Exclusive Interview Archives

Yolanda Schmidtke: Rethinking Real Estate

With a desire to disrupt the traditional Real Estate Industry with innovative financial solutions and unique investment products, Yolanda Schmidtke Co-founded DLE Group AG. DLE soon identified land development as its starting investment asset class that enables property developers and housing companies to gain easier access to building land. Now spread across 5 countries and led by an experienced management team, DLE Group AG is an asset management platform serving various institutional investors and family offices with innovative and unique investment products alongside the real-estate value chain, including development financing and yielding real estate.

The Steadfast Leader

As the CEO and Co-founder, Yolanda is defining the group’s overall strategic growth path. In April 2021, Forbes magazine recognized Yolanda in “Forbes 30 under 30”. She holds a degree in Business Administration from Humboldt University, Berlin.

Yolanda was primarily bored during her studies, she was always looking for challenges and had a strong drive for innovation, which led to her launching her first business while pursuing her bachelor’s degree. Although her first venture failed, it set the fundamentals for her successful entrepreneurial journey in the real estate sector.

DLE Group AG presently manages more than 2bn EUR equity with its team of more than 90 professionals across the planet. As the leader, Yolanda Schmidtke believes that land development is one of the main asset classes that will help Germany solve its demand-supply gap for additional affordable housing.

She says, “While investments shall deliver the return to our investors, we see ourselves as solving some of the major challenges of today’s society – affordable housing for the mass and accommodation for elderly people are examples.”

The Business Lines

DLE’s platform approach enables the company to grow and to enter various new areas of the ever-growing real estate sector. The company utilizes its expertise along the entire real estate value chain to create unique synergies in asset management. Currently, DLE is expanding its partnerships with best-in-class investment managers, who hold a stake in its business and benefit from its fundraising strength.

DLE’s business lines now include

DLE Land Development GmbH: It is Europe’s market leader in sustainable neighborhood development. It aims to create value for investors and society through innovative and responsible investing. DLE Land Development also works in tandem with various public agencies, municipal authorities, and project development companies to reduce the housing shortage in major German cities.
DLE Capital AG: It is a specialized ESG-focused provider of senior debt and mezzanine financing for various real estate developments across Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
DLE Living GmbH: It is a specialized, ESG-focused investment manager for various healthcare real estate products across Europe, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
DLE Logistics GmbH: Thanks to growing e-commerce demand and Germany’s leadership in Europe’s manufacturing output, DLE Logistics GmbH leverages the unique environment to build a portfolio of value-added logistics assets.
LE Poland SP. ZO.O: Bringing the Land Development expertise from Germany to Poland, DLE’s equity-based land development strategy ensures that real estate developers have the proper access to urgently needed land to develop additional housing.

Mission and Vision

DLE is a rapidly growing sustainable Asset Management Platform in the real estate sector. Its innovative platform allows its employees to go far beyond the traditional real estate products and evolve the company’s offering along the entire real estate value chain. Its investors benefit from an increasingly broad range of investment opportunities in various asset and risk classes.

Whether DLE is developing a land, leasing real estate, or structuring financing, sustainability stays at the core of everything. Its innovative platform creates profitable and sustainable growth that amalgamates attractive returns with high social value. The organization always considers social benefit when measuring economic success at the fund, corporate, and asset levels.

Additionally, the entire team of DLE goes beyond the traditional real estate market to tap into the key mega trends in the real-estate sector, primarily by identifying innovative investment strategies and best-in-class fund managers to build joint ventures. DLE’s partnership approach is the key to attracting the right partners to join the group and helping it build its different business lines to grow the organization into a leading European asset management platform.

The organization’s mission is to identify, develop, and deliver unique investment opportunities, which helps to achieve continuous platform growth that eventually fulfills the needs of its clients and investors.

She says, “Success is, for me, relative and stands for the journey that you took rather than the absolute achievement that many compare each other to.”

Yolanda believes that DLE is poised for a successful future. Under her leadership, DLE’s vision is to generate impactful, long-term value for its stakeholders through active participation in communities’ social and economic development. Through responsible investing, she and her team seek to continue to solve several critical issues related to the impact of demographic and climate change.

Also, as the leader of the organization, Yolanda Schmidtke strives to make DLE a European asset management platform that offers investment products in different asset classes in the next 5 years.

James Michael Lafferty: Helping Clients with World Class Hygienic Products

Since the pandemic, uncertainty, and volatility are continuously affecting all business organizations worldwide, it is clear that visionary business leaders should address the new changes of the pandemic and the 21st century as a whole. One such visionary leader, James Michael Lafferty, is effectively managing and leveraging these constant changes with his foresight and innovative leadership.

James is an American business leader, award-winning journalist, philanthropist, and Olympic Coach. He started his career as a fitness coach and has been at the top of many well-known organizations worldwide. Presently James is serving as the CEO of one of the most well-known wellness groups and manufacturer of hygienic paper products, Fine Hygienic Holding.

During the mid-1980, James established his own business in the developing world of corporate wellness. Later he was hired by his hometown company, Procter and Gamble, to teach its employees how to stay fit. While working for the organization, James met a Brand Manager who inspired him to join the Brand Management department of the organization. Eventually, he made a couple of attempts but was offered the role of a Brand Assistant, which he gladly accepted

Thanks to his excellent business and organizational results in the U.S. business, P&G soon transferred James into an international career that eventually took him to Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe, and Asia.

With a marketing and general management career spanning over 30 years, James is one of the most well-known, leading global experts in business building, marketing, and branding in emerging markets. He has had a long and successful career building businesses and organizations across all the continents for some of the fast-moving consumer goods companies. He has served as CEO of companies like Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola, and British American Tobacco.

