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I grew up in a small farm community in the Eastern Cape. The world I knew then was only what was surrounding me; the farm, farm lands, livestock, bushes and forest and two or three other farm dweller families. That was my reality, no big cities or big townships. I never knew anything about big rivers, oceans, lots of animals, no idea of big mountains etc. When I grew up my parents moved to the city, things changed, it was a total new world. My world got so complex and vast. It was when I started visiting beaches, zoo, animal sanctuaries, visit nature reserves and botanical gardens and travelling by boats, ships and fly in aeroplanes. I am now an avid traveller, I also go for walks in the natural environments, listen to birds singing and so on. The world has so much to offer for those who grab these opportunities. As a family man, I often visit with my family to city parks, nature reserves, and lots of community projects that take care of animals and the environment. I am both an environmental and social activist, and I have spent most of my life either being involved directly in the protection of fauna and flora or training those who are involved in the same. When I travel or visit other countries, I visit mostly destinations that would offer natural and aesthetic beauty to tourists. I also have a huge interest in climate change as it is, among others, influenced by human behaviour, more especially air pollution. I am also interested in religion, more especially African Traditional religion. The reason for my interest in this branch of religion is because it is mostly nature based. In other words, it is religion that does not separate between humans and nature. For the adherents of this religion life is one and God manifests himself through nature and therefore taking care of nature is a religious duty. As an environmental and social activist, I am involved either through making financial contribution or contributing my time in community projects of different kinds. These projects would include contributing shoes to primary school learners who have no shoes, contributing money to soup kitchens for crèches and unemployed job seekers and many other projects. I am hoping to sustain these initiatives to a level where they can help more people.
Born on outskirts of Belgrade – Serbia in family of 4. Immigrated to South Africa in 1991 “running away” from civil war. Even though that I came to South Africa without papers, money, job or being able to speak English, I made this beautiful country my home. My career took me from being a waiter in the restaurant (my first job here) to Restaurant Manager, Sales Manager in Timeshare Company to MD and CEO of ZA Galvanizing. At the end of the August this year, I left my last position of Regional Sales Manager of EXIM International. When it comes to business, I am dedicated, punctual, loyal and organized with the skill set that made me achieve any task in front of me with the high rate of success. Privately, I am a nature and animal lover, a bit of the environmentalist and lifelong naturist. I am one of the funders and first Chairman of Western Cape Naturist Association – WCNA and South African National Naturist Association – SANNA. Passionate follower and supporter of South African Rugby and F1 Grand Prix.
Born and bred in beautiful Cape Town, mom to a long-awaited, witty, (inherited from me of course!), amazing, lively little 5-year-old girl, 2 dogs and 2 cats, 'my rescue children'. Married to Tomy, a senior digital content producer hailing from Tennenbronn, Germany. He is as introvert as I am extrovert – the scale balances beautifully. In my spare time (which is limited!) I sketch, paint, and try my hand at baking, while completing a mini-thesis in psychology. University after high school was not an option. I am also a seasoned HR professional, with a passion for people and process, building and maintaining great relationships form the foundation of both who I am, and what I do. And it’s a solid foundation. Hailing from the Pharmaceutical industry, I entered the world of investments about 14 years ago, where after joining as Office Manager, I moved into HR and have been in the HR sphere since. My journey has taken me on many a bumpy road, however, being a glass-half-full type, seasoned by an interesting childhood, and a solid determination to rise above, I march smilingly on. I have a passion for order, automation and software which could aid in optimization, easing transitions and processes. I am resilient with great sense of humour, always welcoming a challenge. I have a firm belief that building and nurturing relationships are paramount to success. I love meeting people and building relationships come naturally to me. I believe it’s the level of connection that counts. I am passionate about my work, I love what I do, and I do it well. I believe that doing what you love is a privilege. Yet, I still long for something more philanthropic in life. To give back, be it ever so small. Being an eternal optimist and peppered with life’s-experiences, I have been shaped into the person I am today. Pragmatic, passionate, and humble. An enormous amount of grit coupled a with good dose of grace! I am not done growing yet, not by a long shot, there are too many interesting, inspiring people to meet along the way, and there is always something to learn and something to contribute in life. It’s the journey that counts and I enjoy every step.
