Jodie Kotze

Experience Director AKA the Alchemist
(Sales Representative & Event Co-ordinator)

Question: Who Are the Women Who Inspire You and Why?

1 – Personal Life

“So, I would have to say in my family, there are just too many strong women, but I would have to go with my mom. She was such a go-getter in every way. She was so independent, even as a single mother, she had two jobs, and she just never stopped studying. Wow, she had three kiddies, all girls, crazy girls, and she was just like everything to everybody, so I definitely pull my inspiration from her. Her memory lives on”.

2 – Public Figure

“Greta Thunberg inspires me as a young person of only 20 years old. She started challenging world leaders at 15. To achieve so much at such a young age, it just shows how phenomenal women are.”

Question: What Makes Women Wonderful?

“Well, women are wonderful because we’ve got layers like onions. In a sense that we are so much more than what you see, and we hold such a great power of not only multitasking but being nurturing and assertive. Because we’re living in a world where we are actually kind of trying to catch up with men, we overdo our job. This just shows how powerful we are, we’re actually overly exceeded in everything, all the time”

Question: What Is One Piece of Advice That You Would Like to Give to The Daughters Of The World That Are Yet To Grow Into Women?

“Never settle for anything. Always be true to yourself and always be true to what you value. Wherever you put your energy, that’s where your energy grows. So, put it out there into positive things and rather put it into building yourself up.”

Theresia Madiye

Experience Director AKA the Alchemist
(Sales Representative & Event Co-ordinator)

Question: Who Are the Women Who Inspire You and Why?

1 – Personal Life

“My mom, she was able to stand up even in instances where it seemed impossible; she’s very strong. There were times when she had to start from zero. She did her matric when she was around 25 because she had to quit school to raise her siblings and then take care of me. She’s only 20 years older than me. She had to quit school and then get jobs, working hard to support us. So, when she went back to school at 25, she aced it, and then she went to Unisa and got her degree in basic education. Now, she’s a teacher, and she’s currently studying because she wants to open her own preschool someday. What she taught me is that it doesn’t really matter how old you are; you still have time—use it until you’re dead—and never give up because of your age or past.”

2 – Public Figure

“Khanyi Mbau. She doesn’t care to be odd. She is who she is, and what you say is what you get. She’s a go-getter. If she believes that something is going to work for her, she goes for it. It doesn’t matter what other people are saying. If they say, “That’s not the norm in our society, and you can’t do this,” she doesn’t let that stop her. If she believes in it, she does it.”

Question: What Makes Women Wonderful?

“What makes us wonderful is our ability to cry and laugh at the same time. We are not afraid to show our emotions, regardless of what others may say. If I feel like laughing, I will laugh. Being a woman is empowering because we have the capacity to be and do everything.”

Question: What Is One Piece of Advice That You Would Like to Give To The Daughters Of The World That Are Yet To Grow Into Women?

“Never settle for less; in anything.”

Monique Potgieter

Experience Director AKA the Alchemist
(Sales Representative & Event Co-ordinator)

Question: Who Are the Women Who Inspire You and Why?

1 – Personal Life

“I think in my personal life it would probably have to be my mother and my grandmother.
My gran is a formidable woman at 96. She is still running the retirement home where she lives. Her life she’s been travelling with my grandfather from Russia, to Singapore, to Hong Kong and more. While she was being a wife and businesswoman and everything in between she was still a good mom and a fantastic grandmother, and my mom followed in her footsteps.

My mom was a teacher and her whole life was about helping people and until today I look up to her. She still has good relationships with people that she’s helped through the years. This includes kids that had been in terrible situations that have become doctors, lawyers and more. She didn’t even realise the difference she made, and I think that’s what the amazing thing was; she didn’t do it to get credit for it, it just so happened that she did. She did it every day because she loved it and wanted to make a difference.”

2 – Public Figure

There’s not specifically one woman. There are and were so many that have created change and helped others. Just some of the women that I admire are:

– Rosa Parks, her courage and what she did for equal rights
– Oprah, she has made a big difference for girls in South Africa
– Aretha Franklin, what an amazing woman. She used the stage and her talents to work with communities that she came from, uplifted them, and showed everybody that she can make a difference.

I think for me it is more the women from our past than the present that had a bigger impact on my life, because there was no social media, there was no Facebook or Twitter to use as a platform. They had to go out and they had to put the work in. There are many more women that I admire.

Question: What Makes Women Wonderful?

The fact that you never know how strong a woman is until the only choice they have is to be strong. Women just keep going, it doesn’t matter what the challenge is or what others are facing they’ll step up, they’ll help, and they’ll want nothing back.