Scaling Leaders. Building Legacies.
I drive sustainable growth by helping founders and CEOs across EMEA align strategy, people, execution, and cash to build scalable businesses and high-performing teams through the Scaling Up™ framework.
PEOPLE
Put the right people in the right seats, doing the right things
STRATEGY
Craft a bold, crystal-clear strategy that everyone can repeat in one breath and the market can’t ignore.
EXECUTION
Install disciplined rhythms and measurable priorities so plans move to proven results on time, every time.
CASH
Treat cash like oxygen: speed its flow, protect its reserves, and power growth without sleepless nights.
From Vision to Measurable Wins
Results you’ll see with ThinkBIG | Scale Smart
→ 1. One Team. One Plan.
Clear roles, shared priorities & a rhythm that keeps everyone moving in the same direction.
→ 2. Leadership momentum
Energy, accountability, and smarter decisions that compound week after week.
→ 3. Better profit, faster cash
Clear levers for revenue, margins and cash conversion tracked and improved.
A Scaling Up Certified Coach and founder of ThinkBIG | Scale Smart. 30+ years building, leading, and turning around businesses across agro-food, tech, retail, manufacturing, and export. She empowers founders and executive teams to unlock bold growth without losing sight of purpose or performance.
Her unique edge
Joanne’s relentless drive, creative thinking, and entrepreneurship experience have guided founders and CEOs, built category-leading brands, and expanded markets. She is the leading voice on implementing Scaling Up in uncertain economies, helping founders and family businesses build clarity, alignment, execution, and sustainable growth. Joanne coaches in Arabic, English, and French across Lebanon, the GCC, North Africa and Francophone Europe.
Human & Whole
A founding board member of Fair Trade Lebanon, recognized in 2024 by the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce for empowering women through trade, and a Kilimanjaro summiteer, Joanne brings discipline, and heart to every engagement.
Three Flexible Programs for Visionary Business Leaders
Think BIG
x2·CEO Business Coaching
ThinkBIG is our flagship program for growth minded CEOs and entrepreneurs aiming to at least double revenue in three years while boosting profit and cash and rally their teams behind a BHAG ™️ - bold, audacious goal
We align every leader around one concise strategic page plan™️, sharp 90-day priorities, a live KPI dashboard and a disciplined meeting rhythm. A clear Cash-Driver map frees working capital; it also hard-wires a growth-ready culture turning success into a repeatable sustainable system.
Scale Smart
360·Strategic Planning
Scale-Smart gives CEOs and their Team Leaders the discipline of Scaling Up in a streamlined 12-month format. We start with a focused two-day Strategy Intensive that distils the company’s vision into a one-page roadmap, sets 90-day Rocks and builds a KPIs dashboard.
KPIs are reviewed in a brief monthly pulse to keep momentum; every 90 days we reconvene for a half-day Reset Session to clear roadblocks and lock in the next sprint’s goals, maintaining team clarity and alignment.
Leaders Lab
90·Executive Sprints
Leaders Lab offers two tracks for leaders and CEOs: a short series of focused workshops or a private weekly coaching track (1–2 hours) . Over 3–6 weeks we work the Scaling Up decisions -Strategy, People, Execution, Cash- and turn them into concrete next steps.
Sessions zero in on priorities, metrics, and roadblocks to keep momentum. You finish with a crisp One-Page Strategic Plan™️, a 90-day Rock list, a simple meeting rhythm, and starter KPI/cash drivers, and a roadmap that turns plans into measurable results.
🌟🌟🌟 Client Reviews 🌟🌟🌟
Joanne Karkour helped crystallize strategic priorities while making decision-making feel lighter and more focused. Her facilitation style is calm, intuitive, and highly collaborative, creating an environment where ideas flow easily and turn into actionable outcomes.
R.R.
First, she is a coach with a lot of experience, she talk about not only something she learned but something she experienced. She listen very well what we have to say and she walk with us to arrive where we should arrive.
P.N.
Working with Joanne Karkour brought exceptional strategic clarity to my planning process. Joanne’s ability to ask the right questions and guide me toward clear decisions made the entire process more focused, efficient, and inspiring.
L.K.
Fuel for Mind & Soul
Fuel for Mind & Soul is a place where words, wild trails and other mindful escapes spark new ideas. I’ll begin with the titles that have recently lit me up.
Visit anytime you’re craving a dose of wonder, calm or fresh inspiration.
An absorbing biography that captures Elon Musk's genius, intensity, and contradictions. Whether you admire him or not, it's impossible not to appreciate the scale of his vision and impact. A book that stays with you long after the last page.
This podcast with Rita McGrath is packed with practical wisdom for leaders. Her perspective on strategic agility and continuous adaptation is both refreshing and highly actionable.
1916–2001. In the heart of the Middle East, four families-Egyptian, Iraqi, Israeli, and Palestinian- live through the tragic events of the 20th century. These characters refuse to succumb to the ruin imposed upon them by the West. Generation after generation, they strive to preserve the humanity that drives them. Yet, amidst the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, the conflagration in Lebanon and the Intifada, is there still room for love?
Every episode of Rethinking offers fresh perspectives on leadership, work, and life. Adam Grant's conversations are thoughtful, practical, and always leave you with new ideas to apply.
‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW’
Scale Smarter
From strategy to execution, these 10 habits separate thriving companies from the rest.
Download the checklist now and let’s talk about putting them into action in your business.
