The Margaret Hirsch Women in Business Achiever of the Year, KZN, Awards Evening that was held at Coastlands Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks on May 11,saw over 450 people, including top entrepreneurs and business women from around KZN attending the event to see who would be announced as the Regional and Branch winners. The event was co-sponsored by LG, one of Hirsch’s most valued suppliers and Excelsior Wine Estate sponsored some of their premium wine for the event as well. Guest Speaker at the event, Inspirational Speaker and Comedienne, Mary Steward complimented Margaret and Hirsch’s for their initiative for holding the event, and for being a great inspiration to business women throughout South Africa.
Announcing the winners, Margaret, who started the competition countrywide six years ago after winning several awards herself over the years, said that she could see how much of an impact the acknowledgement of her own success had been – and wanted to see more women in this position. “Awards give credibility to one’s business and as women, we tend to shy away from being in the limelight. We also tend not to be assertive enough. This was my way of encouraging women to put themselves and their businesses in the spotlight. The winners and runners up are people who not only run successful businesses, but are making a difference to the lives of others in all the areas in which they live – and ultimately, the lives of people in South Africa” she said.
THE WINNERS:
Ballito’s Patricia Schroeder, the founder and owner of Reclite SA (Pty) Ltd, was announced as the KZN Regional winner of the 2018 Margaret Hirsch Woman in Business Award. Patricia has a passion for environmental protection and awareness. Her goal was to develop sustainable solutions to eliminate the dangers of human and environmental exposure to very harmful toxic substances. Her business has been successful and innovative, addressing problematic waste streams with very high negative impact and reducing landfills with zezo negative impact. Her company has a National and International footprint.
Runners up were Hillcrest’s Tanya Visser, the well known Gardening Guru in South Africa, and Jaime Ernst, Accommodation Establishment owner and the founder of Ballito Cancer Support, from Ballito. Tanya is the owner of Lonehill Trading and Tanya Visser.com. She edits and publishes four gardening magazines, providing a platform for practical realistic gardening information for all South Africans. Seedcore/tanyavisser.com was born out of the digital explosion. And harnessing modern ways of shopping. Jaime runs a successful Guest House, owns a property company, and after seeing the need for support for cancer sufferers and their families, she founded Ballito Cancer Support over twelve years ago.
Branch winners were: Ballito: Lesa Bradshaw, Partner, Bradshaw Le Roux Consulting, a company dealing in disability recruitment; Hillcrest:Charlene Udal from Brandheart Digital Marketing; Springfield Park: Philippa Courtney, the owner of Re-Inspire Interior Decorating, and the co-owner of a successful guest house in the Midlands, and Umhlanga’s Cerisha Naicker who runs a successful Bridal Styling and Digital Marketing company.