Helen Lao is the Founder & President at ClearPath Solutions, a boutique executive search firm specializing in the restaurant growth industry. She leads a dynamic team across the U.S. that matches consumer growth brands with top leaders within the industry.

In 2010, Helen was managing a young family while on a progressive career path in Human Resources. Like many women, she felt the pull to stay home at the expense of her career. She was convinced that women did not have to choose between one or the other.

“2020 has been a challenging year filled with tremendous uncertainty, and while we can’t predict the future, we can focus on building the strongest, most resourceful, resilient and capable leadership team to help navigate the future.”

“Helen always felt “an entrepreneurial calling” and was inspired by stories of great success in the face of failure. She knew she could spend the next 25 years continuing a successful HR career or take the big chance as a business owner.

She launched ClearPath in 2010 with a vision, zero clients, a phone line.

Her team built their business one client at a time. Today, ClearPath’s focused strategy has made them one of the most trusted executive search firms in the industry.

Helen is driven to provide ongoing opportunities for her team, allowing them to explore what they are capable of, while positively impacting the world of search – one match at a time.

She attributes her success to her team. In her words, “I have the most passionate team of individuals. They are uniquely different, but all have one common trait: grit.” ClearPath defines themselves through hustle, passion and perseverance. One of their common phrases, “We want it more.”

ClearPath builds world class teams for consumer growth brands.

Each employee is an ambassador for our growth brands, connecting them with the leaders they need to build their businesses. Their focused and modern approach, identifying candidates with excellent alignment and experience, allows them to match candidates faster.

They provide access to the leadership talent needed for growth and value creation at the VP, C-Level, and Board of Directors. ClearPath partners with founders, entrepreneurs, and private equity firms to build great companies.

“Our clients do not hire us to search for the right candidate, but to find the perfect match. We call what we do, executive matching,” says Helen.

Their team was remote long before COVID-19 and their ability to leverage technology has greatly improved their speed of making matches. Their team approach is anchored in years of combined knowledge, a vast network, and valuable perspectives in support of their partnerships.

2020 has been a challenging year filled with tremendous uncertainty, and while we can’t predict the future, we can focus on building the strongest, most resourceful, resilient and capable leadership team to help navigate the future.

She and her team have been a part of many executives’ journey. We have heard countless stories shared over the years, by successful executives about their personal journey. In fact, ClearPath has been a part of that journey for many executives.

Many people have heard Helen state with conviction, “you should bet on ClearPath.” She knows every member of her team over the past ten years has entrusted her with their careers, and she never takes that for granted. She believes, “Together, we have made an incredible impact on the industry, peoples’ lives and their careers.”

While 2020 has proven to be one of the most challenging years, she continues to be out and “on the move.” In fact, many may know her as #helenonthemove. IE

Lisa DiDonato, CIO, Lee County Clerk of Circuit Court, and Comptroller, is outgoing, collaborative, and proactive; all qualities of a good leader. As a technology leader, she enthusiastically persuades and motivates others by having them consider her point of view while adjusting her own accordingly. She has an intuitive understanding of team cohesion, dynamics, and interpersonal relations, working with and through others. However, as the CIO, Lisa must also be independent in putting forth her ideas, which are often innovative and cause change when implemented.

There are few women leaders in Information Technology, and that number narrows when speaking about government. Florida has a population of approximately 21.5 million people, but there are only 67 independent Clerks in the State of Florida, meaning only 67 Clerk CIO positions. “The number of females in those positions is under 10%. So, when we do find each other we tend to stick together! Women are open thinkers; we like to process out loud and bounce ideas off of each other without fear of judgment,” says Lisa. “I enjoy meeting new people and am very proud of my personal and work accomplishments. As such, I find it very easy to share how I have progressed and succeeded, enabling me to provide suggestions and advice to others as to what has worked for me and what has not.”

Lisa likes to give the managers and their teams creative control. According to her, independence fosters growth, and micromanaging does not. People learn from their positive and negative experiences, and having the team make decisions on their own enables them to become better leaders.

“As you gain experience and make better decisions, people then gain confidence in themselves and in turn others,” she says and maintains an open-door policy. “Depending on the situation I can be a friend, a mentor or a disciplinarian. Regardless of providing insight, advice, or reprimand, I try to do so with empathy and options for the next steps. You’ll often hear me say, People First. Whether it’s a quick happy hour or having dinner at a conference. These informal sessions are where you learn the true heart of a person and make the most impact.”

