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Being a part time entrepreneur

Cape Town - Lebo Thagane simultaneously juggles two very different career fields, namely being full-time human capital manager at Adcock Ingram and part-time wine marketer for her family’s business M’hudi Wines, a wholly black-owned and black-managed wine tourism farm.

She shares a passion for both the corporate world and her growing family business.

On top of that Thagane obtained an MBA at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) in 2010.

She offers some insights.

Working in the corporate world

In the corporate world, it is the people that get me going. At Adcock Ingram my love for people makes my job fulfilling.

I find that I am most effective in team building. I have been able to get teams to the point where they have a better understanding of each member, firstly as individuals, then as members of a team.

This is where I draw on a lot of what I learnt in the Sustainable Leadership course during my MBA.

For now, my career goal is to work in management consulting, as a direct result of doing her MBA.

I love the idea of helping to co-create sustainable business solutions, especially ones centered on leadership development.

Lessons from the MBA


The MBA also taught me self-awareness.

More than anything, the MBA has made me more aware of my own strengths and shortcomings.

I have learnt to have authentic conversations with myself and to evaluate myself firmly but also caringly. I have learnt not to crucify myself for things that I wish I could achieve or do better.

I have learnt to look for assistance in areas that are not my strengths and that asking for help is not a sign of incompetence, but a sign of maturity.”

Future plans

I was trained in wine retail by professionals from the British retailer Marks & Spencer.

Although I am currently working in the corporate world, my future is and will always be M’hudi Wines.

I intend to go back to work for M’hudi on a full-time basis in the next five or so years.

I look forward to teaching my children about the wine business and preparing them to take over the baton from my parents, brothers and I.

Our dream is to create a legacy for our children and their children. We would like to be a fixed feature in the South African wine industry landscape for many generations to come.

Maintaining a balanced lifestyle

I am married and have two young children. I have to make sure that I maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Most of the time during the week I focus on my work for Adcock Ingram, and some evenings and on weekends I market the wine.

I have to remind myself to "check out" of work when I get home. Sometimes it isn’t possible, but fortunately, because I enjoy my husband Letshego’s company so much, it is easy.

I am most inspired by her mother, Malmsey Rangaka, who is an amazingly intelligent and hard-working woman.

The best decision that we have made as a family was to appoint her as CEO of M’hudi Wines.

She has a quiet strength and is able to pull us together to work towards a common goal. She led us to achieve the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010. She is not only my mentor but also the sanity centre in my brain.

Succeeding in both careers
 
Obtaining my MBA has helped me to succeed as an HR manager at Adcock Ingram and as the part-time marketer of M’hudi Wines, by helping me to tap into my creativity and come up with innovative ideas.

Acquiring my MBA has helped me to bring out-of-the-box solutions to the challenges that both professions present, as well as build my strategic management, leadership and problem solving skills and develop my entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial thinking.

- Fin24

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