Written by: Carmen Benton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Awareness is the most important piece in the success journey, yet the most common missing link among entrepreneurs. Awareness is so important, because it brings you not only attention to a situation in your business that you need to solve or fix, but also it is like literally shining a spotlight into anything you need to make better, and allow your inner and outer resources to focus on amending the situation. In other words, without awareness of where you are today, it is impossible to get where you want to be, because without a clear starting point your goals, your tactics, and strategy can’t be effective to get you where you want to go. Realization is how I like to call the act of being aware of the state of your business, and I invite you to fully realize or accept as a fact where you are in your business today and of course to realize where you want to be, and by becoming aware and fully realize the state, health and outcomes of your business, you will be then ready to start the journey towards success with the right foot. Many studies suggest that lack of awareness as a business owner has more implications and limitations in entrepreneurial success, than previously imagined. For example, believe it or not a lack of realization in your strategy will cost you the ability to acquire the talent that will help you move towards success, and that’s true regardless of the size of your company, even if you are a one person shop currently, the reality is that eventually you will have to hire people to scale your business, and the lack of realization will inhibit your ability to get the right people on your side, which will end up costing you time, clients and money. But closing this gap and finding the missing link of entrepreneurial success is not something sexy that famous people wake up one day and decide to chase, it is something you must do as an entrepreneur if you consider yourself a leader, because leadership is all about recognizing not only the areas of opportunity for your employees and your customers, but for yourself and your business, and that’s when you can leverage your inner and outer resources to ensure you perform at the best every time. Not just converting sales often, but keeping up a steady improvement using conversion rate optimization (CRO) to keep improving. After all, you are in business to guide your customers to a better destination, either with your products or your services, which inevitably means you are or at least want to be a leader in your area of expertise. In this article I want to share with you three techniques to leverage your inner resources, and when it comes to awareness and realization, these are tools that are surprisingly common, and that I know you are familiar with but perhaps not as an entrepreneur, and maybe you haven’t stopped to apply them in your business. The first tool is to do regular Brain Dumping sessions, which is not more than a complete transfer of your accessible knowledge about a particular subject from your brain to some other storage medium, such as paper or your computers hard drive. Then, the second tool you need to practice realization and awareness in your business is to create a categorization of that knowledge you got out of your brain and into a paper, so it’s easier to apply the third step which is creating an understanding of what is coming your way so you can be prepared. As you can see these three tools are simple, easy and free for you to start implementing, and they are the first step of what I like to call Time Hacking Blueprint. For the remaining steps on this process, stay tuned to my upcoming articles. For more details and other business strategies for success, follow me on Facebook or Instagram, join my Facebook Community or visit my website Carmen Benton,Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Carmen Benton is an International sought after Business Strategist, dedicated to help entrepreneurs around the world stop feeling overwhelmed and overworked, by showing them how to create a real growth strategy and powerful action that is proven to eliminate burnout from any business, including yours so that you can feel passionate about what you do again, and scale you business with ease.  Carmen is a Mechanical Industrial Engineer and she holds an MBA from a branch for Harvard Business School.  She has served in high management positions in large corporations in the US, and she also has helped companies of all shapes and sizes, create and established a concrete strategy that's actionable and profitable.

Written by: Hanna Horner So far 2020 hasn’t impressed us business owners much. I’m sure none of us had “lockdowns” as a potential scenario when we sat down to make plans for the year. That doesn’t mean that you need to surrender your dreams, goals and visions for you future. This just means that it is even MORE important than ever before to remain in control of YOU, your own mindset, what you focus on and what you do with your time. You can either set off into the coming months with absolute confidence and the mindset of a winner - or you can curl up back up and watch from the sidelines as the brave ones take on new challenges and opportunities.  Think about what it is that you want to accomplish in 2020 and commit 100% to show up and work smart, while most people run away and hide. We all know that during economic downturns wealth can get redistributed very quickly - and you know you want to be on the receiving end of that. Rather than getting stuck in the collective victim role and look for support packages and bailouts (and I’m not saying those are BAD at all) grab the bull by the horns, accept the new reality, and more FORWARD. In times of social distancing, full on lock-downs and messages of “go home and stay home” the business owners that THRIVE have pivoted their businesses online. Gyms run home workout programs along with nutrition challenges, flower stores have stoppable Instagrams and deliver. All the big stores offer “pick up curbside” (or deliver), restaurants focus on take out, clothing stores make the most of their stories and entice people to shop from home. "We need to look for the good" Success, as you know, is 80% having the right mindset. To be successful entrepreneurs we need to be resilient, solution focused, have a high tolerance for ambiguity and be prepared to risk it all.  I have some “go-to” suggestions to thrive in these times: Get yourself a rock solid morning routine. This routine should involve 3 quick wins over that pesky, negative voice in your head that’s trying to get you to give up. This is how you can build up your mental resilience and toughness. Plan each day in as much detail as possible. Make sure you have clear deadlines and know exactly what to do at any given time. That way you don’t have to stop to think about what’s coming up next. It’s when we stop our momentum, that we open the floodgates to doubt, procrastination and fear. “An object in motion stays in motion." Get yourself an accountability partner. You’re 85% more likely to follow through on your plans, if you have an appointment with someone who cares. It’s smart to spend time on the things that help you maintain a winning mindset. Even as much as 80% of your time can have this as the sole focus. Trust me, your remaining 20% will be more than enough to get everything done WHEN you’re doing it from a feeling of personal power and ability to focus on the right things. Build an online following. Get to know your audience and let “social media” be just that: social. You’ll find that your new friends on social will bail you out and stay faithful to you and your brand, even in tougher times. Don’t try to “go it alone”. Get the support you need. Don’t DIY things you’re not good at. Focus on making MORE money, rather than “saving”. Delegate. Buy traffic online (ads). Reinvest in your business - and be sure to move as much as possible online. Surround yourself with people who also refuse to settle for less. It’s common knowledge that we become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. Who do you want to be? Get yourself that intentional success-team. To grow beyond wherever we are at today, won’t be comfortable. We’re used to how things are - for better of for worse. Anytime we decide to venture outside that comfort zone it WILL hurt. Be mentally prepared to rise up to the new challenges. Give it everything you’ve got. It’ll be worth it. We need to look for the good. The online and e-learning industry has proven to be somewhat more resistant to economic downturns than others in the past. It is projected that the e-learning industry will reach 325 billion a year by 2025. Right now is the perfect time to position yourself to be a part of that economy. In Italy, in March of this year, e-commerce went up buy 90% as compared to March last year. You can most definitely create an unshakable business. You can come out of this as a winner. In fact, you might be one of the few who CAN “win” in these times - and that’s exactly what we all need you to do. Someone needs to keep the wheels turning. Right now you are being called to step things up and give it your all. Hanna Horner works with driven and ambitious entrepreneurs who want to reach goals faster. Visit Hannas website and schedule a meeting!

