theciotimes, Author at CIOTIMES

Hotel Okura, Amsterdam: Offering Peaceful Luxury and Exquisite Experience

Posted on December 19, 2023December 19, 2023 by theciotimes

The Japanese way of living has slowly been impressing the world not just with words, but the positive effects and evident results it has on those who follow it. Omotenashi or the Japanese Philosophy of Hospitality has grown in popularity since the world heard about it during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Omotenashi captures the way in which

Japanese hosts pay attention to detail and anticipate their guests’ needs. This philosophy is also the core value around which Hotel Okura Amsterdam functions.

Hotel Okura Amsterdam is THE preferred 5-star hotel in Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands, to visit & to work and is known for creating exquisite guest experiences & offering a challenging and inspiring work environment.

The Harmony between Eastern and Western Influences

Hotel Okura Amsterdam is much more than just a hotel. It offers a comprehensive variety of services and a wide range of high-quality facilities all under one roof, including 5 restaurants: Ciel Bleu – A 2 Michelin stars awarded restaurant known for refined flavours and stunning view.

Yamazato – 1 Michelin star awarded restaurant that offers traditional Japanese haute cuisine Kaiseki Ryori.

Sazanka – At Teppanyaki Restaurant Sazanka, dishes are prepared on a hot plate in front of guests.

Serre – Awarded Michelin’s Bib Gourmand, it offers high-quality international specialties in a relaxed atmosphere.

La Camelia – The breakfast specialty restaurant.

It also houses Nagomi Spa with Gym & Wellness and treatments that offers a unique combination of products and techniques to nourish the skin with the nutrients and protection to defend itself from the harmful effects of environmental stress.

The Hotel has the largest conference capacity among all 5-star hotels in Amsterdam (from accommodating 2 to 2,500 guests simultaneously, 20 meeting rooms, and 4 foyers (total of 2,700 m2)). It offers high-level culinary offerings, even for large numbers. Michelin-star-worthy dinners and lunches. Major corporates host events for internal or external relations at Hotel Okura Amsterdam.

Hotel Okura Amsterdam is centrally located in the heart of the city. It is located near Schiphol Airport and Central Train Station and has a private boat jetty and extensive parking. It is an oasis of comfort in the city, with places of complete tranquillity for rejuvenation and relaxation. Nagomi Spa offers Nagomi Spa Treatments and Nagomi Gym & Wellness.

Omotenashi, Japanese hospitality from the heart, is deeply rooted in its DNA and is a distinguishing factor. It’s about personal interaction and genuine interest in others, without expecting anything in return. Not putting oneself in the foreground but focusing on others. It requires intensive training and dedication from the employees.

Michiel Roelfsema, the General Manager, explains: “We place equal importance on our employees and guests. We are just as much a hotelier as an employer. Only by empowering our employees to excel, we can deliver the unparalleled experience we promise. What’s great about this hotel is that both guests and employees are here because they enjoy it.”

The assignment to the team at Okura is not only about meeting expectations, but exceeding them. They don’t compromise on quality and prefer to serve fewer guests at the level they deserve rather than more guests, less well. “We pay a lot of attention to quality and long-term success. Michelin stars, for example, are not a given; you have to earn them every year. With Yamazato, we made history. As the first traditional Japanese restaurant, Yamazato received a Michelin star over 20 years ago. Ciel Bleu received its first Michelin star in 2003 and its second since 2006,” says Michiel.

Leading with Pride

Michiel Roelfsema started as General Manager of Hotel Okura Amsterdam mid-2019, at the age of 36. A role he accepted with pleasure and pride: “Being offered this role by an established company like Okura is a great compliment and a significant responsibility, a responsibility that I still gladly embrace every day,” says Michiel.

Prior to that, he had already worked at the hotel for ten years, holding various roles through which he had earned his stripes. Michiel knows the company from various angles and benefits from it every day. Michiel explains: “Not only have I personally experienced many highlights and situations, but I have also known many employees for a very long time. This strengthens the bond and builds mutual trust. This combination forms the foundation for a productive collaboration. What’s beautiful is that new employees naturally adopt our way of interacting with each other and add their own talents and passion. This makes us continuously stronger as a whole.”

Michiel can be described as a connector: “As General Manager, I am involved in the entire organization and have a general overview of what is happening. This allows me to bring all stories and people together. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of my role. Creating connections between people, thereby increasing the quality, impact, and job satisfaction.”

Technology Meets Tradition

“Our guests are of utmost importance to us. They deserve all our attention and service. Technology supports us to offer guests the Omotenashi hospitality that is in our DNA in today’s fast-paced and personalized world. We carefully consider each customer journey, allowing us to exceed our guests’ expectations,” explains Michiel.

Hotel Okura is ambitious and critically positive. For example, they prefer to anticipate a guest’s needs rather than wait for them to ask a question. The staff is trained for this. They engage with guests and pay close attention. If it’s raining, they gladly walk with the umbrella to the car. They provide proactive service. “Thanks to technology, we can do this even better. Technology helps us know who is in front of us and what their preferences are. So, can technology alone provide an Omotenashi experience? No, only the employees can, but technology can certainly support and enrich the experience,” shares Michiel.

Rooms are also infused with technology, often invisibly, to provide guests with an optimal and comfortable experience. Guests often comment on how special it is that the curtains open at the entrance, revealing the beautiful view of the city, and reducing energy consumption while being closed. This is a very simple and visible example of how technology makes a difference in the guest experience and in sustainability. The fact that room settings (lighting, temperature) are remembered when the guest leaves the room and that various services are initiated is even more sophisticated. Not everyone is aware of that, but it certainly contributes to the overall experience at Hotel Okura.

Furthermore, they use AI for efficiency and data to make better decisions. Finally, technology also plays a significant role in their sustainability policy.

Innovating for Long-Term

Hotel Okura Amsterdam focuses on quality and continuity. Renewing and innovating is not a goal in itself, but it is very important in many areas of the hotel. Innovation is an accumulation of improvements within Hotel Okura Amsterdam, not necessarily a big bang. “When operating at the highest level, you keep tweaking to achieve the highest possible standards. For us, innovation is a careful consideration of whether such an investment contributes to long-term success in terms of economics, sustainability, and quality. To deliver outstanding quality and ensure continuity, continuous improvement is essential. The Japanese Kaizen philosophy, meaning: continuous improvement, fits us very well,” explains Michiel.

Being in the highest segment means Hotel Okura has to deal with high expectations. This creates a pleasant pressure. It motivates them to improve every day. Their esteemed culinary offerings also demonstrate their creativity and innovation drive. They surprise guests every time with the variety of their offerings and the high-quality products they work with. Guests can see and taste it. Combined with excellent service, it promises them an unforgettable evening.

“We pay attention to every detail. Everything must be in place to offer an unparalleled overall experience. This is evident throughout the hotel, regardless of the area where the guest is located. Omotenashi, Japanese hospitality, is a constant factor that enables us to create a holistic experience. Everywhere in the hotel, guests are welcomed with the same attention and interest. Our helpfulness and thoughtfulness are truly noticed by guests. Everyone is focused on exceeding that overall experience,” says Michiel.

The Challenges

As in many countries, there is a labor shortage in the Netherlands. “We find that once talent works with us and enjoys it, they stay with us for a long time. Many of our employees take pride in working with us,” says Michiel.

Hotel Okura Amsterdam is fortunate to have the loyalty of many employees. This demonstrates that the hotel’s attention to a pleasant culture, development opportunities, and good terms of employment are appreciated. “We should be less modest about this and empathize it in our external communications. This will also help attract new talent. We will focus more on our recruitment policy, both for those who have been in the industry for a long time and for newcomers. Hotel schools and vocational training institutes will continue to hear from us,” says Michiel.

Achieving Diversity and Sustainability Goals

The workforce of Hotel Okura Amsterdam is characterized by a great diversity of nationalities. They have 40 different nationalities working with them. Because of the hotel’s Japanese roots, it’s attractive for Japanese people to work with them, and it’s obviously for Dutch people due to the location. It’s a blend of cultures at all levels in the organization, fitting the international clientele. They regularly conduct employee satisfaction surveys. They score very high on pride. They feel at home and feel heard. That makes Michiel extremely proud.

As for sustainability, Hotel Okura Amsterdam is a Platinum member of Green Globe. This means that for 10 years, they have continuously made improvements in environmental, social, and economic areas. The sustainability aspect of new investments is always heavily weighed and is a determining factor. They focus on three sustainable development goals (SDGs):

· Responsible consumption and production – They ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

· Climate action – They take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

· Partnerships for the goals – They revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Long-term Vision and Goals

Hotel Okura Amsterdam recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021 and wants to continue to be at the top and continuously improve, following the Kaizen philosophy.

“What sets Hotel Okura Amsterdam apart is its long-term vision. We do everything thoughtfully and to the best of our ability. Building quality and ensuring continuity remains our constant focus. The Japanese Kaizen philosophy encourages continuous improvement. If you want to continuously improve, you’re never finished. Fortunately, the hospitality industry is far too beautiful for that. We experience a lot of freedom and autonomy from the

ownership and hotel management group to pursue this policy. We will have a persistent focus on further optimizing Omotenashi, technology, and sustainability,” concludes Michiel.

The Wheatbaker Lagos: Mastering the Art and Craft of Hospitality

Posted on December 19, 2023 by theciotimes

The Wheatbaker, Lagos is proud to call itself an Art Boutique Hotel that has turned into an iconic hotel in a decade of its existence. Their core product is much like every mainstream hotel in the world. However, their ‘uniqueness’ is something very special. Their people are the USP of The Wheatbaker. Not only are they highly trained, specialists in their individual fields, and loaded with personality and energy, but they also work hard to perfect the concept of fluid teamwork.

Apart from that, they have an exceptional art collection, built over the years of their history that sits comfortably with modern amenities like internet, amazing exclusive coffee, exceptional security structure, and luxury beds. “But above all that are the people of The Wheatbaker, and we are proud that we are such an example of the old saying, look after your staff, and they will look after your guest,” says Paul Kavanagh, General Manager.

The Guiding Vision

The team at The Wheatbaker is guided by a simple statement, which is to be the best version of themselves at all times. For them, it is never about how they compare or compete with others, it is always about how they grow individually, and from that, collectively. They focus on that which they control and can influence. They do take a good look outside, monitor, and gain inspiration from others in the industry, however, their primary vision is inside ‘their’ business and most importantly, on ‘their’ guests and their needs and expectations.

