Ascent AeroSystems, as a company, is creative and curious, and it values the contributions and insights of its employees as individuals. Vanessa Blakeley is the Director of Operations at Ascent AeroSystems, bringing a unique perspective as a woman, a mother, and coming from a background in general aviation rather than engineering/robotics. Vanessa has an eye for where Ascent AeroSystems fits into the larger aerospace ecosystem, and she is very interested in making our projects compatible with initiatives in the field. For example, Vanessa is focused on the company’s Spirit related to the more significant advanced air mobility space. “It’s exciting to think about bringing people, experiences, and technologies together. My mindset is also more regulatory, and I think a lot about the application and end-user experience—our engagement doesn’t end at shipment.”

“When I started flying at sixteen only six percent of pilots were women, even fewer mothers. I knew then that this was special, and saw being in that small minority as a badge of honor,” adds Vanessa. “At the same time, not everyone sees it that way. Diminishing comments about how a major accomplishment, when made by a woman, especially a young woman is “cute” and other ways in which your advancements and certificates are reduced or dismissed. In the U.S. female representation in aviation peaked in the ‘80’s. Currently, you would have to shake the hands of over 4,000 women before meeting another pilot— that’s incredible and we need to change it.”

The steadfast leader is impressed with how far the aerospace/aviation field has come, where it is going, and all the opportunities are opening up for women. “Opportunities that women are opening up for themselves! Prior generations of women in this space faced a lot of competition, but we’re moving past that now,” she says. “And I know that I try always to encourage diversity in aerospace in general, and make it clear that there’s space for everyone here. There’s an environment of active supportiveness that exists now that didn’t before, in the same way. I would encourage future women in this space, future leaders, to capitalize on this momentum for the sake of their careers and also to help the people who will come after them. Connect with the women in this space: connect with me.”

According to Vanessa, “I love being the person that executes on a theory and plan. I love being the ‘how’ to the vision’s ‘what’. Making a vision work, bringing it to life is where I’m comfortable. But I’ve learned that it is incumbent on us, as women in this field, to be uncomfortable sometimes, to stand out so that others, and those who come next, can blend in if that’s what they want. What that means daily is speaking up when your natural tendency is to be quiet. To highlight your work when it feels unnatural. It will be one of the ongoing challenges of my life personally and professionally and a critical one. One of the amazing things about the leadership position I’m in at Ascent AeroSystems is that visibility as a woman in aerospace and aviation. I hope that visibility will mean that younger women, just starting, can look at me and know that there’s a place for them.” Armed with these unique qualities, Vanessa has led the company to new heights.

Since 2015, Ascent AeroSystems has designed and manufactured rugged “coaxial” drones for the industrial, public safety, and defense markets. The founders saw the need for a new compact, all-weather, high-performance unmanned aerial system designed and built in the USA. Versatile, modular, and based on proven coaxial technology, the Ascent AeroSystems Spirit is the ideal platform for mission-critical operations in defense, public safety, and industrial operations.With a unique cylindrical configuration that’s far more portable and durable than conventional multirotor, the company’s drones are ideal for mission-critical operations in the toughest environments. More than five years of development have made Ascent AeroSystems the premier source for coaxial vehicles, and hundreds have been delivered to professional, commercial, government, and military customers worldwide.

“When I started flying at sixteen only six percent of pilots were women, even fewer mothers. I knew then that this was special, and saw being in that minority as a badge of honor,” says Vanessa Blakely, Director of Operations at Ascent AeroSystems, a Massachusetts based company which designs and manufactures the Global Standard for Mission-Critical Unmanned Aerial Systems.

Vanessa brings a unique perspective to the organization as a woman and mother with a general aviation background. Her experience in general aviation rather than engineering/robotics allows Vanessa to see where Ascent AeroSystems fits into the larger aerospace ecosystem. She is very interested in making projects compatible with initiatives in the larger aviation field and is focused on the company’s capabilities related to the more advanced air mobility space. “It’s exciting to think about bringing people, experiences, and technologies together. My mindset is also more regulatory than an engineers would be, and I think a lot about the application and end-user experience—our engagement doesn’t end at shipment.”

“In the U.S. female representation in aviation peaked in the ‘80’s. Currently, you would have to shake the hands of over 4,000 women before meeting another pilot— that’s incredible and we need to change it.” However, the steadfast leader is impressed with how far the aerospace/aviation field has come, where it is going, and all the opportunities that are opening for women. “Women are creating opportunities for themselves! Prior generations of women in this space faced a lot of competition, but we’re moving past that now,” she says. “I try to always to encourage diversity in aerospace and make it clear that there’s space for everyone here. I would encourage future women in this space, and leaders, to capitalize on this momentum for the sake of their careers and to help pave the way for those who will come after them.” Additionally, Vanessa has noticed a positive shift in mindset towards women in recent years. “So many organizations now—Women and Drones, the 99s, WAI—are working hard to fix gender biases. They don’t just convene women who are in the same field, they make concerted efforts to support them, to support each other, and to encourage women who are just getting started in this space.”

Since 2015, Ascent AeroSystems has designed and manufactured rugged “coaxial” drones for the industrial, public safety and defense markets.

With more than five years of development and hundreds of coaxial vehicles delivered to professional, commercial, government, and military customers worldwide there are bound to be roadblocks. “Of-course there are challenges, at times, but when you’re in an industry you’re passionate about, it doesn’t feel like work. The space I am in is so exciting, the technology is fascinating, and the people are engaged and innovative. Just in this position, for example, I do all the recruiting for our company. Engineers come from all different backgrounds, with incredibly varied perspectives, so I get to meet so many people and hear about so many interesting projects I wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. Working in aerospace / aviation, with imaginative people who take unusual paths and are focused on solving problems creatively—there’s so much joy.”

Vanessa is excited for the professional and personal growth that Ascent AeroSystems and the aviation industry continues to provide her. “I love being the person that executes on a theory and plan. I love being the ‘how’ to the vision’s ‘what’. Making a vision work, bringing it to life, is where I’m comfortable. One of the amazing things about the leadership position I’m in at Ascent AeroSystems is that visibility as a woman in aerospace and aviation. My hope is that younger women, just starting out, can look at me and know that there’s a place for them.”