Written by: Elena Seranova A lot of times when I discuss business, my scientific studies or my love life, people respond with "you must have been so lucky" or "sounds like an overnight success". I want to address the perspective of overnight success and how you can achieve it. I will talk about my first business, my interdisciplinary studies and my love life as an example. Business First things first. I'm sorry to ruin your dream but overnight success doesn't exist. In order to become successful in any aspect of your life, you have to create a system that works in the long term. After some time of executing the same boring stuff over and over again, you start seeing results. This is what people call overnight success. There are very few exceptions in this rule , and betting that you'll be one of them is not smart. If you put the work in, your chances of overnight success are much higher. My first well-being business went from 0 to 6 figures within 18 months. I was 23. I didn't even know what to do with so much money coming in every day. But how did it all start? After graduating with a major in psychology, I was wondering what to do next. One thing I knew for sure: becoming an employee was not an option. As an undergrad, I used to work night shifts as a DJ to pay my rent while my family's small business got bankrupt in 2008 due to the Greek financial crisis. I knew that I'm not comfortable with taking orders so I was searching for a quick way to set up a profitable business. That's why when I heard about a cool neurofeedback device that other health practitioners use for stress reduction I got interested. Why? Because there was no such device in the north Part of Greece, so I knew that if I import one I'd have a monopoly. I took a calculated risk (now that I look back at it, it resembles more of a leap of faith, but I'm so glad I took it), bought the device, took a few months' training and launched my well-being business. The first month, I only managed to land 2 customers. I went to my mom saying "I have to pay the office rent tomorrow and I didn't make enough money this month". She said she'll pay my rent tomorrow but I have one more month to figure out how to pay the next one. I had a printer at the office. I designed a brochure that would suffice in Word and printed some copies. Then, I went door to door in my building. And the next building. And the next one. I contacted a local radio station for a chance to be featured in one of the shows and they said yes. Customers and cash were rolling in every day and at the end of the month, I was so proud that I could pay my rent! Six months later I had a two weeks waiting list for an appointment because the product was great and I made sure to give my customers great experience each time they would come in. Science studies After being involved with patients suffering from various conditions, I got curious about the symptoms I was observing in my customers. I have previously taken some cognitive neuroscience classes at uni and decided to study the human brain a bit more. Call me an information junkie but I get a kick out of learning cool facts about stuff that interest me, which is mostly science and business. Five years into my business, after growing it into two branches in 2 different cities, I decided to step up my game. The financial situation in Greece was still not as prosperous as in the western European countries. I found a fascinating master's degree in neuroscience and genetics at an English university and ended up applying for it. And I got in! So I took another leap of faith, closed down my business and moved to the UK. I had enough savings from my business to not work for a year and be a self-funded student. This is where I got introduced to wet lab biology. To the actual research that scientists do wearing white lab coats and figuring out interactions between various proteins by setting up cool experiments. And my mind was completely blown. "My life has a purpose, and my research plays a great part in it." I fell in love with lab work and molecular biology. I loved it so much, I actually decided to pursue a PhD in this field as well. The master's degree' lab project was hard. It was harder for me than for most of my course mates because most of them had a biology background, while I was struggling to keep up with the course work and the novice lab nomenclature. In a new language! But I didn't care, it was so cool! I just kept going and applying for PhD positions. After about 20 rejections, it became clear that I'm not the ideal candidate for a wet lab biology PhD project. Or at least this is what my potential supervisors thought. Until one day, I got a positive reply. One positive reply was all I needed. And here we are, 3 years and 7 publications later, I am about to obtain my PhD in neurodegeneration, stem cell biology and drug discovery. Love Life Some may wonder whether I have any time to be dating at all with such a hefty schedule.The little time left for personal use, becomes very precious, meaning you want to make the best out of it. You want the best, most fascinating experience out of it. So how do you find a partner that will be a great match and will make you have the time of your life? That will be considerate, fun to be with, romantic, adventurous, loving... Those are all the wrong questions. Because what we currently describe here, is the top of the dating pool. So why do you think the ideal partner that you would choose over millions of others, would choose you? The answer is simple. Because you are one in a million. In other words, you need to make the offer so irresistible that any candidate you shortlist, will choose you over another woman, over and over again. And how do you do that? The answer to this question is slightly counter intuitive. You don't focus on dating. You focus on yourself. You improve yourself in every way possible. This is something that business taught me. If you have a mediocre product, there is no need to start advertising it before you hone it to the point that as soon as the customer will see the ad, the purchase will be a no-brainer. And then, you do the second counter intuitive thing. You start going on dates, but you keep on rejecting. Instead of looking for reasons to see a guy for a second time, you look for reasons to never see him again. Why? As you improve yourself in every aspect of your life (charm, intelligence, physical and mental health etc), you don't want to settle for the first person you'll go on a date with. You want to wait until you find someone that will tick all the boxes. That will be as caring, loving, attractive and intelligent as you deserve. I was single for over 2 years before I met my partner. We've been together for a year and it's been the best year of my life. Why? Because I kept on rejecting everyone else before I met him. There was always something missing and I was not willing to compromise. As a result, I found someone that has the same mindset and values with me, he is funny, smart, charming and we just admire each other. Lab members are jealous of my regular flower deliveries as I'm doing my experiments, weekends consist of surprise destination getaways and I never felt so emotionally safe and loved in my life. Was it all down to luck? Absolutely no. I just kept bettering myself and saying no until I found the One. Conclusion People tend to blame "bad luck" for their circumstances. And when they hear about other people's success, it hurts them less if they attribute it to "overnight success"; rather than to this individual's will power and consistency. That's what I implemented in business, in my studies and in my love life. There was no overnight success, I just kept on going until the results were achieved. I struggled a lot along the way, but I never gave up. I hope that from now on, you will do the same. Elena has a BSc in Psychology. Run a 6-figure wellness business and was a co-founder of a biotech start-up. Currently a PhD candidate and is the founder of the Guild of Growth, a female exclusive self development community focusing on mindset of success. Visit her website!

