Jackie Cameron

Jackie is a warm, engaging person, who, despite her success as a Top 10 Chef, still has her feet firmly on the ground.

Jackie’s cooking interests grew out of helping her grandparents with their cooking.  Upon finishing school it therefore seemed natural to enrol in the Christina Martin School of Food and Wine in Durban, before heading up to Mount Grace Hotel in the Magaliesberg for her first real taste of the industry.

With just this – one year’s – exposure, no-one could really have guessed how high she would climb.  And so starting at Hartford House, in a small kitchen, with the owners original oak extractor fan, Jackie began.  It would be five full years of hard work before the Cape food critics started to notice her.

What she liked most at Hartford, and what led her to stay, saying no to some very attractive offers, was the flexibility to create as she wanted, to be her own boss.  During this time Jackie had the opportunity, from the people she met and the relationships she developed, to travel overseas some thirty times to celebrate all things South African

And what she sees as the key to her success?  Working longer and harder than anyone else.  And she means it, for years now having never said no to anything.  That, and always keeping in mind the importance of relationships.  For as Jackie says, ‘I see no-one as my inferior.’

Frustrations?  None really – Jackie likes every aspect of her work, though perhaps the paperwork a little less than the rest.

And for fun?  For Jackie it’s time with family and friends, a braai, a pub get-together.  She’s also just started gym, and while the hours are still long, it’s clear that she’s enjoying being in charge of how she spends her time.

Sarah Giles – Training Leadership Consulting

Sarah is a warm, gentle person, and an excellent communicator.  Having joined Training Leadership Consulting (TLC) four years ago, she is currently involved in the Business Development, Marketing and Client Relationship Management aspects of the business.  Her role focuses on responding to client enquiries, co-ordinating marketing activities, and developing TLC’s eLearning portal, The Leadership Centre.

Prior to this Sarah lived in London for two years, and had an opportunity to travel through Europe before returning home and joining TLC. She gained experience working for Barclays Capital and as a Marketing Assistant at Liberty Midlands Mall.

Aside from the creative and innovate aspect of her work, Sarah enjoys that she’s able to work directly with company owners, Rick and Debbie McCarthy, and be part of a learning organization. The TLC team are dynamic and she really enjoys the team work and opportunities for self-development.

Sarah is also completing her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt business studies with TLC and would love to get involved in the training side of the business.

And, something most people don’t know about Sarah is she cycled to Cape Town from Pietermaritzburg to raise funds for a non-profit organization.

Ruann Steyn – Hereford Group

Ruann is a guy that cares about people.  In fact when interviewing for a major Life Assurance company a few years back, having made it all the way to the final stage of interviews he was told that he was too nice a guy for the job!  And indeed, as he said to me, ‘selling a policy is easy – it’s making sure the client gets everything due to them as quickly as possible, that’s the challenge’.  And when, as happens with estates, there is a average of six  to nine month delay in wrapping up the process, it’s critical to ensure clients have sufficient funds to cover themselves for this period as well as living a legacy to the family.

Ruann’s background is varied – he’s worked in the corporate world, being at one stage PEP’s youngest manager, been in the moulding business in Pietermaritzburg, and sold just about everything you can sell.  But it was on moving to The Hereford Group that he really started to excel.  After just two years he’s written and passed the Financial Services Board Exam (which some 70% of students fail the first time), and is well on his way to building a career in Wealth Management.

Ruann sells peace of mind.  In this highly regulated industry, he is licensed to sell is Risk policies, Investments and Medical Aid Pension Funds for businesses.  He’s also able to assist with Estate planning, the setting up of Trusts and the management of thereof.

At the end of the day what motivates Ruann is having his clients have that sense of relief that, should a disaster strike, everything has been taken care of.  And this, in a climate where in South Africa, few make adequate preparations for retirement, is a crucial service.

When he’s not working Ruann likes to spend time with his wife, Caroline and two children Jaedyn and Levi.  He also enjoys music and can play the guitar, drums and a little piano.

Debbie Baleson – The Cookhouse

Since opening the family business more than a year ago, The Cookhouse has grown every month.  In essence, The Cookhouse offers convenience combined with delicious food. The menu consists of frozen ready-made meals ranging from soups and main meals through to Bastian’s home-made ice cream. Our meals are all prepared and produced at The Cookhouse – our chef being Jonty Nicolson who with his wife Tanya own Nicolson’s Country Cafe in Hilton.

