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Councillor and Ex Deputy Mayor eThekwini Fawzia Peer is currently a councillor as well as a former deputy mayor in the eThekweni municipality. Her political career has spanned 26 years in local government, and she considers herself a veteran ANC activist. In her positions as the vice president of Minara Chamber of Commerce and the chairperson of Minara Business and Professional Women, she works closely to carry out Minara’s vision of promoting and strengthening business activities for its members. Over the years in politics, Fawzia has experienced racism, sexism, ageism, cultural and religious prejudice. Where others may have been discouraged, she has remained steadfast because Fawzia is driven fundamentally to serve the community. Fawzia is an industrial relations consultant by profession and this skill set, combined with living in the oppressive, racist regime of Apartheid fuelled her desire to contribute to changing the narrative through political engagement, activism and finally her leadership in local government. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Fawzia Peer’s inspirational journey.

Director and Founder of Thandekile Projects Thandi MaThabethe Ngxongo is the dynamic and motivated director and founder of Thandekile Projects, which has different portfolios: BP Moore Road Service Station, Thandi’s Kitchen, Property Investment, and the uThandekile Foundation. Thandi comes from a small rural town near Mooi River in KwaZulu-Natal where she attended school. Her journey in the petroleum industry started when she came to Durban to further her studies. Following completing her first degree, she joined the Engen refinery at Wentworth as a qualified chemical engineer. Commenting on her journey, Thandi says, “I think that we must never shy away from the fact that we may be the only person at the table who is female. But if you know your story and you are passionate and skilled, then it is easy for people to grasp your vision and run with it.” Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Thandi MaThabethe Ngxongo inspirational journey.

Founder and CEO of Icebolethu Group Nomfundo Mcoyi is an accomplished multi skilled entrepreneur and community builder based in KwaZulu Natal. She is the founder and CEO of Icebolethu Group which currently boasts over 120 branches in KwaZulu Natal with one in the United Kingdom and currently employs over 1500 staff. Nomfundo is the Chairperson of the KZN South African Funeral Practitioners Association and is a shareholder at Scribante Labour Consultants as well as Blacksuits. The Icebolethu Group includes eight companies encompassing various aspects of the funeral business. In addition to burial services, they cover funeral policies, tombstones, catering, and loans. Nomfundo’s charity, the Icebolethu Foundation, is particularly close to her heart. The Icebolethu Foundation has several active projects, but Nomfundo is most proud of the Rhoda Girls project. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Nomfundo Mcoyi’s inspirational journey.

South African women’s hockey goalkeeper and vice-captain Phumelela Mbande, otherwise known as ‘Phumz’, is the current South African women’s hockey goalkeeper and vice-captain. She holds a dual role as an external auditor by profession, currently working as an audit manager at a leading audit firm. Born in Umtata and raised in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, Phumz is the oldest of three children raised by a single parent. She has played hockey since she was 10 years old. Recently Phumz had the opportunity to fulfil a childhood dream of representing South Africa at the Olympic Games where she was very proudly one of team South Africa’s Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony flag bearers. Phumz was the guest speaker on the webinar held on the 7 October where she spoke of the challenges of pursuing both her business aspirations and her hockey career. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Phumelela Mbande’s inspirational journey.

Founder of iTRAIN Mariam Manack is the founder of iTRAIN. Mariam is a sports scientist, nutritional advisor, fitness, and lifestyle coach. While working as a personal trainer in 2011, Mariam became passionate about empowering women through health and fitness. Without any gym equipment, she would train clients at home using her voice and her gift. Soon, her clientele grew and knowing it was time to expand, she founded iTRAIN, a health and fitness studio for women. Since then, Mariam has educated and encouraged millions of women to improve their health and fitness. Her company offers training and conditioning for all fitness levels, nutritional advice, and meal planning as well as beach fit sessions. In 2017, she was recognised by the Minara Chamber of Commerce as the youngest Muslim woman to receive a finalist award at the Business Recognition Awards and the Minara Entrepreneurship Competition. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Mariam Manack’s inspirational journey.

Founder of Monique Labat Consulting Monique was born in Mauritius and holds dual citizenship, Mauritian and South African. A career spanning the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the City of Durban’s Investment Promotion Agency as well as Tradepoint South Africa Durban has meant extensive international and local travel promoting Durban as an investment location. In August 2011, Monique established her company, (Pty) Ltd to provide valuable specialist skills to both public and private sector clients. Monique consults to local and international clients on Market Linkages and Business 2 Business opportunities, co-ordinates detailed programmes and itineraries for international trade, investment and inward buying delegations and compiles market intelligence reports for multiple industry sectors. An active Rotarian, Monique volunteers her time and resources to assist communities within the greater Durban area. Monique’s core values are in line with Rotary’s motto, “Service above self”. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Monique Labat’s inspirational journey.

