After many years in a client seat, Jennifer Kelly Dominiquini started Frontline Strategy Advisors to help companies grow. Her advisory work focuses on strategy development, enhancing the client experience, digital transformation, marketing optimization, and leveraging analytics to drive profitable, sustainable growth. While Jennifer s clients come from multiple industries, most recently, her focus has been on financial services and retail, both industries in the throes of change. The company is called Frontline Strategy Advisors since people are key to strategic success. An effective strategy must be informed by and engaged with the workforce, from the corporate teams to the frontlines.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Jennifer’s role is to grow the business by developing new client relationships and deepening relationships with our existing ones. She serves as Chief Storyteller, showcasing how Frontline Strategy Advisors has helped clients design and execute success.

“Our business often partners with like-minded individuals and companies to deliver a complete solution for our clients so I also serve as Chief Partnership Officer. Lastly, I am always looking for new practice areas, tools, or solutions we can develop for our clients, so I often play an innovation role as well.”

After fifteen years in consulting, including eight years overseas and after completing her Executive MBA at the University of Chicago, Jennifer decided to move to the client-side with her first role being Chief Marketing Officer for several divisions of Kmart and Sears (fitness, sporting goods, seasonal and toys). She learned much about data-driven analytics and digital marketing during her retail days. She became Chief Marketing Officer at an interactive company that owned several web properties, including evite.com, where she continued to gain a practical understanding of digital marketing. Jennifer was enjoying the strategic challenges of retain until one day she received a call from a recruiter looking to fill a Chief Marketing Officer role for a bank interested in someone who understands digital transformation, digital marketing at a practical level, and someone who can bring lessons learned from other industries. That phone call began Jennifer’s pivot into financial services where she has led marketing, digital sales, analytics for several organization including a bank, a credit union and a mortage company. “That made sense to me, since even though I wasn’t a banker there were many lessons learned in retail that were very transferrable to financial services.”

Frontline Strategy Advisors’ mission is to help companies and people thrive through smarter and stronger brands and businesses. Far too often, the role of people is underestimated when it comes to strategy. “Our point of view is that strategy can’t succeed if it not understood and believed throughout the organization. Strategy needs to be simple and each person in the organization needs to understand their role in living it.”

With decades of practical experience in operations, marketing, and management on the client-side in a wide range of industries (from B2B, CPG, retail, financial services, etc.), Jennifer’s team knows how to work across the organization to drive change and growth and takes a practical approach to ensure that plans can be executed. They know what it’s like to implement a strategy when resources are constrained or times are tough. “Our services include strategic plan development, market experimentation, digital capability building, marketing budget optimization, solution development, client experience enhancements and more,” explains Jennifer. “In some cases, we serve as a fractional member of the team to fill in for an open role and in other cases we serve as an outside advisor to ask the tough questions and challenge the status quo to help the company see new perspectives and opportunities.”

Frontline Strategy Advisors is all about relationships, so Jennifer’s role in helping the company develop long-time relationships with the clients. They are always staying on top of trends in the industry to evolve their offerings and ensure that they keep relevant to client needs.

“One thing I have learned is that there is no one perfect path in a career.

Everything is additive. When it comes to a career journey, its progress not perfection. It may have felt rocky at times but every single step in my career has laddered up to a larger big picture.” Jennifer adds, “I have learned to be grateful for each step of the way, learn from my lessons learned, work to my strengths but challenge them and build on them along the way. Lastly, I have tried to remain grateful for every experience, whether positive or less than so. With a positive outlook and an attitude of gratitude I find that I enjoy my journey, challenges and opportunities even more.” IEWL

Masha Dinaburg is an Associate Principal with over 30 years of diverse engineering experience, including office high-rise residential and apartment buildings, mixed-use developments, central heating and refrigeration plants, pharmaceutical facilities, government facilities, hotels, and universities. She is responsible for all aspects of HVAC engineering, from system requirements through completion of construction, as well as cost estimates, energy conservation studies, and project management.

Masha is a support system to the female business owners who are trying hard to establish themselves. She states, “Well, I’d say for any female owners to not only break any stereotypes but to be a pioneer in your field. You only can succeed if you are passionate about your job. I feel like you have to love what you are doing. So persist and continue your education to be a frontrunner.” She has also been inspiring and empowering team members to become great leaders of tomorrow because she is a big believer in leading by example. “So, I have very high demands for myself, as I focus on the quality of my work. And by working closely with my team members I am trying to guide them to their succession,” adds Masha.