This empowering of staff and trusting them to handle every situation keeping the core ideologies in mind is what Paul believes differentiates them from others. He doesn’t believe in enforcing changes just because it is trending or competitors are doing it, rather he trusts the staff to uplift themselves every day and present the best version of themselves.

“For me, it is never about me. It does not matter my position, or my skill, knowledge, or experience, the key to growing a business like the hotel is everyone else. So perhaps my key difference is the belief in others. My job here is to empower, energize and encourage everyone around me to be the best version of themselves. To encourage them to be the ones who grow the business, and develop the product. To let them ‘own’ the business,” he says.

A Different Take on Technology

As an industry, Hotels have seen a surge in new technology, new software, new apps, and a whole range of newness. And yes, The Wheatbaker uses it a copious amount within its business. They have invested in new software for both their HR and Accounts departments in recent months.

However, here is where Paul takes an unconventional path and shares an unpopular opinion. He has worked in hotels for nearly five decades and personally holds a very different view on this particular subject. Not afraid to be called old-fashioned, he doesn’t, as yet, see any real benefit from the tech inside the hotel industry. One issue he sees is that tech is built by tech, not by Hotel. So much software is built with a range of features that are never used. Secondly, tech

appears to always be built with a lifespan of only 18 months, and then you have to buy the upgrade, which is so annoying. Lastly, tech is slowly removing the human touch from the industry that he loves, and is creating the next generation of hotel people who can’t think for themselves, but instead rely on tech to do their jobs.

Novel v/s Familiar

Innovation is good and The Wheatbaker team spends a vast amount of time looking at and looking for the next idea. However, in their world of hotels, the majority of their guests want ‘familiar’. “Our returning guests want to return to what they know, what they like. So, there is a balancing act to be done with innovation, with any change. Of course, you have to keep abreast of new things, of new guest needs and wants. I believe it is important to study aspects of our industry even if they don’t directly apply. But innovation must fall into your own brand and business. It should not be innovation for the sake of it, and it should not be innovation to follow the latest trend, innovation needs a purpose, it needs to fulfill a goal,” clarifies Paul.

Dealing with Challenges

The challenges for the hotel here in Lagos are pretty much the same as every hotel in the city, with one exception. They all face the local challenges of power, human resources, and maintenance. For the Wheatbaker, there is an added issue of an ever-increasing level of Guest Expectations. “We set a high bar for ourselves when we opened, and we live with the pressure of always staying ahead of that,” says Paul.

Lagos can be a fantastically challenging city to do business in. It forces you to always look at a challenge from every direction. It demands creativity, invention, and buckets full of patience. “It needs a level of resolve and an understanding that not every challenge is as first presented. But what this ultimately provides you with is a real gift, as it enables you to look at any challenge and find interesting and rewarding answers and solutions,” he adds.

Catering to New Age Expectations

The new-age travelers today want a holistic experience. This perception is based on the hotel and destination. Paul feels there is both a need and an environment for such things. However, he also feels that the primary need for today’s traveler is still driven by the destination and the reason to travel. Of course, as a city center business hotel Wheatbaker can add a touch of this holistic experience and they do so via their Art, food, and the authentic nature of their people.

Views on Diversity and Inclusion at the Workplace:

“This is a very interesting question when asked of a business in Nigeria. I am tempted to even ask, what is ‘diversity’? Does my staff represent our country, the people, the culture, the regions, yes of course we do. Do we pay respect to the diverse nature of our country, yes, we really do. Are we collectively proud of who we all are and who we all represent, yes, we do.

But do we have policies to force this into place, no we do not. So, I guess the answer to this question is simple, we don’t ‘encourage’ it, we just are it.”

Resolved to Sustainability

As a business operating on the continent of Africa, the staff at Wheatbaker can see, and live with the consequences of global climate change. It is all around them on a day-to-day basis. Malaria is one of the biggest health risks in the nation, and this has increased due to climate change. So, sustainability is something they do focus on. Having said that, it is also something that a business like theirs cannot really impact, except in one way. Their ‘sustainability’ goal is to inspire others through their actions.

They have substantially reduced the number of products they import, especially food. They are removing plastic, despite the additional costs, from across their business, and are in the process of building their own food garden to produce normally imported food items. They are doing everything they can to add to the global efforts.

Receiving Accolades

The collective team of the Wheatbaker seriously excels at receiving accolades. On average, either Paul or the business wins at least one award per month. They win from their core industry, or from areas such as HR, Innovation, or general business practice. They celebrate everyone who wins such recognition, especially those who win in a more specific area of the business. For them, getting awards from international organizations or institutes means that little bit more, and the recognition gained is actually important here.

Plans for the Future

Where does the team see the Wheatbaker in years to come in? The same place it is, and has always been since inception, at the Top! Locally in Lagos, they call it “swag”, a certain level of super confidence. They started as number 1 in the city, and they remain there. Each and every day they get just that little bit better, and that enables them to have the confidence to be able to say, in the future they will still be there.

“Such words may come across as a tad over the top, but it is because we apply that extra pressure to ourselves, to always push forward, to always train and learn, to always put our guest, the Wheatbaker guest, first and foremost in every choice and decision we make. The extra pressure is so worth it because it inspires us each and every day,” concludes Paul.

InterContinental Dar Al Tawhid, Makkah: Indulgent and Distinct Experience

Posted on December 19, 2023December 19, 2023 by theciotimes

InterContinental Hotels Group® is a global hospitality company with 18 brands, one of the industry’s largest loyalty programs, over 6000 open hotels in more than 100 countries, and a further 1,800 hotels in our development pipeline. IHG has a strong presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) while operating 41 hotels across 5 brands, and continuously aiming at expanding their footprint in the kingdom, especially the luxury presence. Significant among them is InterContinental Dar Al Tawhid, Makkah being one of the flagship hotels in the Middle East.

Offering Unparalleled Experience

Mere steps from the Holy Kaaba and King Fahad Gate, and with easy access to Islamic sites such as Mina, Muzdalifah, Arafat, and Jabal Al Noor, Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental offers a truly unparalleled and distinct experience. The hotel has spacious and elegantly furnished guest rooms, many of which provide a panoramic view of the Holy Mosque. Each room is ornately decorated and has a range of modern amenities. It has 3 restaurants for guests to choose from, serving a wide range of international cuisine, as well as many Middle Eastern specialties with a magnificent view of the Holy Masjid Al-Haram.

The Mission/Purpose is to create Great Hotels Guests Love® by providing “True Hospitality for Good”. IHG’s strategic vision focuses on value creation by building preferred brands, delivering a superior owner proposition, strengthening its loyalty program, leveraging scale, and generating revenue through the lowest-cost direct channels. Their targeted portfolio, together with disciplined execution of their strategy and a commitment to doing business responsibly, are designed to achieve industry-leading net rooms’ growth over the medium term.

Mohammad Abuharba, the Regional General Manager (KSA WEST) for IHG® has been associated with Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental Makkah since July 2003 and heads the operations. He is currently leading the region (IHG-KSA West) having 11 hotels under his patch with 13,000+ rooms. In his capacity, he has introduced a lot of fresh ideas which have been impactful either financially or reflected in an elevated guest experience. For instance, one of his ideas was introducing the Kids Club facilities in the hotel, which was new for their religious destination market, running the business responsibly and sustainably was evident in implementing the smart room management system and LED lighting on a wide scale, which was new for the market as well. The concept of forming a Procurement Committee for the region headed by Mohammad Abuharba and various other procurement directors in the area, has shown evident results of major savings across all IHG KSA hotels without any compromise on quality.

Technology for Elevated Experience

In today’s digital world, embracing technology has become an integral part of IHG’s workings. The Group is keen on keeping up with emerging Technologies to create a digital Advantage, provide a more seamless experience for the guests, and increased efficiency and operational excellence alongside unlocking revenue opportunities as well.

Their branded next-generation mobile App is providing a richer customer experience with streamlined booking that allows guests to check in faster and powering IHG One Reward to

give members seamless access to their loyalty benefits. Their digital customer journey is grounded in what matters most to their guests.

In 2004, Dar Al Tawhid became one of the first hospitality hotels to invest in smart room technology. This was to provide guests with a more personalized and seamless experience. The SMART Room Management System is one of the unique technologies deployed in the hotel, which resulted in enhanced guest experience as well as carbon emission reduction. “We continue our journey towards the future by upgrading our systems to the latest state-of-the-art technology,” says Mohammad Abuharba.

The hotel technology platform facilitates a painless, quick check-in experience and contactless payment wherever possible. Several collaboration apps are being invested in by Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental to enhance collaboration among the hotel teams. As part of their ‘Journey to the Future’, they invest in the development of smart buildings through the utilization of Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor hotel energy usage and reduce energy consumption.

IHG has announced a partnership with technology company Winnow to help its hotels automatically track, measure, and reduce food waste for more sustainable and efficient restaurant and bar operations. IHG is the first global hotel company to use the award-winning Winnow Vision AI-enabled technology, which will help its hotels achieve a 30% reduction in food waste.

By using hotel technology solutions, hotels understand their customers and provide tailored services based on their preferences, offering more personalized experiences. This helps to create loyalty and increase customer satisfaction, which in turn leads to higher retention rates and more direct bookings.

Delivering a Holistic Experience

Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental Makkah is committed to exceeding expectations through its elevated services and linking its guests with the local destination reflecting the generosity and heritage of Makkah. For example, they provide an authentic sense of arrival experience like their welcoming traditional Saudi Coffee with local dates, serviced by the local colleagues in the traditional outfit while sharing with the guests some stories and tips about the destination.

Adapting to emerging technologies and digital transformation, reflecting in their superior, secure internet service, ensures that their guests have the best online experience possible. Their flexible BYOD offering provides the guests with the convenience and comfort of accessing their own content on the go, while they take extra measures to ensure the security and reliability of their online services.

To provide their valued members with the best experience possible, Dar AL Tawhid InterContinental customizes the guest experience based on their preferences and behaviors and offers them personalized recommendations for dining, activities, and other amenities.

As part of the development of IHG mobile apps, guests are able to check in and check out, order room service, use their mobile key, and access other hotel amenities via their mobile devices.

