The actions you have taken up to this point have led you to where you are in your career. Every action you take, including taking risks, forging new relationships, and mastering new skills, has the potential to lead to a path of success. Renata Liuzzi, CEO & Founder of Axis Partners, encourages everyone to invest in learning for career advancement and personal growth as the key to success, as well as creating a trusted network around you that will support you on the desired speed of growth.
Ladder to Success
Renata Liuzzi holds an MBA from IE Business School and is a Mechanical Engineer with a specialty in motorsports. She has received a post-graduate diploma in strategy, innovation and design thinking from MIT and Columbia University, and certifications in in Lean Six Sigma, Artificial Intelligence from MIT, and Operational Efficiency. During her academic years, Renata was a member of the Formula SAE team, where she developed a passion for the design and build of race cars, and gained invaluable knowledge in applied innovation, design thinking, and creative problem-solving through her work on creating such miniature Formula 1-style cars.
Renata has 18+ years of experience working with prestigious consultancies and various Fortune 500 corporations in business strategy, customer experience, innovation, and digital transformation. She has successfully led the delivery of complex transformation programs, working with teams spread across more than 15 countries and doing business with more than 20 countries.
Renata has been appointed as a visiting professor at the IE Business School, where she teaches strategy, customer experience, and design thinking to international MBA students. She has also a mentor for top start-ups that come from Europe’s top innovation lab. She is dedicated to staying ahead of the curve and continuously learning to keep up with the fast-evolving market.
Rationale Behind the Establishment of Axis Partners
Axis Partners was founded to tackle strategic, customer, and employee experience and innovation challenges – key elements of business success in today’s economy.
- Their unique offering blends corporate experience with entrepreneurial agility, enabling them to effectively collaborate with their clients and drive tangible results.
- Their ways of working, allows them to become an integral part of their clients, helping bring their vision to life, and delivering strategy, innovation, design-thinking, customer, and employee experience solutions.
- They have also established a successful training academy, inspirational talk sessions, and custom-made training for key clients, which has had a positive impact in their clients
- Its focus is always on delivering high-quality, high-impact outcomes while having fun and inspiring transformation.
Where Renata’s Inspiration Came from to Create Axis Partners
Renata found an obvious need in the market for an innovative way to enable businesses to accelerate their growth. With fast and tangible results.
Her work in senior positions for large corporations, allowed her to discover the shortcomings of traditional advisory, which failed to recognize the true needs of the sector.
She saw a chance to close this gap by offering the market a fresh perspective. Her unique vision, her passion for business, and the rapidly evolving Middle Eastern industry, inspired to take the entrepreneurial plunge and start Axis Partners “It has not been an easy ride, but it has definitely been enjoyable and has shaped me into a better professional and person,” adds Renata.
Creating a Business that Targets a Niche Need in the Market
“Our unique offering has made us differentiate rather than compete—and this has been mentioned to me by several clients, which is reassuring.” Claims Renata.
The close relationship Axis Partners have with their clients, allows them to gather and act on their feedback, leading to services that continue to evolve and disrupt the market.
Renata’s passion for constantly learning new skills and her curiosity about new trends, has infused as a cultural trait in their team. They started sharing insights with their clients informally; but that small action of kindness driven by passion, has now established them the go-to source of insights, trends and strategic advise in the market.
This has expanded the company’s breadth of services beyond customer and employee experience, strategy, and business transformation.
The commitment to excellence and value added, has made Axis Partners a leader in the industry,
inspiring others to raise the bar for quality and innovation.
The Make of an Inspiring Leader: Learning from Hardships
Renata faced challenges early on in her career as one of the few women in a male-dominated field, mechanical engineering.
The lack of female role models, drove Renata to create her own unique style of doing business that reflected her values. She has made it a priority to mentor as many women in business as she can.
She had an accelerated growth in her education, despite limited financial resources. Renata was able to finance her university degrees through scholarships and student loans, which motivated her to work hard to repay them. The experience of working and studying simultaneously helped her develop a strong work ethic and the ability to be nimble to adapt to any situation.
She strongly believes that difficulties give you a great opportunity to learn. This has inspired her to keep moving forward and cultivate a solution-driven mindset. On the other hand, working in multicultural environments has taught her the importance of an open mind, empathy, and humility to make sure she is continuously evolving as a professional and as a person.
A Woman that Wears Too Big Hats
Renata also holds a position of Chief Strategy & Culture Officer for Eltizam Asset Management. She shared her experience to be determined in the position.
Renata shared, “I am thrilled to lead the charge in shaping the company’s culture and strategy. Collaborating with Chris Roberts and the Eltizam leadership team is an honour, and I feel proud to contribute to the growth of an organization that is revolutionizing the UAE market and raising the bar in the Built Asset Environment industry.”
Strong Focus on Leaving a Positive Impact
Renata is obsessed with finishing each day knowing she has made a positive impact, whether it be through problem-solving for clients or offering support and inspiration to the people around her.
Her desire to add value drives her inspiration and passion.
She is grateful of having a career that enables her to pursue her passions and enjoys seeing others succeed under her leadership. “To me, a happy moment is any moment where I have positively impacted someone else,” says Renata.
Viewpoints on Women’s Leadership
Renata’s guiding principles include humility, resilience, confidence, passion, adaptability, and strategic thinking. She believes that these principles can serve as a solid foundation for women who aim to make an impact and disrupt their respective industries. Here are a few of her recommendations:
- Being humble and open to diverse perspectives leads to personal growth.
- Resilience in the face of challenges and failures is crucial, and learning from mistakes is essential, especially in the world we live in. Don’t stop at the first door that gets closed on you.
- Confidence in one’s values and abilities is vital, and passion fuels inspiration for others.
- Staying nimble is key: Adaptability in a rapidly changing market, is necessary to thrive. This will become one of the most critical skills to have to thrive in a market where we are seeing an explosion in technology, which will completely change the business landscape in the months to come.
- Having strategic thinking and being able to drive long-term decision-making, has allowed one to have a clear vision for the organization and deliver towards it.
Written by Steve Sanchez.
