Nicole Zimmermann: An Exemplary Success in Marketing and Communications
A dynamic and versatile professional with over 20 years of experience in business excellence and leadership, Nicole Zimmermann, founder and CEO of ZELOCIN & Partners LLC USA and non-executive director at Financial House Ltd. UK, is one such inspiring woman leader who has been developing a remarkable knack to recognize opportunities. A proficient executive in the fields of marketing, communications, and change leadership. She creates effective go-to-market plans that emphasize customer experience journeys, digital marketing, needs-based segmentation, and value-based propositions. She is an ardent supporter of equity, diversity, and inclusion and serves as a global coach and mentor to exceptional individuals.
Her endeavor ZELOCIN & Partners LLC is a strategic marketing consulting organization that assists individuals and businesses in realizing their unmet growth potential. The Financial Times and Statista named her second venture, Financial House UK, one of Europe’s 1000 fastest-growing companies in 2022.
Overcoming Obstacles Along the Path
It includes creating a clear business plan, addressing your motivation factors, building your personal entrepreneurial brand, and figuring out how your enterprise will benefit society, communities, individuals, and other businesses.
The Significance of Mentorship
Nicole’s leadership style revolves around coaching and mentoring. She has dedicated her professional life to providing this support to her teams and talents at the companies she has worked for. Now that she is an entrepreneur, this is a service she offers. She considers herself fortunate to have had some great mentors throughout her career and feels that every entrepreneur can greatly benefit from having or serving as a mentor, since it allows you to grow as a person, learn from others, and acquire new skills.
Gender-related biases or stereotypes
Not so much in Nicole’s coaching or consulting career, but joining a company board has presented its share of difficulties. Gender equality is a significant issue in boardrooms worldwide, with only 29% of roles held by women in firms in North America and Europe. Therefore, it needs influential allies in your network who recognize the value and abilities you can offer a company to facilitate these kinds of introductions. Her first board position with Financial House Ltd. UK emerged as a result of what she refers to as a “hand forward, hand back” mentality. She was able to connect with Financial House’s owner, Alisher Abdukadyrov, through a former, dear colleague she had supported through some difficult times in his marketing team during his onboarding at the company they worked for. They both recognized the skills and experience she could provide the business, which would grow rapidly and become one of the 1,000 fastest-growing firms in Europe by Statista and Financial Times in 2022.
Nicole’s Gender Equality in Entrepreneurship
We definitely have more opportunities, and fortunately, more women have more confidence in their ability to become business owners. In the US, 42% of companies are owned by women, compared to barely 1 in 3 globally. However, only 1.9% of total VC capital really flows to female business owners when it comes to investment funding. To level the playing field and enable women to sustainably expand their businesses globally, this must change.
Tech Evolutions Over the Years
There have been new technologies like machine learning, robotics, and now generative AI accessible to marketing to deliver excellence in customer experience, digitization, communication, loyalty, and retention. Marketing should continue to embrace these technologies as a customer-facing function in any business to enhance customer journeys, value propositions, and servicing across channels while streamlining processes and lowering costs. Such a move will aid in the transformation of their companies and result in even stronger market positioning and distinctiveness.
Future Visualized
Nicole is actively looking forward to continuing her growth and expanding her business, specifically the board services portion of it, where she can provide advice and guidance to rapidly expanding scale-ups like Financial House UK or established corporations in their goals to expand as well as grow internationally and digitally transform their businesses to remain competitive.
The Key Takeaways from her Entrepreneurial Journey
Nicole believes using these five takeaways allows you to articulate your company’s vision, a clearer “the why”, to acquire new clients faster, and positioning your value propositions in a unique way while differentiating your content online in social channels.”.
- Who is who in your Network – Understanding the composition of and roles people play in your network (mentors, coaches, connectors, supporters, referrers, etc.)
- Listening is learning Setting an example and serving as a role model as an entrepreneur
- Personal branding and executive presence are critical for female business owners
- Honesty, openness, and authenticity are fundamental principles to uphold at all times
Visionary’s Message to the Readers
You need to invest time to build a support system and network around you; find a mentor and/or a coach who can provide that outside perspective that will guide you through the rough patches of becoming an entrepreneur and business owner while enabling and empowering you to give your best and ultimately celebrates successes with you.
