Latest / Women Disrupting Tech / How to Build a Resilient and Purpose-Driven Business with Marleen Somohardjo | Ep. 115

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How to Build a Resilient and Purpose-Driven Business with Marleen Somohardjo | Ep. 115 · Women Disrupting Tech

0:00
If you're a profession issue, it's very difficult for you to
0:02
let go. And then you would immediately
0:05
say, OK, perhaps that is less quality, but it could also be
0:09
that you're because of your perfection is you don't see that
0:13
it's being delivered in a different way.
0:15
And you say, and then if we just now segue this into how people
0:20
look at diversity, this is also a way how people need to look at
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that. There are different talents and
0:26
different approaches to things, but it doesn't mean that it's
0:29
not perfect, because it's not your level of perfection.
0:44
Welcome to women disrupting tech my name is dear Keanukas, and on
0:48
this podcast I give the women who work in tech the platform
0:51
they need to inspire and empower each other Join me on your
0:56
journey into the world of entrepreneurship, funding biases
1:00
and role models to discover the. Strategies for success in the
1:04
tech industry, in other words. How Women can disrupt tech.
1:10
Are you ready to listen? Hey, welcome back to Women
1:19
Disrupting Tech and thank you for tuning into episode 115.
1:24
Would you start a business in the middle of a crisis?
1:29
That's exactly what Marlene Somohartchow did during the
1:32
financial crash of 2008. While many companies were
1:37
scaling back, laying off people, she stepped forward.
1:41
And by doing so, she discovered that resilience is not something
1:45
you switch on when times get tough.
1:48
It's daily discipline. Today, Marlene is the founder of
1:52
M2 Advisory. She helped companies prepare for
1:56
uncertainty and build stable foundations for growth.
2:00
In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, Marlene
2:03
explains why profit without purpose is fragile, how
2:08
financial preparedness creates freedom, and why you should
2:12
design a business that lets you enjoy life now, not just when
2:17
you retire. In the end, this episode is not
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just about numbers. It's about strategy, about risk
2:24
management, and about personal choices that shape lasting
2:28
success. So when you're ready to listen
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and learn how to build a resilient and purpose driven
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business, please welcome. To Women Disrupting Tech Marlene
2:40
Somohacho Marlene Somohacho welcome to women Disrupting
2:44
tech. Good to have you.
2:46
A question I always ask at the start is how you got into your
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current job at M2 Advisory. Oh, thank you, dear Keon.
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Thank you for having me. Well, yeah, I started my career
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at KPMG when I graduated from the adult university in
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Rotterdam as a business economic and I started my career as a
3:07
business advisor. But I always had my idea that I
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wanted to start my own business, my own management consultancy.
3:13
However, it was a very good idea to start within a big corporate
3:17
delivering big programs and just also working in in a certain
3:21
framework. That was very attractive to me
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and it really honed in into my skills, management consultancy
3:27
skills, working for big companies and just say this is a
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very good starting point within my career.
3:35
But then at some point I just wanted to start it and do it by
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myself. So I left KPMG in 2008 during
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the financial crisis within the financial sector, but started my
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first assignment in that during that period.
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So I embarked that entrepreneurial journey.
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Just see how much it was. It was like a extension of my
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personality, see how resilient I could be, how I could build my
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and launch my own company in this.
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But we were with a very clear focus in the sense that I wanted
4:06
to deliver a more end to end value proposition and that I
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missed a little bit working during working at KPG.
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It was a perfect environment. We just had the structures and
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the frameworks and also the type of advising was very exciting,
4:22
was amazing to be part of it. However, I missed the element
4:27
that was just very much focused because it was very isolated
4:30
within an environment and not taking the entire business
4:34
dynamics into consideration. And that was something that I
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really wanted to bring to the table to my clients.
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So that is the reason why I just totally focused on saying, OK, I
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want to build this for myself. So I started that and after that
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I started on to advise you because until advisory is it's
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more focused on delivering the same mission that I have.
4:55
But then from a different perspective, it's more that now
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it's a movement to bring people and helping them in financial
5:00
stability with frameworks that we can help them hampering
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clarity and much more clarity in a complex, complex environment.
5:06
So it's not more that the very consultancy one-on-one, but it's
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more in a broader few or helping people to train their people or
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and bring them them to a next level.
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Not being dependent on like a hiring external resources, but
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just being able to totally focus on their own capabilities and
5:27
working with a framework that helps them bring them to a next
5:30
level and sustain in financial stability.
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So this is what that is my current role within the
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advisory. Cool.
5:38
And how was it to start? Because she started M2 or you
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started working for yourself as a solar consultant in the
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financial crisis. How was that?
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Because there was a lot of. Yeah, it was a pretty turbulent
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time, let's say. And that was exactly the point.
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I was just like, and the macroeconomics were definitely
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not favorable, but then the chaos or, or just saying it
6:08
wasn't even chaos. It was, it was more like what is
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the preparedness or the, the readiness to deal with such big
6:16
events? That was definitely something
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that was very apparent in within the within the settings that I
6:22
was working. So what happened?