Humanitarian and KZN Operations Manager at SA Harvest Lindsay Hopkins is the KwaZulu-Natal operations manager for SA Harvest, which focuses on food security and is primarily a food rescue organisation. Her work in the field of food security began during the Covid-19 pandemic when she took on the position of KwaZulu-Natal coordinator for the C-19 People’s Coalition, an organisation which was formed in response to the food crisis resulting from the lockdown. From there, Lindsay founded The Farmer Exchange whereby she sourced fresh produce that did not meet retail standards, to use for food hampers and to sell at prices that benefitted the community and the farmers. Ten tons of food goes into the landfill every year that’s almost a third of all food that is produced. There are 19 million people who are cold and hungry every day, so if you do the calculations, nobody should go to bed hungry. It’s a basic right that people get food in their stomach,” she said. Click on this live link and be part of Lindsay Hopkin’s inspirational journey.

Founder and Creative Director of Ardmore Fée Halsted is a passionate, award-winning artist and academic from the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Ardmore is a hugely successful ceramics company and is known for their quirky, colourful designs, which feature in leading galleries and collections. Fee’s first ever student was Bonnie Ntshalintshali, daughter of their housekeeper, whose polio meant that she couldn’t partake in any general work. Fée and Bonnie quickly developed a synergy and under Fée’s mentorship, Bonnie’s natural skills as an artist blossomed. Five years later, in 1990, Fée and Bonnie were jointly awarded the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award. With this success came the demands of creating ceramics for their exhibition, so Fée offered other local women the opportunity to train at Ardmore, producing pieces to generate income for the fledgling studio, which led it to be the thriving business it is now. Fée was honoured with a doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2016. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Fée Halsted’s inspirational journey.

MD & Partner at Biza iAfrica Thobeka Dlongolo was born in the Eastern Cape in a small town called Bizana. When she completed matric in 1999, Thobeka was unsure of which line of profession to pursue. She eventually decided to study marketing and completed a B-tech Degree at the Durban University of Technology. Thobeka believed that choosing marketing would allow her to start her own business in the future. In 2007 she joined Biza iAfrica Consultants as a partner. The company was founded by her mother Frances Dlongolo and its core focus was tourism development. In 2005 the company diversified its services and identified an opportunity in the landscaping and park development field. When Thobeka joined Biza iAfrica, her focus was to develop and grow the company. Determined to be recognised and succeed in a white male dominated industry, Thobeka and her mother have worked tirelessly and been able to grow the company from strength to strength. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Thobeka Dlongolo’s inspirational journey.

Founder Marilyn Beuster Wellness, Yummy Keto, iTravelsmart Marilyn Beuster lost 40kg of weight in a short period of time only for her to rebound to her then original weight of 120kg. She found the need to do a reset over the following year, and lost 60kg and has kept it off with a formula of whole foods, intermittent and prolonged (healing) fasts ever since. Marilyn was forced to close her travel agency doors when the Covid-19 pandemic closed travel and borders. However, she still had people commenting on her weight loss, and how she had managed to keep it off. That birthed her guided three-month wellness coaching course, and her new company “Marilyn Beuster Wellness”. Marilyn and her husband created a range of foods which they put into production under the ketogenic genre. “YummyKeto” went into a local home produce store, and fast led to the bigger chain stores buying into this story of health. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Marilyn Beuster’s inspirational journey.

Regional Manager, Communities and Corporate Affairs, Tronox Nozuko Basson is a mother, daughter, and sister. She is a passionate, ambitious and a vibrant woman who has, through her life’s journey and lessons, learnt to release the burdens of false expectations and focus rather on building a life of her dreams and legacy by working hard and living her life; freely, authentically, and openly. An awards-winning reputation management specialist, Nozuko has built her personal brand and professional reputation working for brands such as Discovery Limited, Illovo Sugar, and now Tronox South Africa. Over and above all the above-mentioned, Nozuko is also the founder and owner of NB Beauty & Image, which offers mobile beauty and makeup services with a particular focus on busy women. Her other interests include, interior designing, personal image coaching, and giving inspirational talks. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Nozuko Basson’s inspirational journey.

Business Centre Manager for the Hibiscus Coast, Standard Bank KwaZulu-Natal Thalente Madonda’s current role is in the Business Banking segment, looking after both business banking as well as small enterprise clients. Thalente has been with Standard Bank for 22 years and she has held various roles ranging from junior, middle, and now to senior management. Some of the roles she has held were branch manager, account executive, and small enterprises manager. Speaking of her role Thalente explains, “Being in Business Banking gives me an opportunity to contribute to our economy, indirectly and directly, by assisting our entrepreneurs with their business operations...granting them facilities, short and long term, to fund the growth in their businesses.” On the personal front, a role that she occupies as a woman is being the mother of three beautiful kids – one being a teenager. Other roles are wife, sister, daughter in law ... the list is endless. Click SAVE YOUR SPOT and be part of Thalente Madonda’s inspirational journey.