RevolutionDM: Performance Based, Data Driven Digital Marketing, E-commerce
Digital Version In the modern age of the Internet, one needs the superpower of Digital Marketing to pave the way through to the customers and “netizens”. Digital Marketing Agencies possess the perfect recipe to present your brand or service to the audience. RevolutionDM is a Digital Marketing Company that caters to its wide base of clients overseas and native. RevolutionDM approaches its clients by creating a productive and helpful environment. They make it a point to be with their clients as if they are all working together at their premises. They choose to act as colleagues rather than superiors and subordinates. Their Digital Marketing Services are available for their clients at any hour, any development. While having a chat with Yilmaz Bozan, many-a-things about Digital Marketing, companies, and employees were discussed. Born in 1984, He first entered the Digital Sector with a Microsoft SA diploma in hand in 1999. Presently providing performance-oriented marketing solutions, he has previously worked as a verb in various departments and organizations like processing, software, design, marketing, etc. He made his first website in 2002 and founded RevolutionDM as a consultancy firm in 2005. The founder says that while establishing RDM, he knew that the industry he was stepping in was never stopping. Digital Marketing is such a dynamic industry constantly changing in terms of trends, techniques, and traditions. How is this Digital Marketing Service different from others? The very inspiration behind the establishment of RevolutionDM was to be an organization that fills the gap and understands the needs of companies and the dynamics of the fast-paced evolving business in Turkey. RevolutionDM has an open and friendly mindset which keeps employees motivated. They maintain the attitude that supports their employees and clients through any problems because there is a solution to everything. What Specific Services Do They Offer? RevolutionDM has a vast category of the main services they provide to their customers. ● SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ● SEM (Search Engine Marketing) ● SMM (Social Media Marketing) ● Conversion Optimization ● Growth Hacking ● Neuro Marketing ● Mobile Marketing ● UX/UI Design / Optimization ● E-Commerce Consulting With the plethora of services, RevolutionDM has to provide, they make sure to cater to their clients quality services. The company considers Istanbul and Dublin as its main work hubs and soon wants to establish its grounds in Amsterdam. The company is proudly a Google Partner and is Youtube Certified. RevolutionDM creates tailor-made solutions for its clients. One of the unique characteristics is their process of working with clients and customers with no common language. The customer could speak Hungarian, Polish or Spanish. The company is confident about its experiences and strategies to manage it all. This quality in particular makes the company’s ground strong. As they welcome any client, with no boundaries whatsoever. How is the Employee Culture? Yilmaz Bozan describes himself as a big brother in the company. That is the role he dutifully plays. Ever since the initial days, RevolutionDM decided to set up the organization’s structure without any hierarchy. They make sure the inter-company communication goes as seamless and frictionless as possible. There is no distinction between overseeing the digital communication processes of clients. The employees at RevolutionDM treat their client’s problems as their own and deliver quality solutions. What Does RevoltionDM Plan on With The Growing Digital Marketing Culture? RevoutionDM considers its competition as an encouragement to grow ahead. They consider their unique working environment the reason for that. The company is aware of the growth strategies and jobs. With RDM Academy, they provide training on many subjects such as Digital Marketing, Social Media, E-commerce, Entrepreneurship, SEO, SEM, SMM, Google Analytics, and Conversion Optimization to corporate, personal, or a certain number of audiences. RDM did. RDM has nearly 7000 graduates in various educational institutions, especially in Continuing Education Centers of universities, and their number in the sector is increasing day by day. RevolutionDM And Facing Their Challenges RevolutionDM views the recent Pandemic as one of the biggest challenges they faced, but not in the way to regret it. The world changed in unexpected ways during those 2 years. Stores were closed, and people learned and started using the internet to view, buy and browse things more than ever before. During this period, many companies got familiar with Digital Marketing as a concept, and studies and new websites were carried out. As the company had been working on the ground for a little over 4 years, their clientage was not affected- their clients stayed loyal to them throughout. They didn’t observe any decrease in budgets and plans. The pandemic made the company and the public in general with the number of people opting for Digital techniques for everything. Any Other Changes Observed Due to Pandemic? Although not many brands have budgeted to increase brand awareness in digital media, the patterns were broken during the Pandemic period; the order of the game has changed, and digital media is increasingly gaining importance in branding, that is, in increasing brand awareness. From this point of view, Google as much as you can in line with your own budget. You can also advertise on Facebook, Instagram, and other channels. Therefore, in the branding process, digital media has a lower entrance harem than offline media and has many other advantages. What Does the Future of Digital Marketing Look Like to RevolutionDM? In the last 5 years, RevolutionDM has acquired clients in countries like the USA, Europe, and the Middle East. The company uses a Word-of-Mouth strategy- existing clients can further lead to new potential clients through recommendations and discussions. One of the unique factors about the company is that they don’t own a personal website domain. They have a strong social media presence with accounts active and growing. As a company with a strong base of contacts, they make sure to provide all their clients with the best quality strategies A Message For Entrepreneurs Seeking a Career in Business? As an experienced and decorated businessman, Yilmaz Bozan has enough stories
Karen L. Simon: A Resilient Professional Working in a Commercial Real Estate