Addressing Challenges for Smooth Functioning

As global travel grows, so do the challenges associated with it which need to be addressed by the industry giants like IHG such as:

Exceptional Service Expectation: Today the guests are well-informed and world travelers. They know their expectations very well. This is one of the biggest challenges (i.e.) providing Exceptional Experience and outperforming competitors. Therefore, Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental Makah customizes its services and products and strives to create a WOW experience.

Technology in Hospitality: The hospitality Industry faces one of the greatest challenges of keeping up-to-date with the rapid technological changes, and it is playing a significant role in the business. IHG® is continuing to embrace technological changes such as AI, mobile applications, reliability on technology, etc to enhance guests’ experience as well as improve its efficiency.

Constant changes in guests’ demand and behavior: The market is quite dynamic and guests’ demands are constantly changing, creating challenges to hotel operations and being competitive which is one of the biggest hurdles in the hotel industry. To combat constant changes in guests’ demand, they respond quickly to market shifts adjusting their offerings and services and ensuring they are flexible and willing to adapt to changes so that they stay competitive.

Elevation in Operational Cost: Constant rising in the operational costs in line with global inflation as well is one of the biggest challenges for IHG’s operation. Energy Costs, Food prices, and Labor costs are swelling. However, with no compromise on the services and quality, they get the guests engaged with them in energy savings, making use of digital technologies. Utilizing Work Optimization Tools etc are some of their techniques for beating this challenge.

Committed to DE&I

IHG’s commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) sits at the heart of its purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good and is crucial to growing its business. They do champion a diverse culture where everyone can thrive.

They have outstanding individuals and they value and respect every one of them, committed to creating a sense of belonging at IHG and a freedom to be themselves. Giving such space to colleagues sparks the innovation and ideas IHG needs to succeed as a global business.

“Driving Gender-balance is one of our company’s commitments, and it’s evident in my hotel where our numbers in hiring local female workforce are significantly increasing year on year. Local females across all departments and many of them in supervisory and managerial positions on equal footing with their male counterparts and as we are all aware Saudi Arabia has made significant progress on women’s rights and labor force participation,” shares Mohammad Abuharba.

In Saudi Arabia, the company has created a dedicated DE&I workstream and launched a series of functional talent development programs, providing internships that are supporting the growth of our Saudi colleagues and fast-tracking them into leadership positions. IHG has launched the ‘True Saudi, True Hospitality’ campaign, with the aim of hiring a big number of nationals in KSA by 2030. This is an excellent opportunity for young Saudis to embark on new careers that play a crucial role in the Kingdom’s economy.

Keeping Sustainability in Mind

As we strengthen the business, it’s important we do so responsibly and sustainably for our people, communities, and planet. IHG has developed innovative ways to reduce waste, plastic, energy, and water usage in their hotels, including introducing new brand standards and a bespoke tool to reduce energy and costs. For instance, smart guest room management system to control lighting and A/C, digitization, plastic reduction, LED lighting, eliminating Plastic, purchasing energy-efficiency equipment, and food waste reduction through embracing technology such as Winnow Vision technology.

In 2021, IHG launched “Journey to Tomorrow” – its 10-year plan to help shape the future of responsible travel and deliver a sustainable travel business for a fairer, better, and greener future, aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it’s a powerful framework for how they can focus their efforts to deliver their purpose of True Hospitality for Good in five key areas: people; communities; carbon & energy; waste; and water.

IHG aims at operating thoughtfully and growing sustainably in line with the Kingdom Vision 2030 and Saudi Green initiative which works on increasing Saudi Arabia’s reliance on clean energy, offsetting emissions, and protecting the environment.

Marching Ahead

Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental has achieved remarkable awards and accolades, and below are highlight of few of them :

· Selected as Hotel Leader of the Year 2012, InterContinental Hotels during IHG AMEA Leaders Meeting held at Abu Dhabi, UAE

· Hotel Solutions – Best Idea IHG AMEA Award in 2012

· World Travel Awards 2013 as Makkah’s Leading Hotel and Saudi Arabia’s Leading Hotel

· IHG Winning Metrics Front Runner Award, Q4 2016

· HeartBeat Excellence Award 2016 – IHG India, Middle East & Africa (IMEA)

· GCC’s Best General Manager (Hospitality) Award – 2018

· IHG General Manager Owner Impact Award – 2022.

· Hotelier Saudi Award as General Manager of the Year (Mid-Range to Luxury) – Highly Commended – 2023.

· IHG Highest Profit Generator award for Makkah & Madina – 2022

· IHG Heartbeat Excellence Award – 2022

The Group’s actions are shaped by a culture of strong governance, clear policies, and a series of ambitious commitments set out in their ‘Journey to Tomorrow 2030’ responsible business plan.

Presently IHG’s KSA portfolio consists of 41 hotels across 5 brands and they are aiming to double up the brands in the coming years, especially the luxury footprints.

They are rapidly growing in the region and new hotels are opening & conversions are in the pipeline. Their inventory in the last few years has tremendously risen and they have a fourfold growth plan in the coming years to lead the market. In line with its growth and development plan, IHG has established a fully functional regional office in KSA to support IHG’s vision of expanding its footprints in KSA aligned with KSA’s 2030 vision for tourism.

Quote: “Our Brand service is creating a brand-defined service experience supported by a suite of Training Tools besides our amazing legacy from iconic guests to incredible destinations makes us truly unique.”

Giles Pruett: An Educational Leader

Posted on December 19, 2023March 8, 2025 by theciotimes

Arcadia School, Dubai was founded by its inspirational Chairman Mohan Valrani. After chairing the Board of Governors at the Indian High School in Dubai, the only Indian curriculum school to gain an ‘outstanding’ government rating, and after 40 years of business management in Dubai, Mohan came up with the Arcadia vision to ‘nurture lifelong learning’ within a school context and they haven’t looked back from that point. Arcadia is more than just a school, it is an educational experience that brings learning to life, challenges the thinking, and shapes creative and confident students into lifelong learners.

To bring this to life has taken collective wisdom to create some unique attributes, including integrated enrichment, an extended school day, a well-being and happiness program, Apple Distinguished digital status, and an entrepreneurial learning program, all wrapped around a high-quality English National Curriculum delivery. The final point is perhaps the most distinctive. The primary school Junior MBA was designed by the school CEO Navin Valrani, who holds an MBA from London Business School, and who also delivers some of the teachings. This has its own standalone curriculum which is delivered to years 3-6 and then dovetails with the CEL (Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership), a co-constructed curriculum to develop entrepreneurial instinct in the secondary school. And now, it comes down to the Executive Principal Giles Pruett to make sure that the institute achieves its mission.

Evolving as an Educational Leader

Giles’ journey into education was through sport and from a relatively young age. After delivering his first short-tennis lesson at the age of 14 in his local club, Giles was drawn to coaching as a device which gave him as much pleasure as competing. Through his formative years as a tennis professional and coach, whilst juggling GCSEs and A levels, the qualifications gained through the National Coaching Foundation programme in the UK were invaluable and helped him prepare for his Bachelor of Education in Sports Science and Humanities which was completed in the 1990s. The journey into education was then a natural segue. His first post was as a Director of Sport and Geography teacher at a fantastic independent school in the city of Bath, England and there he was well supported to start his career development and to transition into leadership.

As an educational leader, when you join a new large organisation, there is a tendency to go too fast and too soon without truly understanding the nature of the organisation itself. Within his current role as the Executive Principal at Arcadia, Giles tried to avoid this through the implementation of some quick and effective wins, that were non-invasive and then longer-term strategies that have now had some significant impact on children’s learning. Quick wins included the strengthening of middle leadership to distribute responsibilities more evenly, improving the communication processes to ensure the right information was getting to the right people, reorientating the assessment schedules and cycles of reporting and spreading the student cohort across two campuses during Covid for greater protection of the students.

The most unique longer-term project was looking at the extra-curricular programme and further merging it into the full academic day. Most schools offer ASAs (after-school activities), but they start after the day finishes early and children don’t always have the chance to take part, due to

buses departing, lack of offering and clashes with other clubs. Arcadia already had a built-in enrichment programme, but they needed to scale this up into secondary school, by frontloading the lessons and adding in areas such as STREAM (Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics), entrepreneurial leadership, life-long learning skills; including coding, ceramics, cooking, oracy, games and performing arts. This integration of enrichment has meant every child accesses the co-curriculum, lessons are protected, parents get an extended day with no extra cost and the quality of performance has dramatically improved in areas such as sport, music and drama.

Facing the Pandemic Challenge

While Covid sure stood out as the biggest challenge for any headteacher across the globe, Giles had an additional set of challenges in the form of a new school, a brand-new campus, declining enrolments, supplementary academic planning, staff not being able to join and the looming impact of a global pandemic that was not understood. The single biggest learning, in this case, was ‘you can’t control what you can’t control’. This was unchartered territory for everybody and they, like everyone else, had not had a chance to prep or look at scenarios, so they simply felt their way through the journey step by step as if blindfolded.

Fortunately, due to the work of the UAE government agencies and the stage of growth of the school, Arcadia didn’t suffer as badly as other educational organisations around the world. They were able to stay open fully for two years, implement some very positive safety measures for their community and keep a relatively similar academic programme. “We were lucky to be in the UAE, as the government handled the pandemic processes well and it allowed us to keep our school open fully for two years, a feat that I believe was not matched in this country.Overcoming the collective anxiety and significant day-to-day challenges was challenging, but the message was clear – stay calm, communicate quickly and with transparency and work together. I hope we never have to face this level of global uncertainty again, but we are stronger for it,” shares Giles.

As educators, they did, however, see the psychological impact on the children in their care through a deterioration in socialisation, ability to confidently communicate, greater stress and erosion of wellbeing. This has been their main focus over the last six months and their counselling and pastoral teams have doubled their efforts to make sure that every child has been supported in reconnecting their emotional processes and learning to behave as all children should. They have also noticed an over-reliance on social media as a platform to connect, as for many children this was their only avenue for social connection. Now back in the moment, they have focused hard on unpacking that process and giving the students the tools to reconnect face-to-face.

Preparing Students for the VUCA World

There is no contention that the world is becoming a more complex place and levels of uncertainty are at their highest because there is so much information and disinformation at our disposal. Being agile and adaptable are not traits that are clearly represented in curriculum and assessment and therefore it is the responsibility of the school to support parents in ensuring that their children are upskilled and supported to grow with these vital tools at their disposal. Giles believes that schools can teach important skills within core lessons, but it is through the broader programme that they are really inculcated and transformed. “Real-life learning experiences,

critical and creative thinking development, oracy, and challenging activities such as Olympiads and Model United Nations all have a part to play in building resilient young adults who can adapt. These are all blended into the Arcadia co-curriculum, but are also cemented by quality pastoral care, counselling and career management,” suggests Giles.

