Women In Business Archives

Caroline Zimmer: Creating Plant-Based Cheese Alternatives

Surely each of us has already noticed it in ourselves: We eat differently than a few years ago. Plant-based nutrition is becoming increasingly popular, for very different reasons. The focus is on health, variety, and sustainability, aspects that people associate with plant-based products. Nevertheless, hardly anyone wants to do
without one thing: delicious cheese. And that’s exactly what no one needs to do without anymore, because delicious plant-based alternatives to cheese are available from E.V.A. GmbH, a young company from the Allgäu region of Germany.

The organization is a market leader in its segment and develops, produces, and markets purely plant-based cheese alternatives. Currently, the company offers various alternatives to cream cheese, sliced cheese, grated cheese, parmesan, shepherd’s cheese, brand new grill cheese, and curd cheese.

Even though E.V.A. GmbH is a part of the Hochland group, it consciously got separated from its parent company to allow the development of new products, some of which were unusual for a dairy company.

Curious about new things

E.V.A. GmbH is currently led by Managing Director Caroline Zimmer, an ambitious woman who loves challenges and is always curious about new things. Originally from Northern Germany, Caroline has been at home in Allgäu for decades. She has loved cheese and all other dairy products since her childhood. Even at that point in time, she was fascinated by the fact that a cow eats grass and then turns it into something as good as milk. Caroline states, “Since I’m also interested in natural sciences and find topics like microbiology and process technology exciting, the decision to become a dairy engineer was the right one.”

After graduating from college, Caroline wanted to start an apprenticeship. However, companies at that point of time were not interested in hiring women because of the huge and heavy milk cans that one needed to carry.

Caroline says, “I’m still enthusiastic about this craft, which has such a long tradition and to which we owe such wonderful products.”

In addition to her degrees as a dairy and industrial engineer, Caroline is a trained alternative practitioner, Qigong teacher, and a devoted follower of Daoism. Her education and training in traditional Chinese medicine have shaped her way of thinking.

Serving Clients

Regarding the customers, Caroline and her team focus on two directions; E.V.A. GmbH’s primary customers are those retailers who keep the product on their refrigerated shelves. However, the organization makes its products for end customers, so the team convinces both retailers and end customers to buy their products. And for all these, the taste of a product plays a critical role because people only buy a food product when it tastes good.

As the leader of the organization, Caroline takes everyone’s needs into account and ensures that E.V.A. introduces products that consumers love and have the potential to perform successfully in the trade. The organization prefers to focus on the class instead of mass.

Creating the Perfect Substitute of Cheese

Caroline says, “To get ahead, you undoubtedly need your own drive, and you have to be convinced of what you are doing. But the environment is also very important.” In professional terms, she was in very good hands at the parent company of E.V.A. GmbH, Hochland, first in marketing and then as the Head of Business Development/Innovation Management. In this role, her team established an entirely new innovation process based on her holistic approach to thinking and identifying opportunities in various segments, which eventually translated into concrete products. Simply V is one such product; everyone at Hochland recognized its potential very early and gave Caroline and her team the confidence to turn it into something huge.

Tackling Challenges

Developing a cheese alternative that is barely different from cheese was a challenging task. The list of the ingredients had to be manageable. However, the primary criteria were the taste. Simply V was supposed to taste far better than any cheese alternatives available.

On the other hand, the technology for manufacturing the product was another challenge. The team at E.V.A. developed their first product, a spreadable cheese by Simply V. After the team was finally satisfied with the recipe, it had to create a new manufacturing process to produce the product on a large scale.

Initially, distribution was also a challenge. Caroline and her team weren’t just making Simply V for vegans but for the growing number of flexitarians. To do that, products had to be on the refrigerated shelves of regular grocery stores. It was a very ambitious goal, as 7 years ago, finding a shelf with vegan and vegetarian products in the supermarket was very hard.

Since its inception in 2015, Simply V has won at least one award every year. Last year Simply V Genießerscheiben Herzhaft Nussig received the Vegan Food Award 2021 and the Best Seller of the Year 2021 by the trade magazine Rundschau für den Lebensmittelhandel. Also, the new Simply V Grill & Pfannengenuss Tomato Oregano have recently won the Vegan Food Award 2022 from PETA.

On the other hand, The Simply V Hirtengenuss received the Superior Taste Award 2022 with two stars. While the Simply V Streichgenuss Gurke & Knoblauch Ty Tzatziki and the Simply V Grill & Pfannengenuss Mediterrane Kräuter was recognized by the Superior Taste Award 2022, with one star.

Picture of the Future

Caroline states, “We are the market leader in Germany and want to remain so. At the same time, we know that cheese alternatives are a growth market that has awakened many desires.”

Currently, the market is witnessing a lot of movement, but E.V.A. GmbH is confident that it offers retailers an attractive portfolio of products that consumers love. “We are currently working on further product innovations, which I am already very much looking forward to launching.”- states Caroline, without revealing anything more.

