Alessandra Vignoli : The 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare to Watch, 2026 | CIO Views

In every age, a new crop of visionary thinkers in the field of healthcare arises to challenge conventional wisdom and reshape the way care should be delivered.Their legacy is not only felt within the hospital walls and the research labs, but across the communities where innovation meets compassion. They are the thinkers who are not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom by looking at complex medical challenges as opportunities for real progress. They are the champions of innovation in the medical field, advocating for the technologies that not only make diagnosis easier and the patient experience better but also increase access to care for those previously beyond reach. However, they are also aware that real progress is only possible by being compassionate, caring, and human. The decisions they make are the ones that chart the course of the policies,partnerships,andpracticesthatdefinethefutureofthehealthcare system.

At CIO Views, we honor these empowering leaders by dedicating this issue titled “The 10 Most Influential People in Healthcare to Watch, 2026” to them. Featuring as the cover story, we have covered the successful & motivating journey of Alessandra Vignoli, Vice President Rare Disease Mediterranean Cluster at chiesi. We have also included the inspiring stories of Abdullah Abdulrazzaq, Founder of Axis Pharmaceutical Consultation/Iraq; Wayne J. Riley, President of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University; Honesty Liller, CEO of The McShin Foundation; Tony Calamita, Co - Founder and CEO of Love Hemp Goup PLC; Jennifer Pinasco, CEO of Yosemite Pathology; Madeline Ross, CEO of SuperSlow Zone LLC; Jaimie Augustine, Vice PresidentofSalesatCOPANDiagnostics;JenniferD'Angelo,SeniorVice President & General Manager of New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII)'s Healthcare Division; and IbraheemAlinur, CEO and Co-Founder of City HealthTech.

CIOViewsisabusinessmagazinethatmainlyfocusesonbusinessleaders, their journey, views on current economic states, and all other relevant subjects that refer to the business world. Our goal is to be a leading source of information dedicated to providing our readers with detailed perspectives and views of successful business leaders who are transforming the business outlook and redefining their goals. With exclusive editions on various industries like software, education, healthcare,technology,realestate,andmanymore,CIOViewsisdrivento promoteexcellenceintheworldofbusiness.

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10.

AlessandraVignoli

Vignoli Alessandra

Alessandra Vignoli

Vice President, Rare Disease Mediterranean Cluster at Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A., works at the intersection of strategy, science, and regional leadership to improve outcomes for people living with rare diseases.

Her work is guided by a belief that meaningful progress requires purpose, partnership, and persistence, especially in a field where patients often face long diagnostic journeys and uneven access to care.

Across diverse healthcare systems in the Mediterranean region, she focuses on strengthening collaboration, accelerating diagnosis, and ensuring that scientific innovation translates into real-world impact for patients and their families.

ACareer Turning Toward Rare Diseases

Alessandra traces her interest in rare diseases to an early professional experience that reshaped how she understood patient needs and systemic gaps in care. Her work exposed her to the complexities patients face while navigating fragmented healthcare systems. “I was fortunate that my career path crossed with Genzyme. That experience opened my eyes to the profound unmet needs in rare diseases,” she reflects.

It also revealed how difficult the path to answers can be for many patients and families, particularly when care systems are inconsistent across regions. “Working in this environment made it clear how essential it is to improve pathways, shorten the diagnostic journey, and ensure that patients and families receive timely, accurate support,” she explains.

These insights ultimately shaped the direction of her work in a field where progress can have a profound impact on people's lives. “This understanding drew me toward rare disease work: the opportunity to contribute to a field where even incremental progress can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life,” she notes.

The Urgency of Faster Diagnosis

Alessandra points to the diagnostic journey as one of the most critical challenges facing the rare disease community today, given the cascading impact delays can have on patients and families. “The most urgent need is to shorten the diagnostic journey and ensure timely access to treatment, because delayed diagnosis worsens

outcomes, places heavy emotional and financial strain on families, blocks access to essential support programs, and is often followed by additional barriers that slow the start of appropriate therapy,” she cautions.

She also highlights disparities that affect certain groups, particularly

women and other underrepresented populations, whose symptoms are more likely to be overlooked. “Women and other underrepresented groups face additional barriers. Symptoms are more often dismissed or misattributed, leading to even longer diagnostic delays and inequitable access to care.Addressing

“RARE DISEASES ARE NEVER JUST SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS OR ACCESS PROBLEMS OR POLICY PROBLEMS. THEY ARE ALL OF THESE AT ONCE”

these gaps would significantly improve outcomes and reduce disparities across the rare disease community,” she notes.

Leading with Purpose in Rare Diseases

In her leadership role at Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.,Alessandra has developed an approach to complex challenges grounded in purpose, partnership, and long-term commitment. “My leadership role at Chiesi has shaped the way I approach complex challenges in the rare disease ecosystem by grounding me in a mindset where purpose, partnership, and persistence guide every decision,” she explains.

Her experience has also reinforced the need to view rare disease challenges through a systems lens, recognizing how multiple parts of the ecosystem intersect. “Rare diseases are never just scientific problems or access problems or policy problems. They are all of these at once,” she notes.

This perspective continues to shape how she approaches solutions across the broader landscape. “Being part of Chiesi's rare disease mission has

pushed me to think in systems: to understand how science, regulation, care pathways, and patient experience interlock. It has taught me to look for solutions that serve the entire ecosystem, not just one part of it,” she adds.

Moments That Define the Mission

ForAlessandra, the most meaningful milestones are the moments when scientific progress reaches patients. “Amoment that has meant the most to me is every time we bring a new therapy or scientific advancement to patients, because in rare diseases, progress is never abstract. It is immediate, personal, and often lifechanging,” she reflects, adding that these moments are grounding, reconnecting her to the purpose behind the work, the belief that science, compassion, and determination can change the trajectory of a life.

“In rare diseases, every advancement is a victory for a community that has had to fight for visibility. Being part of that journey is one of the most meaningful aspects of my work,” she emphasizes.

TechnologyAdvancing Rare Disease Care

Alessandra highlights artificial intelligence and digital health tools as important developments improving patient care in rare diseases, particularly in enabling earlier diagnosis and more personalized treatment decisions. “Artificial intelligence is certainly playing a major role.AI-driven diagnostics and multi-omics analysis represent a major recent advancement, enabling earlier and more accurate disease detection and more personalized treatment decisions,” she explains.

She also highlights the expanding role of telemedicine in improving access and coordination of care for patients with complex conditions. During the pandemic, virtual visits helped maintain essential follow-ups, reduced missed appointments, and supported stable disease management for people receiving rare disease treatment.

She notes that telemedicine is also strengthening collaboration across specialties and expanding access to genetic services. Platforms enabling telegenetics have widened access to

genetic testing and counseling, while virtual consultations allow clinicians across disciplines to discuss complex cases and receive guidance from expert centers.

Trends Shaping Rare Disease Care

Looking ahead,Alessandra sees the growing integration of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and genomic data into clinical practice as one of the most important developments. “These tools have the potential to significantly shorten the diagnostic journey, support earlier intervention, and enable more personalized care for patients whose conditions are often complex and multisystemic,” she notes.

She also emphasizes the increasing importance of cross-border

collaboration. Initiatives such as the European Reference Networks demonstrate how shared expertise, virtual consultations, and coordinated research can help address fragmentation across diverse healthcare systems. Finally, she highlights the growing role of patients and patient organizations in shaping research priorities, care pathways, and policy frameworks, bringing lived experience into decision-making across the ecosystem.

AI and Early Diagnosis

Alessandra believes artificial intelligence is beginning to transform how rare diseases are identified and assessed. By analyzing complex clinical data and imaging,AI tools can help clinicians detect patterns earlier, prioritize patients who need

specialist referral, and support more precise decision-making in cases where symptoms are often overlapping or unclear.

“AI-enabled tools are reshaping rare disease diagnosis by spotting patterns the human eye might miss and helping clinicians reach the right diagnosis earlier,” she explains. “When combined with facial recognition algorithms that detect subtle phenotypic clues, these technologies can turn scattered clinical signals into clearer diagnostic insights and help patients reach specialized care sooner.”

Strengthening Systems for Earlier Diagnosis

Alessandra believes stronger collaboration across medical

specialties is key to improving how quickly rare diseases are identified. Bringing together expertise from geneticists, primary care providers, neurologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, pediatricians, and other specialists allows complex symptoms to be assessed more holistically and helps ensure patients are referred to the right experts sooner.

