Ok, it’s not about me, I just needed to remember that and I will admit, once I had read Claire Mawisa’s and Unathi Msengana’s cover stories I grew an appreciation for women in the entertainment industry..and ok, maybe having celebrity cover stars isn’t so bad after all and Destiny isn’t getting side tracked.
So now coming to this post; while I busy doing my Christmas shopping the other day, I bumped into the January issue of Destiny Magazine and I started screaming in the middle of the shop like I had won the lotto (my friends casually calmed me down). Reason for my excitement? CEO of Shanduka Group, Phuti Malabie was on the cover!
You see, back in 2009 I was part of the Wits University Golden Key International Honours Society and sat on the committee as the Fundraising Director. We were busy planning our Women’s Day conference when I, along with three other members volunteered to organize speakers (guest speakers, not boom blasters). First thing I did was send an e-mail to Destiny to ask if Khanyo Dhlomo could be our guest speaker but unfortunately she was scheduled to be in Mpumalanga on the same day. To make up for this, Tshia Kaapu (Events & Marketing Co-ordinator: Destiny Magazine), sponsored copies of the magazine for our guests, I was estatic, but alas (used for dramatice effect), I still did not have a speaker! I didn’t have a “Plan B” so I sat down and started going through all my Destiny Magazines looking for an inspirational career woman who could serve as our guest speaker; that's when I came across a piece on Phuti Malabie. I Googled her and once I had put my highly acclaimed (by me) stamp of approval, I sent he an email and within a day I had received a response from her P.A and she had agreed to come speak at our event!
The day I met Phuti I was nothing short of impressed, so classy, eloquent and beautiful both inside and out. As she delivered her speech, I thought; this is what I want to be; this is me!
A couple of weeks later I sent Dolly, Phuti’s P.A an email asking if she could ask Phuti to be my mentor. By this time I already had Phuti’s work and cell phone numbers but was too scared to call and ask, I mean, what would I say? Hey P, it’s Zee, we met the other day? Good afternoon Mrs Malabie it was an absolute honour to be of your aquaintance… / Sooo, Phuti, how’s about we do lunch…? Yeah…sending an email was definitely a better option and good enough for her to agree to my request.
I was ecstatic! When I called my mom to tell her, she was seemingly happy then paused to ask… “Manje ubani loPhuti? Waye uMiss South Africa?” (translation: Who is this Phuti lady? Was she Miss South Africa?). After explaining to her that Phuti Malabie was (then) MD of Cyril Ramaposa’s Shanduka Energy and not Phuti Khomo - a former Miss SA TEEN she paused again and said… “Oho, ok…konjwe yini iMentor” (Translation: what is a mentor again?)…only my mother!
So that is how I met the extraordinary, Phuti Malabie. On the next post I shall layout how I benefited from that mentorship relationship and also delve deeper into the power of mentorship!
Twitter: @Zeezilz