MG Engineering (MGE), formed in 1991, is a full-service consulting engineering firm specializing in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, fire alarm, lighting and commissioning/sustainability services. In addition, they offer information technology, premise security, and audiovisual services through their technology firm MGE Unified Technologies. MGE engineers and designers are exclusively qualified to solve today’s varied and complex engineering problems. MGE operates on the cutting edge of technological innovation and delivers the engineering solutions of tomorrow today. Their collective engineering experience covers a broad range of sectors including but not limited to residential and mixed-use developments, corporate interiors, building infrastructure, retail, hospitality, healthcare, educational, institutional, nursing home/assisted living, laboratory and research, governmental, data/telecommunication centers, restaurants, theaters, and cultural/recreational.

Masha has been working in the engineering field for over 30 years. “I love engineering and view every project that I had completed as a success story. My role over these 30 years has changed, but my excitement of coming to the project site to see each completed building makes me proud every time,” she elucidates. “It’s amazing to see hundreds of my completed projects used for residential, hotels, offices, schools, pharmaceutical, and medical facilities. All of them are changing their neighborhoods in positive ways. But if I was to take anything from my career it isn’t so much about valuing the results, as great as they can be. Instead, I have realized that you must enjoy the journey of creating each project, and the personal evolution that comes with it.”

During her career journey, Masha has learned several leadership lessons. Still, the most important one she shares is, “As a female leader I recognize that having strong organizational skills and the ability to negotiate are among some characteristics that I can recognize in other female leaders.” Armed with such a unique ideology, Masha has taken the company to new heights.

MG Engineering (MGE), formed in 1991, is a full-service consulting engineering firm specializing in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, fire alarm, lighting and commissioning/sustainability services. In addition, they offer information technology, premise security, and audiovisual services through their technology firm MGE Unified Technologies. MGE engineers and designers are exclusively qualified to solve today’s varied and complex engineering problems. MGE operates on the cutting edge of technological innovation and delivers the engineering solutions of tomorrow today. Their collective engineering experience covers a broad range of sectors including but not limited to residential and mixed-use developments, corporate interiors, building infrastructure, retail, hospitality, healthcare, educational, institutional, nursing home/assisted living, laboratory and research, governmental, data/telecommunication centers, restaurants, theaters, and cultural/recreational.

One of the most significant achievements of MGE is growing at an unprecedented rate. Thanks to Masha and her team, the company found the necessary guidance to enhance themselves. “When I joined the company, I helped to create the current structure of the company by organizing teams. This restructuring helped to improve workload balance and the quality of our services.”

Masha wants to find more time to help her city with environmental and energy conservation goals using her engineering knowledge for the days to come. “I want to continue working with my partners to build a bigger and stronger company with more diverse portfolio of the projects.” She adds, “I realized that one of the most useful tools you can use is positivity. You must stay optimistic and go to your goal no matter what types of hurdles exist. Because when we are optimistic then we have a better ability to solve any problems.” WL

Description

MG Engineering D.P.C. (MGE) is a full-service engineering firm specializing in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, fire alarm, lighting, commissioning, and sustainability services. In addition, we offer information technology, premise security, and audiovisual services through our technology firm MGE Unified Technologies.

Throughout her life, Carole has led IT for a number of reputable companies where she worked with many great people who’ve aided in her definition of success. She has learned through every experience and interaction she has had — and that has led to her successful career as a leader. The best advice she can give to anyone is to be yourself. She says, “To me, happiness equals success, so trying to be something you are not won’t make you happy. More than likely, it will not create an environment that supports success.”

According to Carole Hodsdon, CIO of Help at Home, “There isn’t one definition of success or one road marker that says, “You are here – Success.” The steadfast leader has found success throughout her career and her life.

“To me, doing what makes you happy is success.” Carole says.

Carole strives to lead by example and believes authentic and servant leadership is the key to creating a successful team of highly engaged employees that do the same. “It is hard to lead a team that does not believe you are in the trenches alongside them. Staying connected to what your team is doing and how they are doing is important.”

“My team always knows I have their back,” says Carole when asked how she is leading for success.