Since 2015, Ascent AeroSystems has designed and manufactured rugged “coaxial” drones for the industrial, public safety and defense markets. Our founders saw the need for a new compact, all-weather, high-performance unmanned aerial system designed and built in the USA. Versatile, modular and based on proven coaxial technology, the Ascent AeroSystems Spirit is the ideal platform for mission-critical operations in the defense, public safety, and industrial operations. IEWL

The internet is still in its infancy. Like an infant, it lacks rules and self-control. As it grows, flaws emerge – lack of data privacy, digital monopolisation and cybersecurity breaches. But for Sarah Liberty, Australia isn’t addressing one major concern: online human rights. It’s why she founded JustSociale, Australia’s first federal NGO dedicated to promoting people’s human rights on the internet.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve been passionate about fairness, equality, inclusion, diversity and human rights. And I’ve always used the internet professionally, even since the MySpace days before Facebook was created! I’ve always been fascinated by how it influences society,” she says. “In Paris last year, I took a course in Internet Governance whilst completing my Master of International Relations (Human Rights) at Sciences Po. It’s the same degree the past 3 French presidents have done – it was intense!”

According to Sarah, “I not only learned about the latest internet trends, but also about the many positive and negative impacts on people around the world. We use social media and the internet daily to connect with friends and loved ones, grow businesses, start movements and create change like Greta Thunberg did. Yet at the same time, tech platforms like Facebook are more powerful than countries, and there is a growing sense of disillusionment and distrust with the major players.”

Her online human rights are no different to our offline human rights.

The UNHCR declared this in 2012, and referred directly to the first International Bill of Human Rights written by the UN in 1948. It declares that all humans are worthy of dignity and respect, and entitled to freedom from fear.

In 1966, the UN General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 stated that ‘everyone holds the right to hold opinions without interference’ and ‘everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression’, which includes the ‘freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.’

It means that anyone who fails to treat others with dignity and respect online – or makes them feel afraid, threatened or distressed – is abusing another person’s online human rights. Additionally, good digital citizenship (a concept developed by UNESCO) involves respecting others’ freedom of expression and opinions, unless they are detrimental to a person’s reputation or security.

The groups who we see most impacted, and who have their online human rights violated in Australia, are women.

1 in 3 women have experienced some form of online harassment or abuse, along with the LGBTQI community, Indigenous Australians, CALD Australians and refugees or asylum seekers.

JustSociale has developed Australia’s first Online Code of Conduct to protect the human rights of internet users. Can you tell us who the code is intended for, and how to become a signatory?

The Online Code of Conduct is intended for anyone who wants to demonstrate their commitment to Internet governance in Australia. This means showing their audience, clientele and users that they take their online human rights and responsibilities seriously, and will strive to be a good digital citizen – both at an individual and organisational level.

JustSociale prides itself on an inclusive board selected to represent the voices, concerns and needs of diverse Australians. ‘I’m truly honoured to have such a diverse board. I made a deliberate decision to pursue it from the organisation’s early days, when I was still finishing my Masters in Paris,” she says. “We have high profile Transgender Authority Melissa Griffiths, high profile Indigenous Board Member, Former Young Conservationist of the Year and Tedx Speaker Josh Gilbert, high profile Disability Influencer and Model Lisa Cox, Digital Guru and Postgraduate Psychology student Nicholas Riggs, Digital Communications Maven and Online Meditation Teacher Ashley Hunt, Director of Womens’ March Sydney Jaime Evans, Associate Professor John Mikler from Sydney University’s Political Science department, and myself as Chair.” IEWL

Inna Tumarin joined Higher Education Skincare as Global Vice President of Sales during the most critical time in the Spring of 2020 while Covid-19 was in full force and many beauty and skincare organizations were struggling to get a grip on the future of their brands. Inna followed closely the trends of the consumer and how the target Gen Z demographic was shopping, consuming social content, and which platforms to lean into while all retail department stores were shut down.

She quickly pivoted how to approach sell in and sell through, leaned into digital channel partners and forged partnerships with key organizations such as IPSY (for brand awareness), sold the assortment into Von Maur (full store distribution and .com), leaned into digital touchpoints of JustMyLook.com, plus additional partnerships launching in Spring 2022.

In 2021 Inna was promoted to Senior Vice President of Domestic Sales and Global Brand Marketing for her skill set and experience in establishing brands in the congested beauty space. During her career of 20 years in beauty, skincare, and fragrances, Inna has launched over 12 (NOW) Globally established brands, including Parris Swiss Laboratory, Perris Monte Carlo, House of Sillage, Tom Ford Beauty, Panasonic Personal Care Luxury division, and many more. Working closely with corporate buyers such as ULTA, Sephora, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Harrods, Selfridges, The Hut Group, and Neiman Marcus Group, to name a few. In 8 months, Inna revamped the Marketing strategy for Higher Education Skincare and leaned into Gen Z relevant platforms such as TikTok and Instagram with a holistic customer-first approach and meeting the customer where they spend most of their time. “The consumer is much smarter now in seeking out information on ingredients, researching brands on social media and learning what they stand for. Gen Z does not shop from the Brands’ advertising, they shop from their peers, and relevant influencers. They consume content in bit size portions and are costately educating themselves on what they are eating, doing, applying on their skin.”

As the female leader and Inna Tumarin being much younger than the typical corporate leaders, it’s been vital for her to seek out companies that support female leadership. “Leonard Estee Lauder once said, ‘never make a big decision without a woman at the table’, which really resonated with me.” Inna noted. “I seek out companies that I work with where my direct boss is supportive, does not stifle my creativity, is understanding of situations that are out of our control at the time, and most of all, a mentor. I found this to be true at Higher Education Skincare within Jim Headley – the CEO and President.”

Inna always ensures everyone within her team is valued and listened to. She loves feedback and empowers by leading by example. If there is an event and the event is short on staff, she jumps in and picks up tasks to ensure the task is executed. She does not hold back from sharing her knowledge and experience. Inna Tumarin inherently knows her teams’ success is her success as a leader.

A leadership lesson Inna learned along the way being a female leader, is to always be humble and not be above doing any task that she would ask of her team to so. “Be in the trenches with them, listen to their feedback, get a different perspective. You are only as strong as your collective team. Help people along with their learning journey of a new task.” Inna’s joy is seeing people be successful in their roles and grow professionally, and that is how she is taking the company to new heights.

Higher Education Skincare was born to meet the needs of a Gen Z consumer that seeks out brands that align with their ethos & values. Higher Education Skincare prides itself on being inclusive through imagery and formulations; they believe in authenticity. “Making a difference in the world and caring about our planet, we pride ourselves on ensuring we leave a positive footprint on the planet, by partnering with Ocean Conservancy,” says the pioneering leader. “It is truly clean, safe, and healthy skincare and Higher Education Skincare is helping build healthy skincare habits for life.” IEWL

Higher Education Skincare

Management

Inna Tumarin
Senior Vice President of Domestic Sales & Global Marketing at Higher Education Skincare

Description

Higher Education Skincare was created specifically to meet the skin needs of a younger market. Ages 17-29. We are clean and cruelty free, gluten free, nut free, sulfate free, paraben free and never ever tested on animals. We are aware of the need to protect the earths resources and only use 100% recyclable paper for our unit cartons and shippers, To us, skincare is health, happiness, confidence and empowerment.

