Rebecca oversees marketing and brand execution for the Canadian division of Teladoc Health, the global leader in whole-person virtual care. The Marketing team at Teladoc Health in Canada is responsible for bringing the Teladoc Health brand and multi-product offering to life across the country, with an increasing focus on awareness. As a leader, Rebecca believes in professional development and empowering people’s curiosity. She is inviting other approaches, ideas, and mindsets to the organization’s solution-oriented methodology.

Rebecca says, “Stay curious!” Whether working at the VP level in financial services, representing the blood system overseas, or now as the head of marketing for the Canadian division of Teladoc Health, she remains tenaciously curious. “During the first lockdown, I taught myself how to build a window seat. Last summer, I started beekeeping and teaching my children about our role in conservation. While those examples may not be directly related to my career, they support me in understanding how things work. Nurturing my curiosity unlocks capabilities that helps me with my job.” She also understands that we’re all a work in progress. Rebecca aims to learn from the people around her. While she may be in a leadership position, she wants the unique perspectives and opinions of the people she works with and the opportunity to learn from their experiences. “Feedback is a gift, and when we open ourselves up to an honest discussion and embrace improvement as an opportunity, we grow exponentially as humans, personally and professionally.”

“Teladoc Health is the world’s only integrated virtual care system for delivering, enabling, and empowering whole-person health—from wellness and prevention to acute care to complex healthcare needs.”

Wondering what draws people like Rebecca to Teladoc Health? It is one of the world’s most experienced and largest virtual health organizations, which means it offers all its technological capabilities to Canadians and localizes them to match their specific needs. Teladoc Health’s products also integrate with the public healthcare system and partner through employer insurance plans. Services cover a variety of care options, including telemedicine for non-emergency conditions, mental health services, resources, and expert services that help people make informed decisions with confidence. As a result, Teladoc Health is empowering people worldwide to live their healthiest lives, expediting the adoption of virtual care, and empowering more people and organizations around the globe to access high-quality healthcare.

Throughout her career, Rebecca says, “kindness and compassion didn’t always win the day,” and reflects on junctures in her career where she observed people thriving by being the opposite. Finding relatable leaders who embody the same meaningful values, believing in trust and teamwork doesn’t come easy. She focuses on supporting and celebrating her peers and colleagues, fostering an environment where women lift each other up. “We need to focus on building corporate cultures that set the workplace ecosystem up for success, regardless of gender.” Rebecca adds, “in my opinion, becoming a leader is a choice. You don’t need to manage a team or lead an organization to be a leader. You choose leadership. Sometimes it’s thrust upon us, and even then, the choice in how we respond is ours.” IEWL

Teladoc Health

Management

Rebecca SampsonDirector, Marketing – Canadian Division at Teladoc Health

Description

Teladoc Health is on a mission to empower all people everywhere to live healthier lives by transforming the healthcare experience. Recognized as the world leader in whole-person virtual care, Teladoc Health addresses the full spectrum of health and well-being — powered by human expertise, advanced technology and insights—to deliver improved clinical outcomes at scale. Serving more than 175 countries and ranked Best in KLAS for Virtual Care Platforms in 2020, Teladoc Health leverages extensive expertise and data-driven insights to meet the growing healthcare needs of consumers and healthcare professionals.

Kenny Soto, Student Of The Internet, VaynerMedia

I am not a financial expert nor a certified financial advisor, so please take this article as sheer anecdotal evidence. These are the resources I used to get out of debt and manage my finances. What works for me will be completely different for you.

You’re the only one responsible for your financial education

Managing a budgeting, knowing the difference between stocks and bonds, setting up a retirement plan—all of this can be overwhelming when you graduate college. However, we are ultimately the only ones responsible for our financial education. The good news is that we have a tool that can help us: Google. There are thousands of resources (books, articles, videos, and podcasts) that are available to us that are both free and of little cost. The way I personally got started on my personal finance journey was by reading books, but you can use any number of resources to teach yourself. Below is a list of recommended resources that I used to get started:

Rich Dad Poor Dad was the first book I read on personal finance. It helped me get a better understanding of why financial education is so important. I had no concern for learning about money while attending college. It was a taboo subject and I being a first generation citizen, believed that focusing on school and getting my degree was enough to get by. But no one was going to provide me the tools I needed to manage my finances. The main takeaway I got from this book was the importance of managing the four pillars of my budget: Assets, Income, Expenses, and Liabilities. Understanding the differences between these four budgeting categories will give you a better sense of where your money is going and how your spending is affecting your circumstances in the long term.

