Dance to your own beat and be successful
MY job allows me to be my own boss. I can call the shots and I love it. It is wonderful to be able to effect change and see growth. It is very empowering.
Being a woman in South Africa means the possibilities are endless. Women are making great strides in all spheres, crossing the boundaries of gender bias. My father taught me that women are capable of doing everything a man can do. I live that philosophy.
Women’s Day is a day that honours women, but certainly not the only day that we should honour ourselves. Every day is a celebration of smaller successes that form part of the big picture.
Women in South Africa are strong, gutsy and brave, but some are sheltered and disempowered. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to change mindsets.
Issues are deep-seated and the government has a lot to do to address basic living conditions and employment. Once the basic needs are taken care of, then we can start entrenching the “I can” philosophy. It is not just the government’s responsibility; it is our responsibility as a society too.
I teach and share knowledge with my team. After all, charity does begin at home. They are proud to say “I work for a woman who knows what she is doing”.
My definition of success is watching something grow into something wonderful and knowing I made it possible. I come from humble beginnings and I had to create my own success. When I look back now, it is empowering to know anything is possible if you want it bad enough.
One woman who has had a great impact on my life is my mother, who has enormous strength. She really has big-girl panties. She is afraid of nothing, runs her own business at 69, lost my dad and my sister, raised my nephew, learned to listen to rap music and survived.
She even thinks she can control my restaurant from Durban.
My belief about femi- nism is that there will be an ongoing fight to be recognised, but while that is happening, women are already making great strides in maledominated arenas and that is how we roll.
We watch, we learn, we strive and we achieve, despite the circumstances.
The greatest lesson I learned from a woman is to dance to the beat of your own drum. Circumstances are unique; you determine your success based on that. Be your own competition — it is the only way you can raise your own bar.
Women in the media are formidable. We understand the power of the pen and the screen.
We are the greatest public marketers, and if we celebrate each other, we are unstoppable.
Women who are strong are successful, happy and get what they want. I know because I have become one.
Now I can share my success and happiness. Everything is as it should be, until I set the next challenge for myself. I am blessed to be a woman. Naidoo is a former TV personality whose restaurant, Indian Chapter, has been voted number one in Cape Town by TripAdvisor