7 Questions with leaders of small and medium enterprises
Read insights and thoughts from leaders of small and medium enterprises around the world.
Thank you to the amazing leaders of SMEs who have answered our 7 questions so far, we hope you find their answers helpful for you in your leadership journey!
7 Questions with Christopher Fox
Name: Christopher Fox
Current title: Managing Partner
Current organisation: Syncresis
As Managing Partner of Syncresis, a strategic communications firm focusing exclusively on financial services and fintech, I focus on thought leadership, content marketing, communication strategy, and online marketing program management. I help companies and their top thought leaders raise their public profile by putting their best thinking forward via effective messages, compelling stories, and transformational conversations. I have over two decades of professional experience in public relations and communications, marketing, branding, and project/program management. I am also the founder of Kindness Communication®, which focuses on improving the quality of interaction among colleagues, customers, and stakeholders.
7 Questions with Mike O Donnell
Name: Mike O'Donnell
Current title: Executive Director
Current organisation: Prairie Rose Development Corp.
I'm originally from Melbourne, Australia. I met my wife-to-be, from Kansas, at grad school in Sydney, Australia, lost the toss, and immigrated to the US, where I found a job (in 1989) working for and then leading the Small Business Development Center at the University of Kansas. I also served as an adjunct faculty in the business school and participated in a major USAID project with 20 emerging post-communist-era entrepreneurs from L'viv, Ukraine.
In 2000, the opportunity arose to relocate westward and join the nonprofit, mission-based educational lender, Colorado Lending Source. As the third of three employees and then the second of two employees, after the board fired the executive director, I began rebuilding the organization to expand outreach and capital access to new and existing small business owners across the length and breadth of Colorado.
From a staff of two, I helped build the organization to a staff of 42 as Colorado Lending Source became the most active SBA lender in the state year upon year. In 2019, my last full year there before stepping down in 2020, Colorado Lending Source had a $330.3 million impact on the Colorado / US economy facilitating 225 loans to small business owners who created some 1,405 new jobs.
In 2019, I received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Development Finance Agencies for my outstanding contribution to the development finance industry.
After twenty-years with Colorado Lending Source, I am refocusing efforts on democratizing access to affordable capital to more diverse populations of entrepreneurs, integrating character-based lending models into entrepreneurial ecosystems through a new nonprofit entity called Prairie Rose Development. I am currently writing the next chapter of my professional life.
7 Questions with Alex Pearmain
Name: Alex Pearmain
Current title: Cp-Founder
Current organisation: OneFifty consultancy
Alex is a digital communications expert who bridges the world of theory and practice, to drive business outcomes. He has worked with organisations as diverse as O2, Nestle, and Mazda. He founded OneFifty 5 years ago, and they have been named in the UK's hottest startups 3 years running, and were named digital agency of the year in 2020. He lives in Oxfordshire, with his young family, and likes exercise, gardening and cooking. Activities which all depend on each other!
7 Questions with Sean McPheat
Name: Sean McPheat
Current title: CEO
Current organisation: MTD Training Group
Sean founded MTD back in 2001 after a very successful career in investment banking. Since then Sean has had an obsession with creating training programmes, tools and products that deliver long lasting, tangible results.
Sean has also appeared on TV on several occasions as an expert in the field of personal and professional development and has over 300 media credits to his name including the likes of CNN, BBC, ITV, The Guardian, Arena Magazine, Marketing Weekly and numerous radio stations.
As an Amazon bestselling author and being a finalist in the British Business Awards for his Entrepreneurial achievements, Sean knows what makes businesses successful. He has also been coveted in the ISMM’s trainer of the year and the Training Journal’s Learning & Development Professional of the year awards.
In his spare time Sean plays, watches and attends as many sporting events as he can. Rugby, cricket, football, golf, snooker – you name it!
7 Questions with Benedikt Böringer
Name: Benedikt Böringer
Current title: Co-founder & Managing Director
Current organisation: wespond
I am the co-founder and managing director of wespond.
Our mission is to enable meaningful work for teams around the world with our software products.
Feel free to have a look at www.wespond.app
7 Questions with Sam Baker
Name: Sam Baker
Current title: CEO
Current organisation: Farm Flight
Hi! I am the CEO and Co-founder at Farm Flight. We are an agricultural imaging company that uses drones and machine learning to accurately analyze fields. At Farm Flight, my main responsibility is to align everyone's objectives in a way that benefits the company, our partners, and our clients.
7 Questions with Zitah McMillan
Name: Zitah McMillan
Current title: CEO
Current organisation: Predictive Black
Having spent a long career working in advertising & communications for large ad agencies, then the UK Government and financial regulator, I moved into leading a European lending business which reignited my dormant passion for SMEs. This led to me starting my own Company with my co-founders in 2019, and Predictive Black was born.