When I was ready to start investing, a fraternity brother of mine gave me this book (I’m forever indebted to him for this). This book covers the basics of mutual funds, ETFs, how stocks and bonds work, and basic tips on how to get started in investing (with just $25 a month). It’s a short read and makes investing seem very practical. There are definitely other books out in the market that can teach what’s in this one, but Charles has a way of distilling information into simple and actionable advice.

Ramit Sethi’s blog on personal finance: I Will Teach You To Be RichIf you’re not a fan of reading books or long videos, this blog by author Ramirez Sethi provides tips on how to manage your personal finances and setting up systems for automating all of the heavy lifting of saving and investing. He also has tactics you can use to negotiate the amount of money you pay for your current bills. It’s updated on a regular basis so I highly recommend subscribing to his newsletter too.

These are two financial planning and credit card management podcasts that were recommended to me by my Mother. I love how practical both of these podcasts are. You don’t need a million dollars to be financially independent and happy. You just need tips to manage your debt and income, which these podcasts can help you do. I learned about the difference between closing and freezing a credit card from these podcasts, I didn’t even know that was a thing I could do.

Lastly, I also suggest having conversations with your friends and family about their philosophies on spending, saving, and investing. Find perspectives that challenge your own opinion and seek what works best for you. I would have never learned about the resources I just listed without actively seeking advice from people I knew and by Googling what I wanted to learn. The most important thing to remember is that this just my personal list of resources. You need to explore and create your own, that’s the key to making sure you continuously educate yourself.

Set up systems to manage your finances

The first time I set my budget I was nineteen years old. I didn’t follow my budget until I was 22. The reason being, like many of my peers I fell into the trap of believing the heavy lifting of managing my money was simply by listing all of my monthly expenses. What I didn’t know was that I needed to set up a system to track all of my money coming in and out. I didn’t understand what it meant to manage my cash flow. More importantly, I didn’t set time to regularly check my budget and ensure I wasn’t overspending.

So let’s start with the first step to creating a personal money management system: adding a budget review to your calendar. You don’t need to check your budget on a weekly basis. Bi-weekly is fine, so long as you make sure you always have a sense of where your money comes and goes.

Only after setting time to regularly review your budget should you create one. I use a visual dashboard for not only tracking cash flow but, for setting saving and investing goals. Budgeting apps can help you do this. They help you discover where you are overspending, how much you need to allocate for your savings goals each week, and if your bills are on track to getting paid. There are many options to choose from so for deciding the one that’s right for you, just go for ease of use.

Two other apps I recommend you use, specifically for hitting your savings goals and paying your bills on time are both Olivia and Digit. Digit allows you to set up mini-savings accounts for each monthly bill you have and it automatically takes money from your checking account and gives it back to you one business day before your bill is due. Olivia is a new personal finance assistant that allows you to know how much to spend on a daily basis so you can stay on track for your saving goals. When you combine these two services, alongside a budgeting app, you’ll start managing your money better (automation is the best).

The fastest way to paying off debt

One of the biggest concerns one could have when starting their career is tackling debt. Whenever you take out a loan or set up a credit card you aren’t losing money off of the principal (the money you borrow). What keeps you in the in the hole of debt for months, even years on end is the interest that you pay on top of the principal.This is commonly understood by most, however what we don’t consider when paying the minimum payment on these loans and cards is how the minimum payment is designated. By paying the minimum, you are maximizing the amount of time the creditor loaning you the money has you as an asset. This means that you need to pay more than the minimum monthly payment in order to pay less at the end of your payment period. My approach was paying double the minimum payment in order to get out of my debt faster. And whenever I got the chance, I would also make lump sum deposits to further shorten my loan repayment periods.

Spending habits are what get you out and keep you out of debt
Everyone’s situation is different. Some of us only have one student loan and maybe one credit card with a small balance when graduating. However, there are extreme cases where we graduate having six credit cards and over sixty grand in student loans with no hope in sight. The only way out is not only by setting up systems to audit our finances, we need to also consider how we approach money. How do we approach personal finance?