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And that was also the reason that I was felt comfort,
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comfortable and confident to start my business because I was
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working for a big insurance insurance company and they
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wanted to have their central unit taken to a more decentral
6:37
program management office. And from that perspective, they
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requested me to do this for them.
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It was a very strategical move saying have taking everything
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more from a central to a more decentral perspective.
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And that for me gave me the opportunity to build on my
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health, starting building on my network and continue working on
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working on delivering and launching my own business.
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So it was, it was like simultaneously it happened.
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But yeah, the macroeconomic defense, as I mentioned in the
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beginning was really impacting in that in every level just
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cascaded it in, in businesses, but also in personal lives.
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So it felt a bit comfortable in the sense that you were seeing
7:16
that people were being laid off. And on the other hand, I was
7:19
being hired to had to help bringing the business back to a
7:23
level that it was for them, for them having the feeling to be in
7:27
control and, and, and just maintaining whatever they were
7:30
doing in the within their, their sector and helping people
7:33
working alongside. But there was also a downside
7:37
and that was the people who are just getting fired or or being
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put in position that they needed to pay for their lives.
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How was that for you to to make that pivot?
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What impact did it have, positive or negative?
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Every element has this negative side, but for me personally,
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like I said, it just was my post.
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I have my opportunity to show my personality in a different way
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and helping really helping a company bringing their, their,
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their very essential question, how can we reduce costs and how
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can we bring a more efficient way of working within our
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business unit? So that was a very good side,
8:14
but just has been talking to people that you will have been
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seen or even on the program that were taken off the program
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because of there was no they need to be replaced or there was
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this from a cost containment perspective.
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There were not available or needed were not needed anymore.
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That was hard to see that was does that's definitely not
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something that is nice or hey, it impacts you especially when
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you're impact. I just really feel, and I want
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to see everyone thrive in a certain way.
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But yeah, it was also part of their journey.
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So yeah, that was not, that was not a very nice way.
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But yeah, at the end of the day, we just focused on delivering
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and we focused on creating something that was manageable
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and working for everyone. So that was that was that was
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the better side. Did you feel that company that
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you work for was prepared for what they were doing or that
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they were just taking measures because they felt like, OK, we
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now have to act because we need to cut cost?
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That's a very good question. At high sight, I think they were
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not very much prepared. So, and this is what you
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unfortunately see with, with every big business is that they
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are just had, they, they have the volume, they they're in the
9:26
life in the business life cycle that they just, they're not very
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much affected by macroeconomic defense.
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But there was just such a big skill and especially to the
9:37
extent in the financial sector that they also needed to be more
9:40
compliant in a in a different way.
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And also having their reserves and their financial stability
9:46
being challenged, that put them in a position to say, but then
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this is what you see. But then it puts people in a
9:52
position that they think, OK, we need to reduce costs and we need
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to have different cost structures.
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Well, I'm now preaching and saying, OK, if you already have
10:01
seen this before have like a very clear strategy and
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financial and very clear financial objective.
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You would have already been prepared to an extent that if
10:11
the and if the markets change that you're prepared to to
10:15
respond to that in a more adequately or a more appropriate
10:20
manner than just like only working with headcounts or head
10:26
taking out core essentials out of our core competence out of
10:30
your business. Because that is also what you
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see is that people are just like in stress taking out core
10:35
elements that they could easily have redesigned to a better
10:39
level. But now they totally took to
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have taken it out of the business.
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And then they need to redesign or reinvent it like in a new
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manner that just gives them an up ahead that just that that it
10:51
just creates more distance to the market.
10:54
Yeah, how how can companies prepare for that?
10:59
Is is that because shell for instance, is is known that they
11:02
do a lot of strategy and or sorry scenario testing?
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Is is that part of of being prepared?
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It's, it's definitely a good way of testing and being prepared.
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It also has to do with how do you do you want to position
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yourself with, within the market.
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So, yeah, if you see, you know, financial institution work with
11:28
stress testing, they work with, with opportunities or but
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there's always a. Level the stress testing only
11:35
came up as especially in on the insurance side because I've been
11:40
in the implementation of solvency to in the aftermath of
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of the financial crisis, the stress testing only started.
11:50
After. After the financial crisis,
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because regulators have said, well, maybe we need to do some
11:59
stress testing on the insurance side too, because banks were
12:02
sort of subjected to it, not really, but to the level that
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they should have, but at least they, we are subjected to it.
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But the insurance for the insurance companies, it was
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totally new. So it had just being part of
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also I've also been part of solvency programs.
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Yeah, it was, it was like a requirement having all your
12:22
pillars in place. And if you would compare that
12:24
for example, how you mention saying forks a shell, shell is
12:29
much more prepared in the sense that they have risk management
12:33
or working from an operational risk managed point of view more
12:37
embedded within their businesses.
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So why you've seen that financial institution have risk
12:41
management working and using it more to be more profitable
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within other sectors. Risk management is more from an
12:48
operational point of view, but giving them the opportunity to
12:51
understand their business much better and be prepared and
12:55
mitigate risk in a much better way or a much effective way then
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you would see if it would. Yeah, if it.