“Additionally, the organization hopes to grow not only in Germany but also in Europe. Currently, E.V.A. GmbH’s products are available in seven European nations intending to expand this further.”

Advice for Young Female Entrepreneurs

As the Managing Director of E.V.A. GmbH, Caroline states, “You should believe in yourself and be convinced of what you are doing. You need courage, stamina, and healthy self-confidence because it’s not always easy to assert yourself in a world still dominated by men. But it’s worth it. Be a team player and also rely on the skills of others.”

Mariam Shaikh: Helping Students Fulfill their Academic and Career Goals

Meet Dr. Mariam Shaikh, an eminent professional in the education field based in the UAE with more than three decades of experience and continued success. As a strong, resilient, and futuristic leader, Dr. Mariam’s deep expertise covers Student Recruitment, Academic and Career Counseling, Marketing, Strategic Development, Student Experience, and International Relations. She has held multiple key positions in various reputed and prominent universities in the UAE and has worked religiously to attract aspiring students looking to pursue higher education from all over the world to the UAE.

Her professional journey in the world of education began during the early 80s when she owned a Nursery School, which was inspired by her children. At a later stage, she went on to head a prominent school as a Principal, where she played an instrumental role in the school’s growth.

Following that, she joined the Higher Education sector to help students fulfill their academic and career aspirations. Later in a pioneering move, she sponsored a foreign campus for The University of New Brunswick at Knowledge Village, which eventually encouraged many foreign universities to set up their campuses in UAE. Dr. Mariam has actively contributed to the successful development
of these foreign branch campuses. She has held several key positions with The Canadian University of Dubai, Heriot-Watt University, and Amity University in Dubai.

As a lifelong advocate of education, Dr. Mariam works closely with the UNHCR to provide scholarships for displaced students. She firmly believes that regardless of place, children must go to school. She says, “For Boys and girls forced to flee violence and persecution, an opportunity to study will provide them hope to define their future and realize their potential.”

Recently, Harvard Affiliate Mother Theresa University honored Dr. Mariam with an Honorary Doctorate in Transformational Educational Leadership for her study paper on International Education opportunities for students from all over the world aspiring to develop their career goals from the best the world has to offer.

In 2020, Dr. Mariam founded MS Education Consultants with a vision to support students, Education Institutions, and Innovative Learning Programs to meet the demands of the fast-paced world.

“We are a bespoke Education Services Consulting company with Student Success at the core of all our partnerships. I am delighted to share that MS Education Consultants is the official Middle Strategist for the prestigious University of Guelph, located in Ontario, Canada, to assist students in the Middle East with their admission into the University.”– she says. The University of Guelph is a leading Higher Education Institution in Canada with three majors ranked top 20 in the world, in combination with Student Satisfaction which is consistently top-ranked in Canada. The University of Guelph is one of Canada’s top comprehensive and research-intensive universities. They are known as Canada’s Food University. Established in 1964, the University enjoys a reputation for innovation and excellence
dating back more than 150 years to its founding colleges: Ontario Veterinary College, Ontario Agricultural College, and Macdonald Institute.

The University of Guelph’s commitment to internationalization is reflected in collaboration with Dr. Mariam Shaikh as U of G’s Middle East Strategist. “We are extremely excited about having Dr. Mariam Shaikh onboard to assist us with our student recruitment efforts in the MENA region. We want students to have direct access to our staff members globally, and this is a move in that direction,” says U of G’s Regional Operations Manager for the Middle East and South Asia, Jimmi Hemmenbach.

As an example of its innovative academics, this year, U of G is presenting a new One Health undergraduate major as a response to the ongoing pandemic. Dr. Scott Wease, pathobiology professor at U of G, states that “This pandemic has shown how we need this broad intersection approach to infectious diseases. It cannot just be medicine and veterinary medicine, and it cannot just be science, it [also] has to be social science, it is behavior.”

Known for its beautiful, safe campuses and welcoming, supportive culture, U of G blends historical and modern architecture with cutting-edge technology. Student engagement is fundamental to learning and research at U of G. By focusing on the “whole student,” the University of Guelph gives graduates the tools and skills to make a difference in our ever-changing world.

Helping Students to Achieve Their Dreams

Led by Dr. Mariam, MS Education Consultants presently offer services in University Admissions, Student Recruitment, New Campus Set-up Consultancy, Online Training Programs, and Student Cultural Exchange Programs.

● University Admissions: With its extensive experience with Undergraduate and Graduate applications, MS Education assists students in pursuing higher education in more than 400 Universities spread across UAE, UK, Canada, US, Europe, and Australia.