Says Debbie, “when you add up all the costs of cooking at home – the time it takes to shop, the petrol involved, the challenge of having to buy a whole tray of something when you only want a few pieces – our convenient meals make sense.  All you need to do is defrost, heat and eat.”

What excites Debbie most about the business is not only their new but also repeat customers.  Indeed, people coming down from Jo’burg or up from Durban often stop in specially.  And local business is by no means restricted to the Ambers – different customer groupings include those visiting the area, estate agents wanting to welcome someone to their new home, book clubs and young (and busy) families.

“When you visit The Cookhouse one of our principles is that you always leave with something” says Debbie, “be it a meal, a menu or just a smile”

Renee’ Mitchell – The Health Nut

Being the daughter of a game ranger of parks like Umfolozi and Hluhlwe, Renee’ grew up in the bush.  So, although unusual for a woman, Renee’ became a professional hunter, hunting all over Southern Africa while still in her twenties.  Her studies, Environmental Science, seemed a logical fit for this passion.

But Renee’ had always had an interest in nutrition and so, seven years ago opened up the Health Nut.  It started small, with just some nuts, seeds oats and teas.  Business literally just trickled in, it being ‘touch and go’ for a long time before the business became established.  Since then however it has grown enormously, now being the largest shop of it’s kind in KZN.

Backing up her on-the-job experience, Renee’ studied clinical nutrition through an Australian institute and she’s now reading a diploma Naturaopathic Nutrition.  For, as she says, the field is a dynamic one, (currently the fastest growing in the world), and new stuff is coming out all the time.  And indeed thanks to ‘Dr Google’ patients are far better informed than they were in the past, and so more receptive to different ways of treating particular conditions.

So what is it she likes most about the field?  It’s two things really – it’s the intellectual side (she comes from a very, very bright family) – doing a thorough systemic diagnosis of each particular patients unique needs.  And then there’s the healing part, the helping part. The seeing the change in clients.

In terms of headaches? It’s the admin and bookkeeping side, (though fortunately her staff now takes care of this for her).

Renee’ has two sons, 13 and 10 years of age, and when not at the shop or studying, enjoys mountain biking with them.

Matt Foster – Foscon Plumbing Services

Matt is a high energy individual who, on leaving school, decided that a trade would best suit his temperament.  Starting at the bottom, Matt gained considerable experience on building sites, being involved with Assmang Manganese Mine (new ablutions), Umlazi Soccer Stadium (water and waste reticulation for 2010 World Cup), as well as various industrial, school and private residence projects.

Having learnt a lot in the field, Matt did his plumbing trade test (with 100% pass), and then went into partnership with his parents.  His father Paul, who has had wide-ranging experience in the construction field has been able to help Matt not only with contacts in the construction industry, but also with the financial and tax aspects of FosCon.  And so, while just a few months old, Matt is chuffed that each month so far the fledgling company has reached its targets.

Keith Baker – Riverside Service Centre

Keith is one of the last of the traditionally trained Appys. Their average age he says, is now 57 and the new guys coming up through the learnerships are just not adequately trained to do the job. Their studies are too theoretical, too classroom based. The range of problems they are faced with is too small. Also, when a good guy does eventually come along, the scarcity of skills means he is soon head-hunted and wanting the money, leaves you.

Keith himself qualified as both a Diesel and Petrol Mechanic and right from the first job with Ford back in 1972, found himself confronted with virtually every kind of problem one could face. That was more than forty years ago now, and hence his experience is second to none.

What Keith likes most about his work is having his head under the bonnet. But at the same he knows that the customer’s personal needs are as important as his car needs (and he wishes he could find more staff who would think like this). Would he go back to the corporate world where he spent most of his career? Never. No regrets, but never.

Reflecting on the changes in that world Keith puts his finger on the button – they’ve moved to trying to measure everything, and incentive efficiency in particular, to the detriment of simple relationships. And so just as one behaviour or another is promoted, other things fall through the cracks and inevitably the customer is removed from being at the centre.