The Shining Star of Arab FMCG World

Elia Nuqul founded Nuqul Brothers Company in 1952. Initially, it was a modest trade and import business for food and consumer goods. However, with the founder’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, the business grew steadily, and he began to seek new ways to expand. At that point of time, hygienic paper products were unavailable in the MENA region, and Elia saw a tremendous opportunity in the market segment, so he went ahead and established Fine Hygienic Holding in 1958, previously known as Fine Hygienic Paper Company.

Presently, Fine Hygienic Holding is one of the largest FMCG companies in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a proud 65 year old family business making high-quality wellness products, from consumer tissues to adult and baby diapers, and a full line of nutritional supplements and disinfection products.

“Our core brand is the “Fine” brand name, which is synonymous with tissues in this region. I am hugely honored to be asked to lead this great company with a rich history.”- says James.

Defining Success

James believes success is often defined by the eyes of the beholder. What he describes as success, someone can consider that hell on earth. Each person can define success differently. On the other hand, James was always an achiever, and climbing the ladder was very important for him. However, he understands this doesn’t spike everyone in the same way, which he respects.

For James, success ultimately boils to happiness and a sense of fulfillment. He says, “If you are happy, and you feel you have led a fulfilling life, and have few regrets, then I would say that person was very successful—regardless of their title or salary or other superficial factors.”

Achievements

James is most proud of his struggles as a gym instructor from Cincinnati, Ohio, who worked his way up to lead top companies worldwide. His unbelievable story breaks many myths about having an MBA, going to an elite school, or who your parents are. It shows that nothing really matters, and the cream always rises to the top. James feels it’s all about the intangibles of attitude that often dictate a person’s attitude in the area he/she chooses to endeavor.

Recently James Michael Lafferty was awarded the CEO of the year by Burj CEO awards, which is associated with the government of Dubai. GCC Best Employer Awards also recognized him as CEO of the year. Additionally, he was named by Daman Health as “The Wellness Visionary of 2019“, and Forbes Magazine Middle East has listed him as one of the Top 50 CEOs.

Preparing for the Future

As the leader of Fine Hygienic Holding, James’s vision is to improve the wellness of his customers. The organization offers a wide range of world-class products that work to enhance its users’ health in a small but tangible way. Every day James receives multiple letters of thanks from consumers who have realized that FHH’s products improved their lives.

James would like to see FHH going public in the next 5 years and become a shining example of its region’s talent, potential, and innovation. The entire team of FHH is immensely proud of the company’s heritage and roots and its humble beginning in Jordan.

Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs

James Michael Lafferty has two pieces of advice for budding entrepreneurs, The first is to recognize that over 80 percent of new businesses fail within the first 5 years of establishment. So, he encourages new entrepreneurs first to start learning with a leading company and then only start their endeavors. He says, “Don’t go off and risk your own money until you have had some “reps” in running a real business. Once the learning curve slows, then go for it.”

The second one is to be prepared to work hard. “There is no safety net. Every time you think you can’t do it, you have to be prepared to dig deep and find another gear. The best entrepreneurs are incredibly persistent and don’t know what it means to give up.”– adds James.

Farah Zafar: The Rockstar Lawyer turned Tech CEO

Born and raised in a very humble, disciplined, and focused household in the UK, Farah Zafar is an award-winning Woman of the Year, Women of Influence in the Arab World, Inspiring Business Leader and Chief Legal Officer.

She has worked for the region’s most influential leaders and visionaries, has led government-to-government transactions for and on behalf of the Government of Dubai, Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Emirate of Ajman and has represented investment and quasi-government entities in the GCC region.

Over the last 22 years she has helped build successful billion-dollar corporations and feels all her experience has led her to her current position as CEO of one of the most exciting tech platforms to be launched this year.

Early Life

Farah was raised in a house where academia was the primary focus. While growing up, she was not permitted to watch TV. Instead, the importance of studying and reading was instilled in her. Working hard was mandatory in her household, and failure was never an option.

Farah’s family immigrated to the UK in the 1950s, so she had witnessed her parents’ struggle and how hard they worked to build a comfortable good life. This inspired her to work hard, which will allow her to give back to her parents everything they had sacrificed. So, when her father presented her with 3 options; doctor, lawyer, and dentist, she chose to be a lawyer.

After completing her studies, Farah needed a training contract to be a registered lawyer in the UK, and after being rejected 532 times, she finally landed a training contract in a small criminal legal aid office in South London.

Sunshine after the Rain

During her training, Farah was verbally and mentally abused by her bosses; they treated her in the most horrendous way possible. The entire period of her training contract felt like torture. Every morning she used to wake up, cross the day in the calendar, throw up and go to work, where she would spend her next 18-20 hours. Despite this she later realised that her training gave her the resiliance to always work hard and strive for the best.

Soon after completing her training, she got her dream job in a law firm in Mayfair. Many years later, Farah received a call informing her that she had been selected for the Sole Legal Counsel’s position for the Engineer’s Office of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai. Recognizing the life-changing opportunity, Farah willingly relocated to Dubai and embraced the challenge presented in front of her.

From there onwards, she started holding various prominent positions including Sole Counsel to the the Engineer’s Office, the founding team of Omniyat, Head of Capital Transactions for Dubai Holding and Chief Legal Officer for the Public Investment Fund of Saudi for Amaala.

