Sheetal Paknikar: Helping Organizations with “Real” Communication

Did you know that 2010 was the breakthrough year for apps like Instagram, Ola, Uber & Quora – to name a few? Apart from these App. launches, 2010 was also the year Time Magazine rated Steve Jobs iPad as one of the Top 50 inventions of that year & Burj Khalifa, the World’s Tallest Building, was formally inaugurated in the first week of January 2010!

Cut to 2022, most of these apps and inventions have changed our lives massively and many of us can’t imagine living without them. In 2010, another company started its journey with a steadfast leader who quietly believed that businesses, like life, should be built on human relationships. A few falls, bruises, pains, and multiple experiences later, Mumbai-based Seven Twenty Ten (7.20.10), a Network of like-minded professionals, is now looking at building on its sound foundation.

Mr. Sheetal S Paknikar, the Company’s MD & CEO candidly takes us through the journey of this Media, Sports & Integrated Marketing Consulting Network, which is a great blend of vastly experienced analytical and creative professionals in planning and execution. Seven Twenty Ten offers end-to-end Media and Sports Consulting Services inclusive of Marketing Promotions, Identity Design, Brand Building, Digital Films & Videos, and Educational & Social Initiatives.

When Seven Twenty Ten entered the market during the global recession, they were just one of several other companies that tried to set up businesses but found it challenging to sustain. Yet, it was probably one of the very few organizations that used the market recession to build a then futuristic collaboration based ‘network’ model. This was intelligent innovation, driven by the Founder, who managed to motivate diverse professionals and SME’s to work together.

The Modern Vision-Mission Statement

According to Sheetal, the team take on the traditional ‘Vision-Mission’ Statement, is:

1.To Partner with Clients as Communication Problem Solvers.

2.Decide & Achieve Clear Communication Objectives.

3.Integrate Ideas, Consistent Message Strategy and Smart Execution.

4.Use Different Media, Understanding Consumer Touch-Points.

5.Effective Solutions, with Quicker Turnaround Times.

6.Lastly, the Seven Twenty Ten Approach is to create a value proposition with every penny/rupee spent, to ensure a mutually rewarding return-on-investment.

The Making of a Steadfast Leader

Armed with two decades of diverse work experience across domains, Sheetal founded Seven Twenty Ten in July 2010 with headquarters in Mumbai and Marketing Associates – largely his personal network, over the world. Having started his professional journey with Amit Khanna and Mahesh Bhatt’s Plus Channel as an Animator, he moved to The Times of India as an Infographic Artist, Graphic Designer & Feature Journalist. Sheetal was then a part of the core team that launched Bombay Times. After working for three years in Publication Design, he joined Ketan Mehta’s Maya Entertainment and was part of the team that launched Maya the Magic Shop, which became one of the pioneers of Animation & VFX in India in the 90s with India’s First Official Sci-Fi Television Series “Captain Vyom”. Later, based on this success, he was the Head of the Animation Team that started the Intel Centre for Advanced Cinematics, which is now the well known brand MAAC. His next assignment was to play a pivotal role in the core content & packaging of B4U Television Network in UK, USA, UAE & India. After 4 successful years in Television, Sheetal’s next project was with Mukta Arts Limited as the Creative Head where he worked on the launch of an International Lifestyle Channel and later with Nagesh Kukunoor on the Critically Acclaimed Iqbal. In 2004, he played his part of the team that saw the launch of Whistling Woods International. Next, he moved into mainstream advertising as the National Creative Director with focus Communication that worked for Brands like Edelweiss, Reid & Taylor, Finolex, Belmonte & Lilliput.

Hailing from a family of educators in Goa, Sheetal is an Applied Art Alumni of Goa College of Art and holds a Master’s Degree in Visual Communication from the Industrial Design Centre at Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.

Building Associations with Clients

As an Innovative & Niche IMC Consulting Brand, Seven Twenty Ten offers:

1.Consulting Services in multiple domains, building international collaboration in sport, tourism, wellness, education, infrastructure, music & culture.

2.Integrated Marketing after analysing the SWOTS of each medium and creatively working out the most effective ways to reach the consumer.

3.Building Brands & Brand Character balancing Strategic Planning & Smart Execution.

4.End-to-End Solutions from Concepts to Production of Films & Audio Visual

5.Original Content Development & Digital Solutions with Sustained Analytics & Social Media Management

6.Sports & Cultural Educational Initiatives

7.CSR Support to Corporate Partners

8.Export-Import Training with an Innovative Training Curriculum

The World is Our Playground

Apart from sustaining a steady growth in the business of Integrated Marketing & Sports Consulting, Sheetal wanted to create a sustainable organizational culture. The idea was to have stakeholders including associates and employees develop a mindset to work for the greater good of society. Seven Twenty Ten was one of the first to think of a collaboration model in 2010, which was ahead of its time. During the first few years, the organization’s target was to create a niche for itself and let the work build the portfolio. Looking at the world as their playground yet staying grounded, the company kept a low-key profile with practically no Marketing and PR. Meanwhile, the organization also tapped unexplored markets like East Africa and Croatia during the early years to build international exposure for the team up skilling.

The Pandemic has actually been a blessing in disguise for the team at Seven Twenty Ten – having enough time to consolidate a purpose driven organisational culture and build trust and bonding within the team. Work wise, it has also helped detail their Dream Sports Project: A Privately Funded Academy of Sport with its International Partners. The Company is currently looking at Investors for the same and hopes to be ready for a soft launch by 2025. After having successfully set up an Academy of Indian Classical Music, the team has decided to use the experience on building AI-driven Edu-Tech Apps that could use academics to solve real life challenges. Sheetal’s future plans include expanding the Seven Twenty Ten footprint across virtual offices & create employment for youth in the next 5-7 years.

“We are just about getting to the end of the pandemic and we are keeping an eye on segments like Travel & Hospitality to return to some normalcy from the later part of 2022. For us as a team, it will be another consolidation year. We are in no hurry!” says Sheetal.