Digital Version Running a business and raising children at the same time? That’s concrete tough. Thinking about family first against relocating for better opportunities, adds even more challenges. And end up entering into an industry dominated by men, that’s yet one more hurdle. But that’s what Karen Leslie Simon has done. Simon is the Managing Partner of Emersons Commercial Real Estate, responsible for marketing activities west of Dallas County. As an expert in real estate, Simon has completed over 900+ transactions encompassing thousands of acres of land and 6,000,000 square feet of building area. She has excelled as the president and managing partner of the Tarrant County division of Emersons Commercial Real Estate. The Inspiration Karen Simon earned her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Texas in Austin and a master’s degree in American history from Texas Christian University and 24 hours above masters from TCU as well. She also participated in the doctoral program at Texas Christian University. Ms. Simon started her career as a teacher in a community college and after 5 years she was ready to enter the business world. Though she wanted to continue teaching, the opportunity of teaching at a 4-year university was limited even if she completed her doctorate. Texas and TCU were not hiring faculty who graduated from their schools as they promote diversity. So she pursued the opportunity of the federal government. She had the opportunity to be considered as Executive Assistant for the Regional Administrator of The Department of Housing and Urban Development for Region 10, which was located in the Dallas- Forth Worth area. She was selected for the position and began her real estate journey. The Unexpected Journey One day an unexpected bulletin crossed her desk that if someone qualified to take the Brokers exam and did not already have a salesman license, they could do so. It was an opportunity for her as a HUD employee, as she was barred from holding a salesman license while employed by HUD because it could be a conflict of interest with the government. After learning she was only lacking 9 hours out of 900, she took a two-week leave from work and did the classwork, took a review class, and took the Brokers exam. To her delight, she passed the exam and began a new chapter in her life. After 6 months of holding her new license, Ms. Simon accepted a position as head of the Industrial Division for the Henry S. Miller Company in Tarrant Country and became the first woman to be defined as an Industrial Realtor in the metroplex. Experience Beyond Opportunities As a Managing Partner, Ms. Simon holds success in real estate in various capacities. From 1983 to 1989, she garnered valuable experience as the senior vice president of the industrial and land division of Henry S. Miller. Between 1990 and 2000, she flourished as the president of the R.E. Group Advisors, Polo Club Enterprises Inc., and the industrial and land division of the Woodmont Company. Soon thereafter, Ms. Simon was recruited as the executive vice president and managing partner of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services, a role in which she thrived from 2003 to 2014. From 2014 to 2016, she was active as the president and principal of TIG Real Estate Services Metroplex West. In 1987, she participated in establishing the first women’s organization for women in commercial real estate, the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Organization. Establishing the Company Emersons Commercial Real Estate was founded in 2004 by Richard Webb, a banker and a real estate agent, and Matt Price, a C.P.A and real estate entrepreneur. The company based initially in Dallas did real estate leasing, sales, and property management. It has since grown to include Karen’s office in Forth Worth, one in Oklahoma City, and one in Houston and Austin. In 2019, the company also founded along with Priority properties out of St. Louis, a company called 1045. Its primary functions were to manage all of Kroger’s real estate nationwide. It manages more than 80 million Sq Ft. This growth and expansion have opened additional doors for its participants, and the team hopes it will have a continuing positive influence on Emersons itself. Concrete Services Emersons is dedicated to providing clients with all of the benefits of an in-house real estate management operation without the typical overhead, expense, and problems associated with employing their staff. Its experienced team offers professional property management services to Tenant-in-Common owners who want to know their investments are in good hands. With expertise in banking, finance, accounting, leasing, development, construction management, property management, and Tenant-in- Common management – it understands the broad dynamic of modern property acquisition, ownership, and management. From full-service management services, including property management and construction management to single solutions like accounting and financial processing Emersons can design a management program that suits businesses. Karen Simon’s Achievements Because of her experience and knowledge, Ms. Simon has been sought out by national real estate publications and local business papers as both a column writer and source for stories about real estate issues. She has also been honored by The Business Press in its “Who’s Who in Business” section as one of the Decision Makers and Heavy Hitters in Tarrant County and was a two-time nominee for the Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Newsmaker Award for Civic Involvement. She was named to the Dallas Business Journal list as the #4 Heavy Hitter in land brokerage and 2001 she was named one of the Great Women of Texas. She was also selected to handle the disposition of the closed Albertsons grocery stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She was recognized as Bradford Companies’ Top Producer in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008. In 2007, she was named Business Woman of the Year by the State Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In 2011, she was named as one of the most influential women in Texas by the National Diversity Council. Moreover, Ms. Simon has been designated as a lifetime member of the Urban
Ranjan Mahtani: Shaping Sustainable Clothing Future
Digital Version Stepping Stones Behind the Epic Growth of Ranjan Mahtani’s “Epic” Ranjan Mahtani was born and raised in Mumbai. At the age of 16, he started “cutting his teeth” in the garment industry, working as an intern at a garment export company way back in 1980, and already was learning the business for a few years in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In 1983, he set up Epic, and started the operations from scratch, in Bangladesh, where he saw an opportunity for huge growth in an emerging apparel industry powerhouse. Since then, his company created its global headquarters in Hong Kong, and four decades later, they have built a global business with operations in Bangladesh, India, the Middle East, South-East Asia, the US, and the UK. They started with a Buying Office in Bangladesh, with a vision to attain revenues of $ 100k within a four-year horizon; and today, they are one of the largest manufacturers and buying agents in Bangladesh, producing over 120 million pieces of garment per year, employing over 30,000 employees worldwide, mainly in Bangladesh. Today, they have become one of the world’s largest apparel manufacturers, partnering with some of the top global apparel retailers, including Walmart, Uniqlo, Amazon, Levi’s, and many others. Impact of Customer Preferences on the Current Scenario of the Business The revenue of the global apparel industry was estimated at $ 1.5 trillion in 2021 and is projected to rise to $ 2 trillion by 2026. The ecosystem of the apparel industry, including fabric and textile producers, manufacturers, retailers, and end customers, has changed dramatically over the years. For example, the entire industry focus on driving sustainability. More and more clothes are being produced with sustainable fibers, and new sustainable manufacturing practices are being incorporated into the whole manufacturing and supply chain value chain. Also, consumers want a blend of affordable active and casual wear. It is because people want to feel comfortable at home, in the office, or at their leisure. And the industry has seen a significant digitalization