Women

Aross industries, the workplace, workers, and work itself are rapidly changing—solving the complex challenges facing HR professionals is a tool set that is versatile, deep and capable, and those tools cannot be put to proper use without skilled professionals who understand the goals and motivations of organizations. Today, firms are looking for a new partner because the people have changed and the legacy technology has lost internal understanding. PayServ’sis a single application that manages the entire Employee Life Cycle, from Hire to Retire. Workforce Acquisition, Workforce Administration and Workforce Development all work together to provide organizations with unique insights, analytics and overall process efficiency to ensure effective and consistent application of company work policies.

The melding together of world class technology with an HR first culture has positioned PayServ well for success in meeting their corporate goals but most importantly their client’s goals. “PayServ Systems was incorporated with the clear goal to fill the Service Gap in the Payroll outsourcing industry. The three S’s of success for a world class HCM solutions starts with Security, Software then Sales!” says Todd Saylor, Founder & President of PayServ. “The configurability of our technology really sets our platform apart – we’re able to accommodate and automate a vast range of HR policies and procedures without forcing our clients into any “big-box” solutions, our clients get to use a solution that is completely tailored to their needs.”The company pairs this custom tailored capability with a world-class launch process which has been designed to discover all the unique areas of a client’s HR and Payroll operations and procedures, adding efficiency across the board. “Through constant communication, organization, and a clear project planning, we are able to execute and deliver a solution that is completely your own! ‘It’s Our Culture!’” adds Todd.

” PayServ Systems was incorporated with the clear goal to fill the Service Gap in the Payroll outsourcing industry. The three S’s of success for a world class HCM solutions starts with Security, Software then Sales! “

The company’s productis a single-database solution that is employee-centric. “Each employee has one and only one employee record where all information from recruitment data, time keeping, scheduling information, payroll, benefits, and job history are stored,” explains Todd Trent – Vice President of HCM Services. Employees, managers, and administrators have real-time access to this information at their finger-tips through a user-interface that is completely responsive for mobile displays. The mobile application and desktop application are one in the same. No back ends, no integration. One and only one platform with one consistent experience – all tied to one database in the cloud. The solution is updated monthly in order to continue to meet changing organizational needs owing to growing security threats and legislative changes cause that must be kept up with.

According to Todd, the company’s launch process is focused around a highly organized, communicative experience where the client is in-the-know and providing input and feedback every step of the way to ensure complete at total satisfaction and completion once the implementation project comes to a close. “Our clients get the advantage of watching their system grow and develop from day one of launch, right inside their REAL database in REAL time. Automated notification of project progress and clear project milestones keep the launch on track and client sign-offs throughout the launch ensure we are meeting our marks and allows for the client to go-live without any last minute surprises,” he explains.

For the future ahead, the company is working on introducing new features and enhancing the existing features of their product to serve the customers in a better way. “The way organizations evaluate and choose a new HCM platform has evolved as quickly as the technology itself. Most companies have purchased an HR Platform in the past but are finding that it is either not integrated or simply underperforms when applied to real world “Use Cases”. PayServ has adapted to this new reality and provides “Solution Specific” configuration during the sales process, Transparent communications between the prospective client, sales and PayServ’s internal Operations Team as well as a “Sand Box” so our clients can test drive the solution prior to making a final decision.” says Sam Fessenden – VP of sales, PayServ. “At present, we are a national provider of World Class HCM solutions supported by an HR First culture of Excellence. This will not change as we continue our development as an organization,” says Todd.

Technology moving at the speed of thought” is a mission followed by Synaptek Corporation—a 8(a) certified small disadvantaged business (SDB)—fulfilling the need to nimbly utilize the best that information technology offers to meet the business needs of the US Federal Government. Founded by former management professionals from Large Systems Integrators (LSI). Synaptek’s focus is on the US defense and civilian federal market and their goal is to provide quality technical professionals that are required for enterprise solutions. Synaptek understands both the pace of technology today and the need to have a comprehensive well-planned information management environment. Synaptek plays an integral part in large enterprise projects such as the Department of Veteran Affairs Wireless and Location Base Services Initiative and the Department of Defense Pentagon’s Defense Continuity Integrated Network (DCIN). The company has proven its ability to provide a unique service that combines the infrastructure and process models of larger organizations with an agile ability to cost effectively meet customer’s requirements.