Due to her extensive contribution to the Middle East, Farah has earned a reputation as one of the leading and most influential business leaders

Legal CEO of the Year at 2019’s CEO Awards

General Counsel of the Year – Oath Middle East Legal Awards 2019

General Counsel of the Year – Middle East Legal Awards 2020

Woman of the Year – Big Projects Middle east Awards 2019

Women of Influence in the Arab World – CEO Magasine 2021

Inspiring Femal Business Leaders – Arabian Business 2022

Positively Impacting People’s Lives

Farah Zafar is the CEO of Lyvely. With Lyvely, she and her Co-founders are building a fully integrated platform that will assist content creators, independent professionals, and businesses to monetize their skills and passion online. The Lyvely team is developing the first creator-driven platform that enhances creators’ and consumers’ experiences through a revenue generation model, with the vision to help people get paid for doing what they love, the entire team hopes to make a positive difference in people’s lives and help people achieve their mission, vision and transition the masses from Web 2 to a more empowering Web 3 world.

An advocate of Female Empowerment

Farah is passionate about female empowerment and the growing role of female leaders in the Middle East. She also provides mentorship and support to upcoming dynamic female leaders.

When Farah started more than 25 years ago, the corporate sector in the Middle East was incredibly male-dominated. However, since then the region has made significant leaps in support and recruitment of women across various sectors. She believes that without the support of the progressive leadership of UAE and Saudi Arabia, she would never be able to get the opportunity to work as Chief Legal Officer for multiple large organizations.

Farah Zafar considers herself fortunate enough to witness the rise of Arab women in every sector. She has seen Arab women to conquer the world and step out of the shadows in their unique ways to pave the way for others. In her last 2 decades of professional career, Farah Zafar has seen Arab women become influential leaders, ministers, Olympians, Filmmakers, and entrepreneurs. She feels immensely proud to witness their growth and dominance.

Farah’s journey from Rockstar Lawyer To Tech CEO is one where she hopes to positively impact and inspire more females to venture into technology and the future of Web 3.

When people wake up, social change follows: Preeta Sinha

When a worthy mission is smartly executed, people wake up
When people wake up, social change follows
When social change follows, society progresses
When societies progress, the people thrive
When people thrive, the planet flourishes

Preeta Sinha, a woman entrepreneur, and immigrant from India is the founder of One Green Planet, an extensive conscious lifestyle brand. Through paving the way with her website, she also created the Food Monster App (featured in Fast Company), the largest plant-based recipe app in the market today, and One Green Planet Greatest, a brand new cookbook filled with 75 plant-based recipes. Her day-to-day involves everything from handling editorial vision to spearheading partnerships and overall operations for the company. She has previously worked for NBC Universal and Hearst Corporation. She did her Bachelor’s in Communications & Photography (Urban Wildlife) from Mumbai, India. Preeta Sinha is passionate about conscious and compassionate living, public health, and empowering women, minorities, and underrepresented communities.

Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?

I was raised in a big vibrant community of family, friends, cousins, aunties, and uncles in the “Maximum City” of Mumbai or “Bombay,” as I grew up calling it–seeing socio-economic disparities and class segregation, slums, and homelessness alongside millionaire mansions. I experienced explosive urbanization leading to the rise of the middle class and witnessed my city and country undergoing a complex cultural transition. Yet, there was a dynamism to the city. I admired its secular roots, and was in awe of its essence and hustle; in love with the colorful bazaars and spice markets, stray dogs, street fares, religious festivals, and the various ethnicities, cuisines, and languages. Additionally, I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the role arts, cinema, and the liberal culture of Bombay played in shaping my personality and ambition.

My family also played a significant role in setting the stage for my future pursuits. My grandfather came to America to pursue his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. My father followed suit, completed his Master and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M, and worked here for numerous years. After he got married and I was born in Queens, NY, my parents (Dr. Lakhan Sinha and Geeta Sinha) decided to move back to India. So, while I was born in the U.S. and am an American citizen, I spent my childhood and adolescence in India and moved back to NYC after finishing my undergraduate degree in communications and photography.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I had the great privilege of interacting with Senator Kamala Harris and her team during her presidential campaign. Later that led to working alongside the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign team during the pandemic to bring attention to marginalized and minority communities and businesses through our platform, One Green Planet. It was a proud moment for me on a personal and professional level.

Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I am a female founder of color running an independent media company in a country far away from my family so my entrepreneurial journey is laced with unique struggles not many can relate to. In addition, I’ve experienced systemic barriers and discrimination that come with being a marginalized group in the United States. Therefore, I’m truly grateful to several people who showed genuine care for my wellbeing and offered tangible support along this way–team members who believed in my vision, colleagues who helped shape our mission, and partners that were generous with their time and resources. Even the people who troubled me have taught me a great deal about perseverance, patience, and resilience and helped me evolve into a better leader and human being.

Millions of readers flock to One Green Planet because they care about how their actions impact people, animals, and the planet. I am particularly grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to serve in this way.

This principle helped me build One Green Planet. One day at a time. Every day. We’ve never had investors and have grown organically from day one.

When everything came to a screeching halt due to the pandemic, we were forced to immediately scale back and adapt to a new normal like many other businesses. So we started again, used what we had, did what we could, and still made some pretty hefty strides. We pivoted our content to focus entirely on covering the most critical and current issues facing the nation like Black Lives Matter, Coronavirus/Public Health and reported on the nightmarish end of the Trump Presidency and the hopeful entry of the Biden-Harris Administration. It was a way to use our platform and voice to be on the right side of history.

We also immediately realized that health was at the forefront of everyone’s mind and that having a robust immune system is our best defense to fight the virus. We re-coded the Food Monster app and made it free so people would not have to pay a price to be healthy (at a time when everyone was struggling financially) because access to good, healthy food should be a basic human right.

Like most other small businesses our revenues were significantly impacted as well so yet again, we used this principle and worked towards creating a new revenue stream by turning our extensive recipe resources into physical cookbooks.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?