of its supply chain – from digital product designs to digitalized product libraries, costing, and highly automated manufacturing processes. The Inspiration Behind the Establishment of Eric Group In 1983, EPIC first opened offices in Bangladesh and started its operations from scratch, beginning as a small buying office. Since then, the company has come a long way, with operations and offices throughout the world, employing over 30,000 employees and manufacturing over 120 million pieces of garment annually. Ranjan Mahtani did his first internship in the garment industry at the age of 16. Today he is 58. It has been a professional journey of over 40 years for him. As an Entrepreneur, he feels proud of what he has contributed in the initial years and growth of the company to make it what he loves to call “the brand behind the brand”. Today, EPIC has grown substantially, and they have a talented workforce to manage it. Now he feels his key responsibilities are to mentor them, make sure that they get all the right resources, and help them to develop the vision for the future of the company. Having said that, it doesn’t stop him from learning new things. The world we live in has been continuously evolving, he needs to keep himself abreast of it because the moment one stops learning is the moment one starts getting old and he would rather keep himself young with the same energy and enthusiasm that he had 40 years before. The Differentiating Factor Among Epic’s Competitors State-of-the-Art garment manufacturing, apparel design & development, fabric development, pick & pack warehousing service. Epic Group proudly partners with key global retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, Uniqlo, Levi’s, and Tesco. Together and for decades now, Epic has built with these and other customers committed, transparent, and mutually trusting long-term relationships. They are transitioning towards Industry 4.0 and have started building their factories of the future. They lean and supplement by sustainable practices. The very first such unit, Green Textile Unit-4, was recently commissioned and is fully operational. These micro-factories will be agile production facilities with modular lines, multi-skilled operators, and advanced technology in terms of equipment and digitalization. They are built with vigor and passion to ‘cut in the morning, ship in the evening.’ They are also, investing in a new washing machine for denim that doesn’t require the use of any chemicals and much less water consumption, making it highly sustainable. From a product point of view, they have partnered with new and innovative denim fabrics that are sustainable both from the material as well as a process point of view. Challenges Faced By The Company In The Market The rise in inflation has a cascading effect on the entire supply chain as raw material, freight, and energy costs have increased, resulting in higher retail prices. At the same time, the same inflation is making consumers prioritize their spending and decrease their share of their wallet for apparel. They are also seeing higher inventories as supply chains were disrupted due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown delays, and trade issues with China. Some brands have become very aggressive on markdowns to clear their inventories as soon as possible. This might even out, and still motivate consumers to buy more. Also, the retail market seems to consolidate, resulting in unemployment. A few of the key things they see coming out of this is that brands are focusing on nearshoring to make the supply chain more resilient. They are also investing in the right technology to have clear visibility of the supply chain and be more agile and flexible in demand planning to avoid inventory issues in the future. These challenges offer tremendous opportunities for us: as in their mission statement “The Relentless Pursuit of Better”, every day, they look for new ways to innovate – to bring sustainable, affordable products which retailers and customers want – efficiently and cost-effectively. This means looking proactively at solutions with their stakeholders –
Paul Guenther: Offering Consistent Top-tier Business Solutions
“Just believe in yourself. Whether you think you can or think you can’t –you’re going to end up being right, either way.” In certain ways of business, stepping into an industry brings spontaneous challenges. If a business person molds these challenges and utilize them as a ladder to climb up to a particular position, he/she can bring a disruptive change within an innovative approach in their business niche. Following the zeal from studying law to lead a B2B advertising space that turned into a renowned brand is Paul Guenther. An entrepreneur who proved himself time and time with his leadership and commitment. As Founder and CEO of Knowledge Hub Media, Paul harnesses the power of business management from sales to marketing, accounting to website development. His tireless efforts and focused engagement enhance every aspect of the business. Learning & Leading Over the years, B2B customers are being targeted at an exponential pace, in the way that they market to different types of audiences. Currently, in the B2B demand generation space, KHM’s clients have shifted to more niche targeting – promoting their assets to very specific and specialized job roles and functions. Where in the past, companies would target based on more generalized criteria (e.g., IT Decision Makers in large companies), they have shifted to a more qualitative approach. It’s less about lead quantity and more about lead quality, reaching the exact folks who are most likely to buy their software and technology platforms. Previously, a company that might have targeted “HR Directors” now targets “Talent Management Directors” and “VPs of Talent Acquisition.” Again, more specific with the job roles that they are going after. And in most cases, instead of targeting companies by the number of people it employs or goes industry vertical, clients tend to target companies via account-based marketing (i.e., ABM lists). ABM lists are generally created and provided by KHM’s clients, pre-campaign launch. They are made up of companies that fit very specific targeting criteria, and in most cases, fall into one of three categories: current customers; competitor’s customers; companies showing intent to purchase a given software platform or solution. Dive into the exhilarating story of Paul and his experiences. Placing the Wick Mr. Guenther’s journey of career-oriented learning started at Penn State University in the Fall of 2002. At the time, he was unsure about what he exactly wanted to do. After some time, he determined that he wanted to go to law school, and decided to major in Crime, Law & Justice. He got his B.S. in the spring of 2006, which was immediately followed by a (short) stint in Law School. He was doing a part-time night program, and at the time, he was unsure about it too. He started working full time during the day, going out with friends at night, and not at all focused on what he should have been focused on. Whether or not it was a blessing in disguise, he ended up going back to school in 2008 to get his MBA with a concentration in Marketing Management (Wilmington University). In 2009, Paul started working on what would become “IT Knowledge Hub” – which is now known as Knowledge Hub Media. Once gained his MBA in 2010, he was off to the races with the company. Fortunately, over the next