You don’t need multiple credit cards so you can collect those fancy points that they provide. Creditors use reward points to gamify debt, and debt isn’t fun when you have to pay it back (no matter how many “points” you have). When it comes to buying food, I try my best to bring lunch from home for at least 2/5 meals I have a week. One of the biggest expense categories I have is food. It’s important to save every penny by sacrificing up front so that your future-self has less stress and fewer bills. Once you create money-saving habits and pay off all of your debt, your final challenge is staying out of debt.

This is the point where my personal story ends, for now. My current approach to staying out of debt is by keeping my current monthly payments I used to get out and I’m now allocating them to my emergency fund and my investment accounts (50/50 split accordingly). I truly believe that paying off your debt is an achievable goal, but it all starts with education and creating systems that automatically allocate your money across accounts for you.

Michelle Hoffman, Chief Marketing Officer, Callbox Storage, has more than 20 years of experience in advertising, sales, digital marketing, public relations, and operations in the automotive, entertainment, consumer goods/services, and retail industries. She is a passionate, creative, data-driven marketer who can see the numbers’ story. She enjoys solving complex problems and can provide solutions to take businesses to the next level. At Callbox Storage, she came in as the first Chief Marketing Officer and has transformed the business. As a result, the company is reaching more customers than ever before.

Michelle believes in empowering women and serves as a support in many ways. She is a member of Chief, Women in Film, Women in Film Dallas, and has previously served on the Women’s Executive Round Table. She has mentored dozens of people in her career and believes in building up others and helping them achieve their fullest potential. Michelle believes in hiring and surrounding herself with the best talent. Even as a senior leader, she still comes to work with an open mind and is ready to learn. She invests in her people through training and development and helps understand her team’s personal and professional goals. She believes in her team and sometimes even pushes them outside their comfort zone because she sees the potential.

Some on the outside might think that Michelle is lucky to be where she is. She agrees that she is lucky, but she also has had great mentors and people who believed in her. Because others believed in her drive and passion for achieving her personal goals, she worked hard to ensure her success. “I’ve learned to appreciate others that take an interest in your success. Sometimes, we think we can do it all on our own, but I’ve realized over the years that you can’t do it without an involved, caring support team. Welcome these people into your life. Learn from them. Give back to them. Thank them,” says the pioneering leader who is taking the company to new heights with her creativity.

The origin of Callbox Storage traces back to 2016 in Dallas, Texas. The founders, Kyle Bainter and Dan Slaven, had a goal — to overcome the all-too-common moving challenges and simplify the storage process for customers. During a remodel of his home, Kyle Bainter was not looking forward to spending 90% of his day carrying items out to his vehicle, loading it up, driving to a nearby self-storage location, and unloading them again. But at the time, there wasn’t another option, so he decided to sell his stuff instead. But during this process, a unique business idea came to his mind.

Kyle and Dan shared a mutual passion for improving the self-storage experience, and both knew there was a better way to approach it. That’s when they arrived at the idea to offer a service that will come to consumers and pick up their items for them, something they call “off-site storage.” And just like that, the worst parts of self-storage suddenly disappeared. No more back and forth. No more sacrificing an entire day. Now there’s a service that does it all for people — Callbox Storage. In 2022, Callbox Storage acquired Gozova, an online moving and storage marketplace that matches consumers and businesses with local moving and storage companies.

“We will pick up, barcode/inventory your items and then store them at our climate-controlled warehouses. What is unique is that many people consider us the “Uber” of the moving and storage space. We pick and return items on demand, so you don’t have to ever set foot in a storage unit again,” says Michelle describing the company’s unique offerings. “Our business is growing! It’s amazing to see how excited customers are about our services. Every day we strive to give the best customer experience.”

The company is proud to support organizations move, hotel and senior living installations, and commercial storage and warehousing through Callbox Logistics. Callbox Logistics is part of a nationwide network that enables them to provide commercial logistics services throughout the continental United States. “We have a strong track record of exceptional service in not only the residential space with Callbox Storage, but also on the business and commercial side with Callbox Logistics.” WL

The MIL Corporation’s COO, Marisa Daley, is a high-energy business professional who brings her dynamic personality and progressive leadership to the executive offices of MIL. Marisa uses her open and welcoming communication style to build strong personal and professional connections within and outside of the company. Her leadership approach is fueled by a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as she champions initiatives to strengthen and enrich MIL’s corporate culture. These efforts have encouraged a free-flowing exchange of ideas among her colleagues and the freedom to be innovative, which has helped surface many creative ideas. Marisa focuses a sizable portion of her time and talent on strengthening MIL’s business development capability and cultivating cross-collaboration among teams.