Technology as an Educational Tool

From a learning perspective, the speed of collecting feedback, the process of collaboration, checking for understanding and accessing resources has been vastly improved by the development of technology, feels Giles. Arcadia has also started the journey into the utilisation of AI through integrated systems that allow students to solve problems and be assessed remotely as a second pair of eyes, which has also been a real support for teachers. Arcadia achieved Apple Distinguished status for the second time in 2022 and the training of teachers to a high standard is implicit in this process and means they have confidence in their team to deliver high-quality technological guidance to every child. Learning platforms such as SeeSaw and Nearpod also add real value to live and remote lessons and communication to families becomes much easier when sharing information.

Probable Impact of Current Technology Trends

AI is currently at the forefront of educational thinking for many educators. What impact will this have on our learning? How will children use it for assessments? How will we protect learning integrity? These are just some of the questions that will need consideration over the coming years. Giles hopes it will have a transformative impact on assessment capture as his concern is we are still capturing summative information of high-stakes tests almost fully through written exams. As technology has progressed and collective cognition is changing, full-written papers surely can’t be the future. On the converse side of uncertainty, he gets the sense that the well-being agenda of young people can only have a positive impact on personal development. Every child does truly matter and we must do our utmost to ensure their emotional wellbeing is being considered. “At Arcadia, our team of experts are constantly checking in on child personal development and using a series of toolkits at their disposal we want to ensure nobody is left behind,” he says.

Becoming the School of Choice

Being a relative newcomer to the Dubai premium school market, Arcadia wants to be the school of choice shortly for every family. The competition is strong with some established players who have history on their side, but they are constantly looking to genuinely focus on each child by creating a learning programme that is fit for the now and the future, whilst maintaining strong traditions such as a house system, pastoral wrap-around care and enrichment facility of sports, performing arts and many others. Giles believes they have created a team of innovative and agile school leaders who are at the top of their game and hope to see them leading practice across the Middle East and in Dubai alongside the role they play in Arcadia.

“I always tend to default to Aristotle in this case, who stated – Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. I have always been a believer in genuine holistic education where simply teaching classes of knowledge and content is not enough. We all strive to grow young adults who are kind, altruistic, collaborative, aspirational and empathetic and this

cannot be done through information exchange alone. We must give our children a chance to be better people to ensure the world can function and nations can co-exist in peace and harmony,” concludes Giles.

Quote: “My Clifton Strengths tells me that I am a disciplined, competitive, achiever, who thinks strategically and activates others, however, over the years of leading schools I feel that persona has mellowed a little to a collaborative planner who inspires others to do the best they can. “

Melinda Fouts: Helping Business Leaders Achieve their Peak Performance

Posted on December 19, 2023January 4, 2025 by theciotimes

“A coach is someone that sees beyond your limits and guides you to greatness!” – Michael Jordan, Former Professional Basketball Player, and Businessman.

The people who inspire us to go beyond our limits and excel in what we do go by many names. Coach, teacher, mentor, parents, call them whatever you want. The underlying characteristic being they help us draw ourselves out of our shells and be the great success we are meant to be. For many business executives, Melinda Fouts is the one who has been helping them identify what’s holding them back from being at the top of their game. Her key areas of expertise include but are not limited to small business consulting, enhancing emotional intelligence, and self-awareness, unlocking the fullest potential, brainstorming, identifying limitations, challenges, and obstacles, and optimizing performance.

Discovering her Passion

Melinda’s professional journey began as a psychotherapist 25 years ago in private practice. Her Ph.D. is in Jungian Studies. The emphasis is to gain greater self-awareness. 23 years ago, she brought neurofeedback into her private practice also known as EEG Biofeedback. This was a game changer in her work as she learned about how the brain works and delved into neuroscience. Learning about this was a game-changer in her career and is instrumental to her work as an executive coach. Here is how it all began.

About 8 years ago, she was experiencing working with a global CIO who came to Melinda because her colleague told her that her team was afraid of her because she was harsh and she didn’t see herself as harsh. During their work together, Melinda uncovered what triggered her to pounce on her team. We all have blind spots, and this was one of hers. When they finished their time together, she said, “You need to be an executive coach. I’ve worked with many coaches and even though they were good, they weren’t as good as you. None of them discovered this about me.”

The incident pushed Melinda towards learning more about how she could help executives. Today, she is an International Executive Coach, Columnist & Featured Contributor for Forbes Coaching Counsel, and the Founder of Success Starts With You. Over time, she developed 13 signature leadership development training. One of the most important training is emotional intelligence training. After administering the EQi – 2.0 assessment, individuals learn what their strengths are and what needs development. There are 15 competencies on this assessment. This is useful as we all overuse our strengths which then become a weakness. With this awareness, Melinda works with her client towards developing new areas to bring more balance in how they manage and lead.

The Biggest Obstacle enroute Self-healing

The biggest obstacle, per Melinda, is ourselves, and the mind chatter that undermines us. So many people have a negative tape playing that they are unaware of and/or do not get to the root of it. For example, she had one CEO tell her he never hears the tape playing at work. Melinda mentioned he met with the board and gave a presentation and asked him did anyone comment on it. He told her a colleague came up to him afterward and complimented him on it. She asked him, “what did you say in your mind?” “I could have done it better.” She told him that’s the tape playing. The root of his tape that

undermines him is “I’m not good enough.” Most people have either the I’m not good enough playing or I’m not worthy of it.

Melinda’s unique approach to executive coaching requires her to ask the tough questions that challenge her clients to uncover areas of the unknown within themselves. This allows them to unleash talent leadership skills and optimize their results. “I believe enhanced emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and a better understanding of the obstacles that may lay ahead will lead to career advancement, improve leadership skills, and organizational and personal success,” says Melinda.

Enlighten us about your take on technology. As a modern-day entrepreneur, how are you leveraging the power of technology to your organization’s and client’s benefit?

Keeping up with the VUCA world in a Holistic Way

Melinda opines that it is imperative to lead a holistic lifestyle to have a balance in one’s day to day. When we consider holistic, it means taking care of oneself mentally, physically, and emotionally. “This is so important to me, that I send my two grandchildren a blessing to be healthy mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Right now, mental health issues are rising and many who I coach tell me, they wish they had more time for themselves to exercise or more time with family,” she asserts.

Many young people are still concerned about FOMO, the fear of missing out and their social calendars drive them to distraction from themselves. Even exercise can become obsessive and just a check off the list rather than getting in touch with the body and listening to it and feeling it. If one is more in touch, there would be fewer injuries when exercising. Listening to one’s body can be a step towards leading a more holistic lifestyle.

Melinda highly recommends some form of mindfulness practice as it gives one more clarity, increases one’s ability to focus, keeps one calm and more resilient, and enhances creativity. Many executives lack impulse control, and mindfulness practice can help them be less reactive.

Focusing on the goals is to know why the organization exists and who they exist for. One company where Melinda is the in-house coach is solid in this where everyone in the organization knows the why and who all the way down to the warehouse employees. When things get moving too fast and changes are occurring, knowing the why and who is the foundation to guide one in decision-making.

Being Recognized for her Work

Melinda earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico, her MA in Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, her Ph.D. in Psychology from Saybrook University, and her Executive Coaching Certification from the College of Executive Coaching.

For her outstanding leadership, dedication, and excellence within multiple industries, Melinda was recently selected as the Top Global Executive Coach of the Year for 2023 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP). In 2021, she received the award for Empowered Woman of the Year. In 2021, she was part of IAOTP’s publication of the Top 50 Fearless Leaders.

In 2019, her book, Cognitive Enlightenment, came out and she will be featured by the publisher at the London Bookfair in April 2023.

A passionate entrepreneur, Melinda has this to say to the young generation of entrepreneurs:

“Find your passion and do it and be true to yourself. Keep a growth mindset as self-actualization throughout life is important and look for the opportunities, they don’t always fall into your lap. When you have an internal struggle, refer back to why you are doing what you are doing and who you are doing it for. Finally, if you take a moment and get in touch with your heart, the answer is always to choose love.”

Good Today, Better Tomorrow

Melinda’s global reach in coaching includes clients in Dubai, Moscow, Ireland, the UK, Spain, France, Afghanistan, and Panama to name a few. Technology has helped her reach out to people around the globe. She has clients all over the world and without the technology to have a virtual meeting, she would be less effective.

Making this world a better place is what drives Melinda to do what she does. Her mission statement is: “If I can help one person have more inner peace, we are one step closer to world peace. If you are struggling with yourself, you are suffering.”

There are many ways to approach making this world a better place, and hers’ is to bring greater self-awareness, and coach toward more inner peace. It is a process that takes awareness and discipline. She rounds her emotions off by quoting her favorite poet, Rumi. This short poem sums up the work she does and is a good reminder there are other perspectives and to be open-minded. It also emphasizes that we are all connected.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing,
There is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
The world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
Doesn’t make any sense.”

Anouk Vastert: Customer Centricity Transformation Leader driving Outside-in culture change

Posted on December 19, 2023January 4, 2025 by theciotimes

A motivator, planner, and connector, Anouk Vastert, Global Customer Experience Advisor at SAP, believes in the importance of bringing people together for better results. An advocate of cross-functional cooperation, Anouk is averse to silos which she feels are the biggest roadblocks in companies hampering the delivery of a good and consistent customer experience and a great employee experience.

She believes in Driving business results through product-, employee- and customer experience improvements. She loves to empower people and teams by first creating a Vision together and setting clear goals. These tactical goals and assets, which she calls Experience Principles, are created with everyone’s input, can be used by everyone, and are a clue towards a successful transformation.

Customer-Centric DNA

Born into a family of Hotel-Restaurant entrepreneurs, Anouk found customer-centricity in her DNA. Luckily, the first job she got was with Coca-Cola where she was nurtured as an Outside-In professional. It allowed her to learn professional Sales and Marketing skills and a customer-centric way of working and building professional customer partnerships. “I learned the service business by heart from my father and often remember his famous quote – the customer is King but only when he/she behaves as a King,” shares Anouk.