One of Lisa’s proudest achievements is the creation of the Lee County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller Agency’s first IT Strategic Plan. Only after the plan was formalized and enacted was technology truly aligned with business processes; by aligning with the business, the IT strategy documented business context, key initiatives, and roadmaps delineating timelines and metrics for success. The plan was step-by-step documentation that walks one through how to properly align with the business, achieve IT excellence, and drive technology innovation. “This document catapulted my organization into creating an Agency-wide vision. Each line of business now has its plan defined, ensuring we are all connected, collaborating, and being successful.”

The steadfast leader enjoys spending time with her family and basking in the Florida sunshine as there is never enough time to be spent on a boat and jet skis outdoors in the fresh air. “I volunteer as the President of the local high school boosters club, as a foster mom for kittens at the local animal shelter and as an administrative assistant at my church. However, my most calming hobby is being a fish keeper and aquarium enthusiast.”

Armed with a lot of passion and drive and her mission to help improve the lives of her team, internal users, and the agency’s customers, Lisa is surging ahead in her mission to make a change. “The vision is to ease the daily and mundane tasks providing more room for innovation and creativity; allowing for even more positive and passionate attitudes to emerge and thrive while in the office,” she adds. “Once you break that glass ceiling, what you find on the other side is a great group of people where gender is no longer the main focus. It’s all about the people, the business’s process and improvement, and delivering on the strategic vision. The collaboration and support are amazing. It’s not always lonely at the top.” WL

As a transformational leader, Maureen Mba has constantly been open to innovation wherever it may arise. She readily embraces opportunities to do things differently and is always open to new ideas, no matter where those ideas may come from. As one of the pioneer staff of Afreximbank, Maureen was part of the team that developed and put systems in place for the smooth take-off of the Bank. She single-handedly established the Compliance Function, which evolved and expanded over the years from being a manual process-driven Unit to a fully-fledged Department with automated processes. Her experience as the Director of the Compliance Department was one of the factors that informed the Bank’s decision to appoint her to lead the MANSA Digital Initiative, the pan-African web-based due diligence repository platform to reduce the information asymmetry in the continent; eliminate the global perceived risk of doing business in Africa, reduce huge compliance cost and of course restore investor’s confidence in the continent.

During her career, and given her dedication and commitment to work, Maureen transformed her direct reports into what they call the “Afreximbank Way” or “indoctrination” into the organization. She motivated and mentored her direct reports, thus discovering hidden talents in them. Despite varying professional and diverse backgrounds, Maureen has influenced her teams to develop a passion for serving Africa. With Afreximbank, it is not just about a career but the passion for seeing the continent transform. Maureen took her time to understand her team and motivated them to step out of their comfort zone with her empathy and the ability to inspire confidence. Again, her tenacity to work has always been her driving force.

A good listener, Maureen is someone who inspired colleagues across the Bank and team members to feel bold enough to share ideas. She considers ideas with an open mind and responds without judgment or finality; consequently, colleagues and team members feel seen, understood, and respected. With this approach, others are inspired to share their thoughts without self-censoring.

Maureen led the establishment of the MANSA Digital Initiative Platform, despite there being other KYC repositories inside and outside Africa. She managed and led the platform’s development and its business model to ensure that it is a unique product that is rather complimentary than a competitor to the other Platforms.

The steadfast leader has been supporting women relentlessly through sharing ideas and experiences. “What women need to appreciate is that all businesses go through phases and require perseverance and embracing all challenges as part of the learning process. So, giving up should not appear in any woman’s vocabulary. NEVER!” She adds, “I am a known philanthropist and have supported many women in Nigeria and outside to start-up their business and most of them have successful businesses, which makes me very proud. I have also sponsored them to attend entrepreneurship courses to empower them fully.”

Maureen is someone who walks the talk. Having a career of more than 30 years with no record of a disciplinary hearing is a true testimony of her integrity and sincerity of her career, which motivates future leaders. She supports the continuous development of her team members, recommending and supporting them for leadership and capacity training programmes. Armed with such a unique ideology, She has taken the company to new heights.

Afreximbank has emerged as a formidable force in Trade Finance matters in Africa. The following are just but a few of the Bank’s many achievements:

• Financial performance has been resilient despite the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic and other global uncertainties impacting most businesses;

• Afreximbank has managed to grow its business baseline consistently and now boasts of 6 Regional offices in Africa, subsidiaries, and affiliates;

• The reputation of the Bank continues to soar and has been recognized as a trusted partner for AfCFTA by the African Union, with more than 50 member States across Africa;

• Afreximbank has come up with unique solutions to the problems being faced by Africa as it seeks to achieve a self-reliant continent. The Bank has joined the digitalized world and has developed a series of instruments/initiatives to address trade challenges in the continent. Significant among them are establishing the MANSA Digital Initiative Platform – a flagship Initiative aimed at alleviating the effects of de-risking, which has negatively impacted most financial institutions. Another example is establishing the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) Platform to facilitate intra-African trade payments. The story goes on. WL

MANSA Digital Initiative

Management

Mrs. Maureen Nneka Mba
Head of MANSA Digital Initiative

Description

At Afreximbank, our shared purpose is “to stimulate a consistent expansion and diversification of African trade so as to rapidly increase Africa’s share of global trade; and in doing so, to operate as a first class, profit-oriented, socially responsible financial institution and a center of excellence in African trade matters” and our shared vision is to consolidate the Bank’s position as “The Trade Finance Bank For Africa”.