Ever wish you had an unlimited wardrobe? Feeling confused and restricted by sustainable fashion? Got a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear? Garmie may have just found the solution to your problems. I’m Evie. The founder of Garmie – Hi! Last year I was a uni student with the perpetual problem of always having events to attend. Having nothing to wear. Spending my earnings on buying a new outfit to wear once and then hoarding it in my overflowing wardrobe of items I was ‘over’. Not good, I know. I couldn’t afford to keep up with this, and nor could the planet. Do you ever feel like, if you don’t have something you feel good about wearing, you don’t want to go out? I do. But if the only solution was to re-wear my same clothes all the time, then I was disheartened. There’s no shame in wanting to switch up your style! Imagine if I combined my wardrobe with my friends and their friends and theirs; if I could pay them a small amount to borrow their items, and they could do the same for mine. We’d have a huge wardrobe! That had cash flowing through it! And most of all, we could wear whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and know that it was the most sustainable item out there because it already exists. No more confusion, shame and restriction. We could be free. And so Garmie was born. Garmie is an exciting new app launching later this year where you can rent your clothes, shoes and accessories to other people to make continuous money, and you can rent from other people’s wardrobes for a fraction of the retail price. Win for your wardrobe. Win for your wallet. Win for the planet. Did you know that there’s £30bn worth of unworn clothes hanging in our UK wardrobes? The textile industry accounts for 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions every year. 1/6 young people won’t re-wear an outfit they’ve posted it on social media. That’s a lot of waste. You can see how circulating the items we already have in our wardrobes makes sense in the big picture, but you’re wondering what’s in it for you? Here's a handy list of reasons why lending your wardrobe is actually everything you ever needed: Yes, selling your items second hand might make you a few quid. But isn’t it frustrating when you only earn a fraction of what you paid, and have to bid farewell to something you once treasured? What if you want to come back to it when the trend inevitably comes back around? Who doesn't love finding an old gem hidden in the wardrobe?! Lending, on the other hand, allows you to make that money multiple times over, continuously monetize those items in your wardrobe you never wear (which makes up at least 50% of your wardrobe!) and still have the chance to come back to them in the future, give them to your future kids or turn them into tablecloths. Totally up to you, because they’re still yours! Remember that planet we live in? Well, it's hurting. And you can fix it! Just by letting someone borrow your dress, or your suit, or your shoes, jacket, earrings and bow tie. Easy. If you lend one item to 10 other people, you'll reduce its carbon footprint by 400%! Now that's a bargain. "We want everyone to be able to access everything they’ve ever wanted to wear and be who they want to be." With Garmie, making easy cash and saving the planet literally takes as much effort as your morning coffee. Think of Garmie as your own unlimited vending machine of fashion, cash and planet saving fairy dust. 3 Keys to Learn on your Entrepreneurial Journey: Learn on the go - I love listening to podcasts when I’m walking, in the car, at the gym, on the tube… It feels like down time, but you’re still feeding your brain with things you didn’t even know you were looking for! My favourites at the moment are Dan Murray’s‘Secret Leaders’, Guy Raz’s‘How I Built This’and Elizabeth Day’s‘How to Fail’. No meeting is a waste of time - I’ve realised that meeting up face-to-face is always more worthwhile than anything else. I ask anyone and everyone for a coffee and some advice, even if they’re not directly related to what I want to do. They’ll always have something valuable to tell you, someone to introduce you to, or at the very least, you’ve spread a little awareness about your product. Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable - Starting a company is just one huge ‘no idea what I’m doing’ mood. Every single day you’re forced to learn something new, meet someone new, sell your idea or product; spend your time, energy and money on your passion, the outcome of which you have absolutely no certainty about. You’ll constantly play tennis between self-doubt and self-empowerment. But as they say, ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it. Our vision is for Garmie to make fashion dreams come true. We want everyone to be able to access everything they’ve ever wanted to wear and be who they want to be. We want fashion to be 100% sustainable without having to ditch the brands and items we love. We are creative, forward-thinking fashion sharers. A passionate community, who care about the planet as much as we do our style - and be assured that one need not compromise the other. Garmie is fashion freedom. So, join us in this rental revolution! The world is your wardrobe. If you have any questions about Garmie, chat to us! Sign up for early access to the app and follow us to stay in the loop. We can’t wait to share with you!

Written by: Kaja Travnik, personal trainer, Face Yoga teacher, nutritionist and mindset coach - Our health consists of more pillars. It’s how we fuel our body, how we take care of it and how we think. I called this connection Mind, Body, Spirit. Running from one errand to another, being busy and stressed out all the time, eventually leads to disease. I have been there. I used to be an international lawyer, lived in 5 different countries and working long hours. I was obsessed with my career and just wanted to be the best in everything I did. I never stopped, until my health said enough! At the age of 26, I was diagnosed with burnout and my body collapsed completely. I believe physical disease, starts first on a mental level. We are tired, weak, sleepy and we cannot get our head thinking straight, but we keep on pushing. We don’t listen, until our body has enough. So, in my opinion, everything happens for a reason. Being absolutely down, means fresh beginning and new start. Life gives you the opportunity to reprogram yourself. But where to begin? How to improve our lifestyle? Let’s return to the pillars now. You will need to change your mindset and how you take care of yourself: Start writing gratitude diary . Every day write 3 things you are grateful for. In one month, your life will start shifting. Meditate . Even 5 or 10 minutes per day is enough. Just close your eyes and breath in through your nose and breath out through your mouth. Eat healthy , nutritious food and take supplements . It is very important that you eat whole foods, which give your body energy and strength. I recommend you check your blood picture, from which you can see what your body is missing, and add that in a form of supplements and appropriate foods. Start with exercise . But don’t do trainings, which will exhaust your body even more. I recommend workout, which includes pilates, yoga, strength training with your own weight and interval training. Also walking and speed walking is very healthy. But don’t do running, cycling, lifting heavy weights and crazy workouts, which different fitness studios offer. Hiring a personal trainer, who you can tell your problems and he or she designs a special workout for you is great. Do Face Yoga . Face Yoga Exercises are through Chinese medicine connected to your inner organs. It helps with creating natural facelift, removing your wrinkles, double chin and dark circles. But with every exercise, you are improving your immune system too. Helps with concentration and lowering you stress level My name is Kaja and I am a passionate personal trainer, Face Yoga teacher, nutritionist and mindset coach. Going through my own experience, my mission is to teach people how to spot the negative effects of today’s lifestyle and how to improve it. You can read more about me on my website . Follow me on Instagram and Facebook .