Honestly, it is both a privilege and a little embarrassing to be looked upon as a Leader to be followed but it is no rocket science that a Leader is only as good as his team. In that way, I have been lucky, blessed by professionals & associates who have stuck around with the steadfast belief that we are together to work for the collective benefit & growth for all. Every day begins with an immense sense of gratitude that we are all living a dream to create responsible and accountable leaders for the future.

Why Sport Needs Attention

Sheetal believes that the Pandemic has opened a lot of new avenues in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. “I feel that Mental Health & Sports should be a Key Area for Corporates to look at putting their CSR Funds to good use. In a way, they are related and essential to our well-being. Add to that India’s highest medal tally in the recently concluded Olympics but for a Country of over 1.3 billion, we must surely look at ways to increase this tally! Our success as a World Beater in Sports like Cricket needs to be studied and see how to develop other sports as well. The policy makers would do well to encourage investors to build sports schools offering a ‘formal’ career for all since it is also related to fitness which has now assumed enough importance in the post COVID world.”

With the multiplying anxiety on the possibilities of lockdowns even in times to come, people around the world have become heavily dependent on technology which has reduced human physical activity to a large extent. There are enough research reports to indicate that mental health and fitness issues, especially in children, are significantly higher than at any time in the past. Once again, Seven Twenty Ten kept ahead of its time and invested in Sports in 2016. For that reason, it is also looking at the future where it wants children to be able to balance their intellectual growth while keeping themselves fit.

Sheetal says, “Digital detox should be given as much importance as digital classrooms. Apart from organisations addressing these as part of new age CSR initiatives, educational institutions will hold the key to make the world a better place for our children.”

Tackling the Pandemic

Like many organisations, the team at Seven Twenty Ten successfully transitioned to the ‘WFH’ model during the Pandemic. They have arrived at a comfortable off-on line hybrid model and because of a highly aware and sensitive management team; no one from the company has had to look elsewhere for employment. With a steady stream of clients and a stable order book, the highly motivated team of Seven Twenty Ten continue to immerse themselves in up skilling, innovating and going about their business consulting – keeping a watch on time. COVID awareness campaigns, involvement in helping in the Crisis during the second wave and lead generation campaigns for clients to help in their business challenges were what kept the organization motivated during the tough times. Like they say, it is the challenges that are opportunities in disguise, and Sheetal Paknikar & his team at Seven Twenty Ten Network are a prime view of the same.

Imad Syed: Helping Organizations to Achieve Better Results

Established in 1996, PiLog Group is a global group of independent companies, specializing in Quality Data and Digital Governance & Analytical solutions supporting multiple data domains in a variety of industries all over the globe. The PiLog solutions are state of the art, focused on creating a common business language and managing the rules for the creation of high-quality, multilingual terminology using Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence technologies & human-augmented algorithms for our customers who are eager to transform their businesses digitally. PiLog provides exclusive technical dictionaries, industrial libraries with content repositories that is the culmination of research, development, and execution over the past twenty years embedded into the platform of PiLog – Data Quality HUB or PiLog Cloud. All our methodologies, processes, solutions are compliant with international standards for delivering seamless systematic integration of content into various platforms, operational systems and ERPs such as SAP, S4 HANA, Oracle ERP Cloud, Maximo & MS Dynamics etc.

Dr. Imad A Syed, Board Member, Group CIO, and CEO of Middle East & APAC is currently at the helm of PiLog Group. He joined the organization in 2002 as a Systems Engineer and soon rose up to the ranks of Group CIO, CEO, and Board member. Dr. Imad Syed possesses a Master’s Degree in Computer Science. With the zeal to grow the organization, he has dedicated more than 100% by making many sacrifices in his professional and personal life. Dr. Imad Syed comes from a healthy knowledgeable and educational family who had supported him all these years. Due to his outstanding contributions in the area of Data & Analytics, the National American University, USA has honored him with Doctorate in Data Analytics.

Offering Diversified Solutions

According to Dr. Imad Syed, during the last two and half decades, PiLog has grown both organically and inorganically mostly with modular solutions and services around master data management. However, the organization has grown leaps and bounds with all the odds in order to build sustainable Business Technology HUB enabling master, meta, and transactional data modelling and quality complying with ISO 8000, ISO 22745, ISO 29001, ISO 14224, ISO 55000, etc.

Dr. Imad Syed also believes, today’s solutions are much more modular, flexible, scalable, interoperable and offer diversified solutions, processes, methodologies, a framework to provide value and optimize business processes in End-to-End Supply Chain, Business Partner Collaboration, Asset Life Cycle Management, Data Quality Management, Data Migration.

Making Solutions Efficient and Sustainable

When it comes to incorporating new innovations to make solutions much more efficient and sustainable, PiLog Group under the leadership of Dr. Imad Syed is planning to be a customer-centric organization with the best user experience. It is also planning to deliver agility and OOB solutions that cater to the majority of the demand, Seamless integration with all major ERPs and COTS products, informed analytics and decision making, Quality and Quantified data solutions.

Lastly, Dr. Imad Syed is also eyeing the evolution of the unified platform (PiLog Business Technology Platform), which is modular, scalable, flexible, and adaptable for master, metadata, and analytics processing.

Keeping Employees Happy

Motivating a large team of employees to be innovative and productive at work is not an easy task. So, Dr. Imad Syed believes in continual knowledge improvement, up-skilling & cross-skilling to conquer success. Also as an organization, PiLog promotes its employees on continual evaluation on a half-yearly basis, and its cross-functional role and responsibilities with a rotational policy make the employees innovative and productive while creating healthy competition amongst them.

Additionally, the exposure to various market demands and progression to new challenges and growth, alongside the long-term association plans and benefits PiLog makes sure that its employees are on their toes with great levels of innovation and productivity.

The Go-To Partner

Under the leadership of Dr. Imad Syed and the organization touched new heights, which improved the top-line and bottom-line multi-fold. It conceptualized and architected data and analytics products and services, developed and enabled delivery models that are best in the industry. During this time, PiLog also established, enabled, driven, and delivered KPIs and KRAs according to the organizational aspirations.