13:01
Yeah. Is that also the key to the
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shift that especially financial institutions need to make, like
13:09
shifting from looking at it from a profit and loss perspective to
13:13
really embedding it in the operation?
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I think that will be a much better way to understand that
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they're, they're not becoming obsolete because, hey, if you
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look at it from a life cycle business perspective, there is
13:27
no urgency being the biggest, having already your market
13:31
position. But now coming to in a situation
13:35
that and the market is requesting other elements and
13:38
the, and the events are much broader.
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And let's say the geopolitical issues, for example, or the
13:44
trade war that we have right now is just those are elements or it
13:48
started, for example, with corona, just COVID, of course,
13:51
we had mortality risk indicators, but did we have
13:54
pandemics? Not to that extent.
13:56
So have we're, we're learning, we're evolving, but it also
13:59
means that we need to change our way of thinking and our way of
14:04
doing and approaching markets not from the from the
14:10
perspective of that, however, we're the biggest and we're the
14:12
best. But just now being more
14:14
integrated within the community or within the, within the market
14:18
and seeing that it helps that you're having much more
14:22
effective strategy and a much more market fit.
14:26
When you're take into consideration that you need to
14:29
prepare for certain elements and you need to build your, your
14:31
core competence around that and not being like a secondary
14:36
opportunity or secretary competence.
14:38
And that facilitates, but it needs to be built and be like
14:41
your core competence. And from there on it should be
14:44
the most, hey, you bring the most value and and the most
14:47
efficient and effective process from your perspective, but also
14:51
from the client perspective. I was wondering, you have this
14:55
M2 framework at M2 Advisory. Can you describe the core
14:59
components of it and how it helps company be more prepared
15:04
and financially resilient? The framework has a mythology
15:08
and the mythology is around assessing and improving and
15:12
measuring. So those are the reports that it
15:14
will bring you. But if you just look at the
15:16
core, competence is built on certain pillars.
15:19
So to my end, and it works on the intersection of finance,
15:24
leadership and technology. So when you look at your core
15:27
competence and you have to framework in have such a way
15:30
that it just measures you to what extent are your your
15:35
maturity level. And then it helps you provide a
15:37
certain insight in how you need to create or project your
15:40
financial goals, how you need to improve or or at least be more
15:45
responsive, intake responsive leadership.
15:49
And also how is your technology facilitating in this aspect?
15:53
And technology in a sense from being very innovative, but it
15:57
could also be like technology how it facilitates your business
16:00
to a better level or even going back to the financial
16:04
institutions having their legacies and working in, in that
16:08
way in a much more flexible and agile way.
16:12
So it just, it gives opportunity, it gives business
16:16
the opportunity to understand from their own perspective.
16:19
So I find that that is the key. It should be from their own
16:22
perspective and not just like, of course, the framework gives
16:25
you a challenge and a push, but it needs to be embedded within
16:29
the business. Understanding that there's a
16:31
very clear correlation between what you have as your final
16:36
strategy. What then your leadership
16:38
approaches toward that and how it's impacted within your
16:42
technology saying how your total environment from your processes
16:46
to operations, for example? OK.
16:49
So these are the core competence.
16:52
OK. So there's leadership, there's
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technology and their strategy, finance, finance strategy.
17:00
OK. So maybe also good to to go a
17:02
bit more deep into the finance strategy part, because you
17:06
talked a bit about the technology side of it and that
17:08
it's not, let's say, being the newest and the most innovative
17:13
of everyone, but to to make sure that you manage your tech stack
17:17
in a way that it's actually enables you to execute.
17:21
So maybe also good to then shift a bit to the financial part of
17:25
it. How, how does your framework
17:28
help companies? Yeah, be financially resilient.
17:33
That's a good question. So like I said in the beginning,
17:36
it's my mission that business understand that in a certain way
17:40
your finance strategy helps you to create an infrastructure that
17:44
builds on financial structures, that builds on stability and
17:47
builds on a certain financial wealth of freedom.
17:51
And that gives you when you understand that your financial
17:54
objectives are much, very much related to what you want to
17:57
bring into the into the world and into the market.
18:00
So I call it, how do you convert your assets?
18:04
For example, if you're building podcasts, for example, what is
18:08
your assets and how do you convert that in into something
18:12
that is financial viable? Yeah, it starts with you
18:18
defining saying, OK, these are my objectives for a longer
18:20
period over time. And then I break it down and
18:23
just bring it to a strategy that helps me deliver these elements
18:27
or have been presented. So for me it is all about having
18:32
your metrics that you can measure whether you're on track
18:35
or whether your your financial strategy is effective or not,
18:39
but not from a backward looking. So people would say for example,
18:42
OK, but you have your year end result, how about that?
18:45
Yeah, that's true. You need to be compliant, you
18:47
need to have your reporting. But what happens within with
18:50
hand during that period that is always backward looking
18:53
environment. What you want to have is that
18:55
you want to have a strategy that's very much focused on what
18:58
you want to bring to the market and very much connected with
19:01
everything that is financially entangled within your business.