“We were named to the prestigious Washington Technology 2014 Fast 50 list and are proud of this recognition, having secured a position on this list in 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017,” says Kamran Jinnah, CEO of Synaptek. The company implements state of the art solutions from leading Original Equipment Manufacturer including Cisco, VMware, Dell, Hewlett Packard, EMC, and NetApp. A valuable Synaptek differentiator is their close working relationships with the Original Equipment Manufacture engineers. Synaptek has supported complex applications in the government administrative, healthcare and financial areas.

Synaptek is familiar with current trends in the US Federal market space to consolidate data centers and implement a “cloud first” approach. They understand the specific technologies involved in implementing strategies to meet these challenges and have invested in preparation. The federal IT market is very large and beyond the resources of Synaptek to effectively market and establish brand recognition as a whole. To that effect, they have identified three sub-market areas (agencies) as initial first tier target areas. “Our goal has shifted from expanding our relationship with large system integrators (as prospective prime or subcontractors), to the pursuit and realization of prime contract vehicles and awards,” adds Kamran.

“What we so often see with our customer’s is that the mission or operational needs always take priority over modernization “

Synaptek has successfully embedded modernization teams with its customers. Modernization teams are responsible for carrying a customer’s mission into the future. “What we so often see with our customer’s is that the mission or operational needs always take priority over modernization,” explains Kamran. “For this reason, we have been very successful with creating modernization teams whose purpose is to look forward, blue print, and plan a technology path forward. ”Synaptek has designed and deployed over 137 Million square feet of wireless in the most demanding Defense, Civilian, and Medical government facilities. Even the large system integrators space engage Synaptek for these services as wireless technology deployments are Synaptek’s trojan technology because wireless touches virtually every aspect of a customer’s mission.

The company believes Synaptek’s growth potential for 2018 and beyond looks very promising as they have a substantial number of programs which are currently in source selection. Synaptek knows that the US Federal Government market is highly competitive, however the principals of Synaptek have a proven record of success competing at the highest levels within this market space. “Synaptek is poised for growth having invested in personnel, infrastructure, and marketing. Our focus is on broad IT mission support; however, our trojans are wireless, cloud, and security – hot buttons for almost every shop we talk with. We are excited about 2018 and believe it will be our best year yet,” adds Kamran.

Jackie Hizzey, Senior VP and CFO of MainStreet Property Group LLC, is a highly influential leader with a strong sense of empathy. She appreciates multiple perspectives, demonstrating compassion and sensitivity, and showing genuine care for other people’s challenges. She has built strong relationships among people at all levels within the organization and outside the organization with lenders, investment partners, consultants, subcontractors, etc., on whom their business relies.

Jackie took up the responsibility for leading the organization’s financial strategy, including project capitalization, treasury management, tax planning, business operations, risk management, accounting and reporting, and investor relations. “I have been with the MainStreet organization since its inception – Employee #1. I had minimal commercial real estate experience when I joined the organization over 10 years ago, but I had the accounting and finance fundamentals and understood how to set up systems and processes. I was willing to roll up my sleeves to get whatever needed to get done when it needed to get done,” she says. “One of my strengths is agility. I thrive in an environment where I am presented with new projects and challenges and can pivot as needed to address whatever is at the forefront. I use this strength to move the organization forward as our fast-paced business is always evolving with new opportunities and relationships presenting themselves daily.”

When Jackie started in the commercial real estate and construction industries nearly 20 years ago, the fields were male-dominated. “To this day, I am still often the only female at the table or only one of a handful of women at an industry event. However, rather than focusing on the gender imbalance, I focused on the culture we created within our organization where we produce “Best in Class” work across all levels and we do what we say we are going to do,” she says. “This motto has resulted in our organization creating one amazing project after another and creating long-lasting relationships and vibrant communities.”

