Operations Director for Thandeka Vocational Educational Trust (TVET), Natasha Antha has carved out a successful career through hard work, determination and consistency. She lets us in on her winning approach and shares her take on Women’s Month.
Glamour: What would you attribute your success to?
Natasha Antha: Making the most of every opportunity given to me through hard work and sacrifice. And definitely having strong leaders and mentors to guide me along the way.
Glamour: What does it mean to be a woman in business in 2023?
Natasha: To be successful woman in business in 2023, you need a strong sense of resilience to rise above difficult circumstances and push through the many obstacles that we are faced with daily. Post COVID we all needed to adapt to a new way of working and be open to a changing business landscape and I believe this has given equal opportunities to everyone to garner success if they embraced the changes
Glamour: Please expand on your approach to social impact?
Natasha: Coming from a previously disadvantaged background and experiencing the effects of generational social ills, my approach is to provide the younger generation with practical skills to break the cycle and find a sustainable pathway out of these difficult circumstances.
Glamour: What do you love most about working at TVET SA?
Natasha: Being able to give opportunities to the marginalised groups to gain skills that allow for them to become employable. Creating employment is at the core of who we are as a business.
Glamour: What sort of conversations do you naturally gravitate towards and who would you like to invite to join the conversation?
Natasha: I love to hear women’s survival stories – how they have risen above their difficult circumstances, to become strong, independent women in a country plagued by gender-based violence. I would like to sit down with the Minister of Women in the Presidency, Nkosinathi Dlamini-Zulu to discuss more tangible and effective ways to reduce the scourge of gender-based violence and the upliftment and empowerment of women in our society.
Glamour: Why is it important for women to be celebrated?
Natasha: Women need to be celebrated for overcoming generations of being ostracized where we were made to feel inferior. We finally have a voice and it is worth listening to what we have to say!
Glamour: Which women are on your radar at the moment and why?
Natasha: Nadia Nadim, Danish Football Star who was born in Afghanistan and overcame adversities where at 11 years old her father was killed by the Taliban and her family fled to Denmark. She has graduated from medical school and speaks 11 languages. Nadia is currently on the Forbes list of the most Powerful Women in International Sports and is a role model for young women.
Glamour: If you had the opportunity to sit down with any of the women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956, what would you say?
Natasha: I would salute them for their courage to stand up against the abusive laws of apartheid that governed our nation for too long. Their resistance was exemplary.
Glamour: Please share some of the lessons you've learnt both in your personal and professional life?
Natasha: In my personal life, I built up the courage to walk away from relationships or situations where I was marginalised and abused. Those lessons have given me the courage to become strong and resilient in my personal and professional life.
Glamour: Your message for Women's Month?
Natasha: You are a warrior, straighten your crown and remember it’s always a beautiful day to be a beautiful you!
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