| Presenter Bio: | |
Two presenters Negar Riazati and Gareth Jekel
About Negar Riazati CEO | Chair | Mentor | Strategic | Community Builder Negar is a business person with a mix of high passion, discipline and
strategic thinking. She has helped countless businesses and
individuals through her involvements as a trainer, mentor,
community builder, chair and advisor.
Negar’s achievements started as early as the age of 9 where she was
selected from her year level to present a speech on a topic in her
second language.
Performia Australia
In 2008 at the age of 19 she joined Performia Australia and after completing her training in record
time, she moved to team leader and shortly after, head of client services the same year.
After completing 6 months of university in France to complete her degree in 2009, Negar was
challenged to grow her area of the business and her reward for making the target was that she would
take on the General Manager role for Australia. Negar made these targets with ease, engaging all
parties from her staff through clients, partners and even suppliers.
After opening offices in China, Negar was deployed to China to establish the foundations of the office
with the newly hired CEO. Negar created stability, expansion, increased dividends and most
importantly, improved the product offering.
Under Negar’s leadership Performia Australia won the international record for the highest delivery out
of 26 Performia countries. After further accomplishments Negar took on the role of CEO in 2017.
Together with the Performia team, Negar works closely with and mentors directors and managers of
Dental Practices and businesses in a range of industries, ensuring they receive fundamental
know-how to build a productive, safe and fun to work with team, by removing the obstacles through
training and processes.
Cancer Council Victoria
In 2016 parallel to her roles at Performia, Negar held the position of Chair for Cancer Council’s Relay
For Life Moreland, leading a volunteer committee, raising over $30,000 as well as being selected for
the Leadership Training Team for Cancer Council Victoria between 2017 - 2020.
Sports Committee
In 2019 after joining the first Women’s team at Brunswick Lacrosse, Negar joined the committee in the
role of Women’s Strategic Director, taking a lead role in talent recruitment, development and
fundraising which resulted in growth and improvements that benefited the club as a whole.
Community Builder
In 2020 Negar launched a unique Facebook community that helps both businesses and individuals.
Negar has built a team that supports the community which is thriving, and with over 80,000
members, it is presently Australia’s largest and fastest growing community of its kind, securing brand
partnerships and special recognition.
Negar is a strategic thinker that ensures all parties involved have a successful outcome. She has very
high ethical values that only allows her to do what is right and more than fair in every dealing. About Gareth Jekel Gareth Jekel has always been an overachiever, leaving school at 15 to pursue his apprenticeship as a refrigeration mechanic and
winning his College Apprentice of the Year in 1988 out of 5000 other apprentices.
In 1989, he capped off his apprenticeship by winning the annual Victorian WorkSkills competition, along with several other industry
awards. This was just the beginning of his winning streak in less than 2 years of completing his apprenticeship, Gareth started his
first business. Commercial Refrigeration
Founded in 1992, New Systems Refrigeration was Gareth’s first business.
Within 6 years Gareth had become a preferred supplier of refrigeration
systems and service for a large sector of the supermarket industry including Coles
and Woolworths as well as service station chains such as Caltex and Shell.
Gareth designed and developed leading energy efficient equipment for these
large energy using clients that opened up a previously very guarded and tough
market. Within 2 years New Systems had a turnover of $2 million and no
overdraft. By 1998 Gareth had 155 staff, a fleet of 45 vehicles and a turnover of $22 million. Young Achiever Award
In recognition of Gareth’s accomplishments, he was selected as one of only 3 finalist in 1993 for Channel 10’s Young Achiever
Awards. This distinguished acknowledgement is awarded to those who show stellar results in business. Young Australian of the Year
Just 3 years after being selected as a Young Achiever, Coles Supermarkets, Gareth’s customer,
nominated him for the Australia Day Council’s Young Australian of the Year in 1996. By this time
his company New Systems Refrigeration has grown to a turnover of $15 million, with a staff of
80. Gareth was awarded the both Victorian and Australian Young Australian of the Year in 1996 for
his outstanding career achievement and contributions to energy reductions achieved by his
clients who were taking on his designs and equipment. Commercial Air Conditioning
More recently Gareth is applying his wealth of knowledge in the commercial air conditioning
industry technology Sagecon is set to out do New Systems Refrigeration with its efficiencies
and performance. Founded in 2006, Gareth as a non executive, grew Sagecon to $1.5 million with just two staff
and less than a couple of hours of Gareth’s time each week In 2013, Gareth took the role of GM and has grown Sagecon to 55 staff and sales of $13 million
in 2018. Recruitment & Talent Management
In 2005 after Gareth sold his commercial refrigeration business, he was introduced to Marten
Runow, the Founder of Performia International based in Sweden. As a business owner that had hired and fired many
hundreds of staff, Gareth immediately saw the benefit of the Performia system and took on the
APAC license to sell and distribute Performia services. Performia is now run by a management team with
Gareth as the non executive director, after he spent some adventurous and fun year's setting up
Performia in Melbourne, Sydney, China and Japan. One of the major clients to Performia is Gareth’s
businesses as he states “It is just so much easier to build a business with a hiring strategy and the tools
required to bring on fun and productive staff and workers”. |
