MESSAGE 9: KEVIN MALONE

Kevin Malone

Head of Business Development, North America, ISI Emerging Markets

Question:  As a leader, what is your message to Americans who are frightened about the future due to the Coronavirus?

Message: First and foremost, it's OK to feel fear. I, like just about everyone, have felt a certain level of it over the last few weeks, especially at the onset of this situation. Fear is the first in a series of emotions we inevitably go through when confronting a challenge. However, it's important to remember that fear is generally related to lack of control of the future as opposed to our present situation. What we do have control over is what we are choosing to do with this open-ended time Covid-19 has forced on us. 

The kind of emotional shift we're all going through should propel us to come out of this situation better than how we entered it. A genuine appreciation for life and its fragility, the importance of health and family, and the individual role we each play in determining the quality of the world we live in. As leaders, the same thing applies. Just as we must shift personally, so must business strategies. We must create adjustable paths that move in sync with this new reality and then turn those paths into new ideas.

We will get through this just as we have previous challenges, the key is for everyone to do our part in shaping the outcome and being about something bigger than ourselves. 

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Kevin Malone is the Head of Business Development for North America at ISI Emerging Markets, a firm that provides data and intelligence to global investors.

He co-founded and is a strategic advisor for NorthStar Consulting, a tourism and strategy implementation firm focused on the Caribbean market. He is also an executive member of Revenue Collective, a private membership organization for commercial growth operators.

Prior to this, Kevin worked in the macroeconomic research field as a Director of Business Development at Medley Global Advisors and Roubini Global Economics where he was of charge of new and existing business with hedge funds, asset managers and family offices. 

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Photo: Courtesy Kevin Malone

MESSAGE 1: JUSTIN M. HIGGINS

Justin M. Higgins

Founder, JM-Higgins Realty & JM-Higgins Law

Question:  As a leader, what is your message to Americans who are frightened about the future due to the Coronavirus?

Message:  My message would be that America and its people have always been, and will always be, the most resilient Earth has ever known.  While the dark clouds of COVID-19 currently cover our country, and have frightened many, including me, I know, and all Americans should know, that the sun will soon shine through again, it always does.  In trying times like these, it is important, if not essential, for the most courageous among us to open their hearts and extend their hands to those in need.  I am already seeing this in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, where family members are helping family members, neighbors are helping neighbors, colleagues are helping colleagues, and strangers are helping strangers.  Coronavirus, in all its awfulness, is quickly bringing a divided America together, which to me, is already a sign that things are moving in the right direction.  America will be back again! 

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Justin M. Higgins is the Founder and Managing Member of JM-Higgins Realty (https://www.jm-higginsrealty.com/) and JM-Higgins Law. Prior to founding his own businesses, Mr. Higgins worked for Lendlease, a global real estate development, construction and investment firm, where he held legal, project management and property management roles. Earlier, he was an attorney for Deutsche Bank, a global investment bank, with a focus on servicing the firm’s hedge fund clientele.

In March 2020, he founded a digital questionnaire series called, AMERICA WILL BE BACK!, Messages from leaders to Americans experiencing COVID-19 adversity. The series can be found on Twitter @A_W_B_B.

In 2016, he founded a digital interview series called, The Life Advice Guide, Insights for Young Adults from Stars of Business and Beyond. The series, which can be found at www.justinmhiggins.com, featured: Larry Summers (former Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton); Robert Herjavec (‘Shark’ on ABC’s Shark Tank); Chris Sacca (billionaire venture capitalist); Anthony Scaramucci (former White House Communications Director under President Donald J. Trump); Arianna Huffington (Founder of The Huffington Post); Robert Wolf (former Chairman and CEO of the American arm of global investment bank UBS); and many more.

In years 2014-2017 and 2019, Mr. Higgins was invited to and attended the invitation-only SkyBridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference (www.salt.org), the leading alternative investment event in the world, as one of its youngest delegates. In 2019, Mr. Higgins participated in the exclusive SALT Young Leaders Circle (SYLC), which was comprised of emerging professionals from around the world, representing the worlds of business, politics, technology and philanthropy.

Mr. Higgins is a former Division I soccer player and holds Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees. He is a licensed Florida real estate broker and attorney.

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Photo: Courtesy Justin M. Higgins