Can you please share a story or example for each? My passion gives me purpose and this purpose has given me superpowers I never knew I had; it’s what fuels my grit, hustle, determination, learning, and growth and helps maintain One Green Planet’s relevance in a crowded space despite the rise of major players and big money.

In terms of particular characteristics I possess, I am indefatigably optimistic, happy and hopeful as a human being. I am not scared of hard work; I’m a critical thinker and a creative problem solver, and a very execution-oriented and product-focused leader. From coding the very first One Green Planet website to wireframing our vegan recipe app, Food Monster, I’ve done it all. I still read/learn from all the content that goes up on the site daily (and we publish a lot!). Most recently, I created a scalable system to take our first cookbook to market and plotted the next 12 we have lined up for 2021 and 2022. I thrive on being hands-on and working with my team! There’s no role or task I’m too good to do.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on our wellness. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?

We had long been taught that to live an environmentally conscious lifestyle, all we needed to do was recycle, reduce, reuse, go paperless / plastic-free, and clean our oceans/beaches. However, something that was missing from this critical list was examining what we put on our plates. As we all know by now, the industrial livestock system is at the center of climate change, human rights violations, deforestation, and a future global food crisis. Therefore limiting our dairy and meat consumption can have a lasting impact on the planet for generations to come. This is the problem One Green Planet is committed to solving and the reason behind building the Food Monster app.

“Life Lesson Quote”?

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Don’t wait for nobody!

Kevin Steer: Redefining customary Business ways through Digitalization

In an interview with Tycoon Success, Kevin Steer – the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of 121Advisor, emphasizes over the exceptional journey put forth by the company of achieving many milestones in its pathway. Its flagship product which is also to be the all-encompassing solution provider known as ‘Customer First Connected Enterprise Digital Framework’. Driven with a strong motive, thus quoting “we don’t follow trends, we pioneer them” the company has paved a strong stature for itself to march on.

Through this special issue, “The 10 Most Prominent Business Leaders To Watch in 2022,” Tycoon Success shows its gratitude and appreciation towards the contribution made by the 121Advisor in the business world.

Below are the highlights:

Products to Rely On

Kevin states that over the past 10 years the company has implemented many disruptive online solutions including Referral Management with Marketing Automation (for Banks), Mobile Point of Sales, Online Direct Selling, Online Claims, Agency Distribution, Online Customer Service Portals & Corporate Websites. He also emphasizes that with the growth of AI & chatbots; 121Advisor implemented disruptive solutions including multilingual Chatbots & Robo Advisors along with AI based Predictive Analytics / Machine Learning for predicting New Products, Lapsation, Fraudulent Claims & future predictions for Investment Funds.

Into the Shoes of the Leader

Being experienced and having worked in the insurance & takaful sector for years, the Chief Executive Officer states that 121Advisor’s mission was to provide disruptive InsurTech & FinTech solutions for insurers, takaful operators & banks. As a CEO & a ‘techie’, Kevin has always been looking for new disruptive solutions to continue evolving the business. It all started with his working for an Artificial Intelligence Company in 1986, which piqued his interest in AI. Kevin states that when 121Advisor started seeing the evolution of Chatbots, Robo Advisors, Predictive Analytics, Behavioral Intelligence & Robotic Process Automation – the company started researching on AI solutions and the team implemented 24×7 multi-lingual Chatbots, Robo Advisors for lifestyle financial planning, as well as implementing Predictive Analytics solutions for predicting new products to buy, lapsation of policies, fraudulent claims & future grow/decline of investment funds; which are integrated with RPA solutions to trigger workflows to notify the relevant people. Moreover, he highlights in the year 2014 the company became profitable and 121Advisor used the profits for R&D on developing new disruptive solutions. Here is a graph that shows the company’s growth over the past decade.

Overcoming the Challenges

Kevin addresses the fact that as most millennials in Asia Pacific do not understand financial planning, and often max out their credit cards and get into debt; there is a need to help educate them on their lifestyle financial goals and recommend products that they can buy online. With the launch of u12know, he states that one might see that this will become a disruptive knowledge portal offering advice on lifestyle financial & (in future) health goals. Making them understand their needs and create a plan to help them build their lifestyle & business financial plans. “For each country, this will be translated into the local language,” quotes Kevin.

During COVID-19 pandemic, 121Advisor saw the need to offer financial services and health services online with lifestyle financial & health advice. Kevin and his team recently launched a knowledge portal u12know (www.u12know.com) in Malaysia, that provides lifestyle financial advice – for single, married, family, retired & my business. This will continuously be extended to include lifestyle financial goals with recommendations for financial and business products, including company’s multi-lingual chatbot & Robo Advisor – which provides advice on financial goals.

A peek into Key aspects

When asked about the factors of the company which helps business, Kevin Steer emphasizes over some key aspects which are listed below, in his own words:

Referral Management

He states that a bank in Malaysia, wanted his company to deliver a Referral Management solution in 3 months, this included defining KPIs for each product, interfacing with back-end sales, and synchronizing status of agents daily, then auto assigning to the relevant sales agents based on the referral product required. 121Advisor delivered the solution and went live in 3 months, currently used by 6,700+ users referring an average of 170,000 referrals per annum.

Mobile Point of Sales for Insurance

He mentions that one of company’s insurance customers wanted an agent mobile sales solution delivered in 4 months, this includes product setup, quotation, and proposal, auto-underwriting and online submission to the insurer – 121Advisor delivered the solution and went live in 4 months currently used by 700+ Agents across 3 insurers.

