How does your workday begin?
I wake up at about 5am and scan the online newspapers — both local and international. I send a few mails: things that need to be done or things I could have missed from the day before.
The day starts with a meeting with team members, I try to touch base with as many team members as possible each day.
How did you end up working in the marketing and advertising industries?
For me, this is a passion industry. From a young age, I have always been in love and enthralled by the world of media: cinema, radio and print.
I started my career in this industry, but left to work in financial services and later mining, then through whispering a passion to a friend, I found myself back in advertising.
I guess all things lead you back to your true love. I bought a 30% shareholding in Ebony+Ivory. My role and involvement has increased now as MD. It includes running day-to-day operations, strategy and the sustainability of the business using the balanced scorecard matrix.
What do you enjoy most about working in the industry?
We are fortunate to be working in an industry where we can shape people’s views and perceptions about things big and small, so we need to take that responsibility very seriously and that needs to be reflected in the work and solutions (these have to be innovative and creative) we put out as messages or give to our clients.
Every day is different — some are horribly pressured, some are just the right kind of pressure — these are the most exciting — and some are well balanced. This means I get to experience adventure every day.
What do you find exciting about where the industry is going?
As an industry, we sometimes fail to acknowledge how big it is — in terms of revenue and billings. This is a multibillion-rand industry and we employ many people — we need to play a greater role in shaping the legislation as well as in its implementation.
Technological innovation, including AI, has had an impact on our industry, we need to embrace it where possible. But there is no replacement for the human brain — its ability to ideate, create and produce great pieces of work that can touch and change lives.
What did you want to be when you were young?
I come from a very small town in the Eastern Cape called Sterkspruit. Like all the other black kids, when I was growing up, the successful people we saw were the professionals (teachers, nurses, doctors and lawyers) like my parents. They automatically became my barometers and my dreams. Later, when I went to boarding school, my world expanded and there were so many more possibilities.
I was doing my undergraduate studies in 1994, when our world was further expanded and the possibilities were endless. At that stage, I knew I wanted to work in the diplomatic corps, so I studied English and political science. Later this changed and I found myself in the exciting and very demanding world of advertising.
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