Women take the spotlight

Announcing the winners at the KZN Margaret Hirsch Woman In Business Achiever of the Year Gala Evening held at Sibaya Casino recently, Margaret Hirsch said she 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 our beautiful country, South Africa” said Hirsch.

Tamsyn Ferreira, the owner of Alifurn outdoor furniture which started in 2011, was announced as the winner for the Ballito area and won a R10 000 Hirsch voucher.

From humble beginnings in a garage, Alifurn has grown in leaps and bounds, firmly establishing itself as an innovative and reliable partner in the leisure furniture sector. Tamsyn is passionate about working on her vision: to combine having a meaningful career and motherhood, while actively investing in building a better South Africa for future generations.

Second place for Ballito went to Nirasha Dhaniram. In 2013 Nirasha resigned from her corporate role as Chief of HR and Corporate affairs to focus on her calling to work with children with special needs and autism and she opened the School and Therapy Centre called Imbalito Hope College which provides support to autistic children up to the age of 16.

Third place went to Lewaine Von Allemann, the owner of Fine Young Cooks, which has been open since 2011.

Her business started with kids cooking classes at various schools in the Ballito area. In June 2012 Lewaine opened a cooking studio at her house and started teaching domestic workers cooking skills as well as branching out into other cooking lessons.

The overall winner for KZN region, Vino Govender owns her own engineering consultancy and has overcome huge obstacles to get to where she is today.

She has also helped transform the lives of people with financial constraints in the community, having started a hamper distribution project.

Runners-up Sue Barnes, who runs the Girls with Dignity Project and Kerry Dell from Your Earth Solutions and EarthBeat, have, through their businesses made a huge, positive, impact on the lives of others.

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