couple of years, he was able to bring his first few employees on – Anthony and James running Sales, and Chris, who filled the first Client Services role. He had also gone back to school by that point to get his Doctorate in Business Administration – finishing his dissertation and graduating in January 2020. Mission & Vision Knowledge Hub Media was established in 2009, and ever since its inception, the team has been a prominent player in the B2B advertising space. Their core competency, however, is lead generation – or “demand generation,” as it’s better known across the industry. KHM leverages content syndication via assets like white papers, webinars, case studies, and the like, to generate highly targeted leads for our clients. Most of our clients are in the software and technology industry – and when they’re not, they are usually advertising/media agencies working on behalf of the former. Most of our clients are promoting technology platforms and software solutions that they are looking to find net new customers for. Since the company’s initiation, Paul faced the challenge of not practicing things that traditional businesses do. Things like sales goals – and really anything that causes unnecessary stress, in general – are the things that the team tries to avoid. There has always been a favorable work-life balance, and overall, people continue to motivate themselves to get better. There is not much criticism or disagreement to go around, and that’s a good thing. Inspiring Employees to Meet Needs of the Clients Customers are always the most important aspect of any business. Without customers, no one has a business. Ensuring and enhancing the customer experience is always high up on KHM’s list, and at the end of the day, the team always wants to make sure that everyone is completely satisfied. It usually comes down to a few things: responsiveness, quality of the product, and customizability. Over the 12+ years, the team has evolved its practices and QA/QC measures to ensure only the finest lead quality – in terms of both data integrity and lead scoring mechanisms. It’s very important for the customizations where some clients are happy to stick with more traditional means and delivery methods, and some like the team to use custom API integrations, lead import systems, and form post technologies. The team is always happy to customize a product – with regard to both targeting and delivery – to go above and beyond the customer’s expectations. Being Adaptable to Unprecedented Times Businesses were being asked to keep their premises closed to combat the coronavirus. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was an uncertain time, and it impacted virtually everyone else on the planet. Though KHM was affected less than a
PAPREC: The Name Behind Evolution In Waste Management
Digital Version How did the founder’s vision for recycling come into the picture? Jean-Luc Petithuguenin started the organization PAPREC, and he has been in charge of it ever since. Jean-Luc Petithuguenin joined Compagnie Générale des Eaux in 1990 when he was 33 years old. Guy Dejouany was the leader of this quasi-state organization, which included Veolia, Vinci, Vivendi, Nexity, and other companies. Here, in 1994, Jean-Luc Petithuguenin was chosen to lead the industrial cleaning and recycling business, which at the time employed close to 15,000 people. He was asked to give up control of a little PAPREC recycling business that the company had recently bought from Scott Paprec. This was PAPREC. Having its headquarters in La Courneuve, 45 workers, and a 3.5 million euro annual revenue at the time. Jean-Luc Petithuguenin decided to take his chances. He left the Compagnie Gnrale des Eaux and bought PAPREC. His hard work and commitment paid off! With more than 280 locations across eight countries, the company has increased its workforce from 45 to 12,500 over the course of 25 years. The portfolio includes sales of 2.2 billion euros in 2021 while managing 16 million tonnes of garbage. Since its founding, the Paprec Group has gained recognition for its dedication to diversity, secularism, and the struggle against all types of intolerance. Furthermore, BFM Business and Ernst and Young both chose Jean-Luc Petithuguenin twice for the Businessman of the Year award. The transformation in the recycling sector over the past years Over the past three decades, more people have become conscious of the need to safeguard the environment. Recycling is commonplace today. It is crucial that you protect the planet’s natural resources, reduce CO2 emissions, and take part in the decarbonization of the economy. Local authorities have tightened up their enforcement of home trash separation over time. It has been vital for businesses to adapt to this trend as regulation has continued to address waste management and being ethical and sustainable has become more and more in vogue. Paprec kept its pledge to demonstrate that the recycling sector is a well-developed one. French recycling champion PAPREC also ranks second in waste management and third in the provision of green energy (energy recovery from waste). The success of Paprec is founded on its consistent selection of the greatest technology available. Modern plants make up every one of them. In fact, there are no dividends paid by this business since the proceeds are used to purchase the most advanced industrial machinery that the management teams desire. The fleet’s pursuit of excellence and commitment to providing the greatest service must also be reflected in the trucks, skips, and other equipment. Industrial tools and equipment have received 2.5 billion euros in investment during the past 25 years. The establishment of PAPREC and the motive behind establishing the firm 1994 saw the start of the Paprec journey at La Courneuve (North-East of Paris). The Compagnie Générale des Eaux (now Veolia), where Jean-Luc Petithuguenin was a senior executive at the time, acquired PAPREC, a SME that specialized in the recycling of paper and cardboard. Jean-Luc Petithuguenin left the Generale des Eaux and bought PAPREC. He made an extraordinary industrial endeavour out of what was essentially a craft industry. The company is currently the top French garbage recycler and one of the top European recycling businesses. They have a reputation for producing and selling novel raw materials of the highest quality. They can provide the greatest recycling alternatives since they are constantly on the hunt for innovative opportunities. The group is emphasising both internal growth and outward expansion to expand its knowledge base and serve the entire nation. After recycling and energy recovery, the economy’s next loop is organic recovery or returning waste materials to the ground. By early 2024, all organic waste generated in France must be collected at the source. This garbage still nearly always ends up in landfills and accounts for at least 25% of domestic waste in France. This industry is expected to grow dramatically, and PAPREC is, as always, putting a priority on innovation and perfection. Waste management – A Game Changer The company’s expansion demonstrates its forward-thinking. They have had a 30% yearly rise in turnover over the last 25 years. The waste of the 20th century would become the raw materials of the 21st, as PAPREC predicted before anybody else, and they were correct. Recycling and energy recovery from waste are now necessities for the decarbonization of the economy and will be a component of the