the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Leigh Ann Gowland, founder of Employee Driven Change
Have you ever considered the gifts you’ve gained while following your dreams? Despite the sometimes difficult journey as an entrepreneur we remain focused and inspired on creating successful businesses. Lessons from our journey provide personal growth to tackle the challenges of developing a business but also recognition of milestones achieved along the way.
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by Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress
Forget what the glossy adverts are saying. Your number one essential is not whatever the media decides is this season’s must-have. Your number one essential is something deep within you. Your number one essential is your confidence.
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by Karen Wessels, co-founder of SnappSales and VA Connect
There’s an age old expression that goes “Laughter is the best medicine”. You’ve probably heard this expression a hundred times, if not more, in your lifetime. I enjoy a mischievous sense of humour and I get a great kick out of laughing. If you know me or have been in my company for more than 5 minutes, you’ll experience exactly what I mean.
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Every now and then, one lucky, deserving entrepreneur gets their ‘big break’ and with it, the opportunity to go into business with a major corporate. Unfortunately, some are so blinded by their ‘success’ that they don’t properly consider what this new venture may actually entail.
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by Eldari Visser, managing director of Picketfence.Life
We all get excited about any journey be it a holiday, a trip to family or that big jump into the entrepreneurial space. We have established the journey and the destination, we feel motivated. So what must we still sort out? Your head!
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by Leigh Ann Gowland, founder of Employee Driven Change
As a change manager a question I am frequently asked is: “How do you manage strong change resistors?” Resistors are often perceived as negative, avoided and excluded from the change process. They are expected to adapt to the change over time as a consequence of peer pressure, policy or instruction. When the resistor doesn’t have any other choice they will change. As a change manager, I welcome the opportunity to engage with resistors because they care enough about the change to voice their concerns at the risk of being ostracized. They have the potential to become advocates for the change. Understanding and embracing resistors to change can be valuable to you and your business.
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by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko
I hate finishing. The process. But the aftermath is wonderful. I am talking about finishing in fashion design sense. Finishing is a process of … literally ‘finishing the garment’. And it is a lot of work. It includes putting in zips, embellishments which could be 100 little beads, ironing (my pass time hate), putting in buttons, cutting off threads, making sure all stitches are in place; ironing again, putting labels on…etc. So almost like quality control but slowly. It doesn’t matter how fast you are in life, you can never ever hurry finishing. Little things take forever to finish.
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by Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress
What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting up a dream business venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?
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by Jenny Du Preez, the exclusive coach for Picketfence.life
As a woman I know what it is like to put the needs of others ahead of my own, to constantly juggle various balls. Never dropping any of them, that would never be an option! At the very heart of this is You, a Super Hero, the one who others depend on. We inspire, protect, love and fight for others.
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by Karen Wessels, co-founder of SnappSales and VA Connect
The year was 2013, I had quit my day job and I was trying my hand at this thing called “entrepreneurship” full-time. I had started a side-line business a few years ago and decided that this was the year to give it my all.
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Having good relationships at work is not just good for workers, it’s good for companies. The well-established American consulting company, Gallup says that people are seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs if they have a friend at work. And engaged workers are productive workers.
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by Dr Laura Camacho, founder of Mixonian Institute
Video is where it's at. Whether it's a job interview or early-stage pitch or other key meeting, video is faster, cheaper and more convenient than in-person, yet more personal than talking on the phone.
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by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech
You will never speak to anyone as often as you speak to yourself – that silent little voice in your head that is hyper-critical of everything and keeps on telling you that you are somehow ‘not enough’. We call it negative self-talk and it is really bad for you because it breaks you down and keeps you from being the best version of YOU. Here are 5 tips to help you silence your inner critic and boost your self-esteem.
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by Leigh Ann Gowland, founder of Employee Driven Change
The old adage “the only constant is change” often flippantly quoted negates the importance of good change management. It is important to remember that not all change is created equal and the value of a good change management strategy lies in understanding and supporting unique change management requirements of the business. To demonstrate the importance of carefully constructed change management strategy we explore factors to be considered in three different business change scenarios and how change management could support these efforts.
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by Lynette Hundermark, managing director of Useful & Beautiful
Location-based marketing has been around for a few years now and has been a much hyped-up trend especially with the advent of apps, but what is it exactly? In layman’s terms, location marketing means using the physical location to inform and optimize messaging and communication from brand to a consumer in order to create a one-on-one relationship to deliver the most relevant message at the right place and right time (context marketing).
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by Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress
Welcome to 2018, it is amazing to be here. My overarching theme for 2017 which had a massive impact on my life is, ‘What is the story we tell ourselves?’ So, what is the story we tell ourselves? Often this story gets moulded from childhood by our parents and teachers on what we can, can’t, should or shouldn’t do.
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by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko
It is approximately 4 years and some months since I resigned from my corporate job to pursue my business dream. I remember the mixed emotions I had leading to that day and on that day. I recall also all the people I spoke to about it prior to; but on D-day, I made the decision alone. Four years later I see things differently and realize a lot of things were aligned for me to leave. It was time.
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by Lizl Naude, founder of Lilly Loompa
It’s hard to believe that we are already in the second month of 2018! Most of us have made earnest promises to better ourselves during this coming year. Some resort to making New Year’s resolutions, others just continue with their routines as in the past. Some are very disciplined by nature, others like me have to be very intentional about discipline.
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by Eldari Visser, managing director of Picketfence Life
We have established that we need to understand journeys and destinations to ensure that we focus to reach our ultimate goal. This is for our personal life, our business careers and our wealth. Yet so many still miss the mark. They seem to be working so hard at it but after a while it is just not working out. We give up on our dreams or goals and many give up on life. That can be avoided if we just take some time in the beginning of any journey and think about our destination.
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by Abigail Klopper, founder of Abigail K Photography
Today I’m sharing a little bit of confidence inspiration for you as a result of my own experience of adding more colour, beauty and excitement into my life of late. You see, the moments that make life so interesting are not just those BIG awesome moments – The BIG achievements, the BIG milestones, the BIG events. It’s also the little awesome moments.
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