Empowering women in business leadership is something Jackie is deeply passionate about across any industry, and she is proud to be part of the MainStreet organization, where 4 out of the 6 Executive Team members are women. “This sets an amazing example for the other women entrepreneurs within our organization,” she says. Armed with these unique ideologies, Jackie has been leading the company to new heights.

MainStreet was started in 2010 with the vision of developing, constructing, and operating amazing places to delight the customer. When the company was founded, much of the area’s commercial development was focused on the downtown city core business districts. “Our organization saw an opportunity in the suburban cities of Seattle where housing was lacking next to some of the area’s major Eastside employers and major transportation arterials,” explains Jackie. “Knowing that people want to live near where they work, we sought out properties in these suburban markets and developed and constructed apartment and mixed-use buildings creating communities and, in some cases, even carrying out a city’s vision of revitalizing a downtown core.”

According to Jackie, MainStreet is unique as it is vertically integrated. They take projects from unentitled raw land, work with a talented team of architects, engineers, other consultants, and cities to develop the vision, plan, and design for what they will build and what makes sense to build there. “We then construct the project with our construction arm GenCap Construction Corp. and ultimately market, lease-up and manage the building with our property management company, Insite Property Solutions.” She adds, “We really have the end-to-end experience of developing, building and then operating for the long-term. Everything that we’re involved in lets us get close to our customers, or our commercial tenants.” This provides a feedback loop that MainStreet can incorporate back into the development, design, and construction processes in real-time. “We’ve worked hard to fulfill our purpose of “Turning Spaces into Places” where people and businesses thrive. Our projects are built to last and endure the tests of time. Our team does this by sweating the details – each and every day,” adds Jackie. IEWL

MainStreet Property Group LLC

Management

Jackie Hizzey
Senior VP and CFO of MainStreet Property Group LLC

Description

MainStreet Property Group LLC is a real estate development firm dedicated to the vision, construction and operation of landmark mixed-use properties. Our goal in everything we do is to form lasting partnerships. For each project, we pair with local city planners to create unique communities that encourage the progress of emerging urban metropolitan areas. We support the development of sustainable and functional communities that encourage both individuality and diversity. Each community allows their members to provide meaningful influence on decisions that impact their homes.

Angela Poppe, CFO, Icon Luxury Group, brings a can-do attitude to the business. Rather than being conservative and shutting down during the pandemic, Angela was aggressive about how the company can continue safely doing business, ensuring that they can achieve great heights by striving towards getting the work done. The apparel business has many high-powered women merchants, and the company has benefitted from having Angela represent Icon in negotiations with these organizations. In addition, Angela acts as a role model within the organization for the young female associates showing them how a knowledgeable, level-headed woman can be a “C” suite member in a company with its owners all made up of men.

“Our team is composed of industry experts with over 30 years experience in high end fashion, cross-border logistics and designer wholesale trading. We take pride in building lasting relationships with each of our clients as a trusted supplier for major retailers & e-tailers in the US and around the world. With offices in NY, Canada and Italy we are able to efficiently service customers worldwide”

For Angela, her role model is her female CFO, Carol at the first workplace, who taught by example. Carol was a great mix of being strong while compassionate and taught Angela some valuable lessons about separating work from personal life and prioritizing both. “Under her management I was able to explore various departments within the organization. This role was vital in my understanding of the complete business process from purchase to shipment.”

Angela is always trying to problem solve and make the business better. For a privately owned, medium-sized company, this means one needs to operate outside normal job boundaries. So whether it is finding new financial vehicles, helping explore new software, or help in human resources, Angela is there and never says something can’t be done. Often the CFO is not client interfacing, but at Icon, they have Angela interface with their clients because she is a problem solver and can directly find a mutually beneficial solution with the clients.

“In our arena of business, we make lemonade out of lemons. We satisfy our luxury partners on both ends of our business taking in product in unorganized, bulk shipments then have it leave our warehouse in pristine condition,” says Angela. “The financial acumen to keep track of shortages, improper invoices, and substitutions and the have that all make sense going to our clients is what we make happen every week.” The company is making substantial strides to improve its ERP and WMS systems to help facilitate anticipated growth by moving to Blue Cherry. This new software system should provide added visibility and well as streamlining operational procedures.