Agent Distribution Solution

With its agent distribution solution, Kevin Steer states that a number of Agent Leader Corporations (ALCs) wanted company to compute their commissions, bonus; then based on n-tier hierarchy, manage the performance and track KPIs for agent promotion / demotion—depending on whether they met their targets, including integration with their insurance/takaful companies. Once the ALC managers approve payments, it makes online payment direct to the agents. Then 121Advisor delivered these solutions in 2 – 4 months, based on the integration requirements with the insurance/takaful company, currently utilized to compute 2,000+ agents across 4 insurers.

Customer Service Portal

Kevin addresses that the Customer Self Service Portal is an on-demand access point enabling customer to view their insurance/takaful account, anywhere and anytime. This enables the policyholders to view their policies and certificate details via a simple internet connection. The portal provides a safe avenue for customers to update their personal information, pay premium, switch funds, print documents, update beneficiary details, request policy changes and engage in filing claims and processing, which traditionally would take weeks to be executed due to siloed lines of business. The platform also supports automated workflows that are triggered by certain customer activities which are routed to relevant departments and customers are kept informed via emails or messaging. “Providing a portal for your customers with the convenience of self-servicing, customers can enjoy the freedom of doing what’s convenient for them, when they want anywhere,” says Kevin Steer.

Predictive Analytics Models (PAM)

121Advisor solutions focus on predictive marketing & sales, customer service, new business underwriting, personalization and claims management to build Predictive Analytics Models (PAM) for Banking, Insurance & Takaful.

Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial Insurance & Takaful (FITbot)

Kevin Steer states Multi-lingual Robo Advisor and chatbot that utilizes hybrid trees and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers to offer a more personalized customer experience and generate more referrals. He also mentions company’s 24×7 multi-lingual FITbot which has benefits such as:

It changes the way people think about customer engagement.
It reduces customer service costs by up to 40% by implementing 24×7 intelligent bots.
It delivers personalized customer experiences by proactively understanding the customer via real-time lead scoring algorithms and providing a personalized interactive user experiences.
Its personalized experiences generate more warm leads that can be routed to financial advisors, live chat direct marketing, or direct online purchase.
It leads continuous improvement using machine learning algorithms that adapts to changes in topics and conversations over time.
When it cannot answer a question, it directs to live chat customer support.
Its predictive personalization rules engine enables companies to quickly configure their financial product recommendations based on lifestyle goals and identified needs.
It integrates with sales tools and customer databases via secure authenticated APIs.

Choices Online Store (COS)

Kevin Steer states that through Choices Online Store (COS) insurers and takaful operators can provide direct purchase of products online. It also can integrate with Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial Insurance & Takaful (FITbot) robo-advisor services as well as referrals via Referral Management & Marketing Automation (ReMMA). Also, the Choices Online Store (COS) allows insurer and takaful operators to leverage a mix of technological innovations from the Enterprise Digital Framework and allows carriers to configure their online products through the Enterprise Product Configurator (EPC) and offer directly to consumers via WebPortal Solution (WebPoS). It also allows businesses to setup a product catalogue, via customizable product page templates, for categorized and convenient research on multiple product comparisons to enhance the selection process. Kevin Steer also asserts that online buyers are allowed with benefit and cost comparison, quotations generation, online purchase and e-payment for convenient purchase process. The sales are guided with needs analysis based on client’s financial needs and lifestyle, so clients make informed decisions. If clients need hands-on advice FITbot can help them guide through the process or get connected with e-advisors online. The e-advisor can be registered with the chat service which can help track KPIs and referrals for performance management.

Rahman Mohammed: Helping Users to Manage their Healthcare Journey

With the aim to make healthcare convenient, affordable, and accessible for all, VivoDoc was established by its CEO and Co-founder, Rahman Mohammed MD, in 2020. As a comprehensive healthcare technology, VivoDoc works to connect patients with healthcare professionals directly. The technology platform strives to bring price transparency and ease of scheduling appointments for its patients.

Regardless of its patient’s location, VivoDoc is the fastest and easiest way to access healthcare for everyone. Many patients live in underserved areas that often lack access to specialists. However, with VivoDoc, one can easily schedule a virtual visit with specialists without any location barrier.

Trained in emergency medicine and primary care, Rahman Mohammed is a physician by profession. He has worked with multiple major healthcare companies and has in-depth knowledge and experience with the challenges and shortcomings of the system. Rahman Mohammed believes technology can be better utilized to improve the present healthcare system. He finished his medical school in Ukraine and speaks 5 different languages with an understanding of different cultures and their challenges.

Right Care at Right Time

VivoDoc equips its healthcare providers and patients with various tools created using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to discover the right type of care at the right time and drive optimal outcomes for their medical conditions. The platform helps patients manage their complete healthcare journey. Users can effortlessly search, find, and book the nearby best doctor at their convenience. They can opt to visit the doctor in person or via telemedicine. Patients can self-verify their insurance and know an estimated copay along with finding in-network doctors of their choice. Also, patients can upload their IDs and insurance cards either through the website or the app. Additionally, they get appointment reminders and can communicate with the Doctor’s office directly via SMS. They have the option of paying for their doctor’s visit securely and filling out all paperwork from the comfort of their home, saving time and avoiding waiting at the doctor’s office.

In the case of doctors, VivoDoc functions as an all-in-one platform starting from their SEO and comprehensive profile building, dedicated HIPAA compliant telemedicine platform, REAL-time appointment availability with their EMR integration, and reputation management. In order to decrease the front office load, VivoDoc has automated the appointment flow and automated the reminders with notifications.

For the Welfare of the Community

The platform acts as a mobile and web marketplace with different kinds of features for both doctors and patients. VivoDoc offers various tools for physicians to focus on their patients, maintain autonomy, increase revenue and avoid burnout. On average, a physician can spend 90 minutes/day on various daily tasks to ensure the business is running correctly.

