International Women’s Day 2020 | Kershia Naidoo
It’s officially March and the celebrations and preparations for International Women’s Day is in full swing. Tell us more about your role and what this entails? What do you enjoy about your job? As a Sales Operations Manager, I get the opportunity to touch various parts of the business. My primary focus at present is on implementing a brand-new Salesforce CRM, implementing our soon to be newly re-launched website, but the daily stuff includes continuous improvement, sales tools and processes amongst other things. I also have a lot of fun being creative and wearing a ‘marketing’ hat, so get to create and design in my role as well. I love my job because I enjoy being challenged everyday and no two days are the same. The best part of my job is the people I get to work with and the enduring friendships I have forged with so many of my colleagues. What singular moment in your career or personal life has made a significant impact on your personal and/or career development? A huge turning point for me was joining the ZircoDATA team. Having leaders that genuinely cared about what I thought and how I felt about my role and where I could add value was something that encouraged me to work harder and really try and accomplish things that hadn’t been done before. I am grateful for all the opportunities provided to me in my role, and the faith and trust that my leaders ultimately put in me. I value that very much and it means I have a lot of loyalty to both the business and those that I work with. ZircoDATA has helped me build new skills, work on various projects and allows me the freedom to create and lead. This years theme for International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual which is about “Collective Individualism”. What does “Collective Individualism” mean to you as part of your role at ZircoDATA or individually? I feel that “Collective Individualism” represents the fact that we are all a piece in a very large puzzle, especially in business. We cannot operate and function in silos, we always need the support and encouragement from the larger group to be able to truly succeed. To me, this term reflects the “one for all, and all for one” paradigm… nobody gets left behind. At ZircoDATA I think we function well as a team and all aim to achieve the same goal. Who is your mentor or role model in business and why? My role model in business is and always will be my mum. I remember growing up and watching her strive for success, working day and night to ensure that she could build a better life for my sisters and I. She studied, worked full time and went to chemo, come rain, hail or shine. She battled through until her last breath. The most empowering part of that story is that she was hugely successful at what she did and had almost completed her MBA before she succumbed to cancer. That kind of resilience, power and sheer determination in what inspires me to keep moving through all the challenges that come my way. I ultimately want to ensure that my mum is proud of me and my achievements, and that I have been honest, hardworking and ethical in everything I do to get to where I want to go. What advice would you have given to your younger self if you had the opportunity? Take the time to travel and create unforgettable memories and experiences, don’t give up on yourself and be kinder to yourself. Trust your instincts & always remember that tough times don’t last but tough people do.
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