Tackling Challenges and Success

Dr. Imad Syed believes with a constant price war, the ability to convince the customers on quality vs. cost, and with multiple new players entering the market, things are getting a bit more challenging for the organization.

However, PiLog’s main motivator is to be grounded on its toes, and go that extra mile for clients to meet the dynamic demands and beat the competition with the agility and teamwork of PiLog. The teams of PiLog have exhibited a ‘never say die attitude’ all the time, which alongside technology, partnership, and confidence boost the organization’s journey.

When it comes to success, although the top-line and bottom-line are very pivotal for any business, at PiLog business value lies in; customer experience and longevity, employee progression and empowerment, market recognition as leaders.

Advice for Young Entrepreneurs and Future

When it comes to advising young and upcoming entrepreneurs, Dr. Imad Syed says, PiLog is currently eyeing a revenue of $50 million by the end of 2023, along with a 10% improvement in stakeholder’s value, 20% improvement in employee value and partnership, and lastly 20% improvement in customer value.

Quagliato Advogados

Founded in 2014 in Campinas, State of Sao Paulo, during the wave of foreign investments in Brazil leveraged by the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, both hosted in Brazil, Quagliato Advogados, from the beginning, had an international vocation focused on serving foreign companies interested in doing business in Brazil.

The firm provides comprehensive legal support for foreign companies in multiple sectors, from before the moment of incorporation (with strategic guidance on the place of incorporation, corporate structure, possible associations with local companies, etc.) until the company is fully operational in Brazilian territory.

The firm provides full legal service in the most diverse and varied areas of law, having as fundamental principles:

The resolution of legal issues in Brazil in a highly specialized way;
Understanding customers’ core business in order to serve them in a customized way; and
Knowledge of the laws and regulations of the countries where the customers are based in order to guide them in a precise, clear, and transparent way, considering the similarities and differences of the legislations of the countries involved.

Quagliato Advogados recently received two awards from the business news platform “The New World Report”: “Leading International Law Firm LATAM” (2020); and “Best International Commercial Law Firm LATAM” (2021), which was a recognition of its great international vocation.

Currently, the firm serves companies based in more than 10 different countries, located on 3 continents (America, Europe and Asia).

About the Founding Partner – Pedro Quagliato

Enrolled in the Sao Paulo State Bar Association (OAB/SP) and Rio de Janeiro State Bar Association (OAB/RJ).
15 years acting as senior legal executive for multinational companies such as Whirlpool, John Deere, TeleTech Holdings and PPG Industries.
Led strategic projects such as the implementation of a Whirlpool’s plant in Mexico (Monterrey), the installation of a Whirlpool’s business unit in Russia (Moscow) and the construction of a resin plant for PPG in Brazil (Campinas).
Strong experience in Corporate Governance (Anti-Trust, Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Corruption Laws).
Master in International Commercial Law (LL.M.) – University of California, Davis.
Specialization Degree in Consumer Laws – Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo.
International Executive MBA in Economy and Corporate Law – Getulio Vargas Foundation.
Post MBA in Enterprise Intelligence at Getulio Vargas Foundation.
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) – Universidade Paulista de Campinas.
Fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

In Home Personal Services: Providing Quality Care since Inception

While working in his first job with his mother in a nursing home, Michael A Collura, the President, and CEO of In Home Personal Services developed a passion for doing something that matters. He learned and was soon instilled with values of compassion, respect, dignity, and a desire to help others. His organization, In Home Personal Services, was founded with the intent of helping people. The organization is fuelled by strength, courage, and determination to solve one of the biggest problems of this century, ‘maintain our senior’s independence and having high-quality in-home care.’

In Home Personal Services started its journey in 2004. Based in Illinois, and growing throughout the U.S Michael enjoys his brand’s success because it has been able to bring smiles back on people’s faces since inception. The main idea behind the organization was to build something better than what was available in the market. After doing that, the organization started developing a franchise system in 2009. However, after awarding several franchises, In Home Personal Services closed its sales to focus on the business model and perfect the system.

A Different System

In Home Personal Services offers multiple differentiators built with two things in mind. Firstly the value to the system and operator and secondly the value to the quality of life and its impact on clients. However, these innovations were not easy to cultivate and achieve, and most of them took years to build. Today the system boasts advantages across the model in areas of recruitment, retention, training, recognition, business development, revenue streams, brand, culture, and support unlike any other franchise model available in the same space.

Leading from the Front

As the founder, President, and CEO Michael heads the innovation behind the brand. Additionally, he looks after the contribution and his part in the development of the brand as one of leadership. He has a unique and refreshing view of his role within the brand. His role is one of support and development of the team, not himself.

“For me, it’s not a measurement of success that many would think is conventional. I am blessed for everything life has provided. The good, the bad and the ugly have all shaped my life and where I stand today, I say thank you for it all. For without the challenges, the failures and the struggle there would be nothing worth celebrating and life would be boring.”– says Michael.

As the founder, Michael loves to describe himself as the least important person in the brand’s success. Why? Because Michael believes, he may be instrumental for the growth of the company, it’s the frontline workers who deliver the promises made and trust given to be the care provider of choice for the vulnerable.

A Happy-Team

Michael believes that without the team of In Home Personal Services, the organization would be nothing. The brand was built by those, who care about what the organization does and stand behind the brand’s mission and vision for the future of senior care. As the founder of the company, Michael believes his organization’s reputation is built on those amazing team members who are responsible for providing quality care.

Tackling Challenges

Caregivers have always been the brand’s most sought after resource. However, with few caregivers and high demand, employing a caregiver is a tough job to do. So, the organization came up with an innovative solution. During the past several years, it has built and improved upon its very own school for caregivers. Today the organization stands as a first of its kind, offering caregiver certification for all 50 states. It has become one of the major differentiators for In Home Personal Services and it will be a brand advantage for years to come.

Building Long Term Relationships

When it comes to building long-term relationship’s; integrity, compassion, and leadership will be a part of the brand’s future. These traits are often demanded by the clients who trust the organization. As a company, In Home Personal Services must understand its clients’ needs beyond the skill need or technical care request. The organization also must understand why and how clients would expect it to deliver and how its services will improve the quality of life for those it cares for.