● Education Consultancy: The firm promotes UAE as an education hub and encourages the growth of various educational institutions in new markets by advising and consulting on New Campus startups and developing student recruitment plans and outreach strategies locally and internationally. It also helps with effective marketing budget utilization and planning, growth and retention solutions, government accreditation, training, and the development of student recruitment teams to create positive student experiences.

● Online Training Programs: By utilizing its valuable partnerships, MS Education Consultants facilitates various training courses by industry officials to boost the interest, knowledge, and skills of students.

● Student Cultural Exchange Programs: Now, students can reap the benefits of MS Education’s Cultural Exchange Program by visiting the state-of-the-art International Campuses in UAE to experience the learning environment and the available Program & Degree options.

Mission and Vision

Dr. Mariam’s primary mission is to develop worldwide educational affiliations, which can help students achieve their dreams with the GPS that will be provided by her own company in Dubai named ‘MS Education Consultants.’ Since its inception, the organization has developed a Student Cultural Exchange Program, which helps students from Europe, the US, Canada, Africa, China, and India to spend their time in Dubai, experiencing a day in top international universities of the region along with visits to Expo City Dubai, Museum of the Future and other cultural attractions in UAE.

The primary vision of MS Education Consultants is to assist global students in meeting their academic and career goals. The firm facilitates the establishment and growth of educational institutions and seeks important partnerships with various new innovative learning programs, specialized initiatives in line with the Government’s vision, and corporate collaborations to arm students with the skills needed in this era of innovation and change.

Future Roadmap

When it comes to the future, Dr. Mariam plans to continue mentoring and empowering students of different backgrounds and nationalities, helping them with their career choices, and encouraging them to pursue their dreams. Under her leadership, MS Education Consultants plans to launch internship opportunities and an innovative learning program for students and teachers.

Dr. Mariam explains, “I am pleased to share our upcoming launches with your readers, such as the Student Cultural and Higher Education Experience Program, for students across the globe to experience UAE culture and heritage and the multinational Higher Education options provided by the leading University Campuses from all over the world based here in Dubai International Academic City. We have already seen very successful visits with student groups from the USA, Europe, and China and look forward to welcoming students from India, Africa, Malaysia and other parts of the world for the cultural exchange visit!”

Giving it Back to the Society

Dr. Mariam feels pleased to support and be affiliated with Ladies in Business Global Community Group, International Women Entrepreneurs Group, Indian Women in Dubai, the UAE Africa Education Initiative, and World Education Community. Additionally, she has also joined IIT E-Cell Mumbai as the Youth Empowerment Mentor and the Youth United Council of India as an International Advisor. She supports UNHCR in providing scholarships for their displaced students. Dr. Mariam also runs and operates an orphanage in Mumbai, India.

Kelly Bagla: An Award-Winning Attorney Simplifying Business Law

Meet Kelly Bagla, Esq. an international award-winning business attorney based in San Diego, California. Kelly was born and raised in England and emigrated to the U.S. after completing her graduation from the United Kingdom. Upon her arrival in the United States, all her childhood dream of practicing law became a reality. Soon after completing her law school in California, Kelly started working for the largest international law firm in the world, Baker McKenzie LLP, where she advised her domestic and international clients on corporate and securities matters. Working for the “Boss Man” was not Kelly’s dream so after some time, she decided to walk away from her secured salaried role to start her own law firm.

In 2009 Kelly founded Bagla Law Firm, APC, which became one of the most trusted names in business law within a decade. Kelly has also established GoLegalYourself.com, an online company helping entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses with proper legal documentation, particularly for entrepreneurs who bootstrap their startups.

Kelly is an author of four books (Go Legal Yourself, First Edition, Go Own Yourself, Doing Business In the United States, and Go Legal Yourself, Second Edition), and also contributes to Homeland Magazine and San Diego Veterans Magazine on a monthly basis. Kelly is working on her fifth book which will be available in November 2022 from Amazon called Legal Pearls, Pearls Of Wisdom For Avoiding Business Litigation.

Kelly takes her personal life as seriously as her work. She was named ‘Ms. Southern California’ in the 2010 natural bodybuilding competition, and she still holds her professional bodybuilding card. Kelly still wakes up early to start her day, which also allows her to meet the needs of her overseas clients hailing from different time zones.

Helping Entrepreneurs with Legal Solutions

Each of Kelly’s enterprises is fully committed to informing, equipping, and inspiring entrepreneurs to recognize opportunities to run, start, and grow their own businesses. Starting a new business or entering an entirely new market is not easy. In the United States, starting a business needs good planning, making critical financial decisions, and completing a lot of legal activities, which can get very confusing for foreign-based companies.

Bagla Law Firm offers a unique suite of services, including but not limited to; Business Formation, Asset Protection for Real Estate Investors, Assisting Foreign based businesses, Mergers and Acquisitions, Trademarking, and Offshore Asset Protection. Bagla Law Firm serves a wide range of clientele in and outside of the United States.