When supported by teleconsultations, shared electronic health records, and integrated care networks such as the European Reference Networks, this coordinated approach can strengthen early recognition and improve access to advanced diagnostics.

“Multidisciplinary collaboration can significantly accelerate faster and more accurate diagnoses by bringing together complementary expertise and reducing fragmented care,” she explains.

She also highlights the importance of stronger partnerships between research institutions and industry to accelerate therapeutic progress.

“Strengthening collaboration networks between researchers and industry is essential to accelerate studies and bring new therapies to patients faster,” she notes.

Alessandra emphasizes that advancing scientific innovation must go hand in hand with ensuring equitable patient access to new therapies. “We balance innovation and fair access by making sure new ideas are guided by solid evidence, shared expert agreement, and a clear understanding of what patients actually need,” she says. In practice, this means ensuring that new therapies and technologies are introduced in ways that are transparent, consistent, and focused on real-world patient outcomes.

Leadership and Collaboration Across the Rare Disease Ecosystem

Leading rare disease strategy across Mediterranean healthcare systems has shapedAlessandra's approach to navigating complex and diverse environments. She emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural context, institutional dynamics, and how patients and clinicians engage with care across different countries.

“Leading rare disease strategy across Mediterranean health systems has shown me how powerful culturally attuned leadership can be when navigating a region that shares deep common values yet differs widely in how decisions are made, how patients engage with care, and how institutions operate,” she explains.

She believes progress depends on listening closely and adapting strategies to local realities rather than applying a single blueprint across different systems. “The most effective leaders learn to listen first, really understanding what clinicians, patients, and policymakers need, then translate those insights into strategies that people feel a sense of ownership over,” she notes.

Alessandra also emphasizes the value of partnerships in improving support for people living with rare diseases and their families.Arecent initiative united clinicians, researchers, patient organizations, and policy specialists to identify unmet needs and develop practical recommendations for care pathways and policy alignment.

“Arecent collaboration advancing support for rare disease patients, their families, and the wider community is the launch of a multistakeholder initiative built on two complementary pillars: an independent evidence platform and an expert consensus process,” she explains. The effort also aims to create a shared roadmap for integrating digital andAI-enabled innovation into rare disease care, helping improve support for patients and their families.

Staying Grounded While Leading Change

Managing responsibilities across strategy, scientific development, and regional leadership requires Alessandra to be intentional about how she approaches each role. She explains that each domain demands a different kind of focus, presence, and energy, making it important to maintain a rhythm that allows her to shift between them while staying clear and effective.

“I've learned that the only way to stay centered across these three domains is to be intentional about how I show up in each of them. They require different kinds of thinking, different kinds of presence, and different kinds of energy,” she reflects.

For her, what connects these responsibilities is a shared foundation of purpose, curiosity, and a commitment to supporting others.

“Strategy, scientific development, and regional leadership each ask something different of me, but they all draw from the same inner place: clarity of purpose, curiosity, and a commitment to elevating others,” she notes.

Conclusion

For Alessandra Vignoli, advancing rare disease care is ultimately about staying connected to purpose and to the people behind the science. Whether through multidisciplinary collaboration, digital innovation, or stronger partnerships across research, policy, and patient communities, she believes lasting progress comes from aligning scientific possibility with real patient needs.

By listening closely, building trust across systems, and thinking long term, healthcare leaders can help create more resilient and equitable rare disease ecosystems that deliver earlier diagnosis, better support, and meaningful improvements in patients' lives.

Leading with Purpose in Healthcare's Future

Alessandra encourages future healthcare leaders to remain grounded in the purpose that drives their work, especially in complex areas like rare diseases, where progress is often gradual and uncertain. “My advice to future healthcare leaders is to stay deeply connected to purpose. Healthcare - especially in rare diseases - is complex, can move slowly, and often involves a great deal of uncertainty,” she explains.

She also emphasizes the importance of curiosity, humility, and collaboration across disciplines. “No single discipline or institution can solve the challenges of rare diseases alone. Lasting impact comes from

listening to patients, learning from clinicians and researchers, and building partnerships that bring together different perspectives and expertise,” she adds.

Finally, she highlights the value of long-term thinking when working to transform healthcare systems and expand access to innovation.

“Transforming care systems, improving diagnosis, and expanding access to innovation takes persistence. The most meaningful impact often comes from the leaders who are patient enough to build foundations today that will benefit patients for years to come,” she concludes.

Rebuilding Trust, Ethics, and Excellence in Iraq’s Pharmaceutical Future

Abdullah Abdulrazzaq

Founder | Axis pharmaceutical consultation/Iraq

In a country where healthcare has endured decades of disruption, rebuilding systems is not merely a technical challenge, it is a moral responsibility.AbdullahAbdulrazzaq, Founder ofAxis Pharmaceutical Consultation in Iraq, understands this reality with uncommon clarity. With over 26 years of experience across regional and multinational pharmaceutical organizations, Abdullah has lived through Iraq's most turbulent healthcare transitions and emerged with a singular purpose: to help reshape the pharmaceutical sector into one that is ethical, patientcentered, and globally aligned. His journey is not defined by ambition alone, but by a deep sense of duty to restore credibility, knowledge, and access within a system long affected by isolation and imbalance.

AMarket Transformed,A Responsibility Realized

The turning point that inspired

Abdullah to establishAxis Pharmaceutical Consultation can be traced back to Iraq's post-2003 transformation. Once almost entirely dependent on government supply through KIMADIA, the healthcare system shifted dramatically toward privatization, with nearly 80 percent of medical demand now met by the private sector. This change created opportunity, but also exposed serious gaps in regulation, expertise, and ethical practice.

ForAbdullah, this moment demanded action. “I felt a strong responsibility to contribute what I had learned to this critical phase of Iraq's healthcare evolution,” he explains.After decades of working with leading pharmaceutical companies across local and international markets, he recognized that Iraq needed more than products, it needed guidance, structure, and professional consultancy to navigate its new reality.Axis was founded to serve as

that bridge, connecting global pharmaceutical players with Iraqi businesses while ensuring that patients gained access to modern, effective treatment options.

Reconnecting Iraq to Global Pharmaceutical Progress

One of the most pressing challenges Abdullah sought to address was Iraq's prolonged disconnection from global pharmaceutical advancements. Years of sanctions and economic blockade from the 1990s until 2003 had left the country lagging behind while innovation accelerated elsewhere.As a result, many therapies available in Iraq became outdated, limiting patient outcomes and clinical progress.

EstablishingAxis was, in many ways, an act of reintegration.Abdullah envisioned a consultancy that could help the Iraqi market catch up to global standards while respecting local realities. “Innovation must be

adapted, not imported blindly,” he asserts. His approach focuses on translating international best practices into practical, ethical, and sustainable solutions tailored to Iraq's regulatory and cultural framework.

AVision Forged by Experience Across Eras

Having worked both before and after 2003,Abdullah brings a rare dual perspective to pharmaceutical leadership. Prior to the market shift, pharmacists in Iraq played a largely restricted role, dispensing centrally approved therapies with limited autonomy. Post-2003, the expansion of the private sector created new possibilities, but also new risks.

This contrast shaped the vision behind Axis.Abdullah believes Iraq must align with global pharmaceutical trends while empowering local expertise. “The goal is not to imitate, but to evolve intelligently,” he explains.Axis operates at the intersection of science, ethics, and communication, ensuring that progress translates into real-world impact rather than theoretical advancement.

Ethics as the Foundation of Advancement

At the core ofAbdullah's mission is a commitment to raising pharmaceutical standards through ethical promotion and evidence-based practice. He emphasizes that

sustainable growth in healthcare cannot exist without trust. “Shortterm gains achieved at the expense of compliance always result in long-term loss,” he states firmly.

ThroughAxis, he works to empower healthcare professionals with the knowledge and ethical mindset required for responsible engagement. Continuous professional development, transparent communication, and patient-centered thinking are not optional values, they are foundational principles. For Abdullah, advancing pharmaceutical standards means aligning scientific rigor with moral accountability.

Overcoming Regulatory Barriers Through Persistence

Launching Iraq's first formally recognized pharmaceutical consultancy was no simple task. Regulatory uncertainty posed the greatest challenge, requiring nearly nine years of legal study and dialogue.Abdullah submitted his first formal request to the Iraqi Pharmacists Syndicate in 2016, initiating extensive discussions about compliance, professional scope, and the role of consultancy within pharmaceutical business.