Michael believes, In Home Personal Services is the biggest competitor of itself. Nothing else should, will, and would ever matter. The organization works to innovate, and grow and while doing that, it is only chasing itself. While serving in this segment, the company is too busy doing what is right. So, what others are doing won’t matter for the company.

“In being a part of In Home Personal Services I can honestly say I never felt like I had a “job”. I have a mission, a drive, a life that gives me the chance to be a positive force for others in countless ways never even imagined.”

Revolitionizing Industrial Commodities: Theodore Kalmbach

Meet Theodore Kalmbach

Who officially joined BNNano as the Chief Strategy Officer in September 2020. Earlier in his career, Theodore worked as a strategy consultant for Accenture in Germany within the automative and energy sectors. He then worked for a DoD think tank before spending over a decade as a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State. Theodore had postings in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Austria along with parts of Africa and the Middle East. So, he has an understanding of how and where BNNano’s technology can be of greatest use in support of national security.

Co-founded by Steve Wilcenski and Jason Taylor (CEO and CTO respectively) BNNano is one of the few organizations with a commercially viable manufacturing process for Boron Nitride Nanotubes.

From the start, they set the tone for the company culture of dedication, transparency, and passion for all that BNNano can achieve.

BNNano has actively engaged and spoken to a wide variety of groups locally, nationally, and internationally not only to familiarize customers with the company’s products but also to the various industries it serves. Because the NanoBarbs™ can do so much, multiple industries inherently benefit.

Path Breaking Products

As for the journey of BNNano, the vision from inception was to create a novel technology directly tied to an identified market need. The focus was on needs over wants and has remained lean throughout BNNano’s expansion. The organization started with the financial support of a couple of angels and true friends and family. The first two years were focused on the creation of the NanoBarbs™ technology.

Since then, new product lines have steadily been introduced to the market. Currently, the organization has three product lines;

1.NanoBarb™ Powder –

BNNano sells a proprietary morphology of Boron Nitride Nanotubes that is branded as the NanoBarb™. The NanoBarb™ is a Boron Nitride Nanotube that is cladded on the exterior surface with hexagonal boron nitride nanoparticles. This unique morphology has an irregular surface that limits and increases matrix interface interactions.

2.Compounded NanoBarb™ Plastics and Polymers –

These materials are supplied in either filament form for Additive Manufacturing or Chips for Injection Molding and other processes. The materials include PolyCarbonate, PEEK, PEKK, Nylon, Polyester, and Ultem. These plastics and polymers are enhanced with our NanoBarbs™.

3.NanoBarb™ Aluminium –

Aluminium enhanced with BNNano’s NanoBarbs™. NanoBarb™ aluminum can be supplied in 2 forms. 1) as a pellet to be added to molten aluminum during the alloying process. 2) In aluminum ingot form. Theodore and the whole team of BNNano have created a product that provides significant improvements in a wide variety of materials – and BNNano is the only Boron Nitride nanotube company that can produce at a large scale. For example, it already has produced more Boron Nitride nanotubes than everyone else in the history of the material combined. It goes back to BNNano’s founding principle of creating something with direct market use.

Challenges for a New Company

Theodore believes, one of the main challenges of any new company is funding. BNNano is honored by the early investments from true friends and family just a year ago raised more than $1 million on Netcapital. BNNano is the first company in North Carolina to crowdsource $1 million.

With funding, comes the challenge (and opportunity) to allocate wisely across the business. Since BNNano’s focus has always been on needs over wants, this allocation came naturally. The company’s product can be used in so many different industries, which in itself creates both opportunities (in the form of new business) and challenges in the form of retaining focus on key product lines. These are good problems to have and BNNano’s team is enjoying the process.

Building Long term Relationships

According to Theodore, every customer has their own set of unique engineering and business challenges. Theodore and the entire team of BNNano see it as their responsibility to not only provide expert guidance on their technology but to do their best to put themselves in the shoes of their customers, in terms of desired use cases for their products. The better BNNano’s team understands what the customers need and want, the more prolific BNNano’s technology can be for them.

Theodore says, “Everyone on the BNNano team has come from larger organizations. Beyond the engineering creativity associated with a new company, a major draw for all of us was to work with people we admire, in an organization the pride itself on professionalism and care for all team members.” He adds, “With all that our product can do and the market share that we believe we can carve out, motivation has not been a problem since inception.”

Bright Future Ahead

Theodore sees a bright future for BNNano. The organization has bought on top talent, it has product lines that are solving the hard problems across aerospace, defense, additive manufacturing, and many other areas. The company also has strategic partnerships with top institutions and advisors.

Kelli Maxwell: Helping Start-ups to Amplify their Brands

Since Kelli Maxwell was little, she knew that she wanted to be her own boss, but she wasn’t sure how. “Defiant” is what the adults that raised Kelli would describe her as. She comes from a Montana ranch family with a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. She worked for a financial firm for ten years and in that time, she worked her way into the position of marketing director. She also discovered that she had a talent and love for marketing, but insurance is boring and old-school advertising methods like newspaper and local tv were on their way out. Kelli didn’t feel fulfilled. It was during this time that she created her first company, Ever After Events, A Princess Party company, where Kelli Maxwell and her team would dress up as popular princess characters and perform at birthday parties and events. This is where Kelli’s gift for working with people and creating authentic content blossomed. She started taking on several freelance clients and decided to quit her full-time job and make the leap to starting her agency.

So, Kelli Maxwell founded Ember Marketing Group, which specializes in Authentic Brand Amplification. Creating videos and content tailored to each client, the agency handles all aspects of digital marketing from content creation to ads, copy, and PR. In the last year, Kelli Maxwell founded another brand of her business, Ember Marketing the Group. This organization is designed for start-ups and small businesses with no marketing budget. A subscription-based private group, it provides knowledge, tips, and action items to market start-ups as well as one on one monthly strategy sessions with each member.

