Honouring top women in Centurion
The Margaret Hirsch Women in Business Achiever Awards awarded some of the city’s most successful women.
The Margaret Hirsch Women in Business Achiever Awards honoured some of Centurion’s most successful and influential business women at a glamorous ceremony on Wednesday night.
Hosted at the Hirsch’s Centurion branch, ten of Centurion’s successful business women were awarded for their contributions to empowering communities and striving in a male dominated field.
Hirsch’s Centurion was redecorated in red and black, turning the store into a spectacular venue, with guests clothed equally beautiful, women in flowing red and black dresses, accompanied by men looking dapper in black tuxedos.
“In 35 years of business, no one ever thanked or congratulated me on the successes I achieved. The first time I received an award was in 2011, when I went up against women like Maria Ramos at an awards ceremony. I didn’t think I’d win, but I did. Later on I received more awards. That is why I host this event. It is to celebrate women in business,” said Margaret Hirsch, CEO of Hirsch’s.
Hirsch added that uplifting women, especially those in rural areas, is vital.
“I recently dealt with a young women named Sia. When she was 16, she fell pregnant with an 18-year-old boy’s baby. He couldn’t care for it, and decided to deny that it was his. When he turned 20 he finally found a good job, and wanted to start caring for his baby. On the way to see Sia and his baby boy, he was hit by a car while hitchhiking. Sia fell into a deep depression for 10 years after the incident. During that time, she worked part-time as a maid. One day she approached me when I was speaking at a church function, hopeless as she felt that working as a maid would get her nowhere. I told her that for people without a job, working as a maid is a good start. We then banded together, and as a start, Sia started training other unemployed women to be maids. Eventually, Sia came up with the most ingenious idea. As nobody likes to clean up late at night after a party, she started a company that comes to your house after a party late at night, cleans your entire house, and even makes you breakfast. By 05:00 they leave, and you wake up to a spotless house. This shows what can happen when women in business are empowered and celebrated,” said Hirsch.
On the night, each of the ten women were awarded for their efforts, but four others were awarded above and beyond others.
Carina Nel, owner of The Fashion and Style Club, was awarded as second runner up. Dorothy Wye, founder of The Centurion, a community newspaper, was awarded as first runner up. The eventual winner was Christel van Heerden, owner of LemonJack entertainment and leisure guest house in Eldo View. LemonJack, on top of being a guest house, also includes a theatre, conference facility and recording studio. “As the owner of a business, you work extremely long hours, even though you have a fantastic team. It is awards like these that helps breathe new life into you and your business,” said Van Heerden.
DA Ward Councillor Ina Strijdom, who was one of the entrants in the competition, was given a Community Excellence Award, one that Hirsch says was created specifically for her. This award comes hot on the heels of her recent award as Centurion of the Year by the Centurion Business Forum. “It is a bit overwhelming receiving these awards. Sometimes you feel your efforts go unnoticed, and you wonder if you should go on, but then awards like these come along. Wanting your efforts to be recognised is a natural human ambition and this gives me renewed courage and a spirit to continue my work,” said Strijdom.
All the winners received a cash prize from Hirsch’s that will help grow their businesses and fuel their ambitions.
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