19:05
So that you have the right data to have make make the right
19:09
decisions. And being very confident in the
19:12
decisions that you make from having the from the opportunity
19:17
being financial stable. Because obviously you can take
19:20
risk, but the core competence needs to be that your balance
19:24
sheet is very stable. And from there on you can build
19:27
on your, whatever your strategy is, either a growth strategy or
19:32
an innovative strategy or, or just maintaining the business.
19:36
Finance is your, yeah, it's your basic, your fundamentals to
19:41
start with. And what you quite often see is
19:43
that people are very passionate about what they want to do in
19:46
their business. And then we just, and then we
19:48
just talk about the entrepreneurials, not the
19:50
financial institutions so far such.
19:52
But when we look at entrepreneurs, they are very
19:55
passionate about what they're doing, but they just have no
19:58
clue how they can use and work with finance.
20:01
To help them take their business to the next level.
20:05
Yeah. And I think that's also where
20:07
the that's hated this podcast and sort of meets them too, in
20:12
the sense that it's actually also enabling entrepreneurs to,
20:19
to be their best selves and to utilize also the financial part.
20:23
Because to your point, I do recognize a bit that I am very
20:27
passionate about the podcast as a product.
20:29
The financial side is still underdeveloped.
20:33
Yes, there is of course, the your basic reporting on metrics
20:39
with regards to your products, IE the podcast.
20:42
But on the the financial level, there's nothing really big there
20:48
yet. Sorry to interrupt.
20:50
I think it's very important for you to understand that your
20:54
passion needs to be monetized in such a way that you understand
20:57
what is the value of bringing to the market.
21:01
And from there on you start building on your financial.
21:05
So your financial strategy would obviously be not as extended as
21:08
it would be for a financial institution.
21:10
But the main focus here should be I'm delivering something and
21:14
how can I make this more sustainable and what is the
21:17
business model behind this that caters to my personal need but
21:22
also bring value to the customers in this?
21:25
So it starts with that just really understanding that
21:27
there's a level of and from down the opportunities rises in the
21:34
sense of, for example, would you want to work with investors or
21:38
do you want to have build partnerships or do you want to
21:41
just gives you the opportunities to work with, I call them
21:44
financial instruments to build on the solid balance sheet.
21:48
OK. We talked a bit about where we
21:51
talked quite lengthy already about why it's necessary to be
21:55
prepared, why it's also good to be financially prepared, to have
22:00
good sound business model and also to keep track of how
22:03
technology is playing into that for you personally.
22:07
So are there any systems and habits and preparations that you
22:12
use personally as an entrepreneur to be prepared for
22:17
your own company? Yeah.
22:18
So when you're growing your business or when you're working
22:22
in within your business, it's just there's this, like I said,
22:26
you're just you're drive by your passion, but it just also means
22:30
that you need to develop yourself in certain and
22:33
different areas. So it's for me very important
22:36
that I use automated systems for my marketing and sales because
22:41
it's something that is just being the CEO, being the CFO,
22:47
being the CMO, what being the CEO, whatever it just, it just
22:52
it helps, it just it facilitates, it's doing a much
22:57
better job than I am doing. So I really almost rely on from
23:03
that point of view from automated system and there were
23:05
very good even free programs that you can enroll and they
23:09
just just facilitate and helps you be more effective or work
23:13
more efficient is. That also is that also a matter
23:18
of of knowing your own strengths and weaknesses.
23:23
That's a very good question. Yeah.
23:25
As exactly what I think what we want to go through is that I
23:29
understand that not everything is my strength and I can just at
23:34
certain point I just want to know and understand why things
23:37
are happening. But it's also about about
23:40
letting go and understanding that other people can do a much
23:43
better job in, in every area than I can do, for example, and
23:48
how I actually work within when I'm, I'm asked for a program to
23:53
deliver a compliance program or whatever program I work and take
23:58
out that ability from the people that their, their talent, their
24:01
best, I had their best capabilities to work together
24:04
and bring that in a cohesive perspective that we can deliver
24:08
our end results. So it also means that I have to
24:10
apply that to myself. Otherwise, I'm just like very
24:13
deluded with my energy and you have me at my best one.
24:17
I'm just like very centered and focused and just working on
24:22
whatever I promise to deliver because I'm very passionate and
24:26
doing so. So I'm just giving it my all and
24:28
that's why I cannot give my all to everything.
24:30
Yeah. But is it then also for, for
24:33
let's say smaller sized companies important I guess to
24:37
to focus on the things that they're good at and not and then
24:41
accepting or so that they are going to have to, yeah, rely on
24:46
automated systems for other jobs and maybe with bit less quality,
24:52
but not being really perfectionist?
24:54
So I hear your two things and I can definitely relate to that.
