Africa Fortune Magazine feature

Question: Hello Khuthadzo, can you tell us about yourself?

Answer: My name is Khuthadzo Mbedzi, also known as Magic. I was born in Limpopo, Venda-Thohoyandou and raised by an amazing single mother and grandparents (both late). I have a younger brother who is 6 years younger than me, yet we are very close and talk about everything, irrespective of the age difference. I am a down to earth, forever finding things to be grateful of, and I love dancing and just being happy. My loud and bubbly personality is what fuels my optimistic energy daily. I love spending my time encouraging and motivating people, to an extent that in my spare time I mentor different people from students in the CA profession, and working class, family members, friends and people that I come across on social media. I try my level best to be present, listen and encourage people and doing so gives me much fulfilment. I believe the passion to inspire and encourage is mainly affected by the environment I grew up in where teenage pregnancy, dropping out of school, use of drugs was cool and deemed a norm. I told myself I would have to do things differently in order to have different results. Thus, I believe my upbringing played a significant part in moulding me into the person I am today and when I think of where I came from, I can’t help but help as many that want a different outcome for their lives. When I am not playing Doctor Phil *smiles, In my spare time I enjoy watching movies, series and Christian sermons. I read books, or drive to scenic places to relax. I am very conscious of my mental state of mind and how important it is to stay healthy, and I invest a lot on my mental wellbeing whether it’s seeing my life coach, spending time alone, studying the word and praying, and sleeping, rest is important.

Question: What is your profession/career? Answer: I am a qualified charted accountant by profession (CA(SA)), did my articles with EY and was signed off in 2017. As I have a passion for leadership, I attained a strategic leadership certificate from GIBS in 2020. My love of motivating people through couching/public speaking led to me also attaining a transformation life coach certificate and a presenting certificate. I am currently a CFO GC2T (Global Command and Control Technologies) where my functions include Providing strategic financial remodelling, streamlining, and strengthening financial operations/processes to maximise performance and achieve bottom-line gains. I sit on the company’s Executive Committee (EXCO), and I am the Chairperson of the Transformation committee. I am an invitee in Board meetings and Audit and Risk Committee meetings. I have recently also become a member of the institute of Directors as I plan and prepare to be appointed into boards as a non-executive in the near future. To summarise I am a creative strategic leader whether in business or corporate and in my personal spheres of influence.

Question: What inspired you to do the profession/career that you do? Answer: Honestly – I would say it is destiny, after matriculating I was accepted in medicine, Civil engineering, and accounting, I chose accounting among other reasons because I did not enjoy the subjects I studied in high school. Accounting for me was me was running away from maths and science. I hadn’t done accounting until I got to varsity, so little did I know maths was never going awayhidesEngineering which would have looked like the best choice for me wasn’t appealing as the thought of overalls and underground and dirt really wasn’t me, I had fallen in love with how accountants where portrayed in US movies -in the big glass buildings, with a corner office and a spinning chair, nice long hair and outfits made of amazing fabric and nails and just girly girl vibes, that was more like me, so I blindly chose accounting for the life I believed it will give me access to . The opportunities, diverse possibilities, easy change of roles and international recognition that the CA(SA) designation offers made it even more attractive to me as I dislike routine evidence by my various roles in past four years.

Question: Take us through your childhood journey growing up till now? Answer: My childhood was very simple, I remember how my grandmother would drop me at creche on her way to work, and how I would come home and watch tv, I was a tv child, I didn’t really spend time outdoors. I was a very loud, bubbly, playful and had a very curious mind. I always wanted to know why something was being done, when Grandma would be cooking, I would watch closely and want to try it. I was very active, I was involved in anything and everything in primary school, from netball, traditional dance, sarafina, debates and I even got into presenting, which was for an SABC channel, it just never aired. I was quite smart, until I got to high school and met other smarter people and moved from being position 1-2 to being position 30-35. High school was my first time to experience that different environment can change one’s position and there is always a need to work harder because there is always better that you may just know of. In high school I then only focused on debates, and I used to represent the school and district in competitions, my favourite time in class was doing essays and presenting case studies as I felt most confident in it than in maths and science, wow those subjects used to kick mechuckles. Often when people speak of being raised by grand parents it often sounds, they were raised strictly, not me. My grandparents and mom raised me with love and with less rules, they would tell me my options and consequences, so it was – “if you come back late I will hit you, however if you come back on time, I will continue giving you an allowance for school”, I mean no rules there at all (laughs out loud). I grew up liberated and they gave me choice and the power of deciding, and till this day I am able to rationalise my actions and possible outcomes -good and bad and make the decision I am most willing to accept the results of. I found God and began a relationship with Him in my high school life and I was extremely involved in everything as well- choir, intercession, deco team,cooking department and I would welcome guests, give devotions/exhortations and sometimes even preach, so I quickly became a youth leader and part of the church board at the age of 16. My extreme commitment and dedication always made me advance and be given responsibilities that sometimes looked bigger than me based on my age both at school, church and at home. I believe my values/characteristic of honesty, integrity, hard work and excellence made me trustworthy. I must say I still see so much of that young girl in me even now, I am still very much humble, excited about life, loud, with a curious mind which enables me to try new things instead of fearing failure. My faith in God and belief systems worked for me then and it still does now. I see myself as partner with God, and I am here on earth to have an experience of Him through all He created and for others to experience Him through me as His creation, so everywhere I am, I am there to serve other just as He serves me and the rest of the world. That world view that I attained as a teen has significantly moulded how I view my career and every job I have done and every person I meet.

