The 2020's Most Influential Women to Watch

2020 | Volume-5 | Issue-1
www.insightssuccess.com
THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH

Editor’s Desk
2020 | Volume-5 | Issue-1
www.insightssuccess.com
THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH
Today’s Women
inuencing Tomorrow
hat does it take to be influential? How
Wdo you define your existence in this life
on a larger scale? The answer to these
questions is quite simple, by making a difference.
Whatever you do, may it be in personal life or a
professional one, and the way you stand out sets a
potential stage for you to showcase what you have.
What you can give to others and contribute
positively makes you influential.
An influential person sets an example for others to
follow or carves a path for others to walk on their
own. Such a person helps in uplifting the ones who
are lacking in some way or the other by sharing
knowledge, expertise, and experience in the best
way possible.
Being influential is a journey on its own. It does not
have a singular stretch or a predetermined course of
action. It is a process that involves a series of
exceptional targets and the efforts put in to achieve
them. It can differ from person to person. How one
can create and drive value to others in terms of
ethics, brands, businesses, and personal choices
build the character for becoming influential.

A person can be influential in a lot of areas. But
spreading the influence in business is a whole new game.
Functionally, the person who built the business holds the
key to it. Its growth, operations, and future prospects are
driven by nothing but the efforts made by the person
involved. Now the person working not only brings value
to the business but also ensures its expansion while
paving the way to becoming an influential factor in its
overall functional spectrum.
The new-age businesses are driven by exceptional and
fierce leaders who are influencing the market trends with
their unique ideas and approaches. With all the things
considered we cannot rule out the active role played by
women in dynamically influencing the business world.
Women in the business are not only taking the stage but
creating a whole different platform while raising the bar
in terms of creativity and smart work approach.
Businesswomen are taking the leadership status to a
whole different level. They are not only contributing to
society through entrepreneurship but also enabling
opportunities for fellow women to take their stand on
any and every issue while supporting them in being more
than capable. Women, in general, influence our lives in
various ways. But the business paradigm, with their
influence, has seen a brighter and innovative side.
Women influencers are taking the global business
spectrum to new heights and motivating the next
generation to follow their passion and dreams. They are
contributing towards a better tomorrow by working very
hard today. We at Insights Success wish to applaud and
appreciate their efforts and have decided to showcase the
stories of women who have been an inspiration to many.
This edition titled 2020’s Most Influential Women to
Watch highlights the tales of a few significant
businesswomen who are influencing, inspiring and
invigorating others with their zeal to strive for success.
Additionally, this edition also features articles authored
by industry experts and our in-house editorial team,
which provide valuable insights into different markets.
Bon Appetite!
Darshan Parmar
Darshan Parmar

CXO
16 32
Leader’s Desk
Building an
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem for Women
Expert Talks
The Fuss about AI
Articles
24
40
Expert’s Advice
The Glass Ceiling E ect:
Another Perspective on
Women and Leadership
Insights’ Special
8 Most E ective
Leadership Styles for
Organizational
Success
C o

10 12 18
Ellen Voie
An Entrepreneur
Breaking Stereotypes
Jerusha Govender
Blazing a Trail in the
Data Science World
Lindsey Myers
A Communications
Expert Driving
Growth Solutions
28
36
44
Mona Yousuf Nicole Rodrigues Stacey Brewer
Almoayyed
Transforming the
An Endeavor
An Entrepreneurial Public Relation Industry
Entrepreneur
Spirit Illuminating with Sedulousness with a Humanitarian
n
the Family tLegacy
e n
tApproach
s

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal
Senior Editor
Managing Editor
Publishing Control Team
Quality Assurance Team
Anish Miller
Darshan Parmar
Shruti P. Jambhale
Abhishaj, Sneha
Visualiser David King
Art & Design Head Amol Kamble
Art & Design Assistant Deepanjali Jena
Co-designer Paul Belin
Art & Picture Editor Asha Bange
Business Development Manager Sherin Rodricks
Marketing Manager Sophie Smith
Business Development Executives Anna Lee, Karen Holland, Jenny Jordan
Sales Executives Kelly, Michael,Sapna
Technical Head Jacob Smile
Assistant Technical Head Amar Sawant
Technical Consultants Pratiksha, Aditya, David
Digital Marketing Manager
Assistant Digital Marketing Manager
SME-SMO Executives
Research Analyst
Circulation Manager
Alina Sege
Prashant Chevale
Gemson, Uma, Manoj
Eric Smith
Tanaji
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In the quest for gender equality, we
can see advancement in most
sectors, even in careers still
dominated by men. Regardless of the
job, most of us can agree that barriers
are being removed. In the late sixties
and seventies, the scenario was quite
different, as many careers were
assigned for girls or boys. At that time,
girls studied home economics and boys
took industrial arts courses.
It was uncommon at the time for a
woman to pursue a career that was
male-specific according to the social
norms. But, Ellen Voie, the Founder
and President of the Women In
Trucking Association (WIT), has a
different story to tell. Since her
childhood, Ellen was more interested
in learning the hands-on skills the boys
were learning. With her mother’s
encouragement, she opted to take the
shop class instead of home economics.
Ellen
Voie
An Entrepreneur Breaking Stereotypes
Ellen learned woodworking, welding,
drafting, and auto mechanics. Title IX
of the federal civil rights act had been
recently adopted to create an equal
level of education for both girls as well
as boys. This legislation meant that
girls and boys could have a level
playing field when it came to school, as
well as the opportunity to play in
sports.
Ellen likes to relate the story about
sharing the family station wagon with
her older brother. When she wanted to
use the car, she relied on her auto
mechanics lessons to make that
happen. She would disconnect the
distributor cap so the car wouldn’t start
for her brother and then replace it
when she was ready to use the vehicle.
The Pilot to her Career
In 1978, Ellen accepted a position at a
steel fabricating plant in central
10 | MAY 2020
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Wisconsin. She started out working in
the drafting department, designing the
material handling equipment such as
steel pallets, bins, and racking.
Continuing to break barriers, Ellen
accepted a position in the traffic
(shipping) department as the Assistant
Traffic Manager. Although she wasn’t
familiar with the trucking industry, she
immediately took the challenge. The
company supported her by sending her
to school to obtain her training in
traffic and transportation management.
She was later promoted to Traffic
Manager.
In this role, Ellen was responsible for
the inbound shipping of the steel
materials as well as the outbound
shipping of products as varied as
material handling equipment,
fireplaces, and jacks. From bringing
the raw materials into the plants to
shipping the completed products out to
the customers, she managed the traffic
“
We represent
all women
who work
in the trucking
industry. Our
goal is to
represent
YOU, our
members“
duties.
The company also had three trucks of
their own, and Ellen was in charge of
hiring and managing the three drivers.
Because tariffs determined the rates,
customers often tried to sway her with
the promise of gifts (bribes). Staying
true to the company and her own ethics
was never an issue for her. But, Ellen
doesn't deny that the journey was
challenging.
A New Chapter in Ellen’s Life
Ellen had started her career at a very
young age. Later, in her twenties, she
met her husband, who was a
professional driver. They started their
own small trucking company, and
during that time, Ellen and her (then)
husband started a family. While
raising her children, she obtained her
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in
communication.
Ellen wrote her Master’s Thesis about
“The Complex Identities of Women
Married to Professional Drivers.” She
was asked to write about the trucking
life for numerous magazines,
ultimately leading to a book with her
most popular articles called, Marriage
In the Long Run.
In 2000 Ellen was hired as the
Executive Director Trucker Buddy
International, a pen-pal program for
professional drivers. In 2006, she was
recruited by a large Midwest carrier as
their manager of recruiting and
retention programs.
While working at Schneider, Inc., Ellen
was completing her pilot’s license and
was a member of an organization for
female pilots. That is when she realized
there wasn’t a similar group for women
in the trucking industry.
In 2007 Ellen initiated the formation of
THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH
the Women In Trucking Association.
Their goal was, and still is, to support
women employed in the trucking
industry. She surrounded herself with
a strong team that shared her passion.
Ellen never imagined the success the
group would experience in the thirteen
years since its inception.
Journey with WIT
The goal of WIT is simple; to increase
the number of women employed in the
trucking industry. From driver to board
member, diversity was the challenge.
Although women are still a minority in
trucking, the association has been
creating positive momentum.
The Women In Trucking Image Team
was created to showcase professional
female drivers, safety managers,
recruiters, and trainers to share their
stories with p outside of the industry.
In order to monitor the increase in
women employed in trucking, the
association has created the WIT Index
to track the numbers on an annual
basis.
Envisioning the Future
Ellen’s goal is to listen and then act on
the information. Ellen says, We want
to hear from our members, and we
want to make the association better
based on that feedback. An important
area of focus is member value. Why do
people join? The number one reason
people join is for the opportunity to
network and to meet other women (and
men) who have a similar passion for
gender diversity in the transportation
industry. One interesting fact... six
percent of our members said they
joined because ‘Ellen motivated them’
to become a member! Regardless of
their reason in joining, the Women In
Trucking Association works hard to
provide a voice to its members (and
potential members.)
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 11

