Leadership Exposé Podcast: Success Talk with Steven Paul

We are honoured to have an exciting guest and leader today, and you will all love this! We welcome Dr. Bijna Kotak Dasani MBE, FRSA. Dr. Bijna is a business and professional leader, with experience and knowledge across sectors in business and technology domains, and also brings a wealth of experience in emerging and established companies globally. She holds several executive and board roles globally, and is a leading force in transformational change, diversity and increasing the ratio of women in technology and business. 

Dr. Bijna Kotak Dasani is an appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (2020) by Her Majesty, The Queen for her services to Diversity and Inclusion in Financial Services. 

Dr. Bijna is featured and recognised globally in over 95 instances of publications, books, awards and media. A few highlights include: Yahoo Finance and Involve People as #28 of the Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives #EMPower list (2022), Global Icon Awards 2022 by World Association of Small & Medium Enterprises; she has received several awards globally by private and government institutions and named Britain’s Rising Star, UK Women of Inspiration awards (2019), #29 in the World’s Top 100 Women Execs by Yahoo and HERoes (2019), and many more.

We will hear with interest on Dr. Bijna’s journey and how she is building and enabling leadership throughout the business and societal ecosystem, breaking down barriers, whilst influencing transformational change on a multi-dimensional level by linking diversity, equity and leadership.

In this episode today we have the honour of having a discussion with a leader who spent 11 years as an Infantry Officer in the British Army followed by 18 years in the world of consulting in Leadership and Culture development – defining and operationalizing purpose.

We welcome Lance Gerrard Wright, Performance Coach and Leader. Lance has held several roles previously, and is part of several global advisory forums to advise senior leaders on diverse leadership and business topics. 

Lance brings a perspective from Military Leadership and connects that with the commercial world. Today we will hear about intersections and how some of the Military lessons can be applied in the commercial world, and ways in which business performance, productivity and profit could be enhanced through the leadership skills from both environments. 

In this episode, we are energised to have as our guest an adventurous leader -  Vimal Abraham, Managing Partner of Meraki People Private limited.

Vimal draws on his memories, experiences and goals who transitioned from being a radio jockey to a banker; from tech-enabling start-ups to selling software, whilst bringing the best of marketing and sales to the forefront. Vimal previously led the global marketing operations of a $100M tech start-up. 

He has navigated through twists and turns in life and business, been there, done that successfully with unconscious leadership agility. Vimal is creating waves in advising tech start-ups to pivot their growth on marketing and business, whilst also drawing on Human Resources elements through the boutique advisory with his partner. 

We will learn about his journey and  how he is building new concepts and helping other businesses and leaders thrive and grow in face of disruption and rapid change. 

In this episode we meet an entrepreneur, technical services leader and investment promoter. We welcome David Binza, CEO of Darafin Ltd a South African registered global trade consultancy firm, and a business that is focused on international trade. The company has working arrangements with an investment bank, investment companies, local partnerships allowing them to grow their business scope from consultancy to actual trading, financial brokerage and funding facilitation. 
David’s focal point of his leadership experience has been about being able to work with the “general worker” in the field in mining and construction to working with top executives in the respective sectors simultaneously. The workplace focus has evolved from a technical health perspective to a commercial and business growth aspect, benefiting the company and the workforce. 
David is also a member of the Zimbabwe Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (ZIOSH) and a global citizen doing business internationally, and in mainly Harare, Dubai and Cape town. 

We will learn about Davids perspective and expertise on Global Trade as an economic growth catalyst for Africa and the Technologies in managing a diverse and effective supply chain, whilst also connecting the framework for even better workplace safety

In this episode we meet a sophisticated and seasoned business leader in international business and public relations, entrepreneurship, branding, multicultural integration, with innovative application of influence, negotiation, marketing, sales strategies and business development - globally. He has developed strategic partnerships for his clients with government officials, businesses, organisations, medical specialists, technology innovators, agriculture producers, manufacturers and distributors, to mention a few

We are joined by Roberto Alas, Founder and CEO at Alas International business relations, and Spanglish Digital Agency, based out of Canada. He is keynote speaker at events, trainer and facilitator. We will learn about his journey and experiences, but also how he enables and enables the best of business cultures across markets, and how Roberto has proudly provided hands-on international business experience to Canadian companies and entrepreneurs that have travelled with him on official business trips to USA, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Colombia. We will also learn how he helps clients and participants’ implement new skills, knowledge and behaviours to succeed in their careers.