Dr. Sally Rabi is a passionate 21st-century education practitioner and researcher with extensive experience in analyzing and developing state sector standards, curricula, and education capacity. A self-driven, passionate educator and ‘special-projects’ developer, Dr. Rabi holds over 20 years of unique experience in education reform, curriculum development, instructional design, content development, custom publishing, digitizing curricula, and educational professional capacity building. She has collaborated with multiple stakeholders and decision-makers in Ministries of Education and institutes of higher education across Europe and the Arab World in areas related to education policy, curricula and instruction, assessment, and professional development. She works closely with multiple stakeholders to develop or adapt comprehensive education solutions to best meet local requirements and long-term strategic plans.

She is passionate about education reform and equal rights to access quality education in the 21st century. Dr. Rabi has been working on initiatives to improve the quality of online education resources offered to digital learners’ global, regional, and local communities. She is interested in teacher empowerment, supporting equal opportunities to access best-practice, educational resources, and successful educational experiences. She believes that 21st-century technology is the key to revolutionizing learning experiences and institutionalized learning settings.

“I support all women who have the courage to listen to their intuition and start something new. I think women-led businesses usually offer real-life, impactful solutions, that are not only generated for business growth, but also for impact,” she says. “I would advise all women who are interested in establishing a business or starting a new project to go ahead and have faith in their dreams.”

Intellectus Education is a woman-lead business and most if not all of the team members involved are women, who also are business owners, academics, mothers, daughters and sisters. They are always working closely as a team, knowing that each of has something to contribute. “I would think that being a ‘leader’ or an ‘effective’ leader, entails the ability of being able to help others also realize and bring out the great givings they have and can share with others. At the end of the day, you are only as strong as the team you build and I am thankful and grateful towards each and every team member I have had an opportunity to work closely with.”

Rabi still does not consider herself to have found the ‘success’ aimed for, but she does believe that she is in a much better place compared to where she was 10 or 15 years ago. “I feel that I have accomplished some of my long-term projected goals and look forward to achieving more impactful educational solutions in the next coming few years,” she adds. “My humble advice would be to listen to your intuition and follow your heart supporting both with determination and ambition, you can and will achieve all your dreams and desires. Take baby steps, don’t rely on others in achieving the foundation you want to establish.”

Intellectus Education is currently the only digital education content developer led by educators, not IT developers. Intellectus Education develops its online and interactive programs on sound-academic foundations where technology is used to facilitate and support the independent learning process. They train experienced authors and content developers on effective instructional design approaches to develop solid, comprehensive academic programs. Their role is to empower education providers. “Another unique approach we follow is utilizing an ‘uber’ like model, particularly because in education, each project or program is unique to its target audience and objective, so there can never be a single team that can address all project requirements,” she explains. “From here, Intellectus Education calls on the expertise of educators and consultants globally and locally to ensure that all projects are being delivered utilizing the best expertise available. Realizing the changing needs and interests of learners and education practitioners of the 21st century, Intellectus Education was founded with the prime objective of providing comprehensive educational solutions to key stakeholders undergoing education reform.”

Intellectus Education’s mission is to enable and facilitate opportunities that extend successful education practices and experiences to the global population of learners. Intellectus Education’s mission is to respond to regional market demands and the implications of global educational reform, which entails equal opportunities to receive and access quality education irrespective of socio-economic status through impactful digital solutions. WL

As Chief Marketing Officer for Heartland Dental, one of the nation’s fastest growing Dental Support Organizations, Stacy DeWalt takes a data-informed approach to the company’s marketing and business strategy. Through innovating, marketing, and office support programs, Stacy is committed to helping Heartland Dental into its next phase of expansion. Bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning public and private equity environments in financial services, gaming, education, and technology, Stacy employs a holistic, cross-functional approach when it comes to differentiating Heartland from its competitors.

One of those opportunities for differentiation is deeply understanding doctor needs and the needs of their patients. “As with many industries, digital technology and communication have changed the way people stay connected, conduct business and share experiences. These things are top of mind for us as we support doctors in the communities they serve,” Stacy explains.