Kelly loves helping international entrepreneurs establish their presence in the U.S. She works with entrepreneurs to set up their legal entities in the United States. Kelly says, “Whether they are launching a new business or expand their existing business in the USA, I can help. The laws in this country are complex, and those who want to establish businesses here must do it properly. United States is a highly litigious country, and attracting a lawsuit is relatively easy if individuals or businesses fail to protect themselves adequately.”

Most of Kelly’s clients are domestic and international entrepreneurs, business leaders, CEOs, and investors in the early stages of establishing their companies.

Her global clients are mainly entrepreneurs who come from a wide range of industries, ranging from digital entertainment to healthcare products to cyber security.

Kelly says, “My international clients, in particular, trust Bagla Law Firm because I’m an immigrant myself. I came to the U.S. for many of the same reasons international entrepreneurs want to come here. The possibilities for business owners are endless.”

“In launching my own firm, I experienced the unique challenges of setting up a U.S.-based business, which can be complicated. This first-hand experience puts me on the same footing as my international clients who know that I’ve personally done this myself for multiple businesses I own. It takes an entrepreneur to recognize the needs of another entrepreneur”– She added further.

The Journey

While growing up as the youngest of seven children, Kelly witnessed her father’s struggle and accomplishments. He worked in a factory for years, saving and planning the entire time. Eventually, he was able to buy the same factory he worked in and became his own boss and the first business owner in his family.

Kelly saw the amount of hard work her father put in and the sense of pride he had after owing the business. Remembering that incident, Kelly says, “I knew I not only wanted to do the same, but I wanted to help others experience that sense of accomplishment and independence.”

Kelly’s primary motivating factor is her desire to protect and aid those who are brave enough to dream big. Whether it’s through her work as a legal advisor to new companies, when she is writing a book to educate people on how to protect themselves while setting up new ventures, or when she is hosting a podcast (Go Legal Yourself Podcast – get the APP, it’s FREE) to educate future entrepreneurs, Kelly has done everything to help others achieve their dreams.

Awards and Accolades

Kelly has been recognized for innovating the legal industry and making a positive impact on entrepreneurs. Kelly has an impressive list of awards and accolades: L.A. Dreams Magazine recognized Kelly as one of the Top Women Entrepreneurs.

She was nominated as one of the Business Women of the Year by San Diego Business Journal and selected as one of the Top Lawyers by Marquis Who’s Who, Attorney of the Month by San Diego Attorney Journal, Top 20 Businesswomen to Watch in 2020 by Insights Success Magazine, Top Transformational Woman Leader by Industry Wired Magazine.

She is also a winner of 2020 and 2021 Lawyers of Distinction, Best of 2020 Oceanside Business Services Award, 2020 Legal Awards for Best International M&A Law Firm USA, Corporate Attorney of the Year, California, by Acquisition International, Business Legal Professional of the Year USA by Corporate Live Wire.

Additionally, Kelly has been featured in several Cover Stories, including; the Most Recommended Law Firms to Watch in 2021 by The Business Fame Magazine, Top Law Firms to Watch in 2021 by Tycoon Success Magazine, Top Law Firms to Watch in 2022 by Mirror Review Magazine, and 10 Best International Law Firms to Watch in 2022 by the Inc Magazine. Kelly is also a Podcast host of Go Legal Yourself- top 20 business law podcasts, Judge on Everyday Edisons Emmy award-winning T.V. show, and a well-known T.V. personality and Speaker.

When Learning is Key

Even with such a busy schedule, Kelly never misses an opportunity to learn from successful business owners who came before her.

“I listen to a lot of audible books while I’m working out or walking my dogs. I am always looking for inspiration and looking for ways to improve,” Kelly says.

She credits books like Secret of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar and Grant Cardone’s Secrets of Selling for helping to establish and grow her business.

Suggestions for Younger Self

As the Queen of Business Law® Kelly suggests to young female entrepreneurs that the business landscape has changed massively over the past years, and it is now more accessible for people looking to become their own boss. She says, looking to become their own boss. She says, “Women, in particular, must believe in themselves and stay true to who they are, and never compromise on ethics and values. Confidence is the key to mastering business and life, and the only accessory anyone needs.”

Picture of the Future

When asked about the future, Kelly says, “In early January 2023, I’ll be launching a new business coaching company called Pitbulls ‘n Pearls – The Coaching Company for people who Love Life and Mean Business! Pitbulls ‘n Pearls offers a comprehensive program that teaches people not only how to start their dream business, but our team of successful business experts takes people step by step through all of the personal growth skill sets and positive mindset training necessary for building confidence and mastering personal life and business.”

Iris Santiago: Helping Clients by Providing Customized Healthcare

Meet Iris Santiago, the Chief Operations Officer of In Home Personal Services, which was born to provide customized health care tailored to meet every client’s individual needs.