Marisa started her career on Wall Street in a highly male-dominated environment. “To compete, I thought I had to adapt my style of dress and adopt a more masculine behavior to fit in. After years of adapting and adopting to create a persona that wasn’t truly authentic, I came to realize that I shouldn’t need to be other than who I am, and that I’m enough just as I am,” says Marisa. “I now believe that if you work diligently and produce exceptional results, you cannot and will not be denied. So ultimately, I think the most significant barrier in my career was man-made—or more accurately woman made—as I thought as a woman I had to act differently to compete and succeed. In truth, I really just needed to believe more in my own abilities and execute accordingly, and then let my performance be judged on its merits.”

Having worked and struggled a bit within a very patriarchal culture, Marisa understands the barriers women experience in traditionally male-dominated industries. Her personal story has informed her desire to help other women professionals excel and not allow themselves to be handicapped by perceived or even real obstacles to success. “My advice is usually pretty straightforward: believe in your own value and work to the level you are comfortable with; there really isn’t a right or wrong approach or outcome,” adds Marisa. “If you truly want to be a great leader, you have to believe in and be true to yourself. Your authenticity will drive your relationships, your ability to lead, and the belief others have in you.”

“Marisa uses her open and welcoming communication style to build strong personal and professional connections within and outside of the company.”

For Marisa, the significant component of being a female leader is being a mom of three. Children want and expect their mom to be there for them. At the same time, a leader’s team and clients also expect them to be attentive to their needs. There’s a delicate balancing act that ensues to meet those competing interests. “The big lesson I’ve learned is that mistakes are inevitable; you’re going to make them so it’s vital that you learn from them. Recognize your errors and quickly figure out a remediation plan, and then use those lessons learned to inform your decisions further down the road,” says the steadfast leader, who armed with these qualities, is taking the company to new heights.

MIL was founded in 1980 by two industry veterans after careers spent at different levels within the government contracting field. After working at large and small companies and seeing the struggles and deficiencies at both ends of the spectrum, MIL’s founders wanted to create a company that could leverage large company resources and capabilities while maintaining the responsiveness, hands-on approach, and personal touch of a much smaller enterprise. Their mission statement at the time was People Making the Difference, as they recognized that a service company’s product is its people. “As current COO of that same company, which still operates under that same mandate, it’s up to me to carry it forward and deliver the quality services that matter most to our customers.”

MIL’s motto is People Making a Difference, and this is true. But internally, their unofficial motto is Making a Difference for Our People. “We value our employees because they dedicate themselves to making their clients successful. We set them up for success by keeping company demands to a minimum. We support them through our fully dedicated and fully staffed Corporate Service Center, and they, in turn, use their energies to support our customers.” IEWL

The MIL Corporation

Management

Marisa Daley
Chief Operating Officer of The MIL Corporation

Description

Established in 1980, MIL provides innovative cyber, engineering, financial, and information technology services to the federal government. Creative, highly skilled professionals are what set us apart. Dedicated to excellence, service, and support, MIL recognizes that sustained high-quality service delivery is the most important contributor to our success.Our proven ability to retain existing customers (several for over 25 years) and build long-term relationships is proof of the MIL commitment and is a direct result of the outstanding performance of our team.

Sandra Fraga, Chief Sales & Marketing officer at SYSPRO, has extensive experience building successful global sales and marketing strategies and teams. Having spent most of her career in the IT industry, being tenacious and determined has enabled Sandra to implement transformational strategies and plans to ensure that SYSPRO continues to grow and thrive across the globe. “I am an appreciator of innovation, creativity and data-driven decision making and I approach and drive sales and marketing in a way that adds value to the unique business demands of each manufacturing and distribution customer,” says Sandra. “With a customer and partner first approach, together with my teams, I am focused on creating customer success by nurturing relationships and building communities.”

