From teacher to business woman

Mary owns SA Reynolds Travel, which has grown to be one of the biggest travel agencies in the province and is proudly 100% women-owned.

Mary was not always in the travel business though.

“I studied teaching at the Johannesburg College of Education to get my Transvaal Teachers Higher Diploma. I did a four year course there,” she says.

She wanted to be a teacher when she left school and never even thought about going into the travel industry.

“In those days, there were only really three jobs women could do, those were teaching, nursing and secretarial work. Today, there are so many jobs for young woman to choose from and they have better career guidance.”

Mary went on to teach business economics and accounting at Brakpan High School for nine years.

It wasn’t until she met her husband, Fred, who owned his own agency, that she discovered the travel business.

“I met this man and he offered me the wonderful opportunity to run a travel agency.

“Leaving teaching was a huge decision in my life,” Mary says.

“I absolutely loved teaching. It was the panicle of my career, there was a system in schools that allowed credited teachers to set their own exams so that the students didn’t write external exams for the subjects I taught.”

All of Mary’s friends would book their holidays through Fred’s agency so he said she needed to go work with him.

She eventually took the opportunity and was surprised at how much she actually loved working in travel.

“I always thought I am a teacher and I’ll die a teacher,” she says.

Mary ran the business for Fred, who she says was an amazing business person. He passed away in 2004.

“He had great vision and took risks and I was the worker.”

In 1997, Mary opened up the first South African Travel Centre and has been successfully running her travel business for about 30 years.

“Success is not about just you, but also about the success which is granted to you through the people with vision and innovative ideas around you.”

In her business, Mary makes sure she adapts to change and keeps up with technology. She says this is the way to keep your business, no matter what it is, successful.

“From 1997 till now, my business has grown dramatically, because of the human investment. The people around me are amazing and have helped the business get where it is today.”

Because Mary comes from an entrepreneurial Greek family, she says her sense of business management is instilled in her blood.

“My parents came here after the war and they started a business in Springs from nothing and built it up themselves,” she says.

“I am not a feminist, but I do think it is very important for women to go out and make a success of themselves,” says Mary.

“Men are an important part of business and we can learn a lot from them as well. But women do have to work harder because of the things that complicate their working life, like having children.

“Women contribute an enormous amount to the economy.”

Mary feels that the women in high places are where they are because of no other reason than they had to try harder to get there.

Mary is humbled at how far SA Reynolds Travel has come under her leadership.

“My staff are amazing. My partners in the business, Lydia Norval and Irene Manolios, are just so important and have helped me grow the agency to where it is now.”

She encourages young women to take any opportunities that come their way to become successful.

“To own your own business, you have to have tenacity and you can’t lose courage because it can be very difficult. You might have to sacrifice a lot, but in the end if you are determined, it will be worth it.”