Helping Clients to Grow

According to Kelli, Ember Marketing Group works with clients from every industry. From custom epoxy floors to home builders to realtors to gyms to pharmacies and coffee companies and more. Kelli Maxwell takes pride in working with PEOPLE. She sees first-hand that so many agencies just offer cookie-cutter marketing packages and create generic industry-related content, without even getting to know their clients. Ember Marketing Group focuses on spending so much time with its clients that Kelli and her team can authentically market them and their company through videos, photos, captions, and copy that is perfectly on brand for them. All of the marketing group’s packages are customized to each client’s specific needs and brand. The agency has continued to grow and expand along with services and platforms such as TikTok. Ember Marketing Group doesn’t believe in locking people into contracts; Kelli prefers to let her work speak for itself as proven by her track record. Once a client signs on with the company, they don’t leave, in fact most of her client base has been with her since the agency’s inception. The agency does an exceptional job going above and beyond for each client and positioning them as THE expert of what they do, through the content it produces for them.

Tackling Challenges

Personally, Kelli’s biggest challenge was learning how to delegate and manage her time to ensure that it is spent doing what she is best at, which includes meeting with people, strategizing, and filming with her clients. She had to fill in the holes on the backend for bookkeeping, social media management, processes, and systems to grow. She currently has two independent contractors on her team and one full-time employee. As an agency, she found her biggest challenge was the huge disconnect between the established businesses that can afford the video production and social media management they need and the start-ups who desperately need it but can’t afford it. Multiple times a week she has conversations with small businesses who have been taken advantage of by a salesman claiming to be a marketer or a cookie-cutter agency who overcharged and under-delivered. Kelli’s solution for serving these people at a price they can afford is Ember Marketing the Group. Along with her business partner Chareese Jorgensen, Kelli Maxwell teaches members of the group basic content creation and marketing principals. She and her team assists them with creating their content, encouraging them through the process and strategizing with them, identifying the best methods to grow their business per their industry, at a small price point that they can afford.

When Going Gets Tough

Shortly after Kelli Maxwell resigned from her previous job and started her agency, she went through a divorce. With suddenly no security net and no backup plan, Kelli burned through her savings and had to sell her house and move in with her best friend to survive. That friend along with her supportive community at the gym were instrumental in getting Kelli through that first year. She refused to give up and look for a job so it was do or die for Kelli. She gave that first year and a half everything she had to make it on her own and she is happy to report that in just three years she has purchased her first investment property, has plans to build a house this year, and has built a six-figure marketing agency that continues to grow. This came from a willingness to celebrate doing the hardest things in life and business and continuing to push forward despite the hardships.

Future Roadmap

Kelli’s company continues to grow rapidly. She is most excited about continuing to expand her client base and team, growing Ember Marketing Group’s subscription group to help start-ups, and continuing to grow her brand as one of the best marketers of her generation. Kelli Maxwell is also working on her first book and she can’t wait to debut that in the coming year.

Suggestions for Young Entrepreneurs

Kelli says, “The hardest part of working with start-ups is when reality sets in. Everyone has brilliant dreams and ideas and when they finally take the leap and launch, they quickly find out it is a steep and gruelling climb just to break even. Make sure your personal relationships are strong, your time management is stronger and you have the fortitude to overcome the discouragement, dips, and hits that come with any start-up. Do your research and make sure your idea is viable for your audience and you have a strong chance of building a brand or company that can survive and generate revenue.”

Roberto Gilardino: Serving Clients with Corporate Advisory Solutions

Meet Roberto Gilardino, the Regional Partner of Horizons Corporate Advisory is a unique advisory Firm with 30 operatives country law firms. The Firm provides international highly specialized legal and tax solutions that allow organizations to thrive in today’s complex transnational corporate environment.

Roberto oversees the organization’s transnational operations from the head office of Horizons situated at the heart of downtown Shanghai. The team’s skillsets rest in corporate issues and property safeguard and liaise day-to-day with Horizons’ regional offices to serve as the advisory’s global gateway.

Roberto’s background and skillsets lie in international business and corporate law with special attention on corporate government, strategy, and shareholder protection. With a deep sense of cross-cultural issues in cross-border transactions and corporate matters, both Roberto and his team provide clients with unique insights and strategies related to the difficult-to-read, often behind-thescenes, nuances in transnational business.

Before joining Horizons, he served professionally in ministries, governmental bodies, and the private sector, primarily in China. Roberto is an Italian national, he is fluent in Italian, English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Addressing Corporate Challenges

Roberto and his team at Horizons provide turnkey legal, tax, and financial solutions to comprehensively safeguard cross-border investments. Horizons’ professionals in more than 30 jurisdictions worldwide serve clients by addressing international corporate challenges through a local, national, and international lens. As a result, investments are comprehensively compliant with all the laws that it geographically touches and clients have full control of their cross-border investments, despite geographical distance and cultural differences.

Most of Horizons’ clients are international companies or corporate groups. The Firm’s employees identify themselves as client-centric professionals. Instead of the same traditional listening- executing- invoicing, Roberto and his team engage clients by building long-term trust and identifying their corporate challenges through delving deep into their business operations. Through this approach, the Firm uncovers the intangibles to formulate solutions that fit these unprecedented times.

Equally, Horizons value the unique strength of collaboration. The team brings a broad range of experiences. With such diverse perspectives and know-how, the Firm tackles solutions from multifaced perspectives which are highly attuned to the ever-changing business landscape.

If you greatly desire something, have the guts to stake everything on obtaining it. Come what may, be always a kind spirit!

Tackling Primary Challenges

Roberto believes, the challenge for many corporate advisories is navigating clients through multiple jurisdictions in this evolving world. With the rapid globalization, many businesses not only need to stay abreast of legal, tax, and accounting changes but also need to understand the various cultural and language gaps to thrive in unfamiliar jurisdictions.

As a result, Horizons Corporate Advisory has positioned itself to not simply practice law. Rather the team understands real-world challenges, is committed to conveying legal doctrine with clarity and accessibility and is sensitive to the language and culture of the client.

Through this manner, Horizons’ team opens dialogues, drills down challenging corporate problems and ultimately safeguards the client for the present and future.

