Founder and CEO of a leading sports brand, small practice owners, CFOs of leading companies, a CEO, a COO, a partner at Grant Thornton, the local chair of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers, founder and CEO of a billion rand company … you might wonder who all these super successful people are. Can you guess how old they are?
You will be surprised to read that all of them are under the age of 35 and the ones mentioned above are just a few of the worthy and successful finalists in our 35-under-35 competition. Some of these finalists are also the youngest … financial directors of listed companies, or the youngest partner at a firm, or even the youngest divisional director of Pick n Pay.
We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of entries, but nothing could prepare the judges for the high quality of entries that were received. To choose just 35 … it seemed impossible. It took days to go through all the entries and select the finalists. Even then, it was really hard to end up with only 35. What made the difference? All of the entrants were successful in their own right. All of them had great leadership skills and has taken initiative in their work. But the judges also looked at the difference the CA(SA) made – in their company, but also in their community – how they use what they have, skills, money or time to improve the lives of others around them.
It is refreshing and inspiring to see how these finalists have no excuses to not reach for their dreams and not achieve the goals they set for themselves – and how they also, despite having demanding roles, still take time and put in an effort to make a positive impact on the world around them.
Have a look at the finalists on pages 47–55. They are profiled in no particular order and in the following three months we’ll do in-depth profiles on each one of them, so you can also have a choice in in who are ultimately selected as the Top CA(SA) under 35 for 2014.
Author: Gerinda Jooste