Advising the young leaders, Angela says, “If you want to be a traditional CFO those days are over. You need to have a 360-degree understanding of the business & be a problem solver. Protecting your company’s assets, but at the same time “asking the next question.” Be involved with clients and business partners is part of the solution.”

Icon considers themselves fortunate that their business has rebounded quite nicely from Covid and has many new opportunities. They are growing in different segments of the business and need to manage profitability expectations from the different segments. In addition, allocating resources to new or expanding businesses is exciting. With layered in the licensed businesses to their traditional third-party business, they can grow business with their existing client base servicing more of their needs. “With implementation of Blue Cherry, we are able to now understand and track our ownership better allowing quicker, more accurate shipments to go to our clients.”

Angela says that many companies in the wholesale and retail industry will be defined by how they handled themselves during the pandemic. “We financially weathered the storm through quick, nimble, well informed decisions. We limited our inventory quickly, communicated religiously with our accounts, and when the business started to show signs of recovery, drove it quickly,” she elucidates. Unless Angela was an aggressive, business getting CFO this would have been a struggle. However, her strategy of taking calculated risks based on relationships with accounts and their financial partners allowed Icon to be in a market leading position post Covid. IE

Icon Luxury Group

Management

Angela Poppe
CFO of Icon Luxury Group

Description

ICON Luxury Group is the preeminent distributor of Luxury Goods globally. Our ability to source, supply and provide the best product is enabled by relationships and trusted partnerships that have been fostered since inception. Our portfolio of brands include licensed, proprietary and private label in various categories including but not limited to footwear, accessories, handbags, menswear, ladieswear and luggage.

As the only ad agency run by a psychologist, Renee Fraser is different. Fraser Communications generates insights from observing behavior in addition to conducting ethnography and qualitative research. Using psychological practices of motivational interviewing and projective techniques, they develop campaigns and themes that resonate and empower people to change. Renee is a leader who listens and emphasizes empathy for her employees and her clients. “Trying to see the situation from the other’s POV has always been a strength of mine and helped me take a longer-term view of any situation or opportunity. It has certainly helped us grow to $34 million in size. “

Fraser runs a successful, full-service advertising and marketing firm in Los Angeles. One of the largest independent agencies and one of the fastest growing woman-owned companies in LA, Fraser Communications is known for smart strategic thinking, insightful branding, research, successful social media, traditional media and website content creation.

Helping women in business is Renee’s passion. “As President of NAWBO Los Angeles in 2001, I became a spokesperson for women entrepreneurship. Since 2010, I’ve been integral to 2020 Women on Boards (re-branded 50/50 Women on Boards) and advocated for increasing the proportion of women on publicly traded company boards,” adds the steadfast leader. “I host my own radio show, called The Deciders on KABC, Los Angeles. That’s been a terrific experience, as I can offer the microphone to women leaders to access a wide-reaching audience.” Renee has always been an idealist. “At 16, I visited by Dad’s ad agency and came away loving the people but disenchanted. Here were all these creative, smart people, just selling products we really don’t need, instead of making communications that could help the world.” Fast forward 20 years, Renee became the president of the Pacific Division of a multi-national ad agency. “After four years of leading that $150 million enterprise, I started my agency with a mission to focus on changing behaviors in health, healthy products, education, and conservation issues.”

According to Renee, it’s an exciting time because, through digital, one can expose many messages and see which ones resonate and cause click-throughs, view throughs, and shares. “The psychological trigger may be different for different people and with digital we learn what works very fast,” she explains. “The agency has moved from 10% to 40% digital in the last 4 years. We have very skilled storytelling and film creatives at the agency. They know how to create content for digital platforms that are compelling and doable in terms of cost.” Renee and her team don’t just reach influencers, but to find strategically appropriate influencers and make sure they are authentic, will reach the right audience, and provide value to the brand. “This is a world that is maturing, and we have to keep our eye on its evolution. As a research-based communications company, all plans are based on research we have done or will do,” she says.