“It was the first time pharmacists were officially positioned to play a recognized role in business consultancy,” he explains.After years of persistence and regulatory refinement, approval was finally granted in September 2025, a milestone not just forAxis, but for the profession as a whole. The achievement stands as a testament to Abdullah's belief that systemic change requires patience, credibility, and unwavering commitment.

DefiningAchievements Beyond Commercial Success

Throughout his career,Abdullah has led and introduced several landmark initiatives, including the launch of low-molecular-weight heparin (Clexane) with Sanofi, advanced prostate cancer therapies, and multiple vaccine programs during his tenure as Country Manager for GSK in Iraq. He also played a key role in elevating Julphar's presence in the Iraqi market to regional prominence.

Yet, he considers his co-initiation of the Pharmaceutical Promotion League in 2017 among his most meaningful achievements. The organization

became a vital link between the Ministry of Health and the private sector, representing pharmaceutical companies and scientific bureaus while promoting ethical engagement. His collaboration with the Iraqi Pharmacists Syndicate and academic institutions further reflects his commitment to preparing the next generation for global competitiveness.

Innovation with Responsibility and Purpose

When advising organizations, Abdullah approaches innovation with discipline rather than hype. He begins by identifying unmet needs, whether in patient outcomes, physician

engagement, access, or internal efficiency, before proposing solutions. “Innovation must balance creativity with compliance,” he explains.

Akey focus of his work is translating complex scientific data into actionable insights for healthcare professionals. While digital tools and AI are valuable,Abdullah emphasizes that people, skills, and mindset remain the true drivers of sustainable progress. Innovation, in his view, should enhance value delivery while safeguarding ethics and patient wellbeing.

Leadership Grounded in People and Clarity

Abdullah's leadership philosophy is shaped by hard-earned lessons. He believes people consistently outperform strategies, making coaching and empowerment central to success. Clear priorities, transparent communication, and timely decisionmaking define his approach, along with staying closely connected to real market conditions rather than operating from a distance.

Most importantly, he measures leadership success by the independence and growth of others. “Strong leaders develop successors, not followers,” he explains. This belief extends to his client relationships, which are built on trust, honesty, and long-term partnership rather than transactional exchange.

Shaping the Future of Iraq's Pharmaceutical Sector

Looking ahead,Abdullah envisions a pharmaceutical sector in Iraq that is credible, patient-centric, and respected beyond national borders. His long-term goal is to raise ethical and scientific standards, develop local talent, bridge global practices with local realities, and shift commercial thinking toward outcomes rather than volume.

He also sees data-driven healthcare, real-world evidence, digital tools, and AI analytics transforming the industry by 2026, provided innovation remains responsible and compliant. “The most successful organizations are those that innovate with purpose,” he asserts.

ALegacy of Trust and Long-Term Impact

AsAbdullahAbdulrazzaq reflects on his journey, his focus remains firmly on the future. He hopes to leave

behind a healthcare ecosystem built on transparency, professionalism, and trust, one that supports sustainable growth and earns international confidence. For him, leadership is not about titles, but about integrity, learning, and human-centered thinking.

“The leaders who will shape the future of pharma,”Abdullah

Abdulrazzaq says, “are those willing to play the long game, combining scientific rigor, ethical leadership, and a genuine commitment to people.”

ThroughAxis Pharmaceutical Consultation, he continues to do exactly that, helping Iraq's pharmaceutical sector move forward with clarity, credibility, and conviction.

A Rebrand for SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Wayne J. Riley

President | SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University recently launched a transformative rebranding campaign that reflects its long-term vision for advancing education, research, and clinical care while honoring Downstate's historical legacy of achievement.

“This rebrand is our effort to capture our true spirit, the prominence of our contributions, and the value of Downstate on the local, national, and global stages,” said Wayne J. Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, MACP, president of SUNY Downstate

The new brand incorporates the breadth of Downstate's multipart mission. It provides a platform for strategic growth expansion, all while allowing Downstate to better tell its story as an institution committed to innovation, inclusiveness, and health equity.

The launch featured a new logo and website that establishes an approachable and contemporary visual identity. In addition, a subbrand encompassing all of Downstate's clinical offerings, services, and sites—Downstate Health—was announced. Supplementing this change, Downstate's flagship onsite teaching hospital was renamed “University Hospital at Downstate.” The brand roll-out includes a series of ads targeting key stakeholders and the Brooklyn community to be launched in early spring.

This initiative is the most significant effort undertaken by Downstate to revamp its institutional identity comprehensively. The rebrand was essential given the current healthcare landscape and that academic medical centers must be increasingly forwardthinking and agile to remain competitive.

As part of the research and thought process for representative imagery in the logo, Downstate needed to strike the right balance. In capturing Downstate's mission and legacy, the logo adopted the shield—a traditional symbol of strength—surrounding iconic elements: the Rod ofAsclepius to represent clinical care, an open book to capture Downstate's education programs, and a representation of the nitric oxide molecule as an homage to the scientific accomplishments of Dr. Robert F. Furchgott, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine while a member of the Downstate faculty.

Downstate's new website is one of the rebrand's most dramatic and visible components. The new look is a modern design created to accommodate easy navigation, better showcase Downstate, and be userfriendly. It also offers prospective

students, employees, researchers, medical professionals, and other stakeholders a more comprehensive understanding of the Downstate enterprises. In all, more than 30,000 pages of content were migrated to the new look.

“We work in one of the best academic medical centers in the country,” said Carla Boutin-Foster, M.D.,Associate Dean for Diversity Education and Research in Downstate's College of Medicine. “When we step out our doors, we see the reality of health disparities. But we also see the possibility of how with innovative ideas, we can center and anchor equity in excellence – and that's the future of medicine and the future of

Downstate that we want to tell with this rebrand.”

More information on SUNY Downstate's Brand Transformation can be found at:

ANew Year and Exciting New Look for SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.

About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is the borough's only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care. It is a 342-bed facility serving the healthcare needs of New York City and Brooklyn's 2.6 million residents.

In addition, the University Hospital at Downstate serves as the Institution's onsite teaching hospital, backed by an outstanding medical school's expertise and world-class academic center research facilities. More than 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialties—many of them ranked as tops in their fields—comprise Downstate's staff.

In addition to high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis (kidney diseases)—and offering the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn, among many other distinctive programs—Downstate also sponsors a major learning center for young children with developmental disorders and disabilities.

Downstate also comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at @sunydownstate

An Author, Mental Health Advocate, and Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Striving To Help Those Addicted Become Recovery Revolutions

Honesty Liller

CEO | The McShin Foundation

CEOs are leaders who ensure that their companies have an effective risk operating model, governance structure, and risk culture. Great CEOs spend time thinking about, articulating, and championing their company's purpose as it relates to the big-picture impact of day-to-day business practices. Today boards of directors, senior managers, and investors intensely look forward to how CEOs handle the ups and downs of running businesses.

Honesty Liller, CEO of The McShin Foundation believes that “success” means achieving goals in your life. Some may say success is a fiscal word, but she has so many different successes that make her a happy human that isn't just her paycheck. Honesty's mission as CEO is firmly rooted in community outreach and involvement. She gets to walk in her purpose every day helping those in

the community heal from their addiction. She is responsible for community and fundraising events, advocacy, and public relations, and is a Recovery Coach to females in our program.

Challenges make you stronger

Honesty Liller is a woman in longterm recovery from addiction. She has been drug and alcohol-free since May 27, 2007. “I am in recovery from an opiate addiction and there are more than enough challenges that I have had to overcome,” she says.As a female leader, she has had to learn how to speak up for what she needs, what is ethically correct for the organization, and celebrate herself and those around her. The main roadblocks have been trying to control situations, wanting her voice to be heard, learning how to delegate duties, and letting things go.

The growth of the McShin Foundation under Honesty's Leadership

“McShin helped to save my life when I needed help with my addiction. There were three recovery homes when I moved into the female housing,” states Honesty. The President, John Shinholser hired her once she left housing after residing there for five months. John, Honesty, their board of directors, and their amazing staff throughout all these fourteen years have built the foundation to where it is now.

They now have fifteen recovery residences, three judicial recovery programs, family programming, wellness programming, and a Recovery Community Center. She says that her contribution to this growth is staying consistent with programming, following a budget,

fundraising/development, and knowing when to let something go.

