Dilyara Daminova

LinkedInWebsite

After growing up in Crimea, Dilyara Daminova became a successful entrepreneur in Uzbekistan while still in her early 20s. She got a green card to the U.S., and moved to the DMV area at 26. Dilyara was confident in herself but met big obstacles in the US. Her English was to be improved and she didn’t have a local degree yet, which she got later in 2010. Early on, she struggled to land the most basic of jobs. However, Dilyara found her way into real estate and it was her calling. She was recognized as a NOVA Real Producers Rising Star in early 2020, and her business has continued to grow. Dilyara closed 79 transactions for $33 million in 2020 and 102 transactions for over $47 million in 2021. She is a DMV star and also a girl next door to any immigrant and entrepreneur like myself. I admire her grit and personal qualities like humility, positivity, and readiness to help! We will talk about her team expansion in 2023 and hacks and tips to invest in real estate, doing an effective digital marketing and succeed in selling homes and services! 

Real estate is a tough business

Dan Roberge

LinkedInWebsite

Dan Roberge is a results-driven President and CEO of multi-million-dollar international corporation with a key focus on sales, marketing and product development. His extensive experience in building a company from the ground-up including establishing budgets, marketing image and strategy, business culture, sales processes, support protocols and development of a product tailored to industry needs, makes him a great resource for startups. As a co-founder of Gnxcor Inc., Dan helped build a facility management software company from the ground-up. Including conceptualizing the software offering and all its upgrades, creating a company brand, initializing sales and support procedures, hiring staff and creating roles & responsibilities for a productive growing enterprise. Initially, Dan designed all the marketing efforts including web presence, maximizing SEO, communication automation, customer retention, social marketing and press releases. He developed requirements for product upgrades and worked directly with development team to manage timelines and budgets. He also helped build a finance department to create a reliable and accountable financial model for maintaining a profitable balance sheet, cash flow and effective A/R and A/P including the successful multi-year application for SR&ED credits. Dan learned everything about the business world with hands-on experience including providing daily sales presentations to thousands of potential customers via web or in person with business owners and C-Level executives among others.

Dinara Zhumabek

LinkedInWebsite

Dinara Zhumabek is a principal co-founder of a wellness startup, connecting world class personal trainers with people like you and I. She has come up with this idea after solving her own problem of finding a great personal trainer and not go broke, while doing it. She is a private equity professional with transaction and turnaround experiencing in MENA, Central Asia & Turkey and Sub-Sahara Africa. Her professional experience includes - management consulting in top global consulting firms like McKenzie. She studied in the US, Japan and France and has a well rounded view of the world. She shared her experience being a female professional in a heavily male dominated world of private equity and her advice on how to be successful. 

Being confident and humble is important

Kanat Bektemirov

LinkedInWebsite

Kanat Bektemirov is a tech entrepreneur, who graduated from University of Arkansas with 4.0 GPA and started his career at Amazon and Google. He has done a couple of his own startups and now works as a CTO for a company, connecting suppliers with big retail, helping CPG brands increase revenue, improve margins, and overall be happier by seamlessly introducing teams to modern digital thinking.

Denton Malcolm

LinkedInWebsite

Chairman, Ceo & Founder of D.A.M Companies, llc , I own & develop ten (10) small businesses. I'm three times (3x) Young Entrepreneur of the Year , four times (4x) DC Reggae Artist of the Year , two times (2x) All-Star Soccer Player, Inventor of ReggaeRap ™ , a Certified Entrepreneurship Instructor and a Licensed Celebrity Executive Chef and Serv-Safe Manager. I've been featured on ABC, CNN (tv/radio), Inc Magazine video w/ Ben & Jerry's (over 500k sold), Wall Street Journal, Washington Business Journal, Washington Post, Washington Informer, Baltimore Sun, NBC4, CH2 -NYC, CH8 , CH9, Rightside TV w/ Armstrong Williams , cover of Reggae Source magazine, cover of Black Star News and more for entrepreneurship, catering, design and printing, events management, marketing

All entrepreneurs face similar challenges

Howard Hughes

LinkedInWebsite

With 20 years corporate leadership and 10 years into lifestyle change and rural business. Howard is a highly adaptable executive leader and manager having held a wide range of management roles during my career, including Finance, Sales, Marketing, Coach, Project & Programme Management, Strategy and Business Transformation. Director and Managing Partner of a highly successful diversified rural business (Bowhayes Farm) including a specialist tree nursery (Bowhayes Trees). Bowhayes Trees - is a well regarded UK grower of native and ornamental trees and hedging. With online, telephone and retail sales of trees and accessories across the UK and EU. Additionally, within the 'Bowhayes Farm' business Howard have initiated a set of programmes to further the growth and evolution of a diversified rural business including, accommodation, cider production, orchard husbandry, rural business consultancy and performance coaching.

Andy Shallal

LinkedInWebsite

This is our Christmas special! Interview full of depth with an authentic human being, activist, an artist, philanthropist and entrepreneur. Andy Shallal the CEO and founder of Busboys and Poets, restaurant that unites and educates communities. Andy moved to the United States from Iraq with his family in 1966. He graduated from Catholic University of America and later enrolled in Howard University medical school. Shallal earned his MBA from the University of Maryland. Shallal worked as researcher in medical immunology at the National Institute of Health.

Stop complaining, if you don't like it, fix it, be a part of the solution

Ina Gjikondi

LinkedInWebsite

As a leadership coach and Director of Executive Education and Coaching at George Washington University's Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, Ina Gjikondi is a change agent. Her passion is creating experiences for people around the world to awaken and enhance their leadership abilities and creative capacities. The goal: Bring the whole self — mind, body, soul, and spirit — into one’s life and work. Life often involves transitions, and hers includes civil society activist, political organizer and lawyer in her native Albania, executive coach for an array of leaders in U.S. government, teacher, wife, and mother. The sum of those experiences has enriched her abilities to help people step into their creative realm and become the whole, present, and practical leaders they desire to be. Dream the work — and manifest it.

Through your work, you are generating new knowledge

Christina Batipps, MBA

LinkedInWebsite

Christina is an analytical marketer with creativity on the brain. She works exclusively with small businesses in the creative and cultural sectors, including creative retail brands, nonprofits, restaurants, and more. She has a passion for taking time to deeply understand a brand’s voice, mission, and goals, and helping them to uncover new strategies and increase engagement. Christina specializes in growing brand presence and driving sales through executing customized social media, email, and blog development strategies. As a digital expert with a BA in English from Columbia University, MBA in marketing from Emory University, and over a decade of experience working as a museum curator and in other roles at cultural and creative corporations, she is uniquely positioned to understand and address the digital marketing challenges and goals of creatives and creative businesses

Vladimir Chen

LinkedInWebsite

Vladimir Chen is a dad, a husband, a life and leadership coach, an Ironman and a long-distance swimmer. After almost twenty years of working in the IT industry, Vladimir decided to dedicate his life to inspiring collective growth and elevating human consciousness in the world. Having once felt stuck and unclear of his direction in life, he is now devoted to supporting others in their journeys of transformation. Vladimir enjoys facilitating people’s insights and personal growth via coaching, speaking and conducting workshops. When he is not writing or working with his clients, he likes to read a good book, swim indoors or outdoors and spend time with his family. He is a young parent and sees his kids as his greatest teachers in life.