One of the most successful campaigns Renee and her team developed was for First 5 CA. It achieved an unheard of 87% awareness throughout CA among parents of young children. The charge they were given was to make parents aware of the importance of the first five years of life to brain development. “I isolated the three most important things all parents could do more of: Talking, reading, and singing to their child. We call it ‘Talk. Read. Sing. It changes Everything’. We created animated characters, our Brainy Birds, and because we know the value of rhyme in song, developed a memorable jingle,” says Renee. The campaign has broken awareness records and won awards every year since its inception in 2015. This work feeds into the Fraser mantra: Build trust. Change behaviors. Solve problems.

The pandemic was a plan-changer for every company in the world. Fraser Communications is optimistic about what they can offer: a more agile, intelligent, experienced company to handle the emerging issues of the 2020s. “We will take the experience we have gained working closely with LA County and the State on COVID, meth, opioids, tobacco, early childhood education and other health/wellbeing issues and offer that knowledge to cause-oriented private sector clients,” says Renee. “On our roadmap is a division focused on social media and the strategic use of influencers. Social media is a strong force in e-commerce and DTC. We are using social to create advocates and strengthen brands with an emphasis on psychological insights.”IE

Elsie Qian first learned about the critical role logistics plays at a China-based trading company. “That was where I learned the importance of supply chain in international trade and what customers need from logistics organizations—including their obstacles and deepest pain points,” recalls Apex Logistics International CEO Americas, Elsie Qian. Two years later, Qian joined a leading Freight forwarder, serving in different positions—from operations; to customer service; to customs clearance; and eventually gateway management. She quickly advanced in her career. Qian’s broad experience propelled her forward as a leader with a comprehensive understanding of the supply chain and the challenges businesses face every day.

“Only a robust knowledge of your clients and a deep appreciation for providing their desired business outcomes can empower a remarkable, best-in-class service experience. Today, I’m proud that Apex has proven itself as one of the top freight forwarders worldwide.”

In 2003, Qian helped to establish the first Apex branch in North America in Los Angeles. Now, nearly two decades later, she has driven accelerated growth across the Apex global network, product offerings, and infrastructure—boasting a vast international client portfolio. “We started small, dedicating Apex to the big challenges businesses were facing on the ground to navigate a smarter path to customers,” Qian says.

“I remember bringing on my first customer. The promotional product manufacturer was laser-focused on transit times. With the direct flight service from Shanghai to Los Angeles arriving at noon, the company couldn’t make their 3 p.m. cargo shipping deadline—meaning longer lead times for customers.”

“If the business could find any smarter alternatives with Apex, then the executives were ready to work with us. I found a solution—leveraging a United Airlines passenger service from Shanghai to San Francisco and overnight trucking to Los Angeles. With the same cut-off time at origin, the company cargo would now arrive promptly in the morning—not at noon. Today, a decade later, that manufacturer still does business with Apex.”

That “Day-One spirit” quipped by Qian’s entrepreneurial inspiration, Amazon’s Bezos is what keeps her driven and focused on finding better alternatives every day. Inspired by his approach, she adopted and promoted the same customer obsession at Apex.

“In any industry, especially freight forwarding, we can’t give customers what we think they want. We must listen to what they need actively. Only a robust knowledge of your clients and a deep appreciation for providing their desired business outcomes can empower a remarkable, best-in-class service experience,” Qian says.

She notes that this perspective is perfect for anyone experiencing the pressures of building a business reputation during its infancy and the jolt of urgency and sometimes confusion to scale the company—larger, sooner, stronger. Even as Apex has continually grown and thrived during the most uncertain times, Qian insists the organization hasn’t peaked.

“Apex empowers greater agility and ROI for clients with the best-contracted and discounted rates. Since its launch in 2001, Apex Logistics has grown its global presence to more than 41 locations: 12 in the Americas (one in Canada, one in Mexico), 23 in the Asia Pacific region, 3 in Europe, and 3 in Oceania. Apex continues expanding globally to meet customer demand and address growing supply chain challenges. At Apex, we take pride in our reliable and consistent services that are built on strict quality control to ensure that every plan is executed flawlessly. Our experts are available 24/7/365, dedicated to providing exceptional customer service and assisting with ever-changing business needs. Thanks to our loyal customers, Apex has rapidly grown into a robust logistics enterprise—backed by our dedicated global teams and dependable services.”