Have you ever come across a fact that startles you? That makes you stop dead in your tracks and think how is this possible? Well this happened to us last year in different ways, both of us (Rut and Maria) spent last year learning more about the world of capital investing and entrepreneurship. Both of us starting from the point of aspiring female entrepreneurs, actually that’s how we met at a networking event for female entrepreneurs. 1.The eyebrow raising disparities in the world of VC funding What we learned on our individual journeys is that less than 2% of all venture capital funding goes to women. We were baffled by this very low number, because in our view we see so many more women being successful and visible in public arenas but still somehow, when it comes to seeking funding for ideas, women seem to be disproportionately disadvantaged. This made us curious to understand more about why this is the case. We know that in many ways there has never been a better time for women to be empowered and believe in their own ideas, we see the progress that we also enjoy in our own lives. But still when it comes to getting funding for our ideas, our innovations, our contributions to solving big problems we’re just getting a tiny fraction of the institutional support that is out there. 2.Female Empowerment X Intersectionality We both come from diverse backgrounds, from families that immigrated to the west from Africa and Central America for various reasons. So, naturally we became curious to see how Women of Color (or WomenX) as they say in the US are represented within the group of women who only get 2% of VC funding. The results were not unexpected, but still disturbing, LatinX women receive 0.32% and Black women receive 0.0006% of the VC dollars .This shows us that the mission to increase funding for more female entrepreneurs needs to be truly inter-sectional and embrace Women of Color and LGBTQ communities for it to be truly inclusive. To give some more context on what’s really happening within the world of female entrepreneurship despite the lack of funding, it's important to highlight these facts that tell a powerful and hopeful story of triumph and resilience despite the odds: ● Women owned businesses are growing 50% faster on average than all businesses nationwide in the US ● Businesses owned by Women of Color grew at more than double the rate of all women-owned businesses (US) ● Women owned businesses continue to trend above all businesses (US) Despite the disappointing statistics that show that female entrepreneurs really need access to capital, coaching and community in order to launch and grow their businesses, we’re seeing on a global scale, significant and meaningful growth of female enterprise through a high level of innovation and collaboration between women across all lines. 3.The start of a new era for women Despite the disparities in VC funding for women, one of the most exciting developments within the world of global investment is probably that increasingly more women are funding other women's entrepreneurship ideas than ever. We’re seeing growth for female led enterprise and innovation which is underpinned by women seeing each other, banding together and bankrolling other women's ideas. More than ever before, women are taking up space as decision-makers as they’re moving into the world of venture capital, this is starting to break the previous norm where predominantly men owned these spaces. A great example of this is more women moving into the role of Angel investors, which creates a potent opportunity for female Angel investors to apply their financial resources to female led projects that they care about to create a more equal world. An example of this is Wingpact, which is a global community of investors and entrepreneurs whose vision is to create a more gender inclusive world, co- founded by 6 women who are successful Angel investors. The 6 women behind Wingpact wrote a book called Impact With Wings to empower other women and improve the global culture around investment to become more inclusive (a very valuable book that we recommend any woman interested in this space to read). More women are stepping up to the challenge motivated by finding an alternative lifestyle and more empowered route to a fulfilling career. Co-working spaces dedicated to women only make this alternative lifestyle more realistic for a lot of women. The Wing with the co-working spaces, are a great example of this, their mission is the professional, civic, social and economic advancement of women through community. 4. Diversity is Queen, not king. We’re also seeing the growth of fundraising and in particular crowdfunding which encourages more people to realize their dreams while democratizing funding and giving more people (from diverse backgrounds) to tell their story (Source:Impact with Wings). A great example of this is iFundWomen of Color, which is a resource for diverse, early-stage entrepreneurs. iFundWomen exists to provide an option for women of color, which we know have an incredibly difficult time accessing funding. This platform provides incredible value to Women of color by helping their dreams come into reality through raising capital via crowdfunding and providing grants, coaching and connections needed to launch and grow successful businesses, that they would otherwise struggle to get. Another truly exciting development which capitalizes on the ubiquity of technology is the successful podcast by Arlan Hamilton called “Your First Million” which takes on a behind-the scenes perspective through interviewing successful investors and entrepreneurs and sharing their stories. Through this format, the listeners get a clearer understanding on what it takes to build a successful business and what the game of investment entails from multiple perspectives. Arlan Hamilton is the only black queer woman to have ever built a venture capital firm from scratch. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a seed-stage investment fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women and/or LGBTQ. Backstage Capital sees these underrepresented groups as the biggest opportunity in investment, that has also invested in female entrepreneurs in Sweden who are WomenX. Backstage has now raised more than $7 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders. Just by its sheer existence, Backstage capital that only invests in high-potential founders from underrepresented groups shows us how much the landscape has changed. With Backstage’s intentional investments and their clever media presence, this venture fund is giving the often invisible entrepreneurs a voice and a chance to be seen. 5 The boys club is out and the women's club is the new in! There is an undeniable chain reaction that sparks when we see female empowerment networks and groups coming together, to help each other, to increase the knowledge of how to take more risk and to be in control of your own financial status. The question of equality is being drawn to the surface but we still have a lot of work that needs to be done in the VC and entrepreneur scene. There are still many WomenX that are not being recognized for the hard work and grit that they are putting in to make their company work. Even though we see a significantly increased level of collaboration between women and different spaces are being created for women to come together, empower and sharpen each other. There are role models who have taken their own path and made it and have created their own platform to lift other WomenX in their channels and network, for example the female led networks HON and Feminvest in Sweden. However, as a global society we need to do more to inspire more women to take the chance and start a business. We need to increase the diversity in c-level positions that are mainly man dominated industries like tech, science and finance. Overall, we need to lift and celebrate diversity in tech across all lines to capitalize on the innovation coming from all groups of society 6. Women have each other’s back! These days there are slack groups where women are sharing their wages with each other so they can minimize the gap between their male counterparts for the same role. We are all in this together. The technology has provided us with the information to search and find more women in powerful positions that are using their roles to empower more women. Women are strengthening and guiding each other in how to take a seat at the table. The old paradigm of women needing to act like men and stepping on bodies to be successful is dying out! Women are increasingly becoming more successful than ever through being feminine, through embracing all sides of womanhood (mother, partner, individual) and companies and big corporations that recognize this factor are becoming more appealing in their recruitment process. More women are starting to define themselves and being true to themselves outside of societal expectations, taking more risks and chances. The shift that is happening is unbelievable and even though we would like it to happen faster, we can actually share some great news, that last year women in minorities groups started more businesses and took more risk than past years. We spoke to two successful female leaders here in the Nordics about the recent exciting developments in the world of startups and entrepreneurship. We asked them about how we can encourage more women to this sector and highlight the diverse women