In addition to her current role, leading Help at Home’s Information Technology organization with the goal to continue to improve the way the company leverages technology to enhance the client and caregiver experience, Carole is always mindful of continuous personal improvement.

“One personal goal I am working on is giving myself the grace to fail. If you are not willing to fail, you may never try something new and you are less likely to succeed.”

Currently, Carole believes that she can lead a successful team because of the support she receives all around her each day.

With that type of environment, she says she feels comfortable taking a risk and you cannot succeed without some educated risk. She feels that her leadership team at Help at Home are some of the best in the business because they create the right environment that leads to a recipe for building true success.

“One example of a challenge met with opportunity during COVID was an urgency to identify, develop, and deploy a mobile-friendly scheduling tool for caregivers with the goal to manage shift opportunities so the company could manage open caregiving schedules and avoid client care disruption,” says Carole.

Having that support throughout the pandemic, the most challenging environment that Carole has ever experienced, was key to her team leveraging and deploying innovative new industry technology. The result was the creation of vital solutions enabling the company to deliver on higher-quality, lower-cost outcome care models, advancing the future of home care.

Carole believes these innovative industry solutions are instrumental as the company relies on technology to support and improve the caregiver and client in-home care experiences. This in turn can lead to improved outcomes in cost and quality. Most importantly, technology serves a vital role to enable more seniors and must-serve populations to receive care and age in place in their homes, the preferred setting of care. And, with the purpose and mission of Help at Home, along with the support to try new things, Carole feels she is the most successful she has ever been. WL

Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, Founder & CEO of, Institute for Science, Entrepreneurship, and Investments is a healthcare executive, futurist, and globalist dedicated to digital and ethics advocacy. She is a passionate educator and entrepreneurship ecosystem builder, an expert speaker, board advisor, and consultant. Throughout her career, she has received several awards for excellence in research, teaching, or leadership. This past year she has been named one of the Top 100 Global Healthcare Leaders, Top 100 Global Finance Leaders, Top 100 Women Leaders, and Top 100 Women in Crypto. Additionally, she received the WBAF World Excellence in Entrepreneurship, the 2021 Excellence in Education Award, served as an Expert Advisor to the EU Blockchain Observatory Forum and was appointed to the UN Legal and Economic Empowerment Network Board.

Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes is the Founder and CEO of The Science, Entrepreneurship, and Investments Institute and currently serving as a Country Director for WBAF USA, Senator of WBAF, Faculty Member of the WBAF Business School-Division of Entrepreneurship, and teaching the Executive MBA Business Technology Course at the UM Business School.

She is also acting as the Chief Ethics Officer for GBA Global, Senator, and Chief Quality and Safety Officer at MEDNAX. In this capacity, she provides oversight for all quality and innovation initiatives across the enterprise, such as Telehealth, Blockchain, AI, Genomics, Precision Medicine, Population Health, Medical Simulation, and Value-Based Care. Additionally, she provides leadership to the MEDNAX Center for Research, Education, Quality, and Safety.

“Fortunately, I have not encountered any barriers due to being a woman, however I have witnessed bias against women numerous times through my career and have always strived to facilitate promotion of women leadership, women empowerment, women education and creation of career advancement opportunities for women globally,” says Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes. She is also inspiring and mentoring several young leaders. “Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to mentor many entrepreneurs and hopefully was able to inspire and empower them to impact change at a global scale. Throughout my professional and personal life, I have always emphasized the need for integrity, resilience and excellence in all our endeavors, as I believe them to be key ingredients for success.”

“Softhread is a technology company that deploys Chios™ – a blockchain and AI-enabled platform that allows organizations to operate faster and more efficiently, while preserving confidentiality and optimizing security.”

There have been numerous personal and career sacrifices throughout Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes’s career; however, they pale compared to those her family had to make for her to be the person and professional she has become today. “I am and will always be grateful to them for instilling the importance of maintaining integrity and striving for excellence in all my endeavors. While we can learn from others and be mentored for success, we must craft our destiny and original career journey,” elucidates Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes, who, with valuable knowledge, has been leading the institute to new heights