Jerusha Govender
Blazing a Trail in the Data Science World
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, in her book, ‘Women who
run with wolves’ quotes, “A woman must be able to
stand in the face of power because ultimately some
part of that power will become hers.” And in today’s world,
we have witnessed some extraordinary women who have
stood and fought in the face of power for what they believe
is right and man, did they win? They did more than just
winning, they ruled and inspired.
The time has come for the world to embrace the greatness
of women leaders. Their boldness, self-confidence,
intuition, integrity, compassion, and creativity are now
challenging them to question conventional or social norms.
Undeniably, the rise of women leaders in this era has been
due to their past pain. This pain has led them to find their
purpose and they are using it, as fuel to lead changes. Here
is where empathy comes in play. What women leaders do is
not just for themselves, but for the minority who can
become the majority. The positive legacy that they leave
behind is for others to walk- in/on, inspire and take bold
actions.
Alike many other women leaders, Jerusha Govender’s
climb to the top was fraught with obstacles. However, what
she does with her power and influence is incredible. Her
journey to the top as the Founder and Managing Director
of Data Innovator will teach women to change the game
itself.
She believes that waiting around for others to represent
your problems is of no point. And hence, when she
observed that the industry did not represent or value her
skills, she changed it. In spite of having an academic
background in health science, Jerusha chose the less
traveled road and shattered the stereotypes of women in
innovation. Here’s how she did it and why, in her own
words.
Redefining The Non-Traditional Career
“I qualified with degrees in Biochemistry, Biotechnology
and Pharmacology. But after many long and lonely days in
a lab, I felt that it was not for me. I needed to do work
closer to people and wanted to make a different contribution
to society.”
“Then after completing a Masters in Public Health, I started
my career as a Monitoring and Evaluation intern at a local
NGO. I spent my days visiting public health facilities and
tracking HIV and AIDS data.”
“I realized I loved working with data and saw the social
good in using it in the right way. I continued working with
other national and international development organizations
for about 8 more years as an M&E professional. I worked in
6 African countries with various NGOs. In between, I
experimented with ‘side gigs’ – none successful.”
“During this, I realized there was a gap not in the data but
how data was used to understand and improve how
organizations worked. I also found an opportunity to
creatively experiment with ways of using data differently.”
“While my career progressed, I also became a mother of
two children. At the end of my last employment, I was sent
a letter which summed up “thank you but we will not be
extending your contract” during my maternity leave and
found myself unprepared for unemployed parenthood.”
“It is at this point that I chose to start Data Innovator. I used
it as an opportunity to build a business that allowed me to
be more creative but still work with data, and create a
flexible lifestyle.”
I would like the company to
be seen as a global leader in
social conscious models and
creative analytic services.
12 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

Jerusha Govender
Founder & Managing Director
Data Innovator
“
Photo Credit - Miker Turner
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 13

THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH
change such as HIV/AIDS, climate change and other
areas.”
“However, as we have observed the investments have
barely moved the lever in real changes. This is because
there is no appropriate data that documents challenges and
has no entry of changes being made or not made. Even if
one manages to collect the data, it is complex and hard to
use.”
Photo Credit - Jayshree Govender
Tenacity is the key
The proverbial, “Smooth sea never makes skillful sailors”
clearly states, how struggles are a part of life, but what
matters the most is a never-giving up attitude. Let us hear
from Jerusha, how she overcame the initial trepidations and
challenges.
“In the industry, I am one of the few black females running
such a business. It means often meeting new clients is met
with unintended bias, but we deliver high quality and help
shift these biased mindsets.”
“I also faced challenges in finding and retaining good staff.
Few individuals bring both strong technical and creative
problem-solving skills which mean that once I find them
they are also sought after by other competitors. This
challenged me to find new strategies to retain staff for a
longer-term.”
“Appropriate data allows influence-rs and change-makers to
bring a difference. The industry has many great experts who
talk technical data but few that can make real sense of it.
This is the gap that we fill at Data Innovator. We consider
ourselves ‘infomediaries’, creating a bridge between data,
tech and insights.”
Changing the Industrial Dynamics
What happens when we have such fierce leaders at the helm
of the company? The very foundation of business gets
shaken. Jerusha’s actions are resulting in major shifts in the
industry and in general.
“I have grown the team from a 1-woman show to a core
team of 5 staff (all black and majority female) and up to 10
consultants/consultancy partners,” she quotes. It would be
enthralling to see what this team of brilliant influencers will
do in the future.
When asked about her plans for the future, she replied, “In
the future, I aim to grow a team of Data Innovator
ambassadors across the globe, who scale the company in
other developing countries. We are also building our online
learning products to increase our product-focused revenue.”
“Introducing creative approaches such as data visualization
in very traditionally technical sectors was not always
welcomed. Some of our approaches go against the
traditional methods, but it makes more pragmatic sense to
the users. Through a lot of sensitization of our target market
at conferences and online dissemination, slowly views
changed and now the sectors demand creative data
collection, analysis, and visualization.”
Against the Tide
“Data Innovator helps organizations tell stories with data.
We do this through consultancy services in evaluation, data
communication, and analytics and out Data Artistry training
programs. Our work is targeted towards the development
sector. In these sectors, there is a high investment in social
Photo Credit - Miker Turner
14 | MAY 2020
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Just today I had a young and enthusiastic women call
me up asking for advice and maybe some pointers on
how to bring her vision to life. During the call I could
almost see her deflating while I piled up the list of
challenges that came with fundraising, developing tech
products and gathering the right team. I know exactly what
that feels like because I, myself, have experienced it many
times before. The mountain of work that faces an
entrepreneur is sheer unfathomable, and that’s probably a
good thing: who knows how many companies would still be
out there if the founders had known what awaited them!?
That feeling in mind, I did leave the call on an uplifting
note (I hope), but what I also did was send her a list of
female founder groups as well.
Having a female led and populated ecosystem that can
absorb some of the pains any female entrepreneur has to
face can be the difference between succeeding and giving
up. I choose the words ‘giving up’ on purpose, because we
can all fail, but it should be for technicalities all start-ups
face, and not because we are lonely, overwhelmed and
unsupported women.
From experience I have recognized three sorts of female
ecosystems that are important for different challenges
within the journey, each adding their own individual value,
and I am grateful for each and every one of them:
Ÿ
Ÿ
The Community: these groups are more motivational
and empowering than having an actual impact on your
business. Especially at the beginning of founding a
company they are important. You get to meet other
women, hear their stories, recognized that it’s not only
you and make friends along the way. I think these
groups are very important for your mental health,
especially when your new company also means a
change of lifestyle. You can meet other women and have
a tea or a drink without feeling like you should be
working because you ARE. Panels with talks, meetups
and even workspaces distinguish these groups from
strictly social events. My favourite one: Blooming
Founders.
The Educators: these groups offer talks, workshops and
one-on-one’s with highly successful men and women in
the start-up world. Here you need to bring your pen or
laptop and stay on top of what is being said because the
lecturer/guest speaker will dump large amounts of
wisdom on you. Sometimes there are drinks afterwards,
Ecosystem for
Women
Ÿ
but the emphasis is on learning from and networking
with the speakers. I have made the best out of them by
targeting events with speakers that could be important
for my business and that I would otherwise have
difficulties accessing. To my greatest sorrow many
events are early morning breakfast meetings at 7 or 8,
where I pretend that it’s a normal hour to be about for
me. My favourite one: SheWorx
The Platformers: These groups offer mostly awards and
events. While on the surface you often don’t win
anything tangible like prize money, the award itself ads
huge value because it is highly respected in the field and
opens doors. During the events you get to network from
a privileged position which is invaluable for companies
that are fundraising. It is also one of the few visible
social markers that all your hard work, blood, sweat and
tears has been acknowledged and rewarded - something
you can show to your painfully neglected friends and
family. My favourite one: TechWomen100
During the development, the fundraising and the pivot of
my digital mental health company with our emotional
fitness game, eQuoo, there have been multiple times that
these groups were there at the right time and place, offering
me support, information and a platform. Women are still
vastly underrepresented in the tech world, and while the
#MeToo movement has unearthed many of the people
abusing their power against women, it can still be a hostile
environment if you’re unlucky. And statistically speaking
you will be unlucky a few times.
The VC world is slowly starting to understand that a
mentally health founder is a productive one and having
communities that support us is a vital ingredient to our
wellbeing.
It takes a village to raise a child? Well, it takes a city to
build a start-up.
16 | MAY 2020
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Leader’s Desk
About the Author
Silja Litvin is the Psychologist, Founder and CEO of PsycApps
Digital Mental Health, a company that uses AI, gamication and
psychology to help people help themselves. She is a developer of the
multi-award winning eQuoo – the Emotional Fitness Game.
Silja was born in Germany but moved to southern California early in
her life. Exposed to many diverse cultures early in life, she developed
an insatiable curiosity for the human condition leading to her pursuing
a degree in psychology. During her 17 years of international
modelling she began her Masters at the Ludwig Maximilian
University in Munich, graduating in Clinical Psychology and
Systemic Family Therapy in 2013. Alongside her education
as a Systemic Family Therapist in 2015, she
began her PhD in Clinical Psychology.
A child of the digital generation, Silja was
looking for ways to use apps and social
media to help people suffering from
mental issues. She went on to create a
psychological mobile app that helps
users identify and self-manage
depression. With this idea, she undertook
her PhD thesis, thus ensuring it to be
evidence based and ethically sound.
Now she is venturing into the world of AI,
gamication and chatbots to nd a way to be
able to help people help themselves,
launching her emotional tness game eQuoo
in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The
game has been featured in major news
outlets such as Forbes and TechCrunch
and she won multiple prizes with
PsycApps such as THE EUROPAS Pitch
Awards and Pitch@Palace on Tour.
Silja Litvin
Founder & CEO
PsycApps Digital
Mental Health
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 17