It also works to bring a transparent and direct approach to healthcare. In the case of an uninsured individual, VivoDoc provides the total pricing upfront helping both the patient and the provider with the cost. It also provides the option of direct pay, eliminating sudden surprises in hospital bills. VivoDoc helps patients with self-triage tools and avoids unnecessary expensive Emergency room visits. Streamlines care to the right specialist based on patients’ conditions.

“The greatest wealth is the richness of the soul.”

Since its successful launch in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area, VivoDoc is currently serving more than 350+ practices locally and is in the process of expanding to other parts of Texas. It also created partnerships with EMRs like Epic, Athena Health, DrChrono, and many more in the pipeline. VivoDoc is a proud sponsor of the Texas Medical Association, Dallas County Medical Society, Texas Chiropractic Association, etc. Currently, the platform is free for patients. However, it charges a minimum monthly subscription fee for physicians. VivoDoc is in the process of creating a referral platform to make it convenient for both physicians and patients.

Future Roadmap

VivoDoc’s primary goal as a company is to be the leader of the healthcare industry, helping privately owned practices to survive and thrive. It also aims to restore the sacred patient-physician relationship and bring back the joy of practicing medicine. The organization intends to create a community of more than 10,000 physicians and help as many as 5 million people search for and book appointments over the next 5 years.

Karen Mangia: Helping People to Amplify Their Voices

Meet Karen Mangia, a WSJ Best Selling Author and one of the most sought-after thought leaders on the planet, sharing her thoughts on leadership with more than 15000 organizations during her entire career. She is an author of four books and a prolific blogger. She has also been featured in Forbes, and she regularly contributes to Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, and ZDNet.

As the Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, Karen engages current and future customers around the world to discover new ways of creating success and growth together. Giving people a platform and helping to amplify their voices have been Karen’s constants throughout her entire career. She helps shape the strategy for the workplace of the future globally. Before Salesforce, she held a variety of leadership roles at Cisco in sales leadership and customer experience.

Staying Close to Customers

During her college days, Karen’s university professor, Bob Papper, inspired her love of storytelling. Karen was a student in his Telecommunications news classes and worked for him as a research assistant. Karen’s job was to administer the annual survey her professor sent to members of the Radio & Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA). Karen would call non-respondents to administer surveys over the phone. Then she would correlate responses, analyze trends and search for the storyline.

Professor Papper authored six articles each year based on their findings for the RTNDA magazine. Both co-authored an article about trends in television internships. It was Karen’s first professional publication. Beyond storytelling, Karen’s career at North star is staying close to customers. And choosing jobs nd bosses who enable her to live and work well.

When Business is the Platform for Change

Karen says, “At Salesforce, we believe business is the greatest platform for change. We are passionate proponents of stakeholder capitalism, committed to doing well by all our stakeholders – our customers, employees, partners, communities, the planet, and society as a whole.” She adds, “We lead by example, spearheading initiatives in philanthropy, racial equality and justice, climate action and advocacy, and the ethical and human use of technology.”

“There’s no reason for you to play small anymore. The universe has big plans for you, and it’s time to claim them.”

Salesforce’s founders launched the 1-1-1 model, which commits 1% of Salesforce’s equity, technology, and peoples’ time to improving education, equality, and the environment for everyone. Today, more than 15,000 companies worldwide have joined Salesforce in its Pledge 1% movement.

The Pandemic Presented Challenges

Karen believes the pandemic presented challenges for all of us individually and collectively. What Salesforce discovered and shares now, as a result, is how to succeed from anywhere. Salesforce created platforms and programs to make it easier for everyone in their ecosystem to discover how to to release old ways of working and welcome flexibility, connection, and productivity from home, the office, on the road, or anywhere in between. Karen and her colleagues are empowering everyone to be a Trailblazer with their culture of Success from Anywhere. By creating new ways of working, connecting, and delivering customer success in their digital-first world, Salesforce is redefining the future of work — together.

Contributing to a Balanced and Equal Industry

Salesforce offers programs that make it possible for every organization to become an equitable organization. Each program includes a playbook and a community for support, • Pledge 1% invites all entrepreneurs and their companies to commit important resources (product, time, and resources) to support integrating philanthropy into their businesses at any stage. • Salesforce shares its annual review, results and a playbook to enable every organization to ensure pay equity. • As an organization, Salesforce unequivocally stands against racism, violence, and hate. And it will continue working to effect systemic change in communities by driving inclusive business practices, investing resources, empowering minority-led organizations, cultivating partnerships, designing technology with everyone in mind, and advocating for policies for racial equality.

Future Roadmap

When it comes to Salesforce, Karen believes, the company will continue to redefine success. With that said, Karen believes success is service.

Listening with a beginner’s mind is service. Acting with pure intentions in the best interest of its customers, ecosystem, stakeholders, and planet is service. Reconsidering beliefs that may no longer serve us or others is service. And that’s the kind of service that leads to sustained success. In this vein, Karen aspires to continue to be of service to others and, in so doing, make it possible for everyone to succeed. “Together we rise” is one of her mantras.

Karen Mangia is excited about her new show, Success from Anywhere! The premise is: What would happen if we could change the game of life together? The series shares strategies to unlock success from unlikely sources of inspiration. Karen Mangia feels success is not a destination or a location. Success is available to anyone, anywhere at any time if you know where to look. She hopes to help people discover sustainable strategies to live well and work well. And to ultimately realize success moment by moment.

Leadership is All About Listening

Karen Mangia feels leadership is listening. The three most powerful words in leadership, according to her, are, “I hear you.” Be curious. Ask great questions. She always suggests listening intently to the answers and being willing to revisit your perceptions and beliefs based on what you discover. Above all else, Karen Mangia suggests not to sacrifice your life for your work. Work will take what you are willing to give – whether that’s your exercise time, your family time, or your holiday time. Create routines, rituals, and boundaries to start work and stop work in a healthy way that supports a great life.