Through Sarah Potter’s lead and direction, the company has shifted its views on what financial education can and should look like. She believes that learning goes beyond a classroom-style education and should be more dynamic and interactive. She emphasizes that everyone has a right to financial literacy and that they learn best from knowledge, interaction, real examples, and community. At TradeStation, Sarah has implemented a community-based approach to learning trading tools combined with learning more about the market movements.

TradeStation hosts a website called YouCanTrade, which allows anyone to be part of the learning community. Members can view free content that includes market basics, asset class learning, special events, regular webinars, and some paid models, including Getting Started and MasterClass. MasterClass is a unique learning opportunity that allows members to learn alongside peers and collectively access industry and Tradestation experts.

Sarah believes in integrating the learning of the markets with the practical use of timely and relevant tools for the learner. “When I was learning to trade, I wanted to find tools that I could tailor to my own trading style, and to the time I had to commit to trading. I needed flexibility with my learning and I needed it to be hands on, straightforward and relevant,” she says. “One of my strengths includes taking complicated topics and simplifying them, and so I have been leading the redesign of the content at TradeStation to break down complicated subject matter into tangible nuggets that help clients feel empowered.”

As a steadfast leader, she encourages everyone to follow their passion and especially supports other female business owners. Helping other women succeed in business needs to happen on multiple levels; in the trading industry, within organizations, and individually. From an industry point of view, Sarah speaks publicly at conferences and trade shows and in the media. “We need more women to be asked to speak as experts in the field of trading, and we need more opportunities from reporters asking for female points of view about the markets,” she says. “I accept opportunities to speak because it is important that women see other women as trading and market experts. Within the organization, I have started a leadership group to help women of all levels form a network and learn skills to push them farther in their careers.” By honoring and supporting the women in the company, Sarah hopes that they will feel the motivation to take their careers higher.

“I believe that the great leaders of tomorrow are those who are willing to take risks, consider different perspectives, work hard, and have a desire to make a difference in the world. Each step of change or willingness to make improvements, no matter how small, are the building blocks for a new opportunity,” explains Sarah. “I try to inspire team members of today by treating them like anyone can be the leaders of tomorrow. My teams continually strive for higher achievement – while also having fun along the way.”

Each new education element created to support a TradeStation product is designed with the learner in mind. They design multiple services to help motivate the client and outline clear processes to use our products. This includes learning and training videos, informational articles, courses, and content pieces. They believe in ongoing learning and that every trader wants to have resources designed to be relevant, clear, and timely.

Traders created the TradeStation platform for traders. TradeStation is an award-winning, self-clearing online brokerage for trading stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and crypto. Started 30-years ago, it was one of the first brokerages to break the boundaries for professional traders. Today, TradeStation continues to build out its wealth of resources and evolve to meet the needs of the markets and clients.

For the days to come, there’s so much more on the horizon, and as Sarah and her team continue to build out their educational offering at TradeStation and further their endeavors to support traders with a wealth of resources. TradeStation will launch more market-fresh content in the coming months, including a daily newsletter and a weekly market show. Tradestation clients will also see the continued growth of free content broken down into smaller on-demand videos, more platform how-to and a bigger community. WL

Chia-Lin Simmons is a technology industry executive with 26+ years of experience in pre-seed to public companies. She also has product experience, having developed new technologies and sold them to a mass market. With her unique track record managing both startups and public companies, she is ideally-suited to lead a small-cap NASDAQ company like NXT-ID to the next level.

“We are in a mission critical technology space that hasn’t changed in decades. Our goal is to create innovative technology to transform how we care of our family members, our community members and more.”

She is the first CEO in NXT-ID’s history with a broad range of experience — from driving revenue to marketing, to business development, all for technology companies. Chia-Lin’s pioneering career has elevated her to one of the fewer than 5% of women, and women of color CEOs running companies listed on the NASDAQ.

The company builds technology to check, manage and monitor a loved one’s health and safety remotely. The company’s products provide caretakers, including family and friends as well as professionals, with the ability to make better decisions about how best to communicate with and assist those under their care.

Chia-Lin says, “It was time for NXT-ID to hire a tech executive to innovate our Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) technology. There has been little innovation in the space. My previous work at Amazon/Audible and Google, as well as smaller start-ups, helped me to better understand what shareholders and new investors would be looking for from this tiny but amazing small-cap company.”

“When I started, we were facing numerous corporate crises: a potential delisting as well as the need to bring in capital, settle litigation, while trying to develop and market new products and services. Even though it was hectic, I was absolutely where I wanted to be. In less than 6 months, we were able to secure a solid raise through a public and private market offering, bring up the stock price to ensure the company remained listed on the NASDAQ and file some provisional patents for the company.”

NXT-ID was one of the first companies to provide unmonitored wearable devices as part of the ecosystem. It was an innovation at the time and has been a lifesaver for those individuals with fixed income who could not afford to pay for monthly subscriptions. Chia-Lin plans to return the company to its innovative roots.

“While there has been technology innovation in many areas, the Care Economy has not been the focus of many up and coming technology startups because most new technology is focused on the youth or mass market,” Chia-Lin explained. “Our goal is to change that by providing innovative technology and transforming how we think about taking care of our family members, our community members and more.”

Today, NXT-ID provides its products and services to hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans, who the company considers to be a “part of its family.” To attain its goal of ensuring its users are safe and secure, the company is proud to partner with hundreds of hospitals, thousands of clinics, and thousands of care providers–including doctors, nurses, social workers, and others–to help veterans live safe and independent lives.

Chia-Lin adds, “I am a sandwich generation executive: I understand the friction and issues being faced by our customers. As a caretaker myself, I am looking for a solution that I know many of us (one in four millennials, and twice that for Gen X) are looking for. And as the only female CEO in the company’s history, I bring a unique perspective to the products we are launching and the customers we are serving.”

Having been an executive working under Don Katz, CEO at Audible, Chia-Lin has observed and was mentored on how executives should focus on putting customers first. Executives at the company spent time quarterly in customer support to listen and really hear the customers. She says she plans to do the same at NXT-ID.