Like most companies looking to master their external environment, Heartland Dental is working to determine the most effective ways to support doctors with new customer acquisition and communication tools. One area of transformation is providing marketing technology that will offer more personalized, effective, and transparent marketing to all Heartland Dental affiliated offices. “Heartland Dental is undergoing a marketing technology transformation. We are enhancing our marketing analytics platform and redefining the patient experience in exciting and dynamic ways,” Stacy affirms. The company is evolving its marketing analytics and marketing platforms to provide location-specific information. From automating how people book an appointment to rescheduling made as simple as a text message, Heartland Dental is helping to create happier patient experiences that keep them coming back to their doctor’s office.

Stacy goes on to share how deeply listening to doctors, operations and other key stakeholders is key to building a successful strategy. This marketing technology transformation is meant to improve communications tools, marketing tactics and patient insights,” Stacy explains. “Having a deeper understanding for how patients search for dentists, what channels they use and who they ask for a referral when looking, is key to us following their journey to the office. This requires partnership with our supported offices, patient research and behavioral analysis.”

Stacy is committed to finding, understanding and sharing as much information as possible across key stakeholders to facilitate better discussions and decision making. “We are working hard to help make our supported doctors happy, their offices more productive and overall growing the business,” she says. “It’s an exciting time to be here at Heartland Dental as we undergo tremendous growth. This transformation is similar to what many companies I have worked with have faced. It’s about redefining the customer experience, understanding the different types of customers, and creating a relevant journey.”

Stacy joins a rich culture that promotes diversity and inclusion at Heartland Dental. “Heartland Dental does an amazing job of empowering its team members through leadership training, goal setting and mentorship,” notes Stacy.

The commitment to strategic planning involves everyone in the organization. Every year, Heartland senior executives, leaders, and supported doctors, come together to build a growth and goals strategy for the company. This serves as a way to create alignment throughout the company, but it also fosters leadership within teams and instills a strong sense of the company’s culture, mission, vision, and core values.

Stacy reflects, “I’ve been so impressed with the level of contribution, ideas and quality of the process. Not only does it build strategy, but it also brings together people and diverse perspectives and keeps us close to our mission of supporting doctors.”

One of the most impactful experiences Stacy shares, happens at the company’s annual Winter Conference event.

“The clinical and educational tracks paired with leadership events at Winter Conference is impressive, but what moved me the most was the connection between doctors and the commitment everyone had to making each other better. It is truly a community. I also had the opportunity to speak at the Women in Dentistry luncheon. It’s a unique opportunity where different generations of women in the dental industry get together to share experiences and best practices. I am very lucky to work for a company that supports and encourages the growth of female leaders,” enthuses Stacy.

Heartland Dental is well-positioned on a path of continued growth and is tapping into its greatest assets – its people power and strong cultural foundation. WL

Hema Niranjan is a 35-year-old entrepreneur with a heart that believes in giving. She has a vibrant persona and a confident, go-getter attitude. With the right intent and aptitude, it is phenomenal to see how Hema has honed her skills and carved a place for herself in this competitive world.

Hema strongly believes that not everyone is born with business skills, but with the right passion, thorough involvement, and constant creative thought, everyone can master business management skills. Apart from being an able business woman, she is a highly efficient mother. She finds time to play that role effortlessly between running a restaurant and an Interior Design firm with utmost passion and dedication. She has mastered the art of striking the perfect balance between being a woman in business and a loving mother to her daughter. Her coworkers describe her as a fierce businesswoman who transforms the lives of everyone she comes across. Armed with these skills, Hema has made her ventures quite successful.

DEZIGN CODE is unique in upbeat designs, quality services and best customizations to the Indian inetrior designing market. Themes like Pirates, village , ship etc. across major cities like Goa , Bangalore, Hyderabad are unique .

Hema started a unique Army themed Restaurant called HUNGER CAMP in 2019 along with her business partner CHETAN PATEL.

“Because we believe every idea is worth exploring and every desire can be turned into a tangible experience! We are one of those rare passionate designers who say “Hurray” whenever you make a customisation request. We take pride in our approach which sets aside the cliched cookie cutter mentality – unlike many others in the industry who have just “modular” solutions!”

Hunger camp is one of its kind army themed restaurant in Bangalore celebrating the spirit of the Indian army, and to pay tribute to martyrs of our soil. Also, they have Registered an NGO on the same name to help the familiars of martyrs.

Hema Niranjan comes from a rural and traditional family. Opportunities to study were scarce and women venturing into business from such families is seen as crossing over the boundaries. It was tough terrain for her and she had to do a lot more convincing of people around to take them in her stride,which she successfully did. She had no knowledge of business back then and no family business background. Her father is a government school teacher and her mother is homemaker.