As a globalist and futurist dedicated to promoting education, innovation, and social impact Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes felt compelled to create an institute with a vision and mission closely aligned with her personal beliefs. The institute aims to be the primary catalyst for scientific and digitally driven entrepreneurship and promote sustainable economic growth. Its mission is to produce a state of the art knowledge sharing and educational resources and be the premier data intelligence, data analytics, and data-driven decision support partner for all stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. “Our team is proud to be involved in global initiatives that are designed to bridge the digital, generational and gender divide as we focus on education, knowledge sharing, social impact and optimizing the global entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes and her team are currently engaged in several global initiatives that revolve around digital ethics, deploying emerging technologies, increasing women empowerment and involvement in emerging technologies, and increasing ESG-awareness and monitoring, facilitating attainment of UN SDGs and deployment of smart cities globally. “We are proud of the opportunity to collaborate with several international organizations that promote financial inclusion, social justice, and growing the digital economy such as WBAF, GBA and GCPIT. Additionally, it has been a privilege to share my expertise as an expert for the EU Blockchain Forum Observatory, Women in AI and Partners in Digital Health Institute.” IEWL

Dorothy Diedericks, Founder & CEO, BlueBlox GmbH, is a very energetic person with outstanding qualities to lead the business in an ever-changing environment of compliant trade. She has proven herself to be a strong person who drives her own company towards success, prosperity, and growth despite all difficulties and odds. Growing up in South Africa, Dorothy witnessed the ongoing struggles and injustice in society. Since that, she embarked on a journey to create solutions that would empower individuals, increase the economic participation of the poor and middle class, and bridge the gap between public and private sectors in Africa. With this mission to help people, Dorothy founded BlueBlox in late 2014. This trade compliance consulting company enables cross-border trade in the emerging markets of Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. She believes that true empowerment cannot come through aid alone as it can make people potentially dependent on it. On the opposite, she believes that participating in trade gives individuals the ability to take financial control over their lives.

The steadfast leader is a very hardworking person. As Dorothy puts it in a nutshell, “We endeavor to grow continuously to be the best we can be. At BlueBlox, we go the extra mile and never give up.” BlueBlox helps its clients to attain their rights by law, even though it is not a common practice in emerging markets. Dorothy summarizes, “We believe that business should be easy, even though it is not easy in many countries yet. But we are on a mission to make business and trade easier for all.”

Dorothy is passionate about providing mentoring support to female entrepreneurs. It is difficult to predict the obstacles that will inevitably arise when starting a new business or new career path when entering entrepreneurship. That is why it is helpful to have some valuable advice from someone who has already gone this way. She is always open-minded in providing help and guidance to other women through unprecedented and new challenges they confront on their career paths.

The pioneer never stops believing in people and their uniqueness. Dorothy believes that if you focus on your strengths, there are no limits; that is why she helps everyone in the team discover their strengths. On the contrary, she believes that our weaknesses should never hold us back. Through awareness of our weaknesses, we as a team can work together to support any individual team member not by necessarily improving their weaknesses but rather by overcoming the weaknesses through teamwork. Dorothy believes that this will help her team develop their knowledge and skills because she believes that growing new leaders of tomorrow starts with investment today.

Furthermore, Dorothy always looks after her team’s well-being because she deeply cares for each member. And another way around, all team members appreciate having Dorothy as the company’s CEO. The team puts tremendous effort into mastering its everyday tasks. Due to Dorothy’s investments in her team and the efforts of each team member, the company is growing and becoming what it is – an excellent service provider for its clients.

BlueBlox successfully achieved its goals over the past few years. The team uses a holistic and sustainable approach to everything they do. They constantly work towards achieving results that benefit the whole community rather than some individuals, companies, or the government.

One of the recent groundbreaking achievements for the company was obtaining a Valuation Ruling from the Egyptian Customs. Their client had been experiencing regular uplifts to their shipments for several years. The Egyptian Customs Authorities (ECA) had consistently applied an uplift of 50% or greater to the value declared, resulting in a significant overpayment of duties and taxes. Moreover, ECA refused to release shipments until additional duties and taxes were paid. BlueBlox consultant team approached various government authorities and worked through the appeal procedures under the customs legislation. Their ground-up and positive approach allowed BlueBlox to educate operational customs teams and develop a comprehensive justification for the acceptability of the client’s business model and the valuation methodology used. “We were successful and received an official ruling from Egyptian customs, which obliges customs to accept the declared value submitted by our client. Solving this case, BlueBlox obtained a milestone valuation ruling from the Egyptian Customs Authority, the first ruling issued by Customs in Egypt in 150 years.”

