starting point
that helps to sustain the living of hard-
working women who also utilize their
limited resources. While the 'Training
for Employment' project is a program
that is aimed at enabling Jordanian
young females to take a step into an
international career, by preparing them
to operate in a vibrant, ever-changing,
international business environment,
supporting them in growing to be
managers and leaders of tomorrow.
B e f o c u s e d !
F o c u s i s t h e
m a r g i n b e t w e e n
f a i l u r e a n d
s u c c e s s .

26. ¹ Z hü}0RXOGLQJ3HUFHSWLRQVDQG5HGHfQLQJ: HOOQHVV
Entrepreneurship in its essence
is a responsibility, resting
upon the shoulders of those
deemed fit to play the roles of a guide,
an innovator, a beacon of motivation
and a preacher of disruptive ideologies.
This responsibility essentially builds
up the foundation of an entrepreneurial
career and demands ceaseless
commitment, unfathomable patience
and determination of the size of a
mountain. Considering the significance
of these traits Insights Success
recognizes Abi Wright as the ideal
personification of entrepreneurship,
and is thus shortlisted as one of the
most successful shepreneurs of 2018.
Abi is the Founder and Managing
Director of Spabreaks.com. She
started her career as a journalist before
quickly realising that wasn’t where her
skills were. She then moved into PR
and marketing. After time contract
negotiating in Maritime Security
following 9/11, she found a happy
home in spa hotels. It was there that
she really began to feel there was an
opportunity to change the perception of
spas, and to work with them to realise
their commercial potential.
Abi owned a PR agency for a few
years, and then launched
Spabreaks.com in 2008 with a team of
three, and it has all gone from there.
“Today it’s amazing to think that
Spabreaks.com is not only an industry
leader, particularly concerning spas
and cancer, but that it’s also Europe’s
largest spa booking agency,” Abi
expresses.
An Avid Emphasis on Customer
Satisfaction
Showcasing the amazing variety of
experiences that are available, is at the
heart of what Spabreaks.com is all
about. Whether one’s looking for a real
health and wellbeing escape to detox
and address particular concerns, or
fancies a romantic and indulgent mini
break with plenty of champagne,
Spabreaks.com is possibly the best
option.
Abi has a team of really experienced
product managers who work with spas
to create packages that really showcase
each spa’s best qualities and
experiences, and through the
organization’s website it offers those
packages in easily identifiable
categories to suit a wide variety of
customers. “After all, that’s the thing
about health and wellbeing - it’s for
everyone,” states Abi.
According to Abi, a major part of
building strategies in order to tackle
competition is about knowing the
industry and having a very clear vision
of what she wants the company to
represent, but it’s also about listening
to her customers and being willing to
evolve. From day one she has read
every review and piece of client
feedback that has come through - good,
bad and indifferent, and from there she
has been better able to entirely
understand what they feel has been
missing from their experiences. For
Spabreaks.com it’s all about customer
service and experience, and that’s a
policy driver for the organization.
Surpassing Adversities
Abi expresses that she feels lucky that
she has never experienced any direct
discrimination, sexism or misogyny, all
of which are appalling and have no
place at work or at home. If she takes
her own experiences and observations
however, she thinks the biggest
challenge for women in the workplace
is juggling everything. She doesn’t
think that we live in a world where we
can pretend peoples’ work and home
lives are separate any more.
As a mother, Abi has a particular set of
challenges. She always remembers
being told that “it’s either your work or
your kids that lose out, but it’s not, it’s
you.” Abi would never let her company
or her children suffer because of her
schedule. It’s her wellbeing and her
time with friends that is sacrificed and
¹ Z hü}
The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
24 November 2018

27. ‘‘
she expresses, “We all know that if you
don’t balance that out at least some of
the time it, is very bad for your
wellbeing.”
She asserts that she has always tried to
treat employees as individuals and
make sure she has good relationships
with her team, so she knows when
someone needs extra support. She tries
to facilitate flexibility wherever
possible, and in recent years she has
been able to enshrine that in an
organizational policy a bit more. Abi
thinks for everyone, including women,
the challenge of having a healthy
work/life balance is really tricky, but
she thinks her organization is doing
something right because, 90% of its
senior management executives are
women, who have grown through the
company and the company has seen
them through births, deaths and
everything in between.
The ongoing challenge for Abi
has been to change the
perception that spas are just
about beauty and are just for
women, and to highlight their
importance for wellness as
well. Spabreaks.com has done
a lot to change that over the
years but still continues to be an
ongoing challenge. There are also
some age old issues in the spa
industry that the organization has been
really adamant about changing. In
particular the attitude towards anyone
with or recovering from cancer has
been an industry wide issue that it is
working on with other industry leaders
- that’s really all about education and
understanding. Abi comprehends that
the same applies really to any other
serious health condition. The team at
Spabreaks.com has done a lot of work
to open up the spa industry to anyone
who has previously felt marginalized,
but have also realised that things don’t
change overnight.
Setting a Benchmark
Asserting upon the ideal question of
what an entrepreneur’s perspective
should be, Abi States, “I think it’s a
combination of knowing your market,
surrounding yourself with good people
and trusting your gut.” When Abi first
started Spabreaks.com the
Groupon/discount code model was in
full swing and her organization was in
the middle of recession. “Everyone
thought I was mad starting a business
that was essentially a luxury product,
but I knew the industry, I knew what I
envisaged for it and why it was
different, and I backed that up by
surrounding myself with people who I
knew were good at their jobs and who I
could really trust. I think it’s probably
called a strategic risk,” Abi adds.
Abi aims to continue to develop the
way that spas are perceived, to widen
people’s understanding that spas can
heal, and to dispel the idea that it’s just
about beauty. Abi wants to enhance the
healing nature of spas in the UK so that
they compete on the same level as
European spas, educate the UK spa
goers about the true European spa
experience, and continue to grow
Spabreaks.com’s overseas portfolio.
.QR Z RXUPDUNHW
GR RXUUHVHDUFKVXUURXQG
RXUVHOIZLWKJRRGSHRSOH
RXFDQWUXVWDQGDIWHUWKDW
LWBVDERXWWUXVWLQJRXUJXW
DQGJRLQJI RULW
¹Z hü}
)RXQGHU0DQDJLQJ'LUHFWRU
25November 2018

