BACKSTORY: Michele Jennings of glu

What’s your one top tip for doing a deal?

Make the effort to know your client. Ask about their needs, their pain points and the things they like, and then make sure your value proposition meets these needs. This will help you to be well prepared for the sales pitch (and any questions). Hopefully the investment in the relationship will ensure you have a supportive person in your corner.

What was your first job?

I was an assistant accountant and worked for a start-up shoe retailer in Pietermaritzburg.

How much was your first pay cheque, and how did you spend it?

My first salary was R1,800. It was my first noncasual job after university, so I had to buy work-appropriate clothes and do some desperately needed repairs on my dilapidated old car.

What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out?

Debt should be a tool, not a trap. “Good debt” helps you invest in something that grows in value or generates income (like education, property or a business). “Bad debt” should be avoided, as it is for short-term gains that often incur high interest rates and drain your finances. I made both mistakes in my youth — I avoided good debt and got sucked into the trap of bad debt.

If you could fix only one thing in South Africa, what would it be?

Leadership. We need leaders who see themselves as public servants driven by purpose, not power. Our leaders should be relentless in rooting out corruption, informed enough to focus on solving the right problems, and accountable for the service delivery South Africans deserve.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know?

A couple of years ago I came second in a mountain bike race — this was after a fall that resulted in 100 stitches to my face.

What’s the worst investment mistake you’ve made?

I’m a Capetonian who bought an investment property in what I thought was a good area near Sandton. The value has barely increased over the past few years, and the levies and maintenance costs have rocketed.

What’s the best investment you’ve ever made? And how much of it was due to luck?

My education. I decided to return to university as a “mature student” to pursue a chartered accountant qualification. Luck certainly played a role, as my employer at the time was launching a programme for CA training outside of public practice (articles). I was fortunate to have a manager who supported my aspirations and advocated for me to be one of the first “pioneer” trainees on the programme.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently, and why did you like it?

I recently finished reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown. The timing was fortuitous, as my role is currently hectic. We are trying to balance running and building an insurance business at the same time. Essentialism is about focusing on what really matters by eliminating nonessentials. The goal is to have a greater impact by doing less but doing it better.

What’s the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt?

I’ve learnt that success at work doesn’t make up for the travel and long hours that keep you away from your family — especially your children’s milestones and events (they don’t forget). It’s important to make the time to be fully present, to say no to the nonessentials and to make lasting memories with them.

What phrase or bit of jargon irks you most?

Chasing “low-hanging fruit” — is there really such a thing? It seems that the effort required is usually greater than expected, the outcomes less rewarding, and very often the fruit seems to be rotten.

What is something you would go back and tell your younger self that would impress them?

One day you will have a career that you love, you will work with like-minded people, build an insurance business from scratch, and be interviewed by the FM.

If you were President Cyril Ramaphosa, what would you change, or do, tomorrow?

I would clean up the cabinet and the leaders of key institutions to ensure that they are people of integrity, that they have the ability to deliver and that they are held accountable.