Sam Ghisleni, head of marketing at Weelee
What’s your one top tip for doing a deal?
The more digital the world becomes, the more human you have to be. My tip would be to focus on the human connection and on putting yourself in a customer’s shoes. By doing that, you start looking at everything with an understanding of the customer’s needs, aspirations and challenges.
What was your first job?
This question got me going down memory lane. My very first job as a first-year fashion student was selling Paul Frank apparel at a boutique clothing store, folding T-shirts and keeping the essential oil burner topped up. My first full-time job was as a fast-moving consumer goods sales rep for Bos Iced Tea in Joburg.
How much was your first pay cheque, and how did you spend it?
My first pay cheque as a student wasn’t very much. But I do recall using it to buy a Copic pen and fabric for fashion school.
What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out?
The one thing I wish someone advised me was to gain work experience before studying something I thought was my passion. You learn and change so much, and so does your passion.
If you could fix only one thing in South Africa, what would it be?
If there is one thing I could fix, among many, it is for all roads to have walking and cycling lanes. As much as I believe in empowering South Africans with mobility, I believe that all citizens have a right to the mobility they can afford.
What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know?
Like many South Africans, English is not my first language. I was brought up speaking Portuguese and I constantly had to work on improving the way I spoke and wrote English. I am also a certified yoga instructor.
What’s the worst investment mistake you’ve made?
Not investing earlier in life. It was incredibly difficult to make ends meet while working as a student and living on my own. It was only from my early to mid-20s, when I started my first full-time job, that I was able to put as little as R500 a month into a retirement annuity.
What’s the best investment you’ve ever made? And how much of it was due to luck?
The best one I have ever made was in myself. While working I decided to continue my studies in marketing, and I achieved an undergrad qualification part-time. This gave me the confidence to pursue my love for digital marketing, which I believe has paved the way to who and where I am today.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently and why did you like it?
Two light-hearted books by Vex King that focused on living a good life by surrounding yourself with positive energy and healing old wounds.
What’s the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt?
No matter what life-altering moment comes your way, the world still carries on.
What phrase or bit of jargon irks you most?
Marketing has more jargon than you can imagine, and it takes up a lot of space and brainpower to simplify when you’re just trying to stay ahead of the game.
What is something you would go back and tell your younger self that would impress them?
No matter the curveballs, trust yourself and the process. One day you will find love, in both an incredible husband and a family, become a mom to a wonderful little boy and lead marketing for a national automotive brand.
If you were President Cyril Ramaphosa, what would you change, or do, tomorrow?
I would focus all my efforts on changing the education system. I would support more early childhood development centres, allocate more money to schools and enhance higher-quality learning to reduce unemployment, crime and many other issues that affect our youth today.
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