Alyana Popat shares on Entrepreneurship when working in the family business 

About Alyana: Alyana is currently pursuing a Master of Management in Hospitality at Cornell University, SC Johnson College of Business. She was previously working with her family business, Simba Corporation, in Nairobi and held several roles within the Hospitality department of the business.

Alyana started off working in the Business Development department as an analyst, where she was heavily exposed to strategy development for the overall corporation and had significant engagement with the board of directors. Following this role, she found her passion in the hospitality industry when she headed the Marketing for the hospitality department.

Alyana also took on the role of an entrepreneur and started her own wine importation and distribution business, focusing on Portuguese wines. She also developed a new restaurant space, that will introduce 11 new brands into the Kenyan market.

Alyana has a strong passion for philanthropy and social entrepreneurship and was also heavily involved in setting up and running the Simba Foundation, the corporate social investment arm of Simba Corporation that aims to create sustainable opportunities for empowerment of African communities. She currently sits on both the Shining Hope for Communities Kenyan Advisory Board and the Simba Foundation Board.

Alyana holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Manchester Business School.

Rania Labaki shares on Corporate Governance and how it connects with Family Governance. Incl best practices and what it takes to succeed. 

About: Bio: Rania Labaki, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Management at EDHEC Business School, Director of the EDHEC Family Business Research Centre, and Family Business Fellow at Cornell University. She is actively involved in key roles in several international organizations, such as member of the board of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA), family business advisor at Lansberg Gersick & Associates, head of the academic committee of FBN France, and co-Editor of Entrepreneurship Research Journal. Her current research and teaching interests revolve around the interplay between family dynamics and family business decision-making. Her extensive experience working with families around the globe includes governance design, strategic succession planning and development of responsible owners. A global speaker with presentations and lectures in over 50 countries across continents, Rania has numerous academic publications and articles in the international media, professional and press outlets such as Forbes, Les Echos, Le Figaro, CampdenFB, Tharawat, The Conversation, La Tercera, Le Nouvel Obs and Financial Times. She is recipient of numerous awards, grants and distinctions supporting and recognizing her contributions to the family business field, including the Barbara Hollander Award in 2020.

Scott Rands shares on Wealth that expands beyond Financial but adds invaluable impact on the family and the business.  

About: Scott Rands, CIM, FEA Scott has extensive experience in financial services, joining Scotiabank in 1995. With a strong background in investment management, estate and trust services and private foundations, he is a true believer in total wealth management planning.

Melissa Mitchell-Blitch shares on Differences Don't Have to be Divisive.

About: Melissa Mitchell-Blitch is the founder of Eredita Consulting and author of In the Company of Family: How to Thrive When Business IS Personal.

Melissa is a former CPA and financial advisor, who left the field of finance in 2003, to focus on the psychology of business and wealth. She has a Masters in Accounting and a Masters in Psychology. Melissa is a Certified Professional Coach, a GiANT Master Coach, and a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Certified Practitioner.

Melissa lives in beautiful Charleston, SC and serves clients across North America. She has spoken nationally and internationally and serves as the Dean of Individual Development for the Purposeful Planning Institute.

Maya Prabhu shares on Children, Wealth and Success. (ages 3-22. Promoting collaboration between siblings. Children understanding success and hardship and appreciating wealth.)

*Disclaimer : Maya is not speaking as a representative of her employer but in her own capacity on this podcast.

About: Maya leads the Wealth Advisory practice across the EMEA region at JP Morgan. She advises families on strategies to plan for and support the harmonious transition of their family wealth and family businesses to the next generation. Her areas of focus include developing family governance and communication strategies, next generation engagement and development, establishing family offices and in crafting effective and rewarding philanthropy strategies. Maya has worked with families around the world especially the UK, Middle East and Asia. Prior to joining JP Morgan in 2018, Maya worked at Coutts & Co London for over 10 years as a specialist advisor and where she most recently led Wealth Advisory Services. Maya holds practicing certificates in Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising from the Family Firm Institute (Boston, USA), a Certificate in Executive Coaching from the Henley Business School (University of Reading) and is an accredited mediator from Regents University. She is a member of the teaching faculty for the Family Firm Institute’s GEN courses and for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioner’s Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advising. She has also guest lectured for the Wealth Management Institute, Singapore. Maya serves on the Board of the London Musical Theatre Orchestra and volunteers as a community mediator.

Jane Beddall shares on Types of Conflicts and Conflict Resolution solutions.

About: After working as a mediator and attorney for a number of years, Jane Beddall founded Dovetail Resolutions, LLC in 2006 to provide mediation services to help parties in conflict reach resolutions tailored to their interests. Her specific focus now is work as a family business mediator and family wealth mediator.

Lisa Cukier shares on Wealth and Marital Conversations in Enterprising Families.