28. aking into consideration, the
Tdrive to transform the
environmental startup
ecosystem, formulation of
contemporary business strategies,
possession of reformative, democratic
and compassionate entrepreneurship
qualities, and a profound knack for
innovation, Connie Linder has been
recognized as one of the most
successful entrepreneurs in her field.
Connie is the Founder and President
of Intengine.com, formerly known as
GreenPages Directory, which is the
fastest-growing database and one of a
kind business platform for sustainable
purchasing. She is also a co-founder of
Agora Energy Technologies, an
innovative company that is building
the world’s first redox flow battery that
uses carbon dioxide as feedstock.
Connie knew there was a need for an
efficient, pro-business and
pro-solutions platform that allowed
people to make healthier informed
decisions and she recognized that the
changes needed to be made within the
marketplace and that’s when the
original platform, GreenPages
Directory was born.
With Connie’s strong corporate and
business background and focused
intention for healthier ways of doing
business, she became a bridge and
leader in the sustainability movement
in Canada. For her work, Connie has
received numerous awards, including
an award from the Sustainable
Purchasing Leadership Counsel; the
Tech Green Award from the Applied
Science Technologists and Technicians
of BC; the Women of Worth
Sustainable Living Award; a Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee Medal; the Minerva
Leadership Award; the BC Innovation
Council’s New Ventures Award; and
she was named one of Canada’s Top
100 Most Powerful Women as a
Trailblazer/Trendsetter.
The Torchbearer’s Masterpiece
Intengine is positioned to be the
leading information source, database
and global marketplace for healthier
procurement and its name rings true to
this. Intengine blends ‘intention’ and
‘engine’, making it the engine for
good.
Intengine has the world’s most
comprehensive and relevant database
of responsible businesses for good and
the largest database in the world of
social and environmental accreditation
organizations with certifications and
business listings. Intengine’s Directory
Listings includes all industry sectors
and business listing types that can be
filtered for local application with a
global reach.
Connie
Linder:
Outclassing the Standards
of Entrepreneurship
The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
Connie Linder
Founder & President
26 November 2018

29. Acting also as an aggregator of
in-depth knowledge, Intengine is
constantly expanding to deliver
meaningful, multi-sourced information
to its users, empowering them to
educate themselves and make real
changes by providing them with all
they need in one place. The
organization also makes it possible for
listing companies to highlight their
Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) to reflect their social and
environmental commitments.
“We are also collaborating with PwC
to build baseline tools so businesses
can see how they rank with key metric
indicators in the industry against their
peers,” says Connie. By including
quantifiable metrics with products,
Intengine helps differentiate and
communicate the social and
environmental benefits of products and
services offered. The organization
believes in collaboration and Intengine
seeks to promote others who are also
working towards a better Earth.
Surpassing Adversities
“The toughest part of my journey was
holding the dream for Intengine, when
it was difficult to raise money,” Connie
expresses. Years ago, when she
realized there is a need for an online
aggregator for her sector of expertise,
she didn’t have someone to go to who
had done it. “I had to attract the right
people and that took some time. I
worked on other contracts through my
sustainable consulting company,
Insight Creative Communications, to
pay the bills to keep Intengine going,”
she adds.
According to Connie the best part of
her journey is definitely where she is at
right now. “We have great financial
partners, a new brand and a Team of
dedicated and talented technicians,
developers and marketers. They’re
augmented by a world class group of
advisors who I believe will turn
Intengine into the world’s premier
resource for sustainable purchasing,”
says Connie. Connie comprehends that
creating something in sustainability is
not just finding a product, address or
website and asserts that Intengine is
finally able to educate people to make
better choices.
“Being the best takes focus and a
pragmatic vision. When you aspire to
something better, there is added stress
because the market will demand more
from you. I meditate every day to keep
my head clear and focus on next steps
so as not to get lost in the clutter of so
much to do,” Connie expresses.
Bequeathing Values of Excellence
According to Connie, although it is
important for a leader to be able to
reflect honestly, it is also important to
deal with things and move on. “I have
often been treated differently than my
male counterparts, especially earlier in
my career. It is important not to fall
into the trap of being the victim. This
will keep you down. Stay true to your
values, treat people as you would like
to be treated and do your best with an
open mind and open heart,” she adds.
Asserting upon the essentialities which
an entrepreneur or a leader should
possess, Connie says, “Entrepreneurs
need to have vision, strength, patience,
focus and perseverance.
Compassionate entrepreneurs need to
base their vision on a foundation of
integrity and an intention for outcomes
that benefit people and the
environment. Face everything with a
strong vision and the resilience to keep
going despite challenges.”
Promising the World a Stable
Tomorrow
When asked to throw light over her
future endeavors, both professional and
personal, Connie expresses, “My plans
going forward are focused on being a
good mother to my daughters who are
17, 23 and 26 and focusing on building
Intengine into a global brand that helps
transform the marketplace. We will
most certainly be the centralized place
individuals and businesses will come
to, for the new economy.”
“We have an important role as
facilitators and educators for the new
economy. I am also focused on my
work as a co-founder of Agora Energy
Technologies to bring this important
technology to life. I don’t think I will
ever think I am ‘done’. I think I will
just keep adding higher visions with
bigger goals,” she adds.
Connie promptly comprehends and
exhibits gratitude on how contented
she is with the way her life is right
now. She unfalteringly promises to
work incessantly on her dream that
Intengine will connect those seeking a
healthier way to live with those who
have the solutions, so that the world
can be a happier, healthier and more
stable place to live.
6WDWUXHWRRXU
YDOXHVWUHDWSHRSOH
DVRXZRXOGOLNH
WREHWUHDWHGDQG
GRRXUEHVWZLWK
DQRSHQPLQG
DQGRSHQKHDUW
27November 2018

32. Life, is a mere one syllable
word, yet is the most volatile
entity that ever existed. It
encompasses a subtle blend of
scintillating moments of joy and a few
unbearable gulps of remorse, regrets
and heartbreaking circumstances. As
humans, to strike a balance between
these contradictory emotions is our
ultimate test and the ones who excel in
this test are those who’ve accurately
comprehended the true meaning of life
– persistence. One person, who has
commendably persisted through thick
and thin and has emerged as a beacon
of inspiration, is Connie Pheiff.
Connie is the Founder and CEO at
Pheiff Group, Inc., and an innovator
who is ridiculously dedicated to
helping executives transition from the
corporate life to activate their power,
become unstoppable, and live their
dream as a lifestyle entrepreneur. In
2006, Connie’s life experienced a
turmoil when as a CEO, her position
was eliminated due to a corporate
realignment; at the same time a certain
issue regarding her family, compelled
her to face her fears of rejection and
overwhelming disappointment. But
that didn’t break her spirit and today,
she is an example of ’what is possible
when you shift your mindset and
believe in yourself.’
After leaving corporate, Connie spent
two years as an extensive seminar
addict, learning all she can about
building a lifestyle business and
transforming into a global business
leader. She has many accolades to her
name and cumulating of experiences
from the school of hard knocks, Connie
is an expert in business, leadership, and
marketing and making things happen.
Connie is a master story-teller, an
energy-filled, and award winning
speaker on multiple levels with
Toastmasters; a producer and award
winning host of one of today’s leading
podcasts for Entrepreneurial leaders
named, the Connie Pheiff Show, and a
five-time author and also a business
coach. She is a former executive turned
lifestyle entrepreneur and a
philanthropist. She has served as the
President of the National Speakers
Association, Greater Los Angeles
Chapter, and Division Director for
Toastmasters, District 12. As a
Business Woman, entrepreneur,
speaker, business coach, author, and an
avid Podcaster, she quickly makes an
immediate intimate connection with
her audience, inspiring them with a
practical message for taking control
and growing a business
comprehensively.
In 2007, Connie founded the Pheiff
Group, Inc. and since then she has
developed her signature programs,
such as the Activate Community, the
Leadership Masterclass, and her most
popular program, the Business
Accelerator Academy. Connie always
shares a part of herself with her
audience, which includes the instances
about a life of spectacularly
enlightening failures, or more
precisely, lessons. She believes that
through all the experiences, her success
hasn’t come in spite of her failures, but
because of them.
The extensive list of books which
Connie has authored, includes –
Finding your Passion for Action; The
Art of the Ask: Get into your
fundraising groove; The Art of the Ask:
A collection of fundraising letters &
telephone scripts; Marketing Masters:
ready, set, grow your market; Business
Accelerator: Become a highly paid
lifestyle entrepreneur; and The
Unstoppable Stories of Connie Pheiff
which is set to release coming Spring
of 2019.
Building the Leaders of Tomorrow
The enormous recognition Pheiff
Group, Inc. has received from the
media has been the result of releasing
relevant services at the right time. For
instance, the Activating the Power of
Women release represents all women
without a voice, who wish to keep their
power and not give it away through a
march or protest. The organization’s
Activate My Power community
represents all lifestyle entrepreneurs
Connie Pheiff:
A Symbol of Exemplary Entrepreneurship
30 November 2018
Shepreneur of the Month

