“If something happens to someone again and again, it is a pattern, and the common denominator is the person.”
Dr. Priscilla Schelp is a natural leader, who is able to inspire and motivate others to work towards a common goal. CIO Women Magazine is proud to introduce her as one of The Most Inspiring Women Leaders To Watch Out For 2023.
Dr. Priscilla Schelp’s story is grounded in service to others, a vision for a greater future with a tenacity to get the job done. Her strengths lie in breaking down walls, reframing the issue for fresh thinking, and bringing people together to create long-lasting solutions.
Her ability to connect with people on a personal level allows her to build trust and create a positive and inclusive environment. Dr. Schelp is a decisive and confident leader who is able to take charge of situations and make difficult decisions when necessary.
She is also able to effectively communicate her vision and goals to her team, ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Her integrity, humility, and her ability to empower others are also traits that make her a great leader.
Dr. Priscilla Schelp was given a Junior Management award by one of Germany’s top and oldest management clubs for the quantity of volunteer and political work she undertook from a young age. She hasn’t stopped since then.
She joined numerous exclusive clubs all across the world, which substantially altered her life. She was able to create her own exclusive network as a result. She wants to give others the same experience.
She discovered a solution to address these issues for great people seeking to expand their network and for great clubs seeking to attract younger members as over-aging and a lack of diversity have been more and more of a complaint among groups in recent years.
She has experience working with the global NGO`s, huge construction projects, and boards of publicly traded firms, consulting these organizations mostly in global risk management. She completed her doctoral work in the same area. By chance, she stumbled into venture capital, which opened her eyes.
She was already hooked on the startup scene at that moment. She was requested to moderate events throughout the pandemic, and she also conducted numerous interviews with high-ranking officials in the fields of diplomacy and politics. She thereafter began working as a manager for an Automotive supplier. They were a good decision and very supportive of her starting a start-up, even though it was difficult to get work at the time.
Dr. Priscilla Schelp noticed a void in her work life even after 12 years of experience. She nevertheless persisted in her studies and worked as a volunteer, a moderator, and a speaker. She waited a long time to come up with the perfect idea—her idea—where she could put her passion and special talents to use to improve people’s lives and the globe.
She says, “I have thoroughly enjoyed building up my start-up. I want to further build it up and expand it to offer many more features, services, books, and materials to help people connect and to help clubs to continue their legacy.”
With this thought, Dr. Priscilla Schelp incorporated networkx GmbH in 2022. Under her strong and effective leadership, networkx is sure to thrive and reach new heights.
Getting to know Dr. Priscilla Schelp
“Self-love is the basis for everything, happy friendships, relationships, and being successful in business.”
Dr. Priscilla Schelp, being a bibliophile, has many preferred books on her bookshelf. Become your Superself, however, stands out for her.
The bestselling networking book – Become your Superself – which she co-authored with TEDx Speaker and Connection Coach Richard Lee-Thai, was released in 2022. It is a self-help book that is certain to alter people’s life.
The book became an Amazon bestseller, #6 in its category and #1 newcomer in the category. It took her until around a year ago to really figure many things out and to become the best version of herself.
It took her until she was 33 years old for her to truly love and be satisfied with herself. Her advice to her younger self would be to quickly learn how to be happy and become her Superself, rather than searching for affection and praise elsewhere.
In her opinion, happiness should not be based on other people’s love and recognition. If you are constantly busy pleasing other people, you will be constantly afraid of rejection. The resulting emotional rollercoaster will divert you from your goals.
Dr. Priscilla Schelp adds more about her personal experiences that influenced the entrepreneur in her. She says, “I have always moved around a lot, often relocating every year for projects. When I found good people, I would do everything I could to stay in touch. Great people are home for me, they are my family of choice and that’s how I treat them. My entrepreneurial style and my start-ups focus highly on people and collaboration.”