I am a 26-year-old woman, born and raised in Johannesburg, where I have lived my entire life. One of my biggest aspirations is to travel across South Africa and eventually the world. Although I was bred a city girl, my heart lies at sea. Another one of my aspirations is to own a home along the South African coast, within walking distance to the beach. I have been known as a bookworm since childhood. I always preferred to have my nose in a book rather than watching cartoons, hence my passions are reading, writing, and editing. Taking my love for books into account, I decided to study English literature, linguistics, and journalism. I have a great love for animals, and I currently have four dogs and a cat. I also love being out in nature. I am always keen to go hiking, take a trip to the beach, or take the dogs for a walk in the park. Another one of my interests is fashion. I have my own sewing machine and often create clothing for myself. I believe we are all responsible for our actions, and we decide where we want to go in life. I think if you want to do something, and you believe you can do it, you can. All you have to do is put in the effort. Nothing comes easy, but if you put the work in, you will achieve your goals and be anything you want to be. This is something I live by. I also think that building relationships and being able to work with others is extremely important. Succeeding in your endeavors often depends on how you work with and treat people, not just on what you can accomplish on your own. I have only started my journey, but I am looking forward to experiencing new things, building good relationships, and making the most out of every situation or opportunity.
Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, I am a 22-year-old who could be described as ambitious, hardworking, and a perfectionist. I enjoy being challenged with new tasks, as I believe discomfort allows one to grow and learn. I enjoy teamwork, but I am also capable of working on my own. I believe that communication is an important aspect of any relationship, especially professional ones, as it doesn’t leave any room for errors or misunderstandings. Therefore, I pride myself on being a skilled communicator. I am organised, goal-driven, and I find it very hard to set a task down once I have started. I may not have the most extroverted personality, but I do enjoy socialising with others in any setting. I recently graduated with a BA in English and Communication Science. While completing my degree, I worked as an editorial intern at Highbury Media, where I gained first-hand experience in editing, publishing, and social media management. I was also able to sharpen my writing skills, which came in handy as I went on to work as a freelance writer for ClubX Magazine for over a year. Even though I do not have years of experience behind me, I am, however, eager to learn. And a fresh mind is always a benefit. When it comes to my free time, I enjoy reading, writing, and painting. I am also currently learning Italian and intend on tackling many other foreign languages.
I am ambitious and driven. I thrive on challenges and constantly set goal for myself, so I have something to strive towards. Not only that, but I’m always looking for ways and opportunities to better myself and achieve greatness. I’m highly organized, always take notes and use a series of tools to help myself stay on top of deadlines. Furthermore, I keep a clean workspace and filing systems, so I’d always be able to find what I need. Also, I find this increases efficiency and helps me stay on task. In addition, I love meeting new people and learning about their stories, it always gives me new perspectives. I can almost always find common ground with strangers, and I like making them feel at home in my presence. I find this skill is especially helpful when dealing with new clients or even strangers when meeting for the first time. I am result-oriented, constantly checking in with the results to determine how close or far I am, and what it will take to make it happen. Pressure inspires and acts as a great motivator. I pride myself on making sure people have the right information because it drives better results, and I feel a sense of responsibility to keep everyone on the same page when it comes to work related matters. I would describe my personality as a little of everything. Likewise, I am creative, adventurous, driven, curious, energetic, enthusiastic, observant, positive and self-aware. This is what makes me easy to work with and makes the people who surround me happy to be in my presence. When it comes to my work I am attentive, helpful, patient, respectful, supportive and very flexible. This is what I believe makes me so easy to adapt to any situation thrown my way. Life is full of ups and downs. I know this is a cliché, but this phrase summarizes my whole existence. Sometimes my life is fun, happy and almost enviable and at times my life is sad boring and uninspiring. I have never tried to be perfect, but one thing is true — I AM WHO I AM.
“The key to unlocking complexity, is simplicity itself” This is the lesson that I have learned time and time again, not just in business, but life as well. Hence my perspective, in that we can complicate life or take a pragmatic approach. I grew up in a single parent household, with my father and younger sister, uncommon in my community whereby most single parent would be one’s mother, but this has shaped my thinking…not everything is what it seems. Firmly believe that personal and moral growth is a direct consequence of uplifting communities and protecting the vulnerable. Recently, I was the MD of a rural firefighting programme and still remains one of my passions in terms of assisting underserviced communities. I’ve worked in television, mainly satellite broadcasting, the South African revenue service, back into broadcasting, then firefighting and now green economy initiatives including a component of green building construction and manufacturing. Personally, an avid motorcycle enthusiast as well as a proponent of animal welfare. As you will notice from my pictures, motorcycles and pets. Right now, we have 10 pets, 4 dogs and 6 cats. All are adopted and some rescued, save for the German Shepherd.