At Coca-Cola as a Key Account manager, she was always looking for improvements. Anouk noticed the Order Entry Services department operated separately and was situated on a different floor in the building. That hampered a good way of working towards their largest customers. So here was her Lesson One: if you make a good plan to improve, big chance leadership says ‘Very good idea, go do it! Here Anouk learned that you can do anything, there are no limits; just make a plan, propose, discuss, and GO.

Later when there was a problem with the Supply Chain at the factory in the south of the Netherlands, she went to work there as a Supply Chain Development manager. Her Lesson Two: If you stay a specialist, you might rise faster on the career ladder; I loved going wider from Sales to Supply Chain, learning much more about the overall business which makes you richer and very effective as a manager and cross-functional professional.

After 8 years with Coca-Cola, Anouk moved on to Royal Philips, a leader in Consumer Lifestyle products, Lighting, and HealthCare where she was responsible for the Marketing, Sales, and Digital Transformation of Global Consumer Care. Together with her team, she built and executed Customer Experience in the B2C part of Philips. A few years later, B2B Healthcare asked her to do the same there. That brought her to Atlanta for 2.5 years, building a Global Customer Experience or Customer Centricity Transformation program together with the USA team. Markets and customers were extremely happy with this focus and it brought great results for the company increasing NPS; resulting in increased order book and revenues.

Speaking at a few conferences in 2019 brought her to SAP, another beautiful large strong global company that was at that time hiring people straight from business roles instead of a technology background. For Anouk, it was a great opportunity to work with all kinds of companies instead of just transforming one.

Kickstarting Transformation at SAP

SAP is the Market leader in Enterprise application software helping companies to run at their best. 77% of world transaction revenue touches an SAP system. SAP will continue to be the engine for business, bringing powerful, proven innovations that serve companies both now and into the future. They are helping enterprises around the world transform their business models to accelerate growth, put sustainability at the center of their operations, build resilient and agile supply chains, and increase productivity. Whether companies are transitioning amid market uncertainty or are intent on getting ahead of the competition and being ready for fast-changing demands, SAP helps address top priorities: achieve business transformation at speed, gain easy-to-use innovations, and work with a trusted partner.

When Anouk started with SAP in 2020 as Global Customer Experience (CX) Advisor, she noticed SAP was talking about Customer Experience as if it was only a Digital or IT activity related to their CX Solution Portfolio. This is only partly true. Most companies worldwide talk about Customer Experience as an overall direction or transformation of the organization. And that is wonderful cause SAP can help them to get there. “Together we first create the Customer-Centric Vision and their Experience Principles. Then we do Customer Journey Mapping with a cross-functional team to find their top 10 pain points. This can be in Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, Finance, or Employee experience. Then we support our customers driving the change in People, Process, Data, and Tools: in the end, bringing in the right technology to support that direction,” says Anouk explaining the process.

Anouk heads a team of 25 Global Customer Experience Advisors that are consultants for customers worldwide. They all come from Business roles at companies in different industries like Walmart, Caterpillar, Philips, Nespresso, ABB, Swarovski, PVH/Calvin Klein. Due to their experience, the conversations they have with Customers are in their business language instead of technology language and are outside-in instead of inside-out.

Customer Centricity as a Way of Business

The notion of having Customer Experience (CX) as an integral part of business strategy has been around for the past 2 decades. However, with the rise in discussions about Customer Experience, there has also been a rise in misunderstanding about CX, how a company can be successful through CX management, and the benefits that a company can expect from CX done right. To dispel the misunderstandings, and make customer-centricity more effective for business, there is a large Customer Experience organization in the world called CPXA. That is where Experience professionals meet, connect and share their work. The CXPA provides a great Exam for everyone who wants to become a Customer Experience Transformation professional: the CCXP. Anouk, a CCXP herself, feels that it is very important that many more CX professionals get this title as there are still so many more companies that need to go in this direction for long-term value.

As the world continuously wants to run better; be more sustainable, efficient, and customer-focused, there are not many things hampering the progress of customer centricity. Things that might stand in the way of moving faster are the original strong technology culture and short-term sales focus at the industry side, and the lack of customer focus at the company’s side. Anouk still gets surprised about the amount of (mostly B2B) companies that can deliver a difficult experience to their customers. There is likely an inside-out, old-fashioned mindset and the company is clearly not investing enough in making it easy to do business with. So, there is still a lot of work to do!

For a few years, Anouk has been a Judge at the International Customer Experience Awards organized by Awards International. “This is beautiful as it brings ALL companies in the world together with their best Customer Experience or Employee Experience projects and results. A great way of seeing what’s going on in the world and where can you learn from it. This year I have been asked to join the Steering Committee of the ICXA,” she shares.

Creating an Inclusive Workplace

SAP aspires to be the most inclusive company and therefore there are many initiatives across the world. They recently launched an initiative called ‘SAP Allyship for Inclusion’; to create an environment where each of us feels included, all of us have a central role to play as allies. “Allyship is the intentional use of our privilege and voice to support and advocate for those who might not have a seat at the table. The beauty is that each one of us needs an ally and each of us can be an ally, and together we can lift each other,” explains Anouk.

Currently most of her efforts go to taking care of respect for each other. There are many different cultures and it is important that everyone understands each other related to behavior and language differences. Native English speakers can take more care of the non-natives by speaking slower and using less slang or word jokes. “We want everyone “in the teams call” to feel included and understand what is being discussed. Here we touch Employee Experience which is a big pillar of Customer Experience hence extremely important to take care of,” says Anouk.

Handling Difficult Situations

Challenges are a part of a professional’s life. When a company is going through a Customer Experience transformation or an IT implementation, many leaders think this is a rational or technical thing. But the biggest challenges often sit with the people. Most times budgets for change management are way too small or taken out and Change is brought back to just a few communications. Same happened in Philips when Anouk was implementing CRM worldwide or during the CX transformation period. Her lesson at that time: “A Fool with a Tool is still a Fool”. They had to increase investments in people for them to understand and drive the change.

As an example; Customer Journey Mapping is not just a rational exercise finding customer pain points, but an opportunity to bring 40 cross functional people together for better understanding of each other’s challenges and teaming up to improve the customer experiences. This also tackled the second challenge which is the silos in the organization. Bringing people together reduces silo thinking and silo way of working.

“I am really allergic to silos and a red thread through my career has been connecting people from different departments to work together cause I truly believe in 1 + 1 = 5.

Especially in Customer Centric or Customer experience transformations, change management is extremely important. Create a Vision together and make the implementation practical, tactical and enjoyable. Make sure to free enough funds and FTE’s for this if you want to be successful,” shares Anouk.

Coming up Next

The Customer Experience Advisory team in SAP will continue to build an outside-in, customer-first way of working within SAP, and they support their customers’ transformation to a customer-centric organization where all capabilities are designed outside-in. Anouk and her team have also developed “Firestarter”; an external thought-leadership and innovation

community crowdsourced by a growing network of business members focused on business topics, issues, and outcomes.

Words of Wisdom

Anouk shares the following gem of advice for budding entrepreneurs:

“Customer First: whatever product you create and sell, make sure your Customer is really at the Center of everything you do. Do not just focus on the technology or selling but make sure your (potential) customers can find you easily, reach out easily, get their questions answered fast and easily, and solve their problems with your products fast and in the way THEY WANT it, not the way you want it. Immediately develop (or hire) a true outside-in mindset in your team.”

Living by Her Rules

“Well-behaved women rarely make history” Eleanor Roosevelt.

Anouk lives her life on her terms and loves to discuss the Status Quo or be a little provocative (her perfume is Provocative Woman by Elisabeth Arden) not just for the sake of it but to get people out of their routines, comfort zones, and flip their thoughts 😊

Anouk is based in the Netherlands and has 2 dogs. As she works full time across the Globe they have a Nanny at home for 2-3 days a week and go to daycare. She didn’t start a family on purpose as she liked her life too much with just work, travel, and friends. She is also a part of an all-women band with 23 other spirited women who love to make some music and have fun.

As a volunteer, she is currently on the board of the animal shelter and this July with her niece Nynke (20, daughter of her sister) she’ll be off to Malawi, Africa to work at the Lilongwe Wildlife Sanctuary.

Quote: “I have a very positive, always motivating personality and I love big challenges.”

Dr. Melissa Hortman – a purposefully driven disruptor

Posted on December 19, 2023January 4, 2025 by theciotimes

The Purposefully Driven Disruptor Leads Higher Education Transformation Innovation for Students of Today and Tomorrow

As a purposefully driven disruptor, Dr. Melissa Hortman does everything intentionally and strategically to challenge the status quo and to create positive change.

Charting Her Path

Dr. Hortman’s path was never meant to lead her to work for big tech. She realized early in her professional journey that she was meant for a path less taken. However, the common thread that has pulled her along through each step of her journey is a fundamental mission to help others and make a positive impact in the world.

As an undergraduate, Dr. Hortman chose Architecture because every space we occupy can affect our mood, productivity, and behavior. As a bonus, this was as far away from education as she could get as her parents were educators and she didn’t want to walk in their footsteps. She had to pave her own path.

Outside of learning about the theory and practice of Architecture, Dr. Hortman worked multiple jobs on campus to help pay her tuition. She learned about the heart of higher education through auxiliary and support services. There was something there for her that aligned with her passions. She decided to pursue a master’s in student affairs to understand higher education more. The layers started to unpeel for her to see how working in higher education could give her purpose in helping others and making a positive impact. She found a love for innovating in teaching and learning, working to pave the path for new programs and initiatives, and being an ally and advocate for inclusivity. She had the privilege of teaching amazing students and mentoring people around her, many of which had more of an impact on her than she had on them.

She then found her personal mission aligning with that of Microsoft, “to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” While she does not work within a singular higher education institution, Dr. Hortman gets to lead work across all of higher education. “My goal is to bring higher education and Microsoft closer together because we are both working on solving the same problems, serving the same people, and driving forward a future of transformation and innovation in education,” she says.

Her Work at Microsoft

When Dr. Hortman began to understand the heart of higher education, she became deeply invested in its success. When she joined Microsoft, she wanted to make sure she wasn’t leaving higher education as she knew there is still more work for her to do there. As a Senior Industry Executive at Microsoft, she helps higher education transform for the students of today and tomorrow. Her goal is to empower faculty innovation and student resiliency to make higher education more agile and stronger during disruptions now and in the future. “We live in a time when disruptions are all around us, increasingly more in higher education than there ever was in the past. I work with colleagues across academia to help solve these current challenges and anticipate future needs,” she says.