24:58
If you're a profession issue, it's very difficult for you to
25:01
let go and then you would immediately say, OK, perhaps
25:05
that is less quality, but it could also be that you're
25:09
because of your perfector is is you don't see that it's being
25:12
delivered in a different way. If we just now segue this into
25:16
how people look at diversity, this is also a way how people
25:20
need to look at that there are different talents and different
25:23
approaches to things, but it doesn't mean that it's not
25:26
perfect because it's not your level of perfect perfection.
25:30
So it all has to do with acknowledging that there are
25:34
differences. And yeah, when you're starting
25:37
business, of course you don't have the financial means to to
25:41
pick, to have to have the big expenditures to go for the most
25:45
expensive program or whatsoever. But still it brings value to the
25:51
extent that it you can focus and deliver on what is your core
25:55
competence. And I find that very, very
25:57
important that you understand that you need to work from your,
26:02
your talent, your best capability and, and, and working
26:06
with others around you alongside you to build that had that
26:10
skills up that that brings momentum.
26:12
And that's, that helps. So it is like I said, there are
26:16
free programs that are very helpful, but it just already
26:21
takes a takes a lot of pressure out of things that you think
26:24
that you need to deliver in a certain way or, or it should be
26:28
perfect or, and especially during this era, technology is
26:32
your best friend right now. Yeah.
26:34
To what extent do you rely on AI, by the way?
26:39
Or do you to what extent do you use it?
26:42
I think I use it to amplify things in the sense that it just
26:46
sometimes if I needed to have a very structured and if I would
26:50
brainstorm it with others, it just gives me a very structured
26:53
way of thinking. I, I, I, I I definitely see the
26:58
value of AI and when I created my framework, I was in this
27:02
bubble by creating it with from an AI point of view, saying, OK,
27:05
if I would add, just simplify or just to, to help to choose to
27:09
better focus on what is needed working with AI, but also
27:14
perhaps working with virtual reality, taking people to the
27:17
journey from if you will do this within your business, this will
27:21
be the end result. So yeah, I'm just from that
27:23
perspective. I'm, I'm, I'm totally embracing
27:28
this technology within our, within our, you know, working
27:32
ways or, or doing so in life. Yeah.
27:35
So I want to go back a bit to what you just said about
27:38
diversity because you segue into to the diversity and inclusion
27:44
domain. To what extent do you think
27:46
that's a good inclusion strategy helps you being prepared as a
27:52
company? It's a beautiful question
27:54
because you see so many companies like strolling with
27:57
diversity and I think it is it is just name it as search tag
28:04
being saying, OK, we have help. Perhaps the approach is is is
28:10
not is not the way of doing saying, oh, we have a problem.
28:13
I don't think it's a problem. I just need seed.
28:16
You need to understand that you need to embrace different ways
28:20
of working, different ways of it's of course you have your
28:24
values, of course you have your, your, your company values.
28:28
That should be something that we have.
28:30
For example, if I would apply with you for a business, that's
28:35
just something that we we should have as the common nominator.
28:39
However, it doesn't mean that how you deliver it would be the
28:43
same way that I deliver it, but it could be complementary to
28:47
each other. And that is the very different
28:50
way of the difficult way of how people think that they need to
28:54
work with either being a diverse country or having inclusion.
28:59
It's just it is too much labeling I would say.
29:02
And the strategy should be more, if we need to be prepared within
29:09
the business with all the things that are happening, we need to
29:13
have people or systems or, or, or mindsets from all kinds of
29:20
walks of lives of all kinds of cultures.
29:22
Or in what how would actually every label that we have that we
29:27
have put on it, we should take all the labels out of it and
29:30
just see everyone from their perspective and what their
29:33
willingness is to bring to the table.
29:36
I would say that would be your best strategy to be prepared.
29:39
Also what everything that is happening with all the different
29:43
suggestions or opinions and and then yeah, being this one.
29:49
Yeah, because that's exactly where I thought it would go.
29:54
Your answer would go is that it's also because you have much
29:57
more different types of opinions and lived experiences and then
30:02
therefore discussions. Your end results get better and
30:06
your level of preparedness goes up.
30:09
Yes, I would definitely say that.
30:11
It just, that is so beautifully and perfectly articulated.
30:16
This is what happens. So if if you look at the
30:19
current, you're still in the in the financial and tech
30:23
landscape, what kind of leadership mindset do modern
30:28
leaders need to have other than what we just discussed being
30:33
prepared and and also looking at it at talent and people know
30:38
from a diversity, from a quota point of view, but from OK, what
30:42
am I getting out of it point of view?
30:46
Yeah, I think it should be a little bit more intuitive.
30:51
I I, I don't want to say in this in to an extent, it should be
30:54
more feminine and I have from a feminine perspective, but it
30:58
should be more focused on building ecosystem.
31:00
It should be focused on more building communities and, and,
31:06
and and and and and building A level on collaborations.
31:11
Yeah, partnerships. Exactly it's it is not that the
31:17
short focus is only on on on creating profits or getting
31:21
generating profits. It should be more purpose driven
31:25
and what is our contribute? What do we contribute to the
31:30
society from our environment? That should be a more, yeah,
31:37
that should be more embedded within leadership, mindset,
31:40
thinking, approaching, behaving. I would say that will benefit
31:44
the future better. OK, so so let's say I'm I'm of
31:49
course a man. So let's say I have this
31:52
perspective. I only care about profit.
