This friendship started a couple of decades ago…

I met Bill ( William (Bill) Edwards, CFE, AFS, CEO and Global Trade Advisor at Edwards Global Services, Inc.), at a turning point in my life. I had decided to move back to Brazil after 21 years living in the US, many of them working with the Signs Now | Allegra Marketing Print Mail, and being responsible for the International Operations Department. It was time for me to be close to loved ones that needed attention. When I shared my plans with Terry Huber and Steve White, then president at Signs Now, they told me about the company plans to invest in International expansion, and that they had just signed a contract with the very best: Bill Edwards, from Edwards Global Services! Since my mind was made about moving, they made the intro to Bill, which could potentially allow me to continue representing the Network through EGS.

Bill started the interview by saying, “I am not so interested in seeing your CV, but checking the stamps in your passport, knowing how many languages you speak and how many countries you’ve lived in..” Well, I passed the test, and to start my training, Bill gave me the book: Kiss Bow or Shake Hands, by Terri Morrison, plus an important request: create a profile on LinkedIn, that, at that time, I was not familiar with.. Through LinkedIn I could validate the leads profiles and fit with the US brands. That is how I started managing international leads for several household franchise brands represented by EGS.

In 2015 I was a finalist at a startup acceleration program with Fastdezine, Inc., but continued doing consulting work for EGS, delivering country analysis for brands looking into going to Brazil. It was a great way to keep in touch with Bill, the EGS team, and the international market.

Last year we officially launched Presto, a solution focused on B2B relationship building.

Presto is the solution that helped Fastdezine expand to +20 countries, and now the Presto team has the honor to help Bill continue to expand his reach and guide businesses in making the right choices when going international.

Bill serves as an International Trade Advisor to the US Trade Representative, and EGS has twice received the US President’s Award for Export Excellence. He has published over 50 articles on global business development and publishes Geowizard, a biweekly global business update newsletter that is read by 4,500 subscribers in 20 countries and since 2001 he has published the well known GlobalVue, a 40 plus country ranking chart on a quarterly basis. He uses his five decades of international operations, consulting, executive and entrepreneurial experience to advise executives on how to successfully take their businesses into new countries.

So here is a big thank you to Steve White and the Signs Now | Allegra Marketing Print Mail team, for a wonderful career opportunity and for introducing me to Bill!

I hold the highest regard to Bill, and have the privilege to call him my friend!

If you think about expanding your business internationally you should talk to Bill for proper consultation and to Presto to implement the strategy!