mix that can help us address the problem of climate change. Newcomers’ aspirations to join PAPREC In 65 nations, PAPREC sells its recycled raw materials. In the previous ten years, Paprec has also had Swiss development, where it has seven plants. They currently operate in 10 nations, where they control waste or energy recovery facilities agencies. They conduct business in France, Benin, Azerbaijan, Spain, Poland, Morocco, Togo, India, and Switzerland plus the UK. PAPREC doesn’t want to limit their attention to recycling. The solution to the climate change problem is to recycle and recover energy from garbage. Aspirants recognise the worth of their work right away! They especially visit the business because they are looking for meaningful and ecologically responsible businesses that can increase their exposure. Importance of diverse and inclusive workplace Initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion not only improve workplace environments, but they also help businesses perform better. Due to the value they provide, diversity and inclusion are swiftly rising to the top of enterprises’ priority lists. As several studies have shown, they not only help to create a more content, open-minded, and productive staff but also enhance the financial performance of the companies. The company’s motto, “For a greener planet and a more united society,” was the cornerstone upon which it was established. A source of strength and depth for PAPREC is the diversity of job routes, ethnicities, ages, and genders. The founder states, “When I started, people said to me: “With your noble ideas, you will fall flat
Nicole Martin: Helping Businesses Access Strategic HR Solutions
The ever-evolving changes in the business world demand adaptation to meet the needs of modern times. Often businesses struggle and fall short of matching up with theses changes putting themselves in jeopardy. It requires concrete HR solutions that help organizations to lead through these trensformations to develop and execute innovative growth strategies while cultivating robust relationships. Akin to such HR expertise is Nicole Martin, Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder of HRBoost®. We at Fortunes Crown got into conversation with Nicole to learn more about her journey and how she is changing the landscape of the HR industry. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? We practice what we preach. This means we accept passive talent interest and pipeline our own talent. When we have a need, we do not have to post an ad and wait. We usually have someone ready to go and waiting for the call. This is essential to our continued growth. What has been interesting during the pandemic is the out-of-state interest we have received from HR talent. It has us thinking. After all, we do believe in open sourcing talent, especially now. We have always trended with growth year after year, however, amidst the pandemic, we were hard hit like many. Thankfully, we have successfully returned to pre Covid-19 revenues levels and this is something we are pleased with given the level of uncertainty in the market. We have revealed some new innovative ways to reach our clients and as talent shifts occur, we are ready to help the businesses that seek to retain talent. Could you please walk us through your educational/professional journey? What was the moment that triggered you to step into the business? You’ll notice it instantly. I at HRBoost®, love what I do, and doit remarkably well. I’m the accidental entrepreneur. I looked back after starting my own business and said, “I started a business. Whoa!” I didn’t set out to create a boost. I simply followed my passion to help clients understand the importance human resources can play in developing a strong business. Today I am a successful entrepreneur and an HR industry innovator, dedicated to helping small to mid-size businesses realize their potential through their employees. A self-professed “country girl in disguise,” I grew up in Montana, where everyone knows you and greets you on the street. I was also lucky to have a great mentor early in life: my mom. My mother is highly spiritual, and she raised me with the philosophy of being happy. She always believed that I am a special person—she ingrained that in me—and I am capable of anything.” At the age of 18, I am ready to start proving my mom right. I left Montana and moved in with my godmother in Libertyville, Illinois. Right out of high school, I got a job as a receptionist at a pre-Y2K firm where I found my passion quite by accident. They were hiring all these computer experts from overseas, but when they arrived, the company just put them in the reception area because they didn’t know what to do with them. “It was just inhumane.” During the same time, I was working on a training program for a college human resources class. I wanted to help these guys out in the hallway, so I just marched into the director’s office and asked him if he wanted to see the training program I created for school. When I was finished with her presentation, the director created a human resources department for the site, hired a manager, and moved 18-year-old me from reception to human resources. I have been building HR departments from the ground up ever since. What makes me approach so unique is that I begin with the business’ vision and creates HR programs that are completely integrated with that vision. From the hiring process to annual reviews, the programs I create are designed to further the business, boost productivity, and help employees understand why and how their contributions are meaningful. When was HRBoost® established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? In 2010, I founded HRBoost® and I had a big vision. Given we are not your Broker, your Attorney, or a 1-800 number. We believe HR expertise is essential to any business as they grow their enterprise. Our Shared Services approach allows businesses to access strategic HR at their pace and budget all while taking a holistic approach to integrating a culture plan that enables their strategic and/or operational plans as a business. We deliver skilled talent to our clients. We also believe they need both strategic and tactical resources at the same time. One human is not ideal as there are various cognitive abilities to optimize HR strategically. We believe our shared services approach to the middle market is the PEO Alternative. And yes, the middle market needs an alternative. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? I am blessed to have truly blessed people on our team. Thankfully, they live our core values and instead of me recognizing every time a core value is witnessed, they have taken peer reward recognition to be a strong reinforcement. Even today, I was thanked by my Admin Extraordinaire for her shoutouts as she just cashed in on a new car seat for her beautiful child. What more can I say? It is all about how you make people feel. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? We serve businesses spanning multiple sectors; these include Professional Services, Non-Profit Organizations, High Tech, Manufacturing, Staffing firms, Hospitality, and Healthcare. Our clients are typically from high-growth businesses with 50-250 employees. Our model is to meet the clients wherever they are, thus we provide full-service embedded HR support, a project to project support, culture design and
Nick Zamucen: Helping People Restore Properties to Pre-Loss Condition
