Cicely Peace-Edouard is a businesswoman with more than a decade of experience in the consumer products industry. A dedicated professional with the insight, vision, and enthusiasm necessary to drive revenue and results, her career comes with a solid history in developing innovative programs that have produced maximum growth and business success.

For this edition of the 10 Most Impactful Women in Technology, we interviewed Cicely Peace-Edouard to get her insights into the present technological world and her company. The following is an excerpt of our interview with her.

About Her Company – The Simple VUE

As a company, The Simple VUE helps public and private sector organizations exploit the power of data and technology for actionable insights. The company works with clients to build valuable and scalable solutions that empower their organizations to use data to solve their most critical business problems. The Simple VUE delivers Predictive Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Legacy to Cloud Migration, Applications Development, Data Management, and Security, and IT Infrastructure Program Management Services, which makes them an ideal partner to take any organization to the next level. The expert team of consultants, data analysts, data scientists, and engineers work together with clients to identify opportunities, assess available data, define solutions, develop optimal analytic infrastructure, ingest data, and visualize outputs while building capabilities to sustain and expand it. With a bigger picture to empower companies and organizations to drive business performance through the use of data, analytics, and technology, Simple VUE  helps clients:

• Empower data-driven decision-making: Deliver powerful solutions that transform data into decisions and ideas into action
• Reduce Time-to-Insight: Create solutions that intuitively display relevant analytics and reduce the time-to-insight
• Make complex data simple: Focus on design, training, and support during implementation to ensure utility and adoption

A Solid Career in Business Growth

As the Co-Founder and CEO of The Simple VUE, Cicely is responsible for and supports all aspects of data, analytics, application development, and IT infrastructure management solutions and oversees all revenue-generating programs. She has an impactful career history in developing innovative programs that have produced maximum business growth, increased market share, and profits. Prior to starting The SimpleVUE, Cicely has held management positions at Russell Athletic, Sara Lee Corporation, and Carter's Inc. With a reputation for innovative design and optimization, Cicely's work has been instrumental in producing leading products that were critical to each company's overall financial performance. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and an Associate of Arts in Design both from the State University of New York at F.I.T.

Channeling the "You Can Do Anything" Attitude Through Experience

Like many women, Cicely didn't have many great female role models in her career. Fortunately, she had a few women outside of work who influenced her in a big way. Her mom and her grandmother were instrumental and raised her to understand that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to. She also had some wonderful female professors who nurtured this sense that she could pursue her passions in life. Through all the life lessons, she channeled the "you can do anything" mindset by being a leader who provides a springboard for others in their career. That is another reason why she started the Women's Data Collective, with a vision to foster a community where women can network, share resources, and gain valuable insights through training classes, workshops, and education materials. "We know that when women are supported and given the right tools, they can thrive", said Cicely.

Navigating Through Challenges

When asked about the challenging initial phase of her journey, she said "Like many entrepreneurs, we faced several obstacles. From finding customers, skilled employees to finding funds to grow the business have been the most challenging. We are constantly looking for networks, connections, and mentors who can provide the guidance needed through the various phases a business goes through as it evolves. Because the industry is male-dominated, it can also be a challenge to find social networks that uniquely understand the journey." She further added that chairing the Atlanta chapter of Women in Data provided some support, but the organization's shift in its mission pushed her to start a new organization – Women's Data Collective.

Attributes Of a Transformational Leader

Cicely believes the attributes that every transformational leader should have are:

• Entertain new ideas – A leader is receptive to new ideas and realizes growth only happens in an organization with a culture of openness to new ideas from all levels.
• Ability to take the right risks – A leader trusts their intuition and uses the intelligence gathered by team members to make informed decisions.
• Ability to be Adaptable – A leader is constantly adapting to changing market conditions and seeks creative ways to respond to the dynamic business environment.
• Internal motivation – A leader finds motivation from within and uses that as the driving force to effectively manage the direction of the company.

Knowing What the Audience Wants Through Innovation

• Developing a team – looking for partners and employees that share our vision on innovation.
• Staying agile – to be ahead of the curve by constantly exploring applications and solutions to today's most pressing problems.
• Analyzing the Marketplace – by studying the marketplaceand looking for new ways to implement emerging technologies to add value and efficiencies.

Exploiting Disruptive Technologies For Creativity

"Advancing technologies are transforming business models in every industry and unlocking massive opportunities. Today's competitive advantages are short-lived if company leaders cannot adjust and quickly address these disruptive technology opportunities. These technologies are emerging at accelerated rates. Business leaders must be thoughtful about their innovation roadmap. Anticipating change can lead to important and courageous decisions to stretch a company's brand and capabilities. Ignoring these disruptive changes can yield an obsolete business model", answered Cicely.  As a business leader, she believes it is crucial that her company exploits these technologies and constantly pushes her organization to think creatively on how it can improve the companies they serve and the industry as a whole.

How Does The Future Look Like?

The Simple VUE aims at expanding its expertise in many of the emerging technologies that complement the products and services – AI being at the top of the list.  According to her, AI is touching everything from banking to healthcare and how we do business, giving industries incredible new tools to change the world. This 21st-century breakthrough is fuelled by four innovations — the Internet of Things, AI, cloud, and data security, and The Simple VUE are making investments to meet the demand. "We are excited about the possibilities of empowering organizations to become more efficient, drive improvements, increase market share and have a positive impact on their bottom line", concluded Cicely.

Her Shout-out to the Emerging Women Leaders

"The first big piece of advice I would give emerging women leaders would be – find a mentor. We know that having the support of a mentor can boost confidence, expand capabilities, and open the door to new opportunities. I believe that any woman can rise to success, as long as she has access to the skills and tools. She needs to realize her full potential. Secondly, no matter how difficult the road gets, never give up. Here are five key pieces of advice:

Have a clear set of values, goals to reach, and don't wait until you think it's perfect

1. Follow your dreams and believe in the positive changes you want to make

2. Remember the decisions you make impact others

3. Play to your strengths and not your weaknesses

4. Always be yourself