Another part of Dr. Hortman’s role is driving Microsoft’s strategy in academic research. This is such a fascinating area because, while cloud computing has been around and is available for researchers in higher education, the use of the cloud to accelerate time to science and science to scholarship is becoming more pervasive for all types of research. The cloud is a game-changer for researchers. It can transform their research because what may not have been possible before is possible now. New research questions can be asked. New science can be explored. The possibilities are endless.

Ideas at Work

Dr. Hortman’s role at Microsoft was envisioned to support faculty in their pursuits of teaching, research, and scholarship. She joined Microsoft to build a bridge. Coming from academia, these are her colleagues, and her friends, that are now her customers, and it was important for her to make sure to approach them as such.

Driving strategy along with connecting with customers positions Dr. Hortman to give faculty and researchers a voice within Microsoft. During her tenure, she launched a new approach to the Microsoft Academic Research Community Advisory Board that created a more intimate group of researchers and leaders in the research community who were willing to lean in and truly advise Microsoft on how we could better support this community. As Microsoft works to truly show up for research and accelerate time to science and science to scholarship, Dr. Hortman has a trusted group of advisors she consults with to ensure they are working in the right direction for the academic community.

Taking on Challenges

Dr. Hortman faced challenges as a female in various predominately male fields. From Architecture to big tech and even advanced degrees, she has been one of the few females in those spaces. She has learned how to find her voice and speak up to share another perspective or challenge the status quo. It was incredibly challenging but amazingly liberating. This is where her passion for disruption started. “Your voice is your strongest asset and can use it for driving your personal and professional mission forward,’ she asserts.

Dr. Hortman’s father often told her from a very young age, “if you aren’t having fun, don’t do it”. She has lived by these words in her personal and professional life. “Fun is in the challenges you work to overcome, it’s in the successes you find, it’s in the relationships you build,” she says.

Leveraging Technology

Technology is only as good as the human using it. Dr. Hortman believes technology can never replace a human, but a human using technology can. That is important to remember as the world is quickly changing around us, and we can easily become irrelevant tomorrow with the advancement of technology. Staying current on technology, even if it isn’t directly relevant to one’s role, is imperative as technology is becoming more pervasive across all disciplines.

Dr. Hortman is excited about working with disruptive technologies. “Working in the space of early adoption and emerging capabilities can put you on the bleeding edge. Sometimes you’re successful in your bleeding edge innovations, many times not. While you might be more comfortable in the middle or even at the end of the innovation curve, we must educate ourselves on what is already here and what is coming so we can better anticipate change,” she says.

Throughout her career, Dr. Hortman has used technology as a catalyst to create opportunities to accelerate her ideas, design innovations and processes, and support her in pushing boundaries. She has worked alongside a team to create a wellness PowerApp that scaled to a 30,000+ employee enterprise and created automated workflows for my team so they never had to worry about backup on taking days off.

She has seen amazing people leverage technology to transform education and research in innovative ways. “I’ve seen how cloud technologies can truly transform research in ways she never thought possible. Putting advanced technology in the hands of some of the smartest people in the world, academic researchers, we are seeing bleeding-edge research come to life and answer some of the toughest research questions ever asked. Technology didn’t do the research. Technology didn’t push through boundaries. Researchers empowered with advanced technologies did,” she asserts.

Rewarding Moments

For Dr. Hortman, more than accolades, it has always been important to seek out how she could have an impact. While there have been awards along the way, it’s the stories of impact behind the awards that really stick with her.

Dr. Hortman has impacted higher education by sharing her best practices and research with colleagues. She has delivered keynotes at industry conferences where she presented over 40 peer-reviewed sessions. She was also part of a group that created a novel, international, peer-reviewed journal for faculty to share their innovations in teaching and learning in higher education. She earned a Hero Award in her first year at Microsoft for bringing the faculty voice to all they do at Microsoft. She was nominated to be part of a leadership development program at Microsoft.

While professional impacts are important, personal pursuits of impact are equally as important for Dr. Hortman. After having conversations with colleagues across Microsoft, she discovered there wasn’t proactive communication for higher education faculty. She aimed to change that with a LinkedIn newsletter called “On Track with MicrosoftEDU” where she highlights a colleague in academia, shares timely resources and brings together all the Microsoft opportunities and events for faculty. Finally, she recently completed the Disney “Dopey” Challenge, which consists of a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon completed in consecutive days. “This is the second time I’ve completed this running challenge, once before I had my two children and now once after. It was amazing to see my kids hold up signs of encouragement like ‘My mom is awesome!’ and “Run, mommy, run!” she exclaims.

On the Cards

Dr. Hortman’s goal is to showcase Microsoft’s value in technology across all roles in higher education, and by expanding its market to end-users across campus, innovative opportunities can be discovered throughout the institution. She truly believes in Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. Growth at Microsoft in higher education means empowering every student, every faculty member, and every administrator with the tools so they can excel in their respective roles and contribute to the overall success of their institution.

Expanding the research enterprise and research excellence are areas of interest across all higher education because while the advancement of knowledge is important, it is equally important to grow funding sources for higher education. With only 2.57% of institutions having R1 (very high research activity) classification in the U.S., there are 4,383 other institutions that are striving to grow their research enterprises (per 2021 data of the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education). Dr. Hortman’s goal is to bring Microsoft alongside to support 100% of the institutions who want to grow their research enterprise by transforming research infrastructure to expand options for faculty’s research initiatives, foster a culture of research where the institution can strive to move to or retain R1 classification, and build a vision for leading innovation and discovery that will drive economic growth and development in their communities and regions.

Words for the Next Gen Disruptors

“As the world around us is changing constantly, Dr. Hortman would challenge the next generation, in any organization or domain, to disrupt or be disrupted. Change is constant so it is important to be agile in one’s work and approaches.

As higher education moves into the next decade, the transformation will need to be considered in higher education from admissions processes to communicating and collaborating with individuals and teams. Leaders can inspire and influence transformation all while providing stability during change. Thus, transformational leaders can create a clear and inspiring vision that they can effectively communicate to others while also being focused on the growth and development of individuals on their teams. If the disruption of COVID-19 has taught the next generation of higher education leaders anything, it is that they can overcome very challenging times and come out on the other side stronger for themselves, their team, and the students they serve. Those are the leaders of tomorrow that I am excited about leaning into transformation for all of higher education,” concludes Dr. Hortman.

Graeme M. Keith -Graeme M. Keith III: Carrying a Legacy

Posted on December 8, 2023May 11, 2024 by theciotimes

The Keith Corporation (TKC) is a full-service commercial real estate firm, serving clients in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and the United Kingdom. It was founded by Graeme Keith Sr. and Graeme “Greg” Keith Jr. in 1989. Today, Graeme M. Keith III leads several divisions of the company and is also a part of the Executive Leadership team. TKC’s mission is to deliver the highest level of quality, service, commitment, and excellence to its clients. The firm’s vast client portfolio includes multinational Fortune 500 corporations, top-rated hospitals, Department of Defense contractors, industrial giants, and high-growth startups. The firm is a progressive commercial real estate firm and credits employees for its success as it remains focused on the future.

Staying Relevant through 3 decades

Graeme M. Keith III believes that the longevity of TKC is attributable to adaptation, but also to the firm’s family-oriented culture. They have many employees who have been with them for over 25 years and the median length of employment is 10+ years. Graeme feels extremely fortunate to have, and is very intentional about maintaining, such an incredibly tight-knit and family-oriented culture. That culture leads to fierce loyalty and long-term personal and professional relationships and fulfillment. This also results in a natural progression to mentorship opportunities where the newer employees build relationships with some of the more seasoned employees which ends up creating a powerful cycle and stronger bond. “We believe our people are our single greatest asset and there would be no success without them, so we try to invest heavily in them and create an environment where they are fulfilled personally and professionally,” says Graeme.

Further, he says, regardless of the industry and the company culture, to stay relevant and thrive, you must adapt. There are plenty of companies that had great cultures that ultimately ended up becoming extinct because they didn’t adapt. We are constantly trying to “skate where the puck is going, not where it is” which leads to a lot of lively and creative discussions internally. The simplest example of this is that TKC originally started as a single-tenant, net lease build-to-suit developer focused on the Industrial sector. Soon thereafter, they had opportunities for expansion into retail followed by office, healthcare and, most recently, airplane hangars.

“While we are always trying to grow and evolve, one of the non-negotiables is always providing excellent customer service to our clients. In order to provide that level of service, we are always trying to stay on the cutting edge of optimization technology, as well as industry best practices. Our key stakeholders not only assess the competitive landscape and see where we are deficient compared to our competitors, but those stakeholders also double down on where we set the standard,” says Graeme.

A Leader par Excellence

Graeme M. Keith, III graduated from The McCallie School, Wake Forest University and Charleston School of Law and is a licensed attorney in South Carolina. In his 11 years at The Keith Corporation, he has completed well over $500 million in deals. He has started and runs several other companies, including MedChat, LLC, and Flux Capital, LLC and he has a stealth start-up that is democratizing access to the financial sector, helping consumers to be more well-informed. Health and Wellness have always been very important to Graeme and he has competed in several half and full IRONMAN triathlons, XTERRA World Championships and won countless mud runs and adventure races across the United States.

All of the companies Graeme is involved in have a very similar philosophy: he tries to be the weakest link on the team. He explains, “If I am the weakest link, I feel like we’re going to have a very competitive team. I learned this when I was competing in mud runs and adventure races across the country and the same philosophy goes for business as well… This is a Biblical philosophy. In Proverbs 27:17 it says: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ If you want to be faster, train with faster athletes. If you want to be smarter, spend time with smarter people. If you want to be more successful, surround yourself with people who are more successful than yourself.”

Graeme always tries to surround himself with the best: At The Keith Corp., he works alongside an incredible team of dealmakers, project managers, accountants, administrative professionals, etc. At MedChat, he works with an amazing team of developers and engineers, as well as very talented sales, implementation, and customer success teams. This is the same at the other companies he’s involved in. The common theme at all of these organizations is that he tries to ensure he is one of the weakest members of the team.

“One of the greatest misconceptions about leadership is that it’s the Leader who drives the results, but in my opinion, it’s the exact opposite. The Leader may chart the course, but it’s the team who is most responsible for the outcomes. As a Leader, I simply try to find the most talented people and put them in positions where they can succeed,” says Graeme.

