Gayle Adlam, Editor, the KZN Top Business Women KZN Top Business is proud to introduce a new multimedia initiative showcasing the countless achievements of women in KwaZulu-Natal. KZN Top Business Women is an opportunity to recognise some of the industrious and enterprising leaders, employees and social change agents in the province.
 
Our team has been inspired by the many amazing women whose stories we have heard. These stories are about ordinary women, from many different backgrounds, who have had varied journeys to get to where they are today. While some have been blessed with many advantages, others have overcome trauma, severe illness, life changing accidents, emotional stress and/or financial hardships to realise their dreams.
 
The KZN Top Business Women are contributing to their workplaces, to society and to their families in amazing ways. They’re undoing traditional business for the better and implementing technological advances to a changing work environment. They are making a difference in our South African communities by uplifting the lives of many previously disadvantaged people. They are finding innovative solutions to global problems in the areas of climate, health, and waste among others. They are emphasizing a culture of women’s empowerment and setting examples for other young women to follow.
 
The women bring with them a feminine spirit. They collaborate, mentor, lead, direct, nurture, are sensitive and empathic among many other attributes. They are quite simply brilliant and deserve to shine brightly!
 
We thank them for sharing their stories so openly with us, without which this publication and our accompanying video series would not be possible. Thank you too to the various people who have facilitated the process and helped with setting up interviews, handing queries, and writing profiles. A special thank you to the team at Deaf Dog Media who have spent many hours filming interviews as well as editing footage to produce the videos that are available on our website: www.kzntopbusiness.com as well as on Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms.
 
A special thank you to our artist Fiona Kane for her countless hours spent painting the watercolour portraits which are featured in this book. We look forward to continuing to grow the collection of KZN Top Business Women interviews – both on video and in written format. Please keep watching and sharing them. We hope that they will inspire other women to achieve their dreams. Our sincere thanks go to Standard Bank for their support of the KZN Top Business Women initiative