The determination to be well educated and a success at what you do is written clearly on your face. What was the spur that drove you to achieve what you have?
I began with menial administration work and cleaning the offices of architects. Their work interested me and during my lunch breaks I would read their books, glance at their drawings. I decided to be an architect but at the time funding was difficult. So I would work, save up and then continue with my tertiary education. Naturally it took me twice as long to finish as anybody else and one of the best moments of my life was the day I graduated.
Since then I have been involved as an architectural professional in the construction industry. I co-founded and chaired South African Women in Construction. I mentored many young girls who I didn’t want to see go through the same struggle I did to be educated. I wanted girls to see the built-environment field as a career choice. Since leaving the industry I’ve had various positions within and am now heading the home loans affordable housing.
On delivering housing finance for low income earners. Part of my work is to help customers understand the power of owning property in growing wealth. So I deal with architects, developers and aspirant home-owners. My career has come full circle.
Working out how to balance business imperatives with the social needs of our society. How do we meet customer needs without eroding shareholder value? Housing can make or break a society as we have seen from the economic meltdown. It concerns me how we come across, especially in these debt-ridden times.
My mantra is: “I’ve been through far worse situations before.”
I wake at 4am to meet the Bedfordview Runners — I run with them 10km to 12km Tuesdays to Fridays. So by the time I reach my office at Standard Bank in downtown Joburg I am hungry. I eat healthily and well — my relationship with food is a good one. Breakfast is fruit salad, bran and yoghurt. At lunch time I have a chicken or cottage cheese salad and at night when I get home I eat a lot of vegetables with fish or chicken. I have red meat only once a fortnight or so. My favourite food is sweet potato because as a long- distance runner I need good carbohydrates. I go for low GI foods such as peas, beans, lentils and seed bread. I snack in between meals with fruit, nuts and yoghurt. And I drink water and tea throughout the day.
I seldom take them. If I’m training for Comrades, for example, I might have Spirulina or Stamina Gro.
Training for long-distance runs, yes. I did the 42km Soweto Marathon recently, it’s one of the most gruelling races. I also do Two Oceans and have done Comrades five times. I did the New York Marathon with running friends last year.
Ah, chocolate is my downfall. But, because I train hard and eat well, I reward myself with chocolate when I am exercising strenuously. Together with my sisters and nieces we share what we call a “magwinya day” (fatcakes day). Once a year we sit around at our home in Soweto and eat all the food we grew up eating when we were at school. Fatcakes, chips, achaar, snoekfish, you name it. It’s like we bond over fat. I just make sure that I time this event with a major race.
I seldom lose my temper because my challenges are so big that other stuff pales beside it.
Running is my relaxation, honest, it is! My husband is a runner too and at the weekends we run races together.
Mpumalanga’s our favourite spot and there’s always the opportunity to take our running shoes there. We’ve experienced our country through our feet.
The Shack by William Young helped me deal with the passing of my mother. A Year In Tibet by Sun Shuyu n taught me how people live simple lives that are full of depth.
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle.
I was swept under by huge waves when I was swimming across the Bloukrans River on the Otter Trail. When I reached the other side I had to climb up an almost vertical rock face using a rope. I was drenched and shivering and carrying a 15kg backpack. I knew if I lost my grip the two people behind me would fall too.
The day my late mother, who was walking alongside me, tripped and fell. As she did so she cried out, as we do in fear, and the name she called was my grandma’s. In future I wanted it to be my name she called, and decided then and there that I wanted to make life better for her. That’s why I got the education I did — it was for her.
I could have become diabetic without knowing it. Although I have always eaten well, I focused too much at one stage on carbohydrates because I run. My insulin levels became problematic. I wasn’t aware then, as I am now, of the difference between good and bad carbohydrates.
Not to skip food and to spread out meals throughout the day. Also to focus on balancing my diet with correctly sized food portions. As a result, I eat when I need to. My mother also advised me not to eat anything I didn’t know, and that’s what I do. I play safe. I’m a wimp when it comes to food.
I suggested to my friends that they drink water instead of fizzy drinks because it’s an excellent detoxifier. Their skins are better and they feel more healthy.
Well, I’d like to be able to eat lots of chocolate without the obvious side effects! Seriously, I’ve had a hugely challenging life and I’m pleased it’s working out the way it is.
I’ve just been to Tibet with my friend Kate Turkington and seeing Mount Everest from Base Camp was one goal I’ve achieved. Then I saw the Taj Mahal and that was another. Mount Kilimanjaro is next .
In a comfortable personal space where I have a sense of who I am and am surrounded by people I love and who know me. We need to laugh a lot.
The day SA is in a position where we truly experience the joys of living together no matter how different we are.