33. who need the tools to survive in the sea of today’s highly
talented marketers. “When we learned that most
entrepreneurs lack the skills for marketing themselves we
designed the PG Speakers Bureau as a unique agency
where we are more than a booking agent. We are a
publicist, agent, connector, friend and coach all wrapped
into one package adding greater value for our clients to
shine,” states Connie.
Thus, her organization’s community simply provides the
tools for entrepreneurs to do it themselves and the bureau
will do the rest of the work. By understanding the clients’
pain, the Pheiff Group’s team was able to target its media
outreach accordingly, which results in increasing visibility
to a larger network of its perfect client.
Whenever the question of strategizing the business comes
up, in the organization’s team meetings, Connie’s first
question is how to do it differently. Connie always quotes
Steve Jobs, stating, “You can’t look at the competition and
say we’re going to do it better. You have to look at the
competition and say we’re going to do it differently.”
Defining Benchmarks
When asked to describe her concept of ideal
entrepreneurial attributes, Connie provides a list of traits
which every entrepreneur or leader should possess.
Following is the list in Connie’s own words:
y An unwavering passion. This is a cliché, ’to find your
passion.’A life of an entrepreneur demands dedication
and commitment – this is what I call stick-a-bility.
y Read and Reflect. Hit the ground running doesn’t mean
an entrepreneur’s lives a life of chaos and confusion.
Rather, highly successful entrepreneurs start their day
reflecting in silence.
y Fuel up. Highly successful entrepreneurs eat food that
tastes great and which is nutritious. Since
eA•hÁhɃ4pƒhÉ° A•h
hɃ"}°¥ ƒ}6üù Ah° A•
}AüÉ}}ÉhÉÝ
—Connie Pheiff
Founder & CEO
Pheiff Group, Inc.
31November 2018

34. y entrepreneurs are multi-tasking and
work long hours, it is important the
food on their plate fuels their body.
y Work hard – Play hard. Highly
successful entrepreneurs work hard
because they enjoy their work, so
work feels more like play.
y Work smart. Successful
entrepreneurs work smarter. They
set and prioritize goals. Then each
day they take steps to achieve those
goals.
y Don’t Complain. The life of an
entrepreneur if filled with peaks
and valleys. They are not immune
to bad things happening. Highly
successful entrepreneurs learn to
stop focusing on the event, and
instead, learn from the cause of the
event, pivoting and moving
forward.
y Exercise. A exercise routine is part
of a successful entrepreneur’s daily
To Do list. This not only nourishes
the body, but also nourishes the
mind. You’re in better shape and
have better decision making skills.
y Serving others. Contrary to popular
opinion, highly successful
entrepreneurs focus on serving and
giving because they know it creates
value. We all know that Value can
lead to financial reward. Successful
entrepreneurs focus on creating
value and serving others.
y Invest in Yourself. Successful
entrepreneurs never stop investing
in themselves. They are always
eager to increase their wisdom from
current events to new technology.
They will attend conferences, take
classes, hire coaches, and often join
a mastermind group. Of all the
personal habits of successful
entrepreneurs, investing in yourself
is by far the most powerful.
y Forward-looking approach.
Successful entrepreneurs are
always thinking ahead. They set
clear goals that will keep them from
moving backwards. I recently took
an assessment that indicated I am
clearly futuristic, always looking to
the future, which at times is
surprising to me because I enjoy
antiques and history. As a colleague
put it, back to the future for me.
Transcending Adversities
Connie is of the opinion that many of
the challenges faced by women occur
in corporates or as an entrepreneur. In
her personal experience, at one time
she believed there was a glass ceiling,
and she even taught collegiate
programs on this subject. But she
believes the view from the ceiling has
changed and that today women have
opportunities to shatter the glass
ceiling and make it theirs. She believes
that many of these challenges continue
to exist, but the most prominent
challenge she sees is women worrying
they’re not enough and are becoming
obsessed with perfection and thus,
failing to perform.
She admits she had the Impostor
syndrome. Although, she left a position
as a CEO of an organization, she felt
unworthy. She expresses that initially
her ego led her to believe that anyone
would want to work with her. She
applied for positions from Maine to
Miami and found no positive response.
Then her recruiter and husband
suggested she complete her college
degree. Considering that advice, she
went back to school and completed her
Bachelor of Science in Business and
later went onto earn her Masters of
Public Administration. “The degrees
permitted me the confidence to start
my own business and here I am
starting my twelfth year and never
looking back.” Connie expresses.
Advising the future generation of
entrepreneurs, disregarding the gender
bias, Connie states that “As women if
you want to be treated equal then you
need to work hard and surround
yourself with successful
entrepreneurs.” She recommends
creating networks, hiring a coach, or
joining a mastermind group. “You will
be surprised to learn there are many
entrepreneurs offering the same
programs and products as you. You
must begin by identifying your Unique
Selling Proposition (USP),” she adds.
She also advises on not trying to be
better, but focusing on how you are
different and sticking to it. “Remember
Stick-a-bility, the one who sticks to
his/her focus longer, wins. Secondly,
you can’t do it alone. It does take a
team and embracing diversity because,
that is the only way you will learn how
to play the game of a successful
entrepreneur,” Connie asserts.
Beholding the Future
As a smart entrepreneur, Connie has
her future designed and has already
begun the shift in the business. Her
online platform for radio has a greater
presence with the Connie Pheiff Show
and online TV. She has reduced her
speaking engagements in order to
increase her coaching and the reason
for founding the Activate Community,
where she is able to provide today’s
lifestyle business leaders, the tools to
activate faster; and the PG Speakers
Bureau where her team of experts work
with clients to build a successful
practice.
Connie still enjoys speaking and her
success in the spotlight, but she is at a
stage in her life where she prefers to
serve others and help them find their
success. Her five-year goal is going
home to the Great Smoky Mountains
where she and her husband plan to
build a conference and training center
for lifestyle entrepreneurs.
32 November 2018

