Q2: Top 20 Dynamic CEOs of 2024 in the USA

An adaptive visionary best describes Amanda Mocellin. As the CEO of Finxone, Amanda embodies several key qualities that make her a driving force behind the organization’s success. She possesses a clear and concise vision for the company’s future, effectively communicating this vision to all stakeholders and employees. Amanda is a strategic thinker who makes informed decisions based on market trends and competition and aligns with the company’s goals. She is decisive and willing to take calculated risks while being accountable for the outcomes.

Dave Candler has been involved in teaching swimming and leisure management for over 25 years. Before becoming STA’s CEO in April 2016, he worked for ten years as the Operations, Swimming, and Training Manager at Inspire Leisure, one of the UK’s largest providers of swimming lessons. During this time, he gained valuable, insightful experience and gained multiple management qualifications that support his current role as CEO.

Gary Osner’s career in parking started in 1991 when he was asked by APCOA if he could collect unpaid Excess Charge Notices, then priced at £40, a challenge he took on and succeeded at by adding a commission to the value of the charge and collecting it from the motorist. He then pitched the concept to Sureway Parking, now Saba Park, to collect a Notice of Impending Prosecution via the Civil Court. This effectively introduced what we now know as the collection or administration fee payable by the motorist. Using this successful formula, Gary started to work with a growing number of operators including CP Plus to collect parking charge notices issued at motorway service areas.

Gregory Baker can be termed a futurist who believes in disrupting the status quo to transform the industry and enact change. He has a track record of starting, growing, and acquiring businesses within the financial sector, demonstrating his resilience and drive to make a change. His enthusiasm and motivation for the industry have allowed him to make critical connections and build a strong team of like-minded individuals who are inspired to create positive social and environmental change through Gregory and his team’s work.

Jamie Thomson started a typical bootstrapped company with a simple idea and two employees, but it wasn’t an easy ride but rather a crash course in understanding one’s weaknesses. Through his experience, Jamie guides budding entrepreneurs and those around him, sharing his knowledge and story. According to the CEO of Vulcan Forged, having business knowledge and technical knowledge are two separate beasts; the second was a given as the initial company was set around the technology of which he already had skills involved, but the business side? It’s an entirely different world: project management, sprints, deadlines, hiring, firing, and team management. “These are skills I certainly hadn’t honed before I started the company, and it took a good half a year before I even understood the meaning of the roles. That is when I learned a core lesson: “ delegate as much as you can, as early as you can, and understand your strengths and weaknesses,” says Jamie. “Mine was certainly marketing and being creative, and I believe that propelled the company into the limelight initially, but what sustained it was hiring people who knew how to grow businesses methodologically.” Today the company has grown to 113 staff and over 100,000 community members.

Following a distinguished Law Enforcement career Joe McGee founded The Securitatem Group to provide contemporary global operational specialist security and specialist security training products and services for private clients, corporate organisations, and Government bodies. They deliver a wide range of services, including complete end-to-end protection packages, close protection, residential security, protection drivers, and online and physical installations. They provide covert and overt investigations and specialist surveillance services with a Broad range of weapons and tactical-based training, including conflict management, risk and threat management, tactical training, tactical medicine, and command and control training.

A Chartered Accountant by profession and having worked close to two decades in the Finance sector, Manjula Basant Rai, Founder, and CEO of Spaanda, always felt something was missing and sometimes questioned the purpose of her journey. While at Tesco, she stumbled across sustainability by chance, and that was her light bulb moment. In a flash, she knew what she could do and what she had to do. “Spaanda was born in my thoughts and over time I gave it shape and form in my own head. I had a vision of what I wanted to offer and where we could add value to businesses and corporates. I launched Spaanda in August 2020, right in the middle of Covid but I knew deep down we had a solid proposition that would thrive in a world that was gearing up to face the challenges of climate change,” she explains. “When I was working in the corporate world I realised that navigating climate change and performing risk assessments could be tricky. Spaanda was born to address this gap.”

On a Sunday morning in the summer of 2010, Mark Goodway was on his way to the church when he stopped at the traffic lights and noticed an elderly homeless gentleman to his left lying on the pavement motionless. He was dressed in jacket, tie, and shirt. Admittedly, all had seen much better days, but Mark felt it was an admirable attempt to retain at least some degree of dignity in the face of such humiliation.Mark noticed people walking by him, seemingly unaware of the man on the floor, and it made Mark realize that this man was invisible to people who had no time to take on additional problems. When Mark reached his church and sat on his chair, he realized he was no different than anyone who passed the motionless man! This feeling changed him. It transformed his mindset, intention, and responsibilities towards those in need. Mark knew he had to help those in need whichever way he could.

A former senior military officer, Simon Gerry was initially appointed as a disruptor and change maker and has since led the charity from a position of significant weakness to being one of the leading and most respected in its field.
During a 20-year military career, Simon developed a diverse skillset across key business functions, finance, corporate governance, project management, and HR, but he believes it was the broader aspects that helped shape his character and build his tenacity and drive to succeed. He will tell you that he thrived on challenging himself in all aspects of life, and after learning to fly jets, he then threw himself into a range of adventurous activities ranging from hang gliding, downhill skiing, and parachuting to rock climbing, abseiling, and white water rafting. He also took up a range of very challenging operational and diplomatic peacekeeping roles overseas with the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is where he realized that helping people was becoming a passion.

Tiff Burns, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LuckyTrip, and his brother wanted to build the absolute best travel product for the new generation of travelers. According to Tiff, younger people travel differently compared to older generations, for shorter durations, while on a strict budget, expecting unique instagrammable experiences and spending 4+ hours a day on their phones. “When you look at traditional online travel agents there’s so little differentiation out there. They’re boring, uninspiring and most of them have the same offering. Switch their brands and you’ll barely tell them apart!” says the pioneering leader. “LuckyTrip lets you find a complete trip in one tap. Set your budget and preferences, tap the Lucky button and instantly see a personalised trip to an amazing destination – the cheapest flights, handpicked places to stay, and unique experiences. Keep tapping ‘Lucky’ until you find something you like!”