According to Sandra, women have an integral role in the workplace. Her passion lies in the upliftment of female leaders at SYSPRO and in being a mentor to aspiring young talent and entrepreneurs. “The reality is that we still face gender biases, but women have a strong role to play as critical thinkers, offering pragmatic solutions that are innovative and empathetic,” explains Sandra. “To empower women leaders within my team and organization I continue to motivate and encourage them in their career and self-development through coaching and mentoring – allowing each individual to take ownership and accountability of their development while being supported by the business.”

This passion has led Sandra to take on the role of program sponsor for the SYSPRO Women in Leadership Program. The initiative aims to attract and encourage women to take on leadership roles within the organization and includes workshops, networking sessions, online courses, and mentoring. Taking place over six months, the Women in Leadership Program looks to develop leadership skills, an understanding of the latest technology trends, resilience, and personal branding.

The SYSPRO Women in Leadership Program is one of the many ways that the company addresses the gender gap in the tech industry and encourages more women to occupy various positions at all levels of the organization. “As female leaders we have the ability to create human connections and demonstrate genuine empathy. We are pragmatic in our approach and resourceful. Studies have shown that female leaders encourage a culture of innovation, boost employee engagement, foster deep customer relationships all of which deliver better financial performance and profitability for a business,” elucidates Sandra. With this approach, Sandra has been taking the company to new heights.

“As a business we are relentlessly focused on market growth and penetration, serving the manufacturing and distribution sectors, offering deep industry specialization, building meaningful and trusted relationships with our customers, partners, and global teams,” says Sandra.

One of the company’s latest business achievements was the launch of the SYSPRO Cloud ERP deployment option for global manufacturers and distributors. Designed to make things possible in critical industries, SYSPRO Cloud ERP provides businesses with the agility to meet evolving market demands amidst ongoing supply chain challenges. SYSPRO Cloud ERP offers manufacturers multiple benefits, including the ability to collaborate in real-time, the ability to adopt best industry practices, the proficiency to customize requirements and reduce IT Infrastructure, resilience, and management costs, and the ability to future-proof operations.

“As we move into the future as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, my goal is to grow the business and focus on becoming a customer and partner centric business. Amplifying the SYSPRO brand and leveraging digital platforms and tools to reach our customers and prospects as their sales journey increasingly shifts digitally.” WL

Jasmine Lombardi, Locus Robotics’ Chief Customer Officer, is a dynamic, successful, goal-oriented, and adaptable senior management executive with remarkable and established management and leadership credentials. Jasmine manages and leads one of the largest teams in the company, Customer Success. She leads the company’s most strategic positions in customer lifecycle management, including deployment/implementation, support, account management, and field services, as well as optimization of the robotics solution to maximise customers’ lifetime value. This Customer Success team is key to Locus Robotics’ land and grow strategy. Locus has risen to the top of the AMR market as a result of this strategy.

Jasmine says, “Being an Asian woman in a male-dominated industry, there are times that being respected and accepted of any ideas/solutions can be a challenge. Knowledge, confidence, and executive presence are key to working in a male-dominated industry. One would need to hold her own in listening, understanding the customer business problems and be able to utilize knowledge, technical expertise, and soft skills (analytical, problem solving, great communication) to gain the trust and respect from the customers. This takes effort and grit by studying and learning the technologies (robotics and business applications) behind the solution as well as the industry, operational challenges to speak the language and have empathy and appreciation for what the customers are facing. Building great relationships with the customers by going above and beyond what they need increases trust and partnership. As the CCO of Locus Robotics, the motto of the CS team is built on making our customers successful and relationships are key. We are our customers’ trusted advisors and long-term partners.”

Locus Robotics provides a proven robotics-enabled warehouse execution platform that powers the digital warehouse by coordinating labor and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) through dynamic optimization algorithms and real-time operational performance data. Unlike other warehouse automation solutions, Locus Robotics’ unique multi-bot solution delivers increasingly intelligent warehouse execution, flexible operational scalability, and unparalleled time to realized value. Built by logistics experts for logistics experts, Locus Robotics combine 250+ years of experience in technology, robotics, and warehousing with a commitment to customer success to deliver a purpose-built, total solution that optimizes inbound and outbound warehouse operations.