Hema has done MA, majoring in English from KSOU. She got married at the age of 21 and soon had a kid. Her husband NIRANJAN (Flying ECMO specialist ) has supported her desire to study interior designing courses at Jain university, Bengaluru and won “Academic Excellence Award ” in the year 2016 and secured a distinguished alumni Award in the following year.

She has really worked her way by putting in effort and honing skills. She had to shoulder the responsibility of her little daughter for six years during the initial years of business being set up. She played the roles of both a father and a mother to her kid when her husband was working abroad. Facing all these odds was not easy job, especially being a woman, one should have a lot of grit, determination and passion.

Hema encourages her kid MAANVI PATEL to have creative experiences in the field of Acting and modelling, Art, Dance, Sports along with education. Maanvi Patel does modelling for famous brands like Byju’s, MAX, FBB etc. She has groomed her kid with the same kind of upbringing Hema received from her parents : good values. Giving back to society is one of her rituals. Recently, Maanvi donated 50,000 INR from what she earned from her modelling assignments towards CM COVID relief fund.

Hema is a support system for female business owners who are trying hard to establish themselves. “Life hasn’t been easy for women, but when one reads about successful women it acts like the wind beneath their wings,” says Hema, who sets an example to young, married, and aspirational women by showing that nothing is beyond determination, grit, and passion. No marital, familial, or social shackles can keep a woman from growing to great heights. The steadfast leader has shown the world how it is done by first employing women financially and emotionally uplifting them. Women can be world leaders, and they just need the right skills, mentorship, and push. With her keen business skills, Hema is always ready to guide future entrepreneurs and show them the way, so that they can achieve bigger feats.

Hema also takes the initiative to inspire and empower team members into becoming great leaders of tomorrow. Her coworkers are all praise for their fierce leader. She instills confidence in her team by guiding them and encouraging them to take the initiative during projects. She employs women and involves them in the planning and executing a project.

Being an innovative Social Entrepreneur determined to bring in positive social change and is a true champion of Sustainability. The interior setup of Hunger camp, the restaurant owned by Hema is thoughtfully designed to incorporate raw materials like, waste materials procured to suit the Military theme while staying true to the cause of Sustainability. The waste from the kitchen is recycled every day. The restaurant nudges diners to consume thoughtfully and not to waste the food. The impact of the business on people around her is another differentiating factor. she has positively touched so many lives through her ventures in terms of giving sustainable employment, equal opportunity for women empowerment and setting an example as a champion of sustainable ecology. The future may be daunting for most of us, but Hema is focused on taking big steps that will change the trajectory of her company’s growth and development. She aims to expand her Interior brand across Karnataka and record a business turnover of approximately 150 Cr. She has similar plans for her restaurant as well. She intends to expand Hunger Camp and establish over 6 branches in Karnataka in the near future. On the personal front, she looks forward to participating in Beauty Pageants and winning them. Hema believes in making dreams come true for herself and everyone who believes in her cause.

As Chief Marketing Officer for Heartland Dental, one of the nation’s fastest growing Dental Support Organizations, Stacy DeWalt takes a data-informed approach to the company’s marketing and business strategy. Through innovating, marketing, and office support programs, Stacy is committed to helping Heartland Dental into its next phase of expansion. Bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning public and private equity environments in financial services, gaming, education, and technology, Stacy employs a holistic, cross-functional approach when it comes to differentiating Heartland from its competitors.

One of those opportunities for differentiation is deeply understanding doctor needs and the needs of their patients. “As with many industries, digital technology and communication have changed the way people stay connected, conduct business and share experiences. These things are top of mind for us as we support doctors in the communities they serve,” Stacy explains.

Like most companies looking to master their external environment, Heartland Dental is working to determine the most effective ways to support doctors with new customer acquisition and communication tools. One area of transformation is providing marketing technology that will offer more personalized, effective, and transparent marketing to all Heartland Dental affiliated offices. “Heartland Dental is undergoing a marketing technology transformation. We are enhancing our marketing analytics platform and redefining the patient experience in exciting and dynamic ways,” Stacy affirms. The company is evolving its marketing analytics and marketing platforms to provide location-specific information. From automating how people book an appointment to rescheduling made as simple as a text message, Heartland Dental is helping to create happier patient experiences that keep them coming back to their doctor’s office.

Stacy goes on to share how deeply listening to doctors, operations and other key stakeholders is key to building a successful strategy. This marketing technology transformation is meant to improve communications tools, marketing tactics and patient insights,” Stacy explains. “Having a deeper understanding for how patients search for dentists, what channels they use and who they ask for a referral when looking, is key to us following their journey to the office. This requires partnership with our supported offices, patient research and behavioral analysis.”