There is nothing closer than your own home, it is a gift you earn and give yourself. It becomes a box of memories of precious moments. Unfortunately, sometimes due to some inevitable disasters people lose their houses beyond restoration. But there are state-of-the-art ways to restore the house environment to its prime historical period. Nick Zamucen, CEO of Best Option Restoration, is committed to helping those in need after a disaster and returning their homes to their original condition. Recently, Mr. Zamucen is being interviewed to share his experience of restoring happiness in society. Let’s have a look! Please tell us about your professional background. Would you like to mention some of the highlights from your journey? I have created four nationally recognized franchised brands. Three of which have been previously sold to private equity companies and now my focus is to build and sell the last one, Best Option Restoration, over the course of the next decade. I live my life with the want and need to help others. Adding massive value to those around me is my passion. I live to be a good leader, a great friend, and an outstanding business mentor for my franchisees. Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The franchised restoration industry has never been in a hotter market. With Billions of dollars in claims being paid monthly from insurance companies, prospective franchise owners want in. Who could blame them? Best Option Restoration is in a fantastic position with its low cost of entry, state-of-the-art thermal drying systems and a management team second to none. We win and will continue to win in this crowded field. This is the industry to be in to build a life-changing business and a substantial income for years to come. What are the unique challenges your company is currently facing? How have they affected your company? The challenges we’ve had are actually rather opportunities. We continue to have a ton of new franchisee interest in our company. The hardest thing for us at a corporate level is keeping up with demand. We can only take on many units a month and having to put people on a waiting list isn’t fun for anyone. Most stay on the list and wait their turn, a few we lose to competition because they make a side deal and get in for a lesser price somewhere else. I find in business and life, you get what you pay for. Be very careful making deals with companies and devaluing your position. When was Best Option Restoration established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Best Option Restoration was established in 2016. We offer Water mitigation, Fire rebuilds, Mold termination, Storm Damage, and Content Cleaning solutions for home and business owners. We’re escalating at our best, hence our name, Best Option Restoration. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? We treat everyone like family. Sometimes you’re all on the same page and everyone is happy, sometimes you’re not. The important thing is, not that everyone always gets what they want, but they feel heard, understood, and respected. There will always be criticisms around and negative feedback. All you can do is try to mitigate that as much as possible but always do the best things for the clients. In our case, the clients are our franchisees. Put them first and always do what is right, you can’t go wrong. What measures do you undertake to ensure optimum customer satisfaction? How much impact does the customer feedback have on the company’s strategies? With our clients being our franchisees, it’s pretty simple to ensure satisfaction because we are in communication with them weekly if not daily. Again, we are a family, we’re a close group. There are many times a franchise will reach out to me just to say hi, ask how I’m doing, and how is my family. This means the world to me because I know they care and in turn, they feel comfortable enough with me to be personal. I know I’m doing my job when my franchises are friends, like family, not just unit numbers. Please tell us about the services/products your company is offering? How are they different from your competitors’ offerings? With our propriety thermal technology drying systems, we are state of the art. We aren’t just another, “man with a fan in a van” like our competition. Best Option Restoration franchises dry structures in literally half the time of anyone else out there. There is truly no comparison to what we do. There are some copycats in the field we noticed lately. I look at that as once again I’m doing my job, I’m changing an old tired industry and bringing it into the new century. A century of technology and focused strategy. We are better because we practice being so. We’re just the “Best Option” in a mitigation and restoration situation. “Everything takes more time than you think it will and problems are going to happen. People tend to think working for yourself is the ultimate freedom, and it can be after it’s earned. Working for yourself is not normally harder and longer hours than you’ve ever had before. You have to stay disciplined, driven, and self-started… every day, not just when you feel like it.” “Problems are going to arise, just out of nowhere, so you must learn to deal with them effectively and quickly. You can’t just ignore problems and think someone else will handle them, not when you’re a business owner, it’s on you. Success and failure. The choice is yours.”
Nick Lai: Marketing in the Digital Age, the Present and the Future
The world of digital media is changing at a phenomenal pace. Its constantly evolving technologies, and the way people are using them, are transforming not just how you access your information, but how you interact and communicate with your friends and colleagues on a global scale. It also has changed the way you choose and buy products and services. People are embracing digital technologies to communicate, in ways NickMetrics helping businesses integrate such technologies seamlessly into their everyday needs. Nick Lai, Managing Director at NickMetrics has worked client-side for a wide range of businesses, including start-ups and marketing leading corporations across a range of industries. He has built a large number of successful digital marketing strategies, both nationally and globally, and consulted for companies across the world. Inspiration Behind NickMetrics Nick was born in Malaysia and while growing up he realized that consumers have grown tired of mass media marketing, and are turning instead to the internet. They want more engagement, more interaction. Before his interest as a writer, he already had a successful experience of an online affiliated program back in 2009. Lasting for 2 years, the online venture later ignited an initiation of an online design and development firm in 2012 which enabled him to hit his first million. Nick explained, “I always felt I wanted to do more, so I turned back to writing, and it has been one delightful journey so far.” Continuing his admiration for writing, a leading digital marketing conference grabbed Nick’s attention where he witnessed the vast potential of digital marketing. The event became a turning point and an eye-opener for him to start living and serving businesses online presence. And that’s how Malaysia’s best Digital Marketing Agency, NickMetrics.com born in 2016. The Highway Today, Nick and his team as the generation of digital natives are entering the workplace and are spending like never before. This is the mass market of tomorrow, and for