Customer Success at Locus plays a significant role in the business’s success. As the Chief Customer Officer, Jasmine manages the customer success team by overseeing the strategy of implementations, deployments, support, and optimization. With the boom of e-commerce and the need to automate the warehouse industry, Jasmine was tapped to join Locus Robotics in 2016 as the Chief Customer Officer to start the Customer Success organization. In the short 5 years, the Customer Success organization has grown from a team of one in October 2016 to a team of 70 members by the end of 2021. Locus Robotics’ mission is to address these challenges in the supply chain. Locus Robotics had achieved unicorn status in Series E funding in Feb 2021. This year, Locus Robotics was recognized as the Fastest-Growing Private Company in Massachusetts by Boston Business Journal, and awarded the 2021 Global AMR Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan. Locus Robotics has the highest net retention in the robotics industry.

Over the previous 15 years, Jasmine Lombardi has learned a lot about leading a team and using the best strategies to reduce churn and establish a strong customer base. Hiring the right people, empowering them, organizing around the major goals & deliverables, organizing around team concept, focusing on the right goals & measuring them, creating career paths in structure, identifying the strengths and weaknesses and developing the talent, creating structured processes to do things and working by their side are some of Jasmine’s key concepts and secrets to her success. Jasmine’s exceptional creativity, capacity to recognise changing customer needs and act accordingly for the company’s development and the satisfaction of the customer had made her a standout woman leader. IEWL

Locus Robotics

Management

Jasmine Lombardi
Chief Customer Officer at Locus Robotics

Description

We design and build business applications and innovative autonomous mobile robots that work collaboratively alongside workers in the fast-paced logistics and fulfilment industries. Workers can pick 2x-3x faster with near-100% accuracy and less labor, delivering higher productivity and a better workplace.

Diaan-Yi Lin, Senior Partner & Managing Partner,
McKinsey

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can benefit Southeast Asia in many ways, from making much-needed services more accessible, to enhancing the quality of jobs across the region. Attaining these improvements won’t be easy, but positive outcomes will be more likely if the right investments, education programs, and policies are in place.The good news is that all of ASEAN’s member states are engaged in AI research already, with Singapore leading in multiple industries. In a recent paper, my colleagues at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and I explored the implications of this activity: how it can help the region, and what companies and governments can do to maximize the benefits of AI.

Three of MGI’s findings on the potential of AI for Southeast Asia stood out to me.

1. AI technologies can help provide services that millions of Southeast Asians truly need.
AI could expand access to financial services, power new models for providing health care, and develop personalized learning plans for everyone from schoolchildren to mid-career professionals, among other applications. In an example from outside Southeast Asia, Alibaba used advanced analytics to develop Zhima Credit, an in-house credit bureau in China. In ASEAN, such a service could help financial institutions lend to unbanked groups.

2. AI technologies can improve the working lives of Southeast Asians.
AI is essential to most forms of automation, from machine learning to robotics. And automated equipment and computer systems can be used to perform many of the activities that human workers do today, including repetitive and physically stressful tasks. That would free humans to concentrate on work requiring creativity and thought.

3. AI can create value for companies and consumers. MGI’s research suggests that early adopters of AI report higher profit margins—and return the extra value to consumers, so they can set themselves apart from competitors. Financial services, high tech, and telecom companies in ASEAN have led the way in adopting AI technologies. The providers of public services like health care and transportation have also embraced certain AI applications. According to MGI’s estimates for Southeast Asia, organizations that proactively adopt AI could create nearly more $900 billion in economic value than their less proactive peers.

AI’s prospects for creating economic and social benefits in Southeast Asia do not ensure that the technology will be deployed quickly or widely. But several courses of action identified by MGI can help accelerate and broaden the adoption of AI.

1. Companies can ramp up their investments in AI.
As noted above, it appears likely that early adopters of AI will capture most of the benefits. Tech giants, mostly in China and the United States, have made more than three-fourths of all AI investments to date. In ASEAN, companies in the finance, high tech, and telecom sectors account for more than half of the region’s AI applications. Investment and innovation have been slower in manufacturing and transportation, the two sectors that MGI sees as having the largest untapped opportunities to create value with AI.business model capability).

