1. What was your first job/where did you start?
Selling frozen yoghurt at the Waterfront when it first opened - frozen yoghurt was the newest, biggest 'healthy' thing (eagerly ate a lot of it as a result). It was the first time pennies of my own starting dropping in my purse. A string of waitressing jobs at varsity kept my petrol tank full. I joined the excitement of young varsity graduates in search of the (then) mighty pound and travel opportunities and spent a few years working in media- and marketing-related roles at telecoms, cable and IT companies in London and the US.

A fascination with island cultures took me to some pretty exotic locations including becoming a 'local' in Montego Bay, Jamaica, while working for a tourism company. A few years later I worked for WWF in South Africa and then spent time at the South Pacific head office in Fiji where I headed up its marketing and communications department for projects on several Pacific Island nations, including the Soloman Islands, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and of course Fiji where I was based. It was a magical experience and the beauty of island nations is breath-taking. There are definite hardships, but Pacific Islanders have a gentleness that makes you feel welcome wherever you are.

2. What made you want to build a career in your profession?
A strong social consciousness wanting to do good and at the same time a fear of being insanely bored working in a job that is meaningless and the same every day. Could I sell toothpaste or paperclips? Never! I was also fortunate to have a great school career and the structure and boxes of it suited me then; but I've always wanted to 'go back and fix things' as I know how not all young people thrive or get noticed in that environment and I wanted to inspire them to believe in who they are and what they can achieve.

3. Describe a day in your life at present.
It starts off in the cold and dark in a paddling training session; fast becoming harder and harder as winter sets in. Then it's a whirlwind of operational activities and bigger picture strategic decisions relating to all our touch points - TV, radio, magazine, digital, brand ambassadors, school competitions, social media, content creation etc. Most often at the moment my day is spent travelling to give presentations about who we are, what we do and what we're achieving as we're working hard to build partnerships with organisations with shared values. Measuring our impact and success is a key part of this process. And if there is any time left in the day; I look for opportunities to extend our reach both locally and overseas. Thankfully no two days are ever the same. I've got high levels of energy and hopefully some of that is left at the end of the day to be outdoors again.

4. How do you unwind behind the scenes?
Lots of sports, exercise and crazy endurance races, endless wine and good friends and a never-ending supply of great books thanks to my rocking book club!

5. Who would you most like to meet – dead or alive – and why?
Most questions like this are answered the same in South Africa and even further afield, but Nelson Mandela to me is still the man our country can be most proud of. As the focus of my work is to inspire young people, I recognise what can be termed inspiration instantly and to me that concept was designed and built for him, no matter who you are in this country.

As you will see, great (meaning brave, not necessarily powerful) leaders inspire me so in this vein meeting, Barack Obama would certainly be something I would cherish. His brilliant oratory style is, in my opinion, without a match in political leadership.

6. What has been one of the most important lessons you have learnt?
Fight for what you think you're worth. Situations and people may cause you to doubt yourself or question your intentions, but deep down you know what you stand for so never back down. That and never take on a taxi in the traffic - you are left a raging, seething idiot!

7. What is your secret indulgence and your three ‘can’t live without’ items?
Bubble baths, lots of them in any flavour!
Fresh air. Sporting adventures. Sunshine (am not a very good winter person).

8. Who do you think is getting it right in the industry?
The South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) – one of our partners for our iTHINK Challenge, which is a key touch point for the brand – more than 10 000 learners will participate in the Challenge this year.

HIP2B2 is constantly looking to work with partners that recognise how our activities have a direct impact on the future prosperity of this county. SAASTA is as committed to improving the skills and expertise of South Africa’s youth as we are and they work on many outreach and awareness programmes with various stakeholders, educators and the youth to instil an enthusiasm and deeper understanding of the application of science in our everyday lives. Like us, they believe that this is more than just a mandate, it’s a social responsibility that is closely tied to the priorities of our government – to promote science and technology literacy among the public in general and amongst the youth in particular.

9. Which person in the industry do you think is making waves?
For our industry today and the years to come there’s not one person but close to 40 young ambassadors from around South Africa that represent our brand and continuously spread a very important message. The message is simple: continue with your maths and science subjects at school or if you’re already doing them, work even harder because a workforce skilled in maths, science and technology-related fields is key to the economic prosperity of South Africa. Each HIP2B2 Brand Ambassador is equipped with a self-motivating and creative ‘can do’ attitude and already at such a young age they are committed to spreading this message in order to instil a behaviour change amongst their peers that can potentially create large waves of change for this country in years to follow.

10. Who is your alter ego?
Some hardnosed, hard-assed character who just doesn't care or think ... I take a lot on and want everything to work and be perfect; sometimes an exhausting preoccupation.

11. What is your favourite perfume?
I love old classics that stick around for ages despite all the new ones; Calvin Klein's Eternity is timeless ... you can kind of imagine your Gran wearing it way back when to a glamorous occasion even though you still look for it in airport duty-free's when practising that well worn traveller's art of wasting time.

12. Which car would best personify you, and why?
Combining sporty and the outdoors with classy features of elegance and style (sounds good to be that at least!) ... it would have to be the Range Rover Sport or Landrover Discovery.

13. What is your favourite reality TV series?
Aside from our most watched daily show - our politicians you mean? I just look out the window! I'm not much of a reality TV series fanatic, but from time to time I do stumble across shows that grab me ... right now I'm hooked on Masterchef Australia. I'm one of few South Africans who admit to loving the Aussies and their accent, and for some reason the format of the show with all the drama and ‘cooking’ emotions is addictive ... or is it all that delicious looking food at just around dinner time?! We recently put our HIP2B2 Brand Ambassadors through a similar challenge at their bi-annual camp - it's great for a team-building think-out-the-box type concept.

14. Who is someone you truly look up to, and which qualities do you most admire about them?
Starting an empire from a garage has always fascinated me. When you have something in your mind - a concept, an idea, a dream - that propels every waking moment and pushes you to want to be the best; that is a rare dedication. There're a couple of 'garage pioneers' the world knows about - the most well-known is arguably Bill Gates - but because I get to experience first-hand what a positive impact our very own garage pioneer has made, I admire Mark Shuttleworth enormously. His passion for everyone's right and access to a decent education no matter who you are and where you come from, means every day I get to drive that goal. It's not easy when your friends are getting swept up in the pressures and norms of society and following traditional paths of study, work etc., but to believe so deeply in what you know you want to achieve and work so hard at it, literally locking yourself away to make it happen, takes a unique individual. Of course there are always other external factors to success, ‘outliers’ style, but I admire when success - in any field - comes from deep within stemming from a true commitment to a desire.

15. What’s your stance on social media?
Ignore the power of it at your peril. It is seriously changing the way we communicate and interact (in not all cases good or natural) and challenging traditional conversations and ways of getting information out there instantly. It took me a while to grasp and indulge it and now the enormity, speed and spread of it amazes me and excites me constantly. Our target audience doesn't blink an eyelid so HIP2B2 doesn't either - it is fully integrated into everything we do. But I can see why so many employers ban it - it can be destructive. It's also up to the individual to understand what it means from a privacy impact point of view, and how they manage it in their world.