Making the Industry Balanced and Equal

According to Roberto, diversity and inclusion are the two hot topics across the industries. While various studies have shown that diverse teams outperform in the fourth quartile by 36% in profitability, the consultancy field, such as legal firms, often remain behind in cultivating diverse teams and inclusive workplaces. Specifically, progression from entry-level roles to seniority in minorities and females remains relatively low in the legal field, resulting in a lack of senior management who understand and address the specific challenges faced by such professionals. Ultimately, lack of diversity at the senior level can lead to inadequate access to mentors and training designated to minority or female professionals.

Horizons ensure career opportunities and mentorships are formulated to match and develop each talent without unconscious bias. In this manner, the Firm strives to go beyond the surface and integrate individuals’ unique strengths to cultivate a multifaced and multidimensional team that can serve clients from all walks of life.

Suggestions for Female Entrepreneurs and Lawyers

Roberto says, “The legal world has advanced from the traditional patriarchal industry. Increased visibility of women in law has spearheaded practises such as work-life balance and transparency in gender pay gaps. For young women entering the legal world today, there are more options to improve work flexibility.”

He also thinks Covid-19 has accelerated agile working practices which align with out-of-work responsibilities including raising families. Aspiring women lawyers should not be intimidated by the specific challenges faced by women in a predominantly male-dominated profession. Rather seek opportunities and firms that support female leadership and work-life balance.

Roberto adds, “At Horizons, we encourage our female professionals to speak at events to increase the visibility of women in the legal field. In this manner, we can play an active role in changing the perception of what lawyers are perceived to be and aspire more females to progress into senior roles.”

Future Roadmap

With a massive experience of more than 40 years in advising both inbound and outbound China investment, the Firm has witnessed the rapid economic growth and changing legal landscape in China. Today, under the leadership of Roberto, the Firm is increasingly assisting consumer goods and high-tech companies to establish entities in China. The growth of technology and the middle-class market around China has generated a huge appetite for foreign companies to seize opportunities. Whilst many manufacturing plants in traditional sectors such as retail are moving operations to South Asian countries or Eastern Europe. Therefore, the foreign direct investments (‘FDI’) in China are swiftly evolving, and China is no longer the low-cost labour and manufacturing country. Rather, FDI in China shall align with national policy, namely the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021- 2025) for National Economic and Social Development Through 2035 published on March 12, 2021.

As a result, Horizons is assisting clients in implementing a new playbook that correlates with national strategy and the domestic market. And excited to play a substantial role in shaping the corporate structure for new clients entering the China market.

Brent Kruel, A Health and Wellness Thought Leader Spearheading Innovation in Musculoskeletal Disorders Treatment

Brent Kruel

CEO, BioFunctional Health Solutions is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and and recei ved a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds the crown for spearheading innovation to more effectively screen for and treat musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and put the power of self-healing into the hands of employees in the workplace. Brent comes up with over twenty years of experience in a variety of settings to include hospitals, military healthcare, healthcare insurance, software, professional services, and consulting. This experience has allowed him to understand and intelligently address the challenges faced by both employers and employees in facing the problem of MSDs in the workplace to deliver effective solutions. He is a member of the Delta Omega and Alpha Epsilon honours societies.

Prior to joining BHS, Brent has held a variety of corporate leadership roles as well as started a software company. Brent served 14 years active duty in the Air Force and is a two-time combat veteran. In his last combat tour, Brent was the hospital administrator in charge of the largest military hospital in Iraq in 2004. He also served as a Physician Group Practice Manager, Director of Supply and Logistics, and Chief Information Officer of the largest Veterans Affairs and military hospital joint venture located in Las Vegas, NV.

Outside of BHS, Brent is an active volunteer in his community as a Committee Chair of the Cubs Scouts of America and delivers meals for Meals on Wheels. He is also an avid outdoorsman and mountain climber, having scaled many 14,000 foot plus mountains.

Bio Functional’s Advanced Health Solutions

The problem BHS Addresses: Total employee health and wellness can be summarized into three high-level “buckets” and the majority of corporate wellness programs and India’s healthcare system address only the symptoms without resolving the root causes of the problems:

Musculoskeletal Conditions/Disorders (MSKs/MSDs) affect 50% of all adults at any time and cost $781B in direct medical care costs annually which is 24% of all healthcare spending. These conditions are also the number one cause of worker’s compensation and disability claims costing and costing an additional $291B in lost productivity annually. Additionally, employees spend 1.1B hours away from work seeking care for masks. Poor health and wellness of employees. This very broad and general category includes nutrition (diet is arguably the biggest issue and easiest to fix, but takes difficult to obtain adoption/compliance); fitness/activity; chronic disease management; and substance use/abuse; and stress management.

Infectious diseases were a problem long before COVID with Influenza costing U.S. employers $11.2B annually. Now employers are faced with employees that do not want to return to work with over 23 million employees voluntarily leaving their jobs in 2020 and the number expected to exceed 25 million in 2021. Employees don’t feel safe returning to the workplace, and OSHA has put pressure on employers to assure a safe work environment.

How BHS addresses: Science + Technology + Human Touch = Measurable Outcomes

MSKs/MSDs – in short, BioFunctional brings the same patented screening and hands-on treatments that professional athletes trust to employees through a corporate wellness program. Some notable results are 98% of employees report more than a 50% reduction in pain associated with their MSKs. 79% of MSKs are resolved without the need to go to a doctors’ office for another type of treatment. Health and Wellness – Here, the registered nurses provide education and training to employees in the group and individual sessions. They will also design customized wellness plans to include goals established with individuals in their key focus areas like nutrition, weight loss, fitness, mental health support, etc.

Infectious Diseases – this includes assessment of the physical workspace, recommendations to low-cost solutions to reduce contact/surface transmission, recommendations to reduce employee-toemployee aerial transmissions, as well as contact tracing and return to work protocols after exposure or infection. The mere presence of a nurse provides a sense of safety.

Clients & Unbreakable Faith

BioFunctional’s customers range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. They are also launching a self-care AI application for individuals all over the world. They establish and maintain unbreakable faith with their customers by treating them with mutual respect and having integrity in all their interactions with their customers. They also have a sense of excellence in all that they do and strive to truly help people be their best version of themselves. Simply put, they care about people and it shows.