In addition, Chia-Lin believes that leaders should cultivate and grow new leadership in the company and in the broader technology industry. She says it’s not just about mentoring; it’s also about sponsoring people’s growth within businesses and across industries. IEWL

NXT ID Inc

Management

Chia-Lin Simmons
CEO of NXT ID Inc

Description

NXT-ID, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTD) provides a comprehensive platform of technology products and services that enable the Internet of Things (IoT). NXT-ID has extensive experience in access control, biometric and behavior-metric identity verification, security and privacy, encryption and data protection, miniaturization and sensor technologies. NXT-ID develops and markets groundbreaking solutions for healthcare, payment and IoT applications. Its industry-leading technology products and solutions include MobileBio®, a suite of biometric solutions for IoT.

Early in her career, Carmen Sabater played a crucial role in developing and growing each of the fantastic organizations she was involved in. Soon after being promoted to Senior Manager at Deloitte, Carmen served as CFO of MasTec, a Fortune 500 publicly traded infrastructure service provider. After several years at MasTec, Carmen joined Quirch Foods, a leading food distributor in the United States, and serves as Senior Vice President and CFO. As a high achieving graduate of the University of Miami, Carmen earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Accounting.

Throughout the years, Carmen developed an unwavering work ethic. Having held positions with several high-profile multinational firms, Carmen developed an instinct for leadership and was considered a true visionary in predominantly male-dominated industries. Innovative and with excellent listening skills, she quickly ascended to leadership positions pulling her young, aspiring, and talented employees along with her. Developing and mentoring others is a passion for Carmen. She believes in inspiring others to do their best, develop their confidence and work hard – all the while having fun. With grace and poise, she’s maintained an assertive and innovative approach to finance and leadership, and with that, has gained recognition while furthering her commitment to her career. Carmen is also dedicated to giving back to her communities. She is a Board member and Executive committee member of the United Way of Miami, currently serving as Secretary and past Treasurer, and truly enjoys her role as Treasurer of the Public Health Trust – Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“Finding her way in the room; getting a key seat at the table; and then garnering the respect to be listened to; those are the difficult steps it takes to flourish in your career. Considering there are not enough women who get that seat at the table, we need to make it easier for highly talented women to flourish,” says Carmen. “Diversity in the workplace is vital- after all women drive most of the purchasing decisions in the country. Ultimately, you want to hire and work with the best and the brightest regardless of gender or cultural background.”

Carmen is authentic, which is why she has had a successful career and inspires others to be great leaders. She is thoughtful and transparent in her conversations with others; she recognizes career require choices, some easier than others. Carmen has set an example to women across industries building a network of leaders to lean on and have thought leadership discussions. Her leadership and mentorship as SVP, CFO of Quirch Foods have inspired many women to build confidence to know that anything is possible. “Thinking creatively, being prepared, and being confident puts you in a position to succeed” Carmen herself and her accomplishments throughout her career are a good example of that. Carmen believes in defining your brand. “Your brand- how people think of you; how you think and act yourself is your biggest asset. Make sure to polish your brand and never tarnish it. You want to be a leader that inspires and have a brand that is timeless.”

“Thinking creatively, being prepared, and being confident puts you in a position to succeed.” Carmen herself and her accomplishments throughout her career are a good example of that. Carmen believes in defining your brand. “Your brand- how people think of you; how you think and act yourself is your biggest asset.

Regardless of the leadership style, it’s key in today’s world to be a good listener, inspire others to figure things out and, understand that one-size solutions don’t always work. Carmen says leaders need to be tuned into what drives each team member to success when working with a diverse team. Carmen shared this advice with upcoming leaders – make the time to listen -the world is only getting faster, “and we need to ensure we make personal connections because ultimately people are the ones making decisions.” Carmen shared that she’s observed that when things don’t go as planned, the expectation gap exists because people don’t listen. Collaboration is so important today, as is making the hard decisions. Carmen believes it’s important to share values and thought processes to develop and empower future leaders. “Encourage people to seek mentors- not just one but several. Having different points of view allows mentees to shine a spotlight on what works and what doesn’t work for them.” A principle she also likes to follow is “Now go figure it out,” but that doesn’t mean you have to figure it out on your own; seek help and lean on others which is why building teams is crucial to problem-solving and creating success. IEWL

Quirch Foods

Management

Carmen Sabater
SVP & CFO at Quirch Foods

Description

Quirch Foods is a food distribution company servicing ethnic and national grocers as well as foodservice distribution customers across the United States, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Quirch operates approximately 500 refrigerated trucks and over 2.3 million square feet of combined distribution space through 23 facilities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas, Washington, Oregon and Puerto Rico. Quirch is the exclusive distributor of High River Angus®, McKinneys Beef®, Panamei Seafood®, Diamon Reef® Seafood, Kikiriquirch®, Jackson Farms®, Mambo Foods®, and is a licensed distributor of Certified Angus Beef® and Chiquita Brands® frozen Tropicals and Fruits. Quirch operates through a family of well recognized companies. For more information visit quirchfoods.com, coloradoboxedbeef.com, pacfoods.com, ejfoodsnw.com, buttsfoods.com, greatfishco.com, helmsmanfreightsolutions.com, and phoenixfl.com.

Ipsos is the construction of a lifetime. Because 24 years is almost a quarter of a century, and it’s a long time! But at the same time, so much happened, and that time passed exceptionally quickly without me noticing it. Ipsos has grown tremendously and has become a recognized global leader and a buoyant publicly listed company.

By organizing the successful IPO on July 1st, 1999, on the Paris Stock Exchange, Laurence Stoclet was then able to arrange the availability of the financial resources needed to support their growth development plan and M&A program while keeping the independence of the company. Needless to say, the company’s revenues have multiplied by 16 times since then.

The IPO was the occasion to start a total transformation of the company. A new birth. More financial resources, broadening possibilities and horizons. This is their reinforced installation in North America, and in emerging markets, the change from a SME to a large corporation, from a local European company to a global organisation, from multi-brands to One “Ipsos”.

Today, with 20,000 employees in 90 countries, Ipsos is ranked 4th in the market and public opinion research sector worldwide; its 2022 revenues are at 2.4 billion Euros, and its operating margin is at 13%. Their share price reached an all-time high for our shareholders, around 60 Euros per share (when the IPO price was 8.3 Euros).

Laurence is a senior executive with extensive experience in Finance, Technology, and Management of international operations. She has been a Board Member since 2002 at Ipsos, a global leader in market research and public opinion polls.

At the end of 2022, she joined the Board of Ingenico, a global leader in Payment solutions owned by Apollo, and is chairing its Audit Committee. With an MBA from ESCP Business School (Banking and Finance), Laurence also holds a postgraduate diploma in Chartered Accounting. Earlier in her career, she was an intern financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, then spent more than six years at Arthur Andersen as an Audit and Consulting Manager and two years at the listed manufacturing company, Metaleurop as Head of Treasury, Financing, and Investor Relations.