When Dorothy founded BlueBlox, she had a single vision: bringing economic and educational empowerment to the emerging markets. Together with her team, she is still working towards this aim because she believes that businesses impact their nation’s economy through trade. WL

Madeleine Paquin is a leader with a bold vision for the company and strong values that guide every decision she makes. She is a true collaborator and believes in the power of building diverse teams to get the right people in the right roles, surrounding herself with the best talent. Through her collaborative approach, she encourages people to bring forth new ideas and perspectives that drive positive change. To survive and thrive in the challenging industries, she has had to be an agile leader, always staying one step ahead to identify opportunities.

She is a problem-solver but not in the traditional sense. She encourages her teams to reframe the situation to unlock new opportunities. She can look at all the variables in front of her and imagine something wholly new. She strongly believes that her role is to help her people choose the frame through which they see the world. She enables her team to believe in new possibilities, unleashing their ability to think creatively and act in a unified, sustainable way.

Madeleine is closely connected to LOGISTEC’s customers, partners and communities throughout the network where LOGISTEC’s people live and work. She is not afraid to take risks, she is not afraid to experiment and this is what has transformed the company: “Five years from now, the list of forces at play and the opportunities they’ll make possible – will likely be quite different. Transforming to keep up with the market is pointless pursuit. Creating the capability to constantly transform: That’s the only way to thrive, and make a difference.”

“One of the great joys of my career is getting to meet people and entrepreneurs of all different backgrounds across North America. I appreciate their drive to success and love learning about their dreams and ambitions and talking strategy about ways to make a business sustainable for future generations,” she says. “And truly one of my most valuable assets is my network. So, I learned that asking the right questions of the team, partners, and my professional network is how you get the seemingly insurmountable accomplished.”

According to Madeleine, being a business leader today is more than just generating revenue and profits; it is also conceiving a sustainable future where profits are reinvested in the talents to retain them and help them grow; it is about choosing to think for the long term; it is about having a positive impact on the communities one operates in and creating a better world for future generations. “Addressing the complexities of the world today requires collaboration. We cannot succeed alone. Reach out, ask the right questions, find others who may be able to help you.”

When Madeleine looks back at her years as CEO of LOGISTEC, there are so many things she is proud of, starting from how exponentially the company has grown and how they can assist the clients flawlessly to move their cargoes to destinations around the world. “The decision to purchase SANEXEN in 1994, considered a risk at the time, and where we have taken our environmental services since then, is another incredible achievement,” she adds. “We are leading the way in water technology addressing issues of today and tomorrow surrounding an aging water main infrastructure, lead in drinking water and PFAS contaminants. Businesses don’t succeed without a clear vision, hard work and smarts investments to create the best solutions for our customers and our communities – we will continue to make smart investments. Our agility, our resilience is key to our revolutionary approach.”

For the days to come, Madeleine will continue to look for new opportunities and find ways to collaborate to provide new and innovative solutions for problems today and tomorrow’s problems. She will continue working towards their goals in sustainable development. “Since these goals are closely linked to our mission, we can contribute to making a difference. Our people are dedicated to finding solutions that support reliable supply chains and protect the environment and water resources.” For Madeleine and her team, the current momentum is the perfect opportunity to accelerate the development of their solutions, which are well aligned with the UN goals.

“2022 is a very important year for LOGISTEC. We are celebrating our 70th anniversary! I am so proud of how far we have come and am very excited for the future. We have stayed true to our values and never lost sight of our greater purpose —to constantly work to shape a more sustainable business and contribute to a better future for the next generations.” WL

Erin Brown, LCSW is the Executive Director of a foster care and family service agency in Sacramento, Ca. called FosterHope Sacramento. She has worked with the organization for over 25 years and has been leading their mission and vision for the past 10. It takes many unique talents and qualities to run a non-profit organization, especially in today’s world of limited funds and resources. Fortunately, Erin possesses many qualities that have contributed to the organization’s transformations over the last 10 years. Erin can see, articulate, and bring forth a vision that has a significant impact on the success of an organization. “I worked for FosterHope for 15 years before becoming the Executive Director. During this time, I was able to observe what worked and what was lacking in the organization that was preventing it from growing,” she says. “The main area of weakness I identified was the lack of establishment of strong relationships within the community. When I became the Director, my vision was to obtain community support for our programs to serve the children and families better.” In her tenure as Executive Director, Erin has managed to do that on a grand scale, increasing community support and leverage by over 800%. Today, FosterHope Sacramento has ongoing community support and is well-known and well-respected in the field of foster care and child welfare.