We are all considered to be shaped by our education. It was more than accurate in Dr. Priscilla Schelp’s situation. She gained knowledge on the significance of perseverance and resilience while earning her doctorate at Cranfield School of Management, which was very helpful to her in her pursuits.
networkx- The Game Changer
“I understand the importance of being in the best place to connect with the right people.”
networkx is an AI-based platform that pre-screens and connects pioneers, change makers, and visionaries as potential members for exclusive clubs all over the world. Dr. Priscilla Schelp`s network encompassing national and European Parliaments, diplomacy, the United Nations, foundations, venture finance, start-ups, research, and education, was a great foundation for her business idea.
networkx supports people in gaining access to the network they need to realize their ideas and goals by helping them get accepted into private clubs.
The clubs’ legacy is preserved by networkx by bringing them into the future by giving them younger, more diversified, suitable, and motivated members to reenergize them and permit healthy expansion while retaining exclusivity and remaining faithful to their purpose.
A company’s success is dependent on having a clear and achievable plan for the future, as well as a team that is committed and invested in achieving that plan. On a personal level, Dr. Priscilla Schelp is passionate about helping clients feel more confident in communicating and connecting with others, all the while addressing their personal and professional worries and needs.
With networkx, she wanted to create the most valuable network in the world, that which should be the club of clubs. networkx is meant to be a club without owning clubs itself, much like transportation apps, which do not own their own vehicles.
“It is a marketplace where we aim to add value to both sides, applicants and clubs.”
Currently, Europe and the rest of the world are served by the company, which is particularly strong in Germany and Switzerland. It takes great pride in the fact that some of its newest customers are some of the top business and private member clubs in Europe. The start-up already generates revenues.
Roadblocks Along The Way
Every industry in the business world has its own needs and difficulties. Some of the problems have a significant impact on businesses and organizations across many different industries and sectors.
Every company aspires to preserve the caliber of its client connections, the vitality of its brands, and the contentment of its employees. A successful business overcomes challenges to differentiate itself from its competitors
Similar challenges were faced by networkx, especially being a start-up. The major problem for the company at the beginning, was that cold acquisition had zero success and just warm intros led to clients. Now that networkx reputation and reach is getting better, clubs start approaching the company.
During the initial months, Dr. Priscilla Schelp encountered a personal obstacle related to her ability to handle the novel demands of the business. To create room for the start-up, she had to purge some things from her life. She finished her bestsellselling book, finished her PhD, and resigned from a board post.
Dr. Priscilla Schelp says, “My start-up is a marketplace solution where you have two sides. At the beginning, when you just have your idea, you have a chicken-egg problem because you start with zero at both sides.”
Another challenge was the funding. She chose to bootstrap her business because getting funding is extremely unlikely for a female solopreneur.
Success Speaks
Dr. Priscilla Schelp had the idea for networkx in the middle of 2021 and it has grown beyond her expectations. The company has been able to build up an amazing network, a good reputation, standing, and most importantly, trust.
Dr. Priscilla Schelp’s personality is a major asset in this situation. Dr. Priscilla Schelp possesses genuine kindness and a strong sense of fairness, which makes people feel comfortable and confident in her abilities. She is always looking for mutually beneficial solutions and this approach creates a positive and productive environment for everyone involved. Her empathetic and collaborative nature is truly appreciated by her colleagues and employees, and it is a key factor in her success.
With the ongoing pandemic, the era of easy start-up funding has come to an end. In the past, a promising concept would attract significant investments, but now, it is much more challenging to secure funding.
Entrepreneurs need to be more strategic and resourceful, focusing on long-term sustainability rather than short-term gains. This means that founders should be able to bootstrap and generate revenue through other means or have alternative survival strategies in place.
It’s more important than ever to have a solid business plan that addresses potential challenges and outlines a clear path to profitability, in order to attract investors. Additionally, founders should be ready to adapt and pivot their business model, if necessary, to better align with the current economic climate.
Word of the wise
Dr. Priscilla Schelp
Founder & CEO
Learn to manage your emotions. When you have a good day, everything goes super smoothly, and you have one win after the other. If you have a bad day, and you are not able to manage your emotions, you can tear down in that one day what you have been building all this time.