that are in these careers, like themselves. Here’s what they had to say: “We live in a click-bait era so most of us continue to do the work behind the scenes because our names don't provide interest from the industry. I truly believe that by putting the focus on business cases that we’re working on, and addressing our great strengths that come from being underestimated and undervalued we might find the right narrative. Unfortunately each time we get access to business-oriented platforms we get addressed as a ”CSR" case and not seen for the value we bring in business.” - Nora Bavey is the CEO and founder of UNITECH an Edtech company and streaming service of IT talents in the Nordics. “Acknowledge them. They do exist. Yes they do exist! and they will exist whether you acknowledge them or not. They are not a minority globally speaking, yes maybe they are where YOU live for now. But as an entrepreneur or any other cooperate to stay relevant you must look more broadly, meaning include those amazing ideas and innovation that’s happening around you. Reach out, learn and invest in them meaning don’t make them another project, when actually they are game changers in the society that we live in. But also start early with the youth. They are the future! Include them to help shape a sustainable planet.” - Maryam Ari, Founder & CEO of Emms technology, a non profit movement and a platform where Women of Color can learn more about IT-development, participate in events and workshops about technology and engineering. 8. How to create impact together! We think that there’s really never been a better time for women to invest, believe in their ideas, take risks and take a shot at fulfilling their entrepreneurship dreams. There are a lot of women out there that are really active within this space, despite not getting the support that they deserve from the VC community, but they are still thriving through a high level of collaboration and through building necessary structures to educate and empower other women financially. Not only are women building communities but also building up capital to be able to promote other womens ideas through investments, truly powerful and game changing. Women are succeeding through being truly more of who they are, and this shows in the type of work cultures that they are creating, and the type of ventures that they invest in, shedding archaic notions from the corporate world. Internationalization is key in this area, we must leave no woman behind, hence why we are happy to see more WomenX specific accelerator programs, VC funds, Angel investors coming up. We are thrilled to see that more women are proving to be successful through investing in the often bypassed WomenX and LGBTQ communities. We need to tell more of these stories because women in general, WomenX, LQBTQ-women are out there innovating, creating, building, connecting and making money despite only receiving 2 % of all the VC dollars out there. We need to make more noise and to build more community on and offline so that we can keep empowering each other and #ChangeTheRatio 9. Paying it Forward Below are some resources from us that we want to pay it forward to anyone reading this article that wants to deep dive into the exciting space of female entrepreneurship: Books - Impact with Wings Podcasts - Your First Million; Feminivest Accelerator Programs - IFundWomen, Invest Stockholm, Founder Gym Influencers within this space – Isthar Toulait, Dawn Dickson, Michaela Berglund, Nora Bavey, Maryam Ari Networks to join – HON download their app. Read report from Ownershift, Join the conversation using the hashtag #ChangeTheRatioNordic Written by: Maria Villanueva Co founder & CEO BeautyQlick Rut Semere - Digital Media Strategist, Self Leadership Coach and Entrepreneur

Written by: Carmen Benton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Now more than ever is extremely important that you find a way to differentiate your business from the competition to be able to succeed, but being different isn’t enough anymore. Now, more than ever, what you need to maximize your results is the power of leverage. Leverage is an advantage you obtain from being in a unique position because you utilize the resources available to you in a different and wise way. There are 5 things you need to learn to leverage so you can get ahead of your competition once and for all, and I will cover them in this article for you: People and Connections Leveraging people and connections has nothing to do with manipulation, on the contrary, it has everything to do with exercising what we need the most today, which is building true, sincere and honest relationships with the people you meet. When you offer your expertise to others, and solve problems without expecting always something in return, you build a solid relationship with people. As a business owner, there will be the time when being able to leverage those relationships could mean many thousands of dollars, and frustrations saved; for example getting to a key business partner may require you to go through a key assistant that serves as a gatekeeper with the power to help you or make you wait. However, having a trust-based relationship with that person might mean the difference between growing your business or not. Skills The second thing you want to learn to leverage are your skills, but also the acknowledgement of the things you are not skilled at. As I mentioned in past publications in social media, as a business owner with a strategy, you need to know what things your are meant to be doing as the expert you are, and what things you are going to outsource to other experts that I like to call the brokers. In plain English what I mean here is that you need to decide what things you are going to do in and for your business, and what things you are going to delegate to someone that has more skills than you on the topic. Education and Accomplishments Believe it or not the idea of leveraging your education and accomplishments may come as a new idea for many business owners. For once, if you have accomplished anything good, I want to let you know that you are entitled to brag about it, as long as there is a purpose with that. "Leveraging your accomplishments could be the difference between landing that next big client or not." For example, when I mention in my bio that I’m a Mechanical Industrial Engineer with an MBA from a branch from Harvard, it’s not because the long title suits me, but because I want to ease your fears by sharing with you the fact that I’ve gone through a lot of difficult tasks, yet I figured out a way to be a successful woman, therefore someone that can help you get there too. Leveraging your accomplishments could be the difference between landing that next big client or not. Fears This is one of my favorite things to teach entrepreneurs, how to leverage their fears. Most people tell you to conquer and overcome your fears, but I want to tell you today, that this actually doesn’t work. Fears are feelings our bodies are designed to experience. Fear is an impulse created by our brain to help with the survival of the species, therefore what makes you think you’ll be able to live free of fear. On the other hand, if you embrace your fears, and understand what they are trying to tell you and then leverage that information you will be ahead of your competitors without a doubt, because they are stuck trying to conquer their fears, which we have established is impossible, while you will be on march to conquer the thing that creates the emotion of fear itself. In many cases, this is as simple as acquiring new skills or guidance from a mentor like me. I love this topic so much that I created a whole process dedicated to leverage one’s fears, and the results from my clients have been incredible. Time And of course, this list can’t be completed without the idea of leveraging time. Time leverage or time hacking as I like to call it is another of those areas where I specialize, because my approach to this topic is to go back to basic and re-engineer your thinking, your habits, your process and your systems. When you look at these four areas, you can then create on demand consistent extra hour each week, as you need them or want them. As you can see now, leverage these five things, so accessible to all of us, presents an extraordinary advantage for your business, and even if you only take and apply one of these tips today you would be 100% much better than before. Now imagine if you do apply them all. For more details about how to get ahead with the power of leverage and other business strategies for success, follow me on Facebook or Instagram, join my Facebook Community or visit my website Carmen Benton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Carmen Benton is an International sought after Business Strategist, dedicated to help entrepreneurs around the world stop feeling overwhelmed and overworked, by showing them how to create a real growth strategy and powerful action that is proven to eliminate burnout from any business, including yours so that you can feel passionate about what you do again, and scale you business with ease.  Carmen is a Mechanical Industrial Engineer and she holds an MBA from a branch for Harvard Business School.  She has served in high management positions in large corporations in the US, and she also has helped companies of all shapes and sizes, create and established a concrete strategy that's actionable and profitable.