THE 2020'S MOST
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‘
I’m a believer
in the law
of attraction
and I like to
make sure
that we are
putting out
those things
which we
most want
to manifest,
both for
ourselves
and for
our clients
‘
18 | MAY 2020
‘
‘
Lindsey
Leadership consists not only of
work efficiency but also
effective communication and
many other factors that enable a job
well-done. A leader is recognized when
the people operating under his/her
guidance, appropriately comprehend
the procedures explained, while
inculcating the same when it’s time to
apply the said instructions, in order to
carry out their tasks. So, the important
part of being a good leader is to be
effective in communicating and
relaying information in the most
suitable and efficient manner.
Insights Success introduces one such
leader, Lindsey Myers – Founder of
Concrete Blonde Consulting. She
founded the company in November
2016, to pursue her passion for
building reputations and revenues
through business development
marketing strategies. The company has
since been named one of the ‘Top 15
PR Agencies in New York’ by The
Manifest and one of the ‘Top 10 Best
PR Agencies’ by Web Surf Media.
Myers provides profit and growth
solutions and thrives as a consultant. A
communications expert and
entrepreneur, she has over twelve years
of experience serving various
industries. The portfolio includes
consumer products and services, tech,
lifestyle, hospitality and nonprofit
companies in NYC and the Hamptons
Myers
A Communications Expert Driving Growth Solutions
luxury market.
She graduated from Boston University
with a BS in Communications and
concentration in Public Relations. She
began her career at WordHampton
Public Relations, a firm headquartered
in East Hampton, NY and ranked by
Jack O’Dwyer’s as one of the country’s
‘Top 100 Independent PR firms’. In
2013, she was made a partner and was
chosen to launch the company’s NYC
division.
Recognized as a strategic leader, she
has earned a track record for
counseling clients, including Fortune
500 companies such as NAPCO
Security, Inc., to increase profits,
manage brand reputations and gain
market share. She’s continually driven
by her enterprising spirit and innate
understanding of consumer influence.
She takes ownership of the business
she supports and partners with clients.
Professional, confident and wellrespected
by her peers, Lindsey has
also been a guest lecturer at several
universities including Hofstra
University and Saint Joseph’s
University, possessing a presence
people often find unforgettable.
Her leadership and expertise have
earned her numerous accolades
throughout the career including; PRSA
Big Apple Award, PRSA Bronze Anvil
www.insightssuccess.com

Lindsey Myers
Founder
Concrete Blonde Consulting
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 19

Award, eight MarCom awards, nine
Fair Media Council Folio Awards,
Communicator Award, SABRE Award,
and an Excellence in Communications
Award.
Lindsey has shared some of her
insights with us through a series of
question and answers as below:
What was your source of
motivation? Who is your role model
or the person that inspires you the
most?
My motivation comes from an innate
love for business and an inner drive to
want to help entrepreneurs get their
message out. I meet so many people
who want to start a business and the
most common reason they give for not
pursuing their passion is a fear that
they won’t be able to sell themselves. I
want to help people conquer that fear!
Oprah has definitely been a role model
for me. Both her ability to grow her
brand and really provide value for her
audience that too on a spiritual level.
Kindly make us aware of the
challenges you faced to withstand
the complexities of the industry.
I believe the challenges I’ve faced are
not necessarily industry-specific. For
me, setting boundaries, not over
servicing clients and negotiating
contracts have always been the aspects
of my business I struggle with the
most. I want to help people and
balancing that with self-care and
ensuring profitability is always an area
where I strive to do better.
Kindly describe your company and
its services/products.
Concrete Blonde Consulting is a fullservice
consulting and marketing firm
in NYC. We specialize in providing
custom marketing solutions for profit
and growth. By examining your
business development pipeline, we are
able to identify new areas for growth,
while also creating strategies to
amplify current opportunities. In
addition, we provide a competitive
media analysis, streamline marketing
campaigns and build additional sources
of revenue. We service various
industries including consumer products
and services, tech, lifestyle, hospitality,
and nonprofit companies.
Brief us about the industry scenario
from your perspective.
Communications is a rapidly changing
field and our firm is continually
transforming to harnesses the powers
of both influence and interaction. We
offer clients a variety of tools from
third-party PR endorsements to social
influencer campaigns to reach
consumers and drive business.
We believe every client is unique. We
partner with them to unearth their core
business goals. Then we create
bespoke strategic marketing plans with
benchmarks to chart our progress and
target our methods. We feel a sense of
responsibility to our clients and we are
responsive not only to their needs but
also to the ever-changing world in
which they operate.
State some of your company’s
achievements under your leadership.
We’ve racked up numerous accolades
in the past three years, but the
achievements that I’m the proudest of
are the ways we’ve been able to score
for our clients. From a game-changing
feature in the New York Times for one
of our hospitality clients to some of the
non-profit counsel, we’ve provided to
help make the world a better place.
Kindly share with us a quote that
best describes you and your
company’s vision.
“Success is liking yourself, liking what
you do, and liking how you do it.” –
Maya Angelou.
I am constantly checking in with
myself and my soul to make sure that I
am in alignment and that our firm is in
alignment.
Enlighten us with your vision of the
future as well as the company’s plans
in the coming years. Tell us about
your future goals.
I believe that the gig economy and the
ability to work remotely is going to
have a drastic impact on corporate
culture. Combine those structural
changes with the millennial focus on
experiences and work/life balance and
I believe the landscape of how we do
business and how we work is about to
change for the better. I also see more
and more entrepreneurs placing
importance on sustainability and a rise
in conscious capitalism.
Our future goals are to continue to
service our clients and also to attract
entrepreneurs with similar values so
we can build a network of people who
utilize our services and who may also
be able to service each other. I’d like
our company to be an epicenter for
entrepreneurs to create strategic
partnerships and for us to help foster
that community.
20 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

The Glass Ceiling Effect:
Another Perspective on
Women and Leadership
24 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

Expert’s Advice
he glass ceiling is a barrier so subtle that it is
Ttransparent; yet so strong that it prevents women
from moving up the corporate hierarchy”
---Ann
Morrison, American Author
The term “Glass ceiling” can be defined as an
unacknowledged upper limit in corporations and other
organizations, above which it is difficult or even
impossible for women to reach out to the highest
ranks.“Glass ceiling” is a popular metaphor widely used
for the hard-to-see informal barriers that prevents women
from getting promoted or achieving further opportunities
in leadership positions. The metaphor of “glass ceiling”
has also been used to describe the limits and obstacles
faced by racial minority groups.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s 1991 definition of glass
ceiling is “those artificial barriers based on attitudinal or
organizational bias that prevents qualified individuals
from advancing upward in their organization into
management-level positions.” (Report on the Glass
Ceiling Initiative.)
Famous American actress cum author Ann Morrison
defines the concept of the Glass Ceiling as:
“The glass ceiling is not simply a barrier for an
individual, based on the person’s inability to handle a
higher-level job. Rather, the glass ceiling applies to
women as a group who are kept from advancing higher
because they are women.”
The Elements behind the Glass Ceiling:
It is pretty obvious that women are facing a lot of hurdles
to break through the glass ceiling and reach to the
highest leadership position throughout the ages.
Preventing both women and organizations from reaching
their full potential, the invisible “Glass Ceiling” denies
us all of the maximal benefits of gender diversity in
leadership. Some of the most common barriers are
highlighted below:
Job isolation:
Women are offered the same kinds of job roles like staff,
public relations or occasionally finance specialties that
rarely lead to the more powerful management positions.
Over time, women are eventually excluded from jobs in
the mainstream of business, the route taken by CEOs and
presidents.
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 25