My name is Jean-Mark Lufuluabo, born on 25 of November 1990 in mbuji-mayi, D.R. Congo. And I am the firstborn of a family of 8 children. I attended high school in the same city, majoring in biology and chemistry. By the age of 20 I was a manager in a family business, combining it with college. Where I studied commercial and financial sciences in ISC(Institute Superieur de Commerce) this time in another city called Lubumbashi. I speak 5 languages: English, French, Swahili, Lindale and Tshiluba. I am also Skilled in HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT and J query. I moved to South Africa in 2015,loved the adventure so far. In South Africa I attended a fire training with Pulse Training Academy, then after worked as fire Marshall in Harbour dry dock at Cape Town’s port. I have worked also for Tessara (ex Grapetech) in Epping Cape Town, And currently working as delivery partner with Picup and UberEats. As a person, I love sports, hiking, reading. I would like to fly if I had the means to do so. Above all, I am an open-minded person, who seeks to improve each and every day.
I have been involved in the music industry for the better part of my life. As a performer and creator, I have had the opportunity to entertain many people over the years. I have a great passion for music and the arts in general. As an avid reader, I take great pleasure in immersing myself in the prose of those who are highly skilled in the literary arts. This stood me in great stead when I embarked on a course in Journalism a million years ago. Although I never completed the course, certain skills have stuck with me to this day. My journalistic endeavour was eclipsed by my musical passion. A passion that has given me much joy and also lead to much heartache. Nonetheless, being a staunch collector of music, it wasn’t long before I utilised this collection, and branched out into spinning records on dance floors around the country. Having grown up in Cape Town, South Africa, in the ‘80s, I was embroiled in the struggle for freedom. Battling the apartheid regime. This struggle, which was so much a part of everyday life, gave me a sense of something bigger than myself. A sense of community and belonging to something that was more important than my own personal well-being. Generally speaking, I would like to believe that I am an artist at heart. When I say that I don't mean that I like to draw or paint or any of the other physical manifestations of art. What I mean is that I approach life as art. If that makes any sense. I am the proverbial Jack of all trades. Master of a few. I think my biggest asset is that I am always willing to learn. That is something that I intend to keep doing until the last breath escapes my body.
Live and love as if there is no tomorrow! Hi, my name is Emmerentia. I was born in the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa, in the ‘60’s, which means that I'm an original, retro hippie chick at heart with the good, old-fashioned values to back it up. The highs and lows I’ve dealt with in life have taught me a valuable lesson…time is not guaranteed and is therefore not to be lost. I am enjoying my journey, still learning new life lessons and growing to become the person I am meant to be. I must pay tribute to the University of Experience and the School of Hard Knocks for the valuable contributions you have made to my life path thus far. Stronger. Wiser. Blessed. My passion is to help others to reach their full potential. It is even more difficult to do that in one’s own life (it’s so easy giving advice to others, isn’t it?) but making a direct contribution or figuratively planting a seed and watching it take root in someone else’s life is deeply rewarding. We are on this planet to live good lives and to make a positive difference to our direct environment, wherever our feet may fall. Aim for the stars; never forget your roots. Be yourself, stay humble, be kind, be grateful, make love an action…not a word. My mission is to help people from all walks of life, gain financial independence, while caring for the world around us. Learn how to earn. Make sure you have a meal, an income, clothes, a home and good health. There is no planet B. I’m a big fan of renewable resources, organic gardens and farming and hugging a tree. Helping our paw-legged friends in shelters, finding furever homes much faster. Same for birds, horses, donkeys, circus prisoners and liberating zoos. I am an excellent chef in my kitchen 😊 and I love baking (to put it mildly). My cakes and tarts are wickedly good and not being gluten intolerant is still my highlight of the previous decade! My downtime is spent walking, jogging, going to the beach, horse riding and playing golf. With over 38 years’ combined experience, accumulated by time spent in the corporate world and having 3 businesses over the years, I have a wealth of experience to share and utilize. Words, in a personal bio, aren't plentiful. Not to me, at least. I feel that the chances of someone reading about what your opinion is of yourself and BELIEVING it is remote. The tough part is that you don't know me, nor I you, yet I'm trying to “convince” you that what I say is who I am as a person and that what I say is what it is. The eyes are windows to the soul…that isn't exactly happening here, and that sense cannot always be replaced through words alone. So, the moral of the story is that what I list below as my key character traits, strengths, weaknesses,...