2. Companies can make profound changes to the way they do business.
Some businesses in ASEAN have seen their AI initiatives come up short because they aren’t set up to make full use of the technology. Telecom operators, for example, have struggled to scale up their uses of AI because they lack the right digital talent. The playbook for adopting AI is similar to that for adopting other digital technologies: create robust systems for collecting, organizing, and storing data; embrace a culture of making decisions based on data; and train and hire the right talent, from the data scientists who work directly with AI systems, to “business translators” who act as an intellectual bridge between managers and technical experts.

3. Governments can guide the development of AI toward positive social outcomes.
By creating region-wide policies, ASEAN can help expand the development and adoption of AI technologies. Policies that make the regional data environment more open, safeguard user privacy as well as intellectual property, and respond to cybersecurity threats could all be considered in this regard. National governments in the region could also make seed investments in hubs for AI innovation, talent development, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.

4. Companies and governments can work together to manage the labor dynamics that AI will create.
Looking again at automation (which is not synonymous with AI, but does relate to it closely), MGI estimates that just 5 percent of occupations could be fully automated with current technologies, while many more could be partly automated. Helping people to adjust to the resulting changes in their occupations will likely involve coordinated action by companies and governments. Governments, for example, might look at how their investments in lifelong education can help workers develop the skills to succeed in the digital economy, while business leaders can help reorganize roles and organizational structures to maximize the time that workers spend on higher-value activities.MGI’s research strongly suggests that AI can benefit large numbers of people — and that institutions across the region can maximize the economic and social gains from this technological shift. This will, however, require reskilling and upskilling of talent to ensure that people are prepared for the changes. Earlier advances in technology have given Southeast Asia’s companies and governments valuable experience in navigating economic transitions that were brought about by innovation. I am confident that we can draw on this experience to steer the development of AI toward positive outcomes.

The Distinct Ink has a fresh outlook and approach to the promotional industry, and Evie Marcotte has been the driving force for this approach. Armed with a staff that ranges from members who have been in the industry with years of experience to those who are new to the industry with expertise in entirely different industries, Evie has been taking the company to new heights. “This diversity allows us to have a unique point of view and adapt quickly to changes and transitions industry-wide,” says Evie.

Distinct Ink is a woman-owned business located in downtown Wichita, Kansas. Evie and her ‘Gurus’ have over 25 years combined experience in the promo product and apparel industry, including imprinting, embroidery, promotional merchandise, and corporate gifts. The team is fiercely committed to their company values and service to their clients. Their ability to put God first, control the client experience, and drive and embrace innovation make them unforgettable in the industry.

Evie and her company are active in their local community through groups designed just for women. The Hive and The Thread are two networks in which Evie and her other female gurus are involved. “This has put us in a position to meet other small business owners and allowed us to assist them with their branding needs,” she says. Evie leads her team through her drive, work ethic, and positivity. She highly values and desires the ability to be a solid support system for her team. Evie takes a ‘do what you say you’re going to do’ approach, stays true to the values, and believes communication is a key component to continued success!

“Finding success will always be a moving target for me. We have come a long way in the short 5 years, but we also have a long way to go. My advice would be to trust the process and stay true to yourself always. Hard work beats talent,” adds Evie. “When I started The Distinct Ink, I had no leadership experience. I jumped all in with no clue what I was getting into or a full understanding of how difficult the journey ahead would prove to be. I came from a sales role where I was in full control of myself and my clients.”

She quickly discovered managing people is significantly different than managing herself. “I made myself vulnerable and an active listener. I made the decision early on to lead with compassion and strength, even if I didn’t have it that day. There was a lot of self-taught lessons along the way as I transitioned from prioritizing myself to prioritizing others,” explains Evie. “My big emotions tend to take over and I must reel myself back in. As we grew, I quickly realized each employee goes through different seasons. I am now in a position to support and help guide others through those seasons. Helping others is empowering and fulfilling in my role as a female leader.”

It is pertinent to mention, The Distinct Ink is actively growing its in-house production options. The latest addition to their product line-up is direct to garment printer. This has given Evie and her team a competitive edge on quality control and turn times. “Our online platforms continue to grow as we mature with this trend,” she asserts. “To date, our biggest achievement is putting ourselves in a position for growth even through a pandemic. The world shut down and our employees kept going and kept moving forward together. We grew through it! We have had lots of victories and a few failures. We do not let the failures drag us down, instead we learn from them and keep pushing.”