Old-boy Network:
There are many instances when men gets the managerial
powers in an organization who manages greater numbers
of people, enjoys more freedom of hiring and firing, and
controls the company’s assets directly while women are
deprived of such authorities and powers. It is the “Oldboys”
of the organization that makes all the policy;
where the women are kept virtually absent.
Sex Discrimination:
In a recent survey, working women were asked about the
greatest obstacle they had to overcome to achieve
success; “simply being a woman” was the most frequent
response. In another survey by the Wall Street Journal,
women leaders quoted their most serious obstacle in
their business careers to be “male chauvinism, attitudes
toward a female boss, slow advancement for women, and
the simple fact of being a woman.” These instances are
enough to prove the prevalence of sex discrimination in
the workplace.
Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment remains one of the biggest barriers
for women in managerial roles. A corporate environment
that tolerates sexual harassment intimidates and
demoralizes women executives. Even after the adoption
and enforcement of numerous laws against sexual
harassment, women do not feel sufficiently encouraged
and empowered to speak out for fear of compromising
their work.
Benefits of Women in Leadership:
Studies found that inclusion of women in business
leadership has significantly improved such factors as
firm value, financial performance, economic growth,
innovation and social responsiveness and philanthropy.
The additional benefits of women in corporate leadership
include stricter monitoring and supervision and fewer
legal infractions such as fraud and embezzlement. A
better balance among women in leadership positions can
create a more diverse team of leaders with different
perspectives and a greater ability to contribute new ideas
and thus enhancing the profitability. The
transformational leadership style often used by women
tends to be a good option for contemporary
organizations, as it encourages employee morale,
motivation and performance.
Overcoming the Barriers: Strategies
Women’s progress up the corporate ladder is still limited
by the “glass ceiling” despite the myriad of Government
policies and programs which have been introduced to
ensure that their talents and skills are recognized and
accepted.
Women can help themselves to overcome this career
hurdle by:
Acquiring appropriate business skills and know how;
Taking up line‐management positions rather than
management service roles;
Gaining the necessary experience through
“apprenticeship” and “acting positions”;
Seeking career counseling;
Volunteering for leadership and executive positions;
And lastly, acquiring the ability to measure their
operating effectiveness in the workplace.
An awareness of the emergence of new barriers to their
progress is also worth considering. The current
socio‐economic situation is creating different “glass
ceilings” in the form of the downsizing of organizations,
new differentiated and self‐directed career paths, the
advent of the contractual worker, and the care of aged
parents.
Conclusion:
th
Since the latter half of the 20 century, women have
made great paces in increasing their representation in the
work force. However, a considerable gap remains in
achievement of leadership positions across different
fields. Renowned feminist Gloria Steinem stated it best:
“Clearly no one knows what leadership has gone
undiscovered in women.” It is far past time we strive to
find out and finally shatter the glass ceiling.
26 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

MONA YOUSUF ALMOAYYED
An Entrepreneurial Spirit Illuminating the Family Legacy
28 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH
ahrain over the past few years has grown due to its
Bliberal economic policies and the clear roadmap
which aims to achieve prosperity for the society. Its
economy continued the upward growth trajectory in 2018,
with a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated at
1.8%. The country concluded the year with pronounced
accelerations in headline growth, with its Q4 2018 real
GDP estimated at 4.6%. This healthy growth pace
continued into 2019 and showed no signs of slowing down.
In fact, the Bahraini economy is projected to grow by 2.3%
in 2019 and 2.7% in 2020.
Working along with the growth trajectory of Bahrain and
contributing to its rapid expansion is a company called Y.K.
Almoayyed and Sons. The firm initiated its operations in
1940 when the Founder, Yousuf Khalil Almoayyed opened
his first shop at Tijjar Road. A one-man trading outlet in
Manana’s main market has now turned out to be a multifaceted
organization. Today, the company represents
prestigious international brands that include Nissan, Infiniti,
Ford, Renault, Toshiba, Sony, Bose, and Kodak, etc. Yousuf
Khalil Almoayyed and Sons have big aspirations and
continue to prosper and grow exponentially.
The company’s aim is to encourage more Bahrainis to join
the organization so that they can prosper and grow together.
Y. K. Almoayyed and Sons are fortunate to have found
some impressive young Bahraini nationals through their
training program who can add value to the company in the
future. Management remains in close touch with employees
at all levels. Female rights are supported, and job
promotions are made irrespective of background or gender
in the firm.
Being a multi-faceted and service-oriented company in the
industry, the directors of this mercantile organization ensure
that its team works hard to adapt as per the needs and
challenges of the 21st century. It allows Y.K. Almoayyed to
further develop with commercial vision and integrity. “We
have achieved much of what my father wanted over recent
years and are proud at having settled this impressive
enterprise at the top of everything we have aimed for,” says
the Managing Director of the firm Mona Yousuf
Almoayyed.
The Story Extraordinaire
Mona was born in Manama, Bahrain and went to a
government school for education as there were no private
schools around that time in the country. The government
facilitated free schooling for all the children there which
proved to be beneficial for her as she liked mixing with
different Bahrainis. After completing secondary school,
Mona’s father insisted that she finishes her education in
England as there were no Universities back then in Bahrain.
She felt lucky enough to go on her own to the boarding
school in England because she made a lot of new friends
from different nationalities. “I studied Business
Administration and graduated in 1974,” shares Mona.
After graduation, she entered the family business as a part
of its furniture division. Mona’s frequent visits to furniture
shows across Europe and the US enabled her to improve the
furniture collection of the company. In the early 90s, she
got promoted to the automobile business domain of the
company. Her turning point in life was when her father,
Yousuf passed away and she had to handle the mantle of the
Managing Director.
“My father was the biggest influence in my life and in the
“
Healthy and
engaged
employees
are your top
competitive
advantage.
Take care of
your employees,
and they will
take care of
your business.
It’s as
simple as that
“
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 29