Written by: Stephanie Parris, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Considering the current global pandemic of COVID-19 many businesses are faced with trying to find solutions to keep their workforce in place and keeping the revenues generating. Many industries are unable to outsource or enable remote working for their employees due to the nature of their services. As of March 15, 2020, the United States government is working on an aid package to support businesses and individuals impacted by the need to prevent further spread of this disease. While the United States has been slow to respond and develop a plan of action, other countries have already enacted such measures. Many small and mid- sized businesses are unaware of services available to allow continuity of business during times like these. Rather than these businesses going bankrupt due to the nature of this disease, they should consider some options. Below are a list of resources and tools available to help keep things smooth and going forward. These items are used in my firm daily to conduct business across the United States. These tools can assist your business and hopefully keep from feeling a detrimental financial impact. Avoid in person meetings. Resources are available such as Skype, Zoom and GoToMeeting for virtual meeting rooms. I recommend Zoom or GoToMeeting. Zoom and GoToMeeting are preferred for my firm and when anyone is joining from outside the United States. In avoiding in person meetings, don’t be afraid to use your webcam. Often, people stress over being on camera, but once they have done it a time or two, they generally adapt. Nobody looks amazing 100% of the time on camera. Being on camera allows folks to connect with being able to see your facial expressions and body language. For secure collaboration portals (more secure than standard email) use items such as SmartSheet where you can create a shared space and exchange documents back and forth. Trello is another good resource to allow shared activity. My firm prefers SmartSheet due to the automation tools and ease of use. Allow your staff to work remotely when possible. There are virtual cubicle resources such as Microsoft Teams, Sneek, Slack, and many others to allow users to collaborate in real time and not have that isolation concern. My team uses Sneek daily. While it has been known to have a glitch now and then it does provide for instant access if needed but also allows us to see who is working and who is available. Setup your accounting to be remote. If you need a regular accounting staff, allow them to work remotely. With resources like VPN, remote desktop, cloud- based services, and many others there are endless possibilities for remote access. Our firm utilizes cloud- based services and remote desktop services for numerous clients with great success. Many of these can be setup in a relatively short amount of time to keep business moving forward. If you are coming into the office just to sign checks, enroll in Bill.com or a similar service. It allows for the entry and sync of data between your QuickBooks and the service. They mail the checks or send the ACH, they collect your receivables and forward the funds to your bank account. They can cut out the middleman and allow you to be more efficient and work from literally anywhere. Lastly, take care of one another. Ensure you are practicing proper hand washing, keeping your workspace clean and sanitized, staying home when feeling under the weather, SANITIZE your phone and keyboards, and look out for those that may be more prone to illness. "This pandemic is expected to be around for the coming months, these steps can be the difference between staying in business and going bankrupt." These are simple steps to take in order to continue your business and to protect the people you ultimately serve. If you need help with any of these, or need contacts let me know. Do check with your IT folks or accountant to be sure you are not paying retail or paying in excess for any of these services during this time. This pandemic is expected to be around for the coming months, these steps can be the difference between staying in business and going bankrupt. Feel free to follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram, and visit my website Stephanie Parris, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Stephanie Parris has a Masters’ Degree, in Accounting and Financial Management. She writes about accounting and business for today’s world. She has extensive knowledge of the non-profit, construction, real estate and service industries which she serves. Stephanie has become a leading expert in QuickBooks as well as outsourced accounting services. Stephanie lives in Missouri and volunteers and cooks for her local rescue mission, serves with Made to Serve as well as Race for Rett, mentors local female high school students, has a passion for wine and cooking, and loves spending time with her family and close friends.