“In 1998, the year I started, Ipsos was privately owned, the 10th player in the industry, invoicing close to 150 million Euros per year. It was operating in 12 countries, mostly in Europe, with 1,300 employees,” says Laurence. “From a profitability perspective, its operating margin was lower (around 3.5%), and Net Income/Free Cash Flows were slightly negative; its balance sheet was significantly leveraged (gearing – debt to equity ratio was at 96% – it is less than 5% today).”

Among the top global players in market research, Ipsos is considered one of the most successful and certainly the one which is the best financially managed and the only independent organization. “Without any doubt, this is our financial discipline which has been key in retaining our independence, while Private Equity firms have bought all our large competitors,” elucidates Laurence. “But I was not only a CFO, the youngest one of a listed company on the Paris Stock Exchange at the time of the IPO. I also actively participated in the construction of Ipsos as a global leader, putting in place the right operating model, organization, infrastructure and procedures, which helped us along the years to smoothly integrate new companies in our network. We have made more than a hundred acquisitions.”

In particular, Laurence has established a well-functioning ERP and related management information ecosystem (HRIS, BI, …). It works in real-time and is fully deployed in the 90 markets where they operate. It has been a critical success factor in driving the company through the improvement of its profitability across the years but also in being resilient through the most challenging times, like the financial crisis in 2008-2009 and, more recently, through the covid pandemic.

“For our clients and our teams, we have become the true ” Home of Passionate Researchers.” The engagement level of our employees that we measure through our Pulse surveys is very high,” adds Laurence. “With our Service Lines well identified and redefined during our last transformation plan launched in mid-2018 and called the “Total Understanding Project” (TUP), we offer a real differentiation from our competitors and great quality and service to our clients. It has been a real recognition to be awarded the most innovative company Trophee in our sector for two years, as assessed independently by the clients.” WL

Sharing Advise

1. Why is inspiration of importance today? Who inspired You?

The Founder of Ipsos, Didier Truchot, is certainly the person who inspired me the most. He is a real Legend in our industry, having founded Ipsos from scratch in 1975. He has shared with me some of his acute point of views that I have come to embrace in relation with the build-up of Ipsos but also in my private life. And I would like in turn to share some of them for you.

First of all, being an entrepreneur is all about hard-working, taking care of the money but also about Luck. This luck comes mostly from meeting the right people, at the right time, and being able to attract and retain them, in the right places. People who can complement your own skills and experiences. People who are colleagues and become friends. Ipsos is not a family (because you do not necessarily choose your family!) but certainly a community, a community of great professionals and friends, all passionate researchers.

You cannot build something Big without optimism and enthusiasm that you should share, seeing the glass half full rather than half empty.

You need to constantly adapt but always keep your behavior consistent with your values. Ipsos has 5 core values, which start by Integrity, Curiosity, Collaboration, Client First and Entrepreneurial Spirit. They are truly mine as well.

Not everyone can become a true Entrepreneur. Many executives lack the courage of making decisions because they are not confident enough. They do not trust their instinct and their skills and are afraid of making decisions that will expose them. They are scared of being wrong, scared of losing their job or their reputation if the situation does not develop favorably. And in many cases, they do not want to risk making enemies, not being loved, saying “NO” and going against the “loose” consensus. They are “produced” by their teams instead of leading them. The “CYA” (Cover Your Ass) syndrome is unfortunately very common and prevents many people from taking initiatives.

Those executives do not understand that when you make a decision in a complex environment, there is most of the time no certain outcome and no visibility. You can never know for sure how it is going to work out.

A real entrepreneur never knows in advance that his enterprise is going to be a big success or just a mediocre one or a failure. In real life, Entrepreneurs are only recognized after the facts by the Society if they have succeeded. However, I am not saying that a successful entrepreneur is someone who takes deliberate risks. On the contrary, it is someone who is very prudent, including with the money. On top of Courage, Intensity and Perseverance are also important elements of success.

This is why Didier likes this sentence from William of Orange which advocates for foresight, pragmatism, and long-lasting action, necessary for the accomplishment of any professional project: “One need not hope to undertake, nor succeed to persevere.”

And again, Luck always plays its part. This is why giving back when you have succeeded is a Must. You are only rich of what you have given back.

2. How is Laurence inspiring and empowering your team members into becoming great leaders of tomorrow?

Resolutely focused on action and on proximity of teams, I would like to leave you with some advice coming from my own experience. Whatever the subjects and projects, I have applied the same recipes: determination, collaboration, and above all common sense. I have no hidden agenda; I am honest and sincere. I am a listener, open-minded and like being challenged and provided with different new ideas.

In terms of management style, I try to be simple, direct and clear in what I expect from my teams giving them every year priorities which are new exciting challenges and providing them adequate resources so that they can achieve them.

Giving freedom to your managers in a well-mapped framework is the key for developing strong and stable teams. However, as the boss, you must decide at the end of the day and define this framework.

Being fair including in compensation package and favoring internal promotion is the other important key.

As result, I always had the highest score of engagement of the company in my direct and indirect staff according to our internal employee survey called “Pulse”.

Note that Employee relationship management and internal surveys is one of our important lines of service to our clients at Ipsos. We have international benchmarks which make the findings even more interesting. We apply to ourselves the Pulse survey that we sell to clients to help them better understand the expectations of their own employees.

3. How long did it take you to find success? Is there any advice you would like to share from your journey?

It took Ipsos more than 40 years to become a recognized player in the global industry. So, you need to be patient!

This is about talents:

I have often described Ipsos as the “Home of Researchers” with the ambition to attract, develop and retain the best talents in our industry. As one picture says more than a thousand words, you should imagine this Home not as a shelter for poor or abandoned technicians but rather a Building that is modern and modular, with open spaces, yet warm and friendly. This Home houses the most creative experts in market research. Many individual wings may be added to this building along the way as there are no limits to our growth.

This is about being well implemented in the right geographies:

The year I joined Ipsos (1998), we had just bought our first subsidiary in the US called “ASI”. It was not a large company, but it was the first of many acquisitions that we have done in North America, which represents 50% of the global industry.

The US is also where are located 2/3 of the large multinationals. The US is also the place of birth of our industry. In 1911, the first unit formed with a business activity named “market research” was “National Partners”. The US is also where a lot of innovations are born, like the usage of the internet and digital surveys in the late 90’s.

This is about Cash:

I have worked at transforming the financial performance of the company, making it a true cash making firm. One of my preferred motoes is: “Sales is vanity, Profit is sanity, Cash is reality”.