Stacy is committed to finding, understanding and sharing as much information as possible across key stakeholders to facilitate better discussions and decision making. “We are working hard to help make our supported doctors happy, their offices more productive and overall growing the business,” she says. “It’s an exciting time to be here at Heartland Dental as we undergo tremendous growth. This transformation is similar to what many companies I have worked with have faced. It’s about redefining the customer experience, understanding the different types of customers, and creating a relevant journey.”

Stacy joins a rich culture that promotes diversity and inclusion at Heartland Dental. “Heartland Dental does an amazing job of empowering its team members through leadership training, goal setting and mentorship,” notes Stacy.

The commitment to strategic planning involves everyone in the organization. Every year, Heartland senior executives, leaders, and supported doctors, come together to build a growth and goals strategy for the company. This serves as a way to create alignment throughout the company, but it also fosters leadership within teams and instills a strong sense of the company’s culture, mission, vision, and core values.

Stacy reflects, “I’ve been so impressed with the level of contribution, ideas and quality of the process. Not only does it build strategy, but it also brings together people and diverse perspectives and keeps us close to our mission of supporting doctors.”

One of the most impactful experiences Stacy shares, happens at the company’s annual Winter Conference event.

“The clinical and educational tracks paired with leadership events at Winter Conference is impressive, but what moved me the most was the connection between doctors and the commitment everyone had to making each other better. It is truly a community. I also had the opportunity to speak at the Women in Dentistry luncheon. It’s a unique opportunity where different generations of women in the dental industry get together to share experiences and best practices. I am very lucky to work for a company that supports and encourages the growth of female leaders,” enthuses Stacy.

Heartland Dental is well-positioned on a path of continued growth and is tapping into its greatest assets – its people power and strong cultural foundation. WL

Tamara McCleary, CEO Thulium.co

I work with millennials. Call them what you will, but in my experience, the millennials I work with are some of the most brave, creative and intelligent people I know. Recently, while in a text conversation with one of my assistants, (a millennial), regarding this article I was writing, he responded with this sentiment, “I wonder if one of the mechanics building the first fleet of Model-Ts felt like this. It’s a strange, out of body feeling of ‘after we do this, a lot of life as we know it is going to change.'” We started riffing on how many people might have been freaking out about the replacement of horses, and all that comes with horseback being the primary vehicle for transportation, (such a loss of jobs for the blacksmith, the farriers, the growers of alfalfa, etc., etc.)

AI Powered Marketing and Sales…in Exchange for What?

I’ve talked a lot about how artificial intelligence, (AI), and machine learning is revolutionary for our world as a whole, however in this article, I wanted to open the discussion around one very specific application of the machines, (algorithms), that learn with very wide-ranging applications: AI powered marketing and sales. What my millennial assistant and I began to discuss, (all via back-and-forth text messaging), is that, in order to create value-adding autonomous systems, we have to feed those systems with massive amounts of data about ourselves. So much information about us that they can begin to predict what we will want before we actually realize we want it. To say it a different way, we are creating artificially intelligent algorithms, (AI), to predict our needs, each and every one of us, before we realize what those need are. So, you getting that horseless carriage feeling now?

Class is in session: Teaching Artificial Intelligence Systems to Know What We Want.

What has led the marketing world to this point of adopting machine learning systems? It seems like just a year or two ago, we were writing automated emails and running market segments through rule based user experiences with all the thinking and ideas coming from the sales/marketing team. Oh wait… that was the strategy a year of two ago… Well, innovation is at it again. We’ve identified that rule sets, segmentations and engagement content is time consuming to make when marketing and sales requires constant flexibility.AI systems and machine learning are taking over the reactive (and proactive) user experience world…

Due to this, our marketing teams need to be worrying about strategy and bigger picture. AI has been moving in to help with this shift. There are plenty of articles detailing out what AI is doing for the marketing world, but to paraphrase, AI systems and machine learning are taking over the reactive (and proactive) user experience world, where companies feed these machines data points about their market base and the machine begins segmenting out the company’s users, offering personalized customer interactions. They work around the clock, reacting in real time to users and constantly reinterpreting said data points using new data. After enough of this machine learning, these AI systems can drill down user by user, crafting sales narratives for each and every one of us.

It’s that last part that is so interesting to me. Forget about market segments. AI systems are beginning to be so on-point that they are using their massive dataset as well as an individual user’s past behavior to create a marketing story for that user. WOW. I mean, guys, I don’t know how I can say this anymore plainly: We are teaching machines how to cater to each of our individual needs and wants.

Upping the ante on the singularity: moving boldly forward into AI driven marketing.