In Home Personal Services is a non-medical senior care provider. It ensures comfort, compassion, and quality care in the home to those who need that assistance for an independent lifestyle.

Iris is a licensed Occupational Therapist and Certified Professional in Human Resources. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from one of the Universities in the Philippines.

Iris often says, “It always brings a smile to my heart whenever I hear that a client we cared for is grateful for the impact we made in his or her life.” She believes it is not about the compliment itself but the thought that she and her team at In Home Personal Services have made a significant difference in someone’s life is very rewarding.

For Iris, her role is a lot more than just a job; it is her calling. She aspires to further extend this program to other care providers enabling them to provide better quality care to a client or a loved one.

The Steadfast Leader

Iris’s clinical expertise has been well paired with her business acumen and sense of care for others. Before coming to the U.S., Iris worked in a community rehab and a hospital-based rehab for more than seven years as an Occupational Therapist.

Once she arrived in the U.S., she was quickly recruited as the Human Resources Director at IHPS. Over the next decade, she worked very hard and was ultimately promoted to the Agency Manager, eventually the Administrator, and now the Chief Operations Officer.

She says, “It may sound cheesy, but we provide our services with heart. All programs and services are really central to our clients, and all of our sister companies have the same goal of becoming to be a one-stop shop for our clients. Our services are affordable but with quality at its best.”

The best part about Iris is her humble nature. She immigrated to the country and took an executive position without formal training and experience. As the HR Director, she further developed her knowledge and experience by getting her professional HR certification through the HR Certification Institute in 2010.

The Founder’s Word

When we asked Michael A. Collura, the founder and President of IHPS, why did he choose Iris all these years ago? He says, “When you meet Iris right away, you can tell she is intelligent, driven, and genuinely cares about people. These are not common qualities to find in people today. So, we had to act fast when she first applied. It was clear that her career path forward was going to be so much more in the years to come. He also added, “When the time came and my own Mother, In Home Personal Services’ other Founder, was to move on from the company, there were some pretty big shoes to fill. Iris quite simply was the only one in our brand’s history that could fulfill the role, and as such, with the support of the entire company, Iris was promoted to the Administrator. Over these past years, it is clear she is capable and ready, and one day she will take over for me as I look to retire, and Iris Santiago will be our CEO.”

Preparing for Challenges

For In Home Personal Services, caregivers are the most critical asset. However, employing a caregiver is not an easy task to do with a lesser number of caregivers and very high demand. So, over the past few years, the organization has come up with an innovative solution and has built and improved its own school for caregivers.

Currently, In Home Personal Services is the only organization that offers caregiver certification for all fifty states in America. This solution eventually became one of the major differentiators for the brand.

As an organization, IHPS believes the pandemic has opened the eyes of those who used to take healthcare professionals for granted. In IHPS, no one ever wavered in the face of uncertainty, fear, and confusion during the initial stages of the pandemic. The whole IHPS team now hopes to bring a fundamental change in inequality and access to care and gratitude towards the people who work on the frontline.

Patricia Nagle: Helping to Create Functional Ecosystem of AI and AR Driven Tools

Launched in 2005, TeamViewer is a leading global company providing a reliable and secured connectivity platform to remotely access, control, manage, repair, or monitor a wide range of devices starting from personal computers, laptops, and mobile phones to various industrial machines and robots.

The company started its journey in the remote management and support market, and since then, it has rapidly grown to address a multi-billion-dollar market need. Through scrappy creative innovation, TeamViewer has grown to enterprise-scale and supports 60 countries, 627k SaaS subscribers, and 2.5B connected devices while helping enterprises avoid 37M tonnes of CO2 each year through the use of TeamViewer Solutions.

An experienced senior executive with an extensive background in building and leading high–performance teams, Patricia Nagle serves as the President of TeamViewer Americas. She is responsible for the organization’s sales, channel partnerships, development of new routes to market, and customer success. Patricia’s career has spanned a wide range of functions including sales, business development, and go-to-market demand generation in the enterprise software subscription and professional services sectors. Before joining TeamViewer, Patricia spent more than 13 years at the Canadian-listed software giant OpenText, where she led corporate marketing and global business development. She also managed global strategic alliances with key partners like Google, SAP, AWS, Salesforce, and Microsoft that delivered substantial revenue. Before OpenText, Patricia worked in different sales, marketing, and operations role at leading global software and consulting companies.

Introducing a Fresh Perspective

Patricia brings a global point of view and a keen focus on developing a robust partner ecosystem embracing strategic alliances. Her previous professional experience has been beneficial for working through the widespread global disruption of labor and supply chains over the last few years.

She says, “I am intimately familiar with what it takes to build a sustainable business in the face of regionalized challenges and the criticality of getting market validation from other leading technology companies through meaningful partnerships. This has served TeamViewer not only in its sales efforts, but also in building a robust business across the board with a global reach.”