Hurdles on the Way

Currently, the biggest challenge is companies understanding the importance of employee wellness in the midst of a pandemic. COVID-19 is a big deal; however, there is a lot that employers can do to help employees achieve better overall, they call it TOTAL wellness, health, and wellness. Another challenge they have always had is educating employers on how the treatments and procedures trusted by professional athletic teams around the world are better than what their doctor is prescribing them for musculoskeletal conditions (MSKs). The treatment pathway of choice unfortunately is the most expensive, most time-consuming, most invasive, and has alarmingly low efficacy (poor results).

The Driving Force

When asked about his driving force, the visionary shared, “Having been enlisted in the U.S. Air Force then graduating from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO were the two most significant influences on my career. First, I learned the value of core values and have continued to use the Air Force’s core values to guide my career and life: “Integrity First, “Service before Self”, and “Excellence in all We Do”. Furthermore, I came to follow Jesus Christ and in doing so have added the following core values: “Humility in Everything”, “Compassion for Everyone”, and “Faith in God”. Having these core values has been a compass to navigate me and my companies through the most challenging circumstances without compromising what is important to as a part of the human community.”

Favourite Books:

The Holy Bible & The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Future Outlook & Accomplishments on the Way

BioFunctional is on a very exciting stage. In January of 2022, they are releasing YouMari, the AI self-care system whose design is based on the same musculoskeletal healthcare trusted by professional athletes. They are making it affordable in order to help as many people as possible worldwide with getting out of pain without the need for surgery, physical therapy, or prescriptions. They are also supporting the system with a telehealth portal allowing people to speak directly to the physicians and make sure they are getting the best care available anywhere. This system will be available through employers and individuals can subscribe too.

Here is the list of awards won by the firm and visionary;

10 Best Global Healthcare Companies to Watch in 2021
50 Smartest Companies of the year 2020
The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs to Watch
50 Fastest Growing Companies of the Year 2021
10 Best Entrepreneurs of 2020
Perseverant Companies to Watch Globally 2021

A Piece of Advice for Female Entrepreneurs

Surround yourself ONLY with people that share your values and passion, and then invest in those who also have a similar drive as you. Too many entrepreneurs make the mistake of giving away too much of their ideas and company too soon to the wrong people that end up making growth challenging and sometimes controversial.

Jose R. Sanchez: Promoting A Necessary Path Forward that improves Access to Quality Health Care for Everyone

Jose R. Sanchez is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Humboldt Park Health (HPH). A dedicated senior health care executive with more than four decades of experience in the operational, strategic, and fiscal management of multi-faceted health care systems. Under his leadership, HPH has maintained financial stability and growth throughout his tenure. Besides consistently exceeding benchmarks in quality, safety, and patient satisfaction, José successfully orchestrated the hospital’s accreditation survey six times, including its most recent survey by DNV•GL Healthcare in 2021.

About Humboldt Park Health

Founded in 1894, Humboldt Park Health is a 200-bed acute care hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The hospital provides patient-centered healthcare focused on quality of care, ranging from wellness options to everyday care to treatment for each patient’s most critical needs.

Humboldt Park Health achieved Primary Stroke Certification from the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP) and is recognized as a Patient Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The hospital and its workforce pride themselves on providing excellent medical care for their patients, their families, and surrounding communities with thoughtfulness and respect.

Partnering with a Team of Excellent Physicians

Humboldt Park Health has an extensive and talented medical staff, featuring specialists in family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, general surgery, neurology, behavioral health, emergency medicine, podiatry, gastroenterology, internal medicine, and ophthalmology. This team of experienced medical providers offers specialized services to its community, alleviating the challenges of traveling long distances to receive quality medical care.

A Reaffirmation of Its Commitment

In January 2021, the hospital completed a major re-branding initiative, renaming the hospital, HUMBOLDT PARK HEALTH to reflect the diverse and inclusive community it serves along with the tagline, “Advancing Health Equity” to emphasize the hospital’s renewed commitment to ensuring all members of the community have fair and just opportunities to be as healthy as possible, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or zip code.

In June 2020, a $7M renovation of the hospital was completed, which offers patients, visitors, and employees a more vibrant and welcoming experience. In 2021, a multimillion-dollar new MRI Suite, and Outpatient Behavioral Health Clinic was launched, offering patients an innovative and quality healthcare experience. A new multimillion- dollar Electronic Health Record system upgrade, Meditech Expanse, was also initiated and is scheduled to go live in December 2022.

A Representation of Strong Leadership

José’s powerful leadership has ensured that the hospital’s pandemic response remains strong to this day. it continues pushing forward with extreme vigilance in fighting COVID-19 and is proudly saving lives across the community. HPH continually strives to achieve healthy outcomes so that every human being has an equal opportunity to lead a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Hospital Philisophy and Credo

RESPECT – HPH, its leaders, employees, and medical staff demonstrates RESPECT by supporting all our members of our health care team, so they can focus on patients.

EMPATHY – HPH, its leaders, employees, and medical staff show EMPATHY by acknowledging our patients, their families, and/or colleagues’ pain and what they have been through.

EXCELLENCE – HPH, its leaders, employees, and medical staff believe that providing EXCELLENCE in Quality of Care necessitates that it is free from harm, minimizes redundancy and waste, allows for timely access to needed services, follows best practices, and incorporates our patients’ preferences and treatment priorities.

INTEGRITY – HPH, its leaders, employees, and medical staff exemplify INTEGRITY by being honest – telling the truth, being open, and not taking advantage of others.

INCLUSIVITY – HPH, its leaders, employees, and medical staff embrace INCLUSIVITY – It is the behaviors that make people feel welcome. We motivate our entire workforce to achieve our goals.

EQUITY – HPH, its leaders, employees, and medical staff promote health EQUITY as a priority for all.

Personal Achievements and Milestones

In 2002, José was conferred an Honorary Doctorate from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine in recognition of his immeasurable accomplishments and steadfast commitment to improving the health care outcomes for some of the poorest and most disadvantaged populations in New York City.