This is a quote from the New York Times in 1992 that I got from a French fund manager met while doing our IPO roadshow.

Taking care of the company’s liquidity, cash generation and access to Debt and capital markets is a key standard responsibility for any CFO. This was done though a number of capital increases, through raising long term debt (unsecured syndicated credit facilities and bond issues) and more importantly thanks to an improved profitability and solid generation of operating cash flows. Ipsos benefits now from a strong reputation of being well managed financially and having a sound financial situation, which is recognized by an “investment grade” shadow rating (NAIC2 – ie BBB).

The road has been bumpy from time to time: At 3 different crisis periods, I was able to take the decisive actions that helped to keep the company safe and independent from different types of predators.

4. What’s a leadership or life lesson that you’ve learnt?

I would like to summarize my management philosophy with 3 words: Exemplarity, Frugality and Intensity.

Exemplarity:

Integrity is key if we want to set an example and I believe in management by example and positive education. We must sincerely respect people and their differences, try to make them progress and offer them the best opportunities to find their space. Seek to raise them rather than rebuff them.

“Say what you do but then Do what you say” is my personal line of conduct. In life there are no problems, there are solutions; but rarely just one solution. I like to practice ” healthy skepticism “, as taught during my first job as a consultant at Arthur Andersen back in 1989, because it helps know how to choose quickly and be decisive, even in complicated situations. Trust yourself and others to make a good decision, whatever it is, even if other paths are possible, as being quick in moving is highly important.

Laziness is the enemy. I am courageous and a workaholic, never tired. But on the other side, I have always insisted that the members of my teams work strictly normal hours because overtime is not necessarily the sign of a well-organized individual.

This is also about being the first one to take care about the money and not having high expense notes. Which leads to Frugality.

Frugality:

Frugality means managing the money of the Company with the same care as if it was your own wallet. This means watching costs permanently. Here, there is never enough small savings because small rivers make big rivers. I like to say: “1 Euro is 1 Euro, 1 dollar is 1 dollar, 1 Penny is 1 Penny”.

This means not having show-off premises, but only spaces which provide a warm and friendly work environment, with well-designed open spaces.

This means also having as less people as possible in support functions and dealing with internal affairs. I had many occasions to compare the size and costs of the Ipsos Headquarters to the one of similar global organization, in our industry and outside. It is in average half of the others.

And of course, being a CFO means that you need to control and cut costs, which is never popular. But Being the “bad cop” is the job to be done, so you need to be strong and opinionated. And, if you manage well, you can do so without having to ever make a lay-off plan, which is what we have achieved, including during the financial crisis.

I have observed that large companies are often paralyzed by the “Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen” syndrome. In those situations, the Cooks talk a lot and forever about the great things the company should undertake to improve but nobody is actually doing something to change.

On the contrary at Ipsos, we have been successful thanks to a flat, efficient and lean organization, adapted to the environment, having in mind that there is no such thing as an “ideal” organization. The organisation needs to be evolved depending on the context, but it must be agile and able to take decision quickly.

Usually, the more people you have, the more costs you will incur because anyone must justify his/her presence by the projects they want to run, the more projects in parallel you will get, sometimes conflicting. With less people at Headquarters, you are obliged to choose your battles and your priorities. And you can focus better and achieve the right level of Intensity.

Intensity:

The word “Intensity” has been used by Microsoft new CEO, Satya Nadella, when he took his job.

I am also a strong believer and supporter of Warren Buffet’s views, the American billionaire who founded Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha. He says that what kills companies is always the “ABC” syndrome, which stands for “Arrogance, Bureaucracy and Complacency”.

Yes, at the end of the day, you always need to challenge yourself. I believe in continuous improvement because perfection is not of this world. In an ever faster moving environment, this is important to challenge the status quo without losing sight of what your clients really need and what is your purpose.

Focus is key to keep high intensity level along the years. Choosing few relevant priorities every year (no more than 3 to 5) and executing well on them: “On Time, On Specs, On Budget” is one of my motoes, not only when it comes to technology development projects.

The most important asset of any company is the time of its CEO and the C-Suite members. You can better empower your teams with a clear framework of trust, delegation of authority, accountability, and escalation. And few well designed control processes so that Top management is immediately aware of any significant matter, without having to do micro-management. Of course, it is a thin balance.

5. What is one of the biggest trends in your present industry? How are you working on implementing the same?

A successful company is a story that evolves and develops. We must therefore continue to grow Ipsos, without losing the thread, by remaining faithful to our DNA.

The current trends involve digitalization of our surveys. Online surveys were less than 1% of our business in 2000, 40% in 2010 and 63% now!

6. What is one of the biggest achievements of your organization owing to its revolutionary approach?

Since 1982, we have been working on predicting elections, now in more than 35 markets. It is thanks to our methodologies, proprietary models and experts that we work for large public and private institutions in those complex polling fields for many years now.

We have been the first polling company in France to use telephone in the 80’s to do polling. Since the year 2000, we use internet surveys.

And more recently, we have developed and launched in 2020 a Saas service called “Ipsos.digital”. It is a DYI (Do It Yourself) Platform which fully automates the research process end-to-end and delivers real time information to our clients. It is planned to represent 12% of our revenues by 2025.

7. What goals are you still working towards achieving?

“Best People and Best Technology” is the base of our new strategy and our growth plans for 2025.

A lot of people in the financial markets (Funds Managers, Private Equity firms and others) may think that with technology you can automate, reduce your headcount and ultimately cut costs. This might be true but within a Professional Service like ours, the quality and the number of your researchers are the key deciding factor for our customers. Therefore, at Ipsos, we have taken the opposite view: we need to have as many “Best People” (ie professionals) as we can, delivering intellectual value to our clients. However, this value is based on the Data that we produce; and for producing Data, we must master the “Best Technology”, including AI, Web.3, … so that the information is produced Quicker, Better and Cheaper, so that we can free up the time of our Researchers from executional or administrative tasks, so that they can spend more time in analysing Data and more time in advising our clients on the understanding of the market information we deliver to them.

In parallel with the business itself, a second transformation for more equity – a subject that is particularly close to my heart – has been underway for several years within Ipsos, which must reflect the image of Society and the citizens it surveys. Diversity and gender balance at the different levels of the structure are certainly a source of performance for the company but above all an obligation in a largely feminized profession (60% of our employees are women). There is still some work to be done to achieve our goals: 40% of women on the management committee before 2027 (knowing that the deadline of the “Rixain Law” in France is set for 2030), and 50% of women among the top 200 executives of Ipsos (against 35% currently).