“Once your organization peaks, you risk falling backward,” she explains. “Maintaining that day-one passion and attention to customer needs is absolutely critical to scaling your business.” That’s the mentality that helped Qian position Apex for abundant growth for decades to come.

“When we first established Apex in the US, we were new to the market without a single presentable customer in our portfolio. Promoting ourselves in the market with a small team was challenging,” Qian recalls. “Today, I’m proud that Apex has proven itself as one of the top freight forwarders world-wide.”

As a first-generation immigrant, Elsie quickly identified adapting to other cultures and regional requirements to build deliberate strategies on a global scale. She has learned to use her role in a male-dominated industry to open doors and minds in a traditional sector where most leaders are men.

“So many Apex clients are surprised when they meet me—a woman supply chain leader. They immediately know that I bring a different take to their business, that makes Apex unique,” Qian explains. “Our diversity at Apex is what fuels the kind of curiosity that opens doors, making business leaders more interested in learning how Apex makes an impact.”

“Like any other professional hurdle, I see my womanhood as an opening to new opportunities rather than a hard limit or a ceiling.” IEWL

Apex Logistics

Management

Elsie Qian
Chief Executive Officer Americas at Apex Logistics International Inc

Description

Established in 2001, Apex Logistics International has become a leader in freight forwarding, contract logistics, transportation management, warehousing, and distribution. As a member of IATA, C-TPAT, NVOCC, FMC, and WCA, Apex specializes in managing unique, reliable, and complete freight forwarding services on land, at sea, and in the air.

Maria Fagan has always had an entrepreneurial mindset. While working for a large medical device manufacturer, she identified a great need in the device industry for regulatory affairs and quality assurance consulting services. Maria saw this as an opportunity to start a small business that would help the industry while creating a rewarding and flexible place to work. In 2008, Maria joined forces with her colleague, Lisa Casavant, to create RQM+. Now thirteen years later, Maria is President and CEO of a team of over 450 employees.

“RQM+ is the world’s largest regulatory and quality consulting firm focused on medical devices and diagnostics. We deliver transformative solutions by providing an unrivaled collective knowledge, fueled by passion for client success.”

From day one, most of Maria’s leadership team members were women from the medical device industry who wanted to have more control over their careers and work-life balance. Maria gave them the flexibility they needed to put their families first while empowering them to be their best in their careers. Maria also found an incredible untapped candidate pool with female engineers who wanted to limit work to during school hours while raising their young children. Medical device manufacturers would rarely allow part-time employment, so these women were forced to make the choice between their careers and having more time at home. Maria was happy to hire these part-time working mothers and never saw it as a risk. These employees are smart, focused, and driven to be successful in both work and at home, and the results prove it. Every RQM+ client utilizing the part-time employees has stated that they accomplish more in a week than many of their full-time employees.

Although there have always been far more women working at RQM+ than the typical engineering-based firm, it was never Maria’s intent to hire one gender over another. “The men at RQM+ are equally fantastic. RQM+ just attracts and retains more women than is typical thanks to its supportive and flexible culture,” Maria shared. “Living by the golden rule – treating people the way you’d like to be treated – is just one of the core values we implemented in year one. People will follow a leader that has their best interest at heart. And when both women and men are given the opportunity to balance everything important in their lives, they are even more inspired for greatness in their careers.”

Maria founded RQM+ to improve people’s lives – the lives of their clients, their employees, and most importantly the patients using the devices they support. Maria and her team initially focused on the smaller start-up medical device companies because there was no support for them in the regulatory and quality service space. Regulatory affairs and gaining market entrance to the U.S. and EU are extremely challenging, and small companies with amazing product ideas often don’t know where to start. RQM+ began with these companies and quickly found that even the largest device manufacturers in the world had the same challenges and needed their support. RQM+ continually expanded in a measured fashion to be the large global entity that it is today.

