Did you enjoy school?
School to me was a place I associated with socialising, not learning. The teachers who got the most out of me invested time and attention into working with me and my idiosyncrasies. The ones who got the worst of me were the ones who punished me for them, and so I became their worst nightmare. So, whether I enjoyed school depended on which teacher I was with.
What qualifications do you have?
Since I was brought up in South Africa, I was choosing my future career as we became a democracy and were released from all sanctions. South Africa was back on the map, open to business, and tourism was going to be the next big thing. I therefore have a National Diploma in Travel and Tourism. That all changed over the years, and now I hold various qualifications, including Anti-Money Laundering and two Certified qualifications from Oxford University Saïd Business School: Blockchain strategy and Artificial Intelligence.
Has your career path been a smooth transition, a rocky road or a combination of both?
Smooth, not sure, ever-changing for sure. I pivoted my career three times. From working at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom theme park as a safari driver, to returning to South Africa as a travel agent, and even as a wedding coordinator. When I moved to London, I pivoted to working in the Finance industry, where I became a financial regulatory expert. My curiosity about tech led me to discover ‘blockchain’, and I pivoted into technology, which ultimately led me to become a founder.
What specific challenges do you see women facing in the industry?
I have been fortunate not to have experienced challenges I would categorise as specifically female. That might be partially because I have been surrounded by very supportive men, although not deliberately.
What is the best career advice you can give to others?
Be curious – be curious about your industry and what’s new, but also about non-work-related elements. Often, you will find that you can get further by stepping outside your typical environment and your comfort zone.
If you had to pick one mentor that had the biggest influence on you, who would it be?
As I have never been a permanent employee, mentorship was not on offer to me. I progressed my career through coaches, helping me see things from a different perspective.
From where do you draw inspiration?
As a curious individual, I challenge myself in many ways. This means I draw inspiration not just from individuals or topics, but also from sports, fellow founders, and individuals with past successes.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced to date?
I mentally and emotionally struggled with the realisation and revelation about a year after I started Umazi, that I was becoming the face of. I have never been a person who looked for the limelight; I was always the supporting staff, even at school. My sister was the actor, and I was the backstage staff member moving props.
It took me a minute and a lot of coaching support to overcome this comfortable feeling.
What qualities do you feel makes a good leader?
Being able to bring out the best in individuals while optimising it for the company’s benefit. Being able to recognise and appreciate that you are not an expert in all things, yet being confident to crowdsource ideas and approaches, and to build consensus on a strategy before acting on it.
From a work viewpoint, what has the last 12 months been like?
For me, 2025 has been a year of many successes. And by saying that, I am not saying that there weren’t failures, but I have become more focused on the wins. The wins make us want to take the next step. I learned from mistakes, but quickly. Turning them into an opportunity for growth. It’s like the cliché ‘every day is present’, how do you make the last?
What would you say are the biggest tech-based challenges we face today?
Creating an open and considered environment for everyone to leverage advanced technology at their own pace or create a safe and positive space to experiment. There is a recognised need to leverage the tech, but forcing people when they are not ready or have not been given the opportunity to get comfortable with it will do more harm than good.
What can be done to encourage more women into the industry?
I’d love to see the narrative around women’s equality shift from criticising others to focusing on ourselves – women supporting women with conviction. Men go to the pub, have a beer, and get things out in the open; women tend to overthink, overanalyse, and still feel upset months later. It’s in our nature, and we recognise it, yet I don’t feel we do enough to change the narrative. If we can change this, I think no encouragement would be needed, as people are naturally drawn to positivity.
Give us a fact about you that most other people wouldn’t know.
I’m a huge F1 fan, so much so that I taught my husband everything I know about F1, and now he’s a fan.