What Success Looks Like

Patricia believes that professional success often depends on three primary factors; happy customers, a successful product, and a vibrant and diverse company culture. These three factors help build the foundation to create a healthy, growth-oriented company that can quickly adapt to meet the market’s evolving needs.

TeamViewer’s solid foundation in this regard led Patricia to join the company, as it enables her to help the company focus on the next stage of its growth phase by building effective channel programs and technological innovation progress.

At her core, Patricia gets motivated by winning. However, she realizes that this can only be accomplished by fostering the growth of others on her team. She feels proud to help her team grow through the successes and failures they experience and watch as they use those lessons to excel in new projects and advance their careers.

Patricia believes various leadership challenges are much more pronounced today than ever before. Addressing the diverse needs of employees and the organization’s culture requires a leader who can engage and motivate each person in the best way for their individual growth while also aligning them with the company strategy and objectives. On the other hand, current leaders must balance these bottom-up needs with an effective and efficient approach to the business from the top.

Leadership Principals

Patricia recognizes her commitment to leading from the front and several other aspects that feed her leadership principles.

Open Communication: As the organization’s leader, Patricia feels team communication should always flow both ways. It is essential that team members feel comfortable speaking up when they feel things have gone off track. It is also essential for the leader to be close to the problem so everyone can solve it collaboratively.
Personnel Empowerment: Teams often feel empowered to do the best possible job and make decisions that will feed the team’s ultimate success. Leaders can further aid this process by setting clear objectives and providing the team the flexibility needed to achieve those goals.
Accountability: Patricia feels taking responsibility for decisions is the most critical aspect of leadership. Leaders should do what they say and say what they do. This consistency breeds confidence within the organization that everyone is playing their specific roles so each feels comfortable focusing on what they need to do to contribute.

Her leadership style is entirely defined by her insistence on leading from the front. She says, “There is no ivory tower at TeamViewer, and I will never ask my employees to do something I am unwilling to do myself. This requires sharing successes with the teams that enabled them and maintaining personal accountability when things don’t go according to plan.”

Patricia always seeks to gather input from her team on various important decisions, but she also recognizes that the ultimate decision rests with her. It is her responsibility to be on the frontline to compile all the relevant data for a decision and take the action that leads to the best chance of success for TeamViewer.

Accomplishments and Challenges

As a woman in a male-dominated world, Patricia feels extremely proud of her ascension to the C-suite. Getting to this point required grit, expertise, and leadership that she has been developing throughout her career. Leveraging and sharing that expertise with other females as a mentor has been one of her greatest successes. It means a lot for her to be a role model for other women, and she strives to help them achieve what she has by setting an example in her work.

On her challenges, Patricia says, “I have always been one to push myself to my limit. Because this is so ingrained in my work ethic, I have sometimes pushed others too hard towards a goal. I have since worked on being more empathetic to my team’s motivations and limitations in order to set more realistic expectations.” She added, “The ceiling on what a team can achieve is determined as much by the team’s health as it is by the leader pushing them forward, so understanding what someone is willing and able to contribute is vital to building that healthy team.”

Future Roadmap

TeamViewer’s primary focus is empowering frontline workers, which requires connecting people through devices, people to people, and people to data through a unified platform of technologies and initiatives. TeamViewer’s use cases focus on employee onboarding and training, visual troubleshooting in the field, and remote knowledge sharing. Every use case provides efficiency bonuses for enterprises as they can direct knowledge and expertise where it is needed the most. At present, TeamViewer is focusing on creating a functional ecosystem of AR and AI-driven tools that can securely connect frontline workers to the knowledge they need at any point of time. The key word here is ‘functional,’ as AR tools have existed for years. However, with the greater emergence of more practical and intelligent devices and software that provides connectivity, AR can support a variety of business use cases to deliver the best value-add to the worker and material return on investment for the enterprise.

Nadira Hamid: Creating Opportunities by Improving Bilateral Ties Between India and Canada

In 1991, India went through its biggest economic liberalization since its independence in 1947. This economic liberalization instituted major economic reforms, and it attracted the attention of the Canadian government and business community. With the chance to improve Indo-Canadian ties arose the need for a voice to facilitate the knowledge exchange between governments and businesses in both countries. So, in 1994 Indo-Canadian Business Chamber was set up in New Delhi to promote trade and business relations between India & Canada and to provide resources to the companies of both countries concerning trade and business contacts.