The Distinct Ink is just getting started. Currently, its focus is on growing its sales staff. “This year we are adapting to the pivot. Right now, my 5-year plan includes adding production, growing the internal staff and either finding a new building or a building expansion at our current location,” says Evie. “I give our commitment to our customers and our employees the credit for our success. We hold a lot of pride in our customer service and that along with the value we bring has taken us far.” WL

The Business Value of Security

What is the business value of security? If a product owner is making decisions about how to prioritize user stories, features, or work items, how does he or she decide how to prioritize work items related…

“Tatiana Miller, Founder, RX4Life is both highly intuitive and intelligent, allowing her to connect with the individual or group that she is working with. She is a gifted speaker and teacher who accepts and acknowledges the great responsibility of living a life in service to promote better overall well-being and mental health within her community. Tatiana is a compassionate listener and can interact with her clients in a way that makes them feel seen and heard. Exhibiting these qualities, she is able to go in and influence elegant solutions for schools and places of work facing challenging topics. She transforms and positively impacts those around her by teaching thoughtful and emotionally intelligent content that are aligned with creating unity in her life, the community, and the world.” The above words have been penned by Miquelle Ringler, Owner of Satya Yoga Therapy. She has thoughtfully described Tatiana as exhibiting the qualities and confidence of a steadfast leader.

Founded in 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas by Tatiana Miller and her husband physiologist Tripp Miller, RX4Life provides its patients every resource for holistic healing. The two were named “Two of the top ten yogis changing the world” by Origin magazine are featured Yoga Experts on ehow.com, where their online videos are shared to many yogis world-wide.

Tatiana has been hailed as an inspiration for many. She helps those in need by assisting them in finding the internal conflict holding them back. She has culminated into a safe psychological space to vent and explore what best suits each person and how they can align their mind, body, and spirit to show up the best version of themselves in their life. “The entrepreneurship road as well as the executive path is lonely at times, and requires unrelenting effort, and commitment to the long game. I strive to coach each client to face their limiting beliefs, challenge their self-sabotage, and find their way,” explains Tatiana.

The practices of Holistic Medicine frame Tatiana’s approach to health and well-being. Her groundbreaking work helped integrate eastern and western medicine by establishing the nation’s first Integrative Medicine program while she was part of the Neurology Pain Team. In her journey, she has been an international presenter, facilitator, lecturer, and honorarium professor for a university and community college. She also co-founded a non-profit that helps provide mental health services for those in need by giving youth tools to manage their emotions mindfully. Her children’s books are available on Amazon and benefit Rx4Life non-profit. Her weekly radio show, How to Be a Human, airs on a local radio station and all podcast platforms. As a consultant and learning and development facilitator, looking at the whole person, not just the tasks people perform, but how they feel, how they show up, and how this affects engagement, satisfaction, and motivation is what makes leaders.

According to Tatiana, the transformational aspect of an employee, the part that feels and has to process and regulate, has been largely ignored. Organizations finally realize that they must support all facets of a person, not just the part that performs tasks or transactions. “I have been begging to help employees for over a decade and now there is a demand. My biggest focus to make each interaction with a client an opportunity to inspire, to give them tools and help them move away from suffering and numbness,” she elucidates. “Anxiety and Depression are at the highest humanity has ever seen. It is the number one reason people cannot function, with depression being projected by the WHO (World Health Organization) to be the number one global burden by 2030. Most adults were never given the resources or tools to understand emotional intelligence and how to manage stress, this is what I seek to do!”

Tatiana’s most significant achievement has been the incorporation of eastern and western medicine with the establishment of the nation’s first Integrative Medicine program. At the same time, she was part of the Neurology Pain Team. Her program took a holistic approach utilizing aspects of holistic medicine and yoga therapy to treat pain. Working one-on-one with patients inspired her to write two children’s books, so they had something to take home as a follow-up to learning how to manage their emotions mindfully.

“I am about to launch an online self-development course, Rx 4 Life, that is designed to guide individuals to align their mind, body, and spirit so that they can feel how they want to feel and stop self-sabotaging themselves by staying stuck, numb, in pain, or suffering,” says Tatiana. “I have been working on being able to provide free mental health services to schools, colleges, and universities in order to give tools to youth to empower them to handle stress and mindfully manage their emotions. For the future, my hope is to continue to do corporate consulting and do more one-on-one coaching with executives.” WL