31:55
What am I getting wrong? What am I missing?
31:58
Well, I think if they have don't get.
32:01
Me wrong finance. Finance is about profit and
32:04
loss. True, true, of course.
32:06
So that's why I would say yes, that is a perfect mindset.
32:10
But combine that with what is your long term vision about?
32:13
Do you want to contribute to the environment or what is all the
32:16
collaboration or the partnership to society?
32:19
What is what is your how do you want to build your ecosystem is
32:24
independency on how do you work alongside.
32:27
So if your focus is only on profit, it will be very single
32:33
minded. And yeah, if there of course
32:35
there is a market for that. But to my opinion, it would be
32:38
quite shorter than it would be if you would take all the other
32:41
elements into consideration saying, OK, then I'm going to
32:44
build on partnerships and I'm going to see how my value is
32:48
being had, contribute to others with within collaborations.
32:52
So that will be, it will be an added value to your mindset
32:58
being profitable. So because don't get me wrong,
33:00
I've written an e-book about being profitable.
33:03
So I want everyone to be profitable because it helps you
33:07
build on your financial stability, on your financial
33:10
independence and perhaps even your financial freedom and
33:12
wealth. So yeah, that is definitely
33:15
something that I advocate. How do we marry the two?
33:20
How do how do we translate, let's say, profit and loss into
33:24
impact? That's a good question.
33:26
I I think it really has to do with your personal mission and
33:28
and even apart from your essential your, your how you
33:33
contribute contributing to the society.
33:35
If your personal mission is that I want to see everyone in a
33:38
certain way, thinking and, and being have the capabilities and
33:42
have the accessibilities to be healthy and wealthy and, and,
33:47
and and and living their best lives, then that could that is
33:52
that is intertwined with your if that's your business, that is
33:55
intertwined with a very profitable business, because you
33:58
will have your community, you will have your customers, you
34:01
will have your, your sales. So it's, it's together, it works
34:06
alongside. There's no distinction in that.
34:10
I think what happens when I said, if your mission is, is, is
34:15
so much solely focused on, I want to have I, I only focus on
34:20
profit. I think it will take you out of
34:23
the opportunity to to to be a successful entrepreneur over a
34:28
longer period in time. So it's much just focusing on
34:31
profit is also much more short lived.
34:36
I would say, yeah, I would say if you would only be focused on
34:39
profits, it will be very short minded or short live life.
34:43
It will have a very short lifetime trajectory because it's
34:47
also about how is this being perceived within the market.
34:52
If you, for example, only focus on profit, do you, if you would,
34:56
you would dive deeper from a financial perspective in this
34:58
issue, profit margins of is that allowing you to be profitable
35:02
over a longer period of time because when you have very
35:05
little private margins, it will not sustain you for a long
35:08
period over time. So that's why I say you need to
35:11
take everything into consideration.
35:13
Otherwise it will be very only one sided instead of that being
35:17
comprehensive. Yeah, interaction with
35:20
everything that's happened within the market within you,
35:24
being positioned with your with serving your client.
35:27
So let's do a little thought experiment.
35:31
You're a female founder. A female founder wants to start
35:35
building this from the start, marrying let's say of impact and
35:42
on the one hand, profitability. On the other hand, which I think
35:46
is needed to be or to have the impact, how do What are the
35:49
first three steps or more if you have to get started?
35:53
Yes. So we can approach this from a
35:56
very business, business plan perspective Then you should have
36:00
of course, however right business plan.
36:02
What is your audience, what is your product, What is your
36:05
price? How is your business model react
36:09
and generate your profits or at least generate your income and
36:12
then at the end it will be profit.
36:15
What is your willingness to take risk?
36:17
Because I think that's perhaps, perhaps that should be your
36:20
first step. You should take into
36:22
consideration whether you're willing to take a risk to put
36:26
yourself out there, to be vulnerable and to build on
36:31
something that you believe that is just something that you only
36:34
know that will be successful because you have seen the line.
36:37
So yeah, is there a willingness to take a risk and then drill it
36:42
down into is it a financial risk that I'm able to take?
36:46
Is it an operational risk that I can take, a strategic risk that
36:50
I'm taking right now. And from there on you can build
36:52
on your finance saying, OK, that my business plan would be the
36:55
follow them. This is my product, this is the
36:57
price, this is how I will bring it to the market.
37:00
This is my audience and this is the marketing that we're going
37:03
to perform to drive our traffic and to have fun, to have our
37:06
customers. And we will have our third step.
37:09
And that is really, I would say really building on your
37:14
personality and not to the extent that your personality is
37:17
not well, don't get me wrong, but just being resilient, being
37:21
perseverant, being understanding that entrepreneurship can be a
37:26
very lonely journey at some point.
37:30
And just working on that, really believing on in yourself and
37:36
just focusing on what what you want to bring to the world.