Dr. Manjula Pooja Shroff: A Lifelong Advocate of Quality Education.

Born in a traditional Royal family in Odisha, Dr. Manjula Pooja Shroff had a very conservative upbringing. Due to this approach, girls at her age had the privilege of attending modern schools and receiving a good education; still, higher education for them was considered unimportant as they were expected to get married at a very young age. However, Dr. Manjula was always passionate about higher education, and she finally convinced her parents to pursue her dreams. Now she holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Commonwealth University, London, a Post Graduate Degree from the York University, and is an executive alumnus of the London School of Economics. Dr. Manjula also holds a Post Graduate degree from Utkal University has completed her Management Education Program at IIM, Ahmedabad. She is also an erstwhile recipient of the ‘Secular India Harmony Award’ by the former president of India Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma.

Having taken inspiration from her own learnings, Dr. Manjula is a lifelong advocate of good quality education. She is the MD and CEO of the Kalorex Group, which is well known for providing quality education. The name of Kalorex Group symbolizes professionalism and excellence in schooling. It is often recognized as a leading group focused on innovation and technology in education.

The Brand

Dr. Manjula’s professional journey started at a young age when she moved to Ahmedabad. She was the first person to bring DPS to the State of Gujarat under the aegis of the DPS Society. With DPS, Ahmedabad’s wait for a good CBSE school ended, and it soon received wholehearted acceptance from society. Currently, Kalorex has two Delhi Public Schools in Bopal and East Ahmedabad areas and Calorx Public Schools at Mundra, Ahmedabad, and Bharuch under its umbrella. The group also runs the Calorx Olive International School, a full spectrum IB school. On the other hand, the Kalorex Pre-School chain is a fast-growing preschool chain, making its presence felt in many cities of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.

“The far-reaching, life-changing impact that teaching as a career can make is incomparable to any other career. So, we need students to look at teaching as a challenging and rewarding career and aspire to become teachers. If you wish to make an impact, you must aspire to become a teacher.”

The group’s other offerings are an e-learning platform named eKal Academy, which helps learners of all age groups to subscribe to online courses for live and self-paced modules. Lastly, the Yali Adventure animation series for preschoolers and preschool kits are the latest addition to the Kalorex Group’s product offerings. Standing by her promise to cater to every section of the society, Dr. Manjula started projects like Visamo Kids Foundation and Kalorex Prerna, which work for the welfare of underprivileged children and students with learning difficulties respectively. Additionally, the Kalorex group works towards uplifting unskilled women by providing them with vocational training from VEDIC, a Vocational Educational Development Institute of Calorx.

Keeping it Going

Dr. Manjula says, “The business I am in, engages my stakeholders for 12-14 years, and it is a big responsibility to deliver quality.” When she sees some of her students getting placed in the best companies across the world and others starting their own enterprises, Dr. Manjula knows she is in the right space. This wholesome feeling of contributing to the success of her students and giving them a secure future through a sound foundation keeps her motivated to reach out to more learners of all ages and demographical locations. Dr. Manjula thinks if she can shape even a single young mind and instill proper values with integrity, she would feel her purpose has been fulfilled.

Thinking Ahead

With the emergence of the pandemic, Dr. Manjula believes people need to think ahead and be prepared for all kinds of emergencies. She says, “It is the teacher who delivers, and all transformational work is done by them. They have to stay one step ahead all the time. They have been a challenged lot, and during pandemic times, they have been the most stressed, having to cope with home, family, and students all under the same roof.” She also explains up-skilling and upgrading are extremely important for everyone in each area of their work. So, giving teachers the needed opportunities for professional growth has been a vital aspect for Kalorex Group.

As the MD & CEO of the Kalorex Group, Dr. Manjula is connected to her staff through ‘Me-Time sessions,’ where she helps her staff by giving tips to elevate them to a higher level of energy and consciousness. Kalorex also empowers its employees to make decisions in their own work area with complete autonomy.

Future Roadmap

Kalorex group has been a progressive organization and has been ahead of its times in incorporating the latest technologies and methodologies in its systems. The organization is looking to expand in the digital learning space in a much bigger way over the next few years. It is also tapping the preschool products market and might dive much deeper to create preschool content.

Buddha Teas: Enriching the Lives of Tea Lovers

With a wide range of wellness products, including single herbal teas and wellness blends that focus on specific elements, Buddha Teas is a platform for, health and wellness. The firm has also started a new line of CBD teas, which are quite popular amongst its clients. The CBD industry is well known for managing pain, and other health issues. However, Buddha Teas decided to step up the tea game and paired some amazing herbs with its water-soluble CBD. So far, the product is well received amongst the users. Overall, the company is true health and wellness-oriented company.

The founder of Buddha Teas, John Boyd, moved to the US from England, where tea is the drink of choice. Since his relocation, he commonly found that the US lacked the diversity and quality he was looking for. John wanted something healthy, organic, and geared towards people, who are seeking relief from certain health issues. What the entire industry lacked, became a motivation for John. He knew that he could fill the void, which eventually led to the foundation of Buddha Teas.

The Steadfast Leader John went to Leeds University for civil engineering but only after real consideration and some life experiences. For instance, John worked for a seismic surveying company when he was just 18. It eventually helped him to afford the luxury of being able to travel to other countries throughout Europe, meet all sorts of people, have some insane food, and drink some phenomenal wine. Gaining that cultural element of food and drink during his travels was a big reason why John felt like he could start a business that was based on customers’ wants and needs.