Since its inception, ICBC has been instrumental to the ongoing increase of bilateral trade and its diversification by exchanging trade and investment delegations, power launches, interactive sessions, and creating tie-ups with bilateral chambers of India’s neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

The Dynamic Leader

Currently, ICBC is being led by its dynamic, experienced, and visionary CEO, Nadira Hamid. As the CEO, Nadira has steered ICBC as the voice of change in the India-Canada economic relationship. With nearly three decades of experience in corporate affairs, she has positioned the Chamber as a prime interface for the business interests of both Indian and Canadian companies wanting to tap into bilateral opportunities. She actively takes a lead role in encouraging Indian companies to explore the Canadian market and supporting them in establishing their presence in Canada, and vice versa.

Nadira started her career with the ITC group of hotels, looking after their corporate affairs across India. A few years later, she founded Lafance Overseas Private Ltd to capitalize on her entrepreneurial skills, while managing the corporate affairs for Mitchell Group for India and Bangladesh. Nadira then joined ICBC as the CEO in 2011.

Since then, during her tenure of eleven years at ICBC, Nadira has championed the Chamber’s commitment to serving as the industry’s voice and facilitating knowledge exchange between businesses and governments in both countries. She has successfully led, promoted, and coordinated many delegations to Canada that saw the participation of more than a hundred delegates from various business sectors in India. She has successfully arranged many business missions to build a higher level of business engagements and B2B platforms for SMEs to guide them effectively. Nadira has been instrumental in building the image of Brand Canada in various Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India. She has also signed MoUs with multiple government and industry bodies to build better business engagement between the two countries.

Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

Nadira Hamid is a firm believer in inclusion, diversity, and women empowerment. She says, “My advice would be to follow these and see how it can change your life and help you contribute to a successful enabled organization. Being a working woman, I am always very conscious of the challenges and issues Indian women face.” She also adds, “It is also essential to be passionate and frame your passion in a structured and effective way. Last but not the least – network, network, and network! Spending time with people is a valuable way to expand your knowledge, learn from the successes and failures of others and form long term relationships, all of which are essential for personal development and professional success.”

Preparing for the Future

The Government of India has decided to reduce its dependency on oil and gas by approving faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicle schemes, to help the country reach its goal of 30% EV penetration by the end of 2030. As the premier Chamber in the India-Canada economic corridor, ICBC hopes to facilitate enhanced stakeholder relations and joint partnerships with major automakers, EV component makers, battery manufacturers, and service providers.

manufacturers, and service providers. Nadira Hamid also explains that ICBC strives to promote sustainability, as ignoring sustainability can lead to the exhaustion of natural resources. Under her leadership, ICBC has conducted multiple sessions with various builders and developers in India to educate them about the quality of environmentally responsible wood products from sustainably managed forests.

ICBC has brought together many policymakers, influencers, and industry leaders in various summits to identify the areas where India and Canada can work alongside. It is also working to create awareness regarding the importance of ESG in business nowadays. As it feels, ESG is one of the most important conversations of our time.

Indo-Canadian Business Chamber is currently working to match the skilled labor demand in Canada. Now, it is holding talks with the relevant authorities in both countries to connect the employers to the employees and conduct workshops for the required certificates.

Caroline Purvey: Helping Clients to Discover Freedom

Meet Caroline Purvey, the founder of TRE UK®, which takes pride in building a service platform that allows clients to discover the full benefits of the Total Release Experience® program to find freedom from their mental, physical, and emotional pain.

The TRE UK® program is a simple but effective somatic process that helps activate neurogenic muscle tremors from the core of its client’s body. This simple, empowering, powerful self-help practice promises to be one of the most effective tools one could discover for self-healing.

In Caroline’s words, “It all started in South Africa in 2011 when I found myself with 99 others from around the world in a venue that I already knew, at a time I was meant to be there, for the birth of my daughter’s first baby.”

After completing three days of training to learn trauma prevention techniques, Caroline understood that she had found her life’s purpose. Soon after returning to the U.K, she opened her yoga studio, a long-held dream which soon became a reality. With a new string to bow, she had little or no support with it leaving her with two choices, either step up and carve her own path or step out.

Caroline chose the first option, and eventually from her extensive experiences created the unique Total Release Experience® program. This program empowers clients to heal from their past stress, overwhelm and trauma, build resilience, and transform their lives.

Diversifying Offerings

In late 2019, the world started witnessing the emergence of the pandemic. Cut to the first quarter of 2020! The world came to a screeching halt as the governments across the planet began imposing lockdowns to reduce the infection rate.

Like many other businesses, the Covid-induced lockdown was pivotal in how TRE UK® delivered its program. According to Caroline, “Creating an online platform utilizing years of experience ensuring that in the practical process clients would feel safe and supported was key. It was exciting to know we achieved that goal.”

Now with online learning, new clients from any part of the world can reach out and choose to learn independently or 1-2-1 online. TRE UK® offers different options for those seeking a face-to-face experience for themselves, family, and friend groups or workplace training.