The best recognition received as a leader

“Honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing when I started working at McShin. I really just wanted to help the women in the housing with their recovery,” says Honesty. Days turn to months and months to years.Along the way she has completed the Stanford Nonprofit Leadership weeklong program, the Emerging Nonprofit Leadership Program here in Richmond through, The Community Foundation, and a lot of online pieces of training as well as in-person leadership too. She has been interviewed for many news articles,

TV interviews, and podcasts. The biggest recognition she states that she can get from being a female leader is seeing the women that work at McShin achieve their goals and show them that females can be leaders.

“I am grateful to even be alive. The life that I led up to finding McShin was going to kill me so I have definitely achieved dreams I never even knew I could have,” she says. She recently published her

first book “Scattered Pink” and that was a huge achievement for her. She strongly states that the life she has today is something that she has worked beyond hard for and she is honored to be in it.

One major thing Honesty wants to achieve is to start a women and children's recovery home at McShin. And she really wants to take a trip to an island that has a house in the ocean. “Truly I just want to live a fun, happy, rewarding, and fulfilling life,” she says.

Responsibilities as CEO at The McShin Foundation

Right before Honesty came to McShin, she was addicted to heroin. McShin's program helped to save her life and she claims that she is forever grateful. “Not only do I get to have a career that I love, but I get to help humans that are like me,” she exclaims.

Her responsibilities include fundraising, donor development, advocacy locally and nationally, leadership development, recovery coaching women in their housing, budget management, grant writing, and event management.

Maintaining a balance in personal and professional life

Honesty doesn't believe in balance, she use to but as she has gotten older she believes she puts enough energy into all areas in her life when it is needed. She has learned throughout her career and home life that she has had too many expectations of herself to be the “best” leader, mom, and wife. Recovery has given her two amazing children, a loving husband, a family that supports her, her two doggies, and the ability to help others through the career that she loves.

“Every day I work on my soul a little more and try to live in radical gratitude. Every day is a true gift, why not live the best today you can?

The work that we do at McShin certainly is rewarding, but also very challenging,” she states. Helping humans that have an addiction is beautiful but hard. So, they incorporate staff wellness days, quarterly staff outings/events, lots of parties for celebrations, bonuses for recovery celebration dates, and dayto-day encouragement as well as affirmations. “We are a team at McShin and it is not just a job for us,

we are family,” says Honesty. Her mission in life is to make a difference, live day to day, be happy, and reduce the negative outlook of addiction.

Her message to all the aspiring business leaders out there is: be passionate, be kind to yourself, follow your goals and if they don't work out make more, and continue to work on your heart. “If I can do it, so can you!” she exclaims.

Introducing the Health Benefits of CBD Products

Tony Calamita

Co - Founder and CEO | Love Hemp Goup PLC

CBD is one of the world's fastest-growing industries and is set to be worth $20 billion globally by 2025. Its popularity as a natural yet powerful support for pain management, sleep disorders, and anxiety to name but a few have grown exponentially over recent years.

Seeing the major benefits of CBD and the requirement of quality CBD, in 2015, Tony Calamita founded Love Hemp with Thomas Rowland. According to Tony, Tom initially became aware of CBD when searching for treatments and remedies to help his father who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. The duo started the business with just £3000 and begun as a very humble bedroom start-up selling only online. Within the first few years, the company had grown to multimillion-pound revenue figures organically, without the need for additional investment.

Love Hemp

Love Hemp is a health and wellness brand with an ethos to help people naturally improve their quality of life. The core offering is CBD products, CBD is short for Cannabidiol which is one of the key active ingredients found in the cannabis or hemp plant. The company offers a range of over 40 CBD-infused products such as ingestible oils, capsules, chocolates, vegan sweets, and topical creams.All products have zero THC which means they are non-psychoactive, a commonly associated effect of cannabis products.

Today Love Hemp has around 50 fulltime team members operating from offices in Croydon and Manchester. Their multi-award-winning products are stocked in over 2000 outlets across the UK and Europe, including major UK high street retailers such as Boots and Holland & Barrett. The

business is now preparing for a global launch across Europe, NorthAmerica, Asia, andAustralasia to build a global footprint.

Success; Living a Purposeful Life

For Tony, success has meant many different things through different stages of his life. He says, “I'm fortunate enough to have now achieved many of those things that I would have considered a success in my younger youth.” He describes the ultimate success as living a life that is truly fulfilled and happy, and one that allows one to realise his or her full potential. He points, to achieve that it needs to be a combination of goals that align to four key pillars; health, wealth, relationships and most importantly meaning, that is having a purpose in life that contributes to something greater than oneself.

Passion for Health and Fitness and Beginning of Life-Long Journey

Since his teenage years, Tony has had a passion for health and fitness. He recalls, “I remember dragging my first set of dumbbell weights home from the store in town when I was around 15 years old, I couldn't move my arms or legs for around a week afterwards.” Over the years he grew a real love for health and fitness, achieving his own results and helping other people achieve their goals brought him huge fulfilment. This was when Tony found his passion.

After finishing college at 18 years old, Tony worked as a lifeguard for the next year to save up and study to qualify as a fitness instructor/personal

trainer. He says, “It was a job I loved but I soon realised it was not going to pay for the life I desired, I continued with the profession sporadically whilst attempting multiple start-up businesses throughout my twenties trying to make my break in the business world.”

“I love to be different and disruptive and when the opportunity with CBD presented itself it was almost perfect, ticking so many of my boxes,” says Tony. He further adds, “Without consciously doing it my brain seems to be wired to always be looking for opportunities, how could something be improved or changed by thinking really outside the box. Seeing the world and everything in it for what it

could be, rather than what it currently was. When your brain is orientated that way, and an opportunity presents itself, then it doesn't feel like a leap of faith, if you believe in the concept then you just go for it and never look back.”

Growth stands out of Comfort Zone

“Challenges are a part of everyday life for all of us, they can be tough on us both physically and mentally, but it's needed to grow, it can make us stronger once reaching the other side whether by success or failure,” says Tony. He further shares that a challenge is an opportunity to bring out the best in someone or even an entire organisation. It applies the stress that is sometimes required to get out of the comfort zone, and this is when that magical thing called growth happens.

Growth is rarely a comfortable process, but it's fundamental in achieving success. However, standing still and staying in the comfort zone is almost a guaranteed route to failure. Tony opines, “Ultimately if you want the most out of life you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable because a life without challenge is effectively meaningless, you will have nothing to compare the good times too and you certainly will never grow.”

Tony encourages aspiring business leaders not to fear failure, embrace it and learn from it because another failure means success is one step closer. He also advises, “Serve as a role model, be passionate and most importantly invest heavily into the continual development of yourself and your team.”

Keeping EveryoneAlign with the Common Goal

Since becoming CEO of the parent company that originally acquired Love Hemp, Tony's role has changed significantly. Now, his time is spent supporting the leadership team within the operational Love Hemp subsidiary whilst also having the responsibility of leading a publicly listed company, which is a whole new experience to him that he is embracing whole heartily.

As a CEO, Tony's primary job is to set and then drive the company's

mission and vision throughout every level of the organization. He confirms that all the departments such as marketing, operations, and sales are centrally aligned to shared goals whilst ensuring that all employees understand their purpose and feel inspired in their work.According to Tony, company culture is paramount, and this is something the CEO of an organisation must own and be accountable for. He asserts, “I feel incredibly fortunate that our products are life-changing for many people and with this, it's easy for many employees to find real meaning in their work.”

APerfect Balance; Set Priorities and Find Love in what you do

“Balance between personal and professional life is one of the hardest things and one must accept there is no perfect work/life balance,” says Tony. He further adds, “I love what I do, work does not feel like work, and usually it can be very difficult for me to think about anything but work, sometimes I try to switch off but it's almost impossible.”

As per Tony, it is essential to have dedicated periods where one disconnects from work but knows

how to be fluid and prioritise what is more important in any given situation Tony usually has a complete break on the weekends.At least one of the days if not both, and usually spends that time with friends and family.

ToAchieve Global Presence

Tony is leading to build the brands global footprint and wants to have products readily available to at least one billion potential customers within the next year. He further adds that the primary objective is to establish domestic e-commerce channels in at

least 6 countries across 4 continents, each one having local distribution for efficient delivery. The team states, “We will compound our presence by establishing high street retail distribution in each of those countries.”

Today the company operates as 'Love Hemp Group PLC' which is publicly listed on theAcquis Stock Exchange 'LIFE:AQSE'. The team is now preparing for a move to the main market London Stock Exchange later this yearwhich will bring increased liquidity and investor access.

