These Three Local Ladies Will Inspire You this Women’s Month

Today marks the start of National Women’s Month and we can’t wait to introduce you to the three inspiring local ladies we’re collaborating with as part of our #1MinuteWith Women’s Month campaign!

Each of these successful women have availed themselves for a short, one-minute video to share their success stories and pearls of wisdom with you. It is our hope that, in doing so, you are inspired to pave your own path of success as a young woman in South Africa.

Francine Zana

Image source: exclusivehospitality.co.za

From cleaner to business owner, Francine Zana’s story is characterised by success in spite of the odds. Francine grew up in Nelson Mandela Bay’s Motherwell township and started working as cleaner for a small bed and breakfast in Bluewater Bay when her family could no longer afford to pay her school fees.

As time passed, Francine gained extensive experience working as a temp cleaner in almost all of Port Elizabeth’s hotels, before working her way up to the position of Cleaning Supervisor for a five-star boutique hotel in Summerstrand. Despite her career advancement, Francine still had an inner desire to achieve more for herself.

In 2012, Francine took a leap of faith and quit her job to start her own company, Exclusive Hospitality Concepts, which aims to help hospitality establishments and private homeowners achieve high hospitality standards with the resources they have. Today, her long list of clients includes some of the biggest hotel groups in the industry and she pays it forward by providing mentorship to housekeeping staff in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Lize Fouche

Image source: heraldlive.co.za

Lize Fouche is the proud founder of NutriStart, a delicious and nutritious breakfast meal made from whole grain oats. It’s also free of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colourants and additives, making it one of the healthiest breakfast options for the whole family.

Lize’s entrepreneurial journey can be traced all the way back to 2006 when she opened her own guesthouse in Summerstrand. She would make muesli for her guests and it proved to be a big hit, but it wasn’t until 2013 that she started selling it as a means to bring in extra income for her growing family.

In the space of six months, Lize went from making muesli in her own kitchen to approaching Pick n Pay to stock her product. Shortly thereafter, she was able to secure funding from Anglo Zimele, giving her the necessary capital to develop, test and launch the Nutristart product range - which is now available at Pick n Pay stores across the country.

Anita Palmer

Anita Palmer is a successful businesswoman who wears many hats – she is an award-winning entrepreneur and business coach and she also heads up the Propella Business Incubator which provides support to start-ups and established businesses in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Her number of mentees is always on the rise, as is her list of impressive achievements which include winning the Business Women’s Association (BWA) Regional Business Achiever’s Award in the entrepreneurial category. As a dedicated mom of two, she also manages to successfully meet the demands of both work and family.

Alongside Lize and Francine, Anita will share more on her journey and lessons learnt along the way as part of our #1MinuteWith Women’s Month campaign. Follow our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages as we share each of their inspiring videos in the coming weeks.