Like Mark from Berg Protection, Keith tries to get involved in community activities like the SPCA and Howick Hospice. And at the end of the day, it is this, a genuine interest in people, that has seen his business grow and grow in just a few short months.

Leon Rennison – Lythwood Lodge

Leon had a very rapid career vocation course. Having done army he decided he wanted to be a pilot. But on just that first Durban – Jo’berg – Cape Town trip, Leon was bored to death. And hence the move to hospitality, his beginning his studies at Wits Hotel Management School.

Appropriately for his line of work, the course covered everything – accounts, quality standards, HR, law and of course wines and cheffing. And it’s this that he likes most about the work – no two days are ever the same.

His career began in Scotland at Dornoch and Aviemore (where he more than made the most of the weather, in the Summer rising at three to fish and then having a early morning braai with wife Alison who brought the freshly baked rolls. And in the winter, skiing).

His work then took him to a wide variety of places, the Okavanga Delta, Cederberg, Waterberg and Kruger. In fact during his stay at Cederberg the American publication ‘Travel and Leisure’ rated his establishment the fifth best in the world!

Then, a couple of years ago he tried his hand at corporate clothing, but quickly grew bored, so it was to Lythwood he arrived in 2011. Here he partners well with his wife who has the temperament for the administrative and financial side of the business.

Headaches – like James Hurst and Yvonne Cordner there aren’t any really. He seems to like it all and certainly was looking pretty relaxed when I met him. Perhaps it’s because as he said he’s able to distinguish between the almost-too-late requirement to supervise a situation versus managing it well by planning up front.

And when he’s not working? Leon relaxes with golf, fishing and, if he can get away with it, loud music.

Anthony Keytel – Ant’s Woodworx

Married to Susan, Ant has a 31 year old son who works in a bike company in England (a good fit given that he’s already got his Bok colours for mountain biking), and a 29 year old daughter in who’s in shoe designs and lives in Umdloti.

Ant’s working history started at Telkom where he spent thirty years as a project manager.  But balancing budget, time and quality was not enough for him and for twenty of those years he was a regular at flea markets selling his hand-made woodwork.  Oregon cottage furniture was very popular at the time and he made a lot of furniture using recycled timber bought from demolished buildings.  The work at markets went well and in time he was eventually able to pay off his bond with the revenue that came in from it.  And so, when given retrenchment from Telkom, he simply stepped into his new business the next day.  That was eleven years ago and hasn’t looked back since.  He now employs four staff and despite local competition is as busy as he could hope to be.

What Ant likes most about his work is the design element – he knows a number of pc-based programmes and is currently involved with a 3D drawing one that will help his clients get an accurate picture of what the end product will look like.

Dislikes?  Not pleasing the customer 100%.  Ant realises that the challenge is trying to capture the exact image that a client has in his mind, and then transfer that to a physical object – no easy task for anyone. And yet, so far he’s done it, with every customer thus far 100% satisfied.

And entertainment-wise – Ant is a mountain biker who makes the most of our superb forests.

Andy Wood – Cost 2 Build

Cost 2 Build combines the knowledge and skills of Quantity Surveying, Project Management and Management Construction into one business, so as to give customers a single point of reference for all their building needs. Where it is different to other businesses in the same field is that Cost 2 Build charge a set fee, and so have no interest in contractors increasing costs through add-ons. Not only this, but in fact where there is a saving on budget planned, this is split fifty-fifty with the client.

To understand the value of these two dimensions, one must keep in mind that in the normal process of starting with the architect, it’s not uncommon for budget to be exceeded even at this early stage. The same then happens when contractors do not, for whatever reason, deliver what was initially wanted, hence driving up costs.

Andy did a BSC honours in Quantity Surveying and having a bursary with Group Five he was involved in some big projects like Kings Park Stadium and Pool, and St. Anne’s Hospital.

What Andy likes most about the work is that it helps clients gain control over a situation where this is so variable. In fact, much of their work is project rescue, with all the distress that involves clients.

When not working Andy enjoys time with his wife, Belinda, 11 yr old son and 13 year old daughter. He enjoys mountain biking and has just begun indoor hockey which he says is great.

Headaches at work – peculiarly Andy said there were none – he really enjoys his work.

And what people don’t generally know about Andy is that he used to be a very good windsurfer, sailing for Natal and performing well at national level.