business as well,” reminisces Mona. She was fond of her
father’s negotiation skills and liked his character a lot. “At
times, he was very tough, but at the same time he was very
honest,” she further recalls. Yousuf considered a firm
handshake as a binding contract of a signed agreement
which inspired Mona a lot. He also used to settle his debts
without any delays which helped Mona in realizing the
power and responsibility of commitment. Even though her
father was a very busy man, he was a loving and caring
person. “One of my happiest childhood memories was when
my father took us to Lebanon on holiday in 1957 and it was
my first trip abroad,” describes Mona joyfully.
From her mother, Mona learned that family values are also
an integral part of life. “My mother’s generosity and care
for the poor and the needy has taught me my first lesson
towards charity work and the society,” states Mona. Her
mother was a perfect housewife. She used to cook, clean
and stitch Mona and her siblings’ clothes while taking good
care of the whole family at the same time.
Business Dynamics
It was not easy at the beginning for Mona. “We are talking
about women in the 70s. People don’t expect you to rise
above basic jobs like operator and accountant,” she
informs. It was very hard for her, especially when her
children were young. She remembers missing a few
important meetings during those times but her father and
the whole family supported her decisions. They realized and
recognized that being a woman, Mona had additional
responsibilities. Once the children were old enough to take
care of themselves, she placed extra efforts in strengthening
the business. She had to work hard in order to gain the
confidence of the customers and employees at the
automobile division. “In business, there are many obstacles
and losses, it is not a smooth ride all the way,” explains
Mona.
As the company is approaching the third-generation era,
Mona is planning to update the policies and procedures
along with bringing in the expertise of professional
management. Family members are involved only on the
board level. “We have appointed a consultant to meet all
nd
rd
members of the 2 and 3 generation and come up with
corporate governance principles and review our family
constitution,” says Mona. She wants to protect the family
business and wants to retain it for many generations to
come. “We are continuing to improve our business in
Bahrain in different sectors and are now concentrating on
consolidation,” shares Mona. She has introduced a lot of
measures to make the business more efficient.
30 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

The Fuss
about AI
Ihave been a strong advocate of conversational
technology (VoiceTech/NLP) and AI and have pitched
for it in various conferences, Guest Lectures at leading
business institutes and to corporates and I am often being
asked what will happen to our jobs? So this is true that
Artificial intelligence seems like a big untameable monsters
to most, and everyone is little anxious about future.
And that could be true sitting in 2010, but past few years
new old research and young progressive companies and
devision of enterprises are willing to make it their sole
purpose that the infuse digital transformation in their
company and provide assistance to others. But, with the
prevailing reputation that comes at a cost of educating
everyone, really everyone.
They see it as a risk and any have burnt their hands trying
to tame novice early stage AI models. But thats fine, thats
how we grow. I believe that we are intellectual beings with
curious minds, why would we want to do repeatable jobs
which machines can do with greater efficiency. We can
delegate these chores and teach the machines to help us
better and imitate human decision making, innovate at
personal level and “Democratise Artificial Intelligence”.
Democratising AI through platforms for like voice
technology - Natural Language processing so the technical
algorithms can stay with specific user base while use of the
AI algorithms can be made as simple as conversing with
machines. Thats a sure shot way to upskilling resources for
example: Team of Analysts can train dashboards and
Business Intelligence tools to map business KPIs and
generate Compelling Business Stories and Insights in
natural language for everyone in the organisation to benefit
from, and then keep building the training over it through
machine learning. We are personally running trials with
Fortune 50 companies on this, so when I say you need to
start looking at ways to incorporate new technologies I
mean it.
For enterprises there are certain imminent crisis that
demand that they change rapidly and market is not at all as
forgiving as it was a few decades back, someone is
constantly rooting for you to make a mistake.This is leading
enterprise to transform under the integrated environment of
Digital Transformation.
Voice Technology has lately become a stable AI process and
would completely change the way we interact with
technology in the future. Visualization will remain at the
heart of it however with conversational technology, we can
expect a shift to more verbal ads, like radio, but more
personalized and actionable, but still to make a decision on
which product to buy you would want to see it visually.
Also search will become more specific and hyperlocal,
where we will be prompted to give verbal feedbacks, that
would amount to popularity of products and places, how it
happens with mobile applications today.
Siri, Cortana, Alexa have brought conversation technology
to people for some time now. They come bundled up with
smart phones and can be used to do basic searches, to look
up certain things, cue up songs etc. Speech technology has
come much further than that. With its advancement we can
now control our oven, tv and other house hold devices, can
search complex data from cloud or can make phone calls
for ourselves. It can change the way we function in our
daily lives, our time with our family, services we receive
and the jobs we do. It can eliminate learning curve of
devices, repeatable chores, and compiling excel sheets. And
it will not happen eventually, it’s happening now.
Developers will innovate to create more audio centric user
interface, there will be discovery period for them to find out
how to minimally prompt user to give inputs and implement
32 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

Expert Talks
About the Author
Preksha Kaparwan is the Co-founder, CMO, V.UX Designer of Realbox.AI .
The versatile IHM Pusa graduate initially served as the chef but got inclined
towards technology and business analytics and founded RealBox in 2015.
Within three years of its inception, they have raised $300k for Realbox and,
their customers include fortune 50 and big 4 enterprises. As a thought leader
she has been part of TEDTalk talk shows. She was awarded 'The sparks 2018'
by your story for tech services for her exceptional contribution
as a Tech Evangelist.
voice modulated visual commands. We can see
speech approaching a point where it would
become so reliable that we can just use it, like
how we do it with other humans, and not even
think about it.
I am personally inspired to bring acceptance for
conversational technology globally and I believe
that the real success for this would not be when
big corporations and industries would be using it
but when every small and medium business and
every household would be using it and help us to
get a hold of our receding grip on reality from
visually attractive and distracting screens on our
tv, on out laptops and our smart phones.
Preksha Kaparwan
Co-founder & CMO
RealBox Data
Analytics Private Limited
We have seen this kind of a shift with automated
technologies and processes which has led to
reduced laborious work, efficiency increased and
averted accidents. Smart phones brought
technologies closer to the end user. So, I took
side with Artificial Intelligence and Machine
Learning technologies, that will aid seamlessly
while co-existing in our realities. And impact is
not just on us in our personal capacity but for
businesses too and professionals who spend
endless nights collating data and make pretty
ppts to show to the bosses.
I believe that spreading the word on changing
technological demography is not our
responsibility or our burden. But you know why
I make it my purpose??
Because it is a major step in evolution of
technology and I know we need to harness it,
shape it now, before someone else does it
for you.
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 33

Nicole Rodrigues, Founder and CEO of NRPR Group, Inc.
Nicole Rodrigues
Transforming the Public Relation Industry with Sedulousness
36 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

