Women, wealth and work: Learning from failures and being kind to yourself

Women need to ensure they have a seat at the decision-making table if they are to live up to their potential. 

This is the sentiment of Buli Ndlovu, executive head of retail and business banking marketing at Nedbank, who was speaking at a recent dialogue in collaboration with the bank, The Family Table and Sunday Times. 

The discussion was centred on women, wealth and work. 

Welcoming delegates to the event, Ndlovu said guests were well placed as conversations chartered paths and had the ability to change destiny.  “Women owe it to themselves to be part of the right conversations,” she said. 

The event, moderated by Gugulethu Mfuphi, featured insightful conversations between professional leaders, executives and emerging entrepreneurs about women’s roles and experiences in society. 

Nthabiseng Matshekga, executive head of group marketing at Nedbank, said she studied economics and never intended to become a marketer. Pointing out that we are all shaped by our subconscious beliefs about money, she said it is important for women to understand their beliefs and perceptions about money. “I’ve had to learn to set boundaries when it comes to giving people money,” she said.

Luyanda Duma, an HR specialist, said that to be successful requires a strong sense of self. She advised starting with understanding yourself and your strengths, researching your chosen industry, and building a community around yourself. 

Mathebe Molise, the founder of start-up Beauty on TApp and a qualified chartered accountant, said becoming an entrepreneur was challenging. She said building a sustainable business meant taking it seriously and treating it like a proper job. Employing the right people is critical. To ensure that people take her seriously, she started putting her CA (SA) designation after her name.

Watch a recording of the event below: 

Speaking on women’s health, Candice Chirwa, Nedbank 2022 YouthX changemaker and minister of menstruation, said she was on a mission to change the stigma about menstruation at school and in the workplace. She said menstruation was a 40-year journey and it made no sense for it to still be a taboo. Men — as husbands, partners, fathers and colleagues — also need to be part of the conversation and be a critical part of breaking the stigma.

Mpho Chitapi, head of legal group technology at Nedbank, is a new mother who’s  had to navigate her career ambitions in tandem with motherhood. Becoming a mother has taught her she can’t be all things to everyone, all the time, and that while she can have it all sometimes, she can’t have it all at the same time. “I’ve had to learn to be kind to myself,” she said. 

Chitapi recalled having to work for multiple distinctions while at university in an effort to benefit from the discounts offered. Her hard work paid off when she was made a partner at a law firm at the age of 27 — only to realise this was not the path she wanted to take. 

A common theme among many of the speakers was that their career progression was not always linear; at times it required them to pivot. Other themes discussed were being kind to oneself, lifelong learning, and accepting that failure is inevitable and is an opportunity to grow and develop.