Erin is also a visionary, which is facilitated by her ability to establish trust in relationships. “In this field, trust amongst staff, foster parents, and the children we serve are vital to the organization. My words and actions are consistent with the principles and values of the organization,” explains Erin. “I stand for what I believe, and I give honest answers to tough questions.

“I try to deliver a consistent message to different audiences with a tone accepting to all. I appreciate differences and am committed to understanding others, even those I may disagree with. This leads to the ability to establish long-term supportive relationships.”

Erin strongly advises every woman leader to believe in themselves and never give up. “Stick to your goals, values, and passion. I have had so many try to sway me away from the mission or plain give up when the going got tough. I couldn’t do that.” She adds, “Try not to dwell in the challenges but develop the ability to move things forward by believing in the possibilities ahead. Honestly, it is because of my passion and perseverance that our organization is still open today. I believe a great leader challenges, inspires, and empowers others and helps them see past their expectations.” With every encounter, whether it be with the Board, foster parents, staff, or the children they serve, everyone feels valued for their efforts and achievements. Erin says that if one is passionate about a cause, belief, mission, or vision, don’t just go through the motions; get involved and do the necessary work to make it successful.

“As women, we are often more compassionate and sensitive. This has been used against us in the past in the workforce, identifying those characters as being weak or flawed. I, however, have learned to embrace it as a powerful tool in my ability to promote the organization, connect with people and to be a strong leader. I have also learned that you can be compassionate while holding people accountable. This earns a level of respect as a leader that many others may struggle to find.”

FosterHope was created with the vision of professionalizing foster care. The goal was to build family homes for children in need that were skilled enough to work with them in their darkest hours. The system has been developed to protect children, but, in history, it often created more harm. Their goal at FosterHope is to train staff and families to be well equipped to handle anything that may come their way and never give up on a child. “Our philosophy is to provide the highest quality care and do whatever it takes to support the children and families to achieve stability and find long-term sustainable solutions.”

FosterHope is working on expanding its reach to children and families that face economic and social adversities and providing supportive services to those in need to create long-term stability and success. They are doing this through developing and implementing a growing number of community-based services that include programs that assist youth transitioning from foster care, diversion programs for offending youth, and a family support program. “Our goal is to reach more children and youth and extend the positive outcomes our programs can bring to our surrounding communities and society at large.” IEWL

Lucy Primrose has the ability to anticipate business needs, pilot through complexity, and tackle any challenges with creative solutions. She has built a strong reputation globally across the organization and is solicited for vital strategic decisions. Lucy embraces change and has an exceptional ability to adapt to challenging environments and influence those around her. This and her desire to challenge the status quo have transformed the way L’Occitane en Provence does things.

Accountability is a strong trait of Lucys. Not only is she accountable for her actions, but she also holds her team and others around her accountable. A true team player, Lucy’s communication skills and collaborative management style motivate and inspire others to be their best self, thrive in their work, and execute with excellence. “I believe having a mentor is key to driving your success. I am honored to be a mentor to others, especially women and I am fortunate to have a female mentor myself,” says Lucy. “Staying connected and sharing connections is also key in creating a valuable support system for you and others. It is a way to share and bounce off ideas and also inspire and feel inspired. Investing in other women trying to establish themselves is rewarding and inspiring for everyone involved.”

Lucy believes it’s essential always to make yourself available, and a people-first approach is critical. For her, it is not about giving someone the answer, it’s about helping them to find a way forward and empowering them to work out what that is and what that looks like. Lucy’s approach to building strong leaders is by dedicating her time to coaching and developing her team. Setting stretch assignments for team members and providing consistent support means that team members are constantly growing their skill set.

Without waiting for the annual review, regular and consistent check-ins with team members surrounding business priorities, mean that Lucy knows what projects team members would like to work on, what they are most passionate about, and what they would like to achieve personally and professionally. The benefits to individuals and the organization speak for themselves; team members stay focused and motivated and thrive within their careers at L’Occitane. Sharing these successes and providing opportunities for visibility within the Leadership team ensure that team members feel valued and are recognized and rewarded for their excellent work.