In this episode we meet a seasoned entrepreneur, who has an extensive history of starting, financing, and managing companies, primarily in the oil and gas sector. A consistent advocate for the oil and gas industry, he’s been published in diverse publications including Marine and Petroleum Geology, CBC, and the Toronto Sun where he’s highlighted industry innovations and driven and influenced conversations for sustainable approach to energy independence in Canada. 

We welcome Michael Binnion, President and Founder of Questerre Energy Corporation (QEC) - an international energy exploration, technology and innovation company headquartered in Canada. Michael is also the Chairman of the Board at High Arctic Energy Services and also serves as the Honorary Consul to Canada for Papua New Guinea (PNG). Michael leverages his leadership specialty in start-ups and turnarounds, to develop and enable Papua New Guinea and her people on diverse elements of people and business growth, as well as helping promote PNG as an emerging resource-based economy to build many opportunities for Canadian companies. He has previously held various executive and board roles. 

Today we will learn about Michael’s journey, and how he is making the impossible possible by influencing, leading and shaping Carbon Technology and Energy Transformation in Canada and globally, the areas that companies need to focus on in today’s world. We will learn about how he outlines what is important on leadership and culture at in the executive office and boardroom, and how to create a ripple effect across the firm’s ecosystem

In this episode we meet a progressive-minded leader, business consultant and global social entrepreneur. She brings a wealth of educational, journalistic, business and life experience, amongst several others. 

We welcome Ms Ayanna Nahmias, CEO and Leader at Nahmias Group, located in the US. She holds diverse roles in the domains of Digital Transformation, Project Consulting, whilst also being social entrepreneur and founder of a successful international non-profit called ZimFarm Project, where she brings her global experience and focus to Africa. Her drive, determination and passion for social aspects has unlocked her entrepreneurial leadership as she leads and develops sustainable women's empowerment initiatives in Africa that promote self-sufficiency, accountability, and pride. 

Today we are going to learn about Ayanna, her transformational work on both the business side and how she is making a difference on social entrepreneurship, globally and in Africa as a focus.

In this episode we meet a business leader with wide ranging experience and skills with passion for operations, marketing and business development - across sectors. He knows the essence of working in a fast paced environment with entrepreneurial approaches, and how he is reinventing new ways of working and strategies for companies at different stages of their growth. 

We are joined by Stelio Antoniou,  COO at Full Force Gaming Group located in Cyprus. We will learn about his journey and how leverages his skills and expertise on new ways of managing and leading teams to work towards strategic key performance indicators - how he mentors other leaders on their journey of building businesses that draws on new age marketing.

In this episode we meet a creative leader and strategic architect designing and delivering complex enterprise, human and systemic transformations. She created a Multidimensional Transformation Framework blending Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering and Social Sciences. She leads transformative innovations at Fortune 100 enterprises to create emotional, economic and brand value with her team
We are excited to have Ms. Joti Balani, Founder and Managing Director of Freshriver.ai. She holds a portfolio of advisory roles at several firms, and is a co-founder of women in voice/WiV, at the New Jersey, US chapter. Today, we will learn about Leading the next generation of humans building the Exponential Age, what that means and how Joti is making a difference, and connecting the dots with her team and the disruption of multiple ecosystems.

In this episode we meet Templeton Sawyer, Employment Support Practitioner Leader with Teamwork Cooperative in Canada. We will learn about his passion to help youth and how advocates them to believe in themselves and increase their self-confidence through leadership and skill development programs across Canada, Bahamas and Globally. We will learn about how Templeton views the topic of diversity, inclusion and the unique way of how he mentors business leaders, emerging professionals and youth in becoming the best they can.  He is the host of ‘Tweet the Leader in You’ podcast, and co-facilitator of the Teamwork’s Youth-Focused Community of Practice. This episode comes with all the imperfect parts and background sounds, and at Leadership Exposé we embrace all of this in the presence of our guest leader!