36. ÝÄã° - ôÑ° ¼çþ(ÝÄã° - ôÑ° ¼çþ(
LÐÄ3ÑÝÝÄããÑ°ÝHÐÄñôÄãÄþô
Elena Kyriacou is an award
winning headhunter,
international speaker, and
professional branding coach. Born to a
working class family of Greek Cypriot
parents, Elena’s humble beginnings
created in her that internal burning fire
that characterizes an entrepreneur.
With nothing more than hard work,
determination, and a desire to BE
something more, Elena built her first
successful business before the age of
30.
Today she is the Founder of Elemed,
a niche executive search company in
the Medical Device world. She helps
companies grow exponentially by
hiring exceptional talent.
Below are the highlights of the
interview between Elena and Insights
Success, where she sheds light on her
journey:
Give a brief overview of your
background as an entrepreneur.
Ever since I was young I had what my
achieve that. We try to consistently add
value and build brand awareness
through the creation and sharing of
meaningful content for our target
audience.
Describe some of the vital attributes
that every entrepreneur should
possess.
I think the desire to succeed and
resilience are common attributes you
find in an entrepreneur but also I think
you need to have certain fearlessness
and not worry too much about getting
it wrong. An eye for continuous
improvement and the ability to keep
checking yourself to see how you can
improve as a business and person is
important. Above all working hard is
the key. There are no elevators to
success; you always have to take the
stairs.
How do you strategize your game
plans to tackle competition in the
market?
Although it’s important to be aware of
what your competition is doing I don’t
family would call an entrepreneurial
spirit. I have always been unafraid to
try new things, make existing things
better and do it in a way that benefits
others. Ever since I was young, I
always created little businesses – it’s
how I paid my way through University.
My first job in recruitment was also
very entrepreneurial. I had to set up a
life science brand completely from
scratch; almost like building my own
company within the confines of a
bigger more established one. The brand
was successful and I wanted to take
that to the next level, so I left and
created Elemed.
How do you diversify your
organization’s offerings to appeal to
the target audience?
Recruitment is not as easy as everyone
thinks because there are always a lot of
moving parts. There are two variables,
the candidate and the company and we
have to tailor our services to bring
together a company’s needs with a
candidate’s aspirations. You have to
understand each person’s motivators
and adapt as a business to help them
34 November 2018

37. The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
LÐÄôÄÑ÷çãÝ çãÄ
üÐÑãÎüаü÷Äñ°ô°üÄ÷
÷þ¼¼Ä÷÷Íôçâ Í°ÑÝþôÄ
°ãÀ üаü`÷ üÐÄ°¼üç Í
¼Ðçç÷ÑãÎüçÎÑÄþñ .
let it define me. For me it’s all about
being the best I can be. My biggest
competition is myself. The key is to
know what you’re talking about,
follow up and follow through and
provide a high quality service that
makes people want to come back. We
highlight the importance of candidate
relationship and candidate experience
which means approaching our
candidates like customers; not just
applicants.
What are the frequent challenges
faced by women entrepreneurs in the
workplaces and what are the ways to
tacle them?
According to a study I saw on
Linkedin, women have a tendency to
undersell themselves whilst men
tended to oversell in business. I feel
that as a women entrepreneur, there is a
certain pressure to be better than men
and a lot of women I know are
inherently perfectionists. Being an
entrepreneur is all about execution and
getting things out the door but if you
let being a perfectionist hold you back
then that can mean in the long run you
could lose. It’s important to know;
something is better than nothing and
things are never going to be perfect.
Better to get your product out the door
and continuously improve it, than
never get it out the door at all.
What were the primal challenges
and roadblocks you faced during the
initial phase of your career as an
entrepreneur?
The biggest challenge I faced is the
variety of hats you have to wear when
starting a business, not only are you
CEO but you are operations manager,
marketing and HR, the recruiter and
the business developer. Whilst wearing
all these hats you have to balance and
manage your time effectively to ensure
you are still able to do business. There
are a lot of tasks that don’t necessarily
generate revenue but take up a lot of
Focus 100% of your energy on the
10% that matters. In other words make
a list of activities that need to be done,
highlight the ones you’re really good at
and focus 100% of your time on
becoming excellent at them. Hire
someone and let them handle the
activities you’re not so good at because
you can’t be amazing at everything. I
learnt this a couple of years into
starting my company and perhaps if I
had learnt it sooner I could have saved
myself a lot of time.
What’s your motto in business?
There is only one thing that separates
success from failure and that’s the act
of choosing to give up.
Elena Kyriacou
Founder
Elemed
time and that is a challenge in itself.
Where do you see yourself in the
near future and what are your future
goals?
As a business my goal is to make
Elemed the best niche medical device
recruitment company in the world. At
the moment we are really strong in
Europe and I want to keep expanding
and have offerings in the US and
further afield. In the future I want to be
in a position where we can deliver and
support our candidates and companies
as they grow worldwide. It’s an
exciting time for Elemed, we are about
to launch a rebrand, a new website and
3 new business offerings.
What is your advice for budding and
emerging Shepreneurs?
²
35November 2018

38. Ellen Voie:
Bringing Gender Diversity in
the Transportation Sector
The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
Entrepreneurs think prolifically; they create
something new, something different that
adds value to the world through the
development and implementation of their
innovative ideas. Ellen Voie, the President, and
CEO of Women In Trucking Association is one
of the women in the business world who plays an
essential role in changing the dynamics and
empowering the involvement of women in the
transportation sector.
Ellen is an internationally recognized speaker and
authority on gender diversity and inclusion for
women working in non-traditional careers in
transportation. Ellen has always been described as
a visionary, so being an entrepreneur was a natural
extension to her because of her perception to look
into the future and an aspiration to create change.
Initial Learning Experience
Ellen started as the Assistant Traffic Manager in the
trucking industry but was later promoted to Traffic
Manager. At that point, she was only 20 years old
and was responsible for the shipments in and out of
three fabricating plants, in addition to a private
fleet of three trucks. She shipped in the raw steel
from around the country and shipped out the finished material,
handling products to customers. She says to have learned a great
deal from that job and that it gave her the start of a long career in
transportation and supply chain management.
Forming the Association
Ellen built the cornerstone for Women In Trucking Association in
March 2007. Her goal was to create a more positive, empowering
environment for women employed in the trucking industry. She
was working for a large carrier in the Midwest and was charged
with trying to better understand b how to attract and retain non-
traditional groups as drivers, and this included women. At the time
She was working on her private pilot’s license and belonged to an
organization called Women in Aviation, International. It occurred
to her that there was no similar organization for women in trucking
and that was her impetus in forming the association.
A Comprehensive Organization
Ellen is proud to say that the organization’s membership is
comprised of nearly twenty percent men who believe in its mission.
This means that the organization is all-inclusive. Many men in the
industry support and encourage more women to opt for careers in
transportation. She says although the organization is called Women
In Trucking, it is not FOR women as much as it is ABOUT women.
Ellen states that Women In Trucking Association has an annual
strategic planning session where the board of directors, staff and
36 November 2018