Lucy also empowers her team to make decisions, which gives her team members ownership and encourages accountability. “You can learn a lot from reflecting on your decision-making, and you can become better at resolving problems,” she explains. “Early in my career, I often remained quiet and didn’t voice my opinion, particularly in a room full of executives. I had to make a conscious effort to speak up.” But then she realized that her views matter and she is there to add value. Hence, she strongly advises others to remain confident and not to be afraid to speak up, challenging the status quo.

With this mindset, Lucy has been taking the company to new heights. L’Occitane is a humble company with numerous amazing initiatives and achievements of the brand centered on people and the planet. “What resonates with me, is the simple touch of having Braille on our packaging to make our products more accessible, our eco-refill options, and our commitment to promoting women’s independence in Burkina Faso,” elucidates Lucy. “I am proud to say that we are a leader in the beauty industry through our sustainability practices throughout every stage of the product lifecycle and across the entire supply chain.”

L’Occitane is a pioneer in natural skincare, and its Immortelle Divine range is the best-selling anti-aging face care range with an enormous following. Immortelle has long been known in Mediterranean traditions for its amazing regenerating properties. The founder, Olivier Baussan, discovered in 2001 that it had never been used in cosmetics before. “We work hand in hand with local producers in Corsica who harvest our Organic Immortelle, and this is where the powers of nature and science come together,” she says. “The essential oil is rich in active molecules, with unique anti-aging properties. Our scientists have spent over 20 years researching its exceptional anti-aging benefits, leading to 6 patents in France. Described by our customers as a ‘miracle in a jar’, there is no surprise that we sell one Divine Cream every 3 minutes around the world!” WL

Cecilia Wong, Executive Vice President – Product & Innovations, HGC Global Communications Limited believes that change is good; she believes in innovation, and that technology will change the world and do good for humanity. She says transforming an organization is not an easy job at all; first, one needs to define what needs to be changed, set a target, then a plan, negotiate for buy-in and resources, and lastly, execute it. Hence one needs to be visionary and set clear targets and direction, and persistency to completion is essential. Detail-oriented in planning but keeping the flexibility to change. “Staying focused and problem solving attitude is a must in all execution. Lastly, I have a strong capability in handling complex contract negotiation with suppliers and external parties, which always try to find the optimal balance and win-win situation.”

Cecilia strongly advises all the leaders to define what they want to achieve and craft out a strategy. “One has to carry out the actions with persistency; adjust along the way to better fit the situation. It doesn’t matter if one is having impediments, failure is not short-term, a long-term success is always awaiting in front of us.” She adds, “One of most important factors, is also be able to explore the potential of team staff and colleagues, and be able to utilize, appreciate and trust their capabilities and work, creating common goals, lead and inspire them along the way.” Armed with this ideology, she has been taking the organization to new heights.

Innovations and Flexibility are the two critical factors of HGC’s key differentiator. Being challenging in the market, HGC provides standardized yet customizable solutions to customers to make sure solutions are 100% fitting into customers’ needs. In 2019, HGC acquired Macroview telecom, one of the most prominent SI in the Hong Kong market, turning HGC into a complete ICT solution provider instead of staying at traditional telecom services.

HGC’s overall digitization strategy is to create a better customer experience. One of the major strategies is digitally enabled products and services:

1. First, their services have already implemented auto-provisioning capabilities such as residential IAD service. This first helps in the provisioning time to market for customers, keeping a better record for customer service, and turning into a lower operational cost to customers. Overall, it’s a customer experience improvement

2. The second strategy is to create a new revenue stream and operational efficiency:

• Their current services have even turned into self-ordered capabilities, such as their software-defined network (SDN) service. Customers can order international connectivity at the portal to be automatically provisioned to the points selected.

• SecurityFirst is another new service launched which enable 12 different security brand/services over a single platform for SOC, proactive monitoring as well as parameters correlation

A fascinating instance to share is the smart IoT solution for property management where would be pretty specific to the Hong Kong environment due to its crowdedness with high environmental standard. The solution assists property management in gathering ambient data to improve customer experience. Typical examples include monitor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) to adjust ventilation and timely dispatch maintenance when detect water leakage. In addition, it also provides Smart Reception and reservation to minimize human contact to ensure its safeness during this Covid period.