““
NRPR is different from other agencies
in the industry because we have very
high standards for ourselves because
we want prospective and existing clients to
feel they're getting the best possible team.
To
sustain and thrive
in today’s
competitive market,
every company needs to
have a positive image. Thus,
organizations across all industries
seek out PR (Public Relations)
professionals who strive to build and
maintain a positive image for the company
as a brand. PR professionals focus on building
solid relationships with influencers so that they
will share information that conveys the right image
for the company.
Unfortunately, there are some Public Relations agencies
that engage in cookie-cutter pitching to media
professionals who do not cover or care about their client or
the industry which is being pitched. This doesn’t help the
companies to get the exposure they desire and can ruin
their brand image in the long term. Hence, Nicole
Rodrigues, Founder and CEO of NRPR Group, Inc.,
sets a high standard for professionalism and quality for
agencies and their CEOs. Nicole is transforming the PR
industry in order to maintain a reputation of credibility and
expertise.
THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH
With a
drive to
pursue a career
in Public Relations
since childhood, she
has made her mark in this
industry. Through her NRPR
Group, Nicole continues to serve
her clients and help them maintain a
positive image in their respective
industries.
Her Journey
Nicole believes that Public relations was tailor-made
for her and meant to be her career. In her junior high and
high school, Nicole campaigned for and held leadership
offices. She participated in and won marketing
competitions. When asked about choosing a career in PR,
Nicole said, “I wanted to find a career that involved public
perception development, writing, event planning, and more.
Thankfully, my college journalism professor saw my
interest and potential and encouraged me to check out
Public Relations courses. The minute I did I was hooked.”
Nicole’s first professional job was at an enterprise software
company. She decided to leave tech to pursue an internship
with the Oakland Raiders, which is where she learned
consumer, sports and entertainment PR strategy. After that,
she worked in a few different roles, including an in-house
PR manager role at MOBITV, and Senior PR Manager at
Voce Communications until recruited by Demand Media as
a Director of consumer marketing. Nicole served as the VP
of digital entertainment at Bender/Helper. In 2014, she left
Bender/Helper to start NRPR Group.
Her Source of Inspiration
Nicole’s mother has always been her biggest source of
motivation. She acted as her strongest pillar and inspired
Nicole to take charge of her life. “I was born when she was
16, but she never let being a mother get in the way of
getting what she wanted. She’s been a business owner since
I was young and her go-getter personality is always
something I try to emulate. My mother always told me that
I could do or have anything I wanted as long as I was
willing to work for it. I was the first in the family to
graduate college and worked hard in high school to earn
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 37

About NRPR
NRPR is an award-winning,
exclusive Public Relations and
Marketing Agency which serves
game changers and disruptors
around the world.
Headquartered in beautiful
Beverly Hills, California, with
other team members in the San
Francisco Bay Area, New York,
and Las Vegas, the agency is
staffed by exceptional writers,
communicators, thinkers, and
doers who understand the value
of relationships.
NRPR supports its clients,
friends and media who are
passionate about their
respective mission by creating
lasting relationships that
produce ongoing buzz and
recognition. From startups to
Fortune 500 companies within
consumer tech, fintech,
healthtech, enterprise, mobile,
digital entertainment, lifestyle,
sports, and consumer products
industries, NRPR delivers its
state-of-the-art services that
positively impact its client’s
bottom lines.
scholarships. I held three jobs during college to pay for my
education,” Nicole asserts.
Triumph over Adversities
When asked about how she developed the courage to
overcome the obstacles in her life, Nicole notes, “The
biggest challenge came when I was criticized early in my
career for being an upbeat woman who just so happens to
dress well and take care of herself. The criticism came
primarily from women. Also, early in my career, I was told
by men that I was ‘too pretty to be smart.’ These challenges
propelled me to bring my A-game to meetings because I
wanted to be taken seriously by negative women and sexist
men who thought I could not succeed.”
Always Get Back Up
Nicole states that Rocky Balboa the movie character has
had quite an impact on her entrepreneurial journey. One of
the favorite quotes from the movie:
“It doesn’t matter how hard you hit. It’s about how hard
you can get hit and keep moving forward... That’s how
winning is done.” - Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa),
inspired her to keep on moving forward. She says, “It
reminds me not to make excuses. Just keep going! As a
business leader, things do not always go as expected
whether the issue is employee-, client-, budget- or business
climate-related, the failure is not in the errors made or the
change in circumstance, but lies in the failure of not
learning from one’s mistakes or worse yet, dwelling on
them, allowing mistakes to make us feel bad about
ourselves and our successes. Instead, we need to take the
hit, evaluate if anything could have been done differently,
and do better next time.”
A Promising Future
NRPR continues to set the example for what PR agencies
of the future should be. The agency’s newest division,
opened in January 2020, NRPR Productions, offers clients
a full-service production company, which will be an added
benefit for them. Nicole positions her agency as one that
develops new tools that will keep the agency ahead of the
curve in what it can offer. Under Nicole’s exemplary
leadership, the agency will continue to work with clients to
extend their visibility and bring their stories to life.
38 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

Insights’ Special
8
Most
E ective
LEADERSHIP ERSHIP
Styles for
Organizational
SUCCESS
An effective leader is the first and foremost condition for a
successful business. The hugely successful leaders adopt a
combination of multiple leadership styles or just one selective
style.
As a fluid practice, leadership is always changing and improving the way the
company grows. There are different types of leadership styles exist in a work
environment. The culture and vision of an organization determine which one
is the most suitable style.
40 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

8 MOST EFFECTIVE
LEADERSHIP STYLES
INFO GRAPHIC
01
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Inspires the staff through effective
communication and collaboration
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
welcomes views & suggestions from
the employees
02
03
LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP
allows the employees to make their own decisions
TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP
establishes a clear chain of command implementing
a carrot & stick approach to management activities
04
05
AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
have significant control over the staff, seldom
considers any suggestions from staff
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
encourages collective decision-making
06
07
BUREAUCRATIC LEADERSHIP
follows a strict set of rules and policies
CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP
charms the staff with individual charisma
08
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 41

TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLE
TRANSFORMATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
01 LEADERSHIP 02
One of the most effective leadership styles is the
transformational leadership style.
Transformational leaders inspire their staff through
effective communication and collaboration and
thus initiating the path to success. They set
challenging goals and higher expectation from each
employee eventually achieving a greater result.
These individuals are often blue-sky thinkers. For
the successful implementation of their strategic
visions, the organization might need more detailoriented
managers.
Democratic leadership is another highly effective
leadership style. Often known as Participative
leadership, in this style the leaders often ask help
and collaboration from their subordinates.
This leadership usually reports higher levels of job
satisfaction and the company can benefit from
individualistic creativity. However, this style
involves more than one individual in the decisionmaking
process which makes the process slower.
03
LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP
04
TRANSACTIONAL
LEADERSHIP
The term ‘laissez-faire’ literally means ‘let them do'
in French. In leadership, this is typically translated
to ‘let it be’. In this leadership style, the leader
allows the employees to make decisions. Laissezfaire
leaders are known for their hands-off
approach which is often criticized for poor role
definition for managers.
Such leadership style is effective in creative jobs
and workplaces with experienced employees.
However, active monitoring of performance and
effective communication regarding the expectation
from the leader’s end is must to get the most out of
this style of leadership.
Transactional leadership is basically focused on
group organization, establishing a clear chain of
command and implementing a carrot-and- stick
approach to management activities. According to
Boundless.com, transactional leadership includes:
clarifying what is expected of followers’
performance; explaining how to meet such
expectations; and allocating rewards that are
contingent on meeting objectives.
42 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
05 06
As the name suggests, the
autocratic leadership style is
the extreme version of
transactional leadership.
Autocratic or authoritative
leaders take control of the
staff and rarely accept or
consider employees’views or
suggestions. Ruling with an
iron fist is rarely appreciated
by staff, which can lead to high
turnover and absenteeism.
Autocratic work environment
rarely has any flexibility.
Strategic leadership is a commonly effective
leadership style. This leadership style involves a
leader who is essentially the highest authority of
the organization. Strategic leaders are not,
however, limited to the top authority of the
company. They include a wider audience at all
levels who want to create a high- performance life,
team or organization. This is because of this
approach this is one of the most desirable styles of
leadership.
07
BUREAUCRATIC LEADERSHIP
08
CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP
Bureaucratic leadership models are most suitable
for highly regulated or administrative
environments, where adherence to the rules and a
defined hierarchy are important. In this leadership
style, the leaders set a strict set of rules,
regulations, and policies which they follow
precisely, and they expect their teams to follow the
line.
A tinge of resemblance is evident in
both charismatic and
transformational leadership. Both
the leadership styles rely heavily on
the positive charm and personality
of the leader.
However, this style of leadership is
seldom considered to be effective
because the success of projects and
initiatives are closely linked to the
presence of the leader
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 43

