Fateme Banishoeib is a strategic leadership consultant with a focus on change management and designing teams for innovation and inclusion. She understands corporate environments from having spent years leading them as a Fortune 500 executive. Fateme gives talks and workshops around the world about human-centered business. She’s also a poet. Her most recent collection of poems, The Whisper, is a lyrical conversation that helped her discover a new sense of mission and integration.
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
My consulting business grew out of a desire to help leaders at other organizations build the kinds of innovative and inclusive cultures that I’ve learned to create over and over again.
My mission is to innovate businesses by putting people at the center.
Tell us about your business.
ReNew Business is a think tank and consulting firm that helps leaders architect their organizations for innovation, inclusivity and integrity. We work with visionary leaders on change management, team integration, diversity and inclusion.
ReNew Business works with businesses seeking transformational change that leads to more engaged employees and customers. Drawing upon years of experience leading teams and organizations, we tailor a solution to meet your specific situation and needs.
List awards/certifications/accomplishments.
- Master in Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- Ph.D in Organic Chemistry
- Published poet “The Whisper”
Where is your business based?
Basel, Switzerland and it serves organizations across the globe.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
I have hired a coach to support me with the development of my business idea and concept.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Networking is the most powerful way to raise awareness and visibility. I regularly attend events that connect me with like minded people. I make myself available for keynote speaking which helps spread my message and I invest time in blogging and partnering with other platforms writing about my core topics.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Moving from the corporate environment to become an entrepreneur, taught me a different level of the importance of relationship management. It is a daily commitment that involves a lot of self awareness and self management.
I have a background and former career in a different domain (pharmaceutical) while my business is in consulting. This requires, more than ever, to establish trust and credibility with audience and potential customers. Starting a new business in a foreign country has also been a learning experience.
How did you overcome these challenges?
I remained true to my core values. I love the work I do, the people I do it with and I love being able to connect with other people through the work I do now. I draw upon my years of experience leaving on 3 different Continents and leading teams and organizations across the globe. I am required to constantly practice what I preach: Organizations that want real collaboration and innovation need to put people at the center of their business.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
It is important to have a network of support. I cannot emphasize this enough. It shouldn’t be a network of people who like us, rather people who will be straight forward and honest with us. Who are capable of being honest and speak up while being kind and compassionate. Those are the people in my trusted circle I go to when in need of support. They will point me back towards the right direction and remind me why I do what I do.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
Small consulting firms typically lack the experience of working within large organizations, while the big consulting firms have rigid, cookie cutter methodologies. Once the consultant leaves, people slip back into the old ways of doing things. The result is frustration and wasted effort.
While ReNew Business is led by a former Fortune 500 executive who has spent her entire career building human-centered organizations. I am a business strategist who understands corporate environments from having spent years leading them.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
We need people who know how to be not just how to do. This was a great reminder of my own inner purpose for creating ReNew Business.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
BE authentic, know why you are doing what you are doing and the rest will follow.
What is your favorite business tool or resource?
I do not have a specific one. I don’t believe in rigid methodologies—they have never worked for me or my teams. Instead, I tailor a solution to my customers’ situation, resources and needs.
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
“The Medici Effect” by Frans Johansson.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
Re-casting what we know about business requires partnership and collaboration. I constantly seek for ways to collaborate and partner with people and organizations who have the same mission as ReNew Business.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
- Add (3-5) clients over the course of the year
- Continue building potential partnership opportunities to establish thought-leadership on “conscious leadership”
In order to achieve these goals I am attending several conferences around the topic in order to build connections and create potential partnerships.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Instagram @Fabani
Facebook @ReNewBusiness
Twitter @ReNEwBusiness
Website www.rnewb.com
Email fateme@rnewb.com
Linkedin Fateme Banishoeib