A key to success during the company’s rapid growth was Maria’s continued focus on strategic planning and not diluting the strategy with the service need of the day. As they grew both geographically and in volume, Maria ensured they stayed true to their vision and mission. “Our vision is to be the world’s most trusted and valued partner in providing transformative regulatory and quality solutions to medical device and diagnostics manufacturers. We are dedicated to the highest levels of customer service and employee satisfaction delivered with empathy, integrity, individual pride, and company spirit.” Maria continues, “We’ve never strayed from our core expertise of regulatory and quality assurance. Dedication to our vision, mission, and strategic plan ensures we’ll hire and retain the best employees, provide an incredible place to work, and deliver outstanding services to the industry.” IEWL

RQM+

Management

Maria Fagan
President of RQM+

Description

R&Q and Maetrics have merged to become RQM+, the largest medical device and diagnostics focused full-service regulatory and quality consulting firm in the world. The integration of our leadership teams and extensive skills and experience of our collective resources have created a highly agile, scalable, and global organization.

Cassie Humphreys, Executive Vice President, MIMS, is curious, creative, and tenacious. She thinks there is always something new to learn and better ways to do things, challenging the status quo and fostering innovation to drive business growth. Cassie believes that people-centered leadership builds stronger and more successful organizations. Hence, she focuses on bringing out the best in teams by guiding and supporting them to achieve goals and instill a culture of collaboration, taking the organization to new heights.

Cassie leads MIMS multi-channel platform, Asia’s leading provider of trusted quality medical education, information and knowledge services, and the medical communications business, developing engaging and innovative tailored communications programmes for top-tier pharmaceutical and healthcare clients. While maintaining a longer-term vision and strategic perspective, Cassie also excels at responding to the dynamic and often unexpected nature of day-to-day business, acting quickly and decisively to maintain momentum. Being comfortable with, and effectively managing, frequently competing priorities – the short-term vs the long-term, urgent vs important and strategic vs tactical – is at the heart of Cassie’s successful leadership.

Cassie has been leading the accelerated evolution of MIMS’ digital offerings to meet the rapidly changing needs of healthcare clients and healthcare professional audiences resulting from the pandemic. “By combining our expertise in healthcare communications and the insights from our audience, the MIMS Physician Digital Behaviours Survey, undertaken during the height of the pandemic restrictions on Asia, was able to provide both our clients and our own teams with the knowledge and recommendations to make evidence-based decisions on how best to support and engage healthcare professionals,” she explains. “Everybody is trying to figure out the digital thing. At MIMS we’ve had a head start because of our own MIMS channels and ability to amplify our medical communications solutions to our healthcare professional audiences. We also transitioned quickly to support our clients continued engagement of their customers for example via virtual meetings and events.”

In addition to having Asia’s largest healthcare professional audience, MIMS has an intimate understanding of the regional healthcare markets. Supported by a resourceful and talented team familiar with the needs of both healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies, they can innovate and create solutions catered to their audience and clients’ needs on a regional and local level. As an example, with the growing demand for high-quality accredited continuing medical education, MIMS is re-launching its educational offering and embracing platform business strategies to enable the accelerated provision of, and participation in, continuing professional development activities. “For our customers our relaunch provides them with an accelerated speed to market for sponsored accredited education and improved transaction based value proposition,” says Cassie.

Additionally, in light of an increasing trend amongst pharmaceutical companies to manage launches, scientific meetings, and marketing programs across multiple territories, in 2019, MIMS entered into a global partnership with Ashfield Health. The two organizations recognized the need for and value of establishing a non-holding company approach to their current and future client relationships, complementing each other’s geographic reach and ultimately providing streamlined agility in delivering their healthcare communications capabilities. The synergy between MIMS and Ashfield is taking the compliance-based local knowledge within these countries and executing global programs at the local level. Both can produce heavy-duty, highly scientific healthcare communications, which will now reach Asia, the US, and Europe.