Tony's individual goal for the future is to continually develop both personally and professionally and inspire all those around him to do the same. He says, “I believe it's such a key ingredient to actualising your full potential, and only then will you be best equipped to take on the world and its challenges.”

The drudgery and perseverance of stomping the Franchise Industry

Jennifer Pinasco

CEO | Yosemite Pathology

Any individual who chooses entrepreneurship over any professional pursuit isn't someone who finds their paradigm in recluse rather are someone who is a visualizer and actualizer. They have the tendency to visualize indistinctively and the moment they sacrifice their idiosyncratic nature, they build automation of the entire process to market ahead. In a conversation with Jennifer Desloges who is the Founder and President of Jade Clinics proclaims her definitive meaning of success wherein she believes that being successful means that everybody who is directly or indirectly associated with the organization including their clients/franchises/practitioners/staff and vendors is happy with the quality of service and support they are perceiving and the organization is providing.

Pain and Discovery:

It is evidentially a matter of being convinced that a major portion of the pie that distinguishes between successful entrepreneurs and nonsuccessful entrepreneurs is the outcome of their own struggle and perseverance. There is a similar incident that has had led Jennifer to discover this profession while she was indeliberately struggling with her unwanted hair. The outcome of the realization she has had encountered and the moment of discovery that electrolysis has given her the passion to pay the mission forward and solve the problems for others struggling with unwanted hair and going through the similar pain she went once, marked the foundation stone of her commencement of entrepreneurial journey.

The initial boulders:

Any individual who has been in the constituent bubble and ecosystem of entrepreneurship journey knows and believes that their work shall fill in a major portion of the viability and the only measure that can be converted into a successful action is to truly and madly work on something that brings satisfaction and outcome that has the potential to create a huge impact on all others viability who are directly or indirectly associated with the bubble mentioned. This result shall only be attained if the entrepreneur is able to perform the great work with utmost passion and dedication rather than forcing themselves to work for wherewithal. If they haven't found it yet, they should continue to skip and keep looking. They should never settle because they need to.As with all matters of the heart, they'll know when they have found it since that

won't smell like regret ever. The hugest boulders that Jennifer has had encountered after she found the smell of her passion that has captivated her brain was to have to work in private practice for the commencement of her career. She exclaimed that it was difficult for her to transition to leading a group of practitioners on a recurring basis. She has had spent approx 2 years making mistakes and educating herself on how to lead effectively when she is on her own at a later date, and to this day she is still learning. She quotes further as a source of motivation that, “Roadblocks though challenging at the moment are opportunities to grow, learn from and improve.”

Perceiving the utility:

The quality attained through the utilization of a product or a service by the end consumer is not what the supplier or the manufacturer has instilled or put in. It is the notion of what exactly the end consumer is able to attain through the utilization and the monetary consideration they are paying to obtain it. There are multitudes of factors that cause this differentiation since the quality that is obtained and not instilled in any product or service is because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money, as manufacturers typically believe. Upon sharing the range of products and services of Jade Clinics, Jennifer states that her venture is offering more than just electrolysis hair

removal services. With the introduction of variants of new offerings and services on the list like body sculpting and skin rejuvenation services, Jade Clinics is disrupting the franchising service industry at a rapid pace.

The ambition of fortune:

It is often advised to an entrepreneur that whenever they have had made their mind to do a thing, it is inevitable that though it can never be known but to themselves, they should often ask themselves how they would attempt to act if the entire universe has had set their eye looking at them, and act accordingly. Reminiscing her core values of the organization, Jennifer mentions a few pointers for our perusal:

•We value every client relationship.

•To be honest and have integrity in EVERYTHING we do.

•To educate thus providing comfort and clear expectations.

The prevailing attitude:

If an entrepreneur has had made a pact that they shall be aiming to attempt and are going to achieve excellence in big things, they also have to develop the habit and amendments of the same factor in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude that is practiced without failure to not deviate from the aim. In her pearl of wisdom, Jennifer exclaims that Franchising gives them the opportunity through rigorous training of a committed individual to duplicate their hard work and success in the market that works best for them,

without physically being in every franchised location ourselves. The opportunity for growth in the franchise model is what attracted them to this system and they are thriving hard to be the best in it.

The measurement of autonomy:

There is no entrepreneur in the spectrum of business that has been able to lay the foundation of a great business if they want to perform all the activities and line of actions and keep taking credit individually. Jeniffer mentions that her employees and franchisees are granted a very high level of autonomy when they join Jade Clinics. They have full control of their schedule, allowing them to choose which days they are willing to work and the hours of the day they prefer as per their convenience. They rely heavily on the amendments of the recruitment process while selecting the individuals that can thrive with this level of freedom. The training builds heavily on these personal characteristics to thrive.At the end of the day, their clients keep them honest and are the best motivation. This according to Jennifer is extremely rewarding, when a client tells her that she has changed their life in a positive manner. Marching ahead to her roadmap, Jennifer proclaims that she is planning ahead to award 3 franchises a year till they hit 25 total franchises.At this stage, she is planning on reinforcing her head office operations by hiring a qualified support team, with the ultimate goal of retiring. She is looking forward to fulfilling her dream of doing this by 2027. In her conclusive pearl of wisdom for all the aspiring woman entrepreneurs, she leaves them with this simple message: “Never let anyone decide your future for you, follow your passion and break down every wall that is stopping you from fulfilling it and never look back.”

Changing Lives with a Healthy Approach

Madeline Ross

CEO | SuperSlow Zone LLC

Madeline Ross is a passionate businesswoman who was driven by her vision to nurture a change of lifestyle.Addressing one of the most vital concerns which is health, she founded SuperSlow Zone one of the leading premium and welfare franchise that specializes in personal strength and balance, strong bone health and Type 2 Diabetes programs and many more health beneficial programs. The global presence of SuperSlow Zone LLC defines Madeline's success as an inspiring businesswoman. We are thrilled to share her journey in this exclusive article as we learn the business from the expert herself, Madeline Ross, Founder and CEO of SuperSlow Zone LLC.

What were dreams and aspirations while growing up?

I was going to be a 'Dance

Therapist'…LOL…so I could use something I really enjoyed helping others. I was then going to be an Environmental Lawyer [until I worked as a para-legal and learned it had very little to do with 'justice'…]. Finally, my very conservative Dad asked, “Looking ahead, do you want to be a teacher, secretary or air stewardess? I said, “No, Dad, I am going to be board, Chairman of the Board.”And so I am: helping others, doing things I really love and leading 3 companies.

What led to the foundation of SuperSlow Zone, LLC?

I was working for the Institute of Directors [IOD], London, England, which enabled me to work for various companies in 9 countries. I grew very dissatisfied with how senior executives treated employees, the awful behavior of some executives and they still got their 'golden

parachute' on the way out…finally, that I was not really helping others [even though I love the travel, diverse cultures, etc.]. So committed to changing this.

What led you into the franchise industry?

Two things. I knew I wanted to offer services that enabled people to help themselves.And I had a seasoned franchise expert ask me if I had considered using franchising for the service I wanted to bring to the world. After research and developing a team to explore the concept I created, we plunged!

What were the initial challenges and setbacks you faced? How did you overcome it?

Two big ones.

• Accreditation: Our first service

was 'SuperSlow Zone personal strength training'. I knew the 'personal training' industry was an undisciplined mess! I was going to position as a 'professional service' [like a physician, attorney, CPS, service.] Professional services are governed by 'accreditation' [both to get their license and required continuing education]. I got expert help and we achieved accreditation by IACET.org the same year we opened our first franchises.

IACET accredits the National Institute of Health,American Physical TherapyAssociation, Centers for Disease Control, Duke University Medical Center, Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Corporate University, GE Healthcare and many others.

This means we founded our second business, SuperSlow Zone Institute. It is the education arm of our franchise.

• Shareholder Lawsuit in Years 3 and 4 : Our initial investor was one of the princes of the Emir of Qatar. I got wind of a likely hostile takeover so I sued them first. They sued me and SSZ.And away we went into a horrible legal challenge. We are a very organized company so responding to them happened in rapid time.At one point, my two attorneys, who had just completed a lunch meeting with

their attorneys, came to my office and basically said, “They have more money than you can imagine, they are mean, they want to take your company. Settle.”

I told them, “I know my body is crying but I want you to ignore this and listen only to my words. 'I am going to win'. How? “I will buy them out.”And I did…sounds so easy and put together now…but it was really, hard and awful…but I did it!

