Jill started her own business 21 years ago when Kirsten was 2 and Travis was just born.  Braden followed 2 years later.  She grew an award-winning business over the years, and her children have turned out to be charming, independent and ambitious young adults.

What inspired you to start your own business?
I started working in the corporate world when I was 22, setting up and running a computer bureau in Botswana, and thereafter being appointed as MD within a group of listed companies.  When our company was bought by another company, I realised that I found their value system unacceptable:  for them, it was all about money, not about people.  I was instructed to recruit and place people “at any cost”, even if it meant placing unsuitable candidates.  I decided if this was the nature of business, I didn’t want to work for anybody.  But I loved the field of recruitment, and had built up a good network by that time, so I decided to set up my own business.

How did your business set-up evolve from when you started, up to now, and what does your business entail?
I rented an office in Sandton in 1988.  We were three that started out, and our niche at that time was Recruitment in the IT industry.  Over the years “The People Business” grew and expanded.  We now occupy a 2 storey office building in an Office Park in Lonehill.  We employed 21 people at one stage.  At the moment there are 14 people who work in the business permanently, and a whole bunch who contract.  Our offering has shifted to Leadership Crafting, Recruitment and Human Resources Consulting.  Our services include executive personal leadership coaching, strategic planning and climate surveys and changes.

What principles and frames of mind guide you in life and in business? 

• I can run a business, but I don’t need a business to validate me.  If it’s not fun, I’m not going to do it.
   
• I am highly intentional and focused and supported by the beliefs that
  1) I’m guided,
  2) I’m put with the right people at the right time, and
  3) Everything will work out as it should.  
  So, I don’t panic about things.  This brings a lot of ease.  I am amazed about how I always get what I want.

• It’s my natural position to be in charge.  I can be “not in charge” – but it takes much more energy.  So, I choose situations where I can be in charge.
  
  
• I am completely competitive in the sense that I want to do better than I’ve done before, rather than in winning others.  I do get satisfaction from pushing myself – for fun!

What strategies helped you to cope with the demands of running a business and running a family?

• I ORGANISED!  Business, home and school were all in a radius of 2km from each other.
• My maid was indispensable at home. 
• I surrounded myself with great, competent people. 
• I raised my children to be independent.
• I didn’t cook.
• I made full use of technology:  I’m very techno focused – curios and logical, always first to try everything that’s new.  I got one of the first cell phones in 1994!

What effect has your lifestyle had on you, on a personal level?
Energy levels:  Incredibly high, compared to most – that’s my natural disposition!  I think my strong headspace has a lot to do with it.
Physical Health: I don’t believe in getting sick, so I don’t.  But when I do, I leave it too long… I once had a middle ear infection which landed me in hospital.  That was the one and only time that I was away from the office… apart from a sporting injury in 1995, when I was away for 3 months.  But I arranged everything from home!
Sleep: Very well…
Eating, weight:  I am very strict about my eating;  I know how to manage myself.  I’m also quite un-fussy.  My weight has never been an issue.

What effect has your business life had on your family life?
I’ve always had two loves of my life:  my children, and the people in my business.  I spent too much time on the business… but the thing is that I could always justify it.  In hindsight, there was no other way – it’s my temperament.

Did I attend events that were important to my kids?  I did, sometimes.  I was there for the important things, like awards and parent-teacher things.  I do wish I spent more time watching them play sport.  All 3 my kids became provincial players… despite not being watched enough by mom.

My children are amazing, nice human beings and I am so proud of them.  They all held leadership roles at primary school and high school.

I have such a deep respect for Kirsten.  She is mature way beyond her years.  And I remember well that we didn’t get along at all while she was a teenager!  Travis (TJ) is a real man…very balanced and independent.  I worry about Branden.  He suffered… he didn’t get as much love and attention as he needed.  Our relationship is stressed at the moment.  I took both the older kids overseas for two weeks, one at a time, just the two of us, in the year after they finished school.  It is a priority for me to do the same with Branden.

What has become of your marriage over the years?
It wasn’t a happy marriage.  My marriage was the source of my stress, not my business.  We stayed together for the sake of the kids – and it was admittedly convenient too - but we are in the process of getting divorced at the moment.

What advice do you have for the current generation of Mompreneurs?

• BE WHO YOU ARE - especially as a woman.   There is nothing more powerful than being real.
• Assimilate who you are with what you do.
• Get the timing right:  be prepared to wait for certain things, for the time to become ripe.
• Don’t pursue something to prove something to someone else – that way, the family gets the best of you,  because then you end up being unstressed and fulfilled at work,  and a nice person at home!