In the days to come Cassie will continue to focus on the continual evolution of the MIMS business, nurturing and supporting her talented team, exceeding growth targets and achieving MIMS’ vision of empowering healthcare communities to improve patient outcomes.IE

MIMS

Management

Cassie Humphreys
Executive Vice President of MIMS

Description

MIMS.com was enhanced and relaunched to allow registrations of HCPs onto our platform for easy access to drug information, medical news and updates.

Throughout Ann Hewitt’s career, she has been willing to learn and take on greater challenges, leveraging her experience and analytical abilities to create a path forward. The SVP & CIO of FARO Technologies, Inc., a global leader in 3D measurement solutions, strives to build a sense of purpose aligned to the business needs and then rolls up her sleeves and works side by side with her IT team and peers to deliver the results necessary to achieve the objective. “I believe this type of approach builds confidence in everyone around me,”says Ann.

“Information Technology Executive with a proven track record in developing and executing strategies at a global level, in alignment with business objectives. Creates, and inspires innovation to drive profitability, while concurrently increasing efficiencies, and reducing complexities to lower costs, and increase speed to market.”

Ann has been a true inspiration for women in all industries, and whenever a situation presents, she is quick to share her own story with others. She encourages people to look beyond their current roles and be opportunistic in taking on challenges and new roles offered. She also empowers colleagues to find their voice and be confident of their contributions to the company’s success. “My advice is to share your successes to help inspire great leaders of tomorrow,” says Ann. “It is also important to build and support your own network, including on social media.”

Early in her career, the steadfast leader had the opportunity to be exposed to several publications from Tina Nunno at Gartner. “Later, I actually had the opportunity to meet her and talk in more detail about such topics as ‘finding your voice’ and ‘presenting in compelling ways,” Ann adds. “Recently stories of strong female leaders brought to life in movies like Hidden Figures (Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson) and On the Basis of Sex (Ruth Bader Ginsberg) resonated with me regarding how women persevered to make change. On a more personal level, growing up, my father instilled a sense of confidence and purpose. He grew up on a farm and achieved a Ph.D in Civil Engineering before finding his passion creating innovation at companies like John Deere and CADSI. With his first 2 children being female, we were taught that we could do anything, whether it was constructing things at home, changing a tire, or creating a successful start to a career with a technical degree.” Armed with such strong ideologies, Ann has been helping take FARO to new heights over the last 3 years.

FARO was established in 1981 by Simon Raab and Greg Frasier, true pioneers of early 3D measurement who launched the tech start-up from their garage as Ph.D. students. Derived from the ancient Greek word ‘pharos,’ meaning lighthouse, the Pharos of Alexandria stood on an island off Egypt and was one of the original 7 Wonders of the World. “A lighthouse is a powerful symbol of technology and enlightenment often used as a metaphor to gain awareness by illuminating the unknown using man-built precise measurement,” says Ann. “By extending the human ability to ‘see and probe farther,’ throughout history, lighthouses have served as a ‘source for inspiration’ and generated a profound impact on global business — saving lives, money, and goods delivered to market. For 40 years, FARO has developed precision technology to serve the needs of our customers. From our first 3D devices that enabled health care to measure the inner workings of the human body to the array of leading measurement solutions we provide today, FARO has continued to enable customers with the ability to ‘realize their vision and successfully navigate the world in all directions.”

As a female executive at FARO, Ann is proud that the company recognizes that inherent and acquired diversity leads to better innovation and transformational ways of thinking. “As a part of our commitment, we invest in formal programs designed to foster diversity through networking, talent management, and targeted career development,” states Ann. “It is important for me to ensure that we are not only hiring diverse groups of people, but we are spurring on creative thinking that happens when people with different perspectives and backgrounds come together.” IEWL

FARO Technologies

Management

Ann Hewitt
SVP & CIO of FARO Technologies

Description

FARO is the leading global source for 3D measurement, imaging and realization technology. For 40 years, FARO has provided industry-leading technology solutions that enable customers to quickly and easily measure their world, and then use that data to make smarter decisions faster. FARO continues to be a pioneer in bridging the digital and physical worlds through data-driven reliable accuracy, precision and immediacy.