In 2019, was conferred his second Honorary Doctorate from St. George’s University School of Medicine for his contributions to medicine, education, and public health. He also proudly holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the City College of New York and a Master of Social Work from Adelphi University.

He is a Member of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association Board of Trustees and IHA Executive Committee; Co-chair of the IHA Committee on Health Disparities; Chair of the West Side Health Equity Collaborative; Member of the City Club of Chicago Board of Governors and Boricua College Board of Trustees.

Staying Rooted in the Community

As a community-based hospital, Humboldt Park Health reinvests back into the community through programs to serve the poor and uninsured, manage chronic conditions like diabetes, health education, and promote initiatives, and outreach for the elderly. The hospital works hard every day to be a place of healing, caring, and connection for patients and families in the community called home.

Mission and Vision Statement

As a leader, José’s favorite quote is “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

He believes in the power of innovation and utilizes it in building a significant and strong foundation. Here are the remarkable vision and mission statements of Humboldt Park Health.

MISSION: Humboldt Park Health is committed to advancing health equity and providing high-quality and compassionate health care services by partnering with patients and their families, our employees, medical staff, and the communities we serve.

VISION: Humboldt Park Health is the healthcare provider of choice for our communities and caregivers. We strive to be best in class for clinical care, service excellence, and employee engagement by following our guiding principle, “Equity Begins at Home.”

Words of Encouragement for Female Entrepreneurs

As a source of inspiration for female entrepreneurs entering the business world, these words of wisdom will have a meaningful impact.

An Accomplished Future

In 2022, HPH secured over $20 million in public funding for the development of a new Wellness Center in the Humboldt Park community to address health inequities by offering concrete solutions to meet community needs. This new center will serve as a place to improve the health of community members by extending the hospital’s continuum of care. A celebratory ground-breaking ceremony will be scheduled later this year. Upon completion, this will be the only Wellness Center for the residents of Humboldt Park located in the community.

Prof. Dr. Milan Krajnc: Making a Planet a Better Place to Live

Prof. Dr. Milan Krajnc has been working as a psychotherapist and researcher of the human mind for the last two decades. He is an expert in solving the challenges that often arise from the interaction of different personalities within an organization. Prof. Krajnc is trained for personal advising, psychology, negotiation, lobbying, and marketing at organizations of any size and scope from the local to international level. Prof. Krajnc is an expert on state psychology and local authorities.

While on his work Prof. Krajnc has found that most behaviour comes from childhood which means that we make different decisions in everyday life, mainly because of resentment, anger, complexes that arise from that period.

Maximizing the Potential of an Organization

Prof. Krajnc forms a very new, modern, and fairer economy, which eventually takes into account the potential of the working individual and seeks ways to maximize the potential of the organization, that too, without coercion, without creating violence against the individual.

Krajnc is a psychotherapist and an educator, specializing in leaders, who help form a vicious cycle, where they have entered. His journey began by observing a natural phenomenon in the laboratory, where he first observed as a student of metallurgy and later as a physics student. Here he witnessed, how regardless of the phenomenon, seven identical successive phases always occur.

A Well Known Author

Prof. Krajnc faced many challenges during his journey. However, no one could take away his motivation. He gained massive experience while running for the President of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia. He started developing various psychological tools, to overcome various psychological patterns. He has also published around 400 books where he talks about relationships and how can people help each other. Prof. Krajnc soon saw his messages in the books positively influencing people to be more confident, more respectful of themselves and their time. In order to achieve greater results with his messages, Prof. Krajnc founded a music group named Monte Cristo, which set his lyrics to music and now spreads his songs in musical form.

Professor Krajnc realized that he needs more ways to communicate with people in order to achieve the greater success of his work. According to Prof. Krajnc, people are now more relaxed, they don’t pay attention to other opinions, thus becoming independent.

Also with the Al-Khalifa Business School, he founded Milan Krajnc AKBS Innovation Venture Lab, where he started developing products for all the five human ‘sensors.’

He is also vastly experienced in various fields, he was a member of the Official Minister and President council in Serbia. He also has collaborated with the police and the army in the education field. Prof. Krajnc was a member of other various State committees in the Republic of Slovenia and Serbia. He is a lecturer and an author of the research and scientific works in the field of Psychology Management.

Developing the Purest Food

Therefore, the next step is his research and creating solutions to human psychological congestion, creating a taste therapy.

The first condition for its creation was that the food was clean, which means that the people who grow this food also had to be psychologically clean.

So food had to be produced by the agricultural method of Biodynamics, and people had to live by the psychological method of Sirius Personal Transformation. Only then does the taste follow. So Prof. Kranjc literally explored and tasted the whole world, and he found space and food in the most magical territory in the Adriatic Sea.

The territory is now called ISTRIA, which was a part of Itlay. The area is still famous for lip-smacking food, and here Prof, Krajnc made the project ISTRA.SHOP, where he chose Truffles as the basic product. Truffle has a very specific and healing taste. That is why prof. Krajnc began to create dishes that have an incredible taste and are also healing for human psychological health.

Prof. Krajnc has developed a whole series of wine, oil, and food. His foods are mostly enjoyed by people who influence the example of their surroundings with their image. However, this is not any kind of miracle cure or superfood, but it is the purest food in the world and prepared according to the science of Dynamilogy.

Prof. Krajnc is also the founder of new scientific science, named Dynamilogy, which can create successes in every field, with the help of nature’s formulas.

He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Economics. However, he doesn’t grow the food himself, rather he has a huge circle of supporters. The best part is products that are completely useful and clean for overcoming emotional problems receive a certificate that confirms their quality.

With all these revolutionary approaches Prof. Krajnc is trying to change the system. According to him, organizations and businesses are a part of the global economic system, so his approach is changing the economy of our planet. Although economics has never been a primary area of his research, the path has led him towards it, which meant discovering its darkest sides for the sake of ‘higher goals.’

Company name: MIlan Krajnc
Management: Prof. Dr. Milan Krajnc
URL: www.MilanKrajnc.com