39. any interested stakeholders look
forward and define the activities and
goals for the coming months and years.
The combined effort gives the
organization a vision into how the
organization will address future needs
for its members and the industry as a
whole.
Being an Instrument of Positive
Change
According to Ellen, an entrepreneur
needs to see into the future and then
determine how to create a positive
change. She says an entrepreneur needs
to possess a desire to use skills,
determination and focus on helping
move people and processes to result in
the change one is seeking.
Ellen is of the opinion that an
entrepreneur should be able to
convince others that one’s path is the
right one and should generate a support
system, which ultimately creates a
push in the right direction.
Valuing the skills women bring to
the table
Women are often humble and focus on
consensus building while leadership
traits are often perceived as assertive
and controlled. Ellen says these are the
challenges women face, but instead of
conforming she speaks of the need to
change the culture to value leadership
traits which women bring to an
organization.
According to Ellen, women are better
at engaging their teams, and this has
been proven to be a positive employee
retention strategy, but she is worried
that the characteristics that allow one
to be more collaborative are not
identified as leadership skills.
and daughter graduated with a Master’s
Degree in Economics from Purdue
with NO student loans. She
appreciates the thought that timing is
everything and sometimes one needs to
grab an opportunity despite the
external conditions and make it work
out.
Ellen is currently looking at leaving
behind a thriving association that she
let into an industry that recognized the
need for change. She plans to retire in
about five years, so now she is looking
forward to focusing on traveling,
writing and spending time with her
family.
Determining the Course of Industry
and Community
Ellen’s advice for budding
entrepreneurs is to truly determine
what one can bring to one’s industry,
one’s community or one’s social
network. She says that one should have
something to contribute to empowering
others, but one needs to identify what
that skill, talent or passion is and stay
true to one’s mission. She warns not to
get sidetracked by others who want one
to accommodate their goals. Ellen also
advises staying focused and to stay
away from distractions.
Life begins at
the edge of
your comfort
zone. Believe it.
Embrace it. Live it.
According to her women bring a
different set of skills to the workplace,
doesn’t mean these skills are less
important to the company. She is of the
opinion that these skills should be
respected.
Perseverance through Adversities
Starting a nonprofit association in the
middle of a recession is not the most
desirable way to initiate change in an
industry. Ellen lost her position due to
the recession while she was
responsible for two mortgages and her
daughter’s college expenses. She is
still not sure how she made it through
that difficult time but she persevered
Ellen Voie
President & CEO
Women In Trucking Association
–
37November 2018

40. Celia Pool
Co-Founder
DAME
38 November 2018
Industry Intel

41. The world is finally waking up to
the single-use plastic crisis.
Over the last 10 years we have
created more plastic than the whole of
the last century combined. Half of the
plastic we create is used just once, and
then thrown away, taking 500 years to
decompose. By 2050, the oceans are
predicted to contain more plastic than
fish. The plastic crisis is now too big
for recycling alone to fix.
Global governments, businesses and
consumers need to collaborate quickly
to make impactful change before it’s
too late. However, change is difficult
when environmentally damaging habits
have become so entrenched and often
appear more financially appealing.
Technology is helping in this fight.
Reusable water bottles are now
widespread, and apps that help you
locate drinking water refill stations are
now emerging. At the same time,
reusable coffee cup technology is
addressing the half a trillion disposable
coffee cups discarded every year. Such
items are gaining increasing social
currency with consumers, who are
keen to display them as markers of
their environmental conscience. This
revolution is encouraging, but what
about the products that people aren’t so
willing to talk about?
100 billion menstrual products are
thrown away globally every year.
These are single-use, mostly made of
plastic and cannot be recycled. You can
choose not to have a coffee, you cannot
choose not to have a period. Reusable
options (e.g. menstrual cups, cloth
pads) have been on the market for
decades, yet the adoption rate has been
slow. The primary barrier to entry is
the fear of habit change.
So how do we bring about a
revolution? The answer is keep it
simple. And take time to consider
consumer psychology. As humans, we
abhor change. We are creatures drawn
towards the comfort of the known. By
keeping habit change to a minimum,
consumers are much more likely to
adopt a new idea.
This was our philosophy at DAME
when we created the world’s first
reusable tampon applicator. We
ensured the design was familiar and
intuitive, so women did not have to
compromise on their convenient,
established rituals. We knew that
hygiene could be a significant barrier
to entry, so we worked with leading
micro-biologists and medical engineers
and used the best medical grade, anti-
microbial materials on the market. As a
result, the consumer only must rinse
the applicator in cold water after use to
keep it clean. Simple steps, minimal
habit change.
However, it is challenging to tackle an
issue that has such little awareness.
Menstruation has historically been
shrouded in shame, fear and discretion.
It is not a topic openly talked about.
This is a problem with feminine care as
a whole: it is frequently dismissed and
the women trying to address it are
critically underfunded. In 2017 female
founders got 2% of the $85 billion VC
investment pot. About 8% of partners
at the top British VC firms are women.
According to Harvard Business
Review, stereotypes about female
entrepreneurs persist: women are
overly cautious, shy away from
growth, have insufficient resources and
consequently their ventures
underperform. Yet there is no
performance data to support these
stereotypes.
How are products used by women
supposed to change in line with human
and environmental needs, when they
aren’t given appropriate recognition or
have women involved in all stages of
the process? Women need to be given
more of a voice if we are to create
meaningful change. The world of AI is
already highlighting the need to
diverse away from male, white,
Western coders if we are to avoid
unconscious bias in the robots of
tomorrow. Amazon had to abandon an
AI recruitment tool that was
discriminating against women, instead
favoring prospects who mirrored
Amazon’s existing male engineer
workforce. At DAME women have
been involved in every stage of the
journey, not as a token gesture but as
an absolute necessity.
However, our overarching business
strategy goes beyond issues of
inclusivity to incorporate a wider
mission. DAME was founded on the
belief that business can be used as a
force for good. We use this core value
to guide every decision we make in the
business, bringing great clarity to our
route forward. By communicating our
genuine and authentic commitment to
this mission, we hope that our message
will quickly be picked up by those
eager to join a movement for change.
To date, we have seen this happen not
only with our consumers and the press,
but with employees. People are
increasingly drawn to companies doing
good. 75% of millennials would take a
pay cut to work at a socially
responsible company.
All this strengthens our resolve at
DAME to continue to tackle critical
problems that are not openly
acknowledged, that are significantly
underfunded, and that have historically
been controlled by giant monopolies.
Today we are focusing on menstrual
products, but our vision is to
revolutionize the entire bathroom.
These are big mountains, but having
strong guiding principles makes the
navigation much easier.”
-Words by Celia Pool
Co-Founder of DAME
For more information visit
wearedame.co
“
39November 2018