37:39
So have the The third step should be investing in your
37:44
personal development. Yeah.
37:47
And also in your personal resilience that you're able to
37:51
sustain, how do you do that? How do you do that as a person?
37:56
So as a person, I, I've been practicing yoga for many, many,
38:00
many years. So that means that I, if there's
38:05
any trauma or whatsoever around me, I just try to stay centered,
38:10
focused on myself. I work with my breathing that
38:15
brings me, I can prepare for tough meetings or even a pitch
38:18
deck, but it just, it gives me the opportunity to understand
38:21
and observe the room and the audience, the people that I have
38:26
that we have interactions with. So I'm I'm working with that.
38:32
I read a lot. I tend to find it in, in yoga,
38:38
in walking, in swimming. I I haven't played golf in quite
38:42
a while, but that is just something that I love because
38:45
obviously it's outside. But yeah, so, but those are the
38:49
just just, it is not all, it's just coming back to yourself
38:53
that helps you being very resilient because we as human
38:56
beings are much stronger that we think we are.
39:00
We can endure quite a lot, but it really has to do with
39:03
understanding why our things are happening and then stay calm and
39:07
stay and stay focused on what is that you want to build.
39:11
You're going to encounter setbacks.
39:13
That is unfortunately what is happening.
39:15
Not everything. Of course, there are people that
39:19
are being successful overnight, but it doesn't 99% of the 100
39:23
times it doesn't work like that. So you need to prepare.
39:26
Yourself for that, yeah, straight lines to success.
39:30
No, it's definitely not. And especially also and when you
39:33
for example work with investors, they perhaps will have like
39:37
different mindset with regards to revenues and profits.
39:41
So yeah, you need to understand are you willing and capable of
39:45
taking that risk and understanding why they come from
39:47
their point of view and what it requires from you to bring that
39:51
to the table. So it should be very much always
39:55
focused. And coming back to your
39:56
question, it should be very much much focus on do you understand
39:59
yourself, do you vote yourself? And from there on, take your
40:03
appropriate steps and work with bringing and focusing on what
40:08
you want to bring on to the table.
40:10
Does that also help you? Let's say take the right risks
40:16
knowing yourself. Personally, it does.
40:19
However, how of course you have you have theoretical theoretical
40:23
risk, but at the end of the day, if mitigating risk is
40:27
understanding your willingness towards risk and it gives you a
40:30
much clearer view on how what, what what is like a high risk or
40:34
what is a low risk. So but then of course you can
40:38
still approach it from a most theoretical point of view for
40:41
what example if this and this happens, yeah, then it really
40:47
has to do what is your risk at first in this just for a normal
40:51
example, I would always say your normal risk management would be
40:55
if you would drive your car to work and you will get in your
40:59
car and your car is not fueled, you could have mitigated that
41:02
risk by fueling your car and being time on your work.
41:06
So that is already mitigating your risk.
41:09
But as it's very practical, but businesses are not doing
41:13
behaving differently in in the sense that they just look at the
41:16
market and see what can happen and how I am not financially
41:19
prepared to encounter this risk and impacts my profitability at
41:25
the end of the day. Yeah, so staying fueled
41:32
appropriately is also part of the recipe for success.
41:36
Yes, but it is true. But it had still a difference
41:39
per person. But it has to be, it has to see
41:43
what is your, your, your future focus.
41:47
We always need to have your future focus and your vision in
41:49
mind. What is your, why actually, why
41:52
are you doing this? What is?
41:53
And from there on, you will categorize your risk from a
41:59
personal perspective, but then also looking to your business
42:02
what is needed because it could also be a very high risk, not
42:08
taking risk, especially during a volatile market because your
42:13
competitors will do so. At the end of the day, what is
42:16
the risk of risking that not taking a certain or not making a
42:19
certain investment? So I was wondering, let's say
42:24
it's 2032, seven and a half ish years from now and you have
42:29
helped many companies be successful.
42:31
What has been your impact and why is that important to you?
42:36
So going back to my mission is it would be my impact to help
42:40
people understand their financial or maintain their
42:42
financial stability and working towards financial freedom.
42:46
Working towards financial well which have wealth and freedom
42:49
are not for everyone to find the same.
42:51
So I would just stay by being financial stable.
42:54
Like I said, your business is an extension of you.
42:58
So it will be very much appreciated if that is
43:01
profitable, if that is, that gives you the opportunity and
43:05
level in life to be, to feel free, to feel independent, to
43:10
have to have a very quality qualitative life.
43:13
So that will be something that I find very important for my
43:18
clients to to feel and understand that with the
43:21
framework that I designed that it helps them to be very
43:25
confident in life because they understand that they're how they
43:27
understand their business. They understand why things work
43:30
as how they work and how they communicate elements to be more
43:33
profitable and to stay profitable over a longer period
43:36
of time. And why is that important to me
43:41
think, no, I know for sure that I find it very important that
43:48
people can live their lives in a very qualitative manner.