Anyone who has ever been to New York City has likely seen and even encountered these people on their bikes, speeding down the streets and avenues with their backpacks, weaving in out of traffic, sometimes even attaching themselves to the door handles of driving cars and busses in order to gain even more momentum.  Some have likely been yelled at or had near-misses with them.  They are bike messengers at work, delivering everything imaginable from wedding shoes to pizza to top secret documents, in the fastest way possible to their customers. I came across Tom’s profile as @NYRush, his handle on Instagram about a year ago. I was immediately fascinated by his posts that depict intense and often raw photos of his daily life as a bike courier in New York City, as well as his style which is spontaneous and straight from the heart, swear words and all...Hardcore, subculture, insane, dangerous, hazardous, road rage (from car drivers), those were all adjectives and descriptions used in conjunction with this job. Hustling for tips in heat, rain, snow and cold, looked down upon by doormen, despised by pedestrians and car drivers alike seems to be the daily life for these types. So while researching the subject, one headline caught my eye, not surprisingly. Experienced messengers say: It’s not worth it, unless you love it! Wait a minute... So does that mean that these people would put their lives in danger on a daily basis, riding in extreme temperatures and conditions, for little money, simply because they love it? Apparently yes, and that is what Tom’s stories are about. "One hell of a story" Tom is 30 years old and from New Jersey, right across the river from NYC. He started this job 3 years ago, but he always had a love for riding a bike. And New York. His physical appearance would certainly match the aforementioned cliches, dressing and looking like the Metal Head he is, and riding his bike like a renegade with the speed and apparent recklessness to match. But I’ve gotten to know Tom as a sweet, shy, introverted person with a gentle soul. In this story, you will not only get a glimpse of his life, but also the message he wants to convey about the City, the community, friendship and supporting each other in a strange and sometimes unfriendly world. Besides, Tom has one hell of a story to tell. So I first want to introduce you to Tom, the person, including some tough facts about his life. Tom grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in New Jersey, as an only child of a typical middle-class American family. As a kid and later as a teenager he found it difficult to adapt to his environment, having been singled out by his mates and fellow students in school as well as dealing with some learning difficulties, which turned him into an outsider. On a bike, however, roaming the streets and wide avenues of nearby New York, he felt free and could be himself. He started this new phase in his life when he started working for a restaurant delivery service and it was a whole new riding experience he never had before. He also discovered photography and his knack for taking shots from unusual perspectives, objects, buildings and people, as opposed to well thought-out and staged photographs of typical tourist landmarks. "The lovers and the haters have something in common" He started to showcase his pictures on various social media platforms, where he could share these documents of real-life with like-minded people. Life took a turn for the worse in 2015, when due to tight economic circumstances and job loss, his parents lost their house and the whole family almost ended up on the streets. Sadly not an unusual situation in America, one of the richest countries in the world. But that doesn’t make it any easier for people affected by it. For Tom, it represented a turning point in his life. He hired on with UberRush as a bike courier and joined a community where the opinions about bike messengers range from distant admiration to outright contempt. To some, couriers are pedestrian-terrorizing scofflaws. Others are jealous that messengers get to roam the city on what seems like an endless scavenger hunt, and getting paid for it. Despite the variety of opinions, the lovers and the haters have something in common as they don’t have any clue how the business works and what it’s like to be a bike courier. "Unique and spontaneous language" Few jobs in the world can claim to have their very own subculture the way bike couriers do. With their unsanctioned alleycat races across towns, these gals and guys have not only some serious power in their legs, but an interesting story to tell as well. And no one tells these stories better than Tom with his raw and intense shots of the city, taken during his working hours on delivery trips all across town, and captioned with his own unique language that is spontaneous, fresh and comes straight from the heart. Swear words and slang and all that included. Being a messenger is a job that almost anyone can do, but only a small percentage of people can ​do well.​ A couple of things that stand out are for one their ability to calculate and react to and prevent risky situations very quickly and very well. It involves lightning visual capabilities and to judge a risk long time before the person does whom they might potentially involve in a crash, by adjusting their speed and to instantly know whether they should go behind them or in front of them, or slam on the brakes altogether. That goes especially for those pedestrians who themselves don’t pay the attention needed on the streets, like jaywalkers, and those who are glued to the screen of their cell phones. Another thing that makes a good messenger is their ability to multi-task, such as riding their bike at high speed, while taking an order on the phone, adjust their music, drink from their water bottle, all the while avoiding cars and people. And lastly it’s their ability to maximize their productivity to know and follow the process, such as finding the most well-hidden messenger centers. "The best messengers know the security protocol of every building" The best messengers know the security protocol of every building, so that they can save time by calling ahead to pick up a package and how to communicate with their dispatchers to maximize each trip across town, and finding their way in the confusing maze of mail rooms, freight-elevators and back alleys that become a courier’s true work environment. Financially, it’s in their best interest to go fast – very fast in the interest of getting as many deliveries done as possible, because each trip means money. Safety wise, not so much. Hustling for tips in heat, rain, snow and cold, looked down upon by doormen, despised by pedestrians seems to be the daily life for these types, that must also include a high tolerance for pain, given the frequent crashes and accidents that Tom tells about. As well as an unlimited supply of cell phones. "Riding around Manhattan at 3am in the morning, just you and your bike - that's freedom" But true couriers don’t do it only as a job, to earn a living, but also for the love of riding. In a city as crowded with traffic, both from cars and pedestrians as New York is, it requires real skills to negotiate the streets and avenues to get fast from point A to point B, but there is nothing like riding around Manhattan at 3am in the morning, when the roads are empty and it is just you and your bike. You are free. In New York, you can just ride straight for an hour, shifting gears and weaving around vehicles, in and out of traffic just for fun. So I hope you enjoyed this story and got a glimpse of Tom’s life on 2 wheels and behind the lens. He plans to take his photography to a professional level and to sell his photographs as prints. Our website and book project are realized as a collaboration in support of these ambitions and dreams. Juliette Emonts, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Juliette Emonts is a brand designer and content creator. You can find more of her work at www.juliette-emonts.com

