Many people working as employees for major companies who enjoy their daily corporate lives also have a dream to one day kickstart an entrepreneurial idea into action and build a business. Recognizing this aspiration, Liberty Group is doing something proactive to help its women employees fulfill this dream.
Amanda Khoza, Director of Transformation and Social Inclusion, Liberty Group
Partnering with Lionesses of Africa, Liberty is bringing the hugely successful Lioness Lean In Breakfast events to the group each month, championed by Amanda Khoza, Director of Transformation and Social Inclusion at Liberty. This initiative will give its women employees the opportunity to hear and be inspired by the startup stories of women entrepreneurs from all business sectors, to network with each other, and to learn how to startup a business and the support on offer from the organization.
Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo of Lionesses of Africa
The event was attended by around 50 aspirant women entrepreneurs who were treated to a great networking breakfast before being welcomed by Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, who shared her vision for women’s entrepreneurship on the African continent. Amanda Khoza then took to the speaker platform to share her vision for supporting the growth of intrapreneurship within Liberty, and particularly her passion for providing access to information, advice, practical support and guidance for aspirant business builders within the company.
Vere Shaba, founder of Shaba & Ramplin
Next on the programme was the inspirational and award-winning entrepreneur, Vere Shaba, founder of Shaba & Ramplin, a successful green building solutions and energy consulting firm. Vere shared her very personal story of embarking on her entrepreneurial journey in a tough, male-dominated industry sector, becoming an engineer, and finding her niche in a groundbreaking environmental sector. Today, she is winning global recognition for her work and her business building acumen, and last year was the recipient of the first ever General Electric Lionesses of Africa Innovation Challenge.
Vicki Bain, founder of Chocoloza
The second guest speaker was Vicki Bain, founder of luxury artisan chocolate brand Chocoloza, whose beautiful chocolate salon in 44 Stanley Avenue, attracts lovers of the finest chocolate every day. Vicki shared her unique story of making the personal move from South Africa to Belgium where she first discovered her love of handmade chocolate and learned the skills to build her own chocolate brand. Making the unique career move from environmental consultant to chocolatier, Vicki is today building a wonderful artisan chocolate brand that merges the finest Belgian chocolate with proudly African ingredients to create unique taste sensations. Attendees got the opportunity to sample some of Vicki’s wonderful chocolate creations, and also take away a special gift box containing some of the most popular chocolates made at Chocoloza.
The Lioness Lean In Liberty Session proved to be a great success and will now be held at the end of each month for the remainder of the year, not just in South Africa, but also in key Liberty centers across the African continent.