So here’s the kicker. Do we really want this? I mean, from a cost benefit perspective, this is great! Machines can learn to do all our marketing and sales grunt work better than us, we just have to feed them data (something that we’re getting better at automating as well) and give them products and services to sell. In turn, we can focus on running our businesses. In some extreme cases, AI marketing systems can even deliver basic market tactics for companies as well! CMOs can again focus on strategy while AI optimizes campaigns.

Now, I’ve already heard from several of my colleagues saying that this total takeover of their marketing work is not totally doable for AI. But All I can say in response is “Remember 2 years ago when you weren’t doing automated customer interactions because you wanted to maintain a personalized feel to your marketing process?” This isn’t an “if”, situation, AI is quickly becoming capable of taking in our customer data, that we collect, seeing the bigger picture, and reporting on what customers respond to.

So why does my assistant still use incognito mode when he shops? Why are CMOs resistant to handing over the keys to their marketing process?

Why didn’t those first adopters of the horseless carriage not want to give up their horses? This is a huge change, both on a physical layer and an intuitive layer. Since the first cave man offered his neighbor a stone axe for shells because he saw that his neighbor had a need, our sales process have been “Human customer has need, human marketer sees need, human marketer crafts a story to sell to human customer, human marketer sells to human customer.” Now robots are squeezing their shiny metal butts into a time tested model, and it’s uncomfortable.

Even, dare I say, disruptive?

I’m speaking in generalities a bit here, I know, but in all these conversations regarding AI taking over tasks from overworked marketing teams, I’m not seeing this bigger picture being talked about. Again, we are teaching robots to understand how we think! If that doesn’t move us closer to Neumann’s Singularity, I don’t know what will.

So I go back to one of my earlier questions: do we really want this? Do we want robots to know when we are most likely to be receptive to a customer interaction? Do we want companies with products and services that will greatly enrich our lives to find us through the noise of this interconnected world with machine efficiency? Do we want machines to be able to predict our behavior and needs?

What do you guys think? I’m very keen on having this conversation around the globe. It’s imperative your voice is heard in this discussion, and leave nothing off the table…the good, the bad, and the ugly, lest we awaken at some future date unhappy with what we have created through our silence or inaction. Let’s co-create our future together. What do you want? Please leave your comments below, I’m listening.

Megan R. Nichols,
Freelance Technical Writer

The textiles industry is one of the oldest in the world, with some research indicating it could even date back as far as the Paleolithic era. We’ve come a long way from handwoven cotton and hand-dyed textiles — so far, in fact, that these things are considered luxuries. Textile innovations have brought the industry forward andare continuing to shape it both in today’s world and far into the future.

How are these textile innovations impacting the supply chain? Here are five ways.

1. Cotton Alternatives

Cotton has been a go-to in the industry for centuries, but it’s not the most sustainable fabric for mass production. Yes, cotton is a natural fiber, but it requires a massive amount of water to grow a sizeable crop. Between 1997 and 2001, cotton growth around the world consumed 256 gigaliters of water. Cotton also needs a lot of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals to grow successfully, all of which can leech off into the local water table.

Alternatives like hemp, lyocell — which is made from cellulose — and bamboo are all emerging in the markets, but for these fabrics to take off, they’ll have to contend with the generations-old monopoly that cotton has on the textiles industry. As more consumers start paying attention to where their clothing is coming from, textile companies will need to make the shift to more sustainable fibers to retain their client base.

2. Petroleum-Based Fiber Alternatives

Polyester became famous as an alternative to cotton or wool, but this fabric — along with nylon, acrylic and spandex — are all derived from petroleum, making them primarily woven plastic. The material is flexible and durable but doesn’t biodegrade like wool or cotton will under the same circumstances.

The shift toward more sustainable textiles, both by consumers and textile companies, impacts the supply chain dramatically. Companies may start to transition away from these petroleum-based textiles in favor of alternatives like bamboo or rayon.

3. Self-Healing Fibers

For a consumer, nothing is worse than getting a tear in your favorite dress or splitting the seam in your favorite pair of jeans. Innovations in the textile industry may have moved us closer to realizing the dream of self-healing fabrics. The first attempt at creating self-healing fabric came in 2016. Natural fibers were dipped in a series of liquids known as polyelectrolyte to generate a self-healing barrier on top of the material.

The positive and negative ions in the polyelectrolyte draw the edges of a tear back together, effectively healing the fabric automatically.

The process is slow and unwieldy at the moment, but in the future, self-healing fabrics could effectively eliminate the need for torn garment disposal, improving sustainability and reducing the amount of clothing left to decompose in landfills.

