Womens Era Archives

Mary Radenkovic: Celebrating Feminity by Creating Iconic Styles

Meet Mary Radenkovic, the founder and designer of London-based women’s luxury brand Lavishly Appointed. Hailing from the Mediterranean, Mary’s connection to the sea and nature, coupled with her love for fashion, inspired her to create her own brand that celebrates femininity, style, and luxury with sustainable practices at the forefront of the process. The brand was created for like-minded women seeking unique and eye-catching dynamic pieces that can take them from day through night.

Launched in 2016 in London, Lavishly Appointed offers essential costumes, bikinis, loungewear, innovative body adornments, and dresses that are designed and developed by Mary.

Following its philosophy, ‘buy less, buy better,’ the luxury resort brand creates several unique, multifunctional, and timeless pieces with a razor-sharp focus on craftsmanship. Most of the products made by the brand are artisanally handmade by women for women.

It’s all About Sustainability

Mary says, “The company values are all about sustainability. The swimsuits are made out of recycled plastic. Resortwear is 90% handmade – in that way, we are helping artisan women.” The brand’s garments are made of exclusive, premium, sustainable materials. The brand doesn’t believe in only practicing sustainability. Instead, it strives to create a movement to spread awareness. In order to bring change and awareness, Lavishly Appointed has started the ‘Save the Fish campaign,’ encouraging its clientele to participate in the change. When clients buy any products bearing the brand’s Goldfish logo, 20% of the profit goes to several non-profit organizations working on ocean wildlife preservation and the reduction of plastic pollution.

However, when it comes to practicing sustainability, Lavishly Appointed’s manufacturing process uses solar energy to power its warehouse. Additionally, it is also fighting for equal pay for the workers. Mary and her team at the company want to show that they are not only selling fashion products but are also selling a lifestyle and a message.

In addition to its environmental awareness, Lavishly Appointed takes great pride in handling the production process. The human aspect is also cherished in every step of the production process, taking into account the human rights of every artisan by providing a nourishing environment for their creative process. As a firm supporter of women’s and children’s rights, Mary makes sure that Lavishly Appointed’s female employees have equal status with its male workforce.

The True Mentor

Although Mary is friends with many successful entrepreneurs willing to share their words of wisdom, she only considers her late grandfather as her true mentor. Also, a fashion designer, Mary’s late grandfather helped her develop a genuine passion for fashion at a very young age that has been with her.

Mary made sketches for her first collection at the age of 12 and started working in the fashion world at 15. Initially, she worked as a model for beachwear, make-up, and hair products and became a face for multiple European brands.

Suggestions for Younger Self

Mary suggests that entrepreneurs must love what they do. She says, “You can only be your own and enjoy your own success if you have fought for it, failed several times, and eventually achieved it yourself. I think it is when you turn behind and reflect on everything that happened, and you realize that despite all the difficulties, you managed to get your idea and your dream to come true.”

Picture of the Future

Mary’s goal is to go back to the days of handmade production, just to bring back individuality and uniqueness. So, every design from Lavishly Appointed is entirely handmade by some of the finest artisans in the business.

When it comes to the future, the brand is hoping to have its own fashion show at the Miami Fashion Week. Mary states, “Opening our first branch store would be the next challenge and the next step, but we have not yet decided on the details.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

Building innovative Fintech products with Crassula

As technologies mature and customer behaviors deepen, the digital disruption today seems permanently rooted. New trends of consumption in the multiple fringes of the fast-evolving banking sector appear, urging us to take bold strides. Faced with digital upheaval, we no longer measure the impact of the transformation but take part in this revolution to become a player in the changes brought about by digital transformations and take advantage of the opportunities it offers to the banking sector.

One of such contributors who strengthens the fintech services industry and helps businesses redefine their growth is an inspiring woman Daria Dubinina. Today she is the CEO and Co-founder of Crassula. But things weren’t like that for her this way all the time. She made her way towards achieving such success in business leadership. And we genuinely believe her story and shared insights will uplift and inspire you.

Brief about Crassula Starting point of building Crassula

Long before trying herself as a dedicated entrepreneur who will once reshape the furniture of finance, Daria began her journey from the lowest position in an international payment system. That’s where she learned about FinTech and got curious to make her own input. Over time, she has mastered the art of strategic management, e-commerce, and international business development. And in 2014, when she met Alex Novozhenov and Vlad Nikolayev, she and her trusted fellows started building their own ventures. It all started with the idea of creating a start-up and turned into one of the most innovative Fintech companies. How amazing is that?

Industry disruption with world-class solutions

Further, Daria mentions that Crassula goes the extra mile to pave the way for creating new services and new collaborations, bringing greater value to the final consumer. Now, the Crassula platform offers three main products:

Core Banking System
Crypto Banking System
PSP

With a high concentration of financial services companies operating in the world, the advancement of fintech through research, technology and innovation it is pretty hard to stand out. Succeeding in an evolving fintech landscape requires surrounding yourself with industry knowledge, innovation and talent. Crassula, therefore, offers world-class solutions that are both affordable and comprehensive. “We seek to improve the ergonomics and customer communication of the users of our services. We strive to connect with individual customers and provide offers based on their requests and market trends.” This way, Crassula stays up-to-date and highly agile.

The best tips for business leadership Shared effort and cohesion

The complementarity in expertise acquired over the years and the same vision of how we see the financial industry being innovated was the most decisive factor. “Together, we created a unique skillset in which everyone played their part bringing the concept to life and giving each other confidence in what we were doing, inspiration for creating something new, and supporting each other during the bad times.”, she says.

In pursuit of growth regardless of challenges

However, like any other start-up, Crassula also faced the defining challenges that virtually affected all new businesses. It’s the speed at which Crassula team members and co-founders were able to meet these challenges and pursue their growth agenda along with the brave decisions that let us persist even in the harshest periods. Daria goes on, “We started focusing on business, staying bootstrapped, and that was the best decision that we could make because it taught us to survive difficult times, do big and beautiful things with very limited resources, and actually earn money.”

Immediate reaction instead of the blame game

When problems arise, organizations tend to seek who to blame. This method does not solve the situation. Quite the contrary, it creates room for fear and suspicion at all levels of the company. It’s human. If a person can’t find the reason why a problem occurred, he or she will shift the responsibility for that problem from himself/herself to someone else, whether it be the crisis, the government, the customers, the colleagues, the bosses, the situation, etc. To explain it further, Daria says, “When something goes wrong, I prefer not to waste time on finding out whose fault it is, but rather fix the problem and analyze how to avoid repeating the situation. This approach helps to reach the highest result, and the result is the most powerful progress mover.”

Opportunity to grow and educate together

Being CEO of Crassula, she cares not only about the company’s growth but also about her employees. Daria states, “We have a unique culture in Crassula – we call it freedom and responsibility. We value in our people prudence, communicability, proactivity, striving for development, creativity, and decisiveness. We embrace these qualities and develop them by providing ongoing education opportunities, helping each other in day-to-day work, always trying something new by developing new products, implementing new solutions, and constantly doing something that we have never done before.” By offering ongoing training to the team members, Crassula allows them to enrich their skills and study the subjects that interest them. By treating people well and fostering their personal growth, you can build a caring company culture and create loyalty.

To sum up

Daria finishes up this interview by pointing out that start-up or large company owners should not dread innovations and experiments. And Crassula is always out there to assist them on this path. “We’re constantly looking forward to new amazing clients, successful projects, and collaborations.”

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!

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.