44. /DERUDWRU0 DQDJHPHQW
6 VWHP,QIRUPDWLRQ
/DERUDWRU
,QIRUPDWLRQ0 DQDJHPHQW
6 VWHP
5ROHRI
LQ0DQXIDFWXULQJ 6HFWRUV
Even if an organization offers an outstanding
series of creative products, it has to ensure that
the quality is up to the mark. Being
compassionate about quality management is quite
essential for a business venture to become a promising
manufacturer. Thus, quality is more likely to be a
necessity rather than a want. It do plays a salient role in
supply chain that has strengthened manufacturer’s belief
of implicating information systems especially in
laboratories for quality inspections on finished products
and goods.
Similar to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),
Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)
has brought a disruptive change in traditional methods of
supply-chain management. This technology acts as a
reporting tool which allows researchers to input and
store crucial data regarding the sample, such as schedule
records, test-sample tracks, and also sample’s
materialistic properties. Thus, it is quite obligatory for an
organization to implement an adequate information
system in an attempt to overrule all quality-related
issues. Also, it often utilizes barcode generation for
scanning in-process goods as well as finished products in
an attempt to consume less time.
Outlook on LIMS
Utilizing to its full-potential
LIMS operations customarily depend on the
manufacturer and its requirements. Yet, there is a
standard protocol on which the system mostly relies. It is
deliberately designed to monitor and function on the
various aspects of product quality management i.e.
sample management. It handles the detailed records of
each sample, and maintains accuracy in reducing the
possibilities of the information getting mixed up in labs.
LIMS maintains the record of each and every unit, from
a supplier to the researcher handling that sample. With
such systems, the information tracking gets quite easier
and could be fully automated, reducing the need for
laboratory administration.
Implementing LIMS for workflow management aids a
manufacturer to streamline the decision making process
in the laboratory. The self-oriented system can
automatically assign scientists regarding their tasks and
even suggests the type of instruments required as per
stated in the standard experiment module. Once the
testing is completed, the system identifies and supplies
the sample for the further process. Besides, many LIMS
automatically cover ups various processes such as
maintenance, inventory management and reporting. It is
42 November 2018
Industry Lessons

45. often useful for the instruments like
centrifuges which generally face
countless wear and tear, leading to
variations in the readings. Such
variations not only affect data
analysis auditing but also, disrupt the
calibration of the instruments. The
use of LIMS system might vary from
one organization to another, as the
requirement of most of the industries
is quite different.
43November 2018

46. Equipment Calibration and Maintenance
No industry can afford a failure in the quality checks.
Thus, many organizations spend loads of monetary
assets over the laboratory maintenance and instruments
calibration. With the LIMS system, an organization can
surpass over unnecessary damages and
monetary-cuts in laboratory. Apart from that, LIMS
system must include maintenance records of the
instruments used in testing, in an attempt to perform
orderly preventive maintenance.
Due to the regular utilization, some instruments starts to
show distortion that further affect the tests results. In
case of depth micrometer, the instruction follows that it
may require calibration every month or after every 50
uses. A manufacturer can improvise LIMS system, by
including additional calibration instruction sheet which
can be utilized by maintenance department thereafter.
Brief on Functions commonly found in LIMS
Reporting: Irrespective of any category, every sector
requires a prompt method to process out the reports.
Report helps organizations to analyze data and make
further decisions based on it. From the ’most used
instruments’ to ’lab-processing time’, it include all the
required information flow from one unit to other.
Through implementing LIMS, organizations take a
follow up and process audit trails of received
information from such units. Yet, the level of difficulty
varies with reports, as some may require higher custom
coding to run while other export on Adobe PDF and MS-
Word.
EMR/EHR: Electronic Health Records is separate
software, but some LIMSs includes EHR feature built-in
mostly including patient reception queries and billing
processes. Organizations mainly prefer on utilizing an
all-encompassing system instead of software with
singular capability. Integrating LIMS with such functions
facilitate clinics with huge benefits while monitoring and
maintaining a laboratory. It manages every bit of aspects
such as data tracking over time, continuity in healthcare,
reduced costs, gamut information, technology of
prescriptions and result orientation.
Workflow Management: Automate workflows have often
become a trail in businesses due to its ability to maintain
a steady flow between various processes without any
extra human efforts. Instead of focusing more on
reducing work, it saves time taken for tasking
complicated tasks. Hiring or Installing LIMS aids one to
codify existing methods and procedures and could
delegate the decision-making to the software. Say, if
installed, it can take over on assigning jobs to scientists
and can also pick out instruments, as per requirement. It
only requires a strong command structure through which
LIMS can operate much deliberately.
ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning software attains
potential to manage inventory and like EHR, it is also
self-processing software. Collaboration or say,
integrating ERP into LIMSs is more favorable due to its
high allowance in monitoring alerts over low-supplies,
auto-calculation of storage capacity and location
management. Through implementing LIMSs, one can
surpass issues related to data transcription errors,
turnaround time, WIP status, and statistical analysis and
COA generation.
Aftermath of LIMS-integration in laboratories has been
witnessed to be more efficient and been claimed as a
reliable system by various manufacturers. Though the
digital transformation has never failed to surprise the
markets with its potential to bring out disruption, its
many fruitful benefits are yet to be explored. One of
such—mobile-friendly LIMS, is predicted to shift the
traditional laboratories by delivering more compact
experience to the manufacturers which sooner or later
going to be trail among the lab-owners and
manufacturers. Currently, it is focusing on improving
environmental, petrochemical, health-care,
bio-technology companies and R&D institutes.
44 November 2018

48. The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
Fatima Al Shirawi
Dening Supremacy with Expertise
In an interview with Insights Success, the Emirati
Founder and Entrepreneur of The Gracious F,
Fatima Al Shirawi shares her great insight
towards organization’s journey and its specialized
solutions and services. Also, she broadly discussed
about company’s core competencies and about how
company is establishing in the market.
Fatima is a BA in Sociology and Marketing from
George Washington University, she is also Certified
from Polimoda Fashion School in Florence and London
College of Fashion as a Certified colour Consultant
accredited by The Colour Affects Institute.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted
between Fatima and Insights Success:
How do you diversify your organization’s offerings
to appeal to the target audience?
The Gracious F started as an Individual Colour
Consultancy firm to support individuals to
enhance their day to day through science of
colour, might that be in their aesthetics or their
emotional balance. Within following years our
individual clients had requirements within their
corporate, interior and fashion segments to
increase their productivity and revenues
through support of colour science. Past few
years The Gracious F has also been catering to
all major segments of business with tools of
colour science, and is now also a accredited
educational platform that offers trainings
within Luxury Retail, Management
universities and Government entities. Our
diversification has been natural once the
knowledge of colour science and its benefits
spread within the region.
Describe some of the vital attributes that
every entrepreneur should possess.
Apart from Passion, motivation and market
adaptability to cater to your audience within
your business concept, Research, a lot of
46 November 2018

