New Thinking: Leaders

Carolyn Pearson is chief executive of Maiden Voyage and director of Innovent Digital. Maiden Voyage is a leading travel security company through which Carolyn and her team provide inclusive travel security training to some of the world's biggest organisations, helping employees to travel the world safely whatever their personal characteristics and profiles. Carolyn launched another business, Innovent Digital, in 2021, which provides digital strategy and transformation consultancy services, helping organisations to revolutionise their digital customer experience. In this in-depth conversation, Carolyn recalls her own travelling experiences and how this led her to work in travel security; discusses Maiden Voyage and how they empower and protect travellers; and delves into launching Innovent Digital and the current projects they’re working on. 

Paul Perrone is the founder and chief executive officer of Perrone Robotics. Founded in 2003, the company develops, innovates, and pushes the boundaries of what’s possible within the autonomous driving industry. Paul has led Perrone Robotics as an early pioneer in the field with over 20 years of autonomous vehicle experience. He also invented the world’s first general-purpose robotics operating system for autonomous vehicles, ‘MAX,’ in 2006. In this in-depth conversation, Paul reflects on the key events that lead to him starting in the industry, including his first experience with self-driving cars; delves into the work of Perrone Robotics, “pushing the boundaries” of what’s possible in autonomous driving; and predicts what the future looks like for both himself and the company, to continue “delivering safe and reliable autonomous solutions for human kind.”

Robert Stryk and Scott Taylor are Global Private Diplomats. Robert is the founder of Stryk Global Diplomacy, founded in 2001, the global diplomacy and advisory firm assists sovereign states, businesses and individuals and helps clients identify business opportunities, manage risk, and navigate often-complex situations. Scott’s company, Taylor Global Strategies, offers diplomatic advisory services. Scott is a former Navy SEAL who represented Virginia as a Congressman between 2017 and 2019. The two companies have recently teamed up to work together. In this in-depth conversation, Robert and Scott delve into their individual career journeys so far and why they decided to “take their business to the next level by collaborating;” discuss their role and how they work to “create lines of communication, give information and build trust between key contacts;” and share stories of their career including why being out in the field can feel vulnerable at times.

Danny Gray is the founder and chief executive of JAAQ. Founded in 2021, the non-profit organisation allows people to access mental health experts through the power of conversation. Their mission is to focus on a variety of mental health topics, starting with depression, psychosis and body dysmorphic disorder, and to “change the world of mental health, one question at a time.” In 2018, Danny also founded War Paint For Men, a cosmetics brand designed specifically for a male audience to break down the stereotype around men’s makeup. In this in-depth conversation, Danny reflects on how his own struggles with body dysmorphic disorder inspired him to start his business journey and help others by sharing his story; delves into JAAQ, an interactive platform which allows open conversations about mental health, and his plans to branch out in the future; and shares the upcoming launch of a skincare range this year, and expanding to stock his makeup products in more retailers.

John Quinn is founder and managing partner at Quinn Emanuel. Founded in 1986, they are the largest law firm in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration. John has grown the firm such that it now operates in 29 offices on four continents, employing over 900 lawyers and generating more than $1.4 billion in revenue annually. John is regarded as one of the top trial lawyers in the world and has been described as a “master strategist” by American Lawyer. In this in-depth conversation, John reflects on the first steps he took in his career, and how this led him to start his own law firm; discusses growing Quinn Emanuel from a concept into a successful global firm; and shares his plans to expand what the firm can offer.

Chris Yoshida is president of Northern Data. Founded in 2017, the Frankfurt-based cloud computing provider helps disruptive computing services solve issues faster, better, and more economically. Unlike their competitors, they control the entire high-performance computing infrastructure chain, while also “bringing together the blockchain network and the demand for exponential growth in data processing.” Chris has held a number of executive and advisory positions at a variety of different companies, including The Carlyle Group, Bottlepay, and McLaren Technology - after starting out his career at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. In this in-depth conversation, Chris reflects on the lessons he has learnt throughout his career, and how these have led him to his position today; discusses how Northern Data have become “an infrastructure provider to the cloud;” and shares his ambition for the company to be a “rival to the big three” in the next five-to-ten years.

Randy Dewey is founder of LIFT Leadership. Founded in 2021, the company helps C-Suite executives and leaders who need to spike their leadership performance, solve business financial problems, and build actionable business strategy through tools, coaching, consulting and masterclasses. In a career spanning over three decades, he has held senior positions in ten companies, and sat on 13 boards in both the public and private sector. As an author, his Wall Street Journal best-selling book ‘When the Unthinkable Happens: How to Lead Your Team and Pivot Your Business for Growth and Opportunity’ explores his signature methodology and helps companies through challenging times and assists in growth. In this in-depth conversation, Randy reflects on starting LIFT Leadership, which aims to “lead, inspire, focus and transform” to move businesses to the next level; discusses what he believes makes a good leader, arguing that elements are innate but the skills can also be learnt; and shares how the work he’s doing can not only transform business development but also personal development.

Dean Forbes is CEO of Forterro, which owns 11 ERP software product businesses and employs 1,200 people. Forterro is a partner to more than 10,000 mid-market manufacturing companies across the UK, Europe and worldwide. Dean is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Forbes Family Group, an organisation which provides investment and development support to businesses, entrepreneurs and social programmes designed to ‘do good and do more.’ Dean boasts an extensive career in executive and senior leadership roles with software companies. Prior to Forterro, he was CEO of CoreHR. He led its transformative growth, expansion and sale to The Access Group. He also led the growth and sale of several other businesses: one was sold to software giant Oracle, and another to American Express. Dean has been named one of Britain’s ‘Top 50 Business Leaders’ according to Lloyds Bank and The Daily Telegraph. He’s also currently, and for the second year running, one of the 100 most influential Black people in the UK on the Powerlist, in partnership with J.P. Morgan. In this in-depth conversation, Dean reflects on how his motivation to succeed was formed through challenges growing up - learning about the importance of hard work and staying positive; discusses his role at Forterro Group - setting strategies and working with people, as he believes they are the “primary value in most businesses;” and shares his future plans, expanding Forterro and continuing to positively impact people’s lives with Forbes Family Group.

Jason Rogers is Vice President of Corporate Development, Partnerships and Strategy at Engine Gaming & Media. Engine is traded publicly on the Toronto Exchange and Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ‘GAME.’ They provide premium social sports and esports gaming experiences, as well as data analytics, marketing, and advertising solutions to support both its owned and operated direct-to-consumer properties and its clients and partners. Prior to joining Engine in 2020, Jason held positions at American Express as well as Disney Streaming Service, Live Like and TriBeCa Early Stage Partners while earning his MBA at Columbia Business School. In this in-depth conversation, Jason reflects on starting out in his career, with his passions about consumer technology and emerging media motivating him; discusses Engine with a focus on social interaction within gaming and media - “connecting people to engage in these experiences;” and reflects on why collaboration has proved vital throughout his career.

Jag Singh is partner and managing director at Angel Invest Ventures. An accomplished entrepreneur, Jag has built four companies from scratch so far, and has significant networks in the European startup, investor and mentor scenes. Previously, he spent four years as managing director of Techstars, the global platform for investment and innovation. Currently a partner and managing director at Angel Invest, he helps to make over 50 investments every year into European technology startups, coaches founders and gives them access to his network. In this in-depth conversation, Jag reflects on what motivated him to become an entrepreneur, “the ability to make short cuts” and how he started on his career journey; discusses his role at Angel Invest Ventures, investing his money, contacts and experience with founders to help the company develop and grow; and shares his advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, expressing how important it is to “never stop learning.”