IMACE PODCAST - Hosted by Marco Macente in partnership with IMA Italy

IMACE Podcast - Menekse Ahbab from Turkey

Hello everybody and welcome to this new episode of the IMACE Podcast! Our new stop is Turkey with the special guest, Menekse Ahbab! Meneske has over 20 years of experience as EA/Office Manager in different multinational companies: Aside from her role, she was an internal trainer and organizational health leader at Johnson Controls Middle East & Africa region. In 2020 Menekşe worked at HPE as a GM assistant. She is now a Plant Director Assistant at Schneider Electric in Turkey. Menekşe has extensive experience in the profession and is a genuinely passionate professional. She has been joining Executive Assistant events as a keynote speaker and trainer for many years. She continuously elevates the work by attending university conferences as an industry expert, mentoring/coaching the students and her colleagues in their early careers. Sharing knowledge and expertise is in her DNA; therefore, she is an active networker. She is the National Chairman of IMA Turkey and I am so impressed by her story, because she is sharing with us the entire journey the association had in order to be established and legally recognized in Turkey, country where is not easy to found free and no profit organizations such as IMA. But here what made the difference was the power of the network, the passion and the common vision that enabled Menekse and the Turkish members, who did not give up. We discuss about Leadership, Career Management, Change Management, Resilience and many other topics that are relevant for our workplace! Please enjoy our conversation! This was the last episode of the IMACE Podcast where I invited international guests. Please stay tuned to see what is our next stop! MM

IMACE Podcast - Corrie Fourie from South Africa

So excited to bring this new episode!  Our stop today is South Africa with a special guest, Corrie Fourie. Corrie works for Fresenius Kabi South Africa, an International Pharmaceutical Company as the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director and Country Manager in South Africa and he is currently serving as the National Chair (Founding Member/Director) of IMA South Africa. We are talking about Amazing topics such us: Diversity & Inclusion, with South Africa portrayed as "Rainbow Nation" - let's see why - Leadership, Mentorship and the evolution of the Admin profession during these last years. Corrie is able to bring his amazing insight around the admin profession, sharing with us his knowledge, with more than 15 years of experience in the profession. South Africa will be hosting the Training Day for IMA in 2023, the first international IMA event outside the EU borders. Why will it be so important to attend? Why South Africa? This and more questions will be addressed in our amazing episode.  Please enjoy our conversation and I cannot wait to see you again at the next episode of the IMACE Podcast! MM

IMACE Podcast - Gina Theofilidou from Greece

What an amazing episode today! Our next stop is Greece, with the amazing Gina Theofilidou! After more than 15 years of experience as Admin Professional, Gina founded in 2014 "Your Distance Assistance", offering virtual Business Administration Services to Business and Life Coaches, Trainers, Speakers, Business Professionals, Small Business Owners and Associations. In parallel, she offers specific training to PA/EA’s that want to run their own Virtual Assistant business, helping them to develop their skills and competencies to meet the current requirements and future demands of their role. She holds certifications in Public Relations-Business Administration, in Tourism Management – Marketing, Train the Trainers Integrated Program Education and Exercise with Micro-teaching, Top Management Assistant from the University of Athens, CSMA Certification (Certified Secretaries Management Assistants), the unique certification that ensures the professional level of knowledge and skills of the holder at the secretarial management by ACTA, spin-off Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and she has graduated from Saint George Commercial College (Greek-English Executive Secretarial Studies). Currently, she is serving as National Chairman of the International Management Assistants Association in Greece. She is also a member of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, Global PA Network, International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA). So excited about this episode and I am sure Gina will be able to share with all of us amazing insights and thoughts around the Admin Profession! Enjoy our conversation and stay tuned for the next episode which will come soon! MM

IMACE Podcast - Gina Theofilidou (Preview)

I am so excited to introduce a very quick intro for the next episode of the IMACE PODCAST!  I will meet my guest soon LIVE in Greece and I am so thrilled to be sharing soon this fantastic episode: It will be released fully next Monday! Stay tuned and see the previous episodes released with amazing guests from IMA and different European countries, to get the advice, the suggestions and the insights  you need to #Levelup and #Elevate your role as best as you can. See you soon! MM

IMACE Podcast - Sofie Koark from Sweden

Welcome to this new episode of the IMACE Podcast! So excited to bring this new episode to all of you! Our stop today is Sweden with the special guest, Sofie Koark. Sofie Koark has 16 years’ experience as an Executive Assistant to founders/CEOs at international companies within different industries. Today she is Executive Assistant at Budbee, a technology company that operates a lastmile logistics services for e-commerce currently operating in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium. Since 2020 Sofie is the Executive Vice Chairman for IMA – International Management Assistants, and before that she was in the board of IMA Sweden as Training Officer. She is also in the jury for Executive Assistant Awards in Sweden. Sofie has master’s in art history and a bachelor’s in museum studies/cultural heritage. She also loves Italy and spent a year in Italy twenty years ago and she speaks Italian: not a coincidence that we get together to make this podcast happen! Stay tuned, enjoy our conversation and I cannot wait to see you again at the next episode of the IMACE Podcast! See you soon!  MM