As a woman in the franchise industry did you feel it was difficult to survive.

No. I cut my teeth in the high-tech and manufacturing industries. I was seasoned at surviving and thriving. Same hard challenges working internationally. Franchising has been a piece of cake regarding this compared to my previous experience. PLUS, there are so many incredible women helping women, helping everyone, in franchising.

Is the franchise industry a common career path for women?

I don't have the numbers on this. It should be.

How has franchising helped the growth of SuperSlow Zone?

First, franchising embodies one of my most important principles: mutuality = 'has to work for you, has to work for me/us'. SSZ Corporate wins when the franchisees win [first].And, of course, mutual accountability meaning we are tied at the hip in all aspects of business and as good people. The International Franchise Association, our primary industry association, is the best in the

th world.We just completed our 60 annual convention;the education, technology resources, etc….all-round help is best in class. Period. So helpful and supportive.

Franchising is a landscape of adventure, growth and development for me personally, our team and all the stakeholders…while doing something we feel passionate about. I/we get to address our struggles, weakness and fears [an inside job]

with the support of others while doing good for the world. We all like this.

Tell us in brief about the services of SuperSlow Zone

We Have Three Companies:

1.SuperSlow Zone: premium wellness and exercise studios [franchises] in USA, Turkey and Colombia

2.SuperSlow Zone Institute: education engine of our brand

3.SuperSlow Zone Technology and eCommerce: central services support for our brand and all thing technology

Brand Promise:

Maximum, Measurable Results In Minimum Time

5 Services –All Delivered One Accredited, Certified Instructor with One Client

•Personal Strength & Balance: 20 minutes, 2 x/week

•Strong Bone Health: 15 minutes, 1 x/week

•LowerA1C: 15 minutes, 1/x week

•Healthy Eating/ Weight Loss: 12 weeks

•Healthy Slimming with UltraSlim: 45 minutes, 8 sessions

Our Glorious, Primary Clients: ages 40 – 85+

•Busy people/general exerciser

•Medical exerciser: helping people with 52 medical health conditions/injuries

“NotAGym” –APremium, Professional Studio

•Personalized program focused on results

•One instructor with one client, continuously [no classes]

•IACET accredited certified instructors

•No membership fees or long-term packages

What is the business growth strategy of SuperSlow Zone?

Our Growth Journey Strategy will accomplish maximum help for our client in many countries, establishing a very profitable return for investors and franchisees and creating retirement wealth for our franchisees and front-line staff.

How do you define the growth SuperSlow Zone over the past few years? (Can be explained with statistical data too)

Intentionally slow and stable. I know the challenges for our franchisees.At different times, I have intentionally paused sales to new franchisees because we needed to fix some things. Once fixed, I would re-start franchise sales. I will always pause franchise sales, at any time, if I need to, so that we can strengthen our weaknesses before we accept additional franchise owners.Always a team effort.

It is my job, with the franchisee's help, to bring them the best branding, marketing, technology systems and service solutions possible. Of course, these are constantly changing given the tsunami of technology change. It is the franchisee's job to deliver exceptional services and care for each client individually every visit Additionally, they must provide consistent meaningful-to-our-client measurable results.

Our franchisee studios run as an 82% to 92% annual client loyalty rate [retention]. They earn this with each

client…every visit. This is the engine for recurring revenues and long-term profitability.

What is your vision for the company?

For Our Clients:

BE STRONG, HEALTHY, LOOK AND FEELGOOD AT EVERY AGE.

For Our Company & Stakeholders

Maximum success and profitability by caring for our clients. Wealth creation as a natural and focused result of doing good for and with others. Lots of personal growth and fun along the way. Effective global contribution.

Is the franchise industry a competitive one? How does SuperSlow Zone deal with this competition?

Absolutely. Bring it on! We have an 'all-hands-on-deck' approach. Our company engages the following. Most importantly = listening to the ideas, insights, desires, aspirations and complaints of our clients to push the boundaries of our competitive advantage. This is entwined with internal and external help from advisory groups, CEO groups, and professional associations.

Finally, reading, and hunting for insights, innovations and ideas for our brand from medical, wellness, biotech, technology, antiaging,research experts and award-

winning news sights. Finally, surveys of staff and franchiseesby external resources.

Give us a brief of your life before SuperSlow Zone

Worked since age 12. I have large multi-national corporation experience and entrepreneurial experience. Prior SSZ, I was the CEO of Gylanix

Institute where I designed business systems that are now implemented in SSZ franchises worldwide. Through the Institute of Director [IOD], London, England, I worked with companies throughout Europe and LatinAmerica.As Marketing Manager of Borland International, we grew to $10 million in gross revenues company within 10 months.

Tell us about your roles and responsibilities as the CEO of SuperSlow Zone and how does it make you feel?

I LOVE WHAT I DO!!! Even working though doubts, fears, roaring business challenges and personal patterns that don't serve me and others…well, I love it when I am through these. LOL. Equally

important, and very fun, is 'reading/listening to the world' to bring innovation and care for our clients…more and different than they expected. My primary role is the above. This of course includes strategic growth, capital to grow and working with the right people.

What are your greatest achievements?

Our greatest achievement, as a company, is helping thousands of people be accountable for their strength and health, with our fine expertise. Our clients also look and feel good – whatever that means to them. Our clients are the fragile of the fragile, peak performing athletes, busy busy professionals/breadwinners, seniors who want to live in their home as they age, kids, moms…the whole human enchilada!

Additionally, I am very proud of working collaboratively with our franchise owners, teachers and students/frontline staff. One of the toughest things is to create a culture where people can feel confident stating concerns and complaints. I personally address every complaint. And, I insist that everyone says what IS working, what is wonderful and 'thank you' …gosh…such a simple yet powerful thing, 'thank you'!

I am proud we made it through our shareholder lawsuit in years 3 and 4…it didn't kill us! Woohoo!And that we are in 3 countries, we keep evolving our brand services, we are committed to ongoing education for everyone and finally, we go after the best technology as the ground for the best human care and expertise.

How do you manage to balance your personal and professional life? Describe yourself in one word and tell us what inspires you?

Dogs inspire me. I travel everywhere with my two dogs, Bella [terrier, 12 lbs] and Dixie [yorkie, 3 lbs]. They fly, uber, bike, trike, mass transit,Air BNB, hotel, grocery stores, board meetings, attend 10,000 person conventions – you name it and we go together. I feel a deluge of love all day long with these pups.And, they make everyone so happy [at least dog lovers…not so much the cat lovers]. We are a dog friendly company [employees can bring their dogs to work] so each day we have 2 to 5 dogs at work. Just love it!

In addition to dogs, what inspires me is helping people help themselves. Being on the hunt to find, refine, innovate how to do this through our company is very wonderful and pure fun.As a member of Toastmasters International, I compete weekly and at the district and state levels, in public speaking.As a past Trustee of, and continuing as a member of Florida Executive Woman, we support women's education and success. I love Latin and ballroom dance, singing,African drumming, Toastmasters, improv…and anything outside.

What keeps you and your employees motivated?

Learning how we help clients. Wow. Incredible stories. Deeply inspiring to all of us. On-going education, learning from and with each other, a positive environment and culture and knowing we can mess up, fess up, fix it and move on.

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

What does the future of SuperSlow Zone look like, globally? How do you plan to widespread the company services in the franchise industry?

We will continue to grow in the USA and add additional countries. I do this through the IFAand the Hero Club. The International Franchise Association [IFA] is THE premier, global franchise association. We just th had our 60 annual convention. The help and expertise is immense. Anything I need, I can get through the IFA. The Hero Club is a private CEO membership group. Both of these are my go-to resources for help, innovation, support, trend-futuring – I get and I give back. I am currently working on expansion in Canada, LatinAmerica and the Middle East with a wonderful team I met at IFA.

She is a go-getter and she motivates her team with the same passion that she is led by. Madeline Ross has phenomenally transformed the health regime for people making it simper and convenient. Her journey is truly inspiring, and we are proud of her exceptional success as a businesswoman in the franchising industry.

Changing Lives with a Healthy Approach

Jaimie Augustine

Vice President of Sales | COPAN Diagnostics

With a demonstrated history of success in the medical device industry Jaimie Augustine serves as Vice President of Sales at COPAN Diagnostics a leading manufacturer of Microbiology and Virology sample collection and transport systems.