43:53
Personally, unfortunately, see in the very direct environment
43:56
that people were really working and living towards their
44:00
retirement. And after their retirement, they
44:02
became ill or even unfortunately died.
44:06
So that is something that I just want to bring back in the sense
44:10
it's not when you're, I'm not even sure what the retirement
44:15
age is right now. It's a sixties 6770. 686768
44:21
something like that in the Netherlands.
44:24
In the Netherlands, for example, and then for our Dutch audience
44:27
working towards that, no, I want to bring it back.
44:30
You're hey, you're, you're now the center.
44:32
You're, you're, you're in your, you're thriving.
44:35
Period. Let's work with that and help
44:38
you live your most qualitative life from there on.
44:41
Sounds like a great place to move to my last question.
44:45
So I'm on a mission to make inclusion in Tecton new normal
44:48
by the end of 2032. How can I best prepare for that?
44:53
Well, understanding that this is, is such a beautiful movement
44:57
that you're, that you're building, but it's a difficult
45:01
one because it has to do with personal beliefs, it has to do
45:06
with essential beliefs, it has to do with everything in
45:11
between. Apart from accepting that we
45:14
have differences in life. At the end of the day, if we all
45:18
put our mindset to it, we, it will happen.
45:20
So I think it's all about gathering the right person and
45:24
the right environment to be seen to be acknowledged.
45:30
And from there on build on small steps.
45:32
I don't think we need to take the big step as of what I now
45:35
see is that people are trying to try to miss or just to oversee
45:39
or overlook a certain certain steps by just only focusing on
45:43
the entrance. All I think we just need to
45:45
focus on what are the small steps that we can make.
45:49
And from there on it, we'll rainbow out within the within
45:52
the community or within the within the society.
45:56
It are not the big steps because then we're still approaching it
46:00
from a collective point of view. And yeah, I think it has been
46:05
shown that that doesn't work over like almost a decade right
46:09
now. So the approach needs to be
46:11
different. So the recommendation is to
46:15
design A path with small steps that ultimately of course do
46:19
lead to the to the desired end result.
46:23
Yeah, because then it will true, then it will take everyone to.
46:28
It's all about education. It's all also about.
46:31
So yeah, you need to take, you have to do the top of the
46:35
iceberg. And how do you take people with
46:38
change management? It all has theories around
46:41
there, but it starts with a small group really being
46:45
effective, showing the results and then you're taking people
46:48
along with you and then people feel comfortable.
46:51
And it will not be like the and like I said, the common
46:54
nominator would be, yeah, we're going to deliver the elements
46:58
that are needed for the business.
47:00
But it's not that the selection process will be Yeah, but then
47:03
that person need to look like this, need to behave like this,
47:06
need to know. We need to think out of outside
47:08
of the box and then accept that there are differences.
47:12
But if the end for solved it is the same, the different doesn't
47:15
matter. The difference will be and we'll
47:17
just vaporize within the whole process.
47:19
And then we just will we're able to bring all these talents and
47:23
gifts together to bring a much better and create a much better
47:27
and more inclusive environment. Sounds like a great place to
47:31
close, Marlene. So Mojo, thank you very much for
47:36
an amazing conversation. If people want to learn more
47:39
about you and M2 Advisory, where can they go?
47:43
So your listeners are very welcome to follow me on Inked In
47:47
or approach me on LinkedIn. You can find me on Marlene.
47:51
So Mario, obviously, we also have a company page and
47:54
advisory, but then we are also on YouTube where you can find
48:00
content. And we're going to start soon
48:02
again, our discussion tables where you can just find the
48:05
contents around finance and discussing with all disciplines
48:09
how we can bring and see, find us more as a business partner
48:14
than we only see it as reporting or has something that is needed
48:18
within the business. And so, yeah, coming back,
48:22
LinkedIn, you can send me Adm or just follow me and we have a
48:27
newsletter where you can sign up or YouTube where you can find us
48:31
and to advise you. Also cool.
48:32
And we'll include those links in the show notes.
48:35
So once again, Marlene, so Marge, thank you very much for
48:39
great conversation. Listeners, thank you very much
48:42
for listening and until the next episode, keep being awesome.
48:51
Well, that's it for episode 115 of Women Disrupting Tech with
48:56
Marlene Somoharsho on how to build a resilient and purpose
49:00
driven business Marlane. And I hope that you found our
49:04
conversation as purposeful and as empowering as we intended it
49:08
to be. And if you have any questions
49:11
for Marlane, please leave them in the comments on Spotify,
49:15
Apple or YouTube and I'll make sure you get an answer.
49:18
When you want to connect with Marlane and or learn more about
49:22
M2 Advisory, please check out the links in the show notes.
49:25
As usual, you can find the show notes at Women Disrupting Techno
49:29
Block and that link is also in the description.
49:32
If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating
49:36
or a review on Apple or Spotify. Leaving a rating or a review
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50:01
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50:04
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50:37
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50:44
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50:47
With that, I wish you a wonderful day.
50:50
I hope to see you in the next episode and until then, as
50:53
always, Kee being awesome.