I’m a proactive recent college graduate (International certificate in Cyber Defence) from the Institute of Advanced Cyber Defence in Sandton, South Africa. During the course of my academic career, I also managed to accrue nearly 10 years of work experience. I had the privilege of working for Absa Bank Limited as a Forex Teller and an International Banking Consultant, where I learned valuable professional skills in foreign exchange, global banking, and branch operations. While working at Absa bank, I was exposed to a culture that had a high demand of customer or client services. I learnt to be a much organised individual and now able to deal with projects at hand and also to work under enormous pressure. I was awarded Teller of the year for two consecutive years and had been an ”A” performer, influencing my colleagues to do the same. The role of being second in charge at the Teller department empowered me to lead, supervise and initiate action. I empowered myself by studying and finishing a Certificate in Banking, after which I registered and obtained a Higher Diploma in Banking, specialising in Treasury and International Banking. My passion for International Banking and Financial markets led me to register and obtain a certificate for Regulation and Ethics of the SA Financial Markets with the South African Institute of Financial Markets. In 2015, I wrote an article about ”My purpose and Journey” within Barclays Africa and won that competition for a trip to Robben Island to meet the then Barclays Africa CEO Maria Ramos and the late political icon Amhed Kathrada. My broad range of interests brings me into contact with the diversity of people and that talent South Africa and the world offers. I want to promote this talent and creative output, especially of local people. I am a hard worker, good organizer, very good with numbers, energetic and responsible individual. I started my schooling with a desire and passion to make an impact to every situation encountered. Education has taught me that the world of work does not need greater minds, but the determination and desire to what one does. In both my academic and professional life, I have been praised as a hard-working individual by my lectures and peers. Whether working on academic, extracurricular, or professional projects, I apply proven teamwork, best customer service and critical thinking skills. I’m a very spiritual person who is passionate about the well-being of others. My love for God led me to dedicate each morning into writing and sharing daily prophetic words and worship songs to my entire network including friends in Europe, and also guiding some on their spiritual journeys.
"All things are possible" I love the outdoors, travelling, animals and people. I was an ardent hiker, and this allowed me to visit some of the most amazing hiking trails in South Africa. What inspires me most is the ability to positively impact the lives of others through the plethora of skills I have acquired over the many years of experience. I have the ability to add value wherever I am placed. I am energised by strategy, new challenges, and the search for the most efficient and impactful solutions. My career began in education. As an educator I enjoyed the children. I know this will always be part of who I am as I will always be passionate about teaching and will continue sharing knowledge, mentoring, and coaching, etc. I ventured into the corporate environment as I excelled with my financial skills and thought that my career would entail the chartered accountant route. I did the required academics, got the job and my focus was numbers and more numbers. Again, I was challenged because my love for people was not satisfied. I once again did a complete change in my career by studying, job shadowing and taking on projects in the learning and development and human resource departments. One of my memorable periods was asking the CFO of the organisation to give me the opportunity to split my job in two areas to show my capabilities and therefore be considered for a position that was eventually created for me. This was exciting and I thrived in this environment. I felt like I was adding value as the position focused on the growth and development of the youth, once again. I knew that I could accomplish more and add more value through venturing out on my own. I started my own business which offers the services of learning and development, strategy, human resources and finance. This has been an exciting journey with many challenges.
I am passionate about my work. Because I love what I do, I have a steady source of motivation that drives me to do my best. In my last job, this passion led me to challenge myself daily and learn new skills that helped me to do better work. I am ambitious and driven. I thrive on challenge and constantly set goals for myself, so I have something to strive toward. I’m not comfortable settling, and I’m always looking for an opportunity to do better and achieve greatness. I am highly organized. I always take notes, and I use a series of tools to help myself stay on top of deadlines. I like to keep a clean workspace and create a logical filing method, so I’m always able to find what I need. I find this increases efficiency and helps the rest of the team stay on track. I’m a people-person. I love meeting new people and learning about their lives and their backgrounds. I can almost always find common ground with strangers, and I like making people feel comfortable in my presence. I find this skill is especially helpful when kicking off projects with new clients. A little about myself... I grew up in the Kruger National Park and spent most of my days playing with the baby animals. My favourite part of the day was going down to the rehabilitation center to feed the baby elephants. The saddest was at night, when you could hear them cry for their mothers. My favourite memory occurred on a late summer night. My nephew, my brother and myself went down to the local swimming pool to cool down abit.We enjoyed a wonderful night and eventually started getting our things together to head home. Upon reaching the gate to get to the car, we realised that we were trapped inside. There was definitely no getting out for a while, as a pack of wild dogs decided to inspect the car and take a nap right next to the gate. That's where my fascination with predators came along. At one point, our neighbors even had a pet lioness! As you can gather, I LOVE the nature. Always expect the unexpected! I'm also an accident magnet.... I'll find that one brick that isn't level and trip over it. Once I even straight up walked into a lamp pole at Spar. The poor old lady in the car in front of us didn't know whether to laugh or ask if I was okay ! I'm very outspoken and I'm not shy to admit my faults. Basically, I'm an open book. What you can't see, I'll gladly tell you all about it.
