The impetus for starting Izimvo was to bring a voice to every South African and to shine a light on our countries most inspirational stories. Since publishing our first interview in early October last year, we have been blessed with amazing stories from a diverse group of people including entrepreneurs, business leader, professional athletes, radio and TV personalities and extreme adventures. With the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup being a little over 60 days away and our host cities expecting an influx of international visitors, we thought we’d focus our attention on the Cape Town and select a few of our personal favorite interviews from South Africans who call the Mother City their home.
Ryan Sandes – Running Sensation
Q: Tell us about how you go from the Knysna marathon in 2006 to winning every stage of the 2008 Gobi Desert race, a seven-day event considered to be one of the toughest endurance races on the planet?
A: Running the Knysna marathon was more of an excuse to go up to Knysna and have a party than any thing else – I would have run the half but entries had closed. The feeling of fulfillment I had after completing the Knysna Marathon hooked me. Before I knew it I was spending my weekends on the trails instead of all night parties with my friends. I am one for extremes and after a few local trail races I decided to look for another challenge and stumbled upon the 4 Desert website and the rest is history.
Heinz Winckler – South African Idol
Q: What can we look forward to from Heinz Winckler in 2010?
A: First of all lots of new music in the form of a few more radio singles from the new album. I will also be performing live all around the country – for more info go to www.heinzw.co.za and my fan page on Facebook. I will also be a coach on the new season of Supersterre on SABC2. And I’m playing one of the lead roles in the new season of Getroud Met Rugby as well as the movie that will follow-on the movie. There is also the possibility of doing 2 overseas trips for shows this year – but more on that later.
Herman Heunis – CEO of MXit
Q: How do your hire great talent?
A: This is really difficult and requires a tremendous effort but is worthwhile when you get it right. Great companies are made up of a collection of great people with great ideas and lots of energy and passion. Hiring the right skills and personalities is probably the most important aspect of a company. We have learned that a process must be in place to enable you to choose and then to screen vigorously until you find exactly what type of individual you are looking for – from an experience, talent, attitude and personality perspective. If you can’t find the right person, you might be better off not employing anyone.
Gary Gold – Springbok Assistant Coach
Q: Can you describe the moment when you first heard that you had landed the coveted position of Springbok Assistant Coach?
A: Amazing really, it was something like 4 O’ Clock in the morning!! It was in 2008 and I was with the Stormers in New Zealand, Auckland to be precise. I was told I needed to have the interview for the job and so it was arranged with some studio in Auckland. I had to be there at 11.30 at night (about midday in SA) and we did the interview, via video conference, with the panel who were in the board room at SA Rugby offices in Cape Town.
The interview, I thought, was a mess. I could hardly see the faces of the guys asking me the questions and then they wanted to show video footage of specific issues in a game, to quiz me on. The clips were totally fuzzy and I could barely make out the teams playing let alone any specific details within the ruck etc.
The interview took about 2 hours and I caught a cab back to the hotel where I lay in bed mulling it all over. I thought a lot about the interview and decided that I hadn’t done myself any good and really wasn’t confident that the interview did me any justice. But I left my phone on, just in case. At 4am Prof. Jannie Ferreria rang and broke the news to me that I had got the job. It really was the first time in my life that I can honestly say my dream came true – and it was on such a huge scale! Needless to say I didn’t sleep a wink after that. I called home and and one other very close friend, to share the news. Then I quickly realized there was still a tour to deal with. I put it to the back of my mind until we returned and focused on the rest of our Super 14 campaign.
Bob Skinstad – Former Springbok Rugby Captain
Q: To which three attractions would you first take an international visitor?
A: Cape town is whirlwind visit in itself – but the table mountain national parks area, incorporating Chapmans, Table mountain and Hout bay would be great – then after having got to know them , i would head on a Safari, any one of decent game viewing and hosting experience, but probably go via a township visit, because otherwise everyone thinks we live a lie, and have a great meal and entertainment at somewhere like Mxolis , and the winelands !
Eran Eyal – Springleap.com Co-founder
Q: What advice would you give young Internet entrepreneurs starting out with little or no money?
A: Don’t give away too much too soon. We played it that way and are really happy. It’s tough and tempting to give away equity, but hold on as long as you can. Startups are very often a marathon, so make sure you have the emotional and mental stamina. Do regular physical activities to keep your body and mind occupied. Remember what makes you passionate about your business and hold onto it.
David Grier – Extreme Adventurer
Q: What are the benefits of living in Cape Town for an extreme athlete?
A: There is the mountain to run on. The constant changing weather conditions for different training simulations, the ocean to kayak and kite in. Importantly, they all right next to each other. Then there is the sport science institute for the specialist training sessions.
Be sure to check out Izimvo for the full interviews as well as many others including FNB CEO Michael Jordaan, DJ Lady Lea, MNet’s Melanie Bala and Comedian Barry Hilton to name a few.
You can have a read of my interview on Izimvo here – http://www.izimvo.com/christopher-mills/
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