Empowering The Next Generation: Building Young Women's Capacity for Success in the Workforce I Great Girls Online Webinar

Written by Onke Rayi

On May 30th, we hosted our very first online webinar, marking a significant milestone in our mission to empower young women across the nation. The event featured four distinguished panellists: Kristina Miller , Founder of Great Girls; Donna Lesley Liedemann , Public Relations Lecturer at CPUT; Mbali Nhlapo , Entrepreneur of Sisters@work; and Nosibusiso Ngqondoyi , Head of Property and Hedge at Old Mutual. These women shared their personal and professional journeys, providing valuable insights for young women navigating the complex and evolving job market. Each panellist discussed their unique experiences, the challenges they faced, and how they overcame them with a positive attitude and self-reflection. During the Q&A session, panellists offered excellent advice to an eager audience.

Kris elaborated on her career evolution and responsibilities as the founder of Great Girls, she explained how she measures her success across two paths: firstly her professional career at Anglo American, with years in the safety and environment industry, construction, manufacturing, and more, and secondly her passion for Great Girls and women empowerment. Reflecting on her work with Great Girls, she discussed the self-imposed pressure to excel for those she collaborated with and those who relied on her, which often led to burnout. She later realised that relying on others requires bravery and building trust amongst those willing to help her was best to achieve greater success.?

Donna shared insights on how to create a personal brand simply by putting yourself out there. She went on to explain that it's about the interpersonal professional relationships within the different environments we find ourselves in. Whether it's a co-worker, a lecturer or a fresh face in your industry, it's important to build connections with purpose.

Nosibusiso shared: "You should see obstacles as stepping stones since they are there to stretch, grow and develop you as a person,” when asked about how we can overcome the obstacles that may appear throughout our lives. She shared the many challenges she faced in order to become an investment professional, and encouraged others to adopt a positive attitude, persevere and be willing to accept a little help along the way.?

Entrepreneur Mbali shared that in order to grow as the leader of Sisters@Work, she needed to learn to collaborate with various characters. Mbali had to figure out how to create the work culture she envisioned. She mentioned that her employees come from South Africa's unemployment pool and often lack qualifications or higher education. However, she emphasised that anyone with a positive attitude towards the job application process and a strong work ethic can be employed, emphasising that those with hopeful and dedicated mindsets have the power to improve their situations.

Great Girls Founder Kris concluded our event with a few words on persistence and perseverance. Overall, it was a wonderful webinar and Great Girls looks forward to hosting similar events in the future to build confidence and resilience in the next generation of successful young women in the workforce or higher education. We would like to thank our esteemed panellists for sharing their wisdom with our audience, as well as all of those who joined us! You can watch the entire webinar on YouTube by clicking the attached link.