49. Colors, like features, follow the
changes of the emotions.
Research was vital. Therefore, these would be the Vital
Attributes every entrepreneur should possess.
How do you strategize your game plans to tackle
competition in the market?
I strongly believe there is no such thing as direct
competition in the colour consulting segment, however all
the similar concepts motivate me and my team, to exceed
in our performance for every service we offer. All other
organizations in the similar business concept compliment
somehow our concept, and our first approach is to see how
we could collaborate in the future with similar
organizations, in order to create and perform more efficient
and greater combination of services within the field of
colour.
What are the frequent challenges faced by women
entrepreneurs in the workplaces and what are the ways
to tackle them?
I will not lie, being a women entrepreneur has not been an
easy path, especially within the region I started my
operations, where women entrepreneurs were only existent
and identified in some specific industries, such as interior,
Fashion, FMBs and Government Organizations. Women
worldwide are sometimes not taken seriously, and
constantly put into an intimidating spot, my solution for
this has always been, craft and perfect your abilities and
show your challengers you are the best within your
industry.
What were the primal challenges and roadblocks you
faced during the initial phase of your career as an
entrepreneur?
My primal challenges were associated to managing my
finances, as I had no investment support when I started my
journey within this industry but had imagined my company
and expansion. My first step was to prioritize my needs,
my initial investment was applied to my organizations
marketing tools, such as my website and PR in order to
offer awareness to my target audience in understanding the
science of colour and its benefits, which by the way will
always be consistent. To afford this strategy, I was located
at a shared office for a few years and had a virtual PA for
support. Yes, it was a one man show and this was not easy.
Where do you see yourself in the near future and what
are your future goals?
This is my favorite question, there are many things I see
myself and The Gracious F doing in the future. However,
the most significant goal is to be the leading colour
consultancy firm globally. Which will allow me to support
individuals and corporations in achieving their goals. The
key is to understand that the colour psychology is a
personal enhancement technique when it comes to
individuals and a revenue generating science when it
comes to organizations and firms, not a philosophy.
What is your advice for budding and emerging
Shepreneurs?
Have no fear, take the challenges, no business is small or
big, it’s your concept and attitude that make you a
successful “shepreneur” .
Fatima Al Shirawi
Founder & Entrepreneur
—
47November 2018

50. )ORULQH(SSH
%HDXORH
3XVKLQJWKH%RXQGDULHVRI3HUIHFWLRQ
assion and dedication are some of the most
Pimportant traits for a leader to be
successful in business. When combined
with the ability to translate a vision into reality,
great things happen. The inspiring journey of
Florine Eppe Beauloye, Founder of mOOnshot
digital, is a perfect illustration of that.
Florine is an award-winning digital and media
entrepreneur, marketer, author, speaker, and avid
advocate for digital as an empowering catalyst for
change.
In an interview with Insights Success, Florine
shed a light on the remarkable success of her
digital marketing agency for lifestyle and luxury
brands, mOOnshot digital. She also discusses how
her online luxury magazine, Luxe Digital, helps
luxury leaders and affluent consumers discover
the best in modern luxury.
These two digital ventures are pushing the
boundaries and redefining luxury for the modern
age.
Below are the highlights of the interview between
Florine Eppe Beauloye and Insights Success.
How do you diversify your organization’s
offerings to appeal to the target audience?
I am constantly rethinking and refining our
approach to offer real value to our clients, partners
andthelargercommunity.
Through my experiences, I noticed gaps in the
market. I jumped at the opportunities, and from
there, the trajectory of my businesses happened
very organically.
mOOnshot digital has expanded its portfolio of
services to offer fully integrated business and
digital solutions. What really makes us shine is
our dream team made of former managers of
Google, Facebook and YouTube, all passionate
about innovating in the digital space.
In our continued effort to move digital boundaries,
we launched Luxe Digital in January 2018. Luxe
Digital strives to empower trendsetters with
digital knowledge and inspiration to live their
lives to the fullest with the perfect mix of luxury
lifestyle and business stories. Our modern
approach to luxury is about all the luxuries that
The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
48 November 2018

51. (PSRZHUHGSHRSOHHPSRZHURWKHUV
make our lives richer — aesthetically,
intellectually, and emotionally.
Describe some of the vital attributes
that every entrepreneur should
possess.
It’s essential to have a flexible mindset
to continually improve and reinvent
oneself. A successful entrepreneur
continually pursues opportunities that
push boundaries beyond her/his
comfort zone.
How do you strategize your game
plans to tackle competition in the
market?
We need to understand our market well
and be aware of the other players
competing in our space. But I believe
it’s more important to focus our energy
on what really matters: the value that
we bring to our audience and how we
can consistently perfect that.
Rather than overly worrying about
beating the competition, I believe it’s
more rewarding to challenge myself
and my team to redefine how business
is done and innovate.
Over the years, I have built a solid
network of influential partners which
bears testament to the power of
building bridges to success instead of
barriers to opportunity.
What are the frequent challenges
faced by women entrepreneurs in the
workplaces and what are the ways to
tackle them?
It was a great honour to be recognised
as one of “Asia’s Top 50 Women
Leaders” and now as one of the “20
Most Successful Shepreneurs To
Watch”. However, I don’t really see
myself within the confines of a
“woman entrepreneur” nor do I allow
gender to become a determinant of my
experience as an authentic leader with
a seat at the table.
Perhaps that is the biggest challenge
of being a female entrepreneur — to
consistently rise above biases and
gender-based expectations, while
embracing an unwavering dedication to
being a great leader.
Thinking of our differences as assets
can help gain confidence in the
immense value we can bring to
businesses and society in general.
Technology-enabled accessibility
means more flexible working hours
and an increased opportunity to
balance the demands of home and
business. Digital is also a fertile
ground for women entrepreneurs to
explore business opportunities, raise
their voice and get heard.
What were the primal challenges
and roadblocks you faced during the
initial phase of your career as an
entrepreneur?
As an entrepreneur, you constantly
encounter challenges, which I prefer to
think of as enlightening lessons and
learning opportunities.
One of the most important distinctions
I remind myself is to work “on” my
business rather than “in” my business.
If you become too heavily immersed in
managing day-to-day operations, the
distractions will prevent you from
realising your long-term vision. As a
leader, you need to be able to step back
in order to gain the clarity and
perspective needed to move your
business forward.
Where do you see yourself in the
near future and what are your future
goals?
While we continuously evolve with an
expanding audience, our purpose
hasn’t changed: we are in the business
of enriching people’s lives through
digital.
I like to think of my work as a
portfolio of well-integrated concepts
that ladder up to an overarching goal of
empowerment for forward-thinking
brands and leaders.
Right now, I am focusing on expanding
my businesses. I am also thinking
about the next generation of
entrepreneurs and the resources we can
provide to those who will have the
power to change our world. My head is
buzzing with new ideas, some are to be
tested and launched. Watch this space.
What is your advice for budding and
emerging Shepreneurs?
There isn’t such a thing as “the perfect
moment” to pursue a dream and start
your business. Don’t let fear or
anything else stop you from moving
forward to reach your vision. Dreams
only become tangible through action.
You will run into objections, but they
are not failures, just setbacks. The key
to sustainable growth and success is
purpose and knowledge.
Wake up curious and determined to be
better every day. Be confident. Be
vulnerable and authentic but resilient.
Stay connected to the essence of who
you are and your purpose, pause to
ponder, and don’t forget to take care of
yourself along the way.
Florine Eppe Beauloye
Founder
—
49November 2018

