Wendy Lewis Founder and CEO, Jeunesse Global For a female executive visiting an international boardroom for the first time, interaction and respect in a male-dominated culture is never a given. “Sometimes, I feel I have to prove myself,” says Wendy Lewis, Founder and CEO of Jeunesse Global. “However, I feel very comfortable and confident when answering questions about our business and the industry, in general, so after I speak they seem to relate to me and trust my competence.” Lewis spends a great deal of time abroad, traveling to the company’s many international offices. Developing personal relationships with distant employees and learning about the cultural differences in the people and within the international industry is what she loves most about her job. “Meeting new people from around the world and connecting with them on different levels is an amazing learning opportunity for me,” Lewis says. Wendy Lewis, Founder and CEO, Jeunesse GlobalJeunesse looks to Japan, Europe and Latin America this year for major business growth and with that will come even more opportunities for Lewis, who says, “I am extremely excited about continuing to grow the overall culture of Jeunesse, while enriching thousands of people’s lives around the world.” As a leader, Lewis lives what she believes in and tries her best to set the example she wants others to follow. “I try to listen and be compassionate while at the same time establish parameters that we all have to live within,” she says. Her comfort zone in her role as CEO is planted firmly in people and mathematics. Lewis thrives on solving personnel issues and working with programmers. “We can react more quickly to promotions and enhancements than most companies due to my understanding of compensation plans and our actual database and code. In other words, I can speak the same language and react accordingly to support their needs,” she says. In anticipation of significant international growth, expanded domestic business, and some “lofty” financial goals, Lewis wants to add executives this year, while strengthening existing regional executives. “With the current number of available top-level people in the marketplace, I feel we have a good possibility of finding excellent top management candidates,” she says. According to Lewis, while it seems to be easier to find top women executives internationally than it is within the United States, she sees the search as worth the challenge. “I think with our particular products and our predominance of women in the field, it would be wonderful and truly ideal to find more women for executive positions within our company,” she says. “I do target finding and developing female executives, but I find it difficult to locate the right people who are female,” Lewis says. Mid-level female executive candidates are more plentiful, and Jeunesse proudly promoted two women to director-level positions at their corporate headquarters last year. But still, Lewis frets, “The applicant pool for top-level executives for headquarters seems to be populated by mostly men.” Wendy Lewis on personal development…
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 06:42:29 +0000