Question: How do you handle or rise above your competitors? Answer: I don’t have competitors really; I compete with my past self-every day. I am big on everyone being the versions of themselves, because it is in that place were your gifts and skills makes room for you. Meaning regardless of how many other people are doing it, will do it, there is room for me, and everyone else who is skilled in that area and are their best selves. Growth for me is paramount, I want to always be better than I was and I never tell myself I have arrived in anything, so every day I show up to win for that day as if Yesterdays win didn’t happen, I will celebrate my wins yes, but I won’t pack there and get too comfortable, because if I do that I slowly get complacent or comfortable and those two things are the enemy of progress. So, I basically strive for excellence in what I do, every opportunity is treated as such and that always creates more room for me to flourish at the right time. Humility is key in consistent success, as opposed to a once off seasonal success, you always have to be hungry for more, because there is more. But more requires more from you, so to attract the more, you have to have more to give. So, every day I give my all and for excellence-which is the Magic name I gave myself.

Question: How has your professional/career journey been for you? Answer: Wow, my career journey has been as beautiful as roses, although roses have thorns, no one focuses on the thorns but the beauty of the rose.. I have been privileged to be in environments where when I ask for more opportunities to grow, over and above my normal job, I was given opportunities to learn. My curiosity allowed for maturity, growth, and versatility in my experiences which meant I learned a variety of things enabling an expansion of my knowledge and skill sets. I started my academic journey at Makwarela primary school, then moved to Mbilwi Secondary school where I matriculated in 2009, both schools are situated in Thohoyandou. I attained my Bachelor of Accounting Sciences at Wits (University of the Witwatersrand) in 2012 and after failing my first honours attempt at Wits I moved to UJ (University of Johannesburg) where I obtained my honours degree (CTA) in 2014. I started my articles in 2015 in the Assurance -audit department (Financial services) and qualified in 2017 after which I went to the EY London office in Business capital markets department-that really taught me adaptations skills like nothing else before then, new cultures and a whole different way of doing things. I came back to SA and stayed in audit as assistant manager for two months where I resigned without a job to go pursue what I felt at the time was what I wanted, strategy consulting. I resigned as I felt I didn’t have time to look for opportunities and I was crazy enough to believe if I really want it I should go get it. That resulted in me being unemployed for almost 4 months. In that time, I applied to all consulting firms and kept getting we regret to inform you, and the reason was always I don’t have enough consulting experience. So I then got into RMB as a product finance manager on a contract basis-and this was the 3rd bank I got exposure to (in my articles days I audited ABSA, Investec).When the contract ended I joined Bidvest services in internal audit which after 8 months in the role I got promoted into one of the companies. The company CEO during my audit approached me to become their finance executive. This was an exciting experience as the business was fun and opened me up to technology and the impact it has. The company used UAV drones to offer surveillance services, and my new CFO role is also a systems integrated solution offering to the military defence force. The technology space and security seem to like me I guess. My career journey has been a going for what the next best thing in front of me is, I really believe I have not intentionally pursued my career, as I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with these CA (SA) tittle. However, in the words of Oprah: “Knowing what you don’t want to do, is the best place to be if you don’t know what to do, because knowing what you don’t want to do leads you into figuring out what you do want to do”, and that summarises my career.