About: LISA M. CUKIER is a Partner and Executive Committee member at Burns & Levinson LLP in Boston. Her practice includes divorce & custody, trust litigation, will contests, fiduciary litigation, mental health and addiction related legal interventions, elder law, guardianship and conservatorship litigation, probate litigation, parentage issues, adoption, family law impacted by mental health issues and divorce impacted by family trusts and family business, blended family planning and litigation, LGBTQ family planning and litigation, grandparents visitation matters, and elder financial exploitation. Previously, Ms. Cukier was assistant general counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and Department of Mental Retardation (now DDS). As Special Assistant Attorney General at DMR, she prosecuted disabled person abuse cases for the Disabled Persons Protection Commission. She is a past president of the Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court, and presently a member of the Boston Probate and Estate Planning Forum, the Boston Estate Planning Council, the Probate & Family Inn of Court, the Massachusetts Association of Guardians Ad Litem. Ms. Cukier has been recognized with the Best Lawyers designation from 2010 – 2020, the SuperLawyers designation from 2005-2020, the Massachusetts Bar Association Community Service Award in 2005, a National Law Journal Trailblazer in 2017, the Women Worth Watching recognition in 2018, Top Women of Law in 2019, and sits on the WBA Women Leaders Initiative as of 2020. Ms. Cukier is a graduate of Northeastern University and Suffolk University Law School. Ms. Cukier is raising her two children in Weston MA (November 2020)

The similarities and differences of Family Enterprises with Dr James Grubman

About : Dr James Grubman has provided services to individuals, couples, and families of wealth for over 30 years. His work with clients at many levels of affluence - from the “millionaire next door” to The Forbes 400 - has earned him a reputation as a valued family advisor. Jim often is consulted in situations of complexity where psychology, law, finance, medicine and business all come into play to varying degrees. Jim also brings his knowledge of the client's perspective to his work with single and multi-family offices, Top 100 wealth management firms, attorneys, and other advisors. He has coached hundreds of advisors on the core competencies needed to foster exceptional client relationships.

Jim is the author of Strangers in Paradise: How Families Adapt to Wealth Across Generations and co-author with Dennis Jaffe, PhD of Cross Cultures: How Global Families Negotiate Change Across Generations, ground-breaking explanations of how individuals and families can adjust to wealth effectively.  His work has been discussed in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, CNBC, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe. He has published widely in the Journal of Wealth Management, the International Family Offices Journal, Journal of Financial Planning, the global family enterprise publication Tharawat Magazine, STEP Journal, and many other media..

A dynamic sought-after speaker, Jim has presented at national and international conferences including the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning of the University of Miami School of Law, TIGER21, the Institute for Private Investors, and the Family Firm Institute, among many others. He is a collaborator on the Hundred Year Family Enterprise Project for Wise Counsel Research Associates, studying the practices of global families who have successfully made transitions through at least three generations. He also served as academic director for the Cultivating Your Family Legacy series within the Family Legacy and Wealth Program at the John Molson Executive Centre of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, as well as a similar program in development at Queens University in Kingston, ON, Canada.

Dov Baron shares on becoming a Dragon Leaders

About: Dov Baron is “The Dragonist”, guiding us in how to recognize and nurture dragons (the top talent) hidden in our organizations. A Dragon Leader is not a position , it’s someone who is always pushing to improve and wants those they serve to reach their full potential.

Dov’s humour and no-BS style is contagious. As a master storyteller, he is considered to be the leading authority on actualized leadership. Actualized leadership means getting the result you set out to achieve in the most meaningful manner.

Working with diverse leaders and executive teams, Dov filters common bonds to create Fiercely Loyal cultures. You can’t achieve loyalty without “meaning” and talent only stay when they feel they are a part of something larger than themselves.

Besides being a bestselling author of One Red Thread and Fiercely Loyal : How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent, Dov has been named one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers to Hire and as one of the Top 30 Global Leadership Guru's . He has spoken to the United Nations, The World Management Forum (Iran), The New York National Speakers Association, and The Servant Leadership Institute.

In June 1990, while free rock climbing, Dov fell approximately 120 feet and landed on his face. The impact shattered most of the bone structure of his face. After ten reconstructive surgeries, no external evidence remains; however, this experience wasn’t just life-changing, it has been completely transformational. Dov shares how Dragons are born in fire , experiences that could potentially destroy you, instead can birth purpose, passion, and hunger to champion others to nurture the Dragon Fire in ourselves, our families, our communities, and our companies.

Dov believes the world needs more "Dragon Leaders" committed to living their purpose, standing in their truth, and empowering others to find their fire and do the same.

Dave Specht share on the Family Matriarchs

About: Dave Specht is the author of, "The Family Business Whisperer."  He has served as a University Professor at the University of Nebraska where he taught Family Business Management.  In the past 3 years Specht has trained nearly 3,000 of the top financial advisors in the United States.  He is the father of 6 children and lives with his family in Basin City, Washington.

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-specht-a881147/

Twitter- @FmlyBusinessman

E-mail- [email protected]