Altech Netstar (Pty) Blog Meet our Netstar Sheroes

This women's month, we celebrate some of the many Netstar women who shape our industry. Each of these women have an inspiring story to tell about their continuous journey to succeed in the business of innovation that matters. Juliet MutatiFleet Installation TechnicianJuliet has always had a passion for solving technical problems and doesn't shy away from working with her hands! After pursuing her electrical engineering qualification, she began her career as a harness assembler before joining Netstar as a Fleet Technician. Building trust among her male peers was the biggest challenge she had to face when embarking on a technical career. Overcoming this challenge required hard work and self-confidence, to prove she was just as capable at getting the job done. Her recipe for career success is: "Love what you do, believe in yourself, respect others and they will respect you" Gill JonesGeneral Manager of Fleet Commercial SalesGill has a reservoir of knowledge and experience in the logistics and transport industry. She began her career 25 years ago as a call centre agent, and through sheer persistence and leadership skills, worked her way up the corporate ladder very quickly, through passion and the drive to be a continuous top performer, with particular successes in C Level negotiations. She had an eight-year gap in her career, where she did various entrepreneurial projects whilst being a stay at home mom. Gill cares deeply for her staff and ensures that people are recognized for their strengths and grow under her leadership. She is currently the General Manager of Fleet Commercial Sales and leads a fierce team that markets innovative logistics telematics products and services. Gill has proven time and again that female leadership brings in a fresher and sometimes better approach to tackling challenges in what are typically considered male-dominated sectors. Her recipe for career success is: "Never stop learning, coaching and mentoring as well as ensure you continue to surround yourself with people smarter than you in order to absorb all the skills and knowledge from them. Most importantly, pay it forward." Penny TshabalalaGeneral Manager of Public EnterprisesPenny brings amazing versatility to her role as the General Manager of Public enterprises at Netstar. She has acquired experience within the tourism, hospitality, fleet and logistics industries, interning at Transnet Freight Rail, managing student exchange and Au pair programmes, working her way up to branch manager at Imperial car rentals at the age of 27 and transitioning into the hotel business as a sales manager for IHG group. Having to prove herself among older colleagues as a young manager came with some unique challenges, which she overcame through hard work, mutual respect and support from business mentors.Her recipe for career success is: "Never try to emulate anyone's approach to leading a team. Understand that you are unique and always have something valuable to offer." Candice FryerSoftware DeveloperCandice has been employed as a full-time software developer for over 9 years. She developed a passion for software development through her husband, a computer programmer, who helped her with a few courses while completing her qualification in computerized multimedia. She loves the dynamic nature of programming which keeps her on her toes due to the constant changes in the field. In fact, her favourite time of the day is between 4am and 5am where she is able to further develop her programming skills. Candice fulfilled a lifelong dream when she took a sabbatical from Netstar in 2017 to complete her BSc honours degree in computing while travelling across India, Sumatra, Malaysia and Napal for 8 months with her family. She considered this a wonderful journey of self-discovery which helped to further develop her resilience and focus in the tough world of programming.Her recipe for career success is: "Stay focused and never give up on your dreams". Prinella ChinniahCommercial Sales Administration ManagerPrinella was the youngest manager at Netstar at the time of her appointment as Commercial Sales Administration Manager. She credits her career success to some of the many growth opportunities she was able pursue within the company. At the age of 23, she was hired as a Netstar contracts administrator capturing deals for branches and fitment centres. Volunteering to participate in a variety of cross functional projects coupled with her eagerness to learn, gave her a better understanding of the business, which helped her grow into a team leader, supervisor and later a manager in the finance, fleet and sales departments. Her recipe for career success is: "Motivate yourself by staying curious and taking on a challenge and having a positive attitude gets you very far in life" Do you have an inspiring story to tell about a #Shero who has shaped your life? Share your story on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.