Question: What is your latest achievement/s that you can boldly say you’re proud of? Answer: Gosh I have to think, I am proud of myself for a lot of things because after my mom, I’m my number one cheerleader. Some days I’m just proud I got up and some days I’m proud I actually fell asleep. I would say being a CFO at 29 is a highlight for me,at first it didn’t feel like a big deal, I would say to myself to avoid imposter syndrome, it’s just a subsidiary company, it’s not a group, we don’t have more than 100 staff members, surely, it’s not a big deal. I think only 3 months into this role in April did I snap out of what I call false humility limitation ,I realised that I still need to do everything as if the company was listed because our holding company is listed, and that because there is fewer staff, all that work is done by fewer people and as such not only was I a CFO ,but also an executor involved in the daily processes as well and not just managing the team on a strategic level. I had to lead whilst being in the detail. I started seeing my role as an appoint by God and my leaders to keep the company afloat and to ensure bread for the staff and their families. And with every successful project, audit, transformation initiative I felt more and more proud that I was part of the solution in a time that we are facing many challenges in south Africa and the rest of the world. And it isn’t just about me, every girl who gets to see a black female be a CFO before 30 as opposed to the general norm and of pressure of being married with kids before 30.For me I would like to believe that this representation is that of a trail blazer demonstrating to young gals and peers, that all success is equally to be appreciated and that it is attainable irrespective of age, through hard work and dedication, nothing is impossible . However, the exponential growth in my career isn’t a surprise as I take every role as an opportunity for excellence and growth ,hard work and giving my best, and mostly it is just God’s grace that whenever opportunities came knocking, I was prepared to grab them . This achievement has opened up more doors for me to motivate and inspire the youth and for that I am proud of myself for giving and pouring out Magic in my work and all in my sphere of influence.

Question: Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? Answer: The Goal is not defined by tittle or the job for me, but rather by how I want to be feeling (health, peace, joy), and having great impact on others. In 5 years’, time I want to be exceptional at what I do that I become the obvious choice for my offerings. where I am sought after for opportunities, bigger and better opportunities that continuously grow me. I have some big dreams and I hope most would be fulfilled 5 years from now, I say I hope because if anything, the pandemic proved to us all that we can plan ,but truly only God’s plans prevails. One thing I know though is that I am not to be boxed, whether in 5 years I am running my consulting company, my life coaching and training practise, presenting, running a media house or the CEO of a multi-billion company, whatever the case, I ultimately want my career to characterised by me being a reliable value add, solution provider, full of integrity and excellence in what I am doing and to personally be rewarded with happiness, time and fulfilment in knowing I am living out my purpose, and the money will obviously follow.

Question: What advice do you have for individuals who feel like giving up because things are just not working out for them? Answer: We all have felt this way or will feel this way at some point of our lives in one area if not all areas. Always go back to your WHY. Why did you start, why did you want this to begin with, once you have the answer assess how far you have come in making strides towards it, and not so much on how far you still have to go. The positive energy you can derive from how far you have come will spark and propel you to want to continue. Have a “I’m not going to fail” mindset and let that passionate fire to win rise up and do the next best thing to get you to what you want. If you are looking for a job unsuccessfully and now tired and even lazy to apply-Look back to the years you didn’t sleep studying, think of the exams you wrote ,think of all fees you paid .Then you will feel a feeling of I could not have come this far to fail, and do the next best thing you can do to get that Job – APPLY. Go on Linked in -Yes Again. Yes apply again ,again ,again ,until you get the interview, then do the next best thing which is to prepare for the interview and then go kill it, until that YES ,it is near than you think ,don’t give up everything you need to succeed is in you, other may spark it but it’s in you and it’s up to you to do for you what will make you happy. And lastly, never stop believing, I honestly believe God’s grace plays a part in every one’s success because as humans we don’t have much control, in Tyler Peery’s words “you can put seed in the ground, and water it, but sunlight comes from God, increase comes from God”.

Question: What’s the biggest challenge you have faced in your profession/career? Answer: I wouldn’t call it a challenge but rather a lesson. Because of my roles, I have had to manage people ranging from teams of 10-15+, to teams of 3-5+, and the common thing irrespective of the number of people which really has taught me and has stretched me to grow faster than ever would be managing people. People are different and apart from the obvious differences of colour, gender, age and also cultures, people have different personalities. Being able to manage these various differences effectively, efficiently and in a manner that they all feel valued, appreciated, equipped for their tasks and also grow is a bit challenging as it is hard to make everyone happy all at once. For me as a leader who leads from the heart this would have to be the most challenging thing.

Question: How did you overcome the biggest challenge or challenges you have faced in your profession/career? Answer: Learning is the best gift one can give themselves. One thing is guaranteed, for you to grow and to be a successful leader challenges will always come up, whether it’s a people related, operations, systems failure you name it. The start point for me is: acknowledging the challenge, then dissecting it into smaller chunks that enable me to no longer view it as to big and overwhelming. Then I can look at the smaller challenges and ask myself questions as to what the real problem is, the cause not the reaction or response, because the challenge is usually a response to an underlying. And once I have answered the question of what the real problem is, then I formulate solution and tasks to tackle the challenges. Ultimately through this process I learn more about myself, those involved, the organisation and the solutions then positively impact all involved to. And I would advise someone who can’t do this exercise on their own, to seek for help, there is nothing wrong with asking for help, either from your leaders, a life coach, mentor etc. Asking for help is not a weakness, but rather a strength as refusing to ask for help when you need it is a form of pride which is the biggest recipe to fail. I look at challenges as a test to my next growth level, I ask myself ,what is this trying to teach me ,and before you know it you are more patient, more analytical, more proactive than reactive, a better strategist, faster to adopt ,able to lead and delegate, better at communicating ,whatever the challenge there is a lesson which you need to learn to move to your next phase and I promise there hasn’t been any challenge I cant look back at now and point the things it taught me. So challenges are a class test of which when you pass you are promoted to the next grade.