Born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo but I am currently live in South Africa (Cape Town) about 7 years I am Married to Magalie since 2018 and we have a 2 years old girl. I am a honest, ambitious, friendly, reliable and motivated person. I’m a skilled individual who has excellent training as a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). As a result, I have good knowledge of routing, switching, network applications, protocols, services, and wireless skills. I am a self-motivated person and I try to exceed my superior’s expectations with high-quality work. Being a fast learner, I quickly pick up business knowledge related to my project. An experienced and customer service with a strong interest to increase customer satisfaction and at the same time making sure all of the operations are being done properly. I believe my strengths are that I am a person who can work under a lot of stress and have excellent communication skills which enable me to handle a leadership position as wells work in a team. I care deeply about workplace professionalism. I regard myself to be a very open-minded person, ready for a new challenge when it comes to technology. People consider me to be a social, temperament person who does not hesitate in giving my opinion for what I think and believe in. I have always enjoyed meeting new people and it comes naturally to me to maintain a lot of relationships. I love trying new things, creating new methods, and introducing new ideas. I love watching soccer, specially when Leo Messi plays, movies and playing games.
Hello, I’m Deborah! I was born in Congo RDC and came to Cape Town, South Africa in October 2012 to study at university. I have a National diploma in Financial accounting and a diploma in Financial information system. I am an ambitious young lady and I love to be surrounded by positive people. I’m a dedicated and conscientious team player with the ability to provide support and advice to people, customers, or co-workers and make a difference. I am organized, responsible, very loyal, focused and I can have the work done on time and meet deadlines. While doing my National diploma I was also working as a part-time customer service sales representative. I became a full time agent right after I graduated from at university. I am a customer relation professional with more than six years of experience in customer service work, inbound and outbound calls, emails and social media. I have excellent verbal skills with the ability to communicate my thoughts and information in a clear and easy to understand manner. I am confident that the experience, the capabilities I have make me ready for any opportunity. I speak French, English, Swahili, and Lingala I love singing and dancing, reading, and my favorites animals are dogs and cats. Looking forward to be part of Zagenie family! Thank you!
I am a positive, happy person who loves all aspects of my life. I love the beach, animals and children. I am a people’s person. I grew up in the Kruger Park and that is where my love for animals and people comes from. Love working with people from all over the world. I have three beautiful children and an amazing mom whom I adore. I received the most precious gift of all very recently when I was blessed by becoming a grandmother. Like most young people and since I can remember, I had a dream… I just wanted to be a teacher when I grow up. Like a lot of young people, I did not have the means to pursue my dream. At the age of sixteen, I started working in the Kruger Park tourist shop as a cashier during school holidays. Naturally, when I matriculated and because I could not attend a college or university to study what my heart desired, I started working for SANParks. I worked in different departments from the tourist shop to finally being promoted to year in advance bookings at SANParks head office. I will always “want to be a teacher in my heart, but never will I be disappointed for the foundation I had. Working for SANParks gave me the opportunity, confidence and knowledge to work with tourists from all over the world. They had a huge hand in the way I see people and the quality of work I offer. I will always be thankful. I am a loyal, loving, understanding, empathetic and kind individual. I learned a lot about people over the years. People tend to confide in me and I am a very good listener. I can solve problems easily because people listen to me and usually follow my advice. It makes it a lot easier to solve problems in the work place concerning personnel and clients too. I have a sixth sense about people and it usually turns out to be spot on. The way in which I treat people, they will follow my orders without question. I learned a lot during my years working for different companies and working in different departments and environments. I know how to handle myself and every situation and challenge I am faced with. I am hard-working and not afraid to learn new things. I am a quick learner and I always follow through on everything I do. Even if it is a new challenge, I have to tackle and always give a hundred and one percent doing everything that has to be done. I am not afraid to walk the extra mile and to do everything to the best of my ability. I gained a lot of professional work experience. This includes... working as a reservations officer, receptionist, personal assistant, book keeper, financial administrator, school tutor and even running my own business for several years. I loved all the careers I pursued but my favorite by far was the work...
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