The Secret Sauce

Caroline believes that being flexible and ready to change is critical. Nothing stays the same, and as a market leader, she is an innovator of change. While facing many challenges, doubts, and questions, Caroline believed in the discoveries she was making in a unique field. She adds, “Back then and still today, I honor my principles, ethics, and values. Standing for what I believe and never making a compromise for the sake of it.”

Working with integrity helps her stand in a good position, especially when vulnerable clients put their trust in her and what she teaches. Caroline and her team at TRE UK® value client feedback and reviews and take onboard clients’ suggestions to improve the experience. Listening to clients has been a critical element of TRE UK’s continuous improvement.

Tackling Failure

Caroline Purvey says, “My biggest failure professionally was engaging people at the start, that I took on face value to support me in work, and not checking out their skill set.” She also considers saying ‘yes’ to the suggestions of services or technologies without carrying out due diligence to ensure they were suitable for the needs of TRE UK® was costly. Having learned the lessons, she now investigates and discusses any new ideas or proposals that come to her before committing.

The Driving Force

Caroline Purvey explains, “Every day, clients share their progress or story; it is an honor and a privilege to know that I have been blessed to be able to support them on their healing journey so they can and indeed as it has for many ended years of suffering, and discover a life of freedom from pain.”

Caroline Purvey believes every leader should have passion for their purpose. She adds, “Without passion, the motivation is in danger of being driven by money.”

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.

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.

Dr. Ankita Singh: Redefining Human Resources

Meet Dr. Ankita Singh, the Senior Vice President and Global Head of HR at CIGNEX, a global company that offers solutions, services, and platforms on open source, cloud, and automation technologies. Since 2000 the company has been delivering enterprise-class solutions that can be built using leading platforms and can be integrated with existing systems to achieve unparalleled results.

Dr. Ankita has been a part of the group for the last 17 years. As a Senior Vice President and Global Head of HR and other business-enabling functions, she is responsible for enabling business through people, processes, practices, and passion.

She holds a Ph.D. in Management and is a gold medalist in BBA and MBA. Ankita has completed HR and Business Strategy-related Executive Management Programs from IIM-A, XLRI, and ISB-Hyderabad. She also holds the “Sustainable Business Strategy” certification from the Harvard Business Online School.

Thanks to her continuous endeavor as an HR leader, Forbes India and Great Manager Insitute has recognized Dr. Ankita as one of the Top 100 People Manager in India for three consecutive years, 2019, 2020, and 2021. She has also been recognized as one of the Top 40 Change Management Gurus 2022, Outstanding Women Leader of the year 2022, Outstanding Contribution to Social innovation 2022, Women Leader of the year in 2021, Asia’s 100 Power Leader in HR 2022, India Prime top 100 women Icon 2021, Most Progressive HR Leader 2021, 40 Under 40 for the year 2021.

Dr. Ankita has excelled in establishing various new competitive and innovative initiatives, which has helped CIGNEX Datamatics to be certified as a great place to work for three consecutive years, starting from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Enabling Betterment of the Society

More than the process, Dr. Ankita is a people person. She feels that one can handle seventy percent of their technical issues if the individual values connect well with the people. The world of business has always been about people and their mindset rather than numbers and processes.

She says, “I value my people; I know that I am nothing if they are not around to support me. Once you reach a particular level in the system, you already have domain experts working for you. It’s wrong to feel that you are the boss or know everything.”

With over twenty-two years of experience in managing and leading various human resources departments, Dr. Ankita has become a well-known figure in the HR industry. She primarily works in leadership development, organizational behavior, culture building, and employee engagement.

Previously She was associated with organizations like Sahara India, Zensar, Hexaware, Datamatics, and Convergys.

Dr. Ankita is also a founder of the HR Association of India, which is a community of leading HR professionals that contributes to the betterment of Human Resources and society.

Recruitment is Changing

Dr. Ankita feels that a few aspects of recruitment have remained forever; people with better human skills were and are preferred over others. One who came prepared with proper research often gets better attention and acceptance. Similarly, candidates with better presentation and communication skills often found it easier to crack an interview. Those who showcased their hunger for learning, adaptability, and collaboration were rated much higher than others.

While a lot has changed, it is still very evident that people believe that technical expertise can be built in a few days/months. However, companies still prefer hiring people who are good at soft skills. As the quote goes, “Hire for attitude, train for skill.”

Living Life with Compassion

Being a single mother and the only female executive member in the company Dr. Ankita Singh lives her life with compassion. She considers herself fortunate to have great support from her family, friends, colleagues, and others. They were all there when she needed them, which has helped her manage obstacles and focus on relevant issues.

She considers her mother to be her true inspiration and mentor. Dr. Ankita Singh feels a true mentor is someone, who listens to you, understands you, and is there for you to support and care but would never take away your ability to act, think, and own.

She always told Dr. Ankita, “Interdependency is important as we are part of society but don’t disremember independence. We need to coexist in the defined system, but the self-core should be strong enough to survive alone if needed.”