Question: How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected you and your profession/career? Answer: Covid 19 has really shaken all of us, for me personally going back to last year going through my transition to the new role, not being in the office to work with the team yet having to manage and lead people from behind a camera screen instead of in person was a bit difficult. I had to quickly adopt and be Okay with unfamiliarity and that things are different. Finance is one profession were fortunately we could work from home-remotely and connect via Teams or zoom and that really became a way to connect and also exchange information through emails and drop boxes. Working at home though also took away the feeling of having home being my safe ,resting haven as I literally was two steps away from my laptop as I sat on my couch trying to chill after hours, but I am a bit of a workaholic so I would want to respond to emails even late just because an email came so in terms of work ,the pandemic has forced us to find faster, effective ways to do the required reporting, board meetings online and still do it successfully. The industrial revolution has indeed been pushed to us earlier than we had planned, however because a skill my career taught me earlier on is adapting, I adapted and so did everyone else, some took it harder than others, however I took on a mindset that I am here for a reason, to ensure business goes on and no one loses their jobs and livelihood. The modern-day CA has to be more Intune with technology and innovative-something like physical asset verification that would be done physically as per the name-we implemented a new way-buy sending pictures instead of auditors coming to the premises. We all really had to also move away from hard copy forms to online processes. Fear of losing your job or unpaid leave made me also realise that putting your eggs in one basket might be shooting your own foot .

Question: Have you managed to recover all your losses and damages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic? Answer: The pandemic for me like everyone impacted me and my plans.laughs I remember the great plans I had for 2020 at the beginning of the year, I wanted to travel ,wanted to start out my own business in 2021 however all of that was forced to be on stand still due to inability to travel caused by lockdown and also the means and client I had planned on working with could no longer happen. To answer No, I have not recovered as I haven’t been able to travel, and my business ventures are at a stop as I had to go back to corporate and do my 8-5 job which isn’t really 8-5 but more of a 6 to whenever you decide to close your laptop and switch of your data and Wi-Fi on your phone to not receive emails However, I am also fortunate to be working as a lot of my CA peers had to take unpaid leave, pay cuts and some retrenched and so forth. I thank God that I could still get income and that my sanity whilst quarantine alone and working hectic hours, that I didn’t loose my spark and love of life, that I didn’t lose my peace and joy -for these are things money can’t buy, not to mention that my family and friends are still alive (haven’t lost immediate people to the virus, which is a blessing indeed. As a country and a people, I believe we have not yet fully experienced the impact of Covid 19 and the recovery will take time, not just economic recovery, but emotional, relational, social and environmental. We just have to keep positive, do the next best thing as individuals, organisations and government. But I believe change will come and I pray for it daily.

Question: What is your wish for Africa? Answer: My Wish for every person in Africa is to have access to basic human rights of food, shelter, education, sanitation and health facilities. Africa needs to have the ability to enjoy the fruits of this wealthy continent. We have so much to offer as a continent and that has never been the question, however we are the poorest due to lack of access to the wealth we were born into. Yes, education is the answer, but there are many sitting unemployed though with certificates accumulating dust. We have divides in the continent where some countries are perceived to be better, and people flock to those countries with their skill sets, worse off even they leave Africa and move to either the USA or UK, taking the resources to make Africa better elsewhere. But can we blame them?? We need to focus not just on education but also on relevant education that people can get jobs for. The education systems must adapt to the current economic climate needs and 4IR century we are now living in and assess studies that have become redundant. Redundant studies should be stopped and those who have certificates of those redundant career fields should be taken through upgrading courses to train them into the closest similar area they can go into for free. Subsequent to that job creations should be created to afford people to work. I strongly believe that every human has a longing to work for an income and that free meals is not the first preferred means of survival. People are willing to work to feed themselves and their families, crime is only but a default when the opportunity to work for food is not afforded. Working hard is something that people in Africa from the age of time have demonstrated is something they can do. Even more, I want an Africa that enables women to be represented, we need more woman in leadership positions in politics, government, JSE listed companies and everywhere where authority and leadership is needed because women have been proven to be better leaders and yet there aren’t platforms where a full transformation has taken place to position woman as capable and successful. There are improvements, but it is not enough. I still walk into many spaces and see a lot of platforms where man are still dominant.

My dream for Africa is for us to rise and be all we have potential to be, to recover what was stolen and to create what future generations and those to follow can enjoy. I pray to live in an Africa where my grandchildren will inherit a healthy economy as opposed to the one, I inherited of Apartheid after effects.

Re-Journey

by Magic