It all began with my passions. While other kids went to university to become what their parents wanted, I studied English Literature and Philosophy. I rounded off my skills by doing a post-graduate diploma in Enterprise Management and started my own pseudonym-column newspaper.
Fresh out of university, I joined Google’s Adwords team in the UK, working as a strategist on their largest scale Travel accounts like Opodo, Expedia and Hilton Hotels. I increased revenue on some accounts by up to 95% by keenly understanding their businesses and correctly matching them to how they were being searched for.
I relocated with Google from the UK to launch their office in South Africa. I evangelised Google and grew nascent industry leader accounts across different sectors including Finance, Automotive and Retail. In my spare time I helped to launch Google Maps and Streetview locally as well as Adwords Editor, which is now key to scaling Adwords accounts, globally.
I honed my business development skills at Incubeta by offering Zappos, Standard Chartered Bank and Takealot performance digital marketing based on sales. By using our own budget and getting paid on commission, it derisked digital marketing for the client and incentivised Incubeta more than a retainer would.
I co-founded Wonderland Collective, a brand and digital services business, which distilled the missions of businesses, rebranded them and then launched digital platforms in line with their business objectives. We opened offices in London, Dubai and Cape Town - hiring over 20 people. We also made the world’s largest (5km²) virtual reality scan of a physical environment. We exited in 2018.
I co-founded Bacon of the Month Club, a bacon subscription service that brought the world’s best bacon through the postboxes of enthusiasts. At its peak, we had over 6000 happy customers.
I joined Greenoaks Global Holdings, a private equity firm that buys and turns around emerging market insurance companies. As Marketing Associate I simultaneously rebranded, re-platformed and launched 3 insurers in Nigeria, Pakistan and Rwanda. 2 of those companies were sold to global insurers, one being Allianz.
I was the first European sales person on the ground for Builder.ai, a Softbank backed startup which uses building blocks of code and an AI-powered chatbot to accurately piece together custom software. We worked with BP, as well as systems integrators Wipro and Cognizant. We raised a $100m Series C, led by Insight Partners.