John likes to keep a few consultants on hand and he visits lots of trade shows specifically for tea companies. He feels, they’re up to date on all the latest packing equipment and various methods to produce products quickly and efficiently. Otherwise, Buddha Teas just likes to keep to its norm. Like the old saying goes “Why fix what isn’t broken?”

How the Pandemic Affected

The pandemic was a trying time for Buddha Teas’ business. Employee safety was of the utmost importance and the firm implemented a lot of new cleaning and sanitizing procedures. Buddha Teas’ employees were truly the main concern for the firm and it was able to navigate the pandemic without any unnecessary stress on its workers. Buddha Teas as a whole didn’t take too much of a hit because people started to investigate alternate methods of medicine.

So, some of its teas, such as Elderberry, and Mushroom Wellness blends became even more popular than before. John hopes this sort of thing never happens again but Buddha Teas will be more prepared this time around, as will everyone.

Preparing for the Future

As the founder, John believes, Buddha Teas will always strive to stay on top of the latest and greatest but it will also focus on making the products it already has even better. Buddha Teas certainly is planning to launch more products for even more specific health reasons. Customers can expect a few new and interesting products to launch soon. Ideas that were brought to life by feedback from its consumers.

John adds, “Challenges in business are always there and the tea industry is no different.

The tea business has been around for ages and now, it’s quite saturated.” There are thousands of brands out there to choose from. However, setting itself apart is the key. Buddha Teas has to make sure stores want to pick up the product and then it has to ensure customers want to pick up its boxes of tea and take them home. John thinks the packaging is attractive and eye-catching. Of course, the best part is when customers pick them up and see that all the products are organic with only the best ingredients.

Advice for Younger Self

When we asked John for suggestions, he said, “To be successful in any business, you have to be super passionate about what you want to create. Surrounding yourself with supportive people and being a strong and inspirational leader is a must, also. It doesn’t hurt to have some kick-ass employees, too.”

Rehab 2 Perform: Redefining Physical Therapy

Born and raised in Montgomery County, MD, Dr. Josh Funk grew his interest in becoming a physical therapist when going through Physical Therapy as a D1 lacrosse player at Ohio State.

Through the rehabilitation of his torn labrum and rotator cuff, Dr. Josh successfully avoided surgery and played at his peak performance for the remainder of his college and professional lacrosse career. After avoiding his surgery, Dr. Josh got entrenched in the world of physical therapy and sports performance. Since then, he has continually developed his expertise and knowledge base as a physical therapist and as a business owner.

A lifelong athlete, Dr. Josh earned his B.S. degree from the Ohio State University and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Maryland-Baltimore.

During the rehabilitation process, Dr. Josh noticed that the sports rehabilitation and physical therapy environment for Division one athletes was completely unique compared to what was available to the masses.

Because of this significant difference, he established Rehab 2 Perform in 2014, which provides. Division One Athletics experience for competitive athletes, active adults, and those looking to be more fit and active.

The firm helps by providing fitness-focused physical therapy, sports rehabilitation, concussion care, and wellness services to competitive athletes, active adults, and those looking to increase their activity. Rehab 2 Perform is now present at 7 locations across Maryland, planning to open its 8th location in Virginia.

Understanding the Pulse of the Industry

As the CEO, Dr. Josh believes being connected to people and companies who are constantly innovating is the key to being on top of something new. The firm does its best to keep a pulse on the thought leaders and high achievers operating in the same industry or being incredibly impactful in other sectors.

Adding to his physical therapy expertise, Dr. Josh is entirely committed to the growth of his firm. Since the company’s inception, he has made sure that his personal development is not just reserved for the clinical side of things. Instead, he made Rehab 2 Perform one of the most well-run and well-known health care companies in its area. Dr. Josh has also made significant efforts to ensure that the customers and employees receive everything they need to perform at their best.

Tackling Challenges

The biggest challenge for the firm is the overall distaste and distrust of the U.S. healthcare system. Especially in the U.S, many view healthcare as a grudge purchase. Dr. Josh believes the way care is being provided and communicated, the cost, and the overall perception of value make sure that Rehab 2 Perform needs to create an environment of trust. He believes the firm still needs to climb a significant hill in order to introduce a ‘Get To’ environment where people are genuinely invested in the health and wellness system and feel that by interacting with the healthcare system and getting a good return on their investment.

Since the emergence of the pandemic, most countries have imposed strict lockdown measures to keep their citizens safe. Social distancing was made mandatory, which heavily impacted firms that are dependent on physical interaction.

Rehab 2 Perform is no different; the pandemic caused challenges for the people interacting with the business in person. So, it shifted its focus towards virtual visits and ensured the team and patients felt comfortable while interacting.

However, Rehab 2 Perform quickly realized that the pandemic would not be here forever, so it focussed on improving its processes, which would help the firm build a better business post-pandemic.

Mission and Vision

With a mission to lower the risk of re-injury, Rehab 2 Perform empowers its clients to stay physically active and achieve performance in areas that matter to them. Focused on providing education and physical competency, the firm caters to athletes irrespective of their background. It also offers a hybrid solution between traditional physical therapy and personal training to improve movement and increase physicality.

Advice for Young Leaders

Dr. Josh advises young entrepreneurs to find their tribe. He says, “The right people in your corner personally and professionally will make or break you. They will keep you moving forward during the trials and tribulations you go through and keep you grounded when you are doing well.

Future Roadmap

In the future, Dr. Josh aspires to transform his company beyond the physical rehabilitation space. He feels the firm should expand as a lifestyle and performance company, not just as a physical therapy and sports rehabilitation company. The leadership team already has the ideas and initiatives internally to make that a reality.

More Info:- https://rehab2perform.com/