HGC Group is continuously expanding the digital transformation to local and international markets for the days to come, and cybersecurity is one of the most prominent considerations during this digital journey. Riding on their full-fledged digital infrastructure, they will continue to invest millions of US dollars in different phases to enhance their capabilities in cybersecurity further.

About HGC Global Communications

HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) is a leading fixed-line operator with extensive infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and offers a broad portfolio of products and services. HGC provides other operators with telecoms infrastructure while acting as a service provider to corporations and households alike. HGC is a comprehensive information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider; offerings comprise fully-fledged telecoms, data center, and broadband services to suit local, overseas, corporate, and mass markets.

HGC owns and operates an extensive fiber-optic network, five cross-border telecom routes integrated into tier-one telecom operators in mainland China and connects with hundreds of world-class international telecom operators. HGC is one of Hong Kong’s largest Wi-Fi service providers, running over 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong. The company is committed to further investing and enriching its current infrastructure and, in parallel, adding on top the latest technologies and developing its infrastructure services and solutions. IEWL

Emily Hewett, Principal & Interior Designer, A Well Dressed Home, LLC, is the creative yet business-minded force behind the company’s unique employee structure and meticulous design processes. When Emily started the business in 2010, her immediate focus was to establish a standardized formula for a design process that would provide a client with the most efficient and impactful experience offered in the industry. “After a few years of developing and enhancing the company’s procedures, the processes were proving successful. I then shifted my focus from client experience to employee opportunity,” says Emily. “After several years of interviewing and hiring employees, it became apparent that residential designers were desperate for an employer that offered more room for personal and professional growth and financial freedom. My goal was to create paths for them to earn just that.”

Emily is a Dallas native, graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design, and has over 20 years of experience in the design industry. She takes pride in transforming dated spaces into sophisticated, functional family retreats, with designs recognized for encompassing current trends while remaining polished and timeless. With an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for interior design, Emily had long aspired to start her design venture.

The pioneering leader has fast culminated into a support system for women entrepreneurs and team members over time. Emily has had many female business owners from different industries reach out and ask to “pick my brain” over lunch or coffee. “I have always taken the opportunity to lend my best guidance and advice to other business owners and team leaders and lead them toward success,” explains Emily. “The definition of success is so subjective. Some would say it was when they landed their first client, won their first design award, had their first magazine feature, or met a certain financial goal. Still, the ultimate success for me is observing a happy and fulfilled team that believes in one another and the processes and structure we’ve worked so hard to build together.”

As a female leader, it’s become necessary for Emily to provide growth opportunities that allow females to become what they deem as successful. That might mean being independent and single and traveling the world or a working mom that has the flexibility to be around for more of their kids’ activities. Either way, Emily feels it’s essential for them to have a compensation package and flexibility that allows them to continue to work and live the life they want to live. “Many designers quit their jobs once they have kids because the compensation barely covers the cost of child care, and they have little to no flexibility – I want to change that for those that want to earn their way to that level here at AWDH.”

Armed with this brilliant mindset, Emily is taking AWDH to greater heights. The company aims to provide an approachable, transparent design service and turnkey experience from beginning to end. “Our structured design process ensures utmost efficiency, and allows our team of dedicated Interior Designers to bring beautiful, personalized designs to life.”

Trends come and go, but the thoughtfully designed details and elements that make up a well-dressed home are ageless. Their quietly luxurious interiors balance their context and client needs to stand the test of time.

One of AWDH’s most significant achievements is implementing its unique compensation package. Believe it or not, it’s uncommon for a residential firm to offer compensation beyond salary and PTO. “Here at AWDH, we’ve implemented 401k with a match, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and profit sharing, and recently, we’ve implemented short term disability, aka maternity leave,” elucidates Emily. “It’s shocking to me that a female-driven industry is known for not offering maternity leave to their employees. We were one of the first residential firms in DFW, if not the first, to offer this type of compensation, and many have started following in our footsteps! We are very proud of that!”

Over the last few years, AWDH has quickly grown from a team of 5 to a team of 18. For the future, Emily’s goal is to start managing each of those employees “up” to prepare them for maximum personal and professional growth within the company. “Due to our growth, our team will move into a brand new showroom in Q4. We will have double the space in a beautiful newly designed office, which we can’t wait to share with our clients!” says Emily. WL