• Have you ever been mentored? What importance do you give to mentorship?
Yes, I have been. Before I took the brave leap into the unknown by choosing to leave the security and safety of a guaranteed salary, I knocked on many doors hoping to find a willing and able mentor to help me navigate my way into the diverse world of Medical Aesthetics. I spent many hours sitting in waiting rooms waiting to be squeezed in then forgotten or dismissed with a “sorry Iʼm too busy to have you in my way.” I was even asked to pay for privy to a certain Dr’s IP- as she put it.
Then just as I was about to give up, I merely sent a social media message to Dr Nicole Kanaris, a successful Aesthetic Practitioner who instantly responded to my messages and with no hesitation, I was able to spend some time picking her brain and have learnt priceless medical and business operational strategies from.
• Which woman do you look up to?
As the infamous saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.” Iʼve been blessed with amazing female role models within my family. My mother is a frontrunner, alongside my late grandmother, Thandi Klaasen from whom I got my steadfast resilience from, and my mentor, Dr Kanaris who paved the way for me and with whom I frequently touch base with when I feel the need to push that ceiling even higher.
• What are some of the most significant opportunities you see for women in health on the African continent? And in South Africa specifically?
When thinking of possible opportunities, you first need to start with a needʼs assessment. Currently, within the African continent, we have pressing health issues such as lack of access to healthcare which impacts significantly on the Primary Health Care sector resulting in simple diseases going untreated and therefore complicating and needing tertiary Interventions.
An opportunity Iʼm personally Interested in that provides far-reaching solutions is Telemedicine. Almost 80% if not more of the African population has access to a mobile device. With Telemedicine we can provide urban call centres staffed with clinical officers, nurses, and doctors to provide advanced clinical support to rural or far communities where direct access to clinics is almost impossible. Mozambique has successfully used mobile phone-based diagnostic tools for this purpose.
The next need is rooted in attainable and sustainable funding for start-up or growth capital. Gatherings of great and Influential minds such as at the first-ever Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in November 2018 came up with some fascinating maths: 49 projects worth $38.7 billion over three days, all for the continent to promote the value of entrepreneurship. The all-important issue of womenʼs empowerment in Africa was also highlighted as a panel in ‘Investing in women for accelerated growthʼ revealed that women entrepreneurs experience a significant funding gap of $42 billion annually, but are more likely to repay loans compared to male borrowers. This creates an additional funding body that avails itself to try to bridge the gap.
The next need is identified as a deficiency of networking opportunities or systems. “In many ways, the fact that there are so few women in leadership roles means thereʼs far less understanding, empathy, or proper behaviour exhibited towards women. If there were more women in leadership, there would be far less discrimination against them, because these women leaders would use their influence to fight against such discrimination”, Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder and chief operating officer of Piggybank.ng. This highlights the necessity of more formal mentorship programmes to guide and mould our female youth, especially within the African continent into more prominent roles to bring about empowerment, not competition.
• How would you rate career advancement opportunities for women in South Africa?
There definitely is a vast gap between the sexes in terms of advancement potential within the various sectors as some fields are still deemed “male-orientated”.
Even with more females being awarded leadership roles within these areas it still feels as if they are placed there to fill a quota, tick a box, but no power is given or acknowledged within their titles. We are partly to blame for this.
• In your opinion, what needs to happen in the next 5 years to see career advancement opportunities for women change?
Through all my experiences I have come to appreciate and understand the value of mentorship truly. From a young age, females are taught to value their external features and equate their worth according to how attractive or how agreeable they were deemed by their suitors, i.e. the opposite sex. Men, on the other hand, are taught to walk into a room as if they are already winners and every female in the room is fair game. This wayward belief system infiltrates into their adult lives—personal and professional.
Too many females are too afraid to speak up, stand out or simply have an opposing say. This is frowned upon because it feels as if she is trying to break into the Alcatraz of “the boys club”. Society and generational lessons have magnified this gender disparity as the most significant decisions are usually concluded in the sacred havens of weekend fishing expeditions, the 18th hole, etc.
Well, this needs to stop we wish to affect change.
Women need to learn; no, need to be taught to be more comfortable in circumstances that place them in “male-dominated” arenas. This is not done by coming in and trying to be “more male” but by directly integrating with her male colleagues—getting to know and be known by them. Iʼve had to learn this lesson as Iʼve been considered for platforms and promotions my deeds and skills alone would have never qualified me for simply by presenting ME.
When you are known beyond your resume, you become a person with personality and potential to be considered for opportunities that you would have previously never been earmarked for. This confidence and self-belief can be cemented by consistent mentorship initiated from our homes within our families to schooling years and beyond.
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