The « Equity Ratio » is mandatory report to be released by listed companies in France. It measures the pay gap between the CEO and the average employee. This is also a subject that is close to my heart and for which Ipsos can consider itself today one of the best groups in the Paris Stock Exchange, with one of the best Equity Ratio score.

8. What is in store for the future. Both in terms for you & the company?

The recently developed Ipsos’ “raison d’être” (adopted early 2020 by our Board of Directors) sums up the company’s ambition and sense of purpose: “Deliver reliable information for a True understanding of Society, Markets and People.”

It is a beautiful job to be done, being the voice of the People, whether they are citizens, consumers, employees or patients. Our industry is supporting ESG and democracy by telling the truth about what People have in their minds, what they really think, like, dislike and wish for.

I have only one wish: that Ipsos continues its success story, at a sustained pace, in today’s uncertain and constantly changing environment. We absolutely must find the way to deliver the information ” almost real time ” to all our customers, not just at the time of elections.

For this, I would talk about postures and work habits to adopt being in action, thirsting for achievement, hard-working, daring to innovate and take risks, following your instinct while remaining curious. But more than anything, getting out of your comfort zone, facing the unknown and gaining confidence from these successes! Finally, doing all this as a team because, as an African proverb says, “if you want to go fast, walk alone, but if you want to go far, let’s walk together”.

9. Would you like to highlight any other interesting insight that we may have missed in this questionnaire?

As you can see, I am very passionate and proud to be Ipsos, like our 20,000 employees around the world, Didier Truchot, our founder and Chairman, and Ben Page, our CEO since the end of 2021.

Conclusion

“l will conclude with a more persona! word: in this changing environment, there is only one constant and that is Love: Love for your spouse and for your children; tenderness for your family and friendship of your friends; affection and respect for your colleagues; kindness to others; love of life, children, animals, nature and the planet,” says Laurence. “I love Ipsos and my colleagues there and thank them all from the bottom of my heart for these wonderful 24 years while I was a top executive and for the years to come as I remain on the Board of directors and a happy shareholder! “

Brenda Devlin, Executive Vice President, Human Capital + Business Support, Harris, is a proven leader who oversees human capital development and all its functions. She focuses on aligning business initiatives with strategy and culture to ensure business results while helping employees develop their potential. Brenda has experience in acquisition and succession planning, M&A due diligence and integration, strategy development and execution, and marketing communications.

Armed with an MBA in International Business and Human Resources from The University of Kansas and a B.A. in French and Spanish, Brenda is certified as a Sr. Professional in Human Resources, SHRM-Senior Certified Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, Project Management Professional, and Certified Six Sigma Green Belt. She currently serves on the board of a Minnesota non-profit.

Brenda is a support system for the female business owners trying hard to establish themselves. She is the first vice president on the board of a local non-profit led by a female CEO. Being an active participant in the Human Resources environment with local associations, she serves as a mentor for up-and-coming H.R. professionals. “Leading Harris’ Human Capital, Corporate Services, and Marketing + Communications teams, there are many strong women I have the honor of mentoring.”

According to Brenda, “as women, it is crucial that we support and encourage each other. I have worked for female leaders who saw other females as competition – we can’t do that to each other. Have faith in yourself, be confident and assertive; you do have a voice and people want to hear it. If you say nothing, people will assume you have nothing to say.”

Harris believes employee engagement is essential to creating a strong and positive culture. In 2016 when they developed their corporate plan, the timing was right to make “Talent + Culture” Harris’ game-changer a strategic imperative for 2017. “That year we introduced our first fully-anonymous employee engagement survey and conducted a culture assessment as well, asking all Harris employees – foreman level and above – to participate and provide us with insight into what needed to be done to create a destination workplace,” explains Brenda.

“Our next step included taking action on what employees told us –and we’ve done that each year since with an employee focus group which analyzes survey results and makes recommendations to our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) based on the employee feedback.” In 2017, this employee focus group partnered with the ELT to create a Harris Culture Statement. They also developed their Leadership Fundamentals curriculum that year and have trained more than 200 people leaders since 2018. I have personally facilitated every Leadership Fundamentals 101, Field Leadership Fundamentals and Leadership Fundamentals 201 cohort at Harris,” she explains. “We started this work because employees told us, in our employee survey, that our people leaders were not the best at leading. This feedback spurred the development of our Leadership Fundamentals 101 curriculum, accompanied by our Leadership Toolkit. After a few cohorts of training our Leadership Fundamentals Program (LFP), we began to see marked improvement in how our employees viewed their leaders through our engagement survey results.” This employee focus group has also been integral in creating the Harris HUB SharePoint site, improving Harris’ benefits package, and instituting semi-annual Town Hall Meetings with the CEO because of employee feedback.

This work proved to make a difference throughout their Harris regions, and 15 offices across the country as a number of their division teams received regional Top Workplaces awards. The company’s work was validated further in 2021 when Harris was recognized with the Top Workplaces USA award, a true honor as they continued building Harris into a destination workplace. The recognition was especially gratifying as the award is based solely on employee feedback.

“As I think back to all that we have accomplished over the past five years, I feel honored to have facilitated this process as I see the positive organizational changes we’ve made and the positive impact these changes have had in attracting and retaining top talent at Harris,” says Brenda. “I certainly try to practice what I preach, as does our ELT. Our employees nationwide and our leaders value, encourage and engage in open dialogue and honest feedback so we can continually improve. We also recognize the importance of anonymity, which is why we enlist third-party research firm, Energage, the nation’s most credible employer recognition program operator, to conduct our anonymous employee engagement surveys.” WL

Emilia Garito, CEO, Quantum Leap, is endowed with an uncommon strategic vision: her ability to connect the dots has led her to devise processes and methodologies capable of supporting coherent and sustainable business development and creating the conditions for research land effectively in the markets.

Nicoletta Foti, Quantum Leap project manager working hand-in-hand with Emilia, says about Emilia “What I learned from Emilia is the importance of being mothers and entrepreneurs at the same time. It can appear that an entrepreneur/mother has multiple identities, which can be confusing or lead to dispersion and the fear of revealing her flaws, however Emilia taught me that it is precisely when a woman recognizes to have multiple identities that she improves herself, thanks to taking together her personal and professional paths.” Nicoletta has taken inspiration from Emilia to work hard and improve throughout her growing career. Emilia urges every woman to live with the curiosity to do things and the challenge to do them well. She thinks that developing a multidisciplinary and interconnected competence-base, from which everyone should explore and bring out a definition of solutions, is really a valid approach for the society we live, thus also improving the role of us women in the working world.