business people and marketers the challenge is to become fluent in this new digital language so that we can talk effectively to our target audience. As the managing director, he has contributed to the significant growth of several businesses in areas including digital marketing, offline marketing, branding, and relationship management. Moreover, to make this small agency effective he sits for sales, design, development, planning, and execution. He is also responsible for recruiting and training the best minds of 48+ employees which is their extraordinary assets. Laying Strong Digital Space Throughout Nick’s career, he has aimed at transforming the brand from a variety of verticals, developing intimate search knowledge and strategy for diverse clients. The agency is inclined for offering the trendiest and new-age digital marketing solutions to brands such as SOP to handle each client’s digital marketing campaign. Nick is responsible for the delivery of NickMetrics’ business plan across marketing which mostly includes Influencer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, and Content Marketing. Such an effective package enhances its market leadership position and continues to deliver exceptional growth. NickMetrics Group apart from being industry-centric has another most comprehensive Malaysia’s Online Auto Insurance Comparison Website that has been developing a connection between insurance and consumer. The website helps insure both parties with better-informed decisions and facilitates them to make smart and easier insurance purchases. While offering consumers unbiased comparison for auto insurance, it majorly saves the hassle of consumers from the details and technical processes of auto insurance. World Wide Wild Since its inception, Nick and partners have extensive experience of serving more than 30 medium-to-big sizes clients helping them implement multi-channel brand-marketing strategies. With that, the agency has successfully flagged its location in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India. The agency has also launched packaged services where users can answer a few questionnaires and pay online. After that, the involving team will start working on it based on its SOP and the reports and results will be displayed on the user’s dashboard. Believing in his power of writing and entrepreneurial journey, Nick says, “there’s so much out there I plan to try out, but it’s all in the plans. Through writing and any entrepreneurial adventure I take on, my goal is to change the world, I plan to become even better, not just professionally but also personally, and writing gave me the voice to reach out to the world.” Learning is never enough—the more you learn, the easier your route will be. Content will always be the key in the media industry. Hence, focus on that.
Natasha Makhijani: Acing Successful Recruitment
Oliver Sanderson Group makes the recruitment process easier for businesses, so they can engage and develop a long-lasting working environment. With the help of technology, from creating a resume database to deploying employees to prominent companies, Natasha is excelling in the recruitment field. We at Fortunes Crown got into conversation with Natasha Makhijani, the CEO of Oliver Sanderson Group, to know more about the company and how it is helping the businesses as a whole. Below are the highlights of the interview: Please brief us in detail about the current scenario of the business. How have the customer preferences changed over the years? The executive search industry is changing in a number of ways, and this is reflected in the evolving preferences of our clients. There is now a greater focus on EDI challenges. We are seeing a growing recognition of the importance of inclusivity and the value of diversity, and clients come to us to tackle their EDI challenges, reach out to under-represented groups, and achieve more diversity in their boardroom and senior leadership teams. Digitalization is also transforming the industry, changing the way we advertise roles, discover candidates, and engage with our community. Finally, recruitment companies are increasingly aware of issues around sustainability and the environmental impact of our work. We are taking steps to minimize our impact and operate more sustainably and more responsibly as a business. Could you please walk us through your educational/professional journey? What was the moment that triggered you to step into the business? I, Natasha Makhijani, am not your average headhunter. As CEO of Oliver Sanderson Group, I am pioneering new approaches to executive search through tech innovations and D&I initiatives, all while breaking down barriers as an Asian woman business leader. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree from City, University of London and a Master’s from DePaul University in Chicago, I began my recruitment career on the Graduate Scheme at Hays in 2000. Fast-tracked into management roles, I achieved four promotions in four years and took a team from billing £10,000 to £80,000 a month. From Hays, I moved to Michael Page, and quickly gained recognition as a “super biller”. But I always felt that there was another path for my career, and having set up executive desks at both Hays and Michael Page, I set my sights on establishing a business of my own. I founded Oliver Sanderson as a start-up in 2011 and have since grown the firm into an international business at the cutting edge of executive search. Oliver Sanderson has built up a strong track record in recent years, having placed CEOs and senior leaders at FTSE 100, FTSE 350, and Fortune 500 companies. Specializing in both permanent and interim executive placements across a wide range of sectors, the firm provides clients with an end-to-end executive search process, drawing from the experience and creativity of its research team to solve complex recruitment challenges. New technology has been central to Oliver Sanderson’s rapid growth, and I am a pioneer of digital innovations in executive search and recruitment. I co-founded Snapp Resume, the world’s first mobile job board with voice technology capability and Amazon Alexa connectivity. The app currently has a database of over 25 million candidates in the UK and the USA, with over 250,000 positions listed on its mobile job board. My forward-thinking leadership was recognized with a CEO Today Global Award 2021. I appeared in the winner’s magazine in February 2021 alongside some of the world’s most inspiring executives in a feature story on her journey and achievements. I have recently been shortlisted for the prestigious Recruiter Awards 2021 in the category of Agency Recruitment Leader of the Year. Under Makhijani’s leadership, Oliver Sanderson is poised to remain at the forefront of an evolving industry. When was Oliver Sanderson Group established? What are the prominent services/solutions offered by the company? Established in 2011, Oliver Sanderson is an executive search firm with a difference, combining experience and expertise with innovation and fresh thinking. We specialize in finding permanent and interim talent at the board and senior leadership levels for FTSE 100, FTSE 350, Fortune 500, and PE-backed businesses. With our suite of digital recruitment apps and our award-winning diversity and inclusion work, we are leading the way in discovering the next generation of business leaders. What measures do you incorporate to ensure motivation and productivity within the workspace? How do