Money challenges are very personal. They differ from one another and they differ during time. Perhaps you've been through a divorce that effected your personal finances deeply. Perhaps you chose to work in a low paid industry which has made it hard to put aside lots of savings. Perhaps you have a large inflow of money, but they seem to disappear as quickly as they showed up. We all live in our own reality. But the fact is that you can start doing differently. Today. But you need to know where to start. My name is Mia Ingelström and I work as a personal trainer in finance, and here is my best recipe on how to become an athlete when it comes to personal finances. 5 Keys to take leadership over your financial future Take control over where you are NOW. How much does your life cost? This is of high interest because it’s hard to make a change if you don’t know where you are right now. If you go to a personal trainer in a gym he or she will ask about your current health and your current training pattern. The same goes for finance. Taking control over your NOW is figuring out how much income and expenses you have and how much assets and debts you have. Simple as that. Figure out – where do you want to go? Do you want to run a Marathon or climb Kilimanjaro, or do you just want to have a strong and healthy body? Different goals require different methods and the same goes for finance. By knowing your goal, you will work according to different strategies. If your goal is to get enough cash to start up a new business or if your goal is to know how much to save for your retirement, you will concentrate on different things. Optimize your current situation. All personal trainers do the same. They look at what you do today, and they help you improve it. The same goes for finance. What interest rates do you pay today for your mortgages? How much do you spend on unnecessary charges for mutual funds? And even here the metaphor between physical training and financial training is obvious: you can learn everything from YouTube, google and books. A personal trainer, however, can see in between the lines, give you the right training program so you can reach your goal faster. Action – get going. Do your push-ups. Do your yoga. Do your interval training. Just do it. Call your bank to negotiate your mortgage. Change your behavioral when it comes to shopping. Start investing your “future money” on the right risk level. Change your retirement funds to cheaper ones. Focus and just do it. Don’t think too much, just keep on. “First when you have reached the top you will notice how low the mountain was” (Dag Hammarskjöld). Recap – where are you now? It’s important to pause and to look back. What happened along the way? Who are you now? We are in constant change but it’s hard for us to see it ourselves. When it comes to money and personal finances this is highly true. By taking baby steps we are “suddenly” somewhere else. We moved our positions forward. Maybe you have started to save money every month and now you see that it has grown to an important sum. Maybe you didn’t even know what your mortgage costed you, and know you negotiated the interest rates to a much better deal. This will “loop you back” to number 1 again – where are you now? And you can start all over with a new goal in mind. This is my secret receipt to create the financial future you’re wanting to have. And by doing this over and over again, you will reach it sooner then you could ever imagine. Author: Mia Ingelström, Personal trainer in finance at Financial Fitness Sweden AB

What do successful entrepreneurs do right? There’s no true right or wrong for entrepreneurial success, but there are some things that many successful entrepreneurs have in common. We listed 5 of those things. 1. They are not afraid of being wrong and fail Failing isn't pleasant, but successful entrepreneurs knows that it's a part of the journey. Successful entrepreneurs learn by doing. When they have an idea, they execute, and only when they execute and test their idea they get to see how good or bad it was. When you execute you get to learn a ton of things that can help you make the next move. Did it succeed? Did it fail? Can it be developed? Should it be dropped? Ideas are not worth anything if they stay in your head. Successful entrepreneurs learn from failing and it is an important key for development. 2. They don't judge others That's right, most successful entrepreneurs don't judge others. This might be hard to believe because most entrepreneurs will be judged constantly throughout their journey with an army of pessimistic people that will be against their idea. Successful entrepreneurs knows that if you judge, you limit, and when you limit it's harder to see possibilities. Most successful entrepreneurs are optimistic and they're more interested to learn from and about others, rather than judging them. 3. They're Optimistic and they see Possibilities Where most people see obstacles and problems, successful entrepreneurs see possibilities and solutions. Solutions to complex challenges is what drives successful entrepreneurs to keep trying new things. When someone state "This is a problem", a successful entrepreneur would think "How can we solve this problem?" and look for a solution. Curiosity and optimism is what creates successful business ideas and solutions - two key ingredients for success. 4. They are Self-Motivated Successful entrepreneurs don't expect their motivation to come from someone, or something else. They are motivated from their fire within and they know that opportunities won't just be handed to them, they need to go after them. The ability to fuel their own fire helps them to keep going even if they face set-backs, and helps them to stay committed to what they want to achieve. 5. They adapt fast to change A Successful entrepreneur is not stubborn to do something a particular way just because it was written in their business plan they wrote 10 years ago. A successful entrepreneur knows how to adapt to change. Market trends change constantly and a successful entrepreneur needs to be a "Business Cameleont" and come up with adaptable solutions. "When the circumstances change, you have to change". Do you agree or disagree with this list? Share your thoughts!

Let’s imagine now a situation I’m sure you’ll recognize. You’re discussing with your partner, a friend or a colleague that you like. You two don’t agree in whatever you’re discussing, and somewhere along the way the general mood gets infected as you both argue your respective points. In such a scenario, how often do you hear any party concede after having heard their opponent’s argument? How often will you hear something like, ”You know what, you’re actually right – I agree with you now!” It simply does not happen! When we argue it’s as if we’re in a competition – and most of us refuse to lose. Even if the opposing party presents an argument you’d agree with, it’s incredibly difficult to agree with the person. We’ll either lie and claim that we disagree, or we’ll discard their point with an argument like ”Yeah well that only holds true for very specific contexts…” or ”You also have to consider the following…” And thus, we move focus in the discussion towards something where we’re more likely to ’win’. Arguments are of course the rhetorical tools that come to mind when we think of trying to convince someone, regardless of that being your partner or manager. But on a pure psychological level, arguments are rarely the best way to go. Instead, you’ll need a broader set of rhetorical tools to fully enable strategizing in your persuasive abilities. "When the conflict between you disappear and the discussion stops being about winners & losers, you’ll both be able to approach your arguments with a stronger rationale." We don’t like to be persuaded by anyone but ourselves. This is the reason why arguments alone seldom work. We’re very prone to conversational gridlock, especially in situations where the conflict devolves into a ”I’m right and you’re wrong”-kind of thing. Instead, what you want to get good at is to shift the focus from ”you’re my problem” to ”you and I have a problem… now how do we solve it?”. When the conflict between you disappear and the discussion stops being about winners & losers, you’ll both be able to approach your arguments with a stronger rationale. Never start a discussion by saying you’re right (thus implying that your opponent is wrong), or a presentation by claiming that you’re going to convince the audience. If you do, you’ll frame the situation in a mode of conflict and then it won’t even matter how good your suggestions are, you still won’t get any agreement since your opponent will feel as if they’ve lost something if they agree. Those that are experts of persuasion utilize a much more humble approach, where they’ll present facts and suggestions followed by having the other person to choose how to interpret the information. ”I’m thinking something like this… because… based on X… what are your thoughts?”. If their counterpart now responds harshly with something like ”That’ll never work”, don’t fall into the trap of arguing ”Yes it will, because X” – that fight you’ll never win. Instead, ask a smarter question like ”What needs to change for this to work?” or ”What have I missed taking into account?”. All the energy your opposer would use to shoot down your arguments have now been moved to finding a solution toward your suggestions. Suddenly you’re working with each other instead of against each other. About the author: Pontus F. Christoffersen is a rhetoric consultant and speaker at Snacka Snyggt. There, he manages educational presentations on negotiation, and his didactic strengths lie in his ability to weave together rhetorical and psychological tools to generate a sharp personal precision in the methods he shares with audiences.