Emilia learned the importance of never giving up—which is an important leadership lesson she has understood while working with her peers. “It sounds banal and simple, but when you don’t sleep at night, because you have a lot of problems to solve that could impact the lives of your employees, despite the ease of the shortcut in front of you, you understand that the importance of ethics in business and private life is greater than possible cash flows, then this sentence never give up! is not so banal and simple, because you can understand what it means while you are living it in a real daily path.” Armed with this unique attitude, Emilia has taken the company to new heights.

Quantum Leap IP came to light to fill a strategic area not covered by large consulting companies. Emilia, since her work in Leonardo SPA (Italia Defense company leader in Europe), had the vision to consider IP enhance and strategy as enabling methods for Business Strategy, she says: “while the past century was driven by a pro-patent economy, this century is destined to be considered the age of pro–innovation economy. So, the IP rights are passing from being a mere protectionist purposes to become a business tool for companies who want to compete in the market of the future. In this sense, Tech Transfer is a strategic process to enable an impactful industrial policy for any advanced country. Mostly now in Italy, through the funds allocated in the PNRR and the initiatives included therein, it is clearer to companies that they can no longer ignore the need to have Technology Transfer in their strategic development plans, if they want to be truly competitive on the global market”.

“Quantum Leap IP came to light to fill a strategic area not covered by large consulting companies. IP Strategy is an enabling tool for Business Strategy, but mostly in Italy, that is a country at the forefront of innovation, technology and research”

Maurizio Berti, Chief Technology Officer of Quantum Leap and Emilia’s partner says: “The company’s biggest achievement has been to make both large and medium-sized companies understand and demonstrate that their IP portfolios are a strategic asset capable of fostering consistent and long-lasting development and of approaching parallel and adjacent markets through a diversification of the offer. Through IP Strategy, tech companies are also facilitated to manage co-research and co-development projects within the research field (with strategic partners as universities and research centers)”.

All the services that Quantum Leap develops aim to support creating a virtuous country system in which research and industry can dialogue effectively to create sustainable and respectful development that solves people’s real needs and improves their quality of life. “I like to think of Quantum Leap as a company that creates and facilitates industrial synergies thus fostering Italian economic development” says Francesca Tosato, Communication and Marketing Director of Quantum Leap and Emilia’s partner.

For Valeria Bartolucci, Public Relation Director of Quantum Leap and Emilia’s Partner, “Quantum Leap has shown us, through its experience over the last ten years in technology Transfer and Open Innovation, that Italy is not only a country renowned for its territory, its food, its design and fashion, but also a country at the forefront of innovation, technology and research. In the fast world we are living today, time and money go hand in hand that’s why Quantum Leap is capable to enable valuable opportunities between industry and research, this is our vision”.

It is pertinent to mention, Emilia has independently created two entirely new concepts that have been applied in projects for leading Italian companies:

• Maieutics of Innovation: A methodology that allows unresolved technological problems to emerge from within a company and possible solutions proposed by employees who are not directly involved in research and development activities.

• IP Lifecycle Management: A methodology that takes the form of developing guidelines for managing all the phases of creation, management, and valorization of intellectual property within a company or an industrial group.

“These both methodologies will facilitate the creation of an impactful Tech Transfer ecosystem in Italy and abroad, such as we already noted in the last years of work in supporting industries and research centers in their own tech transfer and Open Innovation path.” IEWL

Quantum Leap Ip

Management

Emilia Garito
Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Leap Ip

Description

Quantum Leap (QL), a branch of Infinity Edge Srl (an Italian corporation specializing in innovative services), is one of the first Italian patent brokers. Quantum Leap focuses on both inventions that have already been patented and those in the process of being patented. QL’s mission is to scout new ideas and transform them into innovative products. Typical clients of QL are Research Institutes, Industries, Venture Capital and Angel Investor Funds that invest in technology. QL is now a very important point of connection between the world of Italian Research and Industry, and it has contacts with the most important patent brokers and patent aggregators in the world. The activity of QL for inventors consist of analyzing potential markets, finding potential buyers, licensees or business partners, and suggest the best strategy to build high value businesses within the shortest time.

Over Kyla Heap’s tenure in her role, she has transformed a team that was unhappy and disgruntled into one that won “team of the year” in their annual awards ceremony. Her professionalism, leadership, and dedication to them has inspired the team to go above and beyond. Her team knows she has their back.

Kyla always tells women business owners she comes across that they need to realize and appreciate what their worth is. “I was recently out on maternity leave and went through a period where I felt like I might not be needed while out. Rather than thinking negatively about this, I realized that I needed to shift my mindset and praise myself for having a team in place that I could trust to handle things in my absence,” says Kyla. “My best advice, no matter your gender, is to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and who you can constantly learnfrom.”

According to the pioneering leader, to be an inspiring leader one must create an environment of trust and empowerment. A leader should listen and make people feel appreciated. “Do this through always living your values and behaving ethically,” she adds. “And always be caring and have compassion. Kyla has taken the time to get to know her team members, so she is able to help them embrace new roles that fit their personalities and strengths. She gives them wings to fly.”

Success for Kyla is a constant journey, where she is still striving! She has been fortunate to work with some wonderful mentors, who have had confidence in her that she might not have given to herself. With that, they provided Kyla with opportunities. “With every new opportunity presented I have gained skills and confidence to know that these were not presented for no reason,” she explains.

“Surround yourself with people who are willing to give you opportunities. If you work within an environment that you enjoy and with people who match your values, you can surprise yourself what you can learn and accomplish.” She advices everyone, both male and female, that they should develop themselves based on their strengths. “I believe that every woman should know herself first, her passions, her strengths, her working styles and traits. Be honest with yourself. That way you can be fully aware of your areas for achievement and map a plan to get you there. If you are aware of your gaps, you can always be striving to better yourself in those areas.” Armed with this unique ideology, Kyla is taking the company to new heights.

FBMC was founded to provide affordable protection to all employees. Over the last 40 years, they have sought to develop an understanding of their clients’ needs. FBMC are innovators that strive to provide products that are not only high quality but easy to use and understand. As an employee-owned company, their commitment to quality and innovation helps them protect their clients. FBMC embraces giving back to their clients and their communities to help create a safe and prosperous future.

One of the core missions at FBMC is to provide provable quality to their clients. “We are extremely honored to say that we just received a 92% Net Promoter Score, a measure of customer satisfaction,” says Kyla. “Achieving this industry-leading score ties back to our focus on continuously striving to work with our clients to provide quality results. We will continue to work towards delivering results to our clients. Sky’s the limit as they say. I know that FBMC has a lot of exciting opportunities on the horizon, and I see tremendous growth happening in our future. I feel so fortunate to be a part of that journey.” IEWL