you respond to criticism and disagreements? I focus on keeping my team motivated by challenging, supporting, and inspiring them. At Oliver Sanderson, no two weeks are ever the same – we are always working on new roles with new organizations, and making new connections and relationships with candidates. It is this aspect of our work that ensures that we are constantly learning, keeping the working week fresh and challenging. We set monthly and annual targets to hit for our team across a number of areas, from sales to social media engagement. But we also support each other, understanding that growth isn’t always linear, and we sometimes learn more from failure than from success. Dialogue is crucial – daily conversations, feedback and brainstorming sessions. These help us stay connected and supported together, constantly learning, and constantly striving to improve as individuals and as a team. What was/is your response to the current unprecedented situation? The global pandemic has had a major impact on our daily business operations, but we have managed to survive and thrive since the first lockdown. Our firm has had to adapt to meet new challenges, becoming more flexible in our delivery models. The Oliver Sanderson Executive app has enabled the team to make an effective transition to remote working, with the digital platform offering video interviewing to substitute for the face-to-face meetings made impossible under lockdown. Our apps helped candidates engage with the job market at a time of unprecedented difficulty and uncertainty, and we received exceptionally positive feedback about our contribution to the economic recovery. Thanks to our flexibility, we have managed to grow
Mr. & Mrs. Roetheli: The Greenies Story of Joseph and Judy
Digital Version They say, our life is divided into sections. One for education, One for Working, One for Retirement, and so on. But the thing is, life is not rigid or definite. It is the way one wishes it to be. Life gives you several chances every single day. It is up to us to reach up and grab one of them. These opportunities are not correlated with what age you are, or what phase you are in, it is correlated with whether you want to work or you don’t. Whether you have the strength to power through or you will probably fall down the walls. This exclusive cover story depicts the story of one such couple who decided to grab an opportunity thrown at them and shaped it into something incredible. Dr. Joseph and Judy Roetheli, Founders of Pet’s Best Life and S&M NuTech are the makers of Greenies Dog Treats. Let us meet them individually. Dr. Joseph Roetheli Described as a futurist, learner, and fun-loving, Dr. Joseph Roetheli is from Hermann, Missouri. Joe’s parents grew up experiencing the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Neither had the opportunity to attend high school. His dad was a conservationist and environmentalist long before the latter was popularized. His mother was a frugal saver and would reuse almost everything. She was an excellent and dedicated gardener who canned garden crops to help support the subsistence farming operation. He earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. Being a Vietnam Era Veteran, he spent his post-military career as an employee of the University of Idaho for 8 years in the U.S Department of Agriculture; where he drafted and co-authored several write-ups which were later included in the “Encyclopedia of Agriculture” and “1992 Yearbook of Agriculture.” His drafted legislation for USDA became a section of the 1990 Farm Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. Judy Roetheli Described as a “Serial Entrepreneur” with leadership and people-oriented qualities, Judy Roetheli was born as the youngest daughter to George and Dorothy Hill in Gainesville. She graduated from Newberry Highschool, also winning the title of “Miss Congeniality” and a recipient of the “Daughters of the American Revolution” Award. Having BA in Education degree from Trevecca Nazarene University, she taught in a school for two years; where she met her future husband, Joseph. Judy taught and influenced elementary, high school, and autistic preschool students for 16 years. Judy and Dr. Joseph lived a happy life with two sons of their own, Steffan and Micheal. With two adorable dogs named Ivan and Katie. Both the parents made it a point to stay with the young boys in their growing years. Judy took up extra curriculum activities, PTA Board and Church Choir. Early-Life Stories Joe’s father knew little of his family’s heritage. He knew the Roethelis were Swiss Germans. He thought they spent the first winter in America in Pennsylvania. Joe’s father did know that of the Roethelis that came to America most had died shortly after arrival, but his grandfather, age 9 at the time of arrival, and one brother had been orphaned but survived. While serving in the Army in his early 20s in Boeblingen, Germany, Joe had taken a weekend pass to join other soldiers on a weekend trip to Switzerland. There he looked in a phone book and found a couple of handful of Roethelis listed. But at that time the genealogy bug had not hijacked Joe. Fast Forward to 1992, a weekend fell between the stops. Joe spent that weekend in Zurich. He awoke Saturday morning to a wet, cold, windy climate. No fun being outdoors. So, he pulled out the phone book at the Senate Hotel. He found 10 Roethelis listed. Knowing only a few words of German, he started calling these Roethelis. He only found one of the 10 that seemed interested in knowing there were Roethelis in America. When he arrived back in Springfield, Virginia, he visited with his sister, Agnes – the brains of the family, and she being a German and French teacher, drafted a letter in German to send to the other 9 Roethelis in Zurich. They received only one reply back. It was from Heinz Roetheli, a medical doctor who said he would pass the letter to his father who still lived in Hägendorf to see if he could trace it back to Franz Roetheli who would have left with his family for America. The doctor indicated that it would likely be fall before they would hear back. The Moment That Changed It All So how did this couple, with this settled life of theirs, decide to step into the world of businesses, especially one that produces Dog Treats? When we asked the Founders themselves, Mr. Roetheli says “He had really bad breath, Judy kept after me to do something about it. But there was nothing in the market that worked.” When they tried various oils, treats, and food items, still their dog had bad breath. Fed up with it all, Mr. Roetheli mixed various vegetable oils, a mixture of wheat, chlorophyll, and other edible foods which were served dry, and later molded into a bone with a toothbrush at the tip. When the newly invented treat was given to Ivan, within a few days, the dog’s bad breath problem was cured and his teeth were clean. Overcoming Challenges This is what ignited the little spark to make this newly invented treat of theirs into something big, into something useful for not just them but others as well. With a newfound purpose, Mr. Roetheli quit his job and the couple spent all their time trying to market their Canine Halitosis cure. Judy’s leadership qualities and Joeseph’s hardworking qualities came into play. They started going to banks asking for loans, a 100 people according to them, for $250,000. “We thought they probably laughed their heads off after we left, But okay. We were going to keep going. We refused