THE 2020'S MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WO EN
TO WATCH
Stacey Brewer
Co-founder & CEO
SPARK Schools
44 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com

Stacey Brewer
An Endeavor Entrepreneur with a Humanitarian Approach
Education plays a vital role in building a nation’s
economy. It is of paramount importance that a
country makes quality education one of its top
priorities. Quality education is not the sole responsibility of
the nation. Every individual should proactively engage in
obtaining and facilitating at least basic education in order to
grow as a responsible citizen.
On an individual level, there are a lot of things that can be
done to figure out the lacking points in the education system
of a country and take essential steps to countermeasure the
limitations and come up with viable solutions. While
inculcating valid methods, factors like affordable and
voluntarily accessible education also need to be taken into
account as the requirement of both is crucial for an
economy’s growth. The socio-economic gap in the society
of a particular country also determines its strength and
stability in terms of literacy and a skill-based workforce.
Hence, again the individual efforts by every person on a
micro-level of every stratum of the society narrowed down
to a community also count as a successful approach towards
education.
One such person working with this approach in the most
humanitarian way is Stacey Brewer, Co-founder and
CEO of SPARK Schools. She has a Bachelor of Science
degree in Human Kinetics, Ergonomics and Organizational
Psychology from Rhodes University. She also obtained an
MBA in Entrepreneurship cum laude from the Gordon
Institute of Business Science (GIBS). At GIBS, she
channelled her passion for education into her thesis. The
thesis was focused on a sustainable financial model for
economical private schools in South Africa. This research
served as the foundation for the establishment of SPARK
Schools.
It is a network of low-cost schools operating in South
Africa. “We launched our first school in January 2013 with
160 children and 20 staff members,” says Stacey. Currently,
it operates 21 schools, educates over 13000 children, and
employs more than 1200 staff members altogether. “We aim
to continue to open schools across the country,” she further
adds.
She is one of the leading supporters of high-impact
entrepreneurs around the world. Stacey is recognized and
awarded a myriad of accolades. Here are a few of the
mentions:
1. ELLE Boss 2015
2. Mail and Guardian Top 200 South Africans in 2014
3. Glamour Business Women of the Year 2019
She is also a Mandela Washington Fellow 2015 (Barack
Obama’s Flagship Fellowship) and a Tutu Fellow too.
Tackling the Struggles
As an entrepreneur, Stacey’s journey has had many
challenges while building the business. To raise angel
investment or seed capital in South Africa was quite a
challenge for her, as the country is very risk-averse. “In our
early stages as a start-up, it took some very progressive
angel investors to invest in SPARK Schools,” shares Stacey.
People’s views and opinions on becoming an entrepreneur
were not very appreciative or kind. “I often received
feedback from people asking if I was starting a company
because I could not find a real job,” explains Stacey. Also,
looking for a team to join a start-up is a big challenge as per
her experience. Most people find it safe to work for the big
brands of the corporates rather than joining an organization
where it is riskier at the early stages.
As one builds and grows a company, there are a huge
amount of challenges and complexities along the way.
There is a large focus on personal development to become a
more effective and stronger professional. “This was the
hardest, but the best thing that I have ever done, it is
www.insightssuccess.com 2020 MAY | 45

“
As you let your
own light shine,
you unconsciously
give others
permission to
do the same
“
essential to work with strong and committed team members
as well as have a strong support system at home,” Stacey
opines.
To face these challenges head-on, her source of motivation
has always been solving big problems and do things that no
one else wants to do. “I have a great sense of responsibility
in creating a better South Africa and I am currently aimed
at doing this in the education sector in South Africa,” adds
Stacey.
The country spends most of its budget and GDP on
education and yet it is not ranked up to the mark across
different competitiveness reports. Still, education in South
Africa is in a dire situation. In the most recent Progress in
International Reading Literacy Study ( PIRLS) assessment,
it stated that 78% of the Grade 4 students cannot read for
meaning which is very disheartening. “At SPARK, we have
an opportunity to change this and ensure that we can
provide access to a high-quality education that is affordable
to the country,” describes Stacey.
Ode to a Sparkling Future
SPARK schools offer to learn from Grade R to Grade 7 and
recently opened its first high school, and welcomed its first
Grade8 class, in January 2019. Its innovative blended
learning model, globally competitive curriculum, and focus
on core values along with social-emotional learning traits
enable the network to lead the South African education
sector. “SPARK scholars are persistent, responsible
achievers who seek to better their country through service,”
shares Stacey.
The school was invited to the Skoll World Forum 2013 to
present alongside Salman Khan (Khan Academy), Sandy
Speicher (IDEO) and Debra Dunn (Stanford University) on
the panel, Blended Learning: The Proof and the Promise.
Other awards and accolades received by SPARK Schools
are:
1. 2016 All Africa Business Leader Award (AABLA) -
Innovator of the Year
2. 2017 EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women
3. 2019 Glamour Women of the Year (Business Category)
The vision of SPARK Schools is for South Africa to lead
Global Education. Its aim is to transform the education
sector in South Africa which will provide all children with
an opportunity to access high-quality education. The school
strives to help South Africa become a leading global player
in delivering innovative learning models that facilitates
great student achievement and is more cost-effective than a
traditional model. “Our next big goal is to open another 28
schools over 5 years starting from 2021. We aim to operate
49 schools by 2024 and will be educating over 30000
children,” concludes Stacey.
46 | MAY 2020
www.insightssuccess.com