52. The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
Ishveen Anand:
Revolutionizing the Sports Sponsorship Pattern
In the increasing popularity of
sports brands, marketing,
promotion and advertisement are
the fundamental tools that benefits
the sports person and organization.
However, in recent times finding a
right sponsor or a precise advertiser
has been a challenge for many
organizations. Recognizing this
issue, Ishveen Anand, founded a
platform in the year 2015 to make
sports sponsorship easier for
everyone.
In an interview with Insights success,
CEO and Founder of
OpenSponsorship, Ishveen shares
some insightful answers on how the
company is connecting brands to
athletes for sponsorship deals.
Below are the highlights of Interview
between Ishveen and Insights
Success:
Give a brief overview of your
background as an entrepreneur.
I didn’t start my career post Oxford
wanting to be an entrepreneur, this
was a natural evolution. After
starting out in Management
Consulting, I became a sports agent
and hence got introduced to my
industry today - sports sponsorship. I
realized that the industry had
operated the same way since it
started, with brands making their
decisions off innate biases and
relationships, rather than being data
and technology driven. Sponsorship
was ready for disruption, the only
question was could we be the ones to
create the platform to solve it. Now
that I am here, I love being an
entrepreneur.
How do you diversify your
organization’s offerings to appeal
to the target audience?
Our offering is constantly evolving,
as well as our target audience.
Initially, while we were in Beta, we
went after the SMB market, this
helped us include a lot of new brands
who never considered sports
sponsorship. Now we focus on the
mid-market and Fortune 500 brands.
We offer a lot more functionality,
data, ROI tracking and have begun to
incorporate ML. All this has been
possible because we are constantly
listening to our customers.
Describe some of the vital
attributes that every entrepreneur
should possess.
So many, where do I start!
a) To listen and learn from your
customers and other stakeholders,
whether they are advisors, team
members or investors. It’s important
to be open to feedback given in many
forms, and continuously be adapting.
b) Be strong and resilient, being an
entrepreneur is not a sprint it is a
marathon, it’s better to get it right
than to be the quickest one to do it
c) Give back, the tech community
and ecosystem is small, and you can
coach up or down, I have always
welcomed the opportunity to sit
down with other founders bigger or
smaller, older or newer, to discuss,
learn and brainstorm together. A
close friend and I co-founded the
Junto NY club, which is a place
where founders and c-suite could get
together to discuss their most private
and confidential issues facing their
company, and get feedback from the
rest of the group.
How do you strategize your game
plans to tackle competition in the
market?
It’s important to have an
understanding on competition but not
get fixated on it. Game planning for
our current and prospective
customers is what keeps me up at
night.
What are the frequent challenges
faced by women entrepreneurs in
the workplaces and what are the
ways to tackle them?
a) One interesting aspect I realized
was that some team members are not
comfortable in taking constructive
criticism or negative feedback from
female managers – you can adjust
tone, but I actually feel that it’s not
up to the manager to change but the
team member has to get used to this.
50 November 2018

53. We believe in sport
sponsorship as a
marketing tool and
want all brands – big
or small, to benet
from the many
positive externalities
it brings.
b) Raising money is an obvious
topic. Investors like to pattern match,
and for most of them the pattern has
been white male founders especially
in a male dominated sector such as
ours. To tackle this, my suggestion is
to find the right investors, who are
more focused in you, your product
and what you are building, not what
they invested in the past. As a female
CEO you must be better than a male
counterpart to get the same benefits,
this means prepare well, know your
industry from inside out and impress
with your knowledge and fearless
attitude.
What were the primal challenges
and roadblocks you faced during
the initial phase of your career as
an entrepreneur?
Because I started the business from
my desire to change the industry
given my own experiences as a
sports agent, I definitely faced
challenges by diving right in and not
being prepared enough with the
technology aspect of the platform.
I’d encourage new entrepreneurs to
follow steps that really help early on
e.g. joining an accelerator, getting
hand-on advisors that truly
understand your industry and hiring
team members experienced in the
various fields that you need.
Where do you see yourself in the
near future and what are your
future goals?
Making OpenSponsorship the first
place all brands come to for
sponsorship solutions. Helping them
understand, measure and deliver their
marketing initiatives regardless of
their size - they can be a publicly
listed brand or bootstrapping
entrepreneurs launching a new CPG.
Another goal is to continue to build
an awesome workplace for my team,
somewhere they can grow and enjoy
the challenges and satisfaction of the
work.
What is your advice for budding
and emerging Shepreneurs?
Be patient – it’s a longer journey than
you may realize. Be prepared, read a
lot, live in the moment, celebrate
small wins. If you are just starting
out, focus on just getting to the next
step, don’t take big meetings too
early, and be sure to have fun along
the way.
Ishveen Anand
CEO & Founder
OpenSponsorship
51November 2018

56. ‚™Cf7ó
ÎC™ óf7 r6
Cf¡µ™óf¡r[ µ-Crf¡
->ó-¡µC-¡
µ¡- rd™f¡
In an interview with Insights
Success, the Founder and CEO of
Tapoly, Janthana
Kaenprakhamroy shares her insights
around her organization’s journey and
its specialized solutions and services.
Also, she broadly discussed her
company’s core competencies and how
the company is establishing itself in the
market.
Below are the highlights of the
interview conducted between Janthana
and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of your
background as an entrepreneur.
Ever since I was a child I always
wanted to run my own business, but I
didn’t know where to start, so first I
went into a normal corporate career
and ended up working as an internal
audit director at UBS. However, to get
some experience as an entrepreneur, I
invested a small sum in another startup
on the side. I was also on the board as
a non-executive director. Once I felt
that I had gathered enough capital and
experience to manage and grow a
company of my own, I left my job and
started Tapoly.
How do you diversify your
organization’s offerings to appeal to
the target audience?
Our target markets are the gig
fóf->ófóhóf–™ óX>ód™rÔN
$%XVLQHVV7FRRQ$GYDQFLQJ7KH,QVXUDQFH,QGXVWU
The
20Most Successful
to watch in
2018
target and the one after that. Otherwise
it is too tempting to be pushed from
one crisis to the next without making
real progress towards your goals.
Integrity – There is a cliché of the
ruthless businessman, but in reality it’s
being consistent with your
performance and delivering on your
promises that will put you ahead. This
applies both within your team, and also
to external relationships with
customers and partners.
Realism – Keep your goals and focus
to realistic targets, because nothing
kills a business faster than an inability
to deliver. Also, if you are seen making
grandiose unsubstantiated claims, then
that can kill your credibility.
How do you strategize your game
plans to tackle competition in the
market?
We operate in an under-served growing
market with only a few competitors.
This is an unusual situation to be in. I
actually see competition as a good
thing, as it increases consumer
awareness about on-demand insurance
in general, and that helps to drive take-
up of the products.
What are the frequent challenges
faced by women entrepreneurs in the
workplaces and what are the ways to
tackle them?
There is still an expectation in society
economy and the sharing economy
which are both diverse by nature, so
we offer a wide range of products to
cover the participants in these markets.
We make our insurance as
customizable and flexible as we can.
Describe some of the vital attributes
that every entrepreneur should
possess.
Focus – It’s important to for any
entrepreneur to have clear goals and
work towards them with purpose,
without getting distracted.
Resilience – There will be many
setbacks along the way, but a good
entrepreneur learns from mistakes and
bounces back to continue on their
journey stronger than before.
Forward thinking – You should
always be thinking ahead to the next
54 November 2018