4. Antimicrobial Fabric

Antimicrobial fabric is starting to emerge in a niche market, but it could take the textile industry by storm shortly. Anything that needs to be inhospitable to bacteria — from hospital scrubs to CDC biohazard suits designed to be used in hot zones — could be made from this fabric.

Antimicrobial fabric works by attacking the pathogens it encounters on the cellular level, so even if the material comes into contact with a bacterium or virus, it doesn’t have a chance to grow and spread. Companies that provide linens, clothing or protective outerwear for bacteria-rich environments may find their clients will start transitioning to antimicrobial fabric.

5. Sustainable Transportation

Manufacturing isn’t the only place where sustainability is becoming a major concern. The entire supply chain, from growth or development to delivery, needs to be sustainable. It can take more than 2700 liters of water to produce a single cotton t-shirt, because once it is harvested and milled it has to be washed, bleached and dyed — all of which requires water.

Transportation also generates greenhouse gasses, which contribute to a company’s carbon footprint. Consumers are starting to take their business away from companies that refuse to practice sustainable transportation and manufacturing practices, leaving many businesses scrambling to rebuild their customer base — or closing their doors if they can’t make the required changes in time.

Textile Supply Chains Into the Future

Sustainability and finding alternatives to traditional non-biodegradable fabrics are quickly becoming necessities in the textile industry. Companies that haven’t already started to make the transition to these sustainable practices will find themselves left behind as supply chains continue to evolve into the future.

Angela Goodridge Group Marketing Manager,
Eclipx Group

Modern marketers are fast learning that a marketing automation platform is a must have tool to survive, but after the platform’s sales teams have left your office with their shiny pitches and endless promises – are marketing automation platform’s all they’re hyped up to be?
Heading up Marketing at ASX listed Eclipx Group and managing a portfolio of brands across various industries, this is what I learnt in the first 90 days of implementing HubSpot across one of our direct to consumer brands.

Campaigns

One of the biggest draw cards to implementing marketing automation was the ability to execute, test and report on campaigns in one platform and this is something that didn’t disappoint.
Assembling a multi-faceted, personalised digital campaign including social media, EDMs, blogs, landing pages, SEM and reporting along with the option to utilise workflows all in one place has been fantastic.Whilst there are still limitations, such as not having the ability to include paid social targeting directly from HubSpot, I’m sure this functionality won’t be far away.

Cloning Campaigns

This is something some marketers have dreamt of having their entire careers. Yes, with one simple click of a button you can replicate an entire campaign and all of its assets enabling you to take a similar campaign to market in a fraction of the time. This functionality alone has saved my team hours of work, but be sure to have clear naming conventions and folder structures to save you from confusion later down the track.

Tech Support – do you need it?

Not sure if you’ll need internal tech support or on-boarding from the platform provider? Its simple – you’ll need both!
With what seems like endless features and functions in marketing automation platforms, having access to support on both sides was crucial to success. At different stages of our implementation journey both teams were called upon to help explain how and why certain tools should be utilised and it would be fair to say a few more bad habits would have been picked up without them.

HubSpot’s Content Management System

Having used most open source and proprietary content management systems (or CMS’s) across my career, I was skeptical of migrating our website into the CMS that came as an optional inclusion of HubSpot. But in my first 90 days, it’s proven to be simple to use and no more restrictive than other off the shelf platforms for content creation and editing.

The only issues we’ve experienced so far is the inability to pull in external database or feed driven content – in our case for the building of financial repayment calculators and dynamically displaying complex content structures. If this functionality was included moving forward, it could allow teams to leverage HubSpot’s platform to build more complex and interactive websites.

A/B Testing

Having used platforms to facilitate A/B testing in the past, this feature wasn’t new, but having it sit in one place alongside your content and campaigns is a welcome feature. Albeit basic, it has still allowed us to double the conversion rate of a key lead generation form in the first 90 days.

Content

Delivering personalised content to customers at the right time in their buying journey is a key goal of any automation platform. So when embarking on your marketing automation journey, don’t under estimate how important it is to have a clear content marketing strategy and an efficient content production team in place.
A marketing automation platform is worse than an overzealous Executive, it’s a beast that you have to continue to feed with content, traffic and testing to draw meaningful conclusions.

The Verdict

What’s important to remember when assessing the success of your first 90 days is your platform doesn’t automate your marketing, in effect it streamlines and automates certain processes and provides you with the ability to scale your output without additional headcount.So whilst our new marketing automation platform wasn’t the silver bullet to hitting our targets in the first 90 days, time previously spent on the production of assets and execution across multiple platforms was replaced with crafting more personalised delightful content, strategic thinking and developing more complex and automated customer journeys.

And as we continue to develop and fine tune our approach, I look forward to seeing the shift in our CPA as we deliver more personalised and meaningful experiences with our brand.