Exceeding Client Expectations

What TKC does is not super-unique, but how they do it is a hyper-focused commitment to customer service. Everything they do is client-driven; they always aim to provide the highest level of service and quality to their clients in a straightforward manner. Tthere have been a lot of changes over the last 33 years, but TKC’s commitment to its clients has not changed and will not change as long as there is a Keith at the helm.

Client service looks different for every client: some want weekly updates and status reports, and others just want the keys when the building is finished. The team at TKC first tries to understand the most important items for its customers and then tailors its program around those hot button items. Those can range from cost-conscious value engineering exercises to aesthetics-driven design to ensuring flat floors for automation technology or building controls and security.

In addition to tailoring its program to clients, Graeme and his team always try to under-promise and over-deliver by completing the projects on time and at, or under, budget. “If we do not feel like we can do a project in a first-class manner, we will let our clients know. It does not happen often, but we have passed on a handful of projects because we did not feel like we were positioned to perform at the level our clients expect from us,” shares Graeme.

Aside from the customer service piece, TKC also leverages a plethora of different software programs to add value to its clients’ processes. These range from mapping programs to demographics subscriptions to utilizing geofencing technologies to help understand and predict consumer behaviors that are relevant to our clients.

As a result of its culture, Graeme feels that TKC is fortunate to have many employees who have been with the firm for decades. This makes continuity of service much easier and builds a predictable and scalable business for their clients. “A huge part of our success and relevance is the team that we have. We believe in hiring the best, most qualified people, giving them the tools they need to be successful, providing a great working environment, and giving them the autonomy to perform their job without micromanagement,” asserts Graeme.

Advice for young and aspiring entrepreneurs:

Graeme advises them saying:

1) Keep your head down and focus on your end goal. Despite what you may see on social media, there are no shortcuts to success, and

2) Thomas Paine said: “Character, unlike money, is much easier kept than recovered.” Your reputation and character should never be put on the line. An easy way to determine this in a bright-line test is to think about someone you admire and look up to. Then think of the behavior in question to accomplish the goal you’re seeking to accomplish – would you be proud or ashamed if the person you admire found out about how you acted to accomplish that goal? Your character and reputation are precious and no amount of success is worth risking them.

Assessing the Future

From a personal standpoint, Graeme has a long list of goals he would like to achieve. They run the gamut from hiking the entire Appalachian Trail to seeing Mavericks or Jaws (big wave surfing spots) from the water to driving 200mph in a car and making someone’s lifelong dream come true. He would like to start ticking off some more of those goals over the next few years.

From a professional standpoint, he loves innovating and creating and believes there will be a handful of new and exciting companies over the coming years. He thinks the web3 movement has the potential of being the most disruptive movement since the creation of the internet and hopes to be involved in that space in a meaningful way. He also believes the blockchain and web3 movements have the potential to play a huge role in the future of commercial real estate. At TKC, he has created a digital leadership task force to evaluate what we think that might look like in the future and consider how it could bring value to their clients as well as their internal shareholders.

While he does not have any immediate plans to enter into any new sectors, the entrepreneurial nature of his company means he is always evaluating new opportunities and business lines. “I believe the largest gaps in our service offerings are currently in the multi-family residential and storage sectors. I do not expect us to make a move into either of those sectors this cycle, but believe there are opportunities there that could make sense for us down the road,” concludes Graeme.

KEVIN STEER -Redifing FinTech and InsurTech to create a smarter world’

Posted on December 8, 2023March 8, 2025 by theciotimes

THE INCEPTION OF 121ADVISOR

After graduating from Cambridge University in 1978, Kevin commenced his Schlumberger journey and worked there for five years. There, he witnessed the mind-boggling evolution of the IT sector and made his mind pursue Masters in Computing from Imperial College.

Artificial intelligence had made its mark on Kevin’s mind. As a CEO and a ‘technology person’, Kevin had always strived to look at new solutions to continue evolving the business. What was interesting was that he worked for an Artificial Intelligence Company in 1986, and that piqued his interest in AI. 121Advisor started researching on AI solutions and the team implemented 24×7 multi-lingual Chatbots, Robo Advisors for lifestyle financial planning, as well as implementing Predictive Analytics solutions for predicting new products to buy, lapsation of policies & fraudulent claims; which are integrated with RPA solutions to trigger workflows to notify the relevant people.

With his passion growing, he moved to Malaysia to turn his ideas into services and implement solutions on banking and insurance. He targeted China, India, and other Asian countries to expand the horizons for his business.

During this period, he honed his skills and gained valuable experience. In 2010, Kevin set up 121 Advisory to develop smart FinTech and InsurTech solutions with the vision of simplifying technology and creating a new dimension into the financial and insurance sector.

He aims to develop a unique knowledge portal named u12know in multi-lingual translations and share with all the customers in Asia Pacific countries and then move to Europe and the US. The company is currently collaborating with several banks and insurers.

PORTFOLIO OF SERVICES PROVIDED

The company has a diverse portfolio that offers a multitude of services.

Predictive Analytics with Machine Learning
Multi-lingual Chatbot for Financial, Insurance & Takaful (FITbot)

Multi-lingual Robo Advisor and a chatbot that utilizes hybrid trees and natural language processing (NLP) to engage with customers to offer a more personalized customer experience and generate more referrals.

Web Portal Solution for Sales & Servicing (WebPoS)

Multi-lingual mobile responsive website and portal solution to enable clients to experience a unified personalized digital experience where content, sales, marketing, and work management are consolidated instead of siloed.

Referral Management & Marketing Automation (ReMMA)

Used by banks to effectively and efficiently auto-assign leads, track, and manage lead referrals and conversions based on user-defined workflows. Marketing automation results in personalized content delivery targeted campaigns and engagement.

Sales Activity Mobile App (SAMA)

Allows agents to effectively plan and manage sales activity to ensure all leads and prospects are addressed. Managers can monitor real-time to render assistance where necessary.

Online Sales Solutions

They have implemented an online sales solution, for customers to buy online.

Community & E-worksite Marketing & Distribution (CeMD)

Community portal solution allows organizations to engage with members of their community to nurture trust and create advocates thereby improving customer retention. Recently launched u12know knowledge portal.

Customer Service Portal
The Customer Self Service Portal is an on-demand access point enabling the customer to view their insurance/takaful account, anywhere and anytime. This enables the policyholders to view their policies and certificate details via a simple internet connection. The portal provides a safe avenue for customers to update their personal information, pay the premium, switch funds, print documents, update beneficiary details, request policy changes and engage in filing claims and processing, which traditionally would take weeks to be executed due to siloed lines of business. Providing a portal for your customers with the convenience of self-servicing, customers can enjoy the freedom of doing what’s convenient for them when they want anywhere.
Takaful & Insurance Mobility Made Simple (TIMMS)
A cross-platform mobile point of sales solution allowing agents to identify client financial needs via Customer Fact Find, recommend products, make presentations, generate quotes and e-submit applications, in a regulatory compliant process. Solutions for IOS, Android & Windows.
Enterprise Product Configurator (EPC)

Reduces the time to market for insurance and takaful products. Built to rapidly set up product rates, illustrations, validation engine as well as an automated testing module allows quick product deployment.

Multi-channel Distribution Management Solution (McDMS)

For general agencies, IFAs, brokers, Agency Leader Corporations (ALCs) simplify operations by consolidating their diverse requirements. With built-in performance management and compensation computation, their clients have seen improved sales with reduced administration costs.

THE COMPANY IN THE YEARS TO COME

With Kevin’s astounding ideas and a passion to change the AI sector, the 121Advisor has recently launched a knowledge portal www.u12know.com in Malaysia in September 2020, where they are actively onboarding users.
121Advisor will be signing up with several banks, insurers, takaful operators, unit trust companies & will-writing services to offer their services online.

They aim to improve the financial literacy and personal wellness for southeast Asian millennials, by providing an online community portal known as u12know.com, where community members can self-educate on various financial and wellness topics, seek opinions & professional advice from community members & Independent Financial Advisors and finally purchase products or services if they so choose. This will be rolled out to multiple countries in South East Asia with multi-lingual translations for each country.

The portal consists of 3 components:

a. Providing Financial Advice for each lifestyle (e.g. cost of getting married, how much to have a child, child education, medical & critical illness planning).

b. My Business providing advice on corporate loans, employee benefits, product liability, director protection.

c. Health & Wellness providing health calculators with a ‘Total Health Score’ to assess a person’s wellness (healthy, unhealthy, at risk).

121Advisor has grown to 20+ companies, and they are growing further. They plan to expand to Singapore and Indonesia. They plan to grow the u12know in APAC countries, and they plan to expand to the USA & Europe.

KEVIN AS A LEADING LIGHT FOR HIS TEAM

With his experience and understanding, Kevin acts as an outstanding leader and mentor. He realises the importance of making the environment comfortable for his colleagues. He recognises their ideas and inputs and constantly motivates them to think and innovate.

He handles the mobile and web development teams and leads them with precision and utmost dedication. A strong believer in quality, Kevin has an efficient management system. He discusses all the elements with the whole squad regularly and focuses on achieving daily milestones.

With the organisation under his supervision, the company has taken up several projects and delivered compelling results.

Quanda Francis : Viktor E Frankl, Austrian neurologist, Holocaust Survivor

Posted on December 8, 2023January 4, 2025 by theciotimes

Meet the Woman who wants to become the fiduciary and trustee of one of the most complex retirement systems in the United States with roughly $252 billion in invested assets to date.“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” –

Viktor E Frankl, Austrian neurologist, Holocaust Survivor

Every day we wake up, we are presented with choices in our life. From small to big, these choices and decisions determine where we are headed. Of course, there are times when we cannot control the circumstances. There are times when everything seems to be moving downhill. There are times when we would rather have different choices than the ones we are presented with.

Even in such adverse situations, we do have choices. We can either succumb to the situation, flowing with the time and letting it take us wherever it wants; Or we can choose to focus our energy on changing the circumstance from adverse to favorable. When we are young, we are full of optimism. The adrenalin that flows inside makes us think that we can achieve almost anything. However, when decisions lead to unfavorable outcomes, what do we do?

At 17, Quanda Francis found herself at the threshold of motherhood. For a young woman, whose family lived at a housing project and moved due to gun violence, this was not a moment to rejoice. She had to leave her high school and her future, was very depressing. However, she was determined to not be a victim of her circumstances.

How does your company uphold its uniqueness and individuality?

I believe the uniqueness of my company comes from my coaching principles and PR hacks. For example, I formulated my acronym – B. E. P. I. C. – which helped me overcome moments of weakness to this day. I teach this method to my mentees so they can find their confidence and their inner voice to carry them through their journey. At the end of the day, my company’s primary goal is to carve an avenue for women in this male-dominated world continuously. I have stood firm on that goal and stayed committed to not only providing resources to educate women further but also to give them the tools and skills needed to become competent professionals. It is also important to me to not only educate but inspire. As a result, I have utilized my network over the years to give solid examples of what could happen with hard work, persistence, and dedication. Today, I am known as the millennial PR strategist, a media mogul, and a branding maven.

Kindly mention some of the notable recognitions and accreditations received by your organization.

The first honorable accomplishment that I cherish is becoming the first female Entrepreneur and businesswoman in my family. I am an official member of the Forbes Business Council and Chairwoman of WMW Lounge in New York. I am also one of the latest members of the Young Entrepreneur Council, the editor and chief of my lifestyle magazine, and a celebrated keynote speaker. However, out of all of my accomplishments and accolades, my most outstanding achievement is helping women create their own space and succeed in their entrepreneurship journey. I started the podcast “What Makes a Woman.”, and have penned multiple columns for various prestigious outlets such as Entrepreneur, and have appeared on notable platforms such as Forbes, Huffington Post, INC and more. More recently, I mentor girls from orphanages by providing them the necessary resources to educate them on the art of entrepreneurship. I feel that if I reach back and help future generations, the cycle will continue, and I have made my mark on this world.

The pandemic turned the tables for every sector of the economy, telling us something about your market and its scope for growth.

Covid-19 has changed the structure of business for everyone. Thankfully, my team and I could adopt more technology and create a digital avenue that allows us to reach a bigger audience and develop more effective and profitable services for these times. We were able to pivot my platform during a pandemic and carve out a new way to reach women on the one latest and aggressively growing apps, Clubhouse. The idea and overwhelming response from the platform motivated me to start a virtual public relations academy, Zavo PR Academy, which transforms professionals, entrepreneurs, and executives from being unknown to becoming unrecognizable by teaching proper industry strategies for boosting personal brands. The academy also uses a specific method to help magnify and monetize a message, how to find your unique voice, and how to develop an authority in your niche. As a result, we were able to broaden my audience and help more women create a better life for themselves and their families without losing any of our team members.

Where do you see your organization in the years to come?

Going forward, my organization and I plan to take my brand and mission to the next level. Zavo Media Group is becoming a global company by establishing offices in Paris and Dubai in the Spring of 2022. We will capitalize on technology so we can reach an even larger audience and help more women tap into their unique voice and story to share with the world. I plan to continue to educate and inspire those who know that there is more to life than doing the bare minimum and those that want to live instead of merely existing. Overall, I will remain persistent in creating more avenues and preparing the next generation of successful entrepreneurs for their greatness. I love the idea of giving voice to the voiceless, and I love the idea of storytelling and the power behind someone’s message. As a result, I plan to continue creating a brand that is aligned with the things that I am extremely passionate about.

Entrepreneurship is an art, what is your take on that?

I agree that entrepreneurship is an art because this journey is not for everyone. It takes a skillful and passionate person to understand the balance of talent, dedication, and the need for patience to trust the process of birthing a dream. Most people give up because of the dark and narrow roads of entrepreneurship, mainly because there are no guarantees, no safety nets, and no one or nothing to fall back on. Everything rests on the entrepreneur’s shoulders, and not everyone can bear that amount of weight. For example, before I started my company, I was a college dropout and a single mom at age 20. I knew I wanted more so I decided to learn for myself the art of storytelling and how to get it out to the public. I wanted to share my story with the world so others can learn from my experience and become inspired. When PR initially piqued my interest, I had no knowledge of the industry, but I decided to partner with a firm in NYC under one condition: I would introduce new clients from my family’s restaurant, and in return, they will let me shadow and learn everything there is to know about PR. I gave myself a year, and during that year, it was nothing but hard work, grit, and determination. By the end of the year, I learned the ins and outs of PR and hired a mentor to teach me the business aspect, and started my journey. With only $5000 and a spirit of determination, I started my bootstrap startup company in 2017 without any partners to assist.

I want to encourage people not to quit on themselves and to trust the process. Every task, every mistake, every pitfall, and every move is pushing you closer and closer to your dream, and you will see that one day, it was worth it.

Tough Decisions Need Tougher Mindset

Quanda has leveraged adversity and disadvantage to forge excellence and prosperity most of her adult life. She is now a visionary, directly impacted leader, entrepreneur, accountant, data scientist, consultant, community organizer, youth advocate, Ph.D. candidate, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sykes Capital Management and candidate for New York State Comptroller. She earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University. However, her success has not come easily but she never let her hardships define her.

She has derived inspiration from the challenges faced during childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, family and friends and accomplishments. In fact, these experiences have served to inspire her. These incidents inspired her desire to level the playing field and become the “best” version of herself. She lives her life by the C.O.D.E, her code, which is an acronym that stands for (Choices, Ownership Determination and Empowerment). “I want to quickly explain why I live my life by this acronym C.O.D.E. CHOICES – “I truly believe that I am a product of my choices and I take OWNERSHIP of my actions. Determination enabled me to overcome tremendous adversity and I utilize this determination as a tool for encouragement as I push into spaces that were not created for me. I have a sense of Empowerment that gives me direction and purpose” explains Quanda.

Holding her Ground

Throughout her career, Quanda has pushed into spaces that were not created for her, or women in particular.Data science and accounting are heavily numeric and generally have significantly more males/men working in those areas. Making her way into those boardrooms wasn’t easy, but she persevered. “Coming to the realization that I did not have to gain acceptance through the portal of “male validation” was a challenge that I faced. However, I now reject the premise that men dominate the world,” says Quanda.

She previously held positions with the New York City Police Department and the U.S. Small Business Administration. As a workforce development architect, creating replicable systems and infrastructure that will maximize the potential of all people, especially those who have been historically marginalized has been very important to her throughout her career. This is one of the reasons she established her firm, Sykes Capital Management. It is a strategically positioned company that specializes in education analytics, financial literacy, business advisory services, and workforce development. It offers a wide range of consulting services to serve a variety of businesses and clients. Whether a small, local business or a multinational corporation, Sykes helps businesses reach new levels of success. “Workforce development has become an integral part of everything we do. We intend to employ an Education Agenda that ensures that every student is exposed to coding as part of their elementary school education. Our plans for education aim to implement modern digital technology more efficiently and effectively in learning, teaching, research,” shares Quanda.

Creating the Next-Gen Workforce

Quanda believes that the economy and society needs a workforce different from what was required in the past. The market demands more today and there must be new ways to train the next generation to ensure they have adequate digital skills to contribute to a technologically driven economy. How do we prepare students to assume the challenges in a depressed economy? What should be the de-facto competencies (beyond standardized tests) students should possess that will ease their transition from high school to college?”

These are just a few questions that Quanda seeks to address through Sykes’ initiative, the Pledge. The first of its kind, it intends to be at the forefront of revolutionizing K-12 Education and workforce development. Through this initiative, Sykes intends to develop and offer 100,000 paid internships each year to youth from marginalized communities to ensure the next generation has the skills they need to contribute to a 21st-century economy. In doing so, Quanda and her team propose to create replicable systems and the necessary infrastructure needed to maximize the potential of the next generation of leaders in every major city around the world.

Inspiring the Team and Adjusting to the New Normal

Inspiring people is achieved when you embody the attributes and display the behaviors/actions that you espouse for others. Nelson Mandela once said, “I never lose, I either win or I learn” and this is how Quanda lives her consciously embodied life and encourages others to do the same. The company’s leadership apparatus is fully engaged and supportive, possessing the right balance between optimism and realism. As a result, she has cultivated a forward-thinking, inclusive, and performance-oriented business culture. The leadership team takes ownership of their choices. Quanda has clearly defined what success means in a team-oriented environment. It means making progress towards the collective goals and understanding how anatomy affects decision-making that can positively or negatively influence business outcomes.

Talking about the new normal Quanda agrees that the pandemic has accelerated the work-from-home (remote) option. The challenge, she feels, is to use the work modality that benefits the organization, customers, stakeholders, and the worker himself/herself. However, her leadership and management philosophy is that no one plan exists in isolation. Every plan is directly or indirectly connected to every other plan to improve efficiency and maximize impact. Consequently, education, health & safety, housing, law enforcement, workforce development, etc., are elements of a larger goal and plan that will help re-establishes a new normal.

What’s next for the Woman Helping to Change the World and Make an Impact

As a former candidate for Mayor of New York City, Quanda made history as the first African American woman to run for Mayor of New York City in a general election as the nominee of a political party that she established. She was named Global Women in Banking and Finance 2020 Global Community Development Honoré on the continent of Africa and received the 2021 Madam C.J. Walker Global Citizen Award. As the workforce development architect of the pledge, her team was able to get 100,000 summer jobs allocated to the New York City Summer Youth Employment Program which represents a community investment of over USD $226 Million. I intend to be on the forefront of revolutionizing K-12 Education by utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify student learning styles and offer personalized education plans with the goal of improving educational outcomes and lastly, “embark on this historic run for New York State Comptroller and shatter yet another glass ceiling” says Quanda.

A Word for the Women Entrepreneurs

As a woman making history on many fronts, Quanda urges women entrepreneurs to never give up! Inspiration can be derived from the challenges one faces during their lifetime. These challenges must be taken as opportunities to find one’s calling, leave your mark and make an impact.Her advice to women entrepreneurs is to reject all notions, messages, and practices that undermine women’s ascension.

“Refuse to be your own naysayer, adversary, and enemy. Show up for people and allow people to show up for you. Cultivate the right relationships with other professionals as networking is important and essential. It is never too early to start identifying prospective mentors and sponsors. There has been a tendency to view both mentors and sponsors interchangeably, but the role of a sponsor and the role of a mentor is uniquely different. A mentor is someone you can go to for advice and guidance and a sponsor is someone that will advocate for you to get opportunities when you are not in the room. Develop relationships with people you admire and if you do not have access to them, read about them,” shares Quanda.

Author: theciotimes

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