Full Name: Gladys Mawoneke
Position: CEO of Breva Beverages
Main Activity of the Company: Breva Beverages is a manufacturer, marketer and wholesaler of alcohol-free beverages for adults
Date and Place of Birth: July 31, sometime in the 1970s, in Zimbabwe
Education: MBL, University of South Africa School of Business Leadership; LLB; BA; diploma in journalism
First Job: I was a writer for a lifestyle magazine for a month before my mother told me to resign because I was unhappy and miserable
Career History Prior to Current Position: I started off as a journalist and then became an attorney. Prior to founding Breva Beverages, I worked for British American Tobacco South Africa as an attorney. I joined the organisation after university as a management trainee. I worked in its corporate affairs and legal departments before I left to find my music
Size of First Pay Packet: Z$600 a month, in 1992. I had hoped to earn Z$1 200 but my boss deducted half that amount. When I told my mother how unhappy I was, she told me to quit. In South Africa, my first pay packet, in 1999, was R6 400 a month
First Job with Present Group: Founder and CEO
Number of People under Your Leadership: Seven permanent employees and lots more to whom we outsource various services
Management Style: A combination of affiliative, democratic and coaching
Personal Best Achievement: Going to university as a mature student
Professional Best Achievement: Developing Breva and launching it in Woolworths and Pick n Pay
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My father, who taught us to be entrepreneurial and to dream big
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: My mother’s younger sister, who went to university in her late forties; when I saw her do that, I knew that I, too, had to go to university
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Indira Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Indira Nooyi
Philosophy of Life: What is the worst that could happen? If they say no, I will be in exactly the same situation as before, but if they say yes, I will be in a better position
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Having Breva listed in Woolworths and Pick n Pay
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Being turned down for funding by the Industrial Development Corporation in 2012
Hope for the Future: That Breva becomes a household global brand
Favourite Reading: The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
Favourite TV Programme: Ina Garten’s cooking shows
Favourite Food/Drink: Breva, with any meal
Favourite Music: Gaither Vocal Band
Favourite Sport: Swimming
Favourite Website: vogue.com
Hobbies: Cooking (and, thereafter, eating what I would have cooked), reading and swimming
Car: Volvo
Pets: None
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Pettiness and arrogance
Favourite Other South African Company: The now defunct Mallinicks Attorneys, for its soul, which Gerald Mallinick brought to the firm
Favourite Foreign Company: Heineken
Married: Single but open to persuasion
Children: None yet
Clubs: None