Currently, Jaimie leads a group of six sales managers who manage business development of COPAN's sample collection and transport as well as laboratory automation in the hospital sector.Additionally, she oversees commercial relationships for COPAN's distributors and assay producers. Solution development and visits with end users who require assistance traversing the portfolio to locate the right product for their application are among Jaimie's everyday activities.

Jaimie enjoys her job since every day is unique. One day she may be

participating in the development of a new sample collection kit to address the market's shifting expectations, the next she is in Europe meeting with business partners to discuss collaboration and strategy.

COPAN Diagnostics, Inc.

Jaimie enjoys her job since every day is unique. One day she may be participating in the development of a new sample collection kit to address the market's shifting expectations, the next she is in Europe meeting with business partners to discuss collaboration and strategy.

Meeting New Challenges Everyday

Jaimie's career consists of two phases. Prior to joining COPAN Diagnostics, Jaimie earned her BAfrom Point Loma Nazarene University with a specialty in premedical studies and philosophy. She went on to spend

nearly six years managing a clinical research program for a neuroendocrine clinic. The second portion of her career began when she entered industry 11 years ago, and this is where she believes she will stay.

Early in 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, technology giantApple announced that it was awarding COPAN Diagnostics $10 million from itsAdvanced Manufacturing Fund. The funds and partnership withApple would support the rapid acceleration of manufacturing of sample collection kits for hospitals across the United States.

The relationship withApple helped COPAN to open a new facility, supply the market with needed supplies and open new jobs in Southern California.

Since 2021, Jaimie has also been working with assay manufacturers supporting home-based diagnostic testing for common ailments. She believes the future of diagnostics will continue to move more into the hands of the patient, and says it is exciting to see the developments and advancements in technology making that happen.

StayingAhead in the Growing Competition

COPAN is a true innovator and pioneer in Microbiology sample collection and transport. COPAN invented and holds the patent for flocked swabs.Additionally, the company has a long history of utilizing robotics and automation to

maximize its production. COPAN's commitment to innovation in specimen processing led to the 2008 launch of WASP® (Walk –Away Specimen Processor), which enables automatic plating and streaking of bacteriological samples. COPAN later developed Smart Incubators and Digital Microbiology in 2012. The team at COPAN understands the value of their work and is passionate about it.Atestimony to this commitment is the fact that all the original employees that joined COPAN in 1979, still work at the company.At every level within COPAN, creativity is encouraged, and a tremendous spirit of entrepreneurial creativity exists with few limits. It is this atmosphere that empowers employees to meet challenges, to be

innovative and to deliver exciting solutions to the healthcare community.

The Challenges

Although there have been numerous obstacles along the road, none have been as significant as those that COPAN and the entire laboratory community had to overcome in the last two years. Jaimie and the team at COPAN had to make difficult choices about how to distribute the company's supplies to the market. She shares, “How do you keep a team sane as they field desperate calls from healthcare professionals? And how do you take care of your customers who have frantic clinicians and patients calling them? Insurmountable demands came from within and outside the industry, and I knew we had a solution. All we needed was time, people, and the space to do what we know how to do the best – make swabs and transport medium."

Jaimie did her best to lean in during a challenging time. She offered to support in operations, established relationships and had conversations with government officials, speaking with corporate leaders and heads of state. By facing the situation head-on and withApple's support, COPAN to constructed a new facility, provided jobs for furloughed employees, and helped provide the market with essential testing supplies.

The Life as a Leader and an Individual

Jaimie thrives in her career by watching her team overcome obstacles, win difficult bids, and support healthcare professionals as they navigate the pandemic waves. In 2021, she was ranked sixth among the

Top Women in Biotech by the Healthcare and Technology Report.

Jaimie notes that finding balance between her personal and professional lives is difficult. “In the past few years, there was a tremendous need from our customers, and I spend much more time at work than I did at home.” Jaimie stated. “In recent months I've had time to slow down a little, gather my thoughts, take a needed vacation, and reassess priorities.”

Jaimie now tries to observe standard office hours. She attends an exercise class or spends time with friends three or four times each week because it's never easy to get away. Jaimie

maintains her motivation by appreciating triumphs and finding happiness and meaning in each victory, big or small. She asserts, "Celebrating with my team when they close a tough sale, cheering on a new team member as she gives her first presentation, and holding a finished product that was nothing but a CAD drawing a few months ago–all of these things matter, and they fuel me to come back and give it my all day after day."

Becoming an Inspiration

It's easy to feel like a machine on certain days in a world where technology rules. Being evaluated largely on output, successes, and

failures makes it easy to lose sight of the reason for one's daily activities.

She states, "I'd like women to remember that it is not OK for any person to make you feel small. We all have a voice and it's important to be heard, even if it means repeating yourself over and over again." She adds, "Work in your strengths, surround yourself with people who are good at things that you aren't, and most of all, don't waste time competing with others; only compete with yourself."

Sharing Thoughts onAchieving Success

Jaimie explains that she has never

achieved success by adhering to a set formula or process. Success, in her opinion, is defined by working hard, setting a good example, never turning down a challenge, assembling the proper team around oneself, failing, and then improving the next time. She continues, "It's also about fostering a culture where the team understands that failing is good since the greatest successes come from the lessons learned from failing.”

Jaimie believes that women are sometimes instructed to suppress their intuition and rely on more of rational thinking. But when she considers her career's high points, she can credit hersuccess to a blend of a solid work ethic, reason, and instinct.

In looking at how she ended up in healthcare on the industry side, Jaimie relates that while in college, she had the experience of being a patient who was awaiting a result. It was crucial that she worked closely with her doctor and that the tests were completed promptly and accurately. At the time she was on her way to enrolling in a physician assistant school with the goal of becoming a clinician when she discovered COPAN. “During my Microbiology of Infectious Diseases course at Point Loma Nazarene University, I loved clinical microbiology. So, when the opportunity at a company specializing in sample collection in this space came up, it was an easy decision to pivot from my original plan to go into practicing medicine to working for a company that would support laboratorians.”

The Future of COPAN Diagnostics, Inc

COPAN Diagnostics continues to support the US market with gold

standard sample collection and transport systems. For Jaimie's part, she is now supporting areas of the business such as contract manufacturing of sample collection systems for various assay manufacturers. Jaimie enjoys this side of the business because it gives COPAN the chance to combine its expertise in specimen collection with cutting-edge technologies developed

by some of the best minds in assay development.

Providing Compassionate, Quality Focused Pathology services at Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology

Jennifer D’Angelo

Senior Vice President & General Manager

New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII)’s Healthcare Division

Typically, growing the financial value of any business is the definition of success. However, some leaders have a unique way of defining it. Jennifer Pinasco, CEO of Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology, defines success by getting answers to questions like, “Did we compromise anything to get here? Who did we help? How did we respond to failures? What culture have we created by our behavior? Have we provided something of value, something needed? How did we treat people? What did we learn?”

She states that the underbelly of that success, the core of the foundation, the stability, and the strength of that success depends heavily on the goodness of the answers to these questions.

Journey

to success

Jennifer always had a passion for pathology and wanted to help people. To progress in her career, she started expanding her academic base. She completed her Bachelor of Science in BusinessAdministration and Master in HealthcareAdministration from the University of Phoenix.

Before joining forces with Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology, she worked for an Internal Medicine practice where she was on the path to becoming a nurse.Along the way, she began to see herself as an ambassador between the patients who need care and physicians who provided it. She wanted to create a balance between the two sides of the healthcare spectrum: Providers and Patients. In 1996, she joined Yosemite

Pathology's RCM Team. Backing up her skills and academic knowledge, she progressed her way up to become the CEO of the company.

Crossing the roadblocks on the way

In the early stages of her career, Jennifer faced many challenges along the way. Thus began her personal mantra of “ChallengeAccepted” and she began to build a team of experts around her and the organization to face these challenges head on. She expresses, “I learned how you treat people matters, and you don't always have to be the one with the answer, so seek wisdom from others.

Relationships, knowledge, and trust are not the values that everyone upholds, so when you encounter those who don't, consider deeply what's at risk by doing business with them.”

Providing better facilities for everyone at Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology

They are a physician owned practice with an advanced anatomic pathology laboratory that is CLIAcertified and fully accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). Their Board-Certified pathologists service hospitals and outpatient practices with a broad range of specialties in both anatomic and clinical pathology, supplemented by targeted subspecialty training.

These comprehensive specialties enable the delivery of solutions that answer the needs of our clients, allowing our physician and hospital

partners to advance patient care and health management in the communities we serve. Our Core Values are Quality, Compassion, Integrity and Innovation. Innovation is crucial to grow, adapt and better serve our patients but our employees need to feel connected to it first. By harnessing the power of the latest technologies, providing clear direction and giving proper space for all the personnel to grow individually, that's when magic happens and the team becomes unstoppable. She stresses the point by stating, “Innovation is one of the core values that we as an organization focus on nurturing and cultivating. We were able to bring on Covid testing in just ten days due to the space we give to

our teams to innovate and create solutions.”

She believes focusing on their employees and their client's needs is more critical than paying attention to their competitors. She mentions, “When our eyes are on our clients, we are able to identify areas of opportunities where we can provide solutions to help them and add value to their practice and ultimately improving patient care.” Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology was also recently certified as a Great Place To Work by its employees which is simply a testament of the Shareholders and Leadership focus on creating an open inclusive compassionate quality driven environment in which our employees can thrive.

Redefining anatomic pathology at Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology

Jennifer states, “I think our organization is unique in that we have been very intentional about investing in and developing an infrastructure that fully supports our pathologist's needs and those of our clients while creating a nurturing environment for our employees.

Whether it be analytics, interfaces, accreditation, logistics, or compliance, we offer a full suite of concierge services to both our pathologists and clients internally and externally, driven by seeking quality solutions for optimum patient care. She mentions, “In the last decade, we have greatly expanded the range and depth of our services and have become a premier provider of anatomic pathology services in Northern and Central California.”

Life as the CEO of Yosemite Pathology | Precision Pathology

Wearing the hat of the CEO of the company, she is responsible for giving the proper strategic direction, creating a vision for success, and developing an exceptional team to get them there. She feels her role is to be an open genuine balanced leader who strives to sustain stability while pursuing new ventures.

While fueling the growth of the group, she knows when to take breaks and let the body re-energize for the next challenges. To keep her body fit, she indulges in yoga and meditation. They allow her to de-stress and unravel the day. She also loves to travel which allows her mind to expand her awareness and keep it fresh and open for new ideas for the growth of the group.

Future prospects of the company

Jennifer adds, “Our vision is to continue our expansion interstate and intrastate by acquiring small physician group practices that are also providing quality pathology services to their communities.”

For this, the leaders have to be transparent, agile and empowering by helping the next generation in line. They are developing a career path program in pathology for the youth to expose them to this profession and the critical role pathology leaders play in healthcare.

She expresses, “Pathology Leadership awareness starts with those of us practicing it, and we need to begin sharing more with one another, learning from each other and combining our strengths for best practices going forward.”

She aims at steering the group into continuing their M&Abusiness line, expanding their test menu, and participating in clinical trials.

Creating a Healthier Community by Using Modern Tech Advancements

Ibraheem Alinur

CEO and Co-Founder | City Health Tech

The world is facing growing challenges across industries. Now is the time to think about what we can do to best prepare and prevent disasters on a global scale. 55% of the global population lives in a urban and is predicted by the United Nations to be 68% in 2050.As the world grows, we need to think about sustainability and how we keep our communities healthy.

Understanding the dire need of advancements in healthcare, IbraheemAlinur, visions to build healthier communities and mitigate the spread of infectious diseases globally by using innovative tech devices. He is the CEO and CoFounder of City Health Tech (CHT), which provides a wirelessconnected hand washing device and health communication platform to engage and entertain while collecting the largest data set of hand washing times in the world.

AStory of Passion, Determination, and Success

Achild of immigrants from the Caribbean and raised primarily by his hard-working mother, Ibraheem's success is a story of momentum and defying odds. His mother assured he had everything for his education and instilled the importance of selfreliance and curiosity at a young age. When he was 17, he was admitted into the Minority Introduction of Technology, Engineering, and Sciences (MITES) program at MIT where he spent a fully funded summer semester surrounded by 60 other peers from across the country with similar backgrounds to him. Ultimately, this moment changed his life because it validated his struggle and showed him that going to a good school was within his grasp, which seemed so far away at the time.

As a direct result of this program, Ibraheem applied to MIT, and unfortunately didn't get in. He states “I met one of the most important professional mentors in my life, Kathy Chiu, managing director of Deepwork Capital. During our interview, she mentioned she did something like “Shark Tank.” I loved that show, so I sent her an email asking to intern for free to learn and, at the time, she was running one of the largest angel investment groups in the state of Florida. I was skipping classes my senior year of high school to attend pitch meetings. I was hooked.”

City Health Tech is not Ibraheem's first startup. Before City Health Tech, he started many companies in his first few years that had some success, but mostly failure.

Following those startups, Ibraheem started City Health Tech in the fall of 2017 around this idea of disease

prevention because he knew it would be critical in helping cities grow.

He shares, “City Health Tech was my first project to encapsulate this passion and it was a vessel for me to learn. I took the leap of faith due to my passion for the problem and the vision I had for the world. I saw that if we could increase hand washing behaviour across the board, we would save billions of dollars and millions of lives.”

Hustle Before Touching the Stars

Ibraheem believes that entrepreneurship in many ways is an activity and a mind-set. He is always networking with interesting people, thinking through his vision by talking

to customers and experts, and spending time with his team and friends to build healthy culture. He says, “I was a sophomore in my undergrad prior to starting City Health Tech and had just ended my previous company; an applicant tracking system for student groups.” He had joined NU Raas, the competitive folk Indian dance team, and worked as a professional magician as his side hustle.As City Health Tech has grown he doesn't dance as much but does try to learn a new trick every now and again.

First Step and Gates Millennium Scholarship

Ibraheem was 11 years old when he made his first sale out of his

backpack, which in hindsight was the start of his entrepreneurial career, even though he had never heard the word.According to him, his greatest recognition so far has been winning the Gates Millennium Scholarship out of 55,000 applicants. He considers it a life changing moment. That scholarship empowered him in many ways and made him capable of what he is today. He reflects that, “not having to worry about the financial stress of college removed many barriers for me. It gave me the privilege to take a risk and it gave people a reason to want to connect with me. If I hadn't received that scholarship, I do not think I would have had the time to focus on my passion projects.”

Making Sure Everything Goes Right

As a CEO of CHT, Ibraheem's responsibilities are to set a strategic vision, build a plan, find the best talent to execute, find customers, and assure the company receives the funding it needs to be successful.

Ibraheem's day start with prayer and reading a bit of the Quran to ground himself while his coffee draws. He writes down his priorities for the day, and spends some time on LinkedIn, and responds to emails.After, he prepares himself for the meetings of the day; as part of the business development. He meets with the company's co-founder and leadership team every other day and works on whatever is the major goal of the day. He states, “I also spend any free time reading to catch up on the world and understanding what may impact our business 1-2 years out. No day is the same, which is part of the fun and one of the benefits of being your own boss.”

BeingAble to Help Others is the Real 'Success'

Everyone has different perspectives and measurements for their own success. For Ibraheem, success is adding value and feeling valued by an individual's community of choice. At

the core of being human there is always a deep need to feel accepted and valued, and he believes that service is the key to a happy and fulfilling life.

His theory is that, “being in a position to help others is how we

Doing good is always a good investment.

change the world and for those who are hustling to make it, it is our duty to lend that hand back.” Through this journey, it has become abundantly clear to him that it takes a massive community of support from others to be successful. He adds, “success is being content with yourself and not regretting your decisions. Being ethical and human creates an enduring state of success rather than a moment.”

Going with the Pace

The modern work environment is one where everything happens very quickly and constantly throughout the day. For anyone, balance is hard to find in this fast paced environment. Understanding this work culture, Ibraheem has learned to set boundaries and accepted it as a marathon and not a sprint. He states, “when you are getting started you are

fighting for survival but it won't always be like that. Once you get to a point of stability it's important to readjust.” He adds that he was valuing the success of his company over his own health and realized that it needed to stop. He makes sure to go on daily walks with his wife. He mentions. “I also genuinely enjoy the work and that helps keep me going.”

Visioning forAHealthier Tomorrow

With its innovative approach to provide a healthy future, City Health Tech aims for a billion clean hands to be washed in 3 years and to make health communications accessible to millions. The company hopes to scale its business not only across schools, homes, and the U.S., but also globally. It is also aiming to merge with the government and other stakeholders to develop solutions to some of the most significant problems of our lifetime. Ibraheem personally hopes that he and the company can grow to support the leaders rising in their field, be it climate change, water resource management, or even energy efficiency. He says, “we want to be the organization that makes your city healthier through empathy, sustainability, and design.”