LAST YEAR’S WINNERS
We catch up with our 2019 Women of the Future… WOMAN OF THE FUTURE: Phillipa Geard, RecruitMyMom
‘Winning this award opened so many doors for me,’ says Phillipa Geard, founder and CEO of RecruitMyMom, an SA-born online recruitment agency that has helped countless women find jobs that allow them to integrate their careers and family lives.
As a mother of two, Phillipa has a keen understanding of the issues facing mothers n SA. After having left her corporate job to focus on her family, she decided that it was time to re-enter the workforce. But this time she wasn’t looking for a full-time, in-office position. Philippa was lucky to find something that suited her needs, but she knows that many other mothers aren’t as lucky. She saw the gap in the market and founded RecruitMyMom in 2012.
The online platform targets small and medium-sized enterprises, and places permanent and contract employees in both office and virtual home-based roles. It’s been so successful that it led to her branching out to help the unemployed youth in SA with RecruitAGraduate. For her innovative thinking, Phillipa was awarded the WOTF award, and since then, her company has gone from strength to strength.
‘The media exposure from FAIRLADY, Santam, and other outlets has really raised awareness of RecruitMyMom. We’ve seen about a 40% increase in the number of moms who have joined our site, and a 15% growth in revenue as employers sought out our incredible candidates on RecruitMyMom.
‘The award was a public affirmation of what we are doing as a company and the social impact we are having on women. ‘The whole competition experience has been wonderful. Winning this award can change your life.’
Nondumiso Sibiya’s entire business is about forward-thinking and futureproofing. Hailed as ‘The Uber of Waste Removal’, Boombadotmobi is a waste management business that collects construction waste, garden refuse and general rubbish, and then disposes of it responsibly. By partnering with local farmers, Nondumiso ensures that your green waste is converted into compost, and by partnering with ecobrick organisations, that your general rubbish can be transformed into sustainable garden beds. Boombadotmobi also reuses collected rubble for road rehabilitation in townships.
At first, all Nondumiso wanted was to see her neighbourhood clean again – and the children, safe. Today, Boombadotmobi has grown so much that they are assisting with waste disposal all over Gauteng. As well as having a positive impact on the environment, Nondumiso’s company also creates jobs for unemployed people living in townships.
Nondumiso raves about ‘the power of the media’. After landing the title of Rising Star, Boombadotmobi has gained many partnerships deals, and customer numbers have grown exponentially, as has she, she says: ‘As a businesswoman, I am learning to be more confident in my negotiations, to be firm and to create a transparent business.’
Nondumiso’s business has also been selected for Fetola, FNB’s Social Entrepreneurship Impact Lab.
With the R50 000 prize, Boombadotmobi has been able to step it up technologically – a great asset to a small business with big plans. ‘We invested half of it into high-end communication gadgets to enable digital marketing and a social media presence,’ she explains. The rest of the prize money was used to take on bigger projects. ‘Winning the Rising Star award has opened opportunities for Boombadotmobi that I believe would have taken years to access otherwise.’
Most importantly for Nondumiso, their award has people talking about the environment. ‘This win has helped us reach our goal of having cleaner townships and overall, a cleaner South Africa.’
boombadotmobi.co.za/services.html
Renshia Manuel started planting vegetables in her own garden to feed her family, sparking a business idea that would eventually benefit the entire community of Hanover Park in Cape Town, and beyond.
Thanks to her winnings, Renshia has been able to implement some much-needed security measures at the GrowBox nursery after an unfortunate incident of theft and vandalism. Happily, ‘since then, we’ve managed to increase the nursery capacity by 60%.’ And the development of the GrowBox flat-pack range is progressing swiftly. ‘We enter into the testing phase of the prototype within the next four months.’
Renshia has also experienced remarkable personal growth since her win. ‘I’m studying plant production and farm management part-time. I have no formal qualifications but needed to find a course that would enhance my skills and farm management capabilities. I am super proud of this.
‘My journey with SANTAM FAIRLADY Women of the Future has been remarkable. I am eternally grateful for the opportunities the competition has presented me with. It has connected me with a phenomenal network of corporate and social investors who are helping to boost our impact on the most vulnerable of communities,’ she says.
Going forward, she hopes to see her three part-time employees become fulltime workers, and to establish a national footprint with two franchises: one each in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. ‘We also hope to establish an e-commerce site for online clients across the world,’ she says.
‘I am humbled and blessed by this award,’ she says. This award has definitely been the highlight of my career; it’s also motivated me to…make